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| Sundry Passages of St. Paul Which Attest Our Doctrine Rescued from the Perversions of Heresy. PREVIOUS SECTION - NEXT SECTION - HELP
Chapter
XL.—Sundry Passages of St. Paul Which Attest Our Doctrine Rescued
from the Perversions of Heresy.
Now it is no matter of surprise if arguments are
captiously taken from the writings of (the apostle) himself, inasmuch
as there “must needs be heresies;”7543
but these could not be, if the Scriptures were not capable of a false
interpretation. Well, then, heresies finding that the apostle had
mentioned two “men”—“the inner man,” that
is, the soul, and “the outward man,” that is, the
flesh—awarded salvation to the soul or inward man, and
destruction to the flesh or outward man, because it is written (in the
Epistle) to the Corinthians: “Though our outward man decayeth,
yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”7544 Now, neither the soul by itself alone is
“man” (it was subsequently implanted in the clayey mould to
which the name man had been already given), nor is the flesh
without the soul “man”: for after the exile of the soul
from it, it has the title of corpse. Thus the designation man
is, in a certain sense, the bond between the two closely united
substances, under which designation they cannot but be coherent
natures. As for the inward man, indeed, the apostle prefers its being
regarded as the mind and heart7545 rather than the
soul;7546 in other words, not so much the substance
itself as the savour of the substance. Thus when, writing to the
Ephesians, he spoke of “Christ dwelling in their inner
man,” he meant, no doubt, that the Lord ought to be admitted into
their senses.7547 He then added,
“in your hearts by faith, rooted and grounded in
love,”—making “faith” and “love”
not substantial parts, but only conceptions of the soul. But when he
used the phrase “in your hearts,” seeing that these are
substantial parts of the flesh, he at once assigned to the flesh the
actual “inward man,” which he placed in the heart. Consider
now in what sense he alleged that “the outward man decayeth,
while the inward man is renewed day by day.” You certainly would
not maintain that he could mean that corruption of the flesh which it
undergoes from the moment of death, in its appointed state of perpetual
decay; but the wear and tear which for the name of Christ it
experiences during its course of life before and until death, in
harassing cares and tribulations as well as in tortures and
persecutions. Now the inward man will have, of course, to be renewed by
the suggestion of the Spirit, advancing by faith and holiness day after
day, here in this life, not there after the resurrection,
were our renewal is not a gradual process from day to day, but a
consummation once for all complete. You may learn this, too, from the
following passage, where the apostle says: “For our light
affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things
which are seen,” that is, our sufferings, “but at the
things which are not seen,” that is, our rewards: “for the
things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen
are eternal.”7548 For the afflictions
and injuries wherewith the outward man is worn away, he affirms to be
only worthy of being despised by us, as being light and temporary;
preferring those eternal recompenses which are also invisible, and that
“weight of glory” which will be a counterpoise for the
labours in the endurance of which the flesh here suffers decay. So that
the subject in this passage is not that corruption which they
ascribe to the outward man in the utter destruction of the flesh, with
the view of nullifying the resurrection. So also he says elsewhere:
“If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified
together; for I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in
us.”7549 Here again he shows
us that our sufferings are less than their rewards. Now, since it is
through the flesh that we suffer with Christ—for it is the
property of the flesh to be worn by sufferings—to the same flesh
belongs the recompense which is promised for suffering with Christ.
Accordingly, when he is going to assign afflictions to the flesh as its
especial liability—according to the statement he had already
made—he says, “When we were come into Macedonia, our flesh
had no rest;”7550 then, in order to
make the soul a fellow-sufferer with the body, he adds, “We were
troubled on every side; without were fightings,” which of course
warred down the flesh, “within were fears,” which afflicted
the soul.7551 Although,
therefore, the outward man decays—not in the sense of missing the
resurrection, but of enduring tribulation—it will be
understood from this
scripture that it is not exposed to its suffering without the
inward man. Both therefore, will be glorified together, even as they
have suffered together. Parallel with their participation in troubles,
must necessarily run their association also in
rewards.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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