Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition) (continued)
Paul Forelelleth much Disaster, ACTS XXVIl. but Encouragelk the Ship's Crew from the same cause as before, the westerly current and head-whuls. came to . . . the Fair Havens—an anchorage near the centre of the south coast, and a little east 6f Cape Matala, the southernmost point of the Island, wigli ^hereunto was tlie city Liasea—Identified, but quite rebodies by day or by night; so that they could not tell where they were, all hope that wc should be saved was taken away—'Their exertions to subdue the leak had been unavailing; they could not tell wliich way to make for the nearest land, in order to run their sliip ashore, the only resource for a sinlcing ship: but unless they did make the land, they must founder at sea. Their apprehensions, therefore, were not so much caused by the fury of the tempest, as by the state of the ship.' [Smith.] From the inferiority of ancient to modern naval architecture, leaks were sprung much more easily, and the means of repairing them were fewer tlian now. Hence the far greater number of shipwrecks from this cently, by the Rev. George Brown [Smith's Voyayes and Shipwreck of St. Paul, App. ill., 2d Ed., 1856. To this Invaluable book all recent commentators on this chapter, and these notes, are mostly indebted]. 9, 10. when much time was spent—since leaving Csesarea. But for unforeseen delays they might have reached the Italian coast before the stormy season, and sailing (the navigation of the open sea) was now dangerous, because the fast was now . . . pastthat of the day of atonement, answering to the end of September and beginning of Octocause. 21-26. But after long abstinence—See on v. 33.
' The hardships whicli the crew endured during a gale of such continuance, and their exhaustion from labouring ber, about which time the navigation is pronounced unat the pumps and hunger, may be imagined, but are not safe by writers of authority. Since all hope of completing the voyage during that season was abandoned, the quesdescribed.' [Smith.] Paul stood fortli in tlie midst of them, and said. Sirs, ye should liave hearkened to me, &c.—not meaning to reflect on them for the past, but tion next was, whether they should winter at Fair Havens, or move to Port Phenice, a harbour about forty miles to the westward. St. Paul assisted at the consultation and strongly urged them to winter where they were.
to claim their confidence for what he was now to say . . . there stood by me this night the angel of Ciod (as ch.
16. 9 and 23. 11). wliosc I am (1 Corinthians 6. 19, 20) and whom I serve (in the sense of ti'orship or religious conse-
Sirs, I perceive, that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, &c.—not by any Divine communicacration: see on ch. 13. 2), saying. Fear not, Paul; thon must be brought before Csesar ; and, lo, God hath given thee all . . . that sail with thee—Wliile the crew were toiling at the pumps, Paul was wrestling In prayer, not for himself only and the cause in wliich he was going a prisoner to Rome, but with true magnanimity of soul tion, but simply in the exercise of a good judgment aided by some experience. The event justified his decision.
11. Nevertheless the centurion believed tlie master and owner . . . more than Paul—He would naturally think them best able to judge, and there was much to say for their opinion, as the bay at Fair Havens, beingopen to nearly one-half of the compass, could not beagood winter harbour. Phenice ('Phenix,' now called LiUro) which for all his shipmates; and God heard him, "giving him" (remarkable expression !) all that sailed with him. 'When the cheerless day came he gatliered the sailors (and passengers) around him on tlie deck of the labouring vessel, and raising his voice above the storm' [Hows], reported the Divine communication he had received; adding with a noble simplicity, "for I believe Qod that it lietli toward tlie sonth-west and north-west—If this mean tliat it was open to the west, It would certainly not be good anchorage. It Is thought therefore to mean that a wind from that quarter would lead into it, or that it lay in an ra.»<e)-?2/ direction from such a Wind. [Smith.] The next verse seems to confirm this. 13. when the south wind blew softly, supposing they had attained' their purpose—With such a wind they had every prospect of reacliing their destination in a few hours. 14, 15. a tempestuous (' typlionlc') wind — i. e., like a typhon or tornado, causing a whirling of the clouds, owing to the meeting of opposite currents of air. called Enroclydon—The true reading appears to \>e Euro-aquilo, or east-north-east, which answers all the eflects here ascribed to it. could not bear np into (or 'face') tlie wind, we let her drift—before the gale. 16, 17. nnder (the lee of) a certain ('small') island . . . Clanda— south-west of Crete, now called Oonzo; about twentythree miles to leeward, we had much work to come by (i. e., to hoist up and secure) the boat—now become necessary. But why was this diflicult? Independently of the gale, raging at the time, the boat had been towed between twenty and thirty miles after the gale sprung up, and could scarcely fail to be filled with water. [Smith.] nndergirding the ship—i. e., passing four or five turns of a cable-laid rope round the hull or frame of the ship, to, enable her to resist the violence of the seas, an operation rarely resorted to in modern seamanship, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands— sliall be even as It was told me," and encouraging all on board to "be of good cheer" in the same confidence. What a contrast to this is the speech of C'sesar in similar circumstances to his pilot, bidding him keep up liis spirit because he carried Csesar and Ceesar's fortune! [Plutarch.] The Roman general knew no better name for the Divine Providence, by which he liad been so often preserved, than Ctesar's fortune. [Humphry.] From the explicit particulars—that the ship would be lost, but not one that sailed in it, and that they " must be cast on a certain island"—one would conclude that a visional rep reseiitation of a total wreck, a mass of human beings struggling with the angry elements, and one and all of those whose figures and countenances had daily met Ills eye on deck, standing on some unknown island shore. From what follows, It would seem that Paul from this time was regarded with a deference akin to awe. 27-29. when the fourteenth night was come (fromthe time tliey left Fair Havens), as we were driven (drifting) up and down in Adria—tlie Adriatic, that sea which lies between Greece, Italy, and Africa, about midnight the shipmen deemed (no doubt from the peculiar sound of the breakers) that tliey drew near some country (' tliat some land was approaching them'). This nautical language gives a graphic character to the narrative, they cast four anchors out of the stern—The ordinary way was to cast the anchor, as now, from the bow : but aucient ships, built with both ends alike, were fitted with hawseholes in the stern, so that in case of need they could anchor either way. And when the fear was, as here, that they might fall on the rocks to leeward, and the intention was to run tlie ship ashore as soon as daylight enaL-lod them to fix upon a safe spot, the very best thing they could do was to anchor by the stern. [Smith.] In stormy weather two anchors were used, and we have instances of four being employed, as here, and wished ('anxiously' or 'devoutly wished') for day—the remark this of one present, and with ^11 his shipmates alive to the horrors of their condition. 'The ship might go down ai her anchors, or the coast to leeward might be iron-bound, affording no beach on which they could laud with safety.
' be cast ashore' or stranded upon the Syrtis;' the Syrlis Major, a gulf on the African coast, south-west of Crete, the dread of mariners, owing to its dangerous shoals, they strake (struck) sail —This cannot be the meaning, for to strike sail would have driven them directly towards the Syrtis. Tlie meaning must be, 'lowered the gear' (appurtenances of every kind); here, perhaps, referring to the lowering of the heavj' raainyard with the sail attached to it. [Smith.] 18-SiO. cast out with our own hands (passengers and crew togetlier) the tackling of the ship—whatever they could do without that carried weight. This further effort to lighten the sliip seems to show that it was now in a leaking condition, as will presently appear more evident, neither sun nor stars appeared many ('gcvcr.il') days probably most of the fourteen days mentioned t'. 'Z7. This continued thickness of the atmosphere prevented their making the necessary observations of the heavenly
PauCs Warning lo the Centurion. ACTS XXVIII. The Occurrences at Melita, have a shore; but the meaning is, a practicable shore. In a nautical sense, i. e., one with a smooth beach, in contradistinction to a rocky coast (as v. 41 shows). Into which they were minded, if . . . possible, to thrust the ship—This was their one chance of safety, taken up the anchors, they committed themselves to the sea— The Marg. is here evidently right, 'cut the ancliors (away), they left them in the sea.' loosed the ruclder-ban<l»^ Ancient ships were steered by two large paddles, one on each quarter. When anchored by the stern in a gale, it would be necessary to lift them out of the water and secure them by lashings or rudder-bands, and lo loose these when t he ship was again got under way. [Smith.] hoised up the mainsail—rather, 'the foresail,' the best possible
Hence their anxious longing for day, and the ungenerous but natural attempt, not peculiar to ancient times, of the seamen to save their own lives by taking to the boat.' [Smith.] 30. As tlic slilpmen were about to flee out of the sUlp (under cover of night) wUen tliey l>ad let down tile boat ... as though they would . . . cast anchors out of the foreship ('bow")—rather, 'carry out' anchors, to hold the ship fore as well as aft. 'This could have been of no advantage in the circumstances, and as the pretext could not deceive a seaman, we must infer that the officers of the ship were parties to tlie unworthy attempt, which was perhaps detected by the nautical skill of St. Luke, and communicated by him to St. Paul.' [Smith.] 31. Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers—the only parties now to be trusted, and whose own eafety was now at stake, except ye abide in tlic ship ye cannot be saved—The soldiers and passengers could not be expected to possess the necessary seamanship in so very critical a case. The flight of the crew, therefore, might well be regarded as certain destruction to all who remained. In full assurance of ultimate safety, in virtue sail that could be set in the circumstances. How necessary must the crew have been to execute all these movements, and how obvious the foresight which made their stay indispensable to the safety of all on board (see on
V. 31) ! 41. falling into a place where two seas met— Mr. Smith thinks this refers to the channel, not more than 100 yards broad, which separates the small island of Salmone from Malta, forming a communication between the sea inside the bay and that outside, the fore part stuck fast, and remained immovable — ' The rocks of Malta disintegrate into extremely minute particles of sand and clay, which, when acted upon by the curi-enta or surface agitation, form a deposit of tenacious clay ; but, in still waters, where these causes do not act, mud is formed; but it is only in creeks, where there are no currents, and at such a depth as to be undisturbed by the waves, that the mud occurs. A ship, therefore, impelled by the force of a gale, into a creek, with such a bottom, would strike a bottom of mud, graduating into tenacious of a Divine pledge, to all in the ship, Paul speaks and acts throughout this whole scene in the exercise of a sound judgment as to the indispensable HUMAN conditions of safety; and as there is no trace of any feeling of inconsistency between these two things in his mind, so even the centurion, under whose orders the soldiers acted on Paul's views, seems never to have felt perplexed by the twofold aspect. Divine and human, in which the same thing pre Bented itself to the mind of Paul. Divine agency and human instrumentality are in all the events of life quite as much as here. The only dit Terence is that the one is for the most part shrouded from view, while the other is ever naked and open to the senses. 33. Then the soldiers cut off tlie ropes of tlie boat (already lowered), and let her fall off—let the boat drift away. 33-37. while day was coming on—'until it should be day;' clay, into which the fore part would fix Itself, and beheld fast, while the stern was exposed to the force of the waves.' [Smith.] hinder part was broken-The continued action denoted by the tense here is to be noted
' was fast breaking,' going to pieces. 4'i-44. the soldiers' counsel was to kill tlte prisoners, lest any . . . should escape—Roman cruelty, which made the keepers answerable for their prisoners with their own lives, is here rei. e., in the interval between the cutting olT of the boat and the approach of day, which all were " anxiously looking for" (f. 29). Paul—now looked up to by all the passengers as the man to direct them—besought them all to take meat ('partake of a meal'), saying, This is the fourteenth d.-»y ye have tarried (' waitedfora breathingtime') . . . liaving eaten nothing (i. e., taken no regular meal). The impossibility of cooking, the occupation of flected In this cruel proposal, the centurion. &c.—Great must have been the influence of Paul over the ('enturion's mind to produce such an el Tect. All followed tht swimmers in committing themselves to the deep, and according to the Divine pledge and Paul's confident assurance given them, every soul got safe to land—yet without mirall hands to keep down leakage, &c., sufficiently explain this, which is indeed a common occurrence in such cases. I pray you to take some meat, for this is for yourhealtli, for there shall not a hair fall from . . . any ofyou—On tliis beautiful union of confidence in the Divine pledge and ciue for the wliole sliip's health and safety see on V. ^1. wiien Ike had thus spoken he took bread (assuming the lead ;and gave thanks to God in presence of them all—an impressive act in such circumstances, and acle. (While the graphic minuteness of this narrative of the shipwi-eck puts it beyond doubt that the narrator was himself on board, the great number of nautical phrases, which all critics have noted, along with the unprofessional air which the whole narrative wears, agrees singularly with all we know and have reason to believe of " the beloved physician :" see on eh. 16. 40.)
fitted to plant a testimony for tlie God he served in the breasts of all. when he had broken it, he began to eat —not understood l)y the Christians in the ship as a love-
CHAPTER XXVIII. ^ Ver. 1-31. The wintering at Malta, and notablb occurrences there-prosecution of the voyage to Italy as far as Puteoli, and land journey thencb TO Rome—Summary of the apostle's labours thekb for the two following Y'EARS. 1. knew the island was called Mellta—See on ch. -27. 39. The opinion that feast, or a celehral ion of the Lord's Supper, as some think, but a meal to recruit exhausted nature, wliicli Paul shows them by his own example how a Christian partakes of. Then were tliey all of good cheer, and they also took some meat—' tooli food ;' tiie lirst full meal since the commencement of llii gale. Such courage in desperate circumstances as Paul here showed is wonderfully infocthis island w.as not Malta to the south of Sicily, but Meleda in the Gulf of Venice—which till lately h.id respectable support among competent Judges— is now all but exploded ; recent examination of all the places on the spot, and of all writings and principles bearing on the question, by gentlemen of the highest qualifications, particularly Mr. Smith (see on ch.27. 41), having set the question, it may now be afllrmed, at rest. 'i. the barbarous people —so called merely as speaking neither the Grei'k nor the tloUB. 38-40. when they had eaten enough, &c.—\Vi th fresh strength after tlx; meal, they make a third and last effort to lighten llie sliip, not only by pumping, as before, but by throwing tlie wliole cargo of wluat into the sea
(see on v. G). wl»ei» It was day they knew not flic land —Thl.s has been tliought surprising in sailors accustomed to that sea. 15ut the scene of the wreck Is remote from the great harbour, and possesses no marked features by which It could be recognized, even by a native if he came unexpectedly upon It (Smith], not to speak of the rain pouring In torrents (ch. 28. 2), which would throw a haze over the con.st even after day broke. Immediately on landing they knew where they were (ch. 28. 1). discovered a creek with a shore—Every creek of course iimst liatln language. They were originally Phienicinn colonists, showed us no little (' no ordinary') kindness, for they kliiflled a Are, and received us every one, l»ecaiise of the present rain (' the rain that was on us'—not now first falling, but then falling heavily) and because o( the cold—welcomed us all, drenched ujid shlvenng, to
21!i
Tlie Miracle of the Viper. ACTS XXVIIl. PauPs Departure for Rome.
of consistency in the narrative, whose sign—or figurehead ; the figure, carved or painted on the bow, which gave name to the vessel. Such figure-heads were anciently as common as now. was Castor and Pollux theso most seasonable mai-ks of friendship. In this these "barbarians" contrast favourably with many since, bearing the Christian name. Tlie lifelike style of the narrative bere ami in tlie following verses gives it a great charm. 3. whvtv Paul hnd galliered a bundle of sticks tlie tutelar gods of mariners, to whom all their good fortune was ascribed. St. Anthony is sulxstituted for them in the modern superstitions of Mediterranean (Romanist) sailors. They carry his image in their boats and ships. It is higlily improbable that two ships of Alexandria should have been casually found, of which the owners were able and willing to receive on lioard sucli a number of passengers (ch. 27. 6). We may then reasonably conceive that it was compulsory on the owners to convey soldiers and state travellers. [Webster and Wilkinson.] VZ, 13. landing at Syracuse—the ancient and celebrated capital of Sicily, on its eastern coast, about eighty miles, or a da3''s sail, north from Malta, we tarried there three days—probably from the state of tlie wind. Doubtless Paul would wish to go ashore, to find out and lireak ground amongst the Jews and proselytes whom such a mercan-
('a quamity of dry sticks'-j. Tlie vigorous activitj' of i'aul's cliaracter is ol)servuble in this comparatively trifling action. [Webstkr ami Wilkinson.] mid InUI tliein on the fire, there came « viprr out of tlic heat—Having laid itself up among the sUcks on the approach of the cold winter season, it had suddenly reci,>vere<l from its torpor by the heat, and fjtsltiied (its iaiigs)oji hishaikd —Vipers dart at tlieir enemies sometimes several I'eet at a bound. They have now disappeared from Malta, owing to the change which cultivation has produced. 4-6. No douht this mnj» is a murderer (his chains, which they would see, might strengthen the impression) whom . . . vengeance suflfcreth not to live—Tliey believed in a Supreme, RexisUess. Avenging Ei/e atid Hand, however vague their notions of inhere it resided, shook off the beast and felt no harm — See Mark 16. 18. t!iey looked ('continued looking') when he should have sivollen or fallen doiviidead (familiar wiMi the et FecIs of such bites), and saw no harm come to him, they chan^^ed their minds, and said . . . he was a god—from "a murderer" to "a god," as the Lycaonian greeting of Paul and Silas from "sacrificing to them" to "stoning them" (ch. 14. 13, tile centre would attract to it; and if this was allowed at the outset of the voyage (ch. 27. 3), much more readily would it be now when he had gained the reverence and confidence of all classes with whom he came in contact. At any rate we cannot wonder that he should be regarded by the Sicilians as the founder of the Church of that island, from thence we fetched a compass i. e., proceeded circuitouslj', or tacked, working to windward proljably, and availing themselves of the sinuosities of the coast, the wind not being favourable. [Smith.] What follows confirms this, and came to Rhegium— now Reggio, a seaport on the south-west point of the Italian coast, opposite the north-east point of Sicily, and at the entrance of the narrow straits of Messina, after one day tlie south wind blew—'aiouth wind having sprung up;' being now favoured with a fair wind, lor want of which they had been obliged first to stay three days at Syracuse, and then to tack and put in for a day at Rhegium. the next day to Puteoli—now Pozzuoli, situated on the northern part of the magnificent bay of Naples about 180 miles north of Rhegium, a distance which they might make, running before their " south wind," in aliout twenty-six hours. The Alexandrian corn-ships enjoyed a privilege peculiar to themselves, of not being obliged to strike their topsail on landing. By this they were easily recognized as they hove in sight by the crowds that we find gathered on the shore on such occasions [Hows.] 14,15. Where we found brethren—not "the brethren" (see on ch. 21. 4), from which one would conclude they did not expect to find such. [Wp:bster and Wilkinson.] and were desired ('requested') to tarry with them seven days—If this request came from Julius,
19). WHiat has not the Gospel done for tlie uncultivated portion of the human family, while its et Tects on the educated and refined, though very different, are not less marvellous ! Verily it is God's chosen restorative for the human spirit, in all the multitudinous forms and gradations of its lapsed state. 7, S. possessions of tl>e chief man ('the first man') of tlie island— He would hardly be so styled in llie lifetime of his father, if his distinction was that of the family. But it is now ascertained that this was the proper official title of tlie Maltese representative of the Roman prwtor of Sicily, to whoso province Malta belonged ; two inscriptions hiiving been discovered in the island, one in Greek, the other in.Latin, containing the same words whicli Ijuke here employs, who received us (of Paul's company, hut doubtless Including the " courteous"' Julius) and lodged us three days courteously — till proper winter-lodgings could be obtained for them, the father of Piiblius lay sick of a fever— ' fevers.' Tlie word was often thus used in the plural number, probably to express recurring attacks, and of a bloody Ilux—
' of dj'sentery.' {The medical accuracy of our historian's style lias been oliserved here.) to wliom PatJ entered In, and prayed (thereby precluding the supposition that any charm resided in himself), and laid his hands on Iiim, and healed him —Thus, as our Lord rewarded Peter for the use of his boat (Luke 5. 3, 4, &c.), so Paul richly repaj-s Publius for his hospitality. Observe the fulfilment here of two things predicted in Mark 16. IS—the " taking up serpents," and "recovering of the sick by laying hands on them." this done, others . . . came and were liealed— it may have proceeded partly from a wish to receive instructions from Rome and make arrangements for his journey thither, partly from a wish to gratify Paul, as he seems studiously and increasingly to have done to the last. One ean hardly doubt that he was inflhenced by both considerations. However this may be, the apostle had thus an opportunity of spending a Sabbath with the Christians of the place, fill tlie more refres'ning from his long privation in this respect, and as a seasoning for the unknown future that lay before him at the metropolis. 80 we went toward Rome. And from thence, wlien the brethren (of Ro,me) heard of us—by letter from Puteoli, and probably by the same conveyance which took Julius' announcement of his arrival, tliey came to meet us as far as Appii Forum—a town forty-one miles from Rome, and the Three Taverns—thirty miles from Rome. Thus they came to greet the apostle In two parties, one stopping short at the nearer, the other going on to the moredistant place, whom when Paul saw, he thanked God—for such a welcome. How sensitive he was to such Christian affection all his Epistles show. (Romans 1. 9, &c.) and took courage—his long-cherished purpose to "see Rome" (ch. 1!). 21), there to proclaim the unsearcliable riches of Christ, and the Divine pledge that
' kept coming to [us] and getting healed,' t. e., during our stay, not all at once. [Webster and Wilkik.son.) who also honoured us . . . and when we departed they laded us, Ac—This was not taking hire for the miracles wrought among them (Matthew 10. 8), but such grateful expressions of feeling, particularly in providing what would minister to their comfort during the voyage, .as showed the value they set upon the presence and labours of the apostle among them, and such as it would have hurt their feelings to refuse. Whether any perm.anent et Tects of this three months' stay of the greatest of the apostles were left at Malta, we cannot certainlj' sfiy. r>at tliough little dependence Is to be placed upon tlu; tradil ion that Publius became bishop of Malta and afterwards of Athens, we may well believe the accredited tradition that the beginnings of the (-'hristlan Church at JIalta sprang out of this memorable visit. 11> we departed in a ship of Alexandria (see on cb. 27. 6) which had wintered In the isle—no doubt driven In by the same storm which had wie<dced on its shores the apostle's vessel—an incidental mark 61 in this he should be gratified (ch. 23. 11), being now about to be auspiciously realized. 16. when iwe came to Roums 219
Paul Preaches to the Jews at Lome; ACTS xxviri. Some Bilieve, while others Dish. Here.
—the renowned capital of the ancient world. situ Mti d on the Til)ei'. tlie ceiitiiriOTi dc Uvfreil tl»e prisoners to tlie to hear of thee what thou thinkest—what are thy sentiments, views, iSc. Theapparent fieedom from prejudice here expressed ma.v have arisen from a prudent des e to avoid enilangering arepetilion of Ihosedi.v.stnsions a joul Christianity to wliich, probably. SuF.TONir.s alludes, and whicli had led to the expulsion of the Jews under Claudius. [Hujil'llKY.] See on ch. IS. '2. 'iS, 24. titei-e came many {' considerable luinibers'j into his lodging —Tlie word denotes one's place of stay iis a guest ^piiilomon 2'2i, not "his own hired house," mentioned i'. 30. Some Christian friends—possibly Aqnila and Priscilla, who had returned to Rome (Romans 16. 3)—would be glad to receive him, though he would soon find himself more at liberty iu a house of his own. to wlioiii lie expounded and testified tlie kingdom of Go<I—openhig up the great spiritual principles of that kingdom in opposition to the contracted and secular views of it entertained by the .Tews, persiading tlicm concerning Jesus—as the ordained and predicted Head of that kingdom, out of the law and tli propliets—th awing his materials and arguments from a source mutually acknowledged. fron» moniing till evening— ' Who would not wish to liave been present?' exclaims Benoei; but virtuall.v we are present while listening to those EpistleS which lie dictated from his prison at Rome, and to his other epistolary expositions of Christian truth against the .lews, and some believed . . . some not—What simplicity and candour are in this record of n result repeated from age to age where the Gospel is presented to a promiscuous asseml)lageof sincere and earnest infjuirers after truth, Irivolons worldlings, and prejudiced bigots! itj-19. wl»en tliey (the Jews) agreed not among themselves—the discussion having passed into one between the two parlies into which the visitors were now divided, respecting the arguments and conclusions of the apostle, they depart eil —Ihe material of discussion being led by both parties to be exhausted, after Paul had spoken one word—one solemn parting testimony, from those Scriptures regarded by both alike as "the Holy Ghost speaking" to Israel. Hearing ye shall hear, etc.—See on Matthew 13. '3-15; and .lohn 12. 3S-tO. With what pain would this stern saying be wrung from liim wliose " heart's desire and pra.ver to God for Israel was that the.v miglit be saved," and who "had greatheaviness and continual sorrow in his heart" on their account (Romans 10. 1; i). 2;! the salvation of God is sent to tlie Gentiles, and they will hear—See on ch. 13. 4t-lS. 'Tills "departure to tlie Gentiles" he had Intimated to the perverse Jews at Antiocti (ch. 13. 46), and at C>:>rinl!i (ch. 18. fi); now at Rome: tlius in Asia, Greece, and Hat)/.' [Rexoei..] f lie .Tews departed, and liad great ('much') reasoning among tliemselves—'This verse I3 wanting iii many MSS. [and omitted by several recent editors], but certainl.v without reason. Probabl,v the words were regarded as superfluous, as they seem to tell us wliat we were told before, that Paul "departed " (see v.
captiiiii of the ^iiard—the I'rcvtoria n Prefer/, to wliose custody, iis commander of the Prsetorian guard, the highest military autliority in the city, were eoinmiltcd all who were to come before the emperor for tiial. Ordinarily there were two such prefects; but from A. n, 51 to
62, one distinguished general Biirrits A/rcnnus, wlio had been Nero's tutor—held tliat office; atid as our historian speaks of "the captain," as if there were but one, it is thonsjht that tliis lixes the apostle's arrival at Rome to be not later tlian the year 6'i. [WiES.] But even though there had been two when Paul arrived, he would be committed onljto one of them, who would be "the captain'' •who got charge of him. (At most, tlierefore, this can liirnish no more than confirmation to the chronolosiical evidence othervt'ise obtained.) l>nt Paul -was sufferfd to atvell by himself avU1» a ('the') soldier that Uepl ('guarded') Uiiii—(See on cli. 12. 6.) Tliis privilege was allowed in (he case of the better class of prisoners, not accused of any flagrant offence, on finding securit.v which in Paul's case would not be difficult among tlie Christians. The extension of this privilege to the apostle may have been due to the terms in which Festus wrote about him; but far more probably it was owing to the nigh terms in which Julius spoke of him, and his exyiress Intercession in his behalf. It was overruled, however, forgiving the fullest scope to the labours of the apostle compatible with confinement at all. As the soldiers who kept him were relieved periodically, he wouM thus make the personal acquaintanf-e of a great number of the Prsetorian guard; and if he had to appear bclore the Prefect from time to time, the truth might thus penetrate to those who surrounded the emperor, as we learn, from Philippians 1. 12, 13, that it did. 17-20. Pawl called the chief of the Jews together— Though banished from the capital by Claudius, the Jews enjoyed the full benefit of the toleration which distinguished the first period of Nero's reign, and were at this time in considerable numbers,, wealth, and influence settled at Rome.. We have seen that long before this a flourishing Christian Church existed at Rome, to which Paul wrote his Epistle (see on ch. 20. 3), and the first members of which were probably Jewish convertsand proselj'tes. (See Introduction to Epistle to Romans.) yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into tine liands of tlie Romans (the Roman authorities, Felix and Festus) . . . I was constrained to appeal . . . not that I had aught to accuse my nation of—7. d., I am here not as their accuser, but as my own defender, and this not of choice but necessity. Ills object in alluding thus gently to the treatment he had received from the Jews was plainly to avoid whatever might irritate his visitors at the first; especially as he was not aware whether any or what information against him had reached their community. For this cause . . . have I called for you . . . because . . . tor tlie liope of Israel (see on '26. 6, 7) I am bound witli JtMa chain—17. d., 'This cause is not so much mine as yours; it is the nation's cause; all that is dear to the heart and hope of Israel is bound up with this case of
'25). But in i'. '25 it is the breaking otT of tlie discourse that is meant, here the final departure from the house.' [O1.S-
II AVSEN.] 39. in his own liired liouse—(see on v. 2.'!), yet
Still in custo<ly, for he oul.v "received all that came to him ;" and It is not said that he went to the synagogue or an.ywhere else, witli all confldence, no man forbidding him—enjoying, in the uninterrupted exercise of his minist ry, all the liberty of a guarded man.
Jfnlne.' From the touching allusions which the apostle jnakes to his chains, before Agrippa first, and here before the leading members of the Jewish community at Rome, at his first interview with them, one would gather that hie great soul felt keenly his being in such a condition
Thus closes this most precious monument of the beginnings of the Christian Church in its nuirch from east to west, among th<' Jews first, whose centre was Jerusaletn; and It is to this keenness of feeling, under thecontrol of Christian principle, that we owe the noble use which ho made of it in these two cases. 21, 3'-i. We neither received letters out of J«idea concerning thee, Ac-We need not suppose (with Thot.itck and others] that there was any dishonest concealment here. The distinction made between himself, against whom the.v heard nothnext among the Gentiles, with Anlioch for its lieadquarters; finally, its banner is seen waving over impi Mlal Rome, foretokening its universal triumphs. That distinguished aposlle whose con version, labours, and sufierings for "the faith which once he destro.vcd" occupy mora than half of this Hlstor.v, itleaves a prisoner, unlieard, so ing, and his "sect," as "everywliere spoken against," far as api)cars, for two .years. His accusers, whoso presence was lndisi)en Kal)le, would have to await the return of spring before starting for the capital, and might not reach It for man.v months; nor, even when there, would they be so sanguine of success—after Felix Festun, and
Is a presumption in favour of their sincerity ; and there
Is ground to think that as the case took an unexpected turn by Paul's appealing to C.Tsar, so no infornuition on the subject would travel from Jerusalem to Rome in advance of I be apostle nimsclf. sif.e.desire (' deem it proper ')
Chronological Table of the Pnncipal Events ACTS XXVIIl. connected with the Life of the AposUe Pant,
Agrlppa had all pronounced him innocent—as to be imthe Gentiles, li.id been led to inculcate with fresh zeal tlieir own narrower Gospel, even this had done much good by extending the truth common to both (see on Philippians 1. 12-18; 4.22); (2) That as in addition to all his other labours, " the care of all the Churches pressed upon him from day to day" (2 Corinthians 11.28), so with these churches he kept up an active correspondence by means ot letters and messages, and on such errands he wanted not faithful and beloved brethren enough ready to be employed — Luke; Timotheus; Tychicus; (iohn) Mark ; Dcmas ; Arislarchuui : Epapliras ; Onesimus; Jesus, called Justus;' and, for a short time, Epaphroditus. (See on Colossians 4.7, patiint of delay. And il witnesses were required to prove the cliarge advanced by Tertullus, tliat lie vviis "a iiiovi r of sedition among all the Jews tliiougliout the (Roman) world" (ch. 2-1. 5), they must have seen that unless considerable tinle was allowed them the case would certainly break down. If lo this be added the capricious delays which theeniperor himself might interpose, apd the practice of Nero to hear but one charge at a t'nie, it will not seem strange that the historian should have no proceedings in the case to record for two years. Regun, probably, before the apostle's arrival, Its pro;;iess at Rome undei his own eye would furnish exalted employment, and beguile many a tedious hour of his two years' imprisonment. Had the case come on for hearing during this period, much more if it had been disposed of, it is hardly conceivable that the Historj' should have clo.sed as it does. But if, at the end of this period, the Narrative only wanted the decision of the case, while hope deferred was making the heart sick (Proverbs 13.
9-12,14; Philemon 23, 24 ; and Introduction to Ephesians, Philippians and Philemon.) That the apostle sulfered martyrdom under Nero at Rome has never been doubted. But that the appeal which brought him to Rome issued in his liberation, that he was at large for some years therealter and took some wide missionary circuits, and tha,t he was again arrested, carried to Rome, and then executed — was the undisputed belief of the early Church, as expressed by Chkysostom, Jekome and Eu.sebiu.s, iu t)io fourth century, up to Clement of Rome, the "fellow-labourer" of the apostle himself (Philippians 4. 3), in the first century. The strongest possible confirmation of this is found in the Pastoral Epistles, which bear marks througliout of a more advanced state of the Church, and more matured forms of error, than can well have existed at any period before the appeal whicli brought the apostle to Rome; which refer to movements of himself and Timothy that cannot without some straining (as we think) be made
12), and if, under the guidance of that Spirit whose seal was on It all, it seemed of more consequence to put the Church at once in possession of this History tlian to keep it back indefinitely for the sake of wliut might come to be otherwise known, we cannot wonder tliat it should be wound up as it is in its two concluding verses. All that we know of the apostle's proceedings and history beyond this must be gathered from the Epistles of the Imprisonment— Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Pliilenion — written during this period, and the Pastoral Epistles—to Timothy and Titus, which, in our judgment, areof subsequent date. From the former class of Epistles we learn the following particulars: (1) That the trying restraint laid upon the apostle's labours by his imprisonment had only turned his influence into a new channel; the Gospel having in consequence penetrated even into the palace, and pervaded the city, while the preachers of Christ were emboldened ; and though the Judaizing portion of them, observing his success among to tit into any prior period; and which are couched in a manifestly riper style than any of his other EpisMes. (See Introduction to Timothy and Titus, and notes.) All this has been called in question by modern critics ol great research and acuteness [Petavius, Lardnek, De Wette. WiESELEH, Davidson, &c.]. But those who maintain the ancient view are of equal authority and more numerous, while the weightof argument appears to us to be decidedly on their side.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS CONNECTED WITH THE LIFE OF THE
APOSTLE PAUL.
Certainty in these dates is not to be had, the notes of time in the Acts being few and vague. It is only by connecting tho.se events of secular history which it records, and the dates of which are otherwise tolerably known to us—such as the famine under Claudius Ceesar (ch. 11. 28), the expulsion of the Jews from Rome by the same emperor (ch. IS. 2), and the entrance of Porcius Festus upon his procuratorship (ch.24. 27), with the intervals specified between some occurrences in theapostle's life and others(such as ch. 20. 31; 24.27 ; 28.30; and Galatians 1. and 2.)—that we can thread our way through the dif Hculties that surround the chronology of the apostle's lite, and approximate to certainty. Immense research ha.s been brought to bear upon the subject, but, as might be expected, the learned are greatly divided. Every year has been fixed upon as the probable date of the apostle's conversion from a. d. 31 [Bengel] to A. D. 42 [EuSEBius]. But the weight of authority is in favour of dates ranging between 3.5 and 40, a di (Terence of not more than five years; and the largest number of authorities is iu favour of the year .37 or 38. Taking the former of these, to which opinion largely inclines, the following Table will be useful to the student of apostolic history: »
A.D. 37 Paul's Conver.sion " 40 i<'(rs< Visit to Jerusalem " 42-44 ^Vrit residence at Anliocli " 44 &conrf Visit to Jerusalem " 45-47 FlR.'iT MiS.SrONAKY JOURNEY.. " 47-51 » Seco«rf residence at Antioch....
Acts 9. 1.
" 9. 26; Gal. 1.18. " 11.25-30. " 11. 30; 12. 25. " 13. 2; 14. 26. " 14. 28. " 15.2-.30;Gal.2. 1-10. (on which see Noteji.J " 15. 30,40; 18. 22. " 18.21,22. " 18. 2-2, 25. " 18.23; 21.15.
nUrd Visit to Jerusalem
51, 53, or 54 Second Missionary Journey
53 or 54 Pourt/i Visit to Jerusalem Third residence at Antioch
51-58 Third Missionary Journey t'iflh Visit to Jerusahjm, \ \rrest and Imprisonment at C(B<area./ .60(Aut.)— I
58,
61 (Spring / Voyage to and Arrival in Rome
63 Release from Imprisonment At Crete, Colosse, Macedonia, Corinth, Nicopolis, Dalmatia, Troaa. 63-*5,or66,orpo8-
1 <& 2Tiin. and Tit.
si hly so late as
flO-08 Martyrdom at Rome.
I itro'iiirion. E0MA2v'S.
ImroduLlion.
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE
ROMANS.
INTRODUCTION.
The OENTjiNEjfESS of the Epistle to the Romans has never been questioned. It has the unbrofcen testimony of all antiquity, up to Clement, the apostle's " fellow-labourer in the Gospel, whose name was in the Book of Life" (Philippians 4. 3), and who quotes from it in his undoubted Epistle to the Corinthians, written befoi-e the close of the first century. The most searching investigations of modern criticism have left it untouched. When and where this Epistle was written we have the means of determining with great precision, from the Epistle itself compared with the Acts of the Apostles. Up to the date of it the apostle had never been at Rome (ch.
1. 11, 13, 15). He was then on the eve of visiting Jerusalem with a pecuniary contribvition for its Christian poor from the churches of Macedonia and Achaia, after which his purpose was to pay a visit to Rome on his way to Spain (ch.
15.23-28). Now this contribution we know that he carried with him from Corinth, at the close of his third visit to that city, which lasted three months (Acts 20.2,3; 24.17). On this occasion there accompanied him from Corinth certain persons whose names are given by the historian of the Acts (Acts 20. 4), and four of these are expressly mentioned in our Epistle as being with the apostle when he wrote it-—Timotlieus, Sosipater, Gains, and Erastus (ch. Ifi. 21,
23). Of these four, the third, Gaius, was an inhabitant of Corinth (1 Corinthians 1. 14), and the fourth, Erastus, was "chamberlain of the cUy" (ch. 16. 23), which can hardly be supposed to be other than Corinth. Finally, Phoebe, the bearer, as appears, of this Epistle, was a deaconess of the Church at Cenchrea, the eastern port of Corinih (ch. 16. 1). Putting these facts together, it is impossible to resist the conviction, in which all critics agree, that Corinth was the place from which the Epistle was written, and that it was despatched about the close of the visit above mentioned, probably in the early spring of the year 58.
The FOTJNDEB of this celebrated Church is unknown. That it owed its origin to the apostle Peter, and that he was
Its first bishop, though an ancient tradition and taught in the Church of Rome as a fact not to be doubted, is refuted by the clearest evidence, and is given up even by candid Romanists. On that supposition, how are we to account for Ro important a circumstance being passed by in silence by the historian of the Acts, not only in the narrative of Peter's labours, but in that of Paul's approach to the metropolis, of the deputations of Roman "brethren" that camo as far as Appii Forum and the Three Taverns to meet him, and of his two years' labours there? And how, consistently with his declared principle—not to build on anotlier man's foundation (ch. 15. 20)—could he express his anxious desire to come to them that he might have some fruit among them also, even as among other Gentiles (ch. 1. 13), if all the while he knew that they had the apostle of the circumcision for their spiritual father? And how, if so, is there no salutation to Peter among the manj" in this Epistle? or, if it may be thought that he was known to be elsewhere at that particular time, how does there occur in all the Epistles which our apostle afterwards wrote from Rome not one allusion to sucli an origin of the Roman Church ? The same considerations would seem to prove that this Church owed its origin to no prominent Christian labourer; and this brings us to tlie much-litigated question,
For WHAT CLASS of Christians was this Epistle principally designed—Jewish or Gentile? That a large number of Jews and Jewish pro.selytes resided at this time at Rome is known to all who are familiar with the classical and Jewish writers of that and the immediately subsequent periods ; and that those of them who were at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2. 10), and formed probably part of the three thousand converts of that day, would on their return to Rome carry the glad tidings witli them, there can be no doubt. Nor are indications wanting that some of tliose embraced in the salutations of this Epistle were Cliristinns already of long standing, if not among the earliest converts to the Cliristian faith. Others of tliem who had made the apostle's acquaintance elsewhere, and who, if not indebted to him for their first knowledge of Christ, probably owed much to his ministrations, seemed to have charged themselves with the duty of clieris'ning and consolidating the work of the Lord in the capital. And thus It is not improbable that up to the time of the apostle's arrival the Christian community at Rome had been dependent upon subordinate agency for the increase of its numbers, aided by occasional visits of stated preachers from the provinces; and perhaps it may be gatliered from the salutations of the last chapter that it was up to that time irt a less organized, though far from less flourishing state, than some other churches to whom the apostle had already addressed Epistles. Certain it is, that the apostle writes to them expressly as a Gentile Church (cli. 1. 13, 15; 15. 15, 16); and though It is plain that there were Jewish Christians among them, and the whole argument presupposes an intimate acquaintance on the part of his readers with tlie leading principles of tlie Old Testament, this will be sufficiently explained by supposing that the bulk of tliem, having before tliey knew the Lord been Gentile proselytes to the Jewish faith, had entered the pale of the Christian Churcli through the gate of the ancient economy.
It remains only to speak briefly of the plan and ciiakaoter of this Epistle. Of all the undoubted Epistles of our apostle, this is the most elaborate, and at the same time tlie most glowing. It has just as much in common with a theological treatise as is consistent with the freedom and warmth of a real letter. Referring to the headings which we have prefixed to its successive sections, as best exhibiting the progress of the argument and the connection of lis points, we here merely note that Its first great topic is wliat may be termed the legal relation of man to Ood as a violater of His lioly law, whether as merely written on the heart, as in the case of the Heathen, or, as in the case of the
(.'liosen People, as further known by external revelation ; that it next treats of that legal relation as wholly reversed through believing connection with tlie Lord Jesus Christ ; and that its third and last great topic is the new life which ac Gonipanles this change of relation, embracing at once a blessedness and a consecration to God which, rudlinentally complete already, will open, in the future world, into the bliss t)f immediate and stainless fellowship with God. The bearing of these wonderful truths upon the condition and destiny of the Chosen People, to which the apostle next comes, tliough it seem but the practical application of tliem to his kinsmen according to the flesh. Is In some respects the deepest and most difficult part of tlie wlioh? E()istle, carrying us directlj' to the eternal springs of Grace to the guilty In tlie sovereign love and Inscrutable purposes of God ; after whicli, however, we are Ijrought back to the historical pliitforni of the visible Cliuicli, in tlie calling of the Gentiles, the preservation of a faithful Israelltish remnant
Paul Commendelh Ids Calling, EOMAKS I, . and his Desire to Viotl Eomc amidst the general unbelief and fall of the nation, and the ultimate recovery of all Israel to constitute, -with th«
in the latter day, one catholic Church of God upon earth. The. remainder of the Epistle is devoted to sundry
Dtictical topics, winding up with salutations and outpourings of heart delightfully suggestive.
the meaning. It was not expressed more simply. But if the apostle had said 'He was declared to be the Son of God according to the Holy Spirit,' the reader%ould ha\'e thought he meant 'the Holy Ghost;' and it seems to have been just to avoid this misapprehension that he used the rare expression, "the Spirit of holiness." 5. Bywhom (as the ordained channel) we have received grace (the whole "grace that bringeth salvation") and apostleshlji —for the publication of tliat "grace," and the organization of as many as receive it into churches of visible di.seipleship. (We prefer thus taking them as two distinct
CHAPTEE I.
Ver. 1-17. Introduction. 1. Pawl (see on Acts 13. 9), a •ervaut of Jesus Christ—The word here rendered "servant" means 'bond-servant,' or one subject to the will and wholly at the disposal of another. In this sense it is applied to the disciples of Christ at large (1 Corinthians 7.
21-23), as in the Old Testament to all the people of God
(Isaiah l>6. 14). But as, in addition to this, the prophets and kings of Israel were officially "the servants of tlie Lord" (Joshua 1. 1; Psalm 18., title), the apostles .call themselves, in the same official sense, " tlie servants of tilings, and not, with some good interpreters, as one 'the grace of apostleship.') for obedience to the faith (rather, 'for the obedience of faith')—t. e., in order to men's yielding themselves to the belief of God's saving message, which is the highest of all obedience, for his name—that He might be glorified. 6. Among whom are ye also i. e., along with others; lor the apostle ascribes nothing special to the Church of Rome (cf. 1 Corinthians 14. 30). [Bengel.] tlie called (see on oh. 8. ,39) of C'lirist Jesus i. e., either called 'by Him' (John 5. 2.5), or the called 'belonging to Him ;' ' Christ's called ones.' Perhaps this latter sense is best supported, but one hardly knows whicli to prefer. 7. belovetl of God—(Cf. Deuteronomy 33. 12; Colossians 3. 12.) Grace . . . (see on Jonn
Christ" (as here, and Philippians 1. 1; James 1. 1 ; 2 Peter
1. 1-, Jude 1), expressing such absolute sulyectiou and devotion to the Lord Jesus as they would never have yielded to a mere creature. (See on v. 7; and on John 5. 22, 23.) called to be an apostle—when first he "saw tlie Lord;" the indispensable qualification for apostleship. See on Acts 9.5; 22. It; 1 Corinthians 9. 1. separated iiiito tlic (preaching of the) gospel—neillier so late as when "tlie Holy Ghost said. Separate me Barnabas and Saul ' (Acts
13. 2), nor so early as wlien " scx>araled from liis motlier's womb" (see on Galatians 1. 15). He was called at one and the same time to the faitli and the apostlesliip of Christ (Acts 2t). lt)-18). of God i. e., the gospel of wliich God is the glorious Author. So ch. 15. 16; 1 Tliessalonians 2. 2, 8,
1. 14, p. 70, 2d column) and peace—the peace whicli Christ made through the blood of His cross (Colossians 1.20), and which reflects into the believing bosom the peace of God which p.isseth all uncierstaiiding (Philippians 4.7). from God our FatJicr, and the Lord Jesus Clirist—'Nothing speaks more decisively for the divinity of Christ than these juxtapositions of Christ witli the eternal God, wlilcli run through the whole language of Scripture, and tlie derivation of purely Divine influences from Him al.so. The name of no num can be placed b,y the side of the Almighty. He only, in whom the Word of the Father who is Himself God became flesh, may be named beside Him; for men are commanded to honour Him even as tliey honour the Father, John 5. 23.' . [Olshausen.] 8. your faith is spoken of tlirougiiout tlie wbole world—This was quite practicable through the frequent visits paid to the capital from all the provinces: and the apostle, having an eye to the influence tliey would exercise upon others, as well as their own blessedness, gives thanks for such faith to "his God tlirough Jesus Christ," as being the
9; 1 Peter 4. 17. 3. WliicU lie had promised afore . . . In the holy Scriptures—Though the Roman Cluirch was Gentile by nation (see on v. 13), yet as it consisted mostly of proselytes to the Jewisli faith (see Inlrodaclion to this
Epistle), they are here reminded that in embracing Christ they liad not cast off, but only the more protoundiy yielded themselves to, Moses and the propliets (Acts 13.
32, 33). 3, 4. Concemiug l»is .Son .Tesus Clirlst oxir Iiord-the grand burden of tliis "gospel of God." made of the seed of David—as, according to "tli; holy Scriptures," He behooved to be. (See on Matthew 1. 1.) according to the flesh—i. e., in His human nature (cf. cli. 9. 5, and John 1. 14); Implying, of course, that He had anulher nature, of which the apostle immediatelj' proceeds to speali. A.ud <Ieclared—Zi;., 'marked off,' 'defined,' 'determined,' i. e., 'shown,' or 'proved.' to be the Son of God—Observe how studiously the language changes here. He "was MADE (says the apostle) of the .seed of David, according to the flesh;" but He was not made, He was only "declared
(or proved) to be the Son of God." So Jolin 1. 1, 14, "In the beginning was the Word . . and the Word Mmmade flesh;" and Isaiah 9. 6, "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a 6'on t« GIVEN." Thus the Son.ship of Christ is in no proper sense a 6orn relationsliip to the Fatlier, as some, otherwise sound divines, conceive of it. By His birth in the flesh, that Sonship, which was essential an<l uncresourtie, according to his theology of faith, as of all grace in men. 9. For God . . . wliom I serve (the word denotes religious service) witli my spirit (from my inmost soul) in the gospel of his Son (to which Paul's whole religious life and official activity were consecrated) is my witness, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers—So for the Ephesians (Ephesians 1. 15, 15); so for the Philippians (Philippians ated, merely effloresced into palpable riianifestation. (See on Luke 1. 35; Acts 13.32,33.) \»'ith power—This may either be connected witli "declared," and tlien tlie meaning will be 'powerfully declared' [Luther, Beza, Bengel, B'kitzschb, Alford, &c.]; or (as. in our version, and as we think rightly) witli " tlie Son of'God,"and then
1.3,4); so for the Colossians (Colossians 1.3,4); so for the Tliessalonians (1 Thessalonians 1. 2, 3). What catholic love, what all-absorbing spirituality, what impassioned devotion to the glory of Clirist among nien ! 10. AIaI<ing request, if by any menus now at length I may have a prosperous joui-ney by tlie will of Go<l, to come to you— Though long anxious to visit llio capital, he met with a number of jirovideutial hindrances tlie sense is, 'declared to be the Sou of God in possession of that "power" which belon;;ed to Him aw the only-begotten of the Father, no longer slirouded as in the days of his flcsli, but "by His resurrection from the dead" gloriously displayed and henceforth to be for ever exerted in this nature of ours.' [V'ui.gate, Cai>vin, Hodge, PuiLIPl'l, MeiirinG, &c.] accoiding to tlie spirit of holiness—If "according to the flesh" mean here,'' in His tiuman nature,' this uncommon expression must mean
(v. 13; ch. 15.22; and see on Acts iU. 21 ; 2;:l.il, 28.15); insomuch that near„y a quarter of a century elapsed, alter his conversion, ere his desire was accomplished, and that only as "a prisoner of Jesus Christ." Tlius taught tliat his whole future was in the hands of God, he makes it his continual prayer that at length the obstacles to a happy and prosperous meeting might be removed. 11, i'Z. Vor
' in Ilirt o</ter nature,' which we liave seen to be tiiat"of the Son of God"—an eternr.l, uncreated nature. Tliis is nere styled ftie "Hpirit," an an impalpable and immaterial nature (Jolin 4. 21), and " tlie .Spirit of holiiu:i«," probably
I long to see you, that 1 may impart to you some spli - ituni gift—not any supernatural K>ft. as the ne,\t elauso shows, and cf. 1 Corinthians 1.7. to llie end that ye may be establislied ! Tliat is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and iTi absolute contrast with ihat " likeness of sinful rtiisli" u-hlcli He assumed. One is apt to wonder Ihal if this be
The Gospel far the Justijicntim of all Men. KOWAKS I. GocP« Wrath Overhangs the Heathm World, me—'Xot wishing to "lord it over their faith," but rather to be a "lielper of their joy," the apostle corrects his former expressions : uiy desire is to instruct you and do you good, tliat is, for us to instruct and do one anoflier good: in jji ving I sliall also receive.' [Jowett.] 'Nor is he insincere in so speaking, for theie is none so poor in message from heaven, yet not absolutely new, but on the contrary, only the fulfilment of Old Testament promise, that not only is Christ the great theme of it, but Chri.st in the very nature of God as His own Son, and in the nature of men as partaker of their flesh—The Son of God now in resurrection-power and invested with authority to dispi'nse all grace to men, and all gifts for the establishment and edification of the Church, Christ the righteousness provided of God for the justificatiou of all that believe in His name; and tLat in this glorious Gospel, when preached as such, there resides the very power of God to save Jew and Gentile alike who embrace it. (3.) While til" C'liurcli of Christ wlio inaynot impart tons sometliing pf value: is only our malignity and pride that hinder us from gathering such fruit from every quarter.' [Calvin.] Hovy ' widely different is the apostolic style from tliat of the court of Papal Rome!' [Bbn'OI5L.1 oftentimes 1 pitrposeiX to tome unto Jon, but leJ lliinderi'd) Uitliei-to—chiefly by his desire to go first to places wU.^re Christ was not known (ch. 15. 20-M). tSmt I might Iiave some fruit (of my ministry) among you niso. even OS among ot Jier Geiktiles—The Gentilh origin of 'the Roman Church is here so explicitly stated, that those wlio conclude, merely from the Jewish strain of the a i gunient, that they must have been mostly Israelites, decide in oppositiozi to the apostle himself. (But see Introduction to this Epistle.) 14r, 15. I am <lel>tor both to the (cultivated) Greeks and to the (rude) Barbarians. . .'. So, as initeh as in me is, I am rea«ly to preaeh the gospel to yon that are at Koine also—He feels himsell under an all-subduing obligation to carry the gospel to all classes of mankind, as adapted to and ordained equally for all (1 I'orinthians 9. 16). 16. For I am not asliamed of the gospel—(The words, " of Christ," which follow here, are wanting in the oldest and best MSS.) This language implies that it required some courage to bring to 'the mis-
(.'hrist is to l)e regarded as the ordained Channel of all grace from God to men (r. 8), let none imagine that His proper divinity is in aii.v respect compromised by this arrangement, since He is here expressly associated with "God the Father," in prayer for "grace and peace" (including all spiritual blessings) to rest upon this Church
(v. 7). (-f.) While this Epistle teaches, in conformity with the teaching of our Lord Himself, that all salvation is suspended upon faitli, this is but half a truth, and will certainly minister to self-righteousness, if dissociated from another feature of the same truth, here explicitly taught, that this faith is God's own gift—for which accordingly in the case of the Roman believers, he "thanks his God through Jesus Christ" (u. 8). (5.) Christian fellowship, as indeed all real fellowship, is a mutual benefit; aud aa it is not possible for the most eminent saints and servants of Christ to impart any refreshment and profit to the meanest of their brethren without experiencing a rich return into their bosoms, so just in proportion to their humility and love will they feel their need of it and rejoice in it.
tress of the world' what "to the Jews was a stumblingblock and to the Greeks foolishness." But its inherent glory, as God's life-giving message to a dying world, so
18. Why this bivinely-provided Righteousness filled his soul, that, like his blessed Master, he "despised the shame." for it is the power of G(Sd unto salva Ttox TO EVERY ONE THAT BELIEVETH—Here and In the next verse the apostle announces the great theme of his ensuing argument; Salvation, tlie one overwhelming necessity of perishing men; this revealed in the gospel message; and that message so owned and honoured of God as to carry, in the proclamation of it, God's own power TO SAVE EVERY SOUL THAT EMBRACES IT, Greek and Bar-
IS NEEDED BY ALL MEN. For the wrath of God (His holy displeasure and righteous vengeance against sin) ia revealed from heaven—in the consciences of men, and attested b.v innumerable outward evidences of a moral government, ag.-xinst all ungodliness i. e., their whole irreligiouxness, or their living without any conscious reference to God, and proper feelings towards Him. and unrighteousness of men i.e., their whole deviations from moral rectitude in heart, speech, and behaviour. (So these terms must be distinguished wlien used together, though, when standing alone, eitherof them includes the other.)
Ijarian, wise and unwise alike. 17. For therein Is the righteousness of God revealed—that is (as the whole argument of the Epistle shows), God's justifying right-
EOUSNS.s. from faith to faith—a difficult clause. Most interpreters (judging from the sense ofsuch phrases elsewhere) talie it to mean, ' from one degree of faith to another.' But this agrees ill with the apostle's design, wliich has nothing todo.with the progj'essive stages of
18-32. This Wrath op God, revealed ag.\inst ALL Iniquity, overhangs the whole Heathen World. 18. who hold (rather, 'hold down,' 'hiniler,'.or 'keep back') the truth In unrighteousness — The apostle, though he began this verse with a comprehensive proposition regarding men in general, takes up in the end of it only one of the two great divisions of mankind, to whom he meant to apply it; tluis gently sliding into his argument. But before enutnerating their actual iniquities, he goes back to the origin of ,them all, their stifling the light which still remained to them. As darkness overspreads the mind, so impotence takes possession of the heart, when the "still small voice" of con« science is first disregarded, next thwarted, and then sys* tematically deadeiu'd. Thus "the truth" which God left with and in men, instead of having free scope and developing itself, as it otherwise would, was obstructed (cf. Matthew 6. '22, 2;); Ephesians 4. 17, 18). 19. Because that which may be (ratlier, 'which is") known of God Is manifest In them ; for God hath showed It unto them —The sense of this pregnant statement the apostle jn'oceeds to unfold in the next verse, ao. For the Invisible things of him from (or 'since') the creation of the world are clearly seen (the mind brightl.v beholding what the eye cannot discern), being understood by the things 'that are made—Thus, the outward creation is not the parent iml the iiiffrprctcr o{ our faith in God. That faith has its primary sources wilhin our own breast faith, but solely witli fa'th itself as the appointed way of receiving God's "righteousness." We prefer, therefore, to understand it thus: 'The righteousness of God is in the gospel message, revealed (to be) from (or 'b.v') faith to (or ' for') faith,' that is, ' in order to be by faith received.' (So suljstaiitially, Melvit.le, Meyer, Stuart, Bloomfield, &c.) as it Is written (nal)akkuk 2. 4), The just shall live by faith—This golden maxim of the Old T(>stament is thrice quoted in the New Testament—here ; Gahttians 'i. 11 ; Hebrews in. 38—showing that the gospel way of 'LIFE by faith,' SO far from disturbing, only continued and developed tlie ancient method—On the foregoing verses, noti' (1.) What manner of persons ought the niiiiister.s of Christ to be, according to the pattern here set up: absolutely subject and officially dedicated to the Lord Jesus; separated unto the gospel of God, which conl.-mplates the subjugation of all nations to the faith of
Clii'ist; del)tors to j>.U classes, the refined and the rud(\ to bring the gospel to thorn all alike, all shame in the presence of the one, ,ns well as pride before the other, sinking before the glory 9i hich they feel to be in their message; yearning over all "ailhfi l churches, not lording it over them, but rejoicing in tlitir prosperity, a.nd fln<ling refreshment and strength in their fellowship ! (2.) Th(> jiecu-
(D. 10); but it becomes an intelligible and artinilate convio tiim only through what we observe around%s ("by the things whi<^h are niade," t). 20). And thus are the inner and the outer revelation of (}od the complement of eacb other, making up between them one uuiveiisal and lualiar features of the gospel here h'rought prominently forward should be the devout study of all wlio ]u-eacli it, and guiile the views and tlie taste of all who are privileged statedly to hear it: that It is " the gospel of God,
GW 8 (Vrath Overhangs the Heathen World. ROMANS I. What were the Sins of the Genlilet.
movable conviction tlirit Ood is. (With this striking shameless than the other sex, but lives hcncefoi th only to drag tlie other sex down to its level, did eliange, itc— Tlie practices iiere releired to, though too aluunhi nlly ataijoslolic statement agree tlie latest couolusions of the mtist profound speculative students of Tlieism.) even liia eternal jiovver and GoilUeaxl—botli tliat tliere is an Klernal Power, and tlial this is not a mere blind force, or pante.'sted liy classic authors, cannot be further illustrated, without trencliing on tilings which "uugljt not to be named among us as become the saints." But observe how vice is here seen consuni'iig and exiiausting itselC AV'heii the passions, scourgeii by violent and continued indulgence in vices, became imjioteiit to yield the craved enjoyment; resort was had to artificial stimulants theistic 'spirit of nature,' but tlie power of a living Godhead, so that tUey are witliont excuse—all tlieir degeneracy being a voluntary departure from trutli tJius brightly revealed to tlie unsophisticated spirit. ^1. Uecausie that, wlieu tliey knew God (that is, ^vhile slill retaining some real knowledge of Hlni, and'ere they sank down into the state next to be described), they glorified Itliu not as God, neither were tlianlct'ul— ueit Uer yielded the adoi a/iuii due to Himsell, nor rendered the gn Uitudc which liis benetii ence demanded—but became vain (cf. Jeremiah 2. 5; in their imaginations (thoughts, notions, speculations, regarding tiod : cf. Jlatthew 15. 19; Luku 2. 35; 1 Corinthians 3. 2U, Oreek)—auA theirfooli8h ('senseless,' 'stupid') heart;i. e., their wliole inner man) was darltened— liow instructively is the downward progress of the hunxan soul here traced!
by tlie practice of unnatural and monstrous vices. How early these were in full career, in the history of the world, the case of Sodom afi'ectingly shows; and because of such abominations, centuries after that, the land of Canaan "spued out" its old inhabitants. Long before this chapter was penned, the Lesbians and others throughout refined Greece had been luxuriating in such debasements; and as Ibr the ilomans, Tacitiis, spuakins^^of the emperor Tiberius, tells us that new words had then to be coined to express the nevvly-inveiued stiniulants to jaded passion. No wonder that, thus siek and dying us was this poor humanity of ours under tiie highest eartliiy culture,
'ZZ, ^3. Professing themselves ^' boasting,' or 'pretending to be') wise, ti»ey became fools— its many-voiced cry for the balm in Gilead, and the Physician tliere, "Come over and help us," piewed
' It is the invariable property of error in morals and religion, that men take credit to themselves for it and extol ii as wisdom. So the heathen,' 1 Corinthians 1. 21. [Tholuck.] and changcfl tiie hearts of the missionaries of the cro.ss, and made tiieui "not ashamed of the gospel of Christ!" ajid receiving in tiieikisel ves tiiat recompense of tiieir error wliich was meet—alluding to the many physical aud moral ways in which, under llie rigliteous government of God, vice was made self-avenging. 3S-:J1. gave (item over (or ' up'—see on u. 21) ... to do tliose tilings which
(or 'exchanged') the glory of tlie uncorruptible God tuto (or 'for'; an ikunge . . . like to corruptible man— The allusion here is doubtless to the Greek worship, and the apostle may have had in his eye those exquisite cliisellings of the human form which lay so profusely beneath and around him as he stood on Mars' Hill, and " beheld their devotions." (See on Acts 1". 29.) But as if that had not been a deep enough degradation of the living God, there was found 'a lower deep' still, and to bii-dii, aud four-footed beasts, and to creeping things—referring now to the Egyptian and Oriental worship. In the face of these plain declarations of the descent of man's religious belief from loftier to ever lower and more debasing conceptions of the Supreme Being, there are expositors of this very Epistle (as Reiche and Jowett), who, believing neither in any fall from primeval innocence, nor aj-e not convenient—in the old sense of that word, t. e.,
' not becoming,' 'indecorous,' 'sliameful.' haters of God —The word usually signifies 'God-hated,' which some here prefer, in the sense of 'abhorred of the Lord;' expressing the detestableness of their character in His sight (cf. Proverbs 22.14; Psalm 73. 20). But the active sense of the word, adopted in our version and by tlie majority of expositors, though rarer, agrees perhaps better.with the context. 33. Wlio knowing (from the voice of conscience, ch.2. U, 15) the judgment of God (the stern law of Divine procedure), tiiat they wlkicli commit such tilings arc worthy of dejitli—here used in Its widest known sense, as the uttermost of Divine vengeance against sin : see Acts 28. 4. not only do the same— which they might do under tlie pressui-e of temptation and in the heat of passion, but have pleasure in them that do them — deliberately set their seal to such actions by encouraging and applauding the doing of them in others. This is theclimax of our apostle's charges against the heathen; and certainly, if the things are in themselves as black as possible, this settled and unblushing satisfaction at the practice of them, apart from all the blinding efl'eets of present passion, must bo regarded as the darkest feature of human depravity. On this section, tiule (1.) "The wrath of God " against sin lias all the dread reality of a "revelation from heaven ' sounding in the consciences of men, in the self-inflicted miseries of the wicked, and in the vengeance which God's moral government, sooner or later, takes upon all who outrage
Lti tlie noble traces of that innocence which lingered even after the fall, and were only by degrees obliterated by wilful violence to the dictates of conscience, maintain that man's religious history has been all along a struggle to ri«e, from the lowest forms of nature-worship, suited to the cliildhood of our race, into that which is more I'ational and spiritual. 34:. Wherefore God also (in righteous retribution) gave them ui>—This Divine abandonment of men is here strikingly traced in three successive stages, at eacli of which the same word is used {v. 21 ; i;. 26 and V. 28, where the word is rendered " gave over '). ' As tliey deserted God, God in turn deserted them ; not giving them Divine (i.e., supernatural) laws, and suffering tliem to corrupt those which were liuman; not sending them prophets, and allowing the philosophers to run into absurdities. He let them do what they pleased, even wliat was in tlie last degree vile, that those who had not honoured God, might dishonour themselves.' [GuoTirs.J as. Who changed the trutli of God in<o a lic-^(i. e., the truth concerning God into idol falsehood ). and worshipped and ser\-ed the creature more than the Creator—Professing merely to worship the Creator b.i/ means of the creature, they soon came to lose sight of the Creator ta the creature. How aggravated is the guilt of the Churcli of Home, which, umler the same liimsy pretext, does slvarueU'S.sly what the heiithen are here coniiemned fordoing, and with light which the heathen never liad! who is blessed for ever! Amen—By this do.xology the apostle instinctively relieves the horror which the penning of such things excited within his lireast; an example to such as are (billed to expose like dishonour done to the blessed God. '-4G, 37. For this cause God ;;ave them up—See on v. 21. for even tiieir women— I hat sex whose priceless jewel and fairest ornament is modesty, and which, when that is once lost, nut only becomes more it; so this " wrath of God " is not confined to higli-handed crimes, or the grosser manifestations of Iiuman depravity, but is " revealed " against all violations of Divine law of whatever nature—" against all ungodliness" as well as "unrighteousness of men," against all disregard of God in the conduct of life as well as against all deviations from moral rectitude; and therefore, since no child of Adam can plead guiltless eitlier of "ungodliness"' or of " unrighteousness," to a greater or less extent, it follows" that every human being is involved in the awlnl sweep of " the wrath of God " (v. 18). The apostle places this terrible trutli in the forefront of his argument on justification by faith, that upon the basis of universal condemnation he might rear the edifice of a free, world-wide salvation; nor can the Gospel be scripturally preached or embraced, save as the good news of salvation to those that are all equally "lost." (2.) We must not magnify the supernatural re'v*
Wliat were ihe Sins of the Gentile World. ROMANS II. IVie Jew under like Coiidemnulion Kith the Gcniile.
elation which God has been pleased to make of Himself, througli Abraham's family to the human race, at tlie expense of that elder, and, in itself, lustrous revelation which He has made to the whole, family of man through the medium of their own nature and the creation around them. Without the latter, the former would have been impossible, and those who liave not been favoured with the former will be without excuse, if they are deaf to the voice and blind to the glory of the latter {v. 19, 20). (3.) Wilful resistance of light has a retributive tendency to
CHAPTER II.
Ver. 1-29. The Jew tjnper like Coxdejixatiojt with THE Gentile. From those without, the apostle now turns to those wilhin the pale of revealed religion, the self-righteous Jews, who looked down upon the uncovenanted heathen as beyond the jiale of God's mercies, within which they deemed themselves secure, however inconsistent their lile maybe. Alas! what multitudes wrap themselves up in like fatal confidence, wlio occupy tho corresponding position in the Christian Church ! 4. the goodntss of God leadetli tltec to repentance— ). e., is designed and adapted to do so. 5. < i'ea$nrei>t np unto thyself wi-aJh against (ratlier ' in ') ilUe day of ivi-ath i e., wrath to come on thee in the day of wrath. Wl'at an awful idea is here expressed—that the sinner liim.scif is amassing, like hoarded treasure, an ever-accumulating stock of Divine wrath, to burst upon him in "the day of the revelation of tlie righteous judgment of Ooil!" And this is said not of the reckless, but of those who boasted of their purity of faith and life. 7-10. To them who, Ac. —The substance of these verses is that the final judgment wiil turn upon ciiaraeloalone, by itatient continuance in well-doing, &c.—Cf. IjUke S. 15:' "That on the good ground are they, which in an honest and gO(Kl heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience ;" denoting the enctnrinty and proi/ressii-e character of tlie new life. But unto theiu that arc contentious, and do Aot obey tlie trujh, Ac.—referring to such keen and determined resistam-e to the Gospel as himself had too painfully witnesseti on the part of liis own countrymen. See Acts 13.11-10; 17. 5, lo; 18. 6, 12; and cf. 1 Thessalonians 2. 15, IG. i«dlfi;na<ioit and wrstth— in the bosom of a sin-avenging God. tribiilation and anguish —the effect of these in tlie sinner himself, to the Jew first—first in perdition if unfaithful; but if obedient to the truth, first in salvation (!,•. 10). 11, 1'4. lor as many as have sinned—not 'as many as have sinned at all,' but, 'as many as are /ou(id in sin' at the judgment of the great day (as the whole context shows), without law i. c., without the advantage of a positive Revelation, shall also perish without law—exempt from the charge of rejectingordisregardiug it. and as muiiyas hnvesinucd in the law—witliiii the pale of a positive, v/ritten Revelation, shall be judged by tlie law—tried and condemned by the higlier staniinrd of that written Revelation. 13-15, For not the hearers, Ac. q. d., As toiiclling the Jews, in whose ears the written law is continually resounding, the condemnation of as many of them as aro found sinners at the last iiivol.ves no diilicully ; but even as respects the heatlien, who are strangers lo the law in blunt tlie moral perceptions and weaken the capacity to appreliend and approve of trutli and goodness; and thus is the soul prepared to surrender itself, to an indefinite extent, to error and sin (r. 21, &c.). (4.) Pride of wisdom, as it is a convincing evidence of the want of it, so it makes the attainment of it impossible (,v. 22 ; and cf. IMatthew 11.
25; 1 Corinthians 3.18-20). (5.) As Idolatry, even In its most plausible forms, is the fruit of unworthy views of the Godhead, so its natural effect is to vitiate and debase still further the religious conceptions; nor is there any depth of degi'adation too low and too revolting for men's ideas of the Godhead to sink to, if only their natural temperament and the circumstances they are placi d in be favourable to their unrestrained development {v. 23, 25). The apostle h.ad Greece and Egypt in his eye when he penned tliis description.. But tlie wjiole Paganisms of the East at this day attest its accuracy, from the more elaborate idolatry of India and the simpler and more stupid idolatry of Cliina down to the childish rudiments of nature-worship prevalent among the savage tribes. Alas! Christendom itself furnishes a melancholy illustration of tills trutli ; the constant use of material images in tlie Church of Rome and the materialistic and sensuous character of its entire service (to say notliing of the less olfeusive but stnpider service of the Greek Cluirch), debasing the religious ideas of millions of nominal Christians, and lowering tlie whole character and tone of Christianity as represented within their immense pale.
(6.) Moral corruption invariablj' follows religious debasement. The grossness of Pagan idolatry is only equalled by the revolting character and frightful extent of the immoralities which it fostered and consecrated (r. 21, 26, 27). And so strikingly is this to be seen in all its essential features in the East at this day, that (as Hodge says) the missionaries have frequently been accused by tlie natives of having forged the whole of the latter part of this chapter, as' tliey could not believe that so accurate a description of tliemselves could have been written eighteen centuries ago. Tlie kingdoms of Israel and Judah furnish a striking illustration of the inseparable connection between religion and morals. Israel corrupted and debased the worsliip of Jeliovali, and tlie sins with which they were charged were mostly of the grosser kind—intemperanceand sensuality: Judali, remaining faithful to the pure worship, were for a long tiiiie charged mostly with fornirility and hypocrisy; and only as they fell into the i<lolalrios of tlie heathen around them, did they sink intotlieir vices. And may not alike distinction be observed between the two great divisions of Clirlstendom, the Popish and the Protestant? To test this, we must not looli to Popery, surrounded witli,iind more or less .influenced by, tlie presenceand power of Protoslantisiii ; nor to Protestantism under every sort of disadvantage, internal and external. But look at Romanism where it liiis unrestrained liberty to develop its true character, and see whetlicr impurity does not there taint society to its core, viervading alike tlie highest and the lowest classes ; and then look at Protestantism where it enjoys tlie same isdvantiiges, and see whether it be not marked by a comparatively high standard of social virtue. (7.) To take pleasure in wliat is sinful and vicious for its own siilie, and knowing it to be such, is tlie last and lowest stage of liuman recklessness (v. 82). But (8.) tliis knowledge can never be wholly extinguislied in the breast ol man. Ko long as reason remains to tliem, tliere is still a small voice lu tlie worst of men, protesting, in tiifi name of the I'ower that Implanted It, "that they which lo such things are worll y of death " (v. 32;.
its positive and writ ten form—sinci; tliey show how deeply it is engraven on their moral nature, which witnesses within tlu'in lor righteousness and against ini'quily, accusing or eondeninhig them acctirding as they violate or obey its stern diciales—tlu-ir condriunalioii also lor all the sin in wliidi they live and die will wirry its divadlul echw in their own breasts, their thoulits tlie ineanwlklle aeeuainj; or else excusini;— /. c, perhaps by turns doing ))oth. Itj. In the day, <!cc.—Here the uiitiiiished statement, of i.'. 12 is ri'sumed and closed, shall judge the secrets of iiirn— here spi'cially I'eferiing to the unfatlionied depths of hyp(M-risy in the si'lf-righteons whom tlie apostle had to deal with. (.See Kcclesiastes 12.11; 1 Corinthians 1.5.) aceordiiij; to my gospel—to niy tfacliing Hs a preaciier of the Gospel. 17-Ml. Behold—' But if" is, be,\ ()iid doubt, the true rea<ling here. (It <li(J'i'rs but in a single h'ttf'r from the received reailiiig, and the sense is the same.) aj>provest tK»e thlt»5;» that are excellent
Marfiiii, 'triest the things that dil Ter.' lioth senses arH gooil, and indeed the former is but Ihe ivsult of the latter action, f-iee on I'liilippians 1. ID. hast tlie form ol' ki>ow Iedi;e and <if the truth in the law—^^Mot being left, as the heathen are, to vagui; conjeeture on lHvlue tl;l'igs, but favoured with deiiiiite and precise information from heaven, thou that abhorrest id<ils{as the J jws did ever after tlieir captivity, though bent on them before)—doxt thou commit saccllrge I—not, as some excelleut inter-
Circumcisiwi, without Obedience, shall not Profit. ROMANS III. The Jew!^ Prerogative, which they have nut Lost, way ; chiefly, because (rather, ' first, that') unto them were comiiilttetl the oracles of God—This remarkable expression, denoting ' Divine comniunieatious' in general, pi-eters, ' dost thou rob idol-temples?' but more generally, as we tiike it, 'dost tliou prol'aue holy things?' (as in Matthew 21. 12, 13, and in otlier ways), as It is written—(See Marginal reference.) For circumcisioia— i.e., One's being within the covenant of which circumcision was the outward sign and seal, verily profititli, if tJiou keep the law— if the inward reality correspond to the outward sign but if, &c. (J. d., 'Otherwise, tliou art no better than the unciruumcised heathen.' Tlierefore if tUe tuielrcumcisioit kee]! tlie . . . law, &c. — Two mistaken Interpretations, we think, ai'e given of these words : jFirst, that the case lune supposed is an impossible one, and put merely for illustration [Haldane, Chalmers, Hodge]; is transferred to tlie Scriptures to express their oracular. Divine, authoritative character. 3,4. For what if some did not believe T—It is the unbelief of the great body of the nation which the apostle points at ; but as it sufficed for his argument to put the supposition thus gently, he uses this word "some" to soften prejudice, shall titeir unbeliefmake tJtefaitli (or, faithfulness) of Godof uoue ell'ecti—' nullify,' ' invalidate' it. God forliid—lit., 'Let il not be,' q. d., '.Vway witii sucli a thought'—a favourite expression of our apostle, when he would not only reijudiate a suijposed consequence of his doctrine, but express his abhorrence of it. 'The Scriptures do not authorize such, a use of God's name as must have been common among the English translators of tlie Bible.' [Hodge.] yea, let God be (held)' trtte, and every man a liar i. e., even though it should follow from this that every man is a lecond, that it is the case of the heathen who may and do please God when they act, as has been and is done, up to the light of nature [Grotiu.s, Ol.shausen, &c.]. The first Interpretation is, in our judgment, unnatural ; the second, opposed to tlie apostle's own teaching. But the case here put is, we think, such as that of Cornelius (Acts 10.), who, though outside tlie eztei-nal pale of God's coveflant, yet having come to tlie knowledge of the truths contained in liar, wlicii thou art jtu Sged-so in Psalm 51. 4, according to the LXX. ; but iu the Jlebrcw and in our •version, 'wiien'thou judgest.' Tlie general sentiment, however, is the same in both—that we are to vindicate the righteousness of God, at wliatever expense to ourselves. 5, G. But if, i!ic.—Another objection : q. d., ' It it, do manifest the grace of the covenant without the seal of it, and exemplify the character and walk of Abraham's children, though not called by the name of Abraham. Thus, this is but another way of announcing that God was about to show the insufficiency of the mere badge of ihe Abrahamiccovenant, by calling from among the Gen-
Vi'ould appear, then, that the more faithless we are, so much the more iliustri<)U.-j wiil the fidelity of God appear; and in that case, for Him to lake vengeance on us forour unfaithfulness would be (to speak as men profanely do) unrighteousness in tiod.' Armwer: Godforbid; for then how shall God Judge tUe world !— </., tiles a seed of Abraham that had never received the seal of circumcision (see on Galatians 5. 6); and tliis interpretation is confirmed by all that follows, he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, &c.—in other words, the name of "Jew" and the rite of "circumcision" were designed but as outwanl symbols of a separation from the Irreligious and ungodly world unto holy devotedness in heart and life to the God of salvation. AVhere this is realized,
' Far from us be such a thought; lor that would strike down all future judgment.' 7, 8. For if tiie truth of God, Ac—A further illustration of tlie same sentiment : q. d., 'Such reasoning amounts to tills—wliich indeed we who preach salvation by free grace are slanderously accused of teaching—that the more evil we do, the more glory will redound to God; a damnable principle.' (Thus the apostle, instead of refuting this priiiciple, thinks it enougii to hold it up to execration, as one that shocks the moral sense.)—Ou this brief section, JS'ote (1.) Mark the place here assigned to the Scriptures. In answer to the question, " What advantage hatli the Jew? or. What profit is there of circumcision?" those holding llomisli views would undoubtedly have laid the stress upon Uie jirieilhood, as the glory of the Jewish economy. But in the apostle's esteem, "the oracles of God" were the jewel of the ancient Church (v. 1, 2). (2.) God's eternal purposes and man's free agency, as also the doctrine of salvation by grace and the uncliangiug obligations of God's law, liave ever been subjected to the cha Vge of inconsistency by those who will bow to no truth which tlieirown reason cannot fathom. Butamidst tlie sigiis are full of significance ; but where it is not, they are worse tisan useless. JVoie, (1.) It is a sad mark of depravity when all that is designed and fitted to melt only hardens the heart (v. 1, and cf. 2 Peter 3. 9; Ecclesiastes 8.
11). (2.) Amidst 'all the inequalities of religious opportunity measured out to men, and tile mysterious bearing of this upon their character and destiny for eternity, the same m-eat principles of Judgment, in a form suited to tlieir respective discipline, will be applied to all, and perfect equity will be seen to reign throughout every stage of tlie Divine administration (v. 11-16). (.1.) "The law written on tlie heart" (v. 14, 15)—or the Ethics of Natural Theology—may be said to be the one deep foundation on which all revealed religion reposes; and see on ch. 1.
19, 20, wliero we have what we may call its other foundation—the Physics and Metaphysics of Natural Theology. The testimony of these two passages is to t)ie theologian Invaluable, while in the breast of every teachable Christian it wakens such deep echoes as are inexpressibly solemn and precious. (4.) High religious professions are a fearful aggravation of the inconsistencies of such as malve them (v. 17-21). See 2 Samuel 12. 14. (.5.) As no external privileges, or badge of discipleship, will shield the unholy from the wrath of God, so neither will the want of them sliut out from the kingdom of heaven such as have experienced without them that change of heart which the seals of God's covenant were designed to mark. In tlie sight of the great Searcher of hearts, the Judge of quick and dead, the renovation of the character in heart and life is all in all. In view of this, have not all baptized, sacramented disc-iples of the Lord Jesus, who "profess that they know God, but in worjcs deny Him," need to trt}ml)le—wlio, under the guise of friends, are " tlie enemies of the crossof Christ?"
all the clouds and darkness which in this present state envelop the Divine administration and many of the truths of the Bible, such broad and deep prini;ip]es as are liere laid down, and which shine in their own lustre, will be found the sheet-anchor of our faith. "Let God be true, and every man a liar;" and as many advocates of salvation by grace as say, " Let us do evil that good may come," " their damnation is just."
S-20. That the Jew is shut up under like Condemnation WITH THE GlCNTILE IS PItOVED BV HIS OWN SCKIPTUKK. 9. are we betier tlian tliey T (' do we excel theiii ?') No, in no Avise—Better otf' the Jews certaiulj' were, for having the oracles of God to teach them better; but a.s they were no liettiu', that only aggravated their guilt. 10Vi. As it is written, &c.—(Psalm 14.1-3; 53.1-3.) These statements of Ih.' Psalmist were indeed suggested by partiiailar man i test iilions of human depravity occurring under his own eye; but as this only showed what man, when unrestrained, is in his present condition, they were quite pertinent to the apostJe's purpose. 13-18. Their, &c.—Ki'om gener-i!s, the aposi le here comes to particulars, culling from diirerent parts of Scripture passages which speak of dispravity as 1 1. air.^cts the different members of tue body ; as if to show more ad'ectingly how "from the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness" in uSi Their TURO.\T is a!i ojjen sejxile Jire—(Psalm 5. iJ); ?. d., 227
CHAPTER III.
Ver. 1-8. Jewish Ob.iections Answekrd. 1, 2. Wltnt dvantHc then hath the .Tew I— (/. d., ' If the final judgment will turn solely on the state of the heart, an(i this may be as good in the Gentile lOUhont as in tbe Jew iv Uhin the sacred enclosure of God's covenant, wliMt better are we Jews for all our advantiges? Answer: Much every-
Xo Flesh Justified by the Law, E.OMANS III. but all Justified by Faith only.
lie the wrath of God. and come shoi-t of the glory (oi
'What proceeds out of their heart, and finds vent in speech and action tlirougli tlie tliroat, is like tlie pestilen-
' praise') of God i.e., 'have failed to earn his ai>prol)ation' (cf. John 12.13, Greek). .So the best interpreters. a4. justified freely (withoutanything done on our part todeserve it) by his grace (His free love) through the redemp> tion tJiat is In Christ Jesus— a most important clause; teaching us tliat though justification is quite gratuitous, it tial breath of an open grave.' with tlicir tongues tUcy liave used deceit—(Psalm 5. 9): q. d., ' That tongue which
Is man's glory (Psalm 16.9; 57.8) is prostituted to the purposes of deception.' tlie poison of asps is under tiieir LIPS—(Psalm 140. 3): q. d., 'Those lips wliicli should "drop as an houey-comb," and "feed many," and "give thanks unto His name" (Canticles 4. 11 ; Proverbs 10. 21 ; Hebrews is not a mere fiat of the Divine will, but based on a " Redemption," 1. e., ' the payment of a Ransom,' in Christ'« death. That this is tlie sense of the word ' redemption,' when applied to Christ's death, will appear clear to any impartial student of the passages wiiere it occurs. ti5, 26. Whom God Iiath set forth [to be] a propitiation (or 'propitiatory sacrifice") through faitli in his blood Some of the best interpreters, obsei'ving that "faith upon" is the usual phrase in Greek, not "faitli Christ, would place a comma after "faith," and understand the words as if written tlius: "to be a propitiation, in his
13. 15), are employed to secrete and to dart deadly poison.' WlioseMOUTH,<fec.—(PsaltnlO. 7): q.d., 'Thatmouth which should be " most sweet" (Canticles 5. 16), being " set on fire of hell" (James 3. 6), is filled witli burning wratli against those whom it. sliould only bless.' Tiieir feet are swift to sUed blood—(Proverbs 1. 16; Isaiah 59.7): q. d., 'Those feet, which should "run the way of God's commandments" (Psalm 119. 32),«are employed to conduct men to deeds of darkest crime.' Destrncfioii and misery are in tiieir ways; and tlie way of peace liavc tliey not kno Avn—Tliis is a supplementary statement about men's
Ijlood, through faith." But "faitli iu Clirisf is used in Galatians 3. 26 and Epliesians 1. 15; and "faitli in His blood'' is the natural and appropriate meaning here, to declare Ills rigllteousncss for tlie remission—rather, 'pretermission' or 'passing by'—of sins (' the sins') tiiat are past—not the sins committed by tlie believer before he embraces Christ, but tlie sins committed under the old economy, before Christ came to "put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." tlirough the forbearance of God —God not remitting but only forbearing to punisli them, or passing tliem»by, until an adequate atonement lor them should be made. In thus not imputing them, God reus righteous, but He was not seen to be so; there was no " mauiiestation of His righteousness" in doing so under the.ancieiit economy. But now tiiat God can "set fortli" Cluist as a "propitiation for sin through faith in His blood," the rignteousness of His procedure in passing by the sins of believers before, and in now remitting tliem,
suL'gested by what had been said about the "feet," and expresses the mischief and misery which men scatter in tiieir path, instead of that peace which, as strangers to it themselves, they cannot ditluse. Tliere is no fear of God befcre tiieir EYES—(Psalm 3G. 1): q. d., ' Did the ej'es but "see Him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11.27), a reverential awe of Him with wlioni we have to do would chasten every joy and lift the soul out of its deepest depressions; but to all this the natural man is a stranger.' How grapliic is this picture of human depravity, finding its way through eacli several organ of tlie body into the liie: but how small a part of tiie "desperate wicliedness" that
Is within (Jeremiah 17. 9) "proceedeth out of the heart of man!" (Mark 7.21-23; Psalm 19.12.) Now we know that wSiat tlie law (i.e., the Scriptures, considered as a law of duty) saitli, it saitU to tlieni tJiat are under tUe iaw—of course, tlierefore, to the Jews, tii.it every tnoutit (opened in self-justification) may be stopped, and all the world may become (i.e., be seen to be, ami own itself) guilty (and so condemned) before God. 20. TSiereforc toy tSie deeds of (obedience to) tlie law there sliall no is "manifested," declared, brought fully out to tlie view of the whole world. (Our translators have unfortunately missed tliis glorious truth, taking "the sins that are past" to mean tlie past sins of believers—committed before faith—and rendering, by tlie word "remission," what means only a 'passing bj';' thus making it appear that "remission of sins" is "tlirough the forbearance of God," which it certainly is not.) To declare at this time mow flesli be justifiedi. e., be held and treated as righteous; as is plain from the whole scope and strain of tlie argument, in liis siglit—at His bar (Psalm 113. 2). for by tbe law is tlie knowledge of sin—See on ch. 4. 15; 7. 7; 1 John Z.i),—yote ; How broad and deep does the apostle in this section lay the foundations of his great doctrine ot Justification by free grace—in tliedisorder of man's whole nature, the consequent universality of human guilt, the condemnation, by reason of the breach of Divine iaw, of lor the first time, under tlie. Gospel) his righteousness: tiiat he might be just, and the justifier of liim tiiat believcfh in Jesus—Glorious paradox! 'Just in punisliing," and ' merciful in pardoning,' men can understand; but 'just in justifying tlie guilty,' startles them. But the propitiation througli faith in Clirist's blood resolves tlie paradox and liarmonizes the discordant elements. For in I hat " Goil hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin," justice lias full satisfaction ; and in tliat "we are made the righteousness of God in Him," ?)i<;)-c,y lias her heart's delight !—iVo/(? (1.) Oneway of a sinn(>r's justification is taught in the Old Testament and in the New tlie wliole world, and tlie impossibility of justification before God by obedience to that violated law ! Only when these liuniiliating conclusions are accepted and felt, are we in a conditi(m to appreciate and embrace the grace of the Gospel, next to be opened up.
21-26. God's ju.stifyino Hightkousness, through Faith in Jesus Christ, alike adai'ted to ouit Necessities AND WOUTUY OF IIlMSELF. lil-^S. But now tlic righteousness of God (see on ch. 1. 17) witbont tiie law —i e., a righteousness to wliich our obedience to the law contributes nothing whatever (n. 2S; (Jalatians 2. l(i). is manifested, being witnessed (attested) by the Iaw aiad the Prophets—tlie Old Testiiment Scriptures. Thus this justifying righteousness, though new, as only now fully disclosed, is an old righteousness, predicted and foreshadowed in the Old Testament, by faith of {i.e., in) Jesus Christ unto all and upon all (hem that belici e —i.e., perhaps, brought nigli "unto all" men the tiiosciel, and actually " upon all" believing men, as theirs in possession. [Luthkij, itc.l; but most interpreters understand both statements of believers a.s only a more emjihatic way of saying that all believers, without distinction or exception, are put in possession of this gratuitous justification, purely by faith in Christ Jesus, for there is no dincrcnce ; for all have slmsed—Though nieii dill'er greatly in the nature and extent of their sinfulness, there is absolutely no ditt'erence between the best and the worst of men. In the /act that "all have sinned," and so underalilte: only nuu-e dimly during the twilight of Revelation ; in unclouded light under its perfect day {v. 21). (2.) As tlu;re is no (.lifl'iu'ence in the need, so is there none in the liberty to appropriate the provided salvation. The best need to be saved by faith in Jesus Clirist; and the worst only need that. On this common ground all saved sinners meet here, and will stand for ever (v. 22-21). (3.)
It is on the atoning blood of Christ, as the one propitiatory sacrifice wliich God hatli set forth to the eye of the guilty, that the faith of the convinced and trembling sinner fastens for delivei'ance from wrath. Though he knows that he is "justified freely, by God's grace," it Is only because it is "through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" tliat he is able to find peace and rest even in this (i'. 2^i). (1.) The strictly accurate view of l)elievera under the Old Testament is not that ot a company of pardon,ed men, but of men whose sins, put up with and passed liy in the mean time, awaited a future expiation in the fulness of limo (t-. "25, 26 ; see on Lulce 9. 31 ; and on Hebrews 9. 15; and 11. 39, 10).
27-31. iNFEliENCKS FltOM THE FOUKGOING DoCTlilNES, AND AN (JBJECTION AN.SWKHEIJ. lufcfenco II (St,- lioast-
Tlie Law ia nol Abolished. ROJIANS IV. Abraham Jaslified by FaitJi.
forts or legal obedience.' For if Abralinm were jiistttied by works, he hath whereof to glory ; but not before God ij. d., 'If woilis were the ground of Abraham's justitication, he would have matter for boasting; but as it Is perfectly certain that he hath none in the sight of God, it follows that Abraham could not have been justified by works.' And to this agree the words of Scripture. For what snitli the Scripture I Abraham believed God, and it (his faith) was counted to him for righteousness —(Genesis lo. 6.) Roinisli expositors and Arininian I'rotcstants make this to mean that God aftcepted Abraham's act of believing as a substitute for complete obedience. But this is at variance with the whole spirit and letter of the apostle's teaching. Throughout this whole argument.
ing is excluded by thi.t, and no other zuay of jns/ificalion. 'iT, as. AVUere is boasting tlioi I . . . excludeil. Bj wSiat law? (ou wlitit priiK-iple or scheme?) of works I Nay 5 biU by tike law of faitli. Tliercforc we coiiclurte, Ac. —It is the unavoidable temleiicy ol dupendence upon our own works, less or more, tor acceptance witli God, to be-
S«itaspirilof "boastius." BattlialGod sliould encourage
a spirit in sinners, bjany procedure of His, is incredible. Tliis tlierelbre stamps falseliood upon every form of 'justification by works," whereas the doctrine tliat
" Our faitli recn'ves a riitlitnonsii Pss
Tliat niivliea tlie sinruT just," manifestly and entirely excludes "boasting;" and this faith is set in direct opposition to works, in the matter of juslirtcation—and even in the next two verses. The meaning, therefore, cannot possibly be tliat the mere act is the Ijost evidence of its truth. Inference second: TJiis and no other wtiii of xalralion is adapted alike to Jew and
Getilile. Is l»e f l»e God of tlie .Tews only i etc.—Tfie way of believing—wliich is as much a work as any other piece ofcommanded duty (John U. 2'J ; 1 John 3. 23)—was counted of salvation must be one equally suited to the whole family of fallen man : but the doctrine of justilication by to Abraham for all obedience. The meaning plainly is, that Abraham believed in the promises which embraced faiih is the only one tliat lays the basis of a Universal Religion; this therefore is another mark of its truth, [it
Is] one God who sJ>all justify {q. d.,
C'lirist (Genesi.s 12. 3; 1.5.5, &c.), as we believe in Christ Himself; and in both cases, faith is merely the instrument that puts us in possession of the blessing gratuitously bestowed. 4, 5. Wow to hiiii that workeUi (as a servant for wages) is the reward not reckoned of grace (as a matter of favour), but of debt—as a matter of right. But to him that Avorketli not (who, di spairing of acceptance with God by "working" for it the work of obedience, does not attempt it), but believetli on hiin that justi Heth the ungodly—casts himself upon the mercy of Him that jnstifieth those who deserve only condemnation, his faith, &c.—See on v. 3. Second: David sings of the same justification. 6-8. David also dcscribeth ('speaketh,' ' pronounceth') the blessedness of the man tmto whom the Lord imi>uteth rigltteoras iKss without works—whom, though void of all good works. He, nevertheless, regards and treats as righteous. [Saying], Blessed, <Sc.—(Psalm .32. 1, 2.) David here sings in express terms only of " transgression forgiven, sin covered, iniquity not imputed;" but as the negative blessing necessarily includes the positive, the passage is strictly in point. 9-13. Cometh tills blessedness then, &c.—q.d., 'Say not. All this is spoken of the circumcised, and is therefore no evidence of God's o'eTie?-ai way of justifying men; for Abraham's justification took place long before he was circumcised, and so could have no dependence upon tliat rite: nay, "the sign of circumcision" was given to Abraham as "a seal" (or token) of the (justifying) righteousness which he had before he was circumcised ; in order that he might stand forth to every age as' the parent believer—the model man of justification by faith —after whose type, as the first public example of it, all were to be moulded, wlietlier Jew or Gentile, who should thereafter .believe to life everlasting.' 13-15. For the I>romise, &c.—This is merely an enlargement of the foregoing reasoning, applying to the tait) what had just been said of ctrcMTOCmora. that he should be the lieir of the world—or, that "all the families of the eartli should be ble-ssed in him." was not to Abraham and his seed through the law (in virtue of obedience to the law), but tlirough the i-lghteousness of faith—in virtue of his simple faith in the Divine promises. For if they which arc of the law be heirs— If the blessing is to be earned by obedience to the law. faith Is made void—the whole Divine method is subverted. Because the law woi'keth wrath—has nothing to give to those who break it but condemnation and vengeance, for where there is no law there is no transgression—It is just the law that makes transgression, in the case of those who break it; nor can the one exist without the other. 16, 17. Therefore, &c.—A general summary: q.d., 'Thus justification
' has uncliangeably fixed that he shall juscify') tlie cli-cjimeisiou by ('of') faitli, and the iincircumeisioM tUi ougU faitli—probably this is but a vai-ied .statement of tlie same truth for greater emphasis (.see on v. 22); though Bekgki. thinks that the justification of the Jews, as the born lieirs of the promise, may be here purposely said to be "0/ faith," wliile that of the Gentiles, previously ".«trangers to the covenants of promise," may be said to be " l/irouyh faith," a.s thus admitted into a new family. Objection: Do Ave then make void tlie law llirougli faitli I—q.d., 'Does this doctrine of justification by faith, then, dissolve the obligation of the law? If so, it cannot be of God. But away with such a thought, for it does just the reverse.' God forbid: yea, we establish the law—It will be observed here, that, important as was tills oljjection, and opening up as it did so noble a field for the illustration of the peculiar glory of the Gospel, the apostle does no more here tlian indignantly repel it, intending at a sub Bequeut stage of his argument (ch. 6.) to resume and discuss it at length.—i\'o<e (1.) It is a fundamental requisite of all true religion that it tend to humble the sinner and exalt God; and every system which breeds self-righteousness, or cherishes boasting, bears falsehood on its face (v. 27, 28). (2.) The fitness of the Gospel to be a universal religion, beneath which the guilty of every name and degree are invited and warranted to take shelter anil repose, is a glorious evidence of its truth (f. 29, .30). (;3.) The glory of God's law, in its eternal and immutable obligations, is then only fully apprehended by the sinner, and then only is it enthroned in the depths of his soul, when, believing that "He was made sin for him who knew no siu," he sees himself " made the righteousness of God in Him." Thus do we not make void the law through faith: yea, we establish the law. (I.) This chapter, and particularly the latter part of it, 'is the proper Beat of the Pauline doctrine of Justification, and the grand proof-passage of the Protestant doctrine of the Imputation of Christ's righteousness and of Justification not on account of, but through faith alone.' [Philiiti.] To make good this doctrine, and reseat it in the faith and afl'ection of the Church, was worth all the bloody struggles that it cost our fathers, and it will be the wisdom and safety, the life and vigour of the churches, to "stand fast in this liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free, and not be again entangled"—iu the very least degree—"with the yoke of bondage." ^ CHAPTER IV.
Ver. 1-25. The FoBEOoiNa Doctrink of JustificatiON BY Faith illustrated from the Olu Tkstament.
is by faith, in order that its purely gracious character may be seen, and that all who follow in the steps of Aliraham's faith—whether or his natural seed or no—may be assured of the like justification with the parent-believer.' As it
First: Abraham wax juslifled by faith. 1-3. What shall we say then that Abraham, oiir father as pei'taluiiig to the fleah, hath found} i. e. (as the order in the original shows), 'ha(h found, as pertaining to ('according to,' or * tlirough') tlie flesh;' meaning, 'by all his natural efis written, &c.—(Genesis 17. .5.) This is quoted to Justify his calling Abraham the "father of us all," and is to 229
Faith hiipi Ued to us for Ritjhleousness. ROMANS V. Blessed Effects af Juslificution by Faith.
glory to God than simple faith in His word, especially when all things seem to render the fulfilment of it hopeless (r. 18-21). (7.) All the Scripture examples of faith were recorded on purpose to beget and encourage the like faith in every succeetiing age t,v.2.%2i; and cf. ch. 15. )).
be viewed ;is a parenthesis, before (t. e., ' in (be reckoning of) Isim wUom Ite believed q. <!.,
' Tiius A bralmm, in tlie reclconing of Hiui wlioiu lie believed, is tlie fattier of ns all, in order that all may be assured, that doing as he did, they shall lie treated as he was.' (ev«-uj Goil, t!is\t quiekrnetli tUe tiead—The natni'e and greatness of that
(S.) Justification, in this argument, cannot be taken— as Bomaiiists and other eVrorists insist—to moan a change upon men's character ; for besides that this is to confound f.iilh of Abraliani which we are to eopy is here strikingly described. Wiiat he was required to lielii'Ve being above nature, his faitli had to fasten upon (ioil's power to surmount pliysical incapacity, and call into being what did not then exist. But God having made tiie promise, Aljraham believed Ilim in spite of tliose o'ostaeles. This it wilh Sanctification, which lias its appropriate place in this Epistle, the whole argument of the present chapler— and nearly all its more important clauses, expressions, and words—would in that case be unsuitable, and fitted only to mislead. Beyond all doulit it means exclusively a change upon men's state or relation to God; or, in scienis still further illustrated in v.'hat follows. 18-!J:<J. Wljo Bgaiiist Uopc—wlien no ground lor hope appeared, believed in liope— i. e., cherished tlie believing cxpeetution. tliat lie niiglit become tlie falluev of maity nations, according to tlir«t wliicU was syokeii, so tific language, it is an objective, not a .sMfijcc/ive cliange— change from guilt and condemnation to acquittal and acceptance. And tlie best evidence tliat this is the key to the wliole argument is, that it opens all the wards of the many-chambered lock with which the apostle has enriched us in this Epistle.
(i.e.,. Such "as the stars of heaven," Genesis 15. oi sJtall thy seed be . , . lie considered not, &c.— paid no attention to those physical obstacles, both in himself and in Sarah, which might seem to render the fulfilment hopeless. He st.Tgjjered (hesitflted) not . . . Imt was strong in faitli, giving glory to God—as able to make good His own word in spite of all olistacles. Ar.d being fnily persiiadetl, Ac. i. e., the glory wliich Abraham's faith gave to God consisted in this, tliat, firm in the persuasion of God's ability to fulfil his promise, no diflicullies shook him. And therefore it was inipnted, &c. q. d., 'Let all then take notice that this wa.'i not because of anytliing meritorious in Abraham, hul merely because he so believed.' 33-35. Now, &c.—Here is the aiiplication of tills whole argument about Abraham: 'These things were not recorded as mere historical facts, but as illustrations for all time of God"s method of justification liy
CHAPTER V.
Ver. 1-11. The Blessed Effects of Justification by Faith. The proo/ of this doctrine being now concluded, the apostle comes here to treat of its fruits, reserving the lull consideration of tills topic to another stage of the argument (ch. 8). 1. Therefore being (' liaving been') Ji»«- ti Sicd by faitli, we linve peace with God, iSc.—If we are to lie guided by MS. authority, the true reading lic-re, beyoiul doulit, is, 'Let ns have peace;' a reading, however, wliich most reject, liecause they think it unuaiural to exhort men to have wh'at itljelongs to God to givs, and because the apostle is not here giving exhortations, but stating matters of fact. But as it seems hazardouf. to set aside the decisive testimony of MSS., as to what the apostle did write, in favour of what we merely tliink lie faith.' to wliom it siiall be Inipmted, if we believe in Him tliat raised up Jesns our Lord from the <iend in Him that liath done this, even as Abraham believed that God would raise up a seed in whom all nations should be blessed. Wlio was delivered for ('on account of) our offences— t. e., in order to expiate them by His blood, and raised egnin for ('on account of,' i. e., in order to) our justifieatloii—As His resurrection was the Divine assurance that He had "put away sin by the sacridce of Himself," and the crowning of His whole work, our juso»(7/i< to have written, let us pause and ask—If it be tlie privilege of the justified to"have peace with God," wliy might not the apostle begin his enumeration of the fruits of justification bj' calling on believei-s to 'realize' this peace as belonged to them, or cherish the Joyful consciousness of it as their own ? And if this is wliat he has done, it Would not be necessary to continue in the same style, and the other fruits of justification might he set ilown simply as matters of fact. This "peace" ifi jlrst a change in God's relation to us; and next, as the consequence of this, a cliange on our part towards Him. God, on the one hand, has " reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 5. 18); and we, on the otlier hand, setting our seal to this, "are reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5.20). The "propitiation" is the meeting-place; there the controversy on both sides terminates in an honourable and eternal "peace." 3. By whom also we have ('have had') access by failU into this grace (favour with God) wherein we stand q. d., 'To that same faith which /irs? gave us "peace with God" we owe our introduclion into that permanent standing in the favour of God which tlie justified enjoy.' As it is (lifticull to distinguish tills from the peace first mentioned, we regard it as merely an additional phase of the same [JJeyek, Philtification is fitly connected witli that glorious act. Note,
(1.) The doctrine of justification by works, as it generates self-exaltation, is contrary to the first principles of all true religion (d. 2; and see on ch. 3. 21-2(;, note 1). (2.) Tlie way of a sinner's justification lias iieen the same in all time, and the testimony of the Old Testaiiient on this subject is one with that of the New (v. 3, A-c. ; and see on cli. 3. 27-31, note 1). (3.) Faith and works, in the matter of justification, are opposite and irreconcilable, even, as grace and debt {v. -t, 5; and see on clt. 11. (i). If God "justifies the ungodly," works cannot be, in any sense or to any degree, the ground of juslification. For the same reason, the first requisite, in order to juslification, must be (under the conviction that we are " ungodly") to despair of it by 'works; and the next, to "believe in Him that justifieth the ungodly"—that hath a juslilying righteousness to bestow, and is ready to bestow it ujion those who deserve none, and to embrace it accordingly. (1.) The saci'aments of the Church were never intended, and are not adapted, to confer grace, or the blessings of salvation, upon men. Their proper use is to set a Divine seal upon a stall: already cxistimj, and so, tliey presupjioiie, and do notcrcai:e It (u.8-12). As circumcision merely "sealed" Abraham's already existing acceptance with God, so ipi'i, Mf.huixg], rather than something new. [Bez.-v, ThoIjUOK, Hougk. ) and rejolee—'glory,' 'boast,' 'triumph'—'rejoice' is not strong enough, in hope of tlio f;l«ry of God—Si e on " hope," v. 1. •'!, 4. we glory in tribulation also; knowing that tribulation workelJi jiatienee—Patience is the quiet endurance, of wliat wo cannot but wish removed, whether it he the withliolding of promised good (ch. 8. 25), or the continued txpericnco of positive ill (as here). There is indeed a patitMi<-e of unwltli the sa<;ranients of tlio New Teslainent. (!}.) As Abraham i.S "the heir of the world," all nations being blessed in him, through his Seed Christ .Jesus, and justi-*
I'i uewed nature, wlih b has something noble in It, though in many cases tlie ollspriiig of pride, it not of somethiug lower. Men have been known to I'liduro every lornof privation, torture, and death, without a murmur and without even visible cmolion, merely because they fted solely according to tlie pattern of his faith, so the transmission of the true religion and all t)ie salvation which tlie world will ever experience shall yet be traced 6ack Willi wonder, gratitude, and joy, to that morning dawn when "the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, be fore he dwell ileeiiied It unworthy of lliein to sink under unavoidable ill. Hut this proud, stocial hardihood has nothing in cummon with Llw yrace of pa Lleuce—which Is either the
111 Charraii," Acts 7. 2 (u. 13;. (li.) Nothing gi\-es more 23U
Being Purchased hy ITis Blood, we have EOMANS V. Reconciliation to Christ hy Faith.
the death of !i!s Eon, much more, being now (' having now been') reconciled, we shall be saved by his life q.d., 'If that part of the Saviour's work which cost Him His blood, and which had to be wrought for persons Incapable of the least sympathy either with His love or His labours in their behalf— even our " justiticaticn," our "reconciliation"—is already completed ; how much more will He do all that remains to be done, since He has it to do, not by death-agonies any more, but in uiitrouljled "life," and no longer for enemies, but for friends—from whom, at every stage of it. He receives the gratelul response of redeemed and adoring souls?' To be "saved from wrath through Him,'' denotes here the whole work of Christ towards believers, from the moment of justification, when the wratli of God is turned away from them, till the Judge on the great white throne shall discharge that wrath upon them that " obey not the Gospel of eur Lord Jesus Christ;" and tl)at work may all be summed up in" keeping tliem from falling, and presenting them faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" (Jude meek endurnnoe of ill because it is of God (Job 1.21, 22; 2.
lU), or the Ciilm wailing for promised good till His time to dispense it come (Hebrews 10.36); in the full persuasion that such trials are divinely appointed, are the needed discipline or God's children, are but for a definite period, and are not sent without abundant promises of " songs iu the night." If such be tlie "patience" which "tribulation worketh," no wonder that patience -worketli experience—rather 'proof,' as the same word is rendered in
2 Corinthians 2.9; 13. 3; Philippians 2. 22; i.e., experimental ei'Mence that we have "believed through grace." and experience (' proof ') lnope—"of the glory of God," as prepared for us. Thus have we hope in two distinct ways, and at two sivcccssive stages of the Christian lite: first. Immediately on believing, along with tbe sense of peace and abidingaccess to God (v. 1); next, after the reality of this faith has been "proved," particularly bj'the patient endurance of trials sent to test it. We first get it by looking away from ourselves to the Ijamb of God ; Jiext by looking into or xipon ourselves as transformed by that "looking unto Jesus." In the one case, the mind acts
24) : thus are they " saved from wrath through him." 11. And not only so, but we also joy (rather, glory) in God through our Lord .Tesus Christ, by (' througli') whom we have now received tiie atonement—rather, ' the reconciliation' (Margin), as the same word is rendered in v.
(as they say) objectively ; in the other, subjectively. Tlie one
Is (as divines say) the assurance of faith; the other, the assurance of sense. 5. And liope mafeetU not as!ianied (pntteth not to shame, as empty hopes do); because tJnc love of God—i. e., not 'our love to God,' as the Romish and some Protestant expositors (following some of the Fathers) represent it; but clearly 'God's love to us'—as most e.xpositors agree, is shed abroiid—W., 'poured
10 and in 2 Corinthians 5. 18, 19. (In fact, the earlier meaning of the English word 'atonement' was 'the reconciliation of two estranged p.arties.') [Trknch.J The foregoing etfects of justification were all beiieilts to ourselves, calling for gratitude; this last may be termed a purely disinterested one. Our first feeling towards God, after we have found peace with Him, is that of clinging gratitude for so costly a salvation; but no sooner have we learned to cry, Abba, Father, under tlie sweet sense of reconciliation, than "gloriation" in Him takes the place of dread of Him, and now He appears to us "altogether lovely!" — On tliis section, Note (1.) How gloriously does the Gospel evince its Divine origin by basivig forth,' i. e., copiously diffused (cf. John 7.38; Titus 3. G). by tlie Holy Ghost wl>ie!i is (rather 'was') given imto us—i. e., at the great Pentecostal effusion, which is viewed as the formal donation of the Spirit to the Church of God, for all time and for each believer. {2'he Holy Ghost is here first introduced in this Epistle.) It is as if tlie apostle hart said, 'And how can this hope of glory, which as believers we cherish, put us to shame, when we feel God Himself, by His Spirit given to us, drenching our iiearts all acceptable obedience on "peace with God," laying the foundations of this peace in a righteous "justification" of tlie sinner "tlirough our Lord Jesus Christ," and making this the entrance to a permanent standing in the Divine favour, and a triumphant expectation of future glory! (ii. 1, 2). Other peace, worthy of the name, there is none; and as those who are strangers to it rise not to the enjoyment of such high fellowship with God, so they have neither any taste for it nor desire after it, (2.) As only believers possess the true secret of patienc'e under trials, so, although "not joyous but grievous" in tliemselves (Hebrews V2. 17), when trials divinely sent alford them the opportunity of evidencing tlieir faith by the grace of patience under them, they should " count it all joy" {v. 3, 4; and see James 1, 2, 3). (3.) "Hope," in the New Testament sense of the term, is not a lower degree of fail;li or assurance (as many now say, I hope for heaven, but am not *i(re of it); but invariably means 'the confident expectation of future good.' It presupposes faith ; and what faith assures us will be ours, hope accordingly expects. In the nourishment of this hope, the soul's look outward to Clirist for the ground of it, and inward upon ourselves for evidence of its retility, must act and react upon each other in sweet, all-subduing sensations of His wondrous love to us in Christ Jesus?' This leads the apostle to expatiate on the amazing character of that love. 6-8. For wlxcn vre were yet without strength i. e., powerless to deli ver ourselves, and so ready to perish, in fine'tlme (at the appointed season) Christ died for tlie ungodly—Three signal properties of God's love are here given: First, "Christ died for the ungodly whose character, so far from meriting any interposition in their behalf, was altogether repulsive to the eye of God; second, He did this " when tliey were witliout strength"—with nothing between them and perdition but that self-originating Divine compassion; third, He did this "at the due time,''' when it was most fitting that
It should take place (cf. Galatians 4. 4). The two former of these properties the apostle now proceeds to illustrate. For scarcely for a righteous man (a man of simply unexceptionuble character) will one (' any one') die ; yet perodventure for a good man—(a man who, besides being unexceptionable, is distinguished far goodness, a benefactor to society) some ('some one') would (rather 'doth') even dare to die q. d., ' Scarce an instance occurs of selfsacrifice for one merely upright; though for one who makes himself a blessing to society there may be found an example of such noble surrender of life.' [So BenOEL, OL.SHAUSEN, TlIOLUCK, ALFORT), PlIlI.IPPI.] (To make the "righteous" and the "good" man here to mean tne same person, and the whole sense to be that ' though rare, the case may occur, of one making a sacrifice of life for a worthy character' [as Caia'in, Beza, Fritzsche, JOWElTj, is extremely flat. But God commendeth ('setteth oil",' ' displayeth'—in glorious contrast with all that men will do for each other) his love toward us, in tltat, while we were yet sinners i. e., in a state not of posi-
2 and 4 compared). (4.) It is the proper office of the Holy Ghost to beget In the soul the full conviction and joyful consciousness of the love of God in Christ .lesus to sinners of mankind, and to ourselves in particular; and where this exists, it carries with it such .an assurance of final salvation as cannot deceive (v. 5). (5.) The justification of sinful men is not in virtue of their amendment, but of "the blood of God's Son;" and while fliis Is expressly affirmed in v. 9, our reconciliation to God by the "death of His .Son," affirmed in v. 10, is but a variety of the same statement. In botli, the blessing meant is the restoration of Die sinner to a righteous standing in tlie sight of God; and in lioth, the meritorious ground of tills, which is intended to be conveyed. Is the expiatory sacritive, "goodness," nor even of negative "righteousness," but on the contrary, "sinners," a state wliich his soul httleth—Christ dle<l for us—Now comes the overpowering Inference, emphatically redoubled. 9, 10. Much more Ihen, being (' having been') now Justified hy his blood, we shall be saved from wrath tlirough lilm. For if, when we wei-e enemies, we were rccon< ll««l to God by fice of God's Son. ((>.) Gratitude to God for redeeming love, if it could exist without delight in Goil Himself, would be a selfish and wortliless feeling: but when the