Put on therefore
As the apostle had argued for the putting off of the members of
the body, from their having put off the old man himself; so he
now argues from their having put on the new man, to their putting
on of his members; that is, to the exercise of the various graces
of the Spirit, and the discharge of the several duties of
religion; which though they would not be a robe of righteousness,
or garments of salvation to them, yet would be very becoming
conversation garments, such as would be adorning to themselves,
to the doctrine of Christ, and their profession of it, without
which they would be naked in their walk, and exposed to shame,
(hvwdq xwrb avblthl) , "to
be clothed with the Holy Spirit", is a phrase used by the
Cabalistic doctors F4; and is indeed a Scripture phrase,
"the Spirit of the Lord came upon", (hvbl) , clothed Zechariah, ( 2
Chronicles 24:20 ) and so Esther is said, by the Jewish
writers {e}, to be "clothed with the Holy Ghost" Here the
metaphor is taken from the putting off of clothes; and what is
here directed to, is like Joseph's coat, a coat of many colours.
The arguments made use of lie in the characters under which the
saints are addressed,
as the elect of God, holy and beloved;
that is, "as becomes the elect of God", as the Arabic version
renders it; as such who were chosen in Christ from eternity,
according to the sovereign will and pleasure of God, and his free
grace unto salvation and eternal life; which carries in it a
strong argument to enforce the performance of good works, since
men are hereby chosen unto holiness, and good works are what God
has foreordained that they should walk in, and especially to
mercy, and acts of it; since hereby their salvation appears to be
not of man's will and works, but of God, that shows mercy; and
such who are the objects of this grace are vessels of mercy. The
apostle calls all the members of this church by this name, though
every individual of them might not be chosen of God; but because
they were all under a visible profession of faith and holiness,
and the greater part of them were truly believers, he in a
judgment of charity gives them all this appellation, and upon the
same foot, the next, "holy"; not by birth, for they were by
nature unclean and filthy, conceived in sin, and shapen in
iniquity; nor by baptism, which takes away neither original nor
actual sin, but leaves men as it finds them, and who ought to be
holy before they partake of that; but in Christ imputatively, as
he was made of God unto them sanctification; and by him
efficaciously, in virtue of his blood, righteousness, and
sacrifice, by which he sanctifies his people; and by his spirit
inherently and internally, who is the author of the work of
sanctification in the heart; and they were likewise so externally
in a professional way, and therefore it highly became them to
exercise and practise the following graces and duties, to which
they were still more obliged, inasmuch as they were "beloved";
that is, of God, as appeared both from their election and
sanctification. God had loved them, and therefore had chosen them
in his Son, and had given his Son to die for them, that he might
sanctify them; and because of his great love to them, had
quickened them when dead in sin, and sanctified them by his
spirit: wherefore, since God had so loved them, they ought to
show love again to him, and to one another, and put on
bowels of mercies;
a sympathizing spirit with saints in distress, weeping with them
that weep, suffering with them that suffer, being touched, as
their high priest is, with a feeling of their sorrows and
weaknesses: it denotes inward pity and compassion to distressed
objects, the most tender regard to persons in misery, and such
compassion as is free from all hypocrisy and deceit, and
therefore is expressed by "bowels"; and what is very large, and
reaches to multitudes of objects, and is displayed and exerted
various ways, and therefore signified by "mercies". Now such a
spirit is a very beautiful one; the apostle begins with the
innermost of these garments, adding to it
kindness,
which is this inward, tender, unfeigned, and abundant mercy put
into act and exercise; this is doing good to all men, especially
to the household of faith, distributing to the necessities of the
saints, and a showing mercy with cheerfulness, and is very
ornamental to a Christian professor: as is also
humbleness of mind;
which lies in the saints entertaining mean thoughts of
themselves, looking upon themselves as the chief of sinners, and
less than the least of all saints; as inferior to others in
knowledge, experience, gifts, and graces; in esteeming others
better than themselves; in ascribing all they have, and are, to
the grace of God; in doing works of mercy and righteousness
without ostentation, and boasting of them, or depending on them;
owning, that when they have done all they can, they are but
unprofitable servants; and this is a beautiful dress for a
believer to appear in: be ye clothed with humility; see (
1 Peter 5:5 )
. And of the like nature is
meekness;
which shows itself in not envying the gifts and graces, the
usefulness and happiness of others, but rejoicing therein; in
quietly submitting to the will of God in all adverse
dispensations of Providence, and patiently bearing what he is
pleased to lay on them; and in enduring all the insults,
reproaches, and indignities of men with calmness. This ornament
of a meek and quiet, spirit is in the sight of God of great
price, ( 1 Peter 3:4 ) . And
what follows is natural to it, and explanative of it,
longsuffering:
whereby a person patiently bears the evil words and actions of
others, and is not easily provoked to wrath by them, but puts up
with injuries, and sits down contented with the ill usage he
meets with.