‏ Romans 10:3-21

3. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness--that is, for the justification of the guilty (see on Ro 1:17).

and going about--"seeking"

to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God--The apostle views the general rejection of Christ by the nation as one act.

4. For Christ is the end--the object or aim.

of the law for--justifying

righteousness to every one that believeth--that is, contains within Himself all that the law demands for the justification of such as embrace Him, whether Jew or Gentile (Ga 3:24).

5-10. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man that doeth--"hath done"

those things--which it commands.

shall live in them--(Le 18:5). This is the one way of justification and life--by "the righteousness which is of (or, by our own obedience to) the law."

11-13. For the scripture saith--in Is 28:16, a glorious Messianic passage.

Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed--Here, as in Ro 9:33, the quotation is from the Septuagint, which renders those words of the original, "shall not make haste" (that is, fly for escape, as from conscious danger), "shall not be put to shame," which comes to the same thing.

14-15. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and ... believe in him of whom they have not heard? and ... hear without a preacher? and ... preach except ... sent?--that is, "True, the same Lord over all is rich unto all alike that call upon Him. But this calling implies believing, and believing hearing, and hearing preaching, and preaching a mission to preach: Why, then, take ye it so ill, O children of Abraham, that in obedience to our heavenly mission (Ac 26:16-18) we preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ?"

16-17. But they have not all obeyed the gospel--that is, the Scripture hath prepared us to expect this sad result.

For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?--that is,"Where shall one find a believer?" The prophet speaks as if next to none would believe: The apostle softens this into "They have not all believed."

18. But I say, Have they not heard?--"Did they not hear?" Can Israel, through any region of his dispersion, plead ignorance of these glad tidings?

Yes, verily, their sound went--"their voice went out"

into all the earth, and their words unto the end of the world--These beautiful words are from Psa 19:4. Whether the apostle quoted them as in their primary intention applicable to his subject (as Olshausen, Alford, &c.), or only "used scriptural language to express his own ideas, as is done involuntarily almost by every preacher in every sermon" [Hodge], expositors are not agreed. But though the latter may seem the more natural since "the rising of the Sun of righteousness upon the world" (Mal 4:2), "the Dayspring from on high visiting us, giving light to them that sat in darkness, and guiding our feet into the way of peace" (Lu 1:78, 79), must have been familiar and delightful to the apostle's ear, we cannot doubt that the irradiation of the world with the beams of a better Sun by the universal diffusion of the Gospel of Christ, must have a mode of speaking quite natural, and to him scarcely figurative.

19. But I say, Did not Israel know?--know, from their own Scriptures, of God's intention to bring in the Gentiles?

First--that is First in the prophetic line [De Wette].

Moses saith, &c.--"I will provoke you to jealousy ('against') [them that are] not a nation, and against a nation without understanding will I anger you" (De 32:21). In this verse God warns His ancient people that because they had (that is, in aftertimes would) moved Him to jealousy with their "no-gods," and provoked Him to anger with their vanities, He in requital would move them to jealousy by receiving into His favor a "no-people," and provoke them to anger by adopting a nation void of understanding.

20. But Esaias is very bold, and saith--that is, is still plainer, and goes even the length of saying.

I was found of them that sought me not--until I sought them.

I was made--"became"

manifest unto them that asked not after me--until the invitation from Me came to them. That the calling of the Gentiles was meant by these words of the prophet (Is 65:1) is manifest from what immediately follows, "I said, Behold Me, behold Me, unto a nation that was not called by My name."

21. But to--rather, "with regard to"

Israel he saith, All day--"All the day"

long I have stretched out my hands--"did I stretch forth"

my hands--the attitude of gracious entreaty.

unto a disobedient and gainsaying people--These words, which immediately follow the announcement just quoted of the calling of the Gentiles, were enough to forewarn the Jews both of God's purpose to eject them from their privileges, in favor of the Gentiles, and of the cause of it on their own part.

Note, (1) Mere sincerity, and even earnestness in religion--though it may be some ground of hope for a merciful recovery from error--is no excuse, and will not compensate, for the deliberate rejection of saving truth, when in the providence of God presented for acceptance (Ro 10:1-3; and see on Ro 9:7, Note 7). (2) The true cause of such rejection of saving truth, by the otherwise sincere, is the prepossession of the mind by some false notions of its own. So long as the Jews "sought to set up their own righteousness," it was in the nature of things impossible that they should "submit themselves to the righteousness of God"; the one of these two methods of acceptance being in the teeth of the other (Ro 10:3). (3) The essential terms of salvation have in every age been the same: "Whosoever will" is invited to "take of the water of life freely," Re 22:17 (Ro 10:13). (4) How will the remembrance of the simplicity, reasonableness, and absolute freeness of God's plan of salvation overwhelm those that perish from under the sound of it (Ro 10:4-13). (5) How piercingly and perpetually should that question--"How shall they hear without a preacher?"--sound in the ears of all churches, as but the apostolic echo of their Lord's parting injunction, "Preach the Gospel to every creature" (Mr 16:15), and how far below the proper standard of love, zeal, and self-sacrifice must the churches as yet be, when with so plenteous a harvest the laborers are yet so few (Mt 9:37, 38), and that cry from the lips of pardoned, gifted, consecrated men--"Here am I, send me" (Is 6:8), is not heard everywhere (Ro 10:14, 15)! (6) The blessing of a covenant relation to God is the irrevocable privilege of no people and no Church; it can be preserved only by fidelity, on our part, to the covenant itself (Ro 10:19). (7) God is often found by those who apparently are the farthest from Him, while He remains undiscovered by those who think themselves the nearest (Ro 10:20, 21). (8) God's dealings even with reprobate sinners are full of tenderness and compassion; all the day long extending the arms of His mercy even to the disobedient and gainsaying. This will be felt and acknowledged at last by all who perish, to the glory of God's forbearance and to their own confusion (Ro 10:21).

‏ Romans 11

CHAPTER 11

Ro 11:1-36. Same Subject Continued and Concluded--The Ultimate Inbringing of All Israel, to Be, with the Gentiles, One Kingdom of God on the Earth.

1. I say then, Hath--"Did"

God cast away his people? God forbid--Our Lord did indeed announce that "the kingdom of God should be taken from Israel" (Mt 21:41); and when asked by the Eleven, after His resurrection, if He would at that time "restore the kingdom to Israel," His reply is a virtual admission that Israel was in some sense already out of covenant (Ac 1:9). Yet here the apostle teaches that, in two respects, Israel was not "cast away"; First, Not totally; Second, Not finally. First, Israel is not wholly cast away.

for I also am an Israelite--See Php 3:5, and so a living witness to the contrary.

of the seed of Abraham--of pure descent from the father of the faithful.

of the tribe of Benjamin--(Php 3:5), that tribe which, on the revolt of the ten tribes, constituted, with Judah, the one faithful kingdom of God (1Ki 12:21), and after the captivity was, along with Judah, the kernel of the Jewish nation (Ezr 4:1; 10:9).

2-4. God hath--"did"

not cast away his people--that is, wholly

which he foreknew--On the word "foreknew," see on Ro 8:29.

Wot--that is, "Know"

ye not that the scripture saith of--literally, "in," that is, in the section which relates to

Elias? how he maketh intercession--"pleadeth"

against Israel--(The word "saying," which follows, as also the particle "and" before "digged down," should be omitted, as without manuscript authority).

5. Even so at this present time--"in this present season"; this period of Israel's rejection. (See Ac 1:7, Greek).

there is--"there obtains," or "hath remained"

a remnant according to the election of grace--"As in Elijah's time the apostasy of Israel was not so universal as it seemed to be, and as he in his despondency concluded it to be, so now, the rejection of Christ by Israel is not so appalling in extent as one would be apt to think: There is now, as there was then, a faithful remnant; not however of persons naturally better than the unbelieving mass, but of persons graciously chosen to salvation." (See 1Co 4:7; 2Th 2:13). This establishes our view of the argument on Election in Ro 9:1-29, as not being an election of Gentiles in the place of Jews, and merely to religious advantages, but a sovereign choice of some of Israel itself, from among others, to believe and be saved. (See on Ro 9:6.)

6. And, &c.--better, "Now if it (the election) be by grace, it is no more of works; for [then] grace becomes no more grace: but if it be of works," &c. (The authority of ancient manuscripts against this latter clause, as superfluous and not originally in the text, though strong, is not sufficient, we think, to justify its exclusion. Such seeming redundancies are not unusual with our apostle). The general position here laid down is of vital importance: That there are but two possible sources of salvation--men's works, and God's grace; and that these are so essentially distinct and opposite, that salvation cannot be of any combination or mixture of both, but must be wholly either of the one or of the other. (See on Ro 4:3, Note 3.)

7-10. What then?--How stands the fact?

Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for--better, "What Israel is in search of (that is, Justification, or acceptance with God--see on Ro 9:31); this he found not; but the election (the elect remnant of Israel) found it, and the rest were hardened," or judicially given over to the "hardness of their own hearts."

11. I say then, Have they stumbled--"Did they stumble"

that they should fall? God forbid; but--the supplement "rather" is better omitted.

through their fall--literally, "trespass," but here best rendered "false step" [De Wette]; not "fall," as in our version.

salvation is come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy--Here, as also in Ro 10:19 (quoted from De 32:21), we see that emulation is a legitimate stimulus to what is good.

12. Now if the fall of them--"But if their trespass," or "false step"

be the riches of the--Gentile

world--as being the occasion of their accession to Christ.

and the diminishing of them--that is, the reduction of the true Israel to so small a remnant.

the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness!--that is, their full recovery (see on Ro 11:26); that is, "If an event so untoward as Israel's fall was the occasion of such unspeakable good to the Gentile world, of how much greater good may we expect an event so blessed as their full recovery to be productive?"

13-14. I speak--"am speaking"

to you Gentiles--another proof that this Epistle was addressed to Gentile believers. (See on Ro 1:13).

I magnify--"glorify"

mine office--The clause beginning with "inasmuch" should be read as a parenthesis.

15. For if the casting away of them--The apostle had denied that they were east away (Ro 11:1); here he affirms it. But both are true; they were cast away, though neither totally nor finally, and it is of this partial and temporary rejection that the apostle here speaks.

be the reconciling of the--Gentile

world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?--The reception of the whole family of Israel, scattered as they are among all nations under heaven, and the most inveterate enemies of the Lord Jesus, will be such a stupendous manifestation of the power of God upon the spirits of men, and of His glorious presence with the heralds of the Cross, as will not only kindle devout astonishment far and wide, but so change the dominant mode of thinking and feeling on all spiritual things as to seem like a resurrection from the dead.

16. For--"But"

if the first-fruit be holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root ... so the branches--The Israelites were required to offer to God the first-fruits of the earth--both in their raw state, in a sheaf of newly reaped grain (Le 23:10, 11), and in their prepared state, made into cakes of dough (Nu 15:19-21)--by which the whole produce of that season was regarded as hallowed. It is probable that the latter of these offerings is here intended, as to it the word "lump" best applies; and the argument of the apostle is, that as the separation unto God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, from the rest of mankind, as the parent stem of their race, was as real an offering of first-fruits as that which hallowed the produce of the earth, so, in the divine estimation, it was as real a separation of the mass or "lump" of that nation in all time to God. The figure of the "root" and its "branches" is of like import--the consecration of the one of them extending to the other.

17-18. And if--rather, "But if"; that is, "If notwithstanding this consecration of Abraham's race to God.

some of the branches--The mass of the unbelieving and rejected Israelites are here called "some," not, as before, to meet Jewish prejudice (see on Ro 3:3, and on "not all" in Ro 10:16), but with the opposite view of checking Gentile pride.

and thou, being a wild olive, wert--"wast"

grafted in among them--Though it is more usual to graft the superior cutting upon the inferior stem, the opposite method, which is intended here, is not without example.

and with them partakest--"wast made partaker," along with the branches left, the believing remnant.

of the root and fatness of the olive tree--the rich grace secured by covenant to the true seed of Abraham.

19-21. Thou wilt say then--as a plea for boasting.

The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.

22-23. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them that fell, severity--in rejecting the chosen seed.

but toward thee, goodness--"God's goodness" is the true reading, that is, His sovereign goodness in admitting thee to a covenant standing who before wert a "stranger to the covenants of promise" (Ep 2:12-20).

if thou continue in his goodness--in believing dependence on that pure goodness which made thee what thou art.

24. For if thou wert cut--"wert cut off"

from the olive tree, which is wild by nature, and wast grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree; how much more shall these, &c.--This is just the converse of Ro 11:21: "As the excision of the merely engrafted Gentiles through unbelief is a thing much more to be expected than was the excision of the natural Israel, before it happened; so the restoration of Israel, when they shall be brought to believe in Jesus, is a thing far more in the line of what we should expect, than the admission of the Gentiles to a standing which they never before enjoyed."

25. For I would not ... that ye should be ignorant of this mystery--The word "mystery," so often used by our apostle, does not mean (as with us) something incomprehensible, but "something before kept secret, either wholly or for the most part, and now only fully disclosed" (compare Ro 16:25; 1Co 2:7-10; Ep 1:9, 10; 3:3-6, 9, 10).

lest ye should be wise in your own conceits--as if ye alone were in all time coming to be the family of God.

that blindness--"hardness"

in part is happened to--"hath come upon"

Israel--that is, hath come partially, or upon a portion of Israel.

until the fulness of the Gentiles be--"have"

come in--that is, not the general conversion of the world to Christ, as many take it; for this would seem to contradict the latter part of this chapter, and throw the national recovery of Israel too far into the future: besides, in Ro 11:15, the apostle seems to speak of the receiving of Israel, not as following, but as contributing largely to bring about the general conversion of the world--but, "until the Gentiles have had their full time of the visible Church all to themselves while the Jews are out, which the Jews had till the Gentiles were brought in." (See Lu 21:24).

26-27. And so all Israel shall be saved--To understand this great statement, as some still do, merely of such a gradual inbringing of individual Jews, that there shall at length remain none in unbelief, is to do manifest violence both to it and to the whole context. It can only mean the ultimate ingathering of Israel as a nation, in contrast with the present "remnant." (So Tholuck, Meyer, De Wette, Philippi, Alford, Hodge). Three confirmations of this now follow: two from the prophets, and a third from the Abrahamic covenant itself. First, as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and

shall--or, according to what seems the true reading, without the "and"--"He shall"

turn away ungodliness from Jacob--The apostle, having drawn his illustrations of man's sinfulness chiefly from Psa 14:1-7 and Is 59:1-21, now seems to combine the language of the same two places regarding Israel's salvation from it [Bengel]. In the one place the Psalmist longs to see the "salvation of Israel coming out of Zion" (Psa 14:7); in the other, the prophet announces that "the Redeemer (or, 'Deliverer') shall come to (or 'for') Zion" (Is 59:20). But as all the glorious manifestations of Israel's God were regarded as issuing out of Zion, as the seat of His manifested glory (Psa 20:2; 110:2; Is 31:9), the turn which the apostle gives to the words merely adds to them that familiar idea. And whereas the prophet announces that He "shall come to (or, 'for') them that turn from transgression in Jacob," while the apostle makes Him say that He shall come "to turn away ungodliness from Jacob," this is taken from the Septuagint version, and seems to indicate a different reading of the original text. The sense, however, is substantially the same in both. Second,

28-29. As concerning the Gospel they are enemies for your sakes--that is, they are regarded and treated as enemies (in a state of exclusion through unbelief, from the family of God) for the benefit of you Gentiles; in the sense of Ro 11:11, 15.

but as touching, the election--of Abraham and his seed.

they are beloved--even in their state of exclusion for the fathers' sakes.

30-31. For as ye in times past have not believed--or, "obeyed"

God--that is, yielded not to God "the obedience of faith," while strangers to Christ.

yet now have obtained mercy through--by occasion of

their unbelief--(See on Ro 11:11; Ro 11:15; Ro 11:28).

32. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief--"hath shut them all up to unbelief"

that he might have mercy upon all--that is, those "all" of whom he had been discoursing; the Gentiles first, and after them the Jews [Fritzsche, Tholuck, Olshausen, De Wette, Philippi, Stuart, Hodge]. Certainly it is not "all mankind individually" [Meyer, Alford]; for the apostle is not here dealing with individuals, but with those great divisions of mankind, Jew and Gentile. And what he here says is that God's purpose was to shut each of these divisions of men to the experience first of an humbled, condemned state, without Christ, and then to the experience of His mercy in Christ.

33. Oh, the depth, &c.--The apostle now yields himself up to the admiring contemplation of the grandeur of that divine plan which he had sketched out.

of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God--Many able expositors render this, "of the riches and wisdom and knowledge," &c. [Erasmus, Grotius, Bengel, Meyer, De Wette, Tholuck, Olshausen, Fritzsche, Philippi, Alford, Revised Version]. The words will certainly bear this sense, "the depth of God's riches." But "the riches of God" is a much rarer expression with our apostle than the riches of this or that perfection of God; and the words immediately following limit our attention to the unsearchableness of God's "judgments," which probably means His decrees or plans (Psa 119:75), and of "His ways," or the method by which He carries these into effect. (So Luther, Calvin, Beza, Hodge, &c.). Besides, all that follows to the end of the chapter seems to show that while the Grace of God to guilty men in Christ Jesus is presupposed to be the whole theme of this chapter, that which called forth the special admiration of the apostle, after sketching at some length the divine purposes and methods in the bestowment of this grace, was "the depth of the riches of God's wisdom and knowledge" in these purposes and methods. The "knowledge," then, points probably to the vast sweep of divine comprehension herein displayed; the "wisdom" to that fitness to accomplish the ends intended, which is stamped on all this procedure.

34-35. For who hath known the mind of the Lord?--See Job 15:8; Jr 23:18.

or who hath been his counsellor--See Is 40:13, 14.

36. For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom--"to Him"

be glory for ever. Amen--Thus worthily--with a brevity only equalled by its sublimity--does the apostle here sum up this whole matter. "Of Him are all things," as their eternal Source: "THROUGH Him are all things," inasmuch as He brings all to pass which in His eternal counsels He purposed: "To Him are all things," as being His own last End; the manifestation of the glory of His own perfections being the ultimate, because the highest possible, design of all His procedure from first to last.

On this rich chapter, Note, (1) It is an unspeakable consolation to know that in times of deepest religious declension and most extensive defection from the truth, the lamp of God has never been permitted to go out, and that a faithful remnant has ever existed--a remnant larger than their own drooping spirits could easily believe (Ro 11:1-5). (2) The preservation of this remnant, even as their separation at the first, is all of mere grace (Ro 11:5, 6). (3) When individuals and communities, after many fruitless warnings, are abandoned of God, they go from bad to worse (Ro 11:7-10). (4) God has so ordered His dealings with the great divisions of mankind, "that no flesh should glory in His presence." Gentile and Jew have each in turn been "shut up to unbelief," that each in turn may experience the "mercy" which saves the chief of sinners (Ro 11:11-32). (5) As we are "justified by faith," so are we "kept by the power of God through faith"--faith alone--unto salvation (Ro 11:20-32). (6) God's covenant with Abraham and his natural seed is a perpetual covenant, in equal force under the Gospel as before it. Therefore it is, that the Jews as a nation still survive, in spite of all the laws which, in similar circumstances, have either extinguished or destroyed the identity of other nations. And therefore it is that the Jews as a nation will yet be restored to the family of God, through the subjection of their proud hearts to Him whom they have pierced. And as believing Gentiles will be honored to be the instruments of this stupendous change, so shall the vast Gentile world reap such benefit from it, that it shall be like the communication of life to them from the dead. (7) Thus has the Christian Church the highest motive to the establishment and vigorous prosecution of missions to the Jews; God having not only promised that there shall be a remnant of them gathered in every age, but pledged Himself to the final ingathering of the whole nation assigned the honor of that ingathering to the Gentile Church, and assured them that the event, when it does arrive, shall have a life-giving effect upon the whole world (Ro 11:12-16, 26-31). (8) Those who think that in all the evangelical prophecies of the Old Testament the terms "Jacob," "Israel," &c., are to be understood solely of the Christian Church, would appear to read the Old Testament differently from the apostle, who, from the use of those very terms in Old Testament prophecy, draws arguments to prove that God has mercy in store for the natural Israel (Ro 11:26, 27). (9) Mere intellectual investigations into divine truth in general, and the sense of the living oracles in particular, as they have a hardening effect, so they are a great contrast to the spirit of our apostle, whose lengthened sketch of God's majestic procedure towards men in Christ Jesus ends here in a burst of admiration, which loses itself in the still loftier frame of adoration (Ro 11:33-36).

‏ Romans 12

CHAPTER 12

Ro 12:1-21. Duties of Believers, General and Particular.

The doctrinal teaching of this Epistle is now followed up by a series of exhortations to practical duty. And first, the all-comprehensive duty.

1. I beseech you therefore--in view of all that has been advanced in the foregoing part of this Epistle.

by the mercies of God--those mercies, whose free and unmerited nature, glorious Channel, and saving fruits have been opened up at such length.

that ye present--See on Ro 6:13, where we have the same exhortation and the same word there rendered "yield" (as also in Ro 12:16, 19).

your bodies--that is, "yourselves in the body," considered as the organ of the inner life. As it is through the body that all the evil that is in the unrenewed heart comes forth into palpable manifestation and action, so it is through the body that all the gracious principles and affections of believers reveal themselves in the outward life. Sanctification extends to the whole man (1Th 5:23, 24).

a living sacrifice--in glorious contrast to the legal sacrifices, which, save as they were slain, were no sacrifices at all. The death of the one "Lamb of God, taking away the sin of the world," has swept all dead victims from off the altar of God, to make room for the redeemed themselves as "living sacrifices" to Him who made "Him to be sin for us"; while every outgoing of their grateful hearts in praise, and every act prompted by the love of Christ, is itself a sacrifice to God of a sweet-smelling savor (He 13:15, 16).

holy--As the Levitical victims, when offered without blemish to God, were regarded as holy, so believers, "yielding themselves to God as those that are alive from the dead, and their members as instruments of righteousness unto God," are, in His estimation, not ritually but really "holy," and so

acceptable--"well-pleasing"

unto God--not as the Levitical offerings, merely as appointed symbols of spiritual ideas, but objects, intrinsically, of divine complacency, in their renewed character, and endeared relationship to Him through His Son Jesus Christ.

which is your reasonable--rather, "rational"

service--in contrast, not to the senselessness of idol-worship, but to the offering of irrational victims under the law. In this view the presentation of ourselves, as living monuments of redeeming mercy, is here called "our rational service"; and surely it is the most rational and exalted occupation of God's reasonable creatures. So 2Pe 1:5, "to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."

2. And be ye not conformed to this world--Compare Ep 2:2; Ga 1:4, Greek.

but be ye transformed--or, "transfigured" (as in Mt 17:2; and 2Co 3:18, Greek).

by the renewing of your mind--not by a mere outward disconformity to the ungodly world, many of whose actions in themselves may be virtuous and praiseworthy; but by such an inward spiritual transformation as makes the whole life new--new in its motives and ends, even where the actions differ in nothing from those of the world--new, considered as a whole, and in such a sense as to be wholly unattainable save through the constraining power of the love of Christ.

that ye may prove--that is, experimentally. (On the word "experience" see on Ro 5:4, and compare 1Th 5:10, where the sentiment is the same).

what is that--"the"

good and acceptable--"well-pleasing"

and perfect, will of God--We prefer this rendering (with Calvin) to that which many able critics [Tholuck, Meyer, De Wette, Fritzsche, Philippi, Alford, Hodge] adopt--"that ye may prove," or "discern the will of God, [even] what is good, and acceptable, and perfect." God's will is "good," as it demands only what is essentially and unchangeably good (Ro 7:10); it is "well pleasing," in contrast with all that is arbitrary, as demanding only what God has eternal complacency in (compare Mi 6:8, with Jr 9:24); and it is "perfect," as it required nothing else than the perfection of God's reasonable creature, who, in proportion as he attains to it, reflects God's own perfection. Such then is the great general duty of the redeemed--SELF-CONSECRATION, in our whole spirit and soul and body to Him who hath called us into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ. Next follow specific duties, chiefly social; beginning with Humility, the chiefest of all the graces--but here with special reference to spiritual gifts.

3. For I say--authoritatively

through the grace given unto me--as an apostle of Jesus Christ; thus exemplifying his own precept by modestly falling back on that office which both warranted and required such plainness towards all classes.

to every man that is among you, not to think, &c.--It is impossible to convey in good English the emphatic play, so to speak, which each word here has upon another: "not to be high-minded above what he ought to be minded, but so to be minded as to be sober-minded" [Calvin, Alford]. This is merely a strong way of characterizing all undue self-elevation.

according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith--Faith is here viewed as the inlet to all the other graces, and so, as the receptive faculty of the renewed soul--that is, "as God hath given to each his particular capacity to take in the gifts and graces which He designs for the general good."

4-5. For as we have many members, &c.--The same diversity and yet unity obtains in the body of Christ, whereof all believers are the several members, as in the natural body.

6-8. Having then gifts differing according to the grace given to us--Here, let it be observed, all the gifts of believers alike are viewed as communications of mere grace.

whether--we have the gift of

prophecy--that is, of inspired teaching (as in Ac 15:32). Anyone speaking with divine authority--whether with reference to the past, the present, or the future--was termed a prophet (Ex 7:1).

let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith--rather, "of our faith." Many Romish expositors and some Protestant (as Calvin and Bengel, and, though, hesitatingly, Beza and Hodge), render this "the analogy of faith," understanding by it "the general tenor" or "rule of faith," divinely delivered to men for their guidance. But this is against the context, whose object is to show that, as all the gifts of believers are according to their respective capacity for them, they are not to be puffed up on account of them, but to use them purely for their proper ends.

9. Let love be without dissimulation--"Let your love be unfeigned" (as in 2Co 6:6; 1Pe 2:22; and see 1Jo 3:18).

Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good--What a lofty tone of moral principle and feeling is here inculcated! It is not, Abstain from the one, and do the other; nor, Turn away from the one, and draw to the other; but, Abhor the one, and cling, with deepest sympathy, to the other.

10. Be, &c.--better, "In brotherly love be affectionate one to another; in [giving, or showing] honor, outdoing each other." The word rendered "prefer" means rather "to go before," "take the lead," that is, "show an example." How opposite is this to the reigning morality of the heathen world! and though Christianity has so changed the spirit of society, that a certain beautiful disinterestedness and self-sacrifice shines in the character of not a few who are but partially, if at all under the transforming power of the Gospel, it is only those whom "the love of Christ constrains to live not unto themselves," who are capable of thoroughly acting in the spirit of this precept.

11. not slothful in business--The word rendered "business" means "zeal," "diligence," "purpose"; denoting the energy of action.

serving the Lord--that is, the Lord Jesus (see Ep 6:5-8). Another reading--"serving the time," or "the occasion"--which differs in form but very slightly from the received reading, has been adopted by good critics [Luther, Olshausen, Fritzsche, Meyer]. But as manuscript authority is decidedly against it, so is internal evidence; and comparatively few favor it. Nor is the sense which it yields a very Christian one.

12. Rejoicing, &c.--Here it is more lively to retain the order and the verbs of the original: "In hope, rejoicing; in tribulation, enduring; in prayer, persevering." Each of these exercises helps the other. If our "hope" of glory is so assured that it is a rejoicing hope, we shall find the spirit of "endurance in tribulation" natural and easy; but since it is "prayer" which strengthens the faith that begets hope and lifts it up into an assured and joyful expectancy, and since our patience in tribulation is fed by this, it will be seen that all depends on our "perseverance in prayer."

13. given to hospitality--that is, the entertainment of strangers. In times of persecution, and before the general institution of houses of entertainment, the importance of this precept would be at once felt. In the East, where such houses are still rare, this duty is regarded as of the most sacred character [Hodge].

14. Bless--that is, Call down by prayer a blessing on.

them which persecute you, &c.--This is taken from the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:44), which, from the allusions made to it, seems to have been the storehouse of Christian morality among the churches.

15. Rejoice with them that rejoice; and weep--the "and" should probably be omitted.

with them that weep--What a beautiful spirit of sympathy with the joys and sorrows of others is here inculcated! But it is only one charming phase of the unselfish character which belongs to all living Christianity. What a world will ours be when this shall become its reigning spirit! Of the two, however, it is more easy to sympathize with another's sorrows than his joys, because in the one case he needs us; in the other not. But just for this reason the latter is the more disinterested, and so the nobler.

16. Be--"Being"

of the same mind one toward another--The feeling of the common bond which binds all Christians to each other, whatever diversity of station, cultivation, temperament, or gifts may obtain among them, is the thing here enjoined. This is next taken up in detail.

Mind not--"not minding"

high things--that is, Cherish not ambitious or aspiring purposes and desires. As this springs from selfish severance of our own interests and objects from those of our brethren, so it is quite incompatible with the spirit inculcated in the preceding clause.

but condescend--"condescending"

to men of low estate--or (as some render the words), "inclining unto the things that be lowly." But we prefer the former.

Be not wise in your own conceits--This is just the application of the caution against high-mindedness to the estimate we form of our own mental character.

17. Recompense--"Recompensing," &c.--(See on Ro 12:14).

Provide--"Providing"

things honest--"honorable"

in the sight of all men--The idea (which is from Pr 3:4) is the care which Christians should take so to demean themselves as to command the respect of all men.

18. If it be possible--that is, If others will let you.

as much as lieth in you--or, "dependeth on you."

live peaceably--or, "be at peace."

with all men--The impossibility of this in some cases is hinted at, to keep up the hearts of those who, having done their best unsuccessfully to live in peace, might be tempted to think the failure was necessarily owing to themselves. But how emphatically expressed is the injunction to let nothing on our part prevent it! Would that Christians were guiltless in this respect!

19-21. avenge not, &c.--(See on Ro 12:14).

but rather give place unto wrath--This is usually taken to mean, "but give room or space for wrath to spend itself." But as the context shows that the injunction is to leave vengeance to God, "wrath" here seems to mean, not the offense, which we are tempted to avenge, but the avenging wrath of God (see 2Ch 24:18), which we are enjoined to await, or give room for. (So the best interpreters).

‏ Romans 13:1-6

CHAPTER 13

Ro 13:1-14. Same Subject Continued--Political and Social Relations--Motives.

1-2. Let every soul--every man of you

be subject unto the higher powers--or, "submit himself to the authorities that are above him."

For there is no power--"no authority"

but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God--"have been ordained of God."

3-4. For rulers are not a terror to good works--"to the good work," as the true reading appears to be

but to the evil.

5. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath--for fear of the magistrate's vengeance.

but also for conscience' sake--from reverence for God's authority. It is of Magistracy in general, considered as a divine ordinance, that this is spoken: and the statement applies equally to all forms of government, from an unchecked despotism--such as flourished when this was written, under the Emperor Nero--to a pure democracy. The inalienable right of all subjects to endeavor to alter or improve the form of government under which they live is left untouched here. But since Christians were constantly charged with turning the world upside down, and since there certainly were elements enough in Christianity of moral and social revolution to give plausibility to the charge, and tempt noble spirits, crushed under misgovernment, to take redress into their own hands, it was of special importance that the pacific, submissive, loyal spirit of those Christians who resided at the great seat of political power, should furnish a visible refutation of this charge.

6-7. For, for this cause pay ye--rather, "ye pay"

tribute also--that is, "This is the reason why ye pay the contributions requisite for maintaining the civil government."

for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing--"to this very thing."