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017 - Verses 14-17 · Commentary on the Epistle to the Colossians

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  Speaker 1: Section seventeen of Commentary on the Epistle to the Colossians
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  Speaker 1: by John Calvin, translated by Reverend John Pringle. This LibriVox
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  Speaker 1: recording is in the public domain Verses fourteen to seventeen.
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  Speaker 1: And above all these things, put on charity, which is
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  Speaker 1: the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God
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  Speaker 1: rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are
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  Speaker 1: called in one body, and be thankful. Let the Word
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  Speaker 1: of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching
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  Speaker 1: and admonishing one another, in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
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  Speaker 1: singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And
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  Speaker 1: whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in
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  Speaker 1: the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God
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  Speaker 1: and the Father by Him. Fourteen. On account of all
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  Speaker 1: these things, the rendering that has been given by others
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  Speaker 1: super omnia hake above all these things, instead of in
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  Speaker 1: super over and above, is, in my opinion meager. It
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  Speaker 1: would be more suitable to render it before all these
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  Speaker 1: things I have chosen. However, the more ordinary signification of
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  Speaker 1: the word EPI. For as all the things that He
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  Speaker 1: has hitherto enumerated flow from love, he now on good grounds,
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  Speaker 1: exhorts the colautions to cherish love among themselves for the
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  Speaker 1: sake of these things, that they may be merciful, gentle,
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  Speaker 1: ready to forgive, as though he had said that they
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  Speaker 1: would be such only in the event of their having love.
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  Speaker 1: For where love is wanting, all these things are sought
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  Speaker 1: for in vain that he may commend it. The more
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  Speaker 1: he calls it the bond of perfection, meaning by this
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  Speaker 1: that the troop of all the virtues is comprehended under it.
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  Speaker 1: For this truly is the rule of our whole life
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  Speaker 1: and of all our actions, so that everything that is
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  Speaker 1: not regulated according to it is faulty, whatever attractiveness it
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  Speaker 1: may otherwise possess. This is the reason why it is
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  Speaker 1: called here the bond of perfection, because there is nothing
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  Speaker 1: in our life that is well regulated if it be
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  Speaker 1: not directed towards it. But everything that we attempt is
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  Speaker 1: mere waste. The Papists, however, act a ridiculous part in
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  Speaker 1: abusing this declaration with the view of maintaining justification by works. Love,
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  Speaker 1: they say, is the bond of perfection. Now perfection is righteousness.
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  Speaker 1: Therefore we are justified by love. The answer is twofold
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  Speaker 1: For Paul, here is not reasoning as to the manner
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  Speaker 1: in which men are made perfect in the sight of God,
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  Speaker 1: but as to the manner in which they may live
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  Speaker 1: perfectly among themselves. For the genuine exposition of this passage
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  Speaker 1: is this, that other things will be in a desirable
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  Speaker 1: state as to our life, if love be exercised among us. When, however,
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  Speaker 1: we grant that love is righteousness, they groundlessly and childishly
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  Speaker 1: take occasion from this to maintain that we are justified
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  Speaker 1: by love. For where will perfect love be found. We, however,
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  Speaker 1: do not say that men are justified by faith alone
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  Speaker 1: on the ground that the observance of the law is
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  Speaker 1: not righteousness, but rather on this ground that, as we
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  Speaker 1: are all transgressors of the law, we are, in consequence
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  Speaker 1: of our being destitute of any righteousness of our own,
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  Speaker 1: constrained to borrow righteousness from Christ. There remains nothing therefore
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  Speaker 1: but the righteousness of faith, because perfect love is nowhere
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  Speaker 1: to be found. Fifteen And the peace of God. He
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  Speaker 1: gives the name of the Peace of God to that
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  Speaker 1: which God has established among us, as will appear from
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  Speaker 1: what follows. He would have it reign in our hearts.
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  Speaker 1: He employs, however, a very appropriate metaphor, for as among wrestlers,
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  Speaker 1: he who has vanquished all the others, carries off the palm,
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  Speaker 1: so he would have the peace of God be superior
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  Speaker 1: to all carnal affections, which a hurry us onto contentions, disagreements, quarrels,
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  Speaker 1: secret grudges. He accordingly prohibits us from giving loose reins
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  Speaker 1: to corrupt affections of this kind, as however it is
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  Speaker 1: difficult to restrain them. He points out also the remedy
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  Speaker 1: that the peace of God may carry the victory, because
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  Speaker 1: it must be a brittle by which carnal affections may
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  Speaker 1: be restrained. Hence, he says, in our hearts, because we
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  Speaker 1: constantly feel their great conflicts, while the flesh lusteth against
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  Speaker 1: the spirit Galatians five seventeen. The clause to which ye
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  Speaker 1: are called intimates what manner of peace this is, that
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  Speaker 1: unity which Christ has consecrated among us under his own direction.
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  Speaker 1: For God has reconciled us to himself in Christ Tewod
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  Speaker 1: Corinthians five eighteen. With this view, that we may live
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  Speaker 1: in entire harmony among ourselves. He adds in one body,
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  Speaker 1: meaning by this that we cannot be in a state
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  Speaker 1: of agreement with God otherwise than by being united among
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  Speaker 1: ourselves as members of one body when He bids us
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  Speaker 1: be thankful. I do not take this as referring so
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  Speaker 1: much to the remembrance of favors as to sweetness of manners. Hence,
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  Speaker 1: with the view of removing ambiguity, I prefer to render
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  Speaker 1: it be amiable. At the same time, I acknowledge that
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  Speaker 1: if gratitude takes possession of our minds, we shall without
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  Speaker 1: fail be inclined to cherish mutual affection among ourselves. Sixteen
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  Speaker 1: Let the word of Christ dwell. He would have the
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  Speaker 1: doctrine of the Gospel be familiarly known by them. Hence
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  Speaker 1: we may infer by what spirit those are actuated in
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  Speaker 1: the present day who cruelly interdict the Christian people from
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  Speaker 1: making use of it, and furiously vociferate that no pestilence
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  Speaker 1: is more to be dreaded than that the reading of
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  Speaker 1: the scriptures should be thrown open to the common people.
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  Speaker 1: For unquestionably, Paul here addresses men and women of all ranks.
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  Speaker 1: Nor would he simply have them take a slight taste
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  Speaker 1: merely of the Word of Christ, but exhorts that it
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  Speaker 1: should dwell in them, that is that it should have
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  Speaker 1: a settle abode, and that largely that they may make
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  Speaker 1: it their aim to advance and increase more and more
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  Speaker 1: every day. As however, the desire of learning is extravagant
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  Speaker 1: on the part of many, while they pervert the word
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord for their own ambition, or for vain curiosity,
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  Speaker 1: or in some way corrupted. He on this account adds
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  Speaker 1: in all wisdom, that being instructed by it, we may
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  Speaker 1: be wise as we ought to be. Farther, he gives
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  Speaker 1: a short definition of this wisdom, that the Colossians teach
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  Speaker 1: one another. Teaching is taken here to mean profitable instruction,
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  Speaker 1: which tends to edification, as in Romans twelve seven. He
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  Speaker 1: that teacheth on teaching. Also in Timothy quote all scripture
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  Speaker 1: is profitable for teaching, end quote two Timothy three sixteen.
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  Speaker 1: This is the true use of Christ's word. As however,
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  Speaker 1: doctrine is sometimes in itself cold, and as one says,
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  Speaker 1: when it is simply shown what is right, virtue is
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  Speaker 1: praised and left to starve. He adds at the same
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  Speaker 1: time admonition, which is, as it were, a confirmation of
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  Speaker 1: doctrine and incitement to it. Nor does he mean that
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  Speaker 1: the Word of Christ ought to be of benefit merely
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  Speaker 1: to individuals, that they may teach themselves. But he requires
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  Speaker 1: mutual teaching and admonition psalms, hymns. He does not restrict
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  Speaker 1: the Word of Christ these particular departments, but rather intimates
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  Speaker 1: that all are communications should be adapted to edification, that
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  Speaker 1: even those which tend to hilarity may have no empty savor.
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  Speaker 1: Leave to unbelievers that foolish delight which they take from
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  Speaker 1: ludicrous and frivolous jests and witticisms. And let your communications
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  Speaker 1: not merely those that are gray, but those also that
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  Speaker 1: are joyful and exhilarating, contain something profitable in place of
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  Speaker 1: their obscene or at least barely modest and decent songs.
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  Speaker 1: It becomes you to make use of hymns and songs
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  Speaker 1: that sound forth God's praise. Farther under these three terms,
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  Speaker 1: he includes all kinds of songs. They are commonly distinguished
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  Speaker 1: in this way that a psalm is that in the
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  Speaker 1: singing of which some musical instrument besides the tongue is
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  Speaker 1: made use of. A hymn is properly a song of praise,
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  Speaker 1: whether it be sung simply with the voice or otherwise,
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  Speaker 1: while an ode contains not merely praises, but exhortations and
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  Speaker 1: other matters. He would have the songs of Christians, however,
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  Speaker 1: to be spiritual, not made up of her volities and
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  Speaker 1: worthless trifles. For this has a connection with his argument
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  Speaker 1: the clause in Grace, Chrysostom explains in different ways. I, however,
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  Speaker 1: take it simply as also afterwards in chapter four or six,
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  Speaker 1: where he says, let your speech be seasoned with salt
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  Speaker 1: and grace, that is, by way of a dexterity that
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  Speaker 1: may be agreeable and may please the hearers by its profitableness,
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  Speaker 1: so that it may be opposed to buffoonery. In similar trifles,
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  Speaker 1: singing in your hearts this relates to disposition. For as
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  Speaker 1: we ought to stir up others, so we ought also
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  Speaker 1: to sing from the heart, that there may not be
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  Speaker 1: merely an external sound with the mouth. At the same time,
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  Speaker 1: we must not understand it as though he would have
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  Speaker 1: everyone sing inwardly to himself, but he would have both conjoined,
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  Speaker 1: provided the heart goes before the tongue. Seventeen and whatsoever,
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  Speaker 1: ye do we have already explained these things and what
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  Speaker 1: goes before in the Epistle to the Ephesians, where the
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  Speaker 1: same things are said almost word for word. As he
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  Speaker 1: had already begun to discourse in reference to different parts
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  Speaker 1: of the Christian life, and had simply touched upon a
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  Speaker 1: few precepts, it would have been too tedious a thing
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  Speaker 1: to follow out the rest one by one. He therefore
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  Speaker 1: concludes in a summary way that life must be regulated
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  Speaker 1: in such a manner that whatever we say or do
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  Speaker 1: may be wholly governed by the authority of Christ, and
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  Speaker 1: may have an eye to His glory as the mark.
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  Speaker 1: For we shall fitly comprehend under this term the two
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  Speaker 1: following things, that all our aims may set out with
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  Speaker 1: invocation of Christ, and may be subservient to His glory.
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  Speaker 1: From invocation follows the act of blessing God, which supplies
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  Speaker 1: us with matter of thanksgiving. It is also to be
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  Speaker 1: observed that he teaches that we must give thanks to
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  Speaker 1: the Father through Christ, as we obtain through Him every
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  Speaker 1: good thing that God confers upon us. And of Section
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  Speaker 1: seventeen read by David Ronald