And you, being dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, you, I say, did he quicken together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses. These words add no new thoughts to the passage, but are a more detailed explanation of the matters involved in the work of Christ in the soul.

I. CONSIDER THE PERSONAL QUICKENING OUT OF A STATE OF DEATH AND DEFILEMENT.

1. The condition of all men by nature - spiritual death. This death is viewed in two aspects.

(1) In relation to definite acts of transgression, as showing the power of sin and the fruit of an evil nature.

(2) In relation to the root of the evil - "the uncircumcision of your flesh;" your unsanctified, fleshly nature marked by alienation from God (see homiletical hints on Ephesians 2:1).

2. The quickening energy of God. "You did he quicken together with him." Spiritual death is put away by the quickening energy of God, which flowed into your hearts out of the risen life of Christ. You are brought up with him objectively in his resurrection, subjectively in his application of the power of his resurrection (see homiletical hints on Ephesians 2:1).

II. CONSIDER THE GROUND AND CONDITION OF THIS QUICKENING. The pardon of sin. "Having forgiven us all our trespasses." Thus spiritual life is connected with pardon, and presupposes pardon. The sins of men must be pardoned before life could properly enter. Our Lord could not have been quickened till we, for whom he died, were potentially discharged (Romans 4:25). So, indeed, the quickening presupposes at once pardon, the blotting out of the handwriting, and the victory over Satan.

III. CONSIDER THE INDISPENSABLE ACCOMPANIMENT OF THIS PARDON. The removal of the condemning power of the Law. "Having blotted out the handwriting in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross."

1. The nature and effects of this handwriting in ordinances.

(1) It is not the mere ceremonial law, though its ritual observances were symbols of deserved punishment or an acknowledgment of guilt. We cannot limit it to this law, though the outward observances of ver. 20 were specially in view; for the apostle is not here distinguishing between Jews and Gentiles.

(2) It is the whole Law, moral and ceremonial - "the Law of commandments contained in ordinances" - which fastens upon us the charge of guilt, and is the great barrier against forgiveness. It was immediately against the Jews, mediately against the Gentiles. It is the Law, in the full compass of its requirements.

(3) The hostility of this Law to us. It was "against us; it was contrary to us."

(a) Not that the Law was in itself offensive, for it was holy and just and good" (Romans 7:12); but

(b) because our inability to fulfil it or satisfy its righteous demands exposed us to the penalty attached to an undischarged obligation. It was, in a word, a bill of indictment against us.

2. The blotting out of the handwriting. It was blotted out, so far as it was an accusing witness against us, by Christ wiping it out, taking it "out of the way, and nailing it to his cross." It was not done by an arbitrary abolition of the Law; moral obligations cannot be removed in this manner; but by the just satisfaction which Christ rendered by his "obedience unto death." It was nailed to his cross, and thus its condemnatory power was brought to an end. Strictly speaking, there was nothing but Christ's body nailed to the cross; but, as he was made sin, taking the very place of sin, "bearing our sins in his own body on the tree," the handwriting, with the curse involved in it, was identified with him, and thus God condemned sin in Christ's flesh (Romans 8:3). Christ exchanged places with us, and thus was cancelled the bill of indictment which involved us in guilt and condemnation.

IV. CONSIDER THE RELATION OF THE ATONEMENT TO THE VICTORY OVER SATAN. "Having put off from himself the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it." It was the cross that gave the victory over the principalities and powers of darkness, because sin was the ground of their dominion over man and the secret of their strength. But no sooner had Christ died and extinguished the guilt lying on us, than the ground of their successful agency was undermined, and, instead of being at liberty to ravage and destroy, their weapons of warfare perished. Christ on the cross, as the word signifies, reft from him and from his people those powers of darkness who could afflict humanity by pressing homo the consequences of their sin. He cast them off like baffled foes (John 12:31), made such a show of them openly as angels, if not men, could probably apprehend. He made the cross a scene of triumph to the irretrievable ruin of Satan's kingdom. - T. C.

I. WHAT IS MEANT BY HANDWRITING?

1. Opinions are various; yet all agree in this that something is intended which by force of testimony may prove us guilty before God. Some assert it to be —(1) The covenant of God with Adam (Genesis 2:17), for this being violated, Adam and his posterity were held guilty of death as by a bond.(2) The stipulation of the Jews (Exodus 19:7, 8), by which they bound themselves to perfect obedience, by the non-performance of which they might be justly condemned by their own hand.(3) The remembrance of our sins in the Divine mind and in our own conscience (Isaiah 43:25), by which we are convicted, as by a bond. The Divine law says, "Thou shalt love the Lord," etc. Conscience suggests, "I have not done so, and am, therefore, cursed.(4) Ceremonial rites which testified to guilt, circumcision to depravity, purifications to the filthiness of sin, sacrifices to the heinousness of guilt.

2. I explain it to mean the moral law binding to perfect obedience and condemning defect, laden with rites as appendages.

II. HOW IS IT AGAINST US?

1. As to the moral law, it is holy, just, and good; nevertheless it has become deadly to us through sin (Romans 7:12, 13), because —(1) It propounds decrees contrary to human nature (Romans 7:12, 13).(2) It arraigns, convicts, and brings us in guilty of sin (Romans 3:20).(3) It denounces against us the sentence of condemnation (Galatians 3:10).

2. As to ordinances, they were contrary, because(1) They were almost infinite as to number, and most burdensome as to observance Hence the appeal, Galatians 5:1.(2) By their signification and testimony. For although they seemed to promise the destruction of sin, yet there entered into them a confession rather than expiation thereof.

III. HOW IT IS MADE VOID.

1. Universally and sufficiently as it respects God; because by the blood of Christ such satisfaction is made to God that according to His own justice He is engaged to acquit those debtors who flee by faith to the Deliverer.

2. Particularly and efficaciously when it is blotted out from the conscience of those who lay hold of God by faith (Romans 5:1). There is no peace to a man who sees himself overwhelmed in debt and entangled by a bond; but when Christ's deliverance is accepted the soul enters into peace.

3. Notice the beautiful gradation. Not content with telling us we are forgiven, Paul subjoins that the handwriting is blotted out; but lest any should think that it is not so, but that a new charge may be raised, he adds it is "taken out of the way"; and lest it should be thought to be preserved somewhere, and may yet be preferred, he says it is nailed to the Cross, rent in pieces.Conclusion: We learn —

1. From the handwriting.(1) Since every man through it is guilty of death, how dreadful is the condition of those who trample on the blood by which alone the handwriting can be blotted out. God will require from them the uttermost farthing.(2) We see the insane pride of those who think they can satisfy God, yea, pay Him more than is due by works of supererogation. But what need then of blotting out the handwriting by the Cross?

2. From its contrariety.(1) The depravity and corruption of our nature; for at its institution it was friendly and wholesome.(2) The error of those who would restore ceremonies and rob us of our liberty in Christ.

3. From the abolition.(1) Since it is deprived of its condemning force we infer that it still retains its directing force, and so we have not a licence to sin but a motive to obey (Luke 1:74, 75).(2) Since the comfort of a troubled conscience consists in its being blotted out, we must labour to maintain by faith not only that Christ has procured that but that it is blotted out as respects ourselves. A debtor does not consider himself safe until he has seen with his own eyes that his bond is cancelled.

(Bp. Davenant.)

Liberty is the way to true life for man. A slave has nothing to live for: but proclaim his freedom, and he becomes another being. So with the man whom God sets free. Quickening from God comes in forgiveness of sins.

I. THE INDICTMENT AGAINST US — the law of God as expressed in the ten commandments and written in the heart (Romans 2:14).

1. Here we hate man's moral obligation, of which men everywhere have been more or less conscious. Moral sense of the two great duties of love to God and our neighbour is everywhere diffused. The handwriting is so on every man's soul that he knows and feels that some things ought to be done while others are forbidden as wrong. Many attempt to efface the handwriting, as well as to defy it, but that only confirms the fact that it exists in all the fulness of its claim.

2. This handwriting is "against us" because we have broken it. The law is for the lawless, and its verdict is only against the sinful. It commands our supreme love to God, and we have not loved Him, This is the debt we owe to God as our Creator and Father; we have not paid it and now cannot.

3. It is also "contrary to us." The terms are not exactly equivalent. The one expresses silent condemnation, the other a positive hostility. A man may owe a debt he cannot pay, and this fact is an obligation against him, even though there be no positive demand for payment. But if by the process of "dunning" the debt is often brought before him, and he is unpleasantly reminded of it, then the obligation is not only against him, it is contrary to him: it disturbs his peace and fills him with dread. So the Divine law acting on the law of our mind is constantly reminding us of our obligation, and is hostile to our peace. Its spirituality is against us, for we are carnal; its purity, for we are unholy; its justice, for we have kept back God's due. Such is the indictment, "that every mouth may be stopped" (Romans 3:19).

II. THE INDICTMENT CANCELLED. The verdict against sinful men is erased or wiped out. This idea often recurs in Scripture in reference to sin — "blot out all my iniquities."

2. It is taken out of the way; not that the law and moral obligation are abolished, but the verdict is removed so that it cannot be adduced for our condemnation. Literally it is "taken out of the midst," as if the handwriting had lain between God and His people — a barrier to their approach to Him, and to their peace with Him.

3. The means. Nailing to the cross and so destruction. Its condemning force was exhausted on Christ, so that it is powerless against all who are in Him. This is our discharge: the law has been fulfilled, and its finding against us for ever taken away.

(J. Spence, D. D.)

I. THE HANDWRITING OR BOND.

1. "Law" means primarily the ceremonial law which was being pressed on the Colossians. The early controversies on this matter are difficult for us to understand. It is harder to change customs than creeds, and religious observances live on, as every Maypole on a village green tells us, long after the beliefs which animated them are forgotten. So there was a party Who refused the admittance of Gentile converts to the Church except through the old doorway of circumcision. This was the point at issue between Paul and these teachers.

2. But the modern distinction between moral and ceremonial had no existence in Paul's mind, nor in the Old Testament, where we find the highest morality and the merest ritual inter-stratified. The law was a homogeneous whole.

3. And the principles laid down are true about all law. Law, as such, is dealt with by Christianity in the same way as the God-given code.

4. Law, Paul tells us, is antagonistic. It stands opposite, frowning at us and barring our road.(1) Is it then become our enemy because it tells us the truth? This conception is a strange contrast to the rapturous delight of Psalmists in it. Surely God's greatest gift to man is the knowledge of His will, and law is beneficent, a light, and a guide, and even its strokes are merciful.(2) Nevertheless the antagonism is very real. As with God, so with law — if we be against Him, He cannot but be against us. We make Him our dearest friend or our foe. The revelation of duty to which we are not inclined is ever unwelcome. Law is against us because —(a) It comes like a taskmaster bidding us do, but neither putting the inclination into our hearts nor the power into our hands.(b) The revelation of unfulfilled duty is the accusation of the defaulter.(c) It comes with threatenings and foretastes of penalty. Thus, as standard, accuser, and avenger, it is against us.(3) We all know this. Each of us has seen that apparition like the sword-bearing angel that Balaam saw, blocking our path when we wanted to "go frowardly in the way of our heart." The law of the Lord should be "sweeter than honey," etc., but the corruption of the best is the worst, and we can make it poison. Obeyed, it is as the chariot of fire to bear us heavenward; disobeyed, it is an iron car crushing all who set themselves against it.

II. ITS DESTRUCTION IN THE CROSS.

1. The Cross ends the law's power of punishment. Paul believed that the burden and penalty of sin had been laid on Christ, and trusting ourselves to the power of that great sacrifice, the dread of punishment will fade from our hearts, and the law will have to draw the bolts of the prison and let the captive go free.

2. The Cross is the end of the law as ceremonial. The Jewish ritual had the prediction of the Great Sacrifice for its highest purpose. When the fruit has set there is no more need for petals. We have the reality and do not need the shadow.

3. The Cross is the end of the law as moral rule. Of course it is not meant that Christian men are freed from the obligations of morality, but that we are not bound to do "the things contained in the law" because they are there. Duty is duty now because we see the pattern of conduct and character in Christ. The weakness of law is that it has no power to get its commandments obeyed; but Christ puts His love in our hearts, and so we pass from the dominion of an external commandment into the liberty of an inward spirit. The long schism between duty and inclination is at an end. So a higher morality ought to characterize the partakers of the life of Christ. Law died with Christ on the cross that it might rise and reign in our inmost hearts.

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)

There is a beautiful oriental custom which illustrates the Atonement. When a debt had to be settled either by payment or forgiveness, the creditor took the cancelled bond and nailed it over the door of him who had owed it, that all passers by might see that it was paid. So there is the Cross, the door of grace, behind which a bankrupt world lies in hopeless debt to the law. See Jesus our bondman and brother, coming forth with a long list of our indebtedness in His hand. He lifts it up where God and angels and men may see it, and there as the nail goes through His hand it goes through the bond of our transgressions to cancel it for ever. Come to that Cross! Not in order that you may wash away your sins by your tears or atone for them by your good works, or efface them by your sophistries and self-deceptions. But come rather that you may read the long black list that is against you, and be pierced to your heart by sorrow that you have offended such a Being; and then that lifting up your eyes you may see God turning His eyes at that same cross at which you are looking, and saying, "I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions," etc.

(New Testament Anecdotes.)

There are stronger things in the world than force. There are powers more difficult to overcome than strong or brazen gates. Suppose we found a prisoner condemned to die, and locked up in his ceil, and we were to ask ourselves how he could be saved from execution. There would appear great difficulty in getting him out of prison. That iron door, with its great bolt; that high window, with its guard of strong bars; those thick, strong walls; those heavy gates outside; that watchful jailer, how impossible it seems to overcome them all! Yet these are not the only difficulties, nor the greatest. There is another thing, stronger than all these, holding the poor prisoner to death: there is the sentence of the law. For, unless he would himself become a criminal, no man dares to help the condemned one out. Get the sentence repealed, and the other difficulties are removed.

(J. Edmond, D. D.)

Colossians, PaulColossae, LaodiceaAside, Blotted, Blotting, Bond, Canceled, Cancelled, Certificate, Cleared, Code, Consisting, Contrary, Cross, Debt, Decrees, Demands, Effaced, Force, Handwriting, Hand-writing, Hostile, Law, Legal, Nailed, Nailing, Opposed, Ordinances, Regulations, Requirements, Stood, Taking, Wiping, Written1. Paul still exhorts them to be constant in Christ;
8. to beware of philosophy, and vain traditions;
18. worshipping of angels;
20. and legal ceremonies, which are ended in Christ.

Colossians 2:14

     6750   sin-bearer
     7424   ritual law

Colossians 2:12-15

     1105   God, power of

Colossians 2:12-23

     7328   ceremonies

Colossians 2:13-14

     4906   abolition
     6615   atonement, necessity
     6661   freedom, and law
     8106   assurance, nature of

Colossians 2:13-15

     2414   cross, centrality
     6653   forgiveness, divine
     8738   evil, victory over

Colossians 2:13-17

     4438   eating
     7422   ritual

Colossians 2:14-15

     2530   Christ, death of
     7950   mission, of Christ
     9155   millennium

Notes on the Fourth Century
Page 238. Med. 1. In the wording of this meditation, and of several other passages in the Fourth Century, it seems as though Traherne is speaking not of himself, but of, a friend and teacher of his. He did this, no doubt, in order that he might not lay himself open to the charge of over-egotism. Yet that he is throughout relating his own experiences is proved by the fact that this Meditation, as first written, contains passages which the author afterwards marked for omission. In its original form …
Thomas Traherne—Centuries of Meditations

July 18. "Ye are Complete in Him" (Col. Ii. 10).
"Ye are complete in Him" (Col. ii. 10). In Him we are now complete. The perfect pattern of the life of holy service for which He has redeemed and called us, is now in Him in heaven, even as the architect's model is planned and prepared and completed in his office. But now it must be wrought into us and transferred to our earthly life, and this is the Holy Spirit's work. He takes the gifts and graces of Christ and brings them into our life, as we need and receive them day by day, just as the sections …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

January 15. "As Ye have Received Christ Jesus So Walk in Him" (Col. Ii. 6).
"As ye have received Christ Jesus so walk in Him" (Col. ii. 6). It is much easier to keep the fire burning than to rekindle it after it has gone out. Let us abide in Him. Let us not have to remove the cinders and ashes from our hearthstones every day and kindle a new flame; but let us keep it burning and never let it expire. Among the ancient Greeks the sacred fire was never allowed to go out; so, in a higher sense, let us keep the heavenly flame aglow upon the altar of the heart. It takes very much …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

June 2. "As Ye have Therefore Received Christ Jesus the Lord So Walk Ye in Him" (Col. Ii. 6).
"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in Him" (Col. ii. 6). Here is the very core of spiritual life. It is not a subjective state so much as a life in the heart. Christ for us is the ground of our salvation and the source of our justification; Christ in us of our sanctification. When this becomes real, "Ye are dead"; your own condition, states and resources are no longer counted upon any more than a dead man's, but "your life is hid with Christ in God." It is not even always …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Christian Progress
'As therefore ye received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and builded up in Him.'--COL. ii. 6, 7 (R.V.). It is characteristic of Paul that he should here use three figures incongruous with each other to express the same idea, the figures of walking, being rooted, and built up. They, however, have in common that they all suggest an initial act by which we are brought into connection with Christ, and a subsequent process flowing from and following on it. Receiving Christ, being rooted …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Fear which Terminates in the Second Death.
"The fearful--shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death." The terms on which only we can be Christ's disciples are laid before us in the Scriptures, and we are counselled to consider them before we engage to be his. Though Christ was born to be a king, his kingdom is not of this world. He doth not persuade men with the prospect of great things here; but on the contrary warns his followers, that "in this world they shall have tribulation;" …
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

Christ Triumphant
I shall this morning, by God's help, address you upon the two portions of the text. First, I shall endeavour to describe Christ as spoiling his enemies on the cross; and having done that I shall lead your imagination and your faith further on to see the Saviour in triumphal procession upon his cross, leading his enemies captive, and making a shew of them openly before the eyes of the astonished universe. I.First, our faith is invited this morning to behold CHRIST MAKING A SPOIL OF PRINCIPALITIES …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

A Warning to Believers
"Let no man beguile you of your reward."--Colossians 2:18. THERE is an allusion here to the prize which was offered to the runners in the Olympic games, and at the outset it is well for us to remark how very frequently the Apostle Paul conducts us by his metaphors to the racecourse. Over and over again he is telling us so to run that we may obtain, bidding us to strive, and at other times to agonize, and speaking of wrestling and contending. Ought not this to make us feel what an intense thing the …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 61: 1915

Conflict and Comfort.
"For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts may be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ."--COL. ii. 1, 2. Although he was in prison the Apostle was constantly at work for his Master, and not least of all at the work of prayer. If ever the words …
W. H. Griffith Thomas—The Prayers of St. Paul

Bands of Love; Or, Union to Christ. "I Drew them with Cords of a Man, with Bands of Love: and I was to them as they that Take Off the Yoke on their Jaws, and I Laid Meat unto Them. " --Hosea xi. 4.
BANDS OF LOVE; OR, UNION TO CHRIST. SYSTEMATIC theologians have usually regarded union to Christ under three aspects, natural, mystical and federal, and it may be that these three terms are comprehensive enough to embrace the whole subject, but as our aim is simplicity, let us be pardoned if we appear diffuse when we follow a less concise method. 1. The saints were from the beginning joined to Christ by bands of everlasting love. Before He took on Him their nature, or brought them into a conscious …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come

The Disciple, -- Master, Some People Say that the Comfort and Joy that Believers Experience...
The Disciple,--Master, some people say that the comfort and joy that believers experience are simply the outcome of their own thoughts and ideas. Is this true? The Master,--1. That comfort and abiding peace which believers have within themselves is due to My presence in their hearts, and to the life-giving influence of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. As for those who say that this spiritual joy is the result only of the thoughts of the heart, they are like a foolish man who was blind from his birth, …
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

The Faithful Steward
"GOD IS LOVE." Perfectly blessed in Himself, he desired that other intelligences should participate in his own holy felicity. This was his primary motive in creating moral beings. They were made in his own image--framed to resemble him in their intellectual and moral capacities, and to imitate him in the spirit of their deportment. Whatever good they enjoyed, like him, they were to desire that others might enjoy it with them; and thus all were to be bound together by mutual sympathy,--linked …
Sereno D. Clark—The Faithful Steward

The Subordination of the Spirit to the Father and to the Son.
From the fact that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person, it does not follow that the Holy Spirit is in every sense equal to the Father. While the Scriptures teach that in Jesus Christ dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead in a bodily form (Col. ii. 9) and that He was so truly and fully Divine that He could say, "I and the Father are one" (John x. 30) and "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father" (John xiv. 9), they also teach with equal clearness that Jesus Christ was not equal to the Father in …
R. A. Torrey—The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit

The Person Sanctified.
"The putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh."--Col. ii. 11. Sanctification embraces the whole man, body and soul, with all the parts, members, and functions that belong to each respectively. It embraces his person and, all of his person. This is why sanctification progresses from the hour of regeneration all through life, and can be completed only in and through death. St. Paul prays for the church of Thessalonica: "The God of peace sanctify you wholly, and may your whole spirit and soul …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Assyrian Revival and the Struggle for Syria
Assur-nazir-pal (885-860) and Shalmaneser III. (860-825)--The kingdom of Urartu and its conquering princes: Menuas and Argistis. Assyria was the first to reappear on the scene of action. Less hampered by an ancient past than Egypt and Chaldaea, she was the sooner able to recover her strength after any disastrous crisis, and to assume again the offensive along the whole of her frontier line. Image Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a bas-relief at Koyunjik of the time of Sennacherib. The initial cut, …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 7

St. Basil and St. Gregory of Nazianzum; Council of Constantinople,
PART I (AD 373-381) Although St. Athanasius was now dead, God did not fail to raise up champions for the true faith. Three of the most famous of these were natives of Cappadocia--namely, Basil, his brother Gregory of Nyssa, and his friend Gregory of Nazianzum. But although Gregory of Nyssa was a very good and learned man, and did great service to the truth by his writings, there was nothing remarkable in the story of his life; so I shall only tell you about the other two. Basil and Gregory of Nazianzum …
J. C. Roberston—Sketches of Church History, from AD 33 to the Reformation

His Eyes are Like a Dove's by the Rivers of Waters, Washed with Milk, and Sitting Beside Overflowing Streams.
She goes on holding up to admiration the perfection of her Bridegroom; His abundance and His wonderful qualities are the joy of the Spouse, in the midst of her misery. His eyes, says she, are so pure, so chaste and so simple, His knowledge so purified from everything material, that they are like dove's; not like doves of any common beauty, but doves washed in the milk of divine grace, which, having been given to Him without measure, has filled Him with all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge …
Madame Guyon—Song of Songs of Solomon

Christians must not Forsake the Church of God, and Go Away and Invoke Angels And...
Christians must not forsake the Church of God, and go away and invoke angels and gather assemblies, which things are forbidden. If, therefore, any one shall be found engaged in this covert idolatry, let him be anathema; for he has forsaken our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and has gone over to idolatry. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon XXXV. Whoso calls assemblies in opposition to those of the Church and names angels, is near to idolatry and let him be anathema. Van Espen. Whatever the worship …
Philip Schaff—The Seven Ecumenical Councils

The Poison and the Antidote
'And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to compare the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 5. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 6. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7. Therefore …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

More Particularly, in what Respect Christ is Called the Truth.
But for further explaining of this matter, we would see more particularly, in what respects it is, that he is called the truth; and this will make way to our use-making of him. So, First, He is the Truth, in opposition to the shadows and types of him, under the law. Hence, as "the law," the whole Levitical and typical dispensation, "came by Moses, so grace and truth came by Jesus Christ," John i. 17. They were all shadows of him, and he is the substance and body of them all, Col. ii. 17; and this …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Faith
'The life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.' Gal 2:20. The Spirit applies to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us. Christ is the glory, and faith in Christ the comfort, of the gospel. What are the kinds of faith? Fourfold: (1.) An historical or dogmatic faith, which is believing the truths revealed in the Word, because of divine authority. (2.) There is a temporary faith, which lasts for a time, and then vanishes. Yet has he no root in himself, …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

In the Work of the Redemption of Man, not Only the Mercy, but Also the Justice, of God is Displayed.
In the work of the Redemption of man, not only the mercy, but also the justice, of God is displayed. 15. Man therefore was lawfully delivered up, but mercifully set free. Yet mercy was shown in such a way that a kind of justice was not lacking even in his liberation, since, as was most fitting for man's recovery, it was part of the mercy of the liberator to employ justice rather than power against man's enemy. For what could man, the slave of sin, fast bound by the devil, do of himself to recover …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

He Made the Pillars Thereof of Silver, the Couch of Gold, the Ascent Thereto of Purple; and the Midst Thereof He Strewed with Love for the Daughters of Jerusalem.
The pillars of the holy Humanity of Jesus Christ are of silver; His soul with its powers and His body with its senses being of a finished purity well set forth by the most refined and brilliant silver. His couch, which is the Divinity itself, in which Christ subsists in the person of the Word, is clearly expressed by the couch of this mysterious chariot being made all of gold, which is often put in the Scriptures for God. The ascent thereto is adorned with purple, whereby it is signified, that although …
Madame Guyon—Song of Songs of Solomon

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