That ye be not slothful - This shows how the full assurance of hope is to be regulated and maintained. They must be diligent; slothfulness will deprive them both of hope and faith. That faith which worketh by love will maintain hope in its full and due exercise.
Followers of them - Μιμηται δε - κληρονομουντων τας επαγγελιας· That ye be mimics or imitators of them who are inheriting the promises. And they inherited these promises by faith in him who is invisible, and who, they knew, could not lie; and they patiently endured, through difficulties and adversities of every kind, and persevered unto death. "The promises made to Abraham and to his seed were,
- That Abraham should have a numerous seed by faith as well as by natural descent.
That God would be a God to him and to his seed in their generations, by being the object of their worship and their protector. That he would give them the possession of Canaan. That he would bless all the nations of the earth in him. That he would thus bless the nations through Christ, Abraham's seed. That through Christ, likewise, he would bless the nations with the Gospel revelation. Four of these promises the believing Gentiles were inheriting at the time the apostle wrote this letter. They were become Abraham's seed by faith. God was become the object of their worship and their protector. They were enjoying the knowledge of God in the Gospel Church, and the gifts of the Spirit. Galatians 3:4 . All these blessings were bestowed upon them through Christ. By observing that the believing Gentiles were actually inheriting the promises; i.e. the four promised blessings above mentioned, the apostle appealed to an undeniable fact, in proof that the believing Gentiles, equally with the believing Jews, were heirs of the promises made to Abraham and his seed." See Dr. Macknight. The promises may be considered as referring to the rest of faith here, and the rest of glory hereafter.
