Sermons of M. John Calvin upon the Epistle of Saint Paul to the GalatiansSermons of M. Iohn Caluine vpon the Epistle of Saincte Paule to the Galathians

And as touching the ⟨image 240⟩Gospel he doth us to wit, that it is a doctrine whereby God showeth himself to be our father, with covenant that we should be set free from the condemnation of Satan and sin, yea and from the curse of the law. For (as we have seen afore) it is said that all such as fulfil not the law in all points shall be accursed. Now the case is so, that all of us are endangered. And by that means all the world is swallowed up in despair, and there is no remedy, unless God draw wretched sinners out of that condemnation, and acquit them of the sentence that was pronounced against them. Now then we see after what manner S. Paul took the name of the Law: namely that he meant not, that the doctrine which is contained in Moses, doth not make us rightly the children of God, or that it containeth not the promises which were for the everlasting salvation of mankind: but only that before Jesus Christ came into the world, there was not yet any full liberty or freedom as there is now adays, & moreover that the hypocrites abused the law by their false interpretations. For they surmised that they could make God amends, and thereby purchase favour at his hand. And therefore S. Paul sayeth that we shall always be in bondage till we be begotten again by another kind of seed, that is to wit, by the Gospel. But let us mark well these words, where it is said that Hagar or Sinai representeth the Jerusalem which was at that time, that is too wit, the same City which had erst bin Gods sanctuary, & should have bin the wellspring of all heavenly doctrine,¹ according too Isaiah and Micah, which say, The law shall come from Zion,² and the word of God from Jerusalem. Howbeit forasmuch as the Jews were corrupt, and had mingled their own inventions & glozes with the pureness of the true doctrine, yea and had forsaken Jesus Christ the fountain of life: S. Paul sayeth that that Jerusalem of theirs is like Hagar the bondmaid, & like the mountain Sinai which cannot engender but to condemnation: and that is a thing well worthy to be marked: for it serveth too show that God did never so tie his grace to any one place, but that he punished the thanklessness of the inhabitants,³ when they would not have the wit to make their benefit of the good things that he had put into their hands.