1. 1. THE WORKS OF JOHN OWEN, D.D EDITED BY THE REV, WILLIAM H. GOOLI), D.D., EDINBUBGH. VOL. XXII. EDINBURGH : / T. & T. CLARK, 38, GEORGE STREET. LONDON. HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. DUBLIN: JOHN ROBERTSON MDCCCLXII.
2. 2. AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBEEWS, PRELIMINARY EXERCITATIONS. BY JOHN OWEN, D.D. EDITED BY W. H. GOOLD, D.D VOL. V. EDINBURGH: T. & T. CLARK, 38, GEORGE STREET. LONDON : HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. DUBLIN : JOHN KOBEETSON. MDCCCLXII.
3. 3. MURRAY AJfD GIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.
4. 4. EXPOSITION EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS, CHAPTER VI. THIS whole, chapter is a continuation of the digression which the apostle had occasionally entered into in the llth verse of the pre ceding chapter. For upon the consideration of the greatness of the mystery and difficulty of the doctrine which he designed to instruct these Hebrews in, and his fear of their disability or unpreparedness (at least of some) to receive it in a due manner unto their edifica tion, he engageth into a new discourse, filled up with reasons and arguments to excite them unto a diligent attendance. And this he so doth, as in the very last words of this chapter to return, by an artificial connection of his discourse, unto what he had asserted in the 10th verse of that foregoing. There are four general parts of this chapter: 1. The proposition of what he intended to do, or discourse concerning; with an oppo sition thereunto of what was by him to be omitted, verses 1-3. 2. An excitation of the Hebrews unto singular diligence in Attend ing unto the most perfect doctrines of Christianity, and making a progress in the knowledge of Christ. And this he doth from the consideration of the greatness of the sin and the inevitableness of the destruction of apostates. For this sort of persons do commonly arise from among such as, having received the truth, and made a profession thereof, do not diligently endeavour a progress towards perfection, according to their duty, verses 4-8. 3. A Unifying of the severity of this commination in respect of its application unto these Hebrews. For he expresseth his hope that it did not so belong unto them, or that the sin condemned should not be found in them, nor the punishment threatened fall on them. But the warning itself contained in the commination was, as he shows, good, wholesome, and seasonable. And of this his hope and judgment concerning the Hebrews he expresseth his grounds, taken from the righteous-
5. 5. 4s AN EXPOSITION OP THE [CHAP. VI. ness of God, their own faith and love; which he prays they may persevere in, verses 9-12. 4. An encouragement unto faith and perseverance, from the example of Abraham, who first received the promises; from the nature of the promises themselves, and their confirmation by the oath of God, with the assistance we may have by our hope in Christ thereunto, verses 13-20; which last discourse he issueth in the principal matter he intended to insist upon, where- unto he now returns again, having digressed necessarily into those exhortations and arguings from the first proposal of it in the llth verse of the foregoing chapter. In the first part of the chapter, comprised in the first three verses, there are three things considerable: 1. A general proposition of the apostle s resolution to proceed unto the more perfect doctrines of the gospel, as also of his passing over the first principles of Chris tianity, verse 1. 2. An amplification of this proposition, by an enu meration of those doctrines which he thought meet at present to pass by the handling of, verses 1, 2. 3. A renovation of his resolu tion to pursue his proposition, with a submission to the Avill and good pleasure of God as to the execution of his purpose ; the expres sion whereof the present state of these Hebrews peculiarly called him unto, verse 3. VERSE 1. .A/& OLtptvres rbv rqg ap%ri$ rov XpiffTov Xoyov, litl r^v reX/orjra fpafl 5 1?.7 81 ??T?5 " tne resurrection that is from the house of the dead;" that is, the grave, the common dwelling-place of the dead : as also, xptfteiTos ecluvlov by ^^ K ^" 1 " tne judgment which is for ever ;" the sentence whereof is eternally irrevocable, and whose execution endures always. 1 Ver. 1, 2. Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith towards God, of baptisms, doctrine, and the laying on of hands, of the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. There are two things in these words added concerning " the doc trine of the principles ofChrist/ or "the first doctrines ofChristianity :" 1. Their general nature with respect to the whole truth of the gos pel, metaphorically expressed ; they are the " foundation/ 2. Their nature in particular is declared in sundry instances ; not that all of them are mentioned, but these instances are chosen out to show of what kind they are. In the first, two things are proposed : 1. The expression of the thing itself intended, which is " the foundation." 2. The apostle s design with respect unto it, " not laying it again." FlRST, M)} vakiv SsueXiov xaraCaXXo/isvo/. QtUj^iog is, as . .,.,,. eipatn. was said, in this matter metaphorical, including an allu sion unto an architect and his building. First he lays the foundation; and he is a most foolish builder who either doth not so, or who rests therein, or who is always setting it up and pulling it down, without making a progress. Indeed, that foundation which is all the building, which hath not an edifice erected on it, is no foundation ; for that which is materially so, becomes so formally only with respect unto the building upon it. And those who receive the doctrines of Christ here called the " foundation," if they build not on them, they will prove none unto them, whatever they are in themselves. There are two properties of a foundation: 1. That it is that VARIOUS READINGS. A/S^. Lachmann, on the authority of B, prefers Conybeare and Howson adopt the punctuation of Chrysostom, /3w- EXPOSITION. According to Ebrard, the passage is not an intimation of the author s intention, but an admonition to his readers. He understands xa-rA- "hoptvai not in the sense of " laying down," but of " demolishing." Strive after perfection, while you do not again demolish the foundation of repentance, and faith, etc. Luther and, as we have seen, Conybeare and Howson, understand " doctrine" as separate from and in apposition with " baptisms." Calvin, Beza, Storr, Bleek, and Ebrard, connect it with ^a.-Tmau.uv, and supply it to t and zitotTOS ED.
6. 17. 16 AN EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP. VL which is first laid in every building. This the natural order of every building requires. 2. It is that which bears the whole weight of the superstructure ; the whole, and all the parts of it, being laid upon it, and firmly united unto it. With respect unto the one or other of these properties, or both, are the doctrines intended called the " foundation." But in the latter sense they cannot be so. It is Christ himself, and he only, who is so the foundation as to bear the weight and to support the whole building of the church of God. Isa. xxviii. 16; Matt. xvi. 18; 1 Cor. iii. 10, 11; Eph. ii. 20-22; 1 Pet. ii. 4, 5. He is so personally, the life and being of the church consisting in its spiritual union unto his person, 1 Cor. xii. 12 ; and doctrinally, in that all truth is resolved into what is taught concerning him, 1 Cor. iii. 10, 13. Wherefore it is in allusion unto a foundation with respect unto its first property, namely, that it is first laid in the building, that these doctrines are called " the foundation" (so the Jews term the general principles of their profession mm HID11 , " the foundations of the law," or the principal doctrines taught therein), the first doctrines which are necessary to be received and professed at men s first entrance into Christianity. And the apostle intends the same things by the threefold expression which he maketh use of: 1. 2ro/^e7a r?jj apxfic Xoy/wi/ rov Qtov, chap. v. 12, " the first prin ciples of the oracles of God:" 2. O rfo apxys roJ X.PIGTOV Xoyog: and, 3. Qt/A&ios, chap. vL 1 ; " the beginning of the doctrine of Christ," and " the foundation." Concerning these things he says, MJ} waktv xaraZaXXopevoi, " not MV *-aA/ lavino it again." His saying that he would not lay it *r&ax- again, doth not infer that he himself had laid it before /* amongst them, but only that it was so laid before by some or other. For it was not by him that they received their first instruction, nor doth he mention any such thing in the whole epistle; whereas he frequently pleads it unto those churches which were planted by himself, 1 Cor. iii. 5, 6, 10, iv. 15. And it is known from the story that his ministry was not used in their first conver sion. But he knew that they had faithful instructors, who would not leave them unacquainted with these necessary things; and that they would not have been initiated by baptism, or admitted into the church, without a profession of them. Besides, they were such as in general they owned in their former church-state. He might, therefore, well say that he would not lay this foundation again. These things/ saith he, you have already been instructed in by others, and therefore I will not (as also on other considerations) go over them again/ Wherefore let the hearers of the gospel carefully look to it, that they learn those things whereof they have had suffi cient instruction ; for if any evil ensue from their ignorance of them, they must themselves answer for it. Such ignorance is their sin, as
7. 18. VER, 1, 2.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 17 well as their disadvantage. Preachers may take it for granted, that what they have sedulously and sufficiently instructed their hearers in, they have also received and learned, because it is through their sinful negligence if they have not so done. And they are not bound always to wait on some in their negligences, to the disadvantage of others. SECONDLY, The apostle declares in particular what were those doc trinal principles, which he had in general so described, which were taught unto them who were first initiated into Christianity, and which he will not now again insist upon. " Repentance from dead works," etc. We must first consider the order of these words, and then their sense, or the things themselves intended. Some here reckon up six principles, some make them seven, some but four, and by some they are reduced unto three. The first two are plain and distinct, "Repentance from dead works," and "faith towards God/ The next that follow are disputed as to their coherence and sense: "Bavrisfiuv diSa^s siriS eoews rs ^fipSjv. Some read these words with a note of distinction between them, iSavriapuv, dtdaxys, both the genitive cases being regulated by SepsXiov, "The foundation of baptisms, and of doctrine;" which are put to gether by apposition, not depending one upon another, A/da^jj is " the preaching of the word." And this was one of the first things wherein believers were to be instructed, namely, that they were to abide h T$ foSa^jj, Acts ii. 42; in a constant attendance unto the doc trine of the gospel, when preached unto them. And as I shall not as sert this exposition, so I dare not positively reject it, as not seeing any reason cogent to that purpose. But another sense is more probable. Take the words in conjunction, so as that one of them should de pend on and be regulated by the other, and then, I. We may con sider them in their order as they lie in the original: Xyg smditeus n ^sipuv (supposing the first to be regulated and both the latter by it), "The baptisms of doctrine and imposition of hands." There were two things peculiar to the gospel, the doc trine of it, and the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost. Doctrine is compared to and called baptism, Deut. xxxii. 2 ; hence the people were said to be " baptized unto Moses," when they were initiated into his doctrines, 1 Cor. x. 1, 2. The baptism of John was his doc trine, Acts xix. 3. And the baptism of Christ was the doctrine of Christ, wherewith he was to "sprinkle many nations," Isa. Hi. 15. This is the first baptism of the gospel, even its doctrine. The other was the communication of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, Acts i. 5. That this, and this alone, is intended by " the laying on of hands," I shall prove fully afterwards. And then the sense would be, The foundation of gospel baptisms, namely, preaching, and the gifts VOL. xxii. 2
8. 19. 18 AN EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP. VI. of the Holy Ghost/ And I know but one argument against this sense, namely, that it is new and singular. To avoid this, 2. The order of the words must be inverted in their exposition. Not the " baptisms of doctrine," but the " doctrine of baptisms," nrast be in tended. But then two things must be observed: (1.) That (3axnff- (tuv, " baptisms," is not immediately regulated by ^f/^eiov, the "foun dation;" and so "baptisms" are not asserted absolutely to be a foundation, as is " repentance from dead works," but only the doc trine about it is so. (2.) It cannot be readily conceived why BiSu^, "doctrine," should be prefixed unto " baptisms" alone, and not to " repentance" and "faith," the doctrines whereof also are intended; for it is not the grace of repentance and faith, but the doctrine concerning them, which the apostle hath respect to. There is, there fore, some peculiar reason why " doctrine" should be thus peculiarly prefixed unto " baptisms and the laying on of hands," and not to the other things mentioned; for that " imposition of hands" is placed in the same order with " baptisms," the conjunctive particle doth manifest, fvideetus re ^sipuv. The following instances are plain, only some would reduce them unto one principle, namely, the resurrec tion of all unto judgment. There is, therefore, in these words nothing peculiar nor difficult, but only what concerns " baptisms," and " the imposition of hands," the "doctrine" whereof is specified. Now, I cannot discover any just reason hereof, unless it be, that by "baptisms," and "the imposi tion of hands," the apostle intendeth none of those rudiments of Christian religion wherein men were to be first instructed, but those rites whereof they were made partakers who were so instructed. As if the apostle had said, These principles of the doctrine of Christ, namely, repentance, faith, the resurrection, and judgment, are those doctrines wherein they are to be instructed who are to be baptized, and to have hands laid on them/ According to this sense, the words are to be read as in a parenthesis : " Not laying again the founda tion of repentance from dead works, and of faith towards God, (namely, the doctrine of baptisms, and of the imposition of hands,) of the resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment." When men began to attend unto the gospel, and thereon to give up their names to the church, there were certain doctrines that they were thoroughly to be instructed in, before they were admitted unto bap tism; see Gal. vi. 6. These being the catechetical rudiments of Christian religion, are called here di8a^ {Sanriepuv eviSsetus n xmpuv, or the doctrines that were to be taught in order unto the adminis tration of those rites. Taking this for the design of the apostle in the words, as is most probable, there are four instances given of those principal rudiments of Christian religion, wherein all men were to be instructed before
9. 20. VER 1, 2.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 19 they were admitted unto baptism, who came thereunto in their own personal right, having not been made partakers thereof by their covenant right, through the profession of their parents, in their in fancy. In these were persons to be fully instructed before their solemn initiation ; the doctrine concerning them being thence called the " doctrine of baptisms, and of the imposition of hands," because previously necessary unto the administration of these rites. There is a difficulty, I confess, that this exposition is pressed with, from the use of the word in the plural number, (SaKrigpZv, "of baptisms;" but this equally concerns all other expositions, and shall be spoken unto in its proper place. And this I take to be the sense of the words which the design of the place and manner of expression lead us unto. But yet, because sundry learned men are otherwise minded, I shall so explain the words as that their meaning may be appre hended, supposing distinct heads of doctrine to be contained in them. Our next work is to consider the particular instances in their order. And the first is, ^sravo/ag dcri vtxpuv tpyuv " re pentance from dead works." This was taught in the first place unto all those who would give up themselves to the dis cipline of Christ and the gospel. And in the teaching hereof, both the nature and necessity of the duty were regarded. And in the nature of it two things were declared, and are to be considered : 1. What are "dead works;" and, 2. What is " repentance from them." 1. This expression of " dead works" is peculiar unto our apostle, and unto this epistle. It is nowhere used but in this place and chap. ix. 14. And he useth it in answer unto what he elsewhere declares concerning men s being dead in sin by nature, Eph. ii. 1, 5; CoL ii. 13. That which he there ascribes unto their persons, here he attributeth unto their works. These Peter calls men s " old sins," namely, which they lived in before their conversion: 2 Epist. i. 9, AijOijv XaZuv rou xa&apiffpov ruv vrdXai alrov apapnuv, " Forgetting that he was purged from his old sins." He hath respect unto what is here intended. They were, before their initiation, instructed in the necessity of forsaking the sins wherein they lived before their conversion, which he calls their "old" or " former sins;" which he hath also respect unto, 1 Epist iv. 3, " For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idola tries." The necessity of repentance from these and the like sins was taught them, and which they made profession of, before they were admitted unto baptism, wherein they received a token of their being purged from them. And a relapse into those sins which men had openly professed their repentance and relinquishment of, was ever esteemed dangerous, and by some absolutely pernicious; whereon
10. 21. 20 AN EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP. VI. great contests in the church did ensue. For the controversy was not, whether men falling into any sin, yea, any open or known sin, after baptism, might repent, which none was ever so foolishly proud as to deny, but the question was about men s open falling again into those sins, suppose idolatry, which they had made a public profession of their repentance from before their baptism. And it came at last to this, not whether such men might savingly repent, obtain pardon of their sins, and be saved ; but whether the church had power to admit them a second time to a public profession of their repentance of those sins, and so take them again into full com munion. For some pleaded, that the profession of repentance for those sins, and the renunciation of them, being indispensably neces sary antecedently unto baptism in them that were adult, the obli gation not to live in them at all being on them Who were baptized in their infancy, baptism alone was the only pledge the church could give of the remission of such sins; and therefore, where men fell again into those sins, seeing baptism was not to be repeated, they were to be left unto the mercy of God, the church could re ceive them no more. But whereas the numbers ware very great of those who in time of persecution fell back into idolatry, who yet afterwards returned and professed their repentance, the major part, who always are for the many, agreed that they were to be received, and reflected with no small severity on those that were otherwise minded. But whereas both parties in this difference ran into ex tremes, the event was pernicious on both sides, the one in the issue losing the truth and peace, the other the purity of the church. The sins of unregenerate persons, whereof repentance was to be expressed before baptism, are called " dead works/ in -respect of their nature and their ^nd. For, (1.) As to their nature, they pro ceed from a principle under the power of spiritual death; they are the works of persons "dead in trespasses and sins." All the moral actings of such persons, with respect unto a supernatural end, are dead works, being not enlivened by a vital principle of spiritual life. And it