DR. AUGUSTUS NEANDER'S

SCRIPTURAL EXPOSITIONS

THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE PHILIPPIANS,

GENEKAL EPISTLE OF JAMES.
Translated from the German.
BY
MRS. H. C. CONANT ,
AUTHOBOP HIBTORT OP "ENGLISH BIBLE TRANSLATIONS."

3MetD-13ork:
SHELDON, BLAKEMAN & CO.
BOSTON: GOULD & LINCOLN.
CHICAGO : S. C. SKIGGS & CO.
1856.

THE

EPISTLE OE PAUL

PHILIPPIANS,

PRACTICALLY EXPLAINED,

DE. AUGUSTUS NEANDEE.

TRANS

AN

MRS. H

3M-_o-ffiork:
SHELDON, BLAKEMAN & CO.
BOSTON: GOULD AND LINCOLN.
CHICAGO : S. C. GRIGGS.
1856.

Entered according to Act of CongreBS, in the year 1851,
BY LEWIS COLBY,
In the Clerk's office of the Southern District of New York.

STEREOTYPED BY THOMAS B. SMITH,
216 WILLIAM STREET, N. Y.

INTRODUCTION.

In offering the following work of Neander to the
American public, some brief explanation of its character
seems to be necessary. Many, who have only heard of
the author as one of the most profound scholars and
thinkers of the age, might otherwise be deterred from
reading it, by the supposition that it was merely a work
of learned criticism. Such, however, is far from being
the case. It was the beginning of a series 'of popular
practical commentaries, intended to embrace the more
important portions of the Bible. Next to the Epistle of
James, which was completed, and a translation of which
we expect shortly to present to the public, were to follow
the Epistles of John, then the Gospels, the Psalms, &c,
as rapidly as the public duties of the author would allow.
The surpassing excellence of the beginning makes us
deeply lament the loss to the church, through the recent
death of the great and good Neander, of so rich an addi
tion to its means of understanding the Scriptures, and
one so happily adapted to the wants of common Chris
tians. This, however, does not impair the value of the
separate parts, each division being complete in "itself;

IV INTRODUCTION.
and we cannot but rejoice that, as he was not permitted
fully to carry out his plan, he should have executed a
part so appropriate as the closing labor of his life. Had
he foreseen that these were to be his last words of coun
sel to his brethren in Christ, he could nowhere have
found freer scope for all he wished to say for their in
struction, comforting, and edification, than in a commen
tary on the Epistle to the Philippians. One might al
most believe, such a fulness of pious feeling pours through
its pages, that he had some such presage. Whether this
were so or not, doubtless He to whom all events are
known guided him in the selection ; and we may receive
it as the dying legacy of one of the greatest Christian
teachers with which God has ever blessed his church.
May its instructions sink deep into the heari. of the
church, and bring forth fruit to the honor and glory of
God! In reading _fchis commentary, one cannot but be forci
bly struck with the strong affinity between the character
of Paul and that of his expounder. Different as were
their outward circumstances and course of life, Neander
seems to have had, in his own nature and spiritual sym
pathies, a perfect key to those of the Apostle. Hence it
is that he has surpassed all others in giving the spirit of
this Epistle. The grandeur of Paul's spiritual concep
tions, his personal aspirations, his inward conflicts, his
r magnanimity, tenderness, and humility, his all-absorbing
love for Christ and for man, are delineated with a life

INTRODUCTION. V
and power which only a kindred soul in the writer could
have inspired. His very manner bears the same stamp
of resemblance. Impatient of the niceties of minute crit
icism, he breaks through the mere outward form, the
shell of words and phrases, into the very heart of the
Epistle ; and develops its contents, not by a petty weigh
ing of particles, but by one broad, extended view of the
whole scope of the Apostle's design and meaning. This
he illustrates from Paul's history and character, his pres
ent circunistances and those of the infant churches ; and
the whole glows with the light and warmth of a deep
personal experience of the Gospel. Thus, though the
work is rich in the results of a learning as profound as it
was various, the earnest and intelligent, but unlearned
reader, can pursue his way unimpeded by any obtrusive
lumber of scholarship. It is indeed a beautiful illustra
tion of what his friend and colleague, the evangelical
Strauss, says of him in his funeral discourse : " He did not
despise human knowledge ; he sought for it with unwea
ried diligence ; he was a master in it ; but he laid all the
surprising' treasures of his learning at the foot of the
cross." To edify the members of Christ's body was with
him a greater object, than to make a vain parade of his
own superiority ; as to be one with Christ was to himself,
personally, an immeasurably greater object than all hu
man learning or honor.
One characteristic of the work, which adds greatly to
its practical value, has also a special interest as showing

VI INTRODUCTION.
the 'author's character under a new aspect ; — we mean
the comprehensive and accurate knowledge it exhibits of
men and their relations. It shows that he was no mere
recluse scholar, buried in the past, with no eyes nor ears
for the living world around him. It is indeed a prob
lem, how a man who so seldom went beyond his study
and his lecture room, whose own relations to society were
so few, and his associations almost exclusively among the
learned, could have gained so much acquaintance with
human nature, and with the various forms and>phases of
Christian experience. The solution is to be found in the
fact, that Neander had a heart as well as intellect ; a
heart gifted by nature with the largest human sympa
thies, and from early life penetrated by the spirit of Chris
tian benevolence. Man his brother, man whom God had
created and for whom Christ had died, was to him an
object of unspeakable interest, and nothing was unim
portant which affected his character and prospects.
Hence, from the little that he mingled with men he
learned much of man ; and he applies the inspired in
structions with a discrimination and point, which show
that no generic differences in human character had es
caped him. It is a matter of no little interest, to know
what views of man were received from this study by a
mind like Neander's. It is plain that he cherished no
high-wrought notions of the natural goodness and per
fectibility of the race. Yet he did not turn from the
weak and erring being with philosophic contempt, or

INTRODUCTION. vii
thank God that he was not as other men are. His was
the earnest, penetrating scrutiny of a Christian philan
thropist, seeking to know his brother's wants in order
that Christian love might supply them. Though he was
no believer in inherent human goodness, he was a firm
believe? in the efficacy of the great remedy for man's
moral diseases. Hence the clearer perception of his ru
ined and lost state, only awoke more strongly the love
which yearned to bring relief. The spirit of Neander's
life and writings furnish sufficient proof, if proof were
still wanting, that the clear recognition of man's entire
moral perversion is the basis for all true love of human
ity. His practical wisdom, as well as the tenderness of
his heart, are beautifully exhibited in his treatment of
the yet immature believer. The germ of divine life,
planted in a human heart, is an object which engages all
his interest. The causes which may obstruct its free de
velopment, as found in the various forms of self-decep-
_ion, in the power of early prejudice, and not less in the
over-hasty zeal or unchristian harshness of brethren, are
touched with admirable skill. If his lessons of rigid self-
sCrutiny, trying as by fire every thought and motive of
our own hearts, and of a fraternal charity, quick to dis
cern and acknowledge and tenderly to cherish the faint
est signs of grace in others, were carried into practice by
every disciple of Christ, who can doubt the speedy in
crease of spiritual life, of unity, and of moral power in
the church 1

viii INTRODUCTION.
Another not less interesting point is the simply scrip
tural character of his theology, of the exhibition here
given of the essential doctrines of the Gospel. Christ,
the Crucified and the Eisen, as the one foundation of the
church, the living root from whom proceeds all spiritual
life and growth ; man as a sinful and lost being, depend
ing for regeneration and sanctification on the influences
of the Holy Spirit ; the utter insufficiency of human
works as the ground of salvation ; a holy life as the
necessary fruit of holy love ; these, no man since Paul
has more eloquently enforced than Neander.' In devel
oping Paul's theology, deep religious experience supplied
to him that light, for the lack of which so many have
misunderstood and perverted the meaning of the great
Apostle. The natural man, and the spiritual man, desig
nate with him radical distinctions of character. The ten
dencies of the natural man, however beautiful his social'
and even religious virtues to human view, are yet, as
springing from self and ending in self, radically wrong ;
the tendencies of the spiritual man, as springing from
God and ending in God, are radically right. But the
spiritual man, and the perfect man, are not with him in
terchangeable terms. The Christian life is an unceasing
conflict with inward depravity ; that we persevere in this
conflict to the end, the only reliable proof that we belong
to Christ. The Christian's standard of character is per
fection, is Christ ; his ever increasing sense of unlikeness
to this faultless model, the strongest evidence that he is

INTRODUCTION. IX
becoming more and more assimilated to it. This sense
of unlikeness, while it humbles and stimulates, does not
disquiet the believer ; for his confidence and his affec
tions are placed on a nobler object than self, were it in a
state of absolute perfection. The incarnate Word, the
brightness of the Father's glory and the express image
of his person, once humbled in humanity, now reigning
in divine glory, is the centre of all his aspirations and
hopes, the life of his life, his all in all. An affecting
proof of Neander's personal consciousness of these truths,
was given on the evening of his last year's birth-day.
His pupils having, as is customary in German universi
ties on such occasions, honored their beloved teacher
with a torch-light procession and a eulogistic address, he
replied by a pathetic confession of human weakness, and
spoke of himself as a sinner needing forgiveness through
the blood of Christ. The whole course of his inward and
outward religious life corresponded fully to this expres
sion. "As to be a Christian," says Strauss, " nothing but
a Christian saved by grace, was all his desire in his in
ward experience, so in his calling he desired only to be a
servant of Christ." The love of Christ to his people, as
developed in the past history of the church, was his most
interesting subject of contemplation. In his hands,
Church History became not a mere record of the mis
takes of the human spirit, but primarily, a record of the
miracles of the love of Jesus. And often, says his friend,
his voice trembled and his whole heart gushed forth,
1*

X INTRODUCTION.
when narrating individual experiences of grace, exempli
fying the love of Christ. What a beautiful illustration
of his own favorite maxim, " It is the heart that makes
the Theologian !" The modesty of his Theology is not
less marked than its scriptural character. Our knowl
edge of God and divine things, though all-sufficient for
our present need, in his view is necessarily fragmentary
and imperfect ; " to be cast aside when we are raised to
the full vision of the life above, as the conceptions of
childhood are cast aside by the mature man." How
habitually this conviction was present to his mind, is
pleasingly illustrated by the circumstance, that when
called on for an autograph to accompany his engraved
portrait, he wrote for the purpose the words :. " Now we
see through a glass darkly, -but then face to face."
The closing scenes in the life of this eminent servant
of Christ, seem like the reflection of that conflict which
he so admirably depicts in the heart of Paul, between the
longing to depart and be with Christ, and the desire still
to live that he may labor for the salvation of his breth
ren. To labor for Christ was, as with Paul, his life on
earth. Apart from this work, life had no value, no sig
nificance. While he lived he must labor ; and even after
the hand of death had touched his long diseased body,
he still strove to compel its services in his appointed call
ing in God's kingdom. This calling was one which en
listed all the energies and affections of his soul. To be
the instructor of youth in the Holy Scriptures, and the

INTRODUCTION. XI
historian Of the Church, was a high destiny ; and his de
votion to it had all the ardor of a ruling passion. His
history he had now brought down to the period of the
Eeformation ; and with a mind unimpaired by age or dis
ease, and glowing with his theme, he was about entering
on the development of that central epoch of modern
Christianity, when the summons came to lay aside the
earthly for the heavenly. How his heart clung to his
life-work, is affectingly shown in the sketch of his last
hours by his attached friend and pupil Eauh. We give
the substance of the account.
He was at his desk in his lecture room, on Monday,
when the attack came upon him. Inured to pain, and
accustomed to master it by his powerful will, he per
severed in completing the exercise ; though the broken
tones of his voice, at times almost inaudible from de
bility, forced upon his affectionate auditors the con
viction expressed in the touching language of one of
their number : " This is the last lecture of our Nean
der ! " He reached home in a state of great exhaustion.
But after some slight refreshment, he immediately re
sumed his usual afternoon employments. For three
successive hours, though often interrupted by increasing
weakness, he dictated on his Church History. Late in
the afternoon, the symptoms of dangerous illness becom
ing more and more marked, his anxious sister insisted
that he should give himself rest. But he could not be
persuaded to quit £is work. " Nay, let me go on !" he

xii INTRODUCTION.
exclaimed : " can every day-laborer work as much as he
will, and would you deny it to me !" At length he was
obliged to yield, and allow himself to be conveyed to
bed. The next morning he was forced, by the increased
violence of his malady, to consent that his usual lecture
should be deferred ; " but," as he expressly added, " only
for to-day/1" From this time it was an incessant struggle^
for supremacy between the mind and the body. In the
afternoon, he called imperatively for his reader ;* and
blamed his over-anxious friends for having sent him
away, and thus interrupted his progress in a work with
which he was engaged, Eitter's Palestine. He then lis
tened to the reading of the newspaper by another pupil,
with earnest attention ; selected what he wished to hear,
and commented on this and that of its contents, till at
length a heavy slumber overpowered him. The next
day also, the daily paper being read to him as usual, the
mention of some occurrence in the Church drew from
him an exclamation of humorous contempt at the modish
spirit of the day ; an expressive shrug indicated his dis
satisfaction at another. This day he experienced a little
relief, from the refreshment of a more quiet night, which
encouraged his desponding friends. But on Friday eve
ning the last ray of hope was extinguished. Paralysis,
the result of his exhausting disease, seized upon the kid
neys. The fatal hiccough set in, and allowed not a mo-
* An affection of the eyes, -which had increased almost to blindness, had
for some two years rendered such assistance necessary.

INTRODUCTION. XIU
ment's sleep. This scene of distress continued four hours,
without mitigation. Groans were forced from him by
the extremity of his anguish ; and he was heard praying
in a weak and plaintive tone, which drew tears from
every eye, " Oh God I that I might sleep !" But the en
ergy of his spirit was not yet quenched. The next after
noon, though in an agony of pain, the longing to be again
at work in his great calling seemed to awaken in fall
force. He insisted that he would no longer be confined
in bed ; and with a feverish impatience, never seen in
him before, ordered a servant to bring his clothes that he
might rise. A pupil who was at hand vainly tried to
soothe him. Even his sister's entreaties were of no avail,
till she said to him : " Eemember, dear Augustus, your
own words to me, when I resisted the physician's orders,
— ' It is all from God, and we must yield cheerfully to his
will I'" "True," he gently replied in an altered tone;
" it all comes from God, and we must thank him for it !"
Through all the variations of his sickness, his wonted
tender consideration for his friends did not forsake him.
He would not allow his pupils to neglect their duties in
order to attend upon him ; watched lest his sister should
not take needful rest, and received every slight service
with the most touching gratitude. Even when scarcely
able to speak, from pain and weakness, he would make
the utmost effort to express his thankfulness. One little
characteristic trait deserves to be mentioned. His large
income, always devoted more to others than himself, was

XIV INTRODUCTION.
yet insufficient for his multiplied charities, so that he was
often perplexed and distressed when he found a new ob
ject of compassion which he had not the means of re
lieving. He practised the most rigid economy in his own
personal expenses, that he might have more for others.
Every luxury was in his view a robbery of the poor. So
fixed were his habits in this respect, that when a little
champagne was offered him during this last sickness, he
promptly refused it with the expression, " 0 that is a
foolish indulgence 1"
The final scene is one most characteristic of the man,
as well as one of the most striking ever witnessed in the
chamber of death. A wine bath had been prepared for
him, as a last resort. Eefreshed and strengthened by it,
he was borne from the darkened room where he had lain
hitherto into his study, that cheerful little apartment
opening to the sun, which had been so long the work
shop and the paradise of the man of thought. Here for
nearly twenty years he had studied and written. From
this spot had gone forth those great works which have
delighted and instructed Christendom. With thirsty
glances he drank in the full golden sunlight, of which he
was always so fond* A spoonful of choice wine being
offered him, he did not reject it, — " a significant omen,"
* In this also, " a child of the light," as he sportively called himself
(-ra<56j to. fiMov) a few days before. " This I have," — said he on that oc
casion,—" in common with the emperor Julian ; but that," he added,
" Strauss must not know I"

INTRODUCTION. XV
gays Eauh, " that the old order of things approached its
end." Ere long he murmured dreamily, as if at the close
of a long fatiguing walk with his sister, " I am weary ;
let us now make ready to go home 1" Just then the rich
sunset glow, pouring through the window, lighted up the
shelves from which looked down upon hifn the masters
of thought, with whom for so many years he had held
silent but high and endearing communion. Eaising him
self by a sudden effort from his pillow, he commenced a
regular lecture upon New Testament exegesis. Soon a
new image passed before his restless fancy. Imagining
himself at the weekly meeting of his beloved Semina-
rium, surrounded by his fondly attached theological pu
pils, he called for the reading of a dissertation, shortly
before assigned, on the material and formal principle of
the Eeformation. He then dictated the titles of the dif
ferent courses of lectures to be delivered by him during
the next session ; among them, " The Gospel of John,
from its true historical point of view." His last thoughts
amid the struggles of death, were devoted to the great
labor of his life. Beginning at the very passage of his
Church History where sickness had arrested his progress,
he resumed the thread of thought, and in spite of inter
ruptions, continued to dictate in regular periods for some
time. At the close of each sentence he paused, as if his
amanuensis were taking down his words, and asked,
" Are you ready ?" Having closed a division of his sub
ject, he inquired the time. Being told that it was half-

XVI INTRODUCTION.
past nine, the patient .sufferer repeated once more : " I
am weary ; I will now go to sleep !" Having by the aid
of friendly hands stretched himself in be*d for his last
slumber, he whispered in a tone of inexpressible tender
ness, which sent a strange thrill through every heart :
" Good night !" It was his last word. He immediately
fell into a sleep, which continued four hours ; when his
great spirit, in the quiet of a Sabbath morning, passed
gently into the land of peace. — What a commentary on
his own exhortation so lately uttered ; that " the Chris
tian should ever remember that here all is fragmentary,
nothing reaches completion ; that even service in the
cause of Christ on earth, is but the beginning of an ac
tivity destined for eternity ; that we must therefore not
be so absorbed, even in labors consecrated to God, as to
be unprepared to obey, at any moment, the summons to
the higher life and service of Heaven !" He was so pre
pared, that when his ear caught the summons, he could
drop the great labor of his life unfinished, lay himself
down quietly upon his bed, and with a child-like " Good
Night" to those whom he left behind, slumber over (as the
German beautifully expresses it) into that higher life of
heaven. Before closing, the translator would beg of those con
versant with the author's manner in the original, as favor
able a judgment of her work as justice will allow. They
can best appreciate the difficulty of the task. It has been
her aim, not merely to give a faithful rendering of the

INTRODUCTION. XVli
author's ideas, in an easy English style, but to reproduce
them, so far as possible, in their original form and mould.
The elephantine march of his style suits, as no other
could, to the great burden of his thoughts ; which, more
over, are so combined and massed together, that not only
would the manner be lost by much breaking up of his
sentences, but the connection and relation of the differ
ent parts be seriously impaired.

H. C. C.

Rochester, N. T.
Sept. 1851.

EPISTLE OF PAUL

THE PHILIPPIANS

Lt the Spirit of God has revealed to holy men of
old the word of truth, that they might proclaim it
for the salvation, of mankind ; if God has revealed
himself through their lives, their discourses, their
writings, as the depositaries of his Spirit ; this is
not to be regarded merely as an isolated fact
belonging solely to the past. To us as living
members of the body of Christ, as partakers in
that fellowship of his Spirit, which unites the in
stant of the present with the whole progressive
development since the first outpouring of the same
Spirit by the glorified Son of man, to us, this
should be no external, no foreign thing. The past
must become to us the present. We need no
further revelations. On the contrary, it must be
to us as if the Lord had himself at this moment

20 PHILIPPIANS.
spoken to us, inasmuch as he has given us the in
struction required for all the higher necessities of
the present ; as if he had himself said to us all
which it concerns us to know, in order to find con
solation under present sufferings, the means of cer
tain victory in all conflicts, the clue to guide us
out of all the perplexities of a distracted age safely
to our goal. For the attainment of this object,
we must carefully investigate the precise histori
cal conditions and relations under which these
depositaries of the Divine Spirit spoke and acted.
We must transfer ourselves into that past time, so
as to live, as it were, in the midst of the circum
stances under which these holy men acted, and in
reference to which they spoke. The objects of
divine wisdom in its guidance of the Church, we
perceive in this, viz., that divine truth has been
revealed to us, not in a law of the letter, not in a
digested summary of specific articles of faith, but
in this historical embodiment, in this application to
individual cases, to specific historical circumstances
and social relations, imparted through the instru
mentality of individual men, who lived as deposi
taries of divine truth among their fellow-men;
who, in the common intercourse of human life,

PHILIPPIANS. 21
testified of and revealed the divine, speaking and
acting as men, each in his own peculiar human
manner, though hallowed indeed by the Spirit of
God. Thus was divine truth to be brought hu
manly near to us. Thus to our own spiritual ac
tivity, under the guiding and quickening influence
of the Spirit of God, without whom nothing divine
can be received or understood, was to be left the
work of investigating the divine in its connection
with the human; from the particular to deduce
the universal ; and again, by an application of this
to the peculiar circumstances of the age and society
in wliich we live, to reconvert it into the particular
for ourselves ; to detect in that which was said or
done by the organs of Christ's Spirit, under the
peculiar circumstances of the past, whatever is ap
plicable for our use to the circumstances and rela
tions of the present. Whilst, therefore, an humble
dependence on that Divine Spirit, who alone leads
into all truth, and unlocks the depths of his word,
is an indispensable condition to the right under
standing and application of the Divine Word in its
human embodiment ; so also is a careful attention
to all the human relations. The word of God
allows no slothful hearers ; it demands all the

22 PHILIPPIANS.
powers of the mind and Soul. Only thus can its
treasures be brought to light. If we fail of dis
covering these treasures, and lament over the want
of light to illumine the darkness of the present
state, it is because we have not met the required
conditions. We have none to reproach but our
selves. We may here apply those weighty words
of our Lord, adapted no less to stimulate and en
courage diligent inquiry, than for warning and re
buke : " He that hath, to him shall be given." ¦
In an especial manner is this true of the Letters
of the Apostles. In these we should find far more
to instruct, edify, and guide us in all the relations
of life, if we thus weighed the import of every
word. May the Spirit of the Lord enlighten and
guide us, that we may in this manner understand,
and learn to apply, one of the noblest epistles of
the Apostle Paul, written as no other could write,
and presenting to our eyes the living image of the
Apostle to the Gentiles !
First, then, we must bring before our view the
peculiar circumstances and relations, under which
Paul wrote this epistle. Zeal for the salvation of
the heathen world had drawn upon him the ex
tremest persecution of the enraged Jews, who

PHILIPPIANS. 23
grudged to the Gentiles an equal participation and
equal privileges with themselves, in the kingdom
of God. To this was owing his apprehension at
Jerusalem, his long imprisonment in Cesarea Stra-
tonis, and finally, through his appeal to Caesar, his
captivity at Pome. The issue of his fate was still
uncertain. In his imprisonment, he was far less
occupied with anxiety for his own life, than for the
welfare of the churches, scattered through various
regions, who through the dangers which beset their
Apostolic teacher might become unsettled in their
faith, deprived, as they were, of his personal gui
dance in this dark and troubled period. Through
his pupils and associates in the preaching of the
gospel, who now formed the living link between
him and these churches, and through his letters,
must the want be supplied. Among these churches
was that of Philippi in Macedonia. It was the first
church which Paul had founded in that country.
Its members had been witnesses of the ignominy
and suffering endured by Paul, on account of the
gospel, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.
They had witnessed the example he gave of bold
ness in the faith, of devotion to the Lord, of tri
umphant enthusiasm in his service, his joyfulness in

24 PHILIPPIANS.
suffering, and the wonderful deliverances wrought
for him by the Lord. This had served, in a spe
cial manner, to give greater depth and ardor to
their love for him, who was ready to sacrifice all
that he might bring them the glad tidings of sal
vation. They followed the example of their faith
ful teacher. As yet, indeed, Christianity had not
drawn upon itself the attention of the Roman civil
power ; nor had it become an object of persecution
through the state laws, as from its opposition to the
national religion must soon be the case, under a
civil constitution with which this was intimately in
terwoven. Accordingly no general persecution had
arisen, and the churches in most regions enjoyed
peace. In this respect, however, Macedonia form
ed an exception. Here, from the very first, the
malignant hatred of the Jews, who were scattered
in great numbers through the commercial cities,
had been excited against the preachers of the gos
pel, and all who embraced it ; and they had not
wanted means for producing discord between the
believers and tlieir fellow-citizens and associates
among the heathen. Although no civil laws as yet
existed against Christianity, still there were means
by which the heathen could, in many ways, dis-

PHILIPPIANS. 25
quiet and injure its new converts, distinguished by
their life and conversation in so striking a manner
from themselves. In the history of modern mis
sions the same thing is repeated, in the intercourse
between the new converts and their former heathen
associates. The church at Philippi remained
steadfast under all these persecutions. Their faith
and love had been approved thereby. Neither
could they be unsettled in their faith, by the per
secutions which had now befallen their Apostolic
teacher. They were conscious of that higher fel
lowship with him under all his conflicts and suffer
ings. His sufferings, and the dangers which hung
over him, but added new fuel to their love and sym
pathy. To manifest this to him they had sent one
of their own number, Epaphroditus, who might
also bring back to them more exact information of
his circumstances. We know that although the
right had been given to the Apostles, by the Lord,
to depend for their temporal necessities upon those
for whose spiritual welfare they labored, yet Paul
never availed himself of this privilege. As the
attracting and recovering grace of the Lord had
been exhibited towards him in so peculiar a man
ner ; as it had transformed him from the bitterest

26 PHILIPPIANS.
persecutor into the preacher of the gospel ; he felt
himself constrained to do more than others, called
by Christ in the ordinary way, and gradually fit
ted for his service, and to forbear the exercise of
a right to which he was equally entitled with them.
Thrust, as it were, by force into the work, he
would, by more abundant labor, endurance, priva
tion, manifest his unconstrained love for his ap
pointed calling. — (1 Cor. ix. 1*7-19.) It is to be
accounted his gift, growing out of his peculiar na
ture sanctified by the Holy Spirit, that he was able
to number himself among those whom Christ pro
nounces blessed, for having forborne marriage for
the kingdom of God's sake. Not that he would
call them blessed on account of the state of celib
acy, in and for itself; as if Paul could claim any
advantage over Peter, who in a marriage consecra
ted by the Lord, labored for the advancement of
the same cause ; but on account of the spirit which
led them to abstain from marriage, that love which
would offer up all to the kingdom of God. It was
this which animated Paul, and impelled him to
contemplate as a duty whatever might, under his
special circumstances, serve for the advancement
of his work, and to undertake it with joyful zeal.

PHILIPPIANS. 27
It was for this also, that amidst the labors of
preaching, he sustained himself with his own hands
as a tent-maker. He experienced in himself the
truth of the Lord's words, " It is more blessed to
give than to receive." In order to avoid every
appearance of self-seeking, and to take from the
opposers among the Jews and Judaizing Christians
every occasion of suspicion, he himself assumed the
whole charge of his temporal support. Still the
church at Philippi were moved, by their heartfelt
love to him, to anticipate his wants ; and knowing
how difficult he must often find it to earn a main
tenance, they had several times sent sums of money
for his necessities. Paul, though he sought no gift,
yet, in view of the feeling which prompted it,
could not reject the free-will-offering of love. This
church had now once more manifested in this way
their active sympathy for Paul, by sending to him
Epaphroditus. This circumstance, and what he
learned through their messenger of the condition
of the Philippian church, occasioned the writing
of this epistle. Its object was to express to the
church at Philippi his gratitude and love ; to re
lieve their anxiety respecting his own situation ;
to give them a view of his Christian state and tern-

28 PHILIPPIANS.
per in the midst of his conflicts and dangers ; and
to bestow upon them the counsels and encourage
ments suited to their peculiar circumstances.
We must now, therefore, direct our view to
Paul's situation in his imprisonment at Rome ; to
his demeanor in his captivity, as the mirror of
the state of his soul, so far as we can learn it from
this letter ; and to his counsels to the Philippian
church, in reference to their peculiar relations, as
furnishing suggestions applicable in numerous ways
to similar circumstances.
Looking first then at Paul's situation, we shall
perceive that this was adapted to produce great
variations of feeling. He had given his public
testimony for the Lord Jesus, and had made his
own defence. This defence had produced the gen
eral impression, that it was not as a disturber of
the public peace that this imprisonment had be
fallen him, nor for any other crime ; but only as
the preacher of a religion hated by the Jews*
Against this new faith, as we have already re-'
marked, there existed as yet no state law. If now
Paul could triumphantly establish his innocence
in this respect, it would seem that his safety was
* Chap.i. 13

PHILIPPIANS. 29
secured. But the Roman civil laws ever regarded
an individual as in some degree criminal, who
should seduce the citizens and subjects of the em
pire to apostasy from the state religion; and
should attempt to make proselytes to a new faith,'
which, if not condemned by an express law, was
yet in its nature opposed to the religion of the
state, and was not of the number recognized by
it as tolerated religions. Paul's case was, therefore,
by no means so simple a one. Many difficult ques
tions were involved in it. At times, the impres
sion made by his public defence would awaken in
him the expectation of a happy deliverance, and
that he might be permitted to visit the churches
founded early in his ministry, and among these
the church at Philippi. Again, the prospect of
death was before his mind. What then ? Do we
find his soul divided between fear and hope, de
spondency and joy, dependent upon the external
impression of these changeful circumstances, as is
wont to be the case with others in like situations ?
No ; one deep undertone of cheerful tranquillity,
of surrender to the will of the Lord, pervades the
whole epistle. We see the man, whose confidence
rests on an immovable foundation unaffected by

30 PHILIPPIANS.
change of circumstances, a foundation which no"
waves or storms can shake. He is certain that, in
one way or another, the Lord will conduct him
through these conflicts triumphantly to a glorious
end* With joyful confidence, he approaches the
termination of a life singly consecrated to one
holy service. He is conscious of not having la
bored in vain, as a faithful preacher of the truth,
which he sees bringing forth fruit in the churches.
These, as for instance the church at Philippi, are
the living memorial of his devoted labors for the
Lord, as he himself expresses it in this epistle ; the
witness that he has preached the word of the Lord
in purity ; his glory before the Lord when, at the
day of judgment, that shall be by Him brought
to light which was here concealed ; when much,
which here seemed to be somewhat, shall be ex
posed in its nothingness ; and when much, that
was misjudged and condemned by the world, shall
be acknowledged by the Lord as his own. How
nobly does this spirit of Paul express itself in the
words of this epistle, where he exclaims :f " And
even if I be offered^ upon the sacrifice and priestly
service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with "you
* Chap. i. 19, 20. f Chap. ii. 17, 18. X Literally, poured out.

PHILIPPIANS. 31
all; in like manner should ye also joy and re
joice with me." We must endeavor to make clear
the full import of these weighty words. — The
Lord Christ is the one Mediator, between God
and the sinful human race redeemed by him.
Through him all, who believe on him and enter
into fellowship with him, are taken out of the un
godly world and consecrated as a holy community
to God. Thus do they all become one priestly
generation. There is no longer the distinction of
Priests and Laity. All afe become, through him
and in fellowship with him, what he himself is, — ¦
Priests before the God of Jesus Christ who is also
their God, before his Father who is also their
Father. Their whole life is a priestly calling ; as
Paul represents it, Rom. xii. 1, "a reasonable ser
vice," that is, a spiritual worship proceeding from
the rational nature, the soul. Herein the whole
spiritual life manifests itself as a God-devoted, to
God presented self-sacrifice; every inward and
outward act as done in fellowship with Christ, as
performed in his name, pervaded by his Spirit, en-
stamped with his image, a thank-offering and a
praise-offering of the redeemed, well pleasing in
the sight of God. This being true of all the acts

32 PHILIPPIANS.
of each Christian in his proper vocation, Paul re
gards as his own priestly calling the Apostolic
work ; as his own acceptable offering to God, the
faith planted by him among the Gentiles and the
Christian life of the converted heathen world. It
is in this sense he speaks, in these words to his
Philippian brethren, of " the sacrifice and priestly
service of their faith" as his offering to God. It
was customary, moreover, to pour out wine upon
the altar, a so-called libation, as a seal of the offer
ing. Paul, foreseeing that his own blood might be
poured out in his priestly office of proclaiming the
Gospel among the heathen, that he might be called
to testify to what he preached in the very face of
death, and to put the seal of martyrdom upon his
life's work, here speaks of the outpouring of his
own blood as a libation, — an offering of himself
upon the sacrifice. Thus, with joyful confidence,
the Apostle advances towards so glorious a con
summation of his work. Far from needing solace
from others, he could call on the Philippians to
rejoice with him. Uncertain whether he was to
finish his captivity by the martyr's death, or
whether his life would be preserved to labor still
for the advancement of the kingdom of God upon

PHILIPPIANS. 33
the earth, he was prepared for both, submissive
in either case to the divine will. The will of the
Lord was his will. The result would show, in
what way it was the purpose of the Lord to make
his life most subservient to His own glory. He
was in a strait betwixt two, — longing to depart,
out of the conflicts of the earthly life, into the
peace of the spirit's heavenly home ; from where
the Lord is seen only by the eye of faith, to where
in blissful nearness he becomes an object of sight.
Although Paul was certain even in this his earthly
life of union with the Lord, he was far from feel
ing himself satisfied with what he already en
joyed. Not merely from external conflicts had he
learned, that this is not the land of peace prom
ised to the Christian, and sought for by his long
ing spirit. To those internal conflicts, yet more
severe, which the life of faith must ever sustain,
he was no stranger. Herein also had his Saviour
led the way ; he who cried " My soul is exceeding
sorrowful even unto death !" and, " My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me !" One of his
sore trials he calls " a thorn in the flesh ;" com
paring it to the anguish inflicted by a- thorn fixed
and rankling in the flesh. It was the painful ex-

34 PHILIPPIANS.
perience of his own human weakness, in contrast
with the revelation of the divine glory, which at
times was imparted to him. Thus was he taught
to distinguish what is divine and what is human,
what belongs to this life and what to the life be
yond. Thus too was he to learn, that the land of
heavenly peace, after which the renewed spirit
sighs, is not to be found on earth. Although
Paul, as his life and his epistles testify, had made
great advances in personal sanctification, yet he
was far from wishing to separate himself from the
number of those, who as sinners seek in Christ for
justification ; far from holding himself to be a sin
less saint. He knew well that he had still to main
tain the conflict with sin, and that he must perse
vere in that conflict faithfully to the end, if he
would stand before the Lord. We need only to
hear his own professions, as when warning the Corin
thians against a false security he writes (1 Cor. ix.
27) : " But I keep under my body, and bring it"
into subjection ; lest, having preached to others, I
myself should be a cast-away." By these words
he describes his unceasing conflict with himself,
lest after having brought others to salvation by
the preaching of the word, which through the in-

PHILIPPIANS. 35
dwelling divine power works independently of
the preacher, and brings forth fruit to eternal life,
he should himself be overcome by temptation and
fall short of that goal to which he has conducted
others. The figure, of which Paul here makes use,
is taken from the boxing combats of the ancients.
The body is represented as the antagonist with
whom the boxer contends ; implying a still con
tinued resistance of the body, once the servant of
sin, against the divine hfe in the spirit. Paul de
scribes himself as one, who by unremitting effort
makes his body, the organ of sanctification en
trusted to him, serviceable to himself as the ser
vant of Christ. This conflict with the body of
sin, inasmuch as the whole outward life of man
manifests itself in the body, designates in general
the entire conflict still to be waged by the spirit
ual against the fleshly man, by the new man
against the old ; — and this in the case even of a
Paul. Thus Paul, instructed by his rigorous self-*
examination, is far from supposing when he con
templates his own life, that he has already reached
the limit of heavenly perfection, or that he could
build his confidence thereon as if it were a Hfe of
perfected sanctification. " Not as if I had already

36 PHILIPPIANS.
attained, or were already perfect," is his o»,_
beautiful expression of his conviction, in a passage
of this epistle which we shall presently consider.
Paul, then, was conscious that the blessings pro
nounced by the Lord : " Blessed are they who
hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they
shall be filled !" " Blessed are the pure in heart
for they shall see God !" were not as yet com
pletely fulfilled in him, but were still, in a certain
sense, a promise looking into the future. More
over, although Paul had been elevated, in his per
ception of divine things, above others of his own
time and of all time; although he could claim
that single higher revelations, over and above that
which was to be the subject of general proclama
tion, had been vouchsafed to him ; yet -he well
knew that all this was but partial and fragmen
tary, far from that completeness of knowledge be
fore whose light all which is called in this life
higher perception, prophecy, the gift of tongues,
shall vanish away. He reckons himself among
those, whose knowledge of divine things is like
objects obscurely reflected in a mirror, where much
still remains uncertain ; a knowledge which, in re
lation to that of the eternal world, is as the

PHILIPPIANS. 37
knowledge of the child, to that of the mature
man. He was fully conscious, that when he should
be raised to the full vision of the life above, that
which he knew of divine things in this life must
be cast, aside by him, as the mature man casts
aside the conceptions of childhood. The twilight
of the earthly life of faith did not satisfy the aspi
rations of his soul, which thirsted after knowl
edge ; and he longed to pass into that pure day
of heavenly clearness, where our knowledge of
God and divine things will be inward, immediate,
a direct perception of that which is present, a
knowing as we are known. We see then that, in
all these respects, Paul was penetrated with the
full consciousness that the hope which has refer
ence to the future, not less than the present exer
cise of faith, constitutes the life of the Christian.
Apart from this undoubting prospect into the fu
ture, the whole Christian life seems to him an
effort without aim, a chase after a phantom, a de
ceptive show; as he expresses it 1 Cor. xv. 19,
" If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we
are of all men most miserable." For the life of
others is directed towards some aim, higher or
lower, of the sensual or spiritual life, which may

38 PHILIPPIANS.
actually be attained on earth. But the life of
the Christian, with all its conflicts, labors, and
privations, has reference to an object which has
no reality, if it be not found in the eternal hfe of
the future. It is from this point of view that
Paul reproaches the proudly secure Corinthians,
with having lost the consciousness of this distinc
tion between the present and the hereafter, be
tween the conflict of the earthly and the triumph
of the eternal life. In their spirit and conduct
they seemed as if already in possession of all
riches, enjoying full satisfaction, the contentment
of all necessities, with no farther warfare from
within or from without. With this he contrasts the
wholly different image of the Apostle's life (1 Cor.
4 : 8). " Ye are," says he, " already become full,
ye are already become rich, ye reign without us."
They were in spirit and conduct, as if the kingdom
of Christ had with them already reached its con
summation ; and they, as partakers therein, had at
tained to all riches, to the satisfaction of all their
desires. And would this were so, says he ; would
they had already attained to this participation in
the perfected kingdom of Christ ; for then, assu
redly, the Apostles would not have been excluded

PHILIPPIANS. 39
therefrom, nor would their circumstances be such
as they now are. Thus he holds up before them
his own life of conflict, in contrast with their false
security, their unauthorized and groundless exul
tation. (1 Cor. iv. 9-13.)
Thus there was reason sufficient even for Paul,
though rejoicing in conflicts for Christ's sake, and
finding therein his glory, still to long after that
perfect union with the Lord in the life to come.
In earlier years, indeed, we find him constantly re
ferring to the contrast between the earthly life of
faith, and the consummation not to be enjoyed till
the resurrection. But at a later period, especially
from the date of his second epistle to the Corin
thians, we remark in him an ever increasing con
sciousness, that, as a necessary result of the insepa
rable union of believers with their Lord, both in
his sufferings and his exaltation, they also shall on
their departure from the earthly existence enter at
once on a higher life of vision, into a higher, more
undisturbed fellowship with Him. Thus in the
fifth chapter of the second epistle to the Corin
thians, he in this view represents the abiding in
the flesh as an absence from the Lord, that is, from
the immediate vision of Christ; while the state

40 PHILIPPIANS.
which follows, entered through death, through the
laying off of the earthly life, is a being at home
with the Lord — (2 Cor. v. 8). He expresses the
same conviction in this epistle to the Philippians.
Christ is his life.* He distinguishes life in this sense
from his life in the flesh.f Christ is his true life ;
he has no life except in him, none apart from him.
In him that which alone he calls life, has its being ;
it has its root in union with Him. And as Christ,
having laid aside human infirmity, having risen
and ascended to Heaven, now reigns triumphant
in the Divine Life, living in the power of God a
life exalted above the reach of death ; so also is
this true of the life of the believer, as being one
with His own, yea one with Himself. And hence
Paul concludes, that although even now, while
abiding in the flesh, he has Christ for his true life ;
yet death is for him gain, inasmuch as through the
laying off of the earthly existence, this true life,
which has its being in Christ, shall be freed from
the checks, hindrances, and disturbances by which
it is still clogged, and shall attain to its complete
development. He knows, that with his departure
from the earthly life, will commence his " Being
* Chap. L 21. f Ver. 22.

PHILIPPIANS. 41
with Christ"* in that more perfect sense, his pres
ence with Him as an object of immediate vision.
Hence this is the goal of his desires.
But there are two mistakes, against which the.
example of the Apostle warns us, viz. : the declen
sion, on the one hand, of that longing after the
blessedness to come, which, as we have seen, is in
separable from the very nature and essence of the
Christian life ; and on the other, such a one-sided
morbid predominance of this desire, as to weaken
the exercise of patient submission to the will of the
Lord. As to the first, we remark, that it is not
alone in the enjoyment of earthly gratifications,
which we should ever remember are in their na
ture transitory and but a shadow and pledge of
those higher, eternal, heavenly joys, that the Chris
tian may suffer the loss of this heavenward desire.
Even his activity, in a calling entrusted to him for
the promotion of the kingdom of God, may like
wise so absorb him as to obscure the consciousness
that he has here no abiding home, that his native
country is in Heaven. He labors as if this work
upon earth, which is but the beginning of a higher
activity destined for eternity, were to be consum-
* Chap. i. 23.

42 PHILIPPIANS.
t mated here, as if it were already the work of eter
nity. Hence the thought that here all remains
fragmentary, that nothing reaches completion,
nothing attains to its end, withdraws itself from-
him ; and death surprises him in the midst of his
labors, consecrated though they be to God, as an
unexpected unwelcome guest, who finds him unpre
pared. He is called away before he has finished
his account ; and instead of following joyfully the
summons to a release from the sufferings of time,
his heart clings fast to that earthly scene of labor
which he too reluctantly quits, to those happy re
sults of his labors on which he has set too high a
value. Here may be applied the admonition of
the Lord : " Rejoice not that the spirits are subject
unto you, but rather rejoice that your names are
written in Heaven." ) This heavenward longing is
ever the salt of the Christian life, amidst all sor
rows, all joys ; in every season of repose, in every
labor. But on the other hand, this very desire, in
itself perfectly right, but needing to be restrained
by submission to the holy will of God, an,d by
fidelity to the calling appointed us in this earthly
life, becomes itself an error when it oversteps these
boundaries. Thus arises a one-sided direction of

PHILIPPIANS. 43
feeling, an impatient haste for the call, which
should be waited for with a steadfast unfaltering
patience. In this undue, all-engrossing longing af-
• ter the eternal, the importance of the earthly life
and of its duties, connected as they are with the
eternal, is forgotten. Earthly joy, and earthly la
bor, lose ^he proper value assigned them in the
divine arrangement. That which the goodness of
God has given us for the moment, as an earnest
and a preparation for the higher joys of the future,
is impatiently and unthankfully contemned. The
consciousness is wanting, which should be ever pre
sent with the Christian, that for the redeemed uni
ted in fellowship with Christ, even here below, the
earthly of whatever name, whether it consist in re
ceiving or in doing, whether it be enjoyment or
labor, is transformed into the heavenly. The tem
per of mind, which Paul's words exhibit, holds the
just medium between these two extremes. The
longing after the life of eternity, after the imme
diate society of the Lord, continues to be the
ground-tone of his soul, which no other can over
power. Through all the pressure of his labors in
the service of God, this longing after the heavenly
rest is not smothered, is not crowded from his

44 PHILIPPIANS.
heart. But he is far from an over-hasty impatience,
which cannot await the end of the earthly conflict ;
far also from that more refined selfishness, which
cannot endure to strive and labor longer for the <
salvation of others, and be still deprived of the
quiet enjoyment of heavenly blessedness. Though
to depart from the earthly life, and to be present
with the Lord in a perfect personal union, be the
goal of his desires ; he is yet ready to deny this
desire, the offspring of what is noblest in man, in
order to labor still upon the earth and to strive
for the salvation of his brethren. If it may serve
for the advancement of the work entrusted to him
by the Lord, he is willing yet longer to forego the
object of his wishes, and to be still a wanderer
upon the earth. Love to his brethren, who may
need him for their salvation, enables him to present
this offering willingly ; and thus drawn hither and
thither by these two directions of his desires, he re
mains submissive in either event to the will of the
Lord. But one desire remains fixed and unwaver
ing, to which all others must yield, viz. : — That
Christ may be glorified through him, be it by life
or by death. Let us hear his own noble words : —
" As I earnestly expect and hope, that in nothing

PHILIPPIANS. 45
I shall be put to shame ; but that with all bold
ness, as at all other times so also now, Christ may
be glorified in my body, whether it be by life or
by death. For Christ is my life, and death is gain.
But if my life in the flesh is fruitful for my work,
— then I know not which to choose. For I am in
a strait betwixt the two ; desiring to depart and
to be with Christ, for this is far better."* Still he
gives that the preference, which may most sub
serve the welfare of the churches which he has
founded ; and hence he adds : " But to abide in the
flesh is more needful for your sake." His love to
the churches inspires him, at this moment, with the
confident expectation (which indeed as he well knew
might prove illusive, but which as we have reason
to believe, was fulfilled by his release from his first
imprisonment at Rome) that God would again re
store him to their society, for the strengthening of
their faith and the furtherance of their joy. "And
having this confidence, I know that I shall remain,
and shall continue with you all, for your further
ance and joy in the faith; that your glorying on
my account may abound in Christ Jesus (i. e. the
exulting joy which Christ should bestow upon
* Chap. i. 20-28.

46 PHILIPPIANS.
them by the restoration of Paul to their society)—
through my coming again to you."
We here observe in Paul the example of sub
mission to the divine will, both in doing and in
suffering, in self-sacrifice and self-preservation.
Surrendering his own will, he is ready for what
ever God may appoint, be it life or death, as may
best promote the work committed to him. Filled
with longing after the home of heaven, he yet
seeks not death. For the good of the churches he
willingly remains on earth. Only in the faithful
performance of the duties of his calling is death to
him a divine gift, to be joyfully received from the
hand of his Heavenly Father. Thus, in. life and
in death, it is alike the same operation of self-de
nying love. This example of Paul has primary
and immediate reference to the martyr's death, the
genuine Christian martyrdom purified from aH ad
mixture of fanaticism. But is it not also applica
ble to death under all circumstances, and in the
ordinary course of nature ? In that case too, there
may be either that spirit of selfish impatience,
which, though it ventures not presumptuously to
sever the thread of the earthly Hfe, is not willing
to endure it longer; or that selfish love to the

PHILIPPIANS. 47
earthly life, which clings to this with its whole
strength, which cannot let it go when the call of
God requires. Thus, in both these -respects, does
Paul's, example of a love consecrated to God in
self-sacrifice and self-preservation, find an applica
tion here. Thus should each Christian become, in
respect to living and dying, one with him in spirit,
though his calling may not lead to the martyr's
death, i
Furthermore, we here observe in Paul that
higher degree of self-renunciation, which manifests
itself not in the relinquishment of temporal earth
ly interests, which could have no attraction for a
Paul, but in the relinquishment of the higher in
terests of the immortal spirit. It is a heavenly
aspiration, which enkindles the lofty soul of the
Apostle. His desires reach beyond the narrow
limits and perplexities of the earthly existence af
ter the immediate vision of Christ, in him to find
the full satisfaction of all the wants of the higher
life. This to his spirit would be the highest good.
Yet even this he foregoes. He is ready to relin
quish what is dearest to himself, to forego the sat
isfaction of that heaven-born desii'e, to abide still
longer in the strange country, to labor still upon

48 PHILIPPIANS.
earth, striving and suffering for the welfare of
others'. What is -best for the churches, for the
furtherance of God's kingdom upon the earth, is
more to him than what is best for himself. Now
this example is not to be restricted to its merely
Hteral application to a precisely similar case, viz. :
when one who is penetrated with longing for the
heavenly father-land, is yet obliged to bear the
load of the earthly life for the welfare of others.
It may in its spirit be' applied to every case, where
the Christian is called on to relinquish a course of
life most favorable to his own spiritual interests, a
life of tranquil and collected thought consecrated
to devotion ; and to plunge into a whirl of busi
ness, toil, and conflict alien to the higher inclina
tions of his soul, but where he is appointed to la
bor because the salvation of others requires it.
In this respect also, Paul furnishes for our imita
tion an example of self-denying love, which shuns
no sacrifice for the good of others. How often
have Christians, who should be the salt of the
earth, by withdrawing themselves from its corrup
tion acted in contrariety to this example !
Let us present still another view in which aU
Christians have an interest. While Paul stands

PHILIPPIANS. 49
thus between life and death, whereon is his confi
dence grounded ? He, if any one, was a faithful
laborer in the work of the Lord. He was con
scious of having labored more than all others in
the proclamation of the gospel. But he knew at
the same time that this was not his own work, but
the grace of God accomplishing all through him ;
as he himself says : " I have labored more abun
dantly than they all ; yet not I, but the grace of
God which was with me." When higher conside
rations demanded his self-justification, against sus
picions which might shake the confidence of the
churches in him, he could indeed recount what he
had done and suffered above others for the cause
of the Lord (2 Cor. xi. 22, 23). He could appeal
to the memorials of what he had endured in the
cause of Christ, in whose fellowship he suffered,
and whom he followed in his sufferings ; to the
marks enstamped in his body by the Lord himself
(such as soldiers and servants were accustomed to
bear) as proofs that he was Christ's servant. (Gal.
vi. 7). Still, when looking towards the close of
his earthly course, he reviewed his life so abundant
in labors and sufferings for the Lord, as it now
spread out before him, he felt that he could not
3

50 PHILIPPIANS.
rest his confidence on what he had himself done.
All seemed marked with imperfection. He was
constrained to forget what he had already accom
plished, and to fix his eye upon what still remained
for him to do. It was with him a law, to forget
what was already done, what lay behind, and to
press, continually forward towards the prize ofthe
heavenly calHng. It may, at first view, seem.
strange, that Paul expresses himself so doubtfully
on the great point, whether he shall attain to the
victor's crown of life, shall share in the blessedness
of the resurrection. It seems to be in conflict with
that divine confidence which breathes through the
whole epistle, and which he expresses elsewhere in
regard to the object of his hope ; as e. g. in 2 Tim.
iv. 8 : _" I have fought a good fight, I have finished
the course, I have kept the faith." But this con
flict belongs to the nature of the Christian life, and
is ever recurring in the experience of the believer.
Does the Christian look away from himself to his
Redeemer, to the delivering grace assured to him,
the unchangeable word of promise ; the goal to
wards which all his. efforts tend, seems then an ob
ject of perfect certainty. Does he, on the other
hand, test his .own Hfe by the standard of perfect

PHILIPPIANS. 51
holiness ; his confidence then finds no firm ground.
Defects and blemishes present themselves every
where to his view; and this all the more the
farther he has advanced in holiness, the more his
sight has been sharpened by the power of the Holy
Spirit, to recognize the model of divine hoHness in
its application to himself, to test by comparison
with this pattern his inner and outer life in its
nakedness and poverty, to penetrate into the hid
den windings of his own heart. Hence Paul ex
presses himself so doubtfully in reference to what
he is in himself, and has himself accomplished.
What he has performed seems to him nothing, and
he only looks forward to that which remains to be
done. He is penetrated with the consciousness,
that he is yet far from having attained perfection.
But the ground of his confidence is this — that
Chi'ist has taken him into fellowship with himself,
that Christ has apprehended him ; and hence he
hopes, that as he has been apprehended of Christ,
he also shall apprehend the prize set before him
by Christ. He knows that Christ, by whom he
has been apprehended, will not leave unfinished
the work he has himself begun in him ; but, if he
truly surrenders himself to his hands, will conduct

52 PHILIPPIANS.
it through all conflicts to a glorious completion.
Let us hear his own brief, expressive words : " Not
as though I had already attained, or were already
perfect; but I follow after, if I may api_rehend
that for which I am apprehended of Christ Jesus."
So important does Paul deem it to set forth, in the
clearest Hsiht, this truth drawn from his own self-
consciousness and from his Christian experience,
and to bring it home to the Christian as a warning
against self-satisfaction, self-righteousness, and spir
itual pride ! Hence he adds yet again : " My
brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended.
But this one thing I do; forgetting the things
which are behind, and reaching forth unto the
things which are before, I press towards the mark
for the prize of the high caUing of God in Christ
Jesus." Paul was conscious in himself of the utter
insufficiency of man's own righteousness, not mere
ly of that to which the vital principle is yet want
ing, that which precedes regeneration and exists in
dependently of Christianity ; but of that also which
possesses already in faith the true element of sanc
tification, without having as yet brought this to
complete development and realization. Hence, the
only immovable ground of his confidence is Christ,

PHILIPPIANS. 53
by whom he has been apprehended ; and whom
he, surrendering himself wholly to his hands, seeks
ever more to apprehend and to appropriate as his
own. Looking away from himself to Christ, his
assurance is complete ; looking back upon himself,
he must doubt and waver ; and thus he is driven
to look away from himself, and to cling more and
more firmly to Christ, from whose love nothing can
separate him. It is the righteousness of God in
Christ which alone avails for him, and is all-suffi
cient for him ; as expressed in the words of this
e(pis tie, " The righteousness which is of God by
faith." To him Christ is all. All centres in this
one point, that we enter into his fellowship and
make it more and more our own ; that we follow
him by bearing the cross, thus following him as
crucified for us ; that in feUowship with him we
die to sin, to self, and to the world ; following him
in the entire renunciation of selfish and earthly in
terests, not shunning to partake in the fellowship
of his sufferings ; and following him also as the
Risen One, experiencing in ourselves the power
of his resurrection — the resurrection to an imper
ishable and divine Hfe above sin, death, and na
ture, proceeding from him to us, inasmuch as he

54 PHILIPPIANS.
has apprehended us and we apprehend him So
Paul expresses it, in a passage which we must more
particularly consider hereafter : " That I may know
him and the power of his resurrection and the
fellowship of his sufferings, being made conforma
ble unto his death ; if by any means I might attain
unto the resurrection of the dead." We have al
ready explained how the Apostle could here ex
press himself with so much apparent doubtfulness,
consistently with his divine assurance of faith.
It was the greatest joy of the Apostle, that his
imprisonment must necessarily serve for the fur
therance of the Gospel ; since it was becoming
more and more known, that no guilt of any kind
could be imputed to him, that it was but his zeal
for the faith which he preached that had drawn
upon him all his sufferings. A cause, to which a
man Hke Paul felt constrained to offer up every
thing, could not fail to command attention. To
this was added the impression necessarily made
upon those, who were witnesses of the enthusiasm
with which he testified in behalf of the Gospel, of
his steadfastness, and of his whole course of life.
The knowledge of this had spread, as he intimates,
by means of the soldiers from the imperial guard

PHILIPPIANS. 55
(the c&stris praetor t'anis) who held watch by turn
in his dwelling, among their comrades and from
these still more widely. Other Christians were
stimulated by Paul's example to preach the Gos
pel with similar zeal, and to bear their testimony
with like fearlessness. Thus increased the procla
mation of the truth.
But Paul himself makes a great distinction
among these preachers of the Gospel. Thus, when
expressing his joy at the increasing promulgation
of the Gospel, he says, "Some indeed preach Christ
from envy and strife ; but others also from good
will: the one out of love, knowing that I am set
for the defence of the Gospel." The latter, he
means to say, connect with their love to the Gos
pel also love to himself. They know that they
can cause him no greater joy, than by laboring
that the Gospel may be promoted by his imprison
ment ; for they well know that this is the one ob
ject of his life, and that he himself regards it as
the divinely appointed end of all that he is to do
and to suffer in life. " But the others," he pro
ceeds to say, " out of party spirit, not sincerely,
supposing to add affliction to my bonds." The
first is clear. But who are those who sought, by

56 PHILIPPIANS.
the preaching of the Gospel, to add affliction to
Paul's imprisonment, and whom he charges with
insincerity ? We must here take into view what
he afterwards says in reference to this distinction,
viz. that by the one class Christ was preached in
truth, by the other only in appearance. Are we
to suppose that these men, without personal love
to the Gospel, without personal conviction of its
truth, preached Christ for no other reason than to
add to the hardship of Paul's situation, and to-
bring him into greater danger by the' wider exten
sion of the Gospel in Rome ; thus rendering him,
as the origin of it all, more obnoxious to the Ro
man civil power ? It appears at once how unnat
ural, and intrinsically improbable, is such a suppo
sition. If they could thus bring Paul into greater
peril, they would by so doing plunge themselves
into equal danger. Can it be imagined that one
would play so hazardous a game, simply from ha
tred to another ? He who at that time did not
himself believe in the Gospel, must be enlisted
against it ; and would certainly not have given
himself up to the business of preaching it, merely
as the means to another end. We must seek, then,
another explanation of this difficulty. When it is

PHILIPPIANS. 57
said of an individual that he preaches the Gospel
only in appearance, this need not be understood
as necessarily meaning that he has no concern
whatever in regard to the subject of his preaching ;
that he has no personal interest in it, no convic
tion of its truth, that he makes use of it only as a
means to another end. It may mean that he
preaches it, not in its purity and completeness, but
mingled with foreign elements ; that although an
interest in it cannot be denied him, yet this is not
perfect and unalloyed. In this sense it might be
said of such an one, that he does not preach the
Gospel sincerely. Paul might therefore express
himself thus, in regard to persons who testified of
the Gospel of Christ from real conviction ; yet
did not preach the whole, unmixed, pure Gospel
in its completeness, but an adulterated, mutilated
Gospel. And when, moreover, he says of such.
that they were actuated by party zeal and hatred
against him, desiring to add new affliction to his
sufferings; it is not necessary to understand by
this, that their witness for the Gospel was mere
pretence, a form of hypocrisy to which the cir
cumstances of the time afforded no occasion and
no ground; but that their ruling motive in
3*

58 PHILIPPIANS.
preaching was not pure love to the Lord, that it
was their aim, consciously or unconsciously to
themselves, by their manner of preaching to give
offence to Paul, and to raise up for themselves a
party • against him.
If now we look farther into the history of the
development of Christianity in this its earliest pe
riod, and investigate more minutely, in the history
of the Apostolic church, the peculiar relations and
opposing influences under which Paul's labors
were prosecuted, we shall soon be in a position to
determine with greater exactness what we have
here remarked in general. We know that Paul
had to contend with opposers, to whom all that
has here been said is applicable. There were
those who did indeed acknowledge and preach
Jesus as the Messiah, but a Messiah in the Jewish
sense ; who acknowledged him, not as that which
he has revealed himself to be, the only ground of
salvation for man ; who in connection with the one
article of faith, that Jesus was the Messiah prom
ised in the Old Testament, still adhered to the
Jewish legal position; who understood nothing
of the new creation of which Christ was the au
thor, and to whom faith in Jesus as the Messiah

PHILIPPIANS. 59
was only a new patch upon the old garment of
Judaism. These were the opposers, with whom
we so often find Paul contending in his Epistles.
Of such he might justly say, that they preached
the Gospel not purely and sincerely, but only in
appearance ; for they were indeed far more con
cerned for Judaism than foj* Christianity, and their
converts became rather Jews than Christians. -Of
such he might also say, that they sought to form a
party against him, and to add affliction to his
bonds ; for these persons everywhere seem chiefly-
animated by jealousy of Paid, through whom the
Gospel was preached to the heathen world as freed
from all dependence upon Judaism, and standing
upon its own foundation. They oppose them
selves to him on aU occasions, contest his Apos
tolic dignity, seek to encroach on his sphere of
labor, to draw over the people from him to them
selves, from that pure and complete Gospel to
their own mutilated one. And it need not sur
prise us to meet such even in Rome ; for Paul's
Epistle to the church at Rome, written some years
previous to his imprisonment there, shows us in
this churchj consisting chiefly of Gentile converts,
a small party of such judaizing Christians who

60 PHILIPPIANS.
were in conflict with the rest. It was a matter of
course, then, that when the pure Gospel in the
sense of Paul was preached by the one party,
the other, provoked to rivalry, should rise up in
opposition and seek to give currency to their own
corrupted form of the Gospel.
We must now endeavor to understand fully
Paul's position towards these opposers. Rightly
understood, it wUl furnish an important rule for
our own appHcation in many cases. In the first
place, it is clear that these men were personal
enemies of Paul ; and that in their efforts to pro
mote the Gospel, their object was to frustrate the
labors of the Apostle, and to form a party of
their own in opposition to him. What self-renun
ciation must it then have required, to enable Paul
to rise so entirely above this personal relation,-
that forgetting the design against himself he can
rejoice with his whole heart that the One Christ,
whom it is his sole desire to glorify, is preached,
even though it be by his personal enemies ! Thus
everything pertaining to self gives place to that
aU-absorbing love to the Lord,' and to those for
whom He gave his life. How rare are the exam
ples of a love so heaven-like, so purified from aU

PHILIPPIANS. 61
selfishness! One may even be animated by real
zeal for the cause of the Lord, and yet that zeal
be impaired by personal considerations. If others,
who from unfriendly designs against him person
ally labor to frustrate his efforts, are used as in
struments for the promotion of the same holy
cause, — he cannot rejoice over it. That this is ac
complished not through himself, but through
those who are acting against him, weighs more
with him than the common interest of Christ's
cause ; and instead of giving him joy, it becomes
a source of vexation, jealousy, and envy. He is not
concerned alone that Christ should be preached,
but that He should be preached through him ; or
at least through his followers, through those who
in every respect harmonize with him, and ac
knowledge him as their teacher in Christianity.
Least of all can he endure it, when Christ is
preached by those who take a hostile attitude
towards himself; whose most zealous effort it is to
lessen his reputation, to throw suspicion on him as
a teacher, to draw men away from him. To this
course of conduct, which we so frequently observe
among men, the Apostle's self-denying zeal forms
the most striking contrast. He acted in accord-

62 PHILIPPIANS.
ance with the principle which he himself lays >
down in 1 Cor. iii. 21, showing in what Hght the
preachers of the Gospel should be regarded. " Let
no man," says he, " glory in men ;" the highest,
the only concern is the honor of Christ, and the
salvation of believers.
Thus would the case be easily understood, and
thus might Paul's conduct serve as a pattern for
us, if it were merely a matter of personal variance
and not a strife respecting the nature of the doc
trine itself. But, as we have already seen, this
was by ho means the case. It is a false form of
doctrine, placing itself in competition with the
preaching of Paul and in opposition to it, a muti
lated and corrupted Gospel that is here spoken of.
Those opposers, it is true, acknowledged Jesus to
be the Christ, but not in the sense in which Paul
received him. It was not in his fall character as
the sole ground of salvation, the central point of
the whole Christian life, as he was regarded by
Paul. Hence, we might naturally suppose, Paul
could not rejoice that Christ was preached through
them, since it was not in his pure complete char
acter. And indeed, we see Paul dealing else
where quite differently with such persons. How

PHILIPPIANS. 63
indignantly does he combat them in the Epistle to
the Galatians ! He does not acknowledge them
as preachers of the same Gospel ; he declares that
there is no other Gospel than that preached by
him ; that they do but pervert the Gospel of
Christ. In opposition to those who would connect
with the Gospel the righteousness of the law, he
says : " If righteousness come by the Law, then
has Christ died in vain" (Gal. ii. 21). And in this
Epistle also he expresses himself, as we shall see
hereafter, with equal severity in regard to this
false tendency. How then is Paul's manner ot
speaking in this passage, to be reconcUed with
what he says in those other cases ? It is only ne
cessary to discriminate carefully the different re
lations, presupposed by this diversity of judgment
and conduct. Paul manifests this warmth of dis
pleasure, only in cases where the Gospel- had al
ready gained a foothold among the Gentiles, and
where that judaizing tendency threatened to per
vert it, by intermingling so much of Judaism as
wholly to obscure its peculiar nature. For it could
only cause him grief, that the blessing of which a
people were already in full possession, should be
marred and taken from them. But it was other-

64 PHILIPPIANS.
wise here, where he speaks in relation to the
heathen who as yet knew nothing of Christianity.
Those preachers bore witness at least to the fact,
that Jesus had appeared to found the kingdom of
God in man ; they testified of his history, the facts
of his life, his resurrection, his ascension to heaven ;
although they did not themselves comprehend,
nor were able to unfold to others, how much was
involved in all this. Now Paul could not but re
joice that the common foundation of the Gospel,
a knowledge of the person and history of Christ,
should be made known to those who as yet had
heard nothing of them. This was the first tiling ;
the starting-point from which aU the rest must
proceed. If this personage, these facts, became
once known and could be made objects of atten
tion, here was a basis for stiU further labors. If
Christ, the crucified, the risen, the ascended Christ,
could but once be known and acknowledged,
those who had gone thus far might, from this
starting-point, be led onward to find still more in
him; might be assisted to search deeper and
deeper into the inexhaustible riches which are in
Christ. Paul could therefore rejoice that Christ
was preached, even though it was in this defective

PHILIPPIANS. 65
manner ; though the doctrine of Christ were not
presented in its purity and completeness. There
are, it must be remembered, different degrees in
the knowledge of Christ. More or less may be
found in him. We must therefore deal with no
one as an enemy, because he has at first but little ;
but must help him on from this point that he may
gain more, that he may become conscious of those
greater treasures, which he needs but rightly to
develop out of that which he has already received;
" till," as Paul expresses it in the fourth chapter
of the Epistle to the Ephesians, " we all come to
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."
Paul's conduct, in this case, is in accordance with
the principle indicated by Christ himself. When
the disciples met with one, who attributed to
Christ's name a power whereby evil spirits might
be cast out, they refused to allow the use of that
name by one who had not as yet become his pro
fessed disciple, and who had not made common
cause with them by uniting himself to their com
pany. But Christ, rebuked them, in those mem
orable words: "He who is not against us, is on

6.6 PHILIPPIANS.
our part." "Not to be against Christ" contained
in itself the germ, from which the positive, "to be
for Christ," might yet be developed. Though he
did not as yet know Christ as the Apostles knew
him, though he was still ignorant of the true sig
nificance and power of this name, and connected
many errors with his belief in its efficacy; still it
was a germ of faith not to be despised, a germ from
which more might develope itself and be develop
ed. It was a point of connection, from which one
who had gained so much could be led still farther.
It needed only that he should be brought to per
ceive what was implied in this, what must be pre
supposed in the strange efficacy of the invocation
of Christ's name. Who must He be, from whose
name such power proceeds ! In what relation
must He stand to the kingdom of evil, when his
name exercises such sway over evil spirits ! It is
clear that he who had once acknowledged somucb.
was already in a position, from which, with pa
tience and love, he might be conducted farther
and farther in knowledge and faith. From him
who as yet was only not an opposerof Christ, who
knew and recognized Christ in some single point
of view, might be formed by building upon that

PHILIPPIANS. 67
which he had already attained, a positive disciple.
of Christ. But he might also, if not thus dealt
with, if too much was required of him with his
present attainments, be wholly repelled. Not
only might he be hindered from farther progress
by such harsh treatment, but be unsettled in re
gard to what he had already gained; and thus the
germ of truth, in its yet imperfect development,
might be wholly destroyed. Against such a
course we are warned by those words of Christ ;
and with these Paul accords when he rejoices that
Christ was preached and acknowledged, even
though in an obscured and defective manner.
We have already, before we saw clearly the
relation which these opposers held to Paul, and
regarding them merely in general as his personal
enemies,feltourselves constrained to acknowledge
him as a model of self-denying zeal for the cause
of Christ. We are now, after a more full and
careful development of this relation, called upon
to contemplate this great model under a new light.
It implies a love purified from selfishness far
above what is common, to be able to recognize and
with joy to acknowledge the work of the Lord,
when performed through the agency of a personal

68 PHILIPPIANS.
enemy. But the power of this purified and ex
alted love reveals itself under stiU another view,
when the truth lying at the basis of even an er
roneous representation of the Gospel is recognized
and welcomed ; when the seed of truth is not re
jected and spurned on account of the error, even
though this may oppose itself to a purer, more
complete, unmutilated conception of the Gospel as
preached by ourselves, but is welcomed as one
step towards the farther advancement of the Gos
pel. But how seldom do we find a like example!
One who is capable, it may be, of joyfully wel
coming the work of the Lord when advanced hy
means of a personal enemy, might yet not be able
so far to forget self as to accept with cordial love,
and to use for the common cause of the Lord, the
truth lying at the bottom of the. errors promulga
ted by his opponent, especially when, in direct
opposition to the pure truth which he is himself
conscious of preaching. How different would it
have been in the church, how many divisions
might have been avoided, how many who have la
bored only to oppose each other might have la
bored together for the spread of the Gospel;
how many who have hardened themselves in their

PHILIPPIAKS 69
errors, and have lost by degrees even so much of
divine truth as they had embraced, might from
that partial view have been led farther and farther
in the knowledge of the truth, and have been
gradually made free from the bondage of error ;
if Christians, instead of demanding everything at
once, with the impatient zeal of a love not suffi
ciently purified from self, had been more observ
ant of the various grades of faith and knowledge,
and had nurtured them with a forbearing charity !
The principle here expressed and acted on by
Paul admits of numerous applications. But to
what form of Christian labor is. the immediate
reference here ? To that which most exactly cor
responds to Paul's peculiar vocation, that where
the first concern is to establish the church upon
the one foundation, which is Christ; we mean the
missionary work. Here should all, after Paul's
example, fix their aim. upon this single point, to
make Christ everywhere known, to testify only
of Him. Here, then, should the strife respecting
differences in the form of representation and dif
ferences of creed find no place ; and amidst all
diversities on these points, there should be a union
of labor for the one object of proclaiming Christ.

70 i PHILIPPIANS.
Whatever differences may exist on other points,
should all be made an offering to his cause. To
each one it should be matter of rejoicing that
through others also, and even such as in his view
have a less perfect knowledge of Christ, He, the
great centre of all, is made more and more widely
known. We may apply this example of Paul in
still another view. There are times in which the
church, even where it is already firmly estab
lished, is called on to exercise anew a missionary
activity ; times in which the ideas and tendencies
to which. Christianity first gave being and cur
rency, though still exerting their influence upon
society, yet deny their connection with Christi
anity, and even array themselves against it. Such
are times of wide- wasting apostasy; when the
culture, which has grown up under the fostering
care of Christianity, rises up in opposition to it, —
an opposition which may, however, have been first
caUed forth by the impure mixture of human in
stitutions with Christianity. Such periods occur
in the history of all religions, when reason, ma
tured to self-dependence, disunites itself from- the
faith under whose guardianship it has been nur
tured. Nor could Christianity escape this fate.

PHILIPPIANS. 71
It is subject to the same laws and conditions as all
things human ; and distinguishes itself only in the
manner in which, by virtue of its divine nature
and character, it rises victorious from aU such con
flicts. For whilst other religions find in such con
flicts their, grave, to Christianity they prove but
the transition points to a resurrection, in increased
purity and glory, in the energy of a renewed
youth. In such times, as weU as in periods of
missionary labor, does the principle "that Christ
alone be preached" find anew its application. The
sole concern then is, that Christ should first of aU
be brought near to the souls estranged from him,
that he may draw them to himself and make them
subject to him. Here too, aU cannot be achieved
at once ; but graduaUy; from the common relation
to the one Christ, must the way be opened for a
union among souls reclaimed to him from the most
diverse forms of error. Here must Paul's example
of magnanimous denial of self be our guide. Here
every one, who is animated, by the same spirit with
the Apostle, must rejoice if " in every way Christ
is preached," even when he cannot but feel that
the manner leaves much to be desired.
StiU another trait of Paul's Christian character

72 PHILIPPIANS.
is presented to us, in his manner of accepting the
gifts sent to him by the Philippian church. There
is,in the natural man a false striving after inde
pendence and self-reliance ; a pride of self-will,
which not seldom decks itself with noble names,
the influence of which is to make one ashamed to
accept from others gifts of which he stands' in
need, lest he should humble himself before them.
A still worse development of the same radical
fault 'of the natural man is seen, when the gifts
indeed are accepted and enjoyed, but there is a
disposition to forget them, again, to shun the re:
membrance of them, to acknowledge no indebted
ness to others through fear of seeming dependent,
of humbhng one's self before them. But the.
Apostle is penetrated by the consciousness, that
aU are related to each other as the members of
one body, and should abide in this mutual depen
dence upon one another as members under one
head, Christ Jesus.. He knows that the growth
of the whole body, from the one head which
guides animates and connects all the members,
can only then be truly promoted, when all the
single members are ready, as instruments of the
one head, mutuaUy to sustain and forward each

PHIUPPIANS. 73
other in spiritual and in temporal things, to work
together in love and unity. This is beautifully
expressed by Paul in the Epistle to the Ephesians
(iv. 15, 16) : " That we grow up into him in aU
things, which is the head, even Christ ; from whom
the whole body fitly joined together, and com
pacted by that which every joint supplieth, ac
cording to the effectual working in the measure
of every part, maketh increase of the body unto
the edifying of itself in love." Christ is here
presented as the one to whom the whole devel
opment must tend ; the aim of all is to grow up
into true fellowship with him, to receive him
wholly into themselves, to become full of him.
He is equally the one, from whom the whole
growth up into him can alone proceed; from
whom issue all the vital energies, the living juices;
from whom alone all the members can receive
life and direction. Christ so works upon the whole
body, that by means of the different members
through which his vitalizing influence flows, using
each in its appropriate manner, he works through
the whole. And hence the growth, proceeding
from him and tending up to him, can truly prosper
only when aU the members alike yield themselves

74 PHILIPPIANS.
to him; and under his guidance, in mutual de
pendence and mutual influence upon each other,
abide together in closest union. v The Christian
should ever bear in mind, that our various necessi
ties, and the means of supplying them, are distrib
uted in varying modes and proportions 'through
the different members, in order to keep them in a
state 'of mutual dependence and reciprocal influ
ence ; so that no one may break loose from his
connection with the whole, thinking to maintain
an existence by himself, and that mutual neces
sities may serve continually for the furtherance
of mutual love. The Christian will not be
ashamed, therefore, of a dependence upon others
springing from such a connection ; but will recog
nize it a3 the law naturally arising from the rela
tion of the members to one another. As he who
gives rejoices in having received from God means
which he may use for the aid of the other mem
bers ; regarding it as a loan for. this purpose from
their common Lord, as a medium for the manifes
tation of that love which the Spirit of God has
poured into the hearts of behevers, that being the
mark by which the disciples of the Lord, the
members of his body, are to be known : so he that

PHILIPPIANS. 75
receives rejoices far less in the brief temporal ser
vice of the gift, than in the heavenly temper ex
pressed in the bestowal, — in the love, that vital
principle ofthe church, which manifests itself there
in. He knows that it is for the highest.good of the
giver himself; who thus, by deeds of love, sows
in the earthly life what he shall reap in Hfe eter
nal ; who thus manifests in his works the spirit
which makes him meet for life eternal. So Paul
represents the Christian relation, in his own man
ner of accepting the gifts of the Philippian
church, when he says: "I rejoiced in the Lord
greatly that now at length your care for me hath
flourished again," — rejoiced, that now after long-
endured privation, they are placed once more in a
condition to fulfil the wish they had ever felt, to
care for his temporal wants ; — " because ye have
ever cared for me, but ye lacked opportunity.
Not that I speak in respect of want." And in
conclusion he says : " Not because I desire a gift,
but I desire fruit" — the fruit which springs for
them out of such manifestations of love — " which
may abound to your account" — may be laid up for
life eternal.
Again : Paul here gives us a model of the gen-

76 PHILIPPIANS.
uine Christian character, in his demeanor in re
spect to external things. The Christian, in the
power of the Lord through which he is able to
do all things, proves his independence of the
world, and his supremacy over it, by his abihty
to endure joyfully all the privations which the
Lord lays upon him, in the circumstances of his
lot, in what is required of him by his caUing. His
soul, filled with the divine life, cannot be bowed
down by earthly want. Subjected to privation,
he so much the more feels and proves his inward
mastery of the world. But the Christian is far
also from that self-imposed mortification of the
flesh, in an imaginary spirituality, which neverthe
less only serves for the satisfaction of the fleshly
mind ; for in the Holy Scriptures, aU which does
not proceed from the divine Spirit, all which
comes from our own wUl, therefore every form of
vanity and spiritual pride is ascribed to the flesh.
(Coloss. ii. 23.*) He is far from imposing upon
himself privations, in order thereby to merit any-
* This passage, incorrectly translated by Luther, stands- thus in the ori
ginal : " which (namely, the principles spoken of in vss. 21 and 22) have
indeed a show of wisdom in self-chosen spirituality and humility and mor
tification of the body, but have no worth, serving only for the satisfying
of the flesh." Ex. MSS.

PHILIPPIANS. 77
thing before God or man, though submitting joy
fully to those which God lays upon him; but
accepts with humble gratitude whatever God may
bestow upon him above what is required for his
absolute wants. The Christian's greatness is ever
built upon humility. His independence of the
world, his supremacy over it, consists in just this,
that in every condition of want or abundance he
is the same, neither depressed by want nor seduced
by prosperity into worldliness and vain-glory; that
he uses both alike in order to make known that
divine life by which he is raised above the world.
This is the spirit which Paul here exhibits when
he says, that though he needs not the Philippians'
gifts of love, he still rejoices in that love which
prompted them ; and when to this he adds the
testimony, that he has accustomed himself to all
changes of condition ; that he knows how to adapt
himself equally to all circumstances, whether of
want or abundance, through the power of Him
who animates him. " I have learned," says he,
" in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
I know both how to be abased, and I know how
to abound ; in every respect and in all things I
am fuUy instructed, both to be full and to be

78 PHILIPPIANS.
hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can
do aU things through Christ which strengtheneth
me." Such is true Christian fortitude and great
ness of soul, whose basis is humility.

SECTION SECOND.
Aftee having thus carefully considered Paul in
his then existing circumstances and temper of mind,
let us now turn our attention to the state of the
Philippian church, and to what Paul has to say in
reference to this, by way of warning and counsel
for the future.
We will first take a general view, and from this
pass to particulars.
It is customary with Paul to commence his
letters, with a recognition of whatever is praise
worthy in the church to which he is writing.
In this appears his wisdom as a spiritual guide.
The confidence of men is far more easUy won,
and a hearing secured for whatever one has to say
in the way of admonition and rebuke, if it appears.
that he nowise overlooks or undervalues what is
good in them, that he does not willingly find fault,
but is ready to acknowledge every real exceUence
with cordial approbation. Good and bad, more-

80 PHILIPPIANS.
over, stand frequently in close connection with each
other. The good lies at the foundation ; but the
evU mingles its disturbing influence with the good,
and hence it is through the latter that we can best
reach and remedy the former. It is in the clear
perception of this relation, and in the skilful use of it
for the correction of error, that Paul manifests his
wisdom. Of this a striking example is furnished in
the first epistle to the Corinthians. Thus Paul re
gards whatever of real value he finds already ex
isting in the 'churches, not as something produced
in them from themselves and by their own agency,
but wrought in them by the Spirit of God, that
Spirit which has begun to transform them into
new men. Hence he feels himself constrained to
thank God for that which He has wrought in their
hearts and in their lives by his grace, before he of
fers to Him the prayer, that what He has already
wrought in them He wUl more and more purify,
carry it forward, and bring it to perfection. Upon
the good which already exists in them he buUds the
hope, that they wiU ever continue to advance in
goodness, even unto perfection. Not indeed upon
the good as a work of man can he rest such a hope.
He knows too well the weakness of man, too weU

PHILIPPIANS. 81
how subject is everything human to constant
change. But this is the ground of his hope, that
irt this beginning of the Christian life he sees not
the work of man but the work of God. He thus
buUds his hope upon the truth and faithfulness of
God, who will certainly carry forward what He
has begun, through all conflicts and trials, safely
to its consummation. It is not God's way^to do
things by halves. Thus too does Paul begin his
letter to the Phdippians ; thanking God for their
Hving fellowship in the gospel from the beginning
up to the present hour ; and then expressing the
confidence, that He who has begun in them the
good work wiU also carry it on to its completion.
In this it is indeed always presupposed by Paul,
that they likewise will do what belongs to them,
by yielding themselves to the power of God which
works nothing without man, albeit man without it
can work nothing ; as in the eleventh chapter of
the epistle to the Romans (v. 22), he represents
the continued manifestation of God's goodness in
men as conditioned* on their continuing in His
goodness, and thus susceptible of the grace of God
by truly yielding themselves up to its influence.
It is oh this connection between the divine and the
4*

82 PHILIPPIANS.
human he founds the exhortation, " to work out
their salvation with fear and trembling ; for," he
adds, " it is God who worketh in you both the
willing and the doing, of his own good pleasure." It
is here assumed that the salvation of man is condi
tioned upon his own conduct. He is himself to
work out his salvation. And yet Paul always
represents the salvation of man as something which
can be accomplished only through the grace of
God, as the work of God in man. But he adds, in
this passage, a more exact designation of the tem
per of heart with which they should work out
their salvation, viz., " with fear and trembling."
This would not be appropriate if he were speaking
of what lay merely in the hand of man, in wliich
case aU would depend upon his own strength. It
is because Paul is conscious of the weakness and
insufficiency of all human strength, because he pre
supposes that man can do nothing without God,
and must constantly watch over himself, lest
through his own fault he lose the aid of divine
grace, without which all human efforts are in vain;
it is for this reason that he designates this temper
of mind as one of fear and trembling, as the feel
ing of personal accountabUity and helplessness, of

PHILIPPIANS. 83
insecurity and instabUity in ourselves, by which
we may be ever admonished to continual watch
fulness, and to ever-renewed waiting upon God as
the fountain of all our strength. Hence, as the
ground of such an admonition, he appeals to this
consciousness that we can of ourselves do nothing,
that it is God who alone bestows upon us the
power to wiU and to perform what is needful to
our salvation ; that all, indeed, depends upon his
sovereign wiU. This feehng of dependence, the
ground-tone of the Christian life, is ever to be
maintained. It is this which must combat the pre
sumption of a vain human self-reliance, which, find
ing itself deceived in the result, so easily gives place
to dejection and despair.
AU the admonitions which Paul gives the Phi
Uppians in reference to the Christian Walk, are
comprehended in this one ; that they should " walk
in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ."
' And what is required of them in their position, in
the midst of a corrupt world, he points out in
chapter ii. 15-16. Inasmuch, he says, as they are
called to live as children of God in the midst of a
corrupt world, they are called to maintain unsul
lied, amidst all thes defilements of surrounding

84 PHILIPPIANS.
pollution, that divine life of which, as chUdren of
God, they have become participants, and to show
forth its glory in contrast with the perverse gene
ration in which they live. The terms " crooked
and perverse," in which Paul describes this wicked
generation, have reference to the perversion of the
original godhke nature, which can be restored only
through the new creation. So also, as children of
God, they are to shine as lights, as radiant lumina
ries in the world of darkness. Whilst all around i
them is darkness, here alone shall aU be light. So
indeed does Christ say to those who belong to his
kingdom, that they are to be the lights of the
world, just as He is the Sun who sends his hght
into this dark world, its light in the highest and
only true sense. Thus what He is, is communica
ted to those who enter into fellowship with him,
and they too through him become the light of the
world. This light shines in the holy walk of
Christians, and thereby do they testify of Him
who is light itself, and in whom is no darkness ;
thereby do they glorify him and lead others to ac
knowledge and honor him ; as Christ himself has
said'.' "Let your light so shine before men, that
they seeing your good works may glorify yoiir

PHILIPPIANS. 85
Father which is in Heaven." They are to testify
of that which is life, to show forth the true life in
this world of death.* Everything which men, in
accordance with the revelation of the law written
in their consciences through the impulses of their
moral nature, are accustomed to account moral and
virtuous, belongs also to the peculiar stamp of this
new divine life, in which the children of God mani
fest themselves as such. All must find its fulfil
ment here ; only that is done away which proceeds
from the disturbing influence of sin ; as Christ says,
that he " came not to destroy but to fulfil." Hence
it is the conclusion of Paul's exhortation,f that
their minds be directed only to " what is true" — ¦
(true and good being in the biblical sense one and
the same, the truth here appears as that which
penetrates and gives direction to the whole life ;
all has its root in the truth, the, true is the divine)
— to " what is becoming, what is upright, what is
chaste, what is lovely, what is of good report, what
ever is virtue and whatever is praise." Thus it is
implied by Paul, that the divine life must manifest
itself in an amiable form before men ; and he ap-
* As in some MSS. " holding forth the true life."
t Chap. iv. 8.

86 PHILIPPIANS.
peals to what they had learned from his instruc
tions, and had witnessed in the example of his own
life. Although, as we have seen above, he was far
from holding his life to be entirely pure and per
fect, yet he could with confidence assume the essen
tial correspondence between his life and teachings,
and that his conduct did not give the He to his in
structions. And thus he was able, without un
truth or self-exaltation, to hold up to the Philip
pians the example of his own course among them
as an admonition to them. Self-exaltation is the
less to be attributed to him here, as he was him
self fully conscious, that whatever in his own con
duct he proposed as their example was only the
work of grace, the fruit of the new creation in him.
So may the Christian when made aware, by a com
parison of his earHer and later Hfe, of having gained
the victory over the old nature in any of its sinful
tendencies, be fuUy conscious of this and freely re
joice over it; for this is no self-exaltation. He
knows that it is not to his own nature or his own
strength that he is indebted for it ; that the Spirit
of God, the Spirit of Christ has wrought this in
him ; and therefore the consciousness of his victory
only impels him to praise and to thank Him, through

PHILIPPIANS. 87
whose power he has attained it. And at the same
time, he feels himself constrained to acknowledge
how much stiU remains for him to contend with,
and with the Apostle, whose words we have
quoted, to forget what is behind and press contin'u-
aUy forward.
The church at Philippi, as we have already re
marked, had been called to endure many forms of
persecution. It was necessary that Paul should
exhort them to steadfastness under these trials.
How then does he express himself ? It is impor
tant for us to bring this out clearly, for it is appli
cable to all the conflicts which Christianity has to
encounter in aU times. They should in no wise
suffer themselves to be terrified by their adversa
ries ;* " which to them is an evident token of per
dition, but to you of salvation and that of God.
For to you it is given, for the sake of Christ — not
only to believe on him — but for his sake to suffer
also." What is the fuU import of these words ?
This is best shown by contrast. Had the opposers
of the gospel succeeded in terrifying the PhiUp
pians, it would thereby have been made manifest
how much these opposers could effect, what power
* Chap. i. 28, 29.

88 PHILIPPIANS.
they possessed; the weakness of the Philippians
Would have appeared, and the cause which they
served might have seemed an impotent one. Or it
might have seemed merely a contest between man
and man, their opponents being the stronger and
they the weaker party. Their demeanor would
have been a testimony, how much was stiU wanting
to them of that divine power which was to manifest
its efficacy in believers ; how much, therefore, they
stiU lacked of the genuine life of faith. But while
they did not suffer themselves to be terrified by
those who warred with weapons of the flesh, this
was a proof that they were in the service of a divine
cause, victorious over all human opposition; that
a power of God wrought in them against which no
human force could avail. The conflict with their
adversaries served but to test and to approve their
faith, and their power through faith. It was a
proof of the vanity of their opposers' efforts ; even
as Christ reckons it as one of the works of the
Holy Spirit, to lead men to the conviction that the
Prince of this world has been judged, and hence
can accomphsh nothing farther through his instru
ments (Jno. xvi. 11). Thus through them is this
power of the Holy Spirit manifested. So far, it

PHILIPPIANS. 89
was an evidence of the condemnation drawn upon
themselves by those who warred in the service of
the Prince of this world. But for the Philippians,
it was for that very reason a certain proof, a pledge,
of their salvation; for the faith which remains
steadfast in conflict is indeed assured of salva
tion. It was the pledge that the power of God,
through which they were able to hold themselves
unterrified by their adversaries, would also lead
them through all conflicts to final salvation ; as in
the works of God one thing answers to another, one
guaranties the other. And thus Paul gives spe
cial prominence to the thought, that this is not of
man ; that it is no illusive human proof, but a fac-
v
tual proof given by God himself. It is one part
of this proof, that to them it was given of God to
suffer for Christ's sake. For whoever follows
Christ in his sufferings, must needs follow him also
in his glorification. ' Paul had said, " for Christ's
sake ;" intending at first only to say, " for Christ's
sake to suffer." But he would bring out the full
meaning of this with a stronger emphasis. He
therefore interrupts himself, and says, " not merely
to believe on him, but for his sake to suffer also."
He who believes in Christ is, so far as his faith ap-

90 PHILIPPIANS.
proves itself to be genuine, certain of the blessea-
ness of heaven. But it is also requisite that this
faith approve itself to be genuine, by assuring its
possessors against all fear of their adversaries ; and
by giving them the power to follow Christ in his
sufferings, as in general its office is, in aU things, to
bring them into fellowship with Christ. And
therefore, although with faith in Christ, as the root
of all else pertaining to the Christian Hfe, all els.
is given so far as regards the principle whence it
springs, the germinating power which produces it;
yet to suffer for Christ is more than merely to be
lieve on him, inasmuch as through these sufferings
the power of faith makes itself manifest, approves
itself to be genuine. For one might suppose him
self the possessor of that genuine faith, and yet tlie
. result, when he was found to shun a participation
in the sufferings of Christ, would prove the con
trary. In another view, indeed, suffering is of less
account than faith. For there might be a suffering
too, which was not true Christian suffering, as not
proceeding from the life of faith, that faith which
works by love. As Paul says in 1 Cor. xiii. 3 ;
" And though I give my body to be burned, and
have not charity, it profiteth me nothing." The

PHILIPPIANS. 91
same is true, in general, of the relation of faith to
the entire course of Christian life in its outward
manifestation, of the relation of faith to good works.
It everywhere finds an application, in a greater or
less degree, in respect to the relation of the inward
to the outward, of the internal feeling to its mani
festation in action.
The Christian life is no instinctive, unconscious
one. It foUows not feeling alone ; but demands,
everywhere and in all things, an intelligent dis
crimination between what is of God and what is
not, in respect to all the relations of life ; between
what accords to the will of the Lord, to the spirit
and nature of Christianity, and what is in contra
riety thereto. It cannot subsist, cannot fulfil its
mission, without a considerate conscious process of
scrutiny and discrimination. As flesh and spirit
are stiU coexisting in the Christian, and are ever in
conflict with each other ; so the power of discrim
inating what proceeds from the one or the other,
what is in accordance with the one or the other, is
continually needed, in order that the Christian
may not yield to the suggestions of the flesh, when
he thinks he is acting according to the impulses of
the spirit. Of such a testing and discriminating

92 PHILIPPIANS.
process there was especial need, in churches estab
lished in the midst of the Pagan or Jewish world ;
since there, Christianity, contending with existing
customs relations and views of life which were the
product of another spirit and principle, was now-
first to bring into existence a new creation, in which
Christ should be . all in aU. Here of course the
question must often arise : What does Christianity
require ? In what respects does the heathen or
Jewish point of view stand opposed to it ? Where
in may the Christian conform himself to the world,
wherein may he not ? For this reason Paul, in his
practical admonitions to this church, desires for
them especiaUy increase in knowledge,* in the fac
ulty of perception; that they might test things
which differ, the good and the bad, the true and
the false, that thus they might avoid the one and
choose the other. Paul assumes that, for this work,
the diligent exercise of the faculty of perception is
necessary ;\ that such a power of discernment is the
fruit of unremitting exercise of the Christian judg
ment. In like manner in the epistle to the He
brews (v. 14), it is accounted one of the attributes
of the state of Christian maturity, that, through
* Chap. i. 9.

PHILIPPIANS. 93
the exercise of the organs of spiritual perception,
a readiness had been attained for distinguishing
good and evU. But if, on the one hand, there are
objects of knowledge and judgment where aU de
pends on the exercise of the understanding, where
he who is most practised in thinking possesses also
the best judgment, and is most fully guarded
against error; yet in regard to the objects which
the Apostle has in mind, those pertaining to moral
duties, this is by no means the case. In general,
we shall often find how much the judgment is here
biassed by the direction of the will. The mistakes
which lie at the basis of action, and errors in con
duct, arise not so much from defect in the thinking
faculty, as from selfish inclinations which sway the
judgment. And this is particularly the case with
Christianity, which assigns wholly new objects as
the aim of life. To know what is in harmony with
it, Love must be the controlling and directing prin
ciple of the whole life. The more entirely one is
animated by love, the more will his moral judg
ment be in harmony with Christianity. A soul,
however well practised in thinking, wiU miss the
right, if not thus quickened and the eye of the
spirit made single by love. To this we must add,

94 PHILIPPIANS.
that Christianity is no mere law of the letter,
which establishes only single general rules of duty,
according to which all single cases of conduct are
to be determined ; but it is a law of the Spirit,
which makes known to each individual his pecuUar
mission in life, that very one which the Lord has
appointed him to fulfil, and what is needed for its
fulfilment. No one can prescribe to another, what
from his standpoint, under his appointed relations,
it is his duty to do ; but it is Love, that spirit
common to aU, which makes known to each in
particular what is duty for him, and in reference
to this leads him to make the necessary discrimina
tion. To love, therefore, Paul here gives the first
place, and ascribes to its quickening presence the
knowledge and capacity required for distinguishing
the good and the bad, the true and the false ; as
he himself expresses it, " that your love may more
and more abound in aH knowledge;" meaning,
that therein its ' effect is seen, — that increase of
knowledge in the fruit of more abundant love.
But as here the theoretical proceeds from the
practical, the new direction of the judgment from
the new direction of the wiU, of the moral disposi
tion ; so is the theoretical in like manner to react

PHILIPPIANS. 95
upon the practical, the enlightened judgment upon
the conduct. Hence Paul adds, as the object to be
thus attained, that they should continue " pure and
irreproachable" in their Christian walk, until aU
shaU appear before the Lord ; u being filled with
the fruit of righteousness, which is by Jesus Christ,
to the glory and praise of God." Thus Paul here
designates righteousness, not as something to be
gradually acquired ; but on the contrary, it is pre
supposed as something inherent in their fellowship
with Christ, flowing out to them from him, as pro
duced in them by his Spirit. He contemplates the
entire Christian life as the fruit of this righteous
ness ; not speaking, as in other passages, of single
fruits in single works, but of the whole Christian
course in its connected unity as one fruit, and that
the fruit which is produced by Jesus Christ. That
from him all proceeds, that through him all is ac
complished, is the very thing which gives to such
a life its peculiar stamp. This it is which is truly
weU-pleasing unto God, and by which God is truly
glorified, even as the whole life of Christ was a
glorifying of God in our nature. But it is also
clear from what has been said, that though, as a
whole, the Christian Hfe is thus represented as a

96 PHILIPPIANS.
fruit of righteousness produced by Jesus Christ,
yet with this are presupposed many different stages
of development, many separate results of the recip
rocal working of the practical and theoretical, of
the moral disposition and the judgment, as neces
sary to the production of this sum total; just as
the fruit of the tree, to follow the image chosen by
Paul, does not attain to its fuU form and maturity
at once, but through many preparatory stages in
the natural process of development and growth.
We have already observed Paul's manner of
contemplating the church as a whole consisting
of various members, whose growth is dependent
on the harmonious co-operation of all. But many
hindrances stood opposed to this harmonious ac-
s tion ; and these could only be overcome gradu
ally by the subduing power of the Christian spirit.
Only by degrees, and through the power of that
spirit, could this higher unity be formed out of
the conflicting elements existing in the church.
Some of these originated in national differences, in
the modes of thought peculiar to those of Jewish
or of pagan parentage. From these arose those
opposite leading tendencies, of which we shall
speak more particularly hereafter. There was also

PHILIPPIANS. 97
the difference of rank and wealth, which threat
ened to impair the spirit of oneness and equality
in the Christian body. And, finally, there were
differences arising from peculiarities in constitu
tion and mental endowments, all which had been
brought by Christianity into its service. Hence
the diversities in the operations of the Holy Spirit,
animating these different natural gifts ; and hence
too the diversity of spiritual gifts, and of offices
connected with them, in the church. From all
these diversities collisions might arise, disturbing
the unity and harmony of the church ; each might
wish to magnify what was peculiar to himself, and
thus self-exaltation and disunion foUow, occasion
ing strife among the members. Here then, in
0 rder to secure that unity in the church which be
longs to its nature, all must be harmonized by the
victorious spirit of love. It is clear how impor
tant and necessary, under these relations, were
Paul's reproofs and admonitions, his warnings
against self-exaltation and disunion, his exhorta
tions to humility and harmony. Let us examine
this point more particularly. If they would make
his joy complete,* they must be of the same mind,
* Chap. ii. 2, 8.
5

98 PHILIPPIANS.
having the same love, being of one accord, of one
mind ; nothing must be done through party spirit
or vain ambition, but in humility each must es
teem others better than himself. But how are we
to understand this ? One's judgment of another
is not within the control of his own will. How
can he esteem his brother higher than himself, if
this is not in accordance with the truth ; if he can
not but perceive in himself excellencies which are
wanting to the other, and defects in the other from
which he is himself free ? How can it be required
of him to do violence to his judgment . Is he to
practise deception upon himself? Is humdity to
be grounded upon falsehood ? Most certainly not.
If one should endeavor to work himself into such
a judgment of others in comparison with himself,
or should express such a judgment without re-
aUy thinking so, this would be mere hypocrisy in
a grosser or more refined form. But there is here
pre-supposed, as resulting from the fuU develop
ment of the Christian life, a pervading temper of
heart, of which such a judgment of one's self in
comparison with others is but the necessary and
natural expression. The Christian's love will lead
him first of aU to discern what is good in another,

PHILIPPIANS. * 99
to discover even in his blemishes his peculiar gifts,
that in which he is really superior to himself;
while, on the other hand, through a self-scrutiny
sharpened by the Spirit which quickens him, he
detects with rigorous exactness his own faults.
And this self-rigor, united with love, wiU give
leniency to his judgment of whatever may obscure
the divine Hfe in others. Thus a readiness to take
such a position, in respect to others, as is here rep
resented, will not be a mere casual thing with
the Christian, something produced in him from
without by external influence ; but is the sponta
neous result of the internal process of Christian
development. And this manner of viewing one's
self, in relation to others, will appear likewise in
his whole conduct in regard to them. The idea is
of course excluded that one should make himself
the centre of all, referring everything to himself,
and thus regarding all others as existing but for
him. It is clear how greatly others will in this
way rise in his estimation. This spirit of love and
humility will manifest itself in his deportment
towards others ; and hence it is added : " Look not
each one upon his own things, but also on the
things of others." Let each one be ready to sub-

100 PHILIPPIANS.
ordinate his own interest to that of others, to deny
himself for the welfare of others. Paul says,
" also," although the form of the first clause would
not lead us to expect such a limitation. But he
adds this " also" because it is not his aim whoUy
to exclude the care for our own interests, but only
to oppose the tendency to make this predominant,
to aUow it to swallow, up all else. Of course he
here speaks only of human, worldly interests,
which one is bound to sacrifice for the best good
of others ; for in regard to that which is the high
est and properly real interest of each one person-
aUy, his own soul's welfare, the cultivation of the
inner man for the life of eternity, no such contra
riety can exist, no such requirement of self-denial
can be made. But does this seem to conflict with
what we have previously remarked of self-denial
in reference even to the higher interests of the
spirit ? By no means. The true, the highest in
terest of the spirit, that it should be ever grow-
ing in self-denying love, in purification from all
selfishness, thereby becoming ever more meet for
the kingdom of God and eternal life, this must al
ways be promoted by such sacrifices, even in refer
ence to what we caU the higher interests of the

PHILIPPIANS. 101
soul, which yet are not its highest interest. In
reference to such a temper and course of conduct,
Paul now presents, as the type and pattern, Him
after whom the whole Christian life in its spirit
and conduct should be moulded, Christ himself.
" Let the same mind be in you which was also in
Christ Jesus : who, being in the form of God, did
not eagerly claim equality with God ;* (so, we
think the Greek is more truly expressed than in
Luther's version ;) but emptied himself, taking
the form of a servant, being made in the likeness
of men ; and being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Therefore also hath
God exalted him over all, and hath given him a
name which is above every name, that in the name
of Jesus every knee should bow, of beings in
heaven and upon the earth and underneath the
earth, and every -tongue confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the Father."
That we may rightly understand the use here
made of the example of Christ, as the model after
which the Christian life is to be formed, we must
* In his appearance on earth, as understood by Neander ; see page
10S, line 3.— T_.

102 PHILIPPIANS.
first endeavor to bring the model itself clearly and
distinctly before our minds. Before the eye of
the Apostle stands the image of the whole
Cheist, the Son of God appearing in the flesh,
manifesting himself in human nature. From the
human manifestation he rises to the Eternal Word
(as John expresses it), that Word which was, be
fore the appearance of the Son of God in time,
yea, before the worlds were made ; in whom be
fore aU time God beheld and imaged hinself ; as
Paul in the Epistle to the Colossians caUs him, in
this view, the image of the invisible, i. e. of the
incomprehensible God. Then, after this upward
glance of his spiritual eye, he descends again into
the depths of the human life, in which the Eternal
Word appears as man. He expresses this in the
language of immediate perception, beholding the
divine and human as one ; not in the form of ab
stract truth, attained by a mental analysis of the
direct object of thought. Thus he contemplates
the entrance of the Son of God into the form of
humanity as a self-abasement, a self-renunciation,
for the salvation of those whose low estate he
stooped to share. He whose state of being was
divine, who was exalted above aU the wants and

PHILIPPIANS. 103
Hmitations of the finite and earthly existence, did
not eagerly claim this equahty with God which he
possessed ; but, on the contrary, he concealed and
disowned it in human abasement, and in the forms
of human dependence. And as the whole human
life of Christ proceeded from such an act of self-
renunciation and self-abasement, so did his whole
earthly life correspond to this one act even to his
death ; the consciousness on the one hand of divine
dignity which it was in his power to claim, and on
the other the concealment, the renunciation of
this, in every form of humUiation and dependence
belonging to the earthly life of man. The crown
ing point appears in his death, — the ignominious
and agonizing death of the cross. Paul now pro
ceeds to show what Christ attained by such self-
renunciation, thus carried to the utmost Hmit, by
such submissive obedience in the form of a ser
vant; the reward which he received in return,
the dignity which was conferred upon him.
Here too is presented the universal law, laid
down by Christ himself, that whoso humbles him
self, and in proportion as he humbles himself, shaU
be exalted. Now it is of itself apparent that He
who, according to Paul's teaching, was in his own

104 PHILIPPIANS.
nature elevated above all, the first-born over the
whole creation, He through whom and in whom
aU was created, could not as such be exalted.
But, as already intimated, it is the image of the
One Christ uniting in himself the divine and hu
man, which is here before the mind of Paul. Of
this Christ in humanity it might be predicated,
that He is as man exalted above aU, — the glorified
Son of man. And this his exaltation subserves no
selfish interest. He finds his exaltation in the sal
vation of fallen beings. This was its end, in this
indeed it should consist, that by the universal ac
knowledgment of/ Him as Lord and Saviour and
subjection>to Him as such, God might be glorified
in Him and through Him ; glorified in the trium
phant establishment of his kingdom. What appli
cation then is to be made of this example, in the
connection in which the Apostle introduces it?
As Christ aimed only to subserve the salvation of
men, so should Christians be ready to labor thus
for the salvation of their brethren. As Christ of
fered up all for the salvation of men, so should
Christians also be ready to offer up aU for the sal
vation of their brethren; to give up everything
for others, in order to secure their highest welfare ;

PHILIPPIANS. , 105
thus in self-humiliation and self-renunciation fol
lowing their Lord. So shall the life of the Chris
tian too, from its first spiritual begirfhing, from the
first act of faith, be a continuous self-abasement and
self-renunciation. And this being the ground and
condition of Christ's exaltation as the Son of man,
so shall the same be, for believers who thus foUow
Christ, the ground and condition of their exalta
tion, tiU they come to share the full glory of Him
whom they follow. We may compare this with a
similar development of the same thought by Paul
in 2 Cor. viii. 9, where he says of Christ : " Though
he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor."
To the " being rich" corresponds the " being in di
vine form," the " being equal with God," in the
passage before us ; to the " becoming poor," the
self-renunciation and self-abasement in the human
servant-form, in its full extent as exhibited above.
In the passage just quoted, this is used as an ex
hortation to that benevolence which sacrifices its
own, subjects itself to privations, in order to re-
Heve the necessities of others. It is based on the
general thought, arising from a contemplation of
the life of Christ, that each one should be ready to
give up and to renounce all that he has for the
5*

106 PHILIPPIANS.
highest good of others ; the beneficent and conde
scending spirit of self-denying Christian love, which
pervades the whole Christian life in all its acts.
'And in this general form is the thought conceived
in the passage before us. It is this which charac
terizes Paul as a moral teacher ; that with him the
specific is in all cases carried back to the highest,
deepest, most comprehensive ; that his special ad
monitions, in regard to the Christian Hfe and char
acter, have for their basis the general fundamental
ideas of the whole Christian life, all centering in
the example of Christ.
The church at PhUippi needed the Apostle's ad
monitions and warnings, especiaUy in reference to
the obstacles with which Christianity, in its pro
cess of development, then had chiefly to contend.
This process has in every age its peculiar obstacles
to overcome ; and it would be easy to show a cer
tain affinity between these opposing influences, al
though different periods give rise to different
forms. But here an important distinction is to be
made. There may be spiritual tendencies, and
teachings, which come into direct conflict with the
peculiar essence of Christianity ; a case where no
reconcihation is possible, but the choice must be

PHILIPPIANS. 107
for the one or for the other ; and where the decis
ion for the pure Christian tendency, must manifest
itself in firm adherence to the one and steadfast
rejection of the other. Somewhat different is it
with those tendencies, which unite with the sincere
acknowledgment of Christian truth only a slight
remaining influence of former views, and which
form in their successive stages the gradual transi
tion to pure Christian truth. This is especiaUy
true of the obstacles, with which Christianity had
then to contend in its process of development. As
it was from Judaism the transition was made to
Christianity, so did the first important obstacle to
its process of development, arise from the inter
mixture of views brought from the Jewish stand
point. It is to these views that the distinction
above stated must be apphed.
Such a predominance of the Jewish spirit did ex
ist, through which the consciousness of the peculiar
nature of Christianity was essentially repressed and
stifled. Jesus was indeed outwardly acknowledged
as the Messiah ; but there was wanting the true
import and power of such a conviction. He was
made, after the Jewish conception, a carnal Mes
siah with carnal hopes.. As Christ, after the mir-

108 PHILIPPIANS.
acle of the loaves, said to those who followed him
with false views (John vi. 26), that it was not be
cause they had seen the miraculous signs, — tokens
of the manifestation of the divine in the world
of sense, intended to point to a nature, in itself
divine made known through these tokens,' — that
not for these did they seek him, but because they
had eaten < of the loaves and were filled, that
only sensual want attached them to him ; so in
these Jews of whom we are now speaking, there
was the same lack of the divine sense, of the feel
ing of higher, inward, spiritual need. With them
too it was only a mere sensual want, which led
them to believe on Jesus. And though they dif
fered from the Jews to whom Christ spoke in this
respect, that they were not led by this similar
fleshly tendency to open opposition against Jesus
as the Messiah, but sought on the contrary to he
outwardly united to him, yet no important advan
tage was thus gained. For while the former would
not believe on a Jesus, who did not satisfy their
physical necessities ; the latter, beheving in Jesus
as the Messiah, yet made him nearly such an one
as those had desired, and such as Jesus refused to
be. With this one article, of faith in Jesus as the

PHILIPPIANS. 109
Messiah in the sense here giVen, they united, as we
have already seen, a strict adherence to the entire
legal position. Not Jesus the Messiah was to them
the sole ground of salvation ; but in the observance
of the whole Law, and in circumcision, they sought
for righteousness and salvation. Not the righteous
ness which comes from within, from faith, was the
object of their desire ; but a righteousness which
comes to man from without.
It is clear that where an opposition of this kind
existed, there could be no agreement, no reconcil
iation. The true Christian spirit alone could make
the decision, between a carnal or a spiritual Mes
siah ; between a righteousness grounded on faith
in the Redeemer alone, or in the Law and its
works ; between the transformation effected by the
divine Hfe, working from within the reformation
of the whole man, or a mere external change in
outward conduct; between God's work or man's
work, humble acceptance of divine gifts, humble
surrender to Jesus as the Saviour, or a carnal Mes
siah with the admission of the desert of one's own
works. It was because the question for the new
churches was of just such an unconditional opposi
tion, between what was Christian and what was

110 PHILIPPIANS.
unchristian, that Paul felt himself obliged to pre
sent the case so strongly, and to testify so earnestly
against those erroneous views. " Beware of dogs"
(the term in the original expressing the shameless
effrontery of these opposers of the truth) ; " he-
ware of evil workers" (those who would supplant
the Christian by the Jewish stand-point) ; " be
ware of the concision." But how is it that Paul
here speaks of circumcision, which he nevertheless
regarded as a divine ordinance for a specific period,
in so contemptuous a manner ? Circumcision was
in his estimation a divine seal, by which the theo
cratic people were separated, as the divinely con
secrated race, from the nations abandoned to idol
atry and its attendant abominations, for the pur
pose of conducting to that fellowship with God
which should one day embrace aU humankind.
To him it was, as he says in the Epistle to the Ro
mans, an outward symbol of the new relation to
God, into which Abraham entered by virtue of his
faith (Rom. iv. 11) ; and emblematical of that in
ward spiritual circumcision, the circumcision of
the heart in the spirit, of purification from the ex
crescences of sin, which alone constitutes a true
people of God, through which alone the conception

PHILIPPIANS. Ill
of a people of God can find its reahzation. But
if now, as was the case with those Judaizers, jus
tification and salvation were sought in this out
ward circumcision, as such; if indeed to faith in
Jesus as the Messiah, who in his true character
was the author of all righteousness, circumcision
was"to be added as something higher, as the real
source of true righteousness ; then was Paul bound
to expose, in the most emphatic manner, the utter
worthlessness of such an external act in reference
to the object to be attained. No words could
seem to him too strong to represent the perverse-
ness of such a view as this ; whieh could ascribe
that to the external and sensuous, which can only
be produced from ' within, by virtue of what is
wrought within upon the spirit, through the im
parting of a divine life. Hence he calls circum
cision, in opposition to such an over-estimation of
it, a concision, a self-mutilation ; and in the Epistle
to the Galatians, with a similar contemptuous al
lusion to the abuse of this abrogated rite, he ex
presses the wish that those who made so much
account of circumcision would practice it to what
extent they pleased on themselves, provided they
would but leave other Christians in peace. Cer-

112 PHILIPPIANS.
tainly that which seems to Paul as something so
unchristian and perverse, and excites in him so
much indignation, must have reference not merely
to circumcision, that single peculiarity of Judaism,
but to everything external and sensuous regarded
as a ground of justification, of sanctification, of
salvation ; for, as such, it stands in direct oppo
sition to that worship of God in spirit and in
truth, which springs solely from the inward act of
faith. This contrariety to the true Christian prin
ciple is expressed in the succeeding words, " For
we are the circumcision." That is, they are not
the truly circumcised, but their miscalled circum
cision is a mere excision, a self-mutUation. We
are those who really deserve this name ; we Chris
tians are the truly circumcised ; " we," he adds in
proof of the assertion, " who serve God in the
spirit, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no con
fidence in the flesh." We must endeavor to de
velop the meaning of these weighty words. " To
serve God in the spirit," forms the direct opposite
to a worship of God connected with sensible, ex
ternal, earthly things, and dependent thereon ; a
worship which has not its spring in the sphit
within ; as when one supposes that he can honor

PHILIPPIANS. 113
God by receiving circumcision or by any external
legal works, be they religious or moral, by any
single acts whatever of external worship.
The true worship of God, on the contrary, Paul
describes as one which proceeds from the spirit ;
meaning by this only such as can proceed from the
renewing and sanctifying of the human spirit, by
nature estranged from God, through the Holy
Spirit which Christ alone imparts. Only thus can
the spirit of man, being led back to fellowship
with God and made a temple of God, become the
sanctuary where God is worshipped aright ; and
then the whole life and conduct of the spirit is
one act of divine worship. But as the redemption
attained through Christ is here presupposed, as
faith in the Redeemer and fellowship with him is
the root and fountain of aU, Paul therefore con
nects therewith the " glorying in the Lord ;" i. e.
glorying in such a manner as excludes all pride of
human glory; a glorying in self-abasement; a
glorying, to wit, only in Christ and in that which
we are in him, which has its ground in him, for
which we are indebted to him, and hence (what
is but the counterpart of this) not placing our
confidence in anything human. Paul presents his

114 PHILIPPIANS.
own case as an example in this respect to his Phi
lippian brethren, — a proof of the sincerity of his
teachings and admonitions. He appeals to the
fact that he himself, as a born Jew brought up in
the strictest Pharisaism, had lived in the exactest
observance of the Law and yet had become con
vinced that all this could contribute nothing to
wards his cleansing from sin, his justification,
sanctification and salvation ; on which account he
had renounced aU this, in order to find aU in
Christ alone. He says that as respects the right
eousness of the Law, he was blameless. This is
said not merely of the requirements of the cere
monial law, but also of moral action so far as it
meets the eye of man ; both being comprehended
under the term law. In all this Paul had been
blameless. In the sight of men he was without
blemish. What he says applies not less to what
is called rectitude among men, than to a piety
which consists in particular religious acts. Al
though Paul satisfied the claims which men could
rightfully make on him, yet it availed, him nothing.
When, through the light of the Spirit, the true
nature of the divine law and true self-knowledge
dawned upon his mind, he seemed. to himself, with

PHILIPPIANS. 115
aU this blamelessness before men, not less a sinner
on that account, wanting that true divine right
eousness in which all flows out from God, and all
has reference to Him. He is the true end and
aim of the whole Hfe ; while aU that men caU rec
titude does not rise above the world. Hence he
says, implying the insufficiency of all this : " But
what things were gain to me, those I counted loss
for Christ. Yea, and I count all things but loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus my Lord : for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and do count them but dregs that I
may win Christ." He would say here, that every
thing which formerly was in his view a distinc
tion, — as descent from the theocratic nation, legal
piety, blamelessness in a legal view, — all this now
appears to him a disadvantage, so far as he should
rest his confidence thereon and be thereby drawn
away from Christ. Christ having now become all
to him, all else must give place to Christ. AU else,
high as it may be in itself, must appear loss if it
occasion the loss of Christ, whom none can gain but
those who seek and desire Him alone ; for that very
knowledge of Christ, itself sufficing for all, in itself
comprehending aU, outshines and ecHpses aU beside.

116 PHILIPPIANS.
And hence Paul says, that for the sake of Christ he
has willingly suffered the loss of a}l ; that he casts
all else away as worthless in order that he may win
Christ, who supplies to him the place of all. It is
his whole concern to be found in Christ,* to stand
in fellowship with him. And he thus contrasts
that divine righteousness, founded in this relation
and proceeding from inward faith, with a right
eousness which comes from without, proceeding
from the works of the law, a merely human at
tainment secured by human efforts. In his view,
aU here depends on knowing Christ. This
knowledge is, in the Pauline sense, not something
merely intellectual, not a mere matter of specula
tion, not certain specific articles of faith respecting
Christ as they are speculatively developed and
handed down ; but, on the contrary, as shown in
the following words, it is a knowledge which takes
root in the Hfe, a matter of personal experience,
the believer's inward perception of Christ as the
Son of God and his Redeemer. Paul then brings
forward into special prominence the power of his
resurrection, which of course presupposes the an
nouncement of him as the Crucified, his sufferings
* Verse 9.

PHILIPPIANS. 117
for the redemption of man from sin. This prom
inence he gives to the power of Christ's resurrec
tion, as being the factual proof of the redemption
effected by him; — as furnishing the evidence, in a
glorified personality, of that imperishable divine
life imparted to humanity, by virtue of the re
demption from sin and consequent death; a Hfe
passing over from him to all who through faith
stand in fellowship with him, — the beginning in
them of a new divine life, to penetrate more and
more their entire being, till they shall become
whoUy assimilated to it in soul and body. And
hence he adds, " to know the fellowship of his suf
ferings ;" — that is, how we are to follow him in
sufferings, in order that we may more and more
become partakers of the divine life in fellowship
with the Risen One. He then sums up all in this,
" to be made like unto him in his death;" to apply
to one's self the image of his death, in order to
attain to the fellowship of his resurrection. We
must here refer back to what we have already said
on this point, in another connection.* Thus we
have here, in one view, all which pertains to the
Christian Hfe, all which constitutes the righteous-
* See p. 90.

118 PHILIPPIANS.
ness of the Christian, in opposition to the require
ments of legal piety or mere human rectitude.
The same class of persons is probably meant
when, in a subsequent passage,* after having pro
posed his own conduct as an example to the Phi
lippians, he warns them with deep sorrow against
many who walk far otherwise, and whom he desig
nates as enemies of the cross of Christ. Here,
however, the reference to this class of persons
cannot be proved with equal certainty. The
words " enemies of the cross of Christ" may he
applied to many classes of persons. They may he
understood of such as, indeed, acknowledge Jesus
the Crucified as their Saviour ; but who still show
by their manner of thinking and acting, even
though themselves unconscious of it, that they are
enemies of the cross of Christ. It might be of
such as take their stand, consciously, as open ene
mies of the cross of Christ. This might at that
period proceed from two different points of view,
which indeed are found recurring in every age ;
viz. from the position of the wisdom-seeking
Greeks, of whom Paul says that Jesus the Crucified
was to them foolishness, and from that of the sign-
* Verse 18.

PHILIPPIANS. 119
seeking Jews, of whom he says that to them Jesus
the Crucified was an offence. It may be the un
belief which comes from the pride of wisdom,
from the pride of reason, from the pride of culture,
or the unbelief of the earthly sensual man. But
this open and conscious opposition cannot, as ap
pears from the connection, be the one here meant.
It is inconsistent with the manner in which Paul
contrasts these enemies of the cross of Christ with
himself. Against such open opposers it was not
necessary thus to warn his brethren. The class
first mentioned must therefore be the one intend
ed. Still the words admit of several applications.
This not open but rather unconscious enmity to
the cross of Christ, may be conceived as taking
either a practical or more theoretical form; as
manifesting itself only in action, or in doctrine as
well as in action. As respects the first, this again
may be understood in a two-fold manner. It may
mean such as are wanting in that humiHty, which
must spring from the belief that we owe aU to the
cross of Christ, to Jesus who was crucified for us ;
in whose Hfe the conceit of self-righteousness, by
which the cross of Christ is disowned and disal
lowed, predominates even though this may not

120 PHILIPPIANS.
betray itself in the doctrines which they preach.
But it may also mean those who are far from
taking upon them their cross, and thus foUowing
Jesus the Crucified; whose life, still devoted to
flesh and sin, stands in direct contradiction with the
cross of Christ, with faith in that Jesus who for
this cause was crucified that he might free human
ity from sin, so that all who attach themselves to
him should now be crucified to sin, to the world,
to themselves. The whole carnal, sinful life of
such persons, who, as far as in them lay, made void
the very object for which Jesus was crucified,
might be called enmity to the cross of Christ. We
grant that what follows might also be understood,
as directed against men of this carnal course of
life. Still we are led by the connection, when
compared with the preceding context, to refer it
rather to an opposition manifesting itself in the
doctrines taught as well as in the Hfe, to that very
class of Judaizing adversaries indeed, against
whom Paul has previously spoken. These he calls
enemies of the cross of Christ, because their stand
point is one to which Christ the Crucified is an of
fence, a stone of stumbling — though in them this
manifests itself not openly and consciously, but

PHILIPPIANS. 121
rather in an unconscious and covert manner ; be
cause nothing was more offensive to them than
that preaching which required them to ascribe
salvation to the Crucified Jesus alone as their Sa
viour, — to ascribe all to Him alone ; because they
held to a legal self-righteousness in opposition to
the cross of Christ. It foUows from what has al
ready been said, that the views and conduct of
such persons were in direct contrast to the wor
ship of God in the spirit; their religious service
consisting only in external things, their tendency
being wholly to the earthly and sensual. Such a
religion brought with it no moral transformation,
might co-exist with sin, nay, might form a union
with it, giving to the service of sin a false secu
rity ; as often, in the history of Christianity, we
have seen these same tendencies gain a footing
under cover of its name. He describes them as
those whose god is their belly, those who in all
things act merely from earthly impulses, to satisfy
their sensual wants ; a reproach which Paul often
casts upon the judaizing proselytists, that they
turned their preaching into a means of gain, seek
ing to extort by it what might serve for their own
advantage. He describes them as earthly-minded,
6

122 PHILIPPIANS.
which is explained by the foregoing ; and aU their
hopes were such as corresponded to this earthly
disposition. They expected in the future world,
as they did in the thousand years' reign promised
by them, not that divine life of which the true
Christian even here partakes under the veU of the
earthly ; but, on the contrary, they dreamed of an
increased enjoyment of mere earthly pleasures.
" Whose glory," he says, " is in their shame," i. e.
who seek their honor in that which redounds
rather to their shame ; as indeed everything,
which might seem to distinguish them above
others, was in fact a derogation of the Christian
life, a renunciation of true Christian excellence.
In contrast with these, Paul now presents the
wholly heavenward mind of the genuine Chris
tian, his wholly heavenward hope purified from
every stain of sense. This divine life, already
freed from earth, forms in its aim and tendency
the opposite of that world-ensnared religiosity,
cleaving wholly to the earthly. This earthly
mind, Paul would say, must be far from us who
are Christians; "for our conversation is in
Heaven." His meaning is, that Christians, '.s to
their life, their walk, belong even now to H aven ;

PHILIPPIANS. 123
in the whole direction of their life existing there
already. This he deduces from their relation to
Christ, their fellowship with him to whom they are
inseparably united, so that where he is there are
they also. While here, they are sustained by the
consciousness that Christ now lives in Heaven,
manifested to believers, though hidden from the
world. Thither is their gaze directed, as their long
ings rise towards a Saviour, who will come again
from thence to make them wholly like himself, to
fashion them wholly after his own glorious pat
tern, to transform them wholly into the heavenly.
Hence Paul says : " From whence also we look for
the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ ; who shall
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body, according to the working
whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto
himself." There is not presented here a resurrec
tion, as a restoration merely of the same" earthly
body in the same earthly form ; but, on the contrary,
a glorious transformation, proceeding from the
divine, the all-subduing power of Christ ; so that
believers, free from all the defects of the earthly ex
istence, released from all its barriers, may reflect the
fuU image ofthe heavenly Christ in their whole glo-

124 PHILIPPIANS.
rifled personality, in the soul pervaded by the di
vine life and its now perfectly assimilated glorified
organ. This heavenly form of the Christian hope,
the fruit of faith in the risen and ascended Jesus,
stands opposed not only to that comfortless unbe
lief, which makes man a perishable creature like
to the brutes, and cuts off all hope of what is be
yond the earth; but also, as intended in this
passage, to that mere carnal hope which transfers
the forms of earthly existence into the future life.
Both are scions from one root, the tendency of the
natural man ; who, whether in the form of sensual
grossness or of refined culture, can never escape
beyond the narrow limits of time and sense ; who
' has no organ whereby to perceive and _ compre
hend the divine and heavenly. It matters not,
therefore, in which of these two forms this ten
dency of the natural man develops itself; whether
it entirely denies and rejects what it cannot per
ceive and comprehend, denies all personal duration.
beyond the earthly state, because able itself to
conceive nothing beyond this earthly form of per
sonality ; or whether it degrades to its own sen
sual standard what it is either unable or indispos
ed to deny, and wholly carnalizes the hope which

PHILIPPIANS. 125
it does not reject. In every form of superstition
there is something of unbeHef, since that upward
impulse of the spirit is wanting by which alone it
is possible to rise to the superhuman and divine ;
hence the divine, as such, is in reality denied and
the earthly set in its place. And in all the forms
of unbelief there is something of superstition.
Every form of unbelief has its idols. It seeks in
the powers and outward phenomena of the world,
what can only be found in God and in powers
which are of God. What Paul says of the idol
izing of worldly objects is true also of this, that
it makes itself subject to the elements of the
world. It clings with all the greater force to the
earthly, because it is an utter stranger to all which
can give true satisfaction to the spirit formed in
the image of God. It strives all the more eagerly
for earthly interests, because it has renounced the
higher interests pertaining to the spirit, which are
connected with its true home ; and hence the
earthly interest has swallowed up all other love,
and all other desire, by which the God-related
spirit is impelled. Christ, risen from the dead and
ascended to heaven, whose life is hid in God and
with whom in God our life is hidden (Col. Hi. 3),

126 PHILIPPIANS.
to whom as our life we shall be like in glory when
He, now hidden from the world, shall reveal him
self in glory, — this, the beUever's hope, stands in
' contrast with both these tendencies of the natu
ral man.
We have spoken of the judaistic tendency ex
isting at this stage of the development of Christi
anity, so far as this stood directly opposed to the
pure Gospel and excluded all reconciliation. But
there were also in the churches, such as were in a
process of progressive development from Judaism,
or some kindred stand-point, to the pure Gospel.
These, far from being enemies of the cross of
Christ, were filled with love to the Crucified Jesus
as their Saviour; but they were still subject to
many weaknesses in their faith, not being able to
release themselves as yet from much which still
clung to them of their former, not wholly extir
pated Jewish views. Such persons, whom Paul is
accustomed to contrast as " the weak" with the
strong mature Christian, are often mentioned in
his Epistles ; those who still had scrupulous fears
about partaking of meats offered to idols, and who,
in regard to food and to the observance of certain
days as holy, were still in bondage to the Jewish

PHILIPPIANS. 127
ritual. In these points they were unable to break
loose at once from the yoke of Judaism. But did
these persons then stand in the same relation as
those first-mentioned ? Should such as had come
over to Christianity from another stand-point, the
pagan; and who, though exposed to other dan
gers, could from that point make their way more
easily to Christian freedom; or such as had ad
vanced farther in the development of faith, had
more nearly reached the maturity of manhood in
Christ ; should such withdraw fellowship from, and
harshly repel these weaker, in many points less
enlightened brethren? This would have been
contrary to what Paul requires of Christian love,
which bears patiently the infirmities of brethren.
It would be to set bounds with impatient pre
sumption to the operations of the Holy Spirit, who
is able to lead on farther and farther those in
whom He has begun to work ; to sever at once
the thread of development ordained by the wis
dom of God, and alone conducting to Christ as
from him it proceeded. How we are to regard
and treat these subordinate stages of develop
ment, these minor differences, is taught by Paul
in this epistle, — in few words indeed, but fuU of

128 PHILIPPIANS.
instruction. We must now endeavor to obtain a
clear conception of their import.
After having, in a passage already explained,
presented as the standard for all, that stage of
Christian attainment which forgets everything
hitherto accomplished; which, beginning with
Christian faith, in entire devotedness to Christ
strives ever towards the mark of the heavenly
calling ; he adds, " As many of us now as are per
fect, let us be thus minded." This is the stage of
the mature believer who has attained to full Chris
tian freedom, who presses forward without hin
drance in an ever-progressive development. "And
if in anything ye are otherwise minded," — other
wise, i. e. not in harmony with this principle, —
" God will reveal also this unto you ;" will also in
that, wherein ye stiU think otherwise, reveal to
you the right, and thus lead you to unity in ad
herence to this principle and in its application.
Paul refers therefore to the great truth, that the
Spirit of God which has revealed to them the Hght
of the Gospel, will also carry on and complete this
his revelation in them, even to that point of Chris
tian maturity ; that He will continually advance
them in Christian knowledge ; and where they are

PHILIPPIANS. 129
stiU in error and divided in opinion, there too will
He yet make known to them the one true way.
They should therefore not contend with overhasty
zeal; as by this course one is easily estranged
more and more widely from another, easily har
dened in opposing views through obstinate adhe
rence to what has been once adopted. StUl less
should they mutually condemn one another, but
rather seek to preserve that unity of the Christian
spirit which is above all these minor differences;
while all submitting to the common guide, the
Holy Spirit, should entrust themselves and one
another mutually to Him, the best Teacher, to be
led on continually under his guidance. As this
work has in all the same divinely laid foundation,
so should the farther development and the pro
gressive purification of the divine work in each,
be left to the operation of the Holy Spirit by
whom it is first begun in each. There should be
no attempt to do violence, by any external influ
ence, to the. peculiar development of another,
which must follow its own laws grounded in his
peculiar personality; or to substitute something
forced on him from without, for the free develop
ment proceeding from within. This would be
•6*

130 PHILIPPIANS.
nothing else than attempting, by human arts of
persuasion, (which yet have no power to penetrate
to the inmost spirit, unless they find a point of
'connection in the existing attainments of the indi
vidual man) to accomplish that which can be
wrought only by the Holy Spirit, that inward
Teacher, whom all follow without constraint and
in perfect harmony with their own freedom. It is
only the action of the same leaven of divine truth,
that can produce the same results in all ; of that
leaven which by degrees shall penetrate the whole
spiritual life, purifying it from every foreign ele
ment. And if there is reference here to a reve
lation by the Holy Spirit, through which the
believer is advanced in knowledge, it is based on
the truth everywhere expressed or pre-supposed
in the Holy Scriptures, that all divine things can
become known only in the light of the Holy
Spirit : as Paul elsewhere says, " No man can say
that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."
But the idea of revelation in this passage nowise
excludes the activity of human thought, which
still farther develops and works out, according to
the laws of human reason, what has been received
by divine illumination. This activity of the human

PHILIPPIANS. 131
spirit is, however, pre-supposed to be one animated
and guided by the Holy Spirit, who is the vital
principle in the whole spiritual life ; and hence all
is here referred back to the Holy Spirit as the
primary source, inasmuch as all is here the fruit of
its illuminating, guiding and quickening influence ;
and all progressive Christian insight, whether im
mediately or mediately proceeding from the Holy
Spirit, is comprehended in the idea of revelation.
We must now more particularly consider that
which Paul makes the necessary condition of this
result, viz. that all should yield themselves to the
guidance of the Holy Spirit, and thus be led on
by him in progressive Christian knowledge. But
here it is necessary to inquire into the original
form of Paul's words. The passage has been cor
rupted, by introducing into the text marginal ex
planations erroneously supposed to be the words
of Paul. Divine Wisdom has not seen fit to guard
against such corruptions in the course of ages, by
a series of miracles, or by the authority of a
visible church enjoying infallible guidance. But
while free course was here given to natural causes,
and thus such corruptions might occur through
misapprehension, this was to become the stimu-

132 PHILIPPIANS.
lus to an independent spirit of inquiry, and to
the cultivation also of all those mental faculties
whereby we test and discriminate. By such ex
ercise, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, by
the culture and application of that capacity to
which we give the name of criticism, and which is
one of the natural endowments of the human
mind, we were to learn to distinguish the true
from the false, and by comparison to ascertain the
original form of the ApostoHc words. Even crit
icism, under the guiding and quickening influence
of the Holy Spirit, belongs to the spiritual gifts
of the church. By it we shall be able here to
restore the true form of Paul's words ; as by con
tinued investigations, under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit, a harmony of views in this respect
may at length be attained throughout the church.
If Hke Luther we follow the later reading, we
shaU translate with him, — " At least so far as we
walk after one rule whereto we have attained, and
are like-minded." According to. this, unity is here
pointed out as that condition of which we have
just spoken ; it is an exhortation to unity. Such
a thought, however, is quite remote from this
connection. Unity is not the condition which the

PHILIPPIANS. 133
connection would lead us to expect ; but, on the
contrary, is that which results from the course of
conduct required of the church by Paul. When
all conduct, in reference to minor differences, as
Paul according to our explanation has directed,
unity will be maintained unimpaired in the church.
Moreover, what is said of " the one rule" and of
" the walking together in accordance therewith,"
of " being like-minded," does not suit well with
the words " whereto we have attained." All had
not as yet attained to the same grade of spiritual
discernment. We find here, therefore, a combina
tion of words unsuited to each other; and it is
easy to perceive, how from false glosses appended
in explanation of the obscure words (obscure when
not rightly apprehended in their connection) " if
we do but walk after that whereto we have
attained" falsely regarded as an exhortation to
unity, aU the rest may have originated. We shall,
therefore, following the oldest manuscripts that
have come down to us, regard these as the genuine
words of Paul : " if we but walk according to that
whereunto we have attained;" i. e. if each one
but faithfully applies to his own life the measure
of spiritual discernment bestowed upon him. This

134 PHILIPPIANS.
then is Paul's meaning : the Holy Spirit wiU re
veal to all whatever is stUl wanting to them in true
Christian knowledge, and thus continually pro
mote the union of their spirits, by purging away
whatever foreign elements may still impair it ; will
from still existing differences develop a higher
unity, if first of all that Christian fellowship, which
rests upon the one common ground of faith, is
firmly adhered to, and each one is careful to put
in practice with strict fidelity his own measure
of Christian knowledge, without contending with
others about matters wherein they differ from
himself. All progressive revelation of the Spirit,
aU new light of which man is made partaker, pre
supposes a faithful application of what has previ
ously been given. Here too apply the words of
the Lord, " He that hath, to him shall be given."
How many schisms might have been avoided in
the church, how many differences might, much for
its interest, have been overcome and adjusted, if
all had felt the obligation rightly to understand
and apply the principle here laid down by Paul !
In Paul's Epistles, as everywhere in the Holy
Scriptures, precepts, exhortations, and promises go
hand in hand. This must be so, from the peculiar

PHILIPPIANS. 135
nature of the Gospel as distinguished from the
Law. For as all promises are connected with
some condition without which they cannot be ful
filled, and this leads to precepts and admonitions ;
so would these be of no avail were not the
promise to the behever presupposed, that prom
ise which ensures the power to fulfil what is
required of him. Thus Paul begins with the
words, " Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I
say rejoice." He, the prisoner of the Lord, look
ing it may be to a near approaching death, finds
reason to promise and to require an ever-abiding
joy in the consciousness of feUowship with the
Lord ; to make joy indeed the ground-tone of the
Christian life, to make the whole Christian life a
jubUee of redemption. But' with this connects
itself the requisition for a Christian walk ; since
that joy in the Lord cannot exist, if the life of
the Christian does not correspond to the law of
the Lord, does not testify of feUowship with him.
And since the Phdippians, as we have already
seen* were placed in circumstances in which they
might most easUy be tempted to anger and retali
ation, if the natural man were not held in check
* See p. 24.

136 PHILIPPIANS.
by a higher power, Paul especiaUy urges the ad
monition, " Let your moderation be known unto
aU men ;" and adds, " The Lord is at hand," ap
pealing to the consciousness that He is ever near*
This consciousness furnishes the motive to such
gentleness under provocation. They walk in the
sight of the Lord, and dare not give way to pas
sion in the near presence of Him, who endured
every wrong with heavenly patience and long-suf
fering. This consciousness that the Lord is near,
wiU also restrain them from wishing to anticipate
his justice, to take the work of retribution into
their own hands. — But these words also form the
transition to what follows, — to the requirement
" Be careful for nothing." Here too we must take
into account the miserable state of the oppressed
Christians ; and yet they were to be careful for
nothing, in the consciousness that the Lord is near.
Not all human care is forbidden by Paul, who
himself, as we have already seen,f in this very
Epistle lays claim to earnest human efforts. But
* This might indeed be understood as referring to time, viz. the near
ness of his coming, towards which the Apostles and the apostolic age,
overlooking all that intervened, directed their longing desire. But this
idea, though appropriate in some points of view, is obviously less suited
to the whole conneetion than the one which we have exhibited in the text
t See p. 11.

PHILIPPIANS. 137
such entanglement in cares as stands in contradic
tion with that requirement, "to rejoice always in
the Lord," — this is forbidden by him, from this
should the conscious nearness of the Lord restrain
the believer. Instead of indulging such care, he
directs them rather to raise the soul to God, and
all shaU become light. The true meaning of these
words appears from the contrast which foUows :
' But, in aU things, make your requests known to
God in prayer and supplication with thanksgiv
ing." There is a carefulness which is inconsistent
with confiding prayer to God, which excludes the
spirit of filial supplication. Such a carefulness
Paul forbids. As he had made the whole Chris
tian life a joy in the Lord, so now he makes it
also a perpetual prayer. The two stand in inti
mate connection. . Neither can exist without the
other. He does not require the suppression of
those wants, the sense of which begets anxiety,
but that the sense of want should take the form
of prayer. Thus will the burdened spirit become
lightened, and care of itself wiU fall away. Yet,
although the Christian has wants to spread out
before God in prayer, and much to ask of Him for
the future, he stiU finds in every situation enough

138 PHILIPPIANS.
that calls for thankfulness to God, since all things
work together for good to those who love Him.
Paul had already enjoined on the Philippians, af
flicted as they were, to rejoice always in the Lord;
and in this it is assumed that there is nothing un
reasonable in the requirement, that they should
give thanks to God. The whole Christian life
should be a prayer, the prayer of thanksgiving
and of supplication, in the consciousness of grace
received and the conscious need of renewed grace.
Assuming that the PhiUppians followed these di
rections, he could impart to them the precious
promise which assured their safety in all conflicts :
" And the peace of God which passes all under
standing, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus." — What does Paul here
say ? What is the sense, so far as we can indicate
it in brief, of his deep and sublime words ? If the
Philippians so conduct, then wUl that peace with
God, which they have received from Christ, re
main with them ; that peace which is the fountain
of all other peace ; which can exist in the midst
of conflict with the world, and can be disturbed
by no other power ; that peace of which Jesus
spake (John xiv. 27), " Peace I leave with you,

PHILIPPIANS. 139
my peace I .give unto you; not as the world
giveth give I unto you." And hence he adds, for
those whom he left behind amidst the conflicts of
the world, the consohng promise, " Let not your
heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid." This
peace, as it has God for its author, Paul accord
ingly describes as a peace which is above aU
human conception. He who has this peace has
more than he himself knows, more than he is able
to set forth in thoughts and words. It is an over
flowing heavenly repose, with which nothing
earthly can be compared ; which fills the spirit of
him, who, having been reclaimed from disunion
with the Infinite and the Holy One, is now con
scious of being in harmony with Him. The power
of this peace, says Paul, wiU conduct the souls that
live in fellowship with Christ, safe and unharmed
through aU conflicts and assaults from within and
from without. From this proceeds the ground-
tone of their thoughts and feeHngs, this is their
protection, which avaUs against all human care.
With this may be compared the words of Paul in
the Epistle to the Colossians :* " And the peace
of God rule in your hearts !" The peace with God
* Chap. iii. 15.

140 PHILIPPIANS.
procured to the believer through Christ, the peace
which has its Hfe in God, of which they are as
sured in union with him, — that peace, amid all
fluctuation, is the controUing, the determining ele
ment in the Christian life.

THE END.

THE

EPISTLE OF JAMES,

PRACTICALLY EXPLAINED,

DR. AUGUSTUS NEANDER.

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN

MRS. H. C. CONANT.

** Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say Y*

3XT £ tu-S o r k :
SHELDON, BLAKEMAN & CO.
BOSTON: GOULD AND LINCOLN.
CHICAGO: S. C. GRIGGS.
1856.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852,
BY LEWIS COLBY,
In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New York.

It is with great pleasure that the translator offers to the Chris
tian public, the second number of Neander's Practical Expositions,
believing that it will be found no less interesting than the preced
ing volume on the Epistle to the Philippians. It is characterized
by the same masterly power of development, the same depth and
fulness of Christian experience. Seed-thoughts crowd every page ;
and many single passages, in sublimity of moral sentiment and
beauty of illustration, equal anything which Neander has written.
As being more strictly practical in its character, and elucidating a
portion of the Divine word less understood, it may be even more
generally acceptable and useful than the former Exposition. It
restores to us, so to speak, one of the lost treasures of the church ;
for no part of the New Testament has been more misunderstood
and perverted, or suffered more general neglect, than this Epistle.
Luther rejected it without ceremony, calling it "an epistle of
straw ;" and many more timid minds have been greatly perplexed
by its apparent contrariety to the doctrines of grace. The discus
sion of its character and claims, hitherto confined to scholars, is
here presented in a form intelligible and practically useful to com
mon Christians.
By the light of Neander's comprehensive mind, we see in James
not the opponent of Paul, or of the great doctrine of justification

by faith alone ; but the earnest expounder of that " Law of Lib
erty," of which justification by faith is the chief corner-stone.
Paul develops the principle; James depicts its results in the life.
Paul unfolds the great love of God towards us ; James points out
the tests, whether this love has been received into our hearts and
become there the vitalizing, reigning principle. It is the tree-
known by its fruit, the enkindled light by the light which it im
parts, the life within by the outward signs of life. In the person
ality of James, and the character of the churches whom he ad
dressed, we find the true key -to this Epistle. Placed side by side
with the Sermon on the Mount, it is seen to be a faithful reflection
of that divine original ; its whole essence and intent being com
prised in those words of our Saviour, which we have prefixed to
this volume as its most appropriate motto : " Why call ye me
Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say !"
One opinion advanced in the author's introductory remarks, viz.,
that James was not an Apostle, may not gain the assent of all his
readers. Neander himself formerly held,* with many other dis
tinguished critics, that this epistle was written by the Apostle
James, the son of Alpheus and of Mary the sister of our Lord's
mother ; who, as being the near kinsman of the Lord, was in ac
cordance with Jewish usage called his brother. The writer may
be permitted to suggest that the practical inferences, here so ski:
fully traced, might be drawn, though not indeed with equal force,
from the author's earlier view. James, as the Lord's own brother,
or as a near kinsman, must in either case have been subject to
very similar' influences, arising from near earthly relationship to
Christ. In the exposition itself, there is nothing at variance with
* Paulus und Jacobus, 1822.

either supposition. Nor does either view affect what Neander so
truthfully says of the relations of the mother of Jesus, and of the
contrast between the earthly and the spiritual ; since there were,
as we have every reason to believe, " brothers of the Lord" in the
strictest sense.
To facilitate the use of the translation, the first part has been
divided into sections with a brief statement of the contents of
each, for which the translator is responsible. The quotations from
the Epistle are given in the words of the English version, with the
author's variations in brackets wherever they are made the basis
of his view.
The third and last number of this series, the Exposition of the
First Epistle of John, was prepared for the press by the author,
and has been given to the public since his decease. A translation
of it will follow as soon as practicable.
H. 0. C.
Rochester, N. T., Jan. 1852.

THE EPISTLE OF JAMES,

INTRODUCTION.
§ 1. Diversities in modes of religious development, and in the
consequent forms of faith.
It is the remark of one of the early Church Fa
thers, that what Paul says of himself, — viz. that he
became all things to all men, that he might win all
to the Gospel, — is true in a still higher degree
of Him who was in this the Apostle's pattern, of
Christ himself. We see it in that manifold variety
of manner, adapted to all the varieties in human
character and relations, by which, both in his per
sonal labors on earth, and in his spiritual revela
tions among all nations since his ascension, he has
drawn men to a saving knowledge of himself. His
manner, while laboring upon earth, is indeed an
image of that invisible divine agency extending
through all times, in which he evermore reveals

himself as the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.
This diversity Christ himself indicates, in those
parables in which he describes how the kingdom
of God is found -, showing at the same time the
one thing, in which all must finally agree who
would become partakers of the kingdom of God,
and the varieties of way and manner in which they
are conducted thither. Only those attain to the
kingdom of God who enter it by violence. Only
those find the treasure hidden in the field, who are
ready to sell all they have that they may become
possessors of that field. Only those secure posses
sion of that precious pearl, outshining in beauty and
splendor all beside, who prize it above all else, and
shun no pains, no cost to win it for themselves, —
esteeming all other good as nothing, for the sake
of that one highest good, the kingdom of God.
But in order to bring men to this decision of
purpose, without which none can enter the king
dom of God, they must be acted on in various
ways suited to their various characters . and cir
cumstances. Some are like the merchant, who
having spared no pains or cost to find precious
pearls, at length, through this earnest and la
borious search, secures possession of that richest

of all jewels. Such are those, who, impelled by
longing after some satisfying good, already have
sought it long in vain. They have found many
things which satisfy in part ; but in the end have
learned, that of all these not one can give the spir
it full and lasting satisfaction. Thus they are
ever beginning the search anew, till at length,
through this ever-renewed effort they attain to
that one highest good, and find in it the full satis
faction which their souls require. Others again,
seeking no treasure, come unawares upon the field
containing it, and find it as it were by accident.
Such are those, in whom the longing after the
highest good, the kingdom of God, has not yet
been awakened ; who are surprised by an unsought
gift, which imparts to their souls a satisfaction
never imagined and never sought. The one class,
by a gradual progressive development out of a life,
in which preparative grace had from the first given
tokens of its active presence, quickening and un
folding by various means the life-germ in the
higher nature, — had thus been finally drawn into
full fellowship with the Lord. The other, wil
ling slaves of passions that long withstood the
divine call, had been drawn at length, as by a

10
power that constrained their resisting will, to him
whose love seeks the deliverance of all.
Since now the mode of development is so dif-
* ferent in the two cases, so also will be the form
which faith assumes in each. To the one, the new
state to which he has attained will seem but as the
aim and completion of that earlier one, which by
many progressive steps conducted to and ended in
it ; and that earlier form of life, out of which he
passed into this new state, will always remain to
him a dear and familiar one. To the view of the
other, the new state will present itself as in direct
opposition to the old. These two forms of concep
tion are both founded in truth ; each will, in its
peculiar manner, contribute to the glory and fur
therance of Christianity. The first is especially
adapted to show, how all that preceded this new
state was designed to prepare the way for it ; and
here the change will manifest itself in a less stri-
. king form. The second is certainly the more thor
ough and profound, — presenting a more complete
development of the new life in its essential nature,
in which it is exalted above all else.
This diversity and variety, observable in the
whole process of development through which

11
Christianity has passed, in the entire history of the
Church, appears also in the earliest stage of that
process belonging to the apostolic age. But in its
later history, we often find these differences, —
which, as already indicated, should be mutually sup
plemental, serving each to complete the other, —
separating the one from the other, and assuming the
attitude of irreconcilable antagonism. The per
ception of the higher unity is wanting ; although
he who can recognize the One Christ in all his
manifestations, partial as they may be and ob
scured by human narrowness of view, will be able
even from this antagonism to deduce that higher
unity. From this source have sprung those con
troversies, which have done so much to destroy
rather than to edify. On the contrary, the relation
of the great Teachers of the New Testament to one
another, as exhibited to us in their lives and wri
tings, enables us to view these manifold forms of
conception as mutually completive ; not excluding
one another, but belonging together as parts of
the same whole, — the One Christ in the broken
rays of his manifold revelation through various
organs. It is in this light we are to regard James, the

12
brother of the Lord, as forming the counterpart to
the great Apostle of the Gentiles. That we may be
able rightly to understand and apply his Epistle,
according to the plan, adopted in our explanation
of Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, we must first
endeavor to form a distinct idea of his whole pee-
sonalitt, as exhibited in the circumstances of his
personal development and in his labors, as well
as in this Epistle.
§ 2. Personal relations and religious development of James.
In reference to the personality of James, the
fact is an important one that, he did not belong to
the number of the Apostles. The Apostles were
formed out of those disciples, who had attached
themselves to the Redeemer with minds still un
developed, and yielding -with childlike suscepti
bility wholly to his influence. They had not been
previously formed in another school, before coming
into connection with him. Their whole develop
ment they had received in intercourse with him ;
and hence they were fitted, in a peculiar manner,
to become vessels of his all-transforming, grace, to
receive in themselves a faithful impress of his
image, and to serve as instruments for the diffusion

13
of his word and his spirit through all ages. "With
Paul it was far otherwise. He had, indeed, this
in common with the rest of the Apostles, viz. that
he could bear testimony as an eye-witness to the
Risen Christ, and had received an immediate, per
sonal impression of him. But he had come to
Christ, with a well-defined system formed in a
wholly different school ; and hence, in his case, the
new man in Christ must present in its develop
ment the strongest possible contrast with his ear
lier character.
Unlike to both of these cases was that of James.
He was a brother of the Lord according to the
flesh. All those passages of the Gospels in which
" brothers of the Lord" are mentioned, together
with Matt. i. 25, are most naturally explained on
the supposition, that after the birth of Jesus Mary
bore still other sons. These were the " brothers
ofthe Lord," of whom James was one. Inasmuch
as marriage and the production of offspring, like
everything belonging to our nature, was to be
sanctified through Christ, there is nothing. in such
a supposition which is at all questionable, nothing
derogatory to the dignity of the mother of Christ,
or to his own. If anything offensive is found in it,

14
it is owing solely to a mistaken veneration of Mary,
and to that false ascetic tendency, whose views of
the unholiness of the married state, and of the
superiority of celibacy, are entirely at variance
with the spirit of Christianity. On the contrary,
it is only when thus seen in contrast with the usual
course of nature, that the birth of Jesus, as effect
ed by supernatural agency, appears in its true light
and its true significance. Christ, as the miracu
lously begotten son of Mary, then appears in con
trast with the offspring of Mary according to the
laws of natural descent ; the contrast between
the natural and the supernatural (as Paul desig
nates it, Gal. iv. 23 and 29), between him that is
born after the spirit and him that is born after
the flesh ; the contrast which pervades the whole
process of development in the kingdom of God.
James was therefore, in his religious develop
ment, distinguished from the other preachers of
the Gospel, in that it neither proceeded so entirely
and from its first beginnings from Christ himself
as was the case with the other Apostles, — nor
formed itself out of such a contrast between the
earlier and the later, as appears in the case of Paul.
His path of development, originating elsewhere,

, 15
moved on for a time independently beside that
circle of influences, which had formed itself from
and around Christ, and not till a later period be
came wholly united with it.
Now it might seem, indeed, that one so closely
connected with the Lord as his own brother, the
daily witness of his life and actions, was the one
fitted above all others to become his disciple ; that
one so pre-eminently favored from the first, must
have been in many respects in advance of the
Apostles themselves. On this view was founded
the judgment of the common Jewish Christians,
that they were bound to exalt James above all
other preachers of the Gospel, and to pay special
respect to his authority.
In the estimation thus formed of him, by the
standard of the merely external natural relation to
Christ, we perceive the intermingling of the Jew
ish spirit in the conception of Christianity, — its
opposite constituting the true Christian stand
point ; as, in general, the disposition to the out
ward and formal in religious things is Jewish,
while the tendency to the inward and spiritual
belongs to the nature of Christianity. The inter
nal and external stand not seldom in inverse pro-

16 --
portion to each other. He who stood in the near
est external relations to the revelation of the king
dom of God, to the manifestation of the divine in
humanity, to the appearance of the Son of God, — •
might inwardly be farthest 'from it, and so remain
if he stopped at the external manifestation, if he
accustomed himself to see only with the bodily
eye, and through this habit was hindered from
penetrating with the eye of the spirit to that
which was within. This we see in the whole rela
tion of the Jews to the kingdom of God, and to
the Messiah who proceeded from the midst of this
people, destined to prepare the way for his mani
festation. Christ himself testifies, in opposition to
this outward Jewish tendency, that the external
natural relation is of no account ; that all depends
rather on the inward relation, formed by the di
rection of the mind and heart ; that not natural
relationship, but submission of the soul, can alone
bring one into union with him. So on one occa
sion, when he was occupied with his life-work, the
preaching of the Gospel, among those who listened
to his words with eager and receptive hearts ; he
repelled those who would interrupt him on the
plea that his nearest kindred, his mother and breth-

17
ren, desired to see him. Pointing to the circle
of disciples, in whom the seed of the divine word
was received into the good soil of receptive and
retentive hearts, he said : " My mother and my
brethren are these, who hear the word of God and
do it." (Luke viii. 21, Mark iii. 34, 35.) Thus the
essential point is not, how one is related to him by
natural descent, but how he is in spirit related to
the divine will revealed by him. Here also be
longs the incident related Luke xi. 27, 28. A
woman, powerfully affected by the divine impres
sion of his words, cried out from the midst of the
listening multitude : " Blessed is the womb that
bare thee, and the breasts which thou hast suck-
ed !" " Yea rather," he replied, implying the van
ity of this supposed advantage, " blessed are they
who hear the word of God and keep it !" Pro
phetic warnings ! Not only against that external
izing tendency, as shown in the admixture of the
old Jewish spirit with Christianity, — but against
that same spirit as it has often, in later times and
under other forms, reappeared in the Christian
Church !
Thus the very thing, which might seem most
favorable to the religious development of James,

18
turned to his disadvantage. The saying which
Christ used in reference to his fellow-townsmen
among whom the greater part of his life had been
spent, and who had been eye-witnesses of his pro
gressive development from childhood, — "A pro
phet is of no honor in his own country," — applies
with equal force to the case of James and his bro
thers. For the very reason, that they had from
the first been eye-witnesses of the human earthly
development of the Son of Man, they were not
able to penetrate beyond the outward human veil.
It became to. them a stone of stumbling. True
they afterwards witnessed the revelation of the
Son of God, both in the inward power of the divine
life perceptible only to the inwardly awakened
sense for the divine, and in those proofs of power
exhibited in his miracles. Still the faith, thus at
times awakened, gave .way continually to that
skepticism proceeding from the prejudices of the
natural man, who judges only after the flesh and
by the outward appearance ; and thus, during the
whole earthly life of Christ, they remained in this
state of vacillation, wavering between faith and
unbelief. But when that stone of stumbling was
taken out of their way, and the Son of God no

. 19
longer stood before their eyes in the earthly veil
of the Son of Man ; when He, who was believed
dead, showed himself victorious over death and
living in divine power, to those whose weak faith
required such confirmation ; it was then, that the
decisive and final direction was given to the devel
opment of the religious life of James (1 Cor. xv. 7).
From this time forward we see in him the decided,
unwavering, zealous witness of the faith in that
Jesus, as his Messiah, Lord and Saviour, who had
been his own brother according to the flesh. (James
Ll.)
§ 3. Stand-point of James as an inspired teacher, and his relation
to Paul.
The manner, however, in which he testified of
Christ, took its character from his previous train
ing and course of life. He, above all others, stood
on the ground of Jewish piety in the Old Testa
ment forms; and had already completely devel
oped himself within this sphere, when he was led
to that decisive faith in Jesus, as the Messiah
promised in the Old Testament. From this new
point of view, his previous Judaism unfolded itself
in its true and full import. Christianity now ap-

20
pears to him as the true Judaism. The spirit
which proceeds from Christ explains the forms of
the Old Testament, and leads them to their proper
fulfilment. The position of James is precisely that
taken by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount;
which contains the germ of all that is peculiar, to
the Gospel, without expressly declaring the abro
gation of the Law ; where all is presented under
the idea of the kingdom of God, and the reference
of each particular to the person of Christ, though
everywhere implied and forming the central
point of all, is nowhere asserted in words. Hence
in the development ofthe divine kingdom, — where
as in all the works of God, the works of grace as
well as of nature, no chasms are allowed but all
proceeds by progressive steps, — James forms a
very important transition-point from the Old to
the New Testament. Something would be want
ing to us, if we had not James in the New Testa
ment. And that narrowness of view, which dis
dains to follow patiently this gradual develop
ment, — demanding everywhere and at once the
perfected form, — may find its punishment in the
consequent incompleteness of its own Christian
knowledge. As a means of leading pious Jews to

21
faith in the Gospel, this position of James was of
special use. Just in proportion as it would have
been detrimental to a Paul, whose mission was the
conversion of the heathen nations, was it advan
tageous to James in the sphere of labor assigned to
him in Palestine, and particularly in Jerusalem
among unmixed Jews. Thus divine wisdom mani
fests itself in assigning to each his sphere, his pecu
liar mission in the development of the kingdom of
God, adapted to his peculiar qualifications. The
sole concern is that each rightly fulfil his appoint
ed mission, understand and faithfully adhere to his
prescribed limits ; while at the same time he recog
nizes the divine call in him also, to whom as the
possessor of other gifts another sphere of labor has
been assigned, — and is willing to regard their sev
eral spheres as each the complement of the other.
Such was the relation of James to Paul.
James did indeed know, from the first, what the
voice of prophecy had indicated, of the coming ex
tension of Jehovah's worship among the heathen
nations, and of their participation in the blessings
of the divine kingdom, — a glory which belonged
to Messianic times, — and also that this was to be
fulfilled through Christ as the Messiah. But the

22
possibility of a worship of Jehovah except in the
old legal forms, or of a participation in the king
dom of God in any other way, remained hidden
from him at first, even after he had attained to a
settled faith in Jesus as the Messiah. The intima
tions in the discourses of Christ that his word
should become the leaven, which, by an indwel
ling power alone and independently of all else,
should penetrate the life of humanity ; in Jews
and Gentiles alike leavening all and forming it
anew ; that the new spirit of Christianity should
burst asunder and break through the forms of
legal Judaism ; these intimations he did not yet
understand. This belonged to those things of
which Christ said, in his parting words to his dis
ciples, that what they could not yet comprehend
should afterwards be revealed to them by the
Holy Spirit. But this revelation of the Holy
Spirit was not imparted to all at the same time,
nor in the same way. This too was determined
by the different stand-points from which they had
attained to faith in the Gospel. Accordingly,
more or less of preparation might be required for
leading them to that more perfect knowledge ; it
might be effected more by a process of thought

23
inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit, and thus
enabled to develop and apprehend the whole sum
of revealed truth, — or it might be more the effect
of immediate illumination by the Divine Spirit.
In the history of the church, we meet with many
melancholy examples of opposition and estrange
ment, when the spiritual insight attained by one
is still withheld from another, and the one thus be
comes free from the narrow limits in which the
other is still confined. Even in the apostolic
church, this was the source of much disunion and
division. But James was far from that narrow, obstinacy
of temper, which would not allow any stand-point
but his own ; would permit no opposing facts to
influence his convictions, — promptly rejecting the
truth revealed to others because it was not im
parted through him, and thus setting bounds to
the farther development of the kingdom of God.
When, at the apostolic conference (Acts xv.), the
controverted point respecting the observance of
the Mosaic law was for the first • time discussed,
and Peter and Paul bore testimony to the effects
of the Gospel among believing Gentiles, who had
not submitted to circumcision, nor in any other

24
respect to the observance of the Law ; these unde
niable facts were proof enough for James, that
through faith in the Saviour, the same divine
results were produced among the heathen as
among believing Jews. In this he saw a fulfil
ment of the Old Testament predictions ; and he
now learned their true aim and import, as he had
never understood it before. The mild conciliating
spirit of James is shown, by the manner in which
he sought to reconcile the differences between
the Jewish and Gentile Christians. He could do
justice to a stand-point wholly different from his
own. Believing Gentiles, on the ground of their
faith merely, were to be admitted to equality with
believing Jews in the fellowship of the divine
kingdom; only, for the furtherance of harmony
with believers from among the Jews, they were to
conform in certain external points, which might also
serve to withhold them from participation in every
thing connected with heathen worship. But while
James recognized the equality of churches consist
ing of uncircumcised Gentiles, and allowed to the
preaching of the Gospel among the Gentiles its
own rights as an independent calling ; he at the
same time remained true to his own peculiar stand-

25
point, according to which the old forms were to be
continued as depositories of the new spirit, and the
Jews were to retain their religious nationality un
changed. Still, as we see from the Acts of the
Apostles, he was ever the mediator between Paul
and the zealots among the Jewish Christians, who
were prejudiced against him. Here too he always
conducted in the same spirit of mildness and con
ciliation.
§ 4. Character and condition of the Churches to whom the
Epistle was addressed, and nature of the errors against which
it was directed.
In order now to understand and rightly apply
the Epistle of James, we must endeavor to form a
distinct conception of those to whom it was ad
dressed, and whose peculiar circumstances he had
especially in view.
We can, indeed, say nothing definite in regard
to the region where these churches are to be
sought. The Epistle itself furnishes only general
information, sufficient, however, for the practical
purposes we have now in view. The essential
points are these: There were churches consisting
exclusively of Christians of Jewish origin, in which
all the practical errors of Judaism were associated
2

26
with faith in Jesus as the Messiah ; and in which
there were many, who gave little or no evidence
of the new creation which is the necessary pro
duct of that faith.
That wholly earthly direction of mind, which
was often connected with false zeal for the honor
of God ; the insatiable love of gain, and consequent
divisions from the clashing of selfish interests;
these were the faults which they had brought
with them from their earlier Jewish state, into
their new Christian relation. The aristocracy of
wealth held in check the pervading spirit of Chris
tian love, whose office it is to repress and triumph
over all earthly distinctions. Instead of being ob
literated by that spirit of love, the distinctions
caused by the unequal distribution of wealth, were
recognized and maintained at the expense of that
fraternal relation, which should characterize a com
munity of Christians. Furthermore, it belonged to
the defects of this false Jewish spirit, that, instead
of regarding piety as a whole, proceeding from the
inward temper of the heart and embracing the en
tire life ; it held only to particular observances of
the outward life, in which piety should manifest
itself,— that tendency to the external in religion of

27
which we have spoken. This manifested itself in
the great value attached to external descent from
the theocratic people, to circumcision and the
works of the Law, making justification dependent
thereon. This same spirit now passed over to the
Jewish Christians ; and became especially promi
nent, wherever they had the ascendency in oppo
sition to Gentiles and Gentile Christians.
This tendency was one which, from its very na
ture, belongs exclusively to no age; it was no
mere thing of the past, extinguished with Judaism
once for all, and never to reappear in the Christian
church. The declaration of the preacher of wisdom
is applicable here, — that " what has been will be,
and there is nothing new under the sun." What
we here term the Jewish spirit, had not its origin
in anything inherent in Judaism as a divine insti
tution ; but is to be referred rather to the nature
of the unrenewed man, drawing down the divine
to his own level, and seeking to appropriate it to
himself without renouncing his own peculiar nature.
Now as the nature of the unrenewed man remains
ever the same, there must at all times proceed
from it this same erroneous tendency, which we
may characterize as in its spirit and nature Jewish.

28
This Jewish spirit shows itself equally, when the
unrenewed nature of man mingles its disturbing in
fluence with the conception of Christianity. It is
seen in the, disposition to value one's self on the
ground of descent from a Christian people, or from
some particular nation distinguished in earlier
times for its piety, and on this account assigned a
more conspicuous place in the history of God's
kingdom ; without considering that if his own
life does not correspond to the peculiar character
and position of such a people, this connection,
instead of being his glory, will become his con
demnation. So is it also with pretensions based
on a father's pious deeds, without any effort to
imitate his example. So is it when connection
with a particular church is made one's only boast,
his sole ground of hope, and no importance is
attached to the practice of genuine Christianity ;
when, in short, in the outward organization of the
church, the essence of Christianity itself is forgot
ten. In each and all of these cases, we perceive
the same practical error of the Jewish spirit. So
if we base our confidence on a zealous devotion to
the external observances of Christian worship, at
tendance upon divine service, the celebration of

29
the sacraments, without going beyond the outward
form ; this is in spirit precisely the same, as that
Jewish reliance upon circumcision and the works
of the Law. The name alone is changed ; the
thing itself remains the same. Hence all the
arguments and warnings against such a tendency,
which we find in Paul's Epistles, may be applied
with equal propriety to these same practical errors
in every age of the church, although the particular
forms of it with which he contended may exist no
longer. It does not appear indeed, in the Epistle of
James, that he combats this tendency in precisely
these forms, as is the case in Paul's writings. Yet
is the root, the essential tendency, the same. He
is obliged to instruct his readers in the nature of
true religion, — wherein that form of religion, of
which they made so much account, must therefore
have been deficient. It is only a different form of
development which is here treated of; the same
radical tendency is too obvious to be mistaken.
There were two leading forms of this tendency.
One of these consisted in an undue estimation of
outward works of the Law. The other exalted
the- mere knowledge of the Law, of the true God

¦30
and of what pertains to his worship, into the prin
cipal thing ; and on the ground of knowledge
merely, — of the mere profession of belief, of faith
simply as an act of the understanding, — claimed
superiority over the Gentiles, although the course
of life by no means corresponded to this knowledge
and outward profession. Paul likewise combats,
in the. second chapter of the Epistle to the Bo
mans, this false reliance on mere knowledge of the
Law. Of the same character was that dead learn
ing in the' Scriptures, such as Christ condemned in
the Pharisees, who thought that in them they had
eternal life, and yet would not be directed by them
to him who alone could bestow eternal life. The
consequence was, that each one was anxious to gain
currency for his own religious views, to set himself
up as a teacher for others, without first taking care
to mould his own character in conformity with di
vine truth. Hence arose the contests between these
would-be teachers ; another form of that bias to
the external and the literal, but springing from
the same root as those before described, — no less
capable of co-existing with an ungodly life, and of
serving as a support for it.
The question now arises, — does the false idea of

31
faith and the over-estimation of mere faith, which
James opposes in this Epistle, belong also to this
same radical tendency ; or are we to regard it as
something different, and derived from another
source ? Do we find here so clear a reference to
the Pauline idea of faith, as to make the conclusion
necessary, that the doctrine of justification by faith,
as taught by Paul, had been misunderstood and
misapplied in these churches ? Some might have
imagined, that they could glory in justification
solely by faith in the Redeemer, while they con
tinued to live in the practice of sin. Against such
misunderstanding and perversion, Paul himself
seeks to guard his doctrine, in many passages of
the Epistle to the Romans. In later times, — when
the doctrine which Paul made it his especial object
to maintain in opposition to Judaism and judaizing
teachers, had been re-established in its rights by
Luther, in opposition to a Jewish spirit which had
once more crept into the church ; there then fol
lowed a new service of the letter, a new phase of
this tendency to outward forms,- and again the
connection between faith and life was rent asunder.
Much which James says of this tendency in his

32
day, might be applied to this case with equal pro
priety. This question, whether James is here contending
against a misapprehension of the Pauline doctrine,
or has no reference whatever to it, — is by no
means necessarily connected with the question of
the relation of Paul's teaching to that of James.
James might have intended to oppose a misunder
standing of Paul's doctrine, — nay, even the doctrine
itself, if he had first met with it in this erroneous
form, without -previous understanding with Paul
in regard to his object ; and yet a perfect harmony
might be shown to exist between the two methods
of exhibiting truth, each serving as the comple
ment of the other. For it may easily happen,
when one man has formed, — in accordance with
his peculiar course of training, and the bearing of
the counter-view which is before his mind,— his
own peculiar mode of conceiving and stating a
truth ; that the very opposition made to it by
another, conceiving the same truth from a different
point of view, may show their essential agree
ment, — -what was intended to counteract serving
only to explain and complete. Thus a representa
tion of Christian truths, even if called forth by op-

33
position to the peculiarly Pauline form of doctrine,
might have found place as a completing link,, in
that collection of writings containing the original
pure revelation of Christian truth. Both these
forms of conception and teaching might constitute
parts of the same whole, as being mutually com
pletive, in the one revelation of the Holy Spirit
through different human organs inspired by him.
Their relation to each other must therefore be es
pecially considered hereafter.'""
Now although it is possible that such a form of
externalizing, as the one we have mentioned, might
attach itself to the Pauline doctrine, and though,
as we have seen, this was afterwards actually the
case ; the question still remains, whether we are
justified in assuming this in regard to the par
ticular churches brought to our knowledge in this
Epistle. It was in churches like these, f.rmed
among Jews and exclusively of Jewish converts,
that a perversion of the Pauline doctrine was most
unlikely to arise ; inasmuch as the Pauline stand
point was one with which they had nothing in
common. The Pauline view of faith presupposes
the strongly marked distinction between Law and
* Page 86.
2*

34
Gospel, a doctrinal position opposed to legal right
eousness, to the merit of one's own works. Oppo
sition to the Jewish tendency to externals was the
precise ground on which it planted itself; and
where that tendency prevailed, a perverted form
of this view could as little gain admission as the
view itself.
But to resume our question : may not this par
ticular error, — the false idea of faith and over-esti
mation of mere faith, — which James opposes, be
also traced back to the same radical tendency?
Let us only compare what precedes and what fol
lows the discussion of this topic in the second
chapter. It is preceded (chap, i.) by a rebuke
of those who founded an imaginary claim on the
mere hearing of the word, on the mere knowledge
of it, without holding themselves bound to practise
it ; to which is added the rebuke of a mere fan
cied and seeming service of God. What now is
this but that very same spirit of reliance on the
external, which manifests itself in a mere ad
herence to certain articles of faith, — faith in the
one true God, the Messiah', — and on this ground
alone claims to be righteous, without recognizing
the demands of this faith upon the life? As

35

knowledge and practice are at war with each
other, so are faith and life. A merely theoretical
faith corresponds exactly to a merely theoretical
knowledge. The same man, who satisfies himself
with being able to discourse much of the law
without obeying it, is also the one who makes a
boast of his faith, without holding himself bound
" to the practice of that which faith requires. The
same man who finds the essence of religion in cer
tain external works, and claims to be a true wor
shipper of God merely on the ground of professing
the true religion, is the one also who claims to be
accounted righteous through a faith which pro
duces no works. If we turn now to what follows
(chap, iii.), we find that James is here rebuking
those who were ever ready to exalt- themselves
into teachers of others ; but who, by teaching
what they did not practice, made themselves the
more liable to condemnation. What then is this
but that same radical tendency over again . And
on what ground should we be justified in rending
Tthe intermediate passage from its connection, and
making it refer to something else, the explanation
of which must be sought elsewhere than in this
one radical tendency .

36-
It is true, that in the manner of meeting these
errors, which we will now further consider, James
is distinguished in a peculiar way from Paul. It is
the more practical man in contrast with the more
systematic ; the man to whose wholly Jewish de
velopment, faith in Christ was superadded as the
crown and completion, — in contrast with him,
whose faith in Christ took the form of direct op
position to his earlier Jewish views, as the centre
of a wholly new creation. Hence with James,
opposition to error takes more the form of single
propositions and exhortations ; with Paul it is a
connected view, in which all proceeds from one
central point. With James the reference to Christ
appears only as one particular among others, a
peculiarity especially objected to this Epistle, as
if Christ were not to be found in it ; while with
Paul, on the contrary, the chief object is to exalt
Christ, who is everywhere placed foremost, and is
everywhere represented as the centre ofthe whole
life, from whom all is derived, to whom all is re
ferred. But yet, in these single propositions and
•admonitions of James, we are able to trace the
higher unity lying at the basis; and can show that
all have reference to Christ as the living centre,

37
even though he is not expressly named. There
may be a form of moral development, which re
ceives its true light and its true significance through
reference to Him as its centre and source, although
he is not expressly recognized by name ; and his
name may be often on the lips, while yet the
whole inward character has formed itself without
reference to Him. In this light we must now en
deavor to understand the controversial and ad
monitory passages of this Epistle.
The churches to whom it was addressed con
sisted of rich and poor ; and undoubtedly the
latter were the more numerous class among the
Christians. We know that the Gospel everywhere,
and especially among the Jews, found freer entrance
with the poor and lowly than among the rich and
powerful. Not that riches in themselves exclude
from the kingdom of God, or necessarily form a
hindrance to faith in the Gospel. When Christ
says, that it is easier for a camel to go through a
needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the
kingdom of God, he means such as he who gave
occasion to these words ; those to whom, — though
perhaps unconsciously, — the earthly is the highest
good ; whose treasure being on earth canflot, there-

38
fore, be in heaven ; whose , heart belongs to the
earth where their treasure is, and is therefore far
from that direction towards heaven, without which
no one can ever, share in its blessedness. Indeed
he himself adds in the same connection, that al
though the salvation of a rich man is impossible
with men, i. e. by mere human means, yet with
God all is possible. He would say by this, that
divine help is needful, in order that riches may not
prove a hindrance to the attainment of the king
dom of God. This then is the import of the
words; not that riches in themselves are a hin
drance to this object, but that misdirection of the
affections into which the rich man more than
others is liable to fall. The rich should be awa
kened to a consciousness of this, and should be in
cited by a sense of the difficulties inherent in his
case, to apply to God for the strength which he
needs ; that even while in possession of all earthly
riches, he may still keep his treasure in heaven
and his heart directed thither. In this Epistle
itself we learn what is necessary to the rich for
this purpose. Yet though riches are not, in them
selves, a hindrance to participation in the kingdom
of God, "still it was often the case among the Jews,

39
that the rich and mighty forgot in worldly enjoy
ments the higher wants of the inner man ; lost the
fixed consciousness of dependence on Him, whose
power confers and disposes all ; imagining that they
possessed all things, they had no room left for the
feeling of want and of the necessity of deliverance
from it. Thus too in the Old Testament, the rich,
the proud, and the ungodly are often ranked to
gether as of one class.
But every external situation may become, ac
cording to one's temper of mind, either a help or
a hindrance to salvation ; and nothing can here
injure or promote his interests independently of
his own will. Thus may poverty also, — that phys
ical want which depresses the spiritual nature,
which prevents the inner man from awaking to
self-consciousness, and to the feeling of his higher
spiritual wants, — prove an obstacle to the attain
ment of the kingdom of God. Poverty, too, has
its peculiar dangers, and this is not overlooked in
this Epistle. In general, however, it was the poor
and lowly, pining under the oppressions of the
rich and powerful, and under the pressure of phys
ical want, who most readily felt the need of deliv
erance from spiritual want, from inward poverty

40
of soul. On this feeling of physical need, could
more easily be engrafted that consciousness of the
soul's necessities, through which they might be
conducted to the Saviour. As in their case, there
was nothing to deceive the soul into a seeming
satisfaction of its wants, they could the more easily
be drawn to that which furnished the true satis
faction for all its higher necessities. Moreover,
the poor in this world could more readily than
the rich attain to that poverty of spirit, to which,
as Christ says, belongs the kingdom of Heaven.
Thus the Gospel found, among the Jews, a readier
reception from the poor than from the rich ; and
on this account, Christians were reproachfully
called The Poor. We do not mean by this, that
all these poor who received the Gospel, had been
led to it by true poverty of spirit, and had thus
been prepared to receive, as poor and needy, the
true riches of the Gospel. Among them too was
to be found the influence of that carnal mind
which prevailed among the Jews, — begetting, not
the true hope of the heavenward directed spirit,
but rather the expectation of a recompense for
bodily privations in the imagined carnal enjoy
ments of the kingdom of Christ. Now the faith

41
of such, if we choose to call it by that name, had
its source in the carnal mind of the natural man ;
and hence, the earlier form of this natural man
was transferred with them out of Judaism into a
, professed Christianity, — where it was, as we shall
see, opposed and rebuked by James.
As the poorer and lower class, the Christians
had, as we have intimated, much to suffer from the
persecution and oppression of the powerful and
rich ; partly on account of their religion, partly for
the promotion of selfish interests, their religion
serving as the pretext. The rich who called them
selves Christians without being so in truth, were
infected with the common vice of the rich among
the Jews, and failed in the exercise of love and
even justice towards their poorer brethren in the
faith. Accordingly, we find in this Epistle words
of consolation and encouragement for the oppressed
and suffering, and of rebuke for the rich both
within and without the church.

EXPOSITION
OF THE EPISTLE

Its opening words are addressed to the Suffer
ing, — exhorting them to steadfastness
[Ch. 1. 2, 3.
and submission. "My brethren, count it
all joy when ye fall intodivers temptations." The
idea of temptation is a comprehensive one in
the Scriptures. By it is designated, whatever
may become an obstacle or impediment to Chris
tian faith and Christian virtue, — prosperity and
adversity, the world without and the world
within ; everything which, though it may in
deed occasion the overthrow of faith and virtue
in the conflict, thus puts them to the test, and
may therefore serve also to confirm and strength
en them. In this more general sense it might,
in itself considered, be understood here. But
it is evident from the connection that here, as in
many other passages, are meant the sufferings by

44
which the Christian hfe is tried. Now to those
who sigh under sufferings such as we have de
scribed, he addresses not merely the exhortation,
to bear them patiently in the prospect of future
glory. Far more than this. The feeling of suffer
ing should lose itself in joy. They should do
nothing but rejoice. How could James say this?
It was because with him all has reference to what
is noblest in man, what constitutes his true being,
the imperishable, the inner man as it is termed by
Paul. And knowing that -fehese temptations, right
ly used, must serve for the improvement of the
inner man, and for this purpose were ordained of
God ; he therefore calls upon Christians not to be
disquieted, but to rejoice in these sufferings, bear
ing in mind the end which they must promote for
the children of God. The right improvement of
suffering, on Christian grounds, is therefore presup
posed, as indicated by James in the succeeding
words : " Knowing that the trial of your faith
worketh patience." It is here implied, that faith
has its appointed process of development and puri
fication in this life, — a process consisting in an un
ceasing conflict. Faith is in his view something
radically different from, and elevated above, every

45
other governing principle in man ; something en
dued with an inward divine power ; which must,
however, approve itself in conflict with this op
posing power, with all which proceeds from the
flesh, from the natural man. There " are indeed
manifold trials of faith, and to all these the words
of James apply. But it is the conflict with exter
nal circumstances, which is here especially meant.
Here then is it to be tested, whether the faith is
genuine, deep-rooted in the inner life ; such an one
as, through indwelling divine power, is able to
overcome the world. The opposite case is pre
sented by Christ, in what he says of the stony
ground ; where indeed the seed of the word springs
up quickly, but soon withers because it has no sap
(Luke viii. 6) ; a conviction which is not a firm
and deeply rooted one, and in time of temptation
vanishes away (v. 13). But so long as faith ap
proves itself in this warfare, holds out in the con
flict with the world, it demonstrates thereby its
divine power. The test becomes an attestation.
From the victorious contest faith comes forth with
a confirmed constancy, and constancy manifests
itself as a fruit of faith. It is by this means that
the Christian first learns what he himself possesses.

46
But James well understood the character of the
churches whom he addressed ; and that
Ch. i.4, 6.] . ».
among them the idea of faith was hable
to the perversion of which we have spoken. It is
everywhere his aim to counteract this one-sided
tendency to the particular and the external. Hence
he adds, that even if faith had thus approved it
self as steadfast, in these outward conflicts with
the world, yet this one thing alone would not con
stitute the Christian life. Iii manifold directions,
must faith pervade the entire life, and manifest its
pt>wer. " Let steadfastness," he adds (or as Luther
translates it, patience), " have its perfect work."
Luther understood this of time ; it was to approve
itself as perfect by persevering even to the end.
But from the connection with what follows, and
from the whole connection and course of thought
in the Epistle, we should rather understand it thus :
To the faith which has approved itself as steadfast,
must correspond all the works pertaining to faith,
the entire sum of the acts in which faith expresses
its inward character. But James, in reference to
the unity of the whole Christian life, designates the
entire Christian course, all Christian action, as one
perfect work, — as must be the case in order to

47
correspond to true faith. Thus we can rightly
understand what he immediately adds *. " that ye
may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing ;" im
plying that with persevering faith connects itself
the whole sum of the true Christian walk. By
completeness is not meant an absolute perfection,
nowhere to be found in the Christian life on earth ;
but, as often elsewhere in the Scriptures, all which
belongs to Christian maturity, to what Paul terms
Christian manhood, — as by wholeness (" entire")
is meant the exclusion of whatever would mar the
Christian life. When he desires that they may be
wanting in nothing, he has in mind the aggregate
of all qualities, powers, and capacities which Chris
tianity develops, when its efficacy is fully proved
as a leaven for the entire nature of man. Hence
he subjoins a direction, intended to encourage
them under the consciousness of any deficiency in
this respect. He shows them what they must
themselves do, if they would attain to that also,
in which they are still deficient. What he might
have expressed in wholly general terms, applicable
to everything in which they might be conscious
of deficiency, he applies (with his usual preference
for the specific over the general idea) to that

48
point especially wherein these particular churches
might feel, or ought to feel, their need. Above
all things was needed true wisdom, to give to the
whole life its proper reference to the kingdom of
God. Wisdom, or prudence (for which in the
original the same word is used, — the prudence
grounded in wisdom and subservient to it, the
prudence of wisdom, of Christian love, being alone
regarded as genuine) is by our Lord himself often
held up as the chief object of attainment. But, as
already remarked, there prevailed in these churches,
as a fruit of the Jewish spirit, a proneness to a
vain show of wisdom, to the over-estimation of
mere knowledge, the conceit of knowledge and
wisdom. So much the more did they need to be
admonished, that true wisdom is based upon hu
mility ; that it is not to be learned in the schools
from Doctors ofthe Law; that it can be obtained
only from the fountain of eternal light. Hence
James adds to what he has already said, " If any
of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth
to all men liberally [with simplicity], and upbraid-
eth not: and it shall be given him." Thus he
counsels them, when they feel the consciousness of
their deficiencies, to turn to God in prayer. God is

49
designated as he who gives with simplicity, i. e.
out of pure love, for the mere sake of giving, —
simplicity being here contrasted with a liberality
apportioned and limited by self-interest. He is
represented as he who reproaches no one with his
benefits, but who is ever ready still to give, if there
only exists a susceptibility for Iris gifts. They
should not turn then to such teachers as hold back
from them a part of the truth, impart to them
grudgingly, and reproach them with their indebt
edness ; but to the love of a Heavenly Father, who
gives without measure and is ever ready to give.
It is prayer, therefore, which James represents
as the condition required of the believer, in order
that he may share in the communication from that
heavenly fountain. This is the necessary relation
between imparting and receiving in divine things.
God alone being the Creator and Bestower, the
human spirit can here only hold the attitude of a
recipient. And this direction of the spirit, in order
to receive what God is ready to impart, consists in
prayer. The direction of the soul towards God in
the feeling of personal need, and in the conviction
that God alone can and will satisfy it, the longing
towards God of the spirit hungering and thirsting
3

50
after wisdom, — this is prayer. To seek the truth
from God, and to pray, are one and the same
thing. The whole life of the spirit, filled with
this longing and impelled by it towards God, is
prayer. So in those words of Christ, — to seek, to
knock, in order to find the hid treasure, and to pray,
are all classed together : " Ask and it shall be
given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it
shall be opened unto you." (Matt. vii. 7.)
But in addressing churches so ensnared by ten
dencies to the outward in religion, it was
Oh. i. 6-8.] °
all the more necessary to warn them
against this in respect to prayer ; which only then
- deserves the name, when it is the voice of the spirit
itself, breathed from its inmost depths ; lest they
should suppose prayer in words, without that direc
tion of the soul to God, to be all that was required.
This warning is contained in the following words :
"But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering."
Trust in God is here represented as that direction
of the spirit, from which prayer must proceed.
To the eye of faith God must be present, as He
to whom the prayer is directed. There must be
the assurance, that he can and will supply the
wants uttered before him, in order that it may be

51
true prayer, prayer of the heart and not merely of
the lips. The reason is immediately added, why
prayer of the opposite character will not be heard.
" For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea,
driven with the wind and tossed." Thus the stead
fast direction of the soul to God is essential to
prayer. But where there is doubt, there this
ruling bias of the soul towards God is wanting.
When, on the one side, the soul feels itself drawn
towards God, and trust in Him begins to awaken ;
then on the other, the worldly tendency asserts
itself, and strives to check the budding emotions
of faith and trust. Hence the man, who is drawn
hither and thither by conflicting inclinations, is
compared to the wave, driven to and fro by storm
and flood. James represents such a man as one
who is at variance with himself, one in whom
there exist, as it were, two souls ;* who is unstable
in all his ways, fickle-minded, unreliable in all his
actions. Such is the character of his whole hfe,
and his prayer answers to his life. In this it is
implied, therefore, that prayer must be in con
sonance with the steadfast direction of the whole
* Eng. version, double-minded. — Tn.

52
life towards God ; all must originate in one and
the same temper of heart.
But here the question may be asked : How is
this faith which is essential to prayer, to be ob
tained ? Is one to abstain from prayer, because
he lacks this measure of faith? But as in the
words of our Lord above quoted, it is the neces
sary condition on which every gift of God is be
stowed, that we knock, that we seek, that we ask
of God ; most surely faith is to be included, which
is the gift of God, and always represented as some
thing divinely wrought in man. He who is con
scious of his lack of faith, who desires to believe
more, to become stronger in faith, must in this
also seek of God that wherein he is wanting. As
that unhappy father in the Gospel narrative, of
whom believing confidence was required in order
to the healing of his son, cried out under a sense
of the weakness of his faith, " Lord, help my unbe
lief !" ; so will the feeling of that want of which
we are speaking, of that lack of faith which stands
opposed to true prayer, itself impel to prayer for
strength to believe. He who is assaulted by doubts
will turn his back upon doubt, — upon the world
which threatens to ensnare his soul in unbelief,

53
and will look to God ; turning away from doubt,
he will give himself to prayer. Thus through
prayer will faith increase, and the strengthened
faith will in its turn lend new power, new wings
to prayer.
Thus have we seen how James, beginning with
the exhortation to steadfastness under suf-
[Ch. i. 9-11.
fermgs, was led on from one suggestion to
another. Turning now his thoughts to the poor,
who constituted a majority of these Christians, and
who had much to suffer from the oppression of the
rich, he addresses to them the consoling words :
" Let the brother of low degree rejoice [glory] in
that he is exalted." Instead of being cast down
by the sense of his poverty, his low estate in re
spect to earthly relations, the Christian should
rather feel himself raised above them, by the con
sciousness of an exaltation transcending all height
of worldly honor ; of that divine exaltation which
is founded in the divine life, in the dignity of the
Sons of God. This glorying he enjoins, with no
occasion to apprehend self-exaltation ; for the
glory here spoken of is not one which man owes
to his own powers and efforts ; it is a dignity be
stowed on him by God alone. This glorying is,

54
therefore, the very opposite of all pride and self-
exaltation, and can exist only in connection with
true humility. But as this dignity is not adjudged
to the poor on account of their poverty, so are the
rich by no means excluded from it by their riches ;
although as we have already shown, these may to
many become a hindrance in the way of their at
taining it. To the rich, too, the way is pointed
out, by which they may attain to that high dig
nity. " Let the rich," says James, " glory in that
he is made low." That is : by humbling himself
on account of that which passes with the world as
great, he attains to the consciousness of that true
dignity, which springs only from a sense of the
nothingness of all earthly greatness. By this con
viction of the worthlessness of his earthly riches,
he is prepared to appropriate as his own the true
riches, the only true dignity. Self-abasement is
the path to true exaltation. So long as the rich
man prides himself upon his wealth, and fancies
that therein he possesses the true riches, the feel
ing of necessity for heavenly possessions, for true
greatness, will not germinate in his heart. Thia
very feeling of need, this desire, is the necessary
condition of personal participation. Thus poor

55
and rich among Christian brethren, must be united
to each other by the same consciousness of equal
dignity. James then goes on to picture the vanity
of riches, by images drawn from the natural scenery
of the East. Like the fresh grass, which at morn
ing stands in all its flowery splendor, but under
the scorching breath of the south wind suddenly
withers and dies, so will the rich man perish in
his ways. As he has his treasure only in earthly
things, and has wholly merged himself in them, to
him is transferred what is said of the vanity of
those possessions, which he has made his all.
But the sufferings of the oppressed Christians are
ever before the mind of James. Having
[Ch. i. 12-15.
spoken of these sufferings as trials for
the verifying of their faith, he now extols as happy
the righteous who endures temptation ; since, by
thus approving himself, he would win the victor's
crown of eternal life, which the Lord has promised
to all who love him. But how shall we reconcile
with this the warning, not to ascribe temptations
to God, which James immediately adds ? Does he
not regard God, as having himself ordained these
sufferings as a means of testing faith ? But there
are different applications of this term, and we must

56
distinguish between outward and inward tempta
tion. The difficulties which beset one from with
out, may serve to awaken in him the latent power
of the higher life. But they may also show his
inward weakness, — may become the point of con
nection for that which stands opposed to the
divine life. That which might otherwise have
been the means of attesting his faith or Christian
virtue, through his own fault becomes temptation
to unbelief or to sin. Thus the outward temptation
becomes an inward one, and thereby endangers the
soul. When Christ bids us pray : Lead us not into
temptation, thi3 can certainly be no other than in
ward temptation ; for his disciples were to be left
• behind, in the midst of those temptations of the
world which should serve as tests of their faith. The
object of the petition must have been, that the out
ward might not become an inward temptation. In
like manner, James, in his use of the word, passes
from one of these related ideas to the other. .
But he must have found special reason for this
warning in the peculiar state of these churches ;
and the explanation is to be sought in that same
spirit of externalizing, of which we have already
spoken. As this spirit shows itself in the concep-

57
tion of what is good, so does it also in the concep
tion of sin. . At no time have there been wanting
grounds of excuse for sin ; which men have regard
ed as something cleaving to them from without,
and have sought its origin in merely external
causes, instead of tracing it to its inward source in
the faulty direction of the will. So it would seem
that many in these churches excused themselves,
on the plea that they were in subjection to a
higher power, which hurried them away into sin.
The Almighty, whom no one is able to withstand,
has plunged them into these temptations. To this
James replies : " Let no man say when he is tempt
ed, I am tempted of God ;" for as God cannot be
tempted by aught that is evil, being elevated
above all evil, so neither from him can temptation
to sin proceed. The Holy One can tempt none to
sin. He then lays open the fountain of temptation
in man's own bosom, and describes the process by
which the sinful tendency gains ground in progres
sive steps, till its final development in outward act.
The source of temptation, he represents as lying in
those desires inherent in every man, by which he
is excited and led away ; which lie in wait for him,
as it were, but which he has power»to withstand.
3*

58
They gain strength only because they are not re
sisted ; because he who might subject them to him
self, submits himself to them. Thus prevailing,
thus ripened into fruit, lust bringeth forth sin;
and sin completed in act is followed by death.
We are by no means to infer, as is clear from
the connection of thought in this passage, that
these desires are not in their own nature sinful;
or that the prevailing sinful tendency of the will
would not involve death, even if it should find no
expression in outward act, as though all turned on
the outward act alone. The thought is this : Evil,
from the first breaking forth of desire, proceeds on
in ascending stages of development, until, — over
powering all the opposing influences of the higher
hfe, — it is consummated in act. In this consum
mation in act is shown an increased strength of sin ;
and though man was previously able, by overcom
ing the enticements to sin, to maintain and to re
establish in himself the true hfe ; yet now, through
sin which has gained the victory over him, he falls
a prey to death. James, therefore, warns them
against indulging in such false and delusive ideas,
as that God can be the author of evil.
Having thua directed them to look for the source

59
of temptation in themselves alone, and warned
them against supposing that temptations
could come from God ; he now further
opposes to this delusion the thought, — that only
whatever is good, whatever is true, proceeds from
Him. As he is the Father of all material light,
so is he also the Father of all spiritual light. With
him, therefore, can be no alternation of light and
darkness. From him, the unchangeable fountain
of light raised above all darkness, nothing which
tempts to evil can proceed. As light and all that
is good, so darkness and all that is evil, are uni
formly classed together in the Holy Scriptures.
From this general thought, James now passes
again to its application to himself and his
readers. To God alone were they indebted
also for. the dawning of the divine light on them,
and for the new hfe thereby imparted. " Of his
own will begat he us, with the word of truth, that
i.we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures."
We here perceive in James, as in Paul, the oppo
site of the Jewish tendency to the outward. He
presupposes in the Christian a moral transforma
tion, wrought from within. The word of truth,
the divine power of the Gospel, is that whereby

60
the new higher life has been produced. He too
describes this as something not consequent upon
any human desert ; all are indebted for it to the
will of Him from whom all good proceeds. He
too characterizes this moral transformation as a
new creation. Those in whom it was first effected,
he describes as the first-born of this creation ;
since from them it should continue to spread, till
its final completion in a world pervaded and trans
formed by the divine principle of life.
But it is ever the manner of James to pass at once
from the general to the particular ; a trait
Oh. L 19-21.] ... . ...
originating partly in his own personal
character, partly from the peculiar practical neces
sities of those to whom he was writing. He knew
their disposition to content themselves with the
general thought, without making an application
of it to their own life. To incite them to this
was his constant aim. He therefore proceeds at
once to show how the divine word, received into the
soul as the generative principle of the new creation,
must manifest itself in the course of life. Neither
does this take the form of a mere generality in
his mind ; but he passes directly to the special ap
plication most opposed^ to the practical errors of

61
these churches. We have already remarked on
the propensity among them to assume the office
of teacher, — the inclination to talk much and to do
little ; how they were thus led to pass judgment
lightly upon others, to revile them, and how every
passion found herein its nourishment. Against
this he warns them in the words : "Wherefore, my
beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear,
slow to speak, slow to wrath." One extreme must
be driven out by the other. There is a self-willed
silence, and there is a self-willed forwardness to
speak. He who is inclined to be too inert and
passive, to hold his peace when he ought to speak
out boldly, must be exhorted not to give himself
thus wholly to silence, but to be willing to speak
when duty requires. But James is dealing with
those, among whom the very opposite fault pre
vailed; those who lacked the sobriety, patience,
and humility, to hear before they spoke ; and of
course he must make use of the opposite exhorta
tion. As a warning against the temptation to
anger, easily furnished by over-hasty speaking, he
tells them that passion is least of all adapted to
effect the work of piety. " For the wrath of man
worketh not the righteousness of God." From the

62
particular instance he now returns to the general
thought with which he started, placing the two in
close connection with each other. As passion
' forces man towards the outward, withdrawing him
from the calm, ever-deepening inner life of the
spirit, and banishing again from the heart that
generative principle of the new creation, the Word
of God, instead of allowing it to penetrate more
and more the inner spiritual nature : he therefore
counsels them to purify themselves from all that
is evil, all excrescences of the inward life which
passion nourishes, and in meekness to suffer the
word implanted in their hearts to take deeper and
deeper root therein. So shall they attain to the
salvation of the soul, through the power of this
word thus penetrating more and more their entire
life. " Wherefore" (namely, because anger is in
contrariety to the divine righteousness, and is the
rank soil of every evil thing) — " lay apart all filth
iness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive
with meekness the engrafted word which is able
to save your souls." James, it is true, is address
ing those in whom the ground of salvation was
abeady laid ; but he presupposes also, that they
can only become partakers of salvation, by con-

63
tinuing to build on that foundation, and to yield
submission to the word which they have once re
ceived, that they may experience in themselves
its purifying and transforming power.
Having constantly in mind the practical errors
under which these churches were suffer- [Ch.i. 22-24.
ing, he comes back again and again to the
warning against that delusive tendency to exalt the
outward. Pie exhorts them, not to imagine that it
is sufficient to have a mere knowledge of the word,
to be intellectually conversant with it. He warns
them against the self-deception, that by such a
knowledge merely they had complied with what
he has just said, had really received the word into
their life, had thus become Christians. The essen
tial point is, the practical application of the word
to the hfe. Herein must it manifest its efficacy,
as a principle which works from within upon the
outward character, and takes possession of the en
tire life. He says to them : " But be ye doers of
the word and not hearers only, deceiving your
own selves." He sets this in a clear light by a
familiar illustration. He compares him who re
ceives the word with the understanding only,
without applying it to the life, to one who, having

64
seen his image in a mirror, goes away and imme
diately forgets how he looked. Thus he whi
merely busies himself in a superficial way with the
divine word, may have learned indeed what is the
true aspect of his life in relation to the divine Law
and its demands. A light has dawned upon his
mind, as, to what he is and should be. But turn
ing away again from the divine word, hurried
along by the current of life and by his own pas
sions, he immediately forgets it all like him who
just saw his image in the mirror, and all is of no
avail. " For if any one be a hearer of the word
and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding
his natural face in a glass ; for he beholdeth him
self, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth
what manner of man he was."
With him who thus contents himself with a mere
superficial study of the word of God, in
Ch. i. 28.] .
whom knowledge and practice are at vari
ance with each other, James now contrasts one who
has looked into the depths of the divine Law, and
lives in that contemplation. He here marks the
distinction between the law of the letter, in its
nature external, and that which Christianity has
made the inner law, the law of the spirit, received

65
into the inner life. This he calls the perfect law,
in contrast with the law of Moses viewed only in
its externality, which as such, — that is, as a law of
the letter merely, — can bring nothing to perfec
tion, but leaves everything as it found it. The
former he calls the law of liberty, inasmuch as it
makes him free who has received it into his inner
life, in contrast with the bondage of the letter. To
this law one cannot hold the relation of a mere
external hearer. Whoever has actually received
it into himself as the perfect law, the law of liber
ty, is constrained by an inward impulse to mani
fest it in the outward life. " But whoso looketh
into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth
therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a
doer of the word, this man," — he adds, — " shall be
blessed in his deed."
But how does this accord with Paul's represen
tation, of the characteristic difference between
the relations established by the Law" and the
Gospel, when he gives as the watchword of the
former, " Do this and thou shalt live" (who does
it, he shall live therein) ; and of the latter, " The
just shall live by faith ?" There would indeed
be a contradiction here, if James were speaking

66
of the Law in the same sense as Paul, — if he
meant that by works of law one could merit salva
tion. But this is far from James' purpose. He is
speaking of the Law, as made by faith in Christ a
living inward principle ; of that Law as Christ un
folds it in the Sermon on the Mount, and which
presupposes and includes in itself faith. In this
view he may justly say, that one must feel himself
blessed in the practice of this Law, and in this
way alone can become a partaker of that blessed
ness w -bich Christ imparts to the believer. It is
precisely the same thing as Christ himself says, at
the close of the Sermon on the Mount : " Who
soever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth
them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which
built his house upon a rock." Certainly, to this
Paul also would have assented. To this certainly
corresponded his own manner of teaching, — that
only he can experience in himself the divine power
of faith, can be blessed through faith, who fur
nishes the evidence of it in his life ; faith being in
his view that inward principle, which works from
within the transformation of the whole life, that
faith which works by love; as he' himself says:
" Though I had all faith, so that I could remove

67
mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing."
(1 Cor. xiii. 2.)
James now passes once more from the general to
the particular, to the special application
of what he has just said on this principle
of active obedience. The case which he presents, as
requiring special notice, is selected with a view to the
peculiar circumstances and faults of these churches.
Writing to other churches he might have selected
other examples. " If any man among you seem to
be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but de-
ceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain."
James takes for his starting-point the Christian
principle, that religion must embrace the whole
life. Hence he calls that rehgion merely imagi
nary, seeming, unreal, which allows the continuance
of the moral defects originally predominant in the
character ; as, for example, in the application to
these churches, that tendency to passionate anger,
that want of control over the tongue. Of those
who continued to live on thus as before, and yet
made pretensions to religion, James says that they
deceived themselves, that their religion was vain.
Here again, in contrasting with this that religion
which is genuine, showing itself in the life, he ad-

68
duces the particular acts in which such a religion
must manifest itself; in this, too, making the se
lection with special reference to the circumstances
of these churches. To take the part of the orphan
and the widow, to protect them against the pride
and oppression of the rich, — this is pure and
genuine religion. " Pure religion and undefiled
before God and the Father, is this, to visit the
fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to
keep themselves unspotted from the world." He
thus closes again with the general; the injunc
tion, to keep one's self pure from all defilement
by the world, having reference to the whole
Christian life. He does not mean that exter
nal, often falsely conceived opposition to the
world, which would hinder the Christian from
serving as the true salt and the true leaven for the
world. This would stand in direct contradiction
with that course of active labors in the world,
which James everywhere enjoins in this Epistle
He means that one should keep himself inwardly
unspotted from the world ; that while externally
acting upon it, he should guard himself against the
infection of its impurity ; that he should remain
superior to the world, pure from the world whilst

69
acting upon it. There are two things, therefore,
essential to true religion and inseparable in it :
viz. conflict against tho evil which is in the world,
the practical exercise of love ; and in connection
therewith, the keeping oneself inwardly pure from
all ungodliness that reigns in the world. The
former, moreover, cannot truly subsist except in
connection with the latter.
We have already spoken of the distinction be
tween the large numbers of the poor, and
& . . [Ch.fi.-.
the much smaller number of the rich, in
these churches. Diversities and inequalities of con
dition, originating in the natural organization and
relations of society, were not to be done away by
Christianity, but rendered less grievous ; were to be
equalized by the common bond of love, and made a
ground for the exercise of this Christian love. If it
be true, (a matter on which we cannot decide with
certainty) that the first glow of Christian enthu
siasm gave rise for the time to a proper commu
nity of goods ; yet was this a state of things
adapted only to that period, when the new feeling
of fellowship with each other in the divine .life
burst forth with a power, which for a while swal
lowed up all individual distinctions. But this

70
could not be permanent. The inequalities founded
in nature must at length re-appear, and the indi
vidual and personal be again allowed its just
claims. Only the feeling should still remain,
which united all as one heart and one soul ; and
through the love that cared for the wants of all,
made as it were a common stock of the possessions
of all. But this was now wanting in these churches ;
and the differences of rank and wealth were no
longer repressed by the consciousness of that
higher Christian equality. Hence, in opposition
to such an unchristian aristocracy, James says :
" My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord
Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory, with respect of
persons." He thus expresses the contradiction,
between the disposition to estimate the worth of
believers by such temporal advantages, and faith
in Jesus as the Lord of Glory ! To him who ac
knowledges Jesus as such, the one dignity of be
longing to him must seem so great, that all per
sonal advantages of an earthly nature must be less
than nothing in comparison. His glory, in which
all believers are called to participate, far outshines
all earthly splendor.
He then proceeds with a more specific application

71
of this reproof. " For if there come unto your as
sembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly
[Ch. ii. 2-4.
apparel, and there come in also a poor man,
in vile raiment : and ye have respect to him that
weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou
here in a good place ; and say to the poor, Stand
thou there, or sit here under my footstool : are ye
not then partial in yourselves [at strife with your
selves], and are become judges of evil thoughts ?"*
The Greek word which we have translated " at strife
with yourselves," indicates a state in which solici
tude, doubt, conflicting thoughts, arise in the soul ;
as is the case where the simplicity of faith is dis
turbed, and discordant aims, worldly thoughts,
take precedence of that one sole interest which
should be all in all to the Christian. Here then
are meant, in contrast with the Christian view of
the equahty of all who stand related in Christian
fellowship, those worldly and foreign views, which
give an undeserved deference to one, while they
deny to another the respect due him as a member
of the same community. These are the evil
thoughts of which he speaks.
He now goes on to show them, from the history
* Those who judge from, or under the influence of, evil thoughts. — Tb,

72
ofthe spread of Christianity at this very time, from
the living example of the present, how
Ch. ii. 6, 6.]
entirely such a way of judging is opposed
to the Christian stand-point. He appeals to the fact,
that on the poor pre-eminently have been bestowed
the highest dignity of the Christian calling, the
greatest riches in faith, the heirship of the kingdom
of Heaven. And they despised the poor, whom
God had so highly exalted ! " Hearken, my be
loved brethren ; Hath not God chosen the poor of
this worid, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom
which he hath promised to them that love him ?
But ye have despised the poor." We must here
remark once more, that when James here speaks
of the kingdom of God as promised to those that
love him, — this love of God, in his sense of the
words, is doubtless to be understood as connected
with faith. He means Christian love ; which pre
supposes the revelation of the redeeming love of
God in Christ, and the consciousness of this love
received through the Holy Spirit.
In contrast with these poor, among whom the
calling of God pre-eminently found ac-
Oh.ii. 6, 7.] . J
cess, he places the rich who oppress the
Christians, who drag them before the judgment-

73
seat, — if not on account of their faith, yet for the
sake of extortion, — who blaspheme that holy name
by which Christians are called. " Do not rich
men oppress you, and draw you before the judg
ment-seats ? Do they not blaspheme that worthy
name by which ye are called'?" We suppose that
by the rich here are meant, such of the rich as
were opposers of Christianity. James makes use
of the well-known fact, that while the poor more
readily received the Gospel, the proudly rich
showed themselves the violent enemies of Chris
tians and of Christianity. It is possible, indeed,
though this would be less suited to the intended
contrast, that rich men who called themselves
Christians are meant ; who might be said to blas
pheme the name of Christ, through the scandal
which they brought upon it by their course of life.
He calls on them to consider, how entirely such
a course is at variance with the essential
[Ch. ii. 8-13.
principle of the divine life, — viz. with
Love. With him, too, Love is the fulfilling^_f the
Law. " If ye fulfil the royal law, according to the
Scriptures, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy
self, ye do well. But if ye have respect to per
sons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the Law
4

74
as transgressors." But he was dealing with per
sons ensnared on all sides in the outward and for
mal ; who, therefore, among the transgressions of
the Law (which they could not comprehend in its
full majesty and strictness) made a difference in
degree, as measured by an external standard ; and
who, judging by such a standard, might suppose it
easy to satisfy the claims of the Law. To them
such a predominance of the egoistic, as was shown
in that preference of the rich, and that contempt
of the poor, seemed no very grievous sin. It was
therefore necessary to admonish them that the
Law, as an expression, in one indivisible whole, of
the divine will the divine holiness, demands ab
solute obedience ; that only by such an obedience
can one be justified, and that in every single act
of transgression the whole Law is broken. " For
whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet of
fend in one point, he is guilty of all. For He that
said, Do not commit adultery ; said also, Do not
kill. «Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou
kill, thou art become a transgressor of the Law."
Accordingly in applying this principle, in the
sense x>f James, to the special case here spoken of, ,
we must say : He who, in this one thing, permits

75
his conduct to be determined by that selfishness
which is in conflict with the law of love, has
thereby violated the whole Law. He has violated
it in reference to its substance, as the expression
of the divine will wherein all is of equal dignity ;
and in reference to the ruling motive of his con
duct, Self in opposition to Love.
Does James then mean, that'in judging of sinful
agents and acts no differences in degree can be ad
mitted ? By no means. It is only necessary to dis
tinguish here between the abstract and the concrete,
according as the question respects the principle it
self in the unqualified strictness of its demands, or
the varying relations which human agency bears to
it ; inasmuch as, while all must acknowledge them
selves guilty before the Law, there may be grada
tions in guilt, according as the higher nature of
man has more or less asserted its own freedom
and superiority, or as the disturbing element of
self may still show its predominance. Certainly
James could not intend to say that any one, even
among Christians, wholly meets the demands of
the Law. The higher his conception of the dig
nity of the Law, as already shown, and the stronger
his opposition to the usual standard of merit as

76
consisting in particular external acts and ob
servances, — the less could such a view be attrib
uted to him. What immediately follows is to the
same effect. It is assumed that, however different
may be the actions of men, all appear as guilty in
the sight of the Law. But as Christ teaches us to
pray: Forgive us our debts as we forgive our
debtors ; so does James exhort, that by exercising
gentleness and mercy, in the consciousness of still
remaining sin, we should show ourselves meet sub
jects of the divine compassion. Christians should
speak and act with the continual sense of their
need of divine mercy ; then will meekness in
speech and action be its spontaneous expression,
and mercy triumph over strict justice. In this
view, therefore, he calls the law by which the
Christian is judged, a law of liberty. For he is
no longer under the yoke of a law requiring abso
lute obedience, which none can render, as the con
dition of salvation ; but is connected with a law
which is fulfilled by the free obedience of love,
not of fear, — in the consciousness of sins forgiven
and confiding reliance on the mercy of God.
"So speak ye and so do, as they that shall be
judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have

77
judgment without mercy, that hath showed no
mercy, and mercy rejoiceth against judgment."
As James everywhere marks the distinction be
tween appearance and reality ; and op
poses those tendencies which make ap
pearance pass for reality ; as he declares himself
against dependence on mere knowledge of the law
without a corresponding course of life, against a
pretended piety which does not show itself in
works of love ; so, from the same point of view
and with the same connection of ideas, does he
condemn a faith which fails to show itself in cor
responding good works. " What doth it profit,
my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and
have not works ? can faith save him ?" It should
be carefully noted, that James does not say ; if
one has faith, — but if he professes to have it. He
speaks of a merely professed faith, not of that
which is genuine. Of such a faith, which by its
want of good works proves itself to be spurious,
he declares that salvation is not to be attained by
it. In the view of Paul also, good works are
necessary fruits of true faith. One which pro
fessed to be such, and yet was wanting in these
fruits, he would not have regarded as justifying

78
faith, indeed would not have allowed it the name
of faith. The'meaning of James is clear from the
illustration which follows. Faith without works,
he compares to that love which never manifests
itself in deeds, and is shown- only in professions.
" Ifa brother or sister be naked, and destitute of
daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart ,
in peace, be ye warmed and filled : notwithstand
ing ye give them not those things which are need
ful to the body : What doth it profit ? Even so
faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone [is
jn itself dead].
When James says that faith without works is
dead, he certainly could not mean that works, the
mere outward and phenomenal, constitute the liv
ing element of faith, that through them it becomes
a living faith. On the contrary, he presupposes
that true faith has life in itself, has in itself the
living principle from which alone works can pro
ceed, and that in works it makes itself known.
The want of works was to him a proof that life
was wanting in that faith, and hence he calls it a
dead faith. He introduces a third person, speak
ing from James' own point of view with him who
professes to have faith without works, and proving

79
to him that the one cannot exist without the other.
" Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have
works : show me thy faith without thy works, and
I will show thee my faith by my works." In this
James proposes, — for it is he who says this in the
person of another, — to one who boasts of his faith
though he has no works, that he should make the
trial of showing to him the existence of his faith
without the aid of works. To James it would be
easy, by his works to show the faith which ani
mates him, and in the strength of which those
works were performed. As a proof that such a
faith without works is of no value, he adduces the
faith of evil spirits. Faith in God, in its true
sense, can only there exist where he is consciously
recognized as the highest good, where the whole
life has reference to him ; that faith which includes
in itself a living fellowship with God, — a practical,
not merely intellectual faith. With evil spirits, on
the contrary, the • consciousness of dependence on
the Almighty and Supreme forces itself upon them
against their will. They would gladly throw off
this dependence, but they have not the power. It
is something merely passive, with which their own
free inclination, the self-moved submission of the

80
Bpirit, has nothing to do. It is not a faith of the
heart, but merely of the intellect ; presenting God
as in opposition to the spirit striving to escape
from him, — God the Almighty, only as an object
of fear to the spirit estranged from him, and un
willing to acknowledge him. "Thou believest
there is one God ; thou doest well : the devils also
believe, and tremble."
By the Jews Abraham was claimed, as the rep
resentative of the faith in one God in
Ch. ii. 20-24.] the midst of nations devoted to idolatry ;
and therein was placed (as by others indeed in his
circumcision) his great significance. James there
fore proceeds to show, that the significance of this
faith did not consist in a passive belief of the un
derstanding in one God. It was a devotion of the
whole life to God. It proved its genuineness by
works of self-denial ; by his readiness, in love to
God and reliance upon him, in confiding resignation
to his will, to deny all natural feelings and make
of the object dearest to himself an offering to God.: y
He, therefore, who would follow Abraham in his
faith and by that faith be justified before God,
must also attest his faith by like works of self-
denial. " But wilt thou know, O vain man, that

81
faith without works is dead ? Was not Abraham
our father justified by works, when he had offered
Isaac his son upon the altar ?" Thus might he say,
that faith and works must here have wrought
together. How wrought together ? For the justi
fication of man before God ? So that Abraham
could not appear as one justified before Him, until
after the works had been performed ? Had James
intended this, it must have been on the suppo
sition, that God can know man only so far as he
manifests himself in outward acts. He could not
therefore have recognized him as the omniscient
God, who looks into the heart, and discerns the
inward feeling before it comes to light. Recog
nizing his omniscience, he must have known that
to the eye of God, this faith, which afterwards
showed itself in such works of self-denial, already
appeared as genuine justifying faith. But speak
ing from the stand-point of human consciousness,
taking into account only the outward manifesta
tion, he might so express himself; viz. that faith
and works wrought together for justification. So
also when he says, that "by works was faith made
perfect," he could not mean that works, — the
mere outward phenomena of faith, — are that which
4*

82
perfects faith itself; but only that in them faith
shows itself genuine and complete, the attestation
of faith in the life and conduct. " Seest thou how
f faith wrought with his works, and by works was
faith made perfect ? And the Scripture was. ful
filled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it
was imputed unto him for righteousness ; and he
was called the friend of God." And in that sense
he then says : " Ye see then, how that by works a
man is justified, and not by faith only."
To the example of Abraham he now adds that
of Rahab. Here, also, against the false
Ch. ii. 25, 26.] . . . .
Jewish position, that this heathen wo
man was justified on the ground of passive faith in
the One God, he declares that this faith was re
quired to approve itself in works, the fruits of an
inward disposition, contemning for the honor of
God all worldly considerations. " Likewise also, was
not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she
received the messengers, and had sent them out
another way ?" He concludes the whole discussion
with the words : " For as the body without the
spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."
In this comparison, faith without works answers to
the dead body without the animating spirit. But

83
it is only because the point of comparison is not
fully brought out. We cannot suppose him to
mean, that works answer to the spirit; for. the
spirit is certainly the inward, animating principle.
Works, would answer to the activity of the living
body. He means then: the want of works is
proof that the faith is a dead one, destitute of the
vital principle, and is therefore to be compared to
a body which is dead.
James then passes to another, and at first view
apparently quite different topic. But
[Ch. iii. 1, 2.
upon nearer inspection, it is found to be
closely connected with the foregoing. For the
very same tendency which made a merit of merely
knowing and talking ofthe Law, of an empty show
of faith without a corresponding life ; would also
lead men to set themselves up as teachers of
others, and to have much to say in the assemblies
of the church, without the inward call to this
> '""work. " My brethren, be not many masters [be not
many of you teachers]." As the ground of this
warning, he refers to the increased responsibihty
which one draws upon himself, by assuming to be
the teacher of others ; " knowing that we shall re
ceive the greater condemnation." The ground of

84
the tendency in these churches, to make so light a
matter of teaching, was that very want of self-ex
amination and self-knowledge, which had so much
to do with all the faults rebuked by James. Un
der the influence of that superficial moral judg
ment, which took into account only the outward
and apparent, they could not rightly estimate the
importance of words. It was not considered, that
speaking itself was an act; and was to be judged by
a moral standard ; and that one may sim not less
by the immoral use of speech than by any other
act. He bids them beware of this danger. He
shows how hard it is, to observe the just measure,
to exercise the proper self-control, in the use of
speech ; what injury may proceed from a single
word ; and by this he would admonish them, to be
so much the more conscientious in taking upon
themselves the office of speaking. He who con
sidered well that responsibility . and its. danger,
could not so lightly resolve upon assuming it.
Accordingly he says : " If any man offend not in
word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to
bridle the whole body." That is : He who on all
occasions, exercises self-control in the use of words,

85
will also be able to exercise the same in all other
respects. He then proceeds to show, by many striking ex
amples drawn from actual life, what
r _ ' [Ch. iii. 3-8.
power may reside in things seemingly
trivial, — how much depends on the government
of the tongue. " Behold we put bits in the horses'
mouths, that they may obey us, and we turn about
their whole body. Behold also the ships, which
though they be so great, and are driven of fierce
winds, yet are they turned about with a very small
helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even
so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth
great things. Behold how great a matter [forest]
a little fire kindleth ! And the tongue is a fire," —
(that is, as a spark can set a whole forest on fire,
so may a word spoken by the tongue be the oc
casion of great mischief) — " a world of iniquity :
so is the tongue amongst our members, that it de
fileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the
course of nature [life], and it is set on fire of hell."
By this is meant, that as the tongue is set on fire
by the flames of hellish passion, so from the tongue
does the fire spread over the whole course of life.
He then shows how vain a thing is man's dominion

86
over the natural world, if he, aspiring to rule the
world, is himself through passion a slave of the
world ; what a reproach it is to man, claiming sub
jection from all animals, not to be able to bridle
his own tongue. " For every kind of beasts, and
of birds, and of serpents, and things in the sea, is
tamed and hath been tained of mankind. But the
tongue can no man tame ; it is an unruly evil, full
of deadly poison."
The show of piety James opposes in all its forms.
Such is that pious cant, in which, along
Ch. iii. 9-12.] . . .
with praise to God in words, are mingled
a hateful censoriousness and bitter denunciation
of men, in whom God's image is to be honored.
James exposes the inherent inconsistency of such
conduct, which to his view is mere hypocrisy.
" Therewith bless we God, even the Father ; and
therewith curse we men, which are made after the
similitude of God. Out of the same mouth pro
ceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these
things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send
forth at the same place sweet water and bitter ?
Can the fig-tree, my brethren, bear olive berries,
either a vine figs ? So can no fountain both yield
salt water and fresh." Thus does James express

87
the ground-thought of this whole Epistle, viz. that
all turns on the inward temper from which the
whole hfe takes its direction ; and nothing could
be more remote from that tendency, opposed by
him at all points, which confines its regard to the
merely external, to single acts and empty show.
As James has contended against a false faith,
unaccompanied by works, — so does he, in
r J ' ' [Ch. iii. 13.
like manner, against that knowledge and
wisdom in divine things, which does not make
itself known by a living activity in a correspond
ing course of life. He requires of all religious
knowledge, that it approve itself, as a product of
the divine life of the spirit, in a course of conduct
proceeding from that inner life. " Who is a wise
man, and endued with knowledge amongst you?
Let him show out of a good conversation, <_.c."
With this view, he gives special prominence to that
which stood most opposed to the faults of these
churches ; contrasting with the unbridled passion
of those who made such account of their knowl
edge, the spirit of meekness as being the mark of
genuine wisdom and knowledge : " let him show . . .
his works with meekness and wisdom."
" But if ye have bitter envying and strife in

88
your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the
truth." It is the inward temper which,
Ch. iii. 14-16.]-
in his view, marks genuine knowledge
also, genuine wisdom. This must derive its being
from above, must be the product of the divine
life, and through its divine impress must make
itself known also in the outward life. The op
posite proceeds from a principle of the natural
man, not from that which is divine. For the Holy
Scriptures often designate, under the name of the
Flesh, everything evil, all which stands "opposed to
the Spirit of God, to the divine life. When the
term is used in this general sense, it includes also
the spiritual nature of man, — the reason, the soul,
in so far as it has not been made subject to the
Divine Spirit, but claims an independent being, to
be .something in its own right, — independently
of God and aside from God, and hence in oppo
sition to him. All this is comprehended in the
idea of the Flesh, in that Biblical sense. It is by
no means limited to what we call Flesh, sensuality
in the narrower sense of the term. From Flesh,
understood in this more general sense, is dis
tinguished in biblical usage that wliich in the nar-

89
rower sense is designated as natural,* — viz. the
spiritual nature of man (the reason, the soul) as
being unlike to God, and conformed to the world.
Reason, however highly developed and cultivated,
remains still within the bounds of the natural man.
It is of this James speaks ; and this with him is the
same which actuates apostate spirits. " This wis
dom descendeth not from above, but is earthly,
sensual [natural], devilish. For where envying
and strife is, there is confusion, and every evil
work." He then enters more fully into particulars, and
describes the traits which characterize [Ch. iii. 11,
genuine- wisdom. He does this with spe
cial reference indeed to the false conceit of wisdom
among these churches, but yet in a manner prac
tically useful for all times. As characteristic of
the wisdom that comes from above, he names first,
purity, — i. e. freedom from all worldly stain ; then
* This term is used here, as already familiar to the reader of the Eng
lish Bible, the same word in the original being so translated in several
passages, e. g. 1 Cor. ii. 14. The German word (seelisch, of the soul, psychi
cal, pertaining to the higher rational nature of man) is used by Neander, as
explained in the text, of the rational soul not under the infiuence of the
Holy Spirit, — in other words, of the natural or unrenewed mind and
affections. It is therefore the best expression of his meaning to the Eng
lish reader, though not a translation of the German word, for which we
have no representative suitable to be used here. — Tb.

90
love of peace, — the truly wise not being stub
bornly attached to his own opinion and contentious
in support of it ; then, that it is gentle, is easily per
suaded, — i. e. ready to listen to others, willing to
be taught, to acknowledge what is wrong on its
own part, and to adopt the better way. All this
gives evidence of victory attained over the love of
self. The wisdom which is from above he farther
characterizes, as full of mercy and good fruits, —
meaning that knowledge and action must go
together. We have already explained, in connec
tion with a previous passage,* what James means
by being in conflict with oneself. This he now ex
cludes from the idea of genuine wisdom. He de
mands an inward harmony of soul, the stability of
conviction ; that the soul shall not be distracted
by the discordant views, the mental conflicts of
this state of unbelief. It is difficult to indicate his
meaning in a single word. Candor, simplicity, per
haps comes nearest to the idea. Finally, true wis
dom is without hypocrisy.
In what James has thus far said, his main object
has been to oppose the contentious spirit
Oh. iii. 18.] ...
of this conceit of wisdom. He now
* Page .1.

91
brings the opposite trait more prominently for
ward, by asserting that it is only in peace, in
unity, that every Christian interest can prosper.
" And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace,
of them that make peace." "Fruit of righteous
ness" may, in biblical usage, be variously under
stood. It may denote either the blessing which
righteousness brings with it, — fruit for hfe eternal ;
or the fruits of righteousness in the works which
it produces. But though the words are true in
both senses, the latter 'seems to be the one in
tended by James, — and his meaning is : the seeds
of all that is truly good in action, proceeding from
righteousness, can only prosper where there is
peace, and with those whose conduct tends to
peace. Where all is strife, nothing truly Christian
can prosper.
This leads him to speak, in general, of the source
of the many controversies in these [Ch. iv.l, 2.
churches. This he finds in those insa
tiable desires which allow no one to be at rest.
" From whence come wars and fightings among
you ? Come they not hence, even of your lusts,
that war in your members ?" Like Paul, James
here presupposes an inward conflict in man, the

92
conflict between flesh and spirit. As the power
of evil is by Paul termed the law in the, members,
beeause in the body is the outward manifestation
of man, and there the dominion of sinful desire
shows itself ; so James, in hke manner, speaks of
the lusts that war in the members. In the case
of the unrenewed, the power of the sinful desires
is opposed only by the activity of man's higher
spiritual nature, which is too weak, however, to
gain the victory over the opposing force. This
conflict, which leads to no decisive result, and
leaves man in unreconciled disunion with himself,
is described by Paul in the seventh chapter of his
Epistle to the Rbmans. It is otherwise with the
Christian, the regenerated man.' In him also this
conflict is continued, but with this difference, —
that in him the higher spiritual nature has been
strengthened through the divine life imparted to
him, whereby he is enabled to overcome the op
posing sinful desires. But he must maintain the
conflict in order to gain the victory ; otherwise,
the evil principle gains upon him more and more,
and may at length succeed in wholly extinguishing
the higher life. James exhorts to the mainte
nance of this warfare, and gives warning of the

93
danger which threatens him who intermits it, as
was the case with many in these churches. For
there were doubtless many here, as appears from
the rebukes of James, who called themselves Chris
tians, but were yet strangers to the new birth, and
stood in just the same relation to these two oppo
site tendencies as those who still belonged wholly
to the world. Hence James says to them : " Ye
covet" (namely earthly goods which ye may use
in the service of your lusts) " and have not ; ye
kill, and desire to have [ye hate and envy], and
cannot obtain."
In the original of the above passage it is said,
" Ye murder." Luther has translated it " Ye hate,"
not without reason so far as respects the meaning ;
for it is hardly possible that James should speak"
of murder, in the proper sense, as so prevalent.
But James purposely, without doubt, selects the
very strongest expressions, in order to designate
with the utmost precision the nature of that evil,
which, whatever may be the outward form of
manifestation, is still the same. Thus murder
stands as the climax in the expression of hate and
envy. For in the very nature of hatred and envy
Hes the desire, to remove their object out of the

94
way. The selfishness which here betrays itself,
sees in the existence of that object an obstacle to
its wishes, from which it would gladly be. freed.
Even if the overt act has not yet been committed,
and the power of the higher tendency is still too
great to allow it, yet does it lie in the very nature
of the emotion ; and the divine word reveals to us,
in the concealed germ of the heart, the very same
thing which afterward, when expressed in act, be
comes an object of general abhorrence. Hence
Christ declares in the Sermon on the Mount, in
opposition to the mere external conception of the
Mosaic Law, that whosoever is angry with his
brother, is in danger of the judgment, i. e. of dam
nation. And the Apostle John says: "Who
soever hateth his brother is a murderer."
James now directs them, as he had done at the
beginning of the Epistle, to the fountain
Ch.iv. 2,3.] of all good, whence alone they could ob
tain all that was wanting to them, the supply of
all their necessities. The ground of their un
ceasing and fruitless efforts, only involving them
in strife, through the collision of selfish interests,
he finds in their disposition to do for themselves,
that which they should seek from God alone in the

95
spirit of humble submission. To their neglect of
prayer, which alone can procure a blessing on
labor, he ascribes their vain endeavors and con
tentions. Such were not wanting indeed in these
churches, as connected a certain habit of prayer with
all the other external practices of religion, and pro
ceeding from the same temper of heart. But such
prayer he characterizes as one which could bring
no fruit, because it was not the true prayer of the
heart, and did not proceed from the right dispo
sition of the soul towards God. It was merely the
. expression of earthly desire, seeking to make God
subservient to itself ; for they sought from Him
only what they might use for the gratification of
their lusts. " Ye fight and war, yet ye have not,
because ye ask not. Ye ask and receive not, be
cause ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon
your lusts."
He returns continually to the radical evil, the
want in the soul of the one determining ..
[Ch. iv. 4, 5.
ground-tone in the reference of the life
to God ; the direction of the whole spirit to the
world, in connection with many external practices
of religion. As in the Old Testament, the union
of the people with God is represented under the

96
image of a marriage, their apostasy from God un
der that of adultery ; so James addresses them as
adulterers, inasmuch as they claimed to be wor
shipers of God, and yet served only the world.
He admonishes them that God requires the whole
heart, that it cannot be divided between God and
the world ; that either love to God or love to the
world must be the animating principle ; that de
votion to the world, as the aim of effort, a love of
the world which seeks in the world its highest
good, cannot exist without hostility towards God, —
as the Lord himself says : Ye cannot serve God
and Mammon. " Ye adulterers, and adulteresses,
know ye not that the friendship of the world is
enmity with God ? Whosoever therefore will be
a friend of the world, is the enemy of God."
James reminds them in general of the declara
tions of the Holy Scripture, which everywhere
testifies of the incompatibility of these two radical
tendencies. " Or," says he to them, " suppose ye
that the Scripture saith in vain, The Spirit that
dwelleth in us lusteth to envy [is a jealous spir
it] ?" This spirit, he would say, can suffer no
other to share with itself ; where it would take up
its abode, it excludes the love of the world.

97
" But," — to the above warning he immediately
subjoins the consolation, — "He giveth
J ° [Ch.iv. 6-8.
more grace ;" more, to wit, than that
already bestowed, provided only that the one rad
ical condition is fulfilled, in the entire submission
of the heart, in the humbly receptive spirit. He
reminds them of the passage from the Proverbs :
" God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto
the humble." Even if those, to whom his Epis
tle was directed, were not chargeable with the
pride of unbelief, — they were yet wanting in the
ground-tone of humility, the abiding sense of de
pendence on God, the ever-present consciousness
that they were nothing and could do nothing
without God. This want betrayed itself in ex
cessive reliance on earthly possessions and human
means. The prevalence of a worldly spirit always
originates in want of humility. For this reason
James admonishes them, that God withholds his
gifts and aid from the proud, since the necessary
condition on the part of the creature for the re
ception of every communication on the part of
God, is wanting to them. But where humility is
found, there is a susceptibility for the communi
cation of all divine grace. He says to those, who
5

98
pleaded in excuse for sin the irresistible tempta
tions of Satan, or the withholding of divine grace,
that it was their own fault if they thus fell. All
depended on the direction of their own will. In
order to resist the Evil One, who has power over
no one except by his own consent, they needed
but to humble themselves before God, to turn to
Him in the consciousness of dependence. Thus
will God impart himself to them, and thus will the
Evil One be compelled to flee. "Submit your
selves therefore to God : resist the Devil and he
will flee from you. Draw nigh unto God and he
will draw nigh unto you."
The inward and the outward James compre
hends as one. Purity of heart from all
Ch.iv. 8-10.] worldly stains, must show itself in pu
rity of the outward conduct. This is expressed
by James (who delights to embody truth in a
specific form) as keeping the hand, the instrument
of sin, pure from every sinful act ; and purity of
life, exhibited in the external walk, must lead
back again to its source, inward purity of heart.
" Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your
hearts, ye double-minded" (divided between God
and the world). The Greek term expresses the

99
idea (which we have already explained*) of a man
who has as it were two souls ; to whom is wanting
the true harmony of the inner life, which proceeds
only from the all-controlling direction of the soul
to God ; of the man who is divided between op
posite tendencies to God and to the world. Such a
spiritual state is in direct contrariety with that
sanctification of the heart, which James requires ;
it being the very ground of true sanctification,
that but one soul should dwell in man, that in all
things the single animating principle should be
love to God. It was therefore necessary, first of
all, to arouse those who were sunk in worldly
pleasure to a sense of the vanity of such enjoy
ments, to the wretchedness of their condition. A
godly sorrow must be awakened in • them ; the
anguish of repentance as a ground of true joy, —
the joy in God of those who are dead to the world
and wholly devoted to Him. So Christ says in
the Sermon on the Mount, with which we find so
many points of harmony in this Epistle : Blessed
are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
"Be afflicted" (feel your wretchedness), "and
mourn, and weep : let your laughter be turned to
» Page 51.

100
mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall
lift you up."
t Thus James comprehends all in self-abasement
before God, as the condition of all true exaltation,
which comes alone from God ; as the Saviour has
said : Whoso exalteth himself shall be abased, and
he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. James
here speaks of an inward act of the spirit, not of
one which can become an object of outward per
ception ; although this inward act must make
itself known in the outward form of the whole
hfe. Hence he says, — abasement before God, in
the eye of God, as that which can take place only
between the soul and God. Here too the relation
is such as man can sustain to God alone, not to
any created being. He who is conscious to him
self of suoh a relation to God, for that very reason
will be far from placing himself in a similar rela-
f tion to any human being. As his whole hfe thus
has its root in conscious dependence on God, he
will thereby be secured from every form of bon
dage to man.
The want of humility showed itself in that
proneness to judge censoriously of others. Here

101
was a twofold expression of the want of humil
ity, in reference to the Law. He who
. . [Ch. iv. 11, 12.
judges thus censoriously of others, is
far from humbling himself before that holy law ;
from comparing his whole life therewith, and
discovering how great is the chasm between his
life and its demands.
Hence James says, that such an one makes him
self the judge ofthe Law, the lawgiver, instead of
applying the Law to himself and acting in ac
cordance therewith. Such an one, he says, in
speaking against his brother speaks against the
Law, since he gives the he to the Law that ac
cuses him for judging another. Furthermore,
such an one betrays the want of self-abasement
before God, — inasmuch as he forgets how he him
self, with him whom he accuses, stands in like de
pendence on the One sole Judge and Arbiter of
happiness and misery. He sets himself in the
place of the Supreme Judge, inasmuch as he pre
sumes to anticipate his verdict. " Speak not evil
one of another, brethren : he that speaketh evil of
his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil
of the law, and judgeth the law ; but if thou judge
the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a

102
judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to
save and to destroy ; who art thou that judgest
another ?"
The pride of the worldly spirit, in contrast
with the nature of genuine humility,
Ch. iv. 13-1 ..] .. .
was the starting-point with which
James commenced, and from which he proceeded
to reprove the various forms of evil in these
churches. In hke manner he now brings forward
another specific case, connected however with the
same radical tendency of which we have spoken.
It was that false reliance upon the Human, which
leads one to make calculations upon the future,
without for a moment taking into account the in
security of human life ; to form prospective plans
of earthly gain, as if one were entirely certain of
the future. James thought it necessary to ad
monish those, who were thus absorbed in worldly
pursuits, of the uncertainty of all human things ;
that every moment of life is dependent on the4
will of God and his providence. " Go to now ye
that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into
such a city and continue there a year, and buy,
and sell, and get gain : whereas ye know not what
shall be on the morrow : for what is your life ? It

103
is even a vapor which appeareth for a httle time
and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to
say, if the Lord will, we shall hve, and do this or
that." It is plain that in saying this, James did
not mean to insist,* that such a condition should
always be expressed in words. For such expres
sions might easily degenerate into a mere form ;
and the tendency of these churches was to turn
everything into form. Here again James shows
his preference ofthe specific over the general. In
stead of the general truth, of the uncertainty and
dependence of the whole earthly life, he uses
language adapted to suggest this general thought
by its application to a particular case. From the
particular he now passes over again to the general,
and assails that false worldly and self-reliance in
its whole extent. " But now ye glory in your
vain confidence ; all such glorying is evil." In
closing this admonition, he warns them, that it is
not enough to have known the truth here ex
pressed ; it was necessary, — and herein they chiefly
failed, — that the known truth should pervade the
life and control the conduct. "To him that
knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is
sin."

104
James now addresses himself to the rich, wholly
immersed in the spirit of the world.
Ch. v. 1-6.]
" Go to now, ye rich men, weep and
howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Your riches are corrupted and your garments
moth-eaten : Your gold and silver is cankered, and
the rust of them shall be a witness against you,
and shall eat your flesh, [as ye have treasured up
fire] for the last days." He speaks of riches under
three specific forms, viz. in the garnered fruits of
the field, in garments, and in gold and silver. All
these, he would say, the rich heap up without
profit. Their treasures in gold and silver, allowed
through disuse to consume with rust, will witness
against them to their condemnation ; showing
their guilt in suffering to perish unemployed, that
which they should have used for the benefit of
others. The rust eats into their own flesh, inas
much as it is a token of their own perishableness
and of the judgment that overhangs them ; as they,
instead of gathering durable riches, have treasured
up for themselves the fire of God's wrath in
treasures accumulated for a prey to rust. He then
describes the oppressions inflicted by the rich (not
necessarily such as belonged to Christian churches)

105
on the pious poor in humble life. " Behold, the
hire of the laborers which have reaped down your
fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth :
and the cries of them which have reaped are
entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye
have lived in pleasure on the earth and been
wanton ; ye have nourished your hearts as in [for]
a day of slaughter." That is ; as one pampers the
beast destined for slaughter, so have ye, giving
yourselves up to the service of your lusts, and rev
elling in careless unconcern, prepared yourselves
for the judgment that is hastening on. " Ye have
condemned and killed the just, and he doth not
resist you :" — the pious sufferer's patient resigna
tion to God's will, in contrast with the pride and
presumption of the oppressor.
He then turns to the Christian brethren, who
had so much to suffer from the rich and
[Ch. v. . , 8.
powerful. He exhorts them to bear
with patience every wrong, to wait submissively
for the coming of the Lord, who will redeem his
own from all evil, and will show himself the
righteous judge of all. We must bear in mind,
that the time of the Lord's coming was then looked
for as already near at hand. It was natural, in
5*

106
the Apostolic age, so to regard it. Christ himself
had not chosen to give any information respecting
the time of his coming. Nay, he had expressly
said, that the Father had reserved the decision to
himself alone (Mark xiii. 32) ; that even the Son
could determine nothing respecting it. But still,
the longing desire of the Apostolic church was
directed, with eager haste, to the appearing of the
Lord. The whole Christian period seemed only
as the transition-point to the eternal, and thus as
something that must soon be passed. As the
traveller, beholding from afar the object of all his
wanderings, overlooks the windings of the inter
vening way, and believes himself already near his
goal ; so it seemed, to them, as their eye was fixed on
that consummation of the whole course of events
on earth. It is from this point of view that James
here speaks. "Be patient therefore, brethren,
unto the coming of the Lord: behold the hus
bandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the
earth, and hath long patience for it, until he re
ceive the early and latter rain. Be ye also pa
tient ; stablish your hearts : for the coming of the
Lord draweth nigh." James, — who, as already re
marked, had all the oriental fondness for imagery

107
drawn from natural objects, — here transfers to
history the laws of gradual development in the
phenomena of nature. As the fruits of the earth
mature only by slow degrees, and the husband
man must wait patiently for the early and the
latter rain ; so there is needed the same constancy
of patience, while anticipating the final consum
mation of earthly history, in its gradual course of
development. Here, too, everything has its kp-
pointed time ; and one must guard against that
impatient haste, which is unwilling to wait for the
successive stages of progress, and is eager to* reach
the end at once.
He now proceeds to speak of the deportment of
Christians towards each other, and com
mends the mutual exercise of long-suf
fering and forbearance. They should not indulge
in mutual accusations, appealing to God against
one another, but leave all to the judgment of God.
They should not desire, by thus mutually con
demning one another, to anticipate the Judge who
will soon appear. His words remind us of our
Saviour's admonition -in the Sermon on the Mount :
Judge not, that ye be not judged. " Grudge not
one against another, brethren, lest ye be con-

[Ch. v. 9-11.

108
demned: behold the judge standeth before the
door." He then sets before them the examples of
the prophets as models of patience ; especially the
example of Job, in whom, after he had endured
every trial of his patience, the mercy of God was
so gloriously displayed. " Take, my brethren, the
prophets, who have spoken in the name of the
Lord, for an example of suffering affliction and of
patience." The thought is doubtless this : They
have spoken in the name of the Lord, and yet
have suffered so much,— and that for the Lord's
sake. % If the prophets, so highly honored and
speaking in the name of the Lord, have endured
such suffering, how could we expect a different
lot ? " Behold we count them happy which en
dure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and
have seen, the end of the Lord" (i. e. the end
brought about by him, the final issue which the
Lord granted to all his trials) ; " that the Lord is
very pitiful and of tender mercy."
Then follow particular admonitions and exhor
tations, all which, however, are opposed in
Oh. v.12.] . > iff -
spirit to such errors, as were the fruit of
the leading evil tendencies in these churches. In
the Sermon on the Mount, Christ has unfolded the

109
whole Law in its spirituality and glory; every
where converting the outward and particular to
the inward, to the completeness and unity of the
inward temper and disposition ; at once abolishing
and fulfilling the Law, abolishing it in the letter
and -fulfilling it in its spirit. Thus to the com
mand: Thou shalt hallow the seventh day, is
given its higher spiritual import, — Let every day
be holy to thee. In like manner, the requirement
to regard an oath as holy, becomes in its true
spirit : Let every word be holy to thee, as being
consecrated to the Lord, — as addressed to him,
since he is ever before thine eyes. What an
oath is to others, shall every word be to the
Christian. Hence among true Christians, there
will be no need of oaths ; since to each his word
is holy, and such is the mutual confidence of all,
.that the word of each is so received among them.
So should it be in a truly Christian church, in
f which all are recognized as genuine Christians.
But in these churches, where the proneness to
much speaking had naturally led to a careless use
of words, there now prevailed the Jewish habit of
using many asseverations, in order to give their
words a weight which they had not in themselves.

110
Even if they shunned so frequent a use of the
name Jehovah, they had other more covert forms
of oath in its place, — the violation of which, how
ever, they made less a matter of conscience.
Against this James says expressly : " But above
all things, my brethren, swear not; neither by
Heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any
other oath. But let your yea be yea, and your
nay be nay ; lest ye fall into condemnation." That
is, their Yea and Nay should suffice in place of
every other form of confirmation; for if their
word is not in itself sufficient, and requires the aid
of protestations to procure behef, they bring them
selves into condemnation.
Then follows the general direction, which most
of all stands opposed to the spirit of
Ch. v. 13.] .
worldliness in these churches, to that ten
dency to distinguish between certain acts of re-.
ligious worship and all the rest of life as belong
ing to the world. Nothing can be more opposed
to such a tendency than the requirement, that
every feeling of the Christian, in sorrow and in
joy, shall take the form of prayer. Thereby are
sorrow and joy to be sanctified and ennobled. In
suffering, the feeling of pain shall be changed to

Ill
the tone of prayer ; from God is help to be sought
in prayer, — power to sustain suffering and to be
submissive under it. And joy, too, shall attune
the heart to the praise of God, to gratitude
towards Him to whom we owe every good. Thus
shall sorrow and joy have this in common, — the
direction of the heart towards God. And as life is
divided between joy and sorrow, the whole life will
thus become prayer. " Is any among you afflicted,
let him pray. Is any merry, let him sing psalms."
Having thus referred everything to prayer as .
the soul of the Christian life, he now
[Ch. v. i_-ia
makes a specific application of the
principle to cases of sickness. Here there was
need of mutual intercession in the name of the
Lord. As the Presbyters acted in the name of
the whole church, and each one as a member of
the body felt that he needed its sympathy and in
tercession, and might count upon it; individuals
should therefore, in cases of sickness, send for the
Presbyters of the church. These were to offer
prayer on their behalf. With this was connected
a symbolical transaction, — practised indeed in
many churches of the East, but never prescribed
as a general usage, — the anointing with oil ; of

112
which Christ had sometimes made use in the heal
ing ofthe sick, as an outward sign of healing and
sanctifying power. If it was the will of the Lord,
the sick should be restored to bodily health.
But, however this might be, he should certainly
receive spiritual refreshment, the renewed and
strengthened consciousness of sin forgiven; and
this could not but favorably affect his bodily
state. " Is any sick among you ? Let him call
for the elders of the church, and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of
the Lord ; and the prayer of faith shall save the
sick, and the Lord shall raise him up : and if he
have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him."
We see that James ascribes the healing power,
not to the anointing with oil, but to the prayer
of faith. As he regards the Presbyters in the
light of organs of the church, acting in its name ;
so does he ' hold all other Christians in such a
relation, as members of one body, that they
should mutually pray for one another in bodily
and spiritual need; should confess their sins to
one another, and pray for the forgiveness of each
other's sins. ' He ascribes great efficacy to the
prayer of fraternal love. "Confess your faults

113
one to another, and pray one for another, that ye
may be healed," — whether spiritual and bodily
healing united is meant, as in the last quoted pas
sage, or merely spiritual healing. " The effectual
fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth
much." Of this efficacy of prayer he adduces ex
amples from the Old Testament. But the Jewish
tendency to externalize everything, led them to
contemplate these holy men of old only from a
distance, and as objects of veneration and wonder,
not as examples for imitation. James therefore
reminds them, that these men were frail mortals
like themselves, and that the power of God can
still work through the weak. This application
was all the more appropriate, inasmuch as Chris
tianity, by virtue of the common relation of Priest
and Prophet belonging to all believers, had made
that common to all which under the old dispen
sation had been the gift and prerogative of a few.
"Elias was man subject to. like passions as we are,
and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain :
and it rained not on the earth by the space of
three years and six months. And he prayed
again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth
brought forth her fruit."

114
This exhortation to mutual intercession, in
bodily and spiritual need, leads to this
Ch.v. 19,20.] further admonition, — that they should
not harshly spurn from them such as, in their re
ligious and moral development, may have erred
from the .right way, but should interest themselves
in their case and seek to lead them back to the
truth : an admonition which they specially needed,
who were so prone to defame and condemn.
" Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth,
and one convert him, let him know, that he which
converteth the sinner from the error of his way,
shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a
multitude of sins." This, then, is in James' view
the highest work of love, — to rescue the fallen
brother from that spiritual death to which he is
verging. More than to excite in one repentance
for a single sin, and thereby prepare the way for
attaining forgiveness of one sinful act, — more
than this is the rescue of a soul from a life of sin,
and the restoration of the new divine principle of
life. By this the many sins are covered, in which
his former course had plunged him. This expla
nation of the words seems most in harmony with
the connection. But, by the sins here spoken of,

115
might be understood the sins of him who thus
rescues a brother from death. The meaning would
then be : The love thus shown in active zeal for
the spiritual welfare of another, shall cover many
sins into which one may have fallen through infir
mity of the flesh ; inasmuch as Love outweighs all
else, and above all else is adapted to subdue the
still remaining evil of the heart. So we are taught
by the Saviour himself, that to him who loveth
much, much shall be forgiven. Were this the true
meaning of the passage (which, however, is con
trary to our view), still the covering of one's own
sins would not be dependent on the success of his
efforts for another ; for this is not placed in the
power of man, and he can gain nothing for him
self thereby, for the very reason that it is some
thing independent of his own purpose. It is the
zeal of love, laboring for the conversion of anoth
er, — it is this that hides the multitude of sins !
Thus closes this Epistle, in that spirit of love
which breathes through it all, and which every
where shows itself in the life and labors of James !

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