Chapter XXVII (continued, part 5)
to the sanie thing. For tUere is no dif?>rei»cc (or 'distinction') between .Tew and Greelt ; for tJic same Lord over all—), e., not Ood [as Calvin, Gkotius, Olshausicn, HonoE], but Christ, as will be seen, we think, l;y comparing V.9. 12, 13 and observing the apostle's usual style on such sub.jpcts. [So Chkysostom, Melville, Rengkl, Mkvf.r, De Wette, Fkitzsche, Tholuck, Stuart, AlFORD, Philii>I'I.] Is rich—a favourite Pauline term to express the exuberance of that saving grace which is in Christ Jesus, niito all fbat call niion Isitn—Tiiis con-
65. 1) is manifest from what immediately follows, "I said, Beliold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name." 21. But to (rather, ' with regard to') Israel he saith, All day (' All the day') loj>g I have strc Jclied ont('did I stretch forth') my hnnds—the altitude of gracious entreaty, unto a disobedient and ;;alnsaying people—These words, which immediately tollow the announcement just quoted of the calling of the Genfli nis the application of tb.e preceding words to CVirist since to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus is a customary expression. (See Acts 7.59,00; 9. 1 !, 21 ; 22. I(i; 1 Corinthians I. 2; 2 Timothy 2. 22.) For [saith the Scrip-' tnre| wbosoever—The expression is emphatic, ' F.vi-ry one whosoever'—sliall call npon thc jfame of *Uc JLord tiles, were enough to forewarn the Jews both of God's purpose to eject them from their privileges, in favour of the Gentiles, and of the cause of it on their own part. —A'o/e (1.) Mere sincerity, and even earnestness in religion—though it may be some ground of hope for a mersliall be saved—Joel 2. 32; quoted also by Pi>ter, in his great Pentecostal sermon (Acts 2. 21), with evident application to Christ. 14, l.'j. How then shall they call on him in whom thcy have not believed I and . . . believe in ciful recovery from error—is no excuse, and will not compensate, for the deliberate rejection of saving truth, when in the providence of God presented for aci-eplauce (v.
hitti of whom they have not heard! and . . . hear without a preaclier? and . . , preach except scn( T
' True, the same Lord over nil is rich unto all alike that call upon Ilim: But this calling implies believing, and believing hearing, and hearing preaching, and preaching amission to preach: Why, then, take ye it so ill, 0 children of Abraham, that in obedicmce to our heavenly mifision (Acts 2(i. 16-18) we preach among t/ie Ocntilc.i c/. '/.,
1-3; and see on ch. 9., note 7). (2.) The true cause of such rejection of saving trulli, by the otherwise sincere, is the prepossession of the mind by some false notions of its own. So long as the Jews "sought to set up their own righteousness," it was In thenatureof things imjiossible that they should " submit themselves to the righteousness of God;" the one of these two methods of acceptance being in the teeth of the other {v. 3). (3.) The essentill' unsearchable riches of Christ'?' as it is writ Hen —(Naiah 52. 7.) How beantifiU are (Sic feet of them thnt preach the go.spel of peace, &c.—The whole ihapte)'
01 Isaiah from which this is taken, and the three that follow, are so richly Messianic, that there can be no douht "the glad tidings" there spoken of announce a mine glorious release than of Judnh from the Babylonish cantial terms of salvation have in every age been the same: "Whosoever will" is invited to "take of the water of life freely," Revclati(ui 2-2. 17 (v. 13). (4.) How will the remembrance of the simplicity, reasonableness, and absolute freeness of God's plan of salvation overwhelm those that perish from under the sound of it {v. 4-13), tivil.v, and the very feet of its preachers are called "beautilul" lor the sake of their message. 10,17. lliit iln-y have not all obeyed ll»c gospel i. e., the Scrijilure halh prepared us to expect, this sail result. For Ksalns snlth,
(5.) How piercingly and perpetuall.y should that question —"How shall TIIK.V hear without a I-RIOArtlER ?
"— sound in the cars of all the churches, as but the apostolic echo of their Lord's parting injunction, " Prkach thk Gospel to evf.rv creature" (Mark 10. 15), and how far below the proper standard of love, zeal, and self-sacriflco must the churches as yet be, M'hen with so plenteous u h.arvest the labourers are yet so few (Matthew 9. 37, ;>8i,
Lioril, w!io Iiaih believed onr repori :— 17, </., 'Where shall one lind a believer?' The |)rophet speaks as it ne.\t. to none Xvould believe: The apostle sollens this into "They have not all believed." So then faith cometBi by heariu;:;, and liearing by the word of God—7. fi"., 'This
Is anol her conliriiiation of the truth that faith supposes the hearing of the Word, and this a commission to preael; ii:id that cry from the lips of pardoned, gifted, cousecialnl.Grir> hath not C(tsl of all Israel. EOllAXP, XL Some FIcclid, ihc Rest Hardened, men— "Here am I, send me" (Isaiah 6.8), is not heard ever> where (v. 11, 15)! ((i.) The blessiii'^ of a eovenant-relatiou to God is the irrevocable privilege of no people and DO Church; it cau lie preserved only bjfidelity, on our seclieth for—better 'AVliat Israel is in search of (i. Justification or acceptance with (}<»1—see on cli. 9. 31), this he found not; lull, the electii>ii (the elect remnant of Israel) found it, and the rest v,ere ii».!(lened,' or judicially given over to the 'liarilness of their own hearts.' as it ia wr Hlen (Isaiah 20. 10, and Deulerononiy 29. 4), God hatlt given ('g:ive") tl»em the spirit of »Jv«it8ber (' stupor ) . . , unto tJiis (' this present') <l«y. Ajui »uvid saitlj—Psalm pari, to the covenant itself (v. 19). (7.) God is often found by tho-se who apparently are the farthe.st fioin Ilini, while He rt-'nains undiscovered by those who think theniselves the nearest iv. 20, 21). (S.) God's dealings even with repro Iwto sinners are full of tenderness and compassion; ail the day long extending the arni.s of His mercy even to the disobedient and gainsaying. This will be felt and acknowledged at last by all who perish, to the glory of God's forbearance and to their own confusion (v. 21).
6!(. 23—which in such a Messianic psalm must be meant of the rejecters of Christ. Let tikcir table, &c.—i. e.. Let tiieir very blessings prove a curse to them, and their enjoyments only sting and take vengeance on them, let «lieir eyes be darkened . . , and bow down their back nlway—expressive either of the Occrepitudc, or of the servile eondition, \o come on the nation through the just judgment of God. The apostle's object in making these quotations is to sliowthat what he had been compelled to say of the then condition and prospects of his nation \yaa more than liorne out by their own Scriptures. But, Secondly, God hath not cast away his people fi,nally. The illustration of this point extends from v. 11 to v. 31. 11. I say then, Have they stnmbled ('Did they stum-
Ver. 1-36. Sajie Subject continited and concluded— The Ultimate Inbringing of all Israel, to be, witij THE Gentiles, One Kingdom of God on the EAirnr. 1. I say then, HntH (' Did') God cast away his people T God forbid—Our Lord did indeed announce th.at " the kingdom of God should be taken /rom Israel" (Matthew ble') thnt ttiey should fall J God forbid J but (the supplement" rattier" is better omitted) througin their fall
21.41); and when asked by the Eleven, after His resurrection, if he would at that time "restore the kingdom to Israel," His reply is a virtual admission that Israel was in. some sense already out of covenant (Acts 1.0). Yet here the apostle teaches that, in two respects, Israel was not ''cast away;" First, Not totally; Second, Not finally. First, Israel is not wholly cast away, for I also am an Israelite (see Philippians 3. 5)—and so a living witness to the contrary, of the seed of Abraham—of pure descent from the father of the faithful, of the tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3. 5)—that tribe whic h, on the revolt of the ten tribes, constituted, with Judah,the one faitiiful kingdom of God (1 Kings 12. 21), and niter the captivity was, along with Judah, the kernel of the Jewish nation lU., 'trespass,' but here best rendered 'false step' [Db Wp:tte1; not "fall,"' as in our version, salvation is come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy—Here, as also in cli. 10. 19 (quoted from Deuteronomy 32. 21), we see that emulation is a legitimate si iniulus to what is good.
I'i. Now if the fall bf them ('But if their trespass,' or 'false step'jbe the riches of the (Gentile) world—as being the occasi'~n of their accession to Christ, and the dimiuisltlnjt; of <l»em {i. e., the reduction of the true Israel to so small a remnant) the rlchesof the Gentiles; how miich more their fulness!—!. e., their full recovery (see on «.
' If an event so untoward as Israel's fall was the occasion of such unspeakable good :o the Gen tile world, of how much greater good may we expect an event so blessed as their full recovery to be productive?' 13. X speak ('am speaking') to you Genlilr*—another pioof that this Epistle was addressed to Gentile believers. (See on ch. 1. 13.) I magnify ('glorily') mi«e ofiiec—The clause beginning with "inasmuch" sliould be lead as a parenthpsis. if I may provoke, &c. (see on v. II) . . . my Hesh—Cf. Isaiah 58.7. 15. For If tine casting away of Itiiem—The apostle had denied that they were cast away
2(i) ; q. (I., lt;7,ra -1. 1; 10.9). 3-4. God hath ('did') not cast away his people (i. <?., wholly) which he foie Uiiew—On the x«ord " foreljnew," see on cii. S. 20. Wot (!. e., ' Know') ye not that the Scripture snith of (lit., 'in,' i. c, in the seclion which relates to) EliasT how he maketh intercession Cpleadeth') against Israel—(The word "saying," which follows, as also the particle "and" before "digged down," should be omitted, as without MSS. authority.) and 1 am left alone—
' I only am left.' seven tiioiisand, that have not bowed tile knee to Baal—not " the image of Baal," according to the sujiplement of our version. 5.. Kven so at this present time—'in t-his present season ;' this period of Israel's rejection. (Sec Acts 1. 7, Greek.) there is—
(v. 1); here lie affirms it. But both ai-e true; they ivere cast awa.y, though neither totally nor finally, and it is of thi.s partial and temporary rejectionthat the apostle here speaks, be the reconciling of i he (Gentile) world, wltat sliall the receiving of them be, l>i«t Hie from the de.^<l —The reception of the whole family of Israel, scattered as they are among all nations under licaveii, and the most inveterate enemies of the Lord Jesus, will be such a stupendous manifestation of the power of God upon the spirits of men, and of His glorious presence with the herald.s of the Cross, as will not onlj' kindle devout astonishment far and wide, but so change the dotniiiant mode of thinking and feeling on all spiritual things as to seem like a resurrection from the dead. IG. For (' lUU') If tile first-frjiit be holy, the lump Is also [Jioly]; and If the root, so the branches—The Israelites were required to offer to God the first-fruits of the earth—both In their raw state, in a sheaf of newly-reaped grain (Ijcviticus 23.
' there obtains,' or 'hath remained.' a remnant according to the election of grace q. d., 'As in FJlijah's time the apostasy of Israel was not .so universal as it seemed to be, and as he in his despondency concluded it to be, so now, the rejection of Christ by Israel is not so aj)palling in extent as one would be apt to think : There
Is now, as there was then, a faithful remnant ; not however of persons naturally better than the unbelieving mass, but of persons graciously chosen to salvation.' (See
1 Corinthians 4. 7; 2 Thessalonians 2. 1.3.) This establishes our view of the argument on Election in ch. 9., as not being an electioti of Gentiles in the room of Jews, and merely to religious advantages, but a sovereign choice of Bomo of Israel itself, from amongst others, to believe and be saved. (See on ch. 9. 6.) 6. And, &c.—better, ' Now if
10, 11), and in their prepared state, made into cakes of dough (Numbers 15. 19-21)—by which the whole produce of that season was regarded as hallowed. It is probable that the latter of these offerings is here intended, as to it the word "lijmp" best applies; and the argument of the aposi le is, that as the separation unto God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, from the rest of mankind, as the parent stem of their race, was as real an oflering of first-fvuils as that which liallowed the produce of the earth, so, in the Divine estimation, it was as real a separation of the mass or "lump" of that nation in all time to God. The figure of the "root" and its " branches" is of like import— the consecration of the one of them extending to the other, it (the elf-ction) lie i)y grace, it is no more of works; for [then! grace becomes no more grace : but if it be of works,'
(The authority of ancient MSS. against this latter clause, as superfluous and not originally in the text, though strong, is not suflicient, we think, to justify its exclusion. 8uch seeming redundancies are not unusual with our apo Htle.) The general position here laid down
Is of vital Importance: That there are l)ut two possllile sources of salvation—men's works, and God's grace; and that these are so eKsentially distinct and opposite, that salvation cannot tie of any combination or mixture of both, but must lie wholly either of the one or of the other. (Kee on ch. 4., note 3.) 7-10. What then I—How stands the fad? Israel hath not obtained tiiat whiett lie
17, 18. And if—rather, ' But If;' q. d., ' If notwithstanding
Mi)
ROM.\NS XI.
The. Gentiles may rM Insvit the Jews,
for there is Promise of their Salvation.
thlK consecration of Abraham's race to God. some of the branches—The mass of the unbelieving and rejected Israelites are here called "some," not, as bel'oie, to meet Jewish prejudice (see on ch. 3. 3, and on " not all" in ch.
line of what we should expect, than the admission of the Gentiles to a standing which they never before enjoyed.' 35. For I would not . . . that ye should be ignorant of this mystery—The word "niysterj-," so often used by our apostle, does not mean (as with us) something incomprehensible, but 'something before kept secret, either wholly or for the most part, and now only fully disclosed'
10. IC), but with the opposite view of checking Gentile pride, and thon, being a Avilrt olive, wert (' wast') graffed in among them—Though it is more usual to graft the superior cutting upon the inferior stem, the opposite method, which is intended here, is not without example, and with them pnrtakest (' wast made partaker'—along with the branches left, the believing remnant) of Jlie
(cf. ch. IB. 2.5; 1 Corinthians 2. 7-10; Ephesians 1. 9, 10; 3. 3-
6, 9, 10, &c.). lest ye should be wise in your own concelts—as if ye alone were in all time coming to be the family of God. that blindness ('hardness') In part Is happened to ('hath come upon') Israel—i. e., hath come partially, or upon a portion of Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be (' have') come In—t. e., not the general conversion of the world to Christ, as many take it; for this would seem to contradict the latter part of this chapi-oot and fatness of the olive tree (the rich grace secured by covenant to the true seed of Abraham), boast not against the (rejected) branches. Bnt if thou (do) boast, (remember that) thon bearest not ('it is not thou that bearest') the root, but the root thee q. d., ' If the branches may not boast over the root that bears them, then may not the Gentile boast over the seed of Abi'aham; ter, and throw the national recovery of Israel too far into the future: besides, in v. 15, the apostle seems to speak of the receiving of Israel, not as following, but as contributing largely to bring about the general conversion of the world—but, ' until the Gentiles have had their full time of the visible Church all to themselves while the Jews are out, which the Jews had till the Gentiles were brought for what is thy standing, O Gentile, in relation to Israel, but that of a branch in relation to the root? From Israel hath come all that thou art and liastin the family of God; for "salvation is of the Jews" (John 4. 22). 19-31. Thou tvllt say then (as a plea for boasting), The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. AVell in.' See Luke 21. 24. 36, 37. And so all Israel shall be saved—To understand this great statement, as some still do, merely of such a gradual Inbringing of individual Jews, that there shall at length remain none in unbelief,
(q. d., 'Be it so, but remember that')—because of unbelief they were broken oflf, and thou staudest (not as a Gentile, but solely) by faith—But as faith cannot live in those "whose soul is lifted up" (Habakkuk 2. 4)—Be not high-minded, but fear (Proverbs 28.14; Philippians 2.
Is to do manifest violence both to it and to the whole context. It can only mean the ultimate ingathering of Israel as a nation, in contrast with the present " remnant." [So Tholuck, Meyer, De Wette, Philippi, Alfobd Hodge.] Three confirmations of this now follow: two from the prophets, and a third from the Abrahamic covenant itself. Pirst, as It Is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall (or, according to what seems the true reading, without the "and"—'He shall') turn away ungodliness from .Tacob—The apostle, having drawn his illustrations of man's sinfulness cliiefly from Psalm 14. and Isaiah 59., now seems to combine the language of the same two places regarding Israel's salvation from it. [Bengel,.] In the one place the Psalmist longs to see the "salvation of Israel coming out of .Zion" (Psalm 14. 7) ; in the other, the prophet announces that "the Redeemer (or, "Deliverer") shall come to (or
12) : for if God spared not the natural branches (sprung from the parent stem), take heed lest he also spare not thee (a mere wild graft)—The former might, beforehand, have been thought very improbable; but, after that, no one can wonder at the latter. 33, 33. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them that fell, Bevei-ity (in rejecting the chosen seed); but toward thee, goodness ('God's goodness' is the true reading)
e.. His sovereign goodness in admitting thee to a covenant-standing who before wert a " stranger to the covenants of promise" (Ephesians 2. 12-20). if thou continue in his goodness—in believing dependence on that pure goodness which made thee what thou art. otherwise, &o. . . . And they also (' Yea, and they"), if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be gral Ted in : for God is able to grafT them in again—This appeal to the power of God to effect the recovery of His ancient people implies the vast difficulty of it—which all who have ever laboured for the conversion of the Jews are made depressingly to feel. That intelligent expositors should think that this was meant of indwidual Jews, reintroduced from time to time into the family of God on their believing on the Lord Jesus, is surprising; and yet those who deny the national recovery of Israel must and do so Interpret the apostle. But this is to confound the two things which the apostle carefully distinguishes. Individual Jews have been at all times admissible, and have been admitted, to the Church through the gate of faith In the Lord Jesus. This Is the " remnant, even at this present for) Zion " (Isaiah 59. 20). But as all the glorious manifestations of Israel's God were regarded as issuing out of Zion, as the seat of His manifested glory (Psalm 20.2;
110. 2; Isaiah 31. 9), the turn which the apostle gives to the words merely adds to them that familiar idea. And whereas the prophet announces, that He "shall come to
(or, 'for') them that turn from transgression in Jacob," while the apostle makes Him say that He sha.l come "to turn away ungodliness from Jacob," this is taken from the LXX. version, and seems to indicate a dlfl'erent reading of the original text. The sense, however, is substantially the same In both. Seco7id, for—rather, 'and ' (again); Introducing a new quotation, this Is my covenant with them (lit., 'this is the covenant from me unto them') when I shall take away their sins—This, we believe, Is rather a brief summary of Jeremiah 31. 31-34, than the express words of any prediction, Those who believe that there are no predictions regarding the llteri»l Israel in the Old Testament, that stretch beyond the eiid of the Jewish economy, are obliged to view these quotations by the apostle as mere adaptations of Old Testament language time, according to the election of grace," of which the apostle, in the first part of the chapter, had cited himself as one. But here he manifestly speaks of something not then existing, but to be looked forward to as a great future event in the economy of God, the reingrafting of the nation as such, whet\ they " abide not in unbelief." And though this is here spoken of merely as a supposition (If their nnbolief shall cease)—in order to set it over against to express his own predictions [Alexanber on Isaiah,
Ac.]. But how forced this Is, we shall presently see. 38, 39. As concerning the Gospel they are enemies for your gakes—i. e., they are regarded and treated as enemies (In a state of exclusion through unbelief, from the family of God) for the benefit of you Gentiles; in the sense of v. 11, 15. but as touching the election (of Abraham and bis seed), they are beloved—euen in their sta<: cf exclusion—for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling ('and the calling ') of God arc without repentanceC not to be,' or 'cannot bo repented of)—By the "calling of God," In this case. Is meant that sovereign act by which God, In the exercise of His free choice, "called" the other supjiosltion, of what will happen to the Gent!le8 if they shall not abide in the faith—the supposition
Is turned into an explicit prediction in the verses following. 34. For if thou wert cut ('wert cut off') from the olive tree, which is wild by nature, and wast graffed contrary to nature into a good olive Ircej how much more shall these, &c.—This is just the converse of V. 21 : 'As the excision of the merely engrafted Gentiles through unbelief is a thing much more to be expected than was the excision of the natural Israel, before it happened ; so the restoration of Israel, when they shall be brought to believe in Jftsus, is a thing far more in the
Promise of the Saieation of the Jews. ROMANS XI. God's Judgments are Unsenrchrd>le pression with our apostle than the riches of this or that perfection of God; and the words immediately following limit our attention to the unsearchableness of God's "judgments," which probably means His decrees or plans (Psalm 119. 75), and of " His ways," or the method by which He carries these into effect. [So Luther, Calvin, Beza, Hodge, Ac] Besides, all that follows to the end of the chapter seems to show that while the Orace of God to guilty men in Christ Jesus is presupposed to be the whole theme of this chapter, that which called forth the special admiration of the apostle, after sketching at some length the Divine purposes and methods in the bestowment of this grace, was " the depth of the riches of God'a wisdom and knowle<ige
Abralinm to be the father of a peculiar people; while "the gifts of God'" here denote the articles of the covenant which God made with Abraham, and which constituted the real distinction between his and all other families of the earth. Both these, says the apostle, are irrevocable; and as the point for which he refers to this at all is the final (lestini/ Jt the Israelitish nation, it is clear tha.t the perjictuily through all time of thc Abrahamic covenant is the tiling here affirmed. And lest any sliould say that thoufih Israel, as a nation, has no destiny at all under the Gospel. l)ut as a people disappeared from the stage when the middle wall of partition was broken down, yet the Abrahamic covenant still endures in the spiritual seed of Abraham, made up of Jews and Gentiles in one undistinguished mass of redeemed men under the Gospel—the apostle, as if to preclude that supposition, expressly states that the verj' Israel who, as concerning the Gospel, are regarded as "enemies for the Gentiles' sakes," are "be-
'' in these purposes and methods. The " knowledge," then, points probably to the vast sweep of Divine comprehension herein displayed; the "wisdom" to that fitness to accomplish theends .intended, which is stamped on all this procedure. 34, 35. For who hath known the mind of the Iiordl—see Job 15. 8;' Jeremiah 23. 18. or who hat!) been his counsellor—see Isaiah 40. 13, 14. or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed to him ('and sliall have recompense made to him') again—see Job 35. 7, and 41. 11. These questions, it will thus be seen, are just quotations from the Old Testament, as if to show how familiar to God's ancient pe6ple was the great truth which the apostle himself had just loved for the fathers' sokes;'' and it is in proof of this that he adds, "For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance." But in what sense are the now unbelieving and excluded children of Israel "beloved for the fathers' sakes?" Not merely from ancestral recollections, as one looks with fond interest on the child of a dear friend for that friend's sake [Dr. Arnold]—a beautiful thought, and not foreign to Scripture, in this very matter (see 2 Chronuttei'ed, that God's plans and methods in the dispensation of His Grace have a reach of comprehension and wisdom stamped upon them which finite mortals cannot fathom, much less could ever have imagined, before they were disclosed. 36. For of him, and titrough him, and to him, are all things: to whom ('to Him') be glory for ever. Amen — Thus worthily — with a brevity onlyequalled by its sublimity—does the apostle here sum up this whole matter. "Of Him are all things," as their eternal Source: "Through Him are all things," inasmuch as He brings all to pass which in His eternal counicles 2(1. 7 ; Isaiah 41. 8)—but it is from ancestral connections and obligations, or their lineal descent fiom and oneness In covenant with the fathers with whom God originally established it. In other words, the natural Israel—not " the remnant of them according to the election of grace," but THE NATiox, Sprung from Abraham according to the flesh—are still an elect people, and as such, "beloved." The very same love which chose the fathers, and rested on the fathers as a parent stem of the nation, still rests on their descendants at large, and will yet recover them from unbelief, and reinstate them in the family of God. 30, 31. For as ye tii times i>ast have not toelieve«l (or, •obeyed') God—that is, yielded not to God "the obedience of faith," \rhile strangers to Christ, yet now have obtained merv/ throwgh (by occasion of) their nnbelltf—(See on v. 11, 15, 28.) even so liavc these (the Jews) BOW not bc Fcved (or, 'now been disohe<lient '), that through yr,Tjr mercy (the mercy shown to you) they also niayr>(tain mercy—Here is an entirely ue%v idea. The apost'e has hitherto dwelt upon the unbelief of the Jews as m'.Iiing way for the faith of the Gentiles—the exclusion '/ tne one occasioning the reception of the other; a truth yielding to generous, believing Gentiles but miuglu-l satisfaction. Now, opening a more cheering prospf he speaks of the mercy shown to the Gentiles as a ir.eans of Israel's recovery; which seems to mean that it will be by the instrumentality of believing Gensels He purposed: "To Him are ail things," as being Ilisi own last End; the manilestation of the glory of His own perfections being the ultimate, because the highest jiossible, design of all His procedure from first to last.—On this rich chapter. Note (1.) It is an unspeakable consolation to know that in times of deepest religious declension and most extensive defection from the truth, the lamp of God has never been permitted to go out, and that a faithful remnant has ever existed — a remnant larger than their own drooping spirits could easily believe (v. 1-5).
(2.) The preservation of this remnant, even as their separation at the first, is all of mere grace (d. 5, 6). (3.) When individuals and communities, after many fruitless warnings, are abandoned of God, they go from bad to worse (v.
7-10). (4.) God has so ordered his dealings with the groat divisions of mankind, "that no fiesh should glory in riis presence." Gentile and Jew have each in turn been " shut up to unbelief," that each in turn may experience the "mercy" which saves the chief of sinners (v. 11-32). (5.) As we are "Justified bj' faith," so are we "kept by the powerof God through faith"—faith alone—unto salvation tiles that Israel as a nation is at length to " look on Him whom they have pierced and mourn for Him," and so to "obtain mercy." (See 2 Corinthians 3.15,16.) 32. For. God hnth concluded them all in unbelief ('hath shut them all up to unbelief) that he might have mercy upon all i.e., those "all" of whom he had been discoursing; the Gentiles first, and after them the Jews. [Fritzsciie, Tholuck, Olshausen, De Wette, Piiilippi, Stuart, Hodge.] Certainly it is not 'all mankind individually' [Meyek, Alford]; for the apostle is not here dealing with Individuals, but with those great divisions of niankin.], Jew and Gentile. And what he here says is, that God's purpose was to shut up each of these divisions of men to the experience first of an humbled, condemned
()). 20-32). (6.) God's covenant with Abraham and his natural seed is a perpetual covenant, in equal force under the gospel as before it. Therefore it is, that the Jews as a nation still survive, in spite of all the laws which, in; similar circumstances, have either extinguished or destroyed the Identity of other nations. And therefore it is that the Jews as a nation will yet be restored to the family of God, through the subjection of their proud hearts to Him whom they have pierced. And as believing Gentiles will be honoured to be the instruments of this stupendous change, so shall the vast Gentile world reap such benefit from it, that it shall be like the communication of life to them from the dead. (7.) Thus has the Christian Church the highest motive to the establishment and vigorous prosecution of missions to the Jews; God havstate, without Christ, and then to the experience of His mercy in Christ. 33. Oh the depth, &c.—The apostle now yields himself up to the admiring contemplation of the grandeur of that Divine plan which he had sketched out. of the riches both of the wImIoiii and knowledge of God—Many able expositors render this, 'of the riclies and wisdom and knowledge,' <tc. [Erasmus, Grotius, Bbnoel, Meyer, De Wette, Tholuck, Olshausen, Fritzsciie, Philippi; Alford, Revised Version.] The words will certainly bear this sense, "the depth of God's riches." But "the riches of God" is a much rarer ex63 ing not only promised that there shall be a remnant of them gathered in every age, but pledged Himself to the final Ingathering of the whole nation, assigned the honour of that ingathering to the Gentile Church, and assured them that the event, when it does arrive, shall have a
God'i Iilerciej must move lis to Please Him. ROMANS XII. Each to Exercise the Gifts he Possesses, ment is the same.) what Is that (' the') good and acceptable (' well-pleasing'), and perfect will of God—We prefer this rendering [with Calvin, Rkviskd Veksion, &c.j to that which many able ciitics [Tholl'ck, Meyer, De Wette, Fritzsche, PniLippi, Alfokd, Hon<3E] adopt— 'that ye may prove,' or "discern the wM) of God, [even] what is good, and acceptable, an'd perf>'(!t.' God's will is "good,'' as it demands only what is essentially a"d unchangeably good (ch. 7. 10); it is "well-pleasing," in contrast with all that is arbitrary, as demanding only what God has eternal complacency in (cf. Micah 6. 8, with Jeremiah 9. 2i); and it is "perfect," as it retiuired nothii>g else than the perfection of God's reasonable creature, who,, ia life-sivhig effect upon the whole worlj (i'. 12-lC, 20-;?l).
(8.) Those who think that in all the evangelical prophecies of the Old Testament the terms "Jacob," "Israel,"
&c., are to be understood solely of the Cliristian Church, would appear to read the Old Testament ditferently from the apostle, who, from the use of those very terms in Old Testament prophecy, draws arguments to prove that God has mercy in store for the natural Israel (v. 26, 27). (9.) Mere intellectual investigations into Divine truth in general, and the sense of the living oracles in particular, as they have a hardening effect, so they are agreat conti'ast to the spirit of our apostle, whose lengthened sketch of God's majestic procedure towards men in Christ Jesus ends here in a burst of admiration, which loses itself in the still loftier frame of adoration {v. 33-36;.
proportion as he attains to it, reflects GckI's own perfection. Such then is the great general duty of the redeemed —self-cx)nsecration, in our whole spirit and soul and liody to Him who hath called us into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ. Next follow S)>eciflc duties, chiefly social; beginning with Humility, the chiefest of all the graces — but here with special reference to spiritual
Ver. 1-21. Duties of Believers, General and Particular. The doctrinal teaching of this Epistle is now followed up hy a series of exhortations to practical duty. And first, the all-comprehensive duty. 1. I btseecJi you therefcve—In view of all that has been advanced in the foregoing part of this Epistle, by the mercies of God those mercies, whose free and unmerited nature, glorious Channel,, and saving fruits have been opened up at such length, that ye present—See on ch. 6. 13, where we have the same exhortation and the same word there rendered "yield" (as also in v. 16, 19). your bodies— i. e., 'yourselves in the body,' considered as the organ of the inner gifts. 3. For I say (authoritatively), through the grace given nnto me—as an apostle of Jesus Christ; thus exemplifying his own precept by motlestly falling hack on that office which both warranted and reciuired such plainness towards all classes, to every man that Is among you, not to thlnk, &c.— It is impossible to convey in good English the emphatic play, so to speak, which each word here has upon another: 'not to be high-minded abov what he ought to be minded, but so to be minded as to be sob(?r-minded,' [Calvin, Alford.] This is merely a strong way of characterizing all undue self-elevation, according as God ikath dealt to every man the measure of faith—Faith is here viewed as the inlet to all the oUier graces, and so, as the receptive faculty of the renewed soul—9. rf., ' .\s God hath given to each his particuh** capacity to take in the gifts and graces whicl) He designs life. As it is through the body that all the evil that is in the unrenewed heart comes forth into palpable manifes- 'tation and action, so it is through the body that all the gracious principles and affections of believers reveal themselves in the outward life. Sanctiflcation extends to the whole man (1 Thessalonians 5.2?, 21). a living
glorious contrast to the legal sacrifices, which, save as they were slain, were no sacrifices at all. The death of the one " Lamb of God, taking away the sin of the world," has swept all dead victims from ott' the altar of God, to make room for the redeemed themselves as " living sacrifices" to Him who made " Him to be sin for the general good.' 4, 5. For as we have many members, Ac-The same diversity and yet unity obtains in the body of Christ, whereof all believers-are the several members, as in the natural body. G-8. Having then gifts dll Ferliig accorillng to the grace given to ua— Here, let it be observed, all the gifts of believers alike are viewed as communications of mere grace, whether (we have the giftof ) prophecy— i. p., of inspired teaching; as in Acts 15, 32. Any one speaking with Divine authority—whether with reference to the past, the present, or the future—was termed a prophet (Exodus 7. 1, Ac), [let us i>rophesyJ accoi'ding to the proportion of faith rather, 'of our faith.' Many Romish expositors and some Protestant (as Calvin and Bengel, and, though, hesitatingly, Beza and Hodge), render this 'the analogy of for us;" while every outgoing of their grateful hearts in praise, and every act prompted by the love of Christ, is itself a sacrifice to God of a sweet-smelling savour (Hebrews 13. 15, 16). holy—As the Levitical victims, when offered without blemish to God, were rcgardetl as holy, BO believers, " yielding themselves to God as those that are alive from the dead, and their members as instruments of righteousness unto God, are, in His eslimalion, not ritually but really "holy," and so—acceptable (' wellpleasing') unto God — not as the Levitical ollerings, merely as appointed symbols of spiritual ideas, but o,bfaith,' understanding by it ' the general tenor' or ' rule of faith,' divinely delivered to men for their guidance. But this Is against the context, whose object is to show that, as all the gifts of believers are according to their respective capacity for them, they are not to be pulfed upon account of them, but to use them purely for their proper ends, or ministry, [let ug wait] on (' be occupied with') our ministering—The word here used imports any kind of service, froni the dispensing of the word of life (Acts 6.
jects, intrinsically, of Divine complacency, in their r;L;- newed character, and endeared relationship to Him through His Son Jesus Christ, which Is your reasonable (raiher, 'rational') service—in contrast, not to tho senselessness of Idol-worship, but to the ofl'eringof irrational victims under the law. In this view the presentation of ourselves, as living monuments of redeeming mercy, is here called "our rational service;" and surely
4) to the administering of the temjwral all'airs of the Church (Acts G. 1-.3). The latter seems intended here, being distinguished from "prophesying," "teaching," and "exhorting." or he that tcacheth—Teachers are expressly distinguished from prophets, and put after them, as exercising a lower function (.Vets 13. 1; 1 Corinthians 12.28, 29). Probably it consisted mainly in opening up the evangelical bearings of Old Testament Scripture; and it was In this department apparently that Apollos showed his power and eloquence (Acts 18. 2i). or he that exhorteth—Since all preaching, whether by apostles, prophets, or teachers, was followed uj) by e.xhortatlou (Acts 11. 23; 14. 22; 15. 32, Ac), many think that no spociflo class Is here In view. But If liberty wiis given to othenit is the most rational and e.xalted occupation of God's reasonable creatures. So 2 Peter 1. 5, " to offer up spirilnal sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." and be ye not conformed to this world (cf. Ephcsians 2. 2
Galatians 1.4, Greek); but be ye transformed—or, 'transfigured' (as in Matthew 17. 2; and 2 Corinthians 3. 18,
Grccic). by the renewing of your mind—not hy a mere; outward disconformity to the ungodly world, many of whose actions in themselves may he virtuous and praiseworthy; but by such an inward spiritual transformation as makes the whole life new — new in its motives and ends, (:v(?n where the actions differ in nothing from those of the world— new, considered as a whole, and in such a sense as to be wholly unattainable save through th<^ constraining power of the love of Christ, that ye may prove —i.e., cxporinirntally. (See on the word "experience" In c\i. .'). 1, and cf. J Tl essalonians 5. 10, where the sentito exercise themselves occasionally in e.xliorling the brethren generally, or small iartles of the less Instructed, the reference may bo to them, he that giveth —in the exercise of private benevolence probably, rathel r/ie Daliex Required of Believers. EOMANS XII. Eevenge is Specially Forbiddeiu tail. Mind not (' not minding') high things—i. e., Cliei-- ish not ambitious or aspiring purposes and desires. Af this spi'ings from selfish severance of our own interests and objects from those of our brethren, so it is quite incompatible with the spirit inculcated In the pi-ecedi'.ig clause, but condescend (' condescending') to men of iow estate—or (as some i-ender the words), 'Inclining untc the things that be lowly.' But we prefer the former. Be not wise in your om u conceits—This is just the application of the caution against high-inindedness to the estimate we form of our owi! mental character. 17. Recompense ('Recompensing'), &(;.—see on v. 14. Provide ('Providth.aii in the discharge of dlaconal duty. wKli simplicity —Sn I lie word probably means. But as shnplicUy seems enjoined in the next clause but one of this same verse, perhaps the meaning here is, 'with liberality,' as the.same word is rendered in 2 Corinthians 8.2; 9.11. he that rtileth—whether in the Church or his own household. Kee 1 Timothy 3. 4, 5, where the same word is applied to both, with diligence—with earnest purpose, he that showcth mercy, with cheerfulness—not only without grudging either trouble or pecuniary relief, but feeling it to be "more blessed to give than to receive," and to help than be helped. 9. Let love be without dissimulation— ' Let your love be unfeigned,' as in 2 Corinthians 6.6; 1 Peter 2.22; and see 1 John 3. IS. Abhor that which is evil j cleave to that which is good—What ing') things honest ('honourable') in the sight of all me'n—The idea (which is from Proverbs 3. -J) is the cai'e which Christia!is sliould take so to demean themselves as to command the respect of all men. 18. If It be possible a lofty tone of moral principle and feeling is here incul-
(t. e., If others will let you), as muclt as lieth In you (or, 'dependeth on you'^llve peaceably (or, ' bat peace') with all men—The impossibility of this in some cases is hinted cated ! It is not. Abstain from the one, and do the other nor. Turn awaj' from the one, and draw to the other ; but, Abhor the one, and cling, with deepest sympathy, to the other. 10. Be, &c.—better, 'In brotherly love be affecat, to keep up the hearts of those who, having done their best unsuccessfully to live in peace, might be tempted to think the failure was necessarily owing to themselves. But how emphatically expressed is the injunction to let nothing on our part prevent it! Would that Christians were guiltless in this respect! 19-21. avenge not, Jtc— see on t;. 14. but [ratiierj give place unto wrath—Tills tionate one to another; in [giving, or showing] honour, outdoing each other.' The word rendered ' prefer' means rather 'to go before,' ' take the lead,' i. e., 'show an example.' How opposite is this to the reigning morality of the heathen world! and though Christianity has so changed the spirit of society, that acertain beautiful disinterestedness and self-sacrifice sliines in the cliaracter of not a few who are but partially, if at all under the iranslorming power of the Gospel, it is only those whom "the love of Christ constrains to live not unto themis .usually taken to mean, 'but give room or space for wrath to spend itself.' But as the context shows that the injunction is to leave vengeance to God, "wi'ath" here seems to mean, not the offence, which we are tempted to avenge, but the avenging wrath of God (see 2 Chroiiicles24.
selves," whoare capable of thoroughly acting in the spirit of this precept. 11. not slothful in business—The word rendered "business" means 'zeal,' 'diligence,' 'pur-
IS), which we are enjoined to await, or give room for. (So the best interpreters.) if thine enemy hunger, &o.—This pose;' denoting the energy of action, serving the Lord —i. e., the Lord Jesus (see Epliesians C. 5->S). Another reading—'serving the time,' or 'the occasion'—which is taken from Proverbs 25. 21,22, which without doubtsupplied the basis of those lofty precepts on that subject which form the culminating point of the Sermon on tho Mount, in so doing thou shalt heap coals of Are on htn head—As the heaping of "coals of fire" is in the Old Testament the figurative expression of Divine vengeance (Psalm 140. 10; U. 6, &c.), the true sense of these words seem to be, 'That wili be the most effectual vengeance— vengeance under which he will be fain to bend.' [So AlFORD, Hodge, ttc] The next verse confirms this. Be not overcome of evil— for then you are the conquered party, but overcome evil with good—and then the victory is yours; you have subdued your enemy in the noblest sense. Note (1.) The redeeming mercy of God in Christ is, in the souls of believers, the living spring of all holy obedience (ti. 1). (2.) As redemption under the gospel is not by irrational victims, as under the law, but " by the pi-ecious blood of Clirist" (1 Peter 1. 18, 19), and, consequently, is laot ritual but real, so the sacrifices which believers are now called to oti'er are all "living sacrifices;" and these—summed up in self-consecration to the service of God—are "holy and acceptable to God," making up together "our r.ational service" {v. 1). (3.) In this light, what are we to think of the so-called ' unbloody sacrifice of the mass, continually offered to God as a propitiation for the sins both of the living and the dead,' which the adherents of Home s corrupt faith have been taught for ages to believe is the highest and lioliest act of Christian worship— in direct opposition to the sublimely simple teaching which the Christians of Home first received (u.
ditft-is in form but very slightly from the received reading, has been adopted by good critics [Luther, OlshauSEN, Fritzsche, MeyekJ. But as MS. authority is decidedly against it, so is internal evidence; and comparatively few favour It. Nor is the sense which it yieldg a vei y Christian one. rejoicing, <tc.—Here it is more lively to retain the order and the verbs of the original: 'In hope, rejoicing;*!!! tribulation, enduring; in prayer, persevering.' Each of these exercises helps the other.
If our " hope" of glory is so assured that it is a rejoicing hope, we shall find the spirit of "endurance in tribulation'' natural and easy; but since it is "prayer" which 8trenglhei!S the faith that begets hope, and liftg it up Into an assured and joyful expectancy, and since our patience in tribulation is fed by this, it will be see!! that all depends on our " perseverance in prayei-." 13. given to hospitality i. e., the entertainmeiit of strangers. In ti-mes of pei-secution, and before the ge!ieial institution of houses of eutertainme!it, the iinportai!c.e of this precept would be at once felt. In the East, where such houses are still rare, this duty is regarded as of the most sacred character. [Hodge.] 14. Bless (i. e.. Call down by priiyer a blessing on) them which persecute you, Arc. This is taken from the .Sermon on the Mount, which, from the allusions made to it, seems to have bee!i the store-house of Christian morality among the churches.
1.5. Rejoice with them that rejoice; weep (the "and" should probably be omitted) witl» them that weep —What a beautiful spirit of sympathy with the joys and Bori'ows of others is here Inculcated! But it is only one charming pliase of the ui!selfish character which belongs
1)! (4.) Christians sliould not feel themselves at liberty to be conformed to the world,, if only they avoid what is manifestly sinful; but I'ather, yieliling themselves to the transforming power of the truth as it is in Jesus, they should strive to exhibit before the world an entire lenovation of heai't and life (u. 2). (5.) What God would havo men to be, in all Its beauty and grandi ur, is for liie first time reall.y apprehended, wheii "wrilleii not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tables of stone, but on the fleshy tablesof the heart," 2 Corinthiaiiti to all living Christianity. What a world will ours l)e wheii this shall become its reigning spirit! Of the two, however, it is more easy to synipathizo with another's sorrows than his joys, Ijecause in the one case he nccdi us; in the other not. But just for this reason the latter
Is the more disinterested, and so the nobler. 10. Be
('Being') of the same mind one toward another—The feeling of the common liond which binds all Cliristians
3. 3()J. 2). (li.) Self-sulliciency and lust of power ai'e peculiarly ulilovely in the vessels of meicy, whose respectlvo graces and gifts are all a Divine trust for behoof of t!ia common body aiid of mankind at large (ii. 3, 4). i.7.) .Vh tti each other, whatever diversity of station, cultivation, tsmperameut, or gilts may olitain among them, is llie thing here enjoined. This is next taken up in de-
fulness oflh Uhas been thesjurce of innumerable
The Duties we ouie to Magistrates. ROMANS XIII, XIV. Gluttony and Di-un Jcennesa Forbidden.
wanting in all the most ancient MSS.) The aposflu refers here only to the .second table of the law, as love to our neighbour is what he is treating of. 10. Love worketh no 111 to his (or, 'one's') neighbour: therefore, &c.—As love, from its very nature, studies and delights to please its object, its very existence is an effectual security against our wilfully injuring him. Next follow some general motives to the faithful discharge of all these duties. 11. And that—rather, 'And this' [do]—knowing the time, that now it is high time lit., 'the hour has already come.' for us to awake out of sleeji—of stupid, fatal indifference to eternal things, for now is our salvation—rather, 'the salvation,' or simply 'salvation' nearer than when we (first) believeu—This Is in the line of all our Lord's teaching, which represents the decisive day of Christ's second appearing as at hand, to keep believers ever in theattitudeof wakeful expectancy, but without reference to the chronological nearness or distance of that event. 13. The night (of evil) is far spent, the day (of consummated triumph over it) is at hand: let us therefore cast off (as a dress) the works of darkness—all works holding of the kingdom and period of darkness, with which, as followers of the risen Saviour, our connection has been dissolved, and let us put on the armour of light—described at large in Epliesians 6. 11-18. 13. Let us walk honestly (' becomingly,' 'seemingly') as in the day—g. d., 'Men choose the night for their revels, but our night is past, for we are all the children of the light and of the day (1 Thessalonlans 5. 5): let us therefore only do what is fit to be exposed to the light of such a day.' not in rioting and drunkenness—varied forms of intemperance; denoting revels in general, usually ending in intoxication, not in chambering and wantonness—varied forms of impurity; the one pointing to definite acts, the other more general, not in strife and envying—varied forms of that venomous feeling between man and man which reverses the law of love. 14. But—to sum up all in one word—put ye on the Lord Jesus Clirist—in such wise that Christ only may be seen in you (see 2 Corinthians 3.3; Galatians 3. 27; Ephesian8 and unspeakable evils In the Cliurfih of Christ, so the fq,ithful exercise by every Christian of his own peculiar office and gifts, and the loving recognition of those of his brethren, as all of equal importance in their own place, would put a new face upon the visible Church, to the vast benefit and comfort of Ciiristians themselves and to the admiration of the wo'ld around them {v. 6-8). (8.) What would the world be, if it were filled with Christians having but one object in life, high above every other—to "serve the Lord"—and throwing into this service 'alacrity' in the discharge of all duties, and abidin? "warmth of spirit" {v. 11) ! (9.) Oh how far is even the living Church from exhibiting the whole character and spirit, so beautifully portrayed In the latter verses Of this chapter (v.
12-21)! What need of a fresh baptism of the Spirit in order to this! And how "fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners," will the Church become, when at length instinct with this Spirit! The Lord hasten it In its time
CHAPTEE XIII.
Ver. 1-14. Same Subject continued—Political and Social Relations—Motives. 1, 3. Let every soul— every man of you—be subject unto the higher powers or, 'submit himself to the authorities that are above him.' For there is no power ('no authority') but of God : the powers that be arc ('have been') ordaliied of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power—' So that he that setteth himself against the authority'—resisteth the ordinance of God ; and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation—or, ' condemnation,' according to the old sense of that word ; that is, not from the magistrate, but from God, whose authority in the magistrate's is resisted. 3, 4. For rulers are not a terror to good worlts—'to the good work,' as the true reading ayipears to be—but to the evil . . . he beareth not the sword in vain—i. e., the symliol of the magistrate's authority to punish. 5. Wherefore ye must iteeds be subject, not only for wrath— for fear of the magistrate's vengeance—but also for conscience' sake from reverence for God's authority. It is of Magiatraci/ in general, considered as a Divine ordinance, that this is spoken: and the statement applies equally to all forms of government, from an unchecked despotism—such as flourished when this was written, under the Emperor Nero—to a pure democracy. The inalienable right of all subjects to endeavour to alter or improve the form of government under which they live is left untouched here. But since Christians were constantly charged with turning the world upside down, and since there certainly were elements enough in Christianity of moral and social revolution to give plausibility to the charge, and tempt nol)le
4.21). and make no provision ('take no forethought') for the flesh, to [fullil] the lusts [thereof] q.d., 'direct none of your attention to the cravings of your corrupt nature, how you may provide for their gratification.' A'ote (1.) How gloriously adapted is Christianity for human society in all conditions! As it makes war directly against no specific forms of government, so it directly recommends none. While its holy and benign principles secure the ultimate abolition of all iniquitous government, the reverence which It teaches for magistracy, under wiiatever form, as a Divine institution, secures the loyalty and peaceableness of its disciples, amid all the turbulence and distractions of civil society, and makes it the highest interest of all states to welcome it within their pale, as in this as well as every other sense—"liie salt of the earth, the light of the world" {v. 1-6). ('2.) Christianity is the grand specific for the purification and elevation of all the social relations; inspiring a readiness to discharge all obligations, and most of all, implanting iu spirits, cruslied under misgovernment, to take redress into their own hands, it was of special importance that the pacific, submissive, loyal spirit of those Christians who resided at the great seat of polillcal power, should furnish a visible refutation of this charge. O, 7. For, for this cause pay ye (rather, 'ye pay') tribute also— 7. d., "This is the reason why ye pay the contributions requisite for maintaining the civil government.' for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon ('to') its disciples that love which secures all men against in Jury from them, inasmuch as It Is the fulfilling of the law
(v. 6-10). (3.) The rapid march of the kingdom of God, the advanced stage of it at which we have arrived, and the e rer-nearing approach of the perfect day—nearer to every believer the longer he lives—should quiclcen all tho children of light to redeem the time, and, seeing that they look for such things, to be diligent, that they may be found of Him in peace, without spot and blameless (2 Peter 3. 14). (4.) In virtue of 'the expulsive power of a new and more powerful affection,' the great secret of persevering holiness in all manner of conversation will be found to be "Christ in us, tho hope of glory" (Colosslans tills very thing. Render therefore to all titeir dues— From magistrates the apostle now comes to other othcials, and from them to men related to us by whatever tie. trlbuf*-land tax. custom—mercantile tax. fenr— reveren<« for superiors, honour—the respect due to persons of distinction. 8. Owe no man anytltiug, but to love one another q. d., 'Acquit j'ourselves of all obligations except love, which is a debt that must remain ever due.' [HonOK.] for he that loveth another hath ful<llle<l the law— for the law Itself is Init love in luiinifold action, regarded as matter of duty. O. For tills, itc.—better thus : 'For the [commandments]. Thou slialt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not covet, and whatever other commandment [there may be], it is summed up,' Ac. (The clause, "Thou shalt not '>ear fal.so witness." is 254
1. 27), and Christ on us, as the character in which alons we shall be able to shine before men (2 Corinthians 8. 3)
Ver. 1-2.'J. Bamb Subject continubd—Christian Kob-
Men may not Qnilemn or Condemn ROMANS XIV. £ach Oilier Jar Tilings IndiferenL
For Christ is here—in the most emphatic terms, and yet in the most unimpassioned tone—held up as the supreme
BEARAXCE. The subject here, and on to ch. 15. 13, is the conxideration due from strcniger Christians to their weaker
Oly'ect of the Christian's life, and of his death too; and that by the man whose horror of creature-worship was such, that when the poor Lycaonians would have worshipped himself, he rushed forth to arrest the deed, directing tiiem to " the living God," as the only legitimate brethren; which is bul the great law of love (treated of in ch. 13.) In one particular form. 1. Him that Is weak in the faith—rather, 'in faith;' i. e., not ' Him that is weak in the truth believed' [Calvin, Beza, Alford, <tc.], but
(as most interpreters agree), 'Him whose faith wants that firmness and breadth which would raise him above small
Oljject of worship (Acts 14. 15). Nor does Paul teach this here, but rather appeals to it as a known and recognized scruples.' (See on v, 22, 23.) receive ye—to cordial Chrisfact, of which he had only to .remind his readers. And since the apostle, when' he wrote these words, had never been at Rome, he could only know that the Roman'Christians would assent to this view of Christ, because it was tian fellowship—but not to doubtful disputations rather, perhaps, ' not to the deciding of doubts,' or 'scruples;' i.e., not for the purpose of arguing him out of them: which Indeed usually does the reverse; whereas the common teaching of all the aca-edited preachers of Christo receive him to full brotherly confidence and cordial' interchange of Christian affection is the most effectual way of drawing them ott'. Two examples of such scruples tianity, and Hie common faith of all Christians. 9. For to this end Christ both, &c.—The true reading here is, To this end Christ died and lived ['again'] that he might be Lord both of the dead and ('and of the') living—The grand object bf His death was to acquire this absolute Lordship over His redeemed, both in their living and in their dying, as His of right. 10. But why, &c.—The original is more lively:—'But thou (the weaker believer j, why judgest thou thy brother? And thou again (the stronger), why despisest tlrou thy brother?' for we shall all (the strong and the weak together) stand before the are here specified, touching Jewish meats and ilni/-s. " The strong," it will be observed, are those who knew these to be abolished under the gospel; " the weak" are those who had scruples on this point. 2. one believeth that lie may eat all things—See Acts 10. 16. another, who Is weak, cateth herbs—restricting liimsell probably to a vegetable diet, for fear of eating what "might have been offered to Idols, .ind, so would be unclean. (See 1 Corintllians 8.) 3. Let not him that eateth despise (look down superciliously upon) l»im that eateth not; and let not him that eateth not judge (sit in judgment censoriously upon) him that eateth : for God liatik received hiin—as one of His dear children, who in this matter acts not from laxity, but religious principle. 4. Who art thou that judgest another man's (rather, 'another's') servant J—i.e., Christ's, as the whole context showsj espe-
Judgment-seat of Christ—All the most ancient and best MSS. read here, ' the judgment-seat of God.' The present reading doubtless crept in from 2 Corinthians 5. 10, where "the judgment-seat of Christ" occurs. But here "the judgment-seat of Ood" seems to have been used, with reference to the quotation and the inference in the next two verses. 11, 1!4. For it Is written (Isaiah 45. 2:^), As I live, salth the Lord (Hebrew, jEHOVAH), every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God—consequently, shall bow to the award of God upon their character and actions. S6 then (infers the apostle) every one of us sliall give account of himself to God Now, if it be remembered that all this is adduced quite incidentally, to show that Christ is the absolute Master of all Christians, to rule their judgments and feelings towards each other while " living," and to dispose of them "dying," the testimony which it bears to the absolute Divinity of Christ will appear remarkable. On any other view, the quotation to show that we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God would be a strange proof that Christians are all 'amenable to Christ. 13. Let us not therefore judge ('assume the office of judge over') one another; but judge this rather, &c.—a beautiful sort of play upon the word 'judge,' meaning, 'But let this be your judgment, not to put a stumbling-block,' &c. 14-, 15. I know, and am persuaded by (or rather, ' in') the Lord Jesus—as "having the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2. 16). that there is nothing unclean of itself— Hence it is that he calls those "the strong" who believed in the abolition of all ritual distinctions under the Gospel. (See .\cts 10. 15.) but ('save that') to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it Is unclean q. ((., 'and therefore, though you can eat of it without H\i\,he cannot." But if thy brother be grieved (has his weak conscience hurt) with [thy] meat—rather, 'because of meat.' The word "meat" is purposely selected as something contemptible in contrast with the tremendous risk run for its sake. Acconlingly, in the next clause, that idea is brought out with great strength. Destroy not him with (' by') thy meat for whom Christ died—'ThP worth of even the poorest and weakest brother cannot be more emphatically expressed than by the words, "for whom Christ died." ' [Olshausen.] The same sentiment cially v. 8, 9. Yea, &c.—' But he shall be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand ;' i. e., to make good his standing, not at the day of judgment, of which the apostle treats in v. 10, but in the true fellowship of the Church here, in spite of thy censures. 5. One man estcemeth one day above another : another esteemeth every day —The supplement "alike" should be omitted, as injuring,he sense. Let every man be fully persuaded In His own mind—be guided in such matters by conscientious conviction. 6. He that regardeth the day, regardcth it to the liord—the Lord Christ, as before—and he . . . not, to the Lord he doth not—each doing what he believes to be the Lord's will. He that eateth, enteth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks ; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks—The one gave thanks to God for the flesh which the other scrupled to use; the other did the same for the herbs to which, for conscience' sake, he restricted himself. From this passage about the observance of days, A.LFORD unliappily infers that such language could not have been used If the sabbath-law had been in force under the Gospel in any form. Certainly it could not.
If the sabbath were merely one of the Jewish festival days; but it will not do to take this for granted merely because it was observed under the Mosaic economy. And certainly. If the sahbath was more ancient than Judaism;
If, even under Judaism, it was enshrined amongst the eternal sanctities of the Decalogue, uttered, as no other parts of Judaism were, amidst the terrors of Sinai; and if the Lawgiver Himself said of it when on earth, "The Son of man is Lokb even of the sabbath day" (see Marli
2. 2.S)— it will be hard to show that the apostle must have meant it to be ranked by his readers amongst those vanished Jewish festival days, which only "weakness" could imagine to be still in force—a weakness which those who ha<l more light ought, out of love, merely to bear with. 7, S. For none of its (Christians) liveth to himfeelf—(See 2 Corinthians 5. 11, 15), to dispose of himself or shape his cotxluct after his own ideas and inclinations, and no man ('and none'—of us Christians) dleth to himis expressed with equal sharpness 'in 1 Corinthians ». 11. Whatever tends to make airy one violate his conscience tc'his Ic the destruction of his soul; and hewlw helps, whether U'ittinf//f or no, to brine/ about the one is guilty of atdi/iff to aceomplish the other. 10, 17. Let not then your good— (. e., this liberty of j'oursas to Jewish meals and diiys, well-founded though it be—be evil spoken of—for the evil it does tc self. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord (the Lord Christ; see next verse); and whellier we die, we die unto the Lord; whcther we live therefore, or <lie, we arc the Lord's—Nothing but the most vivid explauallon of these remarkable words could make them endurable to any Christian ear, if Christ were a mere a ealure.
others. For the kingdom of God—or, us we should say, Ueligion; i.e., the proper business and blessedness for which Christians are formed into a community of re-
The Dull/ of C'lristian Forbearance .ROMANS XIV. from the Strong to the Weak.
men in thoroiifrh siihjpetion to God (cf. 1 Coriiithof unspeakable importance in the Clirist ian life. Xote {l.) Some points in Christianity are uiies.sential to Christian fellowship ; so that though one ma.v be in error upon them, he is not on that account to be excluded either from the communion of the Chiu'cli or from the full confidence of inii.s .1. 20). is Mot meat ami drink ('eiitiiii; and clrinkliiij;'}; i>iit i'ig'liteoii!4iie:;fs, niicl peace, mid Joy In the Holy Ghost—a beuuliliil and coinprelieiisi ve division of living C'liristiaiiity. The tir.st—" rigliteousne.ss"—has resent lo (rod, denoting here ' rectitude,' in its widest sense those who have more light. This distinction between essential and non-essential truths is denied by some whc affect more than ordinary zeal for the lionour and truth of God. But they must settle the question with our apos-
(:is in Matthew 6. ; the second—"peace"—has vespect to iinr neighbours, denoting 'concord' among brethren (as is plain from v. 19: cf. Ephesians 4. 3; (Joiossians 3. H, l.j);. Uie third—"joy in the Hojy Ghost"—has respect to o«rtle. (2.) Acceptance with God is the only proper criterion of right to Christian fellowsliip. Whom God receives, men cannot lawfully reject (f. 3, 4). (3.) As there is much selfpleasing in setting up narrow standards of Christian fellowstiip,so oneof the best preservatives against the temptation to do this will be found in the continual remembrance that Chkist is the one Object for whom all Ciiristians live, and to whom all Christians die; this will be such a living and exalted bond of union between the strong and the weak as will overshadow all their lesser ditt'erencesand gradually absorb them (v. 7-9). (l.)The consideration of thecommonjudgment-seatat which thestrong and the weak shall stand together will be found another preservative against the unlovely disposition to sit in judgment one on another (v. 10-12). (5.) Hpw brightly does the supreme Divinity of Christ shine out in this chapter ! The exposition itself supersedes further illustration here. (6.) Though forbearance bea great Christian duty, indifference to the distinction between truth and error is not thereby encouraged. The former is, by the lax, made an excuse for the latter. But our apostle, while teaching "the strong " to bear with " the weak," repeatedly intimates in this chapter where the truth really lay on the points in question, and takes care to call those who took the wrong side " the weak " (v. 1, 2, 14). (7.) With what holy jealousy ought the purity of the conscience to be guarded, since every deliberate violation of it is incipient perdition (r. 15, sHres. This phrase, 'joy in the Holy (Jhost,' represents Christkms as so thinliing and feeling under the worliiiigs of the Holy Ghost, that their joy may be viewed rather Bs thatof the blessed Agent who inspires it than their own (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1.6). IS. For Ue that in these things—'in this,' meaning this threefold life, serveth