206 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. II. 8.
laws. God's laws are royal laws because of the dignity of the author of thcra. The Syriac iuterpreter favoureth this sense, for he trans- latelh it ' the law of God ; ' or they may be called so from their own Avorth : that which is excellent, we call it royal ; or else because of its great ])ower upon the conscience. Men's laws are but proi)erly ministerial and explicatory ; God's is royal and absolute. Or ' the royal law,' to show the plainness and perspicuity of it, like ' a royal w^ay ; ' or, as we express it, ' the king's highway.' So it is said, Num. xxi. 22, ' We will only go by the king's way.' Suitable to which expression, ' the royal law ' may imply the highway and road of duty. Or, lastly, a royal law, to note the ' ingenuity of its precepts. The command of God, that is to guide you in dispensing your respects, doth not oblige you to this servility ; the duty of it is more royal and ingenuous.
According to the scrijytures ; that is, as the tenor of it is often set down in the word. The form here specified is often repeated. Lev. xix. 18. The Septuagint, in the translation of that place, have the same words with our apostle. It is often repeated by our Lord, see Mat. xxii. 39 ; and often by the apostles, see Eom. xiii. 9 ; Gal. v. 14. The full import of this rule we shall anon open.
Ye do luell. — The same form is used, Phil. iv. 14, and implieth that then they were not blameworthy, and might justly be absolved and acquitted from the guilt charged in the context. And by the way we may hence gather, that the apostle doth not simply forbid a respect to the rich, but a respect sordid and invested with the circumstances of the context.
Out of this verse observe : —
Ohs. 1. That the vilest wickedness will have a fair covert and pre- tence. Sin loves to walk under a disguise ; the native face of it is ugly and odious. Therefore Satan in policy, and our hearts deceived by ignorance and self-love, seek to mask and hide it, that we may spare ourselves, which should press us to the greater heed. Never seek a cover of duty for a vile practice, and to excuse checks of con- science by some pretence from the law. It is Satan's cunning some- times to dress up sins in the form and appearance of duty, and at other times to represent duty in the garb of sin: as Christ's healing on the Sabbath day. Be the more suspicious, especially in a matter wherein your private advantage is concerned, lest base compliance be reputed a necessary submission, and unjust gain be counted godli- ness. Examine the nature of the practice by the rule. Is the royal law appliable to such servility ? And examine your own hearts. Is my aim right as well as my action ? It is not enough to do what the law requires, but it must be done in that manner which the law requireth. Matter of duty may be turned into sin, where the respect and aim is carnal.
Ohs. 2. Tiiat coming to the law is the best way to discover self- deceits. If it be according to the law (saith the apostle), it is well. Paul died by the coming of the commandment, Rom. vii. 9 ; that is, in conviction upon his heart ; saw himself in a dead and lost estate. So liom. iii. 20, ' By the law is the knowledge of sin ;' and therefore we should often talk with the commandment, consult with it in all practices.
JaS. II. 8.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 207
Obs. 3. That the Lord's law is a royal law. (1.) It hath a kingly author. The solemn motive to obedience is, ' I am the Lord.' Marcion blasphemed in saying the law came from an evil God. Many now speak so contemptuously of it as if they had a Marcionite's spirit. The same Lord Jesus that gave the gospel gave also the law. Therefore it is so often said, Acts vii., that the law was ' given by an angel ; ' that is, the angel of the covenant. So Heb. xii, 25 to end ; the apostle proves that it was the voice of the Lord Jesus that shook Mount Sinai. It is a known rule in divinity that the Father never appeared in any shape, and therefore that all those apparitions in the Old Testament were of the second person. (2.) It requires noble work, fit for kings ; service most proportioned to the dignity of a man's spirit. Service is an honour, and duty a privilege : Hosea viii. 12, ' The great things ' (it is in the vulgar honorabilia legis, the honour- able things) ' of my law.' It is said of Israel that no nation was so high in honour above all nations, because they had God's statutes, which was ' their wisdom,' Deut. vii. The brightest part of God's glory is his holiness ; and therefore it is said, ' Glorious in holiness ; ' and it is our dignity to be holy. That must needs be a royal law that maketh all those kings that fulfil it. (3.) There is royal wages ; no less than all of you to be made kings and princes unto God : ' Enter into the kingdom prepared for you ; ' and, ' henceforth is laid up for me a crown,' 2 Tim. iv. 8. This is the entertainment that ye shall have from God hereafter, to be all crowned kings and princes. Oh ! then, give the law this honour in your thoughts. Naturally men adore strictness. How great is the excellency of God's statutes ! Check yourselves, that you can no more come under the power of them. In the ways of sin you have a bad master, worse work, and the worst wages. There is a bad master : ' His lusts will ye do,' John viii. 44 ; they are Satan's lusts, he is the author of them. There is bad work ; sin is the greatest bondage and thraldom, 2 Peter ii. 18, the heart naturally riseth against it. Then there is bad wages : Kom. vi., ' The Avages of sin is death.' Well, then, press these disproportions, and say, ' What evil have I found in God ? ' Jer. ii. 5. Hath God or sin been a land of darkness to me ? I have served him these eighty years (said Poly carp), koX ovk '^SUrjae fie, and he never did me harm. Season with yourselves : Will you sin against a royal Lord, such royal work, such a royal reward ?