50. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven. When he says that they do the will of his Father, he does not mean that they fulfill, in a perfect manner, the whole righteousness of the law; for in that sense the name brother, which is here given by him to his disciples, would not apply to any man. (158) But his design is, to bestow the highest commendation on faith, which is the source and origin of holy obedience, and at the same time covers the defects and sins of the flesh, that they may not be imputed. This, says Christ in a well-known passage,
is the will of my Father, that whosoever seeth the Son, and believeth in him, may not perish, but have eternal life, (John 6:40.)
Although these words seem to imply that Christ has no regard to the ties of blood, yet we know that in reality he paid the strictest attention to human order, (159) and discharged his lawful duties towards relatives; but points out that, in comparison of spiritual relationship, no regard, or very little, is due to the relationship of the flesh. Let us therefore attend to this comparison, so as to perform all that nature can justly claim, and, at the same time, not to be too strongly attached to flesh and blood. Again, as Christ bestows on the disciples of his Gospel the inestimable honor of being reckoned as his brethren, we must be held guilty of the basest ingratitude, if we do not disregard all the desires of the flesh, and direct every effort towards this object.
(158) “ Ne conviendroit a homme vivant;” — “would not apply to any man living.”
(159) “ Qu’a la verite il a observe et entretenu en toute sainctete l’ordre qui est entre les hommes;” — “that in reality he observed and maintained.”