1. The not taking any thing into their affections and esteem for those ends and purposes for which they have received Jesus Christ. Here the Galatians failed in their conjugal affection to Christ; they preserved not themselves chaste to him. They had received Christ for life, and justification, and him only; but being after a while overcome with Gal. iii. 1. charms, or bewitched, they took into the same place with him the righteousness of the law. How Paul deals with them hereupon is known. How sorely, how pathetically doth he admonish them, how severely reprove them, how clearly convince them of their madness and folly! This, then, is the first chaste affection believers bear in their heart to Christ:— having received him for their righteousness and salvation before God, for the fountain, spring, and well-head of all their supplies, they will not now receive any other thing into his room and in his stead. As to instance, in one particular:— We receive him for our 1 Cor. i. 30. acceptance with God. All that here can stand in competition with him for our affections, must be our own endeavours for a Rom. x. 4.righteousness to commend us to God. Now, this must be either before we receive him, or after. [As] for all duties and endeavours, of what sort soever, for the pleasing of God before our receiving of Christ, you know what was the apostle’s frame, Phil. iii. 8–10. All endeavours, all advantages, all privileges, he rejects with indignation, as loss, — with abomination, as dung; and winds up all his aims and desires in Christ alone and his righteousness, for those ends and purposes. But the works we do after we have received Christ are of another consideration. Indeed, they are acceptable to God; it pleaseth him that we should walk in them. But as to that end for which we receive Christ, they are of no other account than the former, Eph. ii. 8–10. Even the works we do after believing, — those which we are created unto in Christ Jesus, those that God hath ordained that believers “should walk in them,” — as to justification and acceptance with God, (here called salvation), are excluded. It will one day appear that Christ abhors the janglings of men about the place of their own works and obedience, in the business of their acceptation with God; nor will the saints find any peace in adulterous thoughts of that kind. The chastity we owe unto him requires another frame. The necessity, usefulness, and excellency of gospel obedience shall be afterward declared. It is marvellous to see how hard it is to keep some professors to any faithfulness with Christ in this thing; — how many disputes have been managed, “Perfice hoc precibus, pretio, ut hæream in parte aliqua tandem,” etc. how many distinctions invented, how many shifts and evasions studied, to keep up something, in some place or other, to some purpose or other, that they may dally withal. Those that love him indeed are otherwise minded.