and consciences of believers. This is that which the people of God in all ages looked for, and which in the preaching of the gospel was proposed unto them.
Fifthly, The true nature of this rest may be discovered from the promise of it; for a promise is said to remain of entering into this rest. Now, this promise is no other but the gospel itself as preached unto us. This the apostle expressly declares in the next verse. The want of a due consideration hereof is that which hath led expositors into their mistake in this matter; for they eye only the promise of eternal life given in the gospel, which is but a part of it, and that consequential unto sundry other promises. That promise concerns only them who do actually believe; but the apostle principally in- tends them which are proposed unto men as the prime object of their faith, and encouragement unto believing. And of these the principal are the promise of Christ himself, and of the benefits of his mediation. These sinners must be interested in before they can lay claim to the promise of eternal life and salvation.
Sixthly, The whole design of the apostle is not to prefer heaven, immortality, and glory, above the law and that rest in God’s worship which the people had in the land of Canaan, for none ever doubted thereof, no, not of the Hebrews themselves; nay, this is far more excellent than the gospel state itself: but it is to set out the ex- cellency of the gospel, with the worship of it and the church-state whereunto therein we are called by Jesus Christ, above all those privileges and advantages which the people of old were made par- takers of by the law of Moses. This we have already abundantly demonstrated; and if it be not always duly considered, no part of the epistle can be rightly understood. The rest, therefore, here in- tended is that rest which believers have an entrance into by Jesus Christ in this world.
This being the rest here proposed, as promised in the gospel, our next inquiry is into the nature of it, or wherein it doth consist. And we shall find the concernments of it reduced into these five heads:—
First, In peace with God, in the free and full justification of the persons of believers from all their sins by the blood of Christ: Rom. vy. 1, “ Being justified by faith, we have peace with God;” Eph. i. 7, “Tn whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins.” This is fully expressed, Acts xiii. 32, 33, 38, 39, “ We de- clare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again...... Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by
*
218 AN EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP. IV.
the law of Moses.” The whole of what we contend for is expressed in these words. The promise given unto the fathers, but not accom- plished unto them, is no other but the promise of rest insisted on. This now is enjoyed.by believers, and it consists in that justification from sin which by the law of Moses could not be attamed. This, - with its proper evangelical consequents, is the foundation of this rest. Nor is it of force to except, that this was enjoyed also under the old testament; for although it was so in the substance of it, yet it was not so as a complete rest. Neither was it at all attaimed by virtue of their present promises, their worship, their sacrifices, or whatever other advantage they had by the law of Moses; but by that respect which those things had to the gospel. Justification, and peace with God thereon, are properly and directly ours; they were theirs by a participation in our privileges, “God having ordained some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect,” Heb. xi. ult. Neither had they it clearly or fully, as an absolutely satisfactory spiritual rest. God revealed it unto them in and by such means as never made them perfect in this matter, but left them under a renewed sense of sin, Heb. x. 1-4; but under the gospel, life and immortality being brought to light, 2 Tim. i. 10, and the eternal life which was with the Father being manifested unto us, 1 John i. 2, the veil being removed both from the face of Moses and the hearts of believers by the Spirit, 2 Cor. iii. 13-18, they have now a plerophory, a full assured persuasion of it, at least in its causes and concomitants.
Secondly, In our freedom from a servile, bondage frame of spirit in the worship of God. This they had under the old testament; they had the spirits of servants, though they were sons. “ For the heir as long as he is v4ms,” “an infant,” unable to guide himself, “ differeth nothing from a servant, but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.” So were these children in their legal state in bondage, tro r& croryet rod xéouov, under the very first rudiments of instruction which God was pleased to make use of towards his children in this world, Gal. iv. 1-8. And this had particular respect unto that “spirit of bondage unto fear,” Rom. vill. 15, which they were under in the worship of God; for it is opposed unto that liberty, freedom, and filial boldness, which under the gospel believers are made partakers of, by the “Spirit of adop- tion” enabling them to ery, “ Abba, Father,” Gal. iv. 6, Rom. viii. ” 15,16. And this kept them from that full and complete rest which now is to be entered into. For this cannot be, namely, a rest in the worship of God, but where there is liberty; and this is only where is the Spirit of Christ and the gospel, as our apostle discourseth at large, 2 Cor. iii. 14-18. The Son making of us free, we are free indeed; and do, by the Spirit of that Son, receive spiritual liberty,