LIBRA
"*
" /
K'
COMMENTARY
ON
P A U L ' S E PIS T L E
TO THE
E O MAN S.
WITH
AN INTRODUCTION
ON THE
LIFE, TIMES, WRITINGS AND CHARACTER OF PAUL.
BY
/
WM. S/PLUMER, 'D.D., LL.D.,
AUTHOR OF "STUDIES IN THE BOOK OF PSALMS," "THE LAW OF GOB," "THE
GRACE O3? CHRIST," " YITAL GODLINESS," " JEHOVAH- JIREH,"
"THE BOOK OF OUB SALVATION," ETC., ETC.
NEW YORK:
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & CO..
770 BROADWAY, COB. OF 9ra STBEET.
1870.
Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1870, by
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & Co.,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
EmvAitn O. Jk.NKiNs,
PRINTER Affl) STKREOTVl'KR.
20 North William Street, N. \'.
INTRODUCTION.
I. THE VARIETY OF SCRIPTURE.
IN his unerring wisdom God did not give us the Scriptures in
one connected treatise, but in sixty-six distinct books. Of
these thirty-nine are in the Old Testament, and twenty-seven in the
New. The word of God contains a number of historical books.
Others are poetical. Some are didactic ; others, polemic. Some
are marked with the best style of proverb ; others, with the best
kind of parable and allegory. All Scripture is inspired by God,
and is profitable.
The first three books of the New Testament contain sketches
of the life of Jesus Christ. The fourth is evidently written chiefly
to establish his divinity, and show forth his glory. The fifth
records the early labors, successes and sufferings of the apostles
in planting churches throughout the world. The last book of
Scripture is chiefly prophetical. Many things in it foretold are
yet to be accomplished. The remaining twenty-one books of the
New Testament are strictly in the form of Epistles. Of these one
is written by James, the son of Alpheus, often (from his stature)
called the Less ; one by Jude (Judas not Iscariot) ; two by Simon
Peter, son of Jonas ; and three by John. The remaining fourteen
are written by Paul. Of these some are addressed to churches,
and some to particular persons; some are mainly doctrinal and
some chiefly practical ; some are specially designed to instruct
Jews ; and some, Gentiles ; some teach the laity their duties and
some give good counsels and precepts to pastors and evangelists.
It is worthy of notice that while the Old Testament does not
contain one entire book, but a,t the most a few verses in an episto-
lary form, yet of the two hundred and fifty-six chapters in the New
Testament one hundred and seventeen are in that form. Of these
Paul wrote eighty-seven chapters, containing two thousand and
nine verses. Of the Pauline epistles the first three contain more
matter than the remaining eleven. On the other hand, the New
Testament has in it but little poetry, and that quoted from heathen
4 INTRODUCTION.
poets or from Christian hymns. Various reasons are assigned for
this abounding of epistles in the New Testament. The Holy
Ghost, who inspired the writers, chose this form of communication,
and that will satisfy the pious mind. But the state of literature
throughout the world about the time of the first propagation of
the Gospel greatly favored this style of communication. Long
treatises were written in the epistles of learned men. We might
cite those of Cicero, Seneca, Symmachus and Pliny, the Younger.
In fact both ancients and moderns have in this way handled a great
variety of topics, friendship, art, science, politics, literature and
religion. There are a thousand ways of writing a good letter.
All the peculiarities of the writer's genius may have full scope in
that kind of composition. If he does not rise to the sublime, or
the beautiful, he did not promise to dp so. If he dwells on very
familiar topics, that well agrees with this kind of composition.
The best letters on moral subjects are marked with clearness,
brevity and plainness, and with constant allusions to things well
understood between the writer and his friends. Because a letter
is long, it is not necessarily tedious. Many a good letter has not
in it an epigram or an antithesis. While epistles should not be
set lectures, they may be solid, weighty, and even argumentative.
Easy and familiar as epistles may certainly be, we have a right
to expect that they be courteous, giving no just cause of offence.
No greater influence is exerted among men than that of epistolary '
correspondence. Lord Bacon says : " Such letters, as are written
from wise men, are of all the words of man, in my judgment, the
best ; for they are more natural than orations and public speeches,
and more advised than conferences or private ones." Over other
kinds of writing epistles have one advantage : they are always
read, sometimes often read. If Paul ever wrote anything but
epistles, we neither have it nor any reliable account of it.
II. WHAT WE KNOW OF PAUL'S EARLY LIFE.
Our knowledge of Paul is derived chiefly from the account we
have of him in the Acts of the Apostles, written by his companion,
Luke, and from his own epistles. By comparing " what Paul says
of Paul " with what Luke says of him, we gain a sufficient insight
into his history. Most of the unwritten traditions respecting him
are wholly unreliable, some are probable, and a few are apparently
countenanced by hints in the Scriptures.
In Hebrew he was called Saul. The precise import of this name
is uncertain. Some think it signifies a pit, the sepulchre or death;
others, that it signifies lent or demanded, as if he had been given to
INTRODUCTION. 5
his parents in answer to prayer. It is of the less importance to
look into this matter, as he entirely dropped this cognomen soon
after his conversion, and ever after bore the name of Paul. Some
think this word means a worker ; but others think it is taken from
the Latin, Paulus, which means little. This is the more probable
opinion, and well coincides with the lowliness of this apostle often
expressed, and particularly where he says, " I am less than the
least of all saints," Eph. 3 : 8. This is a better explanation than
that which makes the apostle take his name from Sergius Paulus,
one of his converts, Acts 8:7. But Origen, Tholuck and others
think that along with his Jewish name, this apostle in common
with many Israelites, who lived among the Romans, had a Latin
name, and that there is no special significancy in his change of
name.
Both of Paul's parents were of the seed of Jacob. So that
phrase, " a Hebrew of the Hebrews," clearly teaches. Like king
Saul, our apostle was of the tribe of Benjamin. He was a native
of Tarsus, in Cilicia, " no mean city." To all its freemen Augus-
tus had given the freedom of Roman citizens, because of their
fidelity to his interests. The time of Paul's birth is uncertain.
From something said by Chrysostom, in one of his homilies, some
have inferred that Paul was born two years before our Lord. But
this is pretty certainly a mistake ; for he was still " a young man "
at Stephen's martyrdom, which occurred certainly as late as A. D.
33. And a man from thirty-five to thirty-seven years old would
not be so spoken of. It is therefore highly probable that Paul was
considerably younger than Jesus of Nazareth.
In religious persuasion and profession before his conversion
Paul was a Pharisee of " the most straitest sect." He had remark-
able advantages for ' profiting ' in his knowledge of his national
religion and in the learning of his times. The school at Tarsus
was well known inthe Roman empire. It furnished professors
for other famous seats of learning in those days. At an early age
Paul was placed under the tuition of that renowned doctor of the
law of Moses, Gamaliel, Acts 22 : 3. This school was at Jerusalem.
In his outward observance of the ritual and morals of his religion,
Paul was " blameless," Phil. 3 : 6. But he was grossly ignorant
of the holy and spiritual character of the decalogue. Rom. 7 : 7.
Nor had he any knowledge of the great truth that equal love to
man and supreme love to God were the sum of the law. Conse-
quently when a mere youth, from a wretched wrong-headedness
of conscience, he became a persecutor of the most malignant type.
He held the clothes of the men, who stoned Stephen, and consented
to his cruel death. From that time he was like a ravening wolf in
6 INTRODUCTION.
the flock of Christ. He had no mercy, and seems to have had no
remorse, unless that phrase " It is hard for thee to kick against the
pricks," teaches that he had compunctions. He verily thought
he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of
Nazareth. He therefore " made havoc " of the church. He was
" exceeding mad " against the Christians. His very breath stank
of blood. He " breathed out threatenings and slaughter." How
long he pursued this flagitious course is not certain ; but it was
probably for fifteen or twenty months. His zeal and bitterness
at length knew no bounds. He went unto "strange cities" in
quest of prey. But the prayer of dying Stephen and of other holy
martyrs for their enemy and murderer, and especially the inter-
cession of our great High Priest, prevailed, and next we read of
III. THE CONVERSION OF PAUL.
This great moral change in his character is thrice recorded in
the Acts of the Apostles. It is commonly, and with reason, sup-
posed to have occurred about two years after Christ's ascension
from Olivet. It was attended with remarkable circumstances,
yet produced in him no permanent effects but such as were neces-
sary to fit him for his work, sufferings and triumphs. Luke, who
wrote the Acts of the Apostles, thus narrates this great event :
"And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter
against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and
desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he
found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he
might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed,
he came near Damascus : and suddenly there shined round about
him a light from heaven, and he fell to the earth, and heard a
voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
And he said, Who art thou, Lord ? And the Lord said, I am Jesus
whom thou persecutest : it is hard for thee to kick against the
pricks. And he trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do ? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go
into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And
the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a
voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth, and
when his eyes were opened, he saw no man ; but they led him by
the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three
days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. And there was
a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias ; and to him said
the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here,
Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street
INTRODUCTION. 7
which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one
called Saul of Tarsus : for behold, he prayeth, and hath seen in a
vision a man named Ananias, coming in, and putting his hand on
him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered,
Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath
done to thy saints at Jerusalem : and here he hath authority from
the chief priests, to bind all that call on thy name. But the Lord
said unto him, Go thy way : for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to
bear my name before the Gentiles and Kings, and the children of
Israel. For I will show him how great things he must suffer for
my name's sake. And Ananias went his way, and entered into
the house : and putting his hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the
Lord (even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou
earnest) hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be
filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his
eyes as it had been scales : and he received sight forthwith, and
arose, and was baptized. And when he had received meat, he
was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples
which were at Damascus. And straightway he preached Christ
in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. But all that heard
him were amazed, and said, Is not this he that destroyed them
which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that
intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?
But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the
Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ."
Acts 9 : 1-22. This is Luke's account of Paul's conversion. But
in his history of Paul's life he records two accounts, which Paul
publicly gave of the same great event. The first of these is found
in "Acts 22 : 3-21 ; the other, in Acts 26 : 9-20. These narra-
tives from the lips of Paul mention some incidents not given in
Acts 9. But there is no disagreement with that narrative, with
one apparent exception. In Luke's narrative he says : " The men
which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but
seeing no man," Acts 9:7; while in Paul's defence made before
the chief captain he says : " They that were with me saw indeed
the light, and were afraid ; but they heard not the voice of him
that spoke to me." Acts 22 : 9. This difficulty is only apparent,
not real. It arises from the fact that the word rendered voice is
used in two different senses. Often it signifies any noise or sound
though it be wholly inarticulate ; as in these cases : " The wind
bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof," John
3 : 8. In i Cor. 14 : 7, 8 it is thrice rendered sound. In Rev. 1:15;
9:9; 1 8 : 22 it is four times rendered sound/ in Rev. 6 : i it is
rendered noise. In many places it might be rendered sound or
8 INTRODUCTION.
noise, as where we read of " the voice of, many waters," and " the
voice of mighty thunderings." In this sense of the word Paul's
attendants heard the voice, that is the sound. or noise. But the
same word is used for an articulate voice, as where it is said, " The
voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the
Lord ;" and " Lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased," and in many other places. So
that in this sense Paul's companions did not hear the voice, the
articulate sound. That Paul used it in' this sense is manifest from
the very words : " they heard not the voice of him that spake to me"
They heard not the word spoken to me.
It is evident that Paul always regarded his conversion as a
demonstration of the truth of Christianity. Nor was this a fallacy.
Every effect must have an adequate cause. When we see a lion
turned into a lamb, a bird of prey into a gentle dove, a blasphemer
into a devout man, a bitter persecutor into an incomparable
preacher, we ask for a cause. We find none but that assigned by
Paul himself. Lord Lyttleton was right when he concluded that
Paul's conversion was an unanswerable proof of the truth of the
Christian religion. He has given his argument to the world. No
flaw in it has yet been detected. As an event Paul's conversion
cannot be easily overestimated. Adolphe Monod : " Grace came,
omnipotent grace, and the rampart of that great soul fell like the
walls of Jericho ; the impregnable citadel was carried in an hour,
and all its ample magazines were redeemed for the service of the
Lord."
IV. THE PUBLIC LIFE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE.
Many attempts have been made to settle the chronological
order of the leading events in the life of the great apostle to the
Gentiles. The following brief view is probably nearly correct.
Paul was engaged in persecution a part of A. D. 34 and the whole
of 35. In the year 36 he was converted and went into Arabia,
where he received abundance of direct visions and revelations.
In 38 his life was sought at Damascus, but he was let down by the
wall in a basket, and came* to Jerusalem and "essayed to join
himself to the disciples, but they were afraid of him," and avoided
him till Barnabas introduced him. In 39 Paul preached in Cilicia
the faith, which he had destroyed. He was not as yet known in
person to the churches in Judea. In 40 he preached in Syria, not
going to Antioch however. About 41 a door of access to the
Gentiles was opened, and Paul entered, and labored and suffered
much for two or three years. In 43 the persecution of Herod
INTRODUCTION.. 9
(Agrippa) began. In 44 Paul and Barnabas carried relief to the
suffering Christians in Jerusalem, and Mark joined Paul and
Barnabas, and these last were fully set apart to preach to the
Gentiles. In 45 Paul preached extensively in Cyprus and in Pam-
phylia ; in 46, in Pisidia and Lycaonia. The next year he and his
companions visited the same churches, " confirming the souls of
the disciples." In 48 Paul had his first great conflict with the
judaizing teachers. In 49 he and his companions labored much
in Phoenicia and Samaria. The same year he reported the
progress of the . Gospel among the Gentiles to the brethren at
Jerusalem, where the first general council was held. In 50 Paul
and Barnabas separated, and Paul took to him Silas (or Silvanus)
and Timothy. He travelled extensively this year. He spent the
year 51 at Philippi, going also to Amphipolis, Apollonia, Thessa-
lonica and Berea. The next year the Jews were expelled from Rome
by Claudius, and Paul visited Athens and Corinth, and had a great
desire to visit the church at Rome. In 54 Paul went to Ephesus
and Csesarea. This year his personal acquaintance with Apollos
probably began. In 54 or 55 Paul began his reasonings in the
school of Tyrannus in Ephesus. These lasted two years. In 57
he left Asia and, passing through Troy, came into Macedonia, and
thence into Greece. In 5 8. he was also at Philippi, visited Jerusa-
lem, and made his address before Ananias, and in Csesarea before
Felix, who kept him a prisoner, hoping to receive a bribe for his
release. In the year 60 Paul stood before Festus and Agrippa,
and, by appeal, was sent to Rome. On his way he was ship-
wrecked, but reached Rome pretty early in 61. He remained a
prisoner for at least two years, yet having considerable privileges.
In 63 he went as far as Spain. In 64 he went to Crete, thence to
Judea, thence to Colosse, thence to Macedonia. He spent the
winter of 65 at Nicopolis ; thence he went to Corinth, and in 66 to
Troy. In 67 he came to Miletus, and thence voluntarily to Rome.
There he was imprisoned. He continued a prisoner till some time
in 68, when he suffered martyrdom. This general outline is as
nearly correct, according to our best lights, as any that has been
given. It is sober and avoids wild conjectures.
Paul began his public life under Tiberius, who was emperor
eighteen years before Christ's death, and died in 37, three years
after Paul came on the stage. Tiberius was succeeded by Calig-
ula, who died in 41, and was succeeded by Claudius, who died by
poison in 54, and was succeeded by Nero, who killed himself in
68. So that Paul acted a conspicuous part under four Roman
Emperors.
io INTRODUCTION.
V. THE ORDER AND TIME OF WRITING PAUL'S EPISTLES.
It is generally known that in no edition of the Bible are Paul's
epistles arranged according to the chronological order, in which
they were written. J. D. Michaelis says their present order is
agreed on " according to the supposed rank and importance of the
communities, or persons, to which they were addressed." This
remark may indicate the state of mind in those that made up the
canon, but if such a notion prevailed there, was certainly some
misapplication of it. The order in which the books of Scripture
are bound up in no way affects the doctrines they teach, and is at
best a mere matter of taste, or personal preference, or general con-
venience. It may be satisfactory to the reader, and it may here-
after save time now to state that Marcion and Michaelis make
Paul's epistle to the Galatians the earliest, the latter author dating
it A. D. 49 ; while the authorized version, Eichhorn, Lardner,
Lloyd, Tomline, Horne, Pearson, Hug and Scott all make his ist
epistle to the Thessalonians the earliest, and his 2nd Epistle to the
Thessalonians the next in order. But they are not agreed as to
the dates of these epistles, some making them as early as 52, and
some two years later. While Michaelis regards the epistle to the
Galatians as Paul's first, most of those. writers just quoted regard
it as the third ; Lardner, Tomline, Horne and Bagster's Com-
prehensive Bible dating it as early as 52 or 53; Scott, in 56;
Pearson, in 57 ; our authorized version and Lloyd as late as 58.
The ist epistle to the Corinthians is pretty confidently sup-
posed to come next in order, though Schrader makes it the earliest
and Marcion makes it the second; Lardner fixes it at 53; Tom-
line, at 56 ; Michaelis, Pearson, Horne and Bagster, at 57 ; Lloyd, at
59, and the authorized version and Scott, at 60. Though Marcion
regards the 2nd epistle to the Corinthians as the third of Paul's
writing, and Hug as the sixth, yet neither of these gives the
common view. Eichhorn makes it the fifth. So does Schrader.
Pearson, Lardner, Tomline and Bagster date it in 57; Michaelis
and Horne, in 58 ; the authorized version and Lloyd, in 60 ; and
Scott, in 61. The epistle to the Romans was probably the sixth
in order, though Schrader makes it the third ; Marcion, the fourth ;
and Hug, the eighth. Pearson, Dupin and Tomline date it in 57 ;
Horne, in 57 or 58 ; Lord Barrington, Benson, Michaelis and
Lardner, in 58 ; the authorized version, Usher, Eichhorn and
Lloyd, in 60, and Scott, in 61. Schrader makes the epistle to the
Ephesians the sixth of Paul's writing ; Pearson, the eighth ; Mar-
cion and Eichhorn, the seventh. Lardner, Horne, Tomline and
Bagster date it in 61 ; the authorized version, Lloyd and Scott, in
INTRODUCTION. 11
64; and Michaelis, in 64 or 65. It is, however, generally agreed
that the epistles to the Philippians, Colossians and Philemon were
written the same year (at least about the same time) as that to the
Ephesians, though Scott dates Philippians a year later than the
other three. The epistle to the Hebrews probably comes next,
though Hug makes it the last of all. Horne and Bagster date it
in 62 or 63 ; Pearson, Lardner and Tomline, in 63 ; the authorized
version and Lloyd, in 64; Michaelis, in 64 or 65, and Scott, in
65. The ist epistle to Timothy is very generally regarded as
the twelfth in order. Lardner dates it as early as 56, and Mi-
chaelis in 58 ; but Pearson, Horne and Tomline date it in 64; Le
Clerc, L'Enfant, Cave, Fabricius, Mill, Macknight, Paley, Lloyd,
Scott and our authorized version, in 65. The epistle to Titus
is the thirteenth in order, though Hug makes it the third, and
Michaelis dates it in 5 1 or 52, and Lardner, in 56 ; but Horne, Tom-
line and Bagster date it in 64 ; and the authorized version, Pear-
son and Lloyd, in 65 ; and Scott, ,in 66. The last thing Paul ever
wrote was his 2nd epistle to Timothy, though Lardner dates it in
61 ; but Horne and Tomline, in 65 ; the authorized version, Mi-
chaelis and Lloyd, in 66 ; Benson, Macknight, Paley, Clarke and
Rosenmuller, not long before he suffered martyrdom. Nero died
in June 68, and Paul was beheaded under that emperor. It is
probable the later dates given are nearer the truth than the earlier.
Scott dates it in 67 and Pearson in 68.
VI. THE PLACES WHERE PAUL'S EPISTLES WERE WRITTEN.
It seems to be pretty generally agreed that the epistles to the
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon and the 2nd to
Timothy were written from Rome. The subscriptions to those
epistles say so, and there seems to be no countervailing evidence
of any considerable force. The authorized version admits that
all these were written from the imperial city. To the above some
add the epistle to the Hebrews. Horne thinks this is perhaps
true. With him agrees Slade. The subscription says it was from
Italy. So does the authorized version. The following epistles are
commonly supposed to have been written from Corinth, viz :
Romans, ist Thessalonians and 2nd Thessalonians. So say Horne
and Slade. But the subscriptions to both epistles to the Thessa-
lonians say they were written from Athens, and the authorized
version adopts that statement. The subscription to the epistle to
the Galatians dates it from Rome. The authorized version follows
this. But Horne dates it from Corinth, and Slade from Corinth
or Macedonia. The subscription to the ist epistle to the Corin-
12 INTRODUCTION.
thians says it was written from Philippi. With this agrees the
authorized version ; but Home and Slade correctly think it was
written at Ephesus, as is proven by what Paul himself says : " I
will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost," i Cor. 16 : 8. The sub-
scription to the 2nd epistle to the Corinthians says it was written
at Philippi. With this agrees our authorized version. But
Home and Slade date it from Macedonia, without fixing the par-
ticular city. It is generally agreed that the epistle to Titus was
probably written from Macedonia; the subscription and the
authorized version say from Nicopolis, which was in Macedonia:
Home and Slade date the ist epistle to Timothy from Macedonia,
though the subscription and authorized version date it from
Laodicea, which was the capital of Phrygia Pacotiana in Asia
Minor.
All Paul's epistles in our authorized version and in many other
versions and editions have subscriptions, that is, a few words or
lines purporting to tell where they were written, and sometimes
by whom they were sent. Having already referred to these, it is
convenient here, once for all, to say respecting them : I. They are
not Scripture They were not written by Paul, nor by any one
under his direction. They were written by some later writer
unknown to us. 2. Some of them may and perhaps do correctly
give the date of place ; but we cannot rely on them unless sup-
ported by evidence drawn from some other source. 3. The Doway
Bible, Guyse, the continuators of Henry, Scott and others pay no
regard to them, dropping them altogether. 4. It is certain that
some of them are erroneous as that to the ist epistle to the Corin-
thians, which the Doway Bible and respectable scholars generally
admit was written from Ephesus, not from Philippi, as stated in
the subscription. 5. Several of them are awkward and imperti-
nent.
For these reasons they might well be unnoticed in any con-
cise work on Paul's epistles. It may be observed that the doctri-
nal and practical truths of Paul's writings are just the same
wherever or whenever written ; that no duty is affected by our
views on these points ; and that the chief importance attached to
the date of time or place in any epistle arises from the use that
may be made of it in an argument with gainsayers on questions
of criticism. In some cases possibly there may be more point in
some things said, if dated at one time or place rather than another,
but this is doubtful.
INTRODUCTION. 13
VII. THE EXCELLENCE OF PAUL'S WRITINGS.
From the death of Paul to this day there has not been a Sab-
bath when he was not read, recited or quoted in the public minis-
trations of God's house ; and so it will be to the end of time.
Devils and wicked men, as well as saints and angels still say,
"Jesus I know and Paul I know." The power of Jesus as a
teacher arose from the fact that he was the author of truth, and
the embodiment of truth, and knew what was in man, and spoke
as man never spoke. The secret of Paul's power as a teacher is
found, not merely or chiefly in his genius, though that was pro-
digious, nor in his acquaintance with Hebrew and Grecian lore,
though that was vast, but in his thorough instruction by the
abundance of visions and revelations, which he had from the Lord
Jesus and from the large measure of God's Spirit granted him
during his whole Christian life. Thus he was able with great
clearness, directness, pungency and tenderness to address men
orally and by writing. Lord Shaftesbury says that " the conceal-
ment of order and method in this manner of writing (epistolary)
makes the chief beauty of the work." If this is a just observation,
one entire class of objection to Paul's epistles falls to the ground.
Augustine expressed the wish that he could have seen " Christ
in the flesh and Paul in the pulpit." Among mere men Paul was
probably the prince of preachers. Was Paul eloquent? The
answer to this question depends on our definition of eloquence.
If with Cecil we regard eloquence as " animated simplicity " in the
treatment of great themes ; or with Webster, as " forcible lan-
guage, which gives utterance to deep emotion ; " or with Worces-
ter, as "the art of clothing thoughts in such language, and of
uttering them in such a manner, as is adapted to produce convic-
tion or persuasion ; " then was Paul eloquent in a high degree a
master of the art. But if by eloquence is meant what some under-
stand thereby, "elegant language uttered with fluency," or
pleasing the ears and fancy of men by high- wrought but imaginary
scenes of woe or bliss, then was Paul not eloquent. He inten-
tionally and avowedly rejected all flashy and meretricious orna-
ments both in speaking and in writing, i Cor. i : 17; 2 : i, 4, 13.
Surely Beza spoke well: " When I more narrowly consider the
whole genius and character of Paul's style, I must confess I have
found no such sublimity of speaking in Plato himself; as often as
the apostle is pleased to thunder out the mysteries of God : no ex-
quisiteness of vehemence in Demosthenes equal to his, as often as
he had a mind to terrify men with a dread of the Divine judg-
ments, or to admonish them concerning their conduct, or to allure
14 INTRODUCTION.
them to the contemplation of the Divine benignity, or to excite
them to the duties of piety and morality. In a word, not even in
Aristotle, nor in Galen, though most excellent artists, do I find a
more exact method of teaching." The ' method ' here referred to
is not that of the rhetoricians, but that natural method, by which
great truths are conveyed in simple terms, and truths, unwelcome
to the natural heart, are tenderly and ingeniously insinuated into
the mind, nothing in the manner of communicating them naturally
irritating or justly offending the weak or the prejudiced.
Let it not be forgotten that Paul had much higher aims than
ever entered the mind of any Grecian orator, moralist or poet ;
that his views penetrated the veil of endless duration ; that he lived
as seeing him who is invisible ; that " the sacred oracles were not
designed as works of genius, to attract the admiration of the
learned, nor to set before them a finished model of fine writing for
their imitation ; but to turn mankind from sin to God ; " and
that every thing foreign from this great object was a grand im-
pertinence.
That Paul had a high order of eloquence was admitted by the
great critic, Dionysius Longinus : " Demosthenes, Lysias, Aes-
chines, Hyperides, Isocrates, Antiphon are the glory of all elo-
quence and of Greek genius ; to whom may be added Paul of Tar-
sus, who, so far as I know, was the first who did not make use of
demonstration." It is true that Fabricius and Ruhnken have ques-
tioned the genuineness of this passage ; but the reasons they have
given are insufficient. All the usual signs of interpolation are
wanting. We may, therefore, fairly receive the testimony of this
important critic, who belonged to a school pretty well acquainted
with the writings in use among the Christians. Yet no one would
think the less of Paul if he should regard the sentence as spuri-
ous ; just as no one thinks the better of Paul when he esteems it
genuine.
In 1588 there was born at Saumur, Claudius Saumaise, after-
wards known to the learned world by the Latin name of Salma-
sius. Casaubon spoke of him as ' learned to a wonder ' "ad
miraculum doctus." He was admired over all Europe. At
Leyden he was successor to Scaliger. Richelieu offered him
12,000 livres a year, if he would but live in France. The judg-
ment of no literary man on the Continent of Europe in the I7th
century carried with it such weight as did that of Salmasius. On
his death-bed (at the age of 65), this giant in every species of solid
and polite learning said : " O, I have lost a world of time. If one
year more were added to my life, it should be spent in reading
David's Psalms and Paul's epistles." Of the epistle to the Ephe-
INTRODUCTION. 15
sians Grotius says it expresses the grand matters of which it treats
in words " more sublime than are to be found in any human lan-
guage." John Locke says : " Paul is full of the matter he treats .
and writes with warmth, which usually neglects method, and those
partitions and pauses, which men educated in the school of rhetori-
cians usually observe." Macknight says : " All who wish to un-
derstand true Christianity ought to study the epistles of this great
apostle with the utmost care." Pages might easily be filled with
high commendations of Paul's writings, gathered from all sorts of
respectable writers for the last sixteen hundred years. What
doctrine did he ever handle but with great profit to the humble ?
What hard question did he ever blink or fail therein to give repose
to honest hearts and tender consciences ? What duty did he fail
to make plain and show the urgent reasons for its performance ?
What case of distress did he overlook or slight ? When did he
come sliort of presenting adequate considerations to sustain the
meek and lowly believer ? Then all he says is so practical, so
wisely presented and so tenderly urged, that simple-hearted men
feel that Paul understood their case, while the greatest minds have
felt no need of lessons more elevating than they found in his
writings. Above most men Paul was thoroughly practical. Of
him Chrysostom well says : " Like a wall of adamant, his writings
form a bulwark around all the churches of the world, while him-
self, as some mighty champion stands even now in the midst, cast-
ing down every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowl-
edge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the
obedience of Christ." Adolphe Monod says : " Should any one
ask me to name the man, who, of all others, has been the greatest
benefactor of our race, I should say, without hesitation, the Apostle
Paul. His name is the type of human activity, the most endless,
and at the same time, the most useful that history has cared to
preserve."
VIII. IS PAUL HARD TO BE UNDERSTOOD?
The correct answer to this question is given by Peter : " In all
his [Paul's] epistles speaking in them of these things ; in which
are some things hard to be understood, which they that are un-
learned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures,
unto their own destruction." 2 Pet. 3 : 16. In this language of
the Apostle of the circumcision there is both caution and candor.
I. He says that before men can get harm from Paul's epistles,
they must ' wrest,' wrench, turn awry, violently pervert things.
Whose language can bear unfair dealing, uncandid distorting?
16 INTRODUCTION.
We know who, and whose type he was that said : " Every day
they wrest my words." " The Scripture is so penned that they,
who have a mind to know, may know; they who have a mind to
wrangle may take occasion enough of offence, and justly perish
by the rebellion of their own minds ; for God never intended to
satisfy men of stubborn and perverse spirits." All this is but say-
ing that the Bible is profitable to those only who have candor,
humility, docility and the love of the truth. 2. Peter tells us who
they are, that thus pervert things. First, they are ' unlearned] or
uninstructed, those who are unsettled in the elements of truth.
Then they are ' unstable,' not steadfast. They have no true and
fixed first principles, but are driven like waves by every wind.
Such people are ever bewildered, and liable to be ' bewitched,' as
the Galatians were. 3. The obscurity is not so much in Paul's man-
ner of discussing these subjects, as in the subjects themselves ; for
the ' which ' refers not to the epistles but to ' these things,' of
which he had been speaking. No writer can overcome difficulties
inherent in a subject itself. Paul by the Spirit was led to discuss
the sublimest mysteries in the nature and providence of God, and
in the experience of men, as well as the knottiest questions in
casuistry. The Christian world has ever been thankful for the
light thus given, but the unlearned and unstable, who have no
spiritual wisdom, abuse such discussions. The fault is their own.
4. This is proven by the fact that the same men ' wrest also the
other Scriptures.' No part of God's word is duly received by
them. 5. They are bad men on their way to "destruction."
It is freely admitted also that to us the ancient Greek, in
which Paul wrote, is a dead language; that Paul's education
led him to use many forms of speech borrowedj rom the He-
brew; that he did not always use pure classical Greek, but
that which is often called Alexandrian, the Greek of the Septua-
gint, then somewhat modified and modernized. Cornelius a
Lapide says : " The apostle wrote in Greek and often grecianized ;
but because he was a Hebrew, he often hebraized." When we add
to this that the language of mortals is very inadequate to convey
heavenly ideas ; that all men are naturally blind in spiritual things,
and that in conveying spiritual conceptions it is necessary to use
terms in a sense very different from that which they have when
our discotirse is of carnal things, the reader will not wonder that
it is not easy for us at this distance of time and place from the
apostle's age and country always, even after careful study, to tell
certainly what is the precise shade of idea which he would convey
to us. It is therefore for a joy that God hears prayer, and opens
his ear to the cry of all who search for knowledge as for hid trea-
IN TR OD UC TION. 17
sure. The devout mind makes most progress in discovering the
.true nature and uses of all the teachings of God's word. " If any
man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liber-
ally and upbraideth not."
IX. THE STATE OF THE WORLD DURING PAUL'S PUBLIC LIFE.
Paul was acting a public part, as early as some time in A. D. 34.
He was converted in 36. If he was beheaded in 68, he was a
Christian teacher for thirty-two years, and lived till within (about)
two years . of the destruction of Jerusalem. That is, he was a
prominent and stirring* actor thirty-four out of the last thirty-six
years of the 'national existence of the Jews. In the Roman empire
he was cotemporary with Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero.
The liberties of the Jews were gone, they being lorded over by
Roman governors and other officials. The liberties of Greece had
very much perished in the same Way, as also by factions. "And
the liberties of Roman citizens had well nigh become extinct
through the cruelties of the emperors, and the rapacity of their
subordinates. The state of religion was low. The Jews, who still
adhered to their ritual, were to a fearful extent heartless hypo-
crites, utterly denying the power of godliness, and greatly given
to forms and fables. By their unbelief they justified their nation
in crucifying the Redeemer, and were anew crying : ' His blood
be upon us and upon our children.' Upon them was soon to be
visited the blood of all the holy prophets, from the blood of Abel
to that of Zecharias, that perished between the altar and the tem-
ple-. The Greeks had long been steeped in abominable idolatries.
Devil worship (such is all idolatry, i Cor. 10 : 20, 21) never did
elevate a people ; though some forms and stages of it are more
debasing than others. The Athenians were worshipping all the
gods of which their poets had sung, or their fathers had told ; and
then, lest there should be some failure, they had erected an altar
to THE UNKNOWN GOD. At Rome the Pantheon was crowded
with representations of the idols worshipped in the provinces.
But with all this show, religious obligation was every where de-
spised. Venality, cruelty, meanness, hypocrisy and corruption
terribly prevailed. Skepticism swayed large masses of men.
The schools of philosophy, never potential for real good, now
taught frivolities, or brutal coarseness, or chilling insensibility, .or
senseless refinements. An oath by any god had very much lost
its sacredness. There was not a ray of hope for the world but
that emanating from the cross of Calvary ; and to the great mass
of the J ews that cross was an offence, and to the great mass of
i8 INTRODUCTION.
9
pagans it was foolishness. Men bitterly scorned or with curled
lip smiled at the idea of being saved by one, who, they said, was
not able to save himself from the ignominy of crucifixion.
Yet there were present advantages for spreading the truth. The
Greek language was spoken by many, and read and understood by
more. The Greek schoolmasters had been abroad, and vast numbers
of their pupils in Italy and elsewhere were capable of enjoying any
thing written in the original language of the New Testament.
This is abundantly proven by Juvenal, Ovid and Tacitus. This was
true in many parts of Africa, as well as in Europe and Asia.
Then the Romans by their conquests had made the most populous
portions of Western Asia, Northern Afri'ca and Southern and
Central Europe accessible to travellers on any errand of com-
merce, philosophy or religion. Had the Christian doctrine only
asked for a place among sister systems of religion ; had it tolerated
idols and bad morals ; had it merely told, of the miracles of Jesus
without stating what they proved ; and had it humbly asked that
the statue of Jesus might be placed in the Pantheon alongside of
almost any of the many gods there represented ; it is not probable
it would have awakened either considerable notice or violent op-
position. But when it came condemning all the darling vices of
mankind, uprooting hoary systems of superstition, denouncing
heaven's wrath against all ungodliness and unrighteousness, and
commanding men, on pain of eternal damnation, to cease from
idols, from human wisdom, from self-will, self-esteem and self-
righteousness, and to rest all their hopes 'of happiness for the next
world on the person, the sacrifice, the intercession and the author-
ity of him, who bled and died in the midst of malefactors; Jew
and Gentile, Stoic and Platonist rose up in a rage, and said, Away
with so unsocial and accursed a form of superstition ; and they
soon began to persecute it.
X. PAUL THE VERY SORT OF MAN FOR THIS STATE OF THINGS.
In Greek and Hebrew learning, in an acquaintance with Jewish
prophets and heathen poets, in'acuteness and discrimination, in
power of reasoning and persuasion, in address and intrepidity
Paul was the very sort of man to enter into t'his state of things,
and fight a great battle for the truth. Naturally inclined to ex-
tremes, his conversion and subsequent discipline had taught him
all the rules of a just moderation. Hug : " Formerly hasty and
irritable, now only spirited and resolved ; formerly violent, now-
full of energy and enterprising: once ungovernably refractory
against every thing which obstructed him, now only persever-
INTRODUCTION. 19
ing ; once fanatical and morose, now only serious ; once cruel,
now only severe ; once a harsh zealot, now fearing God ;
formerly unrelenting, deaf to sympathy and commiseration,
now himself acquainted with tears, which he had seen with-
out effect in others. Formerly the friend of none, now the
brother of mankind, well-meaning, compassionate, sympathiz-
ing ; yet never weak, always great, in the midst of sadness and
sorrow manly and noble; . .. in the midst of pain full of dignity."
He was as bold as Peter, as tender as John, as seraphic as Isaiah.
He gave all ; he suffered all ; he sacrificed all ; he gained all. He
was meek, never tame ; humble, never mean ; giving no needless
offence, yet never yielding Christian liberty ; averse to strife, yet
never forgetting that he was set for the defence of the Gospel ;
bold when the truth was in peril, yet gentle as a nurse among her
children ; not counting his own life dear, yet tenderly regarding
the feelings and comfort of others ; , writing epistles full of just and
terrible rebuke to the heady, and as full of tenderness to the peni-
tent and sorrowful ; despising all the arts of effeminacy, yet in the
best sense an honorable gentleman ; detesting voluntary humility
and all affectation, yet working at his trade, tent-making ; carry-
ing about in his body the dying of the Lord Jesus, but finally
winning and eternally wearing a martyr's crown. Blessed, in-
comparable man ! raised up by the adorable head of the church to
be to the end of the world a pattern of what grace, and courage,
and diligence, and faith, and gentleness can do.
XL IN WRITING HIS FOURTEEN EPISTLES PAUL WAS DIVINELY
INSPIRED.
It is proof of the intense jealousy of the early church in admit-
ting to the canon of Scripture any book, 'that at first some of the
epistles, which bear Paul's name were doubted, and their genuine-
ness suspected. It is no less proof of the abundant evidence of
their divine inspiration that long since all hesitancy in receiving
them was removed, and that for ages the Christian world, divided
on many other matters, has been harmonious in receiving all he
has written, not as the word of man, but, as it is indeed, the
word of God. And all but neologists and semi-infidels as
freely admit that his inspiration was plenary, infallibly pre-
serving him from error, and verbal, leading him to use " words
which the Holy Ghost teacheth." The apocryphal books of
the New Testament are peculiarly unworthy of respect. Even
the*church of Rome rejects them from the canon. Hodge : '' A
comparison of the genuine apostolic writings with the spurious
20 . INTRODUCTION.
productions of the first and second centuries, affords one of the
strongest collateral evidences of the authenticity and inspiration
of the former."- But it is not intended here to argue at length, but
only to declare the inspiration of Paul's epistles. They are and
ought to be received and treated as the words of Jehovah. They
bind and ought to bind the conscience. The scope for criticism
and interpretation is and ought to be strictly limited to finding out
the true text and the true meaning of these writings ; the very
words used and the sense in which they were used. But the
highest claim of divine inspiration neither denies nor discourages
the idea that the Lord employed the turn of mind and mode of
thinking peculiar to any sacred penman, and made use of them for
the instruction of mankind. Inspiration did not metamorphose
the mind, but it divinely guided it into the way of truth. Holy
men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
XII. TRANSLATIONS OR VERSIONS OF PAUL'S EPISTLES.
These are almost countless. Besides such as are parts of the
entire word of God, large numbers of persons, scholiasts or com-
mentators on particular epistles, have given us amended, improved
or new translations. Some of these were obviously made for
strictly sectarian or heretical purposes. Such have almost uni-
formly fallen into disuse or oblivion after a short and ignoble
notoriety. They claim no special notice from us. Others hav-
ing no marked merits, have yet cast light on some few texts.
Others have been in a high degree scholarly and refreshing. Some
of the older English versions from quaintness, if not from, ele-
gance, do often, give the sense in a striking way. But none have,
as a whole, been comparable to the authorized English version.
Its arnazing mastery of bur mother tongue, its pure Anglo-Saxon
diction and its very careful rendering of the true idea of the
author still place it far above all competition. The reader will
therefore expect no new translation in this work. Where a refer-
ence to the original will aid us in getting the sense, it will be
freely made, and where other versions, than that in common use,
give a goo'd hint, it will be freely used. But in interpreting any
one of Paul's epistles, besides being governed as in other books
by the meaning of words, the context, the grammatical construc-
tion of sentences and the analogy of faith, we must look very
much to what 'he has said in other epistles, and particularly to
what we learn from the Acts of the Apostles. This has been so
justly and so fully illustrated in many particulars by Paley infhis
. Horae Paulinas, that a simple reference to that work renders un-
INTRODUCTION. 21
necessary extended remarks. It should never be forgotten that
Paul's apostleship was entirely independent of that of others. So
he often asserts, and so the history shows. I Cor. 1 1 : 23 ; 2 Cor.
12 : 1-7;' Gal. I : 12, 17.
XIII. DID PAUL WRITE ALL TIJE EPISTLES ASCRIBED TO HIM ?
Much time need not here be spent in discussing this matter,
because there is at present and for a long time has been so general
an agreement on the subject among all that class of persons, to
whom the religious world looks with deference ; and because the
subject has been so fully and ably discussed by learned men.
There has been more doubt respecting Paul's writing the epistle
to the Hebrews than any other ascribed to him. That he was the 1
author of that book has been now almost universally conceded.
The argument on the subject is very conclusive ; but it is incon-
sistent with the design of this work to encumber it with so long
a disquisition as would be necessary in order fully and fairly to
state it here. It may be gathered from Carpzov, Bengel, Whitby,
Hales, Rosenmuller, Home, Townsend, Macknight and many
others. Very few, if any, who admit that Paul wrote the epistle
to the Hebrews, deny his authorship of any of the other thirteen
epistles commonly ascribed to him. And here the general ques-
tion of authorship may rest. But nothing here said is intended to
deny that Paul often employed an amanuensis, as Tertius in writ-
ing Romans (Rom. 16 : 22); Timothy in writing more than one
epistle, etc., etc.
XIV. DID PAUL WRITE EPISTLES, WHICH ARE NOT NOW EXTANT?
Paul was a man of loving heart, formed warm friendships and
had very tender affection for those, whom he had begotten in the
Gospel, and for all the churches. It would be very remarkable
that such a man, with his literary tastes, should have written,
during a ministry of such length, nothing but the fourteen epistles
now in our hands. This does not concede that any of his epistles
designed for the edification of the church in all coming ages have
been lost. '
Nor would it at all impair the authenticity and canonical
authority of the books we have, if it could be proven that some
given by divine inspiration have perished. It is not absurd to say
that some of Paul's writings may have been designed to answer a
purpose, like that of the apostolic office, and then pass away.
Michaelis : " As Divine Providence has thought proper, that only
22 INTRODUCTION.
fourteen [of Paul's epistles] should descend to posterity, we have
no more reason to complain of the loss of his other epistles, than
that several of Christ's speeches, all of which contained the words
of God, were not committed to writing." That may all be so.
But when we are asked to believe that some portions of God's
word, designed for the edification of believers in all coming time,
have not been preserved, we solemnly pause and ask for more
weighty reasons than are drawn from I Cor. 5 : 9, or from 2 Pet.
3:15. The view of F. Stosch and Lardner is far more probable,
and is sustained by far better considerations. They maintain that
we have all Paul's epistles ever written for the churches. In-
deed, their language is even stronger than that. On this matter
Lardner is very forcible ; perhaps the reader will say, conclusive :
" We have only four genuine Gospels, and only one history of the
Acts of the Apostles: and we have no reason to suppose that
more Gospels, or more ecclesiastical histories were written by
apostles, or apostolic men." Why then should we suppose that
more epistles, besides the twenty-one now in the canon, were
designed to have a place there ? This argument is fair and very
powerful. Again : " If more epistles had been written, the apos-
tle or apostles, who wrote them, would have taken care that they
should be preserved, and transmitted to posterity, as well as those
which have actually descended to us." The whole history of the
formation of the canon of Scripture clearly evinces two things
great caution in admitting any writing to a place among the sacred
books, and great care to preserve and perpetuate those which had
been thus received. Moreover, such has been the wonderful pro-
vidence of God in preserving for our use the sacred books we
have, notwithstanding the efforts made to destroy them, that no
more vigilance of the all-seeing eye was necessary to preserve any
others, had they been written by inspired men, and designed for
our use. The church of God, especially the more pious and intel-
ligent part of it, will never yield the point that God's care in pre-
serving to us entire his holy word is one of the most illustrious
proofs of his providence and of his love for Zion. On this matter
the faith of the better sort of Christians is very settled. Again :
" No Christian community, which had received an epistle from an
apostle, would have suffered that epistle to be lost." Why should
they ? Piety would have perpetuated it. Even lower considera-
tions than ought to govern men, would not have been without
their power to dispose the early Christians to hold fast their sacred
books. Josephus, though with the Roman army besieging the
holy city, made a successful effort to save the writings of the
prophets. It has been estimated that at the close of the I. Cen-
INTRODUCTION. ' 23
tury there were some thousands of copies (some say as many as
five thousand copies) of God's word in the world ; and all these
were most probably in the hands of the friends of Christ. It is
hardly credible that any part of the canon of Scripture ha's
perished. And it is wholly incredible that any sacred book of the
Christians should have ceased to be found on earth ; and yet we
have no respectable history or credible tradition of such a dis-
aster. Moreover, all serious and intelligent Christians admit that
there is no duty or sin, of which we have not full information, or
warning in the books now found in the canon of Scripture.
XV. THE NEW TESTAMENT WAS ALL ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN
GREEK.
Judicious writers regard the evidence as conclusive that the
original of the entire New Testament was Greek. Where doubt
has been expressed, it has commonly been unsupported by evi-
dence. Bellarmine goes so far as to hold that the epistle to the
Romans was first written in Latin. But the Doway Bible says
it was written in Greek. Bertholdt says that all Paul's epistles
were written in Hebrew, popularly so called, Aramaic as scholars
usually call it. But there is no evidence to support these opin-
ions. There has been more doubt respecting the original of the
Gospel of Matthew and of the epistle to the Hebrews. Some have
contended that our Greek copy of Matthew is only a translation
from the Hebrew. It may, without any prejudice to the argu-
ment, be admitted that Matthew or some one under his direction
early gave to those who spoke the vernacular of his country a ver-
sion of his Gospel. That is all that has as yet been made probable.
But that the original was in Greek has been made very clear by
many. A sufficient statement of the proof will be found in Whitby .
We are more immediately concerned with the epistle to the
Hebrews. Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Jerome, J. D. Mi-
chaelis and others have decidedly favored the opinion that it was
originally written in Hebrew. Those, who thus maintain, sup-
pose, or leave us to suppose, that it was afterwards translated into
Greek by Luke, Barnabas, or Clement. But this hypothesis is
encumbered with difficulties. The quotations from the Old Tes-
tament found in the epistle to the Hebrews are generally made
from the Septuagint, not from the Hebrew, even when they widely
differ from the Hebrew. This would surely not be done in writing
to those who were most familiar with the Jewish Scriptures in the
original. If it were written in Hebrew, why should the words
Melchisedek and Salem be translated ? No Hebrew needed to be
24 ' INTRODUCTION.
told that the latter signified peace ; the former, king of righteousness.
In it many things of this kind are found. There are also in it
several paronomasias on Greek words, which would not be possi-
ble in a translation from Hebrew. Then it reads like an original.
It is free, flowing, not cramped, not strained. Moreover the
Greek was well known in Judea, as might be argued from Luke
23 : 38, and as is proven by much historical evidence. That the
Greek was much esteemed by the Jews in the first century is
established by the fact that Josephus and Philo both wrote in
Greek. Philo was sometimes called the Jewish Plato. He
adopted his philosophy and wrote elegantly in his language.
There were probably more. Hebrews residing elsewhere than in
Judea. Nor is this all. There is extant no copy of the epistle to
the Hebrews in the mother tongue of the Hebrews of the first
century, which can be shown to have existed at that time. Nor is
there any history or tradition, on which we can at all rely, to the
contrary of the views here maintained.
If neither the Gospel of Matthew nor the epistle to the He-
brews was originally written in Hebrew, it is unnecessary to
prove that no other book of the New Testament, and in particu-
lar that none of the remaining thirteen epistles of Paul were orig-
inally written in any other language than the Greek. On this
matter the learned reader will find very lucid discussion in
Carpzov.
XVI. QUOTATIONS IN THIS WORK.
Any remark or sentence in this work, which the author has
found to be the literary property of any one person, has been fully
credited. But nearly all pious and sensible writers of any one
class of commentators on God's word say things which have been
said by many others. Thousands of such truths lie on the very
surface of Scripture. In such cases a formal quotation would be
mere pedantry. It would make a false impression, ascribing to
one what was common to many. There is a very large range of
thought, which is fairly common property to all learned and
devout students of Paul's writings. Let every man avail himself
of it. It is as fairly his, as the light or air of heaven. It is the
setting up of an exclusive or original claim to this great and com-
mon fund, that makes some sciolists both ridiculous and odious.
The annotator of Bagster's Comprehensive Bible speaking of his
labors says : " From the alteration, abridgment and condensation,
and frequently from the blending together of the observations of
two or more writers, as well as from want of room, it was foun-
INTRODUCTION. 25
impossible to specify the name of the author or authors from
which they (the remarks) are derived." He truthfully adds:
" No class of writers borrow from each other more freely without
acknowledgment than Biblical critics and commentators, and, in
many instances, the substance of the information belongs to the
common stock of Biblical criticism, and could not, with propriety,
be assigned as the property of any individual." Nevertheless
every thing due to any author is in this work carefully acknowl-
edged, so far as known. If there is any exception, it is by mistake
or oversight, and not willingly. Yet where an author's name is
given, and a Word, a phrase, or a sentence immediately follows,
quotation marks are not used, giving the name of the author being
thought sufficient. But this never extends beyond a single
sentence,
XVII. SYRIAC, ARABIC AND ETHIOPIC VERSIONS.
The author has no acquaintance with Syriac. His quotations
from the Peshito version are made chiefly on the authority of
Murdock's translation of that venerable monument of antiquity.
Nor does he know either Arabic or Ethiopic, but relies on the
Latin translation in Walton's Polyglot as giving the sense of those
versions. In other cases he has generally resorted to the original
versions, from which he has quoted.
XVIII. SOME NOTICE OF COMMENTATORS ON PAUL'S EPISTLES.
The authors who have attempted to elucidate Paul's writings
are almost countless. No complete catalogue of them has yet
been given to the world. In the III. century we have Origen ; in
the IV. Chrysostom ; in the V. Augustine, Theodoret and Pelagius ;
in the X. CEcumenius ; in the XI. Theophylact ; in the XII. Hugo
a Sancto Victore ; in the XIII. Thomas Aquinas ; in the XVI.
Luther, Zwingle, Melancthon, Erasmus, Salmeron, Bellarmine,
Calvin, Bugenhagen and Bucer ; in the XVII. Beza, Hunnius,
the Assembly's Annotations, the Dutch Annotations, Ferme, Mel-
ville, Justinian, Diodati, Baldwin, Schlichting, Burkitt, Cornelius
a Lapide, Grotius, Piscator, Fabricius, Calov, S. Schmidt, Cocceius,
Hammond, John Brown of Wamphray, Pool and Henry's continu-
ators; in the XVIII. Limborch, Wetstein, J. Alphonsus Turrettin,
Bengel, Rosenmuller, Guyse, Benson, Baumgarten, C. Schmidt,
Wolf, Heumann, Carpzov, Koppe, Gill, Doddridge, John Brown
of Haddington, Macknight ; in the XIX. J. F. Flatt, Tholuck,
Hawker, Haldane, Scott, Clarke, Stuart, Hodge, Williams, Cobbin,
26 INTRODUCTION.
Barnes, Sampson, Slade, Olshausen, Conybeare and Howson,
Chalmers, and many others. Some of these have written on all
Paul's epistles, some on several, some on two, a few on one and no
more. A large number of authors have written Introductions to
the New Testament, in which they give much attention to Paul's
epistles. Then we have many disquisitions on particular parts of
these epistles either in separate treatises or embodied in works on
Systematic Divinity. We might name the writings of T. Adam,
Kohlbrugge, Dickinson, Wardlaw and many others. In this work
where a sentence or more is credited to " Brown," it means John
Brown of Wamphray, unless otherwise stated.
XIX. REASONS FOR WRITING THIS BOOK.
The author with pleasure acknowledges the goodness of God
in giving to the church many valuable expositions of his word
of Paul's writings in particular. Of these some are very costly,
some are in Latin, some abound in discussions of no special interest
to the masses of this generation, and some are so voluminous that
but few have time to read them. Yet in most of them are thoughts,
which ought to be perpetuated. The author of this work under-
took it for many reasons: i. He knew no law against it. The
field was open to enter in and reap. It is open to all. No man
can forbid. 2. Many judicious persons, learned and plain, having
read the author's work on the Psalms, have greatly encouraged
him to write on other portions of Scripture. This has been done
in public print and in private letters, especially by such persons,
as never had given him bad counsel. 3. He hoped that many
would find in it things which the press of business would not allow
them to search for in large and rare works. 4. This work fell in
with the author's course of studies. Paul's epistles in Greek, Latin,
and English have long been his delight. For years he seldom took
a journey without some volume on the epistles in his hand. For
some time he has been teaching classes in some of these epistles,
and often referring to all of them, and expounding large portions
of them. 5. All evangelical people put a high estimate on Paul's
writings. In them they find great refreshment. Their spiritual
life is not a little supported by the doctrines and encouragements
found in them. The author would fain aid such in their attempts
to know the mind of God as here revealed. 6. He found his heart
drawn to this work. He loved the study of these epistles of truth
and love. Except when preaching the Gospel to the perishing,
or teaching candidates for the ministry, he never was happier
than when searching to find out what the Spirit of Christ did sig-
INTRODUCTION. 27
nify when he spoke by Paul. 7. He found himself very much
confined, during most of the year, to his duties as a teacher of
theology, commonly with a few hours each day at his disposal,
and remembered that he was accountable for the use or abuse of
this precious time. He dared not waste it. He knew it was a
price put into his hands to glorify God. He hoped best to do so
in preparing this volume. 8. He remembered that the night
cometh when no man can work, and that blessed is he, who soweth
beside all water courses, and so does all the good he can. No
well-intentioned publication of saving truth shall fail to meet a
divine reward.
XX. RECENT WORKS ON ROMANS.
Since the plan of this work was formed, and a good part
of it executed, several commentaries on this epistle have appeared.
No notice of them appears in this volume, and that for several
reasons: I. The author wished these works to stand on their own
merits before the public without any unfriendly notice from him.
2. He did not wish to impart to this work any semblance of the
spirit of controversy with his cotemporaries, as he must have done,
if he had quoted freely from some of them. 3. To have taken any
extended notice of them would have somewhat modified the plan
of this volume, and he thought it best to make no considerable
change in that respect. 4. So far as he has looked into them, he
thinks the main objects contemplated in this volume are as well
secured without dwelling on the new forms or phases of discus-
sion introduced by these authors, as in any other way.
THE
EPISTLE OF PAUL, THE APOSTLE,
TO THE
E O M A N S.
FOR date of time and place of this Epistle see Introduction
V. & VI. Of the state of the world at the time when it was
written see Introduction IX.
On the day of Pentecost among Peter's hearers were strangers
of Rome. Acts 2 : 10. Some of these at once embraced the Gos-
pel. Acts 2 : 41. It is highly probable that some of them very soon
returned to the imperial city, and, being full of zeal, persuaded
others to embrace Christ, and thus the nucleus of a Christian church
was formed. It early became a famous* church, so that its " faith
was spoken of throughout the world." Rom. i : 8. There is not
the slightest evidence that it was founded by Peter and Paul, or
by either of them. Paul had not even visited them when he wrote
this epistle, though he had long desired to do so. Rom. 15 : 23. It
cannot be proven beyond doubt that Peter was ever in Rome,
though the tradition that he was there long after the formation of
the Roman church amounts to a reasonable historic probability.
But it is entirely clear that he was not there and had not been
there when this epistle was written.
From all we can learn of the church at Rome it was at an early
day composed both of Jews and Gentiles. This is evident from
many things in this epistle itself, chap, i : 13 ; 4:1; 7:1; n : I ;
15 : 15, 1 6, as well as from other sources of information, especially
from the book of Acts. How persistent and urgent the Judaizers
were is proclaimed by the united voice of antiquity. Indeed not
a few of them boldly said : " Except ye be circumcised a fter the
manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved." Acts 15:1. As a class
they were very troublesome.
The epistle, which we are now to study, is excelled by no por-
tion of God's word in the weight and excellence of its matter.
30 EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.
Macknight calls it " a writing, which, for sublimity and truth of
Sentiment, for brevity and strength of expression, for regularity in
its structure, but above all, for the unspeakable importance of the
discoveries which it contains, stands unrivalled by any mere human
composition, and as far exceeds the most celebrated productions
of the learned Greeks and Romans, as the shining of the sun
exceedeth the twinkling of the stars." Scott : " The epistle itself
is one of the longest, and most comprehensive, of all that were
written by the apostle." Olshausen : " Every thing in the epistle
wears strongly the impress of the greatest originality, liveliness,
and freshness of experience." The Dutch Annotations : " This
epistle is rightly accounted a key for the right understanding of
all the Holy Scriptures ; and especially for the right understand-
ing of the fulfilling of the promise made to the people of Israel
by Moses and the prophets, for salvation both of Jews and Gen-
tiles." Hodge : " There is no book in the Bible, and there is no
ancient book in the world, of which the authenticity is more cer-
tain than that of this epistle."
CHAPTER I.
VERSES 1-7.
THE INSCRIPTION AND SALUTATION.
PAUL, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel
of God. . '
2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy Scriptures,)
3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of
David according to the flesh ; ,
4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of
holiness, by the resurrection from the dead :
5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to 1 the faith
among all nations, for his name :
6 Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ
7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints : Grace to you,
and peace, from God our. Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1PAUL, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, sepa-
. rated unto the gospel of God. Paul, on this name see Intro-
duction 1. Paul practised no concealment ; he boldly gave his
name. A servant, not the word rendered hired servant, Luke
15 : 17, 19, but a word, which when referring to the civil condition
of men, means the opposite of free ; in Eph. 6: 8, Col. 3 : u, Rev.
13 : 16 rendered bond. Conybeare and Howson : a bondsman. Mac-
knight: The original word properly signifies a slave. Taylor:
The word may be taken in its strict and primary sense, as signify-
ing a servant who is the absolute property of the master and bound
to him for life. Wetstein: But as a servant of a king is a name of
dignity ; so also is a servant of Messias. It is a favorite title of
Christian ministers, Gal. I : 10; 4 : 12; Phil. I : I ; 2 Tim. 2 : 24;
Jas. i : i ; 2 Pet. I : I ; Jude I ; Rev. I : I. In both Testaments it
often denotes any true friend of God. Hodge : It is a general offi-
cial designation. Paul is a servant of no common master, but of
Jesiis Christ. Jesus is the proper name of our Saviour, the Greek
form of the Hebrew Joshua. Heb. 4 : 8. Yet this name was not
given him without reference to the salvation he should effect for
32 * EPISTLE TO [Gh. I., v. i.
i
his people. Matt, i : 21. Christ, corresponding to the Hebrew
Messias, meaning anointed, the official name of our Lord. His
anointing was by the Holy Ghost. He had the spirit without meas-
ure, John 3 : 34. Called to be an apostle. Here the authorised ver-
sion follows that of Tyndale, Geneva, and Rheims. Cranmer :
called to the office of an apostle ; Peshito : called and sent ; Wic-
lif: clepid an apostle; Dutch Annotations and Macknight: a
called apostle ; Stuart : a chosen apostle ; Turrettin : an apostle by
divine vocation ; Beza : an apostle by the call of God. The word
is often found in the New Testament, and is not once in the author-
ized version rendered chosen, but always called, or a few times bidden
in the sense of called. It is more than once found in the same
verse as the word chosen, and in a sense different from it. Many
are called, but few chosen, Matt. 20 : 16; 22 : 14. They that are with
him are called, and chosen, and faithful, Rev. 17: 14. In Rom.
8 : 30 it is carefully distinguished from the purpose of God :
Whom he did predestinate, them he also called,, and whom he
called, them he also justified. We have the same word in vs.
6, 7. As many questioned Paul's right to teach and act with
apostolic authority, he often alleged his divine call to that office.
An apostle, one sent; in i Cor. 8:23, rendered messenger; the
Peshito here and elsewhere has legate. In Heb. 3:1 it is applied
to Christ; but in almost every other case where the title is con-
ceded, it designates the office of those thirteen men, who had seen
the Lord Jesus, were witnesses that he had risen from the dead,
and had authority from Him -to reveal his will to the churches.
If any man has not been an eye-witness of Christ's resurrection,
he cannot be an apostle, so say the Scriptures ; they no less
declare that Paul had seen him. Acts i : 8, 22 ; 2 : 32 ; 3:15; 4 : 33 ;
22 : 14, 15 ; 26 : 16 ; i Con 9:1; 15 : 8, 15. Whateley justly says :
Successors to the apostles there are none. There never has been
an apostle on earth since the death of John. Paul was separated
unto the Gospel. Separated, Tyndale, Cranmer and Genevan : put
apart ; Stewart, Conybeare and Howson : set apart ; Beza, Dodd-
ridge, Macknight: separated. The word may mean chosen, se-
lected, as Hesychius shows. In some of its forms the word
occurs ten times in the New Testament and always has the sense
of separate, though in Matt. 13 : 49 we read the angels shall " sever
the wicked from among the just." In Matt. 25 : 32 it is for
euphony variously rendered : " He shall separate them from one
another, as a shepherd dimdeth his sheep from the goats." There
are several interpretations. One is that Paul alludes to his having
been a pharisee, which means separatist, when he had been sepa-
rated from all ceremonial defilement and from the mass of the com-
Ch. I., v. 2.] THE ROMANS. - 33
mon people; so now he was separated, distinguished from the
mass of men to preach the gospel. This is the view taken by
Drusius and Whitby. Olshausen wholly rejects this as a mere
play upon words. Others think it finds its best interpretation in
Acts 13:2. "The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and
Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them." This is the
view of Theodoret, Turrettin and Olshausen. The same word is
used in Acts 13:2, as in our verse. But Paul is here asserting
his plenary apostolic power, and not that he in common with
Barnabas had a special designation to go to the heathen. Another
interpretation refers the separation to the divine purpose. This is
the sense given to the word by Luther in Gal. 1 : 15, by the Dutch
Annotations, by Guyse and Stuart. This word in no instance
has the sense of sanctified or consecrated. Some make it explana-
tory of the word called. All that can fairly be gotten from the
two words called and separated is that Paul was selected, effec-
tually called and divinely appointed to his work. Ferme : The
calling is the separation of the person called. Calvin : I cannot
agree with those who refer the call of which he speaks to the
eternal election of God. He was separated
Unto the gospel of God- Gospel ; Conybeare & Howson, Glad
tidings. The word is derived from God, good, and spel, or spell,
word or speech. Gospel very precisely conveys the sense of the
Greek. It is called the gospel of salvation, because it shows that
salvation is possible, and in what way. It is called the gospel of
Christ, because it is the fruit of Christ's grace and compassion to
men, and because Christ's person, work, sufferings, death, exalta-
tion and glory constitute the sum of it. Without Christ there
would have been no good news to sinners. It is called here the
gospel of God, because God is its author. It is the ' good tidings '
sent by God.
2. W/iich he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy Scrip-
tiires. This verse is clearly parenthetical, and is so put in most
editions of the English version. How fully the gospel was prom-
ised in the Old Testament appears more and more as we piously
study it. It was preached in Eden, Gen. 3:15; and to Abraham,
Gal. 3 : 8. When we read David, Isaiah and Zechariah it some-
times seems as if we were reading one of the Gospels. Both
Jesus and his apostles often insisted that they proposed nothing
contrary to the teachings of the prophets, and nothing which the
prophets had not led the church to expect. John I : 45 ; 5 : 46 ;
8 : 56; 12 : 16; Luke 24 : 27, 44; Acts 3 : 21-24; IO : 43 J an d often
in this epistle. In the holy Scriptures ; literally in h;jly writings;
the article is wanting; Wiclif: in holi scripturis. There was
3
34 EPISTLE TO [Ch. I., v. 3.
but one set of holy writings, received by the Jewish church.
To those, to whom Paul wrote, this designation was clear. The
New Testament writers use scripture or scriptures, singular or plu-
ral, indiscriminately to designate the word of God ; so Paul in this
epistle. God is the author of the gospel, yet the great subject
matter of it is
3. Concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of
the seed of David according to the flesh. He, who is substantially
right respecting the person, work and glory of Christ, has the
substance of the gospel ; he, who here errs fundamentally, errs
fatally. If Jesus Christ is truly the Son of God, equal with God,
having the same nature with the Father, the only begotten of the
Father, then he is fit to be our Lord, the absolute proprietor of our
persons, worthy to receive all the homage and service we can pos-
sibly offer. The word here rendered Lord has a long history and
interesting. It is the word used in the Septuagint to translate the
words Jehovah and Adonai ; the former denoting the self-existent,
independent, eternal and unchangeable I AM ; the latter express-
ing his authority and sovereignty over us. It is a title given in
the New Testament to our Saviour hundreds of times. In a few
cases it is rendered Master, as " Your Master also is in heaven."
Eph. 6 : 9. No man in the true sense of terms can say that Jesus
Christ is Lord but by the Holy Ghost, i Cor. 12 : 3. He is Lord
and we should so confess ; it is to the glory of the Father, and not
in derogation of it. Phil. 2:11. He is no less the Son of God and
our Lord because he was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh. For made Tyndale has begotten ; Peshito, Cranmer, Mac-
knight, Hodge, Conybeare and Howson, born ; Dutch Annotations,
became. In Rom. 3 : 19; 4 : 18; 7 : 13 it is rendered become; in
Rom. 2 : 25 ; 10 : 20; 11:9 made, and often was, hath been, etc.
Seed, a word rendered with absolute uniformity in the authorized
version. When Christ is said to be of the seed of David, the
meaning is, he is of the house and lineage of David, he is of
David's posterity, he is of that royal line. According to the flesh,
as to his human nature, or so far as he was a man. Had he not
been the son of man and the seed of David he would not have
met the demands of prophecy. 2 Sam. 7 : 16; Isa. 11 : I. One
evangelist fitly traces his genealogy to the first pair to prove that
he was the seed of the woman ; another to David, thus shewing
how completely he met the requirements of the Old Testament
And all this was settled by a legal process before his birth by
the very process by which the titles to the lands of the country
were determined.
4. And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the
Gh. L, v. 4.] THE ROMANS. 35
spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Declared, this
word is preferred by Chrysostom, Theodoret, Tyndale, Cranmer,
the Genevan, Calvin, Beza, Diodati, Brown of Wamphray,
Tholuck and Hodge. The Assembly's Annotations and J. Owen
follow the margin and read, determined ; Le Clerc, Eisner, Dodd-
ridge, Conybeare and Howson, marked out ; Origen, Cyril and
Boothroyd, proved ; Macknight, made to appear what he is ;
Ferme, Burkitt, Whitby and Cox, demonstrated; Peshito, made
known as. All these substantially agree. There is no good rea-
son for rendering the word predestinated, as do Ireneeus, Epi-
phanius, Augustine, Vulgate, Doway and Rheims. It is mourn-
ful to find Stuart rendering it constituted, and contending for it
at great length. The verb signifies to mark off, bound, define,
and so to declare, or determine. He was declared to be the Son
of God ivith power. On the phrase Son of God see on v. 3.
The phrase with power -[or in power] has been variously explained.
The larger mimber connect it with declared. Guyse paraphrases
the whole thus determinately avowed, openly proclaimed and
convincingly demonstrated ; Burkitt, mightily and powerfully
demonstrated ; Doddridge, determinately, and in the most con-
vincing manner marked out as the Son of God, with the most
astonishing display of divine power ; Macknight, declared, with
great power of evidence; Genevan, declared mightily; Hodge,
clearly declared. It is best to connect the words declared and
with power. All this was done according to the spirit of holiness.
Wiclif : bi the spirit of halowynge ; Tyndale : with power of
the holy goost that sanctifieth ; Cranmer : after the sprete that
s'anctyfyeth ; Genevan : touching the Spirite that sanctifieth ;
Rheims : according to the spirit of sanctification ; Peshito : by the
Holy Spirit ; Beza agrees with the authorized version ; Ferme :
his own sanctifying spirit ; Stuart : as to his holy spiritual nature'
Three methods have been adopted for explaining this phrase. I.
Some think it points to our Lord's personal sanctity as a man.
This was indeed perfect ; but where do we learn that the phrase
spirit of holiness simply denotes personal purity ? 2. Others ex-
plain it of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. This
is admissible ; as Paul often uses such Hebrew forms of speech.
This gives a good sense, according to the teachings of other parts
of God's word. Christ said that the Comforter, the Spirit of
truth, should testify of him. John 15 : 26. He did so on the day
of Pentecost. The same truth is elsewhere declared, Heb. 2 : 3,
4. In creation, in providence, in raising Jesus from the dead, and
in the resurrection of the saints at the last clay, the Scriptures
teach a concurrence of all the persons of the Godhead. Speaking
36 EPISTLE TO [Ch. I., v. 4.
of our Lord, Paul once says God the Father raised him up, Gal.
I : i. Jesus claimed and exercised the power to raise his own
body, John 2 : 19 ; 10 : 18. The Scriptures no less clearly say
that the body of Christ was raised, and that the bodies of the saints
shall be raised by the power of the Holy Ghost. Rom. 8 : 11. Just
so we acknowledge God the Father Almighty as Maker of heaven
and earth, yet without the Word was not any thing made that was
made, and God's Spirit garnished the heavens, moved upon the
face of the deep, and filled it with living things. 3. Others explain
the phrase of the divine nature of our Lord.
In favor of the second of these explanations we have Calvin,
Burkitt, Doddridge, Scott, Williams and others ; in favor of the
third, Diodati, Beza, Pool, Hammond, Ferme, Guyse, the Dutch
Annotations, the Assembly's Annotations, Locke, Alford, Olshau-
sen, Stuart, Haldane and Hodge. Several of these cite in proof
i Tim. 3: 16; Heb. 9 : 14; and i Pet. 3 : 18; and Haldane quotes
i Cor. 15 : 45, and 2 Cor. 3 : 17 to show that Christ is explicitly
called a Spirit. Gill regards either the second or the third view
as admissible. The great argument for the third view is taken from
the apparent antithesis between the flesh and the spirit in vs. 3, 4.
If this contrast was intended by the apostle, the argument is con-
clusive. Certainly in some other places the same form of words
indicates intended antithesis. Matt. 12 : 32 ; Rom. 4 14; 8 : 1,4, 5.
This view is therefore preferred. By the restirrection from the dead;
Peshito: who rose from the dead, Jesus Messiah, our Lord; Cov-
erdale,Tyndale, and Cranmer render the clause, since the time that
he rose, &c. Theodoret, Luther, Grotius : from and after ; Stuart :
after; Hammond: after, and through, and by. The great mass
of commentators agree with the authorized version. The latter
phrase in the clause ' is literally the resurrection of the dead; but
this phrase more than once means the resurrection from the
dead, i Cor. 15 : 42 ; Heb. 6 : 2. The resurrection of Jesus Christ
settles his divine sonship in the clearest manner, i. It was a very
remarkable display of the power of God, and so the Scriptures
speak of it. Eph. i : 19, 20. 2. Jesus Christ had foretold that he
would arise by his own power ; so that his omnipotence is the
same as that of the Father. 3. Jesus Christ was the surety of his
people, and eternal justice would not have released him till his
humiliation was completed. 4. During his ministry our Lord had
said and done many things contrary to the notions of the masses
of men, and had set up the highest claims to reverence, worship
and obedience from men. If he were not truly and properly
divine, all these claims were those of a deceiver. But his resur-
rection confirmed them every one. 5. So great was the import-
Ch. I., vs. 5, 6.] THE ROMANS. 37
ance of the event and such was its connection with all that is vital
in religion that our justification and indeed our whole hope of
salvation are in Scripture made to depend upon it. Rom. 4 : 25 ;
i Pet i : 3.
5. By whom we have received grace and apostle ship, for obedience to
the faith among all nations, for his name. Whom refers to Jesus Christ,
and we, to the apostles, his ministers. Grace, a word of 'frequent
occurrence in the Scriptures. It may relate to disposition, speech
or act, and means favor, good-will, kindness undeserved, unbought
love. It is often used very much in the sense of mercy ; yet is
perhaps the stronger word. Both words imply compassion to the
miserable ; but mercy may be to the unfortunate, whereas, strictly
speaking, grace is to the guilty, favor to the undeserving. The
gospel is itself a grace an undeserved favor to men. 2 Cor. 6 :
I, Titus 2: ii. So the authority to preach the gospel is an un-
merited privilege, and is so confessed by Paul himself. Eph. 3 : 8.
No man deserves to be a minister of Christ. Salvation from first
to last is of grace. No man deserves pardon, acceptance, renewal
or eternal life, i Cor. 15 : 10; Eph. i : 7; 2 : 5 ; Rom. 4 : 16. On
apostlcship see v. i. Grace and apostleship point to more than a
' gracious apostleship.' They include not only the office and its
miraculous gifts but all the work of God's Spirit necessary to pre-
pare the apostle for his office and for salvation. The rest of the
verse is more difficult. Wiclif : to obeie to the faith in all folkis
for his name; Coverdale: amonge all heythen, to set 'up the obe-
dience of faith under his name ; Tyndale : to bring all maner
hethen people unto obedience of the faith that is in his name ;
Cranmer: that obedience might be geven unto the faith in his
name among all heithen ; Stuart : in order to promote the obedi-
ence of faith among all nations, for his name's sake ; Alford : in
order to bring about obedience to the faith among all (the) nations.
For obedience is best understood as unto obedience, i. e. to the end
that obedience maybe secured. The faith may mean either the
grace of saving faith in the Redeemer, as often it does ; or it may
mean the essential creed of the saints, the gospel, the sum of the
things necessary to be believed. In this case the result reached
is the same whichsoever explanation be given. But see Acts 6:7;
Rom. 16: 26 and many parallel passages. For his name is best
understood to the glory of his name, so Turrettin ; or for the pur-
pose of magnifying his name, as Chalmers, though some connect
it with apostleship, and some with faith.
6. Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ. Whom re-
fers to nations [or Gentiles, as we often render the word.] On the
other words of this clause see above on v. i. The called of Jesus
3 8 EPISTLE TO [Ch. L, v. 7.
Christ means more than that they were invited by Jesus Christ.
It declares that they had been effectually called, and were now the
friends of the Redeemer, and joint heirs with him. The perti-
nency of this verse is to let the Roman Christians know that Paul's
commission embraced them, first as they were among the Gentiles
to whom the gospel was sent, and then as they were God's people
by effectual calling.
7. To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints :
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
^//includes Jew and Gentile, established Christians and young
converts. The mind and heart of the apostle delighted in over-
leaping all personal, sectional and national distinctions, and em-
bracing all believers. His affectionate regards extended to all
classes and conditions of God's people. And well they might,
for they were beloved of God. No word in the New Testament
expresses more kindness than beloved, sometimes rendered well-
beloved, Mark 12:6; Rom. 16:5; 3 John i; and sometimes
dearly beloved, I Cor. 10 : 14; 2 Cor. 7:151 Tim. 1:2; Philemon
i. Wiclif : derlyngis [darlings] of God. And then they were
called to be saints, the same form of expression as in v. i. Called,
not merely denominated, but effectually called and so made to be
saints, or holy ones, holy unto the Lord, in heart and life devoted
to God. Coverdale : sayntes by callynge ; Tyndale : sanctes by
callinge,; Genevan : sanctes by callyng ; Cranmer: called sayntes ;
Peshito : called and sanctified ; Arabic : called saints ; Syriac :
called and holy; Stuart: chosen saints. Grace ; see on v. 5. The
cognate verb was commonly employed by the Greeks in saluta-
tion. Peace ; the Latin form of salutation. In Hebrew we have
the same word for peace and for prosperity. Those, to whom Paul
was writing were familiar with both forms of address. Both were
expressions of good-will. In each the speaker, if sincere, de-
sired his friend to receive all good things for time and eternity.
Paul would go beyond what good manners required. Civility he
would convert into hearty Christian love, and he would tell them
whence he desired grace and peace to come even from God ottr
Father, and the Lord Jesiis Christ, who were able to make all
good things abound to them, and who had unsearchable riches to
bestow on the faithful. This form of salutation without change
(except that in Galatians we have God the Father instead of God
our Father) is found in eleven out of Paul's fourteen epistles. In
the pastoral epistles ist Timothy, 2d Timothy and Titus there
is added the Hebrew form of salutation Mercy be unto you ;
q. d. Whatever form of expressing good-will and hearty kind-
ness you are familiar with, I adopt toward you ; and I tell you
Ch. I., v. i.] THE ROMANS.' 39
whence alone I expect so great blessings on you, even from God
our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL REMARKS.
1. We can never too much admire and adore the wisdom and
mercy of God in taking the gifted, learned, bitter persecutor of
Tarsus, changing his heart, sending him to preach to the nations,
and inspiring him to write for the edification of the church in all
future ages the epistles he has left us, and in particular this great
doctrinal discussion, which more lucidly and logically than any
other one book of Scripture shows to men the way of salvation.
2. The greatest honor to which any man can attain on earth is
to be a servant of Jesus Christ, v. r. Such is every one that loves
the Saviour, and lives for him. He may be poor, despised, for-
saken of men ; but he shall reign with Christ.
3. Approved ministers of the Gospel are Christ's servants in
the best senses, v. i. They act and suffer from a pure regard to
the honor of their Master. They think it a small matter whether
they are sick or well, applauded or despised, provided he is duly
honored. They hope to glorify him even in reproaches, and in
the fiery furnace. They dare not preach themselves but Christ
Jesus the Lord, nor deliver any message but that which they have
received from him. They expect to give account to him. Nor
do they serve and suffer for him grudgingly. They glory in
tribulations for his sake and in his cause. They think it honor
enough to serve in his house. They know they serve a good
Master. Their reward is sure.
4. But then all Christ's ministers must be called of God. v. i.
They must be effectually called, soundly converted. Ps. 50 : 16.
Then they must be divinely called to the work of the ministry.
All the ecclesiastics on earth cannot give authority to minister in
God's house. The utmost the church can do is to recognize a
call given by her Divine Head. God's real servants in the minis-
try get their commission from heaven, not from men ; from Jesus
Christ, not from the church, Nor is it wrong for such to avow
and defend their call. Nor is it assumptive in God's people to ex-
amine the call of any and all, who say they are sent of God. i John
4:1; Rev. 2 : 2.
5. It is no small grace in God to send us his servants; and
therefore when we find such duly called of God, we ought gravely
to consider our relation to them, and their's to us. The people
owe a solemn duty to God's ministers, to hear the word of God
40 EPISTLE TO [Ch. I., vs. i, 2.
which they preach, candidly to compare their discourses with
Scripture, and heartily to receive and practise all the truth, which
they deliver. Mai. 2:7; Acts 17 : 11 ; Ezek. 33 : 32. The people
owe to Christ's servants high esteem, temporal support, hearty
prayer for their success, and obedience to them in the Lord,
i Thess. 5:13; Gal. 6:652 Thess. 3:1; Heb. 13:7.
6. Since the death of John there have been no apostles on
earth. Paul was the last, whom Jesus invested with that office.
His personal call was necessary. John 20 : 21. To all the apostles
was promised plenary inspiration. John 16: 13. They had all seen
the Lord. They all were miraculously endowed, and had the
signs of an apostle. Although a man might have some of these
things and not be an apostle ; yet he could not be an apostle with-
out having all these things. All the pretences Of moderns to the
apostolic office are both absurd and wicked.
7. As all genuine ministers of the Gospel are separated by God
to their good work, they ought to bestir themselves in it, be in-
stant in season and out of season, and give themselves wholly to
it. Acts 6:451 Tim. 4:15; 2 Tim. 2 : 4. No calling is so honora-
.able ; none is so important ; none is so responsible.
8. When ministers so present religious truth as to make it ap-
pear sad tidings to meek and penitent souls, they mightily distort
and pervert it; for they are sent to preach the gospel, glad news,
good tidings unto the meek, to bind up the broken-hearted, to
proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to
them that are bound. We do as sadly err when we smite and
wound those whom God would comfort, as when we comfort
those whom the Lord condemns.
9. Yet no man may forget that the message which ministers
bear to men is of awful authority it is the gospel of God. v. I.
It is not glad tidings, which we may hear or not, consider or not,
obey or not, and still be safe. It may be preached by a very
modest, humble, ordinary man ; yet even then it is accompanied
with awful sanctions and responsibilities. Matt. 11 : 15; 10:40;
John 10 : 20; 12 : 48; i Thess. 2 : 13.
10. Nor is the gospel any novelty, v. 2. It was preached in
Eden. A long line of righteous men from Abel down to Simeon by
faith received it. Take from the types, promises and prophecies of
the Old Testament their evangelical character, and there is nothing
left in them to light the soul to God or happiness. True, the
light was not bright, for the sufferings of Christ and the glory
that is now revealed were but dimly shadowed forth ; but they
were shadowed forth, and faith did receive them. Rom. 3:21;
Gal. 3 : 8, 23 ; Heb. 11:2; i Pet. 10:11. It is great folly and
Ch. I., vs. 2-4-] THE ROMANS. 41
wickedness lightly to esteem Moses and the prophets. If they
speak not the truth, neither do the evangelists and apostles.
11. For thousands of years there have been in the world rolls,
or parchments, or books, which have been known by various
names as the law, the Psalms and the prophets, the word of the
Lord, the Scripture, the Scriptures and the holy Script^lres, v. 2.
These contain a vast store of divine knowledge. They have long
been the rejoicing of good men's hearts. They sufficiently account
for the vast differences discovered between men and nations.
These books claim to be and they are God's word to men. They
claim to be and they are a revelation from heaven. They claim
to be and they are holy writings ; for they teach holiness, encour-
age holiness, and abound in holy doctrines and precepts. It is one
of God s great mercies to men that they have his written word.
12. Those best read both Testaments, who most happily find
Christ in each of them. v. 2. He is the way, the truth and the
life. He is all and in all. Take from any book of Scripture the
portion that concerns Jesus Christ, and the residue is of no value to
men as sinners. He has no names or titles, he fills no offices, sus-
tains no characters and teaches no lessons that are not dear and
of priceless value to his people. He is their Lord, the absolute
proprietor of their persons.
13. The Scripture cannot be broken. All that was written in
the prophets has been or shall be surely accomplished, v. 2.
14. There is nothing in the plan of redemption and in the suffer-
ings of Christ that may not well fill us with wonder. But which
part of the amazing history is the most astonishing, none can say.
Yet many sober writers speak as if they regarded Christ's being
made of the seed of David as unsxirpassed in condescension, v. 3.
Perhaps it is. Surely the Incarnation was an expression of infinite
love and pity.
15. He, who slights Jesus Christ, slights the Son of God; and
only he, who hopes in him as the Son of God, has any interest in
his salvation, v. 4. God is indeed one in essence, but he is not
one in person. We adore the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The
Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding. The Holy
Ghost proceeds. The Son is begotten, the only begotten of the
Father. The Father doth eternally communicate to the Son his
own divine essence, though in a manner to us inconceivable and
ineffable. So that although the Son was for us incarnate, yet is
he the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of
his person. The Son of God becoming man did not become two
persons, but in his two natures is one person for ever, the two
natures being united, not confused, nor mixed, but united, neither
42 EPISTLE TO [Ch. I., vs. 1-5.
nature being absorbed, so that we have one Christ, and not two,
one Lord Jesus and but one Lord Jesus.
1 6. Christians seldom, perhaps never, lay too much stress on
the fact and the doctrine of Christ's resurrection. The Scriptures
fully admit that it is essential, fundamental, v. 4. I Cor. 15 : 14-18.
Without it, Christ's servants are of all men most miserable.
Without it, they would all go sadly through life, like the two dis-
ciples, saying, "We trusted that it had been he, which should
have redeemed Israel." Luke 24 : 21. If Christ rose not, then his
people will not rise, and so it is all over with them, and their
pleasing anticipations. Christ's resurrection is here introduced to
establish his Sonship with God. It makes one sad to find Stuart
saying : " How could the resurrection declare, in any special man-
ner, that Christ was the Son of God? Was not Lazarus raised
from the dead ? Were not others raised from the dead, by Christ,
by the apostles, by Elijah, and by the bones of Elisha? And yet
was their resurrection proof that they were the Sons of God?"
The answer to these vain questions is obvious and simple, and has
been given a thousand times. Slade : " Jesus having been put to
death as a blasphemer for calling himself ' Christ the Son of the
blessed,' God would not have raised him from the dead, if he had
been an impostor : His resurrection therefore was a public testi-
mony, borne by God himself, to the truth of our Lord's preten-
sions." The same is found almost verbatim in Macknight. Nor
is this all. So truly did the fulness of the Godhead dwell in him
bodily that incontestably and gloriously the power of his own
divinity, his own omnipotence, appeared not only during his life
in raising the dead, in his own name, but after he was dead he
raised his own body by the same irresistible energy according to
his own predictions. If siich great facts do not establish all claims
set forth by the Saviour, nothing can.
17. Blessed gospel! blessed ministry, vs. i, 5. O how men
ought to preach. O how they ought to hear. The stupor, with
which many proclaim and listen to the word of God, is strong
proof that by nature they are dead in trespasses and sins. The most
animated preaching falls far below the zeal, which the glory of our
theme would warrant. Often the best preaching is but shouting
in dead men's ears.
18. The great end of the ministry of the Gospel is not gained
until men yield the obedience of faith, v. 5. The mercy shown to
us poor sinners of the Gentiles, in making known to us the word
of life, deserves perpetual eucharistic offerings. Who loves as he
ought? Paul claims special interest in all Gentiles, and they
ought to respond to his kind calls.
Ch. I., vs. 5-7.] THE ROMANS. 43
19. Missions ought to find favor with all converted men, v. 5.
The man, who has no desire to see all nations brought to a saving
acquaintance with Christ, does not love either Christ or his neigh-
bor. Scott : " The end of the gospel-ministry is to bring sinners,
of all nations, to obey the commands of God, by believing in his
Son, and submitting to his authority ; that his name may be glori-
fied in their salvation, and that they may become a peculiar people
to shew forth his praises." Men must know and believe the truth.
There is no way by which Christ may receive his promised reward
but by the wide propagation and hearty reception of his gospel.
Isa. 49 : 6; 53 : 10-12.
20. It is a great thing for us to get a true apprehension of grace,
and to remember that every good and perfect gift comes down
from God. Let us hold fast the doctrine of divine gratuity,
especially in the whole matter of salvation, in the conversion of
the soul, the establishment of a church, and the ordination of the
ministry.
21. The whole scheme of the gospel supposes that Christ is
glorified by the salvation of men, so that all the progress of the
saving truth is for his name, \. e. to his honor, and therefore we are
bound to receive that gospel ourselves, and make it known to
others. Haldane : " Men are very unwilling to admit that God
should have any end with respect to them greater than their happi-
ness. But his own glory is everywhere in the Scripture repre-
sented as the chief end of man's existence, and of the existence of
all things."
22. If men are ever to know the saving power of Christ's grace,
it must be by a holy and effectual calling, vs. 6, 7. Something
quite beyond a mere outward invitation or persuasion is necessary
to move the dead soul. To some, such a doctrine is discouraging.
To those taught from heaven, it gives all the encouragement they
have, and all they need. If Ezekiel must prophesy over the dry
bones, let him go at it in good earnest, for God is able to make
them stand up a great army.
23. What a sad change has come over the church of Rome.
" The Lord's beginning a good work in any place will not tye him
to keep up the candlestick there in all time coming ; for Rome,
that then was famous for saints in it, is now become the seat of the
beast."
24. It far more than compensates the saints for all the ill will and
ill treatment they receive from men that they are beloved of God,
v. 7. God loved them with compassion and good will even when
they were his enemies by wicked works. " It is the greatest love
that God can show to man, being everlasting love, which originates
44 EPISTLE. [Ch. I., v. 7.
with himself." It is because God thus loves his people that he
brings them to a saving knowledge of himself. Jer. 31 : 3.
25. Men are never the servants of God indeed and in truth, so
as to secure to them the divine favor, until they are saints, or holy
ones, v. 7. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. Only
that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. God hath not called us
to uncleanness, but to holiness. This is the will of God, even your
sanctification.
26. The best manners flow from pious affections. " True polite-
ness is genuine kindness, kindly expressed." Even in saluting
people that he never saw, Paul uses endearing terms, and sends to
them the best wishes respecting both their souls and bodies.
Dutch Annotations : " By the word grace is understood the original
or fountain of all God's benefits towards us, and by the word peace,
the fruits and sense thereof." It is much to be lamented that some
good people, who really feel kindly, seem to have so strange an
aversion to any proper expression of the real state of their hearts.
Beyond cold civility, you get little or nothing from them. Such
follow neither apostolic example, nor apostolic precept.
27. God's people are abundantly provided with all good things.
They have grace and peace. Scott : " Without grace there can be
no substantial peace: in proportion as grace is communicated,
peace may be expected ; and when grace shall ripen into perfect
holiness, peace will become complete fruition."
28. All believers have one God and Father, as well as one Lord
Jesus Christ, v. 7.
29. It is impossible to give "a satisfactory explanation to even
the forms of apostolic salutation without admitting that there is
more than one person in the Godhead. The form of baptism given
in the Gospel, and the form of benediction in 2 Cor. 13 : 14, deter-
mine the number of persons in the Godhead to be three ; but verse
7 as clearly determines that there is more than one person, from
whom grace and mercy may be sought by prayer and supplication
for ourselves and our friends.
CHAPTER I.
VERSES 8-17.
THE INTRODUCTION AND THEME.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is
spoken of throughout the whole world.
9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son,
that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;
I Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous
journey by the will of God to come unto you.
1 1 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the
end ye may be established ;
12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both
of you and me.
13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to
come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also,
even as among other Gentiles.
14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, arid to the Barbarians; both to the wise,
and to the unwise.
15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at
Rome also.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ : for it is the power of God
unto salvation to every one that believeth ; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith : as it is
written, The just shall live by faith.
8 FIRST, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that
. your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. First :
Peshito and Ferme : In the first place. It ordinarily marks the
order of time, though in Matt. 6 : 33 and in not a few other cases
it includes the order of importance. In Rom. 3 : 2 it is rendered
chiefly. Here it is equivalent to, I begin by saying ; Tholuck :
Before I proceed to other matters. / thank my 'God through Jesus
Christ for you all. In this as in many other places the author-
ized version and most versions take no notice of the Greek
particle, often rendered truly, indeed. Yet Tyndale, Cranmer
and the Genevan read, Verely I thanke etc. My God. It is a
(45)
46 EPISTLE TO [Ch. I., vs. 8, 9.
declaration of an appropriating faith. Through Jesus Christ may
qualify either part of the clause, so as to make the apostle say
that Jehovah is his God through Jesus Christ, or that he offers his
thanks through- Jesus Christ. For you all, because of you all, on
account of you all ; Rheims : for al you. That yoiir faith is
spoken of. It is a meager exposition given by Macknight : " The
faith of the Romans, which occasioned so much discourse, was
their turning from idols." He might as well have said it was their
turning from theft, or lying, or uncleanness. The faith of the
Romans was a mighty principle. It turned them from all sorts of
sin. It made them love all the commandments. It specially
regarded Jesus Christ, and there in the imperial city set up the
banner of the cross, and in so public and fearless a manner that
the church of Rome was already a city set on a hill that could not
be hid, but her faith was spoken of over the Roman empire, which
now embraced Western Asia and Northern Africa, as well as
nearly all Europe. In Luke 2 : i the phrase all the world is so
used, though the Greek terms are not the same in the two places ;
but they mean the same thing. Beza paraphrases these words :
Every where by all the churches.
9. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the Gos-
pel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you ahvays in
my prayers. Paul justly felt the importance of fully gaining the
confidence of the brethren at Rome, and therefore uses all fair
means to accomplish his object. He had before asserted his divine
mission and his thanks for the grace granted to the church of
Rome. He now avows in the strongest terms his lively and affec-
tionate interest in them. God is my ivitness. Alford : There could
be no other witness to his practice in his secret prayer, but God.
This was no vain use of God's name. The occasion justified a
solemn appeal to the searcher of hearts, involving the nature
of an oath. Paul often makes such, but never frivolously.
2 Cor. 1:23; 11:31; Gal. 1:20; Phil. 1:8; I Thess. 2:5,
10. Serve; we have the cognate noun in Rom. 9:4; 12:1.
The verb is rendered worship ; Acts 7 : 42 ; 24 : 14; Phil. 3:3;
and even where rendered serve, it commonly denotes worship, or
religious service. We have it again in v. 25, where it denotes
religious service offered to idols. Paul's service unto God was
not only outward but with his spirit ; not merely by rites but with
his heart. Ferme reads : cheerfully, with my whole soul, and un-
feignedly. Compare John 4 : 23, 24. This service was rendered
in the gospel, either in publishing the gospel, or in accordance with
its requirements. The former is the better; each gives a good
sense, and both are true. In v. i the gospel is called the gospel
Ch. I., vs. 10, ii.] THE ROMANS. 47
of God; in this verse it is called the gospel of his Son. Both
phrases are just and true. Each explains the other. Christ is the
substance of the gospel, as well as its Yevealer and author. That
without ceasing; in the Greek one word, an adverb. It occurs also
in i Thess. 1:3; 2 : 13 ; 5 : 17; and is uniformly rendered, as,
Pray without ceasing. It is of course not to be taken literally, but
as a hyperbole. Bretschneider renders it, assiduously ; Ferme :
always ; Macknight : continually ; Cobbin : constantly ; equiva-
lent to day and night among the Hebrews. Ps. 1:2. / make men-
tion of you always in my prayers. Wiclif : I make mynde of you
ever in my preiers, Paul had given thanks for the grace granted
them. He had long and earnestly prayed for them.
10. Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a
prosperous joiirney by the ivill of God to come unto yoii. Now at length ;
Tyndale : at one tyme or another ; Peshito : hereafter ; i. e. at
last, after so long time, or, at some time. I might have a prosperous
journey ; the Greek is one word. Wiclif: I haue a spedi way ;
Peshito : a door may be opened to me. The word occurs in
1 Cor. 1 6 : 2 and twice in 3 John 2 ; in those cases it is rendered
prosper. The will of God ; is a phrase of frequent occurrence in
the New Testament, and has a uniform significance. See Matt.
6 : 10 ; 12 : 50 ; Rom. 2 : 18 ; 12 : 2 ; 15 : '32 ; in Rev. 4 : 1 1 it is ren-
dered pleasure.
1 1 . For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual
gift, to the end ye may be established. Long; elsewhere rendered earn-
estly desire, greatly desire, 2 Cor. 5:252 Tim. i : 4. The cognate
noun occurs twice and is rendered earnest desire, vehement desire,
2 Cor. 7 : 7, 1 1 . This desire did not spring from vanity, curiosity or
any fleeting cause, but from permanent and pure good will to
them. Impart, twice rendered give, and thrice impart. Gift ; in
Rom. 5 : 15, 16 rendered free gift, that is a pure or unbought gift.
This idea always belongs to the word whether it is expressed or
not. Wiclif reads grace. Spiritual gifts are gifts from the Spirit
of God, and are of two kinds, extraordinary, or miraculous, and
ordinary, or such as are granted to the church from age to age.
There is nothing in this verse or in the context to confine our ideas
exclusively to either class of spiritual endowments. Verses 12, 13
show that the ordinary gifts of the Spirit were not out of the mind
of the apostle, and the fact that up to this time no apostle had, so
far as we know, visited Rome makes it probable that few extraor-
dinary gifts had been as yet received by the church of that city.
Yet chapter 12:6-8 shows that even then this church had gifts.
Paul would impart both kinds of these gifts. The words rendered
spiritual gifts are not found together in any other verse of the
48 EPISTLE TO [Ch. L, vs. 12, 13.
Greek Testament, though it is pretty certain the word gifts is
understood in I Cor. 12:1; 14 : i. The authorized version, Tyn-
dale, Cranmer and Genevan*in each of those cases supply the word
gifts, and so do the Peshito and Doway in i Cor. 14 : I ; though
the Vulgate, Wiclif and others read spiritual things. The end
sought by Paul was that the church at Rome might be established,
or strengthened, fixed, or set steadfastly. Luke 9 : 51 ; 16 : 26;
22 : 32.
12. That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the
mutual faith both of you and me. All the old English versions
retain that is, but the Peshito, Ethiopic and Stuart have and or also.
This verse is an amplification of the preceding. That I may be
comforted together is the rendering of one Greek verb, found here
only in the New Testament ; Castelio : That we may be together
refreshed ; Beza : In order to receive common exhortation. The
verb of which this is compounded often occurs, and is rendered
comforted, besought, exhorted, intreated, and is cognate to the
noun, which we render comforter in John 14 : 16-26 and elsewhere.
Paul very modestly and justly expected to receive as well'as to com-
municate comfort and edification. He was not above the humblest
disciple. He condescended to men of low estate. If they but had
faith, they were dear to him. In all the Scriptures there is not a
word, which it more behooves us to understand than the word
faith, yet we never learn its true nature by metaphysical refine-
ments. See above on v. 8. True faith consists in taking God at (
his word ; it is such a persuasion of the truth as enables us heartily
to embrace it and obey it ; it is a fruit of the Spirit, disposing us
to receive 'Christ and rest on him alone as our Mediator ; it
includes the assent of the mind and the consent of the heart to the
testimony God has given, particularly that respecting his Son.
Reliance on the testimony of God and on the person of Christ is
of the very essence of faith ; and though we are bound to labor for
full assurance of faith, yet the feeblest faith may be as genuine as
the strongest.
13. Nozu I ^vo^lld not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes
I ptirposed to come unto you, (but ^vas let hitherto?) that I might have
some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. The ren-
dering of these words in the various English versions is remark-
ably uniform. Indeed the translations of it are very harmonious.
Purposed, a verb quite expressive of a settled determination. It is
found twice more in the New Testament ; once in Rom. 3 : 25,
where it is rendered set forth, and in Eph. I : 9, where it is applied
to the unalterable plan of God, and is rendered hath purposed. It
is cognate to the noun rendered purpose in Acts n : 23 ; Rom.
Ch. I., vs. 14, I5-] THE R OMA NS. 49
8 : 28 ; 9 : ii ; Eph. I : 11 ; 3 : 11 ; 2 Tim. i : 9. Was let ; Wiclif,
lettid ; Peshito & Ferme : prevented ; Macknight, Stuart, Cony-
beare & Howson : hindered. The intelligent reader need not be
told that the best old English classics often use let in the sense of
hinder. In Luke 11:52 and Acts 8 : 36, the same word is rendered
hindered. The more common rendering of the verb however is
forbidden. This probably gives the true meaning here, viz. that
the Holy Ghost bound his spirit hitherto to labor elsewhere. It
is another word rendered hindered in Rom. 15 : 22, and in i Thess.
2:18. He desired to visit this church that he might have some
fruit among them. This is a favorite conception of Paul. The
Greek word is the same so often found in the sermons of our Lord.
In this place the word does not, as in Rom. 6 : 22, signify profit or
advantage to one's self, but fruit of his ministry, fruit unto God.
Calvin : " He no doubt speaks of that fruit, for the gathering of
which the Lord sent his apostles." John 15 : 16. Doddridge :
" Some fruit of my ministerial and apostolic labors." Among you
also, even as among other Gentiles. A large part of the world had
already been visited by the apostle. Almost everywhere he had
planted or visited churches; but as yet Italy was an exception.
Abundant had been the fruit he had gathered in many places.
14. I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians ; both to
the wise, and to the unwise. A debtor is one who is truly and firmly
bound. Gal. 5:3. So was Paul bound by the love Christ had
showed him, by the commission he held, by the revelations he had
received and by the law of love to perishing men to do all he could
for all classes of men, however esteemed or denominated. The
Peshito, Arabic and Ethiopic render these words just as the
authorized version ; but Tyndale : To the Grekes and to them
which are no Grekes, unto the learned and also unto the un-
learned. This is virtually followed by Cranmer and Genevan.
Erasmus and Doddridge have, learned and ignorant. Macknight's
paraphrase is " to the Greeks, however intelligent, and to the barbar-
ians, both to the philosophers, and to the common people. All these
terms denote or describe the people who are in v. 13 called Gen-
tiles. Stuart : " In classic usage, barbarians means all who spoke
a language foreign to the Greek." Hodge : " Properly it means
a foreigner, one of another langiiage" In I Cor. 14 : 11 it is twice
used in this sense. Wise and unwise do not correspond to Greeks
and barbarians, but describe persons found both in and out of
Greece.
15. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you
that are at Rome also. Ready, in Matt. 26 : 41 willing ; the cognate
noun is rendered readiness, readiness of mind, ready mind, willing
4
50 EPISTLE TO [Ch. I., v. 16.
mind, forwardness of mind, Acts 17: n; 2 Cor. 8 : 11, 12, 19;
9 : 2. To preach the gospel, in the Greek one word. There are sev-
eral words in the Greek Testament, all of which are sometimes
rendered preach. One means to tell or to speak, Acts 8 : 25 ; 11 :
19; 13:42. Another means to declare or announce fully, Luke
9 : 60. Another, cognate to the last preceding, means to publish,
or bring a message, Acts 4:12; 13:5; Phil, i : 16. In Rom. I :
8 it is rendered spoken of. Another means to herald, as a crier,
to announce publicly, Matt. 3:1; Acts 8:5; Rom. 2 : 21. The
other is that used in our verse and means to bring good news, to
publish glad tidings, Acts 13 : 32 ; Rom. 10 : 15 ; i Thess. 3 : 6.
It is the verb from which our word evangelize comes, and is found
in the New Testament more than fifty times. Paul's necessary
delay had not extinguished his desire to visit and serve the church
at Rome.
1 6. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ : for it is the
power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth ; to the Jew
first, and also to the Greek. Ashamed, a word uniformly rendered
in the New Testament. It is the same word used by our Lord in
Mark 8 : 38 ; Luke 9 : 26. He says less than he means I am not
ashamed, i. e. I glory. Gospel of Christ ; see on v. i . It is the
power of God. We have several Greek words which in the New
Testament are rendered power. One of these signifies authority
and is often so rendered ; in Luke 23 : 7 it is rendered jurisdic-
tion ; in John i : 10, power ; in Rev. 22 : 14, right. Then we have
another word from which we get our word energy ; in Eph. i : 19
rendered working ; in Col. 2:12 operation ; in Eph. 3 : 7 effectual
working. We have also a word, which in Mark 12 : 30 is rendered
strength ; in Eph. 6 : 10 might ; in 2 Thess. i : 9 power ; in i Pet.
4:11 ability. But we have yet another word rendered power.
It is that from which our word dynamics comes. We had it in
v. 4. It occurs again in v. 20 and often elsewhere. In Col. I : 1 1
it is rendered might ; in Eph. 3 : 20 power ; in Matt. 25 : 15 abil-
ity ; in 2 Cor. i : 8 strength ; in Heb. 1 1 : 34 violence. Because
it is very expressive of might, it is in the plural rendered miracles,
mighty deeds, etc. i Cor. 12 : 10, 28 ; 2 Cor. 12 : 12. This is the
word found in our verse. Alford : " Not only is the gospel the
great example of divine Power ; it is the field of agency of the
power of God, working in it, and interpenetrating it throughout."
Compare i Cor. i : 1 8, 24. So mighty is the power of the gospel
that it is unto salvation. As to us nothing can go beyond salva-
tion. Nor does worship ever rise higher than when it ascribes
salvation unto God. Ps. 37 : 39 ; Luke i : 46, 47, 68-71 ; Rev. 7 :
10; 19 : i. The original word primarily means safety, then wel-
Ch. I., v. 17.] THE ROMANS. 51
fare, then deliverance and eternal blessedness by a Reedeemer.
The word is uniformly rendered, except in Acts 27 : 34, where it
is health ; and in Acts 7 : 25, where it is applied to the deliverance
of Israel from Egypt. Except the names given to God and our
Saviour, there is no sweeter word than salvation. The rendering
of the verse by Wiclif is : For I schame not the gospel, for it is
the vertu of god into heelthe to eche man that belieued, etc. The
Gospel is thus ' the highest and holiest vehicle of the divine
Power ' to every one that believeth. Hodge : " Emphasis must be
laid upon both members of this clause. The gospel is thus effica-
cious to every one, without distinction between Jew and Gentile ; and
to every one that believeth, not who is circumcised, or who obeys
the law, or who does this or that, or any other thing, but who
believes, i. e. receives and confides in Jesus Christ in all the char-
acters, and for all the purposes in which he is represented in the
gospel." To the Jew first, and also to the Greek. First, see above
on v. 8. Nothing beyond the order of naming these people, or
the order of time can here be intended. Thus much the Scrip-
tures teach. Luke 24 : 47 ; Acts 3 : 26 ; 13 : 46. The same particu-
larity and order are observed in Rom. 2 : 9, 10. But the Scrip-
tures are careful to let us know that there is no adaptation of the
gospel peculiar to any one people or nation ; and that in Christ
one tribe of men is as welcome and as well provided for as another.
Simeon, who was divinely inspired, named the Gentiles first and
Israel afterwards. Luke 2 : 27-32. A child of Abraham as much
needs salvation by Jesus Christ as a sinner of the Gentiles.
17. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith : as it is written, The just shall live by faith. The preceding
verse speaks of believing ; this, of faith. The noun and verb are
cognate. See above, on vs. 5, 8, 12. The doctrine of faith is thus
urged upon our attention, and with it the doctrine of righteous-
ness. The faith in Christ and the gospel method of becoming
righteous are the great themes of this epistle. They are here so
introduced to us. Faith and righteousness are here and else-
where fitly joined together. Several kinds of faith are not saving
do not secure to us righteousness. Devils have an awful and fixed
persuasion of the truths of religion, so that they believe and trem-
ble, but are neither made pure nor just thereby. Jas. 2 : 19. The
stony ground hearers had a temporary faith, which led them for a
time to receive the word of God with joy, but all passed away
without any thorough change of heart. Matt. 13 : 20, 21. Some
have a historical faith, by which they are so far persuaded of the
truths of God's word, that they have not an intellectual doubt of
them. Still they obey them not, nor are changed by them. Such
52 . a EPISTLE TO [Ch. L, v. 17.
was the faith of Agrippa. Acts 26 ; 27. Then there is the faith of
miracles, whereby one is persuaded that by him or for him God
will suspend the laws of nature, Acts 14 : 9 ; i Cor. 13:2. One
may have any or all of these kinds of faith, and yet remain under
condemnation. But saving faith not only historically credits the
truths of God, but with the heart believes them. Rom. 10 : 10.
Such faith receives God's witness concerning the divine nature
and law, concerning man's sinful and guilty condition, and espe-
cially concerning Jestis Christ as the sole author of eternal salva-
tion, and so it receives and rests upon Christ, as the way, the truth
and the life, the one blessed Mediator between God and man. By
this faith we are engrafted into Christ, and derive our fatness
and fruitfulness from him. This is the faith of God's elect. It
purifies the heart, Acts 15:9; it works by love, Gal. 5:9; it
overcomes the world, i John 5 : 4, 5 ; it successfully resists temp-
tation, Eph. 6 : 16. This faith abides in God's children, Eph. 3 :
17 ; it justifies all who have it, Rom. J : i ; and it is a mighty oper-
ative principle, James 2 : 22. This is the faith spoken of in our
verse.
The term righteoiisness is also one of great importance in the
right understanding of this verse and of this and other epistles of
Paul. The word so rendered occurs more than ninety times in
the Greek Testament, and in the authorized version is uniformly
rendered righteousness ; so also in the old English versions ; but
in the Doway it is uniformly rendered justice. Our English Bible
employs the terms just and righteous interchangeably. Justice
and righteousness are the same thing. The only advantage in the
word righteousness is that its theological meaning is better under-
stood than that of justice. The righteousness of God sometimes
in the Old Testament, though never in the New, seems to be put
by metonomy for the whole moral excellence of God, including
his goodness, mercy and faithfulness. Isa. 41 : 8 ; 42 : 6. Then in
both Testaments it points to that attribute of his nature whereby
he is infallibly led to give to every one his due, Ps. 9 : 8 ; Rom.
3:5; Rev. 19 : ii. This is the strict sense of the word, out of
which the fitness of the use of the term in other senses, grows.
Besides these two meanings of the phrase, the righteousness of
God means the righteousness which God has provided ; the Father
having devised and demanded it ; the Son having fulfilled it, and
the Holy Ghost applying it. It may also be called the righteous-
ness of God because it is pleasing and acceptable to God, the only
righteousness which God will own as the ground of a sinner's ac-
ceptance. So the sacrifices of God in Ps. 51 : 17 are the sacrifices
which please God, the sacrifices which he prefers above all others.
Ch. L, v. 17.] THE R OMA NS. 53
Sometimes in Hebrew the addition of God denotes the greatness
of anything, as the trees of God are the great trees ; the river of.
God the great river, etc. And as Paul's writings abound in He-
braisms, this idea may not have been wholly out of his mind. The
righteousness of God is the great righteousness. It is a glorious
righteousness. This righteousness, so highly approved of God,
is that which makes a believing sinner righteous in the eyes of the
Judge of all the earth. It is called the righteousness of the law,
because it is fully commensurate with all the demands of the law,
Rom. 8:4. It is called the righteousness of faith, or by faith,
because it is received by faith and not wrought out by personal
obedience to law, Rom. 3 : 22 ; 4 : 13. It is called the righteous-
ness of Christ because it consists of his merits, is made up of what
he did and suffered for us ; so that he is the Lord our Righteous-
ness, Jer. 23 : 6. It is called imputed righteousness because it is
ours, not by our own deserving, nor by being imparted to us, but
by being reckoned, counted, imputed to us by God. Rom. 4:5,
6. So that when we believe in Jesus we are righteous before
God or in the sight of God. It avails to all the ends and pur-
poses of a complete justification. This is so manifestly the mean-
ing of the term righteousness, that some have proposed to render
it in this and some other places justification, or method of justifica-
tion. But this makes confusion.
Christ's righteousness made ours is God's plan of salvation for
lost men. It is righteousness without merit in the creature. It
is righteousness without the deeds of the law. This sense might
be powerfully argued from the cognate verb, rendered in the
authorized version and even in the Doway justify. See Stuart on
this place. Whitby : " This phrase (the righteousness of God} in St.
Paul's stile, doth always signifie the Righteousness of Faith in Christ
Jesus, dying, or shedding his blood for us."
In our verse this righteousness is said to be revealed ; a word
uniformly rendered in the authorized version. It is cognate to
the noun given as a name to the last book of Scripture and means
manifested, made known, made clear, brought to light.
And this righteousness is revealed from faith to faith. The
various versions and translations cast no light on this clause. The
two prepositions of and to are evidently in antithesis. The best ex-
planation of the former in this place is by, or by means of. It has this
sense in the last clause of this verse, and often. Luke 16 : 9 ; John
3 : 5; 9 : 6 ; Heb. 11:35; Rev. 3:18. The best rendering of the latter
is that of the authorized version to, or unto, for, in order to, for the
purpose of. In gaining the true sense we have no right to separate
the words rendered faith further than is required. It cannot be
54 EPISTLE TO [Ch. L, v. 17
denied that there is difficulty in obtaining the exact meaning of
Paul. The opinions presented are very various. Augustine gives
two interpretations. One is that God's righteousness is revealed
from the faith of preachers to the faith of hearers ; the other, from
an obscure faith to a clear vision in the heavens. Origen,
Theodoret and others make the first relate to faith in the
Old Testament; the second to faith in the New Testament.
Others explain the first as referring to a general belief of the
gospel out of which comes a special faith. But none of these
views are admissible. It will not do to use the word faith in two
senses so different as in this last case, nor does the phrase from
faith to faith denote things so separate as the faith of preachers and
that of hearers, or a weak faith and the beatific vision, or faith in
different portions of Scripture. Others explain it of the gradual
apprehension of the truth first by a weak and afterwards by a
strong faith. So says Theophylact : " It does not suffice to have
at first believed ; we must rise from an incipient to a more finished
faith." This is evidently the substance of the interpretation of
Beza, Tholuck and others. Gill seems to prefer it. Diodati men-
tions it approvingly. The Dutch Annotations also explain the
phrase as equivalent to daily increase and strengthening in faith.
But this method of explaining like phrases would hardly be ap-
proved. Compare Rom. 6 : 19 ; 2 Cor. 2 : 16 ; 3 : 18 ; 4: 17. It
should be remembered too that the least genuine faith because it
really unites the soul to Christ, does as truly receive the right-
eousness of God, as the strongest possible faith ; and that the weak
believer is as fully justified as the strong. Some have thought
that the apostle teaches that the righteousness of God is revealed
from the faithfulness of God in his word, to the faith of the
believer. Although the doctrine thus taught is true, yet surely
the word faith is not here used in senses so different. Whitby :
" The righteousness of God, which is by faith, is revealed in the
gospel to beget faith in men." Barnes : " God's plan of justifying
men is revealed in the gospel, which plan is by faith, and the
benefits of which plan shall be extended to all that have faith or
believe." Haldane : " The meaning is, the righteousness, which
is by faith, is revealed to faith, or in order to be believed." Chal-
mers gives the weight of his judgment in the same direction.
Conybeare & Howson : " Therein God's righteousness is revealed,
a righteousness which springs from Faith, and which Faith re-
ceives." Others take the same view, nor is there any doctrinal
error in the sense thus given.
There is still another way of explaining these words. Locke
thinks that the meaning of the apostle is that in the gospel the
Ch. L, v. 8.]. THE ROMANS. 55
righteousness of God is " all through, from one end to the other,
founded in faith." Mace also says it is " wholly by faith." Scott:
" This righteousness is altogether of faith, from first to last, arid
without any respect to other distinctions." Pool : " He saith not,
from faith to works, or from works to faith ; but from faith to faith,
i. e. only by faith." Hodge : " The most natural interpretation of
these words is that, which makes the repetition entirely intensive
from faith to faith entirely of faith, in which works have no part."
Either of the last two explanations is to be preferred to any of
those that preceded them, and the very last is incumbered with
fewer difficulties than any that preceded it, though either of the
last two teaches doctrine according to the analogy of faith, and
is admissible.
As it is written, The just shall live by faith. This passage is
found in four places : Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb.
10 : 38. Various renderings and punctuations of it are given :
Cobbin : The righteous by faith shall live ; Hodge : The just by
faith, shall live, or, The just, by faith shall live ; Peshito : The
righteous by faith, shall live ; The Hebrew in Habakkuk is liter-
ally : The just, by his faith shall live ; Knapp and Macknight :
The just by faith, shall live ; Ferme : The righteous from faith
shall live ; Conbyeare & Howson : By faith shall the righteous
live. These variations do not change the doctrine or materially
modify the sense. The quotation contains a general truth, per-
vading God's kingdom in all ages. All true faith is one and not
many. One of the peculiarities of a Scriptural principle is its
wide scope and unexpected applicability to new cases and princi-
ples. Shall live ; live, and not be under sentence of death ; live,
and enjoy the favor of God ; live, and not fall into spiritual decay
ending in spiritual death ; live, and be happy ; wearing the divine
image, quickened by the Divine Spirit, greatly refreshed and com-
forted, having grace here and a sure pledge of glory hereafter.
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL REMARKS.
1. It is not sinful adulation to acknowledge the gifts or graces
of God to men or in men. We ought with pleasure to own the
worth of others, v. 8. The truth itself is always sufficiently dis-
pleasing to the carnal or to the partially sanctified heart, without
our making it more so by our manner of presenting it. Rudeness
and harshness are not fidelity.
2. We ought to thank God a great deal, for we have a great
deal to thank him for. v. 8. We are as truly bound to give thanks
for God's goodness to our brethren as to ourselves ; and lively
56 EPISTLE TO [Ch. L, vs. 8, 9.
saints are ready to say so. Every good gift is from the Father of
lights. To him let our praises ascend.
3. It is a blessed attainment to be able in all boldness and
humility to claim covenant relations with Jehovah, and to say my
God. v. 8. He is the God of particular saints. He is the God of
Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, Matt. 22 : 32 ; the God of Elijah,
2 Ki. 2:14; the God of Daniel, Dan. 6 : 26 ; and he is frequently
called the God of Israel. Often do individual saints call him my
God, and bodies of believers, our God. Let each man pray that his
appropriating faith may be so strengthened, that he may be able
to say, my Lord and my God.
4. All religious worship, thanksgiving in particular, should be
offered to God through Jesus Christ, v. 8. It is as great an error
to have many mediators as to have many gods, i Tim. 2:5.
Some, who fail not to mention that blessed name in supplication,
seem to forget that euchari'stic services are never accepted but
through a Mediator. On this point the Scripture is both full and
explicit. Col. 3 : 17; Heb. 13 : 15.
5. We are specially bound to give thanks to God through
Jesus Christ for grace manifested to others in saving their souls,
and granting them large measures of strength and courage, v. 8.
Our Lord gives two reasons for joy in abundant fruitfulness I. it
glorifies God; 2. it establishes discipleship. John 15:8. Else-
where our apostle expresses like gratitude for similar blessings
bestowed on other churches. Phil. I : 3-5 ; Col. i : 3-6 ; i Thess.
i : 2, 3 ; 2 Thess. 1:3.
6. How can any deny that faith is the gift of God, since Paul
gives thanks to God for it? v. 8. The same thing is elsewhere
taught abundantly, Matt. 16 : 17 ; Lu. 17:5; Acts n : 21 ; 13 : 48 ;
16 : 14 ; Rom. 12:3; Gal. 5 : 22 ; Eph. 2:8; Phil. 1 : 29 ; Col. 2:13.
7. It is impossible so to conceal the good works and lively
graces of God's people that they shall not be known and spoken
of. v. 8. A good tree will bring forth good fruit. They in whom
Christ is formed will show it. See Matt. 5 : 14, 15 ; i Tim. 5 : 25,
and many other places. The hypocrite acts his part to be seen of
men. The righteous acts his part to please God ; but sooner or
later his course will be known to men.
8. Loving ministers of Christ should be loved, listened to, and
confided in, v. 9. Paul truly declared his tender affection for .this
church of Rome. He would fain win them more fully to his mes-
sage and his Master. Their reputation as Christians bound them
.to receive him kindly. Brown : " Folks profession should lay
bonds on them to welcome truths from the hands of God's mes-
sengers."
Ch. I., vs. 9, 10.] THE ROMANS. 57
9. In a world of deception, suspicion and falsehood, the best
men may find it necessary and useful, in a solemn .manner, to call
God to witness the truth of their declarations, v. 9. An oath for
confirmation is to men an end of all strife. Heb. 6 : 17. Calvin:
" An oath is a needful remedy, whenever a declaration, which
ought to be received as true and indubitable, vacillates through
uncertainty." The oath should in all cases be solemnly and not
lightly taken. It is against profane oaths or oaths in common
conversation that Christ and his kinsman apostle speak, Matt. 5 :
34-37 ; James 5:12. Against such we cannot be too guarded.
10. When men, the tenor of whose lives proves them sincere
and upright, offer us their oath or affirmation, we should receive
their statement, and act upon it as true. Even, if such may possi-
bly be deceived, or, if in some cases those of good repute may
speak untruly, we ought so far to credit what is said as not to be
filled with suspicion. It is better to be deceived sometimes than .
to suspect every body. Brown : " When men dare hazard their
souls, in calling God to witness in any particular, it is our duty to
believe it as truth, and not to question it any more."
11. It is most reasonably required of us that we .should serve
and worship God, v. 9. He is a fit object of such obedience and
adoration as we can render, even the highest. Reader, dost thou
live to please God ?
12. Then do we serve God aright, when we serve him in our
hearts, and in the way pointed out by the gospel of his Son. v. 9.
Compare Phil. 3 : 3. Doddridge : " Happy is the church of
Christ, when its ministers are thus conscious of the excellency of
the gospel, and thus earnestly desirous, in the midst of reproach,
persecution and danger, to extend its triumphs." In Christ's peo-
ple and ministers there is no substitute for godly sincerity. Lack-
ing that, men serve themselves, not the Lord.
13. Good men ought to pray for each other, v. 9 ministers
for the people, and the people for ministers. Compare 2 Thess.
3:3. The great want of the church in our day is the want of
more, fervent, persevering prayer. Inconstancy is our great
error. Luke 18 : i ; 21 : 36; Rom. 12 -.12; I Thess. 5 : 17.
14. It is a privilege, worth praying for with earnestness, to be
allowed to extend our Christian acquaintance and our ministerial
usefulness in the church of the Lord Jesus. Blessed is he that
soweth beside all watercourses. He that reapeth receiveth wages
and gathereth fruit unj;o life eternal.
15. Like other things, journeys are prosperous or adverse, as
the Lord vouchsafes or withholds his favor and blessing, v. 10.
And we should acknowledge his hand in the commonest affairs
58 EPISTLE TO [Ch. I., vs. 11-13.
of life. One of the most mischievous practical errors among
even real Christians is that when the duty is comparatively easy,
and the burden comparatively light, they attempt to go on in
their own strength. Thus they often fail sadly fail. Whereas,
if they had humbly looked to God, they would have found favor
and good success.
1 6. Ministers and Christians ought to seek to make their jour-
neys and visits useful, imparting some useful hint, example, in-
struction^ or encouragement to others, v. u. Let men go about,
but let them go about doing good.
17. Doing good is one of the best ways of getting good. And
it is mere vanity and intolerable pride in any man, however great
his acquiremements, to think that plain, humble, private Christians
cannot add anything to his strength and comfort, v. 12. Calvin:
" There is no one so void of gifts in the church of Christ, as not
to be able to contribute something to our benefit." Brown : " The
best way for pastors, or others, to prevent the discouragement
that young beginners are obnoxious unto, is not to harp too much
upon their weakness and infirmities, but rather to be putting
themselves in the same case and condition with them, as needing
the same supply and help that they stand in need of."
1 8. It is a great thing to be established, v. 11. We all need it.
The strongest follower of Christ is as weak as water, except as
his ways and principles are confirmed and strengthened by divine
truth and all-sufficient grace constantly ministered to him. Let
no man glory in his wisdom, or strength, or sufficiency, but only
in the Lord.
19. Preachers of the gospel must obey the directions of Provi-
dence respecting their fields of labor, and not consult their ease,
their pleasure or their emolument, in deciding where they shall
exercise their ministry, v. 13. Compare Acts 19 : 21. Even
Satan and wicked men are often let loose upon us by the Lord to
hinder us from carrying out our plans respecting the field we
seek or occupy, i Thess. 2:18.
20. The end of sowing is reaping, v. 13. "Fruit!" what a
blessed word. How rich is the grace that allows us poor crea-
tures to gather fruit unto life eternal. Let us be intent on our
work and give ourselves wholly to it. Brown: "All such, whom
the Lord employeth in the work of the ministry, are not to look
upon the preaching of the gospel, and thereby the gaining of
souls, as an arbitrary and indifferent thing, which they may set
about, when and how they please, and leave off again, as they
think good."
21. Insatiable is the holy desire of a right-minded man to do
Ch. I., vs. 1 3-i 6.] THE ROMANS. 59
good and lead souls to Christ, v. 13. Already had Paul planted
or visited and edified numerous and famous churches; but he,
would not rest till he could do something for Rome also. It is
mentioned in the life of Rev. William Graham that when the
great revival began in his church, he thought if some few precious
youths were brought in, he would be satisfied. But when the
Lord was pleased to bring them to hope in Christ, his desires
increased indefinitely. Because insatiable, desires are not neces-
sarily wicked.
22. Ministers and Christians are bound to do good to all classes
of men, v. 14. They have no right to except any. Differences
in nation, in origin, in politics, in social ideas, can never release
us from the obligation to convey to men a knowledge of God's
greatest blessing to man a pure gospel. Such is the deplorable
condition of man by nature, that without the salvation of Christ
he is for ever undone. All men need the gospel. It suits the
wants of all. We are commanded to preach it to every creature.
Some slight the poor. Some avoid the rich. Some neglect the
ignorant. Some are afraid of the learned. Some are offended
with splendor. Some are driven a way 'by squalid wretchedness.
But in all these cases we err.
23. Let the measure of our ability be the measure of our duty,
v. 15- .
24. Godly and industrious ministers need not fear that they will
ever run out of work. If all the wise are wise unto salvation,
there are still the unwise. If the Greeks know God, the Barba-
rians are perhaps still ignorant. If Jerusalem, and Antioch, and
Ephesus, and Corinth have embraced Christ, Rome may still need
a more full instruction and discipline in the Gospel, vs. 14, 15.
25. It is incontestable proof of the deep depravity of man that
he should be ashamed of the most glorious things the gospel and
the Saviour, v. 16. Could a greater perversion exist? Can any
thing be more absurd than that men should blush to own their
greatest and most needful blessings ? It is true the taunts of un-
godly men are very bitter and very scornful ; but they are wholly
harmless, except as we yield to them. Yet many do yield to
them, and will finally and awfully perish. Mark 8:38; Luke 9 : 26 ;
compared with Matt. 10 : 33 ; Luke 12:9; 2 Tim. i : 8 ; 2:12.
26. There have been many good discourses and essays written
on the power of the gospel to bless and save and comfort man-
kind ; but none of them have exhausted the subject or even risen
to the full height of the argument. Paul calls it the power of God,
v. 16; and in i Cor. i ='24 he says that Christ, who is the sub-
stance of the gospel is both " the power of God and the wisdom
60 EPISTLE TO [Ch. I., v. 16.
of God." Calvin : " That the gospel is the savor of death to the
ungodly, does not proceed from what it is, but from; their own
wickedness." The annals of this world tell us not of one instance
where a sinner was converted, sanctified, filled with pious-. 'hopes,
made willing to suffer in the cause of God, and enabled mightily to
triumph over the world, the flesh and the devil ; over fears, temp-
tations and death itself, except by the gospel of Christ. It alone is
mighty to the pulling down of strongholds. 2 Cor. 10 : 4. TJhis
word of God is quick and powerful. Heb. 4:12. Nothing should
dishearten or discourage God's people and particularly his minis-
ters from making known the blessed truths of salvation. All those
are ashamed of the gospel, who, as Gill says ," hide and conceal it,
who have abilities to preach it, and do not ; or who preach, but
not the gospel ; or who preach the gospel only in part, who own
in private that which they will not preach in public, and use
ambiguous words, of doubtful signification, to cover themselves ;
who blend the gospel with their own inventions, seek to please
men, and live upon popular applause, regard their own interest,
and not Christ's, and can't bear the reproach of his gospel." I
have known a man ashamed of his mother, because she spoke bad
grammar ; and another, of his father because he wore coarse cloth-
ing ; and they gained no credit thereby. But he, who is ashamed
of Christ and his gospel, is a sure candidate for shame and ever-
lasting contempt. While he, who owns and obeys the gospel of
Christ, shall infallibly experience its power to raise him even from
the lowest depths of guilt, ignorance and pollution unto salvation,
beyond which creatures cannot rise.
27. There is no limit to the power and adaptation of the gospel
to men, v. 16. It suits the Jew ; it suits the Greek ; it meets tfie
wants of the wise and of the unwise. It suits us poor sinners of
the Gentiles. Compare Rom. 10 : n, 12. It brings to men all
they need.
28. The doctrine of faith is a great doctrine, which it behooves
us so to understand as to make no fatal mistakes, vs. 8, 16, 17. The
wicked may pour out their most cruel venom against it; but
whether men shall be saved will in the last day turn, as God says
it will, upon the fact, whether they had genuine living faith in the
Redeemer. Nor can God more richly bless us in this life, than by
granting us, not fewer sorrows, not lighter trials, but stronger
faith.
29. The excellence of the true doctrine of faith is its simplicity
and equal adaptation to all nations and classes of men, v. 16.
30. Of equal importance is the Scriptural doctrine in answer to
the great question, How shall man be just with God ? It is the
Ch. I.,v. i;.] THE ROMANS. 61
doctrine of righteousness, v. 17. There is no light on the way of
a sinner's salvation but in the gospel- of Jesus Christ. It tells of
hope for the perishing, pardon for the guilty. It tells of God's
method of justifying the ungodly. Rom. 4:5. It speaks of justi-
fication by faith without the deeds of the law. There never was
but one way of justifying sinful men before God. The opposition
to the true scriptural doctrine is strange, malignant and sometimes
blasphemous; but we cannot give it up. Paul says, It is written.
Yes it is written all over God's word, in the law, the prophets and
the Psalms ; in the Gospels, the Acts, the Epistles and the Apoca-
lypse. Righteousness, perfect and spotless, must be secured at the
very commencement of a religious life. Whoever is without it is
under wrath, and receives nothing in a covenant way. Let no
man deceive himself with forms, ceremonies, professions, self-in-
flicted sufferings, a hereditary creed, a sound creed, or any thing
else. The only good hope of eternal life for any man is to be found
in the righteousness by faith. Oh that men believed this truth,
and held it fast. It is their life. The Lord is of purer eyes than
to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity. Hab. 1:13. Know ye
not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
i Cor. 6:9. If there is no way of making sinners perfectly right-
eous in the sight of God and of his law, there is no possibility of
saving them. All this is the more striking and impressive when
we duly consider the sinfulness of man. The apostle at once cites
us to a survey of the state of the world.
CHAPTER I.
VERSES 18-32.
THE HORRIBLE CORRUPTION, FATAL ERRORS AND
DOLEFUL PROSPECTS OF THE HEATHEN.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness ;
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God
hath shewed it unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and
Godhead ; so that they are without excuse :
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither
were thankful ; but became vain in. their imaginations, and their foolish heart was
darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to
corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their
own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves :
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the
creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections : for even their women
did change the natural use into that which is against nature :
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in
their lust one toward another ; men with men working that which is unseemly, and
receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave
them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient ;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil
things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implaca-
ble, unmerciful :
32 Who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are
worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
(62)
Ch. L, v. 1 8.] THE ROMANS. 63
~\ Q FOR the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all un-
_1_ O . godliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in
unrighteousness. For notes the connection with the preceding.
There was great need of a gospel of a righteousness by faith. God
cannot but reject all who have not perfect righteousness, either in
their own persons or in the person of the Redeemer. He is spotlessly
holy and perfectly just. God's wrath is revealed against the wicked.
The word rendered wrath occurs in the New Testament more
than thirty times ; in this epistle twelve times. It is commonly
rendered as here, once indignation Rev. 14 : 10; once vengeance
Rom. 3:5; and thrice anger. In six or seven cases it is applied
to human anger ; but commonly it is used to express the punitive
displeasure of God. There is not necessarily (though there may
be commonly) malignity in anger as felt by man. Mark 3:5. But
God's wrath is his inflexible purpose to visit unatoned sin with
condign punishment. Revealed, the same form of the same verb
so rendered in v. 17, on which see above. There is no necessity
for varying the signification in these two verses. Wrath is re-
vealed in the whole course of providence in all ages. From heaven,
we have the same words in Mark 8 : n ; Luke 9 : 54; 17 : 29;
Acts 9:351 Pet. i : 12. The two ideas, that seem to belong to
the phrase are, I. that the revelation is from God himself, and 2.'
that it is very clear. The wrath of God, breaking forth sometimes
in terrible judgments, sometimes in punitive justice executed by
law and by society, sometimes infallibly foretokened by remorse
of conscience, and everywhere threatened in God's word, even in
the gospel itself, against those, who abuse mercy and slight offered
grace, no less than against those, who break the commandments
and despise the authority of God, may fitly be said to be revealed
from heaven. That the gospel comes with awful sanctions, im-
posing obligations of a kind more solemn than were ever before
known to men, is a scriptural doctrine. Acts 14 r 16; 17 : 30, 31 ;
Heb. 10 : 28, 29. The gospel offers more; it threatens louder; its
promises are larger ; its curses are heavier than those of any other
dispensation of God to his creatures. It gives no countenance to
wickedness ; it never intimates that God will clear the guilty, or
accept the sinner without a satisfaction to the retributive justice
of God. Beyond the gospel nothing can go in opposing all sin,
whether it be in the form of ungodliness sin in violation of our
duty to God ; or in the form of unrighteousness, injustice, or ini-
quitysin against our neighbor. Not only is God displeased with
fallen angels, but with men; and not only with some grossly igno-
rant men, but with many who hold the truth, but hold it in unright-
eousness. The truth here referred to is the truth in regard to the
64 EPISTLE TO [Ch. L, vs. 19, 20.
nature and will of God, however made known ; in particular as
manifest in the works of nature and in the government of the
world. Calvin: "The truth is the true knowledge of God;"
Pool : " All the light, which is left in man since the fall." The
word, rendered hold, is in i Cor. 7 : 30 and 2 Cor. 6 : 10 rendered
possess; in i Cor. 15:2 keep in memory ; in i Thess. 5 : 21 ; Heb.
3:6; 10 : 23, hold fast ; it has also the sense of hinder or restrain,
2 Thess 2 : 6, 7 ; in Luke 8:15; Heb. 3 14 it means to keep or
steadfastly retain in a good sense. Here it seems to mean pos-
sess, though some fine scholars prefer imprison, suppress, hinder,
detain, confine, or oppose ; Chalmers has stifle. Unrighteousness,
the same word as before. When any truth is possessed without
a corresponding practice it is held wickedly, hurtfully, wrongfully.
Then men do not obey it; they are not made better by it. Dutch
Annotations : " Contrary to all right and equity, which requires
that men give God that which belongs to him." Other meanings
have been gathered from the clause ; but they are far-fetched ;
while this is obvious, is very important, grows out of the common
use of the terms, and agrees with the context, v. 21.
19. Becaiise that which may be known of God is manifest in them ;
for God hath showed it unto them. Peshito : Because a knowledge
of God is manifest in them ; for God hath manifested it in them.
There have always been among men the means of knowing some-
thing of the existence and glory of God. Them clearly refers to
men in v. 1 8. In here means among as in vs. 5, 6, 13 of our chap-
ter, also Rom. 2 : 24; i Cor. i : 10, 11 ; 2 : 2, 6 and often ; though
not a few commentators refer it to the knowledge of God in men,
making the clause parallel to one in Rom. 2:15. They had some
knowledge of God.
20. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being imder stood by the things that are made, even his
eternal power and godhead; so that they are zvithout excuse. Tyndale,
Coverdale, Cranmer and Genevan collocate the words better than
in our authorized version : His invisible things, that is to say, his
eternal power and Godhead, are understood, etc. The external
world has always, even from the creation, taught lessons concern-
ing its Maker. The heavens declare his glory; the firmament
sheweth his handy work, Ps. 19 : i. All his works praise him.
The reason, why a miracle was never wrought to prove the exist-
ence and power of God, was that creation fully evinced both. If
men will not believe the things that are made, they would not
believe the things that God might do. The divine existence,
power, majesty, wisdom, goodness and sincerity are wondrously
demonstrated by the works of nature. These things are seen " by
Ch. I. v. 2i.] THE ROMANS. 65
the intellect," as the Peshito has it. This leaves all atheists and
all idolaters without excuse. Nothing can shield from just repre-
hension men who shut their eyes to the clear, manifestations
of truth. If there is a Maker of heaven and earth, he is to be both
loved and feared. Wiclif : So that thei maun not be excused.
Compare Acts 14 : 17. Before men can yield themselves up to
atheism, polytheism, idolatry or ungodliness they must resist clear
and strong convictions, even if they live in heathen lands. " Every
one that doeth evil hateth the light," wherever may be his home.
All ungodliness and unrighteousness are the fruit of a depraved
nature. The light has shined on men from the creation. This is
better than by the creation.
2 1 . Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as
God, neither were t hank f ill ; but became vain in their imaginations,
and their foolish heart was darkened. Several of the old versions
are striking. Tyndale : In as moche as when they knewe God,
they glorified him not as God, nether were thankfull, but wexed
full of vanities in their imaginacions, and their folisshe hertes were
blynded. The object of the apostle in this verse and in all this
context is to show that salvation by human merits is impossible,
inasmuch as men were both impious and unjust, having no right-
eousness whatever, even perverting and abusing the plainest and
chiefest truths in religion, such as the existence and excellence of
God. To this they added ingratitude, the sum of all wickedness.
Well-bred people thank even another man's servant for a small
favor, such as a cup of cold water. How vile must be the heart
that warms not with gratitude to him, who lavishes on us innume-
rable blessings, all wholly unmerited. Often do heathen writers
acknowledge that God is the author of their benefits. The
famous words
Deus hasc otia nobis fecit
are but a sample. Yet how they forsake his worship and turn to',
idols ! Even Socrates, condemned for rejecting polytheism, at his
death ordered a cock to be offered to ^Esculapius. And Seneca,
a cotemporary of Paul, wrote with great spirit and pungency
against the foolish and wicked idolatry of his times. Yet he says
that a wise man will conform to such rites, as required by law, and
not at all as pleasing to God. He adds : " All this ignoble rabble
of gods, which ancient superstition has now of a long time been
heaping up, we will so adore as to remember that the worship of
them is due rather to custom than material in itself." So that as
Augustin says, " He worshipped what he found fault with, he prac-
tised what he reproved, and he adored what he blamed." It is gen-
5
66 EPISTLE TO [Ch. I., v, 22.
erally agreed that light and knowledge enhance guilt. These
people not only might have known God, but did actually know
much concerning him, and then refused to honor him as he
deserved. To this they were led by one gross, master sin, ingrat-
itude, to Avhich their wicked hearts naturally and powerfully
inclined them. The same depravity made them vain in their im-
aginations. The word rendered imaginations is elsewhere nine
times rendered thoughts, once doubting, once doubtful, once dis-
putings, once reasoning, here only imaginations. The cognate
verb is eleven times rendered reasoned, once disputed, once con-
sider, once mused and once cast in her mind. Wiclif and the
Doway read thoughts ; Rheims, cogitations ; Chrysostom, Dutch
Annotations, Adam, Doddridge, Pareus, Beza, Turrettin, Guyse,
Pool, Macknight, and Conybeare and Howson have reasonings.
Tholuck correctly refers the whole to man's mind, his inward being,
and adds " religious and moral error is always the consequence of
religious and moral perversity." Calvin : " They quickly choked by
their own depravity the seed of right knowledge, before it grew to
ripeness." And their foolish heart was darkened. For foolish Wiclif
has unwise ; Macknight, imprudent ; Stuart, inconsiderate ; Hodge,
senseless and wicked. This dreadful perversity led to terrible folly
and darkness. Heart sometimes designates the intellectual powers,
Matt. 13 : 15 ; Acts 28 : 27; sometimes the conscience, i John 3 :
20, 21 ; sometimes the seat of the affections, Mark 16 : 14; Luke 8 :
15 ; Rom. 6 : 17, and sometimes the whole inner man, Matt. 15 : 19;
Heb. 4 : 12. In our verse the word may be taken in each or in all
of these senses, for they are all true. Wicked men are as foolish
as they are perverse. They are awfully left to themselves. They
are benighted. They are lost.
22. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. For pro-
fessing Wiclif and Rheims have saying ; Tyndale, Cranmer and
Genevan, when they counted ; Peshito, while they thought within
themselves ; Conybeare and Howson, calling themselves ; Calvin,
while they were thinking. In Acts 25 : 19 the same word is ren-
dered, affirmed. Tholuck : The word most frequently in Greek
denotes the vaunting of a pretender. The pretensions of the
heathen to wisdom and piety have always been great. The
Greeks and Romans were not exceptions. In. particular the
Greeks boasted prodigiously of their attainments in philosophy.
But their claims were idle and delusive. In their wisdom they
were, if possible, further from the truth than in their acknowledged
ignorance. The philosophers were as -far from the truth as the
common people. They all together became fools ; Guyse, were
really stupid and senseless, like perfect idiots ; Doddridge, they
Ch. L, v. 23, 2 4 .] THE ROMANS. 67
became fools and idiots, degrading, in the lowest and most infa-
mous manner, the reason which they so arrogantly pretended to
improve, and almost to engross. But in the Scriptures a fool de-
notes either one, who is an idiot or a very weak man, Prov. 10 : 8 ;
13 : 20; 2 Cor. 12 : 6; or one who is vile and wicked, Ps. 14 : i ; Pr.
14 : 16; Luke 24 : 25. As all sin is folly, and in particular as high
conceits of our own attainments in religion are proof both of the
vanity and wickedness of our minds, so the apostle declares these
Gentiles to be both unwise and vile. Such, beyond a doubt, was
their real character. Nor is it possible to determine which was
the more monstrous, their folly or their sinfulness, nor which of
these had the greater tendency to produce the other, for wicked-
ness leads to folly and folly to wickedness, yea, wickedness is folly,
and folly in divine things is wickedness. So that the Bible is
right in not carefully preserving the distinction between fools and
sinners. Macknight thinks the language of this verse the more
pungent, as it is put into a writing addressed to the Romans, who
were great admirers of the Greeks.
23. And changed the glory of the tincorruptible God into an image
made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and
creeping things. For changed many read turned. The substitution
of any creature for Jehovah is vile perversion, but most of the
forms of idolatry are so gross that we wonder every mind is not
shocked. Glory here means honor, or majesty, or excellence. Un-
corruptible ; Tyndale and Cranmer, immortal; so rendered also in
i Tim. i : 17; the opposite of corruptible or mortal in this verse,
which applied to inanimate things means perishable, i Cor. 9 : 26 ;
to man, mortal. The cognate noun is rendered sincerity, Eph.
6 : 24; Tit. 2 : 7; in i Cor. 15 four times incorruption, and else-
where immortality, Rom. 2:751 Tim. i : 10. Robinson renders
it exemption from decay. The heathen vainly talked of their im-
mortal gods, while they were mere vanities. The minds of the
heathen being blinded and perverted, they freely consented to
gross and wicked conceptions of the Almighty, such as could be
set forth by some kind of image, often drawn from low and perish-
able things. The likeness of man or angel, of the sun or moon no
more adequately or justly shows forth the true nature of God than
does the similitude of an ox, or ass, an owl, a bat, a toad, a lizard
or an anaconda. Therefore we need not marvel that when men
become worshippers of any but Jehovah, they soon sink to the
lowest depths of idolatry, or are ready to do so. Such wickedness
could not pass unpunished.
24. Wherefore God also gave them up to unclcanness, through the
hists of their own hearts, to dishonor their oivn bodies between themselves
68 EPISTLE TO [Ch. I., v. 25.
Gave them up, delivered them over, committed them, (abandoned
says Ferme,) in a bad sense betrayed, found also in vs. 26, 28 ; in
Rom. 4:25; 8 : 32 delivered. Chrysostom : " Not only was their
doctrine satanical, but their life too was diabolical." To itnclean-
ness, always so rendered in the authorized version, and commonly
in most others. The cognate adjective unclean is the word ap-
plied to the possessions of devils, Matt. 10 : I, and often. In Rev.
18:21 we have every foitl spirit. The word here used often de-
notes wickedness in general, always impurity of some kind. God
gave them not over to their hateful course without a cause. This
was found in the lusts of their own hearts. Lusts, commonly used
in a bad- sense, then rendered as here or concupiscence, Rom. 7:8;
Col. 3:5; but sometimes in a good sense, then rendered desire,
Luke 22 : 15 ; i Thess. 2:15. Being given over of God, they sank
into debasement, disgraceful to their whole natures. The word
rendered dishonor is in Luke 20 : 1 1 entreat shamefully ; in James
2 : 6, despise ; Wiclif : Punysche with wrongis ; Tyndale, Cran-
mer and Genevan : defyle ; Rheims : abuse. By their bodies we
are to understand their whole persons, preeminently their animal
natures.
25. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worship fed and
served the creature, more than the Creator, w/io is blessed for ever.
Amen. This verse both in Greek and English closely resembles
v. 23d. Cranmer : Which have turned hys truthe unto a lye, and
worshypped and serued the thynges that be made, more than him
that made them, &c. ; Peshito : And they changed the truth of
God into a lie ; and worshipped and served the created things
much more than the Creator of them, to whom belong glory and
blessing, for ever and ever : Amen ; Stuart : Who exchanged the
true God for a false one, &c. Changed, the Greek occurs but twice
in the N. T. here and in v. 26. It strictly means to exchange one
thing for another. This is just what Gentilism does. It not
merely mars right thoughts and the pure worship of God ; it
wholly subverts all true religion. It changes not merely the man-
ner but also the very object of worship. By the truth of God some
understand the true God. No doubt that idea is included, but
there is no necessity for so limiting the sense. The whole of re-
ligion is by paganism subverted, changed into a lie, or lying. The
word is in the N. T. uniformly rendered. Whoever is pleased
with idolatry under any form or pretence, shows that he is not of
God nor of the truth, for no lie is of the truth, and no lie is of God.
All false worship is a deception, a falsehood, a lying vanity. How
could it be otherwise ? It disowns Jehovah, and leaves the poor
soul without a God, who can help, or hear, or see, or save. Wor-
Ch. L, v. 26.] THE ROMANS. 69
shipped, i. e. venerated, reverenced, offered their devotions to.
Served, primarily equivalent to rendered bodily service ; but in the
new Testament generally, gave religious homage. Matt. 4 : 10 ;
Rom. 7:15. See above on v. 9. The two words include every
thing rightly called religious worship. The creature, any thing
made, often used collectively, once applied to a law made by man,
i Pet. 2 : 13, and once to a building, Heb. 4:11. If worship is
offered to any thing made by God or man, it matters little whether
in created eyes it be great or small. One may as well worship a
toad as the sun, an onion as an archangel, an atom as the whole
creation. Each and all of these are infinitely below God. More
than, in the Greek a preposition, which may be rendered more
than, above, beyond, against or contrary to. In v. 26, also in
Rom. 4: 1 8 and elsewhere it is rendered against. Luther: Rather
than the Creator ; Erasmus : Above the Creator ; Grotius : In the
place of the Creator; Beza and Doddridge: To the neglect of the
Creator. Whoever pays religious homage to any creature insults
the divine majesty, honors something rather than God, more than
God, against God, contrary to God, his being, his glory, his law,
his government. Bles&ed, not the word signifying happy, rendered
blessed in Matt. 5 : 3-11 ; in i Tim. i : 11 ; 6 : 15 ; but the word
signifying praised, adored, extolled, i. e. worthy to be praised, &c.
In the N. T. this word is applied to none but to God only ; though
the cognate verb is used to express the good wishes and hearty
prayers of one creature for another, as well as praise to God.
Compare Heb. 11 : 20, 21 ; Jas. 3 : 9. For ever, the precise form
of words found in the Lord's prayer, Matt. 6 : 13. Amen, a word
often transferred to various languages. It is Hebrew and means
faithfulness, truth, or faithful, true. Jehovah early revealed him-
self as a God of Amen, Deut. 32 : 4. At the beginning of a sen-
tence or speech Amen is a solemn mode of averring, as in Matt.
J 8 : 3 ; John 3:3. At the close of a speech from one, it is a re-
sponse from others, or an expressed concurrence in a prayer
offered in behalf of others or in communion with them.
26. For this ca^lse God gave them ^t.p tinto vile affections : for even
their women did change the natiiral use into that which is against
nattire. Gave rip, the same verb and in the same form as in v. 24.
Vile affections, dishonorable lusts, shameful longings ; Peshito :
Vile passions ; Stuart : base passions ; Rheims : passions of igno-
miny ; Locke : shameful and infamous lusts and passions. The
corruption went so far that it invaded all the privacies of life, and
debased the characters of the more delicate sex and stung men
with the reflection that they could neither believe the innocence,
nor trust the purity of their own wives, daughters, sisters or
70 EPISTLE TO [Ch. I., vs. 27-29.
mothers, and inspired jealousy, which is the rage of a man, to con-
sume them with coals of juniper.
27. And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the
woman, burned in their hist one tozvard another, men with men working
that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense
of their error which was meet. Such wickedness met with pun-
ishment, recompense, retribution, even in this life. The heathen
were led into it by error, the deceit that is in sin, fat fraud practised
by the devil, all resulting from their wandering from God. Who-
ever has any familiarity with Greek and Roman classics cannot
lack proof of the horrible baseness and degrading practices refer-
red to in vs. 24, 26, 27. See the testimonies of Petronius, Sueto-
nius, Martial, Seneca, Virgil, Juvenal and Lucian. Many such
are collected by Bos, Grotius, Wetstein, Cox, Macknight, Tho-
luck, Stuart and others. The destruction of domestic love, the
brutality consequent upon the basest vices, and the hideous forms
of loathsome disease thus induced constituted a meet, appropriate
reward of forsaking God.
28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowl-
edge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things
which are not convenient. Peshito has the first clause : And as
they did not determine with themselves to know God ; Clarke :
They did not search to retain God in their knowledge ; Tyn-
dale : It seemed not good unto them to be aknowen of God.
The Doway and many others substantially agree with the au-
thorized version. The first verb is well translated. They did
not like, i. e. it did not seem good to them, it was not their plea-
sure, they did not determine, as they would have done had they
been right minded. In Rom. 2 : 18 the same word is rendered
approve ; in 14 : 22 allow. To retain, literally to have or to hold.
Gave over, the same in vs. 24, 26 is rendered gave up. See on v.
24. It is used both in a good and bad sense. Reprobate, always so
rendered in the N. T. except twice ; in i Cor. 9 : 27, a castaway;
and in Heb. 6 : 8, rejected. It means rejected after trial, castaway
after being proved. Some render it undiscerning or unsearching ;
but this is feeble and unsupported. The heathen did not like or
approve God, and God did not like or approve them. Those
things which are not convenient, not fit, right or becoming. For not
convenient Tyndale, Cranmer and Genevan, have not comly :
Stuart, base. More is implied than is expressed. It means they
were left to do odious and abominable things, such as are at once
mentioned :
29. Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness,
covetousness, maliciousness ; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malig-
Ch. I, v. 29.] THE ROMANS. 71
nity ; whisperers. Being filled and full, words in Greek, not even
cognate. Perhaps one word is as strong- as the other. The
latter may mean sttiffed. Conybeare and Howson render the
latter They overflow with. The first noun, unrighteousness, means
injustice, iniquity, wrong. Wiclif has wickidness. It here refers
to wrong committed by one man against another. It is preceded
by all, which also qualifies the nouns following ; all, i. e. every
kind of injustice. When men rob and wrong God, you need not
be surprised to hear of their practising the grossest injustice to
each other. The second noun includes all violations of the
seventh commandment, whether by adultery, fornication, whore-
dom, harlotry, concubinage, incest or any other form of lewdness.
The Peshito and Doddridge render it lewdness ; Macknight and
Stuart, uncleanness. Clarke correctly says it includes " all com-
merce between the sexes out of the bounds of lawful marriage."
The third noun, wickedness, is very comprehensive. Conybeare
and Howson have depravity. It includes all acts of hurtfulness,
grievousness, malignancy or badness ; in our version always ren-
dered as here, except once in the plural iniquities, Acts 3 : 26.
Calvin cities Ammonius in favor of rendering this word wickedness,
and thinks it means " practised wickedness, or licentiousness in do-
ing mischief." Stuart has malice. The word points out all acts of
oppression, which give men labor and sorrow. The fourth term,
covetousnsss, points out the sin of grasping after more worldly pos-
sessions than one has, without due regard to the will of God or
the rights of men. It is the love of the world, particularly of
wealth. By maliciousness we may understand that state of mind,
which makes one a wrong-doer without provocation, a wanton,
injurious person ; one having a love of mischief. Stuart has mis-
chief; Clarke, ill-will. In the common version it is also rendered
evil, malice, wickedness and naughtiness. Envy is a malignant, rest-
less, devilish, tormenting passion. It sickens at the worth, success,
or good name of others, especially neighbors and competitors. It is
the great instigator of strife and of bloodshedding. It caused the
first fratricide, i John 3 : 12. Very appositely therefore does the
apostle next mention murder, or the slaying of men. To this
crime the propensity of men without the restraints of God's word
and providence is so strong that society soon becomes intolerable.
In ancient Rome the wicked and violent destruction of human life
was truly fearful. But over most of the heathen world infanticide
alone would justify the charge here made. Many murders spring
from strife or debate as the word is according to an old usage
rendered here and in 2 Cor. 12 : 20. Low quarrelling, bloody
broils, perpetual contentions, cruel contests embitter life in all
72 EPISTLE TO [Ch. I., v. 30.
heathen countries. Of course candor, fairness, truth are sadly
wanting, and deceit, guile, craft, subtilty (for the world has all
these renderings in the N. T.) sadly abound. The original word
means bait. The figure is drawn from hunting. Lying is so
common in heathen countries that in India it is a saying, Open the
mouth, and the lie will come out. All these things flow from and
promote malignity ; Wiclif has yuel wille ; Doddridge, inveteracy
of evil habits ; Macknight, bad disposition ; Genevan, takyng all
things in the euyl part. For the last rendering we have the best
classical authority, and no other word in this chapter expresses
that precise idea. The Peshito has evil machinations. Some
think the word denotes rudeness of manners; but the Genevan
translation gives the best interpretation. Wherever iniquity thus
abounds the tongue will be sure to be set on fire of hell ; and next
we read of whisperers, a word found no where else in the N. T.
though we once have its cognate whisperings, 2 Cor. 12 : 20. It
points out those mischief-makers, secret slanderers, whose arts are
innumerable, and the evil consequences of whose conduct are felt
every where. Doddridge and Macknight think it designates only
secret slanderers of persons who are present. No doubt such are
included, but there is no authority for thus confining its meaning.
Locke and Stuart have backbiters ; and Wiclif, prying backbiters.
But when without God's word wickedness is in the ascendant, it
knows no bounds, and the unregenerate are also,
30. Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors
of evil things, disobedient to parents. Most English versions have
backbiters ; Wiclif, Rheims and Doway, detractors ; Macknight,
revilers ; Tholuck and Stuart, open slanderers. Haters of God,
from the form of the Greek some would render it hated of God ;
but in nifiny cases words in that form have an active sense. Paul
is speaking of the sins of the heathen, not of their punishment.
That wicked men do hate God is proved by their daily conduct
and by many Scriptures. Ps. 81 : 15 ; John 7:7115: 23-25 ; Rom.
8 : 7. This language is not too strong. Despiteful, Peshito, scof-
fers ; Wiclif, debaters ; Tyndale, Cranmer and Genevan, doers of
wronge; Rheims, contumelious. In i Tim. I : 13 the samfc word
is by Paul applied to himself before his conversion, and is rendered
injurious. Doddridge has violent and overbearing. Locke, insult-
ers of men ; Macknight, insolent towards inferiors ; Conybeare
and Howson, outrageous. Proud, haughty, arrogant, in the N. T.
always rendered as here. Cicero, Juvenal and Horace all claim
that virtue is from ourselves, not from God. The cognate noun
occurs but once and is rendered pride, Mark 7 : 22. Conybeare
and Howson have overweening. Boasters, an excellent rendering,
Ch. I., v. 31.] THE ROMANS. 73
the same as in 2 Tim. 3 : 2. The Peshito has vain-glorious. This
does not materially vary the sense. All such assume to them-
selves more than is their due. It is a sin full of evil to the world
that men should be assumptive in their hearts or manners. In-
ventors of evil things, Wiclif, fynders of yuel thingis ; Tyndale and
Cranmer, bringers vp of evyll thinges ; Peshito, devisers of evil
things; Macknight, inventors of unlawful pleasures; Locke, in-
ventors of new arts of debauchery ; Doddridge has much the same.
These last authors doubtless point to the characters intended.
Disobedient to parents, Peshito, disregardful of parents. The Doway
exactly agrees with the authorized version. Several old English
versions for parents have fadir and modir. The common version
is literal ; but the phrase doubtless designates all violators of the
fifth commandment. In heathen countries these abound, being
encouraged by the very principles of false religions. Such persons
are naturally enough
31. Without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural
affection, implacable, unmerciful. Without understanding, the word
occurs in the N. T. five times and is in our version always rendered
as here, or foolish. Wiclif has unwise ; the Doway, foolish ; Tholuck,
stupid about things divine ; Macknight, imprudent ; Stuart, incon-
siderate or foolish ; Conybeare & Howson, bereft of wisdom. No
word could better describe the superstitions, follies, fancies,
frenzies and senseless rites and observances of Pagans, who are
also covenant-breakers. This word does not here refer so much to
breaking covenant with God as with man, faithless persons, who
feel themselves free to act in disregard of their word, their promise,
their bond, and even their oath. If such find that they have sworn
to their own hurt, or made a hard bargain, they will change, with
or without pretext. Hesychius : " They adhere not to compacts."
The heathen are also to a fearful extent "without natural affection,
parents sadly regardless of the lives and wants of their offspring ;
children not being tender of the feelings, honor, or comfort of
their parents, especially of their mothers, and particulary when
they become infirm or helpless, etc. This natural affection is
much celebrated in ancient writings, especially as it is displayed
in irrational creatures. But sin often sinks men below the brutes.
Implacable, literally, without truce, declining reconciliation, refus-
ing to be on peaceable terms. Wiclif: with outen bonde of pees.
The word occurs in one other place, 2 Tim. 3:3; and is there
perhaps erroneously rendered truce-breakers. If some men have
disagreements with neighbors, they are never afterwards recon-
ciled. Conybeare & Howson read ruthless. Of course such men
are unmerciful, Peshito : in whom is no compassion ; Wiclif,
74 EPISTLE TO [Ch. I.,.y. 18.
Rheims and Doway : without mercy ; Tyndale and Genevan :
merciles ; Stuart : without compassion. The Greek words of
this verse all begin with the privative equal to our un, and Owen'
of Thrussington attempts to preserve something of that form
Unintelligent, unfaithful, imnatural, unappeasable, unmerciful.
32. Who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit
such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure
in them that do them. For judgment some have erroneously read
justice or righteousness. So Calvin, the Dow.ay, and several old
English versions. In this verse judgment is evidently equivalent
to purpose, determination, decision. In Luke I : 6; Heb. 2 : I, 10
the same word in the plural is rendered ordinances. The term is
equivalent to the law of God, which law is written on the hearts
of men. The heathen, therefore, knew this statute of God. Many
of them inveighed against the things here condemned. Many
laws were at various times enacted and sometimes enforced against
them, even to the taking of life. But the death here mentioned
is that of the soul, an endurance of the anger of God. For
although in Luke 23 : 15 ; Acts 23 : 29 ; 25 : 11, 25 ; 26 : 31 the
phrase refers to the death of the body, yet in each of those cases
it is of human laws that the terms are employed. Peshito : They
know the judgment of God, that he condemneth to death those,
etc. But to be worthy of death at God's tribunal is an awful
thing. It is to be under the curse of his law, under his wrath.
Though the heathen knew God's law in these matters, they sinned
on, and knowingly persisted in disregarding the divine will. They
did more : they had pleasure in those who thus" sinned. That is,
they thought well of them, sympathized with them and encouraged
them by being their boon companions.
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL REMARKS.
1 . It is clear that God is angry with the wicked, v. 1 8. It cannot
be otherwise. God is holy, and hates sin, and from the upright-
ness of his nature he must punish sin. His wrath is revealed in
the human conscience and in the whole course of his providence.
It is revealed in the clearest manner. Experience, history and
observation thus teach.
2. Men seek in vain for justification by the deeds of the law,
for in them are found ungodliness and unrighteousness, and over
them impends the curse of a violated law, which is holy, just and
good, both in its precept and in its penalty, v. 18.
3. Amazing is the self-righteousness of men, that hesitates and
even refuses to regard the gospel scheme necessary to our salva-
Ch. I., v. 1 8.] THE ROMANS. 7$
tion, until we are stricken with a sense of the holiness and terrors
of the Lord, v. 18. '
4. Nothing can excuse much less justify our rebellion against
God. It deserves all the divine displeasure revealed against it,
v. 1 8. Its nature is hideous, frightful, so that in comparison of it
nothing else is to be dreaded. God and all good beings abhor
it.
5. Wicked as men are, and wild as is the confusion that some-
times seems to reign in human affairs, God still governs the world,
and will sway his sceptre over it to the consummation, vs. 18, 19.
And although time is not the part of duration, nor earth the theatre,
where and when full justice is displayed ; yet enough is done to
enable a wise man to see that if these things be done in the green
tree, that which shall be done in the dry will be very terrible.
6. Nor should godly men ever find fault with the dealings of
the Lord with them in the way of chastisement, for the best of
men are but men at the best, and in many things we all offend.
Judgment may be expected to begin at the house of God. Where-
fore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his
sins ? Shall we, who deserve no favor, receive good at the hand of
the Lord, and shall we, who deserve all disfavor, not receive evil
also ? Job 2 : 10 ; Lam. 3 : 39 ; i Pet. 4:17. Sin must be punished,
will be punished.
7. It is very remarkable how slow men are to believe in their
sinfulness. Though all imgodliness and imrighteousness abound in
the world ; though we see the best of men afflicted, and some bad
men made examples and beacons to warn the world, yet after all
how few have a deep or any just and lasting sense of their sinful-
ness in the sight of a holy God ; yet all men esteem the gospel as
good news only in proportion as they see their lost condition, and
are burdened with a consciousness of personal ill-desert. There
is no greater folly than to cry, All is well, when our state is one of
ruin.
8. It is highly dangerous to hold the truth in unrighteousness ;
to know what is right, and refuse to do it ; to see its fitness, and
not feel its binding force ; while to pervert it, stifle it, suppress
it, and disobey it will surely lead to the saddest results, v. 18.
That heathen was right, who said : " There is nothing more com-
mon for the gods to,.do than to pervert the minds of wicked men."
Of all the aggravations of sin none is mentioned in Scripture in a
more alarming manner than that of knowingly acting wickedly.
To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is
sin, Jas. 4 : 17.
9. However much the light of nature mav shine upon us, and
76 EPISTLE TO [Ch. I., vs. 18-20.
by sinning against it we may bring down upon us the wrath of
heaven, yet on many accounts a revelation is necessary to our
salvation. A revelation of wrath may terrify and convict, v. 18.
It is a revelation of grace and mercy that saves. This is made
clear in many ways. If the light of nature is enough, why did it
never save even one man from sin and wretchedness ? And why
did it never lead at least one nation to adopt a code of pure
morals ? And why did it never inspire solid and animating hopes of
a blessed eternity ? Natural religion does indeed declare that God
is, that- he is almighty, good, wise, sincere, the patron of virtue;
but it tells not how sinners may serve and please him.
10. So that on many accounts pity to our fallen race should
lead us to make known the unsearchable riches of Christ to the
nations that sit in darkness. No stronger, or sounder argument
can be made out of God's word than that in favor, of spreading
the gospel over the whole earth. The heathen are in a sense a
law to themselves ; but they are not a gospel to themselves. No
one of them can tell his brother how he may have a saving knowl-
edge of God, though all of them have more light than they make
a good use of. Though the light of nature cannot save, it is suffi-
cient to condemn, vs. 19, 20. Well does Aristotle say : " God,
who is invisible to mortal eyes, is to be seen by his works." In
like manner Cicero : " Though thou seest him not, yet thou know-
est God by his works." So clear is the light of nature that were
men honest they would confess that the Most High alone is to be
religiously worshipped, supremely loved, held in godly reverence,
or implicitly obeyed.
n. Were men by nature irrational, idiotic, lunatic, or utterly
beyond the possibility of knowing God, or of learning his will,
the case would be vastly different. Where there is no law, there
is no transgression. But because men have reason, and con-
science, and many things to draw them to God, they are without
excuse, v. 20. If men were right-minded, they would glory
in this, that they understood and knew God. And were they
rightly affected, they would inquire after him as for hid treasure ;
and as many as thought and felt aright would seek until they
gained that knowledge of God and of Christ, which is eternal
life. Light hated or abused has no saving tendency. Truth
rejected and disobeyed has a damning power.
12. Reason suggests that the creature should honor the Crea-
tor. Scripture asserts in the clearest manner that we are bound
to glorify God, v. 21. Compare Ps. 22 : 23 ; Isa. 49 : 3 ; Mat. 5 : 16;
Rom. 15:6; i Pet. 4 : 16; Rev. 15 : 4. This is the capital point,
in which most fail. Calvin : "He, who has a right notion of God,
Ch. L, v. 21.] THE ROMANS. 77
ought to give him the praise due to his eternity, wisdom, good-
ness and justice." Yet where is the nation without God's word,
that puts any honor upon him ? The great mass of teaching, of
rite and of fable among the heathen is precisely adapted to bring
into contempt all that is divine. Among both ancients and
moderns, many deny the divine existence, as Epicurus and Democ-
ritus, and the devotees of Boodh and Fo. Not a few are Panthe-
ists, as Orpheus. Even Aristotle avowed principles which fairly
led to Pantheism. So many held, as some modern mimics of
heathenism hold, that a dog, a cat, an onion, the mountains, the
ocean, all things material were a part of God. Numbers of the
heathen made it a part of their philosophy to doubt all truth con-
cerning God, even his existence, as Protagoras and Diagoras and
their followers. Great masses of them held and taught that there
were many gods. In Rome thirty thousand were acknowledged,
and in China for a long time they have counted their gods by the
hundred million. If Jehovah is a father, where is his honor ? if
he is a master, where is his fear ?
13. How important then is it to possess the true knowledge of
God, v. 21. To some extent this may be had, and yet men be
corrupt and profane. But nothing short of the truth concerning
God can ever hinder a people from falling into deep debasement
in vice and impiety ; for superstition is one of the worst forms of
irreligion. Theophylact uttered a truth confirmed by the annals
of all times, when he said : " He that will not know God, soon be-
comes corrupt in his life." Tholuck : " It is always found, that the
want of a sense of religion blunts the sense for general morality."
14. Revelation is well sustained by reason in asserting the ob-
ligations of gratitude. Until the human heart is changed by
divine grace, all men fail in this matter towards God, v. 21. Cal-
vin : " There is no one, who is not indebted to him for numberless
benefits." But when did a heathen people ever make a meet
return ? And can any plead for the virtue or piety of a man or
a people, who are not grate/til? " Call me," said a heathen, "un-
grateful, and after that you can say no evil of me."
15. Vain imaginings and mental darkness belong to sin in all
its stages and workings, v. 21.- This has always been so. The
leaven of iniquity no sooner began to work than our first parents
had vain dreams about being as gods. The great source of evil
among the antediluvians was found in their sinful and unreason-
able conceptions of things, Gen. 6:5. So prevalent is this evil
among men, that were it closely observed and condignly punished,
no flesh would be spared. Corrupt affections and false reasonings
are the great pillars of Satan's kingdom in this world. Nor is
78 EPISTLE TO [Ch. I., v. 22.
there any cure for this blindness and falsehood and perversity
without the gospel. Hodge : " The higher the advancement of
the nations in refinement and philosophy, the greater, as a general
rule, the degradation and folly of their systems of religion."
Halclane : " What they deemed to be their wisdom was truly their
folly." No man is so blind as he who will not see. Jesus taught :
' Every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to
the light," John 3 : 20.
16. Beware of vain pretensions, v. 22. The greatest pretend-
ers, either to wisdom or goodness, are the greatest fools or de-
ceivers. No wise man will trust them. God abhors them.
17. It ought effectually to cure high pretensions and vain
boastings, that those, who have most abounded in them, have
been left to commit the greatest folly, v. 23 ; even selecting the
most hideous reptiles, yea, and vegetables, as fit representations
of God.
1 8. Of all the inflictions of divine wrath none are more terrible
than spiritual desertions, spiritual judgments and judicial blind-
ness, vs. 24, 25, 28. It is a horrible thing to be given tip or given
over by God. From his throne never proceeds a more dismal
sentence than this: " Let him alone." Calvin: "As Satan is the
minister of God's wrath, and as it were the executioner, so he is
armed against us, not through the connivance, but by the com-
mand of his judge. God, however, is not on this account cruel,
nor are we innocent, inasmuch as Paul plainly shows, that we are
not delivered up into his power, except when we deserve such a
punishment." Olshausen : "Where God and His holy being is
not, and therefore the vanity of the creature's self is the ruling
power, there sin begets sin, and punishes itself by sin." Hodge :
" God often punishes one sin by abandoning the sinner to the
commission of others." Whatever confusion and error may have
arisen in the minds of the self-su'fficient on this and kindred sub-
jects, these things are clear : God is not the author of sin, he is
not the efficient cause of transgression, he works no iniquity, he
is of purer eyes than to look tipon unrighteousness ; yet nothing
happens in the world contrary to his sovereign and eternal pur-
pose ; if he had chosen, he could have prevented the existence of
moral evil in the universe ; he is Lord of all ; he governs moral
agents without interfering with their freedom, the wicked are his
hand, his sword, the rod of his anger, Ps. 17 : 13, 14; Isa. 10 : 5 ;
they can go no farther than he permits ; God can and often does
make a wicked man his own tempter and tormentor, he leaves
him to himself, he throws the reins loose upon the neck of his
lusts, putting comparatively little restraint upon his sinful propen-
Ch. 1., vs. 23, 24.] THE ROMANS. 79
sities. This desertion of the soul by the Lord is most righteous,
it was desired by the wicked, it occurs only after stubborn resist-
ance to the calls of mercy ; in every instance wicked lives spring
from wicked hearts, evil practices naturally follow human per-
versity. One of the sad things attending this judicial desertion
is the fact that the sinner perceives it not, but flatters himself in
his iniquity till it be found to be hateful. Not unfrequently the
punishment is in kind ; those who have been unfaithful to God are
left to practise unfaithfulness to their wedding engagements;
those who lie unto God become infamous by lying unto men ; those
who practise spiritual whoredom are left to commit all bodily
lewdness and uncleanness till they are a loathing to others and
sometimes to themselves, Hos. 4 : 12-14.
19. The evils of idolatry have probably never been ,exag-
gerated, v. 23. It is full of grossness, absurdity and misery.
2 Ki. 17 : 15-18 ; Ps. 16 : 4 ; 115 : 4-8 ; Isa. 44 : 9-20 ; Acts 14 : 15 ;
17 : 29. If one would see the estimate of heathenism by those,
who had been sunk in its pollutions, and then escaped its sorrows
and abominations, let him read Lactantius' de Ira Dei, Eusebius'
history, Augustin de civitate Dei ; or let him for his own satisfac-
tion read such works of modern authors as Leland on the advan-
tage and necessity of the Christian Revelation, Jenkins' reason-
ableness of Christianity, Ward's India or some other books of that
class. Cud worth has shown by ample quotations from ancient
poets, philosophers, orators and historians, that the heathen held
and knew that there was one supreme God ; and yet in all Gentile
literature is not found one hymn, as Estius says, in honor of the
true God. Heathenism is as wicked as it is sottish. Chrysostom
thus sums up the whole matter respecting the Gentile theology
and worship : " The first charge is, that they did not find God ;
the second, that they failed to do so, although favored with the
best and most manifest opportunities ; the third, that they failed,
though calling themselves wise ; and the fourth, that they not
merely did not find him, but degraded his worship to demons and
stones." What, but sin and misery, darkness and error could
be introduced by sentiments and practices so corrupt and de-
grading ?
2.0. Sin tends to the worst for both worlds, and in all respects,
vs. 23, 26, 27. Its nature is to induce utter ruin.
21. People, Avho have the gospel, can never be sufficiently
thankful for being saved from Paganism.
22. Lawgivers, moralists, pastors and parents cannot too wisely
or carefully guard all, and especially the young against every
sin of uncleanness, vs. 24, 26, 27. Any one form of it naturally
8o EPISTLE TO [Ch. I., vs. 25-28.
leads to its worst manifestations. Even the Israelites, when they
forsook God, and were left to themselves, imitated the abomina-
tions of Sodom, 2 Ki. 23 : 7. Lewdness is the pit, into which the
abhorred of the Lord falls, Pr. 22 : 14. Hodge : " Sins of unclean-
ness are peculiarly debasing and demoralizing." Nor is there
any infallible preservative against them, if we forsake God and
are forsaken of God.
23. It is a grave question whether private Christians in their
speech and writings, and religious teachers in their public
ministry abound, as they should, in doxology, v. 25. It is prob-
able that the profaneness, with which some ungodly persons
have bandied such phrases as "bless God," "thank the Lord,"
has brought into disesteem and desuetude the pious custom of
reverently saying on all fit occasions, Bless the Lord, etc. The
word of God contains a rich variety of these excellent forms
of showing forth God's glory. Tholuck correctly says it is
customary both for Jews and Mahometans to pronounce a dox-
ology, whenever in their writings it becomes necessary to in-
troduce even for refutation any notion or heresy unworthy of
God. Haldane : " It denotes that we should never speak of
God but with profound respect, and that this respect ought to
be accompanied with praise and thanksgiving."
24. There is no reason to doubt the doctrine of human depra-
vity, vs. 18-32. Every prison, and gibbet, and lock, and bolt, and
bar, every good statute human and divine designed to restrain
the outbreakings of lust and passion, every page of truthful his-
tory, every tear, and sigh, and wail, yea, the very lexicons and
philology of the world prove how corrupt men are. Such a cata-
logue of sins as that given in vs. 29-31, if duly considered, would
overwhelm any unconverted people with shame and self-condem-
nation. Like catalogues are given by Christ in Mark 7 : 21-23 >
and by Paul in Gal. 5 : 19-21.
25. However the vain expectations of men may be multiplied
respecting impunity in transgression, yet God has published it
(and he is of one mind and changeth not) that sin and sinners are
worthy of death, v. 32. It cannot be safe to pursue a course which
he who cannot lie, he who is love itself, he who cannot err, he
who is to be our final Judge, has said is punished condignly only
by the awful penalty death. And if a course of iniquity among
the heathen brought on them eternal ruin, what shall not God in-
flict on those who, living in the light of a pure gospel, shall com-
mit the same or similar deeds ! There is a dreadful hell. The
heathen themselves spake of Tartarus as the prison house of the
wicked.
Ch. I., v. 29-32 .] THE ROMANS. 81
26. Those who maintain the doctrine of total depravity find
their views warranted by the word of God. The wicked are
filled with unrighteousness, etc., and are full of envy, etc. vs. 29, 30.
Other Scriptures say they have not the love of God in them, that
they are in the bond of iniquity and in the gall of bitterness, that
they are dead in trespasses and sins. John 5 : 42 ; Acts 8 : 23 ; Eph.
2:1. Surely this language is as strong as any language ever used
by sound theologians. By total depravity we do not understand that
one man is as bad as another, or that any one sinner is as bad as he
will be if he continues longer in sin*; but only that every unregen-
erate man is altogether destitute of holiness, is entirely without
the image of God, and has no love to God. Brown : " So mighty
is the torrent of corruption in folks by nature, that if God would
but give way, and give folks over unto their own perverse, repro-
bate minds, it would carry them headlong to all acts of iniquity,
and run out to all, even to the most abominable wickedness what-
soever."
27. " Deceit lies in generals." Let those who would deal faith-
fully with their own souls, or the souls of others, come to particu-
lars as does our apostle in this part of his epistle.
28. To what fearful lengths many a sinner, even though das-
tardly as to all noble deeds, will go in sin, taking pleasure in the
sins of his fellow men, even when they bring him no honor, wealth
or advantage, but merely gratify his horrid enmity against God
and man by letting him see Jehovah dishonored and souls madly
rushing to ruin, v. 32. The Scriptures everywhere speak of such
in terms of alarm and abhorrence, Pr. 2 : 10-14; Ezek. 16 : 24-26.
Chrysostom : " He that praiseth the sin is far worse than even he
that trespasseth." Calvin : " He, who is ashamed, is yet healable ;
but when such an impudence is contracted through a sinful habit,
that vices, and not virtues, please us, and are approved, there is no
more hope of any reformation." Pool : " Having pleasure in
them that do evil is the highest kind of wickedness : such come
nearest the devil, who take pleasure in evil because it is evil."
Olshausen : " To take pleasure in the sins of others when one's
own evil desires are more subdued, and therefore the voice of con-
science is more easily heard, indicates a higher degree of sinful
developement than the sinful action itself." Slade : " To look
with complacency on the vices of others is one of the last degrees
of degeneracy." Stuart : " The Apostle considers this as the very
climax of all the charges which he had to bring against the hea-
then, that they not only plunged into acts of wickedness but had
given their more deliberate approbation to such doings."
29. Hodge : " The most reprobate sinner carries about with
6
82 EPIS TIE, [Ch. I., v. 32.
him a knowledge of his just exposure to the wrath of God. Con-
science can never be entirely extirpated, v. 32." Of this truth we
have proofs every day. Even where a man's avowed wicked prin-
ciples are entirely opposed to a pure conscience, the case is not
altered. Herod was a Sadducee, a gross infidel, denying angel
and spirit, mocking the doctrine of the resurrection. With these
principles he beheads John Baptist. This bloody crime goads
him, makes him a coward, and his infidelity is no protection.
When Jesus became a public person and his miracles were noised
abroad, some of the people said he was Elias and some that he
was one of the old prophets ; but Herod in the teeth of his Sad-
duceeism said, I can tell you who he is it is John whom I be-
headed. If these things be so, it is in vain for the wicked to avoid
a fearful looking for of judgment for doing those things which
they know to be worthy of death.
30. The scope of the whole section under consideration is to
show that salvation by the deeds of the law is impossible, and that
if men are to be saved at all, there must be some method of justi-
fication altogether different from that, to which the human heart
is so much wedded. Stuart : " It is clear that the Gentiles need
a Saviour ; it is equally clear that they need gratuitous justifica-
tion, and that they must perish without such a provision for them."
The necessity for a revelation of the gospel scheme for the Gen-
tiles was urgent. They were living without God's image, without
communion with him, without his favor, without holiness, with-
out saving knowledge, with wrong beliefs, with wrong feelings,
with wickedness in their hearts and breaking out in their lives.
This matter should deeply affect the hearts of us sinners of the
Gentiles, the descendants of those, whose characters are here de-
picted. We still carry about us some of the rags of heathenism,
as in the names of the days of the week. This may remind us of
the hole of the pit, whence we have been digged, and should make
us greatly glory in the cross of Christ, in the glorious gospel of
the blessed God.
CHAPTER II.
VERSES 1-11.
AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE TRUTH DOES NOT
PROVE MEN TO BE WITHOUT SIN.
THEREFORE thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest : for
-wherein thou jjadgest another, thou condemnest thyself ; for thou that judgest doest
the same things.
2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them
which commit such things.
3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and
doest the same, that thou shah escape the judgment of God ?
4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffer-
ing ; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
5 But, after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasures! up unto thyself wrath
against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God ;
6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds :
7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour
and immortality, eternal life :
8 But unto them that are contentious, and do hot obey the truth, but obey un-
righteousness, indignation and wrath,
9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil; of the Jew
first, and also-of the Gentile;
10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good ; to the Jew
first, and also to the Gentile :
1 1 For there is no respect of persons with God.
PAUL, having shown the atrocious guilt of the Gentiles, and
the justice of their exposure to the Divine displeasure, now
turns to the Jews, and by skilful approaches and logical arguments
proves that they also were liable to wrath, and could not be justi-
fied by the works of the law. He begins by saying,
I. Therefore thou art inexcusable, man, whosoever thoit art
that judgest : for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest
thyself; for thou . that judgest doest the same things. The
apostle does not here name the Jews, but leads on his readers
to acknowledge that such immorality and impiety as he had de-
(83)
84 EPISTLE TO [Ch. II., v. 2.
scribed were worthy of death, and then makes his appeal to men,
as such ; see also v. 3. It is not till he reaches v. 9 that he even
names the Jews. The division of the sacred books into chapters, ,
however advantageous in some respects, often breaks the connec-
tion. The first verse of this chapter and the last verse of chapter
I. are closely connected. In that Paul first says that they which
do such things are worthy of death. He then says that they which
have pleasure in so vile wrong-doers are still more vile. In this
verse he asserts the increased criminalty of those, who have the
rule of right before them, and condemn those immoralities and
impieties of which he had given a list, and yet practise the same
sins. Other explanations of the connection indicated by zvherefore
have been given. But this seems most satisfactory. By saying
such a man is inexcusable, he uses a figure of speech in which he
says less than he intends to be understood. The meaning is he is
wholly indefensible because he sins against clear light. Inexcus-
able, in chapter i : 20 rendered "without excuse. In pronouncing on
the case of others, one passes sentence on himself as did -David
before Nathan. Judge and condemn : the first of these verbs is
often rendered judge, condemn, sometimes sue at the law, go to
law, determine, think, esteem. The second is always rendered
condemn or damn. There is a striking resemblance between these
two verbs. This is sufficiently preserved in the authorized ver-
sion, also in the Syriac and Vulgate and often in more modern
versions. On this verse Whitby has shown by ample quotations
from Josephus that the very sins of the heathen were practised by
the Jews. The Jewish historian says that his countrymen commit-
ted all kinds of wickedness, omitting none which ever came to
the memory of man, esteeming the worst evils to be good.
2. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to triith
against them which commit such things. But here has the sense of
and or further. We are sure, literally, we know, we understand,
we are aware. The principles of God's moral government over
the world were not concealed from mankind. Judgment, so
rendered in many places, also damnation and condemnation. Here
it means a condemning sentence, because it is against wrong-doers.
This judgment is according to truth, i. e. it is righteous and pro-
ceeds from the exalted nature of God. It is not capricious. The
Lord does not condemn in one man that which he commends in
another. He does not look upon appearances, professions and
plausibilities. What he loathes in a Greek he abhors in a Jew. We
know thus much from the nature of God, from the course of his
providence, from the convictions of our own consciences, and
from the clear declarations of holy scripture. By truth Locke
Ch. II., vs. 3, 4.] THE ROMANS. 85
understands not only that which is right and just ; but truth
according to divine predictions and threats. But truth is often
.synonymous with righteousness, and well nigh invariably sup-
poses it.
3. Andthinkest tJwu this, O man, that judgest them which do such
things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
The doctrine of this verse is quite the same as that of the first.
The rendering of Wiclif is striking : But gessist thou man, that
demest hem that dose such thingis, and thou doist these thingis :
that thou shalt escape the dome of god ? The word rendered
judgment here is the same as in v. 2, and is cognate to the word
judgest found thrice in v. i. If men with all their blindness and
errors still see how righteous it is in God to punish iniquity, much
more does God see ihe enormity of sin and the righteousness of
retribution. And if God never errs, how can he fail to punish
those vices and sins which men justly and commonly condemn in
each other ? It is not charged that every Jew practised all the
sins of the heathen, especially in the eyes of man, but that the
Jewish people, who rejected the gospel did these things at least in
their hearts, so as to be involved in a like condemnation. Tholuck :
" Knowledge without corresponding disposition is of no avail."
The ground of Paul's strong appeal in this verse is not history,
public rumor or any labored argument which he had submitted,
but the conscience of every man.
4. Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and
long suffering ; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to
repentance? Peshito : Or wilt thou abuse the riches of his benevo-
lence, and his long suffering, and the opportunity, which he giveth
thee? And dost thou not know that the benevolence of God
should bring thee to repentance ? Wiclif: Where [whether] dis-
pisist thou the richessis of his goodnesse, and the paciens and the
long abidinge? knowist thou not that the benygnnyte of god
ledith thee to forthinkynge ? Despisest, contemnest, thinkest
lightly of, a word rendered with absolute uniformity in the New
Testament. That the wicked contemn God is alike taught in the
Old Testament, Ps. 10 : 13 ; 107 : n. Goodness, also rendered good,
Rom. 3:12; kindness, 2 Cor. 6 : 6 and elsewhere; gentleness,
Gal. 5 : 22. Haldane : Goodness is the best translation of the
word. Forbearance, found also in Rom. 3 : 25. It here means
God's delay to punish when he is highly provoked. Macknight :
"Forbearance is that disposition in God, by which he restrains
himself from instantly punishing sinners." Long suffering, com-
monly so rendered, also patience. It denotes the quiet and pro-
tracted endurance of God under insults and wrongs. In all these
86 EPISTLE TO [Ch.. II., vs. 5, 6,
perfections God has and manifests riches, a word rendered with
entire uniformity. The amount of the first clause is that in order
to continue in sin men must contemn an unspeakable" amount of
divine kindness. In the second clause the word rendered good-
ness is elsewhere uniformly an adjective, good, kind, gracious,
but here used as a noun and well translated. Here we are taught
that the appropriate effect of God's forbearance and kindness
would be to work in us a thorough change of mind and beha-
viour. If God is good even to the unkind and the unthankful,
surely the door of entrance to the divine favor is open to the
penitent. The word repentance is that used to designate repent-
ance unto life, and not mere regret without a change of heart.
Wicked men pervert every thing. Until renewed by grace noth-
ing moves men aright. They do not know, or acknowledge that
a due consideration of the divine kindness ought to change their
whole course.
5. But, after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up ^lnto
thyself wrath against the- day of ^vrath and revelation of the rigliteoiis
judgment of God. Peshito : But, because of the hardness of thy
unrepenting heart, thou art treasuring up a store of wrath against
the day of wrath, and against the revelation of the righteous judg-
ment of God. Hardness, Cranmer and Genevan have stubburnesse ;
Stuart, obstinacy ; found here only, but the cognate adjective is
rendered hard in Matt. 25 : 24; John 6 : 60; Jude 15, &c. Impeni-
tent, that is without true repentance ; Cranmer and Genevan : a
heart that cannot repent. The other words of the verse are trans-
lated with a literal exactitude that cannot be surpassed. No more
fearful thought has ever reached the human mind than is found in
this verse. On wrath see above on Rom. i : 18. Proverbs 10 : 2
shews that the word treasure is not always used in a good sense.
The day of wrath is a phrase found elsewhere, Rev. 6:17. Com-
pare Zeph. i : 15. Clarke: "The treasure of wrath in this verse
is opposed to the riches of goodness in the preceding." All this
evil on the wicked is to be expected from the character of God,
6. Who will render to every man according to his deeds. A man's
works are all those things, which evince his character. The doc-
trine here laid down is abundantly declared in Scripture. Job
34 : 1 1 ; Ps. 62 : 14 ; Pr. 24 : 12 ; Jer. 17 : 10 ; 32 : 19 ; Matt. 16 : 27 ;
i Cor. 3:852 Cor. 5 : 10; Rev. 2 : 23 ; 20 : 12 ; 22 : 12. These
places teach the truth directly. Other passages as clearly declare
it in other words. Render, elsewhere perform, yield, restore, pay,
give, reward, recompense. It fully conveys the idea of retribu-
tion. The context shows that the every has special reference to
Jew and Gentile, but those distinctions embrace the whole human
Ch. II., vs. 7-9.] THE ROMANS. 87
family. None are exempt from accountability none. Therefore
those able commentators Pareus and Haldane misapprehend the
force of this passage when they suppose that Paul here speaks of
salvation by the works of the law. We are compelled to believe
that our destiny will be according as our works shall show .that
we are the friends or enemies of God, nor does this doctrine at all
impair that of a gratuitous salvation by faith without works, for
no man has faith, unless he shows it by his works. Calvin : " It is
an absurd inference to deduce merit from reward." Rewards of
grace will be among the most glorious of all recompenses. But
even they will be proportioned to the faith and obedience of be-
lievers. Matt. 9 : 29 ; Gal. 6 : 7, 8 ; 2 Cor. g : 6. None will gain
admission to heaven, whose lives prove that they are God's ene-
mies ; and none will be banished into darkness, whose lives prove
that they are God's .friends. God's recompense shall be to all men
according to their works, for he will render
7. To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory
and honour and immortality, eternal life. Peshito : To them who by
perseverance in good works, seek for glory and honor and immor-
tality, to them he will give eternal life. By patient continuance in
well doing is good English, gives the sense, and is better than the
literal would be the patience of good work. Glory, as in I : 23
and often in this and in twelve other epistles of Paul. Honor,
always so rendered in Romans and often elsewhere, though
sometimes rendered price, precious, i Cor. 6 : 20; 7 : 33 ; i Pet.
2 17. 'It is often coupled with glory. Heb. 2:7;! Tim. i : 17; i
Pet. i : 7. Immortality, see above on Rom. i : 23. Here it evi-
dently means a blessed immortality. Tholuck thinks the three
words are equivalent to a glorious and honorable immortality. Eter-
nal life is perfectly literal, and points to enduring bliss beyond this
world. Calvin : " The meaning is that the Lord will give eternal
life to those who, by attention to good works, strive to attain im-
mortality." Nor will God recompense the righteous alone ;
8. But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth,
but obey unrighteousness, [shall be] indignation and Wtf^,
9. Tribulation and anguish, ^t.pon every sold of man that docth evil;
of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile. Contentious, literally of
contention, Peshito : obstinate ; Conybeare & Howson : men of
selfish cunning ; Diodati : resty ; Tyndale, rebellious. The Doway,
Genevan and Rheims agree with the authorized version. Not to
obey the tmth is not to receive, love and practise it to refuse sub-
mission to it often rendered not to believe. To obey unrighteous-
ness is to trust in it, to have confidence in it, and so to aclopt.it as
a course of life, taking it as a principle of action. Indignation, com-
88 EPISTLE TO [Ch. II., v. i.
monly rendered wrath, sometimes fierceness. Rev. 16: 19; 19 : 15.
Wrath, as in v. 5. Tribulation, the only Greek word so rendered,
often translated affliction ; the cognate verb signifies to press,
press hard, oppress, distress. Anguish, so rendered here only,
elsewhere distress. The four words, here used to describe the
evils, which shall come on the incorrigibly wicked, are as strong
as can be found in the Greek language. The evils here threatened
shall come upon every sinful soul, without regard to, nationality.
10. But glory, honour, and peace [shall be] to every man that work-
eth good ; to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. Glory and honor,
as in v. 7. Peace, as in Rom. i : 7 and often hereafter. These
blessings shall come, not on him who sometimes does a thing in
itself right, but who worketh good. It is his life work. He lives
for it. Whatever his former history, his ancestry, his nationality,
he shall not fail of eternal blessedness.
1 1 . For there is no respect of persons with God. Tyndale : For
ther is no parcialyte with God. Respect of persons, one word uni-
formly rendered. We have also the cognate parts of speech. In
every instance where any form of the word occurs, the matter in
hand shows that the inspired writer is speaking of those factitious
distinctions so much gloried in by men, as nationality, Acts 10: 34
and here ; civil position as of master or servant, Eph. 6:9; Col.
3 : 25 ; social position as of rich and poor, Jas. 2 : 1-9. Of these
and like things God makes no account whatever.
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL REMARKS.
1. However invincible ignorance of anyone truth may excuse
men respecting that, yet clearly no man is exempt from blame,
who knows enough truth to pass righteous sentence on others, yet
is himself guilty of the same offences, v. i. The profane often
justly reprehends professors of religion for things which he and
they alike practise. The self-righteous moralist and formalist
often justly condemn the irreligion of the openly wicked, when in
heart they are all alike. All such will be judged out of their own
mouths, Luke 19 : 22.
2. Nor can men complain if, applying just rules to the conduct
of others, they find the same applied to their own lives, v. i.
Brown : " It is the most absurd, and most unreasonable thing in the
world, for any to think to escape God's judgment for such sins, or
the like, for which others cannot escape their sharp censure. How
strict soever men be, God is more strict."
3.. Therefore our just sagacity and discrimination in condemn-
ing others cannot save us. Indeed we ought thereby rather to be
Ch. II., vs. 1-4.] THE ROMANS. . 89
alarmed than quieted. Scott : " The censures which men pass on
their neighbors, who perhaps justly deserve them, may render
themselves more inexcusable, while they do the same things, and
yet trust in themselves that they are righteous and despise
others."
4. So far is our own judgment of others from being a safeguard
against our own ruin, that oftentimes the most severe are the vilest
of men, v. I. Compare Matt. 7:1.' It was a mark of the special
power of truth and of God's Spirit, when the accusers of that poor
guilty woman slunk away, one by one, from the presence of Christ.
So in the last day the truth will flash condemnation in the faces
not only of the grossly censorious, but of all, who condemn in
others what they tolerate in themselves.
5. Man's judgment may err; God's cannot, v 2. God's whole
nature makes that sure. If God decides any matter, rule, right,
character or destiny, he does it according to truth, and truth is
eternal and unvarying.
6. Carnal security is one of the most dangerous foes. It lulls
to sleep, it deludes into self-deception, it is a dangerous form of
hypocrisy, it effectually prevents men from seeing their danger and
from seeking salvation. Faithful preachers must give awful warn-
ings against it, as Paul does here. Brown : " It is a great aggra-
vation of folks guilt, when they know the hazard of their doings,
and see what they do deserve, and yet notwithstanding malapertly
go on, and hereby their mouths are stopped for ever."
7. Vain is the hope that God will interpose to save men, or for
ever leave them unpunished, when they obstinately persist in
doing such things as must be an offence to him, vs. 2, 3. God is
too holy to look upon iniquity. Man is too weak to resist God.
If God arise to judgment, man must fall. Any view of religious
doctrine, which makes us careless about fleeing from sin and wrath
and laying hold on Christ is false.
8. Every sin against God has in it more or less contempt
of his glorious excellency ; but when we clearly know the truth
and yet persist in sin we do despite against his nature, and
specially against his goodness, v. 4. Chrysostom : " As to them
who rightly avail themselves of God's long suffering, it is a ground
of safety ; so to them that slight it, it is conducive to a greater
vengeance." Haldane : " God's goodness is despised when it is
not improved as a means to lead men to repentance, but, on the
contrary, serves to harden them, from the supposition that God
entirely overlooks their sin.". Hodge: "The goodness of God
has both the design and tendency to lead men to repentance. II
it fails, the fault must be their own."
go ^ EPISTLE TO [Ch. II., vs. 5, 6.
9. The reason, why such conduct brings wrath, is that it is so
base and ignoble' not to be melted and subdued by kindness, and
especially by the goodness of God. When men harden themselves
in pride and unbelief, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness,
and being worse and worse, because God is good, all ingenuous-
ness of nature is gone. When God is so good and forbearing as
to remind us of his continual pity, the only way we can persist in
sin is by a fearful obduracy, v. 5.
10. Let every man often ask himself, Does the goodness of God
lead me to repentance? Am I humbled by mercies as well as by
judgments ? Is my sorrow for sin ingenuous ? Do I hate every
false way ? Surely every man is bound to the most solemn and
humbling duties of religion by the amazing kindnesses of Jehovah.
In him we live and move and have our being. His patience and
forbearance have no parallel, and these are shown to his foes, who
deserve only ill at his hands.
1 1 . All the work of the wicked is self-ruinous and self-destruc-
tive, v. 5. They are treasuring up wrath. They are digging into
hell. They do in diligence and toil often excel the righteous in
their endeavors. But they feed on wind. Sin is all a lie from be-
ginning to end.
12. Iii the present state saints and sinners often have common
mercies and miseries, and not in a few cases the righteous are
greatly afflicted above others, but there is coming a time called
the day, that day, the great day, the last day, the day of wrath,
when things will assume a very different aspect. Even now Jeho-
vah judges in the earth, but that will be the final as well as the
righteous judgment of God. Then " the secrets of all hearts will be
made manifest. Let us often reflect upon the awful result ; and
consider, that indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish will
be our portion, if we are contentious and disobedient to the truth ;
yea, if we do not by a patient continuance in well-doing, seek the
promised glory, honor and immortality ; which if we do, we shall,
through the grace of God, secure everlasting life. Vain will our
knowledge and our profession be, and our testimony against the
sins of others will only inflame the guilt of our own." We can-
not entertain too frequent or too solemn thoughts of our great
account. Cyprian said that he seemed all the time to hear the
words, " Awake ye dead, and come to judgment." Though God
may long keep silence and not seem to notice men's misdeeds, yet
shall he in due time " reveal" himself as an avenger.
13. If God will render to every man according to his deeds,
then where, say some, is there room for the insteppings of grace ?
v. 6. The answer is that when God saves believers he saves them
Ch. II., vs. 6-io.] THE ROMANS. 91
on principles of everlasting righteousness. They enter not into
glory trampling on the law of God. The object of the apostle
here is to show that national, ecclesiastical, or hereditary relations
will save no man ; that the wicked will surely be lost, because
they are wicked ; and that the righteous will be saved, because
they are righteous. And no man can prove that he is righteous
but by holy living. The meritorious ground of a sinner's salva-
tion is the righteousness of Christ. The instrument, by which he
lays hold of the merits of the Redeemer is his faith. The only
way in which he can prove his faith is by his good works. Gill :
" God will render to evil men according to the true desert of their
evil deeds : and of his own free grace will render to good men,
whom he has made so by his grace, what is suitable and agreeable
to those good works, which, by the assistance of his grace, they
have been enabled to perform." The pure in heart shall see God.
All others shall go into outer darkness.
14. Haldane : " There will not, as the Pharisees imagined, and
as many nominal Christians suppose, be two accounts for each
person, the one of his good works, the other of his sins, the judg-
ment being favorable or unfavorable to him, according as the one
or the other predominates ; for there will be no balancing of this
sort. . . The judgment of the great day will be to all men accord-
ing to their works. The works of those who shall be condemned
will be the evidence that they are wicked. The works of believers
will not be appealed to as the cause of their acquittal, but as the
evidence of their union with Christ, on account of which they will
be pronounced righteoiis, for in them the law has been fulfilled in
their Divine Surety."
15. If men shall receive according to their deeds, there will be
no cause of just complaint in the final sentence of the unjust, v. 6.
Indeed there will be no complaint on any score. " Every mouth
will be stopped."
1 6. Nothing is more certain than final and righteous retribu-
tion, v. 6. The mouth of the Lord hath declared it.
17. The friends of virtue need not fear that their judgment will
be passed over by their God, nor that he will be unmindful of
their work of faith or their labor of love, vs. 7, 10.
1 8. True piety has, and is authorized to have regard to the
recompense of reward, vs. 7, 10. A sordid bargaining for heaven
is forbidden. But a believing expectation of glory is a virtue.
Haldane : " Here we see a condemnation of that opinion which
teaches, that a man should have no motive in what he does in the
service of God but the love of God. The love of God, indeed,
must be the predominant motive, and without it no action is
morally good. But it is not the only motive. The Scriptures
92 EPIS TIE TO [Ch. II., vs. 7, 8.
everywhere address men's hopes and fears, and avail themselves
of every motive that has a tendency to influence the human heart."
19. He, who would be saved, must resist temptation, hold on
his way and persevere. It is only by patient continuance in well-
doing that men can be saved, v. 7. Men go not to heaven by fits
and starts, by spirts and paroxysms* " He that endureth to the
end shall be saved." " Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give
thee a crown of life."
20. It is impossible adequately to set forth heavenly things by
any language known to mortals. The apostle here speaks of
glory, honor, peace, immortality and eternal life, vs. 7, 10. These
terms, though fit, are but feeble. Chrysostom : " He is unable to
tell clearly the blessings, but speaketh of glory and honor. For in
that they transcend all that man hath, he hath no image of them
here to show, but by those things which have a semblance of
brightness among us, even by them he sets them before us as far
as may be, by glory, by honor, by life. For these be what men
earnestly strive after." Our conceptions of heavenly things must
always be poor, till we reach the blessed home of the redeemed.
Compare John 3:12;! Cor. 13:12; 2 Cor. 12:4; Rev. 21 : 18.
Of all the terms here employed none convey to many a weary
pilgrim more pleasant conceptions than the word peace. Chrysos-
tom : " For here whatever good things a man hath, he hath with
many troubles, even if he be rich, if in power, if a king. For
though he be not at variance with others, yet is he often so with
himself, and has abundant war in his own thoughts."
21. It is a bad sign to be contentiozis, to oppose the truth, to
be contrary, and especially to be found fighting against God and
his truth, v. 8. There is no virtuous principle where men do
not love and obey the truth. He, that loveth a lie, is a bad man.
He, that, knowing the truth, obeys it not, is nigh unto curs-
ing.
22. There is a wondrous, yes a heavenly elevation and noble-
ness in the character of the child of God ; for while others are
seeking human applause, earthly riches, sordid pleasures, he is
chiefly intent on the honor that comes from God, on the true
riches and on the pleasures at God's right hand, vs. 7, 10. The
world may now despise the servants of God as of a base spirit,
but none aim so high ; and ere long all men will say so.
23. In character whether good or bad, positive and negative go
together. If one does not obey the truth he is sure to obey un-
righteousness, v. 8. He, who does no good, is sure to do harm.
It is only he, who works righteousness and perfects holiness,
that avoids the very appearance of evil. If men would cease to
do evil, they must learn to do well.
Ch. II., vs. 8, 10.] THE ROMANS. 93
24. No terms can adequately set forth the terribleness of the
final doom of the wicked. Here we have indignation and wrath,
tribulation and anguish, vs. 8, 9. But who knows the torment of
a future world, where remorse, despair, and all the evil passions
furnish elements on which the fierceness of the wrath of God
kindles for ever? Now the wicked sport themselves with their
own deceivings, are exceeding mad upon their idols, make light
of perdition, and call damnation a chimera ; yet when they shall
be made sensible of .the hot displeasure of God, and God shall
lay the weight of his hand upon them, and leave them to them-
selves, their undoing will be felt by them to be intolerable.
Eternal justice is so glorious that it must be terrible to all the
enemies of God.
25. Much that is highly esteemed among men is an abomina-
tion in the sight of God. National, ecclesiastical and hereditary
advantages are of no avail with God. A Jew in sin is and always
was as odious to God as a Gentile in sin. A good work done by
an outcast is as pleasing to God as if done by one that has Abra-
ham to his father. The curse is on every soul of man that doeth
evil ; the blessing on every man that worketh good, vs. 9, 10. Let
none value themselves on those distinctions which will vanish
away. Chrysostom : " It is not quality of persons, but difference
of actions, which God maketh inquisition for." Hodge : " God
deals with men according to their real character."
26. Though our persons are not justified by our good works,
yet our profession of Christ's truth is thus approved. So that he
who sets aside the law of holiness is an enemy of the truth. It is
a great error not to distinguish between justification and sanctifi-
cation. It is a greater error to separate them. Brown ; " How-
ever there be no intrinsical worth in men's seeking of immortal
life by well-doing, so as to merit at God's hand eternal life ; yet it
hath pleased the Lord for the declaration of the incomprehensible-
ness of his goodness, out of free grace and love, to make such a
connection betwixt seeking of glory, in a constant course of well-
doing, and the enjoying of everlasting life, that now whosoever
shall do the one shall certainly enjoy the other."
27. Hodge : " The leading doctrine of this section is, that God
is just." Let us never adopt any opinion, which could possibly
bring the divine rectitude into question. Just and right is the
Most High in all he says and does. Let us leave all the wicked in
the hands of God, and not assume the awful prerogative of ven-
geance. The day of visitation will soon be here. The highest
shall soon be brought down to hell, if he repent not.
28. If Jew or Gentile, Pagan or Christian be finally rejected,
94 EPISTLE. [Ch. I., vs. 9, u.
it will be for their sins, and not because they were born in one
age or country, and not in another. Doddridge : " The last day
will be a most impartial as well as important' day. Nor are we
concerned to know how the heathen will fare in it : let it suffice
us, that if they are condemned, they will be righteously condemned ;
not for remaining ignorant of the gospel they never had the op-
portunity of hearing, but for violating those precepts of the
Divine law which were inscribed on their consciences."
29. Scott: "According to the whole tenor of Scripture, as
well as the dictates of common sense, no sinner can do well, till he
repents, submits to God, and seeks mercy from him." That truth
should never, never be forgotten. All God's goodness and au-
thority call us to break off our sins by righteousness. Otherwise
iniquity will be our ruin. " Ungodliness is not a thing of tale and
measure. It is a thing of weight and quality." It must be sub-
dued, or we must perish.
30. Wicked men are very unlike each other in a thousand par-
ticulars. But this diversity will save no man from being a cast-
away. Chalmers : " Among the varieties both of taste and of
habit which obtain with the different individuals of our species,
there are modifications of disobedience agreeable to one class and
disgustful to another class. The careful and calculating econo-
mist may never join in any of the excesses of dissipation ; and the
man of regardless expenditure may never send an unrelieved
petitioner from his door ; and the religious formalist may never
omit either sermon or sacrament, that is held throughout the year
in the place of his attendance ; and the honorable merchant may
never flinch or falsify, in any one of the transactions of business.
Each has such points of conformity as suits him, and each has
such other points, of non-conformity as suits him ; and thus the
one may even despise or execrate the other for that particular
style of disobedience by which he indulges his own partialities ;
and the things which they respectively do, differ there can be no
doubt as to the matter of them but as to the mind of uncon-
cern about God which all of them express, they are virtually and
essentially the same."
31. Yet marvellous is the grace, which offers salvation to all,
even to the vilest of our race, who will turn to God. Let us urge
the gospel call on all around us. There is mercy for the chief of
sinners. Let us despair of none whom the patience of God per-
mits to live. Let us exhort and entreat men by all that is solemn
and tender to lay hold on eternal life.
CHAPTER II.
VERSES 12-29.
MEN HAVE VARIOUS DEGREES OF LIGHT. THE
MORE LIGHT THE GREATER OUR RESPONSIBILI-
TY, AND, IF WE ABUSE IT, THE GREATER OUR
GUILT.
1 2 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law ; and as
many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law
shall be justified.
14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things con-
tained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves :
1 5 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also
bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one
another ;)
16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of mep by Jesus Christ according
to my gospel.
1 7 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of
God,
18 And knowest his will, and appro vest the things that are more excellent, being
instructed out of the law;
19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them
which are in darkness,
20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of
knowledge and of the truth in the law.
21 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that
preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal ?
22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit
adultery ? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonour-
est thou God ?
24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is
written.
25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law : but if thou be a
breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
26 Therefore, if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not
his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
(95)
g6 EPISTLE TO [Ch. II., vs. 12, 13.
27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge
thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost trangress the law ?
28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly ; neither is ihat circumcision
which is outward in the flesh :
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the
heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter ; whose praise is not of men, but of
God.
THE apostle, having established the foregoing truths proceeds
to their application to the case of all, especially of the Jews.
He begins by saying that the heathen and the Jew are in the eye
of the law criminal.
12. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish ^vithout
law ; and as many as have sinned in the law shall be jzidged by the law.
Peshito : For those without law, who sin, will also perish without
law ; and those under the law, who sin, will be judged by the law.
By the law we may here understand the entire revealed preceptive
will of God ; Tholuck, the will of God ; Stuart, revelation ; Hodge,
the rule of duty. This was not fully and in many cases not at all
made known to the heathen, they having only the light of nature.
And yet it is said they had sinned. This is true. Their consciences
said so. The smoke of ten thousand altars declared the same.
Their superstitious devices for quieting conscience and appeasing"
divine wrath confirmed the sad truth. Such, living contrary to
the very light of na*ture and neither knowing nor accepting a
Redeemer, shall perish. To sinners the light of nature is killing
and condemning, not saving. And those, who had and knew the
whole preceptive will of God, and heeded not that great light, but
sinned still, shall be judged, yes," and condemned (for the word has
that force; John 3 : 17, 18 and often) by the law. Hodge: "Men
are to be judged by the light they have severally enjoyed. The
ground of judgment is their works; the standard of judgment,
their knowledge." Haldane : " In one word, the divine justice
will only regard the sins of men ; and wherever these are found it
will condemn the sinner." The next three verses are parenthetical
and explain the principle here laid down.
13. (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the
doers of the law shall be justified. Here first in this epistle occur
the words just and justified. This verse seems to be an answer to
an objection that might be made by a Jew ; q. d. It is not fair or
right to put us in the same condemnation with the heathen. We
have Abraham to our father. We have Moses for our prophet.
He is read in our synagogues every Sabbath. To us are com-
mitted the oracles of God. We hear the Scriptures, and we know
Ch. II., v. 14, 15.] THE ROMANS. 97
God's will. To this Paul replies that hearing is one thing and
doing another thing ; that knowledge of even the truth, if it be not
loved and practised, so far from making our state safe, enhances
our guilt. This is the doctrine of all the Scriptures. It commands
the approval of the human conscience. Before God, in this verse
means In the sight of God. In the sight of men acts of mere out-
ward obedience are often highly esteemed, but with God they are
worthless ; he requires a holy heart and a holy life. Pool : " The
scope of the apostle is not simply to show how sinners are now
justified in the sight of God ; but to show what is requisite to
justification according to the tenor of the law, and that is to do all
that is written therein, and to continue to do so." Diodati : " The
law cannot bring any salvation to man, by the knowledge or pro-
fession thereof, as the Jews believe, but by the perfect observing
of it, which being found no more in them than in other nations,
they are also comprehended within the general curse, and bound
to seek after their righteousness in Christ."
14. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the
things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto
themselves. The meaning is that the Gentiles, who are without a
written revelation, and yet do what is taught them by the light of
nature, are less criminal than the Jews who had the Scripture and
broke it. One, who walks by the best light he has though it be
small, is not so guilty as he who has ever so much light and rebels
against it. In other words, it is not rules, or wit, or knowledge
that can justify or save us. We must be conformed to the truth.
Scott : " For even the Gentiles, who had not the written law,
when from natural principles they performed any of those duties
which the law required, were, in this respect, ' a law unto them-
selves ; ' and by obeying thus far their own rule, came nearer to
righteousness, than the Jews who broke their rule." All nations
however benighted have some sense of right and wrong, some
apprehension of moral law, and are not without conscience. They
are a law to themselves.
15- Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their
conscience also bearing them witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile
accusing or else exciising one another. Peshito : And they show the
work of the law, as it is inscribed on their heart ; and their con-
science beareth testimony to them, their own reflections rebuking
or vindicating one another. The apostle in this verse shows that
the heathen are under moral law, that their consciences are not
extinguished by heathenism, and that their thoughts on questions
of right and wrong are busy and active. They are not brutes.
They have a moral sense. They are under law, though it is writ-
7
g8 EPISTLE TO [Ch. II., vs. 16, 17.
ten on their hearts pnly, and not in an inspired volume in their
possession. The consciences and reasonings of the heathen do
clearly condemn many sins and vices in one another. And if a man
knows enough to judge others and rightly condemn them, he
knows enough to condemn himself for doing the same or like
things. This verse ends the parenthesis, and the next is to be
read in close connection with v. 12.
1 6. In the day when God shall jiidge the secrets of men by Jesus
Christ according to my gospeL That is, all men, Jews and Gentiles,
shall be judged, and if they have no interest in Christ and are not
partakers of his righteousness, they shall perish or be condemned ;
for then the secrets, the motives, the real principles that govern
men shall be brought to light. This scrutiny and revelation of
human character shall be conducted and effected by Jesus Christ
in his own person. Many Scriptures so teach. John 5 : 22 ; Acts
10 : 42 ; 17:31; 2 Tim. 4:1,8; I Pet. 4 : 5. And all this is ac-
cording to the uniform teaching of the gospel, here called by Paul
my gospel, because he was a preacher of it, had made it known to
many, and prized it so highly that he rested the whole weight of
his salvation upon the person of its author. And now for the direct
application of these truths to those who bore the name of Jews.
17. Behold, thou art .called a Jew, and restest in the law, and
makest thy boast of God. The Jew had advantages, which he per-
verted, but which were no mean things. First, he was called a
Jew, a name of great antiquity, highly honorable, pointing to a
long list of renowned and pious ancestors, with a history une-
qualled, in the annals of all time, for stupendous miracles, with a
lawgiver, whose eloquence was admired by the very heathen, with
poets, who had sung the opera of all ages, with prophets, who had
unfolded the history of the world to its end. The best Jewish
kings were types of. Messiah himself. We first find the word Jew
in Jer. 34 : 9. It is often found in the book of Esther. That evan-
gelical prophet, Zechariah, speaks of the honor of being a Jew in
high terms. It may have been used from a much earlier period,
as Palestine is in Ps. 76 : I called Judah or Judea. Secondly, the
Jew rested in the law. He unquestionably had the revealed will
of God, abundantly supported by evidence as an authentic com-
munication from heaven, so that he relied upon it as truth and for
good cause, the best in the world the divine attestation. His
was no uncertain wisdom, like that of the philosophers. Thirdly,
the Jew made his boast in God not in dumb idols, not in lying
vanities, not in dead men, whom superstition had deified ; but in
the living God, Jehovah, who had made his name terrible among
the heathen and glorious among his saints. The God of the Jews
Ch. II., vs. 18-21.] THE ROMANS. 99
made and ruled heaven and earth, and they knew it. Their gov-
ernment was a theocracy. Jehovah was their king. This God
was their Rock, Refuge, Governor and all.
1 8. And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more
excellent, being instructed out of the law. Fourthly, the Jew had
many means of knowing the will of God. He had the lively ora-
cles, educated teachers to expound it, with a splendid and divinely
appointed public service, full of instruction and solemnity, so that
it was nearly impossible to live even a short lifetime in Jewry
without acquiring a large amount of religious knowledge. Com-
pare Ps. 147 : 19. And approvest the things that are more excellent.
Fifthly, the Jew had better laws, better songs, better philosophy,
better moral lessons, purer worship than any heathen nation, and
these commended themselves to his conscience and judgment, so
that he discerned, tried, allowed and approved more excellent
things, because he had inspired men for his guides, as Moses and
David and all the prophets..
19. And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a
light of them which are in darkness. Sixthly, he was conscious of
his superior light. He knew how debased and ignorant were the
nations round about. He was confident that he could tell them
many things of the greatest importance to all men. He regarded,
and very justly too, the heathen as blind, and enveloped in dark-
ness, and felt that he was able to be
20. An instructor of 'the foolish , a teacher of babes, which hast the
form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. The rites, the philo-
sophical dogmas, and even the mythology of the heathen abounded
in puerilities and absurdities. They were besotted by their gods
and by their teachers. But every tolerably intelligent Jew had
the form, pattern, or summary of divine knowledge and truth, as
made known in scriptvire. But now for the reverse. The Jew,
untaught by God's Spirit and without a new heart, relied on his
forms of knowledge and of worship for salvation, was proud and
scornful in his conscious superiority, superciliously contemned
others as babes, yea as dogs, and accursed, had a foolish self-confi-
dence in his attainments, vainly and sinfully boasted in God, relied
on ceremonies heartlessly observed, and on his national and eccle-
siastical and ancestral connections for safety from wrath, and sadly
failed to practise with godly sincerity the plainest truths of his re-
ligion. So the apostle challenges him :
21. TJtou therefore which teachest another teachest thou not thyself?
thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? The
sense of this verse and of the next is not destroyed by dropping,
as do the Vulgate, Theophylact, Erasmus and Luther, the form of
: ioo EPISTLE TO [Ch. II., v, 22.
interrogation, though it is perhaps best to follow the Syriac,
Ethiopia, Arabic, Chrysostom etc. and retain it. The sura of the
charge here made is that of gross inconsistency between profession
and practice, with the aggravation of a wicked life following suffi-
cient knowledge. Some think the apostle here charges stealing as a
common sin upon the Jews of his time. If by stealing is under-
stood what our law calls larceny, there is no evidence that this sin
was peculiarly prevalent among the Jews at any period of their
history. But if covetousness, overreaching, false weights and
measures, extortion, usury, bribery, oppression, cheating, embez-
zling, unfaithfulness, holding back wages fairly earned, and like
acts, which are clearly in violation of the whole spirit of the eighth
commandment, are referred to, there is abundant evidence that
these sins were often sadly prevalent, particularly in the latter days
of the Jewish commonwealth. See the minor prophets. If our
apostle was seeking an illustration of the principle he was discus-
sing, he could find none more apt than that here selected, together
with those of the following verse ;
22. Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou
commit adtiltery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege ?
There is not wanting evidence, that lewdness, in all the latter ages
of the Jewish nation, was sadly prevalent. In our Saviour's day
it had assumed one form, .that if generally practised must have
utterly subverted society. I refer to divorce for insufficient cause.
In no way could our Saviour have attacked a more popular vice
than that in Matt. 5 : 31, 32. Besides the law of chastity is spiri-
tual, and a filthy thought is a clear violation of the seventh com-
mandment. Matt. 5 : 27, 28. It is well known that after the
Babylonish captivity the jews never fell into open and gross
idolatry, that many of them suffered greatly in consequence of
their refusal to countenance this sin, and that the people generally
expressed great abhorrence of every form of it. Yet they did
other things no less clearly forbidden. The verb rendered to
commit sacrilege signifies to rob temples. The law forbade the
Jews to appropriate to their own use the spoils and treasures of
even heathen temples, in countries conquered in lawful war:
" The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire : thou
shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto
thee, lest thou be snared." Deut. 7 : 25. Whether any violation
of this particular statute occurred near the beginning of the
Christian era, we are not informed. It seems certain that in Paul's
time it was not prevalent, for the Jews, living under a foreign
government, had not for a long time made war on any people, so
that if any of them robbed heathen temples, they must have acted
Ch. II., vs. 23-25.] THE ROMANS. 101
as common thieves, and not as invaders of a hostile country. But
the word may designate such offences as were common among the
Jews, who robbed God in tithes and offerings, polluted the table
of the Lord, etc. Mai. i : 8, 12-14; 3 : 8, 9. See also Nehemiah
13 : 10-12. The same occurs whenever men withhold from God
the worship, which is his, in particular when they refuse to give
him the love, honor, reverence and obedience, which are undoubt-
edly his due. Hodge sums up the sin here charged, when he
speaks of " the wicked and profane abuse and perversion of sacred
things." Stuart explains it " of every kind of act, which denies to
God his sovereign honors and claims." This form of wickedness
always marks an irreligious people, and is involved in the very
nature of sin. The apostle adds in general terms :
23. Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law
dishonorest thoii God? The Jews never failed to speak of their law,
as something great and excellent. They knew it had God for its
author, and was given and accompanied with the most awful sanc-
tions. It was therefore impossible for them lightly to esteem it,
or break its precepts, without grossly dishonoring God. A sove-
reign can in no way be more insulted than by his subjects going
counter to his known will; and especially by violating his pub-
lished laws. Such conduct is against the peace and dignity of the
government, and tends to bring it into utter contempt. So it is .
added :
24. For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through
you, as it is written. Blasphemed, evil spoken of, reviled, railed at.
The meaning is not that the Jews spoke against God, but that the
Gentiles, taking occasion by the evil ways of the Jews, reviled
Jehovah, his word and his religion, q. d. The Gentiles see how
you Jews are unfaithful, dishonest, profane, lewd and in many
ways immoral, and they say, The religion of Jehovah is no better
than that of Baal or Moloch. Deliver us from a religion, whose
professors practise sins, which we abhor. Various opinions are
expressed as to the Scripture referred to in the phrase, It is ^vrit-
ten. Some cite Isa. 52 : 5. But the context would hardly justify
such a use of that passage. Others more safely refer to Ezek. 36 :
23, 24. The context would fully justify this use of the passage.
But the same is virtually written in many places. See Ezek. 16 :
51-59 and like places.
25. For circumcision verily profit eth, if thou keep the law : but if
thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
Circumcision was an exceedingly ancient rite, instituted long
before the time of Moses, John 7 : 22. It distinguished the Jews
from most surrounding nations. To a Jew no epithet was more
102 EPISTLE TO [Ch. II., vs. 26-29.
odious than " uncircumcise-d." Gen. 34 : 14 ; Ex. 12 : 48 ; i Sam.
17 : 26 ; 2 Sam. I : 20 ; Isa. 52 : I ; Ezek. 28 : 10, etc. The Jews
looked upon circumcision not only as initiatory but also as essen-
tial to fellowship with God's people, and to salvation. Now our
apostle here argues that if this rite, which they so highly valued,
was to be regarded as a mere rite and was not followed by con-
formity to the law, a Jew was no better than a heathen. The law
not obeyed could save no one. In other aspects of circumcision,
it was a solemn and useful rite, but when the circumcised lived in
sin, and acted like the uncircumcised, they were no better, but
circumcision became uncircumcision. Paul goes yet further :
26. Therefore, if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the
taw, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision ? Stuart :
" Neither circumcision nor the want of it determines our deserts
in the view of our Maker and Judge ; but a spirit of filial obedi-
ence." It is not supposed that Paul intended to say that any man,
heathen or Jew, kept the whole law, for elsewhere he expressly
teaches that there was no such case, Rom. 3 : 9. But he says, that
if a heathen could be found with a blameless character, he would
be accepted as readily as a Jew of like character. Haldane : " In
reality, then, the Jews and Gentiles were on a level as to the im-
possibility of salvation by the law." This is really the drift of
Paul's argument.
27. And shall -not uncircumcision , which is by nature, if it fulfil
the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circiimcision dost transgress
the law ? This verse teaches the same as that next preceding with
the additional declaration that such a case, if found, would con-
demn the Jew, who fell short of the requirements of the law he
professed to receive. It is true no such case was found. For both
Jew and Gentile are guilty before God. But the great object of
the apostle in these verses is to destroy the confidence of a Jew in
his law, nationality and rites as means or even as pledges of salva-
tion, if he were found, like other men, to be a sinner. He next
announces that religion is internal and spiritual and that as a man
thinketh in his heart, so is he : .
28. For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that
circumcision, which is outward in the flesh :
29. But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly : and circumcision is
that of- the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter ; whose praise is
not of men, but of God. Haldane : " The essence and reality of
things do not consist in names or external signs ; and when nothing
more is produced, God will not consider a man who possesses
them as a true Jew, nor his circumcision as true circumcision. He
is only a Jew in shadow and appearance, and his is only a figura-
Ch. II., v. 12.] THE ROMANS. 103
tive circumcision void of its truth." In other words the holiness,
which God approves, is in the heart. With him a name is nothing,
profession nothing, but the reality is everything. For outwardly
the Peshito reads in that which is external, and for inwardly it has
in what is hidden. By the spirit in v. 29 we are not to understand
the Holy Ghost, but the opposite of the letter. Haldane : " That
which penetrates to the bottom of the soul ; in one word, that
which is real and effective." So also Locke, Slade, Macknight,
Olshausen and others. But as the grace and renewal of the
soul are by the Holy Spirit, there is no error taught by un-
derstanding the reference to be to the Holy Ghost. Hodge
says : " This gives a better sense, Circumcision of the heart which
is effected by the Spirit, and not made after the direction of the
written law; compare Col. 2:11." Augustine, Oecumenius,
Grotius, Dutch Annotations, Pool, Le Clerc, Tholuck, Dodd-
ridge and others favor this interpretation. Some unite the two
and so cover the whole ground, as Evans, Clarke, etc. The result
is the same in either case. Whose praise is not of men, but of God.
" Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on
the heart." The heart, the spirit, the seat of the principles, affec-
tions and motives, is of chief importance. God cares nothing at
all for mere show, mere profession, mere rites and appearances as
deciding character. Such things are of no real worth in his
sight.
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL REMARKS.
1. It is true that where there is no law, there is no transgres-
sion ; but it is not true that where there is no written law, there
is no wickedness. It is enough that the law be known by the
light of nature. Paul admits that men " have sinned without
law" without a written revelation, v. 12. Yea, he admits that
they have so sinned/ that unless God shall show them mercy, their
condemnation will be just, and they vn\\perisk.
2. God is a sovereign in all his acts and dispensations, v. 12.
He dealt not with any ancient nation as with the Jews. Ps.
147 : 20 ; Amos 3 : 2. On the other hand for long centuries he
suffered all other nations to walk in their own ways, Acts 14 : 16.
No man can tell why this was so. "Even so, Father, for so it
seemed good in thy sight," gives the only solution. Shall not
the Lord do as he will with his own ? Behold here the goodness
and severity of God.
3. But privileges are accompanied with corresponding obliga-
tions, and if these ai-e unheeded, sin is aggravated. The greater
104 EPISTLE TO [Ch. II., vs. 12-14.
the light sinned against, the greater the guilt incurred. So that it
is less dreadful to perish without law than to be condemned by
the law, v. 12. To whom much is given, of him shall much be
required. Chrysostom : " The greater the attention he enjoyed,
the greater the punishment he will suffer. See how he urges on
the Jews their greater need of a speedy recourse to grace."
Doddridge : " We shall be judged by the dispensation we have
enjoyed ; and, how devoutly so ever we may hear and speak of
it, shall be condemned if we have not acted agreeably thereto."
Hodge : " Superior knowledge enhances the guilt of sin, and in-
creases the certainty, necessity and severity of punishment, with-
out in itself increasing the power of resistance."
4. In every case the wages of sin is death. Whether men sin
without the law or in the law, they perish, they are condemned,
if the merits of Christ are not counted to them for righteousness.
5. Legal justification to men is impossible, for they are all sin-
ners, v. 13. The law says, "Do and live." "The soul that sin-
neth, it shall die." " Cursed is every one that continueth not in
all things written in the book o.f the law to do them." One failure
infracts the covenant of works, and renders it impossible for us
thereby to have good hope. Brown : " Men are ready to imagine
a more easy way whereby to stand justified at the bar of God,
and expect absolution on easier terms than God ever carved out :
and as men should look diligently that their imaginations thus
deceive them not, and that they stand on sure grounds ; so the
faithful servants of God should be carefnl to undeceive people,
and to discover the vanity of their imaginations, and show the
true grounds on which a man must stand justified before God in
the great day." O sinner, on the score of personal merits there
is no hope for thee. Nor will it save any man to know that his
own righteousnesses are all as filthy rags, and that Jesus Christ
alone is the Lord our righteousness, unless he truly flees to him
as his only hope and Redeemer.
6. Whatever dreams men have indulged, and however they
may have imagined cases, in which, if one did right, it would go
well with him, yet no such case is found. There was never a mere
man that did not at some time blush, or groan, or writhe under
the consciousness of ill desert for some sin in the sight of God.
Show us a man, whose nature is holy and who never in thought,
word or deed broke the law, and we admit that the law has no
charges against him. But there is no such man. It is only by
refusing to look at the context, that men suppose our apostle ad-
mits in any part of his argument that such cases are found, v. 14.
All good men disclaim human merits and all bad men ought to
Ch. II., v. 15, 16.] THE ROMANS. 105
do the same. Chalmers : " What turns the virtues of earth into
splendid sins, is that nothing of God is there. It is the want of
this animating breath, which impresses upon them all the worth-
lessness of materialism. It is this which makes all the native
loveliness of our moral world of as little account, in the pure and
spiritual reckoning of the upper sanctuary, as is a mere efflores-
cence of beauty on the face of the vegetable creation."
7. So long as conscience gives forth her utterances in the
solemn tones, which every man hears, it is in vain to deny the
moral government of God over the world, v. 15. Conscience
bears witness in a way that none but scoffers will deny. Men can-
not rid themselves of its power by adopting abominable principles.
Athiests have confessed its power. Felons feel its frightful sting.
If men have consciences, it must be because God has given them
a moral nature and placed them under moral law. If men are so
constituted as to be a law to themselves, they are surely account-
able to God. True, a long course of sinning will sadly sear the
conscience, but even old and cruel monsters of depravity have
confessed that they from conscience alone suffered death every
day. Reader, have you a good conscience? Is it purified by
atoning blood ? Do you study to keep it void of offence towards
God and man ? If in any part of the world a man without a
conscience could be found, we should justly pronounce him a
monster.
8. There will be a day of Judgment, v. 16. Why should there
not be? There have been days of sinning, and days of acting, and
days of suffering. Why should there not be a day of reckoning
and of retribution ? Scoffers may cry out against such an event
as of old. 2 Pet. 3 : 3, 14. But scoffing will have no more effect to
defer it, or avert its decisions than laughter will have in hinder-
ing the violence of a storm or the raging of the sea.
9. This great day will expose the secrets of men, v. 16. None
will object to the public acknowledgment and rewarding of good,,
deeds, performed from right motives, however secretly and mod-
estly they may have been performed. This shall surely be done..
Matt. 25 : 34-40. It is no less right that all, who have stubbornly
and stoutly resisted God's love and authority, his mercy and his
terrors should be condignly punished and their characters fully
exposed. Some have asked, shall the sins of God's people be ex-
posed on that day ? If they shall be, it shall not be to their con-
fusion, or condemnation, but only to the magnifying of the riches
of the grace, which washed and saved them from their sins. And
there the believer may let the matter rest, for he is willing that
Christ should have all the glory of his salvation.
io6 EPISTLE TO [Ch. II., vs. 16-27.
10. The last day will settle one controversy, that has long been
conducted with heat and violence on one side, and with unflinch-
ing fidelity on the other the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus
Christ. Is he truly and supremely divine ? If he does not know
all things, all hearts, all motives, all rules of right, and how in-
fallibly to apply them, how can he make the awards of the last
day ? To the devout and humble all this seems clear even now.
But the human heart is terribly opposed to honoring the Son as
most men admit they should honor the Father. Blessed be God,
the man Christ Jesus, who poured out his life unto death, is to
pass upon the case of all his people and of all their enemies.
11. Every generation witnesses a strong tendency to rely on
names and forms, on rites and professions, on creeds and sacra-
ments, and not on the Saviour and his Spirit for salvation, vs. 17-
27. Ritualism is indigenous to the corrupt heart of man. It is as
easy to trust in forms when simple as when splendid, when divinely
ordered as when by man invented. The Pharisees were much
more orthodox than the Sadducees or Essenes, yet they were vile
hypocrites. The case is this. The human conscience oppresses
one with some just sense of guilt. He says, I must do something
to save my soul. Formalism says : Here is something you can do.
Engage in it and you will feel better. The trial is made. The
conscience becomes purblind and stupid. Some relief is felt. The
devotee is encouraged to press on, till at length the sad delusion
steals over him that this is piety. Then his blind self-love rivets
that impression, and time only is required to make a full end of all
good hopes and prospects for eternity, unless God in mercy opens
his eyes to see the utter worthlessness of all he has done, and by
his Spirit converts his poor carnal heart. This is sometimes done,
and when it is, it is vastly to the praise of the glory of divine
grace. For " when men grow secure because of privileges where-
with they are blessed of God, it is hard to get such roused up
and awakened, and brought to some thorough conviction of their
case and condition." There is nothing which the deceitfulness
of the human heart may not pervert to its destruction. The law
is of great use to give the knowledge of sin. Yet men go to it for
justification. And if one thing seems to fail in these false founda-
tions, men easily try another. Some plead that they are within
the pale of the true church, are esteemed and trusted as pious,
have the seals of the covenant and are exact in many decent forms
of worship. Chalmers : " Were we asked to fix on a living counter-
part in the present day to the Jew of the passage now under con-
sideration it would be on him, who, thoroughly versant in all the
phrases and dexterous in all the arguments of orthodoxy, is, with-
Ch. IL, vs. 21-24.] THE ROMANS. 107
out one affection of the old man circumcised, and without one
sanctified affection to mark him the new man in Christ Jesus our
Lord, withal, a zealous and stanch and sturdy controversialist.
He too rests in the form of sound words, and is confident that he
is a light of the blind, and founds a complacency on knowledge
without love and without regeneration."
12. It is therefore a solemn question for every man's considera-
tion : " Is my evidence of acceptance with God under the gospel
at all better than that of this Jew under the law?" If the best
any man can say is : ' I am of my own choice and by public con-
sent called a Christian, I rest in the Gospel, I make my boast of
God, I know his will, I approve the most excellent things, I am
instructed out of the gospel, I am capable of teaching others the
way of life and salvation, I instruct a Bible class, I am a communi-
cant or a minister in the church ; ' if this is all, it is nothing,
nothing to the purpose of salvation. Hodge : " Membership in
the true church, considered as a visible society, is no security that
we shall obtain the favor of God."
13. -The foregoing truth is manifest and of solemn weight in
your case, if your religious profession is, like that of this Jew, at-
tended with dark signs, and especially with the bad mark of not
obeying the plainest and clearest truths known and professed, vs.
21-23. It is impossible, even if we could work miracles, to prove
that we are real Christians, unless we keep the commandments.
On this point God's word abounds in the clearest proofs. Hodge :
" Mere knowledge cannot commend us to God. It neither sancti-
fies the heart, nor of itself renders men more useful. When made
the ground of confidence, or the fuel of pride and arrogance, it is
perverted and destructive." Therefore the question, Are you a con-
sistent Christian ? is as pertinent as this, Are you a Christian at all ?
It is not reproving sin and error, but fleeing from them that proves
men right-minded. A wicked practice evinces a wicked heart.
14. So deceitful is the human heart and so cunning are self-de-
ceivers that God's ministers must use great plainness and directness
of speech, as Paul does here, vs. 21-23. It will not save men's
souls from the snares of the devil to preach by hints, allusions and
indirect attacks on error and wickedness. Our Saviour and his
apostles as well as the prophets have left us admirable lessons and
examples on this matter.
15. The wicked may often greatly pervert things and may at
times tell many utter falsehoods respecting you. These things are
of course no test of character. But what do men truly say of you ?
v. 24. If from the tenor of your life they fairly infer that you are
no better than men who profess no love to Christ, you are a bad
io8 EPISTLE. [Ch. II., vs. 26-29.
man. And you are the worse man for professing the true relig-
ion, and not acting accordingly.
1 6. But you have a name to live. Your profession is fair.
Your sincerity is unsuspected by just men. Yet what is all that
worth ? It is not he, whom man commendeth, but whom the Lord
approveth, that shall be saved.
17. Are your virtues better than those of many heathen? v.
26. In justness of character would you compare with Aristides ?
In despising the annoyances of life, as well as its vain show, are
you equal to Diogenes or Socrates ? In honor are you equal to
Cicero ? Well, we must have a higher standard of virtue than the
heathen, or be condemned by them.
1 8. It would therefore be a great matter if the world would
learn that " he is not a Christian, who is one outwardly, nor is that
baptism, which is outward in the flesh ; but he is a Christian, that is
one inwardly, and baptism is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in
the letter ; whose praise is not of men, but of God," vs. 28, 29.
Chalmers : " Faith is an inlet to holy affections. Its primary office
is to admit truth into the mind, but it is truth which impresses as
well as informs. The kingdom of God is not in word alone, nor
in argument alone it is also in power, and while we bid you look
unto Jesus and be saved, it is such a look as will cause you to
mourn and be in heaviness it is such a look as will liken you to
his image, and import into your own character the graces and the
affections which adorn his." If one be thus changed, it matters
not whether the world applauds or censures, peace is made with
God, and the soul is safe forever, through Jesus Christ.
19. Doddridge : " We pity the Gentiles, and we have reason to
do it ; for they are lamentably blind and dissolute : but let us take
heed, lest those appearances of virtue, which are to be found
among some of them, condemn us; who, with the letter of the law,
and the gospel, and with the solemn tokens of a covenant relation to
God, transgress his precepts, and violate our engagements to him ;
so turning the means of goodness and happiness into the occasion
of more aggravated guilt and misery."
20. There is no reason why we should not apply to the sacra-
ments of the gospel the doctrine Paul here lays down respecting
circumcision. Sacraments have neither inherent nor invariable
efficacy, They are signs of great truths, and seals of great bless-
ings ; but unbelief hinders their good effect, and a wicked life is
proof of unbelief.
CHAPTER III.
VERSES 1-19.
PAUL DOES NOT SLIGHT THE MOSAIC DISPENSA-
TION. HE PROVES ALL MEN TO BE SINNERS.
What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision ?
2 Much every way : chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles
of God.
3 For what if some did not believe ? shall their unbelief make the faith of God
without effect ?
4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That
thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art
judged.
5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we
say ? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)
6 God forbid : for then how shall God judge the world?
7 For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory;
why yet am I also judged as a sinner?
8 And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we
say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.
9 What then ? are we better than they ? No, in no wise : for we have before
proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one :
1 1 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
1 2 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable ;
there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
1 3 Their throat is an open sepulchre ; with their tongues they have used deceit j
the poison of asps is under their lips :
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness :
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17 And the way of peace have they not known :
18 There is .no fear of God before their eyes.
19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law : that every mouth may be stopped,' and all the world may become
guilty before God.
(109)
no EPISTLE TO [Ch. III., vs. i, 2.
1WHA T advantage then hath the Jew ? or what profit is 'there of
. circumcision ? Peshito : What then is the superiority of the
Jew ? Or what is the advantage of circumcision ? For advantage
the Vulgate and Wiclif have more ; Tyndale, Cranmer and Genevan
have preferment ; and Rheims has pre-eminence. Some of the
ancient interpreters use excellence, meaning thereby pre-eminence.
There is no need of making this dramatic by introducing a Jew as
here making this objection. In his candor, Paul states it as one
likely to occur to the mind of his countrymen. The force of the
place is this : If the argument of the foregoing chapter, and par-
ticularly from the seventeenth verse to the close, is correct, may
you not as well deny that the Jews had any privileges above
others ? If Jews could not secure salvation by their conformity
to the letter of the law, how are they more privileged than others ?
If the Jews had generally regarded as valid this objection, it must
have mightily hindered the Gospel among them. It was therefore
important fairly to meet it, as Paul does thus :
2. Miich every vuay : chiefly, because that imto them were committed
the oracles of God, Wiclif renders the first clause, Myche bi alle
wise ; Tyndale, Cranmer and Genevan, Surely very much ; Calvin,
Very much. The objection of v. i was not to be entertained for a
moment, for it was not true. God had greatly favored the Jews.
Take a single particular and consider it in all its bearings. The
Jews were the depository of the precious words of God. Com-
mitted, confided or intrusted. Oracles, found also in Acts 7 : 38 ;
Heb. 5 : 12; i Pet. 4:11; and. always rendered as here. Oracles
were divine communications, or words uttered by God. Without
slighting the words spoken for many generations by Urim and
Thummim, the chief reference here is to the written word of God
as we have it in the Old Testament. Think how much is here
included the history of creation, of the fall, of 'the deluge, of the
dispersion, of the call and trials of Abraham, of the history of his
descendants, of the exodus from Egypt ; the law ; the records of
kings good and bad ; the best proverbs ; the sublimest songs ; pre-
dictions respecting the course of events to the end of the world ;
and all these abounding in precepts, promises, warnings and
encouragements of the most weighty character. Especially did
these lively oracles animate the church with bright hopes respect-
ing Messiah and the glory of his reign. These were the richest
and most glorious matters, of which the Old Testament treats.
And although the Gentiles had fragments of revelation among
them, and so looked for some great Teacher and Deliverer, yet
their ideas were confused, at least vague, and the Gentiles were
never the custodians of the holy Scriptures, which are able to
Ch. III., v. 3.] THE ROMANS. in
make men wise unto salvation. Chrysostom : " Do you see how
he still counts up, not their good deeds, but the benefits they
received from God ? "
3. For what if some did not believe ? shall their unbelief make the
faith of God 'without effect ? Candor requires the admission that
this is a difficult portion of the epistle. The proof is found in the
great diversity of explanations and conjectures offered. Macknight
varies the sense of the verse by a negative : Will not their unbelief
destroy the faithfulness of God ? Calvin thinks the sense is this,
" Is God's covenant so abrogated by the perfidiousness of the
Jews; that it brings forth no fruit among them?" Evans: "The
infidelity and obstinacy of the Jews could not invalidate and over-
throw those prophecies of the Messiah, which were contained in
the oracles committed to them." Doddridge : " Shall their unbelief
destroy God's fidelity to his promises, or prevent our receiving
them, and owning their accomplishment ? " Olshausen supposes
the point to be this : " Even if the blessing was lost to the nation
collectively, it yet, according to God's faithfulness, remained even
now confirmed to individual believers, and should hereafter also
belong to the whole of Israel when God should have led them
back by wondrous ways." Conybeare & Howson : " Shall we
imagine that God will break his covenant with the true Israel,
because of the unfaithfulness of the false Israel ? " Clarke : " Shall
the wickedness of some anmil the PROMISE, which God -made to
Abraham, that he would, by an everlasting covenant, be a God to
him and to his seed after him ? " Locke thinks the point is this,
that the unbelief of some cannot render God's covenant of none
effect to the nation so as not to bring them blessings in all coming
generations. Others suppose this to be the sense, If the Jews shall
not believe, as many do not, this does not show that the covenant
is not good, and its blessings great in themselves, and freely
offered to the acceptance of men. Hodge : " What if we have been
unfaithful, or are as wicked and disobedient as you would make
us appear, does that invalidate the promises of God ? Must he be
unfaithful too ? Has he not promised to be our God, and that we
should be his people? These are promises not suspended on our
good or evil conduct." On these views it may be said: i. that
there is no authority for inserting, as Macknight does, a negative.
2. Whether we make the language of this verse to be that of a Jew
or of Paul himself candidly stating an objection likely to be made
does not necessarily change the sense. It is admitted that the
language is that of objection. 3. Several of the explanations
offered though diverse are not adverse to each other. 4. It
is probably safest to regard the apostle as closely confining himself
H2. EPISTLE TO [Ch. III., vs. 4, 5.
to the main matter in hand, viz. the impossibility of any one, even
a Jew, being justified before God by the law. 5. Any sense
put upon the question ought to make relevant the subsequent
answer given by our apostle. Perhaps the judicious Thomas Scott
has as nearly cau'ght the spirit of the passage as any other : " What
if some, if even the greater part of the nation of Israel, from
worldly and ambitious motives, had obstinately and wickedly
rejected the divine Saviour ? Did their unbelief render the faith-
fulness of God ineffectual ? He had fulfilled his promises to their
fathers, and if they would not receive and submit to the ' Seed of
Abraham/ and the Son of David, could they plead that God had
failed of his word?" etc. In reply to the objection Paul says,
4. God forbid : yea, let God be true, but every man a liar ; as it is
written, that thou might est be justified in thy sayings, and might est over-
come when thou art judged. Peshito : Far be it ; For God is vera-
cious, and every man false : as it is written : That thou mightest
be upright in thy declarations, and be found pure when they judge
thee. God forbid. The original of this phrase occurs ten times in
this epistle. It is a very strong form of denial. It is rendered as
here by Wiclif, Coverdale, Tyndale, Cranmer, Genevan and
Rheims ; and yet in the Greek the name of God is not found.
Let it not be is all the original warrants in any of the ten cases.
We cannot defend this uncalled for appeal to God. We can
account for it on the score of use, it having been for many cen-
turies an idiomatic phrase among our ancestors, when they would
give a strong denial. Let God be true, i. e. let him be accounted
faithful to all his engagements, though by supposition every man
be false, or faithless. It is safer to trust no man thari it is to distrust
God. It is better to discredit all men than not to believe God.
Brought into comparison with God men are false, filthy, foolish.
When Job had a clear discovery of the spotless purity of God, he
abhorred himself and repented in dust and ashes. Paul refers to
the case of David, who, though a great and good king, and held
in high esteem in Israel, yet sinned, and in his confession admits
that God was altogether and incomparably righteous. See Ps.
51 .-4. Paul quotes not the Hebrew, but gives literally the Septua-
gint version, with which his readers were familiar, and which for
his purpose was as good as the Hebrew, or as a literal translation
of it would have been. This verse is a rebuke to false reasonings
and to daring charges against the Almighty.' For an exposition
of Ps. 51 : 4, see the author's " Studies in the Book of Psalms."
5. B^lt if otir imrighteousness commend the righteousness of God,
what shall we say ? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance ? (/
speak as a man). Peshito : But if our iniquity establish the recti-
Ch. III., vs. 6, 7.] THE R O MA NS. 113
tude of God, what shall we say ? Is God unrighteous, when he
uplifteth wrath ? (I speak as a man.) This objection is of a like
tone with those already stated ; but it is perhaps more presumptu-
ous. It is for substance this, that if the unbelief and wickedness
of the Jews had served to show the faithfulness of God, and so to
make his name glorious, shall we blame the Jews, or say that
they shall be punished for that, which exalts God and sets forth
his glorious and excellent nature ? Shall we say that God is un-
righteous when he taketh vengeance ? Such an inference would
be monstrous and blasphemous. Our apostle informs us that these
reasonings do not meet his approval, and that he does not originate
them : / speak as a man ; literally, I speak according to man ; i. e.
I am not the author of this objection ; I do not even approve it ;
I am using the language of others. My own view I will now
express :
6. God forbid : for then how shall God judge the world ? On the
first clause, see above on v. 4. To judge the world, in this place, '
means to rule it and decide on its affairs. Calvin : " It is God's
work to judge the world, that is, to rectify it by his own righteous-
ness, and to reduce to the best order whatever there is in it out of
order : he cannot then determine any thing unjustly." Three
views are taken of this verse. One is that, if God punishes un-
justly, he cannot be a fit judge and governor of the world, as we
all now admit that he is. Another is that Paul is using the argu-
mentum ad hominem, q. d. You Jews admit the doctrine of the
divine judgment and authority over the world ; but if you accuse
God of unrighteousness in his dealings with men in this life, how
can you expect righteousness in his awards to men ? The third
and perhaps the better view is that if sin ceases to be sin and can-
not be punished because God overrules it, and makes it the occa-
sion of glorifying him, and showing forth his excellent nature and
providence ; then no sin can be punished, and so there is nothing
to be condemned, and of course there is not and will not be any
judgment of God on human conduct. Either of these views shews,
the necessity of vindicating the divine character against all asper-
sions. Not to do it is to give up all first principles in religion.
But the bold assailants of divine truth are commonly very perti-
nacious, and have an amazing zeal in pressing their objections.
So here :
7. For if the triith of God hath more abounded through my lie
unto his glory ; why yet am I also judged as a sinner. Peshito : But
if the truth of God has been furthered by my falsehood, to his
glory ; why am I then condemned as a sinner ? Cranmer : For if
the trueth of God appeare more excellent thorow my lye, vnto his,
H4 EPISTLE TO [Ch. III., v. 8.
prayse, why am I hence forth judged as a synner ? Scott thus
paraphrases this verse : " Suppose the truth of God, in his predic-
tions, promises, or denunciations, should be more abundantly
manifested to his glory, by any man's telling a wilful lie :
why should the liar be punished for giving occasion to the dis-
play of God's glory ? " The answer is that our want of right
motives, our evil intentions and our violation of the law forbid-
ding all falsehood are the ground of condemnation. The good
brought out of moral evil by the overruling providence of God,
and the result have nothing to do in estimating the heinousness of
sin. So says the human conscience. So says God. The conduct
of Joseph's brethren was overruled to his and their great advan-
tage, but they intended evil and they therefore had a just sense of
great criminality. The same may be said of the enemies and
murderers of Jesus Christ. The word here rendered lie is not
found elsewhere in the New Testament, but its cognates, ren-
dered liar, lied, falsely, false witness, &c. are of frequent occur-
rence. Lie in this verse corresponds to unrighteousness in v. 5, just
as truth in this verse corresponds to righteousness in v. 5. Men are
rightly judged wicked when they do wickedly. " He that doeth
righteousness is righteous ; he that committeth sin is of th.e devil."
I John 3 : 8.
8. And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some
affirm that we say}) Let us do evil, that good may come ? ^vkose damna-
tion is just. Peshito : Or shall we say as some have slanderously
reported us to say : We will do evil things that good [results]
may come ? The condemnation of such is reserved for justice.
The reader will notice that the authorized version and the Peshito
differ, the former having a negative. The Peshito is probably
right. The particle rendered not often is a negative, but it is also
many times a mere sign of interrogation and has no negative
power whatever. It is perhaps so here. At least this is a satis-
factory solution, is approved by Stuart, and supported by the
grammarians and Lexicons. The enmity against the grace of the
gospel is and always has been fearful. The enemies of the truth
have charged on those, who proclaim it, the worst principles, as
fair consequences of the most precious doctrine. Even the apos-
tles were slanderously reported as favoring the loosest Antinomian
doctrines. The objector says that if Paul's doctrine, that God so
overrules all things as to exalt his glory, is true, shall we say, Let
us do evil, that good may come ? Is this a fair inference ? But if
we use the particle as a negative, then we should read thus, And
may we not say, Let us do evil, that good may come? So that we
reach the same result either way. The atrociously wicked nature
Ch. III., vs. 9-1 1.] THE ROMANS. 115
of the principle here stated is such that Paul does not hesitate to
' declare that men, who favor it, are condemned, and that their con-
demnation is just. The word " damnation " in this place clearly
means condemnation.
g. What then ? are we better than they ? No, in nowise : for we
have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin.
It is not an objector but Paul, who says, What then ? meaning
what is the fair result of this argument? Does this course of
reasoning, or does the truth show that we [Jews] are better than
they [Gentiles] ? He answers, with an emphasis, No. The word
rendered, in nowise, is elsewhere rendered surely, q. d. No, not at
all, or No, in no respect. Are 'we better ; one verb, have we the pref-
erence or pre-eminence over them ? Are we superior in the mat-
ter in hand our legal standing in the sight of God ? We have
before proved [in Chap. I.] that the Gentiles, and [in Chap. II.]
that the Jews are all under sin, that is, are sinners, and so are
under condemnation, and need a gratuitous justification. To
prove this incontestably. in the minds of all, who reverence the
sacred Scriptures, he cites many passages of God's word.
10. As it is written : There is none righteous, no, not one. It is
written is a phrase occurring about ninety times in the New Testa-
ment, eighteen times in this epistle. It is the common notice of
quotation given by Christ and his apostles. It was well under-
stood as an appeal to the word of God. The first citation is made
from the first and third verses of Psalms 14 and 53. In verse I
in each of those Psalms it is said there is none that doeth good ; in
verse third of each, it is added, No, not one. Our apostle does not
literally quote either the Hebrew or the Septuagint, but he gives
the sense, There is none righteous. All righteous men do good.
The chief question is, Does this verse apply to the Jews only, or
to all men ? The context both here and in the Psalms is conclusively
in favor of giving it a universal application. Above in v. 9 Paul
expressly says that his doctrine and his argument embrace " both
Jews and Gentiles." And in v. 2 of Psalms 14 and 53, it is said
that the inquisition of Jehovah was into the character, not of the
sons of Jacob, nor of the children of Israel, but of " the sons of
men " [Adam], a phrase embracing the human race. There is,
however, no objection to giving the verse a pointed reference to
the Jews as their sacred writings are quoted, and as they held
that they were not in danger as the Gentiles were.
11. There is none that under standeth, there is none that seeketh
after God. The words are chiefly taken from the 26 verse of
Psalms 14 and 53 ; only what is there ah inquiry in a form imply-
ing negation is here a simple negative. To understand God's will,
n6 EPISTLE TO [Ch. III., vs. 12, 13.
nature and loving kindness towards us, and our duty and obliga-
tions to him is so important a part of piety that it is often put
for the whole of religion. He, who sees dxvine things in their
true nature, must love them ; but alas ! man without divine grace
is blind, i Cor. 2 : 14. To such a one even Jesus Christ is without
form and comeliness. Without God's Spirit man has no insight
into the real nature of heavenly things and no relish for them.
Accordingly he does not seek after God. His heart goes not out
towards him in love and gratitude, in longings after him, in
prayers, or praises, or meditations concerning him. And how
can such a man be otherwise than under sin ?
12. They are all gone otit of the way, they are together become
unprofitable ; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. The Greek
is a literal quotation from the Septuagint rendering of Ps. 14 : 3,
and, with the exception of one word, of Ps. 53:3 also. Peshito :
They have all turned aside, together ; and become reprobates.
There is none that doeth good ; no, not one. On the last clause
of this verse see above on v. 10. Gone out of the way, turned
aside, or gone away is a good rendering of the first verb. The
second Greek verb is best rendered become unprofitable, though
the Hebrew has the idea of filthy. The Hebrew also has the dis-
tributive form every one, not all. The whole verse teaches that
the corruption was total and universal. See on this place the
author's " Studies in the Book of Psalms." Such is the fruit of
ignorance of God, and of an aversion to his character and ways.
Ruin must follow in their train, even utter social debasement.
13. Their throat is an open sepulchre ; with their tongues they have
used deceit ; the poison of asps is under their lips. The first and
second clauses in the Greek are literal quotations from the Septua-
gint version of Ps. 5 : 9. The third is taken literally from the
Septuagint rendering of Ps. 140 : 3. The figure of a sepulchre is
very striking and suggests two ideas. One is that an open sepul-
chre sends forth offensive and pestilential vapors. The other is
that an open sepulchre is insatiable and all devouring, being a
receptacle of all that is loathsome. Deceit, flattery, lying, back-
biting, cheating, how common and how detestable they are. Men
are so guileful that they often deceive themselves. The heart is
deceitful above all things. The effects of evil speaking are sad
and terrible, like poison diffusing itself everywhere and producing
deadly effects. The poison of serpents is used by Moses as an
emblem of the horrible nature of wickedness, Deut. 32 : 33. See
also Ps. 58 : 4. In the authorized version of Ps. 140 : 3 we have
adders, but the Septuagint has asps. In the Hebrew the word
here rendered adders occurs nowhere else in the Bible. There
Ch. III., vs. 14-19.] THE ROMANS, 117
are four Hebrew words rendered adder. The bite of the asp was
fatal, and that almost instantly.
14. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. The Greek
of Paul in this verse is the Septuagint version of Ps. 10 : 7. Curs-
ing, execration, imprecation. Bitterness, the word includes the
idea of venom. The two words embrace the most odious forms
of ill will and malignity, describing a character selfish and im-
pious.
15. Their feet are swift to shed blood. It is a quotation from
Isa. 59 : 7, chiefly in the rendering of the Septuagint. On what
slender grounds most quarrels arise. For how trivial a slight will
men murder. Resentment, jealousy, covetousness and wanton-
ness fill the world with constant fruits of violence and bloodshed.
How senseless and cruel wars devastate the globe.
1 6. Destruction and misery are in their ways. This is a literal
quotation from the Septuagint version of Isa. 59 : 7. Destruction
describing ruin by violence, crushing, breaking in pieces by con-
cussion. Misery, distress, affliction, wretchedness, as a fruit of the
violence before spoken of. In their ways, in their paths, in their
courses. Wherever they go they carry destruction and produce
misery.
17. And the way of peace have they not known. Here the apostle
varies from the Septuagint version of Isa. 59 : 8, where the pas- .
sage occurs, but the variation affects not the sense, being merely,
have not known, for have not seen. By the ^vay of peace we may
understand the method of securing their own quietude or that of
others. They were the sons of strife. They lived in contention
themselves and involved others in like quarrels and disquiet.
1 8. There is no fear of God before their eyes. The Greek is a lit-
eral quotation from the Septuagint version of a part of Ps. 36 : i.
The phrase has become famous, being in several countries adopted
into the forms of criminal indictment. It is a description of a dis-
position generally depraved, utterly wanting in religious tone, for
when a man has no fear of God, he will regard nothing as sacred.
19. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to
them who are under the law : that every mouth may be stopped, and all
the world may become guilty before God. The object of the first
clause is not, as some have thought, to assert that the quotations,
just considered, did not embrace the Gentiles, and cannot be
fairly cited to prove universal depravity, but only the depravity
of the Jews. The statements are sweeping and universal. They
as truly comprehend one nation as another. But they have an
undeniable application to the Jews. They are spoken by their
own prophets to themselves. They contain language as strong
n8 EPISTLE TO [Ch. III., vs. i, 2.
and decisive as any used by Paul. There is no way of escaping-
from their force but by denying the scriptures to be the word of
God. That universal depravity, the Jews forming no exception,
is by Paul himself intended to be taught is clear not only from
verse 9, where he asserts what his object was in making the quo-
tations, but also in this verse, where he declares the logical con-
clusion of his argument to be that every mouth [whether of Jew
or Gentile] may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty
before God. Could language be clearer?
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL REMARKS.
1. God is a sovereign. He does what he will with his own.
He divides all his gifts severally as he will. He gives to some
more, and to some less. He raised the Jews to heaven in point
of privilege. He has a right to do these things, vs. i, 2. He
ought to do what seemeth good in his own eyes. He makes no
mistakes.
2. It is a part of the perversity of man to turn outward bless-
ings and privileges into the means of self-conceit and self-right-
eousness, instead of turning them to good account. The Jew had
God's ordinances, and therefore he argued that he needed not
forgiveness, conversion, or a Saviour. The merely nominal Chris-
tian has the Gospel and its sacraments, and in his folly and self-
sufficiency he says he needs only baptism, the Lord's Supper and
priestly absolution ; but no change of heart, no regeneration by
the Holy Ghost, and no gratuitous justification.
3. Those, who possess the Scriptures, have a treasure which
exalts them above all others, who are without them, v. 2. No
man, and no people have ever esteemed the word of God too
highly. Doddridge : " Thankfully let us own the inestimable
goodness of God in having favored us with his sacred oracles, and
endeavor to improve in the knowledge of them." To take their
liberties from a people is a great affliction to them ; but to take
away God's word from them is one of the direst curses of heaven
ever sent on a nation.
4. The holy Scriptures are God's word. They are his oracles,
v. 2. Stephen called them the lively oracles. Holy men of God
spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. All scripture is
given by inspiration of God. The oracles of God are divine dic-
tates, as Hesychius defines the word. Brown : " God's word, and
every truth that is held forth therein, of whatsoever nature, should
have great weight with us, and be received with great reverence,
fear and love, as having on it an impression of majesty, and
should be believed as undoubted truth."
Ch. III., v. 3.] THE ROMANS. 119
5. The great foe of piety, knowledge and virtue has been and
still is unbelief, v. 3. Nero, speaking of his .own vices to Seneca,
said : " Do you suppose that I believe there is a God when I do
such things ? " Men must deny God, his attributes and his word,
if, in a land enlightened by revelation, they persist in sin. This
they cannot do, but by indulging-a wicked and criminal disregard
of the divine testimony given in nature, or in Scripture, both in
God's works and word. 'Unbelief has its seat in hatred of the
truth.
6. Whatever men may allege to the contrary, every dispensa-
tion of God to man was instituted and has been administered in
good faith, and in uprightness, v. 3. He has been sincere in all
his offers, in all his engagements, in all his threatenings. Scott:
" As the promises of God are made to believers alone ; the unbelief
of some or of many professed Christians cannot make ' the faith-
fulness of God of none effect ; ' for he will fulfil his promises to his
people, and execute his threatened vengeance on hypocrites and
apostates." Covenant-breakers lose all that is promised and incur
all that is threatened, but covenant-keepers shall never, do never
complain of slackness in the Almighty.
7. Neither charity nor wisdom require us in the conduct of
an argument for the truth to lay down our propositions in the
most sweeping way that exact truth will admit. Paul talks of
SOME not believing, v. 3. He might have said many, the great
mass, and perhaps with truth too. But that was not essential to
his argument, and might have given needless offence. Calvin:
" There is here a sort of reticence, as he expresses less than he in-
tended to be understood." Brown : " It is good sometimes, and
Christian prudence requireth it, not to speak the worst of folks
wickedness."
8. No matter what may happen, let us justify and glorify God.
Such a course may cover us with shame, but it will be deserved
shame. ' Let God be true,' Calvin well calls ' the primary maxim
of all Christian philosophy'. It must never be given up. It is
wicked to doubt it. One of the darkest signs in the character of
some is their disposition to ward off all charges against themselves
even at the cost of failing to justify the Most High. ' Let God be
true, even if it involves the consequence that every man is a liar.'
9. God's threatenings will as surely be executed as his prom-
ises will be fulfilled, and for the same reason, because he is true.
Hodge : " No promise or covenant of God can ever be rightfully
urged in favor of exemption from the punishment of sin, or of im-
punity to those who live in it. God is faithful to his promises ;
but he never promises to pardon the impenitently guilty."
.120 EPISTLE TO [Ch. III., vs. 4-19.
10. The Scriptures make nothing clearer than that no mere
man can stand, if God enter into judgment with him, vs. 4, 19.
He cannot answer for one of a thousand of his offences. Omnis-
cient purity sees enough in every man to justify any sentence of
condemnation against him. In this fearful contest Jehovah must
' overcome.'
11. If we would not be found faithless to our solemn charge,
.we must bear bold and solemn witness against detestable and
blasphemous opinions uttered in our hearing by profane men,
unless their authors are mere scoffers. Compare vs. 4, 6 ; Pr. 9:8;
Matt. 7:6. A wise man will regard time and judgment ; but
fidelity must not give way to timidity.
12. Of all the ways of opposing error and falsehood in .re-
ligion, none is so safe or commonly so successful as a direct and
solemn appeal to Scripture. This was Paul's plan, vs. 4, 10. Thus
the Saviour taught us by his example. Matt. 4 : 4, 6, 10. I have
known many a man to swear on when in human words reproved
for profaneness ; but I never have seen any man, not utterly
abandoned, who was not silenced by the awful words of the third
commandment, kindly and solemnly repeated.
13. Motives, not consequences, intentions, not results in human
conduct, are the matter of praise or of blame, and will be the
ground of reward or of doom, vs. 5, 7. God has brought glorious
consequences out of the treachery of Iscariot. But the traitor
thought only of his sordid gains and aims. Chrysostom : " God
honored the Jews : they dishonored him. This gives him the vic-
tory, and shews the greatness of his love toward man, in that he
honored them even such as they were." But no thanks to man
for all this. Rather confusion of faces and penitence befit him.
14. God will punish none more than they deserve. He is ever
righteous when he takes vengeance, v. 5. The slightest doubt on
this point, if well founded, would subvert the moral government
of the universe. The songs of heaven would cease, could it once
be shewn that the King was not just and right in all his ways,
Rev. 16 : 7.
15.. The doctrine of God's providence and authority over the
world is fundamental, and must never be given up, v. 6. It can
be of no practical use to believe that there is what Voltaire calls
" a supreme, eternal, incomprehensible intelligence," if we believe
that he neither sees, nor knows, nor cares, nor helps, nor saves.
A God without providence is unworthy of adoration. Atheism,
whether speculative or practical, subverts all order and all religion.
It would, if it could, annihilate moral government,
1 6. All wicked counsel shall come to naught. Yea, God will
Ch. III., v. 5-8.] THE ROMANS. 121
make the wrath of man to praise .him. Man's perfidy will exalt
the divine faithfulness. Man's wickedness will shew forth the
divine righteousness; and man's weakness, the divine power,
vs. 5, 7. Let not the wicked boast himself. Utter confusion will
cover all his impenitent and ungodly courses. And let not the right-
eous be afraid with any amazement. His enemies shall not triumph
over him, but he shall surely triumph over them.
17. All sin is a lie, v. 7. It is guile and deceit. It fulfils none
of its promises. Its least odious form is more to be dreaded than
excruciating pains than all temporal sufferings. The worst thing
about it is that in any form it " is exceeding sinful." No man
ever excessively hated, dreaded, or abhorred iniquity.
1 8. We may not cease to hold and teach true doctrines, because
men abuse or misrepresent them, and us for inculcating them, v. 8.
We may never yield the truth, whatever be the result. Paul
taught that God could and would bring good out of evil. Then,
said the wicked, the more we sin the more we honor God; and so
the more wicked we are, the more deserving we are. This was
all gross perversion. But shall we yield the doctrine of God's
sovereign control over wicked men and their actions, because evil
men thus pervert it ? Never. Sin is wicked, and deserves punish-
ment, npt because it dethrones God, nor leaves him without rule,
but because it is its aim to do these things. Chrysostom : " When
Paul said where sin abounded grace did much more abound, in ridicule
of him and by perverting what he said to another meaning, they
said, We must cling to vice that we may get what is good. But
Paul said not so." Against nothing has the wicked ingenuity of
men been more exercised than against the doctrine of the divine
sovereignty in all its parts. But we dare surrender none, of it.
Brown : " It is an old custom of Satan and his perverse followers,
to be wronging the faithful servants of Christ, and fastening false
doctrine upon them, as the maintainers thereof, which they never
did approve of; and such an exercise as this should be taken in
good part, seeing the apostles before us met with the like false im-
putations ; yea, and Christ himself." .
19. 'Let men remember that all their sophistry and merriment,
all their perverseness and impudence cannot and will not shield
them from the due reward of their evil deeds, vs. 5-7. Embracing
a lie does not change it into truth. Denying damnation will not
put out the flames of Tophet. Laughing at perdition will not
keep us from perishing.
20. Let us ever oppose with abhorrence the baneful and bale-
ful doctrines of Antinomianism, v. 8. They please the carnal
nature of man, but they cannot be too much detested. Speaking
122 EPISTLE TO [Ch. III., vs. 7-18.
of such Calvin says : " Their perverseness was, on two accounts,
to be condemned, first, because this impiety had gained the
assent of their minds ; and secondly, because in traducing the
gospel, they dared to draw from it their calumny." Hodge :
" There is no better evidence against the truth of any doctrine,
than that its tendency is immoral." Whatever makes men lax in
their views of the precepts of God's law is dangerous.
21. The Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods,
and angels, and men. He so ' exerciseth his infinite wisdom, as a
wise alchemist, extracting good and glory to himself out of the
sinful carriages of wicked folks, as that he neither alloweth nor
approveth of them in their sins, nor looseth the reins unto them
to sin the more, nor shall they be any whit the less guilty, or less
liable to judgment, because of that,' v. 7.
22. Let no man regard his personal, social or ecclesiastical
advantages as constituting any refuge or palladium to him, v. 9.
External privileges do but enhance responsibility, if they are
abused. They cannot save men from either the guilt or the power
of sin, v. 9. Yet such is the perverseness and self-righteousness
of wicked men,' that, like the Jews, they hug the delusion that sin
cannot be fatal to them, because God has given them so many
privileges above many of their fellow men. But the Saviour ad-
dressed a city of such when he plainly told them they should be
thrust down to hell.
23. By nature every man is a sinner, and without divine grace
no man is righteous in the sight of God, vs. 10-18. Tholuck well
says that Paul here employs these verses " in order to describe
the universal depravity of the whole human race." It makes the
heart, sick to see the glosses of Macknight, and the labored efforts
of Taylor of Norwich and Stuart of Andover to make the im-
pression that these verses do not prove what the apostle declares
he quoted them to prove. If universal depravity in the human
race is not proved by these verses, then are there no terms, by
which that doctrine could be taught. President Edwards in reply
to Taylor says: "What instance is there in the Scripture, or
indeed any other writing, when the meaning is only the much
greater part, where this meaning is signified by repeating such
expressions They are all they are all they are all together
every one all the world ; joined to multiplied negative terms, to
show the universality to be without exception ; saying, There is no
flesh there is none there is none there is none there is none, four
times over ; beside the addition of no, not one no, not one, once
and again ! . . . Here the thing which I would prove, viz. : that
mankind in their first state, before they are interested in the bene-
Ch. III., vs. 10-14.] THE ROMANS. 123
fits of Christ's redemption, are universally wicked, is declared
with the utmost possible fulness and precision. So that, if here
this matter be not set forth plainly, expressly, and fully, it must
be because no words can do it ; and it is not in the power of lan-
guage, or any manner of terms or phrases, however contrived
and heaped one upon another, determinately to signify any such
thing." Words precisely to the same effect are used by Richard
Watson : " Whoever reads that argument, in the third chapter
of the epistle to the -Romans, and considers the universality of
the terms used, ALL, EVERY, ALL THE WORLD, ,BOTH JEWS AND
GENTILES, must conclude, in all fairness of interpretation, that
the whole human race, of every age, is intended." Scott: " It is
proved beyond contradiction, that we are all, in ourselves,
'under sin.'"
23. If men are not righteous by nature, they must secure help
from without, a righteousness not theirs by nature, or they must
perish, v. 10. Can any thing be clearer than that they who are
sick need a physician ? The scope of all the apostle's reasoning
hitherto has been to this very point. Hereafter he wonderfully
shows how the Lord is our righteousness.
24. If men are so benighted as not to understand the plainest
truths in religion, nor even to make any hearty efforts to become
savingly acquainted with God (as is declared in v. 1 1) ; then surely
there is the greatest necessity for the work and agency of God's
Holy Spirit in the hearts of men. This necessity is imperative for
there can be no genuine piety without saving knowledge, and a
seeking after God.
25. It is amazing kindness in the good shepherd to go after the
lost sheep. Poor things ! they are all gone out of the way, v. 12.
Nor would they ever find the path of safety, or the green pastures
but for his sovereign mercy, that seeks them in their lost condi-
tion.
26. Men are not only lost, but in that state they are unprofitable,
useless, v. 12. This aspect of the character of fallen men is often
presented in God's word.
27. If a man does no good, it is impossible to prove that his
piety is genuine, v. 12. All other distinctions between men vanish
away before this, that some do good, and some do it not. Com-
pare i John 3 : 7, 8.
28. The power of the tongue for evil is immense, incalculable,
vs. 13, 14. It defiles the whole nature of man. It has the power
of life and death, Pr. 18 : 10. Compare Pr. 30 : 14. It is a fire, a
world of iniquity ; it sets on fire the course of nature ; and it is
set on fire of hell. The tongue can no man tame ; it is an unruly
124 EPISTLE TO [Ch. III., vs. 10-18,
evil, full of deadly poison, Jas. 3 : 6, 8. No man has ever been too
watchful over his tongue. The evils of a tongue not restrained by
grace are legion blasphemy, profanity, perjury, cursing, murmur-
ing, quarreling, foolish talking and jesting, vain reasoning, railing,
reviling, flattering, silence when we ought to speak, speaking when
we ought to be silent, perversion of facts, lying, detraction, tale-
bearing, backbiting, whispering, rash and harsh judging, vain
jangling, swelling words, idle words, boasting, false and foolish
rumors, vows and promises of a sinful kind, 1 etc. If any offend not
in word, the same is a perfect man.
29. Sin ruins and defiles everything. All the faculties and
parts of soul and body are corrupted, so that by nature we are
utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and
wholly inclined to all evil, vs. 10-18. The whole head is sick, the
understanding darkened, the imagination evil, the memory pol-
luted, the taste degraded, the heart faint, the hands full of wicked-
ness, the feet running in forbidden paths, the lips poisoned, the
eyes full of adultery, the breath murderous, the soul sunk down in
irreligion, and the flesh triumphant.
30. How fearfully prevalent are bloody crimes, v. 15. How
often we read or hear of murders, manslaughters, rencontres,
duels, shootings, stabbings, fightings, acts of revenge, malice,
envy, hatred, woundings and provocations to violent deeds, toge-
ther with a manifest delight in wars and scenes of horrid strife
and slaughter. Good men should everywhere testify their abhor-
rence of such things, and God's wrath against them.
31. It is of the very nature of sin to work ruin, to scatter abroad
destruction and misery, v. 16. Like fire sin destroys everything on
which it kindles. It has digged every grave. It is the parent of
every sigh from earth, or groan* from hell. God will surely not
let sin or sinners have their way always. He will surely, for his
own glory, and the good of his saints, set bounds to lawlessness
and to the lawless. Blessed be his name for withholding man from
compassing all the wickedness, to which his heart would incline
him, and Satan seduce him.
32. Nor is it in the heart of man to make or to work peace, to
impart or to enjoy it, v. 17. As manifesting the temper of the
ungodly see how they have martyred fifty millions of the saints in
less than two thousand years, on an average more than a million
and three-quarters for each century, or more than an average of
seventeen hundred every year during the Christian era.
33. The fear of God is an essential element in rightly swaying
the hearts of men, v. 18. There is no piety without it. Where
there is none of it, there is no safety for life,- liberty, or property.
Ch. III., vs. 9-I9-] THE ROMANS. 125
Doddridge : " Let us bless God that we have been preserved from
falling into such enormities, as those described in this chapter, and
from falling by them"
34. If you would induce men to be virtuous, persuade them to
be pious. He, who fears not God, will not regard man. Hodge :
" Piety and morality cannot be separated." He, who is bold
enough to break with God, cannot be relied upon to keep friend-
ship with man.
35. Jesus Christ and his apostles freely quoted the Septuagint
version of the holy Scriptures, as Paul does here, vs. 10-18. This
shews the lawfulness of making and using translations of God's
word, and circulating them, even if they are not inspired or per-
fect.
36. We, who have both the law and the gospel, are under
manifold obligations to hear, love and keep the words of God.
What they say they sa'y to us who are under them, v. -19. Our
responsibility is awfully solemn. To whomsoever much is given,
of him shall much be required.
37. And now have we not fairly reached by the apostle's argu-
ment the unavoidable conclusion that for men of every race and
of every age there is no justification by the law ? vs. 9-19. Stuart :
" Plainly the apostle's design is, to shew that there is but one
method of acceptance with God now possible ; and this is in the .
way of gratuitous pardon or justification." Chalmers : " Be assured
that there is a delusion in all the complacency that you associate
with your own righteousness. It is the want of a godly principle
that vitiates the whole." Hodge : " The office of the law is neither
to justify nor sanctify. It convinces and condemns." If salvation
is not a gratuity, all men are in a state of hopeless misery ; for all
are sinners, and before God every mouth must be stopped and all
the world stand condemned.
CHAPTER III.
VERSES 20-31.
PAUL AFFIRMS THE SUM OF HIS ARGUMENT. HE
ANNOUNCES THE GOSPEL SCHEME OF JUSTI-
FICATION, WHICH IS FOR JEW AND GENTILE
INDISCRIMINATELY.
20 Therefor6 by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his
sight : for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being wit-
nessed by -the law and the prophets ;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and
upon all them that believe; for there is no difference :
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus :
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbear-
ance of God;
26 To declare, / say, at this time-his righteousness : that he might be just, and
the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay;
but by the law of faith.
28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of
the law.
29 Is lie the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles ? Yes, of
the Gentiles also :
30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and un-
circumcision through faith.
31 Do we then make void the law through faith ? God forbid ; yea, we
establish the law.
THEREFORE by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be
jiistified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Peshito : Wherefore by the deeds of the law, no flesh is justi-
fied before him ; for, by the law, sin is known. The Doway
(126)
Ch. III., v. 20.] THE ROMANS. 127
exactly agrees with the English, except that the first word is
because instead of therefore. The parallel passages are many.
See Rom I : 17; Acts 13: 39! Gal. 2 : l6 ! 3 : "J E P h - 2:8, 9;
Tit. 3 : 4-7. Therefore marks the connection with the whole fore-
going argument. This is the conclusion from those impregnable
positions taken and maintained from the I7th verse of the first
chapter to the igth verse of this. It is refreshing to find even
Macknight thus paraphrasing this verse : " Wherefore, by works of
law, whether natural or revealed, moral or ceremonial, there shall
no man be justified meritoriously, in God's sight ; because law makes
men sensible that they are sinners, without giving them any hope of
pardon, consequently instead of entitling them to life, it subjects
them to punishment." With this Locke substantially agrees.
Ferme is more brief and very clear : " The righteousness of man
in the sight of God is not from the law, nor its deeds. For
through the law is the knowledge of sin." Beza : " The apostle's
purpose is to teach that no man can be justified in any other way
than by faith in Christ."
By the deeds of the law Paul means acts of obedience required
by law, by any law, known to man. It is a miserable drivelling
of Pelagian writers and of some not Pelagian in other points,
when they assert that Paul here merely denies that men can be
justified by acts done in conformity to the Mosaic ritual. For, as
Whitby says, " This knowledge of sin being chiefly by the moral
law (Rom. 7 : 7) shows that the Apostle excludes as well that, as
the ceremonial, from Justification, and evident it is, that the
antithesis runs all along, not between Moral and Ceremonial Works,
but between Works in general, and Faith, vs. 20, 22." Stuart:
" Surely the object of Paul in the present case is to show that
both Gentiles and Jews need that gratuitous justification which
the gospel proclaims, and which Christ has procured." Tholuck:
" His object, throughout the whole of the foregoing inquiry, had
been to show that the Jew is guilty, because he does not keep the
divine law, outwardly imposing obligations upon him ; and that,
for the same reason, the heathen is guilty, even as transgressing
that law implanted by nature within him and which is also out-
wardly obligatory." The reason why the law would not justify
was no imperfection or fault in it. The law has ever justified un-
sinning angels. In Eden before his fall it justified Adam. To the
innocent it utters no threat ; against the unoffending, no curse.
Perfect conformity to all God's will is a faultless righteousness,
and never was by God rejected. Paul admits that the doers of the
law shall be justified, Rom. 2:13. The difficulty is that no mere
man, since the fall of Adam, has kept the law and without any
128 EPISTLE TO [Ch. III., v. 20.
failure done the commandments. So that if men are saved it
must be by gratuity, not by human merits.. Rom. 3 : 27; 4:2-5,
13-16; ii : 6; Eph. 2 : 8-10; 2 Tim, 1:9; Tit. 3 : 5.
No flesh as explained by David is no man living, Ps. 143 : 2, and
by Paul as no man, Gal. 3:11. In Scripture the word flesh is
used very variously ; sometimes for all animal bodies, whether
of man or any other living thing, Lev. 13 : 10 ; Num. n : 33 ;
I Cor. 15 : 39 ; sometimes for animals, whether human or brute,
living on the dry land, Gen. 6:13; sometimes for a kinsman,
or one of the same stock, Gen. 37 : 27; 2 Sam. 19 : 12, 13 ; some-
times for every one having the same nature with ourselves, Isa.
58 : 7 ; sometimes for the state of the present life, Phil. I : 24 ;
sometimes for the human body as now constituted, i Cor. 1 5 : 50 ;
sometimes for the best qualities and powers of man, Matt. 16 : 17 ;
sometimes for our corporeal nature, Matt. 26 : 41 ; sometimes for
carnal ordinances, Phil. 3 : 3-6; once for the works of the law,
Gal. 3 : 2, 3 ; and sometimes for the natural, corrupt state of man,
Rom. 8 : 8. In our verse it is used for the human race, for men,
embracing Jews and Gentiles. The whole course of the apostle's
argument requires us so to understand it. The term flesh is never
applied to angels, and our verse does not say that those unfallen
spirits are not justified by law. But Paul's argument refers solely
to the human race, and it embraces the whole of it.
Justified, the term points to the legal standing of men before
God. Barrow : " God's justifying us doth solely or chiefly, im-
port his acquitting us from guilt, condemnation, and punishment,
by free pardon and remission of our sins, accounting us and deal-
ing with us as just persons, as upright and innocent in his sight
and esteem." Hodge : " To justify is to declare just, to pro-
nounce righteous according to the standard of the law." The
term is judicial, or pertains to courts. The apostle's whole argu-
ment goes on these suppositions: I. that the moral law is holy,
just and good in its precept, and its penalty ; 2. that the obe-
dience it requires is personal, perfect and perpetual ; 3. that God
will not clear the guilty, but will surely condemn the wicked ;
4. what he has already and at length proven in chapters I., II. and
III. viz. that all men, of every nation, have broken the law, and so
cannot be accounted otherwise than as rebels and as under the curse.
In his sight, in his view, judgment or estimation ; before him.
In one's own sight many a man is justified. Pr. 21 : 2; Luke
16 : 15. Compare 2 Cor. 10 : 18. In the sight of their neighbors
sinners often stand well. Frequently men justify those, whom God
condemns, for that which is highly esteemed among men is
abomination in the sight of God.
Ch. III., vs. 21, 22.] THE ROMANS. 129
21. .Z?^ TZ0ze/ ^ righteousness of God without the law is mani-
fested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Peshito : But
now, the righteousness of God without the law is manifested ; and
the law. and the prophets testify of it. On the phrase righteous-
ness of God, see above on Rom. i : 17. This righteousness is here
said to be without the law, literally without law, that is without
deeds done by man in obedience to the precepts of the law, or as
Tyndale expresses it, " without the fulfillinge of the lawe." The
righteousness by which sinners are saved is not a legal righteous-
ness. It is a great righteousness even the righteousness of God.
It is pleasing to God. In the case of sinners God will accept it and
none other. This righteousness is manifested, is shewed, is declared,
is made known, has appeared, or has come abroad. In Rom. 1:17
this righteousness is said to be revealed. Yet it had been known by
the church of God for long ages. The doctrine of it was no
novelty ; for it was witnessed (Doddridge attested, Schleusner pre-
dicted and promised) by the law and the prophets. Moses in the Pen-
tateuch and later prophets had testified or borne record of this very
way of securing a good standing before God, so that as Chrysostom
says this way was "old, but concealed." The Old Testament was
sometimes spoken of as the law, Matt, n : 13 ; John 10 : 34 ; some-
times as the prophets, Acts 10 : 43 ; 13 : 27 ; Rom. 16 : 26 ; some-
times as Moses and the prophets, Luke 16 : 29 ; .24 : 27 ; sometimes as
the law and the prophets, Matt. <> : 17 ; 7:12; 22 : 40 ; Luke 16 : 16 ;
Acts 13 : 15 ; and sometimes as the law of Moses, the Psalms and
the prophets, Luke 24 : 44. In each of these cases all the holy
Scriptures then written were designated. How Moses pointed
out the true and only way of justification for sinners may be seen
in the sacrifices and other rites prescribed in the law, as well -as in
the case of Abraham mentioned in Rom. 4 : 1-3. David, who
was a prophet, Acts 2 : 30, also taught this way of life, Rom. 4 :
6-8. Habakkuk did the same, Rom. i : 17. See also John 5 : 46,
47; Gen. 3 : 15 ; 15 : 6; 22 : 18 ; Isa. 53 : n ; Dan. 9 : 24. Nor
did other prophets fail to teach this doctrine of righteousness,
22. Even the righteousness of God which is by faitJt of Jcsiis
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe ; for there is no differ-
ence. It is clear that righteousness in this connection cannot mean
the attribute of justice in God, for in no sense is that by faith ;
and it is as much unto and upon infidels as upon believers. But
it is a righteousness received by faith, not in God merely, nor in
the general truths of religion, but in Jesus Christ. Stuart : " Most
clearly it is not faith which belongs to Christ himself, but the
faith of sinners towards him." In Acts 3 : 16 Through faith, in his
name is literally through faith of his name. See also Gal. 2 : 20.
9
I 3 o EPISTLE TO [Ch. III., v. 23.
On the nature of faith see above on Rom. I : 8, 12, 17. The
righteousness of faith is the merit of Christ received by faith, and
is unto hll and upon all them that believe. Some think that unto all is
to be connected with is manifested- in the preceding verse, and that
the rest of the clause stands by itself. Stuart : " The offer is
made to all men without exception ; believers only, however, are
entitled to the actual reception of it!" There is no error of
doctrine thus taught, but the difficulty is in the grammatical con-
struction. It is better to regard the prepositions unto and upon, as
covering the whole case, and excluding all other justification. We
are not without examples of the accumulation of prepositions in-
tended to be intensive and to exclude all counter conceptions, as
in Rom. 1 1 : 36. " Of him, and through him, and to him are all
things." Indeed this very chapter, v. 30, gives an instance of the
same kind, where by and through are used to explain and intensify
the same idea. We might even add other prepositions without
teaching any error, and say this righteousness is unto all, and
upon all, and for all, and over all, and with all that believe.
Peshito has for every one, and on every one. This righteous-
ness is suited to all. It is offered to all, who hear the gospel. It
is upon all, who are willing to receive it. Neither in its own
nature, nor in its gracious offer is it confined to bond or free, to
rich or poor, to learned or ignorant, to rude or civilized, to Jew
or Gentile. All, all need it, for there is no difference. Peshito &
Rhiems : For there is no distinction. The word occurs in two
other places, Rom. 10 : 12 ; I Cor. 14 : 7, and is once rendered dif-
ference and once distinction. The sense is, that in the matter in
hand the sinfulness of our nature, and the need of a gratuitous
justification, all mere men stand on the same ground, the Jew as
truly requiring grace and mercy as the Gentile.
23. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Peshito : For they have all sinned, and failed of the glory of God.
All, that is, all men, Jews and Gentiles, have sinned, missed the
mark, erred, done wrong, neglected duty, and so are exposed to
the curse of the law. And all have come short, failed, are lacking,
are behind, are sadly deficient. They have failed of the glory of
God. This term may be taken in either of four ways. i. They
have failed to honor God as they were bound to do. They were
made for his glory, but they have been a shame unto him, I Cor.
10 : 31. 2. They have failed to secure his approval or praise,
John 5 : 41, 44. 3. They have failed to secure the glory, which
God bestows on the innocent, or on the penitent. John 9 : 24;
Eph. i : 14; i Pet. 5 : 4. God has not honored them as his friends.
4. Chrysostom, Beausobre, Slade and others explain it of the
Ch. III., v. 24.] THE ROMANS. 131
glory of heaven or the glorified state. Beza expressly says that
Paul speaks of eternal life, which consists in a participation of the
glory of God. All these interpretations are coincident and they
may be all true. Either one of them implies the others. The first
is the righteous ground of the rest.
24. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that
is in Christ Jesus. Peshito : And they are justified gratuitously,
by grace, and by the redemption which is in Jesus Messiah.
Being justified, a passive participle in the masculine plural. It refers
to Jews and Gentiles, to all who are justified. They are justified
freely, gratuitously, or as Do way and Rheims express it, gratis ;
Coverdale, without deservynge ; in 2 Thess. 3 : 8 the same word is
rendered for naught ; and in John 15 : 25 without a cause, that is,
all, who are justified, are justified without any desert of theirs,
without any meritorious cause in themselves, but wholly by God's
grace, or favor. Yet God's saving grace flows only in one channel.
So it is all through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Redemp-
tion, the word so rendered is found ten times in the New Testa-
ment, and is with one exception translated as here. Chrysostom
renders it here entire redemption. Sometimes the word means
simply deliverance and is once so rendered, Heb. n : 35. But it
commonly refers to deliverance from sin and wrath by Jesus
Christ, who gave his life a ransom for us. Eph. 1:7; Col. I : 14.
The idea of redemption may be either Hebrew or Roman. In
Israel when a man was so heavily in debt that he could not pay
what he owed, the creditor might lawfully sell him or any of his
family as servants until the year of jubilee. 2 Kings 4:1; Matt.
18 : 25. Sometimes a poor man sold himself even to a foreigner,
Lev. 25 : 47-49. In either of these cases any one that was nigh of
kin to the poor servant might, and by the law of brotherhood was
bound in certain cases to redeem him, by paying all for which he
was in bondage. Again, in the early ages of the world prisoners
of war were generally put to death. In the course of time cupid-
ity, or in some cases humanity dictated that they should, by their
conquerors, be sold as servants. Sometimes during the war, and
often after it was over, a man's country or his kin sent money, and
bought him out of bondage, thus ' redeeming him with corruptible
things as silver and gold.' Suidas defines ransom as " the price
given to be redeemed from the slavery of the barbarians." For
many ages redemption was thus effected, and so the idea of
redemption was familiar to mankind. In the Old Testament
the same word is rendered kinsman, avenger and redeemer.
Avenging of blood and redeeming from bondage both devolved
on the nearest male relative. In the New Testament are three
132 EPISTLE TO [Ch. III., v. 25.
words rendered redeem. One means simply to buy. It is found
more than thirty times. Our Lord uses it when he speaks of
buying a field, buying oxen, buying victuals. Paul uses it twice :
" Ye are bought with a price," i Cor. 6 : 20 ; 7 : 23. John uses it'
in Rev. 5 .-'9; 14 : 3, 4. " Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy
blood." Sometimes another word, a compound of the foregoing,
is used. It occurs four times. Christ hath redeemed us from the
curse of the law. See Gal. 3 : 13 ; 4 : 4, 5. There is still another
verb rendered redeem, Luke 24 : 21 ; Tit. 2 : 14; I Pet. I : 18.
This is cognate to the noun in our text rendered redemption. Then
we have two words corresponding to this noun. They are both
rendered ransom. For the first see Matt. 20 : 28 ; Mark 10 : 45 ;
for the second I Tim. 2 : 6. The ransom was the price of release.
This redemption is in Christ Jesus. It was effected by him. The
price was paid by him. The redemption is applied to us when we
believe in him. We are not redeemed by Christ's example, pre-
cepts, doctrines, or power ; but by his laying down his life a ran-
som for us, by his blood, by his death, by his stripes, Matt. 20 : 28 ;
Eph. 1:7; Col. i : 14; Heb. 9:15; Isa. 53 : 5. Jesus was every
way fit to be our Redeemer by becoming our kinsman, by taking
upon him human nature entire ; but in such a way that he was
holy, harmless and undefiled. To believers the effect of redemp-
tion is full, complete, gratuitous, eternal salvation. It brings great
glory to Christ,
25. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitation through faith in
his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
past, through the forbearance of God. Instead of set forth Peshito
has preconstituted ; Wiclif, ordeyned ; Rheims, Pool and Dodd-
ridge, proposed ; Chrysostohi and Margin, fore-ordained : Chal-
mers, exhibited. Every where else the word is rendered pur-
posed, and the 'cognate noun is more commonly than otherwise
rendered purpose. But manifestation also belongs to the word
for it is the word used to express shew bread, or bread of setting
forth. God has set him forth in his purpose, in sending him into
the world, and in sending forth preachers, 2 Tim. i : 9-1 1 ; i Pet.
i : 20-22. The words to be are not in the original, and might as
well be dropped. If any thing be supplied, as would be better.
Propitiation, the original word occurs but once elsewhere in the
New Testament, Heb. 8:12, where it is rendered mercy-seat. It
is doubtless borrowed from the Septuagint version of the Old
Testament. See Ex. 25 : 18-20 ; Lev. 16 : 13-16. It is explained in
these four ways: i. Some render it propitiatory, or mercy-seat ;
so Whitby, Locke, Macknight, Assembly's Annotations, Tyndale,
Olshausen, and others. The advantages of this exposition are first
Ch. III., v. 25.] THE ROMANS. 133
that it takes the word in its common signification, once in the
Greek Testament and often in the Septuagint ; secondly, that by
using the term comprehensively we get a good sense, that as the
Israelites obtained pardon and acceptance as public worshippers
by the sprinkling of blood on the mercy-seat, so eternal life is dis-
pensed from Christ. The objection to this explanation is that it
presents to us an unusual figure, that of Christ himself as a mercy-
seat. 2. Some render the word propitiator. This is the explana-
tion preferred by Cranmer and Rosenmuller. It makes the word
rendered propitiation, which is an adjective, to agree with whom.
This teaches no error, nor does it necessarily weaken the true
doctrine. 3. Others think the word is in the neuter and that we
are to supply the word victim or sacrifice after it. This explana-
tion is preferred by Calvin, Schlichting, Le Clerc, Bucer, Turrettin,
Kypke, Magee, Tholuck, Stuart, Chalmers, Conybeare & Howson,
Haldane and Hodge. 4. Others unite the first and third of these.
Hawker : " CHRIST indeed is both the propitiation and the pro-
pitiatory. He is the propitiation, or sacrifice ; the propitiatory or
mercy-seat and altar, on which that sacrifice was offered. " See
also Olshausen, p. 153. Whichsoever of these we prefer we may
still lay fast hold on the great doctrine of the atonement, by which
God is reconciled to man. We have also the cognate word pro-
pitiation twice in the Scriptures. I John 2 : 2 ; 4 : 10. Of the
correctness of this rendering there is no room for doubt. Then
we have the cognate verb make reconciliation for the sins of the
people, Heb. 2:17.
All these words no doubt have allusion to the mercy-seat,
which was the lid of the ark of the testimony. In the Hebrew
this is called the cover. It occurs frequently in Exodus and
Leviticus, once in Numbers and once in i Chronicles. Its cog-
nate noun is ahvays rendered atonement as in Ex. 29 : 36 ; Lev.
23 : 27, 28. Over this lid stood the two cherubim with their
wings extended. On this lid of the ark the blood of the sacri-
fice was sprinkled ; over it rested the visible glory, and from
it as from a throne God shewed himself propitious. Elsewhere
Christ is called our passover, an offering and a sacrifice, and a
lamb, a lamb slain, yea, a lamb slain from the foundation of
the world, i Cor. 5:7; Eph. 5:2; John i : 36 ; Rev. 5 : 6, 9, 12 ;
13:8. All these forms of expression clearly point to atone-
ment or reconciliation by Jesus Christ. Olshausen : " Every
sacrifice is intended to expiate the guilt of men, and propitiate
the anger of God, consequently the sacrifice of all sacrifices, in
which alone all the rest have their truth, must effect that which
the others only foreshadow." In what sense is Christ our pass-
134 EPIS TIE TO [Ch. III., v. 25
over, if his death does not avert from us death and destruc-
tion ? In what sense is he an offering and a sacrifice for others,
if he expiated no guilt, endured no curse, bore no wrath, and
exhausted no penalty for them? In what sense was he a lamb
slain, if he was not a victim offered for the sins of many ?
How can a lamb take away sin except as a sacrifice? Christ is
set forth a propitiation through faith in his blood, and not other-
wise. On faith see above on Rom. i: 8, 12, 17. In his blood:
the Scriptures often speak of the blood of Christ in a way that
ought not to be forgotten. In instituting the Lord's supper
our Saviour says, This is my blood of the new testament; or,
This is the new testament in my blood, Matt. 26 : 28 ; Mark
14 : 24; Luke 22 : 20. In John 6 : 53-56 the Lord informs us that
we must by faith drink his blood. In Acts 20 : 28 we are in-
formed that the flock of God was purchased with his own blood.
In Rom. 5 : 9 saints are said to be justified by his blood. In
i Cor. 10 : 1 6 the Lord's supper is called the communion of the
blood of Christ. In Eph. i : 7 we are said to have redemption
through his blood. In Eph. 2: 13 it is said we are made nigh
by the blood of Christ. In Col. i : 14 we are said to have re-
demption through his blood. In Col. i : 20 we are said to have
peace through his blood. In Heb. 9 : 14 the blood of Christ is
said to purge the conscience from dead works to serve the liv-
ing God, and it is said to do this much more than the blood
of bulls and goats fitted men of old to be public worshippers.
In Heb. 10 : 14 saints are said to enter into the holiest by the
blood of Jesus. In Heb. 10 : 29 Christ's blood is called the blood
of the covenant. In Heb. 12 : 24 it is called the blood of sprink-
ling. In Heb. 13 : 12 Christ is said to sanctify the people with
his own blood. In Heb. 13 : 20 his blood is called the blood
of the "everlasting covenant. In I John 1:7 it is said the blood
of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanseth us from all sin. In Rev.
1:5 it is said he hath washed us from our sins in his own blood.
In Rev. 5 : 9 the saints in glory say to him, Thou hast redeemed
us unto God by thy blood. In Rev. 7 : 14 the saved are said
to have washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb. In Rev. 12 : 11 it is said the conquerors overcame
by the blood of the Lamb. Indeed this aspect of truth is both
prominent and permanent. Two remarks may here be fairly
made. One is that the Jewish church lived under a dispensa-
tion, wherein almost all things were purged with blood, the altar,
the mercy-seat, the tabernacle and the worshippers, Heb. 9:21,
22 ; 10 : 19. So that the significance of blood as a sacrifice, expiat-
ing guilt, was well understood by all Israel. The other remark is
Ch. III., v. 25.] THE ROMANS. 135
that if the Scriptures teach any thing clearly and by a great
variety of terms and phrases, they do teach that Jesus Christ shed
his blood, not for his own sins, for he had none ; but for the sins
of his people. He suffered the just for the unjust. And faith in
his blood, reliance on his sacrifice, is the only way of salvation to
men ordained by God. If this truth be not received, we hear the
Gospel in vain ; for God has set forth his Son to declare, shew,
point out, or manifest his righteousness for the remission of sins that
are past. The righteousness here spoken of cannot be God's attri-
bute of justice ; for in the case of sinners, for whom no full and
complete atonement is made, justice calls for condemnation, which
would be giving every sinner his due ; but this righteousness is
for a very different end, even for remission of sins. Nor can the
term righteousness here mean God's method of justification for
the remission of sins, for that is tautology. Locke explains it of
God's righteousness in keeping his word, but how can God's
veracity procure the remission of sins till they are atoned for ?
The righteousness of God undoubtedly points to Christ's complete
fulfilment of the precepts of the law, and his endurance of its
whole penalty in our room and stead. Thus believers in Christ
are so perfectly righteous in the eye of the law that they are said
to be made the righteousness of God, 2 Cor. 5:21. But see above
on Rom. 1:17. This righteousness, imputed by God and received
by faith, secures the remission of sins that are past. The word here
rendered remission is not found elsewhere, but no better rendering
has been proposed. The word literally means passing by. But it
is one of the glories of God that he passeth by the transgression of
his people, Mic. 7 : 18. When the apostle speaks of the remission
of sins, he means all sorts of sins, sins against God and against man,
sins of omission and of commission, open sins and secret sins.
The blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin. The phrase, sins
that are past, is capable of two constructions. One is that the
apostle declares remission for sins already committed by any one.
God actually forgives no sin till it is committed, but in accepting
a sinner who believes, God gloriously purposes and promises no
more to impute sin to him, and he never does judicially condemn
him, but puts away his sin as soon as committed, 2 Sam. 12 ; 13.
Howbeit a believer by sin incurs God's fatherly displeasure and
chastisements. But there is to such no forensic condemnation.
For the remission, some would read through the remission. But there
is a grammatical difficulty in the way. Nor could we then retain
the accepted meaning of the word righteousness. God has de-
clared a righteousness of such an excellent nature that he can
grant the remission of sins in a way honorable to himself and safe
136 EPISTLE TO [Ch. III., v. 26.
for man. Brown : " Though God decreed from all eternity to
pardon the sins of his own chosen, and so their sins may be said,
in so far, to be pardoned intentionally before they are committed,
and laid our sins on Christ, who in due time satisfied for them and
so meritoriously they may be said to be pardoned, yet they are not
actually pardoned, until the sinner, convinced of a necessity, flee
in to that price, and lean to it. . . In justification they have their
iniquities pardoned, all their by-past transgressions are covered and
remitted." Another and more common construction of the phrase,
sins that are past, refers it to sins committed under the former dis-
pensation. Some give it no other construction. This seems to
derive strength from the phrase, at this time, in the next verse.
If we supply and between the verses this will be grammatical and
right. Thus Ferme : " To be past here signifies that the world
had lived in them, and that they had reigned in 'the world before
Christ was known." Doddridge : " This remission extends not
only to the present, but former age, and to all the offences which
are long since past, according to the forbearance of God, who has for-
borne to execute judgment upon sinners, in reference to that
atonement which he knew should in due time be made." There
is no doubt of either of the following truths ; I. God had a people
justified, redeemed and saved, before the coming of Christ. 2.
All, who have ever been saved had redemption in the blood of
Christ. 3. There is no more difficulty in giving prospective than
there is in giving retrospective efficacy to the work of Christ.
One is startled at Olshausen : " In the O. T. there was no real but
only a symbolical forgiveness of sins." But of old believers
looked to Messias to come as we look to Messias already come.
They were saved as we are by reliance on a Redeemer, John 8 : 56.
Compare i Kings 8 : 30; Ps. 32 : I ; 103 13; 130 : 4, and many other
places.
All this propitiation, righteousness and remission are secured
to men through the forbearance of God, i. e. through his long-suffer-
ing whereby he delays to punish those who richly deserve his
wrath, and holds back the merited stroke of vengeance from those'
who have insulted him. See above on Rom. 2 : 4. How patient
and merciful is God in giving time and opportunity to repent
and believe the Gospel. How great is his mercy in setting forth
Christ
26. To declare, I say, at this time his righteoiisness : that he might
be just and the justifier of him which believeth. The words rendered
declare and righteousness are quite the same and teach the same as
they do in v. 25. At this time no doubt refers to the Gospel dis-
pensation. Some, as has been stated above, think it is set over
Ch. III., v. a;.] THE ROMANS. 137
against sins that are past, as pertaining solely to the old dispensa-
tion. And it is certainly true that believers in all ages have
obtained remission of sins and acceptance solely by one and the
same glorious righteousness. It is added that this righteousness
is manifested that God might be just and the justifier of him that
believeth. It is God that justifieth. None else can do it. None
else has jurisdiction in the moral government of the world. It is
God's law that is broken. Even when men sin against each other,
their great offence is against God, Ps. 51 '.4. Jehovah is judge of
all the earth. None else is fit to dispense pardons and salvation.
To give up this prerogative to others would be to deny himself.
God often condemns men and deeds, which m'ortals justify; and
he as often justifies men and deeds, which mortals condemn. He
is right in all cases. He is not governed by appearances. He
judges by the ken of omniscience. Consequently there are no
errors committed in his awards. Whom he will he justifies and
whom he will he condemns ; but whether he saves or destroys he
acts righteously. If men are cast off for their sins, if condign
punishment banishes them from God, none can complain of any
want of equity, for they receive the reward of their evil deeds. In
like manner when God for Christ's sake forgives and accepts the
sinner, when he imputes to him the infinite merits of Christ, and
clothes him in the righteousness wrought out by the obedience
and sufferings of his great substitute, justice is satisfied, the law'is
satisfied ; for Christ finished the work of reconciliation ; yea, both
in its precept and in its penalty he magnified the law and made it
honorable, so that now when we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,
I John i : 9. This justification is to him that believeth, and to none
else. Unbelief rejects a free gratuitous salvation. It stubbornly
refuses submission to God's method of justification. It is impos-
sible that one, who rejects the only remedy provided, should escape
death. The unbeliever will not come to Christ, John 5 : 40. On
faith see above on Rom. i : 8, 12, 17. Here the literal rendering
is him who is of the faith of Jesiis, but the English version gives
the exact meaning and in idiomatic phrase.
27. Where is boasting then ? It is excluded. By what law ? of
works ? Nay ; but by the /aw of faith. Boasting, often rendered
rejoicing or glorying ; everywhere else used in a good sense. Here
the apostle declares that by the Gospel plan of salvation, self-esteem,
self-righteousness, self-complacency, self-approbation are cut up
by the roots. The accepted worshipper never makes mention of
his own merits, or of his own works as a ground of acceptance
with God. He abases himself and exalts God. He is nothing ;
138 EPISTLE TO [Ch. III., vs. 28-30.
Christ is all in all. His righteousnesses are, not only in God's
esteem but in his own also, as filthy rags. Were he to rejoice in
his own doings, he would boast in a thing of naught. Self-glory-
ing is excluded, or shut out, not by the rule, plan or scheme of
works, but by the rule, which now should govern the world, the
doctrine of the Gospel, by which we shall be judged ; the scheme
of faith in, by and through Jesus Christ. For the meaning of the
word law compare Isa. 2:3; 42 : 4.
28. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law. We conclude, literally we reckon, reason,
count, or judge ; Tyndale has suppose ; Cranmer, holde ; Genevan,
gather ; Rheims, account ; or we reason out. We reach this con-
clusion by a fair and logical process, viz. : that a man is justified
by faith, i. e. by faith alone, without anything on man's part but a
simple reception of Christ's righteousness. Without the deeds of the
law, literally without deeds of law, i. e. deeds performed in obedi-
ence to any law, the law of nature, the moral law, the law of cere-
monies, or any other law. On deeds of law see above on Rom.
3 : 20. Simple faith in Christ, a hearty reception of him secures
salvation. So clear and direct is this testimony that the Doway
Bible has a note flatly denying that the apostle here excludes such
works " as follow faith, and proceed from it." But the apostle,
both by his terms and by his train of reasoning, excludes all works
of man from any and from all share in his own justification. That
is precisely the point of his whole argument, and what he has
asserted over and over again.
29. Is he the God of the Jews only ? is he not also of the Gentiles ?
Yes, of the Gentiles also. The Jews themselves could not with any
show of truth deny that Jehovah created, fed and governed all
nations ; that he did much good to them, filling their hearts with
food and gladness, making many of them the objects of his special
care. Jehovah was much more than a national God. He was
God over all. We should not therefore be surprised to find him
offering mercy and grace to all nations on the same terms without
money and without price.
30. Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by
faith, and uncircumcision through faith. God is one, and has no
divided counsels. He does not save one sinner in one way and
another sinner in another way. The Jews themselves hold that
the Lord our God is one Lord, and that the nations have no real
God but the same, who is the God 'of Israel. Why then should any
cavil against God for justifying Jew and Gentile in the same way,
viz. : by faith, or through faith ? Some attempt to make a distinc-
tion between these forms of expression, but they quite fail to make
Ch. III., vs. 31, 20,] THE ROMANS. 139
it obvious. Both words mean the same thing 1 . Locke thinks that
in this verse the apostle has special reference to Zechariah 14 : 9,
" The Lord shall be King over all the earth : in that day shall there
be one Lord, and his name one."
31. Do we then make void the law through faith ? God forbid :
yea, we establish the law. For make void we have various meanings
and paraphrases, all however confirming the true doctrine, as
Peshito, nullify ; Tyndale, Cranmer, Rheims, Vulgate and Dow-
ay, destroy ; Genevan, make unprofitable ; Locke and Mac-
knight, make useless ; Conybeare and Howson, bring to naught.
The meaning is, Do we, by teaching that life to man is solely by
grace through faith, put dishonor upon any other revelations God
has made to man ? By no means. Verily not at all. On the un-
happy rendering God forbid see above on Rom. 3 : 4. For estab-
lish Coverdale, Tyndaie and Cranmer have mayntayne ; Dutch
Annotations and Stuart, confirm. We contend that so far from
making useless the law all the law God has ever given we
assign to it its true use as giving the knowledge of sin, shewing
the necessity of a better righteousness than men ever attain to by
their own works, furnishing a perfect rule of life, and bringing
great glory to God, its author, because as a transcript of his
character it is holy, just and good.
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL REMARKS.
i. All attempts at justification by our own works are vain and
presumptuous, v. 20. They all go on the supposition that God is
not holy and omniscient, or that man is not sinful and guilty.
Every thoughtful man knows that in countless ways he has
offended in thought, word and deed. Both by original and actual
sin every man is wholly broken and bankrupt, without strength,
merit, holiness or righteousness. Left to themselves men are in
as hopeless and helpless a state as are the fallen angels, John 8 141,
44. Man cannot be justified by a law, which wholly condemns
him. Scott : " There is no law of God, which any man has kept :
therefore no law by the deeds of which any man can be justified."
It is worse than common folly to seek life by a door that is for
ever shut against us.
2. Though the law cannot save but must condemn us, yet in
other respects it is of excellent use. By it we learn our sinfulness
and ruin, v. 20. It shows what sin is, how much sin is chargeable
to us, and what sin deserves. It shews us the pure and exalted
character of God. It teaches us what our duty is. But it cannot
both justify and condemn. It cannot give the knowledge of sin
140 EPISTLE TO [Ch. III., vs. 21-26.
and of salvation too. Brown : " Much of our ignorance of our sin-
ful condition, of the sinful nature of many of our actions, of the
vileness and abominableness of sin, and of the just and dreadful
desert thereof floweth from our being strangers to the law : and
much humble and diligent study of the law would help us to dis-
cover many latent corruptions, and to be better acquainted with
the stratagems of sin, and the dangerous snares we are drawn into
thereby." Any teaching, therefore which represents the law as
useless or of none effect, is false and mischievous.
3. But though the law condemns us there is a way of salvation.
Nor can we ever sufficiently praise and bless God for making it
known to us. It is a matter of mre revelation, v. 21, as well as a
matter of pure and sovereign mercy. Scott : " Proud men will be
offended at this, and strive to establish some distinction between
themselves and more scandalous and vulgar sinners : but they labor
in vain. . . The meanest and most guilty of the human species,
who comes in God's appointed and manifested way, shall be justi-
fied freely by his grace through the redemption of his Son : while
all, who persist in the attempt of justifying themselves, will as-
suredly perish under the wrath of God."
4. It would surely free us from many foolish notions and from
much self flattery and self delusion, if we would but remember
that all our judgments and actions must undergo the scrutiny of
God. It is only as acts, words or thoughts are good or bad in his
sight that they shall affect us hereafter. Our hearts are so 'deceit-
ful and our minds are so corrupt that not only will most private
opinions, but many public judgments also be set aside, in part or
in whole, at the last day. Men search not the heart, men are vile,
men love darkness and falsehood, men are slow to find any fault
with themselves. But to God, who is our judge, all things are
naked and open ; he never clears the guilty, he never condemns
the innocent. He is holy. The stars are not pure in his eyes.
Oh that men would cease to flatter either their neighbors or them-
selves.
5. Sad as is our case by nature, it is not beyond remedy.
Though we are prisoners of ignorance, of guilt, of corruption and
of misery, yet we are prisoners of hope. Even we can have a right-
eousness commensurate to the demands of God's law and every
way suited to our case, vs. 21, 22, 25, 26. Nothing in the whole
book of God more concerns us than this. Nothing more sets
forth the divine wisdom or glory. Nothing else reconciles justice
in God with good hope in man. True it is not originally oicr right-
eousness, Dan. 9: 18; Rom. 10:3; Phil. 3:9; nor righteousness
by the law, Gal. 3:21; nor righteousness of the law, Rom. 2 :
Ch. Ill, vs. 21, 26.] THE R OMA NS. 141
26; 10 : 5; nor righteousness by works, Tit. 3: 5; nor righteous-
ness in the law, Phil. 3 : 6. But it is and is called the right-
eousness of God, Rom. I : 17; 3 : 21, 22, 25, 26; 10 : 3 ; the right-
eousness which is of God, Phil. 3:9; righteousness by faith of
Jesus Christ, Rom. 3 : 22 ; righteousness through the faith of
Christ, Phil. 3:9; Rev. 5 : 9 ; righteousness not our own, Phil. 3:9;
righteousness imputed, Rom. 4:6, 10, n. This righteousness is the
fine linen, clean and white, in which the redeemed in glory are
arrayed. Rev. 19 : 8. It is celebrated in all ages of the church.
The true doctrine on this matter has not been at any time a nov-
elty ; but has been in some form declared from the beginning,
though often obscured and sometimes denied by wicked teachers.
See Ps. 24 : 5 ; 85 : 10, 13 ; 89 : 16; 145 : 7 ; Isa. 42 : 21 ; 45 : 8, 24,
25; 46: 13; 53 : "I S4:i7; 56: i; 61 : n; 62: I, 2; Jer. 23 : 5 ;
Dan. 9 : 24; Hos. 10: 12. Haldane: " To Balaam, who beheld the
Saviour at a distance he appeared as a star ; There shall come a star
out of Jacob, Num. 24 : 17 ; while to Malachi, the last of the prophets,
on his nearer approach, he appeared as the sun of righteousness"
Mai. 4 : 2. This righteousness is manifested, declared. The way
of salvation by it is clearly pointed out in both Testaments. Were
men not perverse and filled with hatred to the truth, they would
all at once receive it. It suits their case exactly. It is without
law, i. e. without deeds done in obedience to law. It is by faith,
faith in Jesus Christ. Simply believe. It is perfect and needs no
addition, no amendment, no work of man or angel to complete it.
It is just what all men need. It is unto all and upon all that re-
ceive it. Prince and peasant, Jew and Gentile, bond and free, old
and young alike need it and, on accepting it, are alike adorned
with it. This is the righteousness of God. I. He devised it,
wrought it out, and applies it. 2. He freely gives it, Rom. 5:17.
3. He graciously accepts it. He will from man accept none else.
4. He is well pleased with it, delights in it, and bestows all bless-
ings on those, who lay hold of it, Isa. 42 : 21 ; Rom. 8 : 32. 5. This
is the great righteousness. It is the most glorious robe worn by
any creature in heaven. The robe of innocence is not so radiant.
This righteousness is exclusive of all other righteousness. We
must take this alone, or not at all. Chalmers : " The foundation
of your trust before God must be either your own righteousness
out and out, or the righteousness of Christ out and out. . . If you
are to lean upon your own merit, lean upon it wholly. If you are
to lean upon Christ, lean upon Him wholly. The two will not
amalgamate together ; and it is the attempt to do so, which keeps
many a weary and heavy-laden inquirer at a distance from rest,
and at a distance from the truth of the Gospel. Maintain a clear
142 EPISTLE TO [Ch. II., vs. 21-26.
and consistent posture. Stand not before God with one foot upon
a rock, and the other upon a treacherous quicksand . . . Make no
reservations . . . We call upon you, not to lean so much as the
weight of one grain or scruple of your confidence upon your own
doings to leave this ground entirely, and to come over entirely on
the ground of a Redeemer's blood and a Redeemer's righteous-
ness. Then you may stand firm and erect on a foundation strong
enough and broad enough to bear you. You will feel that your
feet are on a sure place."
Nothing is of more importance than our views and treatment
of this righteousness of God. Yet no doctrine of the Gospel is
more maligned or slandered. Many will hear you with apparent
candor on the evidences of Christianity, on the morality or benevo-
lence of the Gospel ; but the moment you summon their attention
to the righteousness of Christ as the ground of a sinner's accep-
tance, they are offended, or begin to stumble. Hence error on
this subject is rife. One contends that the righteousness of God
in this chapter and generally in Paul's writings means a system of
morals approved by God ; another, God's mercy ; another, God's
attribute of justice ; another, God's method of justifying sinners ;
another, God's method of saving sinners. These teachings are
not all alike wide of the truth. One may so explain either of the
last two, as to embrace enough of the Gospel to be saved thereby.
But how can man be saved by God's attribute of justice, when it
pours curses on the head of every transgressor ? Or how can
God's mercy save a sinner, if he is to enter heaven trampling on
the divine government, and eternally standing "naked before God,
with not one precept of the' law fulfilled and with all his sins un-
atoned ? Or how can any code of morals be any purer or better
than that of Sinai, which is holy, just and good, and which only
failed to secure life because the flesh has proved itself wholly
unable to keep its precepts and so meet its demands ? Rom. 8 : 3.
Why will not men allow God, in executing his glorious plans to
provide for believing sinners a righteousness equal in all respects
to the demands of the precept and the penalty of God's law, a
righteousness resulting from the perfect fulfilment of all the law
requires in the way of obedience or suffering? Why will men
write treatises on justification and never mention the word right-
eousness, and never say that by it the believer is righteous ? Did
Paul so write ? Why will men cavil, and higgle, and boggle, and
make a thousand pleas and excuses, and state a thousand diffi-
culties, respecting a doctrine and a scheme so honorable to God,
so safe for man, so suited to advance the divine glory, and so fully
meeting the demands of an enlightened conscience ? Nor should
Ch. III., vs. 21-26.] THE R OMA NS. 143
men be offended at this doctrine, nor at the frank and earnest
assertion of it. It alone gives ground of good hope to sinners.
It alone harmonizes many of the statements of Scripture. It alone
shews how God can be just when 'he justifies the ungodly. It
has been the joy of believers in long ages gone by. Nothing in
Scripture has been more clearly stated or firmly held. See the
author's "Grace of Christ," Chapter XXI. Guyse: "By the
righteousness of God I mean the mediatorial Suretyship Right
eousness of Jesus Christ God-man, which consists in his active
and passive obedience to the law, in the room and stead of sin-
ners, which for its transcendent excellence and glory, as well as
on other accounts, may be styled the righteousness of God."
It is true this doctrine is very humbling to the sinner. He
had no part in devising this righteousness, nor in providing it,
nor in manifesting it ; nor can he add anything to it. Nor can he,
without humbling his heart, avail himself of it. All he can do is
to put on this blessed robe, wear it, and adore the grace that pro-
vided it. This he ought to do; for it is in several respects a
wonderful righteousness : I . None but God could have devised a
plan, in which all the demands of the law should be fully met,
precept and penalty magnified, and justice and mercy, truth and
grace reconciled. 2. None but he, who was both God and man,
could render an obedience and suffer a curse so as to bring in such
a righteousness. Our Surety must be man to sympathize, and
suffer, and obey. He must be divine to supererogate, or to give
infinite value to what he did and suffered. Jesus Christ was
called and anointed to the very end that he might be every way
prepared for this work and this suffering, which have no parallel
in the universe. 3. Such is the mystery of love and wisdom dis-
p^ed in this whole scheme that without the aid of 'the Holy
Ghost no man would ever receive it, or in anywise credit the
truth of it, i Cor. 2 : 14. To each believer it becomes known by
what Christ and Paul did not hesitate (and why should we hesi-
tate?) to call a revelation, Luke 10:22; Gal. i : 16. 4. This
righteousness is entire wanting nothing ; perfect without spot
or defect ; complete full in every particular. If justice or con-
science demands a sinless Surety, a spotless, bleeding victim, a
holy faultless substitute both in keeping the law and in bearing its
curse, behold the Lamb of God. It was by his being made a
curse for us, and in no other way that we are redeemed from the
curse of the law, Gal. 3 : 13. It was by his obedience to all the
divine requirements that many are made righteous, Rom. 5 : 19.
5. This righteousness has no end. It is infinite .in duration. It
is an everlasting righteousness, Dan. 9 : 24. And it is infinite
144 EPISTLE TO [Ch. III., vs. 21-25
in value. It cannot be exhausted. The righteousness, which
superabounds at all, can have no limit. It is the peculiar glory
of him who wrought it "out and brought it in, that there is none
like him, none with him, none beside him. His undertaking was
unique. His glory is unparallelled. He deservedly has a name
above every name.
This righteousness is unto and upon men, not within nor from
them. It is not inherent, nor infused, nor imparted. But it is
imputed, counted, reckoned to believers; for it is of faith, through,
faith and by faith, Rom. 4:11,13; 9 : 30 ; Phil. 3:9. It is unto
and upon them that believe, vs. 22, 25. Men are the children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus, Gal. 3 : 26. This faith has Christ for
its chief object. Nor has there ever been but this one way of
salvation for sinners, vs. 21, 22. The Gospel was preached to
Abraham, and by it all the saints have been justified. The Jew
and the Gentile, the babe in Christ and the man of hoary head,
the antediluvian and the last man that shall be saved all come to
God, and obtain life in one and the same way. Hawker : " The
Lord, whose righteousness it is, gives it to all with an equal
hand, and loves all with an equal love, and justifies all with an
equal freeness of grace. For it is not what they are in themselves,
but what they are in CHRIST, which makes them the objects of the
divine favor. . . He that hath little faith, and is in CHRIST, is as
completely justified by CHRIST, as he that hath the largest por-
tions of faith to apprehend with greater delight his mercies."
6. The portion of this epistle now under consideration casts
much light on the right manner of preaching. It instructs us to
shew men their sinful and ruined estate by nature, the impossibility
of having any good standing before God by their own works of
morality or of reformation, and then to proclaim a free and full
salvation by grace alone, for rich and poor, rude and learned, polite
and vulgar. Hodge : " All modes of preaching must be erroneous,
which do not lead sinners to feel that the great thing to be done,
and done first, is to receive the Lord Jesus Christ, and to turn to
God through him. And all religious experience must be defec-
tive, which does not embrace distinctly a sense of the justice of
our condemnation, and a conviction of the sufficiency of the work
of Christ, and an exclusive reliance upon it as such." Ministers
are not sent to amuse men with novelties, nor to show their own
learning, ingenuity or oratory, nor to correct the philosophical,
political or financial errors of mankind, but to proclaim the Gos-
pel. "Preach the preaching that I bid thee." "What is the
chaff to the wheat ? "
7. Nor need there be any great diversity in the manner of an-
Ch. III., vs. 23-25.] THE ROMANS. 145
f
nouncing God's truth in different places. Climate, government,
manners, rites, customs in a nation may produce some considera-
ble outward effects. But in the matter of guilt, the necessity of
the new birth and of a gratuitous justification, " there is no differ-
ence," v. 22. Never was a people found, to whom all the blessings
of the Gospel were not suited and seasonable. Every one needs
all that is promised.
8. Paul would have us never forget that depravity is universal,
v. 23. He had before proven this at length, vs. 9-18.
9. Sad is the state of man, that in every sense of the phrase he
has come short of the glory of God, v. 23. Should there be no
remedy for this, utter ruin must follow.
10. Let us loudly and earnestly proclaim the doctrine of free
grace, unbought mercy, undeserved favor, v. 24. The humble
will hear it and be glad. The proud may be offended at it, but if
anything can bring down their high looks, this will. At all events
this doctrine is true, is taught by God, is found in all the Scrip-
tures, is necessary to be believed, and, if rejected by men, they are
left without excuse.
1 1 . And with it let us bring forth the glories of redemption, v.
24. How can we ever bless God enough for such an expression
of his love and kindness, his wisdom and condescension ? Redemp-
tion will enter into the songs of the ransomed, while eternity
endures. It was provided, when wrath might justly have been
sent ; when the whole plan must be devised, executed and applied
by him, against whom man had sinned ; when it cost more than
could have been paid by any but a divine sufferer, and when the
state of man was such that unless the Father should give him faith
he would utterly reject all the mercy and grace offered in the
gospel.
12. There is no mistake in the scriptural method of salvation.
It is set forth by God himself, v. 25. Yes, he, who is the way, the
truth and the life, has declared it.
13. Nor let us ever be offended but rather admire and adore,
when we read and hear that all the salvation wrought for' us is by
blood, v. 25. " Without the shedding of blood there is no remis-
sion," Heb. 9 : 22. Olshausen : "As the vial of balsam, if it is to
refresh all those who are in the house by the odor of its contents,
must be opened and poured forth, so also did the Redeemer
breathe forth into the dead world that fulness of life which was
contained in him, by pouring forth his holy blood, the supporter
of his life, and. this voluntarily, since none could take his life from
him, John 10 : 1 8." Brown: " Christ was a testator, and a testa-
ment is of no force until the testator die, Heb. 9 : 16, 17." The
10
146 . .EPISTLE TO [Ch. III., vs. 25, 26..
best men know not which most to admire, the love of the Father
in giving his Son, John 3 : 16; and in not sparing him, but deliv-
ering him up to death, Rom. 8 : 32 ; or the love of the Son in com-
ing in the flesh, in suffering all his enemies could do to him, and
in laying down his own life a ransom. Nor need such a point be
settled, nor can it be determined. In either case we are lost among
the infinites. None can gauge the compassion of God.
14. If men were duly sensible of their sad case by nature, sunk
down as they are in guilt, pollution and misery, they surely would
not stand carping and asking foolish questions, and sometimes
venting blasphemies against the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, when
we speak to them of the remission of sins, v. 25. Let us magnify
the grace of God in the forgiveness of sins. i. To how many
sinners does he extend pardon. 2. How many sins in each case
does he pardon. 3. How terribly aggravated are many of the
sins remitted. They have been long persisted in. They have
been committed against light, against vows, against warnings,
against mercies, against convictions. 4. Jehovah remits our sins
so freely, without money and without price. 5. Then God for-
gives for ever. His gifts are without repentance. 6. He so par-
dons as not to weaken government. His forgiveness is not con-
nivance at sin ; it is not hushing up a bad case ; it is remission
wholly consistent with righteousness. 7. It is not bare pardon.
It is accompanied with acceptance, adoption, the indwelling of the
Spirit and great grace. 8. It is followed by eternal glory.
15. Every thing is traced to God at last, v. 25. If Jesus Christ
comes, he is sent of God. If a propitiation is made, it is made by
divine arrangement and by a divine person. If righteousness is
provided, it is the righteous'ness of God. " Of him, and through
him, and to him, are all things ; to whom be glory for ever.
Amen," Rom. 1 1 : 36.
1 6. As God has very graciously set forth and declared his
plan for man's salvation, so let us concur in this amazing bene-
volence and beneficence, and spread the good news and make
known the joyful tidings in all their fulness. Let us be imitators
of God, vs. 25, 26. In particular let us hold forth the truth that the
salvation of the Gospel is all the richer because it is not in deroga-
tion of justice. Clarke : " Because Jesus was an atonement, a ran-
som price for the sin of the world, therefore God can consistently
with his justice, pardon every soul that believeth in Jesus." This
is the only way of salvation that duly honors the spotless purity,
and -inflexible justice of God. All others represent the saving of
the sinner as in some way a conniving at sin. Some are so opposed
to the idea of punishing sin in the person of Christ, and so averse
Ch. III., v. 27.] THE ROMANS. 147
to the doctrine of divine justice in all things that for just in v. 26
they propose to read clement or merciful. This is sufficiently
answered by Whitby, who says that the word, rendered just, " is
used about eighty times in the New Testament, and not once in the
sense of clemency." Hodge: " In the Gospel all is harmonious;
justice and mercy, as it regards God ; freedom from the law and
the strongest obligations to obedience, as it regards men." And
herein is a marvellous thing revealed to us, not merely that " God
should be faithful to his promises, and merciful, when justifying
believers. But that he should be just in such an act, might have
seemed incredible, had we not received such an account of the
atonement."
17. And here comes up fairly and prominently the doctrine of
justification, v. 27. No subject is more important ; for Luther
truly says: "The article of justification being lost, all Christian
doctrine perishes with it." This witness is true. Let us then
look a little into this matter. Remarks offered on v. 23 need not
be here repeated. See on that place. One rarely meets with a
better definition than this : " Justification is an act of God's free
grace wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as
righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed
to us, and received by faith alone." I. Justification is an act, not
a work or series of acts. It is a sentence passed by God, an ac-
quittal of one, who has been under condemnation. It is perfect
in itself. It is not progressive. Every man is wholly justified or
wholly condemned either in favor with God, or out of favor with
God. There is no middle ground. 2. Justification is an act of
God. He is ihejzistijier, v. 26. See also v. 30. " It is God that
justifieth," Rom. 8 : 33. The reasons are obvious. (A) It is God's
law that is violated and God's government that is insulted by
sinners, and he only has jurisdiction. (B) He alone is competent
to decide when, how and upon what grounds transgressors may
be restored to the divine favor. (C) From all the awards of men, all
judgments of mortals there lies an appeal* to the tribunal of God
and there human judgments may be reversed. But the sentence
of justification cannot be set aside, because it is pronounced by a
tribunal from which lies no appeal. The Homily of the Church of
England on this subject justly says : " Justification is the office of
God only, and is not a thing which we render unto him, but
which we receive of him." (Z>) God is one and will not deny
himself. He is of one mind, and who can turn him ? Job 23 : 13.
" I am God, and there is none else ; I am God, and there is none
like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient
times the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall
148 EPISTLE TO [Ch. III., v. 27.
stand, and I will do all my pleasure," Isa. 46 : 9, 10. The sentence
of justification is therefore irreversible. What if Satan and the
whole world shall hate, and curse, and accuse the believer, his
judgment is with his God. It is a small matter to such a one to
have his name cast out as evil. 3. Justification is an act of God's
free grace. So says Paul : " Justified freely by his grace," v. 24.
Eternal life is the gift of God, Rom. 6 : 23. Compare Rom. 5 :
16-19 ; I Cor. 6 : ii ; Eph. 2 : 7-10; Tit. 3 : 5-7. If man's justifi-
cation were not wholly gratuitous, it would not be possible, for he
has broken the law. He is a sinner. He is by nature justly con-
demned by a law that is holy, just and good. By human merits,
by works of law, . by the deeds of the law shall no flesh, no man
living he justified in the sight of God, Rom. 3 : 20; Gal. 2 : 16.
From first to last a sinner's justification is of grace. Nor is this
grace less free or less glorious because it is bestowed entirely
through the channel of Christ's priesthood ; for it was God that
gave Christ as a surety, that accepted his work, that for his sake
remits sins and that bestows the very faith, with which men
believe. So that it is all of God's grace. The Lord justifies the un-
godly, Rom. 4:5; because Christ died for the ungodly, Rom. 5 : 6.
Even'Macknight admits that Paul's "plain meaning is, that men
are justified by faith, and not meritoriously, by perfect obedience
to any law whatever." Nor should we ever forget that all men
are guilty. " For," says Haldane, " if there had been any except-
ed, there would have been two different methods of justification,
and consequently two true religions, and two true churches, and
believers would not have had that oneness of communion, which
grace produces." 4. In justification there is granted a full par-
don of all sins. (A) If one sin remained unforgiven, it would blast
all hope. It is expressly said of him that he "forgiveth all thine
iniquities," Ps. 103 : 3. This forgiveness therefore is total. (B) It
is effectual, " In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the
iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none ; and
the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found : for I will pardon
them whom I reserve," Jer. 50 : 20. (C) This justification is not
granted on account of any thing in man. God is self-moved to
the whole thing : " I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy trans-
gressions for my own sake, and will not remember thy sins," Isa.
43 : 25. (D) This pardon is expressed in a great variety of ways,
such as not imputing, not remembering, taking away, removing,
scattering like a thick cloud, washing, cleansing, burying, blotting
out, remitting, hiding the face from beholding, etc. All this par-
don is by the blood of the covenant, the blood of Christ. On this
point the Scripture is full and clear. See above on v. 26.
Ch. III., v. 27.] THE ROMANS. 149
So important is the Scriptural doctrine of the forgiveness of
sins, and so much is said of it, that there have not been wanting a
set of divines, who have maintained that pardon was the whole of
justification. But the Scriptures so clearly teach the contrary
and the friends of sound theology have been so earnest in main-
ing the true doctrine that even Mr. Barnes, whom none will
suspect of seeking too much after old ideas, in a tract on Justification
says : " Justification in the gospel does not mean mere pardon. It
has been supposed by many that this is all that is denoted by it.
But there are insuperable objections to this opinion. One is that
it is a departure from the common use of language. When a man
who has been sentenced to the penitentiary is pardoned before the
term of his sentence is expired, we never think of saying that he
is justified. The offence is forgiven and the penalty is remitted ;
but the use of the word justify in his case would convey a very
different idea from the word pardon. Another objection is that
the sacred writers have so carefully and so constantly used the
word justify. If mere pardon or forgiveness were all that is in-
tended, it is difficult to see why another word has been constant-
ly employed, and a word so different in its signification. And
another objection is, that mere forgiveness is not all that the case
seems to demand. There was required a reinstating in the favor
of God ; a restoration to forfeited immunities and privileges, and
a purpose in regard to future treatment which is not necessarily
involved in the word pardon."
Indeed mere pardon leaves a sinner for ever to stand naked
before God. It grants him no robe of righteousness. Nor would
it ever meet all the demands of an enlightened conscience.
It is therefore a doctrine full of comfort that,
5. The believer is not only forgiven. He is also taken into favor
"accepted in the Beloved." His standing is good before God.
"God is not ashamed to be called his ^ God," Heb. n : 16;
and though he suffer, he is not ashamed, 2 Tim. i : 12. He is a
friend, a child, an heir, an heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ.
Perfect pardon would save one from hell. It would give him no
title to heaven. It would take off our chains, but it would put no
rings on our fingers. It would turn the rebel loose, but it would
give him no ticket to the king's table. It would lift the curse, but.
it would of itself give us no authority to become the sons of God, no
right to the tree of life, John i : 12 ; Rev. 22 : 14. The redeemed are
not held for ever in the state of mere abjects, no, nor of abjects at
all. By grace through righteousness they have a title to heaven.
That righteousness is the righteousness of Christ, 2 Pet. i : i, and
is their own by a gracious gift, and to all the ends of a complete
i$o EPIS TLE TO [Ch. III., v. 27.
justification. See above on verses 22, 25, 26, and the extended
statement of this righteousness in Doctrinal and Practical Remarks
No. 4 of this section. 6. This righteousness is made ours by the
imputation of God. In the next section this subject will be dis-
tinctly brought up by the apostle himself, Rom. 4 : 3, 5, 6, 8. It is '
wholly idle for men to endeavor to cover this doctrine with
odium and to overthrow it by saying that we claim to be saved
by a. putative or supposed, and not by a real righteousness; or to
assert that the term imputed is not a fit term because unintelli-
gible ; or that we can better express the Scripture doctrine in
some other way. There is no more mystery in imputing righteous-
ness than in imputing sin. But see the next section. 7. The
righteousness of Christ is received by faith alone. On the nature
and office of faith see above on Rom. i : 8, 12, 17. When, we say
by faith alone, we mean to say that our reception of it is by faith,
not by love, not by patience, not by repentance, nor by any other
grace ; nor by works, which we have done or can do. Faith is
a receiving grace, John 1:12. Its office is to take Christ as he is
freely offered, in all the fulness of his merits, in all the blessed-
ness of his mediation. Calvin : " You now see how the righteous-
ness of faith is the righteousness of Christ. When therefore we are
justified, the efficient cause is the mercy of God, the meritorious
cause is Christ, the instrumental cause is the word in connection
with faith. Hence faith is said to justify, because it is the instru-
ment by which we receive Christ, in whom righteousness is con-
veyed to us." How sadly therefore does a modern writer pervert
the true doctrine of justification when he says that " we are justi-
fied by faith and holiness ; " for what is holiness but conformity to
law, the very law which we have broken, and which denounces
curses on him who has sinned even once? James 2:10. Such
teaching presents altogether another scheme and has no counte-
nance from God's word. From such error how pleasant it is to turn
away to such a sentence as this from Tholuck : " By the believing
appropriation of that, which Jesus Christ, during the whole course
of his blessed life, until it terminated in his bloody death, was, and
did, for the human race, men are made partakers of justification
before God." O yes ! This is our life. Brown : " There is such
a privilege vouchsafed upon sinners who have fled in to Christ by
faith, as justification, whereby they get their iniquities and trans-
gressions pardoned, only because of the propitiation which Christ
made by his bloody sacrifice ; so as they are accepted of as
righteous, not for any thing in themselves, or done by them, but
allenarly by the righteousness of Christ, imputed to us, and ac-
cepted by faith."
Ch. III., vs. 27-31.] THE ROMANS. 151
1 8. The whole aim of the gospel plan is to exalt God and abase
man, v. 27. What say you, Dear Reader, to such a result ? Do
you approve it ? Your temper here is decisive. Scott : " The
apostle decides that all boasting by any of the human race is
excluded, and can have no admission, in consistency with truth
and justice." Does such a view offend you? or do you glory
in it that while you justly lose all self-gratulatiori, Christ rises
higher and higher? Are you satisfied, if Christ is glorified?
19. When first principles or leading truths in religion are
settled, hold on to them, v. 28. Never let them go. Let the state
of your mind be a rational, fixed, unalterable conclusion. This is
not obstinacy, nor prejudice. It is practical wisdom.
20. Any scheme of religious belief, which represents Jehovah
as a partial God is false, and is dishonorable to him, v. 29. He is
kind to all. His tender mercies are over all. He sends rain and
sun and zephyrs and food to all. He is Lord of all. Chrysos-
tom : " The same is the Master of both these and those." Hodge :
" God is a universal Father, and all men are brethren." No
people need pique themselves on their privileges, as though
oracles and ordinances had made or would make them better,
without saving faith in Christ Jesus.
21. The unity of God is a great truth and of great use, v. 30.
It should never be doubted. It is necessary to be believed on
many accounts. If God is not one, divine counsels cannot be
harmonious, moral government cannot be every where the same,
and the mode of worship by one mediator cannot be suited to all.
In short error on this point is fundamental, for " there is one God
and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus,"
i Tim. 2:5.
22. We need not fear to publish the doctrines of free gra.ce and
abounding mercy in the most earnest manner, lest we should
weaken the respect of men for the law of God, v. 31. The
Almighty can vindicate his own honor and maintain the dignity
cf his own government, without our assistance. Our wisdom and
our business is to obey his will and proclaim his readiness to save
and bless all penitent sinners. Olshausen : " The gospel estab-
lishes the law, because it. is the most sublime manifestation of the
holiness and strictness of God. Sin never appears more fearful
than at Golgotha ; where, on account of it, God spared not his
own Son." Calvin : " Let us bear in mind so to dispense the Gos-
pel that by our mode of teaching, the law may be confirmed ; but
let it be sustained by no other strength than that of faith in Christ."
Chrysostom : " Three things Paul has demonstrated, first, that
without the law it is possible to be justified, next, that this the
152 EPISTLE. [Ch. III., v. 31.
law could not effect, and that faith is not opposed to the law."
Bengel : " This is the great evangelical paradox, for in the law God
is seen to be just while he condemns, in the gospel just while he
justifies sinners." Brown : " Licentious spirits, who love not to
be bound by the law of God, liking rather to walk according to
the lusts of their own heart, are ready to turn the grace of God
into lasciviousness, and to suck rank poison from the most com-
fortable points of truth. . . It is no new thing to see men of cor-
rupt minds, loving to follow pernicious principles, smoothing over
their corrupt opinions with fair and specious colors, and pretend-
ing a gospel privilege warranting them thereto, and so with fair
shews of reason and plausible pretexts, hide their damnable and
soul-destroying designs and practices." Scott : " Whatever
Pharisees, Sadducees, or infidels may object ; whatever Antino-
mians, or Enthusiasts may plead, or profess ; the doctrine of faith
establishes the law in its real honor, and lays the true foundation
for all holy obedience ; and this doctrine alone ' establishes the
law.' "
23. How wondrously the undertaking of Christ exalts him
and endears him to his saints. Even here they admire the ever-
lasting bulwarks of strength, with which he has surrounded Zion.
Hawker: "PRECIOUS LORD JESUS, be thou my propitiation, my
high priest, my altar, the Lord my righteousness now ; and sure
I am thou wilt be my everlasting glory."
NOTE. I cannot forbear to call the reader's attention to the
last ten or twelve pages of Chrysostom's Seventh Homily on this
epistle. It is searching ; it is eloquent, it is eminently practical ; it
breathes that exalted spirit of a noble nature, refined by grace, for
which he was so remarkable. Portions of it would have been
here quoted, but it was found to be best as a whole.
CHAPTER IY.
VERSES 1-15.
PAUL CONTINUES HIS ARGUMENT, GIVES THE
EXAMPLES OF ABRAHAM AND THE TESTI-
MONY OF DAVID, AND SHEWS THAT RITES
NEVER JUSTIFIED.
WHAT shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath
found ?
2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not
before. God.
3 For what saith the Scripture ? Abraham believed God, and it was counted
unto him for righteousness.
4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness.
6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God
imputeth righteousness without works,
7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are
covered.
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
9 Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncir-
cumcision also ? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.
10 How was it then reckoned? ,when he was in circumcision or in uncircumci-
sion ? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
1 1 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the
faith which he had yet being uncircumcised : that he might be the father of all
them that believe, though they be not 'circumcised; that righteousness might be
imputed unto them also :
1 2 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision
1
only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he
had being yet uncircumcised.
13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abra-
ham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the prom-
ise made of none effect:
1 5 Because the law worketh wrath : for where no law is, there is no trans-
gression.
(153)
154 EPISTLE TO [Ch. IV, v. i.
1 WHAT shall -we say then, that Abraham our father as pertaining
. to the flesh, hath found? The connection with the preceding
argument is marked by the particle rendered then ; q. d. if we
maintain such doctrine respecting the necessity of a gratuitous
justification, without any human merits, what shall we say of the
case of Abraham ? The general tone of the verse is not very dif-
ferent from that of Rom. 3 : i, 3, 5. It is virtually, perhaps not
formally, the language of an objector. As pertaining to the flesh
is the most difficult clause in the verse. Our version connects
it with father. This is supported by Chrysostom, Theophylact,
Vulgate, Erasmus, Limborch, Wiclif, Coverdale, Tyndale, Cran-
mer, Genevan, Rheims, Doway, Calvin, Doddridge, Locke and
others. Not a few put it, as in some of the best MSS., after hath
found. This reading is sustained by the original, Peshito, Arabic,
Beza, Ferme, Piscator, Brown, Evans, Hammond, Whitby, Mac-
knight, Olshausen, Haldane, Conybeare and Howson, Hodge and
others. If the collocation of words in the authorized version is
correct, the phrase merely teaches that the Jews, of whom Paul
was one, were of the lineage' of Abraham. If the latter view is
right (and probably it is) then the word flesh must have another
meaning. Dutch Annotations : " Some take this word flesh for
the state of an unregenerate man : but that cannot be here, be-
cause Abraham was regenerated long before, and had served God>
before this testimony in Gen. 15:6 was given." Nor is the ex-
planation of Diodati that flesh means " considered in himself, in
his own natural state," free from objection. Wetstein, Michaelis
and Clarke think flesh here refers to the sign of circumcision in
Abraham's flesh. Circumcision was probably included in the
apostle's idea. But may we not give a more extended meaning
to the term flesh? In more than one place in Scripture flesh
seems to designate carnal ordinances all those in which a Jew
was apt to value himself, Gal. 6 : 12; Phil. 3 : 3-6. Compare
Heb. 7 : 16; 9 : 10. But at least once Paul by flesh seems to un-
derstand works of the law, Gal. 3 : 2, 3. Hammond thinks that in
our verse as pertaining to the flesh means the same as by works in v.
2. For the various significations of .the term flesh see above on
Rom. 3 : 20. If we are right thus far, then we may read the verse
as Peshito : " What then shall we say concerning Abraham the
patriarch, that by the flesh he obtained ? " or with Hammond,
" What shall we say then? shall we say that Abraham o'ur father
found according to the flesh? " Found, in Heb. 9 : 12 obtained; in
Luke 9 : 12 got, i. e. secured, or obtained. We have the same
verb in Luke i : 30; Heb. 4 : \6find grace; in 2 Tim. i : 18 find
mercy; in Acts 17 : 27 find God; in Matt. 10 : y) find life. In the
Ch. IV., vs. 2, 3.] . THE ROMANS. 155
verse something is to be supplied. Hath Abraham found life, or
acceptance, or justification by the flesh, or by works?. Beza fairly
states the course of argument : " In whatever way Abraham, the
father of believers was justified, in the same must all his children
(that is, all believers) be justified ; but Abraham was not justified,
and made the father of the faithful, by any of his own works,
either preceding or following his faith in Christ." The verse is in
the form of interrogatory or perhaps challenge. If a question is
asked, the answer is supposed to be in the negative. If a chal-
lenge is given, silence is the proper sequent.
2. For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to
glory : but not before God. This verse also is elliptical. The sense
is that if Abraham were justified by works, he had cause for
boasting ; but it can be shown that, however distinguished among
believers, he had no such cause of boasting before God. Calvin :
" He calls that glorying when we pretend to have any thing of
our own to which a reward is supposed to be due at God's tribu-
nal." Macknight gives the sense of the verse in his paraphrase :
" For if Abraham were justified meritoriously by works of any kind,
he might boast that his justification is no favor, but a debt due to
him : But such a ground of boasting he hath not before God." And
this the apostle at once proceeds to prove.
3. For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it
was counted unto him for righteousness. The. sacred writer here
relied on is Moses himself, whom all the Jews professed to receive
as an infallible witness. This testimony is found in Gen. 15:6,
and is given without any change (except in the connecting parti-
cle) from the Septuagint version, which differs slightly in form,
though not in import, from the Hebrew, and not more than the
English version here differs from that in Gen. 15:6. Scripture,
see above on Rom. i : 2. Believed, see above on Rom. i : 8, 12, 17.
Righteousness, see above Doctrinal and Practical Remark No. 4 on
Rom. 3:21, 22, 25, 26. Here we meet with the verb was counted,
in the sense of reckoned or imputed. It occurs in ten other places
in this chapter in the same sense, see vs. 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, n, 22, 23,
24. It cannot be denied that the whole argument of this chapter-
turns very much on a right understanding of this term. On the
meaning of it see the author's " Studies in the Book of Psalms," on
Ps. 32 : 2, -p. 398. The Greek word rendered impute sometimes
means to number, count, esteem, think, reason, conclude and
then to reckon, impute, set to the account or lay to the charge of
one. The corresponding Hebrew word has a yet wider range of
rendering, according to its connections, but in two conjugations '
is fitly rendered impute, in the sense of reckon, count, account.
156 EPISTLE TO . [Ch. IV., v. 3.
The word occurs often. There is seldom cause of reasonable
doubt as to the fit rendering in any given case. We get our word
impute from the Latin. Its classical use assigns to it these signi-
fications, to impute, ascribe, charge, lay blame, account, reckon.
Its theological use as fully authorizes us to employ it in the sense
of imputing merit as blame. The English word impute has the
same significations, to reckon, ascribe, attribute, set to the account
of one, to reckon to one what does not belong to him. So that in
Hebrew, Greek, Latin and English you will seldom find a word
better understood. A few things are very noticeable here. i.
Although we certainly know that there were pious men before
Abraham, as Abel, Enoch and Noah, yet the man whose justifica-
tion is first distinctly and formally stated in scripture is Abraham.
2. His justification is not simply announced as a fact, but the
means and ground of it are given. 3. In verses 23, 24 of this same
chapter we are told that this is a model case, a real pattern for the
instruction of men in all coming ages : " Now it was not written
for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him ; but for us also, to
whom it shall be imputed, if we believe " etc. Abraham was the
father of all believers, Rom. 3:11, 16. 4. This justification is ex-
pressly said to be by. counting him as righteous, or by imputing
righteousness to him. 5. In this same epistle Paul twice informs
us that the fatal rnistake of the Jews was their rejection of the very
righteousness here said to have been imputed to their great an- '
cestor, Rom. 9:31; 10 : 3, 4. 6. As a historic fact it is true that
for three hundred years past the great enemies of the doctrine of
imputed righteousness have been Romanists, who hold to the
merit of penance, and to justification by grace infused, and Socin-
ians and other enemies of the divinity and vicarious atonement of
Jesus Christ. There is no risk in asserting that for three centu-
ries there has not been a respectable body of Protestant Chris-
tians, who have hesitated to receive and adopt the doctrine of
human salvation by the righteousness of Christ imputed to be-
lievers. See the Creeds and Confessions.
What then is imputation? i. There is an imputation by mis-
take. Thus Judah thought Tamar to be a harlot, and Eli thought
Hannah was drunk. In each of these cases we have the same
word rendered impute in many places. 2. Then we have imputa-
tion from malice, or passion or contempt. Thus those that dwelt
in Job's house and his maids coimted him for a stranger, Job 19 :
15. That is they regarded and treated him as if he were a stran-
ger. The word is the same we render impute. . But God never
thus imputes either sin or righteousness. He makes no mistakes ;
he is never moved by passion or caprice. When he imputes, he
Ch. IV., v. 3.] THE ROMANS. 157
does no wrong. 3. There is a just imputation of that which
fairly belongs to one. "Behold, the nations are as a drop of a
bucket, and are counted as the small dust of a balance . . .All nations
before him are as nothing, and they are counted to him less than
nothing, and vanity," Isa. 40: 15, 17. That is, God reckons or im-
putes to them the insignificance that really belongs to them. So
Shimei said to David : " Let not my Lord impute iniquity unto me,
neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely,"
&c. 2 Sam. 19 : 19. He admits such imputation would be just.
He deserved ill treatment. He had acted perversely. Such im-
putation is but counting to a man that which is already his own,
and so is a simple judgment according to truth and a correspond-
ing course of conduct. Jacob said : " My righteousness shall an-
swer for me," Gen. 30 : 33. 4. Then on account of one's relations
sometimes that, which is not properly his own; may be imputed to
him. Thus a man is held and treated as a debtor when his foolish
or wicked partner wastes the property of the firm, or makes ruin-
ous adventures in trade, even when he violates the terms of co-
partnership. Or one is held and treated as a wise man and a
great merchant when all his success is due to the foresight of an-
other, who had control. Thus the Israelites bore the sins of their
fathers, Num. 14 : 33. Thus the first sin of the first Adam is im-
puted to his posterity because in the covenant he stood for them
and they sinned in him and fell with him. 5. One may become the
willing surety, of another, and so be fairly held responsible for his
debts, his fines, or his misconduct. Thus Paul writes to Philemon
that if Onesimus " hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aught, put
that on mine account," v. 18; literally impute \i tome. From this
time forth Paul was by his own willing act and promise bound to
make good all damages previously done to Philemon by Onesimus.
Thus also Christ became the surety of his people, and God " laid
on him the iniquity of us all." So that Isaiah is very bold and
says : " Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows ;
he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our in-
iquities ; the chastisement of our peace was upon him ; and with
his stripes we are healed." And because he was our surety and
substitute, " it pleased the Lord to bruise him," to " put him to
grief," and to "make his soul an offering for sin," Isa. 53 -.4, 6, 10.
Nor is Paul less bold. He says that God " hath made him to be
sin for us," 2 Cor. 5:21. And yet he is careful to tell us that even
then Christ was personally innocent. He "knew no sin." 6.
Then there is the imputation of Christ's righteousness to his peo-
ple. They are " made the righteousness of God in him," 2 Cor. 5 :
21. In the eye of God's law they share his righteousness, are joint-
158 EPISTLE TO [Ch. IV., v. 3.
heirs with him, are in him the children of God by faith. 7. Impu-
tation does not of itself change the character, but only the relations
of men. Christ was as holy and personally as pleasing to God,
after our sins were laid upon him, as he had ever been or ever shall
be ; but by that imputation he became the great sin-bearer, and so
was obnoxious to the sword of justice, the wrath of God. And
when one receives Christ by faith, he does it as a believing sinner,
as one in himself ungodly, Rom. 4:5. Jesus Christ did in no sense
commit the sins that were laid upon him ; nor do believers in any
sense work out the righteousness which justifies them, for it is the
righteousness of God ; yea, it is " the righteousness of God and
our Saviour Jesus Christ," 2 Pet. I : I. He imputes it to them,
regards and treats them as kindly and lovingly and gloriously as
if they had wrought out their own righteousness. Yet neither have
they on that 'account any just cause of increased self-esteem, any
just sense of personal worthiness, any ground for boasting ; as
Christ their surety had no remorse, no sense of personal ill-desert
before God, when the iniquity of us all was laid upon him. He
knew that his whole course was pleasing to his Father, for he said,
" I know that thou hearest me always," and twice did a voice from
heaven proclaim, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased." The imputation of our sins to Christ was no mistake,
no erroneous judgment, but a gracious act of God in accordance
with the voluntary undertaking of Christ; nor is the imputation
of Christ's righteousness to his people, whereby they are justified,
a false estimate, an erroneous judgment passed on them, but a gra-
cious reckoning of the Redeemer's merits to their account. 8. It
is impossible that any righteousness imperfect in God's esteem
should justify any creature in his sight. If it could, it would be
an acknowledgment either that the precept of the law was too
strict or that the penalty was too rigorous, and so God had con-
sented to some abatement or relaxation of his requirements. And
this would be denying and contradicting himself. This consider-
ation alone shows that God cannot accept the act of faith itself as
a meritorious ground of justification, for in every case that faith is
imperfect. Besides it is the gift of God. Nor is it so great a
grace as love, i Cor. 13 : 13, and therefore it cannot by reason of
its own nature be entitled to such pre-eminence as to justify.
Abraham himself was justified by faith in the merits of the Re-
deemer. Jesus says: "Abraham saw my day and was glad,"
John 8 : 56. 9. The only way, in which faith can justify a sinner
before God, is by laying hold of the righteousness of Christ, re-
ceiving it, and appropriating it according to the free and gracious
offer of God to reckon it to all, who heartily accept it. Thus every
Gh. IV., v. 3.] THE ROMANS. 159
demand of the law is met in the righteousness of Christ. This is
the sense in which the Christian world has long held this doctrine,
so precious to the people of God, and to none less than the glo-
rious martyrs. 10. By this imputation the righteousness of Christ
is so reckoned to the believer that it becomes his, not by infusion
nor by any transfer of moral character, which is absurd and impos-
sible, but his to all the ends of a complete justification. Owen :
" This imputation is an act of God, of his mere love and grace,
whereby on the consideration of the mediation of Christ, he makes
an effectual grant and donation of a true, real, perfect righteous-
ness, even that of Christ himself unto all that do believe, and ac-
counting it as theirs, on his own gracious act, both absolves them
from sin, and granteth them right and title unto eternal life."
Well does he add : " To say that the righteousness of Christ, that
is, his obedience and sufferings are imputed unto us only as unto
their effects, is to say that we have the benefit of them, and no
more ; but imputation itself is denied. So say the Socinians, but
they know well enough, and ingenuously grant that they overthrow
all real imputation thereby." Again : " To say the righteousness of
Christ is not imputed unto us, only its effects are so, is really to
overthrow all imputation," It is like saying that all the warmth
and ornament of a robe shall be ours, but the robe itself we must
not wear. n. This righteousness is indeed imputed to us by a
most gracious act on the part of God. It is wholly a gift, but it
is a gift which God will not revoke, Rom. 1 1 : 29, or, as Owen says,
it is " an effectual grant and donation." All, that men justly put
a high value upon, is enjoyed by the gift of God. Life, reason,
understanding, parents, -children, friends, health, food, raiment be-
long to us by his donation. We have no better right to any of
them than this, that God freely bestowed them on us. These are
gifts in the order of nature, granted to men out of God's sovereign
bounty, as governor of the world, and bestowed alike on saints
and sinners ; but the gift of righteousness imputed to us is an act
of special grace, the fruit of redeeming love. We can have and we
need no better title to any thing than that it is freely given us of
God through Jesus Christ. 12. By this imputed righteousness we
have power, authority, right to become the sons of God ; by it we
have right, title, authority to the tree of life, John 1:12; Rev. 22 :
14. 13. We may now see why the Scriptures everywhere speak of
God's people as the just, the righteous, and not merely as those
that are treated as if they were righteous. Yea more, they allow
saints to speak of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not merely of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Even the Old Testament gives to the Re-
deemer this title " The Lord our righteousness." How then dare
160 . EPISTLE TO [Ch. IV., vs. 3, 4.
any one say that Christ's righteousness is in no proper sense
ours ? The opposite of proper is figurative. Have believers naught
but a figurative or typical interest in Christ ? Let us beware of a
doctrine so contrary to Scripture, so destructive of solid grounds
of comfort in the hearts of the pious, and so contrary to the faith
of God's elect.
We can now fully understand our apostle when he says that
Abraham's faith was counted to him for righteousness, or unto
righteousness, as we have it in Rom. 10 : 10; or in order to right-
eousness, as Doddridge renders it. Abraham was not justified by
the flesh, by works, by anything that could allow him to boast
before God. And yet he was fully justified. His guilt was
removed. Pardoned sin is no ground of condemnation ; else par-
don is no more pardon. The only legal obstruction to the salva-
tion of sinners is found in the penalty of God's law, but Christ has
borne that, as the scriptures expressly state, Gal. 3:13; and so,
on accepting Christ, that obstruction no longer remains. All
guilt is removed by the accepted sacrifice of Calvary. Jesus
exhausted the penalty on the cross. The believer is also accepted,
regarded and treated as righteous. His righteousness, received
by faith and imputed by God, is perfect, is all the law demands ;
it is the spotless righteousness of our substitute. Thus Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth,
Rom. 10 : 4.
If, as some contend, faith itself is taken as the ground of accep-
tance, then what is the meaning of all those passages that say we
are saved by Christ's blood, by his propitiation, by his sacrifice, by
his intercession ? And that we are not justified by works of any
kind, legal or evangelical, moral or ceremonial, has been abun-
dantly declared. See above on Rom. 3 : 20. Nor is it true that
we are ever said to be saved on account of our faith, but by it or
through it as the instrument. If we are justified by faith itself as
a righteousness, it is absurd to speak of the righteousness of God,
or righteousness by faith. It is monstrous, therefore, to find men
exalting faith to the rank of a meritorious righteousness, a work to
be rewarded with eternal life. In the succeeding context Paul
argues to the contrary.
4. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace,
but of debt. By him that zvorketh some understand him whose
works are perfect before God. Such a one no doubt would be
accepted as in himself righteous. He would not be saved by
grace. But there is no such mere man. Others think that by him
that worketh is meant him, who doeth any work. This is more in
the line of Paul's argument. He has shown that debt and grace
Ch. IV., vs. 5, 6.] THE ROMANS. 161
are distinct and different, yea that they are irreconcilable, as
schemes of good standing before God. He, who does anything
and relies on it for righteousness, renounces all hope of gratuitous
justification. All he asks is to have his dues paid him. Abraham
found or obtained righteousness not by his sweet submissive vir-
tues, nor by his superior confidence in God, nor by anything that
he could claim as ground of self-exaltation. He did not hold that
God was in his " debt"
5. Biit to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. To him that work-
eth not, i. e. worketh not in the hope of being thereby justified, tftit
simply believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, one who admits
that all his own righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and that he has
nothing in himself, whereof to glory before God, and yet looks to
Christ alone, his faith is counted unto righteousness. That, which
he presents before God as a ground of acceptance, that on which
he relies for justification, is so perfect that it meets all the demands
of God's infinite law. God looks upon him as in himself lost,
ruined, imgodly, as he certainly is ; yet on this ungodly man accep-
ting the Saviour he is justified. To all the ends and purposes of
justification no sinner does anything meritorious. The believer
looks away from himself. In the matter of justification his best
doings are in fact and in his own esteem, utterly worthless. Even
if his obedience now and henceforth were sinless, it is all due to
God, and can in no way make amends for past deficiencies, Luke
17 : 10. To pardon and accept a sinner as righteous is a favor
wholly undeserved is purely a gratuity. The word rendered
ungodly is found nine times in the New Testament, is everywhere
rendered as here, and beyond a doubt designates a wicked man.
Such is every sinful child of Adam until he believes. Then and
not till then does he cease to be ungodly ; then and not till then is
he invested with the robe of the Redeemer's righteousness, and his
heart changed, and he turned unto God. Not only has he no
merits, but he has in himself great demerits. Christ is all our
salvation. All this is illustrated in the case of Abraham. The
same truth is taught in other scriptures ;
6. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, ^mto
whom God imputeth righteousness without works. David was a great
warrior, a good king, the sweet singer of Israel, the man after
God's heart, chosen by Jehovah to be Saul's successor, because
God saw in him something well fitting him to be the ruler of
Israel, I Sam. 16 : 6-13. He was a prophet, and a type and lineal
ancestor of Christ. Next to Abraham and Moses he was probably
the most prominent in the habitual thoughts of the Jews, What
11
1 62 EPISTLE TO [Ch. IV., v. 6.
is David's testimony respecting justification and the ground of it?
It is all in the same direction a gratuitous justification by im-
puted righteousness, righteousness without works.
David's sad fall is commemorated by two penitential psalms,
the 32d and the gist. Paul's reference here is to the 32d. On
turning to it, we do not find in any part of the psalm the word
righteousness/ Perhaps it is well we do not. Paul was inspired
not only to write new scriptures but to interpret Old Testament
books. Peter's interpretations of scripture on the day of Pente-
cost have by the church of God ever been regarded as of infallible
authority. And so Paul's exposition of the true meaning of the
prophet David is infallible. Accepting this as correct, these things
certainly follow: i. The doctrine of salvation by grace alone, or,
which is the same thing, the doctrine of gratuitous justification by
imputed righteousness was understood and devoutly celebrated
by the great poet and prophet David. 2. He taught that justifica-,
tion was without ^vorks. So says Paul. He means not only works
of one kind, but of every kind, legal, evangelical, moral, ceremonial,
done before justification or after justification. Calvin thus begins
his commentary on this verse : " We hence see the sheer sophistry
of those who limit the works of the law to ceremonies ; for he now
simply calls those works, without anything added, which he had
before called the works of the law. Since no one can deny that a
simple and unrestricted mode of speaking, such as we find here,
ought to be understood of every work without any difference, the
same view must be held throughout the argument. There is
indeed nothing less reasonable than to remove from ceremonies
only the power of justifying, since Paul excludes all works inde-
finitely." 3. Justification does not consist wholly and solely in the
pardon of sin, or in the non-imputation of sin. Paul infallibly
informs us that when David wrote that ode he taught more than
the great doctrine of the forgiveness of sins. 4. Paul declares
that David taught the doctrine of itnpiited righteousness. He uses
the very phrase. Yea more, he says this has always in the church
of God been to pious souls a precious doctrine. " David describ-
eth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth right-
eousness." And that we may certainly know that Paul is not
citing some other part of scripture he proceeds to quote the ist
and 2d verses of the 32d Psalm. Imputeth, the same verb found in
vs. 3, 4, 5, 9, 10 and rendered counted or reckoned ; and in vs. 8, n,
22, 23, 24, and rendered impute. The righteousness thus imputed is
the righteousness so long celebrated in the church on earth and the
church in heaven. It is the righteousness of God. Peter calls it
" the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Humble
Ch. IV., vs. 7, 8.] THE ROMANS. ' 163
men, good men have long made mention of that and of that only.
If the reader would put the right value on this verse he must
remember that although in parts of Ps. 32 David speaks of his per-
sonal experience, yet in the verses here cited by Paul, he speaks
of all believers. Nor did he utter these truths .of himself, but God
was speaking by the mouth of his servant David, Acts 4 : 26. Let
all flesh listen, cease cavilling and be wise.
7. Saying, Blessed wee they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose
sins are covered. There is no significancy in having here the plural
instead of the singular as in the original, or they instead of he.
The apostle closely follows the Septuagint. Blessed, the He-
brew is a plural noun, " O the blessednesses." The Septuagint,
which Paul here quotes, is literally " Happy." It is the same
word rendered blessed in Matt. 5 : 3-11. Iniquities, the word has
not before occurred in this epistle. It is found fifteen times in the
Greek Testament, is commonly rendered iniquity, once unright-
eousness, 2 Cor. 6: 14, once transgression, I John 3:4. It literally
means want of conformity to law. The Hebrew word in the place
here cited is always rendered trespass or transgression. It occurs
frequently, and, when applied to political affairs, signifies revolt,
or rebellion. Forgiven, the word used in the Lord's Prayer, and
often so rendered ; also put away. It means to send away, dis-
miss from one's thoughts, or attention. Men sometimes say they
will forgive, but not forget ; but Jehovah says, your sins and
your iniquities will I remember no more. The Hebrew word
rendered forgiven in Ps. 32 : I means lifted zip, as when a cloud is
raised, or borne away, as when the scape-goat bore away the
sins of the people into a land uninhabited. Sins, a word of fre-
quent occurrence, rendered with absolute uniformity in the New
Testament; the same word used by the Septuagint in Ps. 32 : i.
Covered, there is no better rendering; as Pharaoh and his hosts
were covered in the Red sea, Ex. -15 : 10; buried out of sight,
cast into a deep sea, Mic. 7 : 19. The compound verb here
rendered covered is not found elsewhere in the New Testament,
but the simple word occurs several times, and is applied to
hiding or covering sins, Jas. 5 : 20 ; i Pet. 4 : 8. Neither the Psalm-
ist nor the apostle stops here ; it is added :
8. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord ivill not impute sin. Sin,
in the Greek the same word in the singular as is in v. 7 in the
plural rendered sins, but in the Hebrew we have a different word,
commonly rendered iniquity; sometimes fault or mischief, in a
few cases punishment, or punishment of iniquity. The Hebrew
expresses perverseness. Impute, see above on v. 3. The scope
and bearing of vs. 7, 8 is the same. Three forms of expression
1 64 EPIS TLE TO [Ch. IV., vs. 9, 10.
are used to teach the doctrine of the pardon of sin, which is
an essential part of justification, though not the whole of it.
But where God grants forgiveness, he never withholds accept-
ance, but surely imputes righteousness, as Paul teaches in v. 6.
Hodge : " To impute sin is to lay sin to the charge of any one,
and to treat him accordingly, as is universally admitted ; so to
impute righteousness is to set righteousness to one's account, and
to treat him accordingly." Owen of Thrussington : " It is a strik-
ing proof of what the apostle had in view here, that he stops short
and does not quote the whole of Ps. 32 : 2. He leaves out, ' and
in whose spirit there is no guile :' and why ? Evidently because
his subject is justification, and not sanctification. He has thus
most clearly marked the difference between the two." Paul quotes
all that is pertinent to his argument and to the matter in hand.
Not that sanctification is unimportant, nor that it is ever separated
from justification, though both Testaments distinguish between
them ; but the apostle is now absorbed with one point only
justification.
9. Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only,' or
upon the tmcircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to
Abraham for righteousness, Paul had not dropped the case of
Abraham, but had confirmed it by the testimony of David to the
same truths. He asks whether such blessings as David speaks
of were enjoyed by none but the circumcision. Did justification
by imputed righteousness depend on circumcision ? Did not God
always, and in gospel times does he not abundantly grant salva-
tion and good hope to believers of every nation ? See Acts ip : 34,
35. Does righteousness come to men through carnal ordinances?
We say, probably meaning we Jews commonly admit; though
Stuart regards them as uttered by an objector. We. must admit
(for Moses our great prophet records -it of our great ancestor)
that faith was reckoned to Abraham for [unto] righteousness.
10.. How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision
or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
In Gen. 15 : 6, we are told that Abraham was justified by
faith. But the command of circumcision was not given, for
several (some say fifteen and all agree that it was as much as
thirteen or fourteen) years afterwards ; and neither Abraham, nor
any of his family were circumcised till the patriarch was ninety-
nine years old, Gen. 17:24. Clearly then to Abraham God im-
puted righteousness, and so justified him, when he was uncircum-
cised, and his justification therefore could not be by an ordinance
not as yet given, and of course not obeyed. So far from circum-
cision being the ground of Abraham's justification, it was not in
Ch. IV., v. ii.] THE ROMANS. 165
any sense even a condition of his acceptance with God. If he
was justified before he was circumcised, he could not be justified
by being circumcised. But such a view of circumcision was very
contrary to the views of many Jews. Some of their learned men
said, and many believed that no circumcised descendant of Abra-
ham could perish. Paul's doctrine was therefore likely to awaken
the most violent opposition, and Jews might say, that he virtually
denied that circumcision was a divine institution, or held that it
was of no avail, or had no meaning. He therefore proceeds to
tell what circumcision was and what were its uses :
ii. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteous-
ness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised ; that he might
be the father of all them that believed though they be not circumcised ;
that righteousness might be imputed to them also. The sign of circumci-
sion means the sign circumcision and no more. Such forms of
speech are not uncommon in the Scriptures. In English we speak
of the ordinance of baptism, meaning the ordinance baptism, and
of the sacrament of the supper, meaning that sacrament, which we
call the Lord's supper. The meaning is not that something signi-
fied circumcision, but that circumcision signified something. Of
what was it a sign ? It signified that the heart must undergo a
great change, that the natural corruption of men's natures must
be removed by the blood and spirit of Christ, his redemption being .
applied to them. Moses himself so explained it, when he said :
" Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be'no more
stiff-necked," Deut. 10 : 16. Again : " The Lord thy God will cir-
cumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord
thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou
mayest live," Deut. 30 : 6. A later prophet says : " Circumcise
yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart,"
&c. Jer. 4:4. In this epistle Paul says : " He is not a Jew, which
is one outwardly ; neither is that circumcision, which is outward
in the flesh : but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly ; and circum-
cision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter ;
whose praise is not of men but of God," Rom. 2 : 28, 29. Else-
where he says, " We are the circumcision, which worship God in
the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in
the flesh," Phil. 3:3. " In whom [Christ] also ye are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." Col. 2:11.
Circumcision was a sign of the cleansing of our natures by divine
grace. In Gen. 17:11 God calls it a " token of the covenant." But
this rite was more than a sign or token. It was also a pledge, a
seal or confirmation of the righteousness of faith ; not the means
1 66 EPISTLE TO [Ch. IV., v..i2.
of begetting faith, much less the efficient cause of it ; nor a seal
of faith itself; no: but a seal or assurance of the righteousness,
which had been imputed to him long before his circumcision,
even when he believed God the righteousness of the faith which he
hud yet being uncircumcised. Circumcision was to be kept up in the
church till Christ should come. In Abraham's seed, which was
Christ, all the families of the earth were to be blessed. The
promise was of a great salvation by a Redeemer, who should
spring out of Abraham's loins, and who should bring in everlast-
ing righteousness. Abraham believed the promise long before his
circumcision, and so became the father, the leader, the pattern,
the first teacher, the first recorded instance of any man being jus-
tified by or through faith. As Jabal was the father of such as
dwell in tents and have cattle ; as Jubal was the father of all such
as handle the harp and organ ; and as Tubal-cain was an instructor
of every artificer in brass and iron, Gen. 4 : 20-22 ; so Abraham
was the model, the instructor, the pattern of all them that believe
thoitgh they be not circtimcised ; that righteousness [the righteousness
of God our Saviour Jesus Christ] might be imputed to them also.
It is very true that Abel, Enoch and Noah, and all the pious, who
lived before Abraham were justified and saved by faith, but we
learn this from reasonings and revelations found in the New Tes-
tament, especially in the epistles to the Romans, Galatians and
Hebrew's, but not from any record in the Old Testament that
they believed God, and that their faith was counted for or unto
righteousness. It is then true that if men have like precious faith
with Abraham, they shall have like glorious righteousness with
him also, whether they be circumcised or not. For in Christ
Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision,
but faith, which worked by love, Gal. 5 : 6. Calvin : " Mark how
the circumcision of Abraham confirms our faith with regard to
gratuitous righteousness ; for it was the sealing of the righteous-
ness of faith, that righteousness might be imputed to us also." So
that circumcision was not only confirmatory of imputed righteous-
ness to ancient believers, but through them to us also, even us,
who are sinners of the Gentiles. Abraham's faith made him the
father of Gentile believers,
12. And the father of circiimcision to them who are not of the
circumcision only, btit who also walk in the steps of that faith of oiir
father Abraham, which he had being yet imcircumciscd. That is,
Abraham was a model, the first recorded instance of faith, a
spiritual father, not only to believing Gentiles, but also to Jews,
who rely not on circumcision itself, but have a faith like that of
Abraham, believing all God speaks to them, and in particular re-
Ch. IV., v. is-] THE ROMANS, 167
joicing in a Redeemer, whose righteousness is imputed to be-
lievers without regard to nationality. One emphatic word in
this verse is only. All are not Israel, who are of Israel. Hal-
dane : " While all Abraham's children were circumcised, he
was not equally the father of them all. It was only to such of
them as had his faith that he was a father in what is spiritually re-
presented by circumcision." Christ denied that the unbelieving
Jews were the children of Abraham, or the children of God, but
asserted that they were of their father the devil, John 8 : 3.9-44.
13. For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was>
not to Abraham, or to Ms seed, through the law, but through the right-
eousness of faith. The argument grows stronger and stronger.
It now assumes the form it takes in Gal. 3 : 16-18. He had before
proven that justification was not by circumcision, for Abraham
was justified before he was circumcised. He now proves that
Abraham's acceptance with God and his high distinction as the
father of the faithful could not have been by the law, for the law
was not given for hundreds of years after he became pre-eminently
the friend of God. I say the law, for although the article is want-
ing in the Greek, yet it is supplied by every English version now
at hand, Wiclif, Coverdale, Tyndale, Cranmer, Genevan, Rheims
and Doway ; also by Peshito and Conybeare and Howson, though
Stuart omits it. That it is properly supplied is manifest from the
fact that to a Jew the very mention of law suggested the great
law given by Moses, and Paul is here arguing with a Jew. That
was to him the law, so as nothing else was. But if any prefer to
read simply law, there is no objection to his doing so, for that in-
cludes the law of Moses and all law of every kind, and the argu-
ment still relates to justification by gratuity and not by human
merit. But what are we to understand by Abraham's being heir
of the world? With diffidence the author ventures to suggest a
train of thought that he finds in no commentary that he has con-
sulted. First, what is meant by the world? In the Greek Testa-
ment are four words sometimes rendered world. One of these
(aion) signifies duration, past, present or future, but often with a
limit. In the plural it often means eternity. Our Lord uses it
when he speaks of "this world," of "that world," of "the end of
the world," and of " the world to come." In Rom. 12:3 we have
this word : " Be not conformed to this world" In Acts 17:31 we
have another word [oikoumene) rendered world : " He hath ap-
pointed a day in the which he will judge the world." It is so
rendered everywhere else except in Luke 21 : 26 where we read
earth. In Luke 2 : i it is put for the Roman empire, because that
embraced most of the world then known. That is the word in
168 EPISTLE TO [Ch. IV., v. 13.
*
Matt. 24:14: " This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in
all the world, for a witness unto all nations." Commonly this
word means the habitable earth, once at least the inhabitants .of the
earth. It occurs in Rom. 10 : 18 : " Their words unto the ends of
the world." Then in Rev. 13 : 3 we have a third word (ge) rendered
world, but its ordinary signification is ground, land or earth, once
country : " Blessed are the meek ; for they shall inherit the earth,"
Matt. 5:5. In the Greek Testament is still another word (kosmos)
rendered world. It is found in Acts 17 : 24 : " God that made the
world." Often it means the earth, and then its inhabitants. It is
often used in connection with the last judgment. " God shall
judge the world," Rom. 3 : 6. This is the word used in our
verse. Abraham was heir of the world (kosmos). It is found in
such passages as these : " Ye are the light of the world ;" " The
field is the world ;" " Go ye into all the world ;" " The Lamb of
God that taketh away the sins of the world;" "God so loved the
world ;" " I am the light of the world ;" " He will reprove the
world of sin ;" " The saints shall judge the world ;" " Came into
the world to save sinners;" "The world passeth away ;" "The
Saviour of the world," etc. It would therefore seem improbable
that by the world in this verse can be meant anything so narrow
as any one country, such as Palestine. It must embrace something
as extensive as the habitable part of our globe. What then is it
to be the heir of the world ? In Gal. 3 : 18 we read : " If the in-
heritance be of the law, it is no more of promise : but God gave
it to Abraham by promise." Here the same idea of heirship is
preserved. Representing the blessings of the gospel in this way
is very common: "If children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint
heirs with Jesus Christ," Rom. 8:17; "That the Gentiles should
be fellow heirs," Eph. 3:6; " Heirs according to the hope of eter-
nal life," Tit. 3:7; "Heirs of salvation," Heb. i : 14; "Heirs of
the righteousness by faith," Heb. 11:7; " Heirs together of the
grace of life," i Pet. 3:7. In like manner we have the phrases :
" Inherit everlasting life ;" " Inherit the kingdom of God ;" " In-
herit a blessing," etc. Sometimes the language is very strong :
" He that overcometh shall inherit all things ; and I will be his
God, and he shall be my son," Rev. 21:7. Heavenly benefits are
often spoken of as an inheritance : " An inheritance among all
them that are sanctified;" "We have obtained an inheritance;"
" The earnest of our inheritance ;" " The inheritance of the saints ;"
" An inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not
away, reserved in heaven for you," i Pet. i : 4. Several of these
places in particular i Pet. 1:4; Rev. 2 1 : 7 distinctly teach that
all believers have as great and glorious benefits, and by inheritance
Ch. IV., v. is.] THE ROMANS. 169
too, as are said to have been conferred on Abraham when he is
called " the heir of the world." And that we may not suppose
that by his being heir of the world any peculiar spiritual good
was conferred on him, Paul says to Christians generally : " If ye
be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to
the promise," Gal. 3 : 29. This is in the very connection in which
he discusses the heirship of Abraham. The phrase the heir of the
^vorld therefore does not necessarily mean anything greater than
the phrase " the blessing of Abraham," Gal. 3 : 14, that is the bless-
ing which Abraham received, viz., full and irrevocable justification
by imputed righteousness ; nothing greater than the phrase the
father of all them that believe, the pattern, exemplar, illustrious
leader, forerunner, the first recorded instance of a man being justi-
fied by faith, and intended to teach men everywhere, Jew and
Gentile, that they must be saved as Abraham was. The same
blessedness, that Abraham secured comes on believers in all the
world. The blessing, intended by the phrase the heir of the world,
whatever it may be, was obtained precisely as justification was,
not through law but through the righteousness of faith. And to sin-
ners no greater blessing comes than a gratuitous justification. Is
Abraham the heir of the world? believers are the light of the
world. So the faith of the Romans was spoken of throughout the
whole world, Rom. i : 8 ; and if that church had been the first
known instance of a people believing unto righteousness, it would
have had the pre-eminence here given to Abraham ; it would have
been the mother of all that believe and the heir of the world.
Beyond complete justification and the honor of shewing to all
men by his example how we are to be saved, what did Abraham
possess beyond what is in many places promised to all believers ?
Thus Jesus : " Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath
left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or
children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel's, but he shall receive
an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters,
and mothers, and children, and lands, and persecutions ; and in
the world to come eternal life," Mark 10 : 29, 30. So Paul : "All
things are yours ; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the
world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come ;
all are yours; and ye are Christ's ; and Christ is God's," i Cor.
3:21-23. The words of Rev. 21:7 have been already cited.
These passages engage to all believers infinite blessings, blessings
as great as they can enjoy ; therefore as great as were probably
intended to be intimated by the phrase the heir of the world, even
if we take it in the sense of Abraham inheriting the world. The
views differing from this are commonly embraced under one of
i;o EPISTLE TO [Ch. IV., v. 13.
these heads: i. That to be the heir of the world is to inherit
Canaan. But Canaan is not the world, and is never called the
world, but the land, or the earth. The Greek uses different words.
Besides the blessing, which Abraham received, was to be shared
by the Gentiles, Gal. 3 : 14. Moreover when Abraham actually
lived in Canaan, it was hardly as proprietor, for when Sarah died
he had to buy a place of burial. Like the other patriarchs he con-
fessed he was a stranger and a pilgrim. " By faith he sojourned
in the land of promise, as in a strange country." " He looked
[was looking] for a city which hath foundations." 2. Another ex-
planation is that he became the heir of the heavenly Canaan, of
which the earthly was but a type. But all believers shall possess
that good land and enter that heavenly country. Nor is heaven'
ever called the world, although in Luke 20 : 35 we have the terms
that world applied to the blissful period of duration following this
life, but the word there rendered world is age, elsewhere rendered
world 'to come. 3. Some think as God promised a numerous pos-
terity to Abraham, Gen. 15:6; 17:5; and as these have been
widely scattered in the world that in this sense the patriarch may
be said to be heir of the world. But the Jews do not constitute
the hundredth part of the human family, generally own very little
land, and never possessed much political power in the world. Nor
is our apostle conducting any argument on such a subject as na-
tional power, but an argument on justification by faith.
4. Some regard the phrase heir of the world as indicating great
happiness, and point to the promises in Ps. 37 and in Matt. 5 : 5 in
proof. No doubt Abraham was happy, greatly blessed, but so is
every child of God, and our verse closely points to some pre-emi-
nent distinction. Besides, the word rendered earth or land in
those places both in Hebrew and Greek has a very different sig-
nification from that rendered world in our verse.
5. Some think that by heir of the world we are to understand
that Abraham in some way became inheritor of the world through
his seed Jesus Christ, in whom all nations were to be blessed,
Gen. 12 : 3. Yet the first promise of Messiah was made to our
first parents in Eden and not to Abraham. And as to his being
the lineal ancestor of Christ, so were Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David,
Solomon, and others. Still it is undeniable that Messiah is Lord
of all and that he shall have dominion from sea to sea and from the
river to the ends of the earth, and that in him shall all the fami-
lies of the earth be blessed. And although the promise of a seed
did certainly have a special reference to Christ, as Paul asserts,
Gal. 3 : 16, yet that promise was no more precious and no more
sure than that made to David hundreds of years after, 2 Sam. 7 :
Ch- IV., v. I4-] THE ROMANS. 171
1 6. So that this can hardly be the mind of the Spirit in this place.
Our verse admits that the promise that he should be the heir of
the world was not only to Abraham, but to his seed, and that
through the righteousness of faith. His seed therefore here cannot
mean Christ, for he did not enter heaven through the righteous-
ness of faith, but by his own merits. Therefore it must mean his
spiritual seed, believers. 6. The phrase heir of the world, therefore,
probably, means an heir of God known to all the world of believ-
ers, a very prominent child of God, just as Paul says that the
apostles were made " a spectacle unto the world, kosmos, and to
angels, and to men," i. e. were very prominent before the world
[perhaps of believers]. Just so Abraham's prominence is indi-
cated by his being " the heir of the world " and " the father of all
that believe," and by the phrase "the blessing of Abraham coming
on the Gentiles." This gives a good sense and agrees with the
preceding and succeeding context. In the next verse all the saved
are called heirs. This view also coincides with the whole scope
of the argument which Paul is conducting an argument respect-
ing gratuitous justification by the merits of the Redeemer.
14. For if they which are of the lazv be heirs, faith is made void,
and the promise made of none effect. Respecting the persons here
spoken of opinions are divided. Mr. Locke thinks that by them
which are of the law we are to understand " them only who had the
law of Moses given them." Clarke agrees with him and says the
phrase points to " the Jews only." But a large class give an in-
terpretation more coincident with the line of the apostle's argu-
ment. Doddridge says the terms used designate " those who de-
pend upon the law ;" Tholuck : " those who trust to their works ; "
" they which arc of the law is the exact parallel of as many as are
of the ivorks of the law, Gal. 3 : 10 ; " Hodge : " legalists, those who
seek justification by the works of the law." This is doubtless the
right view. Calvin : " He takes his argument from what is impos-
sible and absurd." Haldane : " The case is supposed, though not
admitted, which would be contrary to the whole train of the
apostle's argument." If it were possible for men to become heirs
of salvation by the law, the whole gospel would be subverted,
and its provisions rendered nugatory. Calvin : " If the condition
had been interposed that God would favor those only with
adoption who deserved it, or who fulfilled the law, no one could
have dared to feel confident that it belonged to him." Diodati :
" If it were so that by works man might obtain that inheritance,
all faith, covenant of grace, and promises would be void, which is
wicked and most absurd to think." Whitby : " If they which are
of the law be heirs faith is made void to them which are not of the
EPIS TLE TO [Ch. IV., v. 15.
law [because then they cannot by it be made heirs] and it is also
made void to them that are of the law [because they were heirs
before] and may still be so without it; v. 15." Hawker: " It is
of no use for God to promise, if the accomplishment depends upon
man's performance of the law. And as man cannot come up to
the law, so man can never attain the promise if it depends on his
obedience. It is of no use to hold forth any blessings, if those
blessings depend upon man's taking them when they are out of
his reach." The apostle proceeds to give the reason :
1 5 . Because the law work'etk wrath : for where no law is, there is
no transgression. The law wherever known among men works
wrath or brings a curse, not because the law is not holy, just and
good, nor because it was not ordained to life, and suited to the
very case of all that are free from all sin, but because men are
wicked, break the law and transgress its holy precepts, and so
incur its righteous penalty. If men were not subjects of moral
government, if neither by the light of nature, nor by the light of
revelation they had any 'knowledge of the law of their being and
the right rule of living, then they would have had no sin. Tho-
luck : " The idea of law, and the idea of penal justice are correla-
tive, because it is impossible to conceive of man, except as a trans-
gressor." Chalmers : " There have been infractions of the law by
all, and all therefore are the children of wrath." Scott : " The
clearer, the more copious and the more express the law is, the
more numerous, evident, and aggravated must man's trans-
gressions appear.'
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL REMARKS.
1. The doctrine of justification by faith is true, for God's word
teaches it; it is important, for God's word urges it; it is vastly
weighty, for God's word greatly insists upon it. It is the great
theme of two of Paul's epistles, this, and that to the Galatians.
Elsewhere it is brought up again and again. If God says a thing
once, we know it is true. If he says it often, we should think of
it habitually, vs. 1-14. Brown : " Justification, and the right way
thereof, being a matter of great necessity to be known, and a truth
which Satan hath early and late bent his strength against, a great
necessity lieth upon all to be thoroughly clear in this matter ; and
ministers should labor to explain it fully unto people, and use all
means to make plain the way, and to confirm them in the truth
thereof."
2. All claim of personal merit or desert of good before God on
the part of us sinners is monstrous monstrous error, monstrous
Ch. IV., vs. 1-13.] THE ROMANS, 173
arrogance, monstrous folly, monstrous wickedness, v. 2. Olshau-
sen : " Works give merit, merit justifies a person in making de-
mands or in boasting ; no grace therefore can consist with works,
but only a relation of debt." Hodge : " The renunciation of a
legal self-righteous spirit is the first requisition of the gospel." If
God's word teaches any thing, it certainly teaches that any and
every form of self-glorification in the sight of heaven is vain, is
vile, is wicked, is dangerous.
3. There has never been but one method of a sinner's accept-
ance before God. God's word speaks of but one. It condemns
all others, vs. 1-13. Saving faith rests on Christ, not on self; on
the Son of God, not on the son of man ; on atoning blood, not on
tears of penitence. No two things are more opposite than faith
or grace on the one hand, and works or debt on the other. All
scripture shuts up men to a wholly gratuitous salvation. This
suits our case exactly.
4. But this is a very humbling method. It abases man. It
cuts up pride by the roots. It leaves no room for boasting. It
forbids glorying, v. 2. Hence the offensiveness of this doctrine.
Pool : " Abraham was a man that had faith and works both, yet he
was justified by faith, and not by works." He humbled himself to
receive the gratuity, and so must we, if we would inherit eternal
life. If we expect to pursue any course which shall in strict
justice to us bring God under any obligation to save us, we
shall perish in our folly. Even Abraham had nothing whereof to
glory before God.
5. It is one thing to be judged of men. It is another, and a
very different thing to be judged of the Lord, v. 2. Compared
with many other men how bright was the character of Abraham !
Compared with the perfect law of God, he needed absolutely
pardoning grace and justifying righteousness, just like every
other sinful man. If there was any sense in which he might glory
before men, there was no sense in which he could boast before
God. And if he, "a patriarch whose virtues had canonized him
in the hearts of all his descendants ; and who, from the heights of
a very remote antiquity, still stands forth to the people of this dis-
tant age, as the most venerably attired in the worth and piety and
all the primitive and sterling virtues of the older dispensation,"
had nothing whereof to glory before God, how dare any of us
trust our souls to any but a plan of unmingled grace ?
6. The simple fact is, merits we have none. Demerits cluster
on us all. We are born in sin. Our best deeds are full of imper-
fection. " In many things we all offend." " There is not a just
man upon earth that liveth and sinneth not." " All our righteous-
174 EPISTLE TO [Ch. IV., vs. 3, 5.
nesses are as filthy rags." Eternal confusion must cover us if
there is not some gracious method of making us righteous before
God. We must be found naked, if we are not " found in Christ,
not having our own righteousness."
7. We. may always, with safety and profit, refer our sentiments
and reasonings, our belief and practice to the unerring rule of
script2ire, v. 3. " To the law and to the testimony : if they speak
not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them,"
Isa. 8 : 20. Haldane : " Paul's proof is drawn from the historical
records of the Old Testament, and thus he sets his seal to its com-
plete verbal inspiration, quoting what is there recorded as the de-
cision of God." Brown : " Old Testament scriptures are yet in
force to us under the gospel, and may safely be made use of to
confirm and illustrate truths." Scripture binds the conscience of
all good men, yea, it often speaks with awful authority even to
bad men. Let no man in particular let no minister handle the
word of God deceitfully, nor imagine that any merely human
logic can control the heart of man as holy scripture can. It is
" {he sword of the Spirit."
8. Although faith has in it nothing to merit God's favor and is
itself never by him regarded as righteousness, or in any wise com-
mensurate to the requirements of the law, yet it is necessary to
salvation so necessary that without it there is no man saved.
Even Abraham had not been justified, if he had not believed, vs. 3, 5.
Chaimers : " They who have the faith of Abraham are his children,
though they have not the circumcision. They who have the cir-
cumcision are not his children, if they have not the faith. The
sign without the thing signified will avail them nothing." Chry-
sostom : " To him that worketh a reward is given ; to him that
believeth righteousness. Now righteousness is much greater than
a reward." Great and numerous have been the just commendations
of faith ; but our apostle commends it here, because it lays hold on
Christ's. righteousness. This is what man can do in no other way
than by believing. Yet let us eschew the dangerous error that
faith is itself a justifying righteousness. O no ! if we are ever
righteous before God, it must be by receiving the righteousness
of God, which is by or through faith. On the other hand " with-
out faith it is impossible to please God ; " for unbelief is a refusal
to set our seal to the covenant of grace. Nor can believers too
often renew their hold of Christ and his righteousness. The great
cure of uncertainity respecting ovir interest in Christ is found in
frequently renewed acts of faith in him.
9. Let men, especially those, who bear the Christian name,
cease to oppose and oppugn the blessed doctrine of the imputation
Ch. IV., v. 3-1 1.] THE ROMANS. 175
of Christ's righteousness, seeing it is so clearly taught in many
scriptures, vs. 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11. The violence and ingenuity
manifested against the doctrine of imputation have often been
amazing, sometimes blasphemous, and sometimes scornful, some-
times claiming great love for the truth, sometimes promising to re-
move difficulties, but always involving us in uncertainty. The latest
form of opposition claims to be very mild and gentle. But there
is no yielding of the disputed point. A living writer says, " It is
not uncommon to say, that Christ's righteousness is imputed to us,
or that it becomes ours." He then adds that " this language to
many minds does not convey a very definite conception," and that
" on other minds it conveys erroneous impressions, and seems to
be irreconcilable with the common notions of men about moral
character." These terms are mild compared with those used by
Socinus on the same subject, but they are hot a whit less insidious
or dangerous. Here is an absolute refusal to employ terms used
by David and Paul, by the greatest reformers, by the most glori-
ous martyrs, and by the church of God for long ages ; and all
under the plea that they are not definite, that they may mislead,
and that they do not tally with men's notions. One may search the
Christian world through and through, and he will find no terms
touching the mystery of salvation better understood for centuries
past by the learned and by the common people, or better defined
in massive treatises or in concise formulas of doctrine than imputed
righteousness. Yet we read some modern treatises, avowedly on jus-
tification, and never meet these terms except to find some slight-
ing remark, some cavil respecting them. When men shall suc-
ceed in excluding imputation from the terms of theology, it will
not be long till they will be found disusing or even opposing the
word righteousness. The two .must stand or fall together. And
what will the preaching of the gospel be, when no righteousness
remains to be offered to the penitent ? No mortal has ever sug-
gested any possible way, in which the believing sinner may avail
himself of the righteousness of Christ, if the Lord shall not freely
impute it to him. The great objection, flippantly urged, is that
imputation involves a transfer of moral character. But who has
ever taught that absurdity ? What respectable man has ever held
such an opinion ? Surely the Christian world never taught it.
Christ in his own character was truly, wholly, personally inno-
cent ; but when our sins were laid on him he was in the eye of the
law, and as our substitute, by imputation guilty, under the curse ;
yet our moral character was not transferred to him. It would be
blasphemy to say that his holy soul was defiled. And yet God so
laid on him the iniquities of us all, that he was made sin for us.
1 76 EPISTLE TO [Ch. IV., vs. 3-11.
So we are truly, wholly, personally vile, and when Christ's right-
eousness is imputed to us, it does not make us personally pure or
worthy, but it gives us a title good in the eyes of the law to all the
blessings of the covenant of grace. Hodge truly says : " It never
was the doctrine of the Reformation, or of the Lutheran or Cal-
vinistic divines, that the imputation of righteousness affected the
moral character of those concerned. It is true, whom God justi-
fies he also sanctifies, but justification is not sanctification, and the
imputation of righteousness is not the infusion of righteousness."
Nor has the church of God ever taught otherwise. Justin Martyr :
" God gave his Son a ransom for us ; the holy for transgressors ;
the innocent for the evil ; the just for the unjust ; the incorrupti-
ble for the corrupt; the immortal for mortals. For what else
could hide or cover our sins but his righteousness ? In whom else
could we wicked and ungodly ones be justified, but in the Son of
God alone ? O precious permutation. O unsearchable operation.
O beneficence surpassing all expectation ! that the sin of many
should be hid in one just person, and the righteousness of one
should justify many transgressors." .
There is a class of writers, not very numerous, nor respectable,
but confident and pushing, who to avoid the doctrine of the impu-
tation of the righteousness of God our Saviour, declare that our
faith itself is accepted by God as righteousness ; that faith itself
is reckoned as righteousness. If our faith were perfect, this would
be accepting one perfect act instead of the perfect obedience due
all our lives. But every man's faith, especially as he first lays hold
of the gospel, is imperfect, and the best men are the most con-
scious of such imperfection, Mark 9 : 24. One of the best prayers
ever offered by the disciples was, Lord, increase our faith. If God
should accept any one act of faith, or all acts of faith as the meri-
torious ground of our acceptance, it would be admitting that his
law had been too strict, that an imperfect obedience was all he
now required, and that Jesus Christ had lived and died in vain ;
at least, that he satisfied not the demands of the law or justice,
that he brought in no righteousness, and that believing sinners
were saved in derogation of perfect righteousness. The same
class of writers often urge that God merely treats the sinner as
just, and that this is the mercy of God in Christ. But if any one
is not righteous, how can God treat him, as if he were righteous?
The Bible never speaks of men as quasi just, but it often speaks
of the just, the righteous. If God acquits as just those who in
every sense in the eye of justice are guilty and have no righteous-
ness, what hinders him 'from saving unbelievers as well as believ-
ers ? Such a view utterly confounds the distinction made by the
Ch.-IV., vs. 3-1 1.] THE ROMANS. 177
apostle between faith and works, the righteousness of God and
the deeds of the law. Guyse : " The act of faith itself is as much
a work, as any other commanded duty, and were that to be
reckoned to us for righteousness, the reward in justifying us
would be a debt, due to us, on account of our having performed
that work." Pool : " Remission of sins presupposeth imputation
of righteousness ; and he, that hath his sins remitted, hath Christ's
righteousness first imputed, that so they may be remitted and for-
given to sinners." It is therefore but a miserable mockery of the
sad state of men to represent justification in any case, as Mac-
knight has done : " In judging Abraham, God will place on the
one side of the account his duties, and on the other his perform-
ances. And on the side of his performances he will place his faith,
and by mere favor will value it as equal to a complete performance
of his duties, and reward him as if he were a righteous man."
Can it be wondered at that when such sentiments are presented to
men, every pious and intelligent Christian is shocked, and every
penitent sinner asks, Am I after all left without hope except that
God will save me by my own merits, or at least without any right-
eousness commensurate to his law ? It is impossible ever to quiet
an enlightened and tender conscience in man, until you can show
him such a righteousness, meeting all the demands of God's law,
and let him see how he may make it his own to all the ends of 'a
complete justification, vs. 3, 5, 6, 7, 8. The great importance of
this matter to Christian comfort is well stated by Chrysostom :
" Paul is now intent upon shewing that this salvation, so far from
being matter of shame, was even the cause of a bright glory, and
a greater than that through works. For since the being saved,"
yet with shame, had somewhat of dejection in" it, he next takes
away this suspicion too. And indeed he has hinted at the same
already, by calling it not barely salvation but righteotisness. Therein
(he says) is the rigkteotisness of God revealed. For he that is saved
as a righteous man has a confidence accompanying his salvation.
And he calls it not righteoiisness only, but also the setting forth of
the righteousness of God. But God is set forth in things which
are glorious, and shining, and great." No right minded man
wishes to go to heaven in derogation of the divine honor or the
glory of the divine government. Nor is it possible for us in any
wise to please God, until we ourselves are graciously accepted,
for as Calvin says : " The righteousness of works is the effect of
the righteousness of God, and the blessedness arising from works
is the effect of the blessedness which proceeds from the remission
of sins." Nor can we otherwise have any good hope, for the
Dutch Annotations truly says : " The ground' of our salvation
12
i;6 EPISTLE TO [Ch. IV., vs. 3-11.
So we are truly, wholly, personally vile, and when Christ's right-
eousness is imputed to us, it does not make us personally pure or
worthy, but it gives us a title good in the eyes of the law to all the
blessings of the covenant of grace. Hodge truly says : " It never
was the doctrine of the Reformation, or of the Lutheran or Cal-
vinistic divines, that the imputation of righteousness affected the
moral character of those concerned. It is true, whom God justi-
fies he also sanctifies, but justification is not sanctification, and the
imputation of righteousness is not the infusion of righteousness."
Nor has the church of God ever taught otherwise. Justin Martyr :
" God gave his Son a ransom for us ; the holy for transgressors ;
the innocent for the evil ; the just for the unjust ; the incorrupti-
ble for the corrupt; the immortal for mortals. For what else
could hide or cover our sins but his righteousness ? In whom else
could we wicked and ungodly ones be justified, but in the Son of
God alone ? O precious permutation. O unsearchable operation.
O beneficence surpassing all expectation ! that the sin of many
should be hid in one just person, and the righteousness of one
should justify many transgressors." .
There is a class of writers, not very numerous, nor respectable,
but confident and pushing, who to avoid the doctrine of the impu-
tation of the righteousness of God our Saviour, declare that our
faith itself is accepted by God as righteousness ; that faith itself
is reckoned as righteousness. If our faith were perfect, this would
be accepting one perfect act instead of the perfect obedience due
all our lives. But every man's faith, especially as he first lays hold
of the gospel, is imperfect, and the best men are the most con-
scious of such imperfection, Mark 9 : 24. One of the best prayers
ever offered by the disciples was, Lord, increase our faith. If God
should accept any one act of faith, or all acts of faith as the meri-
torious ground of our acceptance, it would be admitting that his
law had been too strict, that an imperfect obedience was all he
now required, and that Jesus Christ had lived and died in vain ;
at least, that he satisfied not the demands of the law or justice,
that he brought in no righteousness, and that believing sinners
were saved in derogation of perfect righteousness. The same
class of writers often urge that God merely treats the sinner as
just, and that this is the mercy of God in Christ. But if any one
is not righteous, how can God treat him, as if he were righteous ?
The Bible never speaks of men as gnast just, but it often speaks
of the just, the righteous. If God acquits as just those who in
every sense in the eye of justice are guilty and have no righteous-
ness, what hinders him from saving unbelievers as well as believ-
ers ? Such a view utterly confounds the distinction made by the
Ch.TV., vs. 3-ii.]. THE ROMANS. 177
apostle between faith and works, the righteousness of God and
the deeds of the law. Guyse : " The act of faith itself is as much
a vvork, as any other commanded duty, and were that to be
reckoned to us for righteousness, the reward in justifying us
would be a debt, due to us, on account of our having performed
that work." Pool: "Remission of sins presupposeth imputation
of righteousness ; and he, that hath his sins remitted, hath Christ's
righteousness first imputed, that so they may be remitted and for-
given to sinners." It is therefore but a miserable mockery of the
sad state of men to represent justification in any case, as Mac-
knight has done : " In judging Abraham, God will place on the
one side of the account his duties, and on the other his perform-
ances. And on the side of his performances he will place his faith,
and by mere favor will value it as equal to a complete performance
of his duties, and reward him as if he were a righteous man."
Can it be wondered at that when such sentiments are presented to
men, every pious and intelligent Christian is shocked, and every
penitent sinner asks, Am I after all left without hope except that
God will save me by my own merits, or at least without any right-
eousness commensurate to his law ? It is impossible ever to quiet
an enlightened and tender conscience in man, until you can show
him such a righteousness, meeting all the demands of God's law,
and let him see how he may make it his own to all the ends of a
complete justification, vs. 3, 5, 6, 7, 8. The great importance of
this matter to Christian comfort is well stated by Chrysostom :
" Paul is now intent upon shewing that this salvation, so far from
being matter of shame, was even the cause of a bright glory, and
a greater than that through works. For since the being saved,
yet with shame, had somewhat of dejection in it, he next takes
away this suspicion too. And indeed he has hinted at the same
already, by calling it not barely salvation but righteousness. Therein
(he says) is the righteousness of God revealed. For he that is saved
as a righteous man has a confidence accompanying his salvation.
And he calls it not righteousness only, but also the setting forth of
the righteousness of God. But God is set forth in things which
are glorious, and shining, and great." No right minded man
wishes to go to heaven in derogation of the divine honor or the
glory of the divine government. Nor is it possible for us in any
wise to please God, until we ourselves are graciously accepted,
for as Calvin says : " The righteousness of works is the effect of
the righteousness of God, and the blessedness arising from works
is the effect of the blessedness which proceeds from the remission
of sins." Nor can we otherwise have any good hope, for the
Dutch Annotations truly says : " The ground' of our salvation
12
i;8 EPISTLE TO [Ch". IV., vs. 4-8.
consists in remission of sins and imputation of the righteousness
of Christ." And Hawker well says : " That which was and is
counted for righteousness, is not our faith in that righteousness,
but the righteousness itself imputed to the persons of the faithful,
from their union and oneness in Christ." We cannot give up the
distinction between faith and works, grace and debt, Christ's
righteousness and human merits. It must be made and maintained
at all costs and at all hazards, vs. 4, 5. Nor need we fear that we
shall dishonor God by exalting his grace. In no way can we so
shew forth his glory as by believing in his Son and accepting his
righteousness. Chrysostom : " He indeed honors God, who ful-
fils the commandments, but he doth so in a much higher degree
who thus followeth wisdom by his faith. The former obeys him,
but the latter has that estimate of him, which is fitting, and glori-
fies him, and is full of wonder at him more than can be evinced
by works." Brown : " This imputation of Christ is no chimera,
or groundless imagination, however it seemeth absurd to carnal
reason, but a real thing, founded upon the obedience of Christ,
which is no fiction."
10. The truth puts man in a low place and gives him a low
estimate of himself. By the gospel scheme boasting is excluded.
God justifies the ungodly, v. 5. Olshausen: "All men in respect
of God are in a state of ungodliness, and unable by their own
powers to raise themselves into any other condition. . . . Every
one, who desires to come to Christ, must altogether, and in every
thing, recognize himself as a sinner." Blessed be God ! his
mercies are for the needy ; his salvation for the lost. We are sick
and " ungodliness is the radical and pervading ingredient of the
disease of our nature, and it is her"e said of God . that he justifies
the ungodly. The discharge is as ample as the debt." Hodge :
" As God justifies the ungodly, it cannot be on the ground of their
own merit." No mere man deserves at God's hand any benefit
whatever.
1 1 . How perfect is the remission of sins, and how rich is the
variety of terms and phrases employed to assure believers of the
completeness of their deliverance from the condemning power of
the law, vs. 7, 8. Forgiveness or remission, covering or hiding,
no't imputing, or not setting to one's account are the terms used.
What more could we ask ? Evans : " Justification does not make
the. sin not to have been, or not to have been sin ;" and yet odious,
abominable, offensive as is every form of iniquity the Lord casts
it behind his back ; he averts his face and refuses to look at it.
Blessed be his name for his mercy. Blessed is the man, who
shares it.
Ch. IV., vs. 6-1 1.] THE ROMANS. 179
12. The grace of God in the pardon of sin is the more illustri-
ous when we consider the nature of it, vs. 7, 8. It is iniquity, it
is transgression, it is evil, it is an offence, it is a horrible thing, an
unnatural crime, it is contempt of God, it is robbery, it is rebellion,
it is perversity, it is lawlessness, it is enmity against God. It is
odious, vile, loathsome, ruinous. It digs every grave. It makes
the torments of hell what.they are.
13. The justification of the believer is entire, wanting nothing,
complete, full, finished, perfect, vs. 6-8. Every man needs all that
is promised, but no man needs more. Ghrysostom : " Punishment
is removed, and righteousness through faith succeeds; there is
then no obstacle to our becoming heirs of the promise." Who
does not call Abraham blessed ? yet all ' they that are of faith are
blessed with faithful Abraham.'
14. Nor does the Scripture leave us in any doubt as to the
character of those, who receive so great a blessing. They are be-
lievers and none else, v. 9. By nationality they may be Jews, or
Gentiles ; in manners they may be rude or refined ; in education
they may be learned or uncultivated ; in man's esteem they may
be base or honorable ; but if they accept from the heart the mercy
offered in Christ, they shall be saved. Michaelis : " To him who
does works, the reward is not said to be reckoned, an expression
which makes it appear as if it were given from grace, but he ob-
tains it because it is his due."
15. Let not the pious reader fear that our apostle in dwelling
so long on justification will overlook sanctification. There is no
conflict between these things. The truth respecting forgiveness
and acceptance is not unfriendly to purity. Ere we close our study
of this epistle we shall see that Paul is as stanch a friend of holiness
as ever wrote a book of scripture.
16. Let every 'man beware lest he become enamored of rites
and ceremonies, of forms and ordinances rather than in love with
Christ, v. 10. It is quite as easy to put gospel ordinances in the
place the Saviour should occupy, as it was to put the Jewish ritual
in the place of justifying righteousness.
1 7. Let us seek to understand and hold fast the true doctrine
of the sacraments of God's .house, v. n. "A sacrament is a holy
ordinance instituted by Christ ; wherein, by sensible signs, Christ
and the benefits of the new covenant are represented, sealed, and
applied to believers." A sacrament is a sign, a sign of some truth.
It sets forth something which it concerns us to know and receive.
And it is a seal, confirming some engagement on-the part of God.
If there were 'no covenant of grace, there could be no fitness in
any sacrament. In its very nature, a sacrament has no inherent
1 8o EPISTLE TO [Ch. IV., vs. 11-13.
virtue, no invariable efficacy. Nor does its usefulness depend on
the sanctity of him, who administers it. Unbelief is a rejection of
its usefulness and makes it a curse rather than a blessing. Cony-
beare & HOAVSOU : "Abraham received circumcision as an out-
ward sign of inward things, a seal to attest the righteousness which
belonged to his faith while he was yet uncircumcised." The
sacraments are not righteousness, nor the cause of righteousness,
nor a substitute for faith, nor even a seal of faith, but a seal of
righteousness received by faith. To those, who reject Christ him-
self, they are powerless for good. Not that our unbelief changes
their nature, any more than it changes the nature of God's word ;
but to us it deprives them of all good effect. Nor is there the
least authority for the opinion that the sacraments of this dispensa-
tion, more than those of the former, have any justifying power.
Men are justified by faith, not by ordinances. Yet sacraments are
ordained by God, are full of meaning, and to the humble and peni-
tent great comforts, making sure, by our senses, what we receive
by faith. Chalmers : " The term sign may be generally defined a
mark of indication, as when we speak of the signs of the times, or
of the signs of the weather. A sign becomes a seal, when it is the
mark of any deed or any declaration, having actually come forth
from him who professes to be the author of it. It authenticates it
to be his so that should it be a promise, it binds him to perform-
ance." We therefore fitly speak of sacraments as sealing ordi-
nances. To contemn them is to despise the ordinance of God. Yet
Abraham was justified long before he was circumcised. The peni-
tent thief was never baptized, and never partook of the Lord's
Supper, yet he was saved. Simon Magus was duly baptized, yet
continued in the bond of iniquity and in the gall of bitterness.
Some of the Corinthians in partaking of the Lord's Supper ate
judgment to themselves. ; Sacraments rightly used are great bless-
ings ; but sacraments put in the place of the grace and Spirit of
Go*d are the means of confirming men in fatal delusions. To
assert that baptism is regeneration is as great error in our day, as
it was of old to teach that circumcision was complete righteous-
ness before God.
1 8. It is a great honor to be a pattern and an encouragement
to even a few souls in teaching them by example the way of salva-
tion. How great then was the honor conferred on Abraham that
he should be the father of the faithful, the heir of -the world, vs.
11-13.
19. So rich are the promises of God, that one of the chief
difficulties we have is in comprehending their glorious fulness,
v. 13-
Ch. IV.,. vs. 14, 15.]' THE ROMANS. 181
20. We can never yield the doctrine of salvation by grace
through faith. To do so makes the promises of God of none
effect, v. 14. To do so puts us into tormenting uncertainty con-
cerning salvation. Proof of this is found in the churches of
Galatia, Gal. 4: 15; and in the Romish church, which utterly
denies the doctrine of 'assurance of faith and of hope.
21. There must be something very malignant in the nature of
sin to cause the law to work wrath, and to cause God to execute
wrath, v. 15. The law was ordained to life, but, when sin entered,
it was found to be unto death. Chalmers : " Admit the arbitra-
tions' of the law, and wrath will be wrought out of them. Con-
demnation will be ,the sure result of this process. It must
and will pronounce the guilt of transgression upon all, and, to
get quit of this, there must be some way or other of so dispos-
ing of the law, as that it shall not be brought to bear in judgment
on the sinner. It has been so disposed of." Jesus Christ was made
a curse for us. Jesus Christ obeyed in our room and stead. He
brought in everlasting righteousness. Calvin : " The law can
indeed show to the good and the perfect the way of life: but as
it prescribes to the sinful and corrupt what they ought to do, and
supplies them with no power for doing, it exhibits them as guilty
before God."
22. Let no man who fails to lay hold of the righteousness of
Christ, indulge the hope of escaping the curse of the law, the
punishment of his sins, the wrath of God, v. 15. Every wise man
cries: "Enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy
sight shall no man living be justified," Ps. 143 : 2. All men know
better than they do. All have come short of the glory of God.
23. Unspeakable are the blessings of salvation. Those who em-
brace it are the faithful, heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ.
The only people, who are truly blessed, or to whom existence is
on the whole desirable, are the justified. They have everlasting
riches, treasure inexhaustible. No blessing can be imagined that
is not vouchsafed to the true child of God. All things are his.
Pardon, peace, acceptance, authority to become a son of God, pu-
rification, victory final and complete, eternal life in a glorified
state all are secured to him, who believes in Jesus and takes him
as his wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.
CHAPTER IY.
VERSES 16-25.
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH AND BY GRACE THE
SAME. ABRAHAM'S FAITH STRONG. HIS EX-
AMPLE COMMENDED. WHY CHRIST DIED AND
ROSE AGAIN.'
16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace ; to the end the promise
might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that
also which is of the faith of Abraham ; who is the father of us all,
17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him
whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things
which be not as though they were :
18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of
many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead,
when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's
womb :
20 HE staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong
in faith^ giving glory to God ;
2 1 And being fully persuaded, that what he had promised, he was able also to
perform.
22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to. him ;
24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that
raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead ;
25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
-| THEREFORE, it is of faith, that it might be by grace ; to
JL \J the end the promise might be sure to all the seed ; not to that
only, which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abra-
ham; who is the father of us all. Therefore connects this verse not
so much with the preceding verse, as with the whole of the pre-
ceding argument. The first part is very elliptical. Our transla-
tors leave it vague, supplying it. The Assembly's Annotations
understand the way of obtaining life; Hammond, the promise
(182)
Ch. IV , vs. 16, i; .] THE ROMANS. . 183
of reward ; Scott, a title to the promised blessings ; Dutch Anno-
tations, the promise of this inheritance; Stuart, justification.
Wiclif supplies rightfulness ; Chrysostom, Coverdale, Evans,
Doddridge, Clarke, Olshausen and others, promise ; Calvin, Tyn-
dale, Cranmer, Genevan, Locke, Ferme, Brown, Pool, Macknight,
Slade, Conybeare and Howson, inheritance. Either promise, in-
heritance, righteousness or blessedness gives the general idea of
the apostle. Perhaps inheritance is the best, Gal. 3:18. Some of
the old versions give a rendering slightly varied ; Peshito : Where-
fore, it is by the faith which is by grace, that we are justified ;
Arabic : Therefore they are heirs through faith, that it might be
according to his grace ; Ethiopic : And moreover God has ap-
pointed justification by faith, that justification might be by his
grace ; Vulgate : Therefore it is of faith, that through grace the
promise might be firm to all the seed. The objection to each of
these is that the Greek hardly allows it. The apostle's object is
to prove that the whole work of our salvation is of grace, not of
our merit ; by favor, not by debt. It is well for us sinners that it
is so. If our heirship at all depended on our personal conformity
to the law, it would certainly fail ; for in many things we all offend.
But if it depends on faith graciously given us by God, it clearly
depends on God's unmerited and boundless kindness, given us in
God's eternal purpose, promised in the covenant of peace, ex-
pressed to us in the cross of Christ, and applied to us in the work
of the Spirit. Thus the promise is indeed sure, firm, steadfast, of
force, (so the word is elsewhere rendered, Heb. 3 : 6, 14; 9 : 17) to
all the seed, to all Abraham's spiritual children ; not to that only
which is of the law, or Jews by birth, but to that also, which is of the
faith of Abraham, i. e. to those who sustain none but a spiritual re-
lation to Abraham, and are his seed only because they have like
precious faith with him. This is the most important for he is the
father of us all, Jews and Gentiles, who believe as he believed.
" If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs accord-
ing to the promise," Gal. 3 : 29. Stuart : " If the promise were to
be fulfilled only on condition of entire obedience to the law, then
would it never have any fulfilment, inasmuch as no mere man
ever did or will exhibit perfect obedience." Calvin : " The prom-
ise then only stands firm, when it recumbs on grace." Paul now
confirms this doctrine by a quotation from Gen. 17:5:
1 7 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations^) before
him whom he believed, even God, ^vho quickeneth the dead, and calleth
those things which be not as though they were. This promise to Abra-
ham was made when he was an old man, and some time before the
birth of Isaac. Yet God says I have already done it. So unfail-
1 84 EPISTLE TO [Ch. IV., v. 18.
ing is God's counsel that what he purposes is as good as accom-
plished, and is' often so spoken of in the prophetic writings ; there-
fore it may be well said that he calleth those things which be not [but
which he has determined on] as though they were. Some have
found difficulty with the word calleth, as though it contained some
mysterious meaning. It may be taken in either of two senses,
both obvious and both agreeing with the use of the word else-
where, i . Calling things that are not, according to some is author-
itatively commanding them into existence. Bp. Hall : " By his
mighty word he is able to make those things to be which are not."
Olshausen : " It is the creative call of the Almighty." 2. Calling
often means giving names to persons or things, or speaking of
them under certain designations. See many instances in all the
gospels, as Matt, i : 21, 23, 25 ; also Acts 1 : 12, 19, 23 ; Jas. 2 : 23 ;
i Pet. 3:651 John 3:1; Rev. i : 9 and often. Macknight : " He
speaketh of things in the remotest futurity, which exist not, with as
much certainty, as if they existed." This is the simpler, and per-
haps the better meaning here. The pertinency of saying in this
place that God quickeneth the dead is not merely that the power
which effects resurrection, can accomplish any thing ; but it has
special reference to the age and infirmities of Abraham and Sarah
when the promise of a great posterity was made. See v. 19. Cran-
mer, Genevan, Rheims and Do way agree with the authorized ver-
sion in putting the quotation in parenthesis. This is doubtless cor-
rect. If so, we must join some words in this with the preceding
verse : He is the father of us all be fore him whom he believed, even God,
i. e. in the 'sight, view, or estimation of Jehovah Abraham was the
spiritual father of great multitudes, who should believe, both Jews
and Gentiles ; even as he was according to the flesh the ancestor
of all that lineally descended from him. Other explanations are
offered, but they are forced, or aside from the drift of Paul's argu-
ment. This is pertinent and agrees with what follows. He
makes a great deal of the faith of Abraham :
1 8. Who against hope believed in' hope, that he might become the
father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So
shall thy seed be. To believe in hope is confidently to believe ; and
to believe in hope against hope is confidently to believe when ap-
pearances would lead to a very different conclusion. Doddridge :
" Against all human and probable hope, he believed with an assured
and joyful hope ;" Locke : " Without any hope, which the natural
course of things could afford, he did in hope believe." He be-
lieved that according to God's promise he should become, or he
believed the promise that he might thus become the father of
many nations. Other constructions have been put on these words,
Ch. IV., vs. 19-21.] THE ROMANS. 185
but either of these is better, coinciding entirely with the scope of
the argument. Some have contended that Abraham understood
not the spiritual nature of the blessings promised to him by the
Lord. But Christ says : " Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and
he saw it and was glad," John 8:56. Compare Gal. 3:14, 16.
If any say that the promise was so glorious that even Abraham
with all his faith did not fully comprehend it ; the same may be
said of all the promises and of all believers. So shall thy seed be
is a quotation from Gen. 15:5, where it is promised that his seed
shall be in number like the stars. This is more illustriously
fulfilled in the spiritual children than in the descendants ac-
cording to the flesh.
19. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body
now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the dead-
ness of Sarah's womb. Every record of Abraham's faith shews that
it was strong and unfaltering. Yet its strength arose entirely from
his confidence in the truth and power of God, and not at all from
anything he saw. Indeed as to any likelihood of his becoming a
father or Sarah becoming a mother of the promised seed, nothing
seemed more improbable, for both of them were old, and as to this
matter, dead. Both Tyndale and Cranmer for dead in the case of
Sarah have/#.stf chylde beringe. In Heb. n : n Paul says she was
past age ; and in Heb. n : 12 he says of Abraham that at the time
named he was as good as dead. That was so ; for he was about a.
himdred years old, and Sarah was ninety years old, Gen. 17 : 17.
20. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief ; but
was strong in faith, giving glory to God. In the preceding verse he
was said to have been not iveak in faith; in this he is said to
have been strong in faith. And we are here told that faith is
strong when it has no such admixture of unbelief as produces
uncertainty. Staggering, nowhere else so rendered, but commonly
doubting, wavering, disputing, judging. God had spoken and
Abraham took him at his word, did not sit in judgment on his
engagement, did not dispute nor waver respecting it. Thus he
was found giving glory to God, i. e. so confiding in the faithfulness
and power of God, that then and ever since Abraham's faith has
honored God, and also caused others to trust and glorify him.
21. And being fully persiiaded, that what he had promised, he was
able also to per form. Here Abraham's faith is spoken of in terms still
stronger. It now amounts to a full persuasion. It lacks nothing.
It puts the highest honor on God. It can do no more. Such
faith can walk in darkness and have no light, and yet trust in
the" Lord to make good all he has engaged. Able here and
often implies both power and willingness.
i86 EPISTLE TO [Ch. IV., vs. 22-25.
22. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Its
strength evinced its perfect genuineness. It could not be doubted.
He became righteous not by any works, but wholly by his faith,
laying hold of the covenant of grace and thus receiving the right-
eousness therein set forth.
23. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed
to him. He might have believed, been justified, had righteousness
imputed to him, and gone to glory, and no man living after him
have known anything about him. God did not make his a case
of record to please Abraham's vanity, or to exalt his self-esteem.
The great thing for the patriarch was that a perfect, glorious,
righteousness was graciously imputed to him. It was written not
for his sake alone ;
24. But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on
him that raised up Jesiis our Lord from the dead. Abraham was a
pattern, a leader, an heir, a father of all such as believe ; and all,
who have faith, leading them to embrace the truths of the gos-
pel now clearly revealed, shall have the same glorious right-,
eousness, the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ
imputed to them also. One of the great truths necessary to be
believed, a fundamental truth of Christianity, was the resurrec-
tion of Christ. If this were doubted, preaching and faith were
both vain. We must look to Jesus ;
25. Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for
our justification. He was delivered, given up, or given over, Rom.
i : 24, 26, 28 ; betrayed, Matt. 17 : 22 ; i Cor. n : 23 ; delivered in
a good sense, Acts 16 : 14 ; i Cor. 15 : 24. The same word is used
to express the treacherous act of Judas, the malignant conduct of
the chief priests in bringing him before Pilate, the cowardly act
of Pilate in giving him over to crucifixion, the act of God in sub-
jecting him to the curse for us and his own act in giving up. the
ghost, Matt. 20: 18, 19; John 19: 16; Rom. 8:32, John 21 : 20.
In this place it chiefly refers to the act of his Father in laying on
him the iniquity of us all, in bruising him, in putting him to
grief, in making his soul an offering for sin, Isa. 53:6, 10. But
this was not done without his voluntary act of giving himself
up to suffering, Gal. 2 : 20 ; where the same word is used. For
our offences ; Peshito and Ethiopic, on account of our sins ; Arabic
and Vulgate, for our faults. The word is rendered faults, sins,
trespasses, offences ; but he was delivered up not for his own sins,
for he had none ; but for our sins, and for ours only. He was de-
livered to the curse, to death, to the grave. " He was wounded
[margin tormented] for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace [that procured our
Gh. IV., v. i6.] THE ROMANS. 187
peace] was upon him," Isa. 53:5. v The word rendered for is one
of the prepositions', which as Hornbeck and others, have shewed,
is used to teach Christ's substitution. In no way could he suffer
for our sins except that they were imputed to him. He "was
made sin for us." " He hath loved us, and hath given himself
for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling
savour," 2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 5 ' 2. And was raised again for our
justification. On Christ's resurrection see above, the exposition
of Rom. 1:4, and Doctrinal and Practical Remarks thereon.
Here Christ's resurrection is said to be for our justification, for the
purpose of effecting our justification, or on that account. He
was our Surety. Had he remained a prisoner in the grave it
would have proven that the work of atonement was incomplete,
that his sacrifice had not been accepted, and that we were still
under condemnation, I Cor. 15:17. Nor could Christ without
rising from the dead have entered into heaven there to present
his most precious blood, and intercede for his people. In this
epistle we have already frequently met with the adjective just
or righteous, with the verb to justify or to be justified, and
with the noun uniformly rendered righteousness. In this verse
we first meet with the noun justification. The same word occurs
in Rom. 5 : 19 and no where else in the New Testament, though
in Rom. 5 : 16 we have a cognate noun rendered justification.
These two words are sometimes used in the same sense both in
the Septuagint and by Paul, though the latter is also rendered
ordinance, judgment and righteousness.
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL REMARKS.
1. All God's plans and works are perfect. None of them can
be amended. When we diligently and successfully study them
we are continually finding out new and important relations in
them. The apostle closed the preceding chapter by saying that
through faith we establish the law. Here he shews that by the
same doctrine of gratuitous salvation by faith we establish the
promises of God, v. 16. Were the promises of God suspended
in the least on human merits, or human strength, all men would
perish. Now every man's case is met and every man's necessities
are provided for in the gospel scheme.
2. As the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith in the
Redeemer is vital, it is well that we have line upon line, and are
taught the same thing over and over again, in all fitting forms of
speech, that there may be left open no door for reasonable doubt,
v. 1 6. This plan is " grounded upon God and his immutable pleas-
188 EPISTLE TO [Ch. IV., vs. 17, 18.
ure, and upon Christ's perfect nd everlasting righteousness, and
not upon men's variable will, and inconstant obedience." As
Jehovah found cause not in us but in himself to provide salvation
for us, so he finds cause in himself alone for accomplishing all he
has undertaken. Olshausen : " Every thing, which depends upon
the decision, faithfulness and constancy of such an irresolute and
wavering being as man, is, in St. Paul's view, extremely .uncer-
tain ; but that which depends upon God, ' with whom is no vari-
ableness neither shadow of turning,' is firmly established." It is a
sad mistake in not a few that they make faith itself a work, and
put it in the place both of perfect obedience to the law, and of
Christ's righteousness, and thus look upon God's favor " as a
premium, not a premium for doing, it is true, but a premium for
believing." To make a new law out of the gospel is to destroy
all the solid foundations of Christian joy and peace.
3. Things are great and good, or small and evil, as they are
before. God, v. 17. His estimate of all things .and of all beings
is alone infallible. It is a small matter to be judged of man's
judgment. Man is a worm. Man is a fool. Man is a sinner.
Man is horribly perverted in his affections, warped in his judg-
ments, erratic in his conduct. But God knows the end from the
beginning. That, which shall be a thousand ages hence, is as well
known to God as that which occurred yesterday. Let us never
forget that he, which judgeth us, is the Lord.
4. He, who can raise the dead, can do any thing, v. 17. Well
may the challenge be given, Is any thing too hard for the Lord ?
Gen. 18 : 14. He, who is able of the stones to raise up children
unto Abraham, can never be straitened in his resources, Matt.
3 : 9. When the prophet was asked if the dry bones in the valley
of vision could live, he replied to the Lord, Thou knowest.
Whether a thing is to be or not to be, to be vile or honorable,
useful or hurtful, turns altogether on the relations of God to it.
5. God's being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and
truth are a sufficient offset to any appearances whatever, v. 18. "One
almighty is more mighty than all the mighties in the universe."
The Amen cannot but be faithful. He is the best and the wisest
man, who with the most childlike simplicity believes every word
God utters. Implicit faith in man is great folly. Implicit faith in
God is the height of wisdom. Chalmers : " Such is the way in
which the message of the gospel is constructed such are the
terms of that embassy with which its ministers are charged, that
the promise of God as a shield, and of God as an exceeding great
reward, is as good as laid down at the door of every individual
who hears it. It is true the promise thus laid down w\ll not be
Ch. IV., vs. 18-20.] THE ROMANS. 189
fulfilled upon him, unless he take it up, or, in other words, unless
he believe ft. Now there is a difficulty in the way of nature be-
lieving any such thing. There is a struggle that it must make
with its own fears and its own suspicions, ere it can admit the
credibility of a holy God thus taking sinners into acceptance."
The shorter that struggle is the better for us. Unbelief is folly,
is perversity, is ruin. Faith believes best when it reasons least.
It relies most, and has most comfort, and shews most wisdom,
when it simply says, " Good is the word of the Lord ;" " For ever,
O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven ;" " Thy faithfulness is unto
all generations."
6. The scripture cannot be broken. God said that Abraham's
seed should be in number like the stars, and like the stars they
became, v. 18. It could not be otherwise. Calvin: "The past
tense of the verb, according to the common usage of Scripture,
denotes the certainty of the divine counsel." If God speaks, it is
done. If he commands, it stands fast. If it could be shewn that
according to its true intent any word of God had failed, all con-
fidence and comfort in him would vanish. A justly suspected
God could 'be no solace to a sinking soul. Faithfulness that is not
unimpeachable is not divine.
7. Let us not therefore dwell so much on our circumstances as
on our covenant relations, not so much on the means of support
and deliverance as on God the promiser.
8. The wisest thing any mortal can do is without questioning
or hesitancy to believe everything God has spoken, v. 20. Chry-
sostom : " From the case of Abraham we learn, that if God promises
even countless impossibilities, and he that heareth doth not receive
them, it is not the nature of the things that is to blame, but the
unreasonableness of him who receiveth them not." Even Balaam's
theology carried him so far as to say : " God is not a man that he
should lie ; neither the son of man, that he should repent ; hath he
said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken and shall he not
make it good? " Num. 23 : 19. If any should think that the days
are past when a strong faith is necessary, he is. wholly mistaken.
Here is one, who has always led a life of ungodliness.' At last his
soul is awaked from its sleep of death. He sees that there is a
God, who governs the world by a law that is holy, just and good ;
that against that law he himself has transgressed in times and
ways innumerable. His iniquities take hold of him like armed
men and are dragging him to the prison of despair. Go to him,
and attempt to persuade him to exercise faith in the promises of
God to those, who have sinned as he has done, and what a task you
have on hand ! Tell him of God's spotless rectitude, and he says
igo EPISTLE TO [Ch. IV., v. 2b.
I know it; I have sinned against it; I am sadly contrary to it.
Point him to the divine veracity, the great pillar of hope, and he
rejoins, That is even so, but the same unfailing truth has said,
" The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Exhort him to fix his stead-
fast eye on the divine compassion expressed in the cross of Christy
and he says, God is merciful, but I have long slighted and abused
his grace and been cold to his loving kindness. Tell him of the
penitent thief, converted on the cross, and he reminds you that his
case was extraordinary, and that inspiration alike tells us of his
companion in crime dying in his sins. Hold up before him that
great pattern of mercy, Paul ; and he says, Yea, but his great sins
were committed ignorantly in unbelief, but I have sinned against
light, vows and convictions. To him it looks as if everything in
God were against him ; for the saving view of divine truth has not
yet been revealed to him. All within him is dark. His history is
black with offences. His prospects are dismal. He is sinking into
sadness bordering on despair. To him it looks as if everything
Avas against him. Everything in God is to his mind tremendous.
He cannot persuade himself that Jehovah looks or ever can look
on him but as an enemy, an outcast from the hopes of the right-
eous. He sees not how he, who is accustomed to do evil, shall
ever learn to do well. He is fearfully holden with the cords of
his sins. Of the renewal of his fallen nature he has no experience
and no hope. So far is he gone in the downward road of rebellion
and remorse, that it is clear as day that .if he shall ever have peace
in believing, it must be by a faith, which shall be the gift of God.
No human persuasion can ever fetch him up from the depths, to
which he has fallen. It must be given him from above to believe
in the great sacrifice of Calvary, and there in the cross of Christ
see all the divine attributes harmonizing in his salvation. Even
then his faith may be weak, compared with that of others, com-
pared with what it shall be, but it is yet precious faith and a
mighty principle that can change his entire relations to God and
all things.
9. Such faith glorifies God, v. 20. It puts all honor on his word,
his grace, his power, his wisdom, his faithfulness. Chrysostom :
" The very privilege of glorifying God were itself a glory." This is
the highest aim of unfallen angels and redeemed men. It is the high-
est destiny of any creature to glorify God. and enjoy him for ever.
10. But let us not confound the astonishment of true faith with
the perplexity of unbelief. The latter is a vice ; the former a vir-
tue. The pious Jews released from Babylon were " like them that
dream." Peter released from prison " wist not that it was true
which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision."
Ch. IV., vs. 21-24.] THE ROMANS. 191
v
Calvin : " Abraham asked indeed, how it could come to pass, but
that was the asking of one astonished ; as the case was with the
Virgin Mary, when she inquired of the angel how could that be
which he had announced." Pious wonder will never cease. Cal-
vin : " No greater honor can be given to God than by faith to seal
his truth ; as, on the other hand, no greater dishonor can be done
to him, than to refuse his offered favor or to discredit his word."
We may wonder ; we must not disbelieve.
n. True faith obeys as well as trusts. We must walk in the
steps of believers. We must act as if all God had spoken was
true. It is in vain to say in words, We trust, and to say by deeds,
We have no confidence. Concerning all the promises made him
and commandments given him Abraham behaved as if he believed
every word. Our weakness cannot check God's operations. Let
not our lives prove that our faith is heartless.
1 2. Genuine and strong faith begets undoubting persuasion of all
that God promises, however new and difficult may be our circum-
stances, v. 21. Abraham could look back to no example, where
God had done such wonders as were promised to him. He looked
at himself and he was as good as dead. He looked at Sarah and
she seemed far too old to be a mother, and besides had always
been barren ; and yet he was fully persuaded, that what God had
promised, he would perform. God knows and governs all causes
and all hindrances, and so is never defeated, never nonplused.
13. Faith is at the greatest possible remove from fancy, from
dreams, from vagaries. It lives and exults when it reads or hears
the promise of Jehovah. It believes God, not the creature, v. 22.
It is such faith that is imputed for righteousness, for such faith will
accept the grace of the gospel. Calvin : " It becomes now more
clear, how and in what manner faith brought righteousness to
Abraham ; and that was, because he, leaning on God's word,
rejected not the promised favor." If we are now believers in
Christ, we have assurance of the final triumph, an assurance con-
firmed to us more and more as we advance in knowledge of God's
word, and in experience.
14. Abraham was in many things a model of piety, yet his
works could not save him. But for his faith in the Redeemer he
would have perished, v. 22. The same is true of us, Gal. 3 : 9.
15. No Scripture is of any private interpretation, but whatso-
ever things were written of old, were written for our learning,
that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have
hope, vs. 23, 24. There is one and but one way of obtaining right-
eousness, of gaining the victory over the world, the flesh and the
devil, and that is the way of faith in a Redeemer.
192 EPISTLE. [Ch. IV., v. 24, 25.
v
1 6. As Abraham came off victorious, so shall all his spiritual
children. Hawker : " Beyond' all doubt, notwithstanding all that
is said of this venerable patriarch in commendation of his faith ;
the humblest and poorest believer is equally interested in all the
blessings of CHRIST in right of redemption. And for this plain
reason all is God's gift, not man's worth. The patriarch had no
more faith than was given him. Hence all he had he owed to the
LORD." The same is true of all the faithful.
17. We cannot too often revert to the great fact and doctrine
of the atonement of' Christ, v. 25. Christ was delivered by the de-
terminate counsel and foreknowledge of God, Acts 2 : 23. But he
was delivered for our offences. Then, if we accept him, we need
not die for our own sins. And if his blood, not being yet shed,
saved Abraham, surely his blood sprinkled on the mercy-seat
above can save us. Abraham believed in a Saviour yet to come.
We believe in a Saviour already come. Abraham and his spiritual
seed have all had the same kind of faith and the same object of
faith. Bp, Hall : " Christ was delivered to death for the full satis-
faction for all our sins, in that he paid for us that debt which
we were never able to have discharged." He who rejects this
truth refuses salvation on God's terms, and God accepts sinners
on no other terms. This is a fundamental doctrine. So is also
the next truth stated :
1 8. The resurrection of Christ cannot be given up on any ac-
count, vs. 24, 25. If Christ, who is our life, is still 'under the
power of death, we are under the power of condemnation. But
he has surely risen for our justification. He lives to intercede for
us. Calvin : " When we possess the benefit of Christ's death and
resurrection, there is nothing wanting to the completion of per-
fect righteousness." Stuart : " As justification, in its full sense,
comprehends not only forgiveness, but the accepting and treating
of any one as righteous, it implies of course the being advanced
to a state of glory. The resurrection of Christ was connected
with this." Doddridge : " By faith shall the righteousness of our
Redeemer be reckoned as ours, to all the purposes of our justifi-
cation and acceptance with God." Hodge : " As surely as Christ
has risen, so surely shall believers be saved." We have an ever-
living Saviour ; and because he lives we shall live also.
19. The gospel consists not of a number of detached truths but
of a system of doctrines, facts and principles, making one harmo-
nious whole, gloriously exalting God, reconciling things appar-
ently antagonistic, and giving faithful men the strongest assurance
of eternal life.
CHAPTER Y.
VERSES 1-1 1.
HAVING SHEWN MAN'S NEED OF GRATUITOUS
SALVATION, AND HOW IT IS OBTAINED, THE
APOSTLE PROCEEDS TO STATE THE BLESSED
EFFECTS OF JUSTIFICATION.
THEREFORE being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ :
2. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation
worketh patience ;
4 And patience, experience ; and experience, hope :
5 And hope maketh not ashamed ; because the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the un-
godly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good
man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sin-
ners, .Christ died for us. :
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from
wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of
his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
1 1 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom we have now received the atonement.
1 THEREFORE being justified by faith, we have peace with God
. through otir Lord Jesus Christ. For we have peace, Peshito
has, we shall have peace ; Doway and Rheims, let us have peace.
But the authorized version follows the original, and is sustained
by most interpreters, versions and manuscripts. This verse is an
inference from the whole preceding argument, marked by the
3 ' (193)
194 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., v. i.
word Therefore, which some render Then. But either word
shews the connection. On justified, see above on Rom. 2 : 13 ; 3 :
20, 26. By faith, see above on Rom. i : 8, 12, 17. On the ground
of what righteousness a sinner is justified, see Doctrinal and Prac-
tical Remark No. 5 on Rom. 3 : 20-31. On the whole nature of
justification, see Doctrinal and Practical Remark No. 17 on Rom.
3 : 20-31. Macknight contends that in this verse justified either
means " delivered from wickedness and ignorance through the in-
fluence of faith ; " or that it signifies that " believers have the
promise of justification given them." But neither of these explana-
tions can for a moment be received without subverting the entire
argument of the apostle, and destroying all ground of solid com-
fort. O this is not the gospel. If Paul makes any thing plain, he
certainly teaches that believers are, on accepting Christ, actually,
fully and irrevocably justified by the Lord through faith in the
Redeemer, whose righteousness is' imputed to them by himself.
Such receive incalculable benefits from their justification. The
first is mentioned in this verse peace ^v^th God. There is much
said in scripture concerning peace, which is the opposite of war,
persecution, temptation, condemnation, alarm, tumult, strife, con-
troversy. Several times does Paul speak of " the God of peace."
Jesus Christ is called "our peace" and the "Prince of peace."
The reason is that "the chastisement of our peace was upon him."
He was sent to "guide our feet into the way of peace," Luke
i : 79. He says : " Peace I leave with you ; my peace I give unto
you." Peace is often included in the apostolic salutations and
benedictions. In our verse it is used in one or both of these two
senses: i. Actual peace with God, whereby we are no longer
condemned by him, are no longer counted as enemies, and are no
longer engaged in a controversy with him.. By faith in Jesus
Christ we receive reconciliation with God. The Almighty then
no more regards us as outcasts. Christ is our Surety, our Sacri-
fice, our Peace. The objection to this explanation is that it makes
our verse tautological ; for justification clearly includes all this.
2. The other explanation is that the peace here spoken of is peace
of conscience towards God, or, as some express it, conscious
peace towards God. This is an inestimble blessing. For it there
is no substitute. Without it there can be no abiding rest to the
soul. In the angels, peace of conscience is the fruit of innocence.
In believers it is the fruit of the Saviour's obedience and suffer-
ings. We cannot be made perfect, as pertaining to the con-
science, " without blood," Heb. 9 : 7-12. The want of this peace
dooms the wicked to misery. To them there is no peace, Isa. 48 :
22; 57 : 21, This is the view taken of this passage by many
Ch. V., y. 2.] THE ROMANS. 195
Calvin:. " Peace means tranquillity of conscience, which arises
from this that it feels itself to be reconciled to God." Diodati :
" God is made propitious unto us in Christ, who by the faith
which he creates in us, causeth us to enjoy this reconciliation, by
virtue whereof our conscience is firmly grounded," etc. Hodge :
" We have conscious peace with God, that is, we have neither
any longer the present upbraidings of an unappeased conscience,
nor the dread of divine vengeance." Some unite both senses.
Dutch Annotations : " Peace with God is the friendship of God,
and the assurance thereof in our mind, whereby we are set at rest
in God." The peace, which believers have, is, like justification,
wholly gracious. It is " through our Lord Jesus Christ." Like
all other graces it is the fruit of the Spirit. It is essential to the
symmetry of Christian character. It is abiding. This is the first
benefit of a free justification by the merits of the Redeemer.
2. By whom also ^ve have access by faith into this grace wherein we
stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. By whom, i. e. by
Jesus Christ, through whom alone all the benefits of the covenant
of grace are conveyed to men. There is but one Mediator, one
Prophet, one Priest, one King in Zion. Himself says : " I am the
way, the truth, and the life ; no man cometh unto the Father but by
me." This verse mentions two other benefits flowing from justi-
fication. One is admission into a state of grace, where we per-
manently enjoy the favor of God, so that our relation to him
becomes to all the ends of salvation the same as that of Abraham.
We are in covenant with God, who has graciously and in the most
solemn manner bound himself not to forsake us, nor leave us to
our own strength, wisdom or righteousness. Access, found also in
Eph. 2 : 18; 3 : 12, and uniformly rendered. Peshito: By whom
we are brought by faith into this grace. Yet Evans and others
for access read introduction. This does not materially vary the
sense. Access or admission doubtless gives the main idea, which
is more than once presented in the scripture. The cognate verb
is found in i Pet. 3 : 18, "Christ also hath once suffered for us,
the just for the unjust, that he might bring us [give us access] to
God." The same idea in other words is found in Eph. 2 : 13,
" Now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off, are made,
nigh by the blood of Christ." Some make the clause under con-
sideration substantially a repetition of the latter clause of v. i. It
is true that all the benefits of justification here enumerated are
inseparably connected ; but in his account of them the apostle
mentions several benefits. In his enumeration he makes delightful
progress. If peace with God tells us of friendship with God, access
into this grace points to a covenant relation in which all needed
1 96 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., v. 3.
grace is pledged and supplied. Haldane: " Peace denotes a par-
ticular blessing; access into grace, or a state of favor, -general
blessings." We stand, we stand fast, we stand firm , we stand
still, we continue, we are established. The verb often expresses
stability. The other benefit of justification noticed in this verse
is solid joy arising from good hopes and bright prospects: We
rejoice in hope of the glory of God. The Jews had seen the visible
glory resting over the tabernacle or over the ark. And that was
a great sight. But the glory yet to be revealed is ineffably greater.
It is the glory that excelleth. It is the far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory ; that which is connected with being for-
ever with the Lord, and enjoying the ineffable bliss of .a never-
ending residence in the glorious presence of God and the Lamb.
Into that state of perfection and enjoyment God's people, still in
this world, have not yet entered. But they have a well grounded
hope, a hope begotten in them by God's Spirit, a hope that cannot
deceive or make ashamed, that in due time, and at no distant day,
all the glories and blessings of heaven shall be theirs. .All Chris-
tians are "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appear-
ing of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ." We rejoice, in Rom.
2 : 17, 23, make boast ; in Rom. 5 : 3, glory ; in Rom. 5 : 1 1, joy. It
is used in both a good and bad sense, the context determines
which. In Gal. 6 : 14 it is rendered glory : " God forbid that I
should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."
3. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that
tribulation worketh patience. In this verse two other benefits flow-
ing to believers from justification are stated; The first is this. So
fax from being overwhelmed by afflictions they joy and rejoice,
they boast and glory in the worst of them. It is the same verb as
in v. 2, on which see above. Tribulation, we have in this verse the
same noun in both the singular and the plural. It is often so ren-
dered, also affliction, trouble, anguish, persecution. It is some-
times connected with persecution, as in Matt. 13:21; Mark 4:17.
In not a few cases it at least implies .persecution for Christ's sake.
See above on Rom. 2 : 9. The sermon on the mount and many
parts of God's word authorized this .glorying in tribulation, espe-
cially when it comes for Christ's sake, Matt. 5:11,12; Acts 5 : 41 ;
Jas. i : 2 ; I Pet. 4 : 13. How common and wonderful this exulta-
tion in sore trials was is told in the history of every persecution.
No greater joy have the saints ever had than in the midst of trials
the most appalling. All this is referable to the power of that grace
wherein we stand. Hodge : " Since our relation to God is changed,
the relation of all things to us is changed." "Whom the Lord
loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth,"
Ch. V., vs. 4, 5.] THE R MA NS . 197
Heb. 12:6. A reason for this exultation in suffering is found in
its tendency, through grace, to produce the peaceable fruit of
righteousness. Tribulation ivorketh patience. In the Greek Testa-
ment are two words, rendered patience. One of them is more
frequently rendered long-suffering. : It means patient endurance.
Compare Rom. 2 : 4; Heb. 6 : 12, 15. The other word rendered
patience is found in our verse. It is once rendered patient con-
tinuance, and signifies endurance, constancy. It is an element of
all truly great souls. Towards God it is resigned, saying, "Not
as I will, but as thou wilt." Towards Christians, who are faithful
in reproof, it meekly says, " Let the righteous smite me." Towards
the wicked who afflict and mock us, it says, " Rejoice not against
me, O mine enemy." To the ills, which afflict us, it gives a kind
entertainment. : Without malice it bears insults and injuries. Un-
der delays it is still constant. When others blanch and quail, it
plays the hero. The world often counts it obstinacy. But in
God's esteem it is a sublime virtue. It is worth all it costs to
acquire it. It is a fruit of the Spirit much commended. It is a
great grace.
4. And patience, experience ; and experience, hope. Patience
effects in us experience* Everywhere else the word is rendered
proof, trial, or experiment. Here it seems to mean that proof,
which, by patient endurance of evil, we obtain of the value of our
principles and the power of divine grace in its effectual working
in us. So, if by experience we understand knowledge gained by
being exercised in any matter, experience is a good rendering
here. If any prefer proof to experience, there is no objection to
that .rendering. Such, however, will doubtless admit with Hal-
dane that " proof implies that the trial has proved the genuineness
of the tried person and also of the faithfulness and support of God,
which will enable us to overcome every difficulty." This is religi-
ous experience. And experience worketh hope. The apostle spoke
of hope in v. 2. See on that place. It is brought up again to shew
that as we prove God and ourselves, our hope, instead of dimin-
ishing, grows stronger and stronger. Before David met Goliah,
he had had experience of great dangers. He did encourage himself
by his past experience in encountering terrible enemies and assail-
ants, i Sam. 17 : 37. So does the hope of the child of God become
more and more an anchor to the soul, as the power of God's grace
and his faithfulness are illustrated in its history.
5. And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed
abroadin our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Ashamed,
often so rendered ; also confounded ; sometimes dishonored. Ei-
ther rendering suits here. The hope here spoken of is that good
I 9 S EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., v. 5.
hope through grace, which God grants to his chosen. Such hope
will never bring dishonor, confusion, shame. The apostle here
and often uses a figure, common to most, if not all languages. He
expresses less than he intends vis to understand. His real mean-
ing is that this hope gives a holy and joyful confidence, which
nothing can abash. It is of the nature of hope to embolden. It is
of the nature of the Christian's hope to make him fearless and
faithful in professing the true religion, in adhering to Christ's
cause, and in doing one's duty in the face of the most unreasona-
ble and wicked opposition. This hope derives its great strength
and animation from the love of God because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Inter-
preters give three explanations of the phrase love of God'\\\ this
verse. In other places it is clearly used in two different senses ;
God's love to us, as in Rom. 5:6; 8 : 39 ; our love to God, as in
Luke 11:42; John 5:42; Jude 21. The mere words therefore
determine nothing in this matter. Others so interpret the
phrase as to include both God's love to us and ours to him.
i. Chrysostom thinks it means God's love to us, whereby he has
" shed abroad the full fountain of his blessings." The same view
is substantially taken by Theophylact, Ambrose, Luther, Melanc-
thon, Calvin, Ferme, Piscator, Cajetan, Toletus, Assembly's An-
notations, Dutch Annotations, Schlichting, Pareus, Grotius, Beza,
Bp. Hall, Whitby, Brown, Hammond, Evans, Locke, Guyse, Bur-
kitt, Schleusner, Gill, Macknight, Olshausen, Hodge, Haldane
and Chalmers. Beza says the apostle is speaking of "the love
whereby we are beloved of God, as not only the train of argument
shews, but as Paul himself explains -in v. 8." All that Rosenmul-
ler makes of the whole clause is that " the divine love is abun-
dantly testified to us." 2. Others seem no less clear that our love
to God is here spoken of. So Theodoret, Augustine, Bernard,
Anselm, Mede, Doddridge, Hawker, Clarke, Scott and Stuart.
The Council of Trent concurs in this view. The arguments for
this interpretation are strong. How can God's love to us evince
that our hope will not make us ashamed, unless it shall cause him
to put his Spirit within us, to work in us all graces and in partic-
ular love to God, without which all other supposed evidences of
an interest in Christ are vain ? Then our apostle is now in sev-
eral verses speaking of Christian graces as hope, patience, con-
stancy, etc. This context is nearer than that of v. 8 ; to which
many refer. The apostle is speaking, be it remembered, of a good
hope, not of a delusion, and of something enjoyed or experienced
by us, which nourishes and supports a good hope. Then our love
to God is by Paul elsewhere expressly put down as a fruit of the
Ch. V., v. 5.] THE ROMANS. igg
Spirit, Gal. 5 : 22. And God's love to us is not the fruit of the
Spirit, but it flows from the glorious nature of each person of the
Godhead. The verb is shed abroad is the word so often used, in
some of its forms, to express the effusion of the Holy Spirit in his
gifts or graces, Acts 2 : 17, 18, 33 ; 10 : 45 ; Tit. 3 : 6. That the in-
dwelling of the Holy Spirit, working his graces in our hearts, and
making us his temples, and so evincing our sonship with God, is
an idea familiar to the inspired writers none can doubt, i Cor. 3 :
16; 6: 19; 2 Cor. i : 22; 6: 16; Eph. i : 13, 14. This view derives
force from the fact that those, who adopt the first view, are not
satisfied with it, but make explanations, which, if they have any
force, virtually admit this second interpretation. Thus Locke :
" Because the sense of the love of God is poured out into our
hearts, &c. But the apostle says nothing about a sense of the love
of God. He speaks of the love of God itself. And what is a just
sense of the love of God to us, if it be not our love towards God ?
So Gill explains himself by speaking of the " full and comfortable
sensation which believers have of the love of God to them." But
Paul says not a word about any sensation ; and, if he did, to what
could he refer but to our love to God ? Bp. Hall also says :
" Hope disappointeth us not ; because the sense and comfortable
assurance of that love, wherewith he embraceth us, is shed abroad,"
&c. Diodati also says that here " the love of God means the as-
surance we have of God's love to us." Yet how can any one have
a "comfortable assurance," or any "assurance" of God's love to
him but by the love, which he has towards God ? i John 3 : 19. So
Guyse : " This sort of hope will not turn to our confusion ; be-
cause it rests, not upon any merit in ourselves, but upon the free
favor of God towards us, which in its gracious and effectual ope-
ration is poured forth into, and abundantly fills our souls with its
lovely manifestations and distinguishing fruits; and so inflames
them with love to him again," &c. This is almost all that could
be asked by those, who think that in our verse love to God means
our love to him. So also Hodge : " This manifestation of divine
love is not any external revelation of it in the works of Provi-
dence, or even in redemption, but it is in our hearts." It will
probably be denied by none that if the apostle had designed to
teach that the gracious affection of love in the soul was enkindled
by the Holy Ghost he could have selected no better language
than we have in this verse. Tholuck : " We must naturally view
it as implying a consciousness in the heart, such as is spoken of in
Rom. 8 : 16 ; 2 Cor. i : 22. On Rom. 5 : i Chalmers says : " The
whole passage, for several verses, looks to be a narrative of the
personal experience of believers of their rejoicing, and of their
200 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., v. 6.
hoping, and of their glorying ;" and why may we not add of
their loving ? A 'third view of this verse has been presented and
seems to be favored by Origen, Oecumenius and Aquinas. It
unites the two senses above given. It supposes discoveries of
God's love to us to be made by the Spirit in such a way as to en-
kindle our love to him. It explains it of love created in us by the
love of God uncreated towards us. This is substantially the view
of not a few others, some of whom have been already cited. Thus
Olshausen : " The love of God in the apostle's meaning is the love
of God to man, which however awakens in him reciprocal
love, (i John 4 : 19,) not indeed proceeding from his own
mere natural powers, but from the higher powers of the divine
Spirit." The objection to this third view is that it makes the same
word in the same sentence denote two things so different as God's
love to us and ours to him. For the reasons given the second
view is to be preferred. It is pleasant to the believer to find that
all commentators agree that God's Spirit reveals to his people, so
as to enable them to view aright God's love to them, and at the
same time implants and nourishes in them a sincere and supreme
love to him. On those points all good men are agreed. Nor do
they differ in their judgment respecting the gratuitous bestow-
ment of the Holy Spirit. He is "given unto us." He cannot be
purchased.
6. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died
for the ungodly. In this and the next three verses the apostle uses
four words to describe, not the state of the Gentiles only, as Locke
contends, but of all men before the grace of God. These words
we render " without strength," " ungodly," " sinners," and " ene-
mies;" all applied to the same persons, and either of them making
a sad yet just representation of the natural state of man. The first
is rendered, "without strength." In Matt. 25:39,43,44; Luke
10:9; Acts 5 : 15, 16, it is rendered sick; in Acts 4 : 9 impotent; in
I Cor. 12: 22 feeble ; often weak; the rendering in our verse is
literal. Coverdale, Tyndale, Cranmer, Rheims and Doway have
weak; Conybeare and Howson, helpless. Our case is by nature
sad indeed. We have no might to do good, Isa. 40: 29. We
cannot keep the law. Clarke : " Neither able to resist sin nor do
any good ; utterly devoid of power to extricate theniselves from
the misery of their situation." We cannot atone for our sins. We
cannot regenerate our hearts. We cannot keep ourselves in the
way of life. We are sick, impotent, broken, yea dead in trespasses
and sins. In a state of nature the soul performs none of the func-
tions of spiritual life. This our inability is universal, perpetual,
sinful, and by all human powers incurable. Spiritually we are
Ch. V., v. ;.] THE ROMANS. 201
sick unto death. We are also "ungodly." On this word see
above on Rom. 4:5. The word is uniformly rendered. It is the
same used by the Septuagint in Ps. i. and elsewhere, rendered
ungodly, more frequently wicked. Clarke : " Satan lived in, ruled
and enslaved their hearts." God justifies the ungodly, Rom. 4:5.
Christ died for the ungodly. He died for the ungodly, i. e. he
died in their place, in their stead, as their substitute. Often has
the Greek preposition this sense: " Will he for a fish give him a
serpent?" Luke n : 11. See also i Cor. 11 : 15. In Matt. 2 : 22 it
is rendered in the room. Twice it is said of Christ that he gave
"his life a ransom for many," Matt. 20 : 28 ; Mark 10 : 45. So he
died for the ungodly, in due time. Coverdale, Tyndale, Cranmer,
Rheims and Doway, according to the time; Rosenmuller and
others, at the appointed time. The word means .a time, a season,
a set time, a fit time, and often occurs. Other terms of like import
are employed, Gal. 4:4; i Pet. i : 20. In this verse the most
difficult word is the particle for at the beginning. It may connect
this verse with the last clause of v. 5, or with the first clause of
v. 5, or with the first clause of v. i, or with the whole train of the
apostle's argument. In the first case we have proof of God's grace
in giving us the Holy Spirit through Christ Jesus ; in the second
the ground of our good hope is brought out; in the third we see
why we are justified and have peace with God ; in the last we
have a recurrence to the ground 1 of the kindnass shewn to believ-
ing sinners, securing to them all the blessings of the covenant by
the work and sufferings of Christ. The fact is that truths of this
class are often so inwoven into the texture of inspired discourses
that they relate to the train of thoughts, and to many particular
parts thereof. Many both ancient and modern writers are dis-
posed specially to connect this verse with the hoping of vs. 2, 5.
Some regard vs. 6-10 as containing a parenthesis. Perhaps they
do ; but the thoughts presented are as weighty and as rich as any
in the chapter, and Avell accord with the rest.
7. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die : yet peradventure
for a good man some wouldeven dare to die. For, the first word, is simply
affirmative. Peshito : " For rarely doth one die for the ungodly :
though for the good, some one perhaps might venture to die."
Beza says he could approve this rendering but for the want of
authority in the MSS. This is wholly wanting. The Syriac
doubtless took the word ungodly from the preceding verse. But
the contrast in this verse is not between a wicked man and a good
man; but between a just, righteous, equitable, or upright man and
V&egood, kind, useful man, who obliges many. Rarely indeed will men
die for one another, even when most benevolent and beneficent, or
202 EPIS TLE TO [Ch. V., vs. 8, 9.
most highly esteemed. But for a man who is merely upright, and has
done no great public service, nor conferred marked benefits on
any one, who has ever offered to die ? Sacred history tells us of
the love Jonathan had to David. He did risk his life for him.
We have too the affecting story of Damon and Pythias. " Lilloe
stepped between the murderer and King Edward his master.
Nicholas Ribische lost his life to preserve Prince Maurice at the
siege of Pista." Still these are rare cases. When they occur,
men unite in saying that they are daring. Our verse says the
same. There is no act of more boldness. Perhaps in most cases
like those cited the hero expects to survive and has no settled de-
sign of dying. Indeed there is but a slight peradventure that any
man would deliberately die for his best friend. Compare John
15 : 13; i John 3 : 16.
8. But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us. In v. 6 it is said Christ died for
the ungodly, and here that he died for us sinners. This word is
rendered with great uniformity. It denotes those who have
missed the mark, at which they should airn the honor of God,
and the mark at which they did aim their own happiness. They
have plunged themselves into guilt and pollution and wretched-
ness. And such were we all, Jews and Gentiles, old and young,
for whom, in whose stead Christ died. This was wonderful love,
indeed. It has noparallel. God commendeth it, i. e. sets it forth,
manifests it in a wonderful manner. See above on Rom. 3 : $
where we have the same word.
9. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be
saved from wrath through him. No part of the Bible is a treatise
on logic, nor was designed to teach logic ; but no book contains
finer specimens of the art of reasoning than can be found in many
of the sacred pages. In particular Paul gives us many specimens
of irrefragable argument. Our verse contains a sample of the
argument a fortiori. If God loved us and gave his Son for us
while sinners, he will beyond all doubt save us when we are justi-
fied. Justification includes the forgiveness of sins and the accept-
ance of the sinner as righteous before God. Often is a part, an
important part, put for the whole. The shedding of Christ's
blood was an important matter, as essential as his holy life, his
resurrection or his intercession. It seems to be put here for his
whole undertaking. The active and passive obedience of Christ
are never separated, though they are distinguished. Christ's
righteousness consists of his conformity to the precept and his
endurance of the penalty of the law, and we are justified by his
righteousness. But as men are constantly liable to pervert the
Ch. V., v. io.] THE ROMANS. 203
truth, and especially the true doctrine of justification, God
teaches us the right way by a great variety of phrases and terms.
Take the matter here adduced. One scripture says that men are
justified by faith. Another says they are justified through faith.
Another declares that they are justified by Christ. Another
declares that we are justified freely by his grace. Another teaches
that we are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In our
verse we are said to be justified by the blood of Christ. Compare
Rom. 3 : 24, 30; I Cor. 6 : n ; Gal. 2 : 17. These statements
are not contradictory, but mightly serve to guard us against mis-
take. When men are said to be justified by faith, some say it
means that faith is the procuring cause of our pardon and accept-
ance ; or that our faith is accepted in lieu of a perfect righteous-
ness. No ! says our verse, we are justified by the blood of the
Redeemer, as the procuring cause. And so none but the wilful
and perverse can mistake the truth. And so being justified,' it is
certain we shall be delivered from the penal consequences of trans-
gression or from wrath the wrath to come, and all through
Christ.
io. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by
the death of his Son ; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved
by his life. The preceding verse contained a sample of the argu-
ment a fortiori. This contains that form of argument duplicated.
The first antithesis is between enemies and persons reconciled. The
second is between Christ's death and his life. If a dying Saviour
'can effect the reconciliation of enemies ; much more can a living
Redeemer do all that is required to the complete deliverance
of his friends. Where in all the range of knowledge can more
powerful argument be found ? Enemies / What a fearful thought.
Clarke : " Sin, indulged, increases in strength ; evil acts en-
gender fixed and rooted habits ; the mind, everywhere poisoned
with sin, increases in averseness from good, and mere aversion
produces enmity; and enmity, acts of hostility." No word can
more clearly denote real adversaries. Against such God must
have a holy and inflexible displeasure, or wrath. Reconciled, a word
not before found in this epistle. The cognate noun is found in the
next verse, and is rendered atonement. Everywhere else these
words are rendered reconciled and reconciliation, Rom. 1 1 : 15;
2 Cor. 5 : 1 8, 19, 20. An at-one-ment is a reconciliation, a bringing
together those, who have been at variance. We have forsaken,
insulted and rebelled against God. He has been good to us, fol-
lowing us with mercies, reproofs and invitations. God is holy,
and hates sin. Out of mere pity he provided a mode of reconcilia-r
tion by the life and death of his Son. Jesus Christ is the great,
204 EPIS TLE TO [Ch. V., y. n.
the only Reconciler. God is the offended and we are the offenders.
To be reconciled to God is to be brought into relations of friend-
ship with him, and this can be done only by an atonement. Grotius
correctly says that in heathen authors men's being reconciled to their
godsis always understood to: signify appeasing the anger of their
gods. Jesus Christ satisfied the demands of justice against us.
By his death he averted from his people the righteous indignation
of God. As is said in the preceding verse he saved them from
wrath, meaning deserved punishment. He propitiated the Most
High towards us offenders. He met all the claims of law against
us. This reconciliation took place intentionally, in God's eternal
purpose; meritoriously, in the completion of Christ's humiliation ;
actually, when in true faith we embraced the offer of the Gospel.
The apostle is here speaking of those who were actually reconciled.
We are reconciled by the blood of Christ, as it is expressed, in v. 9 ;
for to be actually reconciled is virtually the same as to be justified.
Our reconciliation with God is by the death of his Son, who made
the propitiation for us, who suffered the just for the unjust. That
this is the true view of reconciled is proven from the scriptural use
of that term, i Sam. 29 : 4; Matt. 5 : 23, 24. The same is taught
by a variety of phrases of like import in the Scriptures, in which
God says his anger is turned away, he is pacified, he has taken
away his wrath, etc.
1 1 . And not only so, but we. also joy. in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement, Joy, in v. 2
rendered rejoice ; in v. 3, glory ; elsewhere boast. The meaning is-
we now exult in God. Received, a literal rendering. Paul has been
enumerating the benefits of justification. In doing so he more
than once reverts to the same idea. In vs. 2, 5 he dwells on hope ;
in vs. 3, ii he speaks of joy, exultant joy; and in vs. I, 10, n he
speaks of peace and reconciliation with God. The whole is de-
signed to be a triumphant and exultant deduction of his argu-
ment as to the blessedness of the man, who enjoys a gratuitous
justification. This conclusion is honorable to Jehovah. We joy
in God, not in ourselves, not in our ancestry, not in rites, not in
works of righteousness which we have done, but in God alone,
through our Lord Jesiis Christ. We pray in his name, we give
thanks, in his name, we trust in his name, we do all in his name.
Our names are worthless, because we are sinners. The names of
angels are worthless because they are fellow creatures and fellow
servants, Rev. 22 :g. But the name of Jesus is far above every
name that is named, not only in this world, but in that which is
to come, Eph I : 21. By him we have received the atonement ; by
him we shall gain the final victory, by him we shall be raised from
Ch. V., vs. i-i i .] THE ROMANS. 205
the dead, by him we shall rise to eternal glory. And all this is
through the great atonement he has made, Had he been only a
Prophet and a King to his chosen he would mot have saved them.
They were indeed ignorant and needed a teacher. They were feeble
and needed a ruler and defender. - But they were guilty, and so
must have a sacrifice, an atoning and an interceding High Priest.
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL REMARKS.
1. Let us hot weary of sound scriptural instruction on the
great doctrine of justification, v. i, It is a glorious theme, and we
should not cease to give thanks that we have line upon line re-
specting it. Nor can we possibly too deeply impress on our
minds vital truths on this subject. When we are said to be justi-
fied by faith, the meaning is that we are justified by a faith that
lays hold of the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus
Christ. Faith is the instrument. The righteousness of Christ
is the ground. This righteousness of God is by faith of Jesus
Christ, unto all, and upon all them that believe. Men are saved
not by their works, merits or efforts, but by God's grace and
mercy in and through Jesus Christ. This great gift of righteous-
ness is an unspeakable benefit, having in its train innumerable
blessings. By it is the life of our souls. ^
2. Let us imitate Paul in frequently and formally acknowledg-
ing our indebtedness to the blessed Saviour. Here in vs. i, 9, H
he says we have these great blessings through Jesus Christ ; and in
v. 2 our access is said to be by him; in v. 9 our justification is said
to be by his blood ; in v. 10 our reconciliation is said to be by his
death; and in v. u it is said that by him we have received the
atonement; while in vs. 6, 8 it is said he died for us. Let us dwell
on his name with hearty and grateful joy. Let us make him the
first and the last. There is no danger that we shall love him too
much, commend him too highly, or serve him too devotedly.
Blessed Lamb of God, we owe thee all, we would give thee all.
Oh that men would look to him, and to him alone. Chalmers:
"The children of Israel might have as soon been healed by look-
ing downwardly upon their wounds, rather than upwardly to the
brazen serpent, as the conscience-stricken sinner will find relief
from any one object ffiat can meet his eye, in that abyss of dark-
ness and distemper to which he has turned his own laboring
bosom."
3. Though justification and sanctification are as distinct as any
two gifts of God to men, and ought ever to be so spoken of, and
never confounded ; yet they are never separated. Where one is,
206 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., vs. 1-5.
the other is not wanting Whoever is justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus is sure to be sanctified by the Spirit of our God, I Cor.
, i : 30 ; 6 : 1 1. And yet in justification God imputes the righteous-
ness of Christ ; in sanctification he by his Spirit works in us both
to will and to do of his good pleasure ; in the former, sin is par-
doned ; in the latter, sin is subdued ; in the one, all are equally
freed from condemnation and fully accepted ; in the other, very
unequal attainments are made ; one is from the first perfect ; the
other is progressive ; the former being an act, the latter a work.
Yet God never justifies a man that he does not also make him
holy, and infuse into him all Christian graces, as we see here,
vs. 1-5.
4. Inestimable is the blessing of peace with God, in whatever
scriptural sense we use that term. If by it here we understand
peace of conscience towards God, what do men in all ages and
countries need more than this ? To the Roman Senate Caligula
said, " I suffer death every day." Plato : " When a man is near
the time when he must expect to die, there come into his mind a
fear and anxiety about things that were never so thought of be-
fore." Herod was a Sadducee. He believed in neither angel,
nor spirit, nor resurrection. Yet when Jesus began to do his
wonders, all Herod's principles forsook him, and he said, " It is
John, whom I beheaded ; he is risen from the dead," Mark 6 : 16.
No other scheme or system but that of the Gospel is at once
"righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." God's
plan meets all the demands of law, and justice, and conscience.
5. Let us seek to have sound and clear views of faith, of its na-
ture and of its offices, vs. i, 2. True. faith is no conceit, no dream,
no wild and irrational apprehension. It is real, sober, regardful
of evidence. It believes on the authority and testimony of Jeho-
vah. Even when it lays hold on Christ, it believes the testimony
of God concerning his Son. It is wise to credit every word of
God, on the simple ground that he cannot lie. Faith relies on
Christ as he is freely offered. It embraces the promises graciously
made. It is a great grace, Heb. 1 1 : 1-38. Well did John Bunyan
call it by the name of Mr. Greatheart.
6. There is such a thing as a state of grace, and believers are
admitted into it, v. 2. Chrysostom : " This is the nature of God's
grace. It hath no end, it knows no bound, but evermore is on the
advance to greater things, which in human affairs is not so. Take
an instance of what I mean. One has acquired rule and glory and
authority, yet he does not stand therein continuously, but is
speedily cast out of it. Or if man take it not from him, death
comes, and is sure to take it from him. But God's gifts are not of
Ch. V., v. 2.] THE R OMA NS. 207
this kind ; for neither man, nor occasion, nor crisis ot affairs, nor
even the devil, nor death can come and cast us out of them. But
when we are dead, we then more strictly speaking have possession
of them, and keep going on enjoying more and more." This state
of grace enjoyed by believers secures to them communion with
God, so that all of them may say, " Truly our fellowship is with
the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ," i John 1:3. " The
secret of the Lord is with them that fear him ; and he will shew
them his covenant," Ps. 25 : 14. This access to grace is not a
vanity, such as self-deceivers often boast of, but it is a great ad-
vantage possessed by those and those only, who are justified by
faith. Scott : " The believer has free access to the mercy-seat ; he
is established in the grace and favor of God ; and he may now
rejoice and triumphantly exult in the hope of everlasting glory ;
though perhaps he just before trembled from well-grounded ap-
prehensions of deserved vengeance."
7. The state of believers is not changeable but has great sta-
bility. In it they stand firm. Their moods and frames of feeling
change. Their views on many things undergo modifications.
Their characters are constantly changing for the better. But
their state is fixed by the purpose and grace of God. In it they
stand, stand firm, v. 2. And why should it not be so? Their
hope is in the Lord, who changes not, Mai. 3 : 6. And are not
these his promises unfailing ? " They shall be my people, and I
will be their God . . . And I will make an everlasting covenant
with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good :
but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart
from me," Jer. 32 : 38, 40. God's people are not only admitted to
his favor ; but they are confirmed in it. Evans : " It is not in the
court of heaven as in earthly courts, where high places are slip-
pery places ; but we stand in an humble confidence of this very
thing, that he who has begun the good work, will per form it"' Phil. I :
6. The grace manifested in bringing men to embrace the gospel
is quite sufficient to hold them up in any trial. The seed of God
remains in the regenerate. The sentence of justification is irre-
vocable. And the intercession of Christ is full security that our
faith shall not fail, Luke 22 : 31, 32.
8. So that we may and should labor with earnest and confident
expectation of success for a full assurance of understanding in all
the truths of religion, for a full assurance of faith, that we may
stagger at no promise of God, and for a full assurance of hope of
final salvation, Col. 2:2; Heb. 6 : 11 ; 10 : 22. In the covenant
of grace provision is made and encouragement is given to us to
make our calling and election sure. Calvin correctly designates
208 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., vs. 2-11.
these dogmas as "pestilent," first "bidding Christians to be satis-
fied with moral conjecture ; as to the perception of God's favor
towards them, and secondly, teaching ^that all are uncertain as to
their, final perseverance." Nor is anything further from pride
and overweening conceit of ourselves than strong genuine, con-
fidence in our final salvation. .Hodge : "Assurance of the love of
God never produces self-complacency or pride; but always
humility, self-abasement, wonder, gratitude and praise." That such
assurance is attainable many scriptures declare, Job 19 : 25 ; Ps.
116 :. 16; 119 : 125 ; 143 : 12 ; 2 Tim. 4 : 6-8; I John 3 -.19.
9. Let us cultivate a joyful state of heart and mind, vs. 2, 3, 1 1.
Ample provision is made for great joy in the Lord, in the power
of his might, in the abundance of his grace, in the wisdom of his
plans, and in the riches of the inheritance he has provided for his
saints. It is sometimes forgotten that holy joy is enjoined as a
duty ; but no command is more clear : " Rejoice in the Lord, O ye
righteous," Ps. 33 : i ; 97 : 12, " Rejoice in the Lord always : and
again I say, Rejoice," Phil. 4 14. If our joy is in the Lord, in his
being, his perfections, his providence, his word, his ordinances
and his, grace, it cannot rise too high. It is a tormenting vanity
to rejoice in a thing of naught, to be very glad in a gourd, but it
is a blessedness to glory in Jehovah. Let us rejoice in what God
is, in what he has done and in what he has promised. >
10. And let not our hope be faint or trembling. Only let it
rest ; on God's word and it cannot be too confident, or expect too
much, even including enduring riches, unending pleasures and
everlasting honors, yea the joy and glory of God. Ghrysostom :
"What then? do our goods lie in. hopes? Yes, in hopes but
not mere human hopes, which often slip away, and put to shame
him that hoped; when some one, who was expected to patronize
him, dies, or is changed, though he lives. No such lot is ours,
our .hope is sure, and unmoveable. For he, who hath made the
promise, ever liveth." Chalmers distinguishes between the kinds
of hope enjoyed by the Christian, calling them ' the hope of faith
and the hope of experience.' By the former he means the hope
awakened by the simple promise of God ; by the latter, the ex-
pectation arising from an actual experience of God's faithfulness
in trials through which we have passed. But these are not dif-
ferent kinds of hope. When we rightly hear and believe God's
promise, we hope in his mercy ; when we experience the fulfil-
ment of his gracious engagements to strengthen and help us, our
hope is confirmed. That seems to be all that can be made of the
distinction. Haldane :. "At first hope springs solely from a view
of the mediation and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here it ac-
Ch. V., vs. 3, 4.] THE ROMA NS. 209
quires a new force from the proof the believer has of the reality of
his union with the Saviour, by his being filled with the fruits of
righteousness which are by Jesus Christ. Thus the ' good hope
through grace ' must be produced solely by faith, and confirmed,
not produced, by the fruits of faith."
n. Wondrous is the grace, which God grants to his people,
when he enables them not only to bear meekly divers trials, but
many times even to glory in the sharpest of them, v. 3. What but
love to Christ and his sustaining grace ever caused a truthful
record to be made like this ? " They departed from the presence
of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer
shame for the name of Jesus," Acts 5 : 41. It is true that no afflic-
tion is in itself joyous but on the contrary grievous. The tribula-
tions of God's people are great. Flesh and blood must sink under
them. But divine grace can bear them aloft. They who have it
sing with their backs all cut with scourging, and their feet fast in
the stocks, Acts 16 : 25. The worst case, into which a disciple of
strong faith may be put, will not hinder him from singing the
old song of Christendom : " If we be dead with him, we shall
also live with him : if we suffer, we shall also reign with him : if we
deny him, he also will deny us : if we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful." God's people may be troubled on every side, yet not
distressed ; perplexed, but not in despair ; persecuted, but not for-
saken ; cast down, but not destroyed, 2 Cor. 4 : 8, 9. Thousands
of years ago one of the most afflicted servants of God sang :
" Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according unto
thy word. . . Before I was afflicted I went astray : but now have
I kept thy word. . . It is good for me that I have been afflicted ;
that I might learn thy statutes," Ps. 119 : 65, 67, 71. This was
under a dispensation not near so luminous as that under which we
live. Brown : " Though natural people, who are strangers to God
and to his way of dealing, may judge them best beloved who are
least troubled with outward crosses and tribulations ; yet, as no
man knoweth either love or hatred by all such external dispensa-
tions, so God's love towards his people will not exeem them from
external crosses, nor will external tribulations and crossing dispen-
sations give any just ground of questioning God's love." So far
from it, himself has said : " As . many as I love, I rebuke and
chasten." " Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth," Rev. 3 : 19 ; Heb. 12:6.
12. Another excellent grace, which all should cultivate is
patience, or constancy, unflinching endurance and resolution, vs.
3, 4. No gracious quality is more essential. " Behold, we count
them happy who endure," Jas. 5:11. " He that endureth to the
H
210 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., vs. 4, 5.
end shall be saved," Matt. 10 : 22. In both these cases the verb
rendered endure is cognate to our noun patience. This grace is in-
dispensable. " Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a
crown of life." " He that overcometh shall inherit all things ; and
I will be his God, and he. shall be my son," Rev. 2 : 10: 21 : 7.
Evans: "Patience does us more good than tribulations can do us
hurt." Let us therefore doubly guard our spirits against all that
is contrary to true constancy of soul. Brown : " Impatience and
fretting under God's dispensations do so blind souls that they can-
not see nor observe how God is proving himself even then
gracious, merciful, powerful and faithful." " The patient in spirit
is better than the proud in spirit." Ecc. 7:8.
13. Nor is there any substitute for that practical and experimen-
tal knowledge of divine things, which we obtain by being proved
and tested, and by proving the faithfulness of God in divers trials
and tribulations, v. 4. Very little does the young believer, genuine
though his faith may be, know of the rich and blessed import of
the promises. He is a novice. Once Paul speaks of carnal and
babes in Christ as very much the same, I Cor. 3:1. But the aged
believer, who has long been taking lessons in the school of Christ
and in the school of adversity, has a blessed apprehension of such
covenant engagements as these : " When thou passest through
the waters, I will be with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall
not overflow thee : when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt
not be burned ; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." " When
the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their
tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of
Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys : I will make the wilder-
ness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water," Isa.
41 : 17, 1 8 ; 43 : 2. Wondrously does ' the God of all comfort com-
fort us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them
which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves
are comforted of God,' 2 Cor. i : 3, 4. Any thing is good for us
if it leads us to know more of God and of his grace in us and
toward us. What a wonderful teacher experience is, especially
experience in adversity. It instructs us so fully respecting our
own ignorance and weakness, the world's vanity and fickleness,
Satan's malice and power, the tenderness and sympathy of real
Christians and the wisdom, power, love and faithfulness of God,
14. Nor is there a nobler attainment made by the pious than
love to God, which was insisted on as fully by Moses as by John,
Deut. 6:5; 7 : 9 ; 10: 12 ; II : I, 13, 22 ; 19 : 9; 30 : 6. This^grace
is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, v. 5. The first
Ch. V., vs. i-5.] THE ROMANS. 211
necessary quality of this love is that it be genuine not spurious ;
sincere not in pretence ; efficient, not in word only ; supreme, ad-
mitting no rivals ; stable, not fitful ; universal, not partial, extend-
ing to all God's character, laws and decisions, ways and works.
Scott: " This seal of God cannot be broken, and Satan evidently
and peculiarly fails in his attempts to counterfeit it : for all false
affections, and enthusiastic confidences are liable to be consumed
in the furnace of long-continued afflictions ; and they never can
communicate that reciprocal, steady, pre-eminent and abiding love
of God in Christ, which no fire can burn, no waters can quench,
and which in ten thousands of instances has proved stronger than
the fear of death in its most tremendous forms, and has enabled a
feeble believer to disregard the cruelty of a savage executioner, in
comparison of the anguish of wilfully denying or disobeying his
beloved Lord." If we love not God, we are yet in our sins. Love
is greater than faith, greater than hope. It bears all things, en-
dures all things, I Cor. 13:7, 13.
15. There is an amazing work going on for God's people, for
the whole church. Many a time has God rebuked kings for the
sake of an humble believer. He has made the sun to stand still,
and the stars in their courses to fight the battles of his people. To
them the Valley of Achor is for a door of hope. Jehovah has
made a covenant for his people with the beasts of the field, and
with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the
ground. Yea,-his saints are in league with the stones of the field ;
and the wild beasts of the field are at peace with them. God him-
self is their God, and guide, and portion. And by the work he is
doing in them, he is evincing his readiness to do all these things
and much more for his people. This is specially manifested by
the blessed sisterhood of graces, begotten and nourished in them
by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto them, vs. 1-5.
16. There is such a thing as symmetry of Christian character,
a proportion in the graces of a renewed soul. Its excellences are
not all faith, or peace, or joy, or hope, or exultation, or patience,
or experience, or boldness, or love ; but all of these combined in
harmony, vs. 1-5. And these are united with the other graces of
the Spirit, named in Matt. 5 : i-io ; Gal. 5 : 22, 23 ; James 3 : 17 :
2 Pet. i : 5-9. Let us undervalue no kind of moral excellence.
Every grace is necessary to the completeness of a good character.
It is God's plan to take his people home to glory without spot, or
wrinkle, or blemish, or any such thing, especially without such a
blemish as would exist, if they had faith without penitence, cour-
age without humility, zeal without meekness, hope without
reverence, or fear without love. There are no monsters in the
212 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., v. 5.
kingdom of heaven. To this very end God has instituted a minis-
try to labor in the church on earth, " till we all come in the unity
of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a per-
fect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and
carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of
men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive,
but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things,
which is the head even Christ."
17. It is much to be regretted that the true doctrine respect-
ing the Holy Ghost is not better understood and his offices in the
church more thought of. On this subject the scriptures are very
clear. In particular Paul never fails to embrace a fit opportunity
for reminding us of this great author of all holiness in the human
heart. See v. 5. In scripture he is called the Spirit, the Spirit of
the Lord, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit,
and the Holy Ghost. Ghost is a Saxon word and means Spirit.
Spirit is a Latin word and means Ghost. Ghost and Spirit are
used interchangeably as the rendering of the same word. He is
the Spirit of truth, of holiness, of wisdom, of counsel, of knowl-
edge, of might, of revelation, of adoption, of grace and of sup-
plication, because by him we receive these blessings. He is said
to be free, because he cannot be bought or commanded. His
work is all of grace. He is said to be good, because such is his
nature, and he is the fountain of goodness. He is loving, pitiful
and condescending. He is the Sanctifier, the author of regenera-
tion and of all holiness in man. He is the Comforter in the souls
of believers, taking of the things of Christ, and shewing them to
his people. He indites the prayers of the righteous. On him we
depend for spiritual life, and for all Christian graces. He calls
men to repentance. He is a divine person. It is as true of him
as of the Father or the Son : " Them that honor me will I honor."
No improvements in theology, in preaching, in religious instruc-
tion or in religious effort can render unnecessary his influences.
He must illuminate, impress, renew, guide and purify us, or we
shall perish. His indwelling is the earnest of our inheritance.
Chrysostom : " Had not God been willing to present us after our
labors with great crowns, he would never have given us such
mighty gifts before our labors. But now the warmth of his love
is hence made apparent, that it is not gradually and little by little
that he honors us, but he hath shed abroad the full fountain of his
blessings, and this too before our struggles." Our dependence on
the Spirit is absolute. We are not sufficient as of ourselves to
think anything. Men may read and hear the gospel faithfully
Ch. V., vs. 5-8.] THE ROMANS. 213
preached all their days, without any saving effect, if the Spirit
open not their hearts to. attend unto the things of salvation. Nor
can converted souls make any advancement in saving knowledge
or holy affections, except as the Holy Ghost is granted unto
them. He is that unction, which teacheth all things. " Not by
might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord."
1 8. Let us do all in our power to stir up ourselves to take hold
on God, and in particular to ' keep ourselves in the love of God/
v. 5. Let us cultivate all those habits of devotion, especially in
our closets, which will conduce to the fervor of our love. Dodd-
ridge : " To excite our love to God, let us be daily meditating
upon the wonders of redeeming love and grace ; adoring that
seasonable interposition of divine mercy, that when we were weak
and guilty creatures, when we lay for ever helpless under a sen-
tence of everlasting condemnation, Christ died for us."
19. In v. 6 we are taught that our Lord died in the time that
was due, or set, or appointed. This is proven by many scriptures.
He was to come during the time of the second temple, before all
political power was taken from Judah, and at the end of Daniel's
weeks. Christ himself knew the very hour when he was to die.
Now though no prophecy has revealed the time of the death of
any man living, yet in the counsels of God the time and manner
of every man's departure out of this world are fixed. So teaches
the oldest book of Scripture : " His days are determined, the
number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his
bounds that he cannot pass," Job. 14 : 5. It is a comfort to a good
man to know that he cannot die till his time comes the time set
by infinite wisdom and immeasurable love.
20. It seems strange that any one, who regards the authority
of the sacred oracles, should find any difficulty or be at any loss
about the scriptural doctrine of the fallen state of man by nature.
We have met this subject in previous pages of this work ; but in
the verses under consideration, is not the language as decisive ?
Men are said to be " without strength " " ungodly " or impious,
" sinners " and " enemies." What more can be said ? What more
need be said to depict our ruined condition ? God is of purer
eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity, Hab. i : 13.
If God's word regards and represents us as helpless, impious, sin-
ners, enemies, we may rest assured that in that representation
there is no exaggeration, no extravagance, but the simple verity.
21. How could God love men as he did? Only because he
was God and had in his own bosom an ocean of unspeakable bene-
volence, vs. 6, 8. It is common and it is just to say that God''s
love is unparalleled. But an old writer, who lived a few centuries
214 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., MS. 9-10.
*
ago, uses a word that is no longer found in English classics. He
says God's love to man is unparallelable. And this is true. It can-
not be matched. This love of God to sinners is no novelty. It
dates from the remotest antiquity, Jer. 31 .-3. It has been very
costly. It did not cost God even an effort to make the universe.
But it cost the agony of Gethsemane and the awful scenes of
Calvary to redeem men. God's love to sinners brings to all who
accept his grace blessings more precious than are enjoyed by any
creatures God has made. God's love to sinners is infinite. As it
spared no cost or pains, it withholds no good thing. This love
was the love of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The Father gave
the Son to die for us. The Son offered himself a victim, as a
sacrifice for us. The Spirit sets forth the love of the Father in just
terms, and applies the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, new
creating the souls of all the chosen. A government has sometimes
paid large sums of money to redeem one of its citizens from cap-
tivity. But who, besides the Prince of life, ever gave himself a
ransom for his enemies ?
22. While the reigning motive in the pious heart is not fear
but love, not mere dread of torment but a joyful trust in God's
grace, yet it is well for us often to think of the hole of the pit
whence we were digged, and of the miry clay whence our feet
were taken. We should never forget that salvation is not only to
something great and glorious, but that it is from something exceed-
ingly dreadful, even from wrath, v. 9. It is said that one man was
awakened and converted just by hearing Mr. Whitefield pronounce
the words The wrath of the Lamb. Such words ought to move
any heart.
23. The scriptures make much of the blood of Christ, and well
they may, v. 9. But it was not enough that he shed a little blood
for us. It is sometimes foolishly said that one drop of his blood
was enough to atone for the sins of the world. But there is no
truth in such a statement. Had it been so, the work of propitia-
tion would have been finished in Gethsemane, for there " his sweat
was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground,"
Luke 22 : 44. Accordingly that, which in v. 9 is said to have been
effected by the blood of Christ, is in v. 10 ascribed to his death.
If Christ himself would save us, it must be by his tasting death
for every man. Every time we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we
do shew the Lord's death till he come.
24. In our thoughts, speeches and writings concerning scriptu-
ral truths, in particular respecting the great doctrines of salvation
let us beware of the bad art of dwarfing or dwindling the glorious
things of salvation. On v. 9 Macknight says: " Here justified by
Ch. V., vs. 9, ii.] THE ROMANS. 215
his blood, means that, in view of Christ's shedding his blood, Adam
and Eve were respited from death, and being allowed to live, he
and they were placed under a new covenant, by which they might
regain immortality. This is what is called justification of life, v.
1 8." Again he says: "Here persons are said to be justified by
Christ's blood, who are not saved from wrath through him." Was
there ever more wild or foolish speech than this ? It is not a whit
the less to be regretted because it is the language of a scholar,
who in some other things has done good service to the church.
How refreshing now to read such words as these from Hodge :
" The primary object of the death of Christ was to render God
propitious, to satisfy his justice ; and not to influence human con-
duct, or display the divine character for the sake of the moral ef-
fect of that exhibition. Among its infinitely diversified results,
all of which were designed, some of the most important, no doubt,
are the sanctification of men, the display of the divine perfections,
the prevention of sin, the happiness of the universe, etc., etc. But
the object of a sacrifice, as such, is to propitiate, vs. 9, 10; Heb.
2: 17." Compare I Pet. i ; 18; Rev. 5 : 9. Chrysostom : "There
were two difficulties in the way of our being saved ; our being
sinners, and our salvation requiring the Lord's Death, a thing
which was quite incredible before it took place, and required exceed-
ing love for it to take place. But now, since this has come about,
other requisites are easier. For we have become friends, and
there is no further need of Deaths. Shall then he who hath so
spared his enemies as not to spare his Son, fail to defend them now
they are become friends, when he hath no longer any need to give
up his Son ? "
25. We cannot too highly prize the atonement, v. n. Some
wish us to give up the name ; but the name is a very good one.
It is in the Bible. Some wish us to give up what is meant by the
atonement, but we cannot. It is our life. Give up that, and what
have we left ? Whitby quotes Crellius as excepting to the phrase
we have now received the atonement: He would read, obtained this
conversion to God. But for such a rendering there is not the slightest
reason or authority. To receive an atonement, or obtain recon-
ciliation by blood-shedding was an idea perfectly familiar both to
Jews and Gentiles. We cannot too much guard our thoughts
and words on the whole subject of our reconciliation to God. It
is never by ourselves but by Christ Jesus, never by our sufferings
or merits, but always by the sacrifice and death of Jesus Christ
that we are represented as obtaining reconciliation.
26. There is a difference between saints and sinners. They are
not alike. They do not fare alike. What sinner has such a char-
216 EPISTLE [Ch. V., vs. i, ii,
acter as is described in vs. 1-5 ? Who that is living without
Christ has such privileges as are described in vs. i-i i ? Stuart :
" To rejoice in God as our God, expresses the consummation of
all the Christian's happiness." Well does Luther say : " Although
I am a sinner by the law, and under condemnation of the law, yet
I despair not, I die not, because Christ liveth, who is both my
righteousness and my everlasting life. In that righteousness and
life I have no sin, no fear, no sting of conscience, no care of death,
I am, indeed a sinner, as touching this present life, and the right-
eousness thereof, as the child of Adam ; where the law accuses
me, death reigns over me, and at length would devour me. But
I have another righteousness and life above this life, which is
Christ, the Son of God, who knoweth no sin, nor death, but right-
eousness and life eternal ; by whom this, my body, being dead,
and brought into dust, shall be raised up again, and delivered
from the bondage of the law, and sin, and shall be sanctified to-
gether with the spirit." Who may joy in God, if such a man
may not ?
27. The instruction given in these verses i-u, is rich and full.
In them we have our attention turned to the three persons of the
Godhead, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, as united in the ac-
complishment of human salvation. We have a catalogue, not
perfect, indeed, yet quite comprehensive, of the benefits enjoyed
by believers, through the great scheme of redemption. What-
ever else is wanted is found in the covenant. Sometimes particu-
lars are stated, going down to bread and water, yea even to the
hairs of our heads. Nothing is omitted, which faith and love and
hope need to sustain and encourage them. Tribulations are indeed
the lot of God's people : but " the pain of them will soon be over ;
the happy consequences of them will be as lasting as our immortal
souls." Justification is neither sanctification, nor glorification,
yet "in it there is a real relative change of the man's state before
God, so that in a moral and law sense he goeth for another man
than he was formerly, and that even in God's account."
28. Christianity is true, and one proof of its divine origin is
the fact that it comes to men loaded with unspeakable blessings,
blessings such as no system of error has ever conveyed to mor-
tals. See the list in vs. i-ii. The true and infinitely wise and
good God, and he alone could devise a scheme at once so perfect,
so honorable to its author, and at the same time conveying such
blessings to poor, lost, ignorant, guilty and depraved man.
CHAPTER Y.
VERSES 12-21.
OUR JUSTIFICATION IN CHRIST ILLUSTRATED BY
OUR FALL IN ADAM. THE DIFFERENCE BE-
TWEEN THESE OUR REPRESENTATIVES. THE
RICHES OF GOD'S GRACE.
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned :
13 (For until the law sin was in the world : but sin is not imputed when there
is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had
not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him
that was to come.
15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift : for if through the offence
of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which
is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift : for the judgment was
by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which
receive abundance of grace and of the gift- of righteousness shall reign in life by one,
Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came, upon all men to con-
demnation ; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men
unto justification of life,
1 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin
abounded, grace did much more abound :
2 1 That as sin hath reigndd unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
_ ESPECTING this portion of God's word a few preliminary
JL\> remarks are submitted.
i. It is instructive to see different classes of commentators ap-
proach this passage. Those, who entertain Pelagian or Semi-
Pelagian views, or are unsound or doubtful on the great doctrines
(217)
2i8 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., vs. 12-19.
of Original Sin, the Nature of Sin, the Work of Christ, or Justi-
fication, seem to look upon verses 12-19 with alarm, if not dread.
John Taylor of Norwich among moderns took the lead in this
course. He has been followed, more or less closely, by a multi-
tude, whose preliminary remarks on the passage commonly notify
you of what is coming. Frequently they early announce that
they have had great labor on the passage, and have found it full
of difficulty. Stuart says : " That this is one of the most difficult
passages in all the New Testament, will be conceded, I believe,
by all sober and reflecting critics. As I have before remarked,
I have bestowed repeated and long-continued efforts upon the
study of it. I do not say this, however, as affording in itself even
a presumptive proof that I have at last attained to a right un-
derstanding of it ; but only to shew that I have felt, and in some
measure rightly estimated, the difficulties attendant upon the
nature of an undertaking to explain it, and have not neglected
any efforts within my power to overcome them." Similar remarks
might easily be cited from other writers of the same class.
That there are unsearchable riches and unfathomable depths
of love and wisdom and knowledge in this and in many other
poz'tions of God's word is readily conceded by all good men.
Paul himself in this epistle and elsewhere frankly and adoringly
admits all this, Rom. 11 : 33-36; Eph. 3 : 17-21.
That those, who oppose the sound view, have often shown
great ingenuity, if not perversity, in making" objections of various
kinds, philological, philosophical, and rationalistic, and thus suc-
ceeded in perplexing some of the unlearned is also admitted. In
some cases these views have been carried so far as to subvert the
gospel. It is of the nature of all religious error to eat as doth a
canker.
Sound expositors, to defend the truths here taught, have often
laid out much strength in showing the mistakes of errorists, and
in vindicating the old orthodox interpretation. They admit the
passage has been so perverted as to require a lucid exposition of
its leading ideas, and an exposure of the glosses of errorists, who,
while complaining of the theories of others, present their own
conceits, and would have us follow them. But it is not true that
the great body of sound divines have found this portion of God's
word perplexing and hard to be understood. That this is a cor-
rect statement it would be easy to show in many ways. They
come to it as to any other part of scripture. They take the terms
and phrases in their connection and in their obvious sense, and
they rest on the divine word as conclusive. One opens the
volumes written by the fathers in the church for the last fifteen or
Ch. V., vs. 12-19.] THE ROMANS. 219
sixteen hundred years, and he finds them from the days of Chry-
sostom down handling this scripture with great love and reverence,
but never seeming to think the apostle was obscure, or that this
passage was very difficult, or calculated to perplex rather than
edify plain godly people.
The elder President Edwards has borne a noble testimony on
these matters : " Now I think this care and exactness of the
Apostle no where appears more than in the place we are upon.
[Rom. 5 : 12-19.] Nay I scarcely know another instance equal to
this, of the apostle's care to be well understood, by being very
particular, explicit, and precise, setting the matter forth in every
light, going over and over again with his doctrine, clearly to
exhibit, and fully to settle and determine the thing at which he
aims."
Again : " No wonder, when the apostle is treating so fully and
largely of our restoration, righteousness, and life by Christ, that
he is led by it to consider our fall, sin, death, and ruin by Adam ;
and to observe wherein these two opposite heads of mankind
agree, and wherein they differ, in the manner of conveyance of
opposite influences and communications from each.
" Thus, if the place be understood, as it used to be understood
by orthodox divines, the whole stands in a natural, easy, and clear
connection with the preceding part of the chapter, and all the
former part of the epistle ; and in a plain agreement with all the
apostle had been saying ; and also in connection with the words
last before spoken, as introduced by the two immediately preced-
ing verses, where he is speaking of our justification, reconcilia-
tion, and salvation by Christ ; which leads the apostle directly to
observe, how, on the contrary, we have sin and death by Adam.
Taking this discourse of the apostle in its true and plain sense,
there is no need of great extent of learning, or depth of criticism
to find out the connection ; but if it be understood in Dr. Taylor's
sense, the plain scope and connection are wholly lost, and there
was truly need of a skill in criticism, and the art of discerning,
beyond or at least different from that of former divines, and a
faculty of seeing what other men's sight could not reach, in order
to find out the connection." Works, Vol. 2, pp. 499-502. Similar
remarks are made by Guyse and others.
2. On the object and interpretation of this portion of scripture
sound divines have been remarkably agreed. It would be easy to
fill pages with extracts from the best writers of the last fifteen
hundred years in proof of this assertion.. There is a general agree-
ment that this part of the epistle is written in confirmation and
elucidation of what the apostle had already taught respecting
220 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., vs. 12-19.
man's justification by the imputed righteousness of Christ. There
is no notice of any change of topic. All that is said admits of a
satisfactory explanation on this view of the case. Perhaps not a
single writer, who denies this to be the design and bearing of
these verses, escapes either mistake or confusion, while not a few
are led into strange contradictions, or dangerous errors.
3. Although this is the design of the passage, the method of
carrying it out is quite different from anything yet presented in
this epistle. The illustration of our recovery in Christ is borrowed
from the fact and manner of our ruin in Adam. Paul's object is
not to discuss and explain original sin, but by original sin to ex-
plain the method of justification. In doing this he does in a most
instructive and satisfactory manner explain to us the entrance of
sin, and our relations to the father of the human race. Indeed no
equal portion of scripture easts such light on the introduction of
evil, as it involves the human race. All this is the more satisfac-
tory because the apostle does not attempt to prove anything
respecting original sin. He either takes it for granted that his
positions on that subject will be admitted by all, or he intends by
the authority of God's Spirit to make known to us the leading
truths respecting original sin, and that for the purpose of letting
us see more clearly the manner and the glory of our recovery in
Christ. And all this comes in most naturally. He had delivered
a great argument evincing these truths, that mankind, Jews and
Gentiles, were sinners ; that their justification by the deeds of the
law was out of the question ; that the gospel scheme had in it a
righteousness commensurate to the demands of the law ; that this
righteousness was wrought out and brought in by Jesus Christ ;
that we become interested in that "righteousness when God im-
putes it to us, and we receive it by faith ; that there is no other
method of justification for any mere man ; that Abraham himself
was justified by faith ; and that the writings of Moses settled that
fact beyond all doubt. He then in the early part of this chapter
dwells briefly on the benefits of this justification, and on the great-
ness of the love and humiliation by which our justification and re-
conciliation were effected. Having in chapter IV. disposed of the
truth respecting Abraham, the father of believers, he now goes
back to Adam, the father of the human race, and borrows an illus-
tration of his argument and principles from him. As he had said
Abraham was a pattern of all believers, so he now says Adam was
a figure, literally a type, of our Saviour.
4. If these things are so, then there is a clear and definite object
before the mind of the apostle, and all that is said is harmonious
with what has gone before, and is as easily understood as any other
Ch. V.,'v. 12.] THE ROMANS, 221
part of the epistle, the terms being- simple, and the connection ob-
vious. But Stuart says, " The main design of this passage is ... to
exalt our views respecting the blessings which Christ has pro-
cured for vis by a comparison of them with the evil consequences,
which ensued upon the fall of our first ancestor, and by shewing
that the blessings in question not only extend to the removal of
these evils, but even far beyond this ; so that the grace of the gos-
pel has not only abounded, but super abounded'' But what is said
of super abounding grace is a remark very just indeed but wholly
by the way, is no part of the main argument, yet grows out of the
illustration used. No wonder this writer should find himself sadly
perplexed and embarrassed at every step of his exposition when
he misapprehends the scope of the passage. The same may be
said of others, who have alike mistaken the design of the apostle.
All these things show the justice of what is said by the elder Pre-
sident Edwards : " It is really no less than abtising the scripture
and its readers to represent this paragraph as the most obscure of
all the places of scripture, that speak of the consequences of Adam's
sin ; and to treat it as if there was need first to consider other
places as more plain. Whereas it is most manifestly a place in
which these things are declared, the most plainly, particularly,
precisely, and of set purpose, by that great apostle, who has most
fully explained to us those doctrines in general, which relate to the
redemption by Christ, and the sin and misery we are redeemed
from." Works, Vol. 2, p. 511. These things being so, let us con-
sider these verses in detail.
12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death
by sin ; and so death passed tipon all men, for that all ha-ve sinned.
Peshito: As by means of one man, sin entered into the world,
and, by means of sin, death ; and so death passed upon all the sons
of men, inasmuch as they all have sinned. The old English ver-
sions are very much the same as the authorized translation. The
verse may be fairly thus paraphrased : Having largely explained
to you the lost and guilty state of mankind, and shewn that they
are involved in universal ruin ; and having stated the method of
recovery by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, in which we be-
come interested by the imputation of God when we believe, I am
led to notice a resemblance between the method of our ruin and of
our recovery. Our justification is not by many, but by one man, the
man Christ Jesus, even as our condemnation was not by many but
by one man. Condemnation was followed by death, and among ra-
tional and accountable creatures, death is by sin. That is a first
principle in this matter so plain that I shall not argue it, but take
it for granted. This dreadful curse and condemnation came, not
222 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., v. 12.
only on the first transgressor of the covenant of works, but on all
his posterity ; for he was their representative, and his first sin, his
one offence had such an effect that death passed upon all men ; for by
the fall of Adam all became sinners, and so were liable to the curse
of God, expressed in the word death, and manifested in the mise-
ries of men here and hereafter, especially in this life in the disso-
lution of the body, then in separation of the soul from God, and
finally in the liability of both soul and body to the pains of hell
forever.
The first word wherefore marks the connection with the whole
of the foregoing argument, more especially as summarily stated in
vs. 9, 10, ii. In Rom. 4 : 13 we have precisely the same words
rendered Therefore. If they are illative there, why are they not
illative here ? This is by far the more common rendering, and
there are many instances of this use in the New Testament be-
ginning with the sermon on the mount, running through all the
Gospels, Acts, etc. down to Revelation. It shows the great straits,
into which some are brought that this wherefore should be so
troublesome to them, and they set about with much zeal to show
that it means something else. Stuart makes a great effort to prove
that it does not mean here what it iisually means. He shows very
clearly that he is perplexed, and says others have been, yet he has
the candor to state that Tholuck and Flatt give their suffrage in
favor of the common view, which makes it illative. But Stuart
labors to show that it neither notes a deduction nor is it a formula
of transition. But these perplexities would never have arisen, if
the plain obvious teaching of these few verses had not been con-
trary to favorite theories. We are at no loss to know who is the
one man mentioned in this verse. The history of the race points
to the father of all mankind. A single person is spoken of here and
in verses 14-19. This language excludes Eve, not from the sin of
eating the forbidden fruit, nor from being a tempter to her husband,
nor from suffering the displeasure of God, but from being the fed-
eral head of the human family. Eve was not a public person.
Had she alone sinned, she alone would have suffered. Scott:
" Adam was the federal head, surety and representative of all his
posterity ; nor did sin enter, save to the personal condemnation of
Eve, till he also ate the forbidden fruit." Adam and Eve were in-
deed " one flesh; " yet no more so than are every lawfully married
man and woman. But they were not one person. They had not
the same consciousness. There was a time when Adam existed
and Eve did not exist. There was a time when Eve was a sinner
and Adam was holy. Nor is there in scripture the least hint that
Eve was a public person, a federal head, a representative of any.
Ch. V., v. 12.] THE ROMANS. 223
In these eight verses our ruin is twice distinctly said to have come
on us by Adam; three times by one man, and four times by one,
meaning either one person or one act.
By this one man sin entered. Sin, the word usually so ren-
dered. All unrighteousness is sin. All want of righteousness is
sin. All transgression of law is sin. All want of conformity to
law is sin. Men may sin by defect or by excess, by not coming
up to the law or by overleaping its prohibitions, by omission of
duty, or by commission of deeds of iniquity. We sin when we
fail to love, serve and obey God, or when we love, serve and obey
any thing in the place of God. Sometimes the word sin denotes
a state of sinfulness ; sometimes, a principle of wickedness ; some-
times, a wicked influence having the mastery over us : but in all
cases it involves the idea of guiltiness, or righteous liability to
God's displeasure. Sometimes this is the prominent thought. So
far do the scriptures carry this idea that they have the same word
for sin and sin-offering. Sometimes sin is personified, but that
does not dismiss either the idea of wickedness or of exposure to
wrath. Even when one of these ideas is prominent, the other still
inheres, either as a basis or an accompaniment. Often the prom-
inent idea suggested by the word is the guilt of sin, its power to
subject us to wrath, liability to punishment. So when we read of
the remission of sins, or the forgiveness of sins, it is the guilt of
sin that is meant. The pollution or stain of sin is removed by
sanctification, not by remission. Pardon excludes punishment.
It does not render unnecessary the purification of the heart. That
must still go on. When it is said "Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many," Heb. 9 : 28, it is blasphemy to say that he
bore the pollution, the stain of sin, while it is glorious doctrine to
say that he bore the guilt of our sins, the punishment due to us for
sin, our legal liability to righteous indignation. So when it is
said " he hath made him to be sin for us," it cannot mean that
Christ was stained or polluted with sin, for it is immediately
added that he " knew no sin." The meaning is that he bore the
guilt of sin, the curse of the broken law, in our room and stead,
though personally innocent and holy. Sin entered into. No word
in Scripture has a meaning less variant. It is always rendered as
here, or came into, or went into, but always retains the idea of
entrance. " Enter into thy closet," " enter ye in at the strait
gate," "enter into life," "entered into the swine," "entered into
rest" are samples of its use. Sin entered into the world, the
same word as in Rom. 4 : 13, on which see comment. It includes
all the inhabitants of the earth, Jews and Gentiles.
What then is the meaning of the whole clause: "By one
224 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., v. 12.
man sin entered into the world? " Some say it simply teaches that
Adam was the first sinner in this world. But this is not true.
" Adam was first formed, then Eve." But Eve first sinned, then
Adam. So all the accounts agree in teaching. Adam was not
the first sinner. He did not commit the first sin. He did not
set the first example of disobedience. The woman did that.
The clause says : " By one man sin entered into the world."
Some teach that simply as progenitor of the race, under that
law of nature, that like begets like, Adam becoming a sinner intro-
duced depravity into the world. No doubt like begets like.
No doubt our depravity is native, and that all Adam's descend-
ants have naturally sinful affections, corrupt natures derived
from him as their root. But in the same sense men derive
their sinful nature from Eve, as she was the mother of all liv-
ing. And " who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? "
.When David speaks of his hereditary depravity, he does not
even mention his father, though doubtless he was included in
his thoughts : " Behold I was shapen in iniquity ; and in sin did
my mother conceive me," Ps. 5 1 : 5- By one man sin entered cer-
tainly means more than that Adam set us a bad example. Every
man, who has ever done a known wrong, has set a bad example.
And the phrase certainly means more than that Adam's descend-
ants inherit from him a fallen nature ; for they inherit it no less
from their immediate ancestry, as David confesses. This whole
clause is explained in this very chapter by such phrases as these :
" Through the offence of one many be dead ;" " The judgment
was by one to condemnation ;" " By one man's offence death
reigned by one ;" " By the offence of one judgment came upon
all men to condemnation ;" " By one man's disobedience many
were made sinners." The true interpretation of these phrases is
clearly indicated by the language respecting the second Adam
who produced effects directly opposite : " The gift by grace, which
is by one man, Jesus Christ ;" " They which receive abundance of
grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one,
Jesus Christ ;" " By the righteousness of one the free gift came
upon all men unto justification of life ;" " By the obedience of one
shall many be made righteous." None but the loosest thinkers
will say that all, which these latter passages teach, is that by his
example Jesus Christ taught us the way of righteousness ; or how
to secure the gift of righteousness ; or that his example and doc-
trine an'd sufferings are suited to win us to righteousness. Yet
these phrases respecting Christ are in complete antithesis to those
respecting Adam. Whatever is meant by one class is just the
opposite of what is meant by the other. Jesus Christ saves us as
Ch. V., v. 12.] THE ROMANS. 225
Adam ruined us. Jesus Christ brings us into a state of justifica-
tion, as Adam brought us into a state of condemnation. By the
latter we have eternal life as a free gift, yea, and abundance of
grace, as by the former we received judgment unto condemnation.
If ever any eight verses of scripture clearly interpreted themselves,
these verses do that very thing. And death [entered] by sin. The
Scriptures are entirely uniform and harmonious in accounting for
the entrance of death into the world : " In the day thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die ;" " The soul that sinneth, it shall
die ;" " The wages of sin is death ;" " Sin, when it is finished,
bringeth forth death," Gen. 2:17; Ezek. 18:4; Rom. 6:23;
James i : 15. But what is the meaning of death in this passage?
Below we have these phrases " death reigned," " many be dead,"
"judgment was by one to condemnation," -''judgment came upon
all men to condemnation," vs. 14-18. Death is the opposite of
life. There is a natural life, and there is a natural death. In Scrip-
ture the word death often means simply that change effected by
the separation of soul and body, John 11:13; Rom. 8 : 38 ; Phil,
i .-20; Heb. 7 : 23. All, who treat the word of God with rever-
ence, admit that death in this passage includes natural death, or,
as it is often called, temporal death. Some indeed contend that
no other evil under the name of death is here meant. But this
cannot be so. Even if the word never had in itself another dis-
tinct meaning, yet we ask what is this awful event? As to the
body, 'it is corruption and dissolution. It is the extinction of ani-
mal life. It is the destruction of our material organism. This is
its effect on the body. But what is the effect of death on the
soul ? There is an impression very common among thinking peo-
ple, and particularly among devout students of God's word, that
when the dust returns to the earth as it was, the spirit returns
unto God who gave it ; and that the immediate consequences of
temporal death are of the most solemn and momentous charac-
ter, either for bliss or for woe. Besides, if the death of the body,
or the loss of natural life exhausts the penalty of transgression,
.from what did Christ redeem us? It is admitted that but two
men of former generations ever escaped natural death ; and that
since Christ left the world not one of his followers has been exempt
from temporal death. What then has Christ done for his people ?
Their bodies go into the grave as do also those of other men.
From what then did Christ save them ? Nor can we reconcile
this view of the term death with the language of other verses in
this connection. To reign in life by one, Jeszis Christ (v. 17) surely
is not escaping temporal death, and yet it is the opposite of
death reigning. The justification of life (v. rS) is certainly not ex-
226 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., v. 12.
emption from temporal death, and yet it is the opposite of judg-
ment coming unto condemnation. Many being made righteous (v. 19)
is the opposite of many being made sinners, and yet we must be-
lieve that all Christ did for his people was nothing worth naming,
if he merely lived and died to save them from a temporal death,
from which after all he did not save them, for like other men they
die. This has led some to take the ground that all Christ did was
to secure a suspension of the execution of the sentence of death
until men should have time to repent and turn to God a respite
of a few months or years, But this is manifestly trifling with the
clearest teachings of Scripture. " God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him
might not perish, but have everlasting life," John 3 : 16. In scrip-
ture death is used as a term to denote all the penal consequences
of sin whatever they may be. The death of the body under the
displeasure of God is still a part of that penalty. All the pains
and woes that lead to such a death are a part of that penalty.
The life Adam led before his fall was joyous, exultant, bright and
brightening. The life men lead in a state of alienation from God
is sad, dark and full of evil forebodings. Before his fall Adam
had delightful fellowship with God. By his disobedience he lost
communion with God. The Holy Ghost no longer made a temple
of his person. All the miseries, the unblest sorrows, of life are
the fruit of transgressing the law, whose penalty is death. A
soul forsaken by God is a poor, withered, shrivelled thing, " dead
in trespasses and sins," however vigorous natural life may b6, and
however great may be one's apparent success in schemes of earthly
enjoyment or aggrandizement. Then there is a life beyond this
world. It is often mentioned by Christ and Paul, also by Peter,
John and Jude. It is often spoken of simply as life, Matt, 7 : 14 ;
1 8 : 8, 9 ; Rom. 8 : 6 ; i John 5:12; as eternal life, Matt. 25 : 46 ;
Mark 10:17; Acts 13:48; I Tim. 6:19; I John 5:20; also as
everlasting life, Matt. 19 : 29 ; John 3:16; Acts 13 : 46; Rom. 6 : 22.
This same life was often promised in the Old Testament, Deut.
30: 15, 19; Pr. 12:28. The opposite of this life is death, several
times called the second death, John 8:51, 52; Rom. i : 32 ; 6 : 21 ;
7:5; 2 Tim. i : 10; Heb. 2:14; Jas. 5:20; Rev. 2:11; 20:6;
21 : 8. This death is as enduring as the life to which it is opposed.
It is everlasting, Dan. 12 : 2; Matt. 25 : 46. It is by Christ himself
called everlasting punishment. This is the death, which the Lord
Christ says the righteous shall never die, John 6 : 50 ; 8:51; 1 1 : 26.
This everlasting punishment, this second death, that has no end,
results from the sin of man in opposing the wise and holy will of
God. It is the chief penalty for sinning against God. It is indeed
Ch. V., v. 12.] THE ROMANS. 227
dreadful, but not too dreadful. The law of God, of which it is
the sanction, is holy, just, good, grand and awful. Dreadful as is
the penalty, it is not found sufficient to deter many from very bold
sinning. When .man endures the penalty of the broken law in his
own person, it is eternal, because God has made man immortal ; be-
cause it inheres in man that once lost he cannot by his own strength
or merit recover himself; because, when in a Christian land he dies
in his sins, he has proven himself incorrigible, having persistently
rejected the strength and righteousness offered him ; and because
going into the eternal world will not terminate his accountability
for his moral conduct there. Well may we therefore understand
why death should be so uniformly, at least so frequently spoken
of in God's word as a very great, an exceedingly terrible evil,
and be associated as it several times is in Revelation even with
hell itself.
In Scripture death is a name often given to capital punishment
inflicted as a penalty. Of this many instances are found, see Matt.
26: 66; Mark 14 ; 64; Luke 23 : 15 ; Acts 23 : 29 and many other
places. That is, the extreme penalty of human law is expressed
by the term death, which includes the pain and the ignominy of
such a punishment, as well as the extinction of natural life. So in
the word of God death is a name for penal suffering, whatever may
be its form, or however lasting may be its duration. Therefore,
Avhen it is said death entered by.sin the meaning is that penal suffer-
ing came into the world by sin. God's law denounces no one
kind of sufferingj as exclusively penal. It places our race under
the curse of the law, as Paul calls it in Gal. 3113; but in what pre-
cise way and to what precise extent that curse shall come on any
one man is reserved for his own decision by the Judge of all the
earth, who is too wise to make mistakes, too holy to be unjust, too
good to practise any cruelty, too pure to look on evil, too upright
to clear the guilty, and too mighty to be resisted. Paul has
proven that before grace comes men are universally given up to
work wickedness and to be tormented with wretchedness. See
the former part of this epistle. If sin defiles all his works, destruc-
tion and misery are necessarily in his ways : for he has done things
worthy of death. The curse has come upon our entire race, or
as our verse has it, And so death passed upon all men. A good deal
has been said about the connecting words and so. Nor are they
without significance. The Greek for so is also rendered thus, even
so, likewise, on this wise, after this manner. All these renderings in
this connection would direct attention to the entrance of sin and
death on all men by the act of one man. It looks like levity in
men to say that all Paul teaches is that as Adam sinned and died,
228 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., v. 12.
so all men sin and die. Surely our apostle is not uttering in this
place that proposition. The use of the word in this connection
naturally points to the manner of death passing on all men by the
sin of one man. Even those most opposed 'to this interpretation
admit that the and so is capable of this interpretation. Passed upon,
some prefer reading passed over to all men, or passed through to
all men. Both of these renderings of the verb are common. Ei-
ther of them gives a good sense. Neither of them need mislead
any one. Death has passed over the human race so as a wave or
a tide passes over objects. It also has passed through the world,
laying claim to all men as its victims. For that all have sinned.
For that, literally in whom. This is the rendering of the Vulgate,
Chrysostom, Beza, Piscator, Doway, Dutch Annotations, Assem-
bly's Annotations, Evans, Gill, Guyse, Pool and Scott. Wiclif
has in whiche man. This is a fair rendering, as every scholar must
see on examining the original. Following it makes the sense ra-
ther more obvious to the common mind. But the sound inter-
pretation is fairly reached, if we follow the common version. The
meaning is well expressed by Guyse : " In Adam they all sinned,
as in their public head and representative, in whose loins they like-
wise were ; in so much that they, on this account, are by legal
estimation deemed sinners in him, his offence being imputed, and
punished in them." Hawker uses like language : " By the sin of
the first Adam the whole race were, equally involved in the guilt
and punishment due to original corruption, although they had no
hand in actual transgression." Haldane : " The meaning is that
death passed upon all men because all are sinners . . . All have
really sinned, though not in their own persons ... In the guilt of
Adam's sin, as well as in its consequences, they became partakers."
Hodge: "By one man all men became sinners, and hence death
passed upon all men, throiigh that one man, in whom all sinned . . .
By- one man all men became sinners, and were exposed to death,
and thus death passed on all men, since all were regarded as sin-
ners on his account." The above statements fairly represent the
true doctrine so long held in the Christian world.
That there is nothing forced in explaining the terms and clauses
of this verse so as to draw out the meaning- given above might be
shown by many considerations. I. The whole verse is to be ex-
plained in consistency with the fact, established by the context
and by the terms employed, that Paul is expounding and illustrat-
ing justification and not sanctification. If this is so, then the point
of all he says relates to condemnation, not to corruption of nature
by Adam, as some maintain. Such an interpretation would quite
destroy the apostle's reasoning, and make him speak thus : As
Ch. V., v. 12.] THE ROMANS. 229
Adam introduced corruption, so Christ introduces purity. And
this is directly opposed to his own language : " Judgment was by
one to condemnation ; " " Judgment came upon all men to con-
demnation." It is certainly true that we derive our sinful nature
from Adam, and it is no less true that Christ is made unto us
sanctification ; but clearly those are not the truths here presented.
2. Edwards, Knapp and others have abundantly shown that the
doctrine of the apostle in these verses respecting our condemna-
tion in Adam was for ages the received doctrine of the Jews. So
that the apostle was teaching no startling truth, was broaching no
new doctrine when he said that our ruin came by one act of one
man. This very fact may account for the manner in which he
manages the argument. He finds in the accepted theology of his
day a sound principle, a great fact relied on and not disputed.
Under the guidance of God's Spirit he knows it is true. It well
suits his purpose. He reproduces it to enable him the better to
explain his great theme, justification by Christ's righteousness.
Thus explained the whole is pointed and pertinent. Every clause
tells. The whole is lucid and irrefragable. But on any other
method of interpretation we have nothing but perplexity. This is
so whether we consider the eight verses as a whole, or the various
clauses by themselves. Yea, even the connecting particles, though
of frequent occurrence, give much trouble, and require pages to
explain them away, and at last some impotent conclusion is reached,
such as this : As Adam sinned and died, so all men sin and die a
conclusion, which Pelagius himself not only did not deny, but
fully accepted. He admitted that death was by sin, but maintained
that sin was by " imitation." He said, " The si of Adam has not
injured those not sinning."
3. Beyond dispute, if the apostle would have us regard him as
teaching the doctrine as stated above, he has used the appropriate
terms and phrases ; so that his language seems to teach it. Thus
the great body of the Christian world have long understood him
as teaching. Can it be that the people of God have so generally
misapprehended the mind of the Spirit? Is it possible that none
but Pelagians and their followers have rightly understood the
apostle, although he has stated his points so clearly and so vari-
ously ?
In this verse the word as remains to be noticed. Its considera-
tion has been intentionally deferred to the last, that we may more
easily understand some remarks concerning it. It is generally
agreed that as introduces a comparison, the first member, or pro-
position of which is in these words, as by one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin. Where is the second part of the com-
230 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., v. 13.
parison the application? Some insist that it is found in this
verse itself; but where is it? If Paul is not comparing Adam and
his posterity, the second member of the comparison is not in this
verse, unless we adopt opinions now generally discarded. One is
that we should read the verse thus : As by one man sin entered
into the world, so death entered by sin. The other mode of read-
ing suggested by some is this : Wherefore as by one man we have
received the atonement, so by one man sin entered the world.
The objection to each of these is that it takes too great liberties
with the text. Neither of them has now any respectable defender.
Even Macknight says that neither the apostle's argument nor the
original will admit of the first. This remark is as true of the
second. We need not therefore spend time upon them. Doubt-
less the correct way of explaining the comparison is reached by
making verses 13-17 parenthetical, and finding the comparison
renewed and finished in verses 18, 19. The sense requires this.
We have it so in the authorized version. Calvin, Ferme, Grotius,
Wetstein, Flatt, Hodge and others admit that there is a parenthesis.
Stuart : " With the majority of interpreters, therefore, I hesitate
not to regard verses 13-17 as substantially a parenthesis. . . In
this manner, and only in this can I find the real antithesis or com-
parison to be fully made out, which the apostle designs to make."
The note of Conybeare & Howson, in which there is an attempt
to shew that Matt. 25 : 14 is like this, and that in neither case is
any answering so found, is very inconclusive and unsatisfactory.
If the reader will revert to the paraphrase given early in the
comment on this verse and read it again, it will give him a sum-
mary of the results reached. Having in elucidation of our justi-
fication in Christ stated the fact of our condemnation by the sin of
Adam, the apostle proceeds in parenthesis to explain and confirm
some matters, which naturally suggest themselves :
13. (For until the law sin was in the world : but sin is not imputed
when there is no law. The rendering of Peshito quite destroys the
sense : For until the law, sin, although it was in the world, was
not accounted sin, because there was no law. One can hardly
conceive of a rendering more utterly subversive of the words and
the sense of the passage. The same may be said of the Arabic
version, which is very much the same. For clearly connects this
with v. 12. That contained a statement of a truth. This and
v. 14 contain the proofs. Until the law. The chief difficulty in
the mind of the English reader arises from the word ^tntil, else-
where rendered unto, even to. The meaning is that from the fall
of Adam even to the giving of the law we find just such proofs of
the existence of sin as we find in later periods of the world. Until
Ch. V.,v. 13.] THE ROMANS. 231
the law, therefore, points to the whole of that long period from the
fall of Adam to the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. In the
next verse the same idea is expressed by the words " from Adam
to Moses," designating a period of over twenty-five hundred years.
,Sin was in the world all that time. Men were regarded and
treated as sinners. It was during that period that two of the most
terrific judgments, of which we have any record, befell mankind.
One was the Noachic deluge, proofs of which are still abundant on
our earth. The other was the overthrow of the cities of the plain,
and forming on the plain that monument of God's wrath the Dead
Sea. These awful instances of the anger of heaven against the
human race as well as the miseries and death that reigned all that
time evince that beyond a doubt God even then regarded and
treated men as sinners. And he did this justly and truly, for they
were sinners. A constitution older than that of Sinai had been
broken. God's will had been disregarded in the covenant of works.
God had made man upright, but he sought out many inventions.
Some propose to read our clause thus : From the fall even to the
giving of the law on Sinai sin was imputed or counted in the world..
Macknight favors this paraphrase. This is not authorized ; nor
does it relieve any difficulty. But sin is not imputed where there is
no law. The fact that men were regarded and treated as sinners
is proof enough that some law had been broken. What law could
that be ? The true answer is, the law of Eden, " Of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it : for in the
day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." The violation
' of this law brought down th.e curse, and from that day, even the
law of nature written on the heart of man was constantly violated,
and to a fearful extent men committed such things as are worthy
of death, although they knew the judgment of God against them.
During all this time sin was imputed, not only the first sin of the first
man against the law of probation, but also the personal sins of all
men against the will of God made known by such faithful men as
Abel, Enoch and Noah, and especially as made known in the law
of God written on the heart. Never was there closer .reasoning
than that of Paul. In v. 12 he says death in the human family
proves the existence of sin. Here he says sin proves the existence
of law. One wonders when he finds Stuart following Bretschneider .
seriously and after long argument maintaining that the clause, sin
is not imputed ^vhen there is no /aw, means simply that men did not
regard sin as sin, did not esteem themselves sinners, during that
period. Tholuck well designates this as "another expedient of
rather a violent kind, which many have adopted for removing the
difficulties of this text." And it is a relief to find Stuart himself
232 EPISTLE TO Ch. V., v. 13,
full of misgivings about his own exposition. He says : " I admit
that a modified sense of the expression is to be regarded as the true
one, viz. it is not to be considered so absolute as to convey the
idea that no sense of sin existed among the heathen in any measure,
for this would contradict fact, and contradict what Paul says in,
chap. 2 : 14, 15." See Stuart on that place. Nor has this exposi-
tion any pertinency to the matter in hand. Paul is shewing how
men are justified in Christ. In doing tin's he refers to the manner
of their condemnation in Adam. That condemnation was mani-
fested by death reigning. Whether men during those twenty-five
hundred years in their own consciences excused or condemned
themselves we well know, but the fact in that matter has nothing
to do with Paul's argument. By God's judgment death reigned
over mankind and that proves beyond a doubt that some law had
existed before Moses, that its penalty death had been incurred, and
that thus sin had been imputed by God, for it was punished by his
judgment. It is pleasant to find Stuart successfully combatting
the idea of some Germans " that although the guilt of men, who
sinned against the law of nature, was not taken away absolutely,
yet their accountability for it was in a good measure superseded."
The texts relied on to prove this dangerous position were Acts
17 : 30; Rom. 3 : 26. But Stuart well says: "Both of these in-
stances, however, relate to deferring punishment, not to a. remission
of accountability ; compare 2 Pet. 3 : 8, 9. Such a remission of
punishment would directly contradict what Paul has fully and
strongly asserted, in Rom. 2 : 6-16."
This verse may well be paraphrased thus : I have stated that '
by the sin of Adam men were no -longer in. covenant with God but
were under the penalty of a broken law, as is proven by the reign of
death, by the horrors of men's consciences, by their just apprehen-
sion of wrath to come, by all the miseries they endure and by
death itself, all which things are not accidental, but penal, not mis-
fortunes but punishments for sin, and thus all men are proven to be
sinners. In elucidation and confirmation of this position I further
observe, that the penalty of death, whose existence was proven
by conscience, by human wretchedness and by temporal death,
establishes the fact that sin was in the world from the fall of Adam,
that the origin of sin therefore cannot be traced to the giving or
the breach of the law of Moses ; for the Lord is holy and just. He
sends not suffering on those who are rightly regarded as innocent.
Under his government men cannot suffer unless they are charged
with the guilt of sin. Nor does God charge men with guilt by a
mere arbitrary act of his own. Where the penalty is inflicted,
sin is charged ; and where sin is charged, some law (and all God's
Ch. V., v. 14.] THE ROMANS. 233*
laws are holy, just .and good) must have been broken. But all the
generations of men before the giving of the law on Sinai both suf-
fered and died. This proves that they were guilty in God's
account ; and that some law must have been broken. What that
law and its penalty were we learn in Gen. 2 : 17 a law given and
a curse pronounced very early in the history of the human race. .
It was Adam's breach of the covenant, his violation of the law of
his probation, that made all men sinners. Of this we may rest
assured for God never imputes sin where no law is violated.
After Adam no one ate of the forbidden fruit.
14. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over
them that had not sinned after the similitude of 'Adam 's transgression,
who is the figure of him that was to come. Nevertheless, the same
word is commonly rendered but, or yet, orhowbeit. Here we shall
best get the sense by reading Yet or And yet, for it is clearly the
continuation of his argument. He had said, " Sin is not imputed
where there is no law." He now adds, And yet death reigned
from Adam to Moses, i. e. death held sway in the history of the
world from Adam to Moses, and in God's treatment of man death
is by sin, and so it is a penalty, and where penal suffering is there
must be sin, and where sin is, there must be a law broken. Thus
far the verse reiterates in other words what was said in v. 13
" Until the law sin was in the world." The apostle now goes
further, and says that death reigned, even over them that had not
sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression. What was the
likeness of Adam's transgression ? His transgression was personal
and actual disobedience to God's will. Now who ever lived
between the fall of Adam and the time of Moses, that did not in
any case or in any degree personally or actually disobey God's
'will ? There is but one class of the human family who in that age
or any other suit this description, namely infants. Calvin gives
it a more extended application but adds : " Infants are at the
same time included in this number." Diodati : " Over them,
namely, over little children, who were not come to the age of
judgment, and consequently could* not be guilty of an actual, de-
liberate and voluntary sin, such a one as Adam's was." Cornelius
a Lapide : " You will object that where there is no law, there can
be no sin. As the men, however, in the interval between Adam
and Moses died, it is evident that they must necessarily have been
sinners. And in case you may perchance insinuate that this is
merely a proof of their actual sins, and not of original guilt, I ap-
peal to children, who though they had not offended against any
divine law, were also, during that period, subject to death."
Ferme : " Death reigned not only over those who sinned actually,
234 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., y. 14.
as did Adam, but even over those who could not sin in like manner,
on account of their age, as infants unconscious of the law." Guyse :
" Death with all its dreadful' and unknown attendants, exercised
a terrible and universal dominion, not only over grown persons,
that sinned actually, as Adam did, but even over infants them-
selves ; witness those of the old world, that perished in the deluge ;
and those that were cut off in the tremendous destruction of Sodom
and Gomorrah, as well as all the little children that were sick, con-
vulsed, tortured, and then died, in every generation, though none
of them could have committed any actual sin to deserve such pun-
ishment, as Adam had done." Evans: " Death reigned over those
that had not sinned any actual sin, never sinned in their own per-
sons as Adam did ; which is to be understood of infants, that were
never guilty of actual sin, and yet died, because Adam's sin was
imputed to them." The remarks of the judicious Thomas Scott
on these verses are guarded and must commend themselves to se-
rious Christians : " In proof of this our union with Adam [he had
said Adam was our federal head, surety and representative], and
our concern in his first transgression, which the proud heart of
man is prone to deny, or object to, even with blasphemous enmity,
it should be observed, that for two thousand five hundred years
before the giving of the law, sin prevailed in the world, and was
punished with death ; but sin cannot he imputed, where no law is,
of which it is a transgression. None of the immense multitudes,
who died between the fall of Adam and the promulgation of the
law, could personally violate the prohibition, to which the penalty
of death had been originally annexed ; yet they were included in
the sentence denounced against Adam, and after much toil and
suffering, ' returned to the dust whence they were taken.' And,
though adults might be thought to die for their personal violation*
of the law of tradition, or of their own reason and conscience ; yet,
during this long interval, an innumerable multitude had been sub-
jected to death, who had never broken any law ' after the similitude
of Adam's transgression ;' that is wilfully and deliberately. For
the number of infants, who had been cut off with great pain and
agony, previously to their commission of actual sin, had been im-
mensely great." Edwards : " I can see no reason, why that expla-
nation of this clause, which has been more commonly given, viz.
That by them vvho have not sinned after the similitude of Adams trans-
gression, are meant infants ; who though they have indeed sinned
. in Adam, yet never sinned as Adam did, by actually transgressing
in their own persons ; unlesss it be that this interpretation is too
old, and too common . . . We read of two ways of men being like
Adam, or in which a similitude is ascribed to men ; one is, being
Ch. V., v. 14.] THE ROMANS. 235
begotten or born in his image or likeness, Gen. 5 : 3. Another is
transgressing God's covenant or law, like him, Hos. 6 : 7. They
like Adam, (so in the Hebrew and Latin Vulgate) have transgressed
the covenant. Infants have the former similitude but not the latter."
pp. 506, 507. The same writer has a whole chapter (P. i. Ch. 2) to
prove that " Universal Mortality proves Original Sin, particularly
the Death of Infants, with its various Circumstances." And when
Taylor stated that death was sent as a benefit to make us moderate, to
mortify pride, &c., and not as a curse or penalty, Edwards asked : " Is '
it not strange that it should fall so heavily on infants, who are not
capable of making any such improvement of it ; so that many more
of mankind suffer death in infancy than in any other equal part
of the age of man ?" p. 398. " The apostle's main point evidently
is that sin and guilt, and just exposedness to death and ruin, come into
the world by Adam's sin ; as righteousness, justification and. a title to
eternal life come by Christ. Which point he confirms by this con-
sideration, that from the very time when Adam sinned, sin, guilt,
and desert of ruin became universal in the world, long before the
law given by Moses to the Jewish nation had any being." p. 503.
Are not these things clear ? Is not all this fair, logical, scriptural
reasoning ? Could it be more indubitably stated that it is not
men's relation to parents, to Moses, to Abraham or to any other
person but to Adam only, that determines "our native moral
state?"
In elucidation and establishment of his main position that
life, justification and righteousness come to us by Jesus Christ in a
manner resembling that whereby death, ruin and condemnation
came to us by Adam, the apostle in this same verse says of Adam
that he " was the figure of him that was to come" i. e. Christ. This
is another step in the same direction with what is found in several
preceding clauses. The word rendered figure is the , Greek, from
which we get our word type. It is elsewhere rendered pattern,
example, ensample. Our theological term type suits well here.
Now it may be asked, in the way of challenge, in what conceivable
sense was Adam a type, a pattern, an ensample, a figure of Christ,
unless he was so in this that he was a public person acting for oth-
ers, the federal or covenant head, the representative of his seed as
Christ was of his ? Calvin : " In saying that Adam bore a resem-
blance to Christ, there is nothing incongruous ; for some likeness
often appears in things wholly contrary. As then we are all lost
through Adam's sin, so we are restored through Christ's right-
eousness: hence he calls Adam not inaptly the type of Christ.
But observe, that Adam is not said to be the type of sin, nor
Christ the type of righteousness, as though they led the way only
236 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., v. 14.-
by their example, but that the one is contrasted with the other."
It makes one's heart sink into sadness to read in Stuart: "The
actual and principal point of similitude is that each individual re-
spectively, viz. Adam and Christ, was the cause or occasion, in
consequence of what he did, of greatly affecting the whole human
race ; although in an opposite way." His subsequent remarks
chime in with this. And has it come to this ? Are we all to con-
tinue in doubt whether Christ was the cause, or the occasion of sal-
1 vation ? From God's word many have been led to believe that
Jesus Christ was the " author of life," " the author of salvation,"
Acts 3:15; Heb. 5:9; that he had "made an end of sins, and
made reconciliation for iniquity, and brought in everlasting right-
eousness," Dan. 9 : 24; that he himself was "the way, the truth and
the life ;" John 14 : 6; that if there was such a thing known as an
efficient and a sufficient cause, Jesus Christ was such. But this
writer thinks he may have been only the occasion of good to men,
as Adam was the occasion of evil to his descendants. But no man
ever wrought mischief on a great scale like Adam. His sin com-
bined in it many things calculated to make it blameworthy and
destructive unbelief, belief of the devil, ingratitude, ambition,
wilfulness, deliberation, pride, discontent, luxuriousness, despera-
tion and the involving of all his posterity. For extent of influence
and vastness of results no man has ever wielded a millionth part of
the power for evil, wielded by Adam, or has ever wrought a
millionth part of the ruin and destruction effected by him. The
fruit, the legitimate fruit of his doings will be felt through all the
cycles of eternity.. For sweep of influence he never had but one
equal, and that was his antitype. . It was in his federal headship,
his representative character that Adam was a type of Christ.
Take this away, and he' is no more a type of Christ than any
other man among the patriarchs. Indeed this is the point, the
only point where the globe touches the plane.
Some object to this whole matter, that Adam in his simplicity
did not know that he was acting for his posterity. To this several
things should be said in reply, i. Men cannot prove that Adam
did not know that his acts would involve others. It is on their
part a mere conjecture, and may be sufficiently answered by a
counter conjecture. 2. Adam was not a child in understanding.
He had a mind full of vigor, fresh from the breath of God. He
conversed with God as a man with his friend. The inspiration of
the Almighty gave him understanding. He had already such in-
telligence that the Lord appointed him to name every beast of the
field, every fowl of the air and all cattle. Adam's simplicity, when
appointed by God our representative, consisted not in ignorance,
Ch. V., v. 14.] THE ROMANS. 237
or puerility, or imbecility, but in virtue and purity. 3. It is
doubtless true that Adam did not know all the bearings or any
considerable part of the effects of his actions on his posterity. It
is seldom if ever given to mortals to see the end from the be-
ginning of any matter. That is the prerogative of omniscience
alone. Nor is it necessary to the fairness of any probation that
he, who undergoes it, should be as God, knowing all things.
Indeed there often would be no test at all, if men knew what God
afterwards reveals. This was strikingly illustrated in Abraham's
offering of Isaac. Had that patriarch known what the precise
issue would be, there would have been no trial at all. 4. It is
enough for the guidance of any one rightly disposed under trial to
understand the preceptive will of God, whether he knows or does
not know all of the reasons for it, or all of the remote or imme-
diate bearings of obedience or of transgression. Thus Abraham
saw not how the promises were to be fulfilled, if Isaac were
sacrificed. But God's command was clear, and .God's power was
unlimited, and he believed God could raise him from the dead ;
and he did his duty. In the case of Adam the prohibitory pre-
cept was perfectly clear : " Of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil thou shalt not eat of it." Nothing could be clearer. 5.
The penalty was clearly annexed : " In the day thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die." The Hebrew is if possible still stronger.
Beyond a doubt Adam knew that a curse, the curse of God,
would follow disobedience. If he did not know all that was
included in death, neither does any living man know all- that is
now meant by death, temporal or eternal. Yet who will say the
sinner has not fair warning, when Jehovah says, " The soul that
sinneth it shall die?" 6. The first three chapters of Genesis
make it highly probable that Adam well understood that the
welfare or misery of his posterity was involved in the course he
should pursue. When Taylor said, " Observe here is not one
word relating to Adam's posterity ; " Edwards replied : " But it
may be observed in opposition to this, that there is scarcely one
word that we have an account of, which God ever said to Adam
or Eve, but what does manifestly include their posterity in the
meaning and design of it. There is as much of a word said about
Adam's posterity in that threatening \Thou shalt surely die], as
there is in those words of God to Adam and Eve, Gen. I : 28, Be
fruitful, andimdtiply, and replenish the earth and s^tbd^^e it ; and as
much in events, to lead us to suppose Adam's posterity to be in-
cluded. There is as much of a word of his posterity in that
threatening as in those words, Gen.'i : 29, Behold I have given you
every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and
238 EPIS TLE TO [Ch. V., v. 14.
every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed : to you it
shall be for meat. Even when God was about to make man, what
he said on that occasion had not respect to Adam only, but to his
posterity, Gen. I : 26 : Let us make man in our image, and let them
have dominion -over the fish of the sea, &c. And, what is more re-
markable, there is as much of a word said about Adam's pos-
terity in the threatening of death, as there is in that sentence,
(Gen. 3 : 19,) Unto dust thou shalt rettirn" pp. 424, 425. Is there
a serious student of scripture, who doubts that this sentence exactly
corresponds to the threatening, or that Adam knew that his de-
scendants were included in the sentence ? I know not of any.
Why then should we doubt that he knew his posterity were
included in the threatening ?
When it has been stated that Adam was the representative of
his posterity, some wits, with a glibness bordering on profanity,
have given currency to the remark : " Adam was riot my repre-
sentative I never voted for him." No doubt those, who speak
thus, think they give some proof of cleverness. But such a re-
mark has no manner of pertinency to the business in hand, for this
reason : God's government over the world is not a democracy,
nor a representative republic, nor an oligarchy, nor a limited
monarchy. It is a government of one infinitely holy, just, good
and omnipotent Sovereign, who has not a cabinet council, nor any
advisers, nor any checks upon his plans outside of his own ineffa-
ble and glorious nature, Isa. 40 : 13, 14 ; 46: 10 ; Jer. 32 : 19 ; Acts
5 : 38, 39 ; Rom. n : 34 ; Eph. i : 11 ; Heb. 6:17. Jehovah kills,
and he makes alive ; he wounds, and he heals ; he sets up on high
those that be low ; he raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and
lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among
princes ; promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the
west, nor from the south. But Gpd is the judge : He putteth
down one, and setteth up another. Deut. 32 : 39 ; i Sam. 2:8; Job
5:11; Ps. 75 ; 6, 7. In laying his plans and putting man under a
constitution God asked the advice of neither man nor angel. If
men, who use such language as that given above, mean anything
more than to make a laugh, if they are in solemn earnest, they
might as well object to their own lineal ancestry, even to a natural
descent from Adam, because they did not vote for him as their
first parent. No man ever votes on his own lineage. Yet lineage
carries with it honor or dishonor, good health or a feeble consti-
tution, riches or poverty, and affects our destiny in a thousand
things. Not a British subject, living or dead, ever voted' that
Victoria should be his monarch. When the laws of the realm are
promulged, they may greatly and injuriously affect the welfare of
Ch. V., v. 14.] THE ROMANS. 239
a given man or class, but can they evade their force, or their bind-
ing- obligation by saying, I never voted for Victoria to be my
sovereign ? Even in our own land, America, the great majority
of the people, women and minors, never vote for their rulers.
Does this fact in the slightest degree relax their obligations to
submit, in th*e Lord, to the powers that be ? No good man so
affirms. By the holy, sovereign, uncontrollable will of God Adam
was made the covenant head of his seed, and' there the matter
must rest. In this he was a figiire or type of Christ.
Very few men, who profess the least reverence for God's word,
deny that pain and temporal death came on mankind by one man,
by the one offence of Adam. Even Locke says that Paul here
" teaches that by Adam's lapse all men were brought into a state
of death." Macknight also : " Death, the punishment of sin,
reigned from Adam to Moses, even over infants," etc. .During the
XVIII. century some taught that Adam's first sin, though truly
imputed to infants, so that they are thereby exposed to a proper
punishment, is not imputed to them in so high a degree as to Adam
himself. To all such remarks it is sufficient to say as Edwards
does : " To suppose God imputes not all the guilt of Adam's sin,
but only some little part of it, relieves nothing but one's imagina-
tion. . . But it does not at all relieve one's reason. . . All the
reasons (if there be any) lie against the imputation; not the quan-
tity or degree of what is imputed" p. 561. If Adam had successfully
stood his probation, would his obedience have profited his pos-
terity but a little?- or would they have been for ever confirmed in
holiness and God's favor just as he would have been ? Probably
but one answer will be given to that interrogatory. The fact is
that if Adam was at all a public person, if he at all acted as a
representative, he did so to this extent, that he and his posterity
should fare alike in the results of his probation. If he stood, he
and they would be regarded and treated as righteous ; if he fell, he
and they would be regarded and treated as sinners. This com-
munion in guilt might be confirmed by a detailed examination of
the sentence passed on our first parents, as we see it executed in
our own time. Did Adam die a temporal death ? So do his
posterity. Can any one shew that there was anything appalling
in the manner of his death ? It could hardly have been more so
than what may be witnessed every day in this world among old
and young. Was the ground cursed for his sake, so that in sorrow
he ate bread all the days of his life, the earth bringing forth thorns
and thistles to him, and he in the sweat of his face eating bread
till he returned to the ground ? Gen. 3:17, 18. The very same
thing occurs all over the earth all the time. The rich are no ex-
240 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., v. 14.
ception, for often their abundance will not suffer them even to
sleep, Ecc. 5 : 12. Did the Lord multiply the sorrows and concep-
tion of the first woman, so that in sorrow she brought forth
children? Gen. 3 : 16. Is not the same as true of Adam's
daughters to this day ? We have then the great fact beyond dis-
pute among serious students of the Bible. God visits on all our
race the very evils that he sent on the first pair toil, sorrow,
pangs and death.- All this does not argue that all incorrigible
sinners, who spend their lifetime on earth in impenitence, are
equally ill deserving and will suffer equally in the next world for
their own ungodly deeds and speeches. Far from it. He, that
knew his Lord's will, and did it not, shall be beaten with many
stripes ; but he that knew it not, and did commit things w6rthy of
stripes, shall be .beaten with few stripes, Luke 12 : 47,48. Human
accountability was in no sense exhausted in the garden of Eden ;
nor will it be exhausted in this life, no, nor in eternity.
It may here be observed that from the history of theological
doctrine it appears that ordinarily when men have denied our
representation in Adam they have also hesitated in receiving the
orthodox doctrine on the subject of native depravity. Laxity in
the former almost uniformly results in looseness respecting the
latter. It was so .in the days of Pelagius. He and Julian and
Coelestixis attacked both branches of the doctrine of Original Sin.
It was so in the XVII. and XVIII. centuries both in Great Britain
and on the Continent. It has been so in this century and in this
country. Another historic fact is no less admonitory. It is that
when men deny or explain away the federal headship of Adam; or
the imputation of the guilt of his first sin to his seed, we almost
invariably find them in doubt respecting the imputation of the
sins of the elect to Christ, and of Christ's righteousness to his
believing people. In other words, men, who are unsound on the
manner of our condemnation, are seldom clear and scriptural on
the subject of our justification. Now and then we meet with
cases, where, by a happy inconsistency, men are sound on one of
these points, and yet erroneous on the rest. Such cases, are, how-
ever, rare. Commonly errors are grouped together. And it is
the tendency of error to make continual aggressions. On the
other hand there is a consanguinity between religious truths.
Truth is one. Error is multiform.
In summing up the argument we may thus paraphrase our
verse : It has been admitted that where there is no law there is no
sin, and yet there meet us as strong proofs of the reign of death
during the first twenty -five, hundred years of the world as we find
even in our own time. In this whole argument it is a first princi-
Ch. V., v. 15.] THE ROMANS. 241
pie that wherever death is found among men, it is proof of the ex-
istence of sin, and where sin is, some law must have been broken.
Now none of these people had the law of Sinai, and their sin
could not have been against that. Nor did any of them but the
first pair actually eat the forbidden fruit, yet we find men subject
to death then as at other times. We find too a law given in Eden
with the sanction of a death penalty. That law was violated by
Adam, who was not only the father but the covenant head of the
race and acted for them. This is the law, whose violation consti-
tuted in God's esteem all men sinners, and subjected all to death.
So that even infants, of whom no man can prove and very few if
any will assert that they have committed any actual sin, have from
the earliest ages to the present time not only died, but died in
great numbers and often in great agony. The explanation of these
amazing scenes of woe is to be found in the fact that Jehovah con-
stituted Adam a public person, and in his infinite wisdom ordained
that he should act for others as well as for himself. In this way,
as a federal head, Adam became a type of Christ ; as Christ acted
for his seed so did Adam act for his seed. The mode and results
of action in these two cases were very different ; but the principle
of representation in both was the same. Else in what possible
sense was Adam a figure of him that was to come ?
15. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift : for if through
the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the
gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, Jiath aboimdcd unto
many. Here the apostle guards us against mistaking his teaching,
by commencing to shew that Adam was not in all or even in many
respects a figure or type of Christ. The similitude on which he
has insisted is exhausted in the one point of the federal headship,
the representative character of each. Wardlaw : " The parallel
lies chiefly in one point ; namely, that the first and second Adam
acted each a public part, standing for others and not for them-
selves merely ; a part from which important results were to arise
to those whom they are considered respectively as representing."
This is enough. This aids and elucidates the argument on justi-
fication by the righteousness of Christ. But the effects of this
headship respectively are as diverse as any things, of which we
can conceive. On one side are sin, misery and death ; on the
other obedience, reconciliation, life. The offence, so rendered no-
where else but in four verses here closely connected, and in Rom.
4:25; elsewhere fall, fault, sin, trespass. The offence, here alluded
to, was the breach of covenant with God in eating the forbidden
fruit. Free gift, so rendered here only and in v. 16; everywhere
else, gift. But a gift, properly so called, is of course unbought.
16
242 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., v. 15.
It is free, without money and without price. It is the same word
used in Rom. 6 : 23, "The gift of God is eternal life," and in
Rom. 1 1 : 29, " The gifts and calling of God are without repent-
ance." It is elsewhere used to denote spiritual gifts, miraculously
bestowed, for the edification of the church. Now, says Paul, the
effect of our fall in Adam was wholly diverse from the effect of
our recovery by Christ. One brought death ; the other brings
life. The former was in the course of righteous judgment on the
race ; the latter is the most amazing expression of divine com-
passion. For if through the offence of one many be dead, many be
fallen under the penalty of a broken covenant, and so are dead, as
we have already shewn to be the case, much more the grace of God,
and the gift by grace, which is by one man Jesus Christ, hath abounded
unto many. Offence, as in the preceding clause. Grace of God, ex-
plained on Rom. 1:5. It here points out God's undeserved kind-
ness. Gift, not the same word as free gift in this verse, but another
not cognate but nearly synonymous, always rendered gift. The
cognate adverb occurs in Rom. 3 : 24, and is rendered freely, on
which see above. What is here called the gift by grace is in the
next verse called the free gift, which brings the pardon of many
offences and goes on imto justification ; in v. 17 it is called the gift
of righteousness ; and in v. 1 8, justification of life. Even if we had
not these explanations in the immediate context, the whole train
of argument in several preceding .chapters shews that the great
benefits derived from Christ, and here made the subject of dis-
course, are justifying righteousness and its inseparable concomi-
tants. Many, the numerous seed of each respectively ; Locke :
" the multitude ;" Hodge : "the mass ;" Conybeare and Howson :
" the many." No doubt the term in each clause includes all that
the first and second Adam respectively represented. In v. 18 the
word all is used as an equivalent. What is precisely meant by
these words, all and many, will be considered when we reach v. 18.
In v. 15 now under consideration the most difficult phrase to ex-
plain is much more. The rendering is literal and undisputed.
There are various views taken of the significancy of these words.
All agree that they indicate the argument a fortiori. But in what
particular does the grace of the work of the second Adam so much
more abound, than did the death brought on men by the first Adam ?
Some have said the meaning is that the pre-eminence consists in
the fact that a greater number are saved by Christ than were lost
in Adam. To make this appear they have alleged that great
numbers of men were not made subject to death by Adam's fall,
but only by their own sins. But any argument, by which the
people of any particular age or country can be shewn not to
Ch. V., v. 15.] THE ROMANS. 243
have been involved in penal suffering by the lapse of Adam,
will as fully prove that he acted for no one except himself, and
then how is he the type of Christ ? Those, who hold this view,
maintain that those, who perished in the deluge", died for their own
sins. No doubt their death by so awful a judgment and in so
dreadful manner, was, and was intended to be understood as an
expression of God's abhorrence of their great personal wick-
edness. The same may be said of those, who perished in Sodom
and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, yea, and of vast multitudes,
who have been cut off by terrific judgments. But does any one
believe, and if he so believes, can he prove that these people
would never have died at all but for their actual atrocious sins?
Their superadding the guilt of many and aggravated sins did not
before God obscure the guilt of original sin, and did not set aside
but caused to be executed, before the time indicated by the course
of nature, the sentence of death brought on the race by Adam.
Locke : " By their own sins they were not made mortal : they
were so before, by their father Adam's eating the forbidden fruit :
so that what they paid for their own sins, was not immortality,
which they had not." It is believed that none maintain that Christ
has saved or will save a greater number than were lost in Adam
except those, who contend that mere temporal death and the pains
which lead to it exhausted the penalty of breaking the covenant of
Eden, and that even that penalty made not all men mortal, but
many died solely because of their enormous actual sins. In the
comment on v. 12 it has been shewn that the penalty did indeed
include temporal death, but extended much farther also.
Locke suggests another way in which the grace of God and the
gift by grace excel the offence : " It seems to lie in this, that Adam's
lapse came barely for the satisfaction of his own appetite, and de-
sire of good to himself; but the restoration was from the exuberant
bounty and good-will of Christ to wards men, who, at the cost of
his own painful death, purchased life for them." No doubt sin in
all its stages and in all its workings is very inferior to holiness.
No doubt the sin of Adam had in it the element of low personal
gratification ; and we know the love of Christ for men was trans-
cendant, vs. 6-8. But does Paul take no higher view in this verse
than merely to state the superiority of benevolence over selfish-
ness ? The apostle does not seem to be speaking of human esti-
mates of things, so much as of the exceedingly excellent nature of
the benefits received by Christ, especially as contrasted with the
ruin wrought by Adam. In other words he is laboring to make
our views conform to the facts in the case as they are known
and estimated by God. It is a fact that the undertaking of
244 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., v. 16.
Christ does abound in a way that the fall of Adam does not,
whatever men's views of these matters may be. Wardlaw has
probably given a better statement of the whole case : " There is
one more general^ and there are three more particular points of
contrast here. The general point is, that whereas the condemna-
tion and death which came by the first Adam were the due wages
<of sin ; the righteousness and life which came by the second Adam
are the bestowment of pure grace, of entirely unmerited favor.
This, indeed, runs through the whole passage, and it forms the
characteristic distinction between the law and the gospel. The
sentence of death pronounced on Adam, and in him on his pos-
terity, is the sentence of justice incurred by transgression, de-
served by guilt. The Supreme Ruler, therefore, by whom it had
been pronounced, was under no obligation of righteousness to de-
liver from it. He was rather under the obligation of truth and
justice to see it executed. A condemned malefactor, if pardoned,
must be pardoned by grace ; if his condemnation be in justice, the
remission of his sentence must be in clemency. Where death is
due, life must be a gift. Where a curse is merited, the blessing
must flow from purely spontaneous favor," Vol. 2 ; pp. 283-4. He
then mentions three more particular points of contrast between
our representation in the first and second Adam. "The first ap-
pears to me to relate to the superior dignity of the second Adam,
in whom sinners have life, above the first, in whom they died. The
second relates to the superabundance of pardoning grace, as ex-
tending beyond the guilt of the one offence, by which sin entered,
even to all the multiplied acts and words, and thoughts of personal
transgression 'many offences.'. The third has respect to the
superiority of the life to which sinners are brought by grace, to
that life which they lost by Adam's sin," p. 284. These points of
contrast duly carried out seem to cover very much the whole
ground, not only given us in this verse but also in vs. 16-19. I n
this verse very much of the sense depends on the right place being
given to the one man, Jesus Christ. The same is true of v. 17.
1 6. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift : for the
judgment -was- by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many of-
fences unto justification. One that sinned beyond a doubt points to
Adam. Gift, the word is found nowhere else in the New Testa-
ment, except in Jas. 1:17. It is a noun cognate to that rendered
gift in v. 15. Judgment, often so rendered ; also damnation, condem-
nation. See above on Rom. 2 : 2, 3 ; 3:8. Condemnation, the word
so rendered is found in the New Testament here only, in v. 18, and
in Rom. 8: 1. The cognate verb occurs often and is commonly
rendered condemned, also damned. We met it in Rom. 2:1.
Ch. V., vs. 17, 1 8.] THE R OMANS. 245
Free gift as in v. 15. The one, that sinned, by one act brought a
condemning sentence, ready to be executed at any moment, and
now continually in a course of rapid execution on all his posterity.
But the Son of God shows his great power to save by blotting
out innumerable transgressions committed by innumerable sinners,
as well as washing away the guilt of original sin from their souls,
and not leaving them merely pardoned. He accepts them as
righteous and so secures to them full justification. Whenever
called to appear before God, their raiment will be shining, exceedr
ing white as snow ; so as no fuller on earth can white them. That
the above gives the true sense of the passage is made plain by the
very terms employed, and by the context.
17. For if by one man's offence death reigned by one ; much more
they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. This verse terminates the
parenthesis begun in v. 13. This verse is remarkably clear. It
changes the form but not the purport of the antithesis, which is
found in several preceding verses. Here we have death reigning
by one and the redeemed reigning in life by one. The first Adam
brought ruin by one offence. The second, abundance of grace and
of the gift of righteousness. Abundance, not elsewhere in this
epistle, but well rendered. We have the same word in 2 Cor.
8:2; in Jas. i : 21 it is rendered superfluity. It expresses supera-
bundance, overflowing riches. Gift as in v. 15. Righteousness, as
already explained at large. The general course of the argument
here is very clear and pointed. If one man and he a mere man,
by one act, in which we partook in no other way than that by di-
vine appointment he acted for us, as well as for himself, installed
death as a tyrant over us, much more shall one, who is at once
man and man's maker, when we cordially embrace him as our Sa-
viour, and accept his offers, cause us to be kings and sharers of the
vast treasures of his grace, one of whose richest fruits is the gift
of righteousness, so as to make sure to us the blessings of eternal
life, of which we have the pledge in the newness of life granted us
in this world.
1 8. Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came tipon all
men to condemnation ; even so by the right eoiisness of one the free gift
came lipon all men unto justificaton of life. Therefore the two words
so rendered are not the same as those rendered wherefore in v. 12.
But they are of like import, and clearly mark the connection of
this with v. 12. The comparison there begun, and interrupted by
the parenthesis, is here fully carried out, only the leading terms
judgment and free gift, being properly borrowed by our transla-
tors from preceding sentences. Some prefer to read one offence
246 EPIS TLE TO- [Ch, V., v. 18.
and one righteousness, instead of the offence of one and the righteous-
ness of one. No doubt Adam brought ruin on us by one act. Nor
does the grammar forbid this rendering. Yet the objections to it
are perhaps sufficient to cause its rejection. They are such as
these: I. The term one in the context uniformly applies to one
person. Both in vs. 17, 19, one man is named. The sense in v. 18
is best reached by understanding one person in each case. At all
events there is no improvement in the force of the argument by
the proposed change. 2. Throughout the passage the apostle
all along carefully marks the distinction between the one and the
all, the one and the many. 3. If the phrase one righteousnesses,
found elsewhere in scripture, the author does not remember it. 4.
Those, who contend for the change do ask us to believe that
Christ saves us by one act of righteousness, viz. his obedience
unto death, understanding that phrase to mean his obedience in
dying. This is not safe doctrine. Speaking of the proposed
change and the reason of it Wardlaw says : " It seems to be not
merely a superfluous refinement, but moreover to proceed from a
false principle with regard to what is necessary as the ground of
acceptance and of life. And without entering largely into the dis-
cussion about the active and passive obedience of Christ, I would
say it seems to give us a more complete and satisfactory view of
the finished work of Jesus, when we consider him as not only
bearing the curse which forms the sanction of the law, but also as
rendering to its requirements that sinless obedience, which, ac-
cording to the original engagement of God, entitles to life. That
the Lord our righteousness did render such a sinless obedience to
all the great spiritual principles and requirements of the law can-
not be doubted," p. 281: All Christ did and all he bore was for
our salvation. He suffered in obeying. He obeyed in suffering.
No fair criticism can ever shew that rigliteousness in this verse or
obedience in v. 19 means simply his sufferings, much less his obedi-
ence in the mere act of dying. His circumcision and baptism
were as much in fulfilment of all righteousness as his death. His
perfect love to God and his equal love to man, evinced in every
way, were essential to his righteousness. There is a sense in
which Christ's righteousness is one. It is a seamless robe. There
is no rent in it. It is undivided. It cannot be divided. But this is
a very different thing from saying that Christ wrought out his
righteousness the last few hours of his life. The parallel between
Adam and Christ is not intended to be preserved in the shortness of
the time in which, or the ease with which ruin and recovery were
wrought. No ? Destruction is easy. Recovery is difficult. It
is so in every thing. A rash act of one may destroy a thousand
Ch. V., v, i8.] THE ROMANS. 247
lives, but all the power of men and angels cannot restore one life.
A child may in a few hours burn down a city, which ten thousand
men could not build in a year. In a moment Adam brought down
ruin. It required the righteousness and obedience of the life of
Christ and his agony in the garden and on the cross to bring us to
God. Yea, to the same end he ever liveth to make intercession
for us. " The truth is, the work of Christ is just the whole of his
humiliation, with all that he did and all he suffered in the nature
which he humbled himself to assume. That on account of which
God exalted and glorified Christ, is that on account of which he
justifies -and glorifies sinners."
In considering a previous verse a promise was made to consider
the meaning of the terms many and all, when we should reach this
verse. In this verse we twice have all men ; in vs. 15, 16, 19, we
have many, or the many. Evidently these terms are used inter-
changeably. The all of this verse corresponds to the many of the
other verses. On this there is no dispute. As to the extent of
meaning of these terms, there are five distinct views, i . The old
Universalists held that in both cases all mere men were embraced ;
that is, Adam on the one hand brought down the curse of the law
on his posterity, descending from him by ordinary generation ;
and Christ, being truly divine, and having lived and died with the
purpose of saving all men, his atonement being strictly vicarious
and designed to save all men, all men shall surely be saved by
Christ and raised to the everlasting enjoyment of God in heaven.
These persons were consistent in their interpretation of the terms
all and many. But they flatly contradicted many clear, positive
declarations of God's word when they asserted that every man
would be saved, Dan. 12:2; Matt. 25:46; John 5:28,29; and
many other places.
2. Another class of writers maintain that the whole extent of
the curse brought on us by the fall of Adam was temporal death,
and that all Christ is here said to have done for us was to secure
to us natural life ; that Adam brought temporal death on all his
posterity, and that Christ secured to all men a temporal life. If
Locke is not misunderstood, this is his view. His language is :
" The apostle teaches them that by Adam's lapse all men were
brought into a state of death, and by Christ's death all were restored
to life." In his paraphrase he seems to express himself to the same
effect. And in a note he pleads for his rendering of the phrase all
have sinned, as meaning no more than this all became mortal. If
Adarn brought only temporal death, the parallel would suggest
that Christ merely secured temporal life. In commenting on v.
12 it has been shewn that temporal death was not all nor even the
248 EPISTLE TO [Ch. -V., v. 18.
chief evil brought on us by Adam. Arid surely Christ has done
much more for men than to secure a short and miserable temporal
existence. Some human beings are never even born. The womb
is their grave. Others live a minute, others an hour, others a day,
others a week, others a year, and the general limit is three score
and ten. This whole existence is sometimes spent in pain. Surely
Jesus Christ did more for those he represented than to secure a
temporal life to man. But see above on v. 12. This mode of ex-
planation would make the all and the many in every case include
every human being that ever lived or ever shall live.
3. Another explanation given by some is that Adam involved
his posterity in penal evils, including temporal death and that
Jesus Christ, by his undertaking, removed not the curse of tem-
poral death which remains, but brought literally all the race of
man into a state, where it was possible they might be saved. These
agree, as we do, that the curse fell on all who descended from
Adam by ordinary generation. They contend that the effect of
Christ's work in removing the curse extends to as many of Adam's
descendants as were under the penalty of death, so that to all men
capable of understanding anything a sincere offer of salvation is
made. But in the first place there are millions on millions, to whom
no such offer was ever made. It is only within the last three or
four hundred years that Jesus Christ's name was ever pronounced
on the continent of America. Did all, who lived here before that
time reap any such benefit from the work of Christ as to have
even an offer of eternal life by his blood made to them ? No one
will contend for that. Nor will any, who hold this view, contend
that all these people were saved. If they were all, old and young,
eternally saved, then there would be consistency in interpreting
the words many and all as they do, but other Scriptures would be
strangely opposed and contradicted. And in our chapter there
is not a word about men being merely brought into a state of salv-
ability by Christ. On the contrary they are said to be justified, to
have peace with God, access into grace, joy, hope, triumph in
afflictions, patience, love, all Christian graces. And in the imme-
diate context we read of their sharing in the grace of God and the
.gift by grace, of the free gift [of remission] of many offences unto
justification, of the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteous-
ness, and that by the righteousness of one the free gift came unto the
justification of life. Surely these terms and phrases express a
great deal more than that those here spoken of are brought into a
state, in which it is possible they may be saved. They are saved, else
to what use is the grace of God, the gift by grace, the free gift, the
abundance of grace, the gift of righteousness, justification unto
.Ch. V., v. 1 8.] THE R MA NS . 249
life? Such language denotes actual salvation, not mere salv-
ability.
4. Another explanation of the terms is that all men, which of
course includes the many, here, as in some other places, means, riot
all men without exception, but all men without discrimination.
Diodati : " All manner of persons indifferently, though not all
universally." Wardlaw argues for this at length. He says the
phrase is frequently used in this sense ; and so it is. He might
have cited Tit. 2 : u and many other verses in proof. He also
says that the argument in the epistle shews that men without
regard to nationality are included. This is also true. Conceding
these points, the explanation will still probably be generally re-
garded as unsatisfactory. Indeed it has been generally so esteem-
ed. Very few adopt it.
5. The method of explaining these terms adopted by sound
writers generally is that the many and all men are to be understood
of all who are represented by Adam and Christ respectively. In
other words these and like terms here as in other places are to be
construed according to the subject and connection, in which they
are found. This explanation is thought to be fair and conclusive
for the following reasons: I. We are compelled to limit the term
all even in regard to Adam ; for the man Christ Jesus, though
according to the flesh descended from Adam, was not represented
in Adam and was not chargeable with original sin. Here is one
exception. Eve was another, who was not brought under the
penalty for Adam's but for her own sin. She was a sinner, and
under the penalty of death, while Adam was yet an unfallen crea-
ture. How long she was so we know not, but if she was a sinner
and under wrath the smallest portion of time, it is sufficient for our
purpose. Here then we have two human beings not included in
the all represented in Adam. 2. The language of the apostle
clearly confines the all men represented by the second Adam to
such as derive saving benefits from him. They are such as have
the grace of God, and the gift by grace, the free gift, abimdance of
grace, and of the gift of righteousness, justification, righteousness,
justification of life. Yea, it is expressly said, they shall reign in life
by one, Jesus Christ. No language could more clearly mark a class
of persons distinguished from the rest of mankind by having the
redemption of Christ actually applied to them. We freely admit
that all, who sinned in Adam and fell with him, are embraced in
the many and all men where they first occur in these verses. We
as freely concede that all men, who shall reign in life, who have or
shall ever have abztndance of grace, and justification unto life, are
embraced in the terms many and all men, where they occur in the
250 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., v. 18.
latter clauses of these verses. 3. The construction contended for
is clearly supported by the fact that Adam was a type of Christ.
And Edwards justly says : " The agreement between Adam as the
type or figure of him that was to come, and Christ as the antitype,
appears full and clear, if we suppose that ALL who are IN CHRIST
(to use the common scripture phrase) have the benefit of his obe-
dience even as ALL who are IN ADAM have the sorrowful fruit of
his disobedience." 4. Other scriptures use the term many in the
very sense contended for in this place. In Rom. 12 : 5 Paul says:
" We being many are one body in Christ; " and in I Cor. 10 : 17
" We being many are one bread, and one body." The Greek is
exactly the same as in Rom. 5, the many, the mass, the multitude.
Indeed in Rom. 4:18 the spiritual seed of Abraham is spoken of
as ' many nations] words indicating as vast and comprehensive a
multitude as any phrase employed here. So also we read in Rom.
8 : 29 of Christ being "the firstborn among many brethren," where
we have the same word. 5. The same line of remark may be
applied to the words all men. We hardly have begun to read the
New Testament until we find such language incapable of any other
than a limited meaning : " Then went out to him Jerusalem, and
all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were bap-
tized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins," Matt. 3 : 5, 6. That
this language may not be so understood as to embrace all the
people there is declared by Christ himself, Matt. 21 : 32. So in
Luke 2 : i it is said " there went out a decree from Cesar Augustus,
that all the world should be taxed." It is probable that only Syria
is here intended. But it is certain that it cannot mean more than
the Roman empire, which though a very important part of the
world did not embrace the half of it, as every one knows. In John
12 : 32 Jesus says: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, 1 will
draw all men unto me." All men have not embraced Christ,
although a great multitude of all sorts and ranks of men have
believed on him. Great numbers of texts might be adduced to the
same effect. 6. That passage in i Cor. 15 : 21, 22 uses the same
language and yet on the one side none but Christ's own people are
meant. "For since by man came death, by man came also the
resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ
shall all be made alive." Now the whole context, preceding and
subsequent, for many verses together, shews that the apostle is
speaking not at all of the resurrection of the wicked, but of those
that are fallen asleep in Jesus, of those who have hope in Christ, of
those, who shall be raised in glory, in incorriiption, in immortality,
of those, who shall at last sing, O death, where is thy sting ? O
grave, where is thy victory ? Even many, who oppose the precise
Ch.V., v. 19.] THE ROMANS. 251
views given in this commentary admit that it is the resurrection
of the just, not of the unjust, that is spoken of throughout the i$th
chapter of I Corinthians. Even Stuart admits this. 7. Hodge :
" In a multitude of cases, the words all, all things, mean the all
spoken of in the context, and not all without exception ; see Eph.
I : 10 ; Col. i : 20; i Cor. 15 : 51 ; 2 Cor. 5 : 14, 15." This list of
texts might be greatly extended. 8. This explanation covers the
whole case, and makes all plain and consistent. In this view all,
who are in Christ, who are his seed, his redeemed, have the grace
of God, and the gift by grace, the free gift of forgiveness of many
offences unto justification, abundance of grace and of the gift of right-
eousness, the justification of life, and shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ. These things cannot be said of the wicked, the ungodly,
but only of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. So that we are
compelled at last to admit that those, who are never saved, are
not partakers of the benefits of Christ's undertaking as here de-
scribed. Some would evade the force of this reasoning by saying
that these blessings are indeed not bestowed on all men, but that
they are sincerely offered to them. It is admitted that all God's
offers and proposals to men are sincere. He never mocks his
creatures. But to the greater part of mankind the Gospel has
never been preached, nor its offers made known. So this view-
does not relieve the difficulty. Nor is this the only difficulty.
There is not a word said in this whole passage respecting the offer
of grace, or of jiistification, or of any blessing. All that is spoken
relates to the possession and enjoyment of these benefits.
19. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so
by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Perhaps there
never was a better, or more conclusive summing up of an argu-
ment than we have in this verse. Peshito : For as, on account of
the disobedience of one man, many became sinners ; so also, on
account of the obedience of one, many become righteous. Wiclif :
For as bi inobedience of b man many ben made synners : so bi
the obedience of oon many shuln be just. Stuart: For as by the
disobedience of one man the many were constituted sinners, so
by the obedience of one the many will be constituted righteous.
In the creed of Andover Seminary the language used on this
point is borrowed from Beza and we have it in the translation
above cited from the Andover Professor many were constituted
sinners. No one holding the common view objects to such a
rendering. The word rendered were made, became, or were con-
stituted is a strong word and is rendered ordained, Heb. 5:158:3;
and in the active voice make, or made, Matt. 24 : 45, 47 ; 25 : 21, 23 ;
appoint, Acts 6:3. They were made, or constituted sinners, so as
252 . EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., v. 20.
to be regarded and treated as sinners. They are made just, or con-
stituted righteous in the eye of the law, so that they are by the
Judge of all the earth regarded and treated as just persons. The
condemnation is here spoken of in the past tense, because Adam's
work of ruin was actually finished and in operation on every liv-
ing man. On the other hand the benefit of justification had riot
yet reached every man, who should share in that blessing, and so
it is spoken of in the future.
20. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But
where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Having in v. 19
completed his illustration of the manner of our justification in
Christ furnished by the manner of our condemnation in Adam,
the apostle proceeds to state that the effect of the entrance of the
law, so far from making a gratuitous justification by the righteous-
ness of Christ unnecessary either in appearance or in reality, had
just the contrary effect in two respects. First it revealed in many
ways the true nature of sin, and shewed how greatly men had
already departed from the rule of rectitude. Thus by the law
was the knowledge of sin. Secondly, the very enjoining of many
things and the prohibition of others in the law, so far from re-
pressing sinful inclinations, did in many cases inflame them, and
awaken unholy desires in a fearful manner. So Augustine and
many others. That this latter effect in an unregenerate heart is
often produced by the existence of law is matter of common ex-
perience, and is clearly stated in this epistle. Indeed both these
ideas are by Paul explicitly declared in Rom. 7 : 7, 8. The effect
of the law in awakening opposition is no fault of the law itself, for
it is holy, just and good, honorable to God and in all respects
worthy of him. But because men are wicked and their hearts
perverse, they abuse this great revelation of his will to the race
of men, and thus that which was ordained unto life is found to be
unto death. The divine procedure in this matter may be illus-
trated by the conduct of a wise and faithful pastor, who often and
ably expounds and enforces the law of God with the express
design of awakening attention, creating alarm, convincing of sin
and making men feel the need of deliverance, by the grace of God
in Christ, from their guilt and depravity. So that there should
be no hesitancy in admitting that it was entirely consistent
with the divine benevolence to give the law, knowing that it
would ' be the innocent occasion of stirring up the enmity of the
human heart, while at the same time it revealed the number, ag-
gravations, guilt and odiousness of sins already committed. This
view is correct whether we interpret the word law as meaning
only the moral law, or whether we make it to embrace the whole
Ch.V.,v. 2i.J THE ROMANS, 253
of the Mosaic institute, of which the decalogue was the heart and
centre. The latter is probably the better explanation, and what
is thus taught is certainly true. Entered, very well rendered,
though some prefer the word supervened, to which there is no
serious objection. But the apostle would not have us forget that
if the ministration of death was glorious, much more doth the
ministration of righteousness exceed in glory, 2 Cor. 3 : 7-9 ; that
if the Mosaic dispensation, so honorable to God, had brought
home to men so deep convictions of their sin and ruin, much more
was the gospel honorable to God in displaying boundless stores
of mercy and truth ; and that whereas sin did much abound and
fill men with great and just alarm, so now grace, justifying and
saving grace, did much more abound. This is in full accordance
with the teachings of the Old Testament, Isa. 40: 2 ; 55 : 7 ; Zech.
9 : 12. God does not barely save the soul that hopes in his mercy.
He abundantly pardons. He renders double for all our sins. He
ministers an entrance abundantly into his everlasting kingdom. If
sin and death reigned as tyrants, truth and righteousness shall
much more reign in glory by Jesus Christ. So illustrious is God's
plan of bringing men to a saving knowledge of himself, and so
wondrous the salvation he thus bestows, that there is no mistake
in saying, that where sin abounded, grace did much more
abound.
21. That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
How sin has reigned over men is written in the history of the
world. How it has reigned unto death is written in every grave-
yard, in every hospital, in every disease, in every groan, in every
tormenting apprehension awakened by a guilty conscience, and in
Tophet ordained of -old the prison-house of despair. The world
has been made a vast charnel-house, and all by sin. But Jesus
Christ is stronger than the strong man armed. Grace is more
mighty than sin. Nor is the power of grace displayed in deroga-
tion of the claims of law and justice, truth and purity, but reigns
entirely through righteousness, a righteousness every way commen-
surate to the demands of omniscient and infinite purity ; a right-
eousness that satisfies every demand of God's eternal law, both
precept and penalty. Nor does grace merely mitigate the horrors
of our guilty state, nor does it merely save us from all the evils
of the fall. It reigns imto eternal life. In this verse death and life
are in antithesis. If one is eternal, as life is said to be, so is the
other. There is no good reason for varying from the usual mean-
ing of the word righteousness here and rendering it justification.
It is, indeed, a righteousness, which secures justification to all
254 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., v. 12.
who in their hearts accept it, and it is the ground of their pardon
and acceptance, but it is not the pardon and acceptance them-
selves. It is righteousness, strictly so called, as explained already
at length. As to the manner in which grace so superabounds see
above on v. 15.
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL REMARKS.
1. It is in the plan of God to subject all his rational creatures
to a probation. And surely he has a right to do what he will
with his own. What the probation of angels was we know not.
In it some stood and some fell. What man's probation was the
scriptures clearly state. One difference between the probation of
angels and that of men was that in the former case each one seems
to have stood for himself, in the latter one man stood for the race.
For it was by one man that sin entered into the world, v. 12.
2. The probation of man in Adam was not only divinely ap-
pointed, but was very fair. Adam was in the full vigor of his
powers. The will of God was very clearly made known to him.
The test was as slight as we can well conceive a test to be. He
doubtless knew that his conduct would affect his posterity. Great
liberty was granted him, the fruit of one tree only being denied
him. His communion with God had been intimate and delight-
ful. He was endowed with knowledge, righteousness and true
holiness. In short the probabilities all seemed to indicate a most
favorable result of the probation, yet the fact was that sin entered
by one man, and death by sin. There is no comparison between
a probation thus conducted, and that, for which some have
pleaded, that each member of the human family in his infancy
should have stood for himself. Nor is it conceivable that in any
stage of man's existence on earth so strong inducements to right
conduct could have been brought to bear on each one as seem to
have pressed on Adam in his probation. Cavil as men may, it is
a great fact that we had our trial in Adam, and that by a divine
constitution ordered in all respects in wisdom, holiness, justice,
goodness and truth, and yet ruin came upon us like a desola-
tion.
3. Great debates have been held, and are still going on re-
specting the origin of evil in the world ; but they have not been
fruitful of good results. The fact is that the history of the apos-
tasy of man as given in the Bible is clear enough for all practical
purposes. There wisdom would dictate that we pause. But
folly never had any modesty, and pushes on till it is involved in
inextricable difficulties or lost in wild confusion. Sin entered by
ch. v., v. i2.] THE ROMAN'S. 255
one man on trial as described in Genesis. We know no more.
We can know no more in this world, perhaps never.
4. Let us not despise the day of small things either in good or
evil. " Man knows the beginning of sin," said Francis Spira,
" but who can tell the bounds thereof? " Every groan and sigh
from men on earth or in hell may be traced back to the first sin in
Eden, as in some way its cause. In this life we seldom have any
adequate apprehension of the fruit of our doings, good or bad.
Human conduct reaches much farther, and has consequences much
more remote and much more potential for good or ill than we ever
conceive. The beginning of sin is as when one letteth out water.
Behold what a great matter a little fire kindleth. Whatsoever a
man soweth that shall he also reap. Nor is it evil only that has a
long course to run. The same is true of good also, " Good
deeds never die." A class of men make light of the trial and fall
of Adam. They say he sinned but once and then he merely ate
an apple. What was the particular fruit that he ate, we know
not. Nor is it of any importance that we should. It was forbid-
den by God. Nor' is it a mark of either piety or wisdom to
speak with levity respecting any act or word which has moral
bearings. One sin may ruin a family. Nor is the length of time
employed in doing an act the gauge by which to learn its dimen-
sions for good or for evil. The work of a moment may bring
forth fruit to all eternit}'.
5. It is plain to all serious students of God's word that the
death, threatened against disobedience and incurred by trans-
gression, was something very momentous, v. 12. Even temporal
death is styled by Aristotle " the terrible of terribles," and by Bil-
dad " the king of terrors." If the death of the body were all that
were brought on us by sin, it would be something dreadful. But
much more is included, as has been shewn. Guyse : " The Death,
which, the apostle says, passed upon all men, by one man's sin, is
manifestly the same with that, which the one man himself was ex-
posed to by his sin, according to God's threatening, that in tJie day
he should eat of the forbidden fruit, he should surely die, Gen. 2:17.
And what was the death therein threatened, but a deprivation of
the holy and happy life of soul and body, in the image and favor
of God, and in communion with him, which he enjoyed, and
should otherwise have been confirmed in with rich advantages
for ever? Accordingly upon Adam's sin he was liable, not only
to diseases and death of the body, but also to inward dread and '
horror of the soul, under a sense of divine wrath, as appeared in
his being afraid, and seeking to hide himself from the presence of
the Lord . . . And as the death of the body by no means infers
256 EPIS TLE TO [Ch. V., vs. 13, 14.
an extinction of the soul, and divine revelation assures us, that the
soul survives the body ; it seems necessarily to follow from hence
that this death extends, not merely to a separation of soul and
body, but likewise to all the uneasiness and distress, that flow
from the disorderly, ungovernable, and unsatisfied principles', in-
clinations and appetites, that were introduced by sin ; from the
loss of the image and favor of God, and communion with him ;
and from a sense of guilt, and of divine displeasure on that ac-
count, with dismal despair of being ever recovered to a state of
happiness again : nor could such recovery have been expected, to
prevent this death's being eternal, unless God himself, in the
abundance of his own mercy, were to find out a way of relief;
which, blessed be his name, he has done by our Lord Jesus
Christ." By death no doubt all penal evil is pointed out. In the
case of men living and dying without salvation these penal evils
include death temporal, spiritual and eternal. The fact that to
such this death is spiritual results from the nature of the soul, and
its dependence on God ; and the fact that it is eternal results
from the fact that a lost' soul cannot recover itself; can never pay
the debt it owes, and will be eternally responsible for all its emo-
tions and acts. Diodati : " Death is not an accident natural to
'man, as to plants and beasts, but is the reward of sin," Rom.
6 : 23.
6. Any solution of the questions arising respecting the pains
and death of men, that does not include the case of every human
being, is of course unsatisfactory, because it is unsound. The true
solution will embrace all, who have sinned after the similitude of
Adam's transgression, and all .who have not sinned after the
similitude of Adam's transgression, those who sinned and died
before Moses as well as those who sinned and died after Moses,
vs. 13, 14. If in reasoning any thing is clear, the principle here
asserted is so. And it cuts off at once many shallow interpreta-
tions of Rom. 5 : 12-19.
7. The most wonderful personage in all history, sacred and
profane, is Jesus Christ. Not only is his very name called wonder-
ful, Isa. 9:6; not only were his sermons and his works full of
amazing wonders ; but there is hardly a great character men-
tioned in the Old Testament, who was not in some respects a type
of Christ, beginning with Adam and coming down to Joshua the
high-priest, v. 14. Sometimes there is a single point of similitude,
and sometimes there are several. Chrysostom : " How was Adam
a type of Christ ? Why in that, as the former became to those who
were sprung from him, although they had not eaten of the tree,
the cause of that death which by his .eating was introduced ; so
Ch. V., vs. 12-21.] THE ROMANS. 257
also did Christ become to those sprung from him, even though
they had not wrought righteousness, the provider of that right-
eousness which through his cross he graciously bestowed on us
all." Then the sacrifices, the brazen serpent, the manna and in fact
almost every thing had a typical reference to Messiah. " The law
had a shadow of good things to come." And in and by Jesus
Christ the good things came, and we now have them. Glorious
is our Redeemer.
8. If men are ever saved it must be by grace, rich unmerited
grace, unbought favor, vs. 15-21. How can he, who deserves
death, have life but by a free gift ? Chrysostom : " The case is as
if any one were to cast into prison a person, who owed ten mites,
and not cast in the man only, but his wife and children and servants
for his sake ; and another were to come and not pay down the ten
mites only, but give also ten thousand talents of gold, and to lead
the prisoner into the king's courts, and to the throne of the highest
power, and were to make him partaker of the highest honor and
every kind of magnificence, the creditor would not be able to re-
member the ten mites ; so has our case been. For Christ has paid
down far more than we owe, yea, as much more as the illimitable
ocean is much more than a little drop." Brown : " Whatever
blessing or privilege we enjoy inland through Christ, all is of
free and undeserved grace ; and however Christ paid dear for any
thing we get, yet to us it is a free gift." Nor is this doctrine to a
pious mind offensive, but delightful. The truly humble soul
would rather ascribe its salvation to the grace of God than to its
own powers or merits, not merely because it delights in the
truth, but because it delights to honor him whom the virgins love.
9. This section (particularly verses 12-19) brings before us
fairly the doctrine of original sin, which " consists in the guilt, of
Adam's first sin, the want of original righteoiisness, and the cor-
ruption of our whole nature." This is the statement of this doc-
trine by the Westminster Assembly, and it is correct. On the
universal spread of original sin, its desert of God's sore dis-
pleasure, its depriving us of all native holiness, and corrupting
oxir whole nature, there has long been a very general agree-
ment in the church of God. She has spoken more clearly and
harmoniously on very few points. The Belgic Confession says :
" Original sin is so base and execrable, that it suffices to the
condemnation of the whole human race. . . God saw that man
had so cast himself into the condemnation of death, both cor-
poreal and spiritual, and was made altogether miserable and
accursed." Arts. XV and XVIL The church of England says :
"' Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam (in imita-
258 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V.-, vs. 12-21,
tione Adami) as the Pelagians do vainly talk (fabulantur) ; but
it is the fault and corruption of the nature of every man, that
naturally is engendered, of the offspring of Adam, whereby man
is very far gone (quam longissime distet) from original righteousness,
and is, of his own nature, inclined to evil ; so that the flesh lusteth
always, contrary to the Spirit; and therefore, in every person
born into this world, it deserveth God's wrath and damnation."
Art. IX. The Moravian Confession says : " Since Adam's fall all
mankind naturally engendered of him, are conceived and born in
sin ; that is, that they from the very womb are full of evil lusts
and inclinations : and have by nature no true fear of God, no true
faith in God, nor can have. Also that this innate disease and
original sin, is truly sin ; and condemns, under God's eternal
wrath, all those who are not born again through water and the
Holy Ghost." Art. II. The Synod of Dort " rejects the errors of
those, who teach that ' It cannot properly be said, that original
sin ( peccatiim originis) suffices of itself for the condemnation of the
whole human race, or the desert of temporal and eternal punish-
ments.' " We might quote from many other formularies to the
same effect. Eminent teachers in the church of Christ have long
borne a like testimony. Thus Calvin : " The natural depravity
which we bring from our mother's womb, though it brings not
forth immediately its own fruits, is yet sin before God, and de-
serves his vengeance : and this is that sin which they call original."
Diodati : " Sin hath reigned unto death, shewing its pestilent
power in the present and everlasting death, which it causeth of its
own natural property to all men." John Owen of Oxford : " That
the doctrine of original sin is one of the fundamental truths of our
Christian profession, hath been always owned in the church of
God." In like manner we might quote many pages of testimony
from others, shewing how the church of God has maintained the
truth on this great doctrine. The passages of scripture support-
ing the whole doctrine are many, such as Ps. 51:5; John i : 13,
29; Rom. 5 : 12-19; Eph. 2 : 3. Some falsely assert that the old
doctrine of original sin involves the idea of physical depravity, or
a corruption of the substance of the soul. A flat denial ought to
be a sufficient answer to so groundless a charge. What sound
divines have long maintained is that by his fall Adam brought on
us penal suffering, the loss of original righteousness, and conse-
quently the corruption of our moral nature. But where is the
respectable defender of these doctrines, who at any time has favor-
ed the doctrine of physical depravity ? Adam did indeed bring
on all he represented the curse as just stated. But Christ has
.redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us,
Ch. V., vs. 12-19.] THE ROMA NS. 259
and by his Spirit he renews our moral (not our physical) natures,
and so fits us for heaven.
10. This passage of scripture (Rom. 5 : 12-19) certainly illus-
trates and so very clearly teaches the doctrine of imputation im-
putation as a principle of the divine government. See above
comment on Rom. 5 : 3, and Doctrinal and Practical Remark No.
9 on Rom. 4 : 1-15. Remarks there made need not be here re-
peated. The doctrine of imputation is applied to three matters in
theology, i. the imputation of Adam's first sin to his posterity;
2. the imputation of the sins of his people to Christ ; 3. the impu-
tation of Christ's righteousness to his people. It is the first and
third of these that are presented in Rom. 5 : 12-19; ^ e nrst f r
the sake of illustrating the third. For we should not forget
(what was stated at the beginning of the exposition of these verses)
that Paul's object in referring to Adam is to explain the work of
Christ. We have on the one hand considered the various phrases
that " by one man sin entered into the world," " that through the
offence of one many be dead," " that the judgment was by one to
condemnation," " that by one man's offence death reigned by one,"
and " that by one man's disobedience many were made sinners ;"
and, on the other the phrases, " the grace of God, and the gift by
grace, which is by one man, hath abounded unto many," " that the
free gift is of many offences unto justification," "they which receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign
in life by one, Jesus Christ," " by the righteousness of one the free
gift came upon all men to justification of life," and that " by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous." I do not re-
member ever to have met with any writing that denied that these
clauses respectively were antithetical, and that a parallel (with a
contrast in several verses) was run between Adam and Christ. If
any man should so deny, it could not possibly do any good to
argue with him on these matters. Admitting these things to be
so, we have the following conceivable methods of explaining these
verses. One is the Pelagian theory, that Adam brought damage
to us only by setting us a bad example which we imitated. It is
probably not necessary at length to refute an error, which is not
avowed by any existing church, however corrupt in other respects
it may have become. If all Adam did for our ruin was to set us a
bad example, then we must in fairness say that all Christ did for
us was to set us a good example. No one, who, is likely to be pro-
fited by this work, will avow an opinion so flatly contradictory of
many clear statements of God's word, and of this portion of scrip-
ture in particular. Like remarks are applicable to the statement
that Adam injured us and Christ benefited us only by instruction. It
2 6o EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., v. 12-19.
is true that the lessons we learn from Jesus of Nazareth are of the
most weighty character, but we have no account whatever of any
bad instruction communicated by Adam to his posterity beyond
that taught by his example. And it is confounding all language
and denying to it any fixed meaning to say that one offence and one
man's disobedience mean some bad lessons taught us ; or that the
free gift, righteousness, and the obedience of one mean the sermons and
teachings of our Lord. Nor will it be seriously contended that
our death, condemnation or judgment was by Adam infusing sin into
us by one offence, or that Christ's obedience is imparted to us, or in-
fused into us. The passage is not speaking of purification or sanc-
tification, but of judgment, condemnation, the penal evil, death, and
oi justification, justification of life, being made righteous. Nor is
there left to us any other way of conceiving how the guilt of
Adam's sin or the righteousness of Christ can be made ours but
by imputation alone. A class of modern writers refuse this and all
definite terms, and insist that all we can say is that we are subject
to death in consequence of Adam's sin and are saved in consequence
of Christ's undertaking. But this language is never used in the
word of God. In his Works Vol. 2, p. 351, Dr. Leonard Woods
of Andover says : " As to those, who deny the doctrine of native
depravity, and the doctrine of imputation, and the doctrine of
John Taylor and the Unitarians, and yet profess to believe that we
are depraved and ruined in consequence of 'Adam 's sin, I am at a loss
to know what their belief amounts to. They say, Adam's sin had
an influence ; but they deny all the conceivable ways in which it
could have an influence, and particularly the ways which are most
clearly brought to view in Rom. 5, and in other parts of scripture."
And when such are asked whether they mean to speak of a legal
consequence, they either say no, and thus deny the substance of
scriptural teaching, or they say yes, and then we ask what is a
legal consequence to us, but imputation ? There is no conceiva-
ble way in which Adam's one act could ruin us, or Christ's obe-
dience save us but by imputation. The Bible uses this term often,
as we have seen in Rom. 4 : 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10. It is well denned
in systems of theology, and has been accepted by nearly all the
Christian world for centuries.
Some indeed say that this view of things involves us in mys-
tery and is unintelligible. But there is no more mystery in the
simple fact of Adam representing us and the fruit of his doings
being counted to us, than there is in a general representing his
army, or an ambassador his nation. It is the fact of representa-
tion, and not the greatness of the results, that involves the diffi-
culty, if there is difficulty. All, by whom this book is likely to
Ch. V., vs. 12-19.] THE ROMANS. 261
be read, admit that the fall of Adam ruined our race. Let them
tell us how that was done, if they can. We say it was done by
his being by divine appointment our federal head. We say the
guilt of his sin was imputed to his posterity, and so they became
guilty. Our explanation is according to the severest rules of in-
terpreting terms, phrases and statements. We deny that there is
anything unintelligible in the simple doctrine of imputed sin, or
imputed righteousness, which doctrines must stand or fall together.
For as Turrettin well expresses it : " We are constituted sinners
in Adam in the same way in which we are constituted righteous
in Christ."
Others seem to think that in some way they can reject the old
orthodox view without being in any danger of serious error. But
is this so? Olshausen (p. 186) correctly says: " Antiquity knew
only two different stations from which to consider this passage,
and, although under altered names and forms with shades of dis-
tinction and modifications, the same have continued to the present
essentially like what they were, since the time they were first
keenly expressed ; the Augustinian and the Pelagian. The differ-
ence between these two carefully considered is not in some, but in
all points, and they deviate specifically upon all the great prob-
lems ; any reconciliation, therefore, between them is out of the
question." He afterwards says that Semi-Pelagianism is involved,
in as many difficulties as Pelagianism. And this is true also. If
the fall of Adam made us in the eye of the law sinners, we ought not
to say, and we relieve no difficulty by saying that we become sin-
ners without cavy probation at all, or by a probation in the dawn
of our infancy, when we have so little understanding, that it is
mocking us to say that each one undergoes a probation for himself.
From the days of Chrysostom down to our time the best writers,
those, who have stood foremost as advocates of the truth have
contended that to be made sinners " means to be made liable to
death and condemned to death." Chrys. p. 1 54.
If men say that the ruin of the race by one act of one man
and the salvation of believers by the obedience of another are
quite contrary to the natural conceptions of most men, it is freely
admitted by all candid writers. Hodge : " The idea of men being
regarded and treated, not according to their own merits, but the
merit of another is contrary to the common mode of thinking
among men." But shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ?
Is man, the worm, the fool, the sinner, capable of revising the
ways of Providence? Is it not wiser with Paul to say, "O the
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God !
how unsearchable are his jxidgments, and his ways past finding
262 EPISTLE TO Ch. V., vs. 12-19.
out ! " than to sit in judgment on the ways of the Almighty ? If
God says a thing, we know it is true ; if God does a thing we
know it is right. Wisdom would dictate that modesty should stop
just there. Haldane : " Our duty is to understand the import of
what is testified, and to receive it on that authority not to inquire
into the justice of the constitution from which our guilt results.
... It is highly dishonorable to God to refuse to submit to his
decisions till we can demonstrate their justice." Moses: "The
secret things belong unto the Lord our God : but those things
which are revealed belong unto us, and to our children for ever."
Elihu : " God is greater than man. Why dost thou strive against
him? 1 for he giveth not account of any of his matters." Deut.
29:29; Job 33: 12, 13.
Of no more force is the objection of Macknight, repeated by
several of his American imitators, that " to argue with Beza, that
to entitle believers to eternal life, Christ's righteousness must be
imputed to them, is to contradict the scripture, which constantly
represents eternal life, not as a debt due to believers, but as a free
gift from God." But what lover of sound doctrine ever held that
eternal life was to the believer anything but a free gift, a gift by
grace, unmerited kindness ? And does it not magnify the grace
of God to sinners to know that it is bestowed at a great cost, even
the humiliation and sufferings of the Son of God ? To man salva-
tion from first to last is all gratuity, but not a whit less so, because
it is bestowed in a manner consistent with all the requirements of
the eternal law of God. To Christ, who obeyed and suffered, the
salvation of his people is due, because he has paid the ransom for
them. Those, who are saved.,, are pardoned and accepted through
Christ, in a way perfectly consistent with the demands of justice,
for Christ has fully satisfied all the claims of God's infinite and
unspotted rectitude for his people. But to the sinner saved, all is
grace, all is mercy, all is a free gift through Jesus Christ.
Perhaps the most popular and wide-spread objection to the
doctrine of the imputation of Adam's sin to his posterity is one
that is stated with various degrees of coarseness and harshness,
holding up the friends of truth as maintaining the doctrine that
infants dying in infancy are eternally lost. On this objection the
changes are rung with great dexterity, and often with deep malig-
nity. I may say with boldness that in the reading of my lifetime
I have found nothing to justify such a charge, but a great deal to
the contrary. Hear the Synod of Dort: "Seeing that we are to
judge of the will of God by his word, which testifies that the
children of believers are holy, not indeed by nature, but by the
benefit of the gracious covenant, in which they are comprehended
Ch. V., vs. 12-19.] THE ROMANS. 263
along with their parents ; pious parents ought not to doubt of the
election and salvation of their children, whom God hath called in
infancy out of this life." On this article the judicious Thomas
Scott of the church of England, in a note to his translation of the
Acts of the Synod of Dort, says : " The salvation of the offspring
of believers, dying in infancy, is here scripturally stated, and not
limited to such as are baptized. Nothing is said of the children
of unbelievers dying in infancy ; and the scripture says nothing.
But why might not these Calvinists have as favorable a hope of
all infants dying before actual sin, as anti-calvinists can have ? "
Surely this is sound speech that cannot be condemned. Guyse :
" How far the righteousness of the second Adam may extend to
them that die in infancy, to prevent an execution of the curse in
the future miseries of another world, is not for us to determine ;
we may quietly leave them in the hands of a merciful God, who
we are sure can do them no wrong. And believing parents may
with great satisfaction hope well concerning the eternal happiness
of their dying infants ; since they never lived to cast off God's
gracious covenant, into which he has taken believers and their
seed, under that better Head, in whom all nations are blessed. But
then it should be remembered, that infants needing Christ's re-
demption supposes them to have been under a charge of guilt ;
otherwise there would have been no occasion for any redemption
of them ; and if they have not the benefit of redemption in the
other world, they have none at all, since they are afflicted and die
in this." Chalmers : " For anything we know, the mediation of
Christ may have affected, in a most essential way, the general
state of humanity ; and, by some mode unexplained and inexplica-
ble, may it have bettered the condition of those who die in infancy."
Hodge: "If without personal participation in the sin of Adam,
all men are subject to death, may we not hope that, without per-
sonal acceptance of the righteousness of Christ, all who die in in-
fancy are saved?" In his beautiful poem "The Work and Con-
tention of Heaven," the pious Ralph Erskine, to the joy of saints,
thus opens the scene :
"Babes thither caught from womb and breast
Claim right to sing above the rest ;
Because they found the happy shore,
They never knew nor sought before."
Wardlaw : " This I believe and delight in believing, that to what-
ever extent the curse may reach them, they are all included in the
efficacy of the redemption, amongst the objects of saving mercy.
264 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., vs. 12-19.
Their salvation is entirely on the ground of Christ's mediation."
Vol. 2, p. 269. Dr. Archibald Alexander uses language very
strong on this subject. See his Life, p. 455 : " It can do harm to
hope as much as we can respecting the dead. Let us be as rigid
as we please in regard to the living ; but it is no dishonor to God,
nor disparagement of his truth, to entertain enlarged views of his
mercy." A reason, why God may in mercy have said no more on
this subject, is that wicked parents may be restrained from infanti-
cide. As it is, many a child is murdered by the parent, to put it
out of misery. Wardlaw goes too far goes beyond what is re-
vealed when he says : " I believe that even in heathen lands,
Christ makes his great adversary outwit himself. The amount of
infanticides, produced by ruthless and unnatural superstition, has
been fearfully great. But the Redeemer, without its in the least
mitigating the atrocious guilt of the perpetrators, has thus, by
means of idolatry itself, been multiplying the number of his sub-
jects and peopling heaven." We must not be wise above what is
written. We must not lay before ungodly men an inducement to
murder their own offspring that they may put them for ever be-
yond the reach of misery. The Lord will do right. Let us leave
all in his hands. Let us trust him for ever. He has revealed all
that faith requires. Thus we see it is not true that the friends of
sound doctrine are chargeable with holding any gloomy, or un-
scriptural views on the subject of infant salvation. They hold not
a principle, which forbids them to entertain as cheerful and enlarg-
ed views on the subject as any other persons who believe the
Bible. But they do contend, and justly too, that whoever of our
race is saved at all, is saved entirely by Christ, and not by native
innocence. The pious parent, whose infant offspring has preceded
him, exults in the thought that he and they shall sing the same
song unto him that loved them, and washed them in his blood.
It might well be remembered that all, who live long enough to
reject the gospel, do by that act justify Adam in his trangressing
the covenant of works, just as Jerusalem justified Sodom and
Samaria by sinning worse than they, Ezek. 16 : 51, 52. Great as
was Adam's first sin, it was a sin against goodness, law and author-
ity ; but he, who rejects the gospel, sins against the greatest love
and mercy and wisdom, and against the most awful authority too.
" This is the condemnation [the worst and most dreadful condem-
nation] that light is come into the word, and men have loved dark-
ness rather than light," John 3 : 19.
Some have objected to the doctrine of the imputation of
Adam's sin to his posterity that it teaches that everlasting misery
is or may be sent on those whose souls and lives are wholly pure
Ch. V., vs. 12-19.] THE ROMANS. 265
and innocent. But who has at any time taught such a doctrine?
Surely no approved divine of this or any other age. Thus Calvin :
" By Adam's sin we are not condemned through imputation alone,
as though we were punished only for the sin of another ; but we
suffer his punishment, because we also ourselves are guilty ; for as
our nature is vitiated in him, it is regarded by God as having com-
mitted sin." Hodge : " As the term death is used for any and
every evil judicially inflicted as the punishment of sin, the amount
and nature of the evil not being expressed by the word, it is no
part of the apostle's doctrine that eternal misery is inflicted on any
man for the sin of Adam, irrespective of inherent depravity or
actual transgression. It is enough for all the purposes of his argu-
ment that that sin was the ground of the loss of the divine favor,
the withholding of divine influence, and the consequent corrup-
tion of our nature." Haldane is no less clear and decided on the
same point. The same view was maintained by David Pareus and
other eminent divines of the XVI. century, as well as by the best
divines of the XVII. and XVIII. centuries. So far did the old
Hopkinsians carry this matter that they were understood to insist
that newborn infants committed actual sin. See Dr. Leonard
Woods' Works, Vol. 2, p. 352. But that is an extreme opinion,
generally rejected on both sides of the Atlantic.
It would not be difficult to shew by the writings of many seri-
ous men, who oppose the doctrine of the imputation of Adam's sin,
that they do often concede all that any calm and enlightened friend
of the old and sound doctrine of the imputation of Adam's sin con-
tends for. Hodge has collected a number of such. The number
of proofs might be almost indefinitely extended. Locke : " Paul
proves that all men became mortal, by Adam's eating the forbid-
den fruit, and by that alone. . . Men's dying before the law of
Moses, was purely in consequence of Adam's sin, in eating the for-
bidden fruit. . . By one offence, Adam's eating the forbidden
fruit, all men fell under the condemnation of death." So also
Macknight: "Death hath come on all men for Adam's sin. . .
Through the disobedience of one man, all were made liable to
sin and punishment, notwithstanding many of them never heard
of Adam, or of his disobedience." Any of these concedes all the
principle contended for in imputation, viz. that one may act for
another, and in such a way as the fruit of his doings, the legal con-
seqxiences of his acts may, by the just providence of God, come to
that other, as if they were his own.
It is a pleasing thought that in the actual administration of
human affairs by the headship of Adam and of Christ, there is so
great a superiority and glory in the headship of Christ. Paul
266 EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., vs. 12-19.
mentions this several times in Rom. 5 : 12-19. Chrysostom takes
up the same note : " Sin and grace are not equivalents, death and
life are not equivalents, the Devil and God are not equivalents, but
there is a boundless space between them. . . If sin had so exten-
sive effects, and the sin of one man too ; how can grace, and that
the grace of God, not the Father only, but also the Son, do other-
wise than be the more abundant of the two ? For the latter is far
the more reasonable supposition. For that one man should be
punished on account of another does not seem to be much in accord-
ance with reason. But for one to be saved on account of another
is at once more suitable and reasonable. If then the former took
place, much more the latter." Hodge : " The benefits of the one
dispensation far exceed the evils of the other. For the condemna-
tion was for one offence ; the justification is of many. Christ saves
us from much more than the guilt of Adam's sin. . . ' It is far more
consistent with our views of the character of God, that many
should be benefitted by the merit of one man, than that they
should suffer for the sin of one. If the latter has happened, MUCH
MORE may we expect the former to occur." The point of the
thought from the much more of the apostle is this : The principle of
representation in the government of God has by the fall of Adam
brought great evil, but by the obedience of Christ it has wrought
out results the most glorious to God, and the most beneficial to
man results as far excelling those of the fall as Christ is superior
to Adam. How much that is the scriptures clearly state : " The
first man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made
a quickening Spirit. . . The first man is of the earth, earthy : the
second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are
they also that are earthy : and as is the heavenly, such are they
also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the
earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly,." i Cor.
15 : 45, 47-49. It evinces amazing wisdom, power and goodness
to bring any good out of any evil ; but to bring infinite and ever-
lasting, yea the greatest good out of the apostasy of man manifests
such infinite perfections as must for ever fill the soul of the devout
and humble with unceasing wonder, admiration and thanksgiv-
ing.
ii. Sin is as bad, as mischievous, as ruinous to man, as dishon-
oring to God, as it has ever been represented to be. " Death
entered by sin ;" " through the offence of one many are dead ;" by
it "death reigned by one ;" by it "judgment came upon all men
to condemnation ;" " by one man's disobedience many were made
sinners." Sin is carnal, sensual, devilish. It is the sting of death ;
it is the venom of perdition. It digs every grave ; it builds every
Ch. V., vs. 18-21.] THE ROMANS. 267
prison ; it forges every chain ; it erects every gibbet ; it made
strong the bars of hell ; it is horrible. Not a sigh, or groan, or
wail is heard on earth or in hell, but that' sin is the cause of it. In
the wretchedness of man on earth, in the screams of the damned
in hell, above all in the cross of Christ, let men learn the evil of
sin. Look at that mysterious sufferer in Gethsemane ! Why is he
in such agony ? He is bearing sin for others. What must sin not
be, when it required so amazing humiliation and suffering in the
holy Jesus to redeem us from it?
12. The law of God is of excellent use in many ways. Nor is
its value in shewing us how wicked and guilty we are one of the
lest important of its uses, v. 20. Calvin : " Without the law re-
proving us, we in a manner sleep in our sins ; and though we are
not ignorant that we do evil, we yet suppress as much as we can
the knowledge of evil offered to us, at least we obliterate it by
quickly forgetting it." T. Adam : " Keep your thoughts close to
this idea of the divine law ; establish it with the apostle, as the
sacred, invariable rule by which you are to be tried ; and then ask
yourself, what part of your life has been answerable to it." The
law is still a schoolmaster to lead men to Christ. Those converts
to Christ, who have but a slight law-work on their hearts, are apt
to take but a feeble hold on the Redeemer ; while those, who are
soundly troubled in their consciences, at least see the need of just
such a salvation as is provided in the gospel.
.13. If poor sinners, saved by grace, can, after long study and
prayer, get a comparatively, good insight into the doctrines of
gratuitous justification, such as is revealed in this epistle, and in
this chapter, what a glorious doctrine must it be in the eyes of
angels, who never sinned, and especially in the esteem of the
spirits of just men made perfect in heaven, vs. 18, 19, 21. See
Doctrinal and Practical Remarks on Rom. 5 : i-n. Diodati :
" Christ's righteousness consisteth in his full and perfect obe-
dience unto God his Father in fulfilling the law. Now Saint Paul
saith here, that all this righteousness is imputed unto us, and we
thereby are perfectly righteous before God, as if we ourselves had
wholly fulfilled the law." T. Adam : " Paul takes occasion to
plead for such a remedy as is suited to the urgency of our case ;
declares the -nature of it as plainly as words can do, and tells tis
precisely both what it is, and what it is not ; that it is only and al-
together the grace of God, and the gift by grace, the abundance of
grace and of the gift of righteousness, by Jesus Christ, to the glory
of God, from the bowels of his mercy, and to the utter exclusion
of all other pretensions, human merit or qualification." If a per-
fectly gratuitous justification is not taught in this epistle, there are
268 .EPISTLE TO [Ch. V., vs. 18-21.
no words left whereby such a doctrine may be taught. There is
but one sense, in which the righteousness, by which we are justi-
fied before God, is our own ; and that is, it is imputed to us, or set
down to our account, to all the ends and purposes of perfect par-
don and complete acceptance with God. Otherwise it is .wholly
and entirely the righteousness of God, the righteousness of Christ,
Rom. 3 : 21, 22; 10 : 3 ; 2 Cor. 5 : 21 ; 2 Pet. I : 11. Chalmers:
" God now is not only merciful to forgive he is faithful and just
to forgive. He will not draw upon the surety, and upon the debtor
both. He will have a full reckoning with guilt ; but he will not have
more than a full reckoning by exacting both a penalty and a propi-
tiation : and the man who trusts to the propitiation, may be very
sure that the penalty will never reach him. The destroying angel,
on finding him marked with the blood of Christ, will pass him by."
Glory be to God for such heavenly doctrine. As the scarlet thread
made Rahab safe in the midst of the convulsions of Jericho, so the
precious blood of Christ and his infinite righteousness will give
boldness to the redeemed when all nature shall be dissolving.
14. Every right view of scripture doctrine, of God's glory, or
man's feebleness, of human wickedness or of man's recovery by
Christ Jesus, teaches us a lesson of humility. Nor is it possible for
us to be too lowly before God. If we ever rise, it must be by
sinking. If we are ever exalted, it must be by humbling our-
selves. Our place is in the dust. Our great error is in our lofti-
ness. Oh for self-emptiness. The best man on earth is the hum-
blest man on earth. The most exalted creature before the
blazing throne above is the one that makes the most profound
obeisance of all his nature in the presence of his Maker. Come
down, ye mountains of pride-. Be abased all ye lofty thoughts
that exalt yourselves against God. Scott : " Let us learn habitu-
ally to look upon ourselves and the whole human race as lying in
the ruins of the fall ; sinners by nature and practice, exposed to
condemnation, and no more able to save our own souls from hell,
than to rescue our bodies from the grave. Instead of perplexing
ourselves about the awfully deep and incomprehensible, but most
righteous dispensation of God, in permitting the entrance of sin
and death ; let us learn to adore his grace for providing so ade-
quate a remedy for that awful catastrophe, which we are sure was
consistent with all his glorious perfections." Such a course as
this would prove that we were already taught of God, and had
found the way of life. God's judgments are indeed terrible ;
but his mercies endure for ever. True, clouds and darkness
are round about him, but righteousness and judgment are the
habitation of his throne. If we were but as humble as our state
Ch. V., vs. 12-19.] THE ROMANS. 269
and character require, we should avoid all the serious mistakes of
men, and make delightful progress in the knowledge of God and
in conformity to the will of God. If any man would be wise, let
him become a fool that he may be wise.
15. If such is the sad and fallen condition of our whole race, as
we have seen it to be, vs. 12-19, how zealous should be our endeav-
ors, how faithful our instructions, and how fervent our prayers in
behalf of our sinful offspring. Monica said she travailed in birth
more for the soul than for the body of her son, Augustine. It is sad
to see our loved ones in the snare of the devil. But it is glorious
to see Christ rescuing the captives, and opening the prison to
them that are bound. He is able to bind the strong man and
spoil his goods. Scott : " As our children have evidently, through
us, received a sinful, suffering and dying nature from the first
Adam ; we should be stirred up, even by their pains and sorrows
in helpless infancy, to seek for them the blessings of the second
Adam's righteousness and salvation." And our prayers should
be full of ardor. " Elijah's prayer brought down fire from heaven,
because being fervent it carried fire up to heaven." In nothing is
there a greater deficiency in our day than in the matter of prayer.
16. The way of salvation is by the Redeemer's blood and right-
eousness, and by them alone, Out of Christ God is a consuming
fire. We cannot be saved by any finite power or merit. Brown :
" There is no inheriting eternal life until first we be covered with
a righteousness, seeing we are altogether unclean and unholy of
ourselves ; and as grace certainly carries us to heaven, so grace
certainly provides the means, and the way how to win it, and finds
out a way how poor sinners shall become righteous saints." That
is. just what we need, just what we should accept. It is offered to
us by the Lord offered without money and without price. The
air we breathe is not more free than the grace of the gospel. O
sinful man ! does not that quite suit your case ? And will you not
at once close in with the overtures of mercy ? Chalmers : " Jesus
Christ our Lord by his death bore the punishment that you should
have borne. He by his obedience won a righteousness, the reck-
oning and the reward of which are transferred unto you ; and you,
by giving credit to the good news, are deemed by God as having
accepted all these benefits, and will be dealt with accordingly.
Yoti cannot trust too. simply to the Saviour. You cannot place
too strong a reliance on his death as your discharge." Oh come
to Jesus Christ and be saved.
17. There is great danger that many will lose their souls by idle
questions, and false reasonings, and deceitful hopes respecting
their case. In our day men have learned fearfully to sin by cavil-
2/o EPISTLE. [Ch. V., vs. 12-21.
ling at almost every thing declared even in the gospel. Some say,
How can these things be ? And while men are disputing, life
passes away, and they find themselves in the fixedness of an eter-
nal state, but without the needful preparation. Wardlaw : " What-
ever may be the amount of curse arising directly from your rela-
tion to the first sinner, O do not allow any speculations on a sub-
ject so full of mystery, to draw away your thoughts from the con-
sideration of your actual guilt. Do not think hardly of God on
account of his dealings towards you, and towards the race. Be
assured he is the Judge of all the earth ; and has done and can do
only that which is right. While he visits transgressions with
punitive vengeance, think how he has visited sinners in tender
mercy. ' He delighteth in mercy.' If his dealings by the first
Adam manifest his righteousness, his dealings by the second Adam
reveal the everlasting riches of his love. I must do as my
Bible does. There I find all men spoken of, and spoken to, as
children of wrath till they turn unto God by Jesus Christ. Even
those who have experienced the renewing power of grace are
spoken of as having been so previously. The way of escape is set
before men. Ample and immediate encouragement is held out
to them to come to God for pardon and full salvation, through
the overflowing abundance of his grace in Christ Jesus. The
righteousness of Christ is infinitely more than a counterbalance to
Adam's sin and to their own. Grace reigns through this right-
eousness." Will you, O will you be saved ? When shall it
once be ?
CHAPTER VI.
VERSES 1-11.
THE SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINE OF GRATUITOUS JUS-
TIFICATION DOES NOT LEAD TO LICENTIOUS-
NESS, BUT TO HOLINESS.
WHAT shall we say then ? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound ?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein ?
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were
baptized into his death ?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death : that like as Christ
.was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk
in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be
also in the likeness of his resurrection :
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him :
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more ; death hath
no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once ; but in that he liveth, he liveth
unto God.
1 1 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
1WHA T shall we say then ? Shall we continue in sin that grace
. may aboimd? The apostle, having established the necessity
of a gratuitous salvation, having shown how we obtain it by the
righteousness of Christ, having evinced that Abraham himself
was thus saved, having illustrated the method of our recovery
by the method of our ruin, and having declared how grace is
glorious in proportion to the dreadfulness of the apostasy, from
which Jesus Christ saves us, he informally, not dramatically, refers
to a specious objection, likely to be made by the opposers, or by
the ill-informed, who might say, What shall we say then ? as it
one should say : Your doctrine is new to me. I am startled by it
(271)
272 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VI., v. 2.
It is very different from my long cherished opinions. I had looked
to the law of Moses for salvation. But your doctrine is that by
the deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified, and that where sin
abounds, grace does much more abound. Does it not follow from
your doctrine that we may continue in the love and practice of
sin that grace may abound yet more ?
2. God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer
therein ? God forbid, literally, Let it not be, let it never be so, q. d.
to argue that way would be perverseness indeed. See above on
Rom. 3 : 4. He expresses abhorrence of the thought. How shall we,
who 'are dead to sin, live any longer therein ? Peshito : For if we are
persons, who have died to sin, how can we again live in it ?
Hodge : " It is no fair inference from the fact that God has
brought so much good out of the fall and sinfulness of men, that
they may continue in sin." Calvin : " He who sins certainly
lives to sin ; we have died to sin through the grace of Christ ;
then it is false, that what abolishes sin gives vigor to it." In the
preceding chapter he had shewed how death had justly come on
the whole race for one sin of one man. It could not then be that
under the government of a God, who so hates sin, provision should
4 be made whereby God's chosen people in their march to glory
should allowedly indulge in conduct offensive to the Most High.
The chief difficulty in explaining this scripture satisfactorily is
found in the question, What is it to be dead to sin ? If light can be
had from the use of the same or like phrases, we may find it in
Rom. 6:6, 7, 8; 7:4; 8:13; Gal. 2:19; 5 : 24 ; 6 : 14 ; Col. 2 : 20 ;
3:3,5; i Pet. 2 : 24. One, who looks at these passages is very
apt to think that he understands precisely what is intended to be
taught. But when he comes to express himself definitely, he is
often at a loss. The fact is that death used figuratively has so
many and wide reaching applications, all resulting from the nature
of death itself, that we are apt to become confused. Where the
scriptures speak of mortifying [putting to death] the deeds of the
body and our members which are iipon the earth, the meaning is clear.
We are called to spare no sin, to kill it, knowing that our contest
with it must prove fatal to it or to us. If we put not it to death,
it will put us to death. So when the scripture speaks of our cruci-
fying the flesh, witJi the affections and lusts, it is clear that the work
done is that of warring against our carnal nature with a determi-
nation to destroy all its power over us ; even though it lingers and
struggles for the ascendancy. So when Paul says, The world is
crucified unto me," and I unto the world, clearly the meaning is
that to the world Paul was an object as little regarded as the
crucified malefactor ; and that the world was to him as one cruci-
Ch. VI., v. 2.] THE ROMANS. 273
fied. He sought not its smiles, its favors, its portion, its wealth,
honors or pleasures. So when Paul says he is dead to the law, the
meaning is that he looked no longer to the law for life and justifi-
cation. He had no desire to be saved by his own works. Then
we have the phrase dead with Christ, which in its connection shows
that by and through Christ his people have wholly ceased to trust
to rites and ceremonies, Jewish or Pagan ; they rely not on them
at all. Then again Paul says, Ye are dead, and your life is hid with
Christ in God, where he teaches that they were dead to their old
hopes, plans and objects of desire, and that their present reliance
was on Christ Jesus, by the secret communications of his grace,
unseen by the world. In I Pet. 2 : 24 we have the phrase we being
dead to sins, sins of all sorts. The question still recurs what is it to
be dead to sin f Is it not explained by such phrases as not serve sin,
dead with Christ, living with Christ, etc. found in vs. 6, 8, etc?
Still is it the guilt or the power of sin that is spoken of in this
place ? Venema, Haldane and Chalmers think that it means we
are dead to the guilt of sin. It looks as if I Pet. 2 : 24 referred also
to be being freed from the guilt of sin. And it cannot be denied
that such a sense agrees with the argument of former chapters.
Nor are these writers without support from the subsequent
context. For instance in v. 10 Christ is said to have died unto sin
once, where we must understand that he died for sin, or on
account of sin ; that is, he bore and soput away the guilt of sin.
Others, and there are not a few of them, regard the apostle as
speaking only of the power of sin, as a reigning principle. They
rely much on the context to sustain this view. Paul's language in
this chapter is very bold and highly figurative. Yet I believe no
commentator has attempted to unite these two interpretations, and
present sin as a tyrant and task master, tormenting his servants
with the horrors of guilt, and wielding his vile power to seduce
them into deeper pollution. Certainly some of the phrases seem
inapplicable to an interpretation that would include both these
ideas, but others do not. Owen of Thrussington says, " The ques-
tion, ' Shall we continue in sin ? ' surely does not mean shall we
continue in or under the guilt of sin ? but in its service, and in the
practice of it." It was the charge of practical licentiousness that
the apostle rebuts ; and he employs an argument suitable to the
purpose, " If we are dead to sin, freed from it as our master, how
absurd it is to suppose that we can live any longer therein."
Then being dead to sin, it is contended, is just the opposite of
living in sin. Evans : " We must not be as we have been, nor do
as we have done. The time past of our life must suffice to have
wrought the will of the flesh. Though there are none that live.
18
274 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VI., vs. 3, 4.
without sin, yet, blessed be God, there are those that do not live
in sin; do not live in it as their element, do not make a trade of
it." This is the substance of what is contended for by the great
body of expositors.
3. Know ye not, that so many of us as -were baptized into Jesus
Christ, were baptised into his death ? Baptized into Jesus Christ ;
in i Cor. i : 1 3 we have baptized in the name of Paul ; in I Cor.
10 : 2, baptized unto Moses ; in Matt. 3:11 we have baptize you
with -water unto repentance ; in Mark i : 4, the baptism of repent-
ance unto the remission of sins ; in i Cor. 12 : 13, baptized into one
body. In each of these cases we have the same Greek word ren-
dered, in, into, or unto. To be baptized unto or into Moses expresses
the relation of the baptized to that great prophet. So when Paul
denies that the Corinthians were baptized in or into his name, he
denies that by their baptism he became their leader, denies that
in their baptism they professed any subjection to him. To be
baptized unto repentance, or unto the remission of sins expresses
the relations of the baptized to the doctrines and dispensations of
repentance and of remission of sins. By baptism then our union
with Christ is professed and declared. But those, who cordially
receive Christ and with true faith profess their subjection to him,
are baptized into his death, that is, have a union with him in his
death, not only partaking of the benefits thereof, but as his death
separated him from the world and terminated his work as a sin-
bearer, so our baptism declares that we have done with the world
as a portion, and with sin as a practice. We have died unto sin,
and in baptism we so profess. Thus the first formal argument
against the loose living, to which some allege the doctrines of
free grace lead, is that a sinful life is contrary to our sacra-
mental engagements. If baptism teaches anything, it teaches
our cleansing from sin. He, who is baptized and lives in sin,
is a hypocrite, a mere pretender. He has not put on Christ.
He is not like Christ. He is not subject to Christ. If Christ
does not save us from sin, he does not save us from wrath.
His name was " JESUS, for he shall save his people from their
sins," Matt, i : 21. Compare Tit. 2 : 14.
4. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death : that
'like as Christ was raised tip from the dead by the glory of the Father,
even so we also should walk in neivness of life. Death is followed
by burial. Death cuts us off from the world. Burial quite
secludes us from it, puts us entirely out of it. So we are dead
to sin ; we are by baptism, if rightly received, separated from
wickedness, and devoted unto Christ. But this death and burial
must not be misunderstood. They are not without a resurrec-
Ch. VI., v. 4.] THE ROMANS. 275'
tion. No ! They are followed by a new life. Calvin : " He
rightly makes a transition from a fellowship in death to a fellow-
ship in life; for these things are connected together by an in-
dissoluble knot that the old man is destroyed by the death of
Christ, and that his resurrection brings righteousness, and renders
us new creatures. And surely, since Christ has been given to us
for life, to what purpose is it that we die with him except that we
may rise to a better life ? " By the death of Christ on the cross,
the power of sin was broken. By our death unto sin, its domin-
ion over us is destroyed, and this is signified in baptism. That it
is not the mere rite of baptism, but the thing signified thereby, that
he speaks of, is clear. Saving effects are said to follow. Many
from the days of Simon Magus have been baptized but the power
of their sins has continued unbroken. So in Col. 2 : 11, 12, where
Paul teaches that circumcision and baptism have the same signifi-
cancy, viz. putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, and rising
with Christ through faith, we learn the same lesson, the necessity
of holiness, as inculcated by every ordinance of God, especially
the sacraments. .By the glory of the Father; Peshito: Into the
glory of his Father ; Arabic : In the glory of the Father ; Gene-
van : Unto the glory of the Father ; Beza : To the glory of the
Father. Were the word glory in the accusative, there would be
no difficulty in adopting the rendering of the Genevan translation.
But the preposition here used when it governs the genitive never
signifies unto, or for the sake of. We know nothing to justify the
rendering of the Peshito or Arabic, though each gives a good
sense. By the glory of the Father must be taken as the fair render-
ing of the clause ; and the meaning may be by the power of the
Father, or by the divine nature, all of which is glorious. Bucer
regards glory as denoting " the extraordinary presence of the God-
head." Tholuck: " Glory denotes the sum of the divine perfec-
tions." Power and glory are often united in the New Testament,
as in Matt. 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27; Rev. 5:12, 13.
Compare Col. I : n. Scholars point us to Ps. 68 : 34; Isa. 12 : 2 ;
45 : 25 as instances, in which the Septuagint employs the term
here rendered glory to express the power or strength of Jehovah.
In fact the word may be so understood in John 2:11; 1 1 : 40. We
cannot conceive of a resurrection but by God's power, i Cor. 6 : 14;
2 Cor. 13 : 4; Eph. i : 19, 20. By newness of life we understand
the new life, which we lead after becoming new creatures and re-
ceiving a new heart and a new spirit, as the scriptures speak, Gal.
6: 15 ; Ezek. 18 : 31.
Some are fond of making this passage designate the mode of
baptism by immersion. But evidently it has no bearing on that
276 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VI., v. 5.
matter. Christ's burial consisted in laying his body in a new tomb,
hewn out of a rock, and in rolling a great stone to the door of
the sepulchre, Matt. 27 : 60 ; Mark 15 : 46 ; Luke 23 : 53. His body
was not covered up in the ground. Whatever is meant by the
language here used is in v. 5 expressed by being planted. Scott :
" Great stress has been laid upon the expression, ' buried with him
by baptism into death/ as proving that baptism ought to be per-
formed by immersion, to which the apostle is supposed to allude.
But we are said also to be ' crucified with Christ,' and ' circum-
cised with him,' without any allusion to the outward manner in
which crucifixion and circumcision were performed : and, as bap-
tism is far more frequently mentioned, with reference to the 'pour-
ing out' of the Holy Ghost (Notes Acts i -.4-8; 2: 14-21 ; Tit.
3 : 4-7), and as the apostle is evidently treating on the inward
meaning, not the outward form, of that ordinance ; no conclusive
argument is deducible from the expression, shewing that immer-
sion is necessary to baptism, or even, apart from other proof, that
baptism was generally thus administered."
5. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death,
we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. For planted,
Coverdale, Tyndale, Cranmer and Genevan, Calvin, Pareus, Bp.
Hall, Locke, Hammond, Conybeare and Howson, and others have
graft, grafted, or ingrafted. This would involve a figure of which
Paul elsewhere makes use, Rom. n : 17-24, though for a different
purpose. But later writers altogether reject the idea of grafting.
Stuart renders the verse thus : For if we have become kindred
with him by a death like his, then we shall be also by a resurrec-
tion. Doddridge leads the way in an explanation followed by
many : " If we are thus made to grow together in the likeness of
his death." Robinson renders it, " If we are grown together with
the likeness of his death." Without dwelling on the mere word
used, it will probably be agreed that the planting together, graft-
ing together, or growing together implies what Hodge calls " an
intimate and vital union with Christ, such as exists between a vine
and its branches." But it may be observed that in nature this
irital union between different trees can be effected in no way but
by some kind of ingrafting or inarching. If sap and nourishment
are to be derived such a union must be formed. Owen of
Thrussington : " Evidently the truth intended to be conveyed
is, that as the Christian's death to sin bears likeness to Christ's
death, so his rising to a spiritual life is certain to bear a similar
likeness to Christ's resurrection." Chrysostom explains the latter
clause of the verse without supplying any words as our trans-
lators do, as declaring we shall be of the resurrection, or " we
Ch. V., vs. 6, 7.] THE ROMANS. 277
shall belong to the resurrection," making it of like import with
that phrase in Luke 20 : 36, ye shall be " the children of the
resurrection." The meaning usually drawn from the passage is
thus obtained without supplying anything. But the blessed resur-
rection of the last day pre-supposes, in ordinary cases, a spiritual
resurrection, a renewal of our moral nature followed by newness
of life.
6. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the
body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Knowing agrees with we. Old man, we find quite the same in Eph.
4: 22 ; Col. 3:9: " That ye put off concerning the former conver-
sation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful
lusts." " Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the
old man with his deeds." These passages taken together clearly
point to the sinful nature within us, which we bring into this
world, and which we act out, until divine grace makes us new
creatures in Christ Jesus. Crucified; some think it refers to the
painful, lingering and ignominious death to which the believer
subjects his old carnal nature, and in this respect the similitude is
indeed striking. But two other ideas were probably foremost in
the apostle's mind. The first is that it was by the cross of Christ
that the old man was subdued, that from the death of Christ for
sin it was made manifest that sin must die, and that by Christ's
death sin was slain. The other is that to the new man, or regen-
erate nature, the old man is an object of aversion and abhorrence,
as the crucified were to men generally. The body of sin may mean
the mass of corruption in us, substantially the same as the old man.
This form of expression is probably taken from the fact that noth-
ing was crucified but living men, who of course had bodies. The
body of sin is therefore but a continuance of the figure introduced
by crucifying the old man. In Col. 2 : 1 1 we have the body of the
sins of the flesh. Chrysostom : " He does not give that name to
this body of curs, but to all iniquity." Oecumenius : " The body
of sin is a circumlocution for sin itself." This body of sin must be
destroyed, made of none effect, brought to naught, done away, put
down, abolished, as the same word is elsewhere rendered. It is
destroyed at and by the cross of Christ. It can be put to death in
no other way. But in this way it can be so destroyed, Peshito :
abolished, that henceforth we should not serve sin, or be the slaves of
sin, as the verb means ; Doddridge : " That we might no longer be
in bondage to sin." The Canaanites did indeed tempt, annoy and
seduce the Israelites after Joshua took possession of the promised
land, but they were its masters and rulers no longer.
7. For he that is dead is freed from sin. There is considerable
278 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VI., v. 7.
diversity in rendering and interpreting this verse, and this diver-
sity is rather increased by the fact that most of these interpreta-
tions give a good sense. Peshito : He that is dead [to it] is eman-
cipated from sin. The Arabic, Vulgate, Wiclif, Tyndale, Cranmer,
Rheims, Doway, Calvin and Conybeare and Howson render it :
He that is dead is justified from sin ; Coverdale : " He that is dead
is righteous from sin." The word rendered freed is everywhere
else rendered justified, except in Rev. 22:11 where it is righteous.
Nor is there more than one other place where it is claimed that
the word means freed (Acts 13 : 39), and there the rendering of
the authorized version is justified, and the sense thus obtained is
good. The rendering of the common version is sustained by
Chrysostom, Ferme, Bp. Hall, Rosenmuller, Macknight, Scott,
Stuart and others, As to the meaning of being dead to sin, see
above on v. 2. The various views taken of the passage may be
thus classified: i. Conybeare and Howson say the meaning is
" that if a criminal charge is brought against a hian who died be-
fore the perpetration of the crime, he must be acquitted, since he
could not have committed the act charged against him." The
objection to this explanation is that it is recondite, not obvious,
and not very pertinent to Paul's argument. 2. The second ex-
planation is suggested by Ferme, viz. that Christ who died for sin
did by his passion effect the complete liberation, both of himself
as our surety and of his believing people, from sin and guilt. This
is true, and it is pertinent to the leading doctrine of the epistle ;
but seems hardly to belong to this portion of it. Yet Ferme
regards the very next verse as probably a logical inference
from it. If it is so, he is right. Some regard i Pet 4 : i as lend-
ing support to this exposition. No doubt Christ and his people
are one in law, so that his death for sin secured their death to sin,
and his life in heaven secures their justification, sanctification, adop-
tion and glorification. But is this what Paul would here teach
us ? 3. Another explanation is that he, who is dead to sin, is
freed from its dominion. Some, who thus expound the place, find
support, as they think, from the idea of servitude to sin spoken of
in v. 6 and in subsequent parts of the epistle. Locke's paraphrase
is : " He that is dead is set free from the vassalage of sin, as a slave
is from the vassalage of his master." Macknight : " Sin has no
title to rule you ; for as the slave, who is dead, is freed from his
master, he, who hath been put to death by sin, is freed from sin."
In illustration of this thought Diodati and Evans refer to that
beautiful description given by the man of Uz of the effect of death,
in which he says, " the servant is free from his master," Job 3 : 19.
4. The other opinion is that the mind of the Spirit in this verse is
Ch. VI., v. 8.] THE ROMANS. 279
this : " He that is dead to sin, and has renounced it, and abhors
it, is a justified man, being absolved from the guilt of all his sins.
His hatred of sin proves his justification before God." Doddridge
says that the sense indicated by the English version is so uncom-
mon, that he is in much doubt whether it ought not to be render-
ed justified here. And it cannot be denied that the term has a
very decided forensic import. Indeed it is not certain that it can
ever be taken in a sense different. This view is strengthened if we
understand after dead, the words with Christ, as seems very reason-
able we should. In v. 3 it is said we are baptised into his death ;
in v. 4 that we are buried with him ; in v. 5 that we are planted in
the likeness of his death ; in v. 6 that we are crucified with him, and
in v. 8 that we are dead zvith him, and shall live with him.
8. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live
with him. Now indicates a connection, in the way of argument,
between this and the preceding verse. The first clause clearly ex-
presses communion with Christ in his death and sufferings ; the
latter, in his endless and glorious life and joy. The scripture
often speaks of our communion with Christ in his sufferings and
glory : " For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our
consolation also aboundeth by Christ:" "That I may know him,
and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffer-
ings, being made conformable unto his death ; if by any means I
might attain unto the resurrection of the dead ;" " Rejoice, inas-
much as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings ; -that, when his
glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy,"
2 Cor. 1:5; Phil. 3: 10; I Pet. 4: 13. Paul does not hesitate to
call his sufferings " the afflictions of Christ," Col. 1 : 24. In the
last day Christ will say to each of his saints : " Enter thou into
the joy of thy lord," Matt. 25:21, not merely the joy which he
has prepared and will bestow, but the joy of which he is a par-
taker. The same is taught by our Lord in his intercessory prayer :
" I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in
one," John 17 : 23. Indeed the church is a mystical body, of which
Christ is the Head, and believers are the members. If one mem-
ber suffers, all suffer. When Saul waged war on Christians, Jesus
did not say, Why persecutest thou these good people ? but,
" Why persecutest thou me?" Now as Christ's resurrection and
glory inevitably followed his humiliation and death, so the be-
liever's death to sin by the cross of Christ shall certainly be fol-
lowed by a life and glory which will, in its measure, be like the life
and glory won by Christ. Only he possesses his by his own
merits. His people hold entirely under him and by his righteous-
ness. The pledge of this future glory is given in three ways, one
280 EPISTLE TQ [Ch. VI., vs. 9, 10.
of which is mentioned in the context, viz., death to sin. Another
is the sure promise of God variously given, and the third is the
new life which is in all believers, which they live by the faith of
the Son of God, and which is in God's word sometimes called,
eternal life, because it shall never become extinct, John 6 : 54 ; 10 :
28; 1753; i John 5:13.
9. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more;
death hath no more dominion over him. The scripture informs us
that Christ suffered and died, and it as carefully informs us that he
suffered and died but once, Rom. 6 : 10 ; Heb. 7 : 27 : 9 : 25-28 ; 10 :
2, 11-14; * Pet- 3 : 1 8. This point is made so clear that there is
no doubt left on the mind of any of God's people respecting it.
Not one believes that Christ died twice or oftener, or that he ever
will die again. This is for a perpetual joy to the saints in many
ways. A second humiliation and death would argue the insuffi-
ciency of the first. Besides, how could believers have any confi-
dence in their own salvation and the permanency of their spiritual
or heavenly state, if their Lord must leave his throne and again
become a man of sorrows? It is essential to the stability of
Christian hopes, that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no
more ; yea, that he can die no more ; for death hath no more dominion ;
Wiclif : lordschip ; Tyndale, Cranmer, Genevan : power over him.
It has no commission against him, no claim upon him. He has
satisfied the law ; he has made an end of transgression ; he has
borne the whole curse ; he has exhausted the penalty. His resur-
rection was the public and glorious acknowledgment before all
worlds that the ransom price was all paid. Death once had a just
claim on Christ, because he stood in the place of sinners and bore
their guilt. But the shedding of his blood fully satisfied all the
claims of the law, and now there is no cause for his suffering
more.
10. For in that he died, he died unto sin once : but in that he liveth,
he liveth unto God. Once, in Heb. 10 : 10 the same word is rendered once
for all. There can be but one sense in which Christ literally died
to sin, and that is, he died on account of sin. See above on v. 2.
But if we look on him as the Head of the mystical body and as
having his people in union with him, in him they died unto sin,
for he died " to redeem them from all iniquity and purify unto
himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works," Tit. 2 : 14.
Christ's work and sufferings were unto all the ends of a full and
perfect deliverance of all his people from the guilt and power of
sin, and from death as the curse, the penal consequence of sin.
His release from suffering and humiliation is the token that his
work was all done, and in that he liveth, he liveth unto God, that is
Ch. VI., vs. i-ii.] THE ROMANS. 281
he lives to the perpetual honor, the highest and everlasting glory
of God, he has an eternal life in the most blessed enjoyment of
God. And in this his people are and ever shall be, in their
measure, conformed to him. Because he lives, they shall live also,
John 14: 19. Their life is hid with Christ in God, Col. 3 : 3. As
he lives and shall ever live unto God, so shall they.
ii. Likewise reckon ye also, yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin,
btit alive ttnto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. The meaning is,
Understand aright the true nature of your relations to Christ.
Look upon yourselves as having died and been crucified with
Christ, that both the guilt and power of sin might be for ever
taken away, and that you may always live or be alive unto God.
You are dead and buried with Christ, you are planted and crucified
with him, that as he arose and became the most famous and the most
exalted of all creation, and ever lives in glory and renown, so you
also may arise in newness of life, glorifying God here, and in due
season, in your order, ascend and dwell with him in glory, par-
taking of his endless life and entering for ever into his joy. The
life of a Christian on earth ought to be, and in some degree, is
like the life of Christ in glory. It is unto God. Even here the
life we live is so entirely by the faith of the Son of God, that Patil
is very bold and says: "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me,"
Gal. 2 : 19; yea, he says that Christ is formed in believers the hope
of glory, Gal. 4 : 19 ; Col. i : 27. Nor is such an attainment in
holiness or happiness impossible. Nothing is more confidently to
be looked for, because it is all through Jesus Christ our Lord. If
God gave us his Son, why should we be surprised at his giving us
all things through him, or in him, as some prefer to read it, and
as the Greek allows us to read it ? Men do rightly construe the
doctrine of the union of believers with Christ when they " love,
serve, and glorify God, in thought, word and deed, as being
quickened with a new principle of supernatural life, which is
communicated from Jesus ^Christ our Lord, who lives, as well as
died for us."
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL REMARKS.
I. If we would be able and faithful ministers, we must state the
doctrines of scripture clearly, and guard them well against abuse
and perversion, vs. i-ii. Then if any wrest them, it will be their
fault and not ours. It is no sign of fidelity or of Christian intre-
pidity to state any doctrine either harshly or unguardedly, and
leave it exposed to all manner of cavil and objection. For such a
course we cannot plead inspired example.
282 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VI., vs. i-n.
2. Every doctrine in religion, whether true or false, has logical
consequences, v. I. This is delightfully true of great evangelical
doctrines. We cannot state one of them, that may not fairly be
folloAved by the interrogatory, What shall we say then ? What is
the fair consequence of such teaching ? Truth is one, is harmo-
nious. God is of one mind. He never contradicts himself. If we
teach any principle or embrace any aspect of doctrine, which
fairly contradicts any settled principle of truth or morals, we may
know it is false.
3. All scripture doctrine may be abused, has been abused,
even when stated in the most fitting manner. Let not the friends
of sound doctrine think that any strange thing has happened to
them, because from age to age they find their words wrested, and
their meaning perverted. It has always been so. Brown : " Men
of corrupt minds, who are filled with prejudice against any truth,
cannot be soon satisfied with any answer that is made to any of
the grounds of their stumbling, and gained to the truth ; but the
more that is said to satisfy them, they will have the more still to
reply." Hawker: "Dear Paul/ hadst thou lived in the present
day of the church, and seen, as we see, thy sweet truths taught
thee by the HOLY GHOST, wire-drawn by many of the various
professors ; divinely inspired as thou wert when writing this epis-
tle, thou wouldest hardly have escaped the odium which is thrown
upon those who subscribe with full consent of soul, and from the
same teaching, to the doctrine of free grace ! "
4. The fact that the truth is opposed and its friends maligned
is no reason why we should waver in our profession and preach-
ing of the doctrines of God's word, vs. i-ii. It is rather a reason
why we should be steadfast and intrepid in making known with
all meekness the truth as it is in Jesus. T. Adam : " Observe,
that the strength of the objection consists altogether in the suppo-
sition, that he really did teach and establish salvation by grace, or
the imputed righteousness of Christ, through faith, in the plain,
simple meaning of the words, and to the exclusion of all human
righteousness, works, or merit, from any share in our justifica-
tion. For if he had intended solely, or chiefly, to exclude works
done before faith, or works of the ceremonial law, and not all
works whatever, from the office of justification, there could have
been no room for the objection; and now, if ever, was the time for
him to have had recourse to such distinctions, and strike at the
root of this prejudice, by denying the ground of it." That would
not have been faithfulness but faithlessness to Christ and his
truth. Guyse : " The objection that carnal minds are naturally
apt to make against justification by God's grace through the
Ch. VI., vs. i-ii.] THE ROMANS. 283
righteousness of Christ, is not to be answered by allowing that
our own righteousness is to be joined in part with his to justify us,
for, on that supposition, there would be no room for the objection :
but it is to be answered by shewing, as the apostle doth, the in-
dispensable necessity of personal holiness, on other accounts, in
them that are justified, and the inseparable connection that is
fixed, by the ordination of God in the gospel, between these
things, without blending them together, or confounding one with
the other." If sanctification were our sole object, we cannot at-
tain to it but by cordially receiving the truth respecting justifica-
tion. The world contains no record of any sinner- being per-
suaded to righteousness and piety but by the hearty embracing
of Jesus Christ as the Lord our righteousness. All scripture, the
gospel in particular, says : " This is the will of God, even your
sanctification," I Thess. 4 : 3. Brown : " Such as imagine that
justification by the imputed righteousness of another is a doc-
trine tending to open a door for licentiousness, do grossly bewray
their ignorance of the state and condition of such as are justified
by faith, and know not how they have changed masters, when
once they have fled in to Christ, and have now a new nature, and
a new principle of life in them." There is nothing' more absurd
than for one, who loves iniquity, to claim to be pardoned and ac-
cepted through Christ.
5. Of all the forms of error none is more loathsome to a pure
mind than Antinomianism. To a renewed heart it is most sicken-
ing to see the friend of the world and the slave of sin going up to
the cross of Christ, and saying, There in the death of my Lord, is
my full license for drinking in iniquity. Hodge : " Antinomi-
anism is not only an error ; but it is a falsehood and a slander. It
pronounces valid the very objection against the gospel which Paul
pronounces a contradiction and absurdity, and which he evidently
regards as a fatal objection, were it well founded, vs. 2-4." The
man, who so sins as to bring on him the curse of the law, is in a
sad state indeed ; but he, who so perverts the gospel as to make
its best promises and richest provisions the means of sinking him
lower in corruption, has a marked foulness and a deep damnation
as his portion.
6. All objections to truth are capable of a fair answer, and
should be fairly answered. We are not bound to give heed to
mere cavils or frivolous objections. Much less may we waste time
in foolish wranglings, or in a war of words. But when men show
difficulties resulting from our scriptural teachings, we should with
meekness, candor and ability show that they are of no force, or
that they are fully met by a statement of the whole truth involved.
284 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VI., vs. i-n.
This is not surrendering the truth. It is following the example
of Christ and his apostles in establishing the faith. Calvin :
" Since every thing that is announced concerning Christ seems
very paradoxical to human judgment, it ought not to be deemed a
new thing, that the flesh, hearing of justification by faith, should
so often strike, as it were, against so many stumbling stones. Let
us, however, go on in our course ; nor let Christ be suppressed. . .
We ought at the same time, ever to obviate unreasonable ques-
tions, lest the Christian faith should appear to contain any thing
absurd."
7. While we make the freest possible proclamation of the gos-
pel, let us never forget or fail to state that pardon and renewal,
acceptance and holiness alike flow from the grace of God, and
though always distinguishable, are yet never separable, vs. i-ii.
Sanctification and justification always go together. The necessity
of both is clearly taught in scripture. Calvin : " It would be a
most strange inversion of the work of God were sin to gather
strength on account of the grace which is offered to us in Christ ;
for medicine is not a feeder of the disease which it destroys." So
surely as we are accepted for the sake of the blood and righteous-
ness of the Redeemer, so surely are we made partakers of the
Holy Spirit, the author of the restored image of God on the heart
of man. Paul does indeed preach the death of legal hope, but he
no less clearly proclaims the death of the body of sin. Justifica-
tion of the sinner by graceds with him a welcome theme ; but the
condemnation of the sin, which made such gratuity necessary, is
no less welcome. He never takes part with the sinner against
God or his law. But he never takes sides with the Pharisee in favor
of salvation by our own deservings. In all this he is consistent.
8. Wickedness in any is vile, in one acquainted with the gospel
is very ungrateful, but in one professing subjection to Christ is
monstrous, v. 2. If it were possible for any to receive Christ's
righteousness and yet really to cherish sin, the long mooted ques-
tion, Whether there are any moral monsters ? would be answered.
Calvin : " Throughout this chapter the apostle proves, that they
who imagine that gratuitous righteousness is given us by him,
apart from newness of life, shamefully rend Christ asunder."
Chrysostom : " When the fornicator becomes chaste, the covetous
man merciful, the harsh mild, a resurrection takes place ; an
earnest of the resurrection of life." Diodati : " Christ is dead not
only to expiate the guilt of sin, but also to take away all its strength
and power over us ; and to gain us wholly to God, and frame and
consecrate us to his service." A hearty embracing of the gospel
is of necessity fatal to corruption.
Ch. VI., vs.. 2-4.] THE ROMANS. 285
9. It is cruel to teach men that they can find the way of life
and savingly embrace it without the aid and teaching of the Holy
Ghost. The road to heaven is like the way that Jonathan and his
armor-bearer went ; there is a sharp rock on one side and a sharp
rock on the other side. If unaided nature comes to the cross, it
stumbles at every thing. Were it possible to impart to the
unenlightened soul a confidence of full acceptance, it would sin the
more. Call on the carnal to be holy, and, if they make any serious
effort at purity, they at once present their good deeds as some
ground of acceptance before God. Thus "self-righteous pride
and antinomian licentiousness are two fatal rocks, on which
immense multitudes are continually wrecked, and between which
none but the Holy Spirit can pilot us." Compare i Cor. 2:14.
The true gospel plan is understood aright by none but those, to
whom it is revealed.
10. Yet the love of Christ in bestowing his grace and right-
eousness is a powerful constraining motive to hearty and entire
obedience to the known will of God. No man ever works right-
eousness with all his heart, until with all his heart he accepts the
righteousness wrought out by the Son of God. Hodge : " Instead
of holiness being in order to pardon, pardon is in order to holiness.
This is the mystery of evangelical morals, v. 4." This has been
evinced by a thousand practical demonstrations. Chalmers proved
it in his early ministry, as he informs us. Brainerd proved it
among the savages, to whom his ministry was blessed as he tells us
at length. When the love of Christ enters the soul, we see marvel-
lously illustrated " the expulsive power of a new affection."
11. Baptism is a most solemn and significant rite, as much so
as circumcision that preceded it, as much so as the Lord's Supper
that accompanies it, vs. 3, 4. We have no prescribed worship
more binding in its nature than baptism, and none that teaches
more important lessons. It is both a sign and a seal of our union
with Christ. To those, who rightly receive it, it confirms all the
blessings of Christ's mediatorial work. It seals to them all the
blessings promised in the covenant of grace. Some, indeed, who
boast of their baptism, live as if ' the use and purpose of baptism
had been altered, so as to allow a covenant with sin, and an agree-
ment with hell.' But their perversion of this sacred rite can take
nothing from its excellence to those, who receive it aright. True,
it has been sadly perverted. Some have maintained and some
still maintain that it is by opus operat^lm and by the inherent
efficacy of the rite itself, that we are profited. Others contend
that its efficacy is confined to the time of administration, and that
sins after baptism are irremissible. But let us not despise the
286 . EPISTLE TO [Ch. VL, vs. 3-8.
ordinance because it has been abused. Baptism does certainly
teach our death to sin, our separation from it, our mortification to
it, and all by our blessed union with Christ. Voluntarily to live
in sin after baptism is to follow the sow that was washed to her
wallowing in the mire. If, after we have by baptism given in our
adhesion to Christ, we turn away from the holy commandment,
we do declare, as Simon Magus did, that we have no part nor lot
in this matter, but are in the bond of iniquity and in the gall of
bitterness. How can he who is baptized into the death of Christ,
and claims the benefits of that death, by allowed sin renounce all
good and give sentence against his own soul? How can he thus
act, unless by unbelief his baptism was a mockery of sacred
things ?
12. It is and shall be for a lamentation that so many wrong
notions have been attached to baptism and that great stress has
been laid on things of no importance whatever in regard to this
ordinance. Some contend that the whole body must be immersed
at once, else there is no baptism. Others have practiced trine
immersion, and contended that is was obligatory. Others insist
on making the sign of the cross at the time to make the rite com-
plete. But all these and many other things are mere human
inventions. The less stress we lay upon them, the better.
13. God's people are conformable to Christ, vs. 3-8. All the
terms and images used to express their relations to Christ either
imply or declare it. Is the church a glorious temple unto the
Lord? Christ is the chief corner stone, and believers are lively
stones built up a spiritual house. Is Christ a husband ? His
church is his spouse, and is subject to him as her Beloved. Is he
a vine? Believers are the .branches. Is he a Shepherd ? Saints
are his flock, and feeble saints his lambs, carried in his bosom. Did
Christ die ? They are baptized into his death. Was he crucified ?
They are crucified with him. Is he risen from the dead? They
are already risen from their death in sin, and shall, in their order,
rise from their graves, and ascend up where the Son of man is, and
sit down with him in his throne. True, any of these figures of
speech, or methods of conveying precious truth, may be over-
strained, and so perverted. Men may try to find resemblances
where there are none. Calvin notices one of the many of these
overstrained figures : " Between the grafting of trees, and this
which is spiritual, a disparity soon meets us. In the former the
graft draws its aliment from the root, but retains its own nature in
the fruit ; but in the latter not only do we derive the vigor and
nourishment of life from Christ, but we also pass from our own to
his nature." This illustration is itself sufficient to show us the
Ch. VI., vs. 5, 6.] THE ROMANS. 287
folly of carrying any metaphorical language beyond the bounds of
sobriety beyond the simple point or points intended to be there-
by illustrated.
14. All true piety begins with right views of the person, work
and death of Christ, v. 5.
15. As the death of believers to sin is not a sinking down into
abiding inertness and sloth, but is early followed by a resurrection
from death in sin to a life of holiness ; so the temporal death of
believers is not an eternal sleep but shall, at the right time, be fol-
lowed by a blessed resurrection of the body, it being made like
unto the glorious body of our Lord Jesus Christ, v. 5. Seeing
that these things are so, ' let us set ourselves as in the presence of
the God of our renewed lives, and account that time lost in which
we are not acting for him,' living unto him, drawing our motives
from him, and hasting to his coming. Brown : " This life, which
believers in Christ have gotten through quickening influence from
him, is not an idle, fruitless life, without fruits of holiness, but an
active stirring principle, setting folk on work constantly, and in
this life believers can never win to perfection, but are still advanc-
ing and growing in grace."
16. If the gospel fails to destroy the body of sin it fails wholly
of accomplishing its great work, vs. 5, 6. Luther: " The old man
is not to be gradually sanctified, but must die as a sinner. . . We
must scourge the old man, and strike him on the face, pain him
with thorns, and pierce him through with nails, until he bow his
head and give up the ghost." Tholuck: " Crucifixion first pain-
fully robs a man of all power of action. He still lives, but lives
under constraint and torture. By slow degrees does he sink away,
until the breaking of his limbs puts an end to him at last. In like
manner might it be said, is the love of sin pierced through by the
impressions which the Holy Spirit makes upon the heart. It can
no more do what it would, but still it does not expire. As the
opposite thirst for holiness, however, which flows from and keeps
pace with the believer's growing passion for his soul's invisible
friend, augments in fervor, the love of sin feels itself miserable and
tormented, and declines apace until death inflicts upon it the
finishing stroke, and conducts the Christian, pxirified by the
contest, into the peaceful bosom of his Saviour." Glory be to
God.
17. We must not so construe, as some have done, the phrases
old man and body of sin, as to teach that our animal nature is the
cause of our sinfulness, or that sin is a substance, so that if we were
disembodied, we should be sinless, or that our corruption controls
us in some way rather than as moral agents, justly accountable to
288 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VI., vs. 6-11.
God for all our sinful emotions, thoughts, words and deeds, vs. 6,
7. It is a spiritual disease that infects our nature. It is a spiritual
death to sin that we must undergo, in order to salvation. It is
not our bodies, nor our mental constitutions, but our fall in Adam,
the want of rectitude in pur moral nature and the consequent cor-
ruption, which have made us what we are. Here is the source of
all those evils, which sink and debase us, and make it necessary
that we should die, yea, that we should be crucified with
Christ.
1 8. If death unto sin proves men to be justified, the perfection
of holiness finally secured by that death will be a great element in
their glorification, vs. 8, 9. As Christ dieth no more, his people
cannot perish. Himself thus reasons and teaches us to reason,
John 14 : 19. Glorious truth ! Let us hold it fast for ever. What
will not be the joy of the redeemed when they awake in the like-
ness of God, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.
19. Even in this world sin has lost its dominion over the justi-
fied, vs. 6-8. It has not power to condemn them. It has not
power to control them. They are not the servants of sin. They
are tempted, they are sometimes ensnared, they sometimes lose a
battle, but in the war they always come off conquerors.
20. Let not the godly complain that they are not made at once
partakers of all the benefits of Christ's redemption. If now they
are justified and regenerated, in due time they shall be perfected
and glorified. If they are dead with Christ, they shall live with
him, v. 8. Christ is never to any one a Prophet that he is not to
him also a Priest and a King. He never begins a good work that
he does not carry on to the day of Jesus Christ. In no sense is
Christ divided. To each believer he is as complete and glorious
a Saviour as if he had but one soul to save.
21. The prospects of the Christian are very bright, vs. S-ii. A
noble life has he here in and by Christ. That noble life shall itself
be ennobled in the perfection and glory of heaven.
22. Saints on earth should learn to put a more just estimate
upon their state and prospects. They greatly need more faith, and
hope, and courage, not fewer trials, crosses and difficulties.
23. All that the righteous possess, or enjoy, or have in rever-
sion, or hope for is in, by and through Jesus Christ. Oh that all
Christ's friends made more of him in their plans, their prayers,
their conflicts with the adversary, Clarke : " Die as truly unto sin,
as Jesus Christ died for sin. Live as truly unto God as he lives
with God." Let us fervently pray that such may be our aim and
endeavor. Hawker : " Do thou, dearest Lord, cause me to have
my redemption by thee always in remembrance. May my soul be
Ch. VI., vs. 8-1 1.] THE ROMANS. . 289
more and more humbled to the dust before thee that my GOD and
SAVIOUR may be more and more exalted. Through life, in death,
and for ever more, be it my joy to acknowledge that there can be
no wages mine, but the wages of sin, which is death ; and all the
Lord bestows, even eternal life, with all its preliminaries, can only
be the free, the sovereign, the unmerited gift of God through
JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD."
CHAPTE.R VI.
VERSES 12-23.
AN EXHORTATION TO HOLINESS. THE TRUE DOC-
TRINE OF GRACE LEADS TO SANCTIFICATION.
ALL ENDS WELL.
1 2 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the
lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin :
but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your
members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you : for ye are not under the law, but
under grace.
15 What then ? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace ?
God forbid.
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants
ye are to whom ye obey ; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto right-
eousness ?
17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed
from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
1 8 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
19 1 speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh : for
as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto ini-
quity ; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed ? for the
end of those things is death.
22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your
fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
LET not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should
obey it in the lusts thereof. There is not an agreement
respecting the latter part of the text. Griesbach has nothing after
obey; the Hexapla, nothing after obey it; Flatt and Goschen omit
it, and read obey the lusts thereof. Knapp and many others
Ch. VI.; v. is-] THE ROMANS. 291
admit the whole as we have it in the common Greek text and
in the authorized version, in the old English versions, Peshito,
Arabic and Vulgate. Several of these, however, drop it out of
the verse. The apostle is still using bold figures of speech. In
this verse sin is presented as a tyrant, lording it over men, reign-
ing, wielding a sceptre of dominion, subjecting them to his vile
wishes. Mortal body, variously understood. Locke : " Permit
not, therefore, sin to reign over you by your mortal bodies, which
you will do if you obey your carnal lusts." In a note he defends
this paraphrase, contending that the apostle 'places the root of
sin in the body.' But we have seen this is not so. By your mor-
tal body Rosenmuller and others understand yourselves. Diodati
paraphrases it, " Whilst you live this corporeal life, which being
also subject to death, it appears thereby that there are still some
relics of sin against which we must fight, to mortify and suppress
them." Olshausen thinks the w.ords here used signify that sin
" commonly makes itself known in the body by the excited sensu-
ality." Chalmers thinks it " denotes all that may be designated
by the single word carnality" Others think it means the physi-
cal body which is mortal. So Chrysostom, Doddridge, Mac-
knight, Tholuck, Stuart, Conybeare and Howson. Bengel : "The
lusts of the body are the fuel ; sin is the fire." Some have referred
the mortal body to the body of sin in v. 6. Several of these views
give a good sense. By the body'm Rom. i : 24; 12 : i we may
understand the whole person ; and why not here ? It is said to be
mortal, for we are dying creatures, and the sentence of death is
upon us. The apostle designed to exhort us not to let sin reign in
our persons, mind, will, affections, or corporeal nature. Calvin :
" The word body is not to be taken for flesh, and skin, and bones,
but, so to speak,- for the whole of what man is." Speaking of our
.mortality was not intended to give us gloomy thoughts, but to
remind us that the conflict would be short. It refers to sin, and
thereof to the body. Obey, it occurs again in vs. 16, 17. It is
always rendered as here except once, where it is hearken, Acts 12 :
13. The sense is obvious. To obey sin in the lusts of the body is
to suffer sin to sway us in our whole nature.
13. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteous-
ness unto sin : but yield yourselves Ttnto God, as those that are alive
from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto
God. Members, the same word twice in this verse and twice in v.
19. As the body is composed of members, so the whole person
consists of various powers or faculties, some mental and some cor-
poreal, any and all of which may become aids to vice or virtue, to
sin or holiness according as they are directed. To yield our
292 EPISTLE TO [Ch VI., v. 14.
powers to sin is to decline the great spiritual warfare, is to let sin
reign in us. To yield ourselves to God is to subject our whole
nature to God, so that our powers and faculties of every kind
shall be used for his honor. It seems impossible by body and mem-
bers to understand less than our whole nature. Indeed in this
verse the apostle has yourselves and in the next verse you as expres-
sive of the same idea. If this is so, this verse is a repetition in
other words of the exhortation of v. 12 this being more minute
and particular than that. Yield, in Rom. 12 : I and elsewhere pre-
sent ; it occurs again twice in v, 19. Stuart renders it proffer;
several old versions, give, or give up.
14. For sin shall not have dominion over you : for ye are not under
the law, but imder grace. Instead of for at the beginning of the
verse Peshito has and; Tyndale, Cranmer and Genevan, let not, &c.
But the authorized version follows the original. For points to a
reason. That reason is found in the foregoing argument. It is
this : God has made provision for the death of sin for destnyy-
ing its power over his people ; so that they are inexcusable for
living in its service. By the whole work of Christ they are de-
livered from its condemning power and from its sovereign sway,
and therefore it is reasonable that they should yield themselves,
soul and body, unto God, to work righteousness. For ye are not
^lnder the law. In the Greek is no article : ye are not under law.
God is not exacting of you in your own persons an impossible
satisfaction to law, which you have broken, nor has he placed you
under a covenant, where you must work out your own righteous-
ness, and in your own strength perfect holiness. Christ has re-
deemed them that were under the law, Gal. 4: 5. The strength
of sin is the law, but sin has no power over any except those under
law. It is a shallow attempt to fritter away the meaning of scrip-
ture to say that by law here Paul means only the ceremonial law.
Stuart well says that such an explanation would " give the pas-
sage a sense frigid and inept." Hodge : " Freedom from the
Mosaic institutions is no security that sin shall not have dominion
over us." Being thus free from the curse of broken law, from law
as a covenant of works, from law to which without help from God
you must be morally conformed or perish, the dominant power,
Wiclif the lordship of sin is broken, can be, and ought to be cast
off. Ye are under grace, under a plan of unmerited favor, where the
condemnation of sin is removed, where a glorious righteousness
is provided and freely bestowed, where the feeble are by God's,
Spirit made strong, and the timid courageous, and the vile cleansed
and sanctified. On grace see above on Rom. I : 5 ; 3 : 24. Such
being the system, under which believers are placed, their spirit
Ch. VI., vs. 15, 1 6.J THE ROMANS. 293
corresponds thereto. They are not slaves but children. They
feel that they are under grace. They are under restraint, but it
is the restraint of filial fear. They are under constraint, but it is
the love of Christ that constrains them.
15. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the 'law,
but under grace ? God forbid. This is the third time that Paul has
virtually presented this objection, first in Rom. 3:19; then in
Rom. 6 : i ; and now again. He blinked no fair or important point
in his argument. He had established in the early part of the
epistle that justification by law, by any law, was impossible, that
God's plan of justifying sinners was by righteousness wrought
out by Jesus Christ, and gratuitously bestowed, the sinner simply
receiving it by faith. He now proves at length, his. argument be-
ginning in this chapter and running into the VI II., that our sancti-
fication is effected, not by the precepts and penalties of the law,
restraining and terrifying us, but by the same blessed scheme of
gratuitous salvation a scheme that brings in all-conquering
love and infinite kindness as motives and methods of recovery.
Stuart : " The legalist would ask, ' Is not the law holy ? Does it
not forbid all sins ? And does not grace forgive sin ? How
then can grace restrain sin ? ' That is, Why may we not sin, if we
are under grace merely, and not under law ? " In his usual
, indignant style expressive of his abhorrence he says, Let it never
be. On God forbid see above on Rom. 3:4. ' Freedom from
the law is not freedom from moral obligation.' Who ever so
charges slanders the gospel and 'perverts the grace of God.
1 6. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey,
his servants ye are to whom ye obey ; whether of sin unto death, or of
obedience ^mto righteousness. In his sermon on the mount our
Lord gave us the principle, which settles this matter : " No man
can serve two masters : for either he will hate the one and love the
other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other,"
Matt. 6 : 24. It is both a natural and a moral impossibility for
one man to serve two masters. Sin and holiness, obedience and
disobedience, righteousness and unrighteousness are utterly op-
posite. A state of grace and a state of nature are wholly irre-
concileable. A man cannot go North and South at the same
time and in the same sense. Scott : " The apostle demanded
whether it might not be proved what master any one served,
by observing the constant tenor of any one's conduct. A per-
son may do an occasional service for one, to whom he is not
servant : but no doubt he is the servant of that man, to whom
he habitually yields and addicts himself, and in whose work he
spends his time and strength, and skill, and abilities, day after
294 EPISTLE TO ' [Ch. VI., v. 17..
day, and year after year." The principle is of easy application
to any case. If one obeys sin, allowedly and habitually yielding
his faculties or any of them to wickedness, he is not the servant
of obedience or of righteousness. The forms of speech, sin ^mto
death and obedience unto righteousness, are not only intensive, but
show the results reached in each case by the natural tendency
of both good and evil to growth. The apostle often employs
this or like manner of speech. See Rom. i :i7; 2:5-10; 6: 19.
Paul is still using highly figurative but very appropriate language
to express his conceptions.
1 7. But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye
have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered
you. No pious reader of the scripture supposes that the apostle
intends to express gratitude that his Roman brethren had at any
time lived in sin. His thanks to God are that their vile servitude
to sin was past, and that noiv there was a great change. Owen of
Thrussington renders it : " Thanks be to God ; for ye have been
the servants of sin, but have obeyed the form of doctrine, in which
ye have been taught." Paul had previously used the words obey
and obedience. In carrying out his personification he retains the
same conception. But here the idea is all pleasant. They have
obeyed, that is, they have given good heed, considered and yielded
to the truth. The form, literally the type of doctrine, meaning the
pattern or rule of doctrine. It is a just and beautiful figure to
represent the soul as receiving the exact impress of the system of
revealed truth, as the wax receives that of the stamp, or the melted
metal, that of the mould into which it is cast. Only this is no
mechanical or material process, for it is effected through God's
Spirit, by the soul yielding a hearty obedience to the truth. This
obedience was not the result of a hasty or inconsiderate purpose,
nor of a reluctant or irksome action of the mind. It was a cheer-
full, sincere, universal acceptance of the truth and submission to
it as far as known. It excepted to no commandment cavilled at
no precept as being too strict rejected no scripture doctrine as
being too humbling. What the form of doctrine delivered to the
Romans was, may be learned from all the New Testament. It
was the truth as it is in Jesus, delivered by Christ and his apostles.
From the heart indicates the cordiality with which the message
of mercy and of obedience had been received. The attempt of
some to prove thereby the ability of the soul without divine grace
to turn to God has of course been a failure. Whenever the gos- *
pel is received so as to secure salvation, it is received with the
whole heart. But grace to do this is from God. " Thy people
shall be willing [willingnesses, free-will offerings] in. the day of thy
Ch. VI., vs. 18, 19.] THE ROMANS. 295
power," Ps. no: 3, is the secret of any hearty consent to being
saved on gospel terms. How then can one, who has had his mind,
will and affections cast into the mouW of gospel doctrine, live like
a heathen or a sinner ?
1 8. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of"
righteousness. There is no better rendering of the verse. The
thought is the same already presented. No man can serve two
masters. Ye were once the slaves of wickedness. The Son of
God has made you free from that hard bondage, and then and thus
were ye made the servants of righteousness, leading a life conformed
to law. Chrysostom : " God has done the same as if one were to
take an orphan, who had been carried away by savages into their
own country, and were not only to free him from captivity, but
were to set himself as a kind father over him, and bring him to
very great dignity. This has been done in our case."
19. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of
yoTcr flesh : for as ye have yielded your members servants to ^lnclean-
ness and to iniquity tmto iniquity ; even so now yield yoiir members
servants to righteousness unto holiness. The first clause is no doubt
parenthetical. / speak after the manner of men. i. e. I borrow an
illustration from common life, which you will all understand, as in
Rome you are specially familiar with servitude, with the fact of
servants changing masters, and with their being freed. Other
explanations have been given but this is the best. He says he
used this homely metaphor because of the infirmity of their flesh.
Locke : " because you are weak in these matters, being more ac-
customed to fleshly than spiritual things;" Macknight: "on
account of the weakness of your understanding in spiritual mat-
ters ;" Bp. Hall : " I use this familiar similitude of service and
freedom, because I would descend to your weak capacity ; that,
by these secular and civil things, ye might understand the spirit-
ual." He repeats in words somewhat varied what he had said
before, but retains the leading idea : for as ye have yielded your
members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity. That
is, Formerly ye were the willing slaves of low vices and degrad-
ing practices ; ye waxed worse and worse ; your course was only
downward, from bad to worse, from worse to worst ; Locke :
"wholly employed in all manner of iniquity;" Conybeare and
Howson : " slaves of uncleanness and licentiousness, to work the
deeds of license ;" Theophylact : " when you committed a sin, you
did not stop at that ; it but' proved an incentive to further trans-
gression." This is a better explanation than that which makes
the clause merely mean that their course of uncleanness and ini-
quity terminated in iniquity. How could it terminate in anything
296 . EPIS TLE TO [Ch. VI., v. 20, 21,
else ? It began in iniquity. It was all iniquity. See above on v.
1 6. This mode of explanation is applicable to the next clause :
even so noiv yield your member t s servants to righteousness tmto holiness.
Personal righteousness is holiness. But righteousness unto holiness
is growing conformity to God, embracing all acts of sobriety,
equity and piety. As they had sinned with a will, so now he ex-
horts them to yield their whole natures to the service of God.
The idea suggested by service is not unsuitable to the matter in
hand, for God is the absolute proprietor and owner of the soul
and body, and has a sovereign and exclusive right to the highest
worship and best services we can possibly render. The queen of
Sheba thought it a great honor and privilege for one to be a ser-
vant of Solomon. Angels regard it as their glory to be the ser-
vants of God and implicitly to obey his will. All the redeemed
are of the same mind. David never thought himself more
honored than when for cause he esteemed himself the servant
of the Lord.
20. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from right-
eousness. Ye never did serve both God and Satan, both sin and right-
eousness. In the days of your unregeneracy, righteousness had
( not the mastery over you. It is as if he had said, When ye
did serve sin, you served it without hesitancy or double minded-
ness. You were wholly free from the restraints of righteous-
ness; you had but one purpose. Let it be so now. Serve the
Lord with all your might. Indeed if it were possible you ought
to serve righteousness far more zealously than ye did sin, for in
God's service ye shall have a rich blessing ; .whereas in evil courses
you found no advantage whatever. I challenge you to tell me a
single thing in which you were real gainers.
21. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now
ashamed? for the end of those things is death. Fruit means good
fruit, real profit, solid advantage. They had reaped a great har-
vest of disappointment, remorse, sorrow and often disease from
their wicked courses. Destruction and misery had been in their
ways of wickedness. They had indeed now repented of them, the
proof of which was found in the fact that they were heartily
ashamed of them, Ezek. 16: 63; 36:32. But they ought not to
forget the unprofitableness of their former courses, lest they be
tempted to return to any of them ; and especially lest they should
slight the distinguished privileges they enjoyed under the gospel.
Calvin : " The godly, as soon as they begin to be illuminated by
the Spirit of Christ and the preaching of the Gospel, do freely ac-
knowledge their past life, which they have lived without Christ,
to have been worthy of condemnation ; and so far are they from
Ch. VI., vs. 22, 23.] THE ROMANS. 297
endeavoring to excuse it, that, on the contrary, they feel ashamed
of themselves." 'The end of those things [which ye once unblush-
ingly practised] is death. They are all followed by dire penal con-
sequences consequences, many of which are natural but not a
whit the less penal because by the constitution of things God has
made them natural. On death see above on Rom. I : 32 ; 5:12.
22. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God,
ye have your fruit tinto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Among
the Romans were the liber i or free men, the liberati or freedmen,
and the servi or slaves. Paul here takes his forms of speech from
the latter two. A freed man was no longer under the control of
his former master. He was the friend of him, who redeemed him
with silver or gold from his bondage, and he clung to him for life.
Sometimes the service he rendered was more important as well as
every way more agreeable than that which he had rendered in
servitude. Cicero had such a freed man, who was his friend and
correspondent. God's servants were once the slaves of corrup-
tion. Jesus freed them from the penalty and power of sin. Then
with joyful and hearty willingness they became the servants of
Gocl, who had by his Son redeemed them. To him they held
themselves firmly and for ever bound by ties which death could
not dissolve, to devote all their powers of. mind and body, their
time, their property, their all. Fruit, the same word as in v. 21,
but used in a different though legitimate sense. Before it meant
the retribution of conduct. Here it means conduct consequent
upon a reception of the gospel holy living. Conybeare and
Howson have another view : " The fruit which you gain tends to
produce holiness." It is imto holiness. The same form of sentence
is found in several parts of this section. See above on vs. 16, 19.
" Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit ; so shall
ye be my disciples," John 15:8. Holiness in his creatures greatly
honors God. Nor is the end any thing but good to the creature.
The end is not yet. It will come in due season, accompanied
with great results here expressed by everlasting life. On this
phrase see above on Rom. 2:7; 5:12.
23. For the wages of sin is death ; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesiis Christ our Lord. Wages, a word 'found four times
in the New Testament ; Luke 3 : 14 John says to the soldiers, ".'Be
content with your wages;" I Cor. 9:7 "No man goeth a war-
faie at his own charges /" 2 Cor. 1 1 : 8 " Taking wages of them to do
you service." It denotes primarily the rations, raiment and hire of
soldiers. The Greek word is transferred into the Latin without
any change of sound. Yet the Latin, word more commonly used
was stipendium. See Augustine. Its meaning was well under-
298 EPISTLE TO Ch. VI., vs. 12-23.
stood in Rome. The idea of desert and perhaps that of stipulated
reward is involved in the word here. Nothing is more justly de-
served than the rewards of unrighteousness. On no matter has
God more faithfully forewarned men. Tholuck : " At the time a
man surrenders himself to the sway of sin, it promises, indeed,
something very different, but while he seeks what is durable, sin
deceives him with apparent blessings, which prove afterwards to
be destruction, his true nature being altogether overlooked in the
enjoyment they impart." Death, see above on v. 2 1 , and places there
referred to. The gift of God, Chrysostom : "He does not say, the
wages of your good deeds, but the gift of God; to shew, that it was
not of themselves that they were freed, nor was it a due they re-
ceived, neither a return, nor a recompense of labors, but by grace
all these things came about." The same substantially is said by
every respectable commentator. Gift, the same as in Rom. 5 : 15,
1 6 rendered free gift. It is a gift wholly gratuitous. And it is all
in, by and through Jesus Christ our Lord. In him are hid all the
treasures of wisdom, and knowledge, and love, and mercy, and
grace,
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL REMARKS.
1. Let good doctrine be followed by good exhortation, vs. 12-23.
We have had much sound instruction in all the former part of this
epistle. It is fitting we should now have a lively application of it
to our own hearts and consciences. Many a modern discussion is
powerless for good because it is not pointed. No practical use is
made of it.
2. Let us never be found with the formalist and the enemies of
righteousness, objecting to the doctrines of free grace, or abusing
them to vile purposes. If sinners cannot be freely justified, they
cannot be saved. Hawker : " No child of God, with grace in his
heart, can act but from that grace in all his deliberate purposes.
The Lord hath put his fear in his heart that he shall not depart
from him, Jer. 32 : 40. And this childlike fear becomes the most
persuasive of all motives to love and obedience." It is a fact in the
history of theological doctrine that no class of men have held so
high a standard of pious living, as those who have been stanch
advocates of the doctrine of gratuitous justification.
3. Let us dread sin, and teach others to dread it. It is easy to
have an excessive fear of pain, of reproach, or of poverty ; but it
is not possible for any one excessively to abhor iniquity, v. 12. The
reasons are many and obvious to any devout student of God's
word. The motives to purity are drawn from heaven, earth and
Ch. VI., vs. 12, 13.] THE ROMANS. 299
hell, from ourselves, our neighbor and our God, from Mount Sinai,
from Gethsemane and from Calvary. Of all these the most potent
are those drawn from the goodness and love of God. Where there
is the least ingenuousness of moral character, it will and must argue
from the cross of Christ to the death of sin ; from the love of God
towards us to our infinite and pleasing obligations to seek his
glory, and delight in his service.
4. And if we would avoid sin, we should avoid all needless
trial of our principles. Indeed, if we would avoid sin, we must
avoid occasions naturally leading thereto. We all ought daily to
pray: "Lead us not into temptation." And when we sincerely
thus pray, we shall be in the fear of the Lord all the day long.
And the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to depart from the
snares of death.
5. We must also from love to Christ and with gratitude for
mercies already received guard all our powers and faculties, that
we sin not against God, vs. 12, 13. We must make a covenant
with our eyes, not to look, upon evil ; for the eye affects the heart.
Job 31 : i ; Lam. 3:51. When Eve gave her ear to the tempter;
she began to fall. When the memory is stored with vanity and
folly, the greater its retentiveness, the more it is a snare. When
the imagination is under the control of the wicked one, the more
vigorous it is, the more it runs riot. A mild disposition sometimes
leads to sinful compliances. A rough temper sometimes causes
men to say bitter things to those whom the Lord greatly loves. A
hasty spirit leads to many a false step, which is followed by tears.
A sad soul is in danger of yielding to the lessons of unbelief. A
gay spirit is specially in danger of falling into sinful levity. Thus
every power and faculty of soul and body may become an instru-
ment of wickedness. Chrysostom : " If the eye be curious after
the beauty of another, it becomes an instrument of iniquity,
through the fault of the thought which commands it. But if you
bridle it, it becomes an instrument of righteousness. Thus with
the tongue, thus with the hands, thus with all the other members!"
Calvin : " As the soldier has ever his arms ready, that he may use
them whenever he is ordered by his commander, and as he never
uses them but at his command ; so Christians ought to regard all
their faculties to be weapons of the spiritual warfare : if then they
employ any of their members in the indulgence of depravity, they
are in the service of sin. But they have made the oath of soldiers
to God and to Christ, and by this they are held bound : it hence
behoves them to be far away from any intercourse with the camps
of sin."
6. Sin has dominion over the wicked. They are under law,
300 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VI., v. 14.
not under grace, v. 14. The condemning power of sin over them
is perfect. Fallen angels are not under a more righteous sentence.
He that believeth not is condemned already. Then sin itself has
the mastery over them. They are the willing slaves of corruption , ,
not all in the same way or to the same extent. Some commit
beastly sins ; others, the sins of devils. Some glory in their shame ;
some cover up their iniquity. Some cast off all restraint ; others
hug one darling vice. But every one, who has not fled to Jesus,
is the bond-slave of depravity. " His own iniquities shall take the
wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
He shall die without instruction ; and in the greatness of his folly
he shall go astray," Pr. 5 : 22, 23.
7. Sin has not dominion over the righteous ; they are not under
law, but under grace, v. 14. The law condemns not one of them.
They are free from its curse. They are free from it as a covenant
of works. They are free to do the will of God. The highest class
of motive actuates them to serve God, and that joyfully. They are
redeemed and set at liberty. Their eternal life depends not on
their own works or deservings. They believe in Christ as though
they had no works ; and yet they work far more than if they believed
not, and all from love. Chrysostom : " The law promised them
crown after toils, tut grace crowned them first, and then led them
to the contest." Evans : " God's promises to us are more power-
ful and effectual for the mortifying of sin than our promises to
God. Sin .may struggle in a believer, and may create him a great
deal of trouble ; but it shall not have dominion ; may vex him, but
it shall not rule over him. Hagar troubled Sarah not a little,
but Sarah was Hagar's mistress all the time."
8. God's children are not lawless, nor without law to God, but
under law to Christ. Compare i Cor. 9:21. Their freedom from
a legal spirit and from legal hopes mightily inclines them to walk
in the way of holiness to keep the commandments. This is
effected by grace alone. Such is its power over the believer that
he is dead unto sin, is risen with Christ, is one with Christ, is a
new creature, is alive unto God by Jesus Christ. No man more
heartily approves the preceptive will of God than he, who owns
that he is saved by grace alone. Nay, no other man has any prin-
ciple that works by love, that makes him desire holiness as in itself
a good thing. If Paul has made anything clear, it is that all be-
lievers are dead to the law as a covenant, are dead to sin as a mas-
ter, are alive unto God in a way pleasing to God, and are pleased
to do and to suffer his entire known will. Such people cannot but
loathe and detest sin.
9. It is therefore right, safe and Scriptural to proclaim, as Paul
Ch. VI., vs. 14-16.] THE ROMANS. 301
teaches, that saints are under grace, v. 14. The effect of grace is
amazing. It wholly changes our relations to- God, as we have
seen in the former part of the epistle. It no less entirely changes
our dispositions towards God, towards duty, and everything of a
moral nature. It mortifies sin. It restores the soul to a heavenly
life. It makes one long to be like Christ and to be with Christ.
It admires and imitates the blessed Saviour. Sin made devils out
of angels. Grace makes saints out of sinners, heirs of glory out of
the heirs of perdition. If ever the world is to be made better, it
will be by mankind embracing the true doctrines of grace. The
history of the world furnishes no instance of a sinner being brought
to love holiness, but by a just apprehension of the mild and win-
ning truths of religion. Take an enemy of God to Mount Sinai ;
let its thunders roll, and he will exceedingly fear and quake, but
he will sin on, secretly, if not openly. But let any man have a
true apprehension of the mercy of God as displayed in the cross
of Cavalry, and he says of his sins, They shall die. " Behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us that we should be
called the sons of God!" Does John speak thus to encourage
loose living ? Far from it : " Every man that hath this hope in
him purifieth himself as he is pure," i John 3 : i, 3.
10. But the adversary is very subtle and very untiring. Wick-
edness perverts every thing. It turns even the grace of God into
lasciviousness. It specially delights in a show of reasoning. It
pleads over and over again, that this humbling method of saving
men after all leads to free sinning: at least, it asks, If there is not
danger that free forgiveness will have such an effect ? Paul an-
swers with an indignant negative for the third time, v. 15. The
renewed heart is' the best preservative against such filthy fallacies.
It abhors them. It cannot consent to the systematic dishonoring
of God, who has lavished his kindness upon the undeserving, and
shows mercy to the chief of sinners.
n. Nothing is clearer than that one's life evinces his real char-
acter, v. 1 6. A good tree brings forth good fruit ; and a corrupt
tree, evil fruit. Even a child is known by his doings. There is
no more shallow pretence than that the heart is right when the
life is sinful and irregular. " His servants ye are to whom ye
obey," is the infallible rule. Fairly applied it always brings out
the truth. Christ himself will apply it in the last day, Matt.
25 : 31-46. If this rule were not correct in all cases, moral dis-
tinctions would be obliterated, and wild confusion would reign ;
the humble man would have all the insolence of manner pertain-
ing to the proud ; the meek would display malignancy ; the gen-
erous would act like the churl ; the hypocrite would be as consis-
302 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VI., v. 17.
tent as the good man, and none could tell whether he himself were
on the road to heaven or to hell.
12. Every change from sin to holiness, from Satan unto God, is
to all right minded men matter of thankfulness to God, v. 17. So
great is such an event, and so far-reaching its influence that it is
made known to the happy inhabitants of the heavenly country,
and among them awakens new joys, Luke 15 : 7, 10. Nor is this
strange. A soul is saved from death. Immortal honor to God
and immortal happiness to a soul that shall never die are thus se-
cured. On this matter all converted men are agreed. Brown :
"A gracious soul that has ever tasted of the sweetness of the work
of God in his own soul will be unfeignedly glad at the work of
God in others." How could it be otherwise ? True religion makes
men glad when God is glorified and when men are made truly
happy. Both these things are done when a soul is soundly converted.
13. It is one of the glories of the gospel that it seeks and suits
great sinners, and makes them, as well as others less foul and
guilty, the monuments of its justifying and sanctifying power,
v. 17. Nor do any on earth or in heaven more magnify the grace
of God than those, who once were the vile servants of sin, sinning
with greediness, and wantoning in wickedness. O how such will
shine as illustrious patterns of what sovereign .love can do. Never
will all its wonders be told. Never will the song of redemption
pall on the tongues of the redeemed.
14. The great change from the service of sin to the service of
God has so many, and so pleasing aspects, that to the pious it is
ever a welcome theme. Sometimes we are instructed in its neces-
sity. Sometimes we are told of its divine author, God's Spirit.
Sometimes we hear of its effects. Sometimes we have many
points all brought out in few, words in one terse sentence : " Ye
have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit
unto unfeigned love of the brethren," i Pet. i : 22. Here we have
the means and process of renovation described. " Ye have obeyed
from the heart the form of doctrine," v. 17. The soul is renewed
when it is moulded into conformity to the model of truth, and
when it heartily loves that truth. All professed conversions,
which are not by the truth but by falsehood, which are not to the
truth, but to a sect or to a new set of human opinions, are utterly
worthless.
15. Nor is it difficult to know when we have obeyed the truth
from the heart. The rule of safe judgment is that in practice we
follow it, wherever it leads, and are conformed to it in all things,
so that we love the whole law as a rule to live by, and the whole
gospel as a method of salvation.
Ch. VI., v. 1 8.] THE ROMANS. 303
1 6. True Christians would enjoy their spiritual privileges and
advantages more, if they would oftener look back to the wretched
bondage, far worse than that of Egypt, in which they so foolishly
served divers lusts, and treasured up wrath. Israelites were
wisely taught to say, " A Syrian ready to perish was my father."
Good men are specially called upon to "look unto the rock
whence they are hewn, 'and to the hole of the pit whence they are
digged," Deut. 26 : 5 ; Isa. 51:1. Brown : " It is profitable now
and then to be calling to mind the black and doleful state of na-
ture which we were sometimes in, and out of which we are now
delivered through free grace, that the unspeakable riches of his
grace may never grow little bulked in our estimation." Surely if
good men had a constant and more adequate estimate of what
Christ has done for them, they would do more for Christ.
17. There is a form of doctrine delivered us. To it we ought
to be conformed. To it we must be conformed. We are not left
at liberty to choose out of the mass of human opinions and sys-
tems what pleases our fancy, our taste, or our practice ; but we
must receive and hold fast the form of sound words taught us in
the Scriptures. " Thy word is truth." We must receive it as the
very word of Jehovah, who cannot lie. We are to read and hear
God's word, not as critics but as criminals, not as judges but as
perishing sinners. Brown : " Wherever the gospel of Jesus
Christ is kindly, heartily and sincerely welcomed and embraced,
it will not be halved, or any way divided, but wholly accepted of,
as all necessary, useful, and desirable."
18. Salvation is not merely a negation of evil, it is something
positive. It sets those who receive it free from sin ; it also makes
them the servants of righteousness, v. 1 8. They not only cease to
do evil ; they learn to do well. Nor is a good man afraid of being
too much broken off from corruption and unrighteousness; nor is
he cautious lest he should serve God too devotedly. Nothing so
works on the renewed nature of man as just thoughts of the grace
manifested in the scheme of mercy. T. Adam : " There is great
force of argument, great advantage for pure obedience, and a pow-
erful inducement to it, in the belief and acknowledgment of com-
plete deliverance from the guilt of sin, and restoration to eternal
life, by the grace of God in Christ Jesus." The holy angels have
had long experience of the excellence of God's service, and of his
faithfulness to his obedient creatures. But it has . sometimes
seemed to me that one just born into the kingdom of grace has
ties to bind him to God, which ought to be unspeakably more
potent than any resting on those, who never sinned, and, conse-
quently, never felt the power of redeeming love.
304 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VI., vs. 18-19.
19. Every man will serve something, v. 18. There is no such
thing as a state of moral indifference. Each one is God's friend,
or God's foe ; serves sin, or serves righteousness ; willingly obeys
God or the great adversary. The world over an affected neu-
trality is a declaration of hostility to God ; because he not only
has a right to our secret but also to our open and avowed friend-
ship.
20. On this 1 8th verse Chrysostom has a long and eloquent
appeal and exhortation, warning men against various sins. He is
specially earnest and eloquent on the sin of covetousness : " The
love of money is the root of all evils. Hence come fightings, and
enmities, and wars ; hence emulations, and railings, and suspicions,
a'nd insults; hence murders, and thefts, and violations of sepul-
chres. Through this, not cities and villages only, but roads, and
habitable and inhabitable parts, and mountains, and groves, and
hills, and, in a word, all places are filled with blood and murder.
And not even from the sea has this evil withdrawn, but even there
also with great fury hath it revelled, since pirates beset on all sides,
thus devising a new mode of robbery. Through this have the
laws of nature been subverted, and the claims of relationship set
aside, and the laws of our very being broken through." Such are
some of the fruits of being under the mastery of one sin. But
there are many other whelps in the same horrid den. Chrysostom
dwells at length and with great eloquence on the superfluities and
vain ostentation of his times. If our religion does not conquer
our strongest evil inclinations, it is worthless. The Philippian
jailor was a wretch, accustomed to acts of cruelty ; but as soon as
converted he was as tender as a woman. Saul of Tarsus was
exceeding mad against Christ and his people ; but when his heart
was changed, he preached Christ, and was as tender to the dis-
ciples as a nurse to her children. A sound conversion conquers
the strongest sinful inclinations, and gives scope to the noblest
principles and motions.
. 21. Let us cheerfully 'condescend to men's weakness of under-
standing, if by any means we may do them good, v. 19. Compare
i Cor. 9 : 18-23. A slovenly dress ill befits the truths of the gos-
pel. But a plain, homely attire is by no means unbecoming the
great things of salvation. If men insist on using the words, which
man's wisdom teaches, they must not be surprised if they labor
very much in vain. When the sword of the Spirit is all wrapped
up in wreaths of flowers, its keen edge is often hardly felt. Man-
kind are very dull, and slow to believe, or even to apprehend the
truth. Let us show no mercy to a guilty conscience. Let us use
great plainness, and even familiarity of speech.
Ch. VI., vs. 20, 21.] THE ROMA NS. 305
22. Everything, good and bad, is growing. Wickedness pro-
ceeds from iniquity unto iniquity. Evil men and seducers are
waxing worse and worse. Saints are growing in grace and in the
knowledge of Christ. Babes in Christ are becoming strong young
men. The redeemed are servants of righteousness unto holiness.
Their past constancy and greediness in sinning ought to make the
children of God the more diligent and zealous in his service.
They have lost much time in sin ; they have but little time left ;
therefore they should greatly bestir themselves with all their
might.
23. Some think it a great thing to be free from the restraints
and self-denial required by the laws of righteousness ; but at that
very time they are in a slavery, which will yet fill them with utter
dismay, v. 20. No Algerine bondage was ever so cruel as that of
sin. No prison, with its dungeons and victims, ever exhibited to
a benevolent mind so appalling a spectacle as that of a soul, deliv-
ered over to iniquity, its noble faculties and affections subjected
to the cruel tyranny of the devil. The burden of men's guilt is
itself sufficient to sink them into the deepest sadness. Sometimes
it does this very thing, even in the midst of their prosperity ; and
if they die unpardoned, it is a millstone around their necks for
ever, and sinks them into the lowest hell.
24. Let us not attempt to serve two masters, v. 20. It cannot
be done. The friend of the world, is the enemy of God. The
friend of God is the enemy of sin.
25. How sad is the history of every child of God up to the
time of his new birth! v. 21. His works were the works of the
devil ; his principles and habits were all corrupt ; he was tossed
from vanity to vanity ; his life was full of vexation and disappoint-
ment; his hopes were illusory; his fears were tormenting; his
virtues were but polished vices. Good fruit there is none remain-
ing. Clarke : " Among the Greeks and Romans, under a bad mas-
ter, the lot of the slave was most oppressive and dreadful ; his ease
and comfort were never consulted ; he was treated worse than a
beast ; and in many cases his life hung on the mere caprice of the
master. This state is the state of every poor miserable sinner ; he
is the slave of Satan, and his own evil lusts and appetites are his
most cruel task-masters." It would be a great thing if it were
possible for us to induce the wicked to make an inventory of all
they have gained in the service of sin. But commonly they will
not think. Satan rushes them madly on from one thing to another
till their doom is sealed. A rich man dying said : " What have I
now of all my estates, except that they fearfully swell my account
at the tribunal of God?" Byron said that in his life he could
20
306 E-PIS TLE TO [Ch. VL, vs. 21, 22.
remember but eleven days that he would care to live over. Vol-
taire exclaimed : " I wish I had never been born ! " Solomon tried
everything that could please the carnal nature, and his solemn
judgment was that it was all vanity of vanities.
26. Well may all men blush and be ashamed of a course of sin,
v. 21. The righteous are so indeed. The wonder is that all are
not so. The brazen face exhibited by many shows how desperate
their case is. God himself so speaks of them, Jer. 6:15; 8:12.
Chrysostom : " Ye were injured in two ways, in doing things calling
for shame, and in not even knowing what it was to be ashamed."
If sin is of so foul' and dreadful a nature as to make all good men
ashamed, even when they know it is pardoned, it must be most
malignant and dreadful. Nor is it possible for any man to be too
much afraid of it or excessively to detest it. In temporal affairs
the wicked often regret what they have done. But it is only in
moral matters that men pursue a course, which they know they
will be sorry for, and which they hope they will be deeply sorry
for and heartily ashamed of before they leave this world, knowing
that if they shall not weep for it here, they will howl for vexation
of spirit for ever.
27.' The penal consequence of sinful courses is death, v. 21. In
many cases penal consequences seem to be natural and inevitable.
We may finally discover that they are so in all cases. None but
the omniscient eye can trace all the connections of things ; but sin
certainly leads to hell, and it certainly leads nowhere else. It
leads to the gulf of wo as naturally as the Mississippi leads
to the Gulf of Mexico. It is in vain for men to delude them-
selves with the hope that shame and everlasting contempt will not
follow transgression, or, if they do, that it will be only by some
arbitrary arrangement. When the poor drunkard began his ca-
reer, little did he dream that it would end in rags, and poverty,
and beggary, and crime, and hell.
28. Great is the grace and rich are its provisions for effecting
and completing the work of salvation, even here breaking the
bondage of corruption, freeing believers from its dominion, and
from all its roots and effects before they stand before the Lord in
judgment, v. 22. And how great is this work of purification. The
converted man could have no greater work, or one that called for
greater help from heaven than to perfect holiness. Oh that all, who
name the name of Christ, would depart from iniquity.
29. It is impossible to overstate the necessity of a godly life, in
which we bear fruit unto holiness, bear much fruit to the glory of
God, v. 22. To such a course not only all that is awful and author-
itative in the character of God, but all that is mild and winning in
Ch. VI., vs. 22, 23.] THE RO MA NS . 307
the dispensation of the gospel urges us. T. Adam : " Gratitude
runs low in the nature of man ; but if there is one spark of it in the
heart, the belief of deliverance from death, and eternal life merited
for us by the Son of God, will kindle it into a flame." Chalmers :
" Let me urge that you proceed on the inseparable alliance, which
the gospel has established, between your deliverance from the
penalty of sin and your deliverance from its power that you evi-
dence the interest you have in the first of these privileges, by a
life graced and exalted by the second of them." Without holiness
no man shall see the Lord.
30. To those, who rely on the righteousness of Christ alone for
justification, and heartily forsake their sins and serve God with a
willing mind, everlasting life is certain. It is the end to which their
present conduct tends ; the ^z^God has in view in all his dealings
with them; the end they have before their minds in their best
frames, v. 22. They are as sure of that as God's word can make
such poor doubting souls.
31. All the penal sufferings of the wicked are deserved. They
receive only the fruit of their doings. Death is their wages, v. 23.
They are earning all the wo that will yet come upon them. The
law of retribution returns into their own bosom all their evil deeds.
They cannot justly complain of a righteous recompense.
32. But heaven is a gift a free gift, -without money and with-
out price. Eternal life is deserved by no mere men. It is wholly
free, v. 23. Nor is this a painful but an animating thought to the
renewed soul. He is willing that God should have all the glory
of salvation. The crown of glory cannot be purchased with such
tin and dross as mingle with our best services. Clarke : " A man
may MERIT hell, but he cannot MERIT heaven. The apostle does
not say that the wages of righteousness is eternal life ; no, but that
this eternal life, even to the righteous, is the gracious GIFT of God ;
and even this gracious gift comes through Jesus Christ oiir Lord.
He alone has procured it ; and it is given to all those who find re-
demption in his blood. A sinner goes to hell because he deserves
it ; a righteous man goes to heaven, because Christ has died for
him : and communicated that grace by which his sin is pardoned,
and his soul made holy."
33. What a wonderful person is Jesus Christ our Lord. By him
the worlds were made. By him all things consist. All the angels
worship him. All the virgins love him. If our sins are washed
away, it is by his blood. If we are accepted, it is in the Beloved.
If we have sore conflicts here, and yet come off conquerors, it is
because his grace is sufficient for us. He is all and in all, the first
and the last, the author and the finisher of faith. Who would not
308 EPISTLE. [Ch. V., v. 23.
join with Hawker and say? " Through life, in death, and for ever-
more, be it my joy to acknowledge that there can be no wages
mine, but the wages of sin, which is death ; and all the Lord be-
stows, even eternal life, with all its preliminaries, can only be the
free, the sovereign, the unmerited gift of GOD through JESUS
CHRIST our LORD."
CHAPTER VII.
VERSES 1-6.
BELIEVERS ARE IN NO SENSE UNDER LAW AS A
MOTIVE TO HOLINESS. THEY ARE MOVED BY
A MORE EFFECTIVE PRINCIPLE.
1 KNOW ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that
the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth ?
2 'For the woman which hath a husband is bound by the law to ke.r husband
so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her
husband.
3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she
shall be called an adulteress : but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law;
so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body
of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from
the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the
law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we
were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of
the letter.
1KNOW ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the
. law}) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he
liveth ? Most will agree that the apostle, having answered the
objection stated in Rom. 6:15, and having completed the exhorta-
tion fitly growing out of that answer, here resumes the matter
announced in Rom. 5 ' 14 : Sin shall not have dominion over you :
for ye are not under the law, but under grace. He proceeds to show
how we are not under law. Many for he read it. So Wiclif, Tyn-
dale, Cranmer, Grotius, Bp. Hall and others. The Doway in the
text has it liveth; but in a note admits that we may read, he liveth.
The Vulgate does not decide the matter, omitting the pronoun, as
does also the Greek. The doctrine is the same which way soever
one decides. The death of either party in a marriage contract
releases the survivor. And whatever the apostle intends to teach
(309)
310 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., v. i.
in v. i, it is something consistent with this idea, for he expressly
introduces it in v. 2. The word rendered man in this verse is the
generic word, corresponding to the Latin homo, meaning one of
the human family, a man or woman, a human being. It is not the
word corresponding to the Latin vir, meaning one of the male
sex. Schleusner even thinks that the word here denotes a woman.
Wolf and Pool interpret it indifferently of male or female, suppos-
ing, as Olshausen and some others do, that the law even in this
verse means the law of marriage. Thus the passage would teach
that the death of either party releases the other in marriage.
Clarke thinks it all the same whether we read he liveth or it liveth.
Speaking of these two renderings Chalmers says, " that either
supposition, of the law being dead or of the subject being dead,
stands linked with very important and unquestionable truth so
that by admitting both, you may exhibit this passage as the enve-
lope of two meanings or lessons, both of which are incontroverti-
bly sound and practically of very great consequence." But it is
better to confine the attention to one rather than to both of these
conceptions. Each seems to have some claims to consideration.
The great objection to reading it liveth is that stated by Wolf
" It is very unusual and surely unknown to scripture to say that
the law liveth, or the law is dead." The only place cited to prove
such language admissible is v. 6 of this section, and there a differ-
ent reading is accepted by many. The great argument in favor
of the sense gathered from the authorized version is that it coin-
cides well with Paul's language in v. 4, where he says Christians
themselves are dead to the law, not the law dead to them. But
what does Paul here mean by the law f Some say he points to the
ceremonial .law. But why should we thus hold ? Men were sanc-
tified while obeying the ceremonial law, and observing (not abus-
ing) its precepts. It was indeed burdensome, and those, who put
it in the place of the grace of God, sadly perverted it. But men
might be dead to it as a way of salvation, and yet not be in a state
of salvation, relying on the moral law to save them. With the
necessary qualifications the same things may be said of the Mosaic
institute as a whole. But why may we not apply the term to law
generally to all law as a method of justification or of sanctifica-
tion ? This covers the whole ground, well agrees with what Paul
has said elsewhere, and leaves no room for evasion. Some, indeed,
think that in this verse the apostle by law means the law of mar-
riage only. But that is not necessary to a right understanding of
the verse. The law of marriage is an illustration of the princi-
ple here avowed, and a very good one too, brought forward in
vs. 2, 3. Some have suggested that this argument is specially
Ch. VII., v. 2.] THE ROMANS. 311
addressed to Jewish converts to Christianity; but all the early
Christians were, according to their several grades of intelligence,
acquainted with the moral law, even as contained in the deca-
logue, yes, and even with the general character of the old dis-
pensation, And nothing could hinder even the Gentiles from
knowing the general character of the moral law, for it was writ-
ten on their hearts. And Jew and Gentile are alike wedded to
law as a scheme of commending themselves to God and of assimi-
lating their characters to his. Now God's people have no more
to do with moral law as a method of salvation, nothing more to
do with the covenant of works as a means of pardon, acceptance
or sanctification, than a dead man has to do with laws of any kind
enacted for the government of the living. One's death releases
him from any and every law, by which man ever held him in sub-
jection or had dominion over him. We might thus express the
sense : " My brethren, whether Jews or Gentiles in origin, I have
fully showed you that justification is by no means to be obtained
by any conformity sinful men can acquire to the precepts of law.
I have in the last chapter shown that neither can holiness be ac-
quired by a legal spirit, nor by motives drawn from the rigors of
law. If you would obtain sanctification, you must seek it by the
grace of the gospel. I wish this matter to be understood by you,
and well settled in your minds. So I ask your intelligent atten-
tion to an illustrated argument on the subject. Will you not
admit thus much that one's death releases him from the binding
force of any law, under which he may have lived ? Will you not
concede that neither good nor bad governments have power to
pursue a man beyond the grave ? Even the prisoner and the slave
are free among the dead. Now, my argument is that you are
dead to the law ; you are dead with Christ,' who is the head and
surety of the covenant of grace, and so no law, as a means of sal-
vation, can bind you. I have proved that no man can be justified
by any law. I am now proving that his heart cannot be purified
by any law, as a master or as a means, supplying adequate motives
or helps thereto."
2. For the woman which hath a husband is bound by the law
to her husband so long as he liveth ; but if the husband be dead,
she is loosed from the law of her husband. The single word ren-
dered, which hath a h^lsband, is found nowhere else in the New
Testament ; but we have it in the Septuagint in Num. 5 : 29.
There is no doubt that it is correctly rendered. The law of her
husband is the law of marriage which binds her to her husband.
He liveth, in this verse corresponds to the same words in v. i,
and shows that the rendering there is probably correct.
312 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 3, 4.
3. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another
man, she shall be called an adulteress : but if her husband be dead, she
is free from that law ; so that she is no adulteress, though she be mar-
ried to another man. The terms and phrases are simple and easily
understood. The principle avowed is that even the law of mar-
riage, sacred as it is, binds not after either party has departed this
life. For adiilteress Tyndale and Cranmer read wedlocke breaker ;
but the sense is the same. This verse and the preceding contain
the illustration plainly stated. Some indeed find difficulty from
trying to make the illustration in all things parallel to the matter
illustrated. But this can seldom be done. It certainly cannot be
done here. The application of the illustration is found in verse
4. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by
the body of Christ ; that ye should be' married to another, even to him
who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit tinto God.
Believers are dead in two senses. I. They are said to have died
with Christ, to have been crucified with him. See above on Rom.
6 : 2-13. In his death they are so much interested and their
union with him is so. close, that his death is spoken of as if it were
theirs. This is probably the sense . here. 2. Believers are as to
their hopes dead to the law. They have no expectation whatever
of salvation from that quarter. If they had nothing better to look
to, they know they are all dead men. The death of believers to
the law is by the body of Christ. This phrase in its connection
receives various explanations. I. By far the most common is
that which refers it to the death of Christ on Calvary. Chry-
sostom explains it as "through the Lord's death;" Calvin:
"through his body, as fixed to the cross;" Bp. Hall:. "By
that all-sufficient sacrifice which Christ offered up in his flesh
for us ; " Pool : " by the sacrifice, of Christ's body upon the
cross;" Doddridge: "Christ's death and sufferings having now
accomplished the design of the law, and abrogated its authority ; "
Scott : " by his incarnation, obedience and sacrifice on the cross
for their transgressions ; " Stuart : " He must of course mean, the
body of Christ as crucified, as having suffered in order to redeem
us from the curse of the law ; " Hodge : " by the sacrifice of that
body, or by his death." The texts relied on as sustaining this in-
terpretation are Rom. 8:2; Gal. 2 : 19; 3 : 13 ; Eph. 2 : 13, 15, 16;
Col. i : 22 ; 2 : 14; Tit. 2 : 14; Heb. 10 : 5-10 ; i Pet. 2 : 24 ; 3 : 18.
This is by far the most common and it is the best method of
explanation. 2. Others think that the prominent idea is that
of our union with Christ in his mystical body. Locke : " By the
body of Christ, in which you as members died with him ; " Mac-
knight : " Believers being considered as members of Christ's body
Ch. VII., v. 5.] THE ROMANS. 313
on account of the intimate union which subsists between them
and him, every thing happening to him is in scripture said to have
happened to them." The texts relied on to justify such an ex-
planation are such as Col. 2:11, 20. 3. Evans unites these views :
" By the body of Christ, that is, by the sufferings of Christ in his
body, by his crucified body, which abrogated the law, answered
the demands of it, made satisfaction for our violation of it, pur-
chased for us a covenant of grace, in which righteousness and
strength are laid up for us, such as were not, nor could be, by the
law. We are dead to the law by our union with the mystical body
of Christ ; by being incorporated into Christ in our baptism pro-
fessedly, in our believing powerfully and effectually, we are dead
to the law, have no more to do with it than the dead servant, that
is free from his master, hath to do with the master's yoke." 4. Ferme '
says : " ' We are dead to the law in the body of Christ ' first, be-
cause we die to the law with Christ ; secondly, because Christ died
in the body only ; and thirdly, because we are in a manner crucified
with the crucified body of Christ, inasmuch as his crucified body
was a ransom for all : so that by his one death we are all set free
from and dead to the law and sin." 5. Not a few Roman Catholic
expositors by the body of Christ understand the church, into which
we are introduced by baptism, and refer to i Cor. 12 : 12-27; Eph.
4 :\2 etc., in proof. The first of these views covers the ground
and is to be preferred. Being thus dead to the law, believers are
lawfully married to Christ, who is raised from the dead to the very
end that we might be effectually placed under a system of grace,
where both justification (see Rom. 4 : 25) and sanctification might
be secured to' us; that we should bring forth fruit unto God; at the
command and to the glory of God, and so be like him. This
fruit-bearing is the only infallible sign of renewal and of sanctifica-
tion. That this fruitfulness is most reasonably to be expected
might be argued from the new state of those, who had accepted
Christ, and were under grace. To this the brethren at Rome were
urged (and the same might have been said to the brethren of any
of the churches) by the fact that in their unregenerate state they
had been diligent in doing wickedness, and had done much dis-
honor to God :
5. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, ivhich were by
the law, did ^vork in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. On
the term flesh see above on Rom. 3 : 20. Here it evidently means
the natural corrupt state of man previous to a work of grace on
the heart. The motions of sins, an expression not elsewhere found
in scripture. In the Greek Testament the word rendered mo-
tions occurs sixteen times, is eleven times rendered siifferings or in
314 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., v. 6.
the singular suffering ; three times, afflictions ; once, affections ; here,
only, motions. In Gal. 5 : 24 where it is rendered affections it has
very much the same signification as here. Peshito has emotions
of sin ; Wiclif, Rheims, Arabic and Doway, passions of sin ; Tyn- J
dale and Cranmer, lustes of synne ; Coverdale, synful lustes ;
Stuart, Conybeare and Howson, sinful passions ; Macknight, sinful
inclinations, Diodati, the perverse affections ; Grotius, lusts ;
Scott, those desires and affections which the law forbade ; Clarke,
the evil propensities to sins ; Hodge, the emotions or feelings of
sin. The word passions as it was understood two or three centu-
ries ago would be the best rendering. Perhaps sinful affections
more nearly expresses the exact idea than any other words. These
sinful affections were by the law ; Chry sostom : were produced by
the law ; Calvin : the law excited in us evil emotions, which ex-
erted their influence through all our faculties ; Diodati : the per-
verse affections, which are the roots of sins, being pricked for-
ward, rather than corrected or repressed by the law, did produce
their effects in all the parts of our souls ; Guyse : the violent pas-
sions of indwelling corruption, which were irritated by the opposi-
tion, that the purity of the precepts and the severity of the curse
of the law made against them, powerfully worked and exerted
themselves in the whole man, unto the employing and command-
ing of all the members of our bodies, and all the faculties of our
souls, as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. Members, as in
Rom. 6:13, 19, on which see above. We should bring forth fruit,
in the Greek one word, a verb well rendered, found several times
in the New Testament. We had it in v. 4. Here the fruit is unto
death, to the promotion of death in ourselves and others, to the
service and honor of death, personified as a tyrant, and opposed
to God, in v. 4.
6. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein
we were held ; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the
oldness of the letter. If this is the correct reading of this, verse, then in
v. i we may read it liveth. But it is probable it should read, we being
dead to that wherein we were held. The weight of authority is quite
that way. This reading is supported by Peshito, Arabic, Ethiopic,
Wiclif, Coverdale, Tyndale, Cranmer, Genevan, Rheims, Erasmus,
Calvin, Knapp, Ferme, Bengel, Mill, Wetstein, Stephens, Griesbach,
Rosenmuller, Conybeare and Howson, Stuart and others. Very
seldom is there so strong ground for giving up a received English
reading. Not a single manuscript supports our authorized ver-
sion. The Doway, following the Vulgate reads : But now we are
loosed from the law of death wherein we were detained. It is
true indeed that the same doctrine is taught whether we read we
Ch. VII., vs. i, 4-] THE ROMANS. 315
are dead to the law, or the law is dead to us ; but it is best to fol-
low the true Greek text, and to preserve, as far as we can, the har-
mony of the figures of scripture. All agree that we are delivered
from the law, but to what intent ? That we should serve in newness
of spirit. It is perhaps best to supply God after serve. For it is to
him all religious service is due. In the latter part of the pre-
ceding chapter he had spoken of our being the servants of God.
This is better than any other construction proposed. Some think
the meaning is, we serve the Holy Spirit. All God's people do
indeed serve him, but that is hardly the truth taught here. New-
ness of spirit here corresponds to newness of life in Rom. 6:4;
only here, we have the source of strength pointed out even the
Holy Spirit. God's regenerated servants have new apprehen-
sions of truth and of duty, of privilege and of obligation ; new dis-
positions towards God and man, towards God's word and people,
his laws and his promises ; new qualities of heart, loving what
they once hated, hating what they once loved, fearing and hoping
as they never did before ; faith displacing unbelief, love super-
seding enmity and penitence taking the place of hardness of heart.
And all this is done with a freshness of spirit, a vigor and an
earnestness, which wholly distinguish it from the oldness of the
letter, in which they had once lived ; formalism, servility, the spirit
of bondage, and dead works marking the whole of that old life,
even where there was some form of godliness, sin virtually gain-
ing an advantage all the time. For an account of the great effects
of conversion to and by the Gospel read Acts 2 : 41-47.
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL REMARKS.
I. If we would profit others, we must speak to them as kindly
as truth will allow, following the example of Paul, who here ad-
dresses the Romans as brethren, vs. i, 4. However we may be
grieved by the dulness and apparent perverseness of men, we must
have that charity which beareth all things, and remember that the
wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. We may
not indulge suspicious and harsh tempers. Our Saviour carried
his gentleness so far that he even called Judas friend, in the very
moment of betrayal. The law of kindness never reigns more
gracefully than in the speech of God's ministers. Brown : " If
people were thoroughly convinced that they had a room in the
affections of pastors, it would much help them to profit by them,
and to receive the truth at their hands." , It is a saying not less than
fourteen or fifteen hundred years old, " Love and say what you
please."
316 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 1-6.
2. If truths are manifestly scriptural and important, let us thor-
oughly explain them, and earnestly insist upon them ; so that if
men reject or misapprehend them, the fault shall be wholly their
own. In Rom. 6 : 14 Paul had laid down the great truth that we
are not under law, but under grace ; that as justification had been
shown to be impossible by the deeds of the law, so sanctification
was no less unattainable by legal means or in a legal spirit, In
chapter VI. he had stated and proven that we were free from sin as
a master, that it had not dominion over us. Here he shows that
we are free from the law, and this was necessary, for the strength
of sin is the law. If we are still under the reign of law, we. are
still under the reign of sin. The power of sin is in the power of
the law, as a covenant of works, vs. 1-6. If one even religiously
believes any thing, and yet the church of God does not receive it,
the best and ablest men looking upon it as doubtful, or of slight
importance, he may well keep silence respecting it, Rom. 14 : 22.
But where we surely have the mind of the Spirit, and a doctrine
or practice is weighty, and of present importance, let us spare no
pains truly to set it forth.
3. It is a great advantage to the cause of Christ when in vindi-
cating and establishing the truth we have intelligent hearers or
readers, v. I. It iswelHndeed that in malice men should be chil-
dren, but in understanding they should be men, I Cor. 14: 20.
We should therefore labor to come, and to bring others to a full
assurance of understanding in all the great things of God, Col.
2:2.
4. As we are bound not to exaggerate the errors or infirmities
of our brethren, so we ought candidly to admit their attainments
and excellencies as Paul does here, saying, I speak to them that
know the law, v. I. Augustin freely admitted the good moral
character of Pelagius. When one of the Reformers used harsh
language to Calvin, the Genevan replied : " If thou shouldest call
me a devil, I would still esteem thee an eminent servant of Christ."
We strengthen no good cause (and we ought not by any means to
strengthen a bad cause) by suspicious or slanderous allegations
against any.
5. Scriptural holiness, no less than Christian comfort, requires
of us that we insist upon the truth (and never fail, on a fit occa-
sion, to vindicate it), that believers are dead to the law, or that it
is dead to them, as a means, or as a motive to holy living, no less
than as a means of justification before God, vs. 1-6. Chrysostom :
" The marvel is that it is the law itself acquits us who are divorced
from it of any charge, and so the mind of it was that we should be-
come Christ's." We must be dead to the law before we can be
Ch. VII., vs. I-6.J THE ROMANS. 317
joined to Christ ; and until we are joined to Christ we can do
nothing, John 15:5. It is greatly to be regretted that so many,
who seem to begin in the right way, aim to be made perfect in the
wrong way. T. Adam : " O ! what pains are taken to conjure up
the ghost of the law, and how many mistaken souls frighten them-
selves all their days with the ghastly apparition of it, instead of
seeing it slain by Christ, and rejoicing over it as a dead enemy.
Reader, do not 'charge me with Antinomianism : I abhor the im-
putation: it is the desire of my soul to say with the Psalmist,
' Lord, how love I thy law!' I believe it to be the rule of our
duty, and that it will be the measure of our reward or condemna-
tion. I believe, from my heart, that we are only miserable by
transgressing it, and can never be happy but in conforming to it.
But then I must learn from St. Paul the Spirit's order of coming
to the love of it. And I understand from him, that I can never
look upon it with a friendly eye till I see the sting of death taken
out of it, never be in a fruit-bearing state according to it, nor de-
light in it as a rule, till I am freed from it as a covenant."
6. In its nature marriage is of perpetual obligation, and can be
dissolved in no way during the life of the parties but by some
crime, which wholly subverts its design. The scriptures mention
two such, adultery,, and wilful permanent desertion, Matt. $ : 32 ;
19: 9; Mark 16: 18; I Cor. 7 : 15.
Irritability of temper, want of congeniality, ungodliness, scold-
ing, penuriousness, insanity, incurable disease, helplessness, or
consent of parties can give no right to dissolve the marriage bond.
The law of God is decisive. The laws of man should be no less
so. Nor is it possible that either piety or good morals should per-
vade a community, where the marriage relation is not maintained
in its purity. "Marriage is honorable in all and the bed unde-
filed." Only let neither men, nor churches attempt to make mar-
riage more holy than it is, nor surround it with hindrances that
are not sanctioned by God himself. Scott : " It would be foreign
to the apostle's design to interpret his words, as meaning that a
woman, who had been equitably divorced for consanguinity, which
rendered her former marriage a nullity, or for any other cause,
would be guilty of adultery, if she married again during her for-
mer husband's life ; for neither the law of M'oses, nor the precepts
of Christ inculcate any such thing." Nor should churches or
Christians discourage second marriages, where death has loosed
the bond, vs. 2, 3. There may be as good reason for a second or
third as for a first marriage ; and it is every way as lawful, I Cor.
7= 39-
7. Good men, enlightened from above, have given up all ex-
3i8 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., v. 4.
pectation of being saved by a righteousness founded on their per-
sonal obedience to law, or by motives drawn from the covenant of
works, v. 4. The legal spirit is a great enemy of the gospel.
Legal repentance is wholly diverse from evangelical sorrow for
sin. Mount Sinai is far from Mount Calvary. It was Joshua, not
Moses, that led Israel into Canaan.
8. The state of unbelievers is sad indeed. They are wedded
to a law, which they never kept, which presents no incentives
strong enough to secure obedience, and which pours its curses on
the heads of all, who continue not in all things which it requires.
The law demands perfect obedience, but gives no strength ; un-
spotted holiness, but provides no means or motives, that can con-
trol the heart even for a day, The thought of foolishness, is sin,
Pr. 24 : 9 ; but vain thoughts lodge within the unrenewed all the
time. Their ploughing is sin, Pr. 21 : 4; for they plough like
atheists. Their sacrifice is an abomination, Pr. 21 : 27 ; because
they bring it with a wicked mind. Without faith it is impossible
to please God, Heb. 1 1 : 6 ; but they utterly discredit in their
hearts the testimony of God concerning his Son. Without holi-
ness no man shall see the Lord, Heb. 12 : 14; but they wear the
image and do the works of the wicked one. Redemption by
blood, without money and without price, is offered to them ; but
in their self-righteousness they reject it. The yoke of Christ is
tendered to them ; but in their self-will they say, We will not
have this man to reign over us. The gates of the kingdom of
heaven are thrown open to them ; but they madly press on till
they drop into hell. Nothing can be so dismal as the future of an
incorrigible sinner, who has heard the gospel, and died without
repentance. So many of them say before they leave the world.
So God's word says.
9. The incarnation and death of Christ are truly wonderful in
their nature and in their effects. They reach so far, delivering
poor lost souls from sin, and wrath, and guilty fears. Indeed it is
by his body sacrificed for us that we become dead to the law, cease
to strive for heaven by a self-righteous course, and become zealous
of good works, and perfect holiness in the fear of God. We must
thus be dead to the law before we can lay hold on Christ. The
gospel plan in its very nature requires an utter renunciation of all
other plans. Christ will divide the glories of redemption with
none other. He alone will save us entirely or not at all. And
there is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby
we must be saved.
10. Great is the mystery of godliness, whereby poor lost souls
are married to Christ, v. 4. Of all the forms of speech used to
Ch. VII., v. 4-1 THE ROMANS. 319
.express the relations of saints to the Saviour and of the Saviour to
saints none is more appropriate, more refreshing or perhaps oftener
adopted in scripture than that of marriage. In Ps. 45 : 8-15 is
a beautiful illustration of this remark. Then we have the whole
of the Song of Songs, which is Solomon's, entirely on the same sub-
ject. No equal portion of scripture has probably been more
admired by the experienced child of God. Then by the evangeli-
cal prophet God brings forth the same idea : " Thy Maker is thy
husband, the Lord of hosts is his name," Isa. 54: 5. Then by the
husband of Gomer the daughter of Diblaim God says : " I will
betroth thee unto me for ever ; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in
righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in
mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness ; and
thou shalt know the Lord," Hos. 2 : 19, 20. Paul takes up the
same glorious truth and says : " I have espoused you to one hus-
band, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ," 2 Cor.
1 1 : 2. And in another epistle he has an allegory on the same
blessed theme r Eph. 5 : 22-32. In the Apocalypse John has much
to say about the bride, the Lamb's wife. With a splendor that
shall amaze men and angels her nuptials shall be publicly cele-
brated on the evening of the day of judgment.
n. It is by forgetting her marriage covenant and turning to
folly that the church brings on herself such disgrace and such
misery. So that God often charges her with harlotry and whore-
dom, a form of wickedness detestable in all ages ; and yet in com-
parison of unfaithfulness to God small is the sin against man of
unfaithfulness in the marriage bond. Oh that every backsliding
soul and church would say : " I will go and return to my first
husband ; for then was it better with me than now," Hos. 2 : 7.
Such a. return would but be in response to the Lord's glorious in-
vitation : "Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet.
return again to me, saith the Lord," Jer. 3:1.
12. All religious profession and service without holy living
fruit imto God are vain and worthless, v. 4. Evans: "The great
end of our marriage to Christ is our fruitfulness in love, and grace,
and every good work. That is fruit unto God, pleasing to God,
according to his will, aiming at his glory." But let us never for-
get that it is only in Christ Jesus that we are created unto good
works, Eph. 2 : 10. The way in which the church avoids the sin
and shame of not honoring her head is by holiness in life. Other-
wise the foul blot of at least practical antinomianism would attach
to her. Chalmers: " While the law is abolished as a covenant, it
is not abolished as a rule of life. Though not under the economy
of do and live, still you are under the economy of live and do.
320 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 4, 5.
Your obedience to the law is no longer the purchase-money, by
which heaven is bought ; but still your obedience to the law is
the preparation by which you are beautified and arrayed for
heaven. It is no longer the righteousness by which the rewards
of eternity are earned ; but still it is the righteousness, which fits
us to enjoy the sacred rest, and the hallowed recreations of
eternity." Blessed be God, the King's highway is the way of
holiness.
13. Let Christians hold fast the fact and the doctrine of Christ's
resurrection from the dead, v. 4. It can never be yielded without
surrendering the gospel. No truth is fundamental, if this is not.
It is connected with all good hopes, with all right practice, with
salvation itself. He had power to lay down his life ; but he had
power to take it again, John 10 : 18. Compare I Cor. 15 : 14-20 ;
were he not the first begotten of the dead, he would not be the
prince of the kings of the earth.
14. A good deal may be learned concerning our spiritual state
by observing our thoughts and words respecting our conduct in
that state, which we confess to have been one of unregeneracy, v. 5.
If our former sinfulness is dwelt upon with pleasure, it is a dark
sign. But if it is used as an incentive to greater humility, dili-
gence and love, it is a good sign. Those, who have been strong
sinners, should not be feeble saints. Let the zeal of God's house
consume us.
15. What a horrible thing sin is! Its very motions so work as to
bring forth fruit unto death, v. 5- Since the world began sin
has produced evil, only evil and that continually. Though in his
infinite wisdom, power and goodness God has brought great
good out of evil, making the wrath of men to praise him, yet sin
works no good to man, nor glory to God. It brings no good out
of itself. It is evil ; it is rebellion ; it is iniquity ; it is transgression ;
it is unrighteousness ; it is want of conformity to law ; it is the folly
of fools ; it is a lie. God hates it with the whole of his nature. It
is the only thing he does hate. The worst thing that can be said
of sin is not that it carries death and hell in its train ; but that it
is exceeding sinful. It is so stubborn that if divine grace were not
armed with omnipotence, even it would not be able to bend the
will.
1 6. The natural state of man is, therefore, very alarming. It is
a state of unregeneracy, of impenitence, of unbelief, of war with
God. The heart is naturally dead to good, but keenly alive to
evil. It is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
The affections are all disordered and far from God. The whole
tends directly to death and ruin. No awakened sinner ever had
Ch. VII., v. 6.] THE ROMANS. 321
too strong a sense of his lost condition, too dark a view of the
heinousness of his sins.
17. The deliverance from the law as a covenant was a great
deliverance, v. 6. None but God could Sevise, execute or apply
any fit scheme of redeeming mercy. The power that /tetdmen,
though not almighty, was too mighty for any arm of flesh. They
were in the hands of the strong man. Great is the salvation of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
1 8. Why should not God's people lead a new life? v. 6. They
have new views, new hopes, new fears, new joys, new principles,
new objects of attraction, new motives. Our righteousness
must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees. We
must not only not murder ; we must not strike ; we must not
slander ; we must not bear ill-will. We must love purity for its
own sake. And if we do, we will surely shew it in our walk. If
we become not like Christ, we may not hope to be with him.
19. No wonder the oldness of the letter amounts to nothing in
the service of God. The letter killeth. It is stern, inexorable.
It is clothed with terrors. It goads the conscience to madness.
It works wrath. Those, who cling to it, make no progress in
overcoming the world. They live and die the slaves of cor-
ruption.
21
CHAPTER VII.
VERSES 7-13.
THOUGH THE LAW NEITHER JUSTIFIES NOR SANC-
TIFIES, YET IT IS EXCELLENT, AND USEFUL IN.
OTHER WAYS. BUT MAN IS QUITE WRONG;
AND HIS FALLEN NATURE PERVERTS THE LAW.
7 What shall we say then ? 7s the law sin ? God forbid. Nay, I had not
.known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said,
Thou shalt not covet.
8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of
concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
9 For I was alive without the law once : but when the commandment came, sin
revived, and I died.
10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto
death.
1 1 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it
slew me.
iz Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
I 3 Was then that which is good made death unto me ? God forbid. But
sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that
tin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
7WHA T shall ive say then ? Is the law sin ? God forbid. Nay
, / had not known sin, but by the lazv : for I had not known lust,
except the lazv had said, Thou shalt not covet. What shall zve say
then f This form of interrogation, after the main argument on a
point is finished, is quite common with Paul, Rom. 3 : 27 ; 4:1;
6:1,15. It clearly marks the close logical connection. Is the law
sin ? Those, who would make Paul a fautor of sin, can do so only
by imputing to him sentiments of which he expresses abhorrence,
yes, indignant abhorrence, as here. Compare Rom. 6:1,2, 11-15.
Paul was no friend of loose living. Nor was he an enemy of the law.
He never said the law was sin, or favored sin, or produced sin. It was
not itself evil, nor did it countenance evil. Ambrose : "The law dis-
covers sin, it does not beget sin." God forbid, let it not be. See above
on Rom. 3 : 4. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law. So far
(3 22 )
Ch. VII., v. 8.] THE ROMANS. 323
from the law favoring sin, it was the great reprover of sin. It
made known its true nature, odiousness and guilt. The word
rendered nay is in Rom. 3:31 rendered yea ; in Rom. 8:31 nay ;
in Rom. 5 : 14 nevertheless. It is a following up of the Let it not be
with notice of further statement or argument. / had not known
sin ; Tyndale and Genevan : I knewe not what synne meant ; Co-
nybeare and Howson : I should not have known what sin was. The
meaning seems to be this : I should never have understood the
real nature of sin, the enormity of my guilt, nor the multitude of
my offences but for the law. One way of discovering the unclean-
ness of an apartment in a house is to bring in a light. One way
of discovering the crookedness of a wall is to apply the plumb-
line to it, Ps. 1 19 : 105 ; Amos 7 : 7, 8. God's law is such a light
and such a line. Paul gives a particular illustration : / had not
known hist, except the law had said, Thou skalt not covet. This
tenth commandment was the key that unlocked the mystery of
iniquity in the heart of the great apostle. It showed him the great
storehouse of iniquity in his bosom. I had not known lust ; Tyn-
dale, Cranmer and Genevan : I had not knowne what lust had
meant; Conybeare and Howson: I should not have known the
sin of coveting ; Locke : I had not known concupiscence to be
sin; Bp. Hall: I had not known or observed lust to be a sin;
Stuart : I had not known even inordinate desire. Calvin : " Muni-
cipal laws do indeed declare that intentions, and not results are to
be punished. Philosophers also, with more refinement, place
vices as well as virtues in the soul. But by this precept God goes
deeper, and notices coveting, which is more hidden than the will ;
and this is not deemed a vice. It was pardoned not only by phi-
losophers, but at this day the Papists fiercely contend that it is no
sin in the regenerate. But Paul says he had found out his guilt
from this hidden disease : it hence follows, that all those, who
labor under it, are by no means free from guilt, except God par-
dons their sin. We ought, at the same time, to remember the
difference between evil lustings or covetings which gain consent,
and the lusting which tempts and moves our hearts, but stops in
the midst of its course." Evil desires are evil things. It is sinful
to indulge or even have them.
8. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all
mariner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. The
word rendered occasion is found six times in the New Testament,
twice in this chapter, and always rendered occasion, except in Gal.
5:13, where we read liberty. It never means impunity, as Grotius
thinks it does here. There is no better rendering than occasion.
So thought Wiclif, Coverdale, Tyndale, Cranmer, Genevan,
324 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., v. 8.
Rheims, Doway, and many others. Peshito : Sin found occasion.
How sin flamed out so terribly is here declared. .The precept and
penalty of the law both offended the carnal heart by bringing to
light and by stirring up its evil inclinations. Pride, self-will and
enmity refused to be restrained by the law or by the curse. In
previous chapters Paul had dropped a hint to the same effect,
Rom. 4:15; 5 : 20. Here he declares it in plain and strong terms.
Chrysostom : " When we desire a thing, and then are hindered of
it, the flame of the desire is but increased. Now this came not of
the law ; for it hindered us in a way to keep us off from it : but
sin, that is, thy own listlessness and bad disposition used what was
good for the reverse." Calvin : " The law is only the occasion.
And though he may seem to speak only of that excitement, by
which our lusting is instigated through the law, so that it boils out
with greater fury ; yet I refer this chiefly to the knowledge the
law conveys ; as though he had said, ' It has discovered to me
every lust or coveting, which, being hid, seemed somehow to have
no existence.' " Stuart: "Opposition to the desires and passions
of unsanctified men inflames them, and renders them more intense
and unyielding." Hodge : " The effect of the law operating upon
our corrupt hearts is to arouse their evil passions, and to lead to
the desire of the very objects which the law forbids." Concupiscence,
the same word rendered lust in v. 7, on which see" above. It is
sometimes used in a good sense for strong desire, Luke 22 : 15 ;
i Thess, 2:17; but commonly in a bad sense ; as lust of the eyes,
wordly lusts, fleshly hists, hurtful lusts, deceitful lusts, ungodly lusts.
For wit/tout the law sin was dead. By dead Chrysostom understands
" not so ascertainable ;" Calvin : " Without the law sin is buried ;"
Locke : " Not able to hurt me ;" Diodati : " As it were asleep and
deaded, if it were not kindled again by the law working lively on
the conscience ;" Pool : " Comparatively dead ;" Doddridge : " I
was no more aware of any danger from it, or any power it had to
hurt me, than if it had been a dead enemy ;" Guyse : "Sin was a
trivial harmless thing in my account : it did not terrify my con-
science ; but seemed, like a dead man, to have no strength in
me, and to carry no danger in it ; " Stuart : " Comparatively
sluggish and inoperative ; " Hodge : " Inactive, unproductive
and unobserved." The principles involved in the exposition
are these : i . Where there is absolutely no law, there is absolutely .
no sin, Rom. 4:15. 2. But all men have some knowledge of right
and wrong, and therefore some conscience of sin, Rom. 2:15.
3. Ignorance of law naturally begets low conceptions of sin. 4. In
the absence of law, sin is not felt even where it does actually exist.
5. The clear shining of the law discovers sins where none were
Ch. VII., v. p.] THE ROMANS. 325
supposed to exist. 6. The restraints of law are irksome to the carnal
nature of man, and actually provoke his evil desires. 7. But this
provoking of lusts is wholly chargeable to the evil nature of sin,
and not at all to the law itself; the law merely showing us the
nature, prevalence and power of sin. The question, most mooted
respecting verses 7, 8, is whether Paul is here speaking of himself,
or merely stating a general truth in the first person singular. Cal-
vin : " I wonder what could have come into the minds of interpreters
to render the passage in the preterimperfect tense, as though Paul
was speaking of himself; for it is easy to see that his purpose was
to begin with a general proposition, and then to explain the sub-
ject by his own example." Doddridge thinks the apostle is " per-
sonating another character." But is this so ? I. Paul uses the
only form of speech he could use, if he were speaking of himself.
He has / and me. 2. It must be admitted that in subsequent
verses the apostle does speak of himself, and why not here ? The
general structure of these and of subsequent verses is the same.
3. One clause of v. 7 absolutely requires us to understand the
apostle as revealing his personal experience. He says that the
tenth commandment was the means in the hand of the Spirit of
showing him the true nature of sin or of evil desires. The expe-
rience of every converted man is not that the tenth commandment
first opened his eyes to a just view of his lost condition. God
often uses other portions of Scripture to bring about the same
thing. 4. At some time Paul certainly had the experience here
recorded, for it is substantially the experience of all God's people
in the early stages of their religious impressions. That is, in some
way, by some truth their eyes have been opened to see the num-
ber, heinousness and sinfulness of their sins. Paul was no excep-
tion.
9. For I was alive without the law once : but when the command-
ment came, sin revived, and I died. The same experience in its
consummation is related in Gal. 2 : 19, and more fully in Phil.
3 : 4-10. / was alive without the law once ; Wiclif : I lyued with
outen the lawe sumtyme ; Tyndale and Cranmer : I once lived
with out lawe ; Peshito : I, without the law, was alive formerly ;
Doway : I lived some time without the law ; Stuart : I was alive,
once, without the law. In the Greek the article is wanting before
law. The chief difficulty arises from the word rendered was alive.
Some think it means, I lived, that is, I had my earthly existence.
Mr. Locke so understands it, and applies the whole verse to one,
who lived before and after the giving of the law of Moses. But
this does not at all agree with the context, nor with the facts in
the case. The contrast is twofold. First, we have the antithesis
326 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., v. 10.
between -was alive and died; and secondly, between without law and
the commandment came. To be alive cannot mean natural life unless
to have died means to have died a temporal death. In what sense
then may we understand these terms? By being alive Chrysos-
tom understands, "I was not so much condemned;" and by died,
he understands that Paul was distinctly made acquainted with the
fact that he had been sinning. Calvin : " When I sinned, having
not the knowledge of the law, the sin, which I did not observe,
was so laid to sleep, that it seemed to be dead ; on the other hand,
as I seemed not to myself to be a sinner, I was satisfied with my-
self, thinking that I had a life of my own. But the death of sin is
the life of man, and again the life of sin is the death of man." Paul
was bred a Pharisee, and was early made acquainted with the
letter of the law. But the letter convinces none of sin. None
were more self-righteous than the Pharisees. But when God's
Spirit opens the eyes to see the extent and spirituality of the law,
a very different state of things is produced in the mind of even a
Pharisee. His self-esteem dies; his hope of heaven by his own
worthiness dies ; his peace of mind leaves him; his false ideas of
safety all forsake him. No man is absolutely without law. Paul
certainly never was so. That phrase therefore here must point
to the time, when spiritual blindness excluded from his mind just
apprehensions of the holiness, strictness, extent and spirituality of
the law. So when the commandment came points to the time when
by the tenth precept of the law his eyes were opened to see how
his thoughts, words and deeds were at war with the true intent
and just demands of the law. Then sin revived, came to life, i. e.
I became sensible of the number and power of my sins and then
died, as a legalist. When this great change in' Paul's views occur-
red, he does not here inform us. But it doubtless began about
the time that Jesus arrested him on his^way to Damascus. Some-
thing of this sort occurs in the case of all truly converted men, nor
does the change thus indicated cease till sanctification is com-
plete.
10. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to
be tinto death. The commandment, either the last precept of the
decalogue, or the whole law. Was ordained is added also by Tyn-
dale, Cranmer, Genevan, Doway, Bp. Hall and others. The
moral law is unto life among unsinning angels. It was unto life
to our first parents till they ate the forbidden fruit. Had they and
their posterity perfectly obeyed it, it would have been unto life to
them all for ever. It is the law of heaven, and its observance
there conduces to the highest good of that blessed society. But
every man, who has had true conviction of sin, has, like Paul,
Ch. VIL, vs. ii, 12.] THE ROMANS. 327
found the law to be tinto death, that is to condemnation, to the
death of legal hope, and to the arousing of wicked principles in
the soul into lively action. The law, rightly used, conduces to
holiness and happiness ; broken or misused, it conduces only to
sin and misery.
1 1 . For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and
by it slew me. Notice it was sin that did this. Holiness would
have done just the opposite. As in v. 8 so here sin doubtless
means the sinful principle in our fallen nature. Occasion, oppor-
tunity or advantage, as in v. 8, on which see above. The strength
of sin is the law. It gives sin its damning power, and its power to
make men vile and miserable ; but it does all this by mans' abuse
and perversion. In this way sin deceives by the commandment.
The law shows a good way, a very good way, an angelical way,
for the holy. Sin puts a veil over the heart, and persuades the
poor sinner that he can win God's favor by deeds of law, by the
law restrain and remove his corruptions, by degrees become tol-
erably good, and so secure heaven. All this was through the
great treachery and desperate wickedness of the carnal heart.
But the deceitfulness of sin knows no bounds. It does its work
perfectly. None but God can countervail it. Acute as was Saul
of Tarsus it deceived' "him ; yea more it slew him. Sin sunk him in
guilt and misery, fastening upon him the fetters of iniquity and
the chains of a fiery condemnation. It then showed him his sad
condition, and let him see that by law he was a dead man dead
in the sight of God's purity, justice and omniscience dead in
trespasses and sins. Deceived, in 2 Cor. 11:3 beguiled. But the
law itself is not seductive ; it is sin alone that does the mischief.
12. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and
just, and good. T. Adam's paraphrase is : " Wherefore the law is
(not sin, as might be objected, nor the cause of sin, but) holy (in
its nature, end, and purpose) ; and the commandment holy (in
itself), just (as coming from God), and good (for men)." Three
explanations may be given of the terms law and commandment in
this verse in their relation to each other. One is that these terms
are used synonymously for the decalogue. Another is that by
law Paul means the decalogue, and by commandment the tenth
precept of the decalogue, which he had specially named in v. 7.
The third is that by law he means the decalogue, and by command-
ment he means each precept separately. The whole law and the pre-
cepts thereof severally are holy, pure, manifesting the rectitude of
the divine Lawgiver ; just, equitable, capable of being shown to
be righteous before any competent tribunal ; and good, worthy of
him, who alone has original and infinite goodness in his nature,
328 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 13, 7.
and displays his benevolence in all his works and ways. There
are perhaps no three words in the New Testament of so frequent
occurrence, that vary less in their meaning than these three adjec-
tives, which we render holy, just and good. The apostle, having
proven what he asserted in v. 7, that the precepts of the law are
not sin, but that they are holy, just and good, that they are of ex-
cellent use in showing us the true nature of sin and our lost con-
dition by nature, proceeds to show that the penalty of the law
cannot be fairly objected to, that death is the fruit and fault of sin,
that the law curses no one who keeps it, and that we cannot
blame the law but only sin for all our miseries.
13. Was then that which is good made death unto me f God forbid.
But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which
is good ; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
By that which is good he of course means the law. Was it the law
that brought death ? By no means. On God forbid see above on
Rom. 3:4. It was not the law, but the transgression of the law
that brought death. Sin did this that its true, its deadly nature
might be seen, that it might appear sin. The worst thing that can
be said of any thing, even of sin, is that it is sin ; for it works death
by that which is good, it perverts the very best things, even the ex-
cellent law of God, to the condemnation and ruin of the soul. Sin
reveres no authority, however high and glorious. It bows to no
will, even though it be that of God. It goes further still. It per-
verts the very gospel to its own ends, and thus to death. The
effect of all this is that to the discerning sin becomes, that is ap-
pears to be exceeding sinful, literally sinful to a hyperbole, over-
leaping all bounds, knowing nothing but lawlessness, doing noth-
ing but working wrath, ruin and death, and thus exposing to our
view its mischievous and malignant nature.
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL REMARKS.
I. Let us not blame what is good for what is evil, v. 7. Nathan
was in no way a partaker of David's sin, because he brought it to
his remembrance, and brought him to repentance for it. If Da-
vid's zeal and indignation had. been turned against the prophet,
and not against his sin, it would have shown that he was yet un-
humbled. And if we find fault with the law, and not with our-
selves for breaking the law, we may know that all is still wrong in
us. The law is not sin. If the law were not perfect, it would not
be worthy of God ; and how can a bad man be saved by a good law ?
2. Whoever undertakes to expound any part oi the truth of
God should guard it against any liability to reasonable misappre-
Ch. VII., vs. 7-13.] THE ROMANS. 329
hension, and defend it against plausible objections, v. 7. Much
damage has been done to the law of God and to the gospel also
by the loose statements of professed friends. God's word is ex-
act, precise. Let us not fall into habits of careless or confused
thinking or speaking on divine things. If men pervert what we
say, let the fault be wholly theirs, and not partly ours. This care
on our part is the more necessary in proportion as our readers or
hearers are ignorant, prejudiced or sinful. Let us never consent,
or seem to consent that any part of God's word is not very pure.
5. Against one form of error antinominanism it is hardly
possible too carefully to guard our statements or mankind, v. 7.
Every man in love with sin is at heart an enemy of the law in its
true intent and spirit. Some express their opposition to the law
by shamelessly breaking it, others by secretly sinning against it,
others by arguing against it, and others by turning the grace of
God into licentiousness. Let us have no fellowship with either
class of these opposers of righteousness. For the very reason
that the law is too strict to justify us, and of a nature utterly at
war with the carnal nature of man, we ought to commend it, and
blame ourselves. It is its purity that gives it its power to reveal
our sinfulness.
4. It is a pleasing truth that God puts honor oh all the truths
of scripture in awakening the careless, in convincing the self-
righteous, in leading men to hope in his mercy, and in carrying
on the work of sanctification, v. 7. Some writers of the XVIIth
century tell of a man whose attention was called to religion by the
words "and he died," which occur so often in Gen. 5. The late
Dr. Hamilton of London in one of his fine tracts has brought to-
gether the cases of several, whose religious experience began or
was very much moulded by different portions of God's word, as
that of Paul by the tenth commandment, the elder Jonathan Ed-
wards by i Tim. 1:17, etc. It is perhaps he who suggests that if
we knew the minute religious history of all the pious, and should
mark with red the text blessed to the conversion of each, nearly
the whole Bible would thus be ritbric,
5. There is such a thing as religious experience, vs. 7-13. That
is, God's Spirit does lead men to feel and be exercised by the truths
of the divine word. This experience begins when men's attention
is truly awakened to the word of God, nor is it ended till they
pass over Jordan. But a peculiar interest always attaches to the
early stages of such personal religious history. A scriptural dis-
course on conviction and conversion is sure to be eagerly listened
to by real Christians. That, which has awakened so strong pre-
judice against public narrations of God's dealings with one's soul,
330 EPIS TLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 7, 8.
is the ignorance, the self-conceit and the imprudence, with which
men have often spoken of themselves. But does not Paul often
tell his religious experience ? Did not David often do the same ?
And where is the good man that is prepared to condemn or
even censure Bunyan's "Grace Abounding," or the memoirs of
Halyburton, Brainerd, John Newton, Henry Martyn, Scott's
"Force of Truth," or a multitude of such books? Truth is
chiefly valuable as it can be wrought into our experience and
thus mould our characters. Who ever received the Lord Jesus
as all his salvation till he saw and felt that in himself he was
poor, and blind, and naked, and guilty, and vile, and wretched,
and helpless ? Hodge : " If our religious experience does not
correspond with that of the people of God, as detailed in the
scriptures, we cannot be true Christians. Unless we have felt as
Paul felt, we have not the religion of Paul, and cannot expect
to share his rewards."
6. The law of God and God himself look chiefly at the heart,
v. 7. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he, Pr. 23 : 7. In
God's esteem covetousness is as truly idolatry as bowing down
to images of wood and stone, Col. 3:5; hatred is murder, Matt.
5 : 22 ; and lust is adultery, Matt. 5 : 28. That was a fearful charge
Christ brought against some, " I know you that ye have not the
love of God in you," John 5 : 42. And it is as fearful to be with-
out the love of God now as it ever was. To be in that state
proves that one is every day breaking, in their true spirit, all the
commandments. For long years Saul of Tarsus had been a Phar-
isee, proud, self-righteous, and confident of his being in favor
with God, but when his eyes were opened to see the spiritual nature
of one precept, he soon saw himself guilty of violating all. All
inordinate and irregular desires and affections are as truly sin as
overt acts against the letter of the commandments. The very
first impulses to evil are evil. How very low poor human nature
is fallen ! Aims, motives, dispositions and inclinations may be as
truly offensive to God as words and overt acts. This should never
be forgotten. Otherwise we shall continually make fatal mistakes,
calling bitter sweet, and evil good. Let men everywhere study
the law as expounded in all the scriptures, especially in the sermon
on the mount. It is not our enemy, even when it condemns us,
although it cannot justify or sanctify us. But by God's blessing
it can show us that we are sick and need a Physician, weak and
need a Helper, guilty and need a Redeemer.
7. We must make just distinctions, and we must heed those
made in the word of God. A sound discrimination in things
temporal is a mark of earthly wisdom ; in things spiritual it is a
Ch. VII., v. 8.] THE ROMANS. 331
mark of heavenly wisdom. If the law were the cause of sin it
would be sin. But its being the occasion of sin argues nothing
against it, v. 8. Abel's acceptance before God was the occasion
of Cain's violence ; but the cause of his murderous conduct was
his own wicked envy. Naboth's inheritance of a vineyard gave
occasion to Ahab and Jezebel to shed innocent blood. But the
cause of that crime was their accursed cruelty and covetousness.
We must regard moral distinctions. To do this aright we must
rightly use our powers of discrimination. Some distinctions are
wide and obvious ; but others are nice and minute. Some of this lat-
ter class are as important as any we make. Refinements of thought,
which are merely for scholastic or dialectic purposes, may easily
be perverted to bad ends; but anything which enables us the
more clearly to apprehend truth, in particular moral and religious
truth, is of importance to us.
8. Spiritual Christians will study and faithful ministers will
preach the law of God. Salvation is not by the law, but by it is
the knowledge of sin. The law is itself no means of sanctification,
but it presents the true standard of holiness. The corruption,
which the law stirs up, exists before the law comes, and is not
created by the law, v. 8. Brown : " It is not unsuitable unto
the days of the gospel, for ministers to be treating of the law,
and explaining it unto people, nor ought they for so doing, to
be reproachfully styled legal preachers." On this point Paul
has instructed us by his example, and Paul's Master did the same.
A considerable part of the sermon on the mount was directed
to the rescuing of the law from false glosses and popular errors.
Hodge : " Though the law cannot save us, it must prepare us
for salvation."
9. There must be something very dreadful in the nature of
sin, for it not only flies in the face of law, contemns law and
refuses subjection to law, but is by it actually aroused into greater
activity and desperateness, so that by the law it excites many un-
holy desires, and ' so works in men all manner of concupiscence,'
v. 8. . Fraser : " The more the law, with its authority, light, and
terror,, reached the heart and sin in it, sin exerted itself the
more -vehemently." A running stream may be dammed up for
awhile but it. is gaining head and force all the while, and must
in the end rise' above the obstruction or sweep it away. Brown:
" So prone are these naturally corrupted hearts of ours to break
out into all manner of actual transgressions, till grace make a
change, and diminish the strength and vigor of original corrup-
tion, that what should prove a curb, proves a spur." Sin per-
verts everything, law, authority, love and mercy.
332 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 9-11.
10. It is no marvel that, without any right rule of moral judg-
ment before their minds, men should have high though' false
hopes of even heavenly felicity, v. 9. How could it be otherwise ?
When men believe that God is either the patron of vice, or indif-
ferent to moral character, that wicked desires and affections, which
are not acted out, are not sinful, or that God will accept a moral
reformation or some tears of sorrow for atonement, why should
they not be confident of future happiness, at least some measure
of it? Blindness of mind, stupidity of conscience, popular errors
among worldly men, false religious doctrines, the seductions of
Satan and self-flattery may well account for all the delusive dreams
entertained by men concerning their spiritual state. Such self-
deception is not uncommon. Many a man might save his soul, if
he would give up his false hope ; but if he hugs his hope to the
last, his damnation is sure.
11. Yet the slumber of the soul under such delusion may be
broken at any time; for no man can tell when the commandment
may come with such light and power as shall at once plunge
him into the deepest distress, v. 9. Scott : " The proudest Pha-
risee on earth would, from his towering height of vain confi-
dence, sink into despair, if the commandments of God were once
discovered to his soul, in all their spirituality and excellency, with-
out a correspondent view of the salvation of Christ." Great
activity in corruption is not at all inconsistent with excessive
spiritual pride. High conceits and high looks entirely consist
with a depravity, which will frighten any one, whose eyes are by
divine grace opened to see his true character in the glass of God's
word.
12. Sin may sleep without dying, v. 9. Sometimes for a season
Satan seems to leave a man, corruption seems to be very much
gone, but if the change is not owing to a thorough work of grace,
these specious appearances will all vanish. Our Saviour told us
how all this was, Matt. 12 : 43-45.
13. Knowing God's will and not doing it will save no man.
Non-compliance with truth revealed will turn all divine revelations
into means of sorer destruction. Through sin Paul found even
the law to be unto death, v. 10. Thousands have done the same.
. Yea more, by unbelief, which is the great master sin, the glorious
gospel of the blessed God, becomes a savor of death unto death.
" Sin overturneth all things." In our fallen state we never rightly
regard the law, till we see how to us by reason of sin it works
death.
14. Sin is a terrible delusion. It deceives and seduces in many
ways, v. 1 1 . There is danger that even converted men will be
Ch. VII., vs. 11-13.] THE ROMANS. 333
hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, for the old man is very
corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, Heb. 3 : 13 ; Eph. 4: 22.
The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked,
Jer. 17:9. Men cannot be too much on their guard, lest there
should be among them a root that beareth gall and wormwood ;
and it come to pass that when they hear the very words of the
curse, that they bless themselves in their hearts saying, We shall
have peace, though we walk in the imagination of our hearts,
Deut. 29: 1 8, 19.
15. It is a sad error into which some fall that even a bias to
sin is not sinful, that sinful inclinations are not themselves wicked,
or that there may be a proper cause of sin, which is not sinful.
This whole section condemns such doctrine. Lust, covetousness,
evil concupiscence are as truly worthy of God's displeasure as
overt acts of profaneness or violence.
1 6. The wrath of God, foreshadowed by men's alarms of con-
science and by conviction for sin, slaying all false hopes, does not
come on men capriciously but by the measure of a holy, just and
good law, v. n. Death is by sin and the strength of sin, in work-
ing man's ruin, is the law. The great trouble with a very sick
man is that his disease turns both food and medicine to his further
injury. Cathartics weaken him. Stimulants produce febrile action.
Sedatives nauseate him. Every thing works against him. Just so
sin makes law and gospel, precepts and promises, warnings and
threatenings all conducive to the death of the sinner.
17. Let us, therefore, at all times defend the law against all
charges brought against it, and study it with care. Luther said
that if for"a day he ceased to meditate on the law, he was sensible of
a decline in his pious feelings. True the law has curses, but they
are all deserved. It has precepts too strict for a sinner to keep
perfectly, but they are all holy, just and good. It forbids nothing
that omniscience regards as good for us. The only perfectly
happy society in the universe is one where the law is perfectly
and universally obeyed. Chalmers : " God loves what is wise and
holy and just and good in the world of mind ; and with a far
higher affection too, than he loves what is fair and graceful and
comely in the world of matter." Let our taste coincide with his.
1 8. We cannot be too guarded against a temper that shall lead
us to pervert the right ways of God, find fault with his orderings,
or oppose his known will. Reasonable difficulties we may properly
state that they may be solved ; but the spirit of cavilling is as
wicked as it is foolish. We may never find fault with God. To
do so is impiety. To accuse his law of working death is wicked,
v. 13.
334 EPISTLE. [Ch. VII., v. 13.
19. It is bad to oe justly charged with want of civility. Even
awkwardness may do harm. But the worst thing that can be truly
said of any thing- is that it is sinful. Yea, the worst thing that can
be said of sin itself is that it is exceeding sinful, v. 13. Pool: " Sin
is so evil, that he cannot call it by a worse name than its own."
CHAPTER VII.
VERSES 14-25.
THE GREAT SPIRITUAL WARFARE OF THE CHRIS-
TIAN.
14 For we know that the law is spiritual : but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15 For that which 1 do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but
what I hate, that do I.
16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing : for to
will is present with me ; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19 For the good that I would, I do not : but the evil which I would not, that I
do.
20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no mo.re I that do it, but sin that
dwelleth in me.
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
22 For 1 delight in the law of God after the inward man :
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind,
and bringing me into captiviry to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this
death f
25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I my-
self (erve the law of God ; but with the flesh the law of sin.
"T71ROM this to the end of the chapter we have twelve verses,
_U giving us a full account of the spiritual warfare, carried on
in the heart of believers. That this is the real subject of these
verses has long been held by many in the church of God. But
this view has been by some much opposed. In particular Whitby
and Stuart have shown great zeal in attempting to prove that
these verses do not describe the exercises of a converted man.
Instead of arguing this matter in each verse, it will be more satis-
factory to make the discussion of it preliminary to the exposition
of these verses. Whitby : " I think, nothing can be more evident,
and unquestionably trjie than this, that the apostle doth not here
speak of himself in his own person, or in the state he was then in."
336 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 14-25.
Stuart : " I suppose the apostle to be here speaking of himself
when in a legal state, or under the law, and before he was united
to Christ." These writers are agreed in their interpretation only
negatively, viz. that Paul is not speaking of himself in a regenerate
state. Stuart admits that Paul is speaking of himself, but Whitby
thinks he is speaking " only in the person of a Jew, conflicting
with the motions of his lusts, only by the assistance of the letter
of the law, without the aids and powerful assistance of the Holy
Spirit." These general remarks are offered.
i . The controversy respecting this portion of scripture is not to
be settled by scorn or vituperation. Stuart seems greatly moved on
this subject and exclaims : " When will it be believed, that scorn
is not critical acumen, and that calling men heretics, is not an ar-
gument that will convince such as take the liberty to think and
examine for themselves ? When will such appeals cease ? And
when shall we have reasons instead of assertions, criticism in the
place of denunciation, and a full practical exhibition of the truth,
that the simple testimony of the divine word stands immeasurably
higher than all human authority?" If this quotation has any per-
tinency to the matter in hand, it is a pretty distinct intimation
from the Andover Professor, that those, who hold views directly
opposite to his are deficient in "critical acumen," do not "think
and examine for themselves," offer " assertions" instead of reasons,
and denunciation in the place of " criticism," put " human author-
ity" above the " divine word," or along side of it ; and that they
resort to scorn and vituperation instead of argument. If this is the
intent and meaning of the words quoted, they contain more that
is harsh and scornful towards opponents than I have yet found in
all the writers on the other side. The same author says a good
deal that is quite as harsh. Whitby says that those who hold the
view commonly approved by sound divines present " as great an
instance of the force of prejudice, and the heat of opposition, to
pervert the plainest truths as can be haply produced." Whitby
was of course not ignorant of the instance of prejudice and heated
opposition furnished by the history of the enemies of Christ, and
recorded' in the gospels, for he had written much about it, and yet
he thinks that no greater than that of the many good and learned
men, who think Paul is here speaking of himself while in a state
of grace ! Is not scorn or something very much like it apparent
here ? Many instances of a like strain of remark from writers on
the same side could easily be pointed out. Take one more.
Clarke: "'This opinion has most pitifully and most shamefully
lowered the standard of Christianity, and even destroyed its influ-
ence and disgraced its character." Again : " Of Paul the apostle
Ch. VIL, vs. 14-25.] THE ROMANS. - 337
all here said would be monstrous, and absurd, if not blasphemous."
Is this critical acumen ? Is this reasoning ? Is it any thing better
than railing? . Socinus himself warning men against understanding
this passage of persons regenerate and under grace exclaims : " Be-
ware as of the pestilence." Of course he means a deadly pestilence.
2. It has been shown, (see above on v. 8) that Paul is there for
several verses preceding the I4th, speaking of himself, and if now
he begins to speak of another man, or of himself merely as person-
ating a Jew, let it be manifested. It has not yet been made to ap-
pear. The place so much relied on to prove that Paul is in the habit
of personating others or of using himself merely as a figure to
teach important truth can have no pertinency to this matter:
" These things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself
and to Apollos, for your sakes ; that ye might learn in us not to
think of men above that which is written," i Cor. 4 : 6. Whatever
may be the precise idea here suggested, it cannot be regarded as
proving that in Rom. 7 : 14-25 Paul is speaking of some one else
than himself for two reasons : I . In I Cor. 4 : 6 he gives fair notice
that he had in a figure transferred certain things to himself and
Apollos; but he gives no such notice in Rom. 7: 14-25. 2. In I
Cor. he says nothing of himself or of Apollos, that is not true
of himself or of Apollos, as is apparent on the face of the
text. See the place. Now if it is admitted that all Paul says
here is literally true of himself as well as of other good men,
we have made some progress towards ending the controversy.
For those, who take the view of the best divines, admit that Paul
is here giving his own experience, not as peculiar to himself, but
in common with the body of believers. And Stuart says : " Does
the apostle mean to designate himself specially and peculiarly, or
does he include others with himself? Others certainly are in-
cluded, understand him as you please. If he speaks of himself
while under the law, he means by a parity of reasoning to include
all others who are in the same condition. If he speaks of himself
as a Christian, he means in the same manner to include all other
Christians, who of course must have similar experience. . . What-
ever ground of exegesis one takes, as to chap VII. in general, the
principle that Paul speaks of himself only- as an example of what
others are in like circumstances, must of course be admitted."
3. Stuart admits, and very correctly too, that what is said in vs.
14-25 is substantially Christian experience. His language is clear :
" The question is not whether it be true that there is a contest in
the breast of Christians, which might (at least for the most part)
be well described by the words- there found ; but whether such a
view of the subject is congruous with the present design and ar-
22
338 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 14-25.
gument of the apostle." Again : " I concede, in the first place,
that Christians have a contest with sin ; and that this is as
plain and certain, as that they are not wholly sanctified
in this life. It is developed by almost every page of scrip-
ture, and by every day's experience. That this contest is
often a vehement one ; that the passions rage, yea, that they do
sometimes gain the victory ; is equally plain and certain. It fol-
lows now, of course, that as the language of Rom. 7 : 14-25 is
intended to describe a contest between the good principle and the
bad one in men, and also a contest in which the evil principle
comes off victorious ; so this language can hardly fail of being
appropriate to describe all those cases in a Christian's experience,
in which sin triumphs. Every Christian at once recognizes and
feels, that such cases may be described in language like that which
the apostle employs." This is a concession called for by the very
nature of the case. Rightly used it may aid us in coming at the
truth. Here then it is conceded that the language of Rom. 7 : 14-
25 is appropriate to the case of Christians ; that all Christians have
a contest like that here described ; and that the matter is of a very
weighty character a matter of universal Christian experience,
than which nothing is to us more important to be rightly under-
stood.
4. This controversy cannot be settled by human authority,
although the friends of truth need not blush to let it be known
what company they are in. It is freely admitted that among the
early fathers of the church Origen, Tertullian, Chrysostom and
Theodoret interpreted the passage of an unregenerate man. Gro-
tius is so delighted with this fact that he exclaims : " Praise be to
God, that the best Christians, those of the first three centuries,
understood this place, as they ought," etc. But Stuart goes too
far when he says, " that Augustine was the first, who suggested
the idea that it (Rom. 7 : 14-25) must be applied to Christian ex-
perience." Augustine himself in his Retractions B. I. Chap. 23,
expressly denies this : " Hence it came to pass, that I came to
understand these things, as HILARY, GREGORY, AMBROSE and
other holy and famous [noti] doctors of the church understood
them, who thought that the apostle himself strenuously struggled
against carnal lusts, which he was unwilling to have, and yet had,
and that he bore witness to this conflict in these words." Stuart
is altogether wrong also in saying that Augustine was led to his
views " in the heat of dispute with Pelagius," and that he " felt
himself pressed" by the arguments of Pelagius, and " made his
.escape by protesting against the exegesis of his antagonist." That
Augustine did at one time regard Rom. 7 : 14-25 as inapplicable
Ch. VII., vs. 14-25.] THE R O.MA NS. 339
to one in a state of grace is denied by no one, not even by himself.
" But as a deeper insight into his own heart" [says Hodge] " and
a more thorough investigation of the scriptures, led to the modifi-
cation of his opinions on so many other points, they produced a
change on this also. This general alteration of his views cannot
be attributed to his controversy with Pelagius, because it took
place long before that controversy commenced. It is to be
ascribed to his religious experience, and his study of the word
of God." Beyond controversy this is the fair historic verity.
On the sam'e side with the earlier fathers we find Photius in
the IX. and Oecumenius in the X. century. After them came
Erasmus, Alfonso Turrettin, Le Clerc, Bengel, Arminius, Epis-
copius, Limborch, Locke, Bull, Hammond, Whitby, Doddridge,
Kettlewell, Macknight, Tholuck, Storr, Flatt, Stier, Conybeare
and Howson, and others, whose names have already been men-
tioned.
On the other side we have Augustine (with his matured views),
Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, Cornelius a Lapide, Luther, Melanc-
thon, Calvin, Beza, Diodati, Buddaeus, T. Adam, Bp. Hall,
Ferme, John Owen of Oxford, John Brown of Wamphray, Guyse,
Burkitt, Dutch Annotations, Assembly's Annotations, Gill, Pool,
Koppe, Dickinson, Hawker, Scott, Eraser, Wardlaw, Andrew
Fuller, Haldane, Chalmers, and others. The great, treatise of
Owen on " Indwelling Sin" is founded on this portion of scripture.
Hawker says, " Nothing can be more plain, than that it is Paulas
.own history he writes, and his own experience in the very moment
of writing ; and which the Holy Ghost taught him to instruct the
church concerning. And sure I am, that every child of God,
savingly called of God, and long taught of God as Paul was when
he thus committed to writing what daily passed in his heart, will
not only bear .testimony to the same, but bless God the Holy
Ghost for the history, for it is most precious." Those, who em-
brace the views defended in this work, are generally very decided
in their utterances. Their convictions seem to be very clear.
Commonly they appeal to the universal experience of God's peo-
ple in confirmation of their views ; nor do they appeal in vain, if
we take as a proof the exercises of the most experienced servants
of God.
5. If the apostle had designed to speak of himself in a state of
grace, he has certainly used the appropriate terms and forms of
speech to that end. We have in the passage itself the personal
pronoun, /, my, me, repeated fifteen 'or sixteen times ; and that
there may be no room left . for doubt as to the designation Paul
once says I myself. Then we thrice have the participle or adjec-
340 'EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 14-25.
tive agreeing with this pronoun, and in more than twenty cases
we have the verb in the first person singular. It very seldom
happens that in the space of twelve verses there is so remark-
able a combination of verbs, participles, adjectives and pronouns
determining the person spoken of, and this appears in every trans-
lation now at hand. And after the apostle begins to speak of him-
self in v. 14 he does never change the person or the number. It is
/, my, me to the end of the chapter. This is the more remarkable
.as Paul does sometimes make a transition from the singular to the
plural and back again to the singular, as in I Cor. 13 : 11, 12. If
the language of Psalms 32, 51 points out David as speaking of
himself, these twelve verses do as clearly make Paul to speak of
himself.
6. This view is strengthened by the fact that in vs. 7-13 Paul
invariably uses the past tense ; but in vs. 14-25 he uses the pres-
ent tense, when speaking of himself, never varying from it. Here
are verbs found more than twenty times in the present tense, with-
out one exception, while just before Paul had for seven verses as
carefully used the past tense. In no writer adopting the views of
Whitby, Stuart, etc. have I found the least, respectful notice of
this change in tenses. Yet many, who favor their views, could
not be ignorant of the fact that in construing an author such a
change ought to affect the sense, and should therefore be carefully
noticed. The Dutch Annotations on v. 14 says : " Hitherto the
apostle hath spoken of the power of the law and of sin, in the cor-
rupt and unregenerate man ; as he himself also had formerly ex-
perienced, when he was yet in such a state, v. 9, but now he
cometh and speaketh of himself as he then was, and declares what
power the remainder of sinful flesh had still in him, now after that
he was delivered from the dominion of sin, like as all his reasons,
which follow, speak of the present time, and not of the time past."
Fraser : " He had been speaking of himself in the past tense. . .
He now from v. 14. speaks of himself in the present tense." Ols-
hausen notes the same thing: "The passage (Rom. 7: 7-13), in-
deed,, according to the opinion of all expositors, applies to the
state before regeneration, as the apostle also sufficiently indicates
by the aorist that the state described is gone by ; but whether the
passage (Rom. 7 : 14-24) is likewise to be considered as before re-
generation, seems very uncertain, since in this section Paul makes
use of the present only, while in Rom. 8 : 2 the aorist again appears."
Wardlaw : " Of this change this transition from past to present
time, neither Tholuck nor Stuart takes any notice. Yet surely it
is no unimportant item in the case. . . When a man has once
been speaking of the views which he once entertained, and which
Ch. VII., vs. 14-25.] THE ROMANS. 34*
he had continued for a length of time to hold, respecting his own
character and state, and in doing so uses the past tense, and then
makes a transition from the past to the present, it cannot but ap-
pear unnatural in a high degree to consider him as still meaning
the past, and still continuing to speak of what he had been.
When the same man, in speaking of his own views and principles
and character, says first I was, and then changes to I am, is it not
reasonable to conceive that he is speaking of his former and his
present self? " See also Guyse and others to the same effect. If-
there is no significance in this change of tense, it seems useless to
pay any attention to the grammar 'of a language. If this matter
is not important here, it is important no where. Nor can anything
like this construction of verbs in an extended passage be found
elsewhere in Paul's writings or in the New Testament, unless this
is significant.
7. In these twelve verses there are things said, which can by no
fair interpretation be applied to an unregenerate man, and there-
fore thev must refer to Paul or some one in a state of grace. If
any thing in religious character is decisive, it is one's state of mind
towards the law of God. On this matter the scriptures are de-
cisive and harmonious. One of David's marks of a good man is
that " his delight is in the law of the Lord : and in his law doth he
meditate day and night," Ps. 1:2;" The law of thy mouth is better
unto me than thousands of gold and silver," Ps. 119 : 72. " I will
meditate in thy precepts," Ps. 119: 78. " Blessed is the man that
feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments,"
Ps. 112: i. "Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect
unto all thy commandments," Ps. 119 : 6. So in many other places
human character is said to be good or bad, as it stands well or ill
affected to the law of God. In the portion of scripture under con-
sideration the apostle makes three statements respecting the law,
either of which ought to be regarded as decisive of his real state
of mind and of heart in the sight of God. One is in v. 16, "I con-
sent unto the law that it is good." One is in v. 22, " For I delight
in the law of Gcd after the inward man." The other is in v. 25,
" So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God." Some
very strange things have been said to do away with these declara-
tions, which upon the face of them seem to be decisive of the
whole matter. Clarie says : " So far is it from being true that
none but a REGENErfts man can delight in the law of God, we find
even zprotid, unhumbled Pharisee can do it." And that this is no
careless assertion is evident from much more that he says like it :
" If it be said, that it is not possible for an unregenerate man to
delight in the la%v of God, the experience of millions .contradicts the
342 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 14-25..
assertion. Every true penitent admires the moral law : longs most
earnestly for a conformity to it : and feels that he never can be
happy till he awakes up after this divine likeness ; and he hates
himself, because he feels that he has broken it, and that his evil pas-
sions are still in a state of hostility to it." One hardly knows how
to cease to wonder at such language. An unregenerate man is
stated to be a true penitent ! No man can be saved without the new
birth. Yet here is a true penitent still unregenerate ; and an unre-
generate true penitent, who still gives the very best scriptural
evidence of being a new creature. Can any but a renewed heart
love holiness ? Yet the law of God is holy, and is the standard of
holiness. How can one, who is not in a state of grace, love holi-
ness, or the perfect law that enjoins it ? The language of each of
the three clauses is, and upon their face was evidently intended to
be unmistakeable : " I consent unto the law that it is good." He
does not say " I assent to the law ;" that would be merely an act
of the understanding, and might be cold and heartless. But he
says " I consent " to it. He here uses a word found no where else
in the New Testament. Wiclif, Crannier, Rheims, Doway and
Stuart render it consent. He consents to the law that it is good.
An unregenerate man may see and say that the law is strict and
rigorous, but when did an unrenewed man ever say that the law,
the whole law, was good, good for himself, good for every man ?
He adds: " I delight in the law of God after the inward man."
Here each important word may in succession be emphasised and
the sense will be evolved and not obscured. Paul expresses delight
in the law of God. Here too we have a word found no where else.
in the New Testament. It is very strong I delight myself in the
law. What is it but saying "I delight in real, hearty, entire,
universal obedience and holiness, just such as the law demands ? "
What more did David mean when he said ? " Thy law is my
delight," Ps. 119 : 77, 174 ; " Thy testimonies are my delight," Ps.
119: 24; "I will delight myself in thy statutes," Ps. 119: 16, 35 ;
" Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein
do I delight," Ps. 119 : 35 ; "I will delight myself in thy command-
ments, which I have loved," Ps. 119:47; "For I delight in
thy law," Ps. 119:70. For ages the church of God has re-
garded delight in the .la^V of God, as a conclusive evidence
of a renewed heart. Nor -was this a wM notion as we have
seen. " The carnal mind is enmity against Wod : for it is not sub-
ject to the law of God, 'neither indeed can be," Rom. 8 : 7. And
that there maybe no mistake in his meaning he says : " I delight in
the law of God after the inward man" The word rendered inward
or inner is an adverb and means within. He delights in the law of
Ch. VII., vs. 14-25.] THE R OMA NS. 343
God after the man within. It is not some outward or carnal
delight. We have precisely the same words rendered the inner
man in Eph. 3: 16. What do they mean there? What can they
mean but -the" renewed heart of man? They are very explicit:
" That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to
be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man" Does
not this mean the new nature, the new creature/ the new man ? Is
not that what needs . strengthening ? Is it not that which is
strengthened with might by the Spirit f Paul was not praying that
their natural faculties might be invigorated, but that their gracious
habits and principles might be increased in power. Then we
have a cognate adverb, just the same as this except in termination
and rendered as in Rom. 7 : 22. " For which cause we faint not ;
but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is
renewed day by day." Does .this mean that the natural faculties
were growing while the body was decaying ? Surely not. Often the
mental powers' of aged Christians are daily losing their vigor,
while the'y are rapidly ripening for heaven, and their gracious
characters are becoming exceedingly refined, elevated and invigo-
rated. Th*e third of these remarkable expressions concerning the
law is this: "So then with the mind I myself serve the law."
Here mind evidently means the same as the inward man in v. 22 ;
for 'although the word does often mean the understanding, yet it
also means the. controlling moral character of the man ; and so we
read of a " reprobate mind," " the renewing of your mind," " the
vanity of their mind," "fleshly mind," "men of corrupt minds,"
Rom. I .: 28 ; 12 : 2; Eph. 4 : 17; Col. 2 : 18 ; 2 Tim. 3:8. In
Eph. 4 : 23, Paul says, " And be renewed in the spirit of your
mind'' Here the. very same word is used as in Rom. 7 : 25. Evi-
dently the meaning is, my heart goes out after the law and truly
engages me to serve it. That he means as much as this is evident
from the use of the two pronouns, / myself. There is no dispute
concerning the Greek text. There ought to be none about the
rendering, We have quite the same in these places : " It is / my-
self" Luke 24 : 39 ; "I could wish that myself were accursed,"
Rom. 9: 3; " / myself am persuaded," Rom. 15 : 14; "Now /
Paul myself beseech you," 2 Cor. 10 : i ; " / myself was not bur-
densome to you," 2 Cor. 12 : 13. If anything can settle entire
identity these words must be allowed that power. Serve, the same
verb so rendered m Rom. 6:6; 7:6. Its cognate noun is ren-
dered servant in Rom. i : i ; 6 : 16, 17, 20. It expresses subjection
and obedience. " His servants ye are to whom ye obey." Here
it expresses the willing service rendered to the precepts of God's
la\v. I am minded to keep God's law. My soul by divine grace
344 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 14-25.
is set on this thing. My new nature inclines me that way. I do
it. I myself do it.
In these verses are many other things, which can by no fair in-
terpretation be applied to an unregenerate man, as the reader will
see in the exposition. But it has been shown that there are three
such. One ought to be sufficient for 'the purpose of satisfying a
fair mind.
8. In these twelve verses there is nothing said, which may not
enter into the experience of a regenerate man ; nothing said
stronger than is said of good men by themselves or by others in
various parts of scripture. This will of course be more and more
manifest as we consider in detail the several verses. At this time
attention is called to several direct declarations of God's word on
the matter of human imperfection. " There is no man that sin-
neth not," I Kings 8 : 46. If possible the following language is
still stronger : " There is not a just man upon earth that doeth
good, and sinneth not," Ecc. 7 : 20. " Who can understand his
errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults," Ps. 19 : 12. "Who
can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sins? "
Pr. 20 : 9. " In many things we offend all," Jas. 3 : 2. " If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in
us," i John i : 8. In like manner the best of mere men in telling
us their thoughts of themselves use language as strong as any Paul
employs in Rom. 7 : 14-25. After unusual discoveries of the glory,
majesty and holiness of God, Job says : " I abhor myself and repent
in dust and ashes," Job 42 : 6. David in several penitential Psalms
bewails his depravity, and pleads for mercy. " Peter fell down at
Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me ; for I am a sinful man, O
Lord," Luke 5 : 8. Elsewhere Paul thus speaks of himself, " Not
as though I had already attained, either were already perfect,"
Phil. 3:12. There is as much strength in these expressions as in
any found in Rom. 7 : 14-25. If Paul says, " The evil that I would
not, that I do;" David -says, " Iniquities prevail against me." If
Paul says, " O wretched man that I am ;" Isaiah says, " Wo is me !
for I am undone ; because I am a man of unclean lips." If Paul
says, " I know that in me (that is in my flesh,) dwelleth no good
thing ;" Isaiah says, " We are all as an unclean thing, and all our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf;
and our inquities, like the wind, have taken us away," Isa. 64 : 6.
If Paul here says of himself, " The good thaf% would, I do not ;"
he elsewhere says the same of the churches in a whole province :
"The flesh lusteth against the spirt, and the spirit against the
flesh ; and these are contrary the one to the other ; so that ye can-
not do the things that ye would," Gal. 5 : 17. Instead, therefore,
Ch. VII., vs. 14-25.} THE ROMANS. 345
of, regarding a man as a bad man because he has a deep sense of
his own vileness and weakness, the scriptures teach .us to form an
estimate just the reverse. Perhaps no one has ever dared to say
that Job was an unregenerate man because he said, " Behold, I
am vile ; what shall I answer thee ? I will lay my hand upon my
mouth," Job 40 : 4. The very book that says of Job that he was
"perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed
evil," yea, God himself said, "There is none like him," Job I : i, 8,
brings that good man before us saying : " If I wash myself in .snow
water, and make my hahds never so clean ; yet shalt thou plunge
me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me," Job 9 : 30,
31. The fact is that no man's piety goes beyond his humility.
Saul of Tarsus, though a murderer of holy men and women, was
full of self-complacency ; but Paul the apostle says, " I am not
worthy to be called an apostle," " I am less than the least of all
saints ;" and, just before he leaves the world, " I am the chief of
sinners." The worse a man is the better he thinks himself to be.
The better a man is, the lower is his estimate of his own righteous-
ness. The more, the light shines into an apartment, the easier it
is to see millions of particles of dust before unperceived. To in-
terpret Rom. 7 : 14-25 aright, it must be remembered that it is a
complaint, that the apostle is bitterly bemoaning his state, and
that his language is that of a heart-broken penitent, every word of
which is felt to be true, as he stands in the presence of omniscient
purity. Such notes are never heard from the Pharisee, from the
careless, nor from the unregenerate. Wardlaw : " We never ex-
pect to hear an unrenewed man bewailing his carnality and oppo-
sition to the divine law, as through the whole of the passage before
us, this Writer does. But on the other hand, the more truly holy
a person becomes the more spiritual in mind and affections, the
stronger will be his impressions of the evil of sin, and of his own
sin, and of the extent of his disconformity to the character and
law of God. . . As a man advances in holiness, corruption at the
same time remaining in him, he will be disposed to express his
abhorrence of himself in exceedingly strong and vehement terms,
in proportion as the loathing of the spiritual nature is experienced
as regards everything that is evil." Fraser : " The expressions
here are not used by another concerning a person historically ; but
by himself in the way of bitter regret and complaint. A man may
in this way, and in the bitterness of his heart, say very strong
things concerning himself and his condition, which it were unjust
and absurd for another to say of him, in giving his character his-
torically." The renewed and experienced Christian knows the
plague of his own heart, and speaks of himself in much lowliness
346 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 14-25.
as of sincerity, as of God, in the sight of God. It is no mock
humility. Every word he utters respecting his own sinfulness is
sincere and is true. By the Holy Spirit he is taught how exceed-
ingly broad is the commandment. And yet in the main his walk
before men is upright, and it would be mere uncharitableness for
other men, not inspired, to charge him with what his own heart
and the Most High know he is chargeable with before God.
9. Stuart insists that it is " a fundamental point in the interpre-
tation of the whole " that Rom. 7 : 7-25 is plainly a comment on
Rom. 7:5; and that Rom. 8 : 1-17 is plainly a comment on Rom.
7:6; and that there is plainly and certainly an antithesis between
Rom. 7: 7-25 and Rom. 8 : 1-25. This is a favorite postulate of
writers of the same school. It takes for granted that Rom. 7 : 5 is
in antithesis with Rom. 7 : 6, and then that Rom. 7 : 7-25 is a com-
ment on Rom. 7 : 5, in antithesis with the comment on Rom. 7 : 6
found in Rom. 8:1-17. To maintain this mode of explanation
they take for granted that there are such comments and antitheses,
and give their exposition accordingly, and then from their exposi-
tion prove that there are such comments and antitheses. The first
objection to this mode of explanation is that it is a mere assumption,
the text and context hinting no such thing. A second objection
is that it is a very awkward kind of assumption, making the apos-
tle lay down a truth, then drop it, and lay down another, then drop
it, and then argue the first at the length of 18 verses, and then
drop it, and without any hint to that effect take up the second and
argue it. A third objection is that this assumption takes no notice
of the change of tense at v. 14. It is a fatal objection that anti-
thesis is assumed for exposition and the exposition is cited to prove
antithesis. Wardlaw well says : " This is not fair," and quotes some
one as saying: "A particular interpretation cannot first be as-
sumed to make out the antithesis, and then the antithesis be as-
sumed to justify the interpretation." In other words, we cannot
argue in a circle. So the " fundamental point in the interpreta-
tion " of this passage wholly vanishes out of sight. It will not
bear its own weight.
10. Another demand often made by writers of the same class
is that we shall look upon Patil as endeavoring to allay prejudice
by using soft words, and by insinuating offensive truth into the
minds of the prejudiced. Thus Whitby : " He saith not, you that
are under the law are carnal, but representing what belonged to
them in his own person, and so taking off the harshness, and molli-
fying the invidiousness of the sentence, by speaking of it in his
own person, he saith, I am carnal, sold under sin." He cites
Photius and Oecumenius as endorsing this sentiment. Others fol-
Ch. VII., vs. 14-25.] THE ROMANS. . 347
low Whitby. Now what is the truth respecting Paul's course as
to candor and the avoiding of prejudice ? I. None will deny that
he displayed consummate ministerial address. He availed himself
of all lawful and fair means to allay prejudices, and to commend
his Master's cause. 2. We have no proof that Paul ever resorted
to the arts of the sophists or orators of ancient times to win favor
to himself, or to avoid odium on account of the character of the
doctrines he was called to preach. Himself says, we " have re-
nounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness,
nor handling the word of God deceitfully ; but by manifestation
of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in
the sight of God," 2 Cor. 4 : 2. Much more does he say to the
same effect. 3. In this epistle Paul has everywhere else displayed
great candor, and entire fearlessness in directly stating the doc-
trines of the gospel most offensive to Pharisaic pride and Jewish
prejudice. Why should he now begin to mince matters, or to
speak by indirection, and that on a point surely not more calcula-
ted to give offence than others, which he had stated in the plainest
manner and the most direct terms ? If, as some contend, Paul was
addressing Jews already converted to Christianity, he had already
informed them that they were dead to the law, and were delivered
from the law, vs. 4, 6. There is nothing here to offend them, if
Paul is speaking of a man under law, and not under grace. None
will contend that Paul is here addressing unbelieving Jews. If he
had been, his language would have been of a very different sort,
as we know from samples left us of his addresses to such. Had this
epistle been sent to such, they would doubtless have consented
that Paul was even a Avorse man than any fair exposition of this
chapter could make him appear. 4. " If it be allowed, that, on
some occasions, Paul doth in very few words express arguments,
objections and reproaches used by others against himself, his doc-
trine or conduct ; yet in every such case the thing evidently ap-
pears by the obvious import of the expressions, and by the
answers immediately subjoined ; so that there is no room left for
mistaking." All such cases are very different from a discourse
running through twelve verses, and peculiarly marked as pertain-
ing to himself.
11. It is remarkable that while in these twelve verses Paul con-
stantly speaks of his will (as much as six or seven times) and of his
delight (one of the highest pleasurable affections), yet of all those
who hold that he is here speaking of an unregenerate man, few,
perhaps none, pay any serious attention to the true state of case,
and generally hold that when he says anything good of himself
he is merely telling what his reason and conscience urge and de-
343 t EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 14-25.
mand. So Stuart : " Nothing can be more unfounded, than the
supposition that moral good is put to the account of the sinner,
merely because one assigns to him reason .to discern its nature,
and conscience to approve it." The context shows that all he
admits this man to have is what is here expressed, some intellect
and some conscience. To admit that the man here spoken of had
a 'will to that, which is good, would be fatal to his interpretation.
And yet it is the will Paul chiefly speaks of, and never here once
in any form mentions his conscience. Nor is this the course of one
scholar merely. It seems to have been so generally. Grotius
took the same course. And Fraser, who died in 1769, says the
same course was pursued in his day : " They, who hold this in-
terpretation, do most commonly seem to understand by what good
is here ascribed to the unregenerate, no more than the light of
reason in the mind or understanding ; with the urgent testimony
for duty, and against sin, that is in the conscience of the unregene-
rate, with different degrees of light and force." Should we apply
this mode of explanation to other parts of scripture what sad
havoc we should make of the truth. In Rom. i : 13 Paul says:
"I wotild not have you ignorant," etc. In Rom. 16: 19 he says:
" I would have you wise." Does he mean no more than that his
reason and conscience are in favor of their being wise and intelli-
gent ? or does he not declare that his heart was set upon their
making these attainments? Many other cases where the same
.verb is used might be cited. with as much pertinency as those just
given. Of a like character is the attempt to ignore all the signi-
ficancy of the word delight. Whitby thus paraphrases the words,
" I delight in the law of God," " my mind approving for some
time, and being pleased with its good and holy precepts." In
like manner expositions of this scripture by writers of the same
school do much tend to show that the apostle meant very little by
anything he said unless it is something that can be used to show
that he is speaking of one unregenerate.
12. A number of writers, who in the main expound these twelve,
verses of an unregenerate man, do yet admit that in them are
many things that a true Christian might say and think of himself.
This has been done to such an extent that Olshausen actually pro-
poses an interpretation which shall show " what is right and what
erroneous" in these two classes. He has probably satisfied very
few that his middle way is feasible. But that is not the matter
now before us. His testimony to the concessions of others is
striking : " After Spener, Franke, Bengel, Gottfreid Arnold, Zin-
zendorf, the words of the apostle were again begun to be explained
of the state before regeneration, and Stier, Tholuck, Ruckert, De
Ch. VII., vs. 14-25-] THE ROMA NS. 349
Wette, Meyer follow them in their interpretation. These learned
men nevertheless quite rightly acknowledge, that the Augustinian
representation has also something true in it, since that in the life
of the regenerate moments occur, in which they must speak en-
tirely as Paul expresses himself here ; and, moreover, as it is only
by degrees that the transforming power of the gospel penetrates
the different tendencies of the inner life, congenial phenomena ex-
tend through the whole life of the believer ; and this leads to the
thought, that the two views might admit of being united in a
higher one. For it is little probable that men like Augustine and
the reformers should have entirely erred in the conception of so
important a passage." This quotation is weighty and important.
It concedes as much as most sound interpreters would desire as
the basis of an exposition.
13. If the exposition, to which we object, is correct, what need
is there of divine grace to accomplish the salvation of unregen-
erate men ? If a man, not under grace, can " consent to the
law that it is good," can " delight in the law of God after the in-
ward man," can himself " with his mind serve the law of God,"
can " hate" sin, can " will" all that God's word demands and en-
joins, and can in the midst of his greatest conflicts with temptation
and sin still sing out in triumph, " I thank God through Jesus
Christ our Lord," there seems to be nothing left to be accom-
plished in setting one in the strait and narrow way that leads to
life and peace. If "the moral powers of nature" can do all these
things, why cannot these same moral powers without special
grace go on and complete the work so happily begun ? Encour-
agement would no doubt be acceptable to any one, moral suasion
would certainly not be amiss, but surely they would not be essen-
tial. .And if an unregenerate man himself without God's grace
can do all these wonderful things, what could not a man do who
was regenerate even if he were left to work his way without God's
Spirit? Yet how differently do the scriptures speak. In one
place Paul confesses the total inability of himself and his brethren
even to think a good thought : " Not that we are sufficient of our-
selves to think any thing as of ourselves ; but our sufficiency is of
God," 2 Cor. 3:5. In another place he declares the inability of
even Christians to approach God acceptably in prayer unless God
teaches and helps them : " Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our
infirmities: for we know 'not what we should pray for as we
ought : but the Spirit itself maketh intercession fot us with groan-
ings which cannot be uttered," Rom. 8 : 26. If even Christians
and apostles converted and experienced, can neither think nor
pray aright without special help from God, how shall an unregen-
350 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 14-2.5;
erate man, "with his mind serve the law," which is holy, just and
good, and which forbids all sin and enjoins all obedience pleasing
to God: yes, and also "hate" all that is opposed to it, and "de-
light" (Stuart translates it take pleasure) " in the law of God after
the inward man?" Fraser: " If a natural man, destitute of the
Holy Spirit, can sincerely will, love, delight, and hate, as is here
said ; I would wish to know, what is left for divine grace to do in
regeneration, according to the sentiments of these writers ? What
but external revelation, and moral suasion well inculcated, to give
the proper excitement to the more languid will, inclination and
affection towards holiness, which a man in nature hath, from ra-
tional nature itself, that these may exert themselves with due ac-
tivity and force ? This is divine grace, and the human will con-
senting to this suasion, and so exerting itself in practice, is, accor-
ding to them, regeneration.
" Moral suasion must indeed have its own place, in dealing with
rational creatures. They are not dealt with as stocks or stones
under the hand of the mechanic. Conversion to God through
Jesus Christ, and to holiness, is the consequence of proper evi-
dence, and of proper motives. Conversion is the effect of suasion ;
but not of that merely : suasion is not of itself a cause adequate to
such an effect in sinful men. In using that suasion, and that the
proper evidence and motives should have effect on the hearts of
men, there is needful the immediate operation and influence of di-
vine power and grace on the hearts of men." How necessary
God's almighty power and grace, and the effectual working of his
Spirit are in regeneration the scriptures very fully declare, John
1:1353:5; Eph. i : 18-20 ; 3 : 7 ; Jas, i : 18. That the same power
and grace are necessary to keep believers in the right way after
regeneration is no less clear, John 10 : 28, 29 ; i Pet. 1:5; Jude i.
But how is this, if one not under grace can do all that is in Rom. 7 :
14-25 said to be done ?
14. If the passage (Rom. 7 : 14-25) does not teach what is
claimed for it by Whitby, Stuart, and that class of writers, it may
be asked what does it teach ? This is a fair question. The object
in connection with the great argument of the apostle is very im-
portant indeed. He had demonstrated that justification was not
and could not be by deeds of law ; that it was by faith laying hold
of the righteousness of Jesus Christ ; that the fruits of gratuitous
justification were exceedingly rich ; that man's recovery by the
second -Adam, like his ruin by the first Adam, was by repre-
sentation and covenant headship ; that as a consequence be-
lievers are dead to sin and alive to God by Jesus Christ ; that
believers are dead to the law as a covenant ; that when those,
Ch. VII., v. 14-]' THE ROMANS.- 351-
who are now God's children, were unregenerate, they had a
thorough experience of the impossibility of gaining by the law
the mastery over their sins, but were by it only made acquainted
with their number, guilt and power. This brings him to the end
of the thirteenth verse of the seventh chapter of this epistle.
Then in vs. 14-25 he shows the. utter powerlessness of law to carry
on the work of sanctification even in the hearts of renewed men,
thus warning them against the legal spirit. Even in converted
men mere precepts do not day by day renew the soul. That is
peculiarly the effect of evangelical doctrine and truth. So that to
believers Jesus Christ is of God made wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption. The capital error of the Gala-
tian churches was that having begun in the gospel, they sought to
be made perfect by the law, Gal. 3:3. They so changed their
base of proceeding as to bring on themselves many and sore
calamities, confusion, perplexity and loss of comfort. It must be
so in every case. Hodge : " The law excites in the unrenewed
mind opposition and hatred ; in the pious mind complacency and
delight ; but in neither case can it break the power of sin, or in-
troduce the soul into the true liberty of the children of God."
Let us now proceed to a consideration of the several verses.
14. For we knoiv that the law is spiritual: btit I am carnal, sold
under sin. We know, we, Christians generally, have no doubt on
the point. All admit it. It is one of the truths learned in the early
stages of a saving acquaintance with the gospel. Some prefer to
read I' know indeed &nA. the Greek admits either. The change does
not affect the sense of the context. The law is spiritual, the con-
text shows that it is the moral law of which he speaks. Spiritual,
a word found in the New Testament as much as twenty-five
times. It is sometimes the opposite of natural. Thus speaking
of the human body in death and the resurrection Paul says : " It
is sown a natural body ; it is raised a spiritual body," I Cor. 15 :
44. Compare i Cor. 2 : 14, 15. Sometimes it is the opposite of
secular or temporal. " If we have sown unto you spiritual things,
is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things ? " i Cor.
9:11. The context shows that he is speaking of the temporal
support of ministers of the gospel. Compare Rom. 15 : 27. In
both these verses we may read secular or temporal as the oppo-
site of spiritual, and we shall get the sense. So when Paul
speaks of spiritual songs he designates not only such as were
the opposite of lascivious, profane, or idolatrous, but such as
were the opposite of secular, witty" amusing, though they might be
free from any thing wicked. Then it is used to designate things
the opposite of material, which material things set forth blessings
352 < EPISTLE TO [Ch. VIL, v. 14.
or privileges provided by Christ. So we read of spiritual meat,
spiritual drink and spiritual Rock, i Cor. 10:3,4, a spiritual
house and spiritual sacrifices, I Pet. 2:5. Spiritual is also an
epithet applied to consistent Christians, who by the Spirit of God
have attained a good degree of holiness and stability. Thus Paul
says : " I brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but
as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ," I Cor. 3:1. Here
spiritual designates a strong or matured believer in opposition to
a feeble one. The word spiritual evidently has the same meaning
in Gal. 6: i. Sometimes the word simply means pertaining to
spirits as where we read of spiritual wickedness, Eph. 6 : 12. But
what is the precise meaning of the word here ? Wardlaw :
" Spiritual, as contrasted with carnal, evidently signifies not only
the law's reaching to the inward thoughts, affections and desires ;
but its perfection of accordance in all that it requires, both in-
wardly and outwardly, with the character and mind of God's
Spirit, as opposite to the moral corruption of man's fallen nature,
called the flesh." Stuart: "The law enjoins those things which
are agreeable to the mind of the Spirit." Owen of Thrussington :
" As carnal means what is sinful and corrupt, so spiritual imports
what is holy, just and good." Hodge : " The word spiritual is
here expressive of general excellence, and includes all that is
meant by holy, just and good." The ideas of excellence, holiness,
justness and goodness are in scripture always connected with the
law of God, but we must on no account drop the idea that the law
is spiritual in the sense of being a discerner of the thoughts and in-
tents of the heart. It was by this means that Paul formerly
received conviction of the true nature and terrible extent of sin as
stated, vs. 8-12. I am carnal. In considering the word spiritual,
we have seen that the opposite in some cases is carnal. See also
above on Rom. 3 : 20 where the cognate noun flesh is explained.
So here Paul admits the excellence of the law and his own vile-
ness. If the law is holy,- he is sadly deficient in holiness. If it is
just, he sees he is far from being personally righteous as the law
requires. , If it is good, he is so evil as to be a loathing to himself.
In considering i Cor. 3 : i it has been shown that the word carnal,
does sometimes mean comparatively carnal. Paul might say, I am
carnal, compared with the perfect and holy law of God, compared
with my own imperfect perceptions of what the law demands,
compared with what I sincerely desire to be. See also i Cor.
3 : 3, 4. To be carnal is not in scripture the same as to be in the
flesh ; for Paul addresses the Corinthians as brethren, which he
would not have done, if he had regarded them as unregenerate.
Surely this place demonstrates that saints, brethren, may in some
Ch. VII., v. is-] THE ROMANS. 353
respects be sadly carnal, even in the eyes of other good and charit-
able men. Much more may a man in his own eyes have many re-
mains of sin in him. So that he may truly utter the complaint of
this 'verse Sold under sin. There were two classes of slaves. One
was so by voluntary act. ; Provision was made for men becoming so
in the Jewish commonwealth, Ex. 21:6. Such were willing slaves.
They preferred that state to freedom. If they had any good prin-
ciples they served their masters with a will. Ahab was like one
of these, in this that it .was his own perverse and continued choice
to work wickedness. He sold himself to work evil in the sight of
the Lord, I Kings 21 : 20, 25. God tells us of others who willingly
and greedily wrought evil and so sold themselves to do evil, 2
Kings 17 : 17. The other way of being a slave was without the
consent of the slave. He was sold for debt, or as a prisoner of
war. In no sense did he sell himself; yet he had a master whom
he was forced to serve. He did so reluctantly, wishing all the
time that he should be free from his master. This was the servi-
tude of Paul. He hated his tyrant, indwelling sin, and hoped to be
wholly free in God's good time ; but now he was a captive.
' 15. For that which I do I allow not ; for ivhat I would, that do I
not ; but what I hate that I do. For allow Stuart reads approve.
The original is literally know, but must here be taken, as the word
often is, in the sense of allowing, approving, or owning as friends,
Matt. 7 : 23 ; 2 Cor. 5:21; 2 Tim. 2 : 19 ; i John 3:1.' When he
says that which I do I allow not, he does not mean all that he does,
but whatever he does in his spiritual captivity. He did not mean
to say that he did not approve of praying, preaching, and serving
Christ ; but he says that in the service he renders to God there is
such deficiency as fills him with shame and self-reproach. The same
limitation must be applied to the next clause : for what I would,
that do I not, q. d. the will of my renewed nature is to serve God
perfectly; I wish to be entirely holy, and do God's will as the
angels and spirits of just men made perfect in heaven do. But I
continually come short of even my own standard, and certainly I
come short of the law of God. But what I hate, that do I. Every
.translation at hand has hate. The Greek admits of no other ren-
dering. No unregenerate man hates sin, abhors himself for it,
repenting in dust and ashes. It is sometimes said that the three
vei-bs in this verse rendered do must exclusively refer to external
acts. But the context clearly uses them of acts of the mind and
heart. Every experienced Christian knows that when he has made
the greatest attainments in holiness, he has the deepest sense of
his own vileness. Hodge : " The language of this verse may not
be metaphysical, though it is perfectly correct language. It is the
23
354 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 16-18.
language of common life, which as it proceeds from the common
consciousness of men, is often a better indication of what that con-
sciousness teaches than the language of the schools."
1 6. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that
it is good. He does not say, nor mean to intimate that he is not
responsible for his failures, much less does he deny that his failures
are sinful. But he does declare that all the time his conflict is
going on, his better, his new nature resisted temptation. In proof
he gave his hearty consent to the law, which is the standard of
moral excellence. On consenting to the law see above preliminary
remarks No. 7. Hodge : " To disapprove and condemn what the
law forbids, is to assent to the excellence of the law."
1 7. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
The apostle could not more decidedly adhere to the profession of
his confidence in the reality of his great change from a state of
nature to a state of grace. It was not he, not his new nature, not
his better part, that did wrong or failed to do right. No ! it was
the old man, the fallen nature, the flesh that thus involved him in
trouble. Fraser : " It is reasonable to consider it as a fixed point,
that to consent to the goodness of the law, as it is spiritual, giving
rule to men's spirits, which is the apostle's special view in this
place, is far from the disposition of any unregenerated soul." Could
words more clearly state that the Christian man Paul, whom he
calls / was truly sincere, and his heart in the main right with God ?
It was sin that gave all the trouble, not Paul's new nature.
1 8. For I knoiv that in me (that is, in my flesh^) dwelleth no good
thing: for to ^vill is present with me; but how to perform that which
is good I find not. Divine grace makes a wonderful change, long
before it brings its subjects to spotless purity and angelic perfec-
tion. The unrenewed sinner's heart is fully set in him to do evil,
he will not accept the gospel offer. His will and affections are
bent to evil. The remains of this sinful nature, called the flesh,
had in it no good thing. It did not see, or think, or feel, or pur-
pose, or act aright. But Paul's will, in his new nature, was
right. If he could have had his way he never would have sinned
any more. Grace wrought this change, and it was a great one.
But he had such temptations, and sin was so urgent and instant
that he often found himself unable to carry out his best volitions
and purposes, at least to the degree which the law justly demand-
ed. That willing what is holy is a fruit of God's spirit and is
proof of the presence of divine grace is evident from Phil. 21-13,
" It is God that worketh in )^ou both to will and to do of his good
pleasure." Here is a direct and unmistakeable assertion that we
are as dependent on divine grace for a right will as for any thing else.
Ch. VII., vs. 19-21.] THE R OMA NS. 355
19. For the good that I -would, I do not : bttt the evil which I would
not, that I do. He still maintains that his will is for the good, for
mould is the same verb and in precisely the same form as in v. 18
is rendered will. Stuart does not alter the force of the argument
by substituting desire for would in this verse. For real hearty
desires after holiness prove a man to have been born again. On
this verse some, who plead for the application of the passage to an
unregenerate man, bring many quotations from heathen authors
to show that what Paul says of himself here might be said of a
man not under grace. And it is freely admitted that conscience
has often mightily moved men in favor of the right, and that at
times they are full of grief for misconduct, which has brought on
them much disappointment and vexation. But when was the will
of the unrene wed man ever set on the good ? when did he earnestly
desire holiness?
20. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin
that dwelleth in me. This is nearly a repetition of v. 1 7. The ob-
ject of saying the matter again probably is to remove all doubt
on the point that Paul speaks as a Christian, having the will of his
new nature right before God, and yet unwillingly led into sad im-
perfections. Arminius has labored to show that the word dwelleth
found here signifies the possession of dominion. II he had succeed-
ed in his argument, it would have been fatal to the interpretation
maintained in this work. It is true that the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit does always imply dominion over the soul, Rom. 8 : 9,
ii ; i Cor. 3 : 16. This results from the sovereign authority and
glorious nature of the third person of the Trinity. But that there
is no such idea as sovereign sway involved in the word dwell is
perfectly manifest. In i Cor. 7 : 12 Paul says: "If any brother
hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with
him, let him not put her away." Surely he does not mean that
the wife should rule her husband. Here we have the same word
rendered dwell as in our verse. The only idea essentially con-
nected with the word dwelling is habitation, as every scholar must
see on examining the word and its cognates.
2 1 . / find then a law, that, when I ivould do good, evil is present
with me. I find, I have experience of the fact. With me it is no
matter of conjecture, nor of vague theory. I have the sad reality
to deal with. 'I find a law ; in v. 20 he told us what this law was
" sin that dwelleth in me." The term law here denotes a powerful
principle. Owen of Oxford : " It is not an outward, written, com-
manding, directing law, but an inbred, working, impelling, urging
law. A law proposed to us is not to be compared for efficac)' to
a law inbred in us." By the power of divine grace we are set free
356 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 22, 23
from the dominion but not from the annoyance of sin. The tribes
of Canaanites were not the Lords of Palestine after the days of
Joshua, but they still dwelt in the land and greatly tempted, vexed
and harassed the people of God. In the unregenerate this law is
unbroken in its power. They obey it habitually and promptly.
Their wills yield to its demands. In the regenerate its dominion
is cast off, but it still has great force to mar their good works, and
hinder their conformity to God. It does not lord it over the
saints, but it seduces them. It is terribly deceitful and terribly
wicked. That we may thus understand the word law, as synony-
mous with inward, urging principle is clear. See v. 23 and com-
pare Rom. 8 : 2. This law has power in a renewed man, one that
r Mould do good, one the prevailing inclinations of whose will are
right. As Owen says this indwelling sin 'is a law or power in
believers, but it is not a law unto them.' It meets not their ap-
proval ; it commends not itself to their consciences, nor to their
spiritual tastes. They were once fully under its dominion ; but
that is now broken. Yet old habits of sinning, the weakness of
grace and the urgency of temptation do still give it much power,
to annoy, vex and betray the soul. The apostle specially mentions
the urgency of sin. Evil is present with me. The tow is always
in our hearts, so long as our sanctification is incomplete, and we
know not at what moment the enemy may hurl his fiery darts.
22. For 1 delight in the law of God after the inward man. For
an explanation of the terms and phrases of this verse, see above
preliminary remarks No. 7. The law of God certainly' includes the
ten commandments as explained in scripture. Sometimes law is
a name given to the whole word of God, of which his preceptive
will forms an important part. For delight Taylor of Norwich has
esteem. But this is trifling. That this verse describes the exer-
cises of a renewed man is as clear as any mark of regeneration
laid down in scripture. If an unregenerate man can delight in the
law of God, why cannot he love God supremely and his neighbor
equally ? why cannot he love the brethren and do every thing else
required of men ? The fact is the carnal mind is enmity against
God : it is not subject to his law. How then can it delight in any-
thing holy ? for the law is to us the standard of holiness.
23. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law
of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is
in my members. Here again we have the word law in the same
sense as in v. 21 ; and in contrast with the law of God in v. 22.
Members, the same word so rendered in Rom. 6 : 13, 19 ; 7 : 5, on
which see above. Warring against, the word is literally rendered.
Indwelling sin never reasons or remonstrates but seduces, de-
Ch. VII., v. 24-] THE ROMANS. 357
ceives, wages war, and commits acts of violence. It arrays its
whole forces against the inner man, or new creature, the law of the
mind, established in regeneration. God had so far fulfilled the
provisions of the covenant as to write the law on Paul's heart, Jer.
31 : 33 ; Heb. 8 : 10. Yet the remains of his fallen nature brought
him into the condition of an unwilling captive, who felt the
force though he hated the power of that which kept him in bond-
age. The law of his mind was utterly contrary to the law of sin.
Though the latter had long had possession, yet it had no longer
in any sense a right there. All it claimed and controlled was by
usurpation. Wardlaw : " Bringing me into captivity has been inter-
preted as if it signified that he was uniformly overcome, actually
brought into full captivity. But it expresses no such thing, as
that the power of corruption was either uniformly, or even pre-
vailingly successful. Similar expressions are iised to denote a ten-
dency that has not effect. It was the case with the apostle, and it
is the case with every saint of God, that he feels this law in his
members bringing him, i. e. he feels it to be its constant tendency
to bring him into captivity ; so that were it not resisted by ' the
law of his mind,' by the energy of the new man under the influ-
ence of the Spirit of God, such would infallibly be its effect."
This is all that can fairly be educed from these words. Thus
much they do certainly teach. The same truth is expressly set
forth in Gal. 5 : 17. Some have cited Ezek. 24: 13 as conveying
the same truth. Possibly it does, but it fairly admits of another
exposition.
24. O ^vr etched man that I am / who shall deliver me from the body
of this death ? Wretched, the word occurs but once more in the
New Testament, Rev. 3:17, and is rendered as here. The cog-
nate noun occurs twice and is rendered misery, Rom. 3:16; jas.
5:1. The cognate verb occurs once and is rendered, Be afflicted,
Jas. 4:9. It expresses extreme unhappiness. Rheims has un-
happie. The language is so strong that some have said it cannot
possibly apply to the Christian for he is happy not wretched.
Wardlaw well says: "It is truly marvellous that such an argu-.
ment should ever have been used. One is strongly tempted to
suspect that he by whom such an argument could be used, can
never himself have felt the burden of corruption, the plagues of
his own heart. Is it not the very man whose heart is most under
the influence of holiness and the love of God that feels most
acutely the anguish of a sense of remaining corruption?" The
fact is these words express the same idea made familiar to us by
patriarchs and prophets, as has been already shown. In this whole
section the apostle has not been expressing an apprehension of
358 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., v. 25.
wrath for unpardoned sin, but a sense of self-loathing on account
of indwelling corruption. The word rendered deliver has not be-
fore occured in this epistle. It is very strong. Owen of Thrus-
sington says it means to pluck out, rescue, take away by force, and
is applied to a forcible act, effected by power. By the body of this
death some understand this mortal body, and think the speaker
here was expressing a wish to die. But such an exposition cer-
tainly does not suit Paul. He himself tells us that on the subject
of dying he was in a strait, Phil, i : 23, 24. Nor does it suit the
case of an awakened unregenerate man ; for he, who rightly sees his
sins and does not behold the Lamb of God, is for very good cause,
the best cause in the world, both afraid and unwilling to die and
meet God in judgment. His cry "is not the utterance of despair,
but of longing and vehement desire." The next verse clearly
shows this. By the body of this death others understand the body
of sin consisting of the members ; Hall : " the mass of inward
corruption ;" Stuart : " the seat of carnal and sinful principles ;"
Hodge : " it may be taken metaphorically for sin considered as a
body." Some give an illustration of the conception in the apostle's
mind by referring us to an ancient mode of punishment resorted
to in some cases, where the culprit perhaps a murderer was
punished by having a dead human body fastened firmly to his own,
limb to limb, and then the criminal turned loose. Soon the stench
was horrible ; soon the virus of the corrupting body communicated
its deadly poison, and a horrible though not a very speedy death en-
sued. No doubt Paul was aware of this practice. Nor is it im-
probable that he here alludes to it. So think Scott, Clarke and
others.
25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with my
mind I myself serve the law of God ; but with the flesh the /aw of
sin. Fraser : " I thank God, who hath provided comfort for me
with respect to this my present wretchedness, through Jesus
Christ our Lord : by virtue of whose cross the old man in me is
crucified : which gives me the sure and delightful prospect, that
this body of sin and death shall, in due time, be absolutely de-
stroyed, and I completely and for ever delivered from it." This
paraphrase seems to cover very much the ground of thankfulness
here expressed. This language puts the grace of Christ in strong
contrast with the rigors of law and its powerlessness to aid a sin-
ner in his conflict with inbred sin. For many verses the apostle
had been describing the great conflict of his renewed nature with
indwelling sin, the law yielding him no v help in the fight, until at
last he utters that bitter cry, wretched man ! But he lets us see
that he is not in despair. He yields not to the enemy, but direct-
Ch. VII., vs. 14-25.] THE ROMANS. 359
ing the eye of his faith to the great Deliverer, he says the first cheer-
ful word we have had for many verses : I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Instead of / thank God, the Vulgate,
Wiclif, Rheims, Doway, Locke and others, following the Cler-
mont, and other Greek manuscripts read, Hie grace of God. This
requires but a slight change in the Greek and gives a good sense.
Paul says, Who shall deliver me ? The answer is, The grace of
God through or by Jesus Christ our Lord shall deliver me. But
we do virtually get the same idea from the authorized version.
Sanctification, no more than justification, is by the law, but both
of them are by grace, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. But for
the gospel men might well despair of pardon, acceptance, any fit-
ness for communion with God, or any victory over sin. Pleasant
as this theme is he dwells no longer on it, but reverts to the bur-
den of the paragraph. So then with the wind, with the will, with
the person so often called /, with the inward man, with the law of
my mind, with the affection of delight, which so influences cheerful
obedience, / myself, I Paul, who hate sin, and will what is good,
serve the law of God. In this I am not deceived, nor am I a
deceiver I am no hypocrite my heart is truly engaged I love
the law my most animating hope is that I shall be as holy as the
law requires ; but with the flesh, with sin, with another law in my
members, I serve the law of sin. This warfare I have, and expect
to have, till I close my earthly career. But I will fight on. I
shall never be satisfied till I awake in the likeness of the Redeemer.
Some have objected to the general view taken of these verses that
no man can .serve two masters. And it is true that no man can in
the same sense and to the same extent serve two masters. But
neither of these things occurred with Paul. Sin had not dominion
over him, though it had power against him. He. did highly and
prevailingly please Christ, and did not willingly or habitually
serve sin. He was imperfect, but not a hypocrite, a true penitent,
not a self-deceiver.
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL REMARKS.
I. There is such a thing as religious experience, and it is
dangerous to treat it with contempt or despite, vs. 14-25. No
man has any more piety which will stand the tests of the last day,
than has made itself felt in the depths of his nature. One may be
a real child of God without having yet experienced all Paul felt ;
but as he advances in the divine life, he will know more and more
of what is here described. Scott : " Every believer knows a little
of the things spoken of by the apostle in these verses, when he
360 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 14-25.
first flees for refuge to the hope of the gospel : but his subsequent
experience gives him still further insight into them." Owen of
Thrussington : "The apostle says nothing here of himself, but
what every real Christian finds to be true. It was the saying of a
good man, lately gone to his rest, whose extended pilgrimage was
ninety-three years, that he must often have been swallowed up by
despair, had it not been for the seventh chapter of the epistle to
the Romans. The best interpreter of many things in scripture is
spiritual experience." Hawker: " Blessed and eternal SPIRIT! I
praise thee for the account, which thou hast caused thy servant
the apostle to give of himself in this sweet chapter." True, indeed,
much odium has been cast on the subject of Christian experience
by the ignorance, folly, and self-conceit of some, who have spoken
much on the matter. But it is not wise to give up any thing vital
in religion because it has sometimes been abused.
2. There is a vast difference between sin indulged and sin re-
sisted, between corruption nourished and corruption lamented.
This marks one of the prominent distinctions between good and
bad men in this world. No two things are more contrary to each
other than sin and grace, the flesh and the spirit. Chalmers : " In
the case of an unconverted man, the flesh is weak and the spirit is
not willing ; and so there is no conflict nothing that can force
those outcries of shame and remorse and bitter lamentation, that
we have in the passage before us. With a Christian the flesh is
weak too but the spirit is willing ; and under its influence there
must from the necessary connection that there is between the
human faculties, there must from the desires of his heart be such
an efflux of doings upon his history, as shall make his life distin-
guishable in the world, and most distinguishable on the day of
judgment from the life of an unbeliever." The difference between
the weakest of converted men and the most amiable of the unre-
generate is the difference between friendship and hostility to God.
Wardlaw : " Indulged corruption, indeed, may and ought to lead
to doubt and despair. But corruption itself should not. It should
only lead us to have more constant and simple-hearted recourse
to the blood of sprinkling, and to more earnest supplications for
the restraining and sanctifying influences of the promised Spirit."
3. Christ's people may fall into melancholy and write more
bitter things against themselves than the truth demands or allows ;
but even real, exemplary Christians, contemplated in the light of
God's holy word and of Christ's perfect example, are poor crea-
tures. So Paul judged of himself, vs. 14-25. So others judge of
themselves. . Fraser : " All professed Christians will acknowledge,
that it is very consistent with a state of grace, to have much im-
Ch. VII., vs. 14-25.] THE ROMANS. 361
perfection in holiness, and much remaining sinfulness. Upon this
view it is most reasonable to suppose, that the farther one is ad-
vanced in holiness, and the more his heart is truly sanctified, he
will have the greater sensibility with regard to sin, and it must
give him the more pain and bitterness." Increase of sanctification
is not increase of sanctimoniousness, nor is it marked by grimace,
or pomp, or high self-estimation, but by humility, gentleness and
modesty.
4. Let no man think his spiritual state good, who does not in
his heart consent to the excellence of the law of God, vs. 14, 16,
22, 25. If one objects to the perfection of that standard, the evi-
dence against him is very strong. Guyse : " How excellent is the
moral law, as the rule of obedience ! In this view of it, it is un-
changeably and everlastingly binding, and is fit and worthy to be
so ; for it is all holy, just and good, and reaches to the thoughts
of the heart, as well as to the actions of the life : it discovers and
strictly forbids every sin, and stands clear of all charges of defect ;"
aye, and of excess also. Wardlaw : " The whole system of salva-
tion by grace has its foundation in the absolute and immutable
perfection of the law. It is in this that the necessity of a scheme
of grace originates." The right estimate of the excellence of the
law is necessary to a believer in many ways. One is suggested by
this section, viz. it keeps a good man from despair when he can
look at that perfect rule of right, and say I esteem it right, I con-
sent to it, I serve it, I delight in it. No man in such a state of
mind can ever be depressed beyond recovery. He who looks on
the law as all right and sin as hateful need not seriously doubt his
own regeneration.
5. On the other hand, as Hodge says, " it is an evidence of an
unrenewed heart to express or feel opposition to the law of God
as though it were too strict; or to be disposed to throw off the
blame of our want of conformity to the divine will from ourselves
upon the law as unreasonable." When the boy, that would learn
to write, finds fault with the perfection of the copy set him, and
not with himself for his want of skill, there is but little hope that
he will soon hold the pen of a ready writer, or ever become a pro-
ficient in the art of penmanship. The illustration is easily applied.
6. Where the carnal nature has the mastery, and one is led
captive by the devil at his will, and no hearty resistance is made
to sin, there is no scriptural piety. So teach the scriptures. So,
when rightly interpreted, teach these verses. The reason, why
the wicked lament not their state is not that it is good, but be-
cause it is very bad. Owen of Oxford : " Many there are in the
world who, whatever they may have been taught in the word, have
362 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 15-22.
not a spiritual sense and experience of the power of indwelling
sin, and that because they are wholly under the dominion of it.
They find not that there is darkness and folly in their minds, be-
cause they are darkness itself, and darkness will discover nothing.
They find not deadness and an indisposition in their hearts and
wills to God, because they are dead wholly in trespasses and sins.
They are at peace with their lusts, by being -in bondage unto
them." In human limbs and bodies insensibility attends mortifi-
cation. One of the saddest signs in many is the entire absence of
alarm respecting their spiritual affairs.
7. Let us watch carefully all our sentiments and opinions re-
specting the moral law. Low views of it are always injurious to
piety. Let us always consent to it that it is good, and delight in
it in our inmost souls, vs. 16, 22, Durham : "There was never so
much matter and marrow, with so much admirably holy cunning,
compended, couched and conveyed in so few words by the most
laconic, concise, sententious and singularly significant spokesman
in the world as we find in the moral law." Colquhoun : " If a
man have not just and spiritual apprehensions of the holy law, he
cannot have spiritual and transforming discoveries of the glorious
gospel." T. Watson : " Though the moral law is not a Christ to
justify us, yet it is a rule to instruct us." John Newton : "Igno-
rance of the nature and design of the law is at the bottom of most
religious mistakes." It is not possible for man to tell whether
Pharisaic self-righteousness in the letter of the law or Sadducean
laxity concerning its obligation most effectually defeats God's be-
nevolent design in giving us his perfect law.
8. It is a great thing to have a good will, rightly set, in the
things of God, vs. 15, 16, 19-21. The state of the will decides the
character. He, who wills what is evil, is evil. He, who wills
what is good, is a renewed man. But a will is more than a wish.
It is settled and controls the man, if not wholly, yet in the main.
And a will to that, which is good, is the gift of grace.
9. Where inability results from a sinful nature or from sinful
habits, it is itself sinful, and so is no excuse for a failure to do our
whole duty. It is not by way of excuse, but in humiliation and
self-abhorrence that Paul cries : " What I hate, that do I ; " " how
to perform that which is good I find not," etc. Let us beware
how we spare, excuse or justify sin or imperfection. To xis it is
more dangerous in our own hearts than in the hearts of others.
We have destroyed and cannot save ourselves. But we have
done all this by sin ; and sin is not a misfortune ; it .is a crime.
Any course of reasoning that makes us think lightly of indwelling
sin is false and detestable.
Ch. VIL, vs. 14-25.] THE ROMANS. 363
10. It is a popular, yet a gross error that to have strong incli-
nations to evil, if they gain not the mastery over us, evinces
higher virtue than to live virtuously without such inclinations.
Such a doctrine makes the virtuous principle in a renewed man
more amiable than in an angel who never sinned, more amiable
in an imperfect Christian than in the spirits of just men made per-
fect. Surely the virtue of him, who is my companion on a long
journey and never meditates anything but kindness is far better
than that of him who frequently harbors thoughts of robbing and
murdering me, though he carries not out his plans.
11. Yet if we overcome evil principles, and have a deadly
aversion to sin, and are not brought into willing captivity to evil,
let us not be discouraged. He, who lives and dies fighting
against sin, shall not lose his soul, but shall yet wear a conqueror's
crown.
12. We cannot be too much on our guard against the lust of
the eye, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, and all the brood of
unholy affections. T. Adam : " We are so accustomed to overlook
the depravation of nature in coveting, or evil lusting, and so con-
fident that it will not be laid to our charge, if it is in some measure
resisted, and does not generally break out into gross acts of trans-
gression, that for this reason we do not understand the apostle
when he is imputing it to himself for sin, lamenting his bondage
under it, exxilting in the grace that is by Jesus Christ, and holding
it forth to all as the necessary means of deliverance from the guilt
that is upon us ; and therefore fly to some other method of inter-
pretation, as supposing neither him nor ourselves to be culpable
on this account before God, and obnoxious to the sentence of his
law on this account." He, who would avoid the worst evils must,
make war on the evils of his heart. Owen of Oxford : " Would
you not dishonor God and his gospel, would you not scandalize
the saints and ways of God, would you not wound your con-
sciences and endanger your souls, would you not grieve the good
and Holy Spirit of God, the author of all your comforts, would
you keep your garments undefiled, and escape the woful tempta-
tions and pollutions of the days wherein we live, would you be
preserved from the number of the apostates in these latter days ;.
awake to the consideration of this cursed enemy [indwelling sin],
which is the spring of all these and innumerable other evils, as
also of the ruin of all the souls that perish in the world."
" Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain
from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul," i Pet. 2 : 11.
Who ever lamented that he had watched and prayed too much ?
13. Nor can we have too much jealousy over our own hearts,.
364 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VII., vs. 22-24.
nor too earnestly inquire into their state. " Grace is as sharp-
sighted and searching, as it is humble and heart-humbling." It is
but self-deception to think or hope that we shall be finally tested
by any rules less rigorous than God has laid down in his word.
Self-examination, not candidly conducted, can avail for no good
thing.
14. In every stage and shape sin is horrible. It ma}' be par-
doned, and pardon is a great mercy, but forgiveness makes not
sin the less detestable. We may confidently hope for final victory
over it, but that abates nothing of its odiousness, vs. 23, 24. How
could it be otherwise ? If there were no hell, sin would be abom-
inable. It is to be abhorred not because it is to be punished ; but
it is to be punished, because it is to be abhorred. How can one,
who finds his best purposes crossed, his best desires frustrated, his
best prayers followed by lapses into sin, but look with detestation
on the cause of his wretchedness ? In some things there is great
danger of excess ; but no man need fear that he loves God or
hates sin excessively.
15. The doctrines of the power of indwelling sin and of the
spiritual warfare, though true and of great importance, may be,
and have been perverted and abused. How many, whose minds
perceived their own errors, and whose consciences remonstrated
against their evil courses, have pleaded that it was not they that
did the evil, but sin that dwelt in them, while all the time they
loved these hateful courses with an undivided heart. Their wills
were not at all averse to the evil -they practised. If a man laments
not from the heart any evil still adhering to him ; if he allows the
evil he does ; if he hates not sin in every shape ; if he excuses wrong
because it is in himself ; if he serves the law in his members with
a cheerful heart ; if he longs not to be delivered from all sin, there
is no solid ground of comfort for him in the experience of Paul
here recorded.
1 6. Nor is it ever idle to inquire whether we have clear, just
and growing views of the beauty of holiness. If we have not, we
stand in great need of a change of heart. He, who sees nothing
lovely in holiness, does not love it or practise it. An easy test on
this point is furnished us in our feelings towards the law of God.
Do we delight in it, in the whole of it, in all its precepts ? v. 22.
It is the standard of holiness.
17. There is one blessed truth relating to indwelling sin in be-
lievers, stated by Owen in his treatise : " The more they find its
power, the less they will feel its effects." This sounds almost like
a contradiction, but the children of wisdom know what it means.
To them it is a cheering truth. " Proportionally to their discovery
Ch. VII., vs. 14-25.] THE ROMANS. 365
of it, will be their earnestness for grace ; nor will it rise higher.
All watchfulness and diligence in obedience will be answerable
also thereunto."
1 8. The Christian is a wonder! He is a wonder unto many.
He is a wonder to himself. He has glorious hopes, yet mortify-
ing failures ; he has intense longings after holiness, yet is strangely
led away from the right path in many things. ' The wrongs he
does he knows not, he approves not, he excuses not, he palliates not.'
The good he does, he does not of himself, but by the grace of
God, Of course he boasts not of it as coming from his own suffi-
ciency. With one breath he cries, O wretched man that I am ;
with the next, Thanks be unto God. How amazing is that grace,
which shall take away his divided heart, and give him one heart,
one mind, one will, as he has now one God, one Redeemer, one
Comforter.
19. It is vain to hope that an unrenewed man will understand
aright the bitterness of a soul grieved for its own sins with a godly
sorrow. Paul was no chicken-hearted man. He bore stripes,
bonds, imprisonments, stonings, shipwrecks, perils by land and by
sea, by robbers and by his countrymen ; he was hungry and thirsty
and weary ; but none of these things moved him. Yea, when the
sword hung over him, and he knew it was about to close his earth-
ly existence for ever, he said ' I am ready ;' but when corruption
displayed its deformities within him, his cry was piteous : O
wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of
this death ? And there is so much corruption remaining in the
best men on earth that a sight of it would extort a cry no less
bitter. Brown : " Corruption seems no contemptible enemy unto
believers." Nor is it to be despised. It has slain many mighty
men. It has wounded many others, and they have gone lame all
their days.
20. Most admit it is foolish and dangerous to seek justification
by the law ; it is no less unwise or perilous to seek sanctification
by the law. This Section proves this, if it proves anything.
Brown : " As in and through Christ, we got the pardon of our sin ;
so it is in and through him, who died, that he might sanctify and
cleanse his church, and present her glorious without spot or
wrinkle, holy and without blemish, that believers are kept up in
the battle against corruption, so that they are not quite over-
thrown thereby, and that grace is always growing, and corrup-
tion decaying." Christ is all our salvation. Let him be all our
desire.
21. Let every man, who would save his soul, make up his mind
to warfare. There is no possibility of evading it. Compare Rom.
366 EPISTLE. [Ch. VII., vs. 14-25.
8 : 24 ; 2 Cor. 5 : 2-4. It has always been so. It is so now. It
will be so to the end of time. Whoever would go to heaven must
go against the tide of wordliness without and of indwelling sin
within. Owen : " Never let us reckon that our work in contend-
ing against sin, in crucifying, mortifying and subduing it, is at an
end. . . Many conquerors have been ruined by their carelessness
after a victory ; and many have been spiritually wounded after
great success against this enemy. . . The heart hath a thousand
wiles and deceits, and if we are in the least off from our watch, we
may be sure to be surprised." It is always wise to cry, Search
me, O God, and know me. Fight on, my soul, till death.
22. Sad as is the case of the believer, all will yet be well, he
himself being judge. He is borne down but he is not borne away
by trials ; he is encumbered, but not drowned in wordly lusts, he
is grieved, but not in despair respecting his state. He knows
God shall yet lift up his head above all his enemies round about.
The final victory is sure and shall be glorious.
23. How sweet the rest of heaven will be rest not merely from
toil, and pain, and bereavement but above all from sins and temp-
tations. " How reviving are the hopes of relief in Christ against
these evils." Glory be to God, the battle may last all day, but it
shall not last for ever. It may be fierce and terrific, but the issue
is not doubtful.
24. All solid advantages and real profit in the spiritual conflict,
yea, in the divine life, are only by and through Jesus Christ. This
is right. It is just that he should have all the glory of all the vic-
tories won by his elect. He is the Captain of their salvation. By
him they conquer. To him they bow and give glory. He is
worthy to receive power, and riches, and honor, and glory, and
blessing, for ever and ever. Amen.
CHAPTER VIII.
VERSES 1-11.
THE SAFETY OF BELIEVERS. THEY ARE JUSTI-
FIED. THEY ARE SANCTIFIED. THE SPIRIT
DWELLS IN THEM. THEY DIFFER FROM THE
WICKED.
THERE is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the
law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh :
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after
the flesh but after the Spirit.
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that
are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and
peace.
7 ' Because the carnal mind is enmity against God : for it is not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of
his.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is
life because of righteousness.
1 1 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he
that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his
Spirit that dwelleth in you.
WE now proceed to consider a chapter long regarded with
peculiar delight by the pious. Some have spoken of it as the
crowning gem of this epistle. Hitherto we have commonly had
logical argument, with digressions to answer important objections,
(367)
368 ' EPISTLE TO [Ch. VIJ.L, v. i.
and to make some application of the truths taught. Now for
thirty-nine verses we have as strong language of triumph as is
commonly found even in the most exultant parts of scripture.
Nothing in the song of Miriam, or in the song of Deborah can
compare with portions of this chapter for sublimity. A noble
young hero of the cross, Rev. William Hoge, D.D., whose sun
not long since went down in a blaze of glory, such as never sur-
rounds any but the dying Christian, in a manuscript kindly lent
me by surviving friends, says : " For fervor and strength of ex-
pression, for rapidity and vigor of argument, for richness in doc-
trine, for revelation of high and precious mysteries, and for a
noble elevation of sentiments, which pervades the whole, and
bursts out at the end with irrepressible ardor, there are few pas-
sages equal to it, even in the sacred oracles, and certainly none
out of them." This witness is true.
This chapter brings to a happy and practical conclusion all
that had been stated in the former part of the epistle respecting
justification by union with Christ, sanctification by the gospel,
and victory over corruption by believers, even if their spiritual
warfare is long and distressing. It shows many of the excellent
uses of these doctrines. Very few sound commentators deny that
the first verse contains the pregnant truths, on which depends the
just exultation, which follows.
I. There is therefore noiv no condemnation to them which are in
Christ Jesus, who ivalk not after the flesh, b^lt after the Spirit. There-
fore connects this chapter with the whole preceding argument.
The meaning is, that the truths of the gospel being thus clear and
settled, it is not possible there should be condemnation resting on
believers. Condemnation, in many old English versions damnation ;
the same word occurs in the Greek in Rom. 5 : 16, 18, and no-
where else in the*New Testament. The reason why believers are
free from a condemning sentence is that they are in Christ jesits.
These words point to a vital union with Christ, such as the branch
has with the vine, the limb with the body. Locke says it means
" the professing the religion and owning a subjection to the law
of Christ." But Whitby justly observes that it must mean much
more than being members of the Christian church by profession.
And Paul in more than one place teaches the same thing : " If any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature," 2 Cor, 5 : 17. Compare
i Thess. 4: 16 and many other places. It has been an old device
of the adversary to corrupt the truth, that justification is not per-
fect without some rite or addition, and that it may become imper-
fect, even when real. This verse is fatal to both these errors. If
justification exists at all, it is complete. There is to him that is
Ch. VIII., v. 2.] THE ROMANS. 369
a partaker of this benefit no condemnation ; none for old sins, none
for sins committed after admission to the church ; none for origi-
nal sin, none for actual sin. There was special propriety in here
presenting the truth contained in v. i, for the apostle had dwelt
considerably on the infirmity, temptation and trouble of a child
of God. It was very fitting that he should announce that the
spiritual warfare did in no way impair the completeness of justifi-
cation. He adds that those who are in Christ Jesus prove it in a
very decisive way : they walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.
This part of the verse is entirely omitted in the Greek text of the
English Hexapla, and also by Griesbach, Mill and others. But
the Greek manuscripts generally retain it, as we do on their
authority. It is all found in v. 4. In Eph. 3 : i the words hath he
quickened in .the English translation are very properly brought
forward from v. 5, where they are found in the original. So here,
there is no error taught by inserting these words, though we may
not vary the text without authority. They are all admitted by
Wiclif, Coverdale, Tyndale, Cranmer, Genevan, Rheims and Bp.
Hall ; and the first clause is admitted by the Vulgate, Doway,
Bengel, Morus and Peshito. To walk in both Testaments indicates
the course of the life. Compare Ps. i : i ; 2 Cor. 10 : 2 ; 12 : rS ;
Gal. 2 : 14; Eph. 2 : 2. To walk after the flesh therefore is to be
habitually or prevailingly governed by carnal inclinations. So
to walk after the Spirit is to be governed by his word, and actuated
by his motions. In Ps. 32 : 2 David in like manner unites justifi-
cation and sanctification : " Blessed is the man unto whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile."
Compare Rom. 4 : 6-8.
2. For' the Imv of the Spirit of life in Christ Jestis hath made'
me free from the law of sin and death. For the Spirit of life Tyn-
dale has the Spirit that bringeth life. For set free Peshito has
emancipated. We had the same word in Rom. 6 : 18, 22. It oc-
curs again in v. 21. Our Lord used it when he said, The truth
shall make you. free ; the Son shall make you free, John 8 : 32, 36.
In the exposition of Rom. 7: 21 the Avord law was explained as
having the same import as here, that of a powerful impelling
principle in the soul. If the former, the law of sin, was potential
for evil, much more is this, the law of the Spirit of life, mighty
for good ; for it liberates believers from the law of sin and death.
That exposition is supported by Owen of Oxford and many others.
It makes the work of grace by the Spirit efficacious in destroying
the work of sin and death in the soul. It has destroyed the
dominion of sin. It is destroying its power, and it shall finally
destroy the whole force of sin and death in the soul, not leaving;
24
370 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VIII., v 3.
spot, or wrinkle or any such thing. The whole efficacy of this law
in Christ Jesus is by the Spirit. This is substantially the view
taken by Chrysostom, Calvin, Diodati, Beza, Vitringa, Doddridge,
Scott, Stuart and Chalmers. But Ambrose, Pareus, Witsius,
Hodge, Haldane and others prefer another explanation, which
may be thus stated. Believers are not under the moral law as a
covenant of works, or as a means of sanctification. They are not
under law but under grace. They are thus freed from the moral
law by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, that is by the
gospel, of which the Spirit is the author the gospel revealing a
scheme of gratuitous justification. The obvious objections to this
exposition are such as these, i . It is unusual to call the gospel a
law. It is sometimes done, Rom. 3 : 27, but it is in such a
connection and with such explanations as leave no room for mis-
take. 2. It is still more unusual to denominate the moral law by
such terms as are here employed. Calvin : " I dare not, with
some, take the law of sin and death for the law of God, because it
seems a harsh expression." This consideration is the more
weighty inasmuch as Paul has been in the preceding context care-
fully guarding against views derogatory to the excellence of the
law. 3. Believers are so far made free from the law of sin and
death within them, that sin no longer lords it over them, nor has
dominion over them, nor controls their wills, nor shall it prove to
them a law of death, for it shall itself be utterly destroyed. It
does indeed vex and harass the good man, but like the house
of Saul it waxes weaker and weaker, while the gracious princi-
ple, like the house of David, waxes stronger and stronger.
.4. The plea for connection with v. I quite overlooks all of
that verse but the first clause of it. 5. The subsequent context
may without any violation of the laws of language as well be con-
nected with v. i, if we follow the former as the latter exposition.
But if any still prefer the latter, we have no contention with
them.
3. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the
flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sin fid flesh, and for
sin, condemned sin in the flesh. Here the law no doubt means the
moral law. It was impotent for justification and for sanctification
also. It condemned ; it could not justify. It gave the knowledge
but not the cure of sin. It is said to have been weak, wanting
strength, lacking power. This was no inherent fault of the law ;
in fact its working wrath arose from its very perfection, which
brought a knowledge of the heinous nature of sin, revealed its
power, and unmistakeably threatened righteous and awful retri-
bution on the transgressor. Nor could it give any strength to
Ch. VIII., v. 3.] THE ROMANS. 371
believer or unbeliever to resist the seductions of fallen human
nature. To each and all of these ends it was impotent. In this
our sad state the Lord undertook for us, sent his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh. God's own Son was he, who counted it
not robbery to be equal with God. He was with God and he was
God. The likeness of sinful flesh is not sinful flesh, but " the like-
ness of that flesh which was sinful," elsewhere expressed by the
phrase in the likeness of men, Phil. 2 : 7. He was in all things
made like unto his brethren, having- a true body and a reasonable
soul, Heb. 2 : 16-18. But he was not born in sin, nor did he ever
offend against God, but was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate
from sinners. His Father, his friends, his judge, his betrayer all
pronounced him faultless. It is said God sent his Son for sin,
Peshito, on account of sin ; Theophylact, in respect of sin. But
from Augustine down .many have explained the words for sin as
meaning for a sin-offering. So Melancthon, Calvin and many
others. Whitby cites more than thirty cases in the Septuagint
where the same words mean for a sin-offering. In Heb. 10 : 6
undoubtedly this is the meaning. The margin in this place has a
sacrifice for sin. The foregoing, among good writers, is the more
common method of exposition. But some contend that Paul is
still speaking of sanctification, not of justification. Nor can it be
denied that in many parts of scripture the sanctification of believers
is stated in close connection with the sacrifice and sufferings of the
Lord Jesus Christ, John 17 : 19 ; Eph. 5 : 25, 26 ; Tit. 2 : 14 ; i Pet.
i : 1 8, 19. Nor is it safe to deny that by a figure of speech often
only one thing in salvation is named, when the whole is intended
to be included. And Fraser is quite confident that in this verse
Paul is still showing how men must be sanctified. He says : " The
general point is clear, that the scripture connects making men
free from the dominion of sin with Christ's sufferings and sacri-
fice." He also cites Gal. 3 : 13, 14 in confirmation of the truth
that the Spirit is received through the faith which lays hold of the
redemption of Christ. We may and we must distinguish, but we
may never separate between justification and sacntification, and
either of these words, or their synonymes may be chosen to re-
present to us all the benefits obtained by believers in Christ Jesus.
Condemned, always so rendered except a few times where it is
rendered damned. It is found again in v. 34 of this chapter.
Peshito has condemned ; Schleusner, Hodge and Haldane :
punished ; Locke : put to death, extinguished or suppressed ;
Conybeare and Howson : overcome or conquered. The promi-
nent idea in the verb is that of sentencing to death, or of putting
to death in execution of a sentence. The doubt among interpret-
372 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VIII., v. 3.
ers is whether Paul is speaking of justification or sanctification, of
the removal of the guilt of sin or of the destruction of its power.
On this point they are much divided. Venema, Pareus, Pool,
Bp. Hall, Whitby, Hodge and Haldane refer it to justification.
But Chrysostom, Fraser, Locke, Doddridge, Scott, Macknight,
Owen of Thrussington and Stuart refer it to sanctification. Many
admit that in this verse sin is personified. If it is, we know how
it fared in the sacrifice of Calvary. It was punished, condemned
and overcome. By that one offering it was made certain that sin
should be put down, or as Calvin says : " cast down from its
power, so that it does not now hold us subject to itself." The
chains of its guilt are knocked off; the sceptre of its power is
broken ; it is no longer lord over any one who is in Christ Jesus.
The more these verses are considered, the more it looks as if Paul
was not nicely discriminating between the guilt and the power of
sin, but was speaking of its utter destruction in every sense, so
that it shall neither condemn us nor hold us in bondage. The
word condemned is cognate to the word condemnation in v. I.
Those who are in Christ are not in any sense condemned, but sin
is in every sense condemned. The sentence has gone forth, the
death on Calvary was decisive, and the application of redemption
by the Spirit is giving the victory more and more, till in all who
are in Christ there shall be left neither spot nor wrinkle. In other
words complete deliverance from sin itself and from all its effects
seems to be spoken of in these verses, by a figure of speech, a part
being often put for the whole. This mode of explanation seems
to have been in the mind of Evans : " By the appearance of Christ
sin was condemned, that is, God did therein more than ever mani-
fest his hatred of sin ; and not only so, but for all that are Christ's
both the damning and the domineering power of sin is broken
and taken out of the way. He that is condemned can neither accuse
nor rule ; his testimony is null, and his authority null. Thus by
Christ is sin condemned, though it live and remain, its life in the
saints is still but that of a condemned malefactor. It was by the
condemning of sin that death was disarmed, and the devil, who
had the power of death, destroyed. The condemning of sin saved
the sinner from condemnation." This mode of explanation, tak-
ing a part for the whole, and personifying sin, covers the whole
ground, and allows us to see how by the union of the legal and
moral effects of Christ's death believers have full salvation. It is
said that God condemned sin in the flesh. Two explanations are
offered. One is that God condemned sin in the flesh of Christ.
So Peshito. The other is that he condemned it in human nature.
But it is better to unite the two and say that God condemned sin
Ch. VIIL, v. 4.] THE ROMANS. 373
in human nature, of which Christ is a partaker. All this was
done,
4. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Perhaps the best method
of expounding this verse is the same as that adopted in v. 3. The
righteousness of the law is the righteousness which the law de-
mands. By living union with Jesus Christ we receive his perfect
active and passive obedience to the law in our room and stead as
our justifying righteousness. The law demands no more. This
robe is without a rent ; and so the righteousness of the law is per-
fectly fulfilled in our justification. Some contend that this is all.
But if the view given of v. 3 is correct, we may in the same way
add that this verse also embraces the sanctification of believers ;
and that the righteousness of the law through Jesus Christ and by
his Spirit is fulfilled in them just so far and so fast as their sanctifi-
cation progresses. The great objection urged to this view is that
the law calls for perfect conformity to its demands, and that the
best of mere men freely confess they come far short of perfection.
In answer it may be said I. that whatever may be the imperfec-
tion of good men in this life, it shall not be so always. They shall
at last have in their hearts and characters all that holiness which the
law requires. If the gospel should fail in producing this effect,
it would fail utterly in bringing glory to God or good to men. 2.
Although the holiness of a believer is not in degree -what the law
requires, yet to a pleasing extent it is in kind much what the com-
mandments call for. i. This obedience is personal. 2. It is to the
law as coming from God, having his authority and expressing his
will. 3. It is from the heart. 4. It flows from love to God. 5.
It flows from godly fear. 6. It springs from true and lively faith.
7. It is humble and accompanied by a just and deep sense of im-
perfection. 8. It is universal, extending without partiality to all
the commands of God, 9. It is habitual and not by fits and starts.
10. It is evangelical, drawing its strongest motives from the love
of God manifested in the cross of Christ. Colquhoun : " True ho-
liness is spiritual and sincere obedience to the law as a rule of life,
in the hand of the blessed Mediator, and is commonly styled evan-
gelical holiness or true godliness." Were this obedience perfect,
as it is sincere ; spotless, as it is accepted and rewarded of God ;
without defect, as soon it shall be ; it would in every respect be
the very righteousness of the law, that is, the very holiness of the
spirits of just men made perfect. Even now regenerate men walk
not after the flesJi. They are often carnal to an extent very morti-
fying to themselves, but the tenor of their lives and the aim of
their hearts even now are towards holiness, not sin, after the Spirit,
374 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VIII., vs. 5, 6.
not after the flesh. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.
A professed reliance on the merits of Christ, not followed by con-
formity to the preceptive will of God, is utterly vain and unprofit-
able.
5. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh ;
but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. The same
doctrine is taught by our Lord : " That which is born of the flesh,
is flesh ; and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit ;" " It is the
Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing," John 3:6;
6 : 63. It is much the same as that announcement by the great
prophet of the captivity : " The wicked shall do wickedly ; but the
wise shall understand," Dan. 12: 10; or by Christ in the sermon
on the mount : " Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit ; but a
corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit," Matt. 7: 17. In other
words, sin and holiness have very different fruits, appropriate to
their respective natures. The special object of introducing these
thoughts here is to show that we in vain plead that we are in
Christ, if we have not the Spirit of Christ, and walk not in his
footsteps ; and that we are certainly corrupt and unregenerate if
our lives are wicked. The word mind is to be taken in the sense
of fixing the attention and setting the he.art on any thing. In Matt.
1 6 : 32 and elsewhere it is rendered savorest. In Rom. 14 : 6 it is
four times rendered regard. In Col. 3 : 2 it is rendered, set your
affection on things above. Elsewhere we read, " Let us mind the
same thing;" "who mind earthly things," etc. Here it clearly de-
signates two very opposite characters, as evinced by their diverse
preferences ; one hotly pursuing carnal things ; the other eagerly
turning to spiritual things.
6. For to be carnally minded is death ; but to be' spiritually minded is
life and peace. The word rendered minded, which occurs twice in
this verse is a noun, the same rendered mind in vs. 7, 27. It is
cognate to the verb rendered mind in v. 5. It embraces the
whole moral man, mind, will and affections. To have these
under the control of our sinful nature is death, is spiritual death,
which, unless removed, will be followed by eternal death. In all
cases the wages of sin is death, Rom. 6 : 23. But to have the
mind, will and affections set on spiritual things is eternal life and
the peace of God begun in the soul, giving an infallible pledge of
eternal life and undying peace in the heavenly world. Calvin
thinks this minding corresponds to the word imagination as used
by Moses, Gen. 6:558: 21 ; and that peace is equivalent to every
kind of happiness. It does not materially alter the sense whether
we make for refer to v. 4 or to v. 5, as they both are very much on
the same subject ; though the more natural connection is with v.
Ch. VIII., v. 7.] THE R OMA NS. 375
5. The aim of v. 6 is to show the fatal end of sin and the happy
issue of true piety.
7. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can he. Sin is no trifle, no
unconscious aberration, no unfortunate mistake. O no. It is
wholly contrary to all that is lovely and righteous in the charac-
ter of God. Even if it breaks not forth in crimes to be punished
by the judges, yet the minding of the flesh, the going out of the
heart after the things that perish, is wicked and wholly opposed to
the divine. will, law and nature. It is enmity against God. In Gal.
5 : 20 the same word is rendered hatred ; every where else, enmity,
as in Jas. 4: 4 "the friendship of the world is enmity with God."
The cognate noun, which occurs often, is always rendered enemy
or foe. We met it in Rom. 5 : 10, and shall meet it again in
chapters XL and XII. The language of the apostle is very strong.
He does not say that the natural mind of man has some shyness,
prejudice, or aversion to some things pertaining to God ; but it is
enmity, hostility, against God, against his attributes, against his will,
his government. Nothing is more contrary to any other thing,
than is the carnal mind, to God. Stuart : " It is inimical to God,
or (in plain terms) hates him, dislikes his precepts, his character,
and his ways." Compare John 15 : 18, 19, 24, 25 ; I Cor. 2 : 14 ;
Gal. 5 : 17. It is not subject to the law of God. It does not consent
to the law that it is good, it does not serve the law, it does not de-
light in the law of God, it does not submit to the law. The will of
the carnal mind is hostile to the will of God. Where is the man,
who, without the Spirit, ever makes it his business to know, study
and practice the precepts of the decalogue, because they are or-
dained by God. What wicked man feels his conscience fully
bound by that code ? Where he is outwardly conformed to the
letter of it, it is not because he loves God, or has reverently sub-
mitted to his authority. This is proven by the fact that such in
their hearts break the very commandments whose letter they seem
to observe. Neither indeed can he. On opening a whole class of
commentators one cannot avoid the impression that they find this
clause inconvenient. They at once begin to complain of meta-
physics. They propose to take broader views than the apostle.
They do fairly wriggle. But Paul had used no metaphysics ; and
the interpreters, who follow him most literally, are those whose
opinions are most offensive to this school. The great and plain
fact is that Paul says the carnal or unrenewed mind cannot be siib-
ject to that law which is holy, just and good. There is no dis-
pute about the Greek text. There is no doubt concerning the
translation. There ought to be no doubt concerning the doc-
3 ;6 EPISTLE TO [Ch. VIII., vs. 8-10.
trine taught. It is never said that men ought not to obey the law,
but that unrenewed men cannot submit to it. The next verse
asserts the same thing in another form.
8. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. How can
they please him when they cast off his whole law ; when they are
so much opposed to him that they cannot be subject to his au-
thority ; when his revealed will is in every shape offensive to
them ? They cast off the yoke of the decalogue; they refuse sub-
mission to the will of God made known in his providence ; they
will not wear the yoke of Jesus Christ. No unregenerate man
with the heart believes in Jesus Christ, nor loves the precious
Saviour. How then can he please God ? If he ploughs, or sows,
or reaps, he does all irrespective of God's will or authority. God's
will, precepts, authority, nature, justice, love, mercy and holiness
are most opposite to the hea'rt and will of him, who is and who
walks after the flesh. All this is the fruit of that sad fall of our
first parent, by which we come into the world, children of wrath,
Eph. 2:3. The want of original righteousness is the infallible
sign of the image of the wicked one. Such a one neither loves,
nor fears, nor regards, nor trusts, nor obeys God so as is his due.
And this is true of every man, who is not renewed by the Holy
Ghost ; he does not please God. If the matter of the act is right,
the manner or the motive is wrong.
9. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the
Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his. Paul had in vs. i, 4, 5 stated a con-
trast between the children of God and the children of the wicked
one. The latter were after the flesh. The former were after the
Spirit. In vs. 7, 8 he had shown why and how a carnal mind was
death. He now proceeds to show the blessedness of a spiritual
mind. First, he asserts that all men are not in the flesh. Some
are changed. In particular he admits that the body of the
church, to which he was writing, were, in the judgment of charity,
converted people. Ye are in the Spirit. Secondly, he asserts
that permanent effects will follow a saving change wrought in the
soul. The " Spirit of God dwells " in such. Thirdly, the lack
of the indwelling of the Spirit is fatal to any pretensions to a
saving change of heart, or to a safe spiritual state. " If any man
have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Fourthly, the
Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ. The terms are convertible.
Perhaps no equally brief portion of scripture presents more
weighty, practical truths, clearly stated and well guarded.
10. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead becaiise of sin ; but
the Spirit is life beca^lse of righteousness. In v. 9 he spoke of the
Ch. VIII., v. 10.] THE ROMANS. 377
Spirit of Christ being in you ; here he speaks of Christ being in
you. Verse 9 explains verse 10, so far that it tells us how Christ
dwells in his people, viz. by his Spirit. This solves what would
otherwise be to us a painful mystery concerning the presence of
Christ in and with his people. Christ dwells in us by his Spirit.
But this does not save us from temporal death. Notwithstanding
this great spiritual renovation, " the body is dead because of sin."
Death is by sin. The sins of believers are all pardoned, yet be-
lievers still die. How is this? The answers are many and solid,
i . If we had no light on the subject any more than Abraham had
in the matter of offering Isaac, yet it would be no great thing in
us to trust the living and the loving Lord that it was all right, and
wise and every way best for us to die. 2. Our Saviour died. Is
it not right that we should be made conformable to his death?
Phil. 3 : 10. How could we otherwise so well know the fellow-
ship of his sufferings ? How otherwise could we so fully know by
personal experience the power of his resurrection ? 3. In the
death of believers there is no curse. The sting of death is sin ;
and the . strength of sin is the law ; but thanks be to God who
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, I Cor. 15 :
56, 57. 4. In no sense essentially, but only in appearance, does the
righteous die as the wicked dieth. The wicked is driven away in
his wickedness. The righteous is taken away from the evil to
come. He shall enter into peace : they shall rest in their beds,
Pr. 14 : 32 ; Isa. 57 ; i, 2. 5. The body of the believer is not fit for
the heavenly state, and cannot be fit for it, without dying and
being raised, or without undergoing a change equivalent to death
and the resurrection. It is now in corruption ; it must be brought
into a state of ^ncorr^lpt^on. It is now in dishonor ; it must be put
into a state to fit it for glory. It is now full of weakness ; it must be
filled with power. It is now a natural body ; to be fit for heaven,
it must be fashioned anew by the Holy Ghost, and so become a
spiritual body, i Cor. 1 5 : 42-44. 6. The death of Christ was fol-
lowed by the most glorious results to him results dependent on
his death. No doubt the same is true in their measure of his
people, John 12:24; T Cor. 15:36-38. 7. When a believer dies
there is a real and rich blessing resting upon him. " Blessed are
the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth," Rev. 14 : 13. 8.
Believers shall finally and fully be in every sense delivered from
death. " The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death," i Cor. 1 5 :
26. 9. We know that when Christ shall appear, we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is, i John 3 : 8. Compare 2 Cor. 5 : 6, 8.
The Spirit is life, that is the new nature wrought in men by the Spirit,
the opposite of the flesh. Our Lord uses the word Spirit in appli-
378 EPISTLE TO [Ch.VIIL, v. n.
cation to the new nature imparted by him, John 3 : 6. This new
nature is not dead nor dying, it is living, yea it is life, eternal life
begun in the soul, having in it the elements of an imperishable vi-
tality, John 6 : 54. All the saints are born of incorruptible seed,
1 Pet. i : 23. Then what secures beyond all doubt the perpetuity
of this life is that the Holy Spirit, who gave it, nourishes it. And
all this is so because of righteousness. Righteousness may mean
either, i. the rectitude of God, by which he is faithful to all his
covenant engagements ; 2. the righteousness of Christ, wrought
out for believers and imputed to them when they believe, thus se-
curing to them the blessings of the co 
