4:8 He therefore that {c} despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
(c) These commandments which I gave you.
4:8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God. Who considers not the rights and welfare of his fellow-beings, and invades the purity of the home, let him know that it is God he despises, not man. God has required of him holiness instead of uncleanness.
Who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit. The temple of the Holy Spirit must be holy. To defile it, that is ourselves, is to insult God.
4:8 He that despiseth - The commandments we gave. Despiseth God - Himself. Who hath also given you his Holy Spirit - To convince you of the truth, and enable you to be holy. What naked majesty of words! How oratorical, and yet with what great simplicity! - a simplicity that does not impair, but improve, the understanding to the utmost; that, like the rays of heat through a glass, collects all the powers of reason into one orderly point, from being scattered abroad in utter confusion.
4:1-8 To abide in the faith of the gospel is not enough, we must abound in the work of faith. The rule according to which all ought to walk and act, is the commandments given by the Lord Jesus Christ. Sanctification, in the renewal of their souls under the influences of the Holy Spirit, and attention to appointed duties, constituted the will of God respecting them. In aspiring after this renewal of the soul unto holiness, strict restraint must be put upon the appetites and senses of the body, and on the thoughts and inclinations of the will, which lead to wrong uses of them. The Lord calls none into his family to live unholy lives, but that they may be taught and enabled to walk before him in holiness. Some make light of the precepts of holiness, because they hear them from men; but they are God's commands, and to break them is to despise God.
