John Gill

John Gill (1697 - 1771). English Baptist pastor, theologian, and author born in Kettering, Northamptonshire. Self-educated after leaving grammar school at 11 due to nonconformist convictions, he mastered Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and logic by his teens. Converted at 12, he was baptized at 19 and began preaching, becoming pastor of Horsleydown Church in London in 1719, serving 51 years. A leading Particular Baptist, he wrote A Body of Doctrinal and Practical Divinity and a comprehensive Exposition of the Bible, covering every verse, still used by Reformed scholars. Gill published The Cause of God and Truth defended Calvinist theology against Arminianism. He edited Matthew Henry’s Commentary and published hymns. Married to Elizabeth Negus in 1721, they had one daughter. His library of 3,000 books aided his prolific writing, shaping Baptist doctrine. Gill’s works, online at ccel.org, remain influential in Reformed circles despite his hyper-Calvinist leanings.
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John Gill emphasizes the manifestation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who took on human nature to take away the sins of humanity through His sacrificial death. He explains that Christ, being sinless, was the perfect sacrifice, fulfilling the requirements of the law and providing reconciliation for believers. This act of love and sacrifice should compel Christians to live righteously and avoid sin, as Christ's purity serves as a model for their lives. Gill also highlights the importance of understanding that Christ bore our sins, which should motivate believers to pursue holiness and good works.
1 John 3:5
Ver. 5. And ye know that he was manifested,.... This is a truth of the Gospel the saints were well instructed in and acquainted with; that Jesus Christ, the Word and Son of God, who is here meant, who was with the Father, and lay in his bosom from all eternity, was in the fulness of time made manifest in the flesh, or human nature, by assuming it into union with his divine person; in which he came and dwelt among men, and became visible to them: the end of which manifestation was, to take away our sins; as the antitype of the scape goat, making reconciliation and satisfaction for them, through the sacrifice of himself; which was doing what the blood of bulls and goats, or any legal sacrifices or moral performances, could never do: and this he did by taking the sins of his people upon himself, by carrying them up to the cross, and there bearing them, with all the punishment due unto them, in his body; by removing them quite away, and utterly destroying them, finishing and making an end of them: and by causing them to pass away from them, from off their consciences, through the application of his blood by his Spirit: and in him is no sin; neither original, nor actual; no sin inherent; there was sin imputed to him, but none in him, nor done by him; and hence he became a fit person to be a sacrifice for the sins of others, and by his unblemished sacrifice to take the away; and answered the typical sacrifices under the law, which were to be without spot and blemish: and this shows that he did not offer himself for any sins of his own, for there were none in him, but for the sins of others; and which consideration, therefore, is a strong dissuasive from sinning, and as such is mentioned by the apostle; for, since sin is of such a nature that nothing could atone for it but the blood and sacrifice of Christ, an innocent, as well as a divine person, it should be abhorred by us; and since Christ has taken it away by the sacrifice of himself, it should not be continued and encouraged by us; and since in him is no sin, we ought to imitate him in purity of life and conversation; the end of Christ's bearing our sins was, that we might live unto righteousness, and to purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works; and his love herein should constrain us to obedience to him: so the Jews {l} speak of a man after the image of God, and who is the mystery, of the name Jehovah; and in that man, they say, there is no sin, neither shall death rule over him; and this is that which is said, Ps 5:4; neither shall evil dwell with thee. {l} Sepher Tikkunim, fol. 112. 1. apud Rittangel, de ver. Rel. Christ, p. 68.
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John Gill (1697 - 1771). English Baptist pastor, theologian, and author born in Kettering, Northamptonshire. Self-educated after leaving grammar school at 11 due to nonconformist convictions, he mastered Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and logic by his teens. Converted at 12, he was baptized at 19 and began preaching, becoming pastor of Horsleydown Church in London in 1719, serving 51 years. A leading Particular Baptist, he wrote A Body of Doctrinal and Practical Divinity and a comprehensive Exposition of the Bible, covering every verse, still used by Reformed scholars. Gill published The Cause of God and Truth defended Calvinist theology against Arminianism. He edited Matthew Henry’s Commentary and published hymns. Married to Elizabeth Negus in 1721, they had one daughter. His library of 3,000 books aided his prolific writing, shaping Baptist doctrine. Gill’s works, online at ccel.org, remain influential in Reformed circles despite his hyper-Calvinist leanings.