For if he that cometh
Meaning either some particular man, the apostle might have had
some information of, who came from Judea to Corinth, under the
character of a true apostle; or anyone of the false apostles
whatever, who came of their own accord, and was never sent by
Christ, or by any of his churches:
preacheth another Jesus whom we have not
preached;
that is, if he proposes and recommends in his ministry, a better
Saviour and Redeemer than had been preached by the apostles; one
that was better qualified, and more fit for the purposes of
salvation; one that they could more safely venture their souls
upon, and believe in, as the alone able and all sufficient
Saviour, a thing impossible to be: or the sense is, if this other
apostle taught the doctrine of salvation by Christ, in another
and better method and in a clearer manner, more to the honour of
the Redeemer, the glory of God, and the good of their souls, they
would have some reason then to pay a greater regard to him:
or if ye receive another spirit which ye have not
received;
a better spirit than the Spirit of God, which the had received
through the preaching of the Gospel by the apostles; either for
graces, for they had received him as a spirit of regeneration and
conversion, of sanctification and faith, of adoption and liberty,
of peace and joy, and comfort; or for gifts, both ordinary and
extraordinary, which could not possibly be; the spirit which the
contrary ministers brought with it, and tended to not generate in
them, must be the reverse of this, even a spirit of bondage again
to fear:
or another Gospel which ye have not accepted,
or "embraced"; a better Gospel than had been preached by the
apostles, and received by them; which contained more wholesome
doctrines, more comfortable truths, more excellent promises,
better tidings of good things, than those of peace, pardon,
righteousness, life, and salvation, by a crucified Jesus;
proposed a better scheme of things, more for the honour of the
divine perfections, and for the comfort and safety of believers;
and which laid a better foundation for faith and hope, and tended
more to encourage true religion and powerful godliness:
ye might well bear with him;
receive his doctrine, submit to his authority, and prefer him to
the apostles: but since another and a better Saviour than Jesus
of Nazareth could not be proposed, or the doctrine of salvation
by him be preached in another and better manner than it was; nor
had they received, nor could they receive, another and a better
spirit, than the spirit of grace and truth, which was
communicated to them, through the apostle's ministry; nor was a
better and a more excellent Gospel preached to them, than what
they had heard; therefore they ought not to connive at, indulge
and tolerate, such a false apostle among them, which it seems
they did; and was the reason of the apostle's fears and
jealousies, before expressed: and besides, supposing that this
man that was among them, and caressed by many of them, did preach
the same Jesus, and the same doctrine of salvation by him, and
the same Spirit and power went along with his ministry, it being
the same Gospel that was preached by Paul and others, there was
no reason why he should be set up above them, who had been the
instruments of conveying the Gospel, and the Spirit of it, to
them, long before he was known by them.
