ends of Christ's death : he always declared the efficacy of it as an atonement for sin : he earnestly exhorted all to trust in it for their acceptance with God: he had dwelt so much, and in so affecting a manner, on this subject, that the crucifixion of Christ might be said to have been depicted, or even ex- hibited before their eyes.]
This was a great aggravation of their guilt in de- parting from the faith —
[Had they heard less of Christ, they had been less cul- pable ; had they heard of him in a less affecting manner, they had not been without a plea ; had they seen no particular effects flowing from the Apostle's preaching, they might have had some excuse ; had the subserviency of the law to the Gospel never been opened to them, their defection from the truth might have been accounted for : but to renounce the truth, after it had been set forth with such energy, and attended with such effects, was extreme folly and wickedness: their conduct was no less than a crucifying of Christ afresh".]
What animadversion their disobedience merited we may see in,
III. The reproof which the Apostle gave them on account of it —
St. Paul ascribes their declension to the subtlety of their false teachers —
[Sin has an astonishingly fascinating power0. Error, whether in faith or practice, soon insinuates itself into our hearts. Whenever people are drawn from the truth, they are first beguiled by the specious appearances of false principles. Apostates therefore may be justly considered as deluded crea- tures; and if at any time they be recovered, they wonder at themselves how they ever could have been so " bewitched," so blinded, so befooled.]
Nevertheless he deservedly censures their com- pliance with them —
[He was far from indulging a contemptuous or vindictive spirit, yet he judged it his duty to " rebuke them sharply :" he therefore spoke of their conduct with holy indignation : he expressed his wonder that they could be so soon turned from the truth p : he seems at a loss to represent their folly in terms sufficiently humiliating; yet his question evidently imports
n Heb. vi. 6. ° This seems the exact import of the original.
p Gal. i. 6.