"I give theft Books for the foipuling, tf, a. ColUgt w, ihi^Colotiyll DIVINITY SCHOOL TROWBRIDGE LIBRARY GIFT OF Estate of the Rev. Orville A. Petty A Commentary on . St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans . . By JOSEPH AGAR BEET, d.d. NEW YORK THOMAS WHITTAKER -•) -•> 21^3 Bible House 1901 \cto\ PREFACE THIS volume is the ninth edition of a work which has been for some years out of print. Its republication has been delayed in order to give time for careful reconsidera tion of the whole subject. The whole has been rewritten ; and embodies the writer's mature thought about the greatest work of the greatest of the apostles of Christ. My purpose in writing and rewriting is identical with that of the epistle annotated, as I understand it, viz. to set before the readers the Gospel of Christ as Paul understood it, in order that by intelligent faith they may embrace, or embrace more fully, the salvation announced by Christ, and thus find in Him eternal life : cp. Jno. xx. 31. In other words, my aim has been to bridge over nineteen centuries and to place modern English readers as nearly as possible in the position of those who first heard the epistle read at Rome. It is therefore a contribution to Doctrinal Theology : for Paul wrote in order to set before the Christians at Rome an orderly, and within its limits complete, account of the Gospel. But it is in nowise dogmatic : for my statements and arguments rest, not on authority, but on evidence adduced. My aim has been simply to learn and reproduce Paul's own rational conception of Christ and the Gospel. And this is the highest aim of all Biblical research. This volume is also a contribution to Christian Evidences. For Paul wrote and argued in order to produce and strengthen in his readers an intelligent conviction of the truth of the Gospel : and I have endeavoured to reproduce and estimate his arguments. b vi PREFACE Whatever is needful for these ends, I have, to the best of my ability, done. I have adduced decisive proof that this letter actually came from the pen of Paul ; and that it is fairly reproduced, as he wrote it, in our modern copies, English and Greek. Where the ancient copies differ so as to affect theological teaching, and where serious doubt exists as to the true reading, I have discussed the difference, as in chs. iii. 28, v. 1, viii. 11. I have also carefully discussed the meaning and associations of thought of the words and phrases of the epistle. These are of utmost importance, as the very alphabet of theology. In the more important cases, the results of this study are embodied in separate notes. I have also endeavoured to trace the apostle's line of thought and argument, which I have embodied in frequent recapitulations. Throughout the work, I have sought for the general theological conceptions underlying the epistle. This is needful even for correct exposition ; for only in the light of a writer's general conceptions can we understand his language. Moreover the thoughts of Paul, as expressed in his epistles, are one chief avenue of approach to the actual teaching of Christ and to the eternal realities underlying His Gospel. The results of this study, I have embodied in dissertations at the close of this volume. My chief aid has been careful grammatical study of the Greek text. But it was needless to reprint it : for each student will use his own copy of the Greek Testament or English Bible. The English translation here given was needful in order to explain to scholars how I interpret Paul's Greek words, and to give to all readers a consecutive text of the epistle. Although the whole work is based on the Greek text, there has been little need for Greek type : for all scholars will recognise my constant reference to the original. This will make my work more helpful to many intelligent men and women who are eager to follow as closely as possible the teaching of Paul but are not familiar with the niceties of Greek grammar. Where the Greek construction is difficult PREFACE vii and important, it has been carefully discussed ; as in chs. v. 1, vii. 21, ix. 5 : and occasionally, e.g. on pp. 30, 132, I have discussed the meaning of Greek particles. My aim has led me to give special attention to the doctrinal contents of the epistle, to the broad theological principles which underlay the thought of Paul, and to the historic facts and eternal realities which underlie the Christian faith. This explains the notes on pp. 65^ ii3f, nof, the note on Election on pp. 279-82, and the careful argument in Diss. i. The whole work is a study in theology at the feet of the great apostle. In the Grammar of the New Testament, there has been comparatively little progress since the epoch-making work of Winer, first published in 1822, and re-edited in a seventh edition, after his death, by Lunemann in 1867 : a recent edition by Schmiedel. We have however an attractive and able Grammar of New Testament Greek by Blass, published in 1896, and in English by Thackeray in 1898 ; also a most scholarly volume on New Testament Moods and Tenses by De Witt Burton of Chicago. This last is specially good on the meaning and use of the Greek Aorist. Of modern commentaries, I may still mention those of Fritzsche, 1836-43, and De Wette, 4th ed. 1847, scholarly and accurate expositions, but almost forgotten now. Still more valuable is the great commentary of Meyer, 5th ed. 1872, which is still, as Meyer left it, in my view on the whole the best exposition of the Epistle to the Romans. Of commentaries published since the first appearance of this work in 1877, I may mention that of Godet, published in 1879, '8o> marked by keen insight into the apostle's meaning and great charm of style, but not always reliable in grammatical and critical details ; and that of Oltramare, published in 1881, '82, careful and scholarly, especially in grammar, but, as I think, less in harmony with the thought of Paul. These works we owe to French Switzerland, their writers having been professors at Lausanne and Geneva respectively. viii PREFACE In 1 88 1 appeared the sober and careful, rather than original, exposition of Gifford in The Speaker's Commentary. Somewhat earlier, in 1879, came Moule's attractive exposition in the Cambridge Bible for Schools ; and this was followed in 1894 by a profitable and spiritual volume by the same author in The Expositor's Bible. More recently, in 1895 was published a very attractive and scholarly volume in The International Critical Commentary by Sanday and Headlam, a valuable addition to the literature of the subject, but, like the others just mentioned, rather a careful reproduction of the work of others than an original exposition. I notice with interest that these last editors accept, if I correctly understand them, my exposition of Rom. v. 1, an exposition overlooked by all earlier commentators known to me, and by the Westminster Revisers. Among recent German works, I may mention the re-issue of Meyer's commentary, rewritten by Weiss, also a careful and scholarly work. The editor has the advantage of recent Textual Criticism ; but otherwise I prefer the original. A new edition, the fourth edited by Weiss, appeared in 1899. The exposition by Lipsius, in Holzmann's Handcommentar, is thoughtful, scholarly, accurate, and lucid. Its compactness leaves little room for statement of the reasons on which the expositor's judgments are based : but they are always worthy of respectful consideration. On the whole, it is one of the very best works on this epistle. While this edition was in the press, the second volume of The Expositor's Greek Testament, containing Dr. Denney's exposition of Romans, appeared. Within limits somewhat too narrow, he has given us a very accurate, attractive, and valuable work. With great pleasure I notice that, whereas for twenty- three years I have stood alone among English commentators in my exposition of Rom. ix. 5, except the note by Dr. Hort, in vol. ii. p. 1 10 of Westcott and Hort's Greek Testament where he differs from Dr. Westcott, Dr. Denney now stands by my side. But he seems to me in serious error in his note on Rom. viii. 15, where he says, "The aorist refers to the time of PREFACE ix their baptism, when they received the Spirit." The English preterite suggests a definite time in the past, or at least a time definitely removed from the present. And in this sense Dr. Denney interprets here the Greek aorist. But this last "indefinite" tense has no such definite reference. By using it, Paul asserts only that at some time in the past, suddenly or gradually, his readers received the Spirit of adoption. This difference between the Greek and English tenses is recognised by our author under ch. iii. 23 : but it is overlooked under ch. viii. 15 ; and the oversight is serious. This work of mine was written, and is now republished, in hope that it may help students of the original text to understand and appreciate the great truths which underlie the grammatical forms of the New Testament, and help also that large and increasing number of men and women in every position in life who wish to drink the water of life as it flows from the pen of those commissioned by Christ to announce the salvation which He wrought out for all who believe Him. Weslevan College, Richmond, 25M August, 1900. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION- Sec. i. Our Starting-point and our Aim. „ 2. Is the Epistle Genuine? ,, 3. Are our CoriEs Correct? ,, 4. When, Where, to Whom, and with what Purpose, was it Written ? „ 5. Suggestions for Bible Study. Exposition — Sec. 1. I. 1 — 7. Paul greets the Roman Christians. [Holiness.] „ 2. I. 8 — 15. He has long desired to preach to them : ,, 3. I. 16, 17. For the Gospel is God's power to save all that believe. DIV. I. ALL ARE GUILTY. I. 18-III. 20. 4. I. 18 — 32. For God is angry with all sin, 5. II. 1 — 11. Without respect of persons. 6. II. 12 — 24. Of this, the giving of the Law is no disproof ; [Destruction.] 7. II. 25—29. Nor is the rite of circumcision. 8. III. I — 9. Yet the Jews have real advantages ; 9. III. 10—20. But are condemned by their own Law. [The Law.] DIV. II. JUSTIFICATION AND ITS RESULTS. III. 21— V. ,, 10. III. 21—26. Justification through faith and through Christ : [Justification.] ,, 11. III. 27 — 30. By which all boasting is shut out ; 17- VI. 1— 10. i8. VI. 11— 14. 19- VI. 15-23. 20. VII. 1—6. 21. VII. 7—12. 22. VII. 13-25 23- VIII. 1— 11. 24. VIII. 12— 1; CONTENTS xi Sec. 12. III. 31— IV. 17. But, as the case of Abraham proves, the Law is established. , 13. IV. 18—25. Description of Abraham's faith. [Faith.] ,, 14. V. 1 — 11. We have now a well-grounded hope ; ,, 15. V. 12—19. And the curse of Adam is reversed. [Original Sin.] „ 16. V. 20, 21. The Law was given to prepare for this. DIV. III. THE NEW LIFE IN CHRIST. VI.— VIII. In the death of Christ we died to sin. Then serve sin no more : For experience proves how bad its service is. Through Christ we died to the Law. Yet the Law is not bad ; But makes known the badness and power of sin. The Spirit and the flesh. [Flesh.] . The guidance of the Spirit is a proof of coming glory ; [Spirit.] [Assurance of Justification.] 25. VIII. 18 — 27. A proof confirmed by the present position of Nature and of ourselves. 26. VIII. 28 — 39. In all things we are more than conquerors. DIV. IV. HARMONY OF THE OLD AND NEW. IX.— XI. ,, 27. IX. 1 — 5. Paul's sorrow for the Jews. ,, 28. IX. 6—13. Yet God is not unfaithful ; ,, 29. IX. 14 — 18. Nor unjust : „ 30. IX. 19 — 23. But has reason to find fault. ,, 31. IX. 24 — 29. The present position of Jews and Gentiles accords with prophecy. ,, 32. IX. 30 — 33. Through unbelief the Jews have failed to obtain righteousness. [Election, Predestination.] ,, 33. X. I — 13. Their unbelief is the result of ignorance : ,, 34. X. 14 — 21. For the preached Gospel and Israel's disbelief of it were foretold. ,, 35. XI. 1 — 10. Yet God has not cast off His people. ,, 36. XI. 11 — 24. Israel's fall has been the salvation of the Gentiles : and is not final. [Final Perseverance.] ,, 37. XI. 25 — 36. Israel will be saved. Praise to God. >ec. 38. XII. .. 39- XII. „ 40. XII. „ 41- XIII. „ 42. XIII. >. 43- XIII. ,, 44- XIV. .. 45. XIV. „ 46. XV. .. 47- XV. CONTENTS DIV. V. PRACTICAL LESSONS. XII.— XV. 13. 1,2. A consecrated body and renewed mind. 3 — 8. Variety of gifts. 9 — 21. General maxims. 1 — 7. Obey the rulers of the State. 8 — 10. Love thy neighbour. II — 14. Put off the works of darkness. I — 12. Do not judge thy brother. 13 — 23. Be careful not to injure thy brother. 1 — 6. The strong ought to help the weak ; 7 — 13. That all may praise God together. CONCLUSION OF THE EPISTLE. XV. 14— XVI. 48. XV. 14 — 21. Paul's apostolic office and work. 49. XV. 22, 23. His plans for the future, and present business. 50. XVI. 1 — 16. Salutations to Rome. 51. XVI. 17 — 20. A warning against divisions. 52. XVI. 21 — 27. Salutations from Corinth : and doxology. Doctrinal Results — Dissertation i. Paul's View of the Gospel and of Christ ,, 2. ,, of the Way of Salvation. ,, 3. ,, of the Jewish Scriptures. OTHER SCRIPTURES ILLUSTRATED Ex PAGE en. ii. 3 . 40 .. „ 17 • 157 ., iii. 15 • 359 .. » 19 157, 164 „ 22 • 157 ,, vi. 6 . 262, 310 „ 17, vii. 15, vii 1. 1 . 229 ,, xii. 1-7 . 132 „ xv. 3-6 i28ff, 143 „ xvii. 1 • 134 », 7 . 260 „ n • • 131 „ xxi. 12 . 260 ,, xxii. 16 . 122 ,. 17 • . 274 ,, xxv. 23 . 262 „ xxvi. 5 . 107 ,, xxxii. 20 • "7 „ xiv. 26 ¦ 143 xod. ii. 24 . . 129 ,, iv. 16. • 319 „ » 21. . 266 ,, vi. 6 . . 116 „ vii. 3 . . 266, 351 ,, ix. I5f . 266 ,, xiii. 13 . 116 „ xiv. 31 • 143 „ xv. 13 . 116 ,, xvii. 16 149, 262 ,, xix. 5f . 301 ,, xx. II . 40 ,, xxiii. 7 . 121 ,, xxiv. 4 . 107 ,, xxv. I7ff • • H7 Exod. Lev. Num. Deut. PAGE xxix., xxx. . 40 xxxi. 3 229 xxxiii. 19 . 265 xl. Iff . 40 iv. 5 . 29 „ 20ff Il6 vi. 9ff 107 xvi. 3off . 116 xvii. 8 395 xviii. 5 . 284 xix. 14 • 338 „ 18 . 328 xx. 26 40, 301 xxi. . . 40 xxii. 32 . 40 xxvii. 27ff . 40, 116 iii. 1 iff . 40 „ 46ff • . 116 v. 22 . . 60 xi. 31 . 229 xiv. 11 ¦ 143 xvi. 46f . 116 xviii. 15 . 116 xxii. 22, 32 • 359 xxiv. 4 ¦ 95 xxv. ioff . . 128 i. 32 . ¦ 143 vi. 25. 49. '29 vii. 6f • 279 „ 25f • 333 ix. 5 . . 129 x. l6 . ¦ 91 xii. 5ff ¦ 295 xiii. 15IT . • 252 xiv OTHER SCRIPTURES ILLUSTRATED PAGE PAGE Deut. xxiv. 13 . i \9> 129 Neh viii. 1 . . 107 ,, xxv. 1 . 121 Job i. 6ff . • 359 ,, xxvii. 15 . 60 ,, xi. 12, xiv. 4 . 166 ,, xxx. 6 • 91 J J xv. 14 . . 166 „ I2ff . . 284 ,, xxvii. 3 229 ,, xxxi. 9, 26 . 107 i> xxxiii. 32 121 ,, xxxii. I5ff . 291 • j xii. II . 3>2 ,» », 35 323 Psalm ii. 2 . 28 Josh. i. iff . 28 !> v. 5f • 262 „ ., 8 . . . 107 ) t ,, 9 • i°3 ,, ii. 10 . 266 1» x. 7 . i°3 ,, vi. I7f 252 " xii. 6 . 95 ,, vii. 1, 11, 15 252 il xiii. 5 . 143 ,, viii. 34 107 ,, xiv. iff 103 ,, xxii. ioff . 295 )» xviii. 15 229 Judg. ix. 9 . 30I »J xix. 2 63 ., ..23 229 * J >, 4 • • 290 ,, xiv. 6, 19 . 229 ,, xxiv. 7, 9 . 361 ,, xvi. 20 229 " xxxii. if i3°f 1 Sam. xv. 2 262 „ 10 . 143 >> 11 • -7 0, 262 11 xxxiii. 6 . . . 229 ,.29 70 ; j „ 12 . 279 ,, xvi. I4ff . 229 »j Ii. 5 . . . 166 ,, xxvii. 12 . 143 n „ 11 . 229 2 Sam. xii. 8 326 jj lvi. 4 . 220 ,, xv. 4 121 a lxii. 12 . . . 7i ., xviii. 19, 27 29 jj Ixv. 2 . 220 1 Kings ii. 3 I07 ,, Ixix. 9 344 ,, viii. 32 . 121 »i „ 22 . 296 xi. 14, 23, 25 . 359 » 1 Ixxviii. 39 . 220 „ xiv. 6 29 »» Ixxxii. 3 121 ,, xix. 10, 18 295 m xcviii. 8 237 ,, xxii. 21 . 229 u cv. 1, evi. 1, cvii. 1 336 2 Kings xviii. 4 . 295 ,, evi. 31 . . . 128 ,, xxii. 8, II 107 »» cvii. 11 . . 95 1 Chron. xvi. 40 . 107 » > cxl. 3 . i°3 ,, xxi. 1 359 Prov. iii. 1 . 107 2 Chron. vi. 23 . . . 121 i ) „ 7 • • • 322 ,, xxiii. 18 107 1 J viii. 1, 2 . 284 xxxi. 3 . 107 ») xiii. 24 262 ,, xxxv. 26 . 107 )) xiv. 15 143 Ezra i. 2 266 I > xvi. 14 . . . 117 „ iii. 2 . . 107 >J xxvi. 25 •43 „ iv. 1, x. 9 . 294 ' Eccl. iii. 19, 21 . 229 OTHER SCRIPTURES ILLUSTRATED xv PAGE PAGE Eccl. ix. io 321 Ezek. xxxix. 1 • 149 11 xii. 7 . 229 Dan. ii. 37f . . * . 326 Isa. i. 9 . 275 ,, iv. 25 . 266 ») v. 23 . 121 ,, vi. 27 • 351 >j x. 22 . 274 „ ix. 25 • 29 »» xxviii. 16 . 114 ,, xii. 2 . 73. 287 »» xxix. 10 296 Hos. i. 6ff . • 273 11 „ 16 269 „ ii. 23 . • 273 13 xxxi. 3 220 „ xiii. 15 . 229 71 xxxvii. 26 . 326 Joel ii. 32 . . 287 13 xl. I-IO 3° Micah vii. 5 • • 143 11 „ 5 ¦ 220 Hab. ii. 4 . 51, 114 11 ,. 7 • 229 Zech. iii. 1 . • 359 11 „ 13- 3'2 Mai. i. 2 . . 262 11 xii. 8f . 279 !) >> 4 • • 149 It xliii. 20 279 11 xliv. 1 279 11 xiv. 1-5 326 Matt. i. 1-16 • 3i 1 1 xlix. 26 220 „ ii. 12 . • 295 11 I. 8 . 121 » viii. 15 ¦ 354 13 Hi. 5 . . . 84 „ ix. 17 • ¦ 87 J 1 „ 7ff ¦ • 2c if, 289 ,, xi. 19. . 122 11 „I5 • • 352 ,, xii. 37 . 122 11 liii. 1 . 290 ,, xiii. II • 3°8 11 „ 11 . 121 „ „ 32 • 3°i 11 Iv. I2f 237 ,, xvi. 17 220 11 Iviii. 12 3^1 „ xxi. 8 • 3°i 1 1 lix. 7f 103 „ xxii. 39f • 329 11 „ 20 308 ,, xxiv. 32 . 301 33 „ 21 3°9 ,, xxv. 44 • 354 11 lxi. 4 . 361 Mark iii. 5 . • 296 11 lxiii. iof 229 » vi. 52 • 296 11 lxiv. 8 269 ,, viii. 17 • 296 11 Ixv. if 291 „ x. 6 . • 56 Jer. iv. 28 . . 103 „ xii. 31 • 329 1 1 v. 16 . 70 ,, xiii. 19 5& 11 ix 25f . • 91 Luke i. 6 . • 49 11 xi. 5 . . 60 ,, >» 19 • 29 11 xii. 6 . • 143 ,, ii. 10 . . 29 xviii. 2ff . 269 „ iii. 6 . 220 11 „ 7ff • . 70 „ » 23ff 31 13 „ 10 . . 3IO ,, vi. 13 . 29 11 xxviii. 6 . 60 „ vii. 29 122 Ezek . xviii. 22, 24 . 284 )> ») 35 122 OTHER SCRIPTURES ILLUSTRATED PAGE PAGE Luke viii. 3 354 Acts xxiv. 14 107 ,, ,* 55 • 229 D „ 17 . 350 , , x. 29 . 122 »» xxvi. 2 13° )) xi. 51. 87 ,, „ i6ff 29 ,, xiii. 24 355 >> xxvii. 25 142 ., XV. 8 . 87 1 Cor ii. 7 . 3OS ,, xvi. 13 333 1 1 vii. 34 40 1 1 .. 15 122 11 ,, 40 130 11 xxiv. 44 107 71 xii. 28 29 John iii. 3, 5, II 60 11 xv. 22 I64 D „ 6 . . . 166 ,, xvi. 19 357 ii » 8 . 229 2 Cor i. 3 . 345 31 „ 16. -7 3. H4 1 » ,, 20 . 60 71 iv. 21 . 142 »» „ 22 . 132 11 ,,25. 29 71 iii. 14. 296 11 vi. 29 . 123 11 v. 19 . 13° ,, viii. 44 '57 11 viii. 23 29 1 1 X. 28f 306 Gal. iii. 6 . 129 ,, » 34 • 107 17 „ 8 . 30 ,, xii. 40 296 31 „ 27 33° ,, xiii. 16 29 31 iv. 21 . 107 ,, xiv. 11 142 Eph. i-3 • 345 11 xv. 6 . 306 13 » 13 • 132 ,, xix. 30 229 »J ii. iff . 16 6,198 5 > xx. 8, 29 142 ,, „ 18 . . 150 J» » 21 29 ,, iii. 2ff 361 Acts ii. 17 . 220 11 iv. 11 . 29 51 .. 42 • 354 11 „ 18. . 296 , > iv. 9 . 49 ,, v. 2 . 35° )l vi. 7 . 36 11 » 7ff • • ¦ 33i )J vii- 59 229 Phil. ii. II . 336 )» „5i • 91 13 „ 25 . 29 ) t viii. 12 142 !» iii. 5 • 294 1 > a. 2, 22, 35 9i 1 1 .. 9 • 5° ,, » 7 • 333 Col. i. 29 . 355 J) xiii. 38 123 11 iv. 12. 355 5> xiv. 17 63 11 ., 15 • • 357 ' t xv. 29 333 1 Thess. iii. 6 • 29 il xvii. 24 • 63 11 v. iff • 33i » J xviii. 25 • 322 », .,23 . 40 », xix. 37 • 83 2 Thess. ii. 8 . 229 t' XX. 22f • 355 ii ., 11, 13- 142 '» xxi. 1 off • 355 11 iii. 2 • 355 .. „ 26 • 350 I Tim. i. 11 . • 13° ANCIENT AUTHORS QUOTED PAGE PAGE I Tim. iii. 7 . • 296 1 Pet. i. 3 , • 345 „ vi. 9 . 296 .. j, 4 • 73 >. ,.I5 130 .. „ i8f. . 117 2 Tim. i. 10 . 73 ,, ii. 6 . 278 „ "• 19 132 ¦jj jj 9 • • 279 >j jj 26 296 » „ i3ff. ¦ 326 „ iii. I5f 384 ., „ 18 . • 333 „ iv. 16 130 ,, iii. 16 . 116 Titus i. 15 . 333 „ „ 18 . 150 Phlm. 2 357 ,, iv. 11 • 95 „ 18 . 130 1 John iii. 23 123 Heb. v. 12 . 95 Jude 1 . . 116 „ vi. 48" . 18 Rev. iii. 14 . . 60 jj jj 10 . 354 „ v. 9 • "7 ,, A. IO, 14, l8 35° .> j, H ¦ . 60 ,, xi. 18 . 260 ,, xi. 11 . . 229 James ii. 23 . 129 ,, xiii. 15 . . 229 „ >, 24f 122 ,, xx. 2 • 359 ,, ,, 26 . 229 ,, xxi. 8 . • 3°6 ANCIENT AUTHORS QUOTED Alexandrian MS. PAGE 4, 12, 212, 218, Eusebius PAGE • 4j 6 242, 361 Hermas 4 Ambrosiaster • 34 Hippolytus . . 218 Aristotle 49. 130, 147, 184 Homer . 117 Athanasius . . 219 Ignatius ¦ 152 Augustine 11, 34 Irenasus 6, 8, 23, 219, 255 Barnabas • 173 Jerome 11 Chrysostom . ¦ 34, i45f Josephus 23, 83, 385 Cicero . ¦ 57, 62, 64, 79 Judith, Book of • 338 Clement of Alexandria . 5,218 Justin . 7 ,, ,, Rome • 4, 7 Koran . 10 Clermont MS. 12, 212, 219, 255 Latin Versions 11, 13, 219, 284 Coptic Version - 13 1 Maccabees, Book of . 129, 326 Cyprian ¦ 255 2 . .. ¦ 152, 295 Damasus 11 Marcion • 5, 6, 361 Enoch, Book of 29, 73 Muratori, Fragment of . . 7 Ephraim MS. 12, 212, 218, 255 Nicene Creed . 141 ,, the Syrian . . 12 CEcumenius . • 34 Epicureans . . . . 64 Origen 4, 34, 145. 219, 255, 361 Euripides . 207 Original Sin . . 164 xviii WORDS AND MATTERS DISCUSSED Ovid . . 207 Philo . 23, 129, 385 Photius • 34 Pius, Bishop of Rome . . 7 Plato . . 10, 57, 62 Polycarp 6 Pothinus 6 Seneca . 207 Shemoth Rabba • 93 Sinai MS. 12, 145, 212, 218 Sirach, Book of . 166 Socrates 79 Syrian Versions 3, 13, 212, 219, 284 Tertullian .... 5 Theodoret . . -34 Theophylact .... 34 Thorath Adam ... 92 Twelve Apostles, Teaching of 173 Vatican ms. . 12, 145, 212, 219, 242, 255, 284 Vulgate Version . . 11, 13 Wisdom, Book of . 63, 72, 166, 235. 243 Xenophon 66, 69, 77, 78, 79, 207 WORDS AND MATTERS DISCUSSED PAGE PAGE Abba . 225 Desire . 180 Abyss 285 Destruction . • 87 Achaia ¦ 354 Divinity • 56 Adoption 225, 238 Edification ¦ -340 Affliction 73 Election . 261, 279 Age • 316 End . 186 Amen . 60 Endurance • 72 Anathema . 252 Enemies of God . '53, 309 Angels . . 248 Eternal . • 73. 36 if Anger . 54, 73 ,, Life . . 72 Apostle • 29 Exhort . • 3i5 Asia • 357 Exult . 81 Assurance of Salvation . . 231 Faith . . 142 Atonement 117 Fall 299 Baptism . 172 Father . • 38 Belief, Believe . 142 Final Perseverance • 3°4 Blaspheme 84 Firstborn • 244 Blessed 130 Firstfruit • 238, 301 Body . 180 Flesh . 3', 220 Called . 37 242, 273 Foreknow • 243 Christ .... . 28 Foreordain . 244 Church • 381 Form 82, 244, 316 Circumcision . 88, 132 Fruit • 45 Conscience • 78 Fulness . • 3°o Creation 235 Fury 73 Day of Judgment . • 7i Gentiles . ¦ • 36 Deacon . 320, 357 Glory, Glorify 57, 58, 72, 114 WORDS AND MATTERS DISCUSSED xix PAGE PAGE Gospel . 29 46, 289 Perseverance . 72 Grace . 35, 44 Power . . 48 Greeks . 45-48 Preach . • 83 Hardened 71. 266, 296 Predestination 244, 281 Hated . . 262 Present . . 181 Heart . • 58 Principalities . . 248 Holiness 3° , 39, 379 Prophecy ¦ 319 Honour . 72, 326 Prophets 30, m Idols . • 83 Propitiation . 116 Illyricum • 35i Purpose • 243 Image 58, 244 Put on Christ • 330 In Christ 116, 178 Raise up . 266 Incorruptibility • 72 Reconciled • 153 Inward Man •• • 203 Redemption . 116, 238 Jacobites 3 Repentance ¦ 7° Jehovah . ¦ 275 Respect of Persons ¦ 74 Jesus . 28 Revealed 5°, 54 Joint-witness . 78 Righteousness • 49 Justification . 77, "5. 121, 378 ,, of God • 49 Keep • 90 Sabaoth • 275 Kingdom of God • 339f Saint ¦ 37 Knowledge . . 82 Salvation . 48 Law 76, 106, m,378 Sanctify . 185, 215 Lord • 35 275, 287 Satan • 359 Lost ¦ 87 Scriptures • 3° Love 321, 328 Seal • 131 Macedonia • 354 Seed 3L 275 Manifest 55,91 Servant . 28, 184 Maronites 3 Serve 44. 60 Mature . • 317 Sign . 131. 351 Members . 181 Snare 277 Mercy . ¦ 265 Son of God . • 32, 369 Messiah . 28 Spain • 353 Ministry 320 Spirit ¦ 33 Mystery • 308 Spiritual 45 Nations • 36 Stand . . 150 Nestorians 3 Stumbling-stone . 277 Offering • 35° Transgress • 133 Oracles . ¦ 95 Trap . 296 Original Sin 164 Trespass . 140 Peace . • 38 Truth . 55,82 ,, with God . 148 Type . 159, 184 Perfect . 3i7 Ungodliness . • 55 Perish . 87 Unrighteousness . ¦ 55 XX GREEK WORDS DISCUSSED Vanity . VengeanceWalk Wanton . Weapons Wicked . PAGE 236 323 '32 62 iSi 6l Wise Witness WondersWrath . Wrestle . PAGE ¦ 45 78, 226 • 351 • 54 • 355 GREEK WORDS DISCUSSED PAGE PAGE dXXd 174 piv 178, 198 dvrl . 152 iplfa ¦ 244 Sid, with ace. . 141 iriareieiv els, iv • . • 143 ,, „ gen. . • 35 vloBeala , . 225 eiprjvr}V exwpev . 148 iirip 152 els . 30, 161, 196 ware . 191 See also pp. 114, 202f, 255ff, 294, 328 INTRODUCTION SECTION I OUR STARTING-POINT AND OUR AIM i. As this work is to some extent argumentative, I shall begin it by stating plainly the assumptions on which the argument rests. I do not wish to take for granted the divine authority or supernatural origin of any part of the Bible. The only admissions I require are matters of fact which no one will deny ; especially that a letter exists professing to have been written by the apostle Paul to the Christians at Rome ; that it exists in various languages, in millions of printed books bearing all dates from the invention of printing to our own day, and in many hundreds of manuscripts preserved in libraries and monasteries and giving various indications of age ; and that it is quoted in many ancient writings of which copies have come down to us. 2. Assuming this, we will inquire whether we have sufficient proof that the epistle was actually written by Paul ; and to what extent the letter written by him is correctly represented in our English Revised Version. We will consider certain indications in the epistle as to when, and where, and to whom it was written. We will then study the epistle itself. We will try to understand the meaning of the words used, and to trace the writer's argument. We will carefully observe the facts and doctrines he takes for granted, and the conclusions to which he seeks to bring his readers. As we pass along, we will examine his opinions on several of the matters about which he writes. At the end of our work, we will try to delineate the writer's view of Christ and the Gospel, as that view is reflected on the pages of this epistle. i 2 ROMANS [sec. 2 And, standing by Paul, we will endeavour to see with our own eyes and hear with our own ears the face and the teaching of Jesus. 3. The course of study here begun, I have in other volumes extended to seven other epistles, including all the most important, bearing the name of Paul. By this further study I have endeavoured to gain a still more comprehensive view of the Gospel and of Christ as understood and preached by him. In two other volumes entitled Through Christ to God and The New Life in Christ, I have attempted to give a connected view of the teaching of the Bible on personal religion : and, in another volume entitled The Last Things, I have endeavoured to set forth its teaching about the great events which will close the present order of things, and about the new order which will follow. The whole series is an attempt to gain, as accurately and fully as possible, a knowledge of the eternal realities which in Christ God has revealed to man. SECTION II IS THE EPISTLE GENUINE? I. We now ask, What proof have we that this letter was actually written by the man whose name it bears ? To answer this question, we will summon the witnesses at our command. 2. Of these witnesses, the epistle itself is the earliest and most trustworthy. As we study its pages, we are persuaded that the author, whatever his name and position, was a man of great mental power and moral worth. Everything within us bows down sec. 2] INTRODUCTION 3 with respect in the presence of one far greater and better than ourselves. The writer claims to be Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ. Apart from the letters attributed to him and the Book of Acts, the name and fame of Paul prove his existence, ability, and influence. This letter, proved by its contents to be a work of a man of worth and power, professes to have been written by Paul, to the Church at Rome, while the author was engaged in active apostolic labour, and before he had been to Rome. We are driven, by the fact that the epistle exists, to one of three suppositions ; either that it was written by someone who delibe rately attempted to palm it off as Paul's ; or that the beginning and end were added by a deceiver to a document written by an honest man ; or that it is a genuine work of Paul. The impression made on us by the moral tone of the epistle makes the first supposition exceedingly difficult. The second is not quite so unlikely. To decide between the second and third, we must call other witnesses. 3. Printed Bibles are found, in various languages, bearing all dates from the present time back to the invention of printing. All contain this epistle, and ascribe it to Paul. 4. Again, in the libraries of Europe are some 500 Greek MANUSCRIPTS of epistles claiming to be Paul's, of dates varying from the sixteenth to the fourth century. Some are mutilated, some entire ; some contain all, some a part of, the epistles attri buted in modern Bibles to Paul. Of these MSS., fragmentary though many of them are, a great majority contain this epistle. We find also a still larger number of Latin Mss. of the same epistles. Some are as old as the sixth century. Most of them have this epistle. Going further from home, we meet in the East with scattered Churches which in the fifth century were broken off from the rest of Christendom. The Nestorians amid the lonely wilds of the Turko- Persian frontier and on the coasts of Southern India, the Jacobites in Egypt and Syria, and the Maronites on the slopes of Lebanon, have lingered to our day, separated from each other and from the rest of the Christian Church. Yet all have ancient MSS. of the Bible in the language of the early Syrian Christians. They all hold as genuine the Epistle to the Romans, 4 ROMANS [sec 2 Their long and melancholy isolation proves that, before their secession in the fifth century, the epistle existed, and was received as Paul's. Similar testimony is borne by other ancient Churches in Egypt, Armenia, and Abyssinia. These MSS. prove that the epistle existed in the fourth century. The number of them proves that it was held in great esteem. This proof is strengthened by the fewness of written copies of other ancient works. Of the Epistle of Clement, the earliest Christian document after the New Testament, until recently only one mutilated copy was known, that contained in the Alexandrian MS. of the Bible : see below, § iii. 4. In A.D. 1875 another Greek MS., dated A.D. 1056, was found at Constantinople. Some months afterwards a Syriac version of the epistle was found. These three MSS. are the only ancient copies, known to us, of this valuable epistle. The immense number of ancient copies of the Epistle to the Romans reveals its importance in the early Church, and thus confirms its genuineness. 5. In order to continue our search into the ages preceding the oldest MSS., we will call another class of witnesses, the EARLY Christian writers. We have a Church History from the days of Christ to those 01 Constantine by Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine. In bks. iii. 28, v. 28, vii. 26 he speaks of events in the reign of Gallienus (a.d. 259 — 270) as occurring in his own time. His testimony therefore carries us some years beyond the oldest existing MSS. In bk. iii. 3 we read, " The epistles of Paul are fourteen, all well known and beyond doubt. It should not, how ever, be concealed that some have set aside the Epistle to the Hebrews, saying that it was disputed, as not being Paul's. . . . The same apostle, in the address at the close of the Epistle to the Romans, has among others made mention also of Hermas. . . . Let this suffice for the present, to show what books were disputed, what admitted by all, in the Sacred Scriptures." See also bk. iii. 25. Eusebius admits disputes about the authorship of some of the books of the N.T., but declares that there were none about this. 6. Of an earlier day we have the voluminous writings of ORIGEN, who lived in Egypt and Palestine, a.d. 186—253. He sec. 2] INTRODUCTION 5 wrote a commentary on this epistle, as Paul's, of which a Latin translation has come down to us. 7. Several works are extant of TERTULLIAN, who lived, about A.D. 160 — 240, at Carthage in North Africa. He frequently quotes this epistle as genuine. See especially his work Against Marcion bk. v. 13, 14. He says that Marcion rejected parts of the epistle, because they did not suit his teaching ; and argues with him from what even he admitted to be genuine. In so doing, he quotes Rom. i. 16, 18 ; ii. 2, 12, 14, 16, 21, 24, 29 ; v. 1, 20, 21 ; vii. 4, 7, 8, 12, 14 ; viii. 3, 10, n ; x. 2, 3, 4 ; xi. 33, 34, 35 ; xii. 9, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19 ; xiii. 10. Marcion held views utterly opposed to those taught in this epistle ; yet he dared not deny its genuineness. Tertullian appeals (Presc. against Heretics § 36) to the Churches to which Paul wrote, as the present guardians of his letters. " With whom the authentic letters of the apostles are read, uttering the voice and representing the face of each one. Is Achaia near to thee ? Thou hast Corinth. If thou art not far from Macedonia, thou hast Philippi, thou hast Thessalonica. If thou art able to go into Asia, thou hast Ephesus. If thou art near to Italy, thou hast Rome." This appeal reveals the writer's full confidence that these epistles came from the pen of Paul. 8. We go now to Alexandria, where, till about a.d. 220, we find Clement, of whom we possess important works. He and his writings are mentioned in bks. v. 11, vi. 6, 13, 14 of Eusebius' Church History. In his Misc. bk. i. 1, Clement tells us that he learnt the truth in Greece and Italy from noble men who handed to him the apostles' teaching. Again and again he quotes this epistle as Paul's. As examples I quote Misc. bk. iii. 3 : " The divine apostle who says, ' O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?'" Also in ch. 4: " The apostle writes in the Epistle to the Romans, ' and not as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say, Let us do evil that good may come. Whose condemnation is just.' " Again, in ch. 1 1 : " In the same way Paul writes in the Epistle to the Romans, ' We that are dead to sin, how shall we still live therein ?'...' since our old man is crucified with Him, 6 ROMANS [sec. 2 that the body of sin might be destroyed,' to ' neither present your members instruments of unrighteousness to sin.' " 9. Let us now visit Gaul in a.d. 180. We find there IREN^US, who has just become bishop of Lyons. His predecessor, Pothinus, has lately been martyred at the age of ninety : Eusebius, Ch. Hist. bk. v. 1. Irenaeus has been bearer to Rome of a letter from his own Church, of which a fragment has been (see ch. 4) preserved by Eusebius ; and in which he is spoken of as a presbyter of the Church. From his pen we have a valuable work Against Heresies, which is referred to in ch. 5 of Tertullian's treatise Against the Valentinians. In this work, Irenaeus says (bk. iii. 3. 4) that in his youth he sat at the feet of Polycarp, a disciple of the apostle John. Since Polycarp was martyred not later than A.D. 166, and Irenaeus was bishop in A.D. 180, his birth cannot have been later, and was probably much earlier, than A.D. 150. He constantly quotes this epistle as Paul's. Throughout his writings, there is no trace of doubt about its authorship. The reader may refer to bk. iii. 16. 3 : "Paul writing to the Romans, ' Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ, predestined for the Gospel of God, which He promised by His prophets in Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was made of the seed of David according to flesh, who was predestined Son of God in power.' And again, writing to the Romans concerning Israel, he says, ' whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ according to flesh, who is God over all, blessed for ever.' " Also in § 9 : " Paul speaking to the Romans says, 'much more they who obtain the abundance of grace,'" and quotes Rom. v. 17, vi. 3f, v. 6— 10, viii. 34, vi. 9, viii. 11. See also chs. 18. 2, 3, 7 ; 20. 2, 3 ; 22. 1, 3. He agrees (in ch. 12. 12) with Tertullian that Marcion rejected parts of this epistle, but admitted the remainder as genuine. The testimony of Irenaeus carries us further back even than his own day. With Tertullian and Clement, he appeals to the unanimous teaching handed down from the apostles. In bk. iv. 27. 1, 2, he tells us that one of his teachers quoted this epistle thus, " and therefore Paul said, ' If God spared not the natural branches, etc' ; " and says that this teacher had himself listened to the apostles. He speaks (in bk. i. 26. 2) of the Ebionites as sec. 2] INTRODUCTION 7 rejecting the writings of Paul on the ground that he was an apostate from the Law. From this we learn that some admitted the genuineness, while they denied the authority, of the letters which bore the name of Paul. 10. We have one more witness of the same date. A torn part of an ancient MS. is preserved in the Ambrosian Library at Milan ; which from its discoverer is called the Fragment of Muratori. Its date is fixed by a reference to Pius, who is said to have been " very lately " bishop of Rome. From Irenaeus (bk. iii. 3. 3, 4) we learn that Pius was bishop in the middle of the second century. The fragment must therefore have been written by a contemporary of Irenaeus. It gives a full list of Paul's epistles ; and in reference to this epistle says, " He described more fully to the Romans the order of the Scriptures, intimating however that Christ was the chief matter of them." 11. We have no earlier quotations. An important earlier writer is Justin. But he writes for unbelievers ; and therefore does not appeal to books which for them had no authority. We find how ever, in § 23 of his Dialogue with Trypho, a passage so similar to this epistle that we cannot but think that Justin had seen it : " For also Abraham himself, being in uncircumcision, because of his faith with which he believed God, was justified and blessed, as the Scripture signifies. And he received circumcision for a sign, but not for righteousness." Clement, who was bishop of Rome at the end of the first century, writes, in ch. 35 of his epistle : " Having cast away from ourselves all unrighteousness and law lessness, covetousness, debates, malignity and deceit, whisperings and backbitings, hatred of God, pride and boasting, vainglory and want of hospitality. For they who do these things are hateful to God. And not only those who do them, but also they who take pleasure in them." 12. Such are our witnesses. What does their evidence prove ? That in the latter half of the second century, in places so far apart as Carthage, Egypt, and Gaul— we may add by sure infer ence Greece and Rome— no one, friend or foe, doubted that Paul wrote this epistle. We stand by Irenaeus in a.d. 180. He is bishop of Lyons. He has been presbyter under Pothinus ; and 8 ROMANS [sec. 2 Pothinus was born in the first century. He gives, in bk. iii. 3. 3, a list of the bishops of Rome from the days of the apostles ; and thus reveals his familiarity with the history of that Church. He has himself been a delegate to Rome ; and must therefore know the opinion there held about the authorship of this famous epistle. He has learnt the Christian doctrine from the lips of Polycarp and other Christian men. Yet he is utterly unconscious of any difference of opinion on this subject. He says not a word in defence of the genuineness of the epistle : for, where there is no attack, defence is needless. Standing by his side, we catch the words of ancient men on whose lips lingers the echo of an apostle's voice. We hear the din of controversy which arose even in those early days, if not within, at least around, the sacred courts of the Church of Christ. The contention is hushed for a moment, that old and young, friends and foes, may proclaim with one voice that the Epistle to the Romans was written by the apostle Paul. We now ask, Could this unanimity have been obtained for a writing partly or altogether forged ? Suppose a case. The laws of causation have been set aside ; and a bramble has produced the fruit of Paradise : a deceiver has written this epistle. Or, a great and good man has written it ; and has left his unnamed offspring to the tender mercies of an ungrateful world. The foundling has escaped the notice of everyone else, and come into the hands of a deceiver ; and by him has been wrapped up in the garments of Paul, and brought to Rome. When was it brought ? Not during the apostle's life. For a unanimous tradi tion asserts that he died at Rome : and his presence there was a safeguard against such imposture. It must then have been brought after his death. It is shown to the members of the Church. No one has heard of it before. Yet it professes to have been sent to them years ago, when Paul was in active work, and before he came to Rome. They ask at once, Where has the letter been all this time ? Why have we not seen it before ? The details given in chs. i. and xv. expose the fraud. That this important work is in the form of a letter to a prominent Church, ig thus in some sense a voucher for its genuineness, sec. 2] INTRODUCTION 9 In short, we have two results for which we seek causes ; the existence of the epistle, and its unanimous reception in the second century. In Paul we have an author worthy of the epistle ; and in the epistle a work worthy of Paul. If it came from him, its universal reception is accounted for. If it did not, its reception is a fact for which no sufficient cause can be assigned. 13. As yet we have given only a part of the argument. In other volumes I have made out a case as strong as, or stronger than, the above for the genuineness of the Epistles to the Corinthians and the Galatians. And this evidence supports that which I have just adduced for the Epistle to the Romans. For the same spirit breathes in all. And innumerable coincidences, in phrase and thought, of the epistles one compared with the other and of all as compared with the Book of Acts testify strongly to the truth of all. (if all are spurious, a stupendous miracle has been wrought for the deception of mankind. If the others are genuine, we have in them another argument for the genuineness of thisJ The argument from the intellectual and moral worth of the epistle, from its coincidences with other epistles and with the Book of Acts, and from the oneness of Paul's character as depicted in his writings, can be appreciated only by personal study of the New Testament. I have however sought to answer the question of this section at the beginning rather than at the end of the volume, in order that, in approaching the text of the epistle, we may do so with a reasonable certainty that it came from Paul. The reader will do well to refer to this subject after his study of the text. It is further discussed in my other volumes. 14. The strength of the case I have tried to defend has been universally felt. With exceptions unworthy of mention, this epistle has been received by all, from the Ebionites who detested the author but admitted the authorship to modern rationalists who accept the work as genuine but deny the sacred facts so fully believed by its acknowledged author. Of the latter, a conspicuous example is F. C. Baur, who, while denying the resurrection of Christ, admits (The Apostle Paul vol. i. p. 276) that "against these four epistles (see above) not even the slightest suspicion io ROMANS [sec. 3 of spuriousness has ever been raised." That such a writer accepts this epistle as genuine, affords strong presumption that its genuine ness cannot be disputed. Questions of genuineness which have been severely contested are carefully discussed in my volume on the Epistles to the Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. 15. Let us now review the position gained. What have we proved ? Simply that Paul wrote the epistle. By a similar argument we might have proved the authorship of the Dialogues of Plato and of the Koran. The inspiration of the writer and the authority of his writings have not been mentioned. We have however gained much. We began our study in order to come near to Christ, that we might learn what He actually taught. In our search we have found a man who professes to have been commissioned by Him to proclaim His Gospel. We can therefore now listen to an apostle's voice. We stand among the disciples of Paul, and hear what he says about his Master. We may push the argument one step further. As we listen to Paul, we shall be convinced of his sincerity. His thoughts are too intense to be feigned. The man may be deceived : he is not a deceiver. We shall therefore stand, not merely among the disciples, but within the heart, of Paul. We shall look at Christ as Paul saw Him. SECTION III ARE OUR COPIES OF THE EPISTLE CORRECT? 1. We now ask, Is the letter, as Paul wrote it, correctly repro duced in our English Revised Version ? sec. 3] INTRODUCTION n On the title-page of the New Testament (A.V. and R.V.) we read that it was translated out of the Greek. I shall endeavour to show that this epistle was written by Paul in Greek ; that, within limits which I shall specify, it is preserved, as he wrote it, in the Greek text underlying the Revised Version ; and that the translation is on the whole correct. 2. It might be supposed that a letter to the Roman Church would be written in Latin : but indisputably this was not so.. The Latin fathers never claim their own language as the original of any part of the Bible. Augustine complains that, in the early days of the Church, whoever obtained a Greek MS. and knew anything of Greek undertook a translation ; and that therefore almost all the Latin copies were different. He adds, " but among the interpretations themselves, let the Italic be preferred before others:" Christian Doctrine bk. ii. chs. 11, 15. The best was therefore a translation. Such was the variety of the Latin copies that in A.D. 382 Damasus, bishop of Rome, committed to Jerome the task of revision. Jerome published the Gospels in a.d. 384. In his preface he says to Damasus, " Thou urgest me to make a new work out of an old one, to sit as arbiter on copies of the Scriptures scattered throughout the world ; and, because they vary amongst themselves, to determine which are they which agree with the Greek truth." This proves that the Greek copies were the standard with which the Latin were to be compared. Moreover, that the epistle was written not in Latin but in Greek, is put beyond doubt by a comparison of the Greek and Latin copies. In the Latin we constantly find the same thought expressed in different ways : in the Greek, the variations are nearly all such as would naturally arise from the mistakes of a copyist. The use of the Greek language in this letter was justified by its great prevalence in Rome. This is testified by many writers ; and by the MSS. found among the ruins of Herculaneum, which are, I believe, nearly all Greek. Most of the early bishops of Rome bear Greek names. 3. We now ask, To what extent does the Greek text underlying our Revised Version reproduce the epistle as Paul wrote it ? To answer this question, we summon again the witnesses who gave 12 ROMANS [sec. 3 evidence about tne genuineness of the epistle. We have the Greek MSS., the ancient versions, and the many quotations from early Christian writers. If these witnesses, so various in origin and form, agree, their agreement is complete proof that they are correct copies of one original. If they differ, we must examine the kind and extent of their difference. 4. The Greek MSS. are of two kinds ; uncials in capital letters, and cursives in running hand. Roughly speaking, the uncials are earlier, and the cursives later, than A.D. 1000. Eleven uncials of this epistle are known. The most famous are, the Vatican MS. at Rome ; the Sinai MS. found by Tischendorf in a.d. 1859 in the monastery at Sinai, and now preserved at St. Petersburg ; and the Alexandrian MS. presented in a.d. 1628 by the patriarch of Constantinople to Charles I., and now in the King's Library at the British Museum. This last was written probably in the fifth, and the other two in the fourth, century. They are written on beautiful vellum, and each forms a thick 4to volume some 10 in. to 14 in. square. They have two, three, or four columns on a page. The letters follow each other without any separation into words ; and there are very few stops. Corrections by later hands are found in all. Each of them contains a large part of the Old Testament and Apocrypha, all in Greek. The Alex, and Vat. MSS. contain the greater part, and the Sinai MS. the whole, of the New Testament. Not less interesting is the Ephraim MS., in the Imperial Library at Paris. By a strange sacrilege, the writing of the Scriptures was erased to make room for the works of Ephraim, a Syrian father. Fortunately, the erasure was not perfect. And, by the use of chemicals to restore the defaced writing, and by careful examination, the whole has been deciphered. It contains important fragments of the Old and New Testaments, including part of this epistle ; and seems to have been written in the fifth century. Also of great interest is the Clermont MS., of the sixth century, with Greek and Latin on opposite pages. The others are of later date. In addition to these are hundreds of cursives. Collectively they are of interest as reproducing a later text. But they are of little value as aids to reproduce the original. sec. 3] INTRODUCTION 13 5. Another test of the correctness of our copies is furnished by the various ancient Versions. The Syriac, Latin, and Coptic are specially important. The former is written in the language called, in the N.T., Hebrew ; of which we have specimens in Mt. xxvii. 46, Mk. v. 41, vii. 34, xv. 34, Rom. viii. 15, 1 Cor. xvi. 22. To distinguish it from the tongue of Moses and Isaiah, we now call it Syriac or Aramaic. It was the mother-tongue of Christ and the apostles. Many MSS. preserved by scattered Syrian Churches have been brought to Europe and examined. The Latin copies are very many, and possess interest as being the only form in which the Bible was accessible to the Western Church during the middle ages. Also of great value is the Coptic or Memphitic version from Lower Egypt. Some other versions of less value have also been examined and compared. 6. The very numerous Quotations from early Christian writers also contribute to answer our question. They have been collected with more or less care. In most cases, their value as witnesses to the original text is not great. For we possess them only in a few late copies into which errors have crept even more than into the best copies of the New Testament. But there are quotations in which the correct reading is by the context made quite certain. And some of these are most valuable. Of all this, my note on Rom. v. 1 supplies instances. Sometimes the writers tell us that the MSS. differed in their day ; and not unfrequently they say which reading was then considered the best. Of this, Rom. viii. 11, 1 Cor. xv. 5 1 are examples. Such references are always valuable. 7. The testimony of the more important of these witnesses has been carefully weighed and recorded. The earliest Greek copies have been reprinted word for word. And of a larger number we have collations, i.e. published lists of their variations from a commonly accepted standard. Of the Alexandrian and Vatican MSS., there have been published photographs of every page, an almost exact reproduction of the original. These enable the student to become familiar with two of the oldest sacred documents extant. We have also Critical Editions of the Greek Testament, giving not only a revised text, but under each verse the variations of the chief manuscripts and versions, and the more important 14 ROMANS [sec. 3 quotations. Of these, passing over those of an earlier day, I may mention the editions of Lachmann, in a.d. 1842-50, Tischendorf, 8th ed. 1869-72, Tregelles, 1857-70, and of Westcott and Hort in 1881. 8. What then is the testimony of these various witnesses thus carefully interrogated ? They reveal, in almost every Verse, variations in the ancient copies of the New Testament. But of these a large proportion affect the meaning very slightly or not at all. And very many are proved by the overwhelming weight of contrary testimony to be mere mistakes of copyists. In the edition of Westcott and Hort, vol. i. p. 561, we read : " If com parative trivialities, such as changes of order, the insertion or omission of the article with proper names, and the like, be laid aside, the words in our opinion still subject to doubt can hardly amount to more than a thousandth part of the whole New Testament." There are, however, important passages in which our earliest copies vary ; and some in which they are almost equally divided. This proves that into even these earliest copies errors have crept ; and makes possible that the reading found in the larger number is not always correct. In Rom. v. 1, some able scholars have ventured to set aside the unanimous verdict of our oldest copies. To detect, amid these variations, the author's own words, is the important and difficult task of the Textual Criticism of the New Testament. The critic endeavours to retrace the steps by which error has crept into the ancient copies, by searching for the reading most likely to have given rise to existing variations. With this aim, various critics have propounded various modes of procedure, arrived at by their comparison of existing docu ments, principles which I cannot here expound. The results attained are embodied in the Critical Editions of the Greek Testament, mentioned above, and in other works on the same subject. Where the evidence is not decisive, all editors except Tischendorf put the more probable reading in their text and the less probable in the margin. They thus indicate a preference where confident decision is impossible. 9. From the following lists, which contain all the passages in sec. 3] INTRODUCTION 15 which the Critical Editors propose or suggest changes of any importance from the text underlying our A.V., the reader may learn how close is the agreement between the results attained in this branch of sacred scholarship, and how narrow is the area still open to doubt. The following corrections, the Editors propose, without marginal note indicating doubt : — 1. Rom. i. 29 : omit fornication. 2. „ ,,31 : „ implacable 3. „ iii. 22 : „ and upon all. 4. „ iv. 15: but where instead of for where 5. „ „ 19 : omit not. 6. „ vi. 12 : „ it in. *-/. „ ,,13: as if instead of as those that are. 8. „ vii. 6 : having died to that instead of that being dead. 9. „ „ 18 : is not instead of I find not. 10. „ viii. 1 : omit who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. 11. „ ix. 31 : omit 2nd of righteousness. 12. „ „ 32: ,, of law. •3- ., „ 33 : he that instead of whosoever. 14. „ x. 17 : Christ instead of God. 15. „ xi. 6: omit latter half of verse. 16. „ xiii. 9: „ thou shalt not bear false witness. 17. „ xiv. 6: „ he that regardeth not, etc. 18. „ „ 9 : came to life instead of rose and revived. 19. „ „ 10: God instead of Christ 20. „ ,,15: for „ but. 21. „ xv. 24 : omit / will come to you. 22. „ „ 29 : „ of the Gospel. 23. „ xvi. 24 : omit the verse. All the above changes are accepted by the English Revisers, and without note except that in Nos. 3 and 23 they tell us, in my view needlessly, that "some ancient authorities add" or "insert" the rejected words. They may all be accepted with complete confidence. 16 ROMANS [sec. 3 In the following list, the Editors differ, or express doubt in their margin : — 1. Rom. i. 16 : insert or omit first. 2. „ ii. 2 : but we know ox for we know. 3. „ iii. 2 : insert or oxmxfor before first 4. „ ,,7: but if ox for if . 5. „ „ 28 : we reckon therefore ox for we reckon. 6. „ iv. 19 : insert or omit now. 7. „ v. 1 : let us have or we have. 8. „ „ 2 : insert or omit by faith. 9. „ vi. 19 : „ „ unto iniquity. 10. „ vii. 23 : to the law or in the law. 11. „ viii. 2: made me free ox made thee free. 12. „ „ n : through His Spirit or because of His Spirit. 13. „ „ 24: slight alterations. 14. „ „ 28: all things work ox God works all things. 15. „ „ 34 : insert or omit from the dead. I0- „ ,, 35: Christ ox God. 17. „ ix. 4: covenants ox covenant. 18. „ „ 28 : an unimportant omission. 19. „ x. 5 : an unimportant rearrangement. 20. „ „ 9 : a slight verbal change. 21. „ xi. 17: the root of the fatness ox the root and the fatness. 22. „ xiv. 5 : one man esteems ox for one 7nan esteems. 23. „ „ 12 : insert or omit to God. 24. „ „ 19 : let us follow or we follow. 25. „ „ 21: insert or omit or is ensnared or is weak. 26. „ xv. 19: Holy Spirit, Spirit of God, ox Spirit. Of the above passages, all except ten are noted in the Revisers margin. Of these ten, eight, viz. Nos. 1, 3, 9, 15, 17, 18, 19, 23, are so unimportant or so slightly attested as to be unworthy of mention in a popular version. The other two, No. 11 and still more No. 22, seem to me to deserve mention. The readings overlooked are much better attested than many in the Revisers' margin : and they affect perceptibly the course of thought. No. 7, noted in R.V. margin as read by some authorities, has SEC 3] INTRODUCTION 17 exceedingly slight documentary evidence ; but is rightly placed there because of the great interest attaching to it : see my note. Five other variations, Nos. 8, i3b, 14, 16, 20, noted in the margin as read by some ancient authorities, are unimportant or slightly attested. Ten other passages, Nos. 2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 13a, 21, 24, 25, noted as read by many ancient authorities, contain, with Nos. 7, 1 1, 22, all the variations worthy of serious consideration. On each of these, see my note. The rest of the text underlying the R.V. may be accepted with reasonable confidence as repro ducing the actual words of the apostle. The reading noted by the Revisers in ch. vii. 25 is of no importance. In chs. iii. 22, xii. 11, xiv. 23, xvi. 25 — 27, they seem to me to have needlessly expressed doubt by putting in their margin very weakly supported readings rejected without note by all Critical Editors. 10. Our question is answered. We have examined witnesses from the solitude of the Egyptian desert and from the monasteries of western Europe, from the coast of Malabar and from the shadow of Sinai. Their testimonies agree. Just as the super scription of Pilate, in different languages, yet with one voice, proclaimed the royalty of Christ, so, in the same three languages, these many witnesses proclaim in one great harmony the one Gospel of Peace. 11. Some may ask, If the differences are so small, is not the Textual Criticism of the New Testament a needless study ? If the labour spent had done nothing more than prove that the differences are so small, it would be well repaid. But it has produced other results. The corrections of the text, small as they appear, are important. No. 5 of List I. and Nos. 5 and 6 of List II. make the argument more clear or the words more forceful. No. 19 of List I. detects an unfair argument for the divinity of Christ. In other parts of the New Testament, still more important variations are found. In one case, a question of authorship is affected by the changes we are compelled to adopt. In short, every word of Holy Scripture is more precious than gold ; and no labour is lost which removes from it a particle of alloy. 12. One question remains. Do our modern versions fairly 1 8 ROMANS [sec. 3 reproduce the text translated ? In asking this question, we must remember that every translation is imperfect. It is a lens which absorbs and deflects, while it transmits, the light. This is specially true of languages far removed in time and circumstances. The words do not correspond : phrases correspond still less. Even such common English words as for and but have no exact equivalents in Greek. In every translation, something is lost in accuracy, clearness, and force. And translations often err, not merely in failing to give the writer's full meaning, but by putting other thoughts in place of his. We ask then, To what extent does our English Revised Version put before us Paul's thoughts ? 13. A partial answer to our question may be derived from comparison of the Revised Version with its predecessors, especially with the Roman Catholic Version published at Rheims in a.d. 1582 and the Authorised Version published in A.D. 161 1. Here are three translations of very different origin. Yet in the main they agree. We find in all the same epistle, the same arguments, the same teaching. The same spirit breathes in all. It is therefore the spirit not of the translator but of the original writer. Those familiar with Latin or German will do still better by comparing the Vulgate as sanctioned by Popes Sixtus V. and Clement VIII. and Luther's version. The same results will follow. The Trinitarian Bible Society printed a leaflet containing a list of corruptions of the Roman Catholic translations published by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The shortness and unim portance of the list are complete proof that the versions referred to accord substantially with the Protestant versions. And the theological differences of Roman Catholics and Protestants are vouchers for the comparative correctness of that which they agree to accept. I do not say that where these witnesses agree we may rely absolutely upon them ; but that they agree in the main, and in the main may be accepted. 14. It is nevertheless true that readers and even writers have not unfrequently fallen into serious errors of doctrine by using only one version of the Bible, e.g. the English Authorised Version .A dangerous mistranslation, only in part corrected in the R.V., is found in A.V. of Heb. vi. 4 — 6. A good safeguard against such sec. 3] INTRODUCTION 19 error is the use of various translations. As a second and better translation to put beside the familiar Authorised Version, the Revised Version is of immense value. Another safeguard is the constant comparison of Scripture with Scripture. Hold with great caution any doctrine not frequently taught in the Bible. The Spirit of Inspiration has made provision for defects of translation by giving us the vital truths in many and various forms. A third safeguard is found in the argumentative form of much of the New Testament. The meaning of one statement is often determined by another given in proof. By tracing the line of thought, we shall for the most part be saved from serious error and guided aright. Moreover, all careful study will make us more familiar with the sacred writer's modes of thought and style of writing. There is no limit to the extent to which a student of the English Bible may lessen the disadvantage of using a translation. This is especially true of those who, desiring to know His will, seek in their study of the Bible the guidance of the Spirit of God. In approaching the Book, they approach God ; and through the written word God speaks to them. They recognise each deeper insight into its meaning as a revelation from Him who unveils to the humblest who sit at His feet much which lies concealed from others more educated. In many cases, even the difficulties of the Bible will be an occasion of gratitude to Him who makes the darkness to be light about us. 15. The translation here given is no rival to the Revised Version. Indeed, I have not been careful to give always good idiomatic English. I have sought merely to reproduce in modern English, at any cost of elegance or good grammar, as accurately and as fully as possible the sense of the Greek words used by Paul. Moreover, a translation was needful in order to convey to the reader, especially to those familiar with the original, my inter pretation of the grammatical forms there used. It would have been useless to reprint or revise another version. Yet, without a continuous text of the epistle, the volume would have been incomplete. The use of various translations is helpful by teaching us to lean not on the outward form of the Bible but on its inner sense. ROMANS [sec. 4 SECTION IV WHEN, WHERE, TO WHOM, AND WITH WHAT PURPOSE, WAS THE EPISTLE WRITTEN? i. Of these questions, the first three are less important than those discussed in the foregoing sections. To answer them is no essential part of my argument. Our proof that this epistle expresses the mind of Paul would remain even if we knew not when and where and to whom it was written. At the same time we shall find information on these topics which we cannot afford to neglect. Moreover, to sift details, gives us closer contact with the men and facts of the Bible and a firmer conviction of their reality. It will be so in this case. 2. We may fix the date of a book in reference either to some common era such as the year of our Lord or to other events in the life of the writer. The former method tells us what was taking place in the world at the same time ; the latter will connect this letter with whatever else we know of Paul. This latter method we now adopt. The place of the epistle in the Christian era is carefully discussed in Diss. iii. of my volume on Corinthians. 3. Paul tells us, in chs. i. 8 — 15, xv. 23 — ^3< that he has not yet been at Rome, that he is free, on his way to Jerusalem with money collected for the Christians there by those in Macedonia and Achaia. He looks forward to Jerusalem with fear ; but hopes to be saved from the Jews and then to go through Rome to Spain. Let us compare this with what he says elsewhere about himself. In 1 Cor. xvi. iff (written appa rently from Ephesus : see v. 8) Paul speaks of the collection as not yet made at Corinth, but hopes to find it ready when he arrives there : he expects to spend some time at Corinth, and then to either take or send the money to Jerusalem. In 2 Cor. ii. i2f, we find that Paul has left Ephesus and come through Troas to Macedonia. The Macedonian collection is sec. 4] INTRODUCTION 21 made ; that of Achaia, of which province Corinth was the capital, is not yet made : chs. viii. 1—4, ix. 1—6. And Paul is on his way to Corinth : chs. ix. 4, xii. 20, xiii. 1. Thus, although this epistle does not mention those to Corinth, nor the converse, the three epistles are bound together by a matter common to all. The letter to Rome is evidently later than those to Corinth ; but was written while Paul was engaged in the same business. 4. We turn now to the Book of Acts, written probably by a companion of Paul : see Diss. ii. of my Corinthians. It makes no mention of these epistles, nor directly of the collection ; and may therefore be looked upon as an independent witness. We will compare the account it gives with the facts already gathered from Paul's letters. The proposed visit to Jerusalem cannot be later than that recorded in Acts xxi. 15, which was followed by his arrest. Let us trace his previous course. In ch. xix. 21, xx. 1, we find him at Ephesus, intending to go through Macedonia and Achaia to Jerusalem, and then to Rome. He goes through Macedonia to Greece, which formed the Roman province of Achaia. After spending three months there, he goes through Macedonia and Miletus to Jerusalem, a circuitous route occasioned by a plot of the Jews. He has been warned of danger at Jerusalem : ch. xx. 23. In ch. xxiv. 17, he tells Felix that he came to Jerusalem bringing alms for his nation. Here we have the details gathered from the epistles. We therefore infer that the Epistle to the Romans was written during the journey narrated in Acts xx. Since, as we learn from Rom. xv. 26, the collection was already made, Paul must have arrived in Achaia. And it is much more likely that this letter, which bears marks of deliberation, was written during Paul's three months' sojourn there than on his journey from Greece to Jerusalem. Now Corinth was the capital of Achaia ; the letters to Corinth say that Paul was going there : and communication with Rome was more easy from Corinth than from any other point in Paul's course. We therefore infer that the epistle was written from Corinth. And this is confirmed by the mention in ch. xvi. 1 of Cenchreae, the port of Corinth. From Acts xx. 6 we learn that Paul sailed from Philippi shortly 22 ROMANS [sec. 4 after Easter on his way from Corinth to Jerusalem. He must therefore have been at Corinth during the winter. Rom. xv. 25 implies that the letter was written almost at the close of his /sojourn there. From all this we infer as probable that the Epistle to the Romans was written from Corinth, in the early part of the year in which Paul was arrested at Jerusalem. In Diss. iii. of my Corinthians, I have adduced reasons for believing that the year referred to was a.d. 59, and clear proof that the letter was written early in the reign of Nerp. Notice also that, of the men with Paul when writing, (see Rom. xvi. 21,) Timothy and Sosipater (or Sopater) are mentioned in Acts xx. 4 as his companions on his journey towards Jerusalem. Gaius, his host, (see Rom. xvi. 23,) was perhaps the man mentioned in 1 Cor. i. 14 as belonging to the Church at Corinth. The same name is found in Acts xx. 4. But the frequency of the name leaves us uncertain whether it refers to the same man. 5. If the above inferences be correct, this epistle stands in close relation to 1 and 2 Corinthians. That this is actually so, I have proved at some length in Diss. i. of my Corinthians. A study of these details greatly confirms the genuineness of all three epistles. The coincidences prove that we have here real persons ; and that the collection of money and the journey were actually made. All possibility of fraud is taken away by the incidental nature of the references. 6. About the Christians at Rome, to whom the epistle was written, our earliest information is derived from the letter itself. And it is very scanty. The number of persons greeted in ch. xvi., probably a small part of the whole, suggests a com munity of some size. The appeal in ch. ii. 17 implies a Jewish element ; but the general tone of the letter, e.g. chs. i. 6, 13, xi. 13, suggests a majority of Gentiles. The Church was famous everywhere : ch. i. 8. But this is partly accounted for by the fact that from every place there was a road to Rome. Some of the members had been long in the faith : ch. xvi. 7. There are no traces of error among the people. Had there been serious error, it would, from the conspicuous position of the Church, have been known to Paul, and probably referred to in sec. 4] INTRODUCTION 23 the epistle. The letter suggests a Church of some years' standing, of stability and importance. This is confirmed by the Roman historian Tacitus, who tells us (Annals bk. xv. 44) that six years later "an immense multitude" were convicted in Rome of being Christians, and put to death. 7. The origin of the Church at Rome is unknown. During the ministry of Christ, many thousands of Jews lived there. So Josephus, Antiquities bk. xvii. 11. 1: "The number of the ambassadors sent by the authority of the nation was fifty, to which they joined eight thousand Jews that were, at Rome already." Similarly Philo, On the Virtues of Ambassadors § 23 : " The great division of Rome which is on the other side of the Tiber, which was occupied and inhabited by the Jews. And they were mostly Roman citizens, having been emancipated : for, having been brought as captives into Italy, they were emancipated by those who had bought them for slaves. . . . They were in the habit of contributing sacred sums of money from their firstfruits, and sending them to Jerusalem by the hands of those who were to conduct the sacrifices." They also made proselytes. So Josephus, Antiquities bk. xviii. 3. 5 : " Fulvia, a woman of great dignity, and one who had embraced the Jewish religion." In Acts ii. 10, we find Roman Jews and proselytes at a feast at Jerusalem. It must have been jso during our Lord's lifetime. These pilgrims would probably hear His preaching : and in this way the good seed may have been early carried to Rome. The close connection of the metropolis with other parts of the empire would bring Romans, both Jews and Gentiles, into contact with the Gospel. Of this, the case of Cornelius is an example. Some converted in other places would probably sojourn or settle at Rome. So probably Aquila, one of the Jews banished from Rome by Claudius. For, when Paul first met him, he is spoken of only as " a Jew : " Acts xviii. 2. In Rom. xvi. 3, 4 we find him again in Rome, holding Christian meetings in his house. Of all places, it was most likely that in Rome the Gospel would take root even without apostolic help. And this is the simplest explanation of the origin of the Church there. Irenaeus (bk. iii. 3. 2) speaks of "the Church founded and 24 ROMANS [sec. 4 constituted at Rome by the two most glorious apostles Peter and Paul." But this epistle is complete proof that the Christian community at Rome was not founded by Paul : and this disproof weakens greatly the above statement as proof that it was founded by Peter. All that we can infer is that these apostles laboured at Rome, and thus contributed to the establishment of the Church. The argument, from the silence of the epistle about him, that Peter had not been at Rome when Paul wrote is weakened by the absence in I Peter, written to Churches founded by Paul, of any mention of him. 8. We notice that in this epistle Paul lays aside the tone of authority with which he had recently addressed the Churches in Corinth and Galatia, founded by himself. His maxim not to build on another's foundation (ch. xv. 20) seems to have kept him from Rome. He could not go there until he went on his way to countries beyond. This is however no proof that the Church there was founded by another apostle. Other men, apostles, elders, or private Christians, had preached there ; and had thus laid a foundation. Paul preferred to preach where Christ was not yet known. 9. We cannot detect in this epistle, as we can in those to the Corinthians and Galatians, any definite occasion prompting its composition. It does not seem to have been written to correct any special error, or to give information on any special subject. But we can easily understand the writer's purpose. For years he has watched with interest the Roman Church. He sees its importance in relation to the Western world. Many friends at Rome increase this interest. At length he has a prospect of visiting them, but only for a short time. A deaconess of a neighbouring Church is going to Rome. And Paul takes the opportunity of sending a letter which will be an outline, and an authoritative standard, of his teaching, and thus a forerunner of himself. Consequently, this is, of all his letters, the most general and complete. It is the Gospel according to Paul. The exact aim must be gathered from the epistle itself. An outline is given in the table ot contents at the beginning of this volume. Paul's purpose, as I understand it, is, To assert, and SEC- 5] INTRODUCTION 25 logically develop, as an organic whole, the good news of salvation announced by Christ, especially in view of the distinction of Jew and Gentile ; to show that this good news is in harmony with God's declarations and conduct as recorded in the Old Testament ; and to apply it to matters of secular and of church life. SECTION V SUGGESTIONS FOR BIBLE STUDY A few suggestions for method of study may be helpful to the young student. 1. First determine the text of the epistle, i.e. the words actually written by Paul. For the Greek text, note the different readings of the Critical Editions, both where one differs from another and where an editor records his doubt by putting an alternative reading in the margin. This may be easily done by using the editions of Scrivener or Gebhardt or the Stutgard edition. The student of the English Bible may do the same by carefully observing the marginal notes of the Revised Version, especially those marked " Many ancient authorities read." In § 3, I have given lists of all various readings worthy of consideration. 2. The next step should be to read consecutively and carefully the whole epistle, noting specially its various turning-points. These last are indicated by a manifestly new topic, by a change of tone, and sometimes by the entrance of a new word or by a new grammatical construction. They admit of many gradations of importance, noting primary, secondary, or subordinate divisions 26 ROMANS [sec. 5 of the epistle. For example, in ch. i. 8 Paul passes from a Christian greeting in the third person to matters between himself and his readers in the first person singular and the second person plural. In v. 16, he passes on from these to the great matter of the epistle, viz. the Gospel of salvation for every believer. In v. 18, he turns suddenly from the Gospel to God's anger against sin which made it needful ; and in ch. iii. 21 returns to a fuller exposition of the Gospel. These two transitions mark off chs. i. 18— iii. 20 as an integral part of the epistle. Within this last, we note minor transitions, e.g. in ch. ii. 1 from men who worship idols, spoken of in the third person plural, to a man who though equally guilty hopes to escape punish ment, whom Paul accosts in the second person singular. At v. 12 the word law introduces a new thought, as does circumcision in v. 25. In ch. iii. 1, and again in v. 9, a new subordinate topic is introduced by a sudden question. For an intelligent view of the epistle as a whole, and of each part in its relation to the whole, this analysis of it into primary and subordinate divisions is of utmost importance. An aid to it will be found in the table of contents at the beginning of this volume. The student will notice the beginning and the end, and the main body, of the epistle. In this last, I have marked five divisions. Their titles form a rudimentary outline of it. The titles of the subordinate sections form a longer outline of the whole epistle. 3. After this preliminary survey, the student will concentrate his attention on one section. In so doing, the meaning of its words claims first attention. These are the very alphabet of exposition and of theology. Only by learning the sense in which the sacred writers use their own words, can we follow their thoughts. The meaning of the Greek words must be learnt from their use by earlier Greek writers, still more from their use in the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, in which we find Hebrew thought clothed in Greek forms, and lastly from their use in the New Testament. For all this, a good concordance, English or Greek, is indispensable. A careful comparison of the use of words in the Revised Version of the Old and New Testaments with the sec. s] INTRODUCTION 27 help of a concordance will give a wonderfully accurate knowledge of the meaning of Bible words. The meaning of the words of this epistle has received special attention in this volume. The results are embodied in special notes scattered through my exposition. After the words, the phrases need careful study. Indeed the teaching of the whole epistle is coloured by the meaning of a phrase used in chs. i. 17, iii. 21, 22, x. 3. Our next work is to trace the apostle's line of thought. For this difficult task we shall need every resource at our disposal, the meaning of the words, inflections, phrases, and a grammatical and logical analysis of sentences. His arguments deserve special study. We must carefully note and distinguish the facts and principles taken for granted, and the inferences drawn from them. From these last we must endeavour to reproduce Paul's conception of the Gospel and of Christ : and this conception thus reproduced will shed light upon the various parts of the epistle. 4. At the close of this work, in Diss, i., I~sum up the results of our study and endeavour to estimate the practical worth of the conception of the Gospel embodied in this epistle. We shall find that the facts and doctrines here assumed are assumed also, in other forms, by the other writers of the New Testament ; that the facts assumed will bear the most searching tests of historical criticism; and that the doctrines may be traced by reliable documentary evidence to the lips of Christ. Thus will our study contribute to the exposition and the proof of the Gospel. A careful study of the words and arguments of this epistle will enrich greatly the student's own spiritual life. And this spiritual enrichment will shed important light on the meaning of the apostle's words. For it will enable us to see the matters about which he writes from his own point of view. Access to the inmost sanctuary of Holy Scripture is granted only to those who come to worship. EXPOSITION SECTION I PAUL GREETS THE ROMAN CHRISTIANS Ch. I. 1—7 Paul, a servant of fesus Christ, a called apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God, a which He promised before through His prophets in Holy Scriptures 'concerning His Son, who was born from David's seed according to flesh, * who was marked out as Son of God in power according to spirit, a spirit of holiness, by resurrection of the dead, fesus Christ our Lord, " through whom we received grace and apostleship, for obedience of (ox to) faith in all the nations, on behalf of His name; " among whom are ye also, called ones of fesus Christ; ''to all the beloved ones of Goa that are at Rome, called saints ; grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord fesus Christ. 1. Writing as a stranger to the Christians at Rome, Paul begins by telling them his name, his position in the Church, the work for which he was placed in that position, and how this work brings him into contact with them. Paul : in Latin, Paulus, as in Acts xiii. 7 : well known as the name of an illustrious Roman family. Servant : see under ch. vi. 16 : one who acts habitually at the bidding of another. Servant of Jesus Christ : Paul's first description of himself. The same title is given in ch. vi. 22 to all Christians. In the O.T., the term " servant of Jehovah " sometimes (e.g. Josh. i. 1, 2, 7, 13, 15) denotes men who received direct commands from God, and who therefore in a special sense did His bidding, fesus : name given to our Lord at birth as a man among men : see Mt. i. 21. Christ : a Greek word equivalent to Messiah in Hebrew (cp. Jno. i. 41, iv. 25) and denoting anointed. Cp. Acts iv. 26, 27 with Ps. ii. 2. In 2 Sam. ii. 14, 16, Saul is 28 sec. i] ROMANS I. 1—7 20 called "Jehovah's Messiah," and in the LXX. "the Lord's Christ." The priest is called in Lev. iv. 5 Messiah or Christ. In Dan. ix. 25 the word is expressly applied to the coming Deliverer and King. So Bk. of Enoch, ch. xlviii. 10. In this sense the word became common among the Jews. They used it constantly for the expected Saviour, in reference to the kingdom of which He was the designated Heir : see Jno. iv. 25. The xta.me fesus speaks of a known man who lived at Nazareth and was crucified at Jerusalem. To add to this the name Christ, was to declare that He is the hoped-for Deliverer and future King. By calling himself a servant of fesus Christ, Paul acknowledges that Jesus is Messiah and pays Him honour by calling Him Master. These words also suggest the kind of work Paul has to do, viz. to aid in setting up His kingdom. And they express his thoughts as he takes up his pen to write this letter : he writes, not to please himself, but as a servant doing his master's work. They thus give him a claim upon his readers' attention. A man who knocks at our door and calls himself a servant of some great one implies that he has come on his master's business, and claims an attention to be measured by the importance, not of himself, but of his master. A called apostle : one who by a divine call was made an apostle. It asserts Paul's position among the servants of Christ. Apostle : an English form of a Greek word denoting one sent on some special business.' " Missionary," derived from the Latin, has almost the same meaning. So Jno. xiii. 16: "nor an apostle greater than he that sent him." It is translated messenger in 2 Cor. viii. 23, Phil. ii. 25. Same word in 1 Kgs. xiv. 6, LXX. Alex. MS. It was given by Christ (Lk. vi. 13) to the first rank of His ministers, because (Jno. xx. 21) they were personally sent by Him on a great mission: cp. 1 Cor. xii. 28, Eph. iv. 11. By describing himself as an apostle, Paul claims this first rank. He was called to it by Christ as described in Acts xxvi. 16 — 18 : " to whom I now send thee." See also 1 Cor. ix. 1, Gal. i. 1. Set apart for the Gospel of God: the work for which Paul was called to be an apostle. Set apart or marked off: a line drawn round him separating him from others : cognate to marked off in v. 4. Gospel: the Greek word is cognate to "evangelist" and " evangelize," and denotes good news, bringer of good news, etc. It is applied to personal matters in 2 Sam. xviii. 19, 20, 27, LXX. ; Lk. i. 19, ii. 10, 1 Th. iii. 6. Cp. Isa. Iii. 7 with Rom. x. 15. The Gospel is good news from God. For this good news, i.e. to 3o EXPOSITION OF [sec. i proclaim it, Paul was set apart. He had nothing else to do. Even when working as a tentmaker, he did so in order thus the more effectually to preach the Gospel: I Cor. ix. 12. In the purpose of God, Paul was set apart (Gal. i. 15, 16) before his birth : he received the actual call on the road to Damascus. In Acts xiii. 2 he was further set apart to take the Gospel to foreign countries. [The all-important preposition els, which I have ren dered for, (in A.V. and R.V. unto,) denotes primarily motion towards the inside of something, then tendency intentional or involuntary, and very frequently definite mental direction or pur pose. It may be studied in w. 5, 11, 16, 24, 27, iii. 26, iv. 20, v. 8, 12, 18, vi. 3, 4, vii. 10, viii. 7, 28, ix. 22, 23, xv. 24 — 26, xvi. 6. In ch. ii. 4, it must be rendered towards. It denotes always direction, either of actual movement, or tendency, or thought and purpose.] 2. Further information about the Gospel for which Paul was set apart. Which he promised before: God foretold through the prophets not only good things to come but the announcement of the good things, i.e. that salvation would be preceded by glad tidings of salvation. See Isa. xl. 1 — 10, Iii. 7 — 10; Rom. x. 15. In one sense, God proclaimed beforehand (Gal. iii. 8) the good news to Abraham ; but only as something far off and indistinct. To him and to the prophets it was only a promise of good things in a far future. Prophets : men through whom God spoke to their fellow-men : see note under 1 Cor. xiv. 40: cp. Heb. i. 1. The words following prove that the prophets referred to were those whose writings have come down to us. Scriptures : writings of any kind. Holy : that which stands in special relation to God : see note below. The phrase Holy Scriptures separates these writings from all others, and classes them with the holy objects of the Old Covenant, e.g. the sabbath, temple, sacrifices, and priesthood, as belonging in a special sense to God. See Diss. iii. The promise of good news passed through the prophets' lips : it abides and speaks in the sacred writings. This verse claims attention for the Gospel. That for which the way was prepared during centuries, and to proclaim the advent of which men like Isaiah and Jeremiah were sent, must indeed be great. To many of Paul's readers, the prophets were almost superhuman. And to them the Old Testament was separated from all other books as holy, i.e. as belonging specially to God. This holy book and these prophets of God declared that in days to come good news from God would be announced. (In ch. x. sec. i] ROMANS I. 1—7 31 Paul will prove that his Gospel corresponds with what they foretold.) Therefore by his readers' reverence for the book and the men he claims their attention. Again, by appealing to the prophets and the Scriptures, Paul pays honour to the Old Cove nant. That the ancient prophets and books foretold the Gospel, increases our respect for them as well as for it. Paul thus guards against the error both of those who deny the abiding authority of the Old Testament and of those who claim as final the reve lation therein recorded. We shall find that it was because these thoughts lay near the apostle's heart that they came to his pen at the first mention of the Gospel. For coincidences, see Acts xiii. 32, xxvi. 6 ; iii. 18, x. 43. 3, 4. The great subject-matter of the Gospel, still further claim ing our reverent attention. Just as the title " Jesus Christ " set forth our Lord as a man among men and as the hope and future king of Israel, so the title His Son declares His relation to God. That Paul uses this term to denote one definite person, and expects his readers to know to whom he refers, implies that Christ is the Son of God in a sense which marks Him out from all others, i.e. that He stands in a relation to God shared by no one else. This unique relation finds fuller expression in ch. viii. 3, 32. Who was born : literally came into being, either absolutely as men do at birth, or came into a new mode of being as when men become what they were not before. It neither implies, nor excludes, previous existence. That Paul refers to Christ's birth (cp. Gal. iv. 4) through which He entered (Jno. i. 14) a mode of being derived from David's seed, we infer from these last words. He sprang by birth from the descendants of David : Jno. vii. 42, 2 Tim. ii. 8. Seed: common in the Bible (Jno. viii. 33, etc.) to denote offspring in whom a family lives on to other generations. Paul takes for granted, as needing no proof, that Christ spxang from David. As we read them, the genealogies in Mt. i. and Lk. iii. are no complete proof of this : for they give only the descent of Joseph. But in this matter Paul is himself a reliable authority. The genealogy of Christ was important to the Jews of Paul's day ; and was doubtless (Heb. vii. 14) sufficiently evident. To us it is of less importance : and evidence which to us would be superfluous is not given. Christ's descent from David gave Him a claim upon the Jews as a descendant of their ancient kings ; and as a scion of the stock to which the future royalty was promised: Jer. xxiii. 5, Ps. cxxxii. 11. Flesh: the material of our bodies which we have in common 32 EXPOSITION OF [sec. i with other men, and, in a different form, with all that breathes. See note under ch. viii. u. According to flesh; limits the foregoing assertion to the outer, lower, visible, and material side of the nature of Christ, i.e. to the constitution of His body, which indisputably came forth from Davids seed. And this bodily descent is sufficient to justify these words, here and in ch. ix. 3, 5, without supposing that Paul thought also of the derivation of His human soul from human ancestors. That the human soul of Jesus was in some measure thus derived, this suggested limitation does not deny. For, to limit an assertion is not to limit the extent of that which is asserted, but limits only the sense which the writer intends his words to convey. In this case, that all living flesh is animated by a corresponding invisible principle, makes it easy to extend to this invisible principle some things said about its visible frame. But the agency of the Holy Spirit (Lk. i. 35) in the birth of Christ forbids us to infer that His human spirit stood in the same relation to human ancestry as do our spirits. This mysterious subject however was probably far from Paul's thought. It was sufficient for his purpose to say that, touching His material side, He was born from Davids seed: for this made Him David's heir. 4. Notice the stately parallel, and the greater length and fulness of the second clause, corresponding with the greater dignity there set forth. Beside that which his Master became, Paul now sets something which He was marked out to be, viz. Son of God. Literally, a boundary line was drawn between Him and others : so Num. xxxiv. 6, Josh. xiii. 27, LXX. And, whereas the mode of being entered at birth was derived from David's seed, this visible boundary was derived from His resur rection. Since the distinction thus marked was derived, not from something peculiar to that one event, but from its abstract significance as an uprising of one who had been dead, the event is called generically a resurrection of dead ones. On earth, as we shall see in Diss. i. 7, Christ claimed to be, in a sense raising Him infinitely above all others, the Son of God. From His empty grave went forth proof that this claim was just. This proof is therefore a line drawn around Jesus on the page of human history and in human thought. The words in power do not supplement the title Son of God. For the contrast in v. 3 does not suggest weakness. But the word marked-out needs further explanation. The resurrection of Christ was a conspicuous manifestation of divine power. And in this manifested power lay the proof of the justice of Christ's sec. i] ROMANS I. 1—7 33 claim to be Son of God. From His empty grave went forth, amid an outshining of divine power, a line which marks the infinite exaltation of Jesus above men and angels. See 2 Cor. xiii. 4, Phil. iii. 10, Eph. i. igf, Mt. xxii. 29, Acts iii. 12, iv. 7. According to flesh, i.e. in reference to the constitution of His body, our Lord was born from David's seed : but according to spirit, i.e. in reference to the inner, invisible, higher, immaterial, and animating side of His nature, He was marked out as Son of God. Paul now thinks no longer of the lips and hands derived from David's seed, but of the unseen living principle which moved those hands, spoke through those lips, and smiled through that human face. By His resurrection, in reference to this unseen principle within, He was marked out as standing in a relation to God infinitely higher than that of even the noblest of His creatures. In the human form born at Bethlehem, there dwelt, as the divine source of the human activity of Christ, the spirit of the eternal Son of God. But there dwelt also (see my Through Christ to God lect. xxxi.), closely associated with His human body, a created human soul, i.e. an animal life capable of hunger and thirst and bodily pain ; and a human spirit permeated by, and reproducing the moral character of, the divine personality of the eternal Son. Each of these, as being invisible and immaterial, is spirit and not flesh. But the very close association of the soul with the body, its appetites corresponding, in all animals, with the nature of the body, suggests that this lower human soul of Jesus was in some measure derived from David's seed. On the other hand, the sinlessness of the human spirit of Jesus, and the agency of the Holy Spirit at His birth, mark off His relationship to the race through one parent as quite different from our relation through two parents. Apparently, just as at first God breathed into an erect human form a rational spirit, thus creating a race holding a relation to God not shared by animals around, so at the incarnation, by the agency of the personal and eternal Breath of God, He breathed into human nature a higher life, thus placing humanity in a new and more glorious relation to Himself. But of these distinctions Paul probably does not here think. He thinks only of two contrasted elements in Christ. The power manifested in His resurrection proved that through Jewish lips (and, as we infer, through the mediation of a human spirit and soul) had spoken the Eternal Son of God. Spirit Of holiness : a spirit characterised by unreserved 3 34 EXPOSITION OF [sec. i devotion to God : see note under v. 7. Such was, by its very nature, the spirit which animated the body born at Bethlehem. When we look at Christ's body, we find Him like ourselves, and we call Him David's Son : but when we consider the spirit which moved those lips and hands and feet, which breathed in that human breast, turning always and essentially to God, we declare Him to be Son of God. With singular unanimity the early commentators, (Origen is indefinite and confounds the divine nature of Christ with the Holy Spirit, and so is Augustine,) Chrysostom and Theodoret in the East, followed by Photius (Question 283), Qicumenius, and Theophylact, with the very early anonymous writer quoted as Ambrosiaster probably in the West, understand by spirit of holiness the Holy Spirit. With them agree some moderns. The exposition given above, I have not found in any early writer. So general a consensus demands respectful attention, but not implicit obedience. For the following reason, with Meyer, Sanday, and other moderns, I am unable to accept it. Of the Holy Spirit, there is no hint in the whole chapter. To make such reference clear, the usual title would have been needful. By not using this title, Paul suggests that he does not refer here to the personal Spirit of God. No other reason for the phrase spirit of holiness instead of Holy Spirit, can I conceive. More over, if Paul refers to the Holy Spirit, he leaves quite indefinite His relation to the risen Saviour. This would be the more remarkable because nowhere else does he speak plainly of the Holy Spirit (cp. Mt. xii. 28, Lk. iv. 14) as a directive principle of the life of Christ. It is very unlikely that Paul would give a mere hint, in needlessly ambiguous language, of teaching which neither the context nor his own teaching elsewhere explains. It cannot be objected that Spirit is the name, not of the Second, but of the Third, Person of the Trinity. For, although this term specially designates this last, as being present to our thought chiefly as the animating divine principle of the Christian life, yet it is not confined to Him. The entire nature of God is spirit ; as is that in us which is nearest to God. Moreover, the term is used here to designate, not expressly the divine nature of Christ, but simply the higher element of His nature. That in Him this higher nature is divine, we learn elsewhere. The order of vv. 3, 4 is the order of Christ's historical mani festation. He first showed Himself to men as David's Son : and then by resurrection was proved to be the Son of God. sec. i] ROMANS I. 1—7 35 Jesus Christ Our Lord: the Son in His relation to us. He is Jesus of Nazareth, the hope of Israel, our Lord. Lord : one who has control over men and things. So Mt. xxi. 40, " lord of the vineyard ; " ch. xii. 8, " Lord of the Sabbath." It is correlative with " servant," as in Rom. xiv. 4, Mt. xxiv. 45, 50, xxv. 18 — 26 ; and is the title most frequently used to set forth Christ's relation to us, as in 1 Cor. viii. 6, xii. 3, Eph. iv. 5. For its use in the O.T., see under ch. ix. 29. Our: probably without definite limitation. Of all Christians, Christ is Lord. 5. Christ's relation to Paul and to his readers. Through : Aid with genitive : a most important N.T. word. It denotes the means, whether it be an unconscious instrument or an intelligent agent, through which an effect is brought about, the channel through which purpose passes into actuality ; whether or not the agent be also the first cause. It denotes regularly Christ's relation to the universe and to the work of salvation : so v. 8, iii. 24, v. 1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 19, 21, 1 Cor. viii. 6, Jno. i. 3, 10, 17. The plural we does not refer to others who joined Paul in this letter, as in 1 and 2 Thessalonians, nor can it include the readers. For the phrase in all the nations, added to give Paul's reason for writing to men at Rome, calls our attention away from the other apostles. It refers probably to Paul only. Such use of the plural in formal documents is common in all languages and ages. It was perhaps suggested by remembrance that others besides Paul had received this apostleship, and a still larger number the favour of God. Grace : that quality which calls forth favour or approbation in a beholder. Such objects are graceful. Since the favour called forth depends upon the character and abides in the heart of the beholder, we have the phrase " to find grace in one's sight ; " as in Lk. i. 30, Acts vii. 46. Since this favour springs from generosity, we read of "grace given "and "received:" Rom. xii. 3, 6, xv. 15, 2 Cor. vi. 1, and this verse. Favour prompts us to do good to its object ; and this good done, arising simply from good-will, stands in contrast to obligation, as in Rom. iv. 4. When we were in sin, God looked upon us. Repulsive as we were, in His sight we found favour. For he saw in us His own image, so sadly marred : and the sight called forth in the breast of God that which prompted Him to save us. The grace of God is His love seeking out its object and contemplating it with a purpose of blessing. Through the great Person just described, Paul and others became objects of the favour of God. Not that Christ moved God to look on us 36 EXPOSITION OF [sec. i with favour, but that the birth and death of Christ are the channel through which God's favour reached us. For Christ is Himself a gift of the " grace of God : " Heb. ii. 9. See Rom. iii. 24 — 26, viii. 32. Apostleship : Christ was the divine agent through whom God made Paul an apostle. Just as Elisha, a prophet sent from God and speaking with God's authority, was appointed to his work by Elijah at God's bidding, so Paul was appointed by the voice of Christ at the Father's bidding. He was " an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the command of God:" 1 Tim. i. 1. See Gal. i. 1. First favour, then apostleship : for God's favour is the source of all other blessings : 1 Cor. xv. 10, Eph. iii. 8. For obedience of faith : same words in Rom. xvi. 26 : purpose for which Paul was made an apostle, viz. that men may obey faith : cp. 2 Cor. x. 5, " for the obedience of Christ." We obey faith by believing. Faith is itself submission to God. To make this prominent, Paul writes, not "for faith" as in v. 17, but for obedience of faith. Cp. Acts vi. 7, " obeyed the faith ; " also Rom. x. 3, 16, ii. 8. In all the nations : sphere in which God sent Paul to evoke obedience to faith. Nations, or Gentiles: cp. ch. xv. 10 with Dt. xxxii. 43 ; ch. xv. 1 1 with Ps. cxvii. I ; and ch. xv. 9 with Ps. xviii. 49. The Jews looked upon themselves as separate from all others, and therefore needed a word to mark the separation. They noticed that they were one ; and called themselves a people, the people of God. The rest of mankind consisted of various nations, all strangers to Israel. Hence the contrast in Acts xxvi. 17, 23. They therefore used the plural form nations, not merely for the aggregate of nations, but for the aggregate of individuals composing the nations. Consequently we must sometimes translate Gentiles, as in Rom. ii. 14, iii. 29, Acts xiii. 48, xiv. 2, 5 ; and sometimes nations as in Rom. iv. 17, 18. The singular is always " nation," as in ch. x. 19. Paul's com mission is for all the nations, and therefore includes Rome. On behalf of His name : further object of the commission of Paul, viz. that the name of Christ may be known and honoured. So Acts ix. 16, xv. 26, xxi. 13 ; 2 Th. i. 12 ; Acts iii. 16. To believe what that name implies, and to confess it, were the conditions of salvation. That this name might be on every lip and in every heart, Paul preached and lived, and was ready to die. 6. Brings Paul's readers within the sphere of his apostolic work. He was sent to lead men " in all the nations " to obey faith ; and in these nations were the Christians at Rome. Ye also: in addition to the other nations among whom (v. 13) he has laboured sec. i] ROMANS I. 1—7 37 so long. Cp. v. 15:" also to you at Rome." Called ones of Jesus Christ : they belonged to Christ, and had been made His by a divine summons. This summons, Paul represents as given by the Father : so chs. viii. 30, ix. 24, 2 Th. ii. 14. The Gospel is God's voice calling men to Christ ; and is as solemn as the voice from the burning bush, or that on the road to Damascus. They who have obeyed the call are Christ's called ones. Just as by the voice of Christ God made Paul an apostle and gave him a right to call himself such, so by the Gospel God gave his readers to Christ and gave them a right to call themselves His. See under ch. viii. 28. Thus Paul, while claiming his own relation to Christ, recognises that of those to whom he writes. It is better to render and punctuate as above, not ye are called ones etc. : for the Roman Christians came within Paul's sphere not by being called, but by being among the Gentiles. 7. The definite greeting, for which vv. 1 — 6 have prepared the way. Beloved of God : equivalent to " beloved by God " in 1 Th. i. 4. God's love is the source of all blessing, and the sure ground of our hope : cp. Rom. v. 6, viii. 39. Of this love, all men (ch. xi. 28, Jno. iii. 16) are objects; but only believers are conscious objects. To them it is real and living, moulding their thoughts and life. Paul knows that the love which smiles on himself smiles also on them ; and that in a consciousness of the same Father's love, amid the same trials of life, both he and they rejoice and rest. Called saints : further description of his readers. Saints : not only called to be saints, but actually holy men. So chs. xv. 25, 26, 31, xvi. 2, 15, etc. : cp. 1 Cor. i. 2. They were objectively holy : see note below. God claimed to be henceforth the aim of their life, purposes, effort. Therefore, apart from their own conduct, they stood in a new and solemn relation to God, as men whom He had claimed for Himself. They might be, like the Corinthians, carnal ; but they were still sanctified in Christ : 1 Cor. i. 2, iii. 3. To admit sin or selfishness into Christians, is sacrilege. Hence the word saint, their common N.T. designation, points out their duty. It points out no less their privilege. By calling us saints, God declares His will that we live a life of which He is the one and only aim. Therefore, since our efforts have proved that such a life is utterly beyond our power, we may take back to God the name by which He calls us, and humbly claim that it be realised by His power in our heart and life. After describing himself, his business, and his readers, Paul adds words of greeting : grace and peace. " May you be objects 38 EXPOSITION OF [sec. i of the favour of God." This is the source of all blessing, and therefore holds the first place in N.T. salutations. Peace : rest arising from absence of disturbing causes within, or around, or before us : the opposite of confusion and unrest : I Cor. xiv. 33, Isa. Ivii. 20, 21. It is a result of the favour of God. We are at rest because He smiles, and we know that He smiles, on us. Father : a constant title of God, as is Lord of Christ : cp. 1 Cor. viii. 6, Eph. iv. 5, 6. We look up to God as the Father from whom we sprang, and to Christ as the Master whose work we do. The grace of God is an outcome of His fatherhood. He smiles on His children. And, because we know that our Father smiles on us, we are at peace. The Lord Jesus Christ : in closest relation to the Father, as joint Source with Him of grace and peace. This remarkable collocation of names, constant with Paul, places Christ infinitely above man and infinitely near to God. It completes the honour paid to Christ in this first sentence of the epistle. Notice the beauty and symmetry of Paul's opening sentence. It is a crystal arch spanning the gulf between the Jew of Tarsus and the Christians at Rome. Paul begins by giving his name : he rises to the dignity of his office, and then to the Gospel he proclaims. From the Gospel he ascends to its great subject-matter, to Him who is Son of David and Son of God. From this summit of his arch he passes on to the apostleship again, and to the nations for whose good he received it. Among these nations he finds the Christians at Rome. He began to build by laying down his own claims ; he finished by ac knowledging theirs. The gulf is spanned. Across the waters of national separation, Paul has flung an arch whose firmly knit segments are living truths, and whose keystone is the incarnate Son of God. Over this arch he hastens with words of greeting from his Father and their Father, from his Master and their Master. Every word increases the writer's claim upon the attention of his readers. He writes to them as one doing the work of the promised Messiah, who lived at Nazareth and died at Jerusalem. Among the servants of Christ he holds no mean place, but has been solemnly called to the first rank. He has been set apart by God for proclamation of those joyful tidings whose notes were heard from afar by the ancient prophets and still resound in the words of the sacred books. The divine mission of the prophets and the sacredness of their writings claim attention for one who announces as present what they foretold as future, sec. i] ROMANS I. 1—7 39 This claim is strengthened by mention of Him who is the great matter of the good news. Paul proclaims the advent of a scion of the house to which eternal royalty was promised ; of One who, by divine power, by victory over death, has been separated from all others as the Son of God. This Son of David and of God is Paul's Master and theirs. By His personal call, Paul has received the rank of an apostle. This office derives lustre from the grandeur of Him by whom it was conferred. The purpose of Paul's mission is that in all nations men may obey faith. A further purpose is that the name of Christ, written in these verses in characters so splendid, may be revered and loved by all. Among these nations are Paul's readers. But he does not write in order to lead them to faith : for Christ has already made them His own by a divine call. They are objects of God's love, men whom He has claimed for Himself. Paul desires for them the smile of God, and the rest of spirit which only that smile can give. May it come to them from its only source, the common Father and the common Master. In these words there is no mere rambling among sacred topics, no running after some great thought, no mere desire to put Christ's name into every sentence. But there is everywhere order and purpose. In v. 5 we find Paul standing as an apostle on the level on which he stood in v. 1. But how great an advance he has made ! The long-foretold Gospel has given importance to the man set apart to proclaim it. The apostle has been into the presence of the Son of God ; and the glory of that presence now irradiates the office received from one so great. He comes forth as an ambassador claiming for his Master the allegiance of all nations. Observe, in this section and epistle, the facts and teaching assumed by Paul. He takes for granted the resurrection of Christ, and his own call by Christ ; that Jesus claimed to be in a special sense the Son of God ; that the prophets spoke from God ; that their writings were sacred books ; and that the Gospel is a divine call by which Christ claims men for God. HOLINESS. The words holy, hallow, holiness, and saint, sanctify, sanctification, represent in the English Bible nearly always one Hebrew and one Greek word, this last being the constant equiva lent of the former in the Greek Septuagint Version. These words, so important for understanding the Bible, the character of God, and our relation to Him, demand careful study. 40 EXPOSITION OF [sec. i The above words are found only in reference to religion. They were familiar to Jews and proselytes by their use in the O.T., and by well-known objects which were called holy, e.g. the Sabbath, Mount Sinai, the firstborn of man and beast, the tabernacle with its altars and vessels, the priests and their clothing, the sacrifices, consecrated houses and fields, the censers used by Korah and his company, the wall of Jerusalem, and the Person and Name of God. See Ex. xxix., xxx., xl. i — 15, Lev. xxi., xxvii., Num. iii. 11 — 13, and innumerable other O.T. passages. From these various and different objects and from an idea embodied in them all, we may now derive a definition of holiness. For we notice that all belong to God. He has claimed them for His own, He requires that they be used only to advance His purposes, and according to His bidding. And in this sense, i.e. as specially claimed by God and therefore in a special sense belonging to Him, they are holy. Hence the common phrase "holiness for Jehovah." Cp. Lev. xx. 26. Holiness is written upon everything belonging to the Mosaic ritual, and is one of its most conspicuous features. It is as conspicuous as the shedding of blood, and as important. The word holy, thus understood, is applied to both men and things in two ways, viz. in reference to the purpose and claim of God and to the purpose and conduct of man. Whatever God claims for His own, we may speak of as holy without considering whether the claim is responded to. For, whatever man may do, God's claim puts the object claimed in a new position. Men may profane it by setting God's claim at nought ; but they cannot destroy the claim. It remains to condemn the men who trample it under foot. The Sabbath, temple, priesthood, were holy however polluted. But to pollute them was sacrilege, and defiance to God. This may be called objective holiness. If man's will concur with the Will of God, if the object claimed be actually devoted to Him, if to Him its entire activity tends, we have what we may call subjective holiness : as in 1 Cor. vii. 34, 1 Th. v. 23. It is described in Rom. vi. 11, "living for God, in Christ Jesus : " cp. 2 Cor. v. 15. This distinction of objective and subjective holiness is of the utmost importance. God sanctified the Sabbath and the firstborn : Gen. ii. 3, Ex. xx. 11 ; Num. iii. 11 — 51. Israel was bidden to sanctify it and them : Dt. v. 12, Jer. xvii. 22 — 27; Ex. xiii. 1. God and His name are holy; therefore man must hallow them : Lev. xx. 26, xxi. 8, Isa. i. 4 ; Lev. xxii. 32, Isa. xxix. 23. sec. i] ROMANS I. 1—7 41 These last quotations remind us that the word holy is used not only to describe the objects which God claimed for Himself but also to set forth His own nature. And the connection proves that in both cases the word represents the same idea. But it is differently applied. For the objects claimed by God are " holy for Jehovah ; " whereas He is " the Holy One of Israel." When God claims to be the one aim of our existence, He not only puts us in a new position, and thus makes us objectively holy, but also reveals Himself in a new character. Henceforth we think of Him as the great Being who claims to be the aim of our every purpose and effort. By calling Himself holy, God announces that this claim has its root and source in a definite element of His nature. He is the beginning, and the end. All things are from Him and for Him. As thus understood, the holiness of God bears a relation to that of men analogous to the relation of the Creator to the creature. We now see a reason for the ceremonial holiness so con spicuous in the Old Covenant. To teach men, in the only way in which they could learn it, that He claims to be the one aim of their being, God commanded certain men and things to be set apart for Himself in outward ceremonial form. These He called holy. When men had become familiar with the idea of holiness, thus set forth, God declared in Christ that this idea must be realised in every man and every thing, in spirit and soul and body. Hence the various holy objects in the O.T. are used in the N.T. to set forth the Christian life. We are a temple, priesthood, sacrifice : 1 Cor. iii. 16, 1 Pet. ii. 5, 9, Rom. xii. 1. Our future life will be a Sabbath-keeping : Heb. iv. 9. These were embodiments, in things, men, and time, of the idea of holiness. They set forth in symbolic form the body, spirit, and life of the people of God. When that which exists only for God is surrounded by objects not thus consecrated, holiness becomes a setting apart for God. The more alien from God the objects around, the more con spicuous is this separation. Just so, the temple was closed to all but priests, themselves set apart from their fellows and from common life. But separation is only an accidental and sub ordinate idea. The word holy is frequently used without thought of separation, e.g. for the angels. In the world to come there will be absolute holiness, but no separation. For God's pleasure will be the aim of every word and act of His glorified sons. The idea of separation appears also in the holiness of God. For, that He is the one object of His creatures' purpose, effort, service, and worship, places Him and His Name at an infinite distance above 42 EXPOSITION OF [sec. 2 all others. His claim reveals the difference between the creature and the Creator. Since sin is- an erection of self into the end and rule of life, it is utterly opposed to holiness. God's holiness makes Him intolerant of sin, because sin robs Him of that which His holiness claims. Only the holy are pure, and only the pure are holy. But the words are not synonymous. Purity in the creature and opposition to sin in the Creator are the negative side of holiness. Holiness, however, is a positive attribute ; and would have existed in God and in man even though there had been no sin. Righteousness looks upon man as capable of obeying or dis obeying a law ; holiness, as capable of choosing and pursuing an aim, and of choosing God and His purposes to be the one aim of life. The antithesis of righteousness is transgression : that of holiness (see 2 Cor. v. 15) is self. The contrast in the one case is Right or Wrong ; in the other, Mine or God's. Already we have met the word holy three times. The Scriptures are called holy. For they stand in special relation to God as a divinely-given record of divinely-given revelations. The spirit of the incarnate Son of God was an impersonation of holiness : for every movement of that spirit had God for its aim. Christians are called saints or holy persons objectively, as claimed by God. To refuse that claim is to act as Aaron, who is called in Ps. evi. 16 " the saint of Jehovah," would have done had he refused the priesthood. And it is their privilege to be subjectively holy. On the whole subject, see further in my New Life in Christ lectures xii. — xv., and xxxii. SECTION II HE HAS LONG DESIRED TO PREACH TO THEM Ch. I. 8—15 In the first place, / thank my God through fesus Christ about you all, that your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Gospel of His Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers 10 beseeching if by any means now at all a way will be sec. 2] ROMANS I. 8— 15 43 opened for me, in the will of God, to come to you. " For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift of grace, in order that ye may be established j ll and that is, that we may be encouraged together in your midst through each other's faith, both yours and mine. ls Moreover, I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, that frequently I purposed to come to you and was hindered till now, in order that I might have some fruit among you also, as also among the other Gentiles. u Both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to wise men and to foolish, I am a debtor. 15 Hence my readiness to preach, also to you in Rome, the Gospel. 8. After greeting the believers at Rome, Paul declares his deep and long-cherished interest in them. Many thoughts arise, one after another, in his mind. He tells us the first ; but does not arrange the others in order, pouring forth all in one full stream of thought and feeling. So in ch. iii. 1. Paul's first thought here, as in nearly all his letters, is gratitude. In approaching God, he first thanks Him for blessings received, and then asks for more. My God : Paul's own God, with whom he has personal and individual dealings. Even when thanking God for others, he turns his back on them and alone draws near to God. Cp. 2 Cor. xii. 21. For he feels that God's goodness to his readers is personal kindness to himself. Through : as in v. 5. Through Jesus Christ : the channel of all blessing from God to man and of all thanks from man to God. Cp. ch. vii. 25, Heb. xiii. 15. You all : consequently throughout the epistle we have no reproof or correction. Contrast 1 Cor. i. 4, 11. Faith: the earliest Christian grace. The fuller description of the readers in Col. i. 4, 1 Th. i. 3, iii. 6 arose perhaps from fuller information. By thanking God for their faith, Paul recognised that in some fair sense it came from God. See under Rom. xii. 3. It must have mad£ itself known by works of faith : but what these were, we are not told. In all the world. This warns us not to take literally, without careful examination, the universal expressions of the Bible : see under ch. v. 18. Wherever Paul goes in his travels, he hears of his readers' faith. What he hears calls forth gratitude to God : for the universality of their good name is some proof that they deserve it. 9, 10. Explanation and confirmation of the foregoing : a reason for the gratitude just expressed. Paul thanks, God for their faith, 44 EXPOSITION OF [sec. because he constantly prays for them, and because their faith is thus God's answer to his prayer and a mark of God's personal kindness to himself. Notice that Paul prays constantly for all the Churches to which he writes. In his devotions, he takes them one by one to God. Hence every blessing to them is a gift from God to him. The constancy of Paul's prayer is greater than words can tell. He therefore appeals to God, who is the only witness of his prayers. Serve: as in v. 25, ix. 4, xii. 1, not as in ch. i. 1 : used in the Bible only for service of God, especially the priestly service of the temple. The temple was the palace of God : the priests were His domestic servants. In the Gospel : sphere of Paul's priestly work for God, viz. announcement of the good news about His Son. Important parallel in ch. xv. 16. Spirit : that in man which is nearest to God and most like God. See note under ch. viii. 17. In my spirit: the inner, as the Gospel is the outer, sphere of Paul's service. The service of the Jewish priests might be only bodily and mechanical. But the preaching of the Gospel was a sacrifice offered in the inmost and uppermost chamber of Paul's being. So Jno. iv. 24. This inward service, in a matter so dear to God as that of His own Son, gave solemnity to Paul's appeal. For the godless cannot appeal to God. But Paul's well-known devotion to the service of God was proof that his appeal was neither frivolous nor false. The words whom I serve in my spirit expound and justify the words "my God" in v. 8. They who in the solitude of their spirit bow down to God can appeal to Him as their God. Paul never prays for his readers without earnestly asking to be allowed to visit them. A-way-opened : same word in 1 Cor. xvi. 2, 3 Jno. 2. It denotes, under the figure of a good way opened, any kind of prosperity. Now : a speedy visit hoped for. At all: uncertainty as to details. The words if by any means express a desire to come at any cost, and suggest difficulty and doubt. This prayer was answered in an unexpected manner. In the will of God: implies submission. But submission did not prevent earnest and persevering prayer. Paul's desire was to go to Rome ; but he will not do so till it becomes evident that what he desires is also the will of God. Cp. ch. xv. 32. He also remembers that the opening of a way for him depends, not upon circumstances, but upon God. Cp. Jas. iv. 15. 11. Reason and motive of Paul's prayer : he wishes to do them good. Gift-of-grace : any mark of God's free favour. Same important word in ch. v. 15, 16, vi. 23, xi. 29 : also in a technical sec. 2] ROMANS I. 8—15 45 sense in ch. xii. 6, where see note. Cp. 1 Cor. i. 7. Spiritual pertaining to the Holy Spirit, probably. All inward gifts of God are wrought in man's spirit by the Spirit of God : so 1 Cor. xii. 11. And Paul hopes to be a medium through which God will impart such gifts to his readers at Rome. For from within those in whom the Spirit dwells flow rivers of living water : Jno. vii. 38. Established : enabled to stand firmly in the Christian life, in spite of influences tending to throw them down. May be established : not by Paul, but by God : Jude 24. But increased stability follows every spiritual gift. 12. A new thought : to do them good, is to receive good for himself. " If I impart to you a spiritual gift, making you firmer in the Christian life, both you and I will be encouraged, i.e. moved to Christian hope and work (same word as exhort in ch. xii. 1) ; I by your faith and you by mine. Notice the modesty of these words. Even the great apostle will receive blessing from the Roman Christians. Similar modesty in ch. xv. 14, 15. 13. Not only has Paul prayed to be allowed to see his readers, but he has frequently purposed to come. This proves the earnestness of his prayer. Prayers not accompanied by serious effort to obtain the blessing asked for are an empty form. I would not have you ignorant : so ch. xi. 25, 1 Cor. x. 1, xii. 1, 2 Cor. i. 8, 1 Th. iv. 13 : it lays stress on what follows. Hindered: explained in ch. xv. 22. An object Paul had in view in his purpose to go to Rome, in addition to the objects described in vv. 11, 12, was to gather fruit there as he had done among the other Gentiles. His success among others was a ground of hope for success at Rome. Fruit: ch. vi. 21, 22, xv. 28, Gal. v. 22, Eph. v. 9, Phil. i. 11, 22, iv. 17: a good result derived from the organic outworking and growth of moral and spiritual life. To do good to others, is, according to the laws of the Kingdom of God, to receive a harvest of blessing for ourselves. 14. Greeks and Barbarians : the common Greek summary of the civilised and uncivilised nations. Its use by Paul reveals to how great an extent in his day the civilisation of the world was Greek. The culture even of Rome was of Greek origin. He writes without thought probably to which class the Romans belong. The broad distinction in his day was between those who used the Greek language and partook of Greek civilisation and those who did not. Wise : acquainted with arts and sciences learnt only by a special education. See note under 2 Cor. ii. 5. Foolish: men 46 EXPOSITION OF [sec. 2 of dull perception. "To those who know more, and to those who know less, than others, I am a debtor." Paul received the Gospel in trust for all, without distinction of nationality or intelligence, and is therefore under obligation, both to God who entrusted it and to those for whom it was entrusted, to proclaim it to all within his reach. He is a steward of the mysteries of God : 1 Cor. iv. 1, 1 Pet. iv. 10. Therefore his efforts to do them good are but the discharge of a duty to God and to them. The civilisa tion and learning of the Greeks, the coarseness and ignorance of the barbarians, do not lessen this obligation. The wise need the Gospel, the foolish are capable of receiving it ; and therefore both have a claim on Paul. Notice here a modest but correct view of Christian beneficence. To do all we can, is but to pay a just debt. To claim gratitude for doing good, is to mistake utterly our position and obligation. 15. Hence my readiness etc. The obligation just mentioned is another reason for Paul's desire to visit Rome. He wishes to see his readers in order to do them good, and thus to strengthen the faith they already possess. Preach-the-Gospel : literally to announce good news: cognate verb to the word Gospel in v. 1. Same word in chs. x. 15, xv. 20, 1 Cor. i. 17, etc. It may be transliterated evangelize. Review. " In writing to you, my first thought is gratitude to God : and I remember that all blessing comes through Christ. Wherever I go, I hear of your faith. The news fills me with thankfulness : for it is a gift of my God, and an answer to my prayers. How ceaseless are my prayers for you, is known only to Him whom in my heart of hearts I serve by proclaiming the good news of salvation through His Son. Whenever I pray for you, I pray that if well-pleasing to God I may be permitted by some means to visit you. My reason is that I desire to be a channel through which the Spirit may bestow some gift of God's favour, and thus strengthen you. Such blessing to you will be a gain to me. If I come into your midst, I shall be encouraged by your faith and you by mine. Not only do I desire, but I have often purposed, to visit you : but hitherto my apostolic work has hindered me. For I wish to sow seed at Rome, and thus reap among you a harvest of blessing such as I have gathered among others. Moreover, I wish to discharge my obligation to Him who in His undeserved favour has entrusted to me, for the good of all men, the Gospel of Christ. This felt obligation makes me ready to preach the Gospel also at Rome." sec. 3] ROMANS I. 16, 17 47 In § 1, an ambassador claimed our respect by the greatness of his business and of his Master. In § 2, a man who calls us brethren wins our affection by the warmth of his love. He thanks God because he hears good about us : and he never prays without praying for us and praying that God will enable him to see our face. For years he has been planning to make a long journey to do us good. He is sure that intercourse with us will give encouragement to him : and he looks upon our Church as a field in which he will reap a harvest of blessing. Though we have never seen him and his name is highly honoured wherever there are Christians, he calls himself our debtor. In writing these words, Paul doubtless sought only to express his feelings towards these far-off brethren. But he could not have written words more calculated to increase the attention which his foregoing words called forth. In § 1, our spirits bowed before one who stood so high in the service of so great a Master. But now the ambassador of Christ comes to us as one like ourselves. Across the waters which roll between him and us, we hear a brother's voice and see a brother's face. SECTION III FOR THE GOSPEL IS GOD'S POWER TO SAVE ALL THAT BELIEVE Ch. I. 16, 17 For I am not ashamed of the Gospel. For it is a power of God, for salvation, to everyone that believes, both to few first and to Greek. 17 For righteousness of God is revealed in it, by faith, for faith, according as it is written, "But the righteous man by faith will live'' Paul concluded § 2 with a new thought. He had expressed a desire to impart to his readers a spiritual gift and spiritual strength, to receive encouragement and gather fruit among them, and to discharge an obligation to them. In v. 15, these desires assumed the form of a wish to preach the Gospel to them. 48 EXPOSITION OF [sec. 3 Verse 16 gives a reason for this, viz. that the Gospel is a power of God to save. Therefore to preach it to the Christians at Rome will impart spiritual gifts and strength, will advance their salvation and thus bear fruit for Paul, and will discharge the obligation which the possession of such a Gospel laid upon him. Thus the last word of § 2 is the key-note of § 3. 16. Paul mentions first, not the nature of the Gospel, but his own feelings about it. He is ready to preach it to them because he is not ashamed of the Gospel. He is not ashamed of it because he knows its saving power. The word shame was perhaps suggested by the greatness of Rome and the apparent worthless- ness of a mere word in a man's lips. But the thought of shame is banished by remembrance of the power and purpose of the Gospel. For Paul knew that in his words there lives and works the Creator's power, that in those words this power is put forth to save men ready to die, that his word will save all men of any nation or rank who believe it, and that all men alike need salvation. This last point will be proved in § 4. Of such a word he is not ashamed even in the world's great capital : and there fore he is ready to proclaim it even to the men of Rome. Power : something able to produce results. By means of the good news, God performs works of power. So 1 Cor. i. 18, 1 Th. ii. 13. In creation a word was the instrument of God's power, and the universe is upheld by the word of the power of Christ : Ps. xxxiii. . 6, 9, Heb. i. 3. The words which called Lazarus from the grave and healed the lame man at the temple gate were & power of God. Such also is the Gospel. While men speak it, the might of God produces, through the spoken word, works possible only to God. So Jas. i. 18, 1 Pet. i 23 : cp. Acts viii. 10. Salvation : rescue of the lost, including the whole work of God in us till we are beyond the perils of the present life : see chs. v. 10, xiii. 11. Every moment by His power God saves us from evil. For salvation : purpose and aim of the power of God put forth in the proclamation of the good news. Believes : see note under ch. iv. 25. Everyone that believes the good news, of whatever nation or degree of culture, experiences the power which saves. To others, " the word of the cross is foolish ness : " 1 Cor. i. 18. Paul is ready to preach the Gospel at Rome because, to all who believe, it is a power of God to save. Jew and Greek ; another division of men. " Greeks and Bar barians " were equal in reference to the Kingdom of God. Both were far off: Eph. ii. 13. But the Jews were "the sons of the sec. 3] ROMANS I. 16, 17 49 covenant" and "of the kingdom:" Acts iii. 25, Mt. viii. 12. They were first not only in time but in privilege : Acts xiii. 46, Rom. iii. 1. Therefore in the great day they will be first in punishment and in reward : ch. ii. 9, 10. Same contrast in Eph. ii. 17. Greek: any who were not Jews, as in Mk. vii. 26, Jno. vii. 35, Acts xi. 20, xiv. 1. This use of the word shows, as does v. 14, how completely Greek thought and life had moulded the world in which Paul moved. The word is denotes here as in v. 12, not identity, but coincidence in thought or practical identity. The word and the power are not the same, but they go together. The one is the outward form, the other is the life-giving spirit. 17. Righteousness, or justice : same word both in Hebrew and in Greek. It describes any object which has a standard with which it may be compared, and which agrees with that standard ; that which is as it ought to be. Hence we have, in Lev. xix. 36, righteous weights and measures ; in Mt. xx. 4, Col. iv. 1, righteous wages ; in 2 Tim. iv. 8, a righteous judge ; in Rom. ii. 5, Acts iv. 19, Jno. vii. 24, righteous conduct and judgment. Aristotle (Nicom. Ethics bk. v. 1. 8) defines the word righteous to mean "legal and equal.'' The righteous man treats all men on thesame nrinciple, viz. according, to .the standard laid- down by law. And this is the common use of the word in classical Greek. God is righteous (cp. Rom. iii. 26) in that His treatment of men agrees with the principles of right and wrong admitted by all. It was ever in the mind of the Jew that God is the Judge by whom, and with whose law, man's conduct must be compared ; and that upon this comparison depends God's smile or frown, and man's life or death. Hence the phrase " righteous before God " in Lk. i. 6, Acts iv. 9. Sometimes, e.g. Dt. vi. 25, xxiv. 13, the word suggests reward from God for right action. In O.T. and\ N.T., that man is righteous whose conduct agrees with the Law of \ God, and who therefore enjoys His approval and will obtain His j reward ; and his condition is righteousness. J Righteousness of God is here said to be revealed in the Gospel, by faith, for faith : and this revelation of righteousness is given as an explanation of the statement that the Gospel is a power of God to save all believers. In ch. iii. 5, 25, and 26 the same phrase denotes an attribute of God : cp. " is God unrighteous ? " in v. 5 and " Himself righteous '' in v. 26. But it cannot have this meaning here. For, that God is righteous, was revealed, not in the Gospel, but long before : nor would such revelation explain how the Gospel is a power of God to save all who believe, or be 4 50 EXPOSITION OF [sec. 3 explained by the quotation from Habakkuk immediately following. Moreover, such manifestation of righteousness could not, as we read in ch. iii. 21, be said to be "apart from law." In ch. x. 3 we read of men who, "not knowing the righteousness of God, and seeking to set up their own, did not submit to the righteousness of God ; " where again the phrase before us cannot describe an attribute of God. Nor can it in 2 Cor. v. 21. But in Ph. iii. 9 Paul writes, " not having a righteousness of my own, that which is from law, but that which is through faith of Christ, the righteous ness from God on the condition of faith." The closeness of the parallel and the good sense given leave no room to doubt that these last words describe the righteousness of God in Rom i. 17, iii. 21, 22, x. 3. As given by Him, it is called God's righteousness, in contrast to any righteousness derived from obedience to law and therefore having its source in man. Revealed, or unveiled : used in N.T. only of a veil lifted up by God ; and only of truth actually apprehended by man, thus differing from the word manifest in v. 19, iii. 21. The Jews sought God's approval ; but it was hidden from their eyes : cp. ch. ix. 30, 31. The good news proclaims (cp. ch. iii. 27) the new law of faith ; and thus brings to light, to all who believe, the long-sought blessing. The revelation is made, from God's side, through the Gospelj iffis received^ "on man's" side, by (literally from) faith, i.e. by belief of the preached word? ^To those who do not believe, the Gospel is stili~veiled~*r so 2 Cor. iv. 3. For faith : purpose of God in choosing faith as the means of this revelation of righteousness : cp. v. 5, " for obedience of faith." In order that faith in Him may be the abiding state of His servants, God proclaims, " He that believes shall be saved ; " and thus makes known to all believers a state in which God's favour is enjoyed. The revelation is by faith, that it may lead to faith. This verse explains the statement in v. 16 that the good news is a power of God to save all that believe. As we shall see in § 4, man was perishing, and his perdition was a just punishment of his sin. Now a righteous judge cannot rescue a criminal from a righteous sentence. But, in the Gospel", God proclaims a new law, viz. " He that believes shall be saved;" and thus bestows His own favour on all that believe. The believer is now, by the gift of God, righteous. He has " obtained righteous ness, even the righteousness which is from faith : " ch. ix. 30. And the righteous Judge breaks off the fetters, and sets the sec. 3] ROMANS I. 16, 17 51 prisoner free. How the " power of God " works out " salvation for everyone that believes," we shall learn in chs. vi. and viii. To this salvation, righteousness as a gift of God is a necessary preliminary condition. As it is written etc. : not given in proof of the foregoing asser- \ tion, which rests simply on the word and authority of Christ ; j (see under ch. iii. 22 ;) but pointing out a harmony between ) the new Gospel and the ancient Scriptures. Habakkuk (ch. i.)/ mourns the vileness and lawlessness around ; and foresees as its j retribution rapid and complete conquest by the Chaldeans. He appeals to the character of God, and expresses for himself and the godly in Judaea an assurance of deliverance grounded on God's character, "We shall not die:" ch. i. 12. The. prophet betakes himself to the watch-tower, and awaits the reply of God. In solemn tones God proclaims the destruction of the proud Chaldeans, and declares that while others perish the "righteous man by his faith shall live : " ch. ii. 4. The Hebrew word rendered faith, although cognate to the ordinary verb meaning " to believe," denotes, not belief, but faithfulness, that constancy and stability of character which make a man an object of reliance to others. These quoted words assume that faithfulness is an element of the righteous man's character, and declare that by his faithfulness he shall survive. It is however quite evident that this faithfulness arises from faith, i.e. from belief of the promise of God. Indeed, Hab. i. 12 is an expression of faith. The prophet is unmoved because he relies upon God. In Hab. ii. 4, the words shall live refer primarily to the present life. When others perish, the righteous will escape. But in this sense the promise was only partially fulfilled. And the incom pleteness of its fulfilment in the present life was a sure pledge of a life to come. Thus, through the lips of the prophet, God proclaims, in face of a coming storm, that the righteous man will survive by his faith. In Christ, God spoke again. In face of the tempest so soon to overwhelm the Jewish nation, and some day to over whelm the world, He announced that the man of faith shall live. And Paul, echoing this announcement, calls attention to the harmony between God's word in Christ and His word in Habakkuk. This harmony, amid so much divergence, confirms the words both of Habakkuk and of Paul and of Christ. The omission by Paul of the word his in Hab. ii. 4 is unimportant : for evidently it is by his own faith that the righteous man 52 EXPOSITION OF [div. i will live. The omission makes prominent that the righteous man is a man of faith. In Hab. ii. 4 the words " by his faith " must be connected with " shall live ; " and are put first for the sake of emphasis. And this gives good sense in Rom. ii. 17. But the difference is unimportant. We are told that the man who will survive is righteous and has faith. This is in remarkable harmony with Paul's assertion that the Gospel is a power of God for salvation to all that believe. The assertion, here made, that God accepts as righteous all that believe the Gospel, is the foundation-stone of this epistle. It is stated without proof. With what right, we will inquire under ch. iii. 22, where we shall find a restatement of this doctrine. DIVISION I. ALL ARE GUILTY CHS. I. 18— III. 20 SECTION IV FOR GOD IS ANGRY WITH ALL SIN Ch. I. 18—32 For there is revealed God's anger from heaven upon all un godliness and unrighteousness of men, of those who hold down the truth in unrighteousness : >9 because that which is known of God is manifest among them : for God manifested it to them. 20 For the invisible things of Him, from the foundation of the world, being perceived through the things made, are clearly seen, viz. His eternal power and divinity; that they may be without excuse, sec. 4] ROMANS I. 18—32 53 21 because, having come to know God, not as God did they glorify Him or gave thanks; but they became vain in their reasonings, and their heart without itnderstanding was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became foolish; 33 and they changed the glory of the incorruptible God for a likeness of an image of corruptible man and birds and quadrupeds and creeping things. 24 For which cause God gave them up, in the desires of their hearts, to uncleanness, that their bodies be disho7ioured among themselves, 23 men who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and revered and served the creature rather than Him that created, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 Because of this, God gave them up to passions of dishonour. For both their females exchanged the natural use for that against nature; 27 and i7i like manner the males, having left the natural use of the female, burned in their lust one for another, males with males working out unseemliness, and receiving in themselves the necessary recompense of their error. 26 And, according as they did not approve to have God in their itnderstanding, God gave them up to a disapproved mind, to do the things not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wicked ness, covetousness, evil; full of envy, jnurder, strife, deceit, an evil disposition; whisperers, w evil speakers, hateful to God, wanton, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, without obedience to parents, 31 without understanding, without fidelity to covenants, without affection, without mercy ; 32 men who, knowing the decree of God that they who practise such things are worthy of death, not only do them but are pleased with those that practise them. This section confirms v. 17 by proving something without which it would not be true, viz. that all men are under the anger of God. Verse 17 explained how the Gospel is a power to save all that believe, by saying that in it is revealed a divinely-given conformity to the Law. This explanation rests on an assumption that all men capable of believing the good news are, apart from it, destitute of God's favour. Otherwise, a revelation of his favour will not save them, but will bring to light only what they already possess. Therefore, in order to give force to v. 17, this assumption must be proved. Otherwise, the force of v. 16, which gave a 54 EXPOSITION OF [div. i reason for Paul's readiness to preach at Rome, will not be felt : for unless the Romans need salvation, the Gospel's power to save will not prompt Paul to bring it to them. Consequently, the entire weight of vv. 1 6, 17, which contain a summary of the epistle, rests upon the assumption that all men are, apart from the Gospel, under the anger of God. Paul's earnest efforts to preach to all men the good news of salvation were prompted by his deep conviction of the lost state of all. In Div. 1. Paul asserts, and then proves, God's anger against all sin. In § 4, he proves it in reference to the Gentiles ; in §§ 5—7, in reference to the Jews. He shows (§ 8) that this is consistent with the privileges conferred on the Jews ; and (§ 9) with the Jewish Scriptures. He assumes in chs. ii. 1, iii. 9, 19 that all men are sinners ; and therefore draws, in ch. iii. 19, 20, the inference that all men are guilty before God. The argument of this section presents peculiar difficulties. Its proofs are taken from the life and thought of the heathen in Paul's day, well known to him and his readers but not to us. We may in part reproduce it from ancient writers and from the analogy of modern heathenism. But we are not sure of the extent to which the statements of the old writers were true of the mass of the population, and of the degree to which modern heathenism resembles that which surrounded Paul. Consequently, we have no firm hold of the facts on which his reasoning rests ; and therefore we cannot feel its full force. A study of it will however be of great profit. We shall under stand the writer's conclusions, and the principles on which he argues. These we shall compare with what we see in ourselves and in the world around and with what we read in ancient literature ; and we shall find that they shed light on some of the most mysterious problems of human nature. 18. Not only is " righteousness of God revealed " in the Gospel but elsewhere anger of God is revealed, or unveiled, i.e. brought to the knowledge of men. Anger, or wrath : an emotion or disposition which prompts us to punish, the opposite of "grace." It is common to God and men : cp. Eph. iv. 26. For the most part, it is now hidden in the breast of God ; but it will burst forth upon the wicked " in the day of anger and revelation of the righteous judgment of God:" Rom. ii. 5. Paul here says that this anger is already being revealed or made known ; but in what way he does not, in v. 18, tell us. The Jews read the anger of God in the pages of the Old Testament. But of this there sec. 4] ROMANS I. 18—32 55 is no hint here. Consequently, we must wait for, and in vv. 24 — 32 we shall find, another revelation of the anger of God. It is revealed, not like the Gospel by a voice which speaks on earth, but directly from heaven, whence God from His throne looks down upon all ungodliness. Notice two aspects of sin : un godliness or want of respect for God, and unrighteousness or want of conformity to the law laid down for man's conduct. Every sin deserves both names. But in some, as in vv. 21 — 23, the ungodliness, in others, as in vv. 24—32, the unrighteousness is more conspicuous. All unrighteousness of men : rather than " all unrighteous men," making prominent the exact object of God's anger, viz. the sin rather than the sinner. Many and various forms of sin alike call forth the anger of God. Of those who etc. : further description of those with whom God is angry, giving the special aspect of sin which provokes God's anger. All sinners hold down or hold back, i.e. resist, the truth: they prevent it from attaining its purpose. Sin is therefore positive resistance to God. Truth : correspondence between a reality and a declaration which professes to set it forth. Words are true when they correspond with objective reality : persons and things are true when they correspond with their profession. Hence a truth is a declaration which has corresponding reality, or a reality which is correctly set forth. Since God is Himself the great reality, that which correctly sets forth His nature is pre-eminently the Truth. Paul will prove that the heathen have the truth. It was designed to mould and raise their thought and life ; but they prefer un righteousness, and thus hold down the truth. The rest of § 4 explains, accounts for, and proves, the assertion of v. 18. It falls naturally into the following divisions : God is angry with all sin (a) because He made Himself known to men, vv. 19, 20 ; (b) but they refused to honour Him and fell into the folly of idolatry, vv. 21 — 23 ; (c) therefore God gave them up to dishonour, v. 24 ; (d) men who put the folly of idolatry in place of the truth of God, v. 25 ; (e) therefore God gave them up to dishonour and shame, vv. 26, 27 ; (/) they refused to know God, and God gave them up to all kinds of sin, vv. 28 — 32. Thus (d) and (e) axe parallel to, and develop, (b) and (c). 19. Because they know better, God is angry with these ungodly and unrighteous men. That which is known of God: His nature so far as it was known to the heathen. For to them Paul evidently refers : see v. 23. Manifest : set conspicuously before 56 EXPOSITION OF [div. i men's eyes, whether they see it or not. Same word in ch. ii. 28, 1 Cor. iii. 13, xi. 19, xiv. 25 : cognate verb below, made-manifest, and in iii. 21, xvi. 26, 2 Cor. v. 10, 11, etc. : another cognate verb in Rom. vii. 13, Jno. i. 5, v. 35, translated to shine. The word revealed denotes that which is actually known : see under v. 17. For God etc. ; explains the foregoing by an historical fact. God wrote His own name before the eyes of men that all might read it. The statement in v. 18 is true of all men. But v. 19, which begins the proof that all men have the truth, suggests the Gentiles, about whom alone there could be any doubt. This reference is the more natural because the Gentiles were the mass of mankind. 20. Proof of the foregoing. From the fact that the Gentiles actually know God, Paul infers that He manifested Himself to them. The invisible things of Him : the existence and nature of the unseen God, equivalent to " that which is known of God," and including His eternal power and all that is involved in His divinity. From the creation of the world : a note of time, as in Mk. xiii. 19, x. 6. This measurement of time is chosen because by the works of creation God reveals His otherwise unseen nature. Notice here a revelation of God more widely spread, and earlier, than that of the Old Covenant. God's works sprang from, and correspond with, His nature ; and therefore they reveal it. Through the things made the unseen Worker is clearly-seen ; being-perceived by the eye of the mind, which looks through the visible to that which is beyond and above it. Divinity : the whole of that which goes to make up our idea of God, all that in which God differs from us, including His eternal power. In Nature, this eternal God, so mighty and so different from us, is actually seen and known by men. Paul's readers would judge of the truth of this assertion. And, if true, v. 19 also is true. That men read in Nature the name of God, proves that it was written there by God. Therefore, since whatever God does He does with design, we infer that God wrote His name on the page of Creation in order that men might read it and thus know God. Just as God revealed Himself to the Jews through the lips of inspired men, so He also revealed Himself to the Gentiles in the thousand voices of the material world. That they might be without excuse : purpose of God in thus revealing His nature, viz. in order to leave men without excuse for dishonouring Him. This statement is evidently true. For all that comes from God must have a purpose. And the purpose of God's revelation of Himself in Nature could not be mere sec. 4] ROMANS I. 18—32 57 communication of knowledge : for knowledge is useless unless it lead to something beyond itself. Nor could its immediate purpose be to lead men to glorify God. For, as we shall see, man was fast bound in sin, and therefore unable to glorify God : and this revelation could not break his fetters. Its only possible result was a consciousness of guilt for dishonouring God. And, if so, this must have been its designed result. Therefore, apart from the authority of Paul, we are compelled by the facts of the case to accept his assertion that God revealed Himself in Nature in order to leave man without excuse for forgetting God. For the same purpose, the Law was given to the Jews : ch. iii. 19. These revelations had, however, a further purpose of mercy and salvation. By evoking consciousness of guilt, they prepared a way for (v. 17) a revelation of righteousness. But consciousness of guilt was all that they were able directly to produce ; and is therefore spoken of as the end for which they were given. Summary of 18—20. The heathen knew God's nature from His works. From this Paul infers that God made it known to them ; and that He did so in order to remove from them all excuse for ungodliness and ingratitude. This proves that God desires man's reverence and thanks ; and proves that they who refuse to honour God resist the truth which God has revealed. The assertion that through His works God was known to the heathen is abundantly confirmed by the literature of the ancient world. Of writers known to Paul's readers, we notice that both Plato and Cicero appeal to the material world as manifestly a work of an intelligent Creator. See especially Plato's Timceus pp. 28 —30 and bk. ii. of Cicero's Nature of the Gods, quoted on pp. 16 — 19 of my Through Christ to God. 21 — 23. Reason why they were without excuse, or the conduct which God made inexcusable by this revelation of Himself. The word know is so indefinite, especially with a personal object, that Paul could correctly say that the heathen knew God, and, as in Gal. iv. 8, 1 Th. iv. 5, that they did not know God. To what extent they knew God, he has already sta^d in v. 20. Glorify : to welcome as an object of admiration, and by word or act to express admiration for the object glorified. See note under v. 23. The heathen did not give to God the admiration and expressions of admiration which from His manifestation of Himself in Nature they knew that He rightfully claimed. Nor did they give thanks for His kindness to them. Instead of giving to God admiration and gratitude, they reasoned about Him in a way which could 58 EXPOSITION OF [div. i lead to no good result, and their useless reasonings reacted upon themselves : they became vain (see under ch. viii. 20) in their reasonings, and their heart, which was without understanding, lost the light needful for apprehension of God and became darkened. So always. The eye which refused to see lost to some extent the power of sight. The heart is the inmost centre of man. Hence the meta phors in Mt. xii. 40, 2 Sam. xviii. 14, Jonah ii. 3, Ex. xv. 8. It is the seat of the understanding, and the source of the thoughts, desires, emotions, words, and actions ; the motive power of human life, the helm of the human ship, from which the man looks out on the world around and shapes his course. Whatever is in the heart rules the conduct. Cp. v. 24, x, 1, 9, Mt. xiii. 15, Eph. i. 18, Mt. xv. i8f, 1 Cor. ii. 9, iv. 5, Heb. iv. 12. The modern distinction of head and heart is not found in the Bible. The heart, never the head, is the seat of the intelligence. Their heart, not hearts: so ch. vi. 12, 1 Cor. vi. i9f ; according to Greek usage. Each has one heart, and each one's heart is looked at singly. 22, 23. Proof that their heart was without understanding, and darkened. Professing to be wise : a ludicrous contrast to their folly and their worship of animals instead of God. Glory: admiration evoked by grandeur real or apparent, and expressing itself in words or actions. In this subjective sense, it is used in chs. iv. 20, xi. 36, xv. 7, xvi. 27 : cp. Jno. v. 41, 44, xii. 43. In classical Greek, the word denotes an opinion, the impression an object makes on the mind of a beholder. But in the Greek Bible it denotes frequently the objective quality which evokes admiration, i.e. manifested grandeur. The glory of God denotes here and ch. vi. 4, ix. 23, Tit. ii. 13, Rev. xviii. 1, xxi. 11, 23 the manifested grandeur of God, so calculated to evoke His creatures' admiration. In ch. xv. 7, 1 Cor. a. 31, Ph. i. 11, the same phrase denotes admiration for God evoked by His manifested grandeur. Cp. "glory of the Lord" in Lk. ii. 9, 2 Cor. iii. 18. Men glorify God when they receive Him as an object of their admiration, and when, by words or acts, they make Him known to others to be the object of their admiration. See also under Rom. iii. 23, v. 2. To such depth of folly fell the men to whom Paul refers that they put aside the splendour of God, incapable of decay, and put in place of it an image of men and animals doomed to decay. The contrast between incorruptible (see under ch. ii. 7) and corruptible puts their folly in clearest light. Image : a concrete sec. 4] ROMANS I. 18—32 59 imitation. Likeness : the generic quality in which one image is like another : cp. chs. v. 14, vi. 5, viii. 3, Ph. ii. 7. With this abstract quality of an image of a perishing man is contrasted the outshining grandeur of the immortal God. And of birds and quadrupeds and creeping things : further marks of their folly. The objects of their worship pass before us in slow procession, and increase our wonder at the folly of those who turn from God to worship imitations of these brute creatures. We see the prin ciple of veneration so deeply seated in them that they must worship something : and so foolish are they that these images are fairer in their eyes than the Creator of the universe. The facts of idolatry here asserted lie before us in the writings and relics of antiquity. Statues of men were worshipped by the Greeks : and the mummies of birds and reptiles, from the temples of Egypt, fill our museums. And, when Paul wrote, scarcely a serious voice had been raised in heathendom against this folly. The clearness of the reasoning of the Greeks about other matters makes more conspicuous their failure in this all-important matter. That they saw not their folly, reveals their blindness. Verses 21 — 23 prove that the heathen are without excuse for their idolatry : v. 20 asserts that in order to leave them without excuse God manifested Himself to them in nature. In other words, the only possible result of this manifestation was its designed result. But this was not its ultimate aim. Nature, like the Law, (see Gal. iii. 24,) was a guardian slave to lead men to Christ. 24. Divinely-ordained result and punishment of their idolatry. Gave-up : handed over into the power of another ; as in chs. iv. 25, vi. 17, viii. 32. To uncleanness: same word in ch. vi. 19, Eph. iv. 19 : the enemy into whose hands God gave them up. It is further specified as a defilement characterised by having their bodies dishonoured among themselves, i.e. one with another. Still further details in vv. 26, 27. Notice that sin is here represented as an enemy against whom the sinner is unable to protect himself : so ch. vii. 23. Surrender to this awful foe is the divinely-inflicted penalty of turning from God to idols. This surrender took place in the desires (see under ch. vi. 12) of their hearts. They longed for things around, often for bad things : and, full of desires they could not control, they were given up to shameful mutual pollu tion. In this surrender to their enemies the victims acquiesced : Eph. iv. 19. Fortunately the surrender was not necessarily final. Many of Paul's readers had once been given up to similar sins : but in the land of bondage they had cried for deliverance, and 60 EXPOSITION OF [div. i their cry had been heard : so I Cor. vi. 9 — 1 1. We shall find that this verse is the centre, and contains the kernel, of the whole section. 25. Another indignant delineation, parallel to that in vv. 21—23, of the sin of idolatry so terribly punished. The truth (see under v. 18) of God: "His eternal power and divinity," viewed as a reality correctly set forth in Nature. The lie : outward form without any corresponding reality. Notice the awful contrast : the Truth of God . . . the Lie. The heathen exchanged their divinely-given knowledge of the supreme reality for the unreality and error and deception of idolatry. Revered: stronger than "glorified" in v. 21. They made imitations of animals an object of their lowly adoration. And served : as in v. 9. It suggests the ritual of idolatry. It is evident that they worshipped the creature only, and Him that created not at all. But Paul uses the milder words rather than in order to make their folly the more evident by comparing the objects chosen and refused. To bless, is to speak good to, or of, a person ; the meaning in each case being determined by the relation of the persons concerned. God blesses us by declaring the good He will do us : and His word conveys the good to us. We bless God by declaring how good He is : Lk. i. 64, ii. 28. God is blessed : to endless ages an unceasing song will proclaim His goodness. Amen : a Hebrew word denoting certainly, and adopted into N.T. Greek. It is translated verily (A.V. and R.V.) in Jno. iii. 3, 5, 11, etc. At the end of a prayer, it expresses desire for an answer. Cp. Jer. xi. 5, and xxviii. 6 where its meaning is explained, Num. v. 22, Dt. xxvii. 15 ; also 2 Cor. i. 20, Rev. iii. 14. Paul has been describing the folly of the heathen, and watching their worship and its degrading and perishing objects. Weary with the sight, he lifts his eyes to heaven. To the eye of faith appears the eternal throne, surrounded by a host of happy and intelligent worshippers. From afar, their hallelujahs fall upon his ear : and he knows that those songs will rise for ever, literally to the ages, the successive periods of the future. The glorious vision reveals to him the madness of the idolaters around. From Him whom angels worship, they turn to their own perishing imitations of perishing men and animals. Paul cannot repress a tribute of honour to the dishonoured Creator. While he listens to the anthem, which he knows will be eternal, he joins the chorus, and cries Amen. Cp. chs. ix. 5, xi. 36, xvi. 27 ; Rev. v. 14. Notice various phrases describing man's conception of God. sec. 4] ROMANS 1. 18—32 61 That which is known of God describes Him as apprehended by men. The invisible things of Him : because, though placed by God within reach of the piercing glance of man's mind, the nature of God is beyond the range of his eye. The glory of God : as calculated to evoke man's admiration, in contrast to the contemptible forms of heathen worship. The truth of God: a conception corresponding with reality, in contrast to the unreality of everything belonging to idolatry. 26, 27. Further exposition of the assertion in v. 24. Notice the stately repetition : because of this, God gave them up to passions of dishonour. Females . . . males : terms applicable to animals. They were unworthy to be called women and men. The degra dation of their females, among whom modesty lingers last, is put first, as the surest mark of national disgrace. That these pictures are true, the pages of ancient writers afford decisive and sad proof. The impurity of the Greeks was a great feature of their national life : and it seems to have been, in Paul's day, equalled at Rome. And receiving etc. : a comment on the foregoing, explaining God gave them up and indicating the main argument of the section. In themselves : in their own bodies dishonoured by themselves. The recompense: the self-inflicted shame which is, by God's just appointment, the necessary result of turning from God to idols. In other words, the personal degradation which inevitably accompanies idolatry is God's condemnation and punishment of it, and a revelation (v. 18) of His anger against idolaters. 28 — 32. Other immoral consequences of idolatry. According as : God's conduct to them corresponding with theirs to Him. They did not approve : they weighed the matter in their mind, and deliberately resolved not to make God an object of their thought. Notice, a third time, God gave them up. The repe tition lays solemn emphasis on their punishment. Disapproved mind : a mind tested and found worthless. They put to the test the question of giving God a place in their mind, and rejected it : and God gave them up to a mind weighed in the balances and found wanting. To do the things not fitting : God's purpose in giving them up to a disapproved mind. He resolved that forget fulness of Himself should be followed by sin, and thus made this sequence, as stated in v. 27, inevitable. It became inevitable by the withdrawal of those divine influences which alone can save men from sin. Filled with all unrighteousness : state of heart from which spring all kinds of sin. Wickedness : that which injures others. Satan is "the wicked one:" 1 Jno. ii. 13. 62 EXPOSITION OF [div. i Coveteousness : desire for more than our share. An evil-dis- position : that which prompts men to look at everything in a bad light, and to turn everything to a bad use. Hateful-to-God : or hating God. The former accords with Greek use, and gives a good sense. It is a comment on what goes before. Wanton: those who do what they like, without considering whether they trample under foot the rights, the property, or the lives, of others : such was once Paul: 2 Tim. i. 13. Men who, knowing etc.: recalling v. 21, and emphasising a chief thought of this section. The Greeks and Romans knew that the general principles of morality had a superhuman source ; and that to sin against these was to resist a higher power. See under ch. ii. 15. Are pleased with etc. : last and darkest count in this catalogue of sins. Many commit sin, carried away by selfishness or passion, who condemn it in others. To take pleasure in the sin of one's neighbour, shows a love of sin, not for some further gain, but for its own sake. Abundant literature of the ancient world attests the truth of the above picture of those among whom Paul lived. Review. The argument in vv. 16, 17 implies that all men are, apart from the Gospel, exposed to the anger of God. As a first step in proof of this, Paul asserts, in v. 18, that God is angry with all sin because all sin is resistance to revealed truth. Of this assertion, the remainder of § 4 is explanation and proof. To prove that God is angry with all sin, Paul adduces three facts : 1. That, by means of His works, the Gentiles know something about God ; 2. That, instead of giving Him honour and thanks, they bowed down to images ; 3. That they are guilty of shameful immorality. From Fact 1, Paul infers that God made Himself known to the Gentiles in order to leave them without excuse for ungodliness and ingratitude. This inference, we will further examine. We learn from their writings that Plato, Cicero, and others knew something about God, and that in His works they read His name and nature. Therefore, by creating these works, God made Himself known to them. And, since whatever God does He does with design, we inferred under v. 20 that God created the material universe in order through it to reveal Himself to men ; and that He did so, not to satisfy curiosity, but with a further moral purpose. We ask now, For whom did God form this moral purpose ? For the philosophers only ? Did He write His name in letters which only they could understand ? God reveals Himself, not to the wise and great, but to those of every degree sec. 4] ROMANS I. 18—32 63 of culture who sincerely seek Him : Mt. xi. 25. If He revealed Himself to Plato, He must have done so to thousands of others in all positions of life. We therefore infer that God created the material universe in order that it might be a revelation of Himself to the whole human race, and that this revelation was within reach of all who honestly sought the truth ; and that the nature of God thus revealed was in some measure known to all who did not shut their eyes to it. To this knowledge of God, Paul appeals in Acts xiv. 17, xvii. 24: see also Ps. xix. 2, Wisdom xiii. 1 — 9. The last quotation and the work quoted are of great value as a record of Jewish thought before the appearance of Christ. In v. 20 Paul asserts that the moral purpose of God's revelation of Himself in Nature was to leave men without excuse for un godliness ; and, in ch. iii. 19, that with the same purpose the Law was given to Israel. This purpose was to some extent attained. For in the best Gentile writings there breathes a consciousness of God. That God revealed Himself in Nature in order to take away excuse for ungodliness and ingratitude, indicates that He will punish such forgetfulness of Himself ; and is therefore a revelation of His anger (v. 18) against all ungodliness. Fact 2 is introduced, in vv. 21 — 23, as a description of the actual conduct which God made inexcusable by this revelation of Himself. In the ritual of heathenism, Paul shows the inexplicable folly of idolaters. He does not appeal to their folly as a proof of God's anger against them — for of this He has more convincing proof — but only as an aggravation of the sin of forgetting God. But so great is the folly of idolatry that we can account for it only as punitive blindness. So Paul explains, quoting O.T., the folly of Israel : ch. xi. 8 — 10. It is therefore a mark of God's anger and of coming punishment. Similarly, Fact 3, the deep shame of the heathen, can be accounted for only on the supposition that God in His anger gave them up to a hostile and immoral power. Thus in each of these facts, taken by itself, we have proof of God's anger against the persons referred to. But this is not all. In the words God gave them up Paul solemnly and repeatedly asserts that Fact 3 is a result of Fact 2 taken in connection with Fact 1 ; i.e. that the deep shame of the heathen is a divinely-ordained result of their idolatry. If this be so, the proof afforded by the facts taken singly is immensely increased by their connection : and the immorality of the heathen 64 EXPOSITION OF [div. i becomes an unquestionable and fearful proof of the anger of God against those who forget Him. Of this solemn and repeated assertion, Paul gives no proof. To his readers, proof that idolatry fostered inchastity was needless. And I venture to suggest that he singled out this one sin as in a special sense a manifestation of divine anger because these unnatural crimes were almost universal, and yet were universally known to be wrong. Of each of these statements, we have proof in the literature of his day. Indeed, occasional attempts to excuse current practices, betray a secret misgiving. Now, if the mass of the heathen in Paul's day were guilty of a sin from which nature recoils, this sin was, by its universality and its universal self-condemnation, a special mark of the anger of God. Its universality implies a wide-spread cause : and the cause is not far to seek. Put together these facts : a universal manifestation of God, designed to leave men without excuse for ungodliness ; a universal turning from God to the inexplicable folly of idolatry ; a universal sin which all condemn. Each of these is a mark of God's anger against sin. But they are inseparable : where we find one we find the others. Their inseparable connection cannot be accidental. We therefore infer, as Paul here asserts, that the universal rejection of the universal revelation, and the universal shame, are cause and effect. And, just as from the connection of cause and effect in the material world we infer the existence of an intelligent Creator, so from this moral cause and effect we now infer that God is the moral Governor of the universe and is determined to punish those who refuse Him homage. If the above exposition be correct, the solemn and repeated words God gave them up are Paul's own explanation of the state ment in v. 1 8, God's anger is revealed. By making known His own greatness and power, and by giving up to folly and shame those who forget Him, God reveals plainly, to all who have eyes to see, His anger against ungodliness and unrighteousness. Since this revelation comes from the Maker and Ruler of the world, it may be said to be from heaven. After mentioning one sin which was so remarkable a proof of God's anger, Paul mentions others as a further result, and therefore a further proof, of the same. The above argument disproves the teaching of the Epicureans, that anger is inconsistent with deity, and that the gods care not for man's conduct. See Acts xvii. 18 and Cicero On the Nature of the Gods bk. i. 17. The opposite of this, Paul has proved ; not so much by formal argument, as by pointing to a chain of moral sec. 4] ROMANS I. 18—32 65 sequences involving punishment already being inflicted on the ungodly. Notice the intense reality of this section. There is no artificial order : but there is that higher order in which living thought finds its own correct expression. The writer turns again and again from the sin to the shame and from the shame to the sin. Before his searching and continued gaze, the sin becomes more sinful and the shame more deeply shameful. This epistle was probably written from Corinth : see Introd. iv. And nowhere did the shamelessness of idolatry parade itself more openly than at Corinth. The argument is therefore a mark of genuineness. The chief Doctrinal Results of this section are : — 1. Paul's view of Natural Theology. With him, God's revelation of Himself in Nature holds a place in the moral training of the Gentiles analogous to that of the Law in the training of Israel. A remarkable coincidence in the only two recorded addresses of Paul to heathens, Acts xiv. 1 5, xvii. 24 ; each of which begins by appealing to the creation of the world. To the Jews, he begins by quoting the Old Testament. In each case, he appeals to an earlier revelation given to prepare a way for the Gospel ; and thus seeks to call forth that consciousness of guilt without which the need of the Gospel is not felt. The revelation in Nature would probably bear its chief fruit in those Gentiles who heard the Gospel. While listening to it, they would condemn themselves, not for rejecting Christ, of whom they had never heard, but for disregarding a revelation which had been before their eyes from childhood. And, just as the Law retains its value even for those who have accepted the Gospel, so the worth of the revelation in Nature remains to those who behold the glory of God in the face of Christ. That God reveals Himself in Nature, raises Natural Science to a sacred study, and gives to it its noblest aim. 2. We learn that, by the just judgment of God, godlessness, folly, and shame go together. Happily these do not exist in the same forms, or to the same extent, with us as with these old heathens. But the principle remains. Are not they guilty of incredible folly who prefer to direct their highest thought and effort to the perishing objects around, rather than to those which will never pass away ? And is not this folly chargeable to all who forget God ? Again, just in proportion as the image of God fades from our view do we fall into thoughts, motives, and practices, which for very shame we must hide from our fellows. Human 5 66 EXPOSITION OF [div. i nature is the same. The principles here asserted attest themselves before our eyes and in our hearts. The inevitable connection of godlessness, folly, and sin proclaims in words we cannot mis understand that God is angry with those who forget Him. Even Socrates, in Xenophon's Memoirs bk. iv. 4. 24, says that the fact that certain sins produce their own punishment proves that the law which forbids them is from God. 3. The real nature of sin. It is not a mere act, but an adverse power against which, unaided by God, man is powerless. It has allies in our own hearts. The deep shame of the heathen is with Paul fully accounted for by the fact that God gave them up to sin. Of this, all else is a necessary result : man's own moral strength to resist even gross sin is not reckoned for a moment. Hence Paul's indignation is called forth, not by their lust and wickedness, but by their dishonour to God. Of this, their lust is but the punishment. We shall therefore no longer look with Pharisaic wonder on cases of deep depravity. The enormities of crime are explained. We see in them the fearful nature and power of sin, and God's anger against forgetfulness of Himself. We shall be slow to condemn, quick to pity. In the depravity of others we shall see what ourselves would become if the strong hand of our God were withdrawn. And, in the presence of foes so tremendous, we shall not venture away from our ark of safety. SECTION V GOD'S ANGER AGAINST SIN IS WITHOUT RESPECI OF PERSONS Ch. II. 1— 11 For which cause thou art without excuse, O man, whoever thou art that judgest : for wherein thou judgest the other thou con- demnest thyself: for thou that judgest dost practise the same things. 2 And 'we know that the judgment of God is, according to truth, upon them that practise such things. 3 But reckonest thou this, O man, that judgest them that practise such things and dost them, that sec. 5] ROMANS II. 1— 11 67 thou wilt escape the judgment of God? 4 Or, the riches of His kindness and the forbearance and the longsuffering, dost thou despise, not knowing that the kindness of God is leading thee towards repentance? s But according to thy hardness and a heart without repentance thou art treasuring for thyself anger in a day of anger and of revelation of God's righteous judgnent, e"Who will give back to each one according to his works'' J To them who by way of perseverance in good work seek glory and honour and incorruptibility, He will give eternal life : s6ut to them of mercenary spirit and disobedient to the truth but obedient to unrighteousness 9 shall there be anger and fury, affliction and help lessness, upon every soul of man that works out evil, of Jew first and of Greek; 10 but glory and honour and peace to everyone that works good, to Jew first and to Greek. u For there is no respect of persons with God. In § 4, Paul proved that God is angry with the heathen, by pointing to the cause of His anger, viz. the contempt shown in turning from Him to idols, and by pointing to a terrible result of it, viz. their shameful immorality. From this he now draws (§ 5) an unexpected and universal inference, viz. that God is angry not only with the Gentiles but with all men. This universal inference he defends against supposed exceptions on the ground of God's kindness, by asserting in vv. 3 — 10 that God's judgment is impartial. And he will show that neither (§ 6) the gift of the Law nor (§ 7) circumcision affords any ground for hope that God will deviate in the case of the Jews from this universal principle. 1. For which cause etc. : an unexpected result of § 4, and another link in the chain of moral cause and effect. Without excuse : recalling ch. i. 20. God manifested Himself in Nature to leave man without excuse for ungodliness : and now Paul asserts that, by giving up the heathen to shame and thus revealing His anger against ungodliness, He has left without excuse all who estimate moral conduct. Judge: to distinguish right and wrong, to pronounce sentence, but not necessarily an adverse sentence. We cannot avoid setting up ourselves as judges and pronouncing judgment, by our lips or in our hearts, on the actions of others. Consequently, the words whoever thou art that judgest include all men. From this universal judging, we shall learn \x\ v. 15 that all men have a moral law. In § 4, by referring to idolatry 68 EXPOSITION OF [div. i and to the revelation of God in Nature, Paul limited his remarks to the Gentiles. But now he infers, from God's manifested anger against the Gentiles, that all men are without excuse, thus including the Jews : and, by excluding them in § 4 and including them in § 5, he compels us to think about them. From vv. 9, 10 we learn that the distinction of Jew and Gentile was in his mind. In § 4, he gained the verdict of the Jews against the Gentiles ; and he now declares that by this verdict both Jews and Gentiles are left without excuse. For wherein etc. : proof of the foregoing words. And this proof rests upon the words following : for thou dost practise the same things. Paul looks every man in the face and charges him with committing the sins described above. This implies that apart from the Gospel all men are sinning. He does not say expressly that all men commit the unnatural sins described in ch. i. 26, 27 : for these are followed by a long list of other sins. But he asserts plainly that all men do what they know that God forbids and may justly punish. We have however proof that the special sins just referred to, which were in Paul's day so prevalent among the Gentiles, were also prevalent among those who called themselves the people of God. The best of the Jews would be the least likely to absolve themselves from this charge of universal sinfulness : for their efforts to do right would teach them the deep corruption of their own hearts. The general moral debase ment of the nation is depicted in dark colours on the pages of Josephus. If Paul's accusation be true, it is also true that all who pass sentence on others, by doing so, pass an adverse sentence on themselves. A judge who takes his seat to try a man for forgery, and is himself a forger, by opening the trial condemns himself : for he admits that forgery is a crime, and therefore that he himself deserves punishment. In § 4, Paul compelled the Jews to join in his sentence against the Gentiles. But the conduct which he compelled them to condemn as a mark of God's anger is, he now tells them, their own conduct. Therefore, every man who has the moral sense to concur in this condemnation leaves himself without excuse. 2. The R.V. reads in the text, following the A.V., and we know; putting in the margin, as read by "Many ancient authorities," for we know : a variation in one word. This latter reading would make v. 2 confirm v. 1, whereas the former would make it an additional assertion. The latter reading is given by Tischendorf; sec. 5] ROMANS II. i— n 69 the former by the other editors, (see Introd. iii. 7,) who put the latter in their margin, thus expressing doubt. The external evidence seems to me slightly to favour the reading and we know; and the internal evidence somewhat more so. But the practical difference is slight. To their own self-condemnation, Paul now adds the sentence of a more tremendous judge. The judgment of God: in this case evidently a sentence of condemnation. We know etc. : an appeal to their own conscience. Men may call in question the grounds of their belief that God will punish sin : but with a voice which they cannot contradict their own hearts tell them that He does so. In Xenophon's Anabasis bk. ii. 5. 7, a Greek general reminds a Persian that to break oaths is to incur the anger of the gods, and that from their anger none can escape. Here we have one heathen appealing to another, to a stranger in race and religion, on the ground of a moral truth admitted by all. According to truth: corresponding with the reality of the case, with man's actual conduct. All judges aim at this : God attains it. Upon : as in ch. i. 18. We now see the justice of the universal inference in v. 1. God made His name known to the Gentiles, in order to take from them all excuse for ungodliness. They treated with contempt His revelation of Himself : and in proof of His anger He gave them up to gross sin. In a more definite manner God made Himself known to the Jews : and their own hearts tell them that they are guilty of the darkest ingratitude and the most shameful sin. Therefore, if the gross sin of the Gentiles is a mark of God's anger against them for disregarding the revelation in Nature, and if God's judgment corresponds with man's real conduct, the gross sin of the Jews is a mark of God's anger against them for neglecting a more glorious revelation. Possibly even § 4 was designed chiefly for the Jews. It is a darker repetition of Nathan's parable. After securing their verdict against the character de scribed, Paul turns round in a moment and says, Thou art the man. Notice in v. 2 a repetition, after complete proof, of the assertion in ch. i. 18. 3. A pointed question bringing out in its worthlessness and absurdity a secret hope of escape cherished by some who are guilty of the sins which they condemn in others. While valid for all men, Paul's appeal refers probably to the Jews. Dost thou reckon this ? is this the result of thy reasoning ? Paul singles out an objector and speaks to him as though he had the man 7o EXPOSITION OF [div. i standing before him. For to him every thought assumes living form and breathes and speaks. Judgest . . . and dost : solemn restatement of the man's inconsistency. He condemns himself by condemning others, and knows that his own self-condemnation is confirmed by God who judges every man according to his actual conduct : and yet he expects in some way to evade the sentence of God. The words according to truth in v. 2 and the judgment of God in v. 3 expose the folly of this expectation. From man's judgment escape is possible : but who shall escape the sentence of God? 4. Another question, bringing out the secret ground of this fallacious hope. God is merciful ; and has shown special kindness to Israel by forbearance and longsuffering of long-continued sin. Therefore, though the man lives in sin, he expects to escape punishment. Paul declares that this hope is to despise His kindness in ignorance of its purpose. The riches of His kind ness : His abundant gentleness towards men : cp. ch. ix. 23. Paul frequently heaps word on word, because he feels how poor the best words are to express the great things of God. His forbearance is shown in His holding back for a time His anger against sin : in the duration of His forbearance we see His longsuffering : and in the forbearance and longsuffering we see His abundant kindness. Repentance: a change of purpose, arising from change of circumstances or from dissatisfaction with a former purpose, and prompting a change of action. This original use of the word is seen in 1 Sam. xv. 11, where God is said to repent, and in v. 29, where we read that He cannot repent : cp. Jer. iv. 28, xviii. 7 — 10. In a technical religious sense, viz. to denote a sinner's purpose to forsake sin and serve God, the word is found, without further specification, in Mt. iii. 2, 8, 11, iv. 17, Lk. xxiv. 47, Acts xvii. 30, xxvi. 20. See also Acts xx. 21. Leading thee towards repent ance : God is bringing to bear on this man influences tending towards a change of purpose and a resolve henceforth to do right. But evidently these divine influences are altogether with out result. For in spite of them the man's heart is without repentance : v. 5. In English we should say, " seeks to lead thee to repentance." But the Greek idiom here used is equally correct and more graphic. For the hand of God is actually upon the man, drawing him towards something better. Paul asserts that God in His kindness exerts influences which, if yielded to, would change his life purpose. Towards : an aim or tendency : see under ch. i. 1. God delays punishment because His kindness sec. 5] ROMANS II. 1— 11 71 moves Him to use influence to lead the man to a new purpose in life, viz. to serve God. But the sinner, not knowing this, supposes that God's kindness arises from indulgence towards sin. Now a ruler's indulgence towards sin is an evil ; whereas God's kindness is infinitely good. This man misunderstands it to be a disposition which he would himself despise in any judge, and shows his contempt of it by refusing to be moved by it. He thus despises the kindness of God. Yet upon this kindness, which he both misunderstands and resists, he leans for escape from the just judgment of God. Notice that Paul singles out of the promiscuous mass of his opponents a man who is heaping up for himself future punishment, and tells him without hesitation that God is leading him towards repentance ; and charges him with ignorance for not knowing this. From this we infer with certainty that upon all men God is bringing these influences to bear. For, if there were one exception, Paul could not use the language of this verse. Cp. 1 Tim. ii. 4, Jno. xii. 32. Without these influences, repentance is impossible : Jno. vi. 44, 65. 5. A plain statement of what the man is actually doing, the man who while continuing in sin cherishes a secret hope of escape. Hardness : moral obstinacy which will not bend to divine influences : chs. ix. 18, xi. 7, Mt. xix. 8, Acts xix. 9, Heb. iii. 8. A heart without-repentance : result and proof of his hardness. According to his character and heart, he acts. Treasuring: adding day by day to his sins, and therefore to the anger of God, hidden now as in a treasure-house, but in safe keeping, till the day of anger and of revelation (or unveiling, see ch. i. 18) of God's righteous judgment. Notice here a definite day of judg ment, as in v. 16, Acts xvii. 31 ; this last an important coincidence. The increasing treasure of wrath, hidden now, will then be visible to all. Contrast Mt. vi. 19. This implies gradation in punishment: otherwise there could be no increase of it. 6. An assertion supporting the foregoing. It commends itself to the moral sense of all men. And, as a word-for-word quotation of Ps. lxii. 12 (LXX.) and as giving the sense of innumerable statements in the O.T., it would appeal to the Jew with divine authority. The Psalmist's enemies, while secretly plotting against him, professed to be his friends. He appeals to God, who, he declares, will recompense each according to his works. The passage refers evidently to Jewish enemies, and therefore implies that God will treat even Jews according to their deeds. The quotation. 72 EXPOSITION OF [div. i does not expressly refer to the day of judgment. But the in completeness of retribution on earth, taken in connection with the unfailing truth of these words, implies a recompense beyond the grave. These quoted words, if their truth be admitted, prove that the judgment of the great day will be just, that therefore all who live in sin are day by day increasing the punishment which in that day will fall upon them, and that the delay of punishment arises, not from God's indifference to sin, but from His desire that men may turn and live. 7 — 10. Development of the great principle just asserted in O.T. language, in reference to its two sides of reward and punishment. In v. 7 we have reward ; in vv. 8, 9, punishment ; and in v. 10 reward again. 7. Glory: see under ch. i. 23. It denotes here, as in ch. v. 2, viii. 18, 21, the splendour with which God will cover His servants, and which will evoke the admiration of all. Honour : a mark of the value we put upon an object : rendered price in 1 Cor. vi. 20, vii. 23. Same word in Rom. xii. 10, xiii. 7, 1 Cor. xii. 23, 24, 1 Tim. v. 17, vi. 1. It denotes here a recognition by God of the faithfulness of His servants. Incorruptibility : absence of injury or decay of any kind. Same word in 1 Cor. xv. 42, 50, 53, 54, 2 Tim. i. 10; .Wisdom ii. 23, vi. 19, 20: a cognate word in Rom. i. 23, 1 Cor. ix. 25, xv. 52, 1 Tim. i. 17, 1 Pet. i. 4, 23. Those who do right, God will cover (see v. 10) with a splendour which will make them objects of universal admiration, will attest the value He puts upon them, and will abide undimmed for ever. For this reward, they now seek : it is the deliberate aim of their life, and the hope of it (see ch. v. 2) is to them a joy. Per severance, or endurance, literally continuance under: a brave holding up under burdens which would cast us down, a pressing forward in face of foes who would drive us back. Same word in chs. v. 3, 4, viii. 25, xii. 12, xv. 4, 5. It is one of the great words descriptive of the Christian life, representing it as a toil and conflict. According to . . . good work ; along a path of doing good, under difficulties and in face of enemies, they seek glory and honour. Eternal life : reward awaiting the class of persons here referred to. So chs. v, 21, vi. 22, 23, Gal. vi. 8, 1 Tim. i. 16, vi. 12, Tit. i. 2, iii. 7 ; also Acts xiii. 46, 48 in a speech of Paul ; Jude 21 ; Mt. xix. 16, 29, xxv. 46, Mk. a. 17, 30, Lk. a. 25, xviii. 18, 30; and with conspicuous frequency Jno. iii. 15, 16, 36, iv. 14, 36, v. 24, 39, vi, 27, 40, 47, 54, 68, x, 28, xij. 25, 50, xvii, 2, 3, 1 Jno. i, 2, ii. 25, sec. 5] ROMANS II. 1— 11 73 iii. 15, v. 11, 13, 20. This use of the phrase by various N.T. writers leaves no room to doubt that it, or its Aramaic equivalent, was actually used by Christ. Same words in Dan. xii. 2, LXX. ; also Enoch chs. xxxvii. 4, xl. 9, lviii. 3 : important parallels. These passages prove that Christ adopted an eschatological phrase preva lent among the Jews. His new and distinctive teaching was that eternal life will be the reward of all who put faith in Him. Life beyond the grave is in the N.T. always a reward of well doing, never the common lot of all men. This implies that it is a state of blessing : and this is confirmed, here and elsewhere, by the other terms used to describe this future life. The future state of the wicked is not life, but " death " and " destruction : " so v. 12, vi. 21, Gal. vi. 8, Ph. iii. 19. Eternal ox agelasting: duration continuing throughout some lifetime or age which the writer has in view. That the age in view here is absolutely endless, is implied by the word incorruptibility here and in 1 Cor. ix. 25, xv. 42 — 54, 2 Tim. i. 10, 1 Pet. i. 4, by the purpose expressed in "may not perish" in Jno. iii. 16, etc.; and is made absolutely certain by the endless life and infinite love of our Father in heaven. See under ch. xvi. 25. 8, 9. Another class of conduct and retribution. Those of a mercenary spirit : men actuated by low and selfish motives ; a character always more or less assumed by sin, and in all forms and degrees essentially opposed to the Christian life. Disobedient to the truth : equivalent to " hold down the truth with un righteousness " in ch. i. 18. In Nature and in the Law of Moses, God manifested unseen realities. These were designed to rule the life and thought of men. But some men refuse to submit to this divine rule. Yet, as creatures, they are compelled to obey a power stronger than themselves ; their only choice being a choice of masters. Refusing to obey the truth, i.e. to live in harmony with reality, they actually obey unrighteousness : this last word is used here as in ch. i. 18, which this verse recalls. Cp. ch. vi. 16. Now follows the retribution awaiting the persons just described. Anger: as in ch. i. 18, God's determination to punish. Fury: a passionate outbursting of anger. Both are forbidden in Eph. iv. 31, Col. iii. 8 : but anger is permitted in Eph. iv. 26. Human passions are here attributed to God, because only thus can God's indignation against sin and the tremendous punishment awaiting sinners be set forth. Same word in Rev. xiv. 10, 19, xv. 1, 7, xvi. 1, and both words together in chs. xvi. 19, xix. 15. But not elsewhere in N.T. is fury attributed to God. Affliction; .any kind of hardship, 74 EXPOSITION OF [div. i e.g. poverty, sickness, persecution, or punishment. Helplessness: literally, narrowness of space, affording no way of escape ; trans lated twice straitened (A.V. and R.V.) in 2 Cor. vi. 12. Rom. viii. 35 suggests, and 2 Cor. iv. 8 proves, that it is stronger than affliction. The four words are a chain of cause and effect. God is angry, determined to punish sin. His anger bursts forth in divine fury : this falls upon man in the form of affliction; and puts him, with no way of escape, in a position of absolute helpless ness. These last words imply conscious suffering : so Mt. xiii. 42, 50. Upon every soul etc. : further description of those upon whom will fall this awful punishment. It will strike the soul, the seat of life ; and will fall upon (as in v. 2, ch. i. 18) every soul of man that works out evil. These last words are a short summary of the conduct described in v. 8. Jew first and Greek : as in ch. i. 16. In the day of judgment, distinctions are recognised ; but they avail not. We may conceive the Jew standing nearer to, and the Greek farther from, the throne ; as in Paul's day they stood (see Eph. ii. 13, 17) nearer to and farther from the sound of the Gospel. To the few, the Gospel came first, and on him the retribution will first fall : but the Greek will not escape. 10. Restatement of the reward awaiting the righteous, in con trast to the fate of the lost, just described ; and therefore parallel to v. 7. The glory and honour for which they seek will be given to them; and peace, as in ch. i. 7. It is an exact opposite of affliction and helplessness, the one resulting from the favour, the other from the anger, of God. The repetition of Jew first and Greek shows how prominent in Paul's thought was this distinction. To assert, while recognising it, the impartial judgment of God, is the chief purpose of this chapter. 11. A great principle underlying the O.T. declaration in v. 6, asserted here in order to confirm the statement in vv. 9, 10 that God will punish and reward both Jew and Greek. Respect-of-persons : literally, face-reception: to look at a man's face and exterior, instead of at his heart and life ; to take into consideration his gold ring or fine clothing, and treat him accordingly. Same word in Eph. vi. 9, Col. iii. 25, Jas. ii. 1 : cp. Jas. ii. 9, Acts x. 34, also Lk. xx. 21, Gal. ii. 6. The statement that God does not look at mere externals commends itself to the moral sense of every man. It is clearly implied in the O.T. declaration of v. 6 ; and it implies that the sentence of the great day will not be determined by the accident of birth. Yet some such accident is the only ground of trust of the man addressed it; sec. 6] ROMANS II. 12—24 75 v. 3. The remainder of ch. ii. is an exposition of this great principle in its bearing on the distinction of Jew and Gentile. Review. In vv. 1, 2, Paul reasserts, as valid for all men, the assertion in ch. i. 18. That it admits of no exception whatever, he proves in vv. 3 — 1 1 by words taken from the O.T., and by expounding the principles which underlie them. He also correctly infers from these words that all who continue in sin are daily increasing the punishment which awaits them ; and that, if they expect to escape because of God's kindness, they thereby show their ignorance of the purpose of that kindness and their contempt for it. In § 5, Paul has taught us that, apart from the Gospel, all men not only have committed but are committing sin ; that God is bringing to bear on all men influences tending towards repentance ; and that the judgment of the great day will be, both in its broad distinction of reward and punishment, and in the measure of punishment, according to works. This implies that the glad tidings of salvation announced in ch. i. 16 are not inconsistent with, and do not set aside, a final retribution according to works. SECTION VI THE GIVING OF THE LAW IS NO PROOF THAT GOD WILL HAVE RESPECT OF PERSONS Ch. II. 12 — 24 For so many as have sinned without law will also perish without law : and so many as have sinned in law will be judged by means of law. 13 For not the hearers of law are righteous before God; but the doers of law will be justified (ufor whenever Gentiles, the men who have no law, do by nature the things of the Law, these not having law are to themselves a law; I5 men who show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing joint-witness thereto, and their reasonings one with another when accusing or even excusing) 16 in the day when 76 EXPOSITION OF [div. i God will judge the hidden things of men, according to my Gospel, through Christ fesus. 17 Moreover, if thou bearest the name of Jew, and dost rest upon law, and dost exult in God, wand knowest the will of God, and approvest the things that excel, being instructed out of the Law ; lg and art persuaded that thyself art a guide of blind men, a light of those in darkness, 20 an instructor of foolish ones, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and the truth in the Law — 21 the man then that teachest another, dost thou not teach thyself? The man who as herald forbiddest to steal, dost thou steal ? " The man that biddest not to commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery ? The man that abhorrest the idols, dost thou rob temples ? 23 Thou who dost exult in law, through transgression of the Law thou dishonourest God. 2i"For the name of God, because of you, is blasphemed among the Gentiles," accord ing as it is written. This section introduces a new element, the Law ; and confirms the great principle asserted in v. 1 1 by proving that the gift of the Law to Isreal only was no deviation from it. Paul asserts in v. 12 that the presence or absence of the Law will save no one : he proves this in v. 13 by appealing to a principle which underlies all law; by showing in vv. 14, 15 that this principle applies even to the Gentiles ; and by showing in vv. 17 — 24 that to deny its application to the Jews involves the greatest absurdity. In this way the hope struck down in § 5 is traced to its source, viz. God's special kindness to Israel shown in the gift of the Law ; and there mercilessly dispelled. 12. Proof of v. 11, even in view of the distinction of Jew and Gentile. Law : a prescription of conduct by an authority claiming to determine what men are to do or not to do : see note under ch. iii. 20. Without-law: cognate word twice in 1 Cor. ix. 21: Gentiles, who in v. 14 are twice said to "have no law." They sinned ; but their sin had nothing to do with the historical and external law given to Israel at Sinai. Yet they will perish or be destroyed: see note below : but their ruin will be without law, i.e. on principles independent of the Law of Moses, of which they never heard. Sinned in law : cp. ch. iii. 19 : their sins were committed in a moral environment created by the Law given at Sinai. And this moral environment will be the standard or instrument by sec. 6] ROMANS II. 12—24 77 means of which they will be judged. The similar form of the two clauses portrays the similar treatment and fate of two classes of sinners. It thus confirms v. 11. 13. A great principle underlying all law and frequently asserted in the Law of Moses. It supports the foregoing words. Hearers : in an age when books were scarce and when the Law was known chiefly through public reading of it. Cp. Jas. i. 22, Acts xv. 21. Righteous before God : enjoying His approval as judge : see under ch. i. 17. Will he justified: will receive a favourable sentence from the judge : see note under § 9. That the future tense refers to the day of judgment, we shall learn in v. 16 : so Mt. xii. 37, an important parallel and a meeting-point of two very different types of N.T. teaching. Not those who have listened to a law, but those who have done what it bids, will be accepted by the judge. This is the very essence of all law : for law is a declaration of what men are to do. And it was proclaimed often in the Law of Moses and by the prophets. Cp. ch. x. 5, Gal. iii. 10. Moreover, if this principle be admitted, if the rewards of law are given only to those who have obeyed it, and if its punishments are inflicted on those who have broken it, then, evidently, they who have sinned will be judged by means of the law in which they have sinned. Thus the Law itself proclaims the condemnation of those who continue in sin, and the folly of those who while living in sin hope to escape because of the special favour shown to Israel in the gift of the Law. Consequently, the gift of the Law to Israel is no presumption whatever that in their case God will deviate from His principle of judging all men without respect of persons. 14, 15. These verses confirm the universal principle asserted in v. 13 by showing that it applies not only to Jews but to Gentiles. All Gentiles belong to the definite category of the men who have no law. They have no external prescription of conduct like the Law of Sinai. By -nature : by the outworking of forces born in us, as distinguished from results of education and later events, i.e. of influences which since our birth have moulded our conduct and character : same word in Eph. ii. 3, Gal. ii. 15, iv. 8. By nature the bee builds cells and lays up honey : and this proves that in the bee certain principles of architecture have been implanted by a higher power. The things of the Law : actions bidden in the Law of Moses; so v. 15, the work of the Law. For instance, the Law says, " Honour thy father and thy mother." The Greeks, who never heard the Law, sometimes did this : so Xenophon, Memoirs bk. iv. 4. 20, quoted in my Through Christ to God p. 28. 78 EXPOSITION OF [div. i Their conduct, whenever they do the things of the Law, which cannot be a result of a law they never heard, must therefore spring from moral forces born in them. This obedience is only fragmentary, and therefore cannot justify : for the Law demands perfect obedience. So Gal. iii. io. But it is sufficient for Paul's argument. Not having law : emphatic repetition of the point of the argument. The Gentiles have no law external to themselves ; yet they sometimes do the things bidden in the Law : they are therefore a law to themselves, i.e. there is within them, as part of themselves, something which is to them what the Books of Moses are to the Jews. This proof appears whenever Gentiles do the things of the Law. 15. Further exposition and confirmation of the argument in v. 14. The work of the Law : the conduct prescribed in the Law of Moses, looked upon as a code of morals. Hearts : as in ch. i. 21. Their occasional obedience proves that the God of Nature, who wrote His Law on the tables of stone given to Israel at Sinai, has engraved it on the walls of that inner chamber from which comes all human action. Many disobey this law written within. But, as Socrates argues in Xenophon's Memoirs referred to above, this does not disprove the authority of the law. Thus the Gentiles carry within them, written in their hearts, a standard of conduct which God has given to be the rule of their life. Bearing-joint-witness : confirming what another witness has said : same word in chs. viii. 16, ix. 1. Conscience, or consciousness : same word in ch. ix. 1, xiii. 5, 2 Cor. i. 12 : the inborn faculty by which a man contemplates, and pronounces sentence upon, himself, his thoughts, emotions, purposes, words, and actions. It is the inward eye which reads the law written in the heart and compares with it the conduct of himself and others. Practically it is the law written within looked upon as a faculty of judgment : it is the inborn Moral Sense of man. This inward knowledge and inborn faculty of judgment, whose voice no one can contradict, confirms the evidence given by the occasional right action of the Gentiles, and proves that God has given to them a standard of right and wrong by which they will be judged. And their reasonings etc. : a second confirmation of the same. Every day the heathen reasons in his mind whether something done by his neighbour is right or wrong. The result is that he accuses his neighbour, or excuses him from the accusations of others. These reasonings imply a standard with which the conduct of men around is compared. And in all nations, as is proved by sec. 6] ROMANS II. 12—24 79 the literature of the ancient world, this standard is in its main outlines the same : and in the main it corresponds with the moral teaching of the Law of Moses. Thus the reasonings which find utterance in the blame or praise with which even the heathen speak one of another bear witness that God has given to them a law which is a part of themselves, and is to them what the book was to Israel. Accusing : put first because in a world of sinners man's verdict on his fellows is more frequently condemnatory than approving. But even their excusing of others implies a moral standard written within. Of this we have now three proofs, the occasional right conduct of the heathen, their inward estimate of their own actions, and their spoken estimate of the actions of men around them. It is easy to feel the force of the above reasoning. The ancient writers of Greece and Rome prove clearly that the Gentiles among whom Paul moved sometimes did noble actions in harmony with the moral teaching of the Pentateuch ; and that, speaking generally, the heart of the people, expressed in its approval and condemnation of men around, was in harmony with the same. This proves that, although they had no outward law, the Gentiles had an inner law which was a part of themselves, which guided their judgment, and was designed to guide their conduct. The force of this argument is not lessened by the fact that on some points this law was imperfect. The letterswritten within were partly defaced. But enough remained to prove their divine origin, and to be a standard by which the heathen will be judged. This argument would not fall to the ground even if the Gentiles had been unconscious of the divine origin of this unwritten, yet deeply-written, law. For all admitted its existence, whether or not they knew whence it came. That it came from God, we infer from its agreement with the Law of Sinai : and that it came from God many anceint writers acknowledge. Socrates, in Xenophon's Memoirs bk. iv. 4. 19 — 21, referred to above, speaks of the un written laws held in every country, and quotes as samples honour to parents and the prohibition of incest. He says that since these laws are universally held and are evidently not a result of human legislation they must have been made by the gods. Still more explicit is ClCERO in his Laws bk. ii. 4 : " This then, as it appears to me, has been the decision of the wisest philosophers, that law was neither a thing contrived by the genius of man nor established by any decree of the people, but a certain eternal principle which governs the entire universe, wisely commanding what is right and 80 EXPOSITION OF [div. i forbidding what is wrong. Therefore they called that primal and supreme law the mind of God enjoining or forbidding each separate thing in accordance with reason. On which account it is that this law, which the gods have bestowed on the human race, is so justly praised. For it is the reason and mind of a wise Being equally able to urge us to good and to deter us from evil. . . . For even he (Tarquin) had the light of reason deduced from the nature of things, which incites to good actions and dissuades from evil ones ; and which does not begin for the first time to be a law when it is drawn up in writing, but from the first moment that it exists : and its existence is coeval with the divine mind. Therefore the true and supreme law, whose commands and prohibitions are equally authoritative, is the right reason of the Sovereign Jupiter." The above testimonies receive important confirmation from the supreme authority, recognised by many who reject the authority of the Bible, of the inborn moral sense. This last is by no means infallible ; but until better instructed it is the law we are bound to obey. A man may make mistake in obeying Conscience : he never does right to disobey it. The peremptory authority of the moral sense, dominating all other considerations, reveals its divine source. From this law written within, all external law receives its authority ; and by it must all external law be judged. To it appeals not only the moral law given to Israel but the supreme revelation given in Christ. And the homage paid by the moral sense of man to the character and teaching of Christ is the strongest testimony to His divine mission. It is a voice of God in man bearing witness to the Voice of God speaking to us from the lips of the Incarnate Son. This inborn voice of God is doubtless the chief agent through which " God is leading " men " towards repentance." The voice of conscience is a clear monition of a universal and impartial judgment to come. For its absolute authority assures us that it is able to vindicate its commands by adequate retribution. Such retribution we do not see in the present life ; and are there fore compelled to expect it beyond the grave. Paul has now confirmed the universal principle stated in v. 13 by showing how it will apply to Gentiles as well as Jews : and, by pointing to a law which all have broken, he has confirmed the statement in v. 12. The difference created by the partial gift of the Mosaic Law is not so great as at first sight appears. To all men, in different ways, God has given the one law. That He gave it to the Jews in more emphatic form, does not afford the slightest sec. 6] ROMANS II. 12—24 81 presumption that He will deviate in their favour from the great principle which underlies all law. 16. Not connected with v. 1 5 : for the accusations and excuses were those made in Paul's own day. We must therefore take vv. 14, 15 as a parenthesis. Paul declared in v. 13 that only " the doers of law will be justified." But, instead of saying at what bar and when, he stops to prove that even the Gentiles have a law, and therefore come under the application of this great principle ; and then in v. 16 takes up the thought thus broken off. In the day when God will judge : recalling v. 5, " in the day of anger and revelation of God's righteous judgment." The hidden things of men: cp. 1 Cor. iv. 5, "till the Lord come, who also will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts." God will publicly pass sentence on the secrets which the man himself, in the solitude of his own conscience, has already condemned. My Gospel : so ch. xvi. 25 : the good news of salvation as Paul understands and proclaims it. He reminds his readers that the Gospel he everywhere preaches implies that God will judge the secrets of men at the great day. The doctrine of retribution beyond the grave must ever accompany, as a safe guard, the announcement of present salvation. Through Christ Jesus: see note under ch. i. 5, and compare Jno. v. 27, 1 Cor. iv. 5. 17 — 24. Another confirmation of v. 13, in addition to that given in vv. 14, 15. After supporting the principle that the doers, not the hearers, of law will be justified, by showing how it applies to the Gentiles, Paul now further supports the same by a personal and pointed appeal which brings out the absurdity of the position of the man who practically rejects it. 17,18. Jew: a name of which he is proud: cp. Gal. ii. 15, Rev. iii. 9. Rest upon law : he feels secure because he possesses a standard of right and wrong, an authoritative declaration that those who obey will be rewarded and those who disobey punished. Paul evidently speaks now to the man addressed in vv. 3, 4. But there the word Jew was kept back because others might cherish the fallacious hope there expressed ; and because this hope, in Jew or Greek, was dispelled by the one universal principle that God has no respect of persons. In vv. 17 — 24, Paul's reasoning applies to Jews only. Exult: so chs. iii. 27, v. 2, 11 ; xi. 18 : a rising or gladness of spirit which has always in view the object external or internal which has called it forth, and which is always ready to express itself in words. We exult in God, when our hearts rise within us at the thought of His greatness, His power, 6 82 EXPOSITION OF [div. i His love to us. This man, while living in sin and therefore under condemnation of God, is lifted up by the thought that Jehovah is God of the Jews. And knowest the will of God : another ground of confidence. It enables him to distinguish and approve the things that excel : for he is day by day instructed out of the Law. This vain confidence in a mere knowledge of the Law finds utterance in Jno. vii. 49. Notice the gradation in vv. 17, 18. The man addressed re members that he is a Jew, and that to his nation the tables of stone were given. This gives him, even while living in sin, an assurance of safety. From the Law, his thoughts rise to its great Author. That the Maker of the world is the God of the Jews, fills him with exultation. Through the Law he has looked into the mind, and knows the will, of God : amid the mistaken judgments of others, he has an infallible standard by which he can determine and approve that which is really good. 19, 20. A second flight of steps in the self-exaltation of the Jew. Having attained the position described in v. 18, he con fidently aspires to something higher. While he can see all things clearly in the light of the Law, others are in darkness : and he is fully persuaded that he is a guide of those who wish to walk in the path of morality but have not eyes to see the way. He can give to blind men not only guidance but sight : for he is a light of those in darkness. He will undertake the whole moral training of those who have not the wisdom which he has learnt from the Law : for he is an instructor of foolish ones. They are babes ; and he offers to be their teacher : for in the Law, which he has, knowledge and the truth present themselves in definite form to the mind of man. Instructor: one who undertakes whatever belongs to moral training, thus differing from a mere teacher. Form : the sum-total of that by which the inward nature of an object presents itself to our senses, and thus makes itself known to us, that by which we distinguish one object from another. Whatever we can see, feel, or hear is the form of a material object : whatever we can conceive is the form of a mental object. Same word in 2 Tim. iii. 5 : cognate word in Ph. ii. 6, 7, Mk. xvi. 12. The revealed will of God is knowledge when grasped by the mind of man ; and the knowledge, as that best worth knowing. It is truth, because it corresponds with reality : it is the truth, because it sets forth the one great reality. The know ledge and the truth represent the contents of the Law in their relation to the mind of man and to objective reality. This man sec. 6] ROMANS II. 12—24 83 claims to be a teacher, because by his acquaintance with the sacred books his mind grasps the most worthy object-matter of intellectual effort, and a correct delineation of the eternal realities. The same eternal reality, and the same true matter of human knowledge, has in a still higher degree assumed form, and presented itself to the mind, in the Gospel of Christ. Observe the beauty and symmetry of vv. 17 — 20. They fall into two divisions, each ending with a participial clause explain ing the clauses before it. In the former, we have a learner ; in the latter, a would-be teacher. The second division takes a loftier flight ; and is therefore introduced by a word expressing confidence. 21—24. A personal appeal, exposing the ridiculous position of the man addressed. 21, 22. The man that teachest another : a short summary of the sentence begun in v. 17 ; completed now by the question dost thou not teach thyself? " If thou hast this knowledge and art a teacher of others, is it true that thou leavest thyself untaught?" Preachest: proclaimest as a herald, a state officer of importance and honour. He made announcements in the name of the Government, in peace or war, to enemies, allies, or subjects : so Dan. iii. 4. The Jews looked upon themselves as heralds of God. The man before us does that which, as herald, he forbids others to do. He acts as Nebuchadnezzar's herald would have done had he refused himself to bow to the image of gold. Abhorrest the idols. In order to separate Israel as com pletely as possible from idolatry, God commanded them (e.g. Dt. vii. 25Q to look upon everything belonging in any way to idols as utterly hateful and disgusting. They were not to bring into their houses anything pertaining to false gods ; else the curse of the idol would rest upon them. This divine detestation of idols, the man before us shares. Yet he robs-temples : a recognised crime (Acts xix. 37) in the days of Paul, and looked upon as specially atrocious. It was prompted by the treasures often deposited in temples. Josephus says that Moses specially forbad to rob temples: Antiq. bk. iv. 8. 10. Here is a man to whom an idol is an object of abhorrence, to whom the touch of everything belonging to it is pollution. Yet he violently breaks into the very sanctuary of a false god and with his own hands brings into his own house the gold and silver which, because consecrated to an idol, God has pronounced accursed. Paul cannot possibly refer to the plunder, direct or indirect, of the S4 EXPOSITION OF [div. i temple at Jerusalem. For this was not inconsistent with ab horrence of idols : whereas the previous questions, of which this is the climax, show that Paul has in his mind a case of gross inconsistency. The prohibition of the three sins here mentioned is a pattern of the teaching which this man, like many Jews of that day, thrusts upon others but refuses himself to practise. All these sins belong to the secret things of men, in v. 16 : for the man who commits them may still have an outward appearance of morality. Notice a gradation of guilt. This man takes the pro perty of another, invades the sanctity of his home, and hides in his own house things specially accursed by God. 23. Solemn assertion, following indignant questions, as v. 5 follows vv. 3, 4. Paul tells the man the practical result of the conduct just described. Exult in law: combining "rest in law and exult in God" in v. 17. He exults in the thought that to his nation God has given an authoritative standard of right and wrong; yet he tramples that standard under foot, and by so doing leads us to think slightly of the God who gave it. Transgression: as in chs. iv. 15, v. 14. 24. Proof of the foregoing. Blaspheme : to speak so as to injure, whether against God, as here, or against men, as in chs. iii. 8, xiv. 16, Alt. xxvii. 39 : an English form of the Greek word here used. Even the heathen saw the absurd contradiction of this man's words and works. Yet from his bold profession they suppose him to enjoy the favour of the God of the Jews : and they spoke with contempt of a deity who, as they thought, smiled on such a worshipper. Because of his profession and conduct, the name of God was blasphemed among the Gentiles. According as it is written: same words in ch. i. 17, followed by a quotation. Here they follow a quotation nearly word for word from Isa. Iii. 5, lxx. In each case they call attention, as in Rom. iii. 4, 10, iv. 17 etc., to a harmony of Paul's teaching with the Old Testament. The words because of you and among the Gentiles are not in the Hebrew, and were doubtless not in the original prophecy : but they are clearly implied there. Through the captivity (Isa. Iii. 2) of His people, the name of God was constantly reviled. His power seemed to have been broken. Men said that the gods of Babylon had triumphed over Him who divided the Red Sea. These words were evidently spoken among the Gentiles and because of what had happened to the Jews. Hence the added words correctly reproduce the prophet's meaning : sec. 6] ROMANS II. 12—24 85 and Paul does not hesitate to quote the current translation, though in an unimportant detail it was not verbally correct. The prophet's words teach the great principle that the character and honour of God are at stake in His people. Men judge Him by what they see in them. If we admit this principle— as we are compelled to do both by the prophet's words and by daily observation— we cannot be surprised that the Gentiles speak with contempt of Him whose worshippers teach others morality and themselves live in sin. Here as in ch. i. 17 Paul appeals to the Scriptures not so much for a proof as to point out a harmony ; a harmony greater than at first sight appears. In each case, God surrendered to their enemies (cp. ch. i. 24) those who, while professing to be His servants, actually turned away from Him : and, in each case, the degradation brought dishonour to Him whose name the degraded ones bore. Review of 17 — 24. In the light of the day which will reveal all secrets, Paul turns suddenly round upon a man who calls himself a Jew. In that name he glories. He rests secure because he belongs to the nation to whom the Law was given. He remembers that his fathers were chosen by God to be His own peculiar people ; and the thought fills him with exultation. By study of the Law he knows the will of God, and is thus able to form a correct judgment on moral conduct and to approve the right. His possession of the Law and his knowledge of its contents give him confidence. Others are blind : he will be their guide. Himself full of light, he will fill them with light, and will lead in the right path men who have no wisdom to find it for themselves, and teach those who compared with himself are babes. All this he can do because he has the Law, in which the eternal realities, the highest object of human knowledge, are presented in intelligible form. But Paul asks with astonishment, Is it true that you who teach others are yourself untaught ? He explains the meaning of this question. You proclaim as herald of the king the law against theft : do you break as well as proclaim that law? You speak against adultery: is it true that in secret you are guilty of it? You profess abhorrence of idols: to you the touch of them and of all that belongs to them is defilement. Is it true that you, regardless alike of the true God and the false gods, enter the inmost chamber of idolatry and steal from the temple and hide in your own house the treasures sacred to the heathen and accursed by God ? The man is silent : the absurdity 86 EXPOSITION OF [div. i of his position is evident to all. With solemn earnestness Paul paints a still darker picture, the direct result of this gross incon sistency. By trampling under foot the Law given to guide your own conduct, you bring contempt on Him who gave it. By choosing your nation to be His people, God made you the guardians of His name and honour. That glorious and fearful Name, which to know and to honour is life eternal, you have moved the heathen to mention with derision. They have seen and ridiculed the contrast of the words and works of their own teachers : see Lucian, Works lxix. 19. They see the same contrast in you. From your bold profession they suppose that you possess the favour of the God of Israel : and they treat with contempt a deity who, as they think, smiles on you. By your deep depravity, as your fathers by their far-off bondage, you have led the Gentiles to blaspheme. Notice the double absurdity of the man's position. His own conduct proves the worthlessness to himself of the teaching in which he boasts. If it is good for anything, it is to make men honest and chaste and separate from idols. This man trusts for salvation to that which his own conduct proves to be, so far as he is concerned, worthless. Again, his possession of the Law brings actual dishonour to God : and this is its only practical result. Men around think less of God because this man lives among them, and calls himself a disciple of God. It were more for His glory, and therefore for the good of those who know this man, if he were a professed heathen. Now we know that God is specially jealous for His own honour. Yet this man expects to escape the impartial judgment of God because of his possession of the Law, of which the only result is dishonour to God. That he knows the Law, is his greatest condemnation. The above argument strikes with equal force against all conduct, of Jews or Christians, which is inconsistent with profession, and which thus brings dishonour to God. The great principle that God's judgment will be without respect of persons, stated at the end of § 5 as the foundation of its argument, has now been defended from an objection based on the fact that God has Himself made a distinction between man and man by giving the Mosaic Law to Israel only ; and has been confirmed by proof that it applies equally to the two great divisions into which the giving of the Law has divided mankind. We found in ». 12 a sort of summary of the section ; and in v. 13 a great principle underlying the ven- idea of law, a reassertion of the sec. 6] ROMANS II. 12—24 87 principle asserted in v. 11. In vv. 14, 15 we saw that the principle of v. 13 can be applied to Gentiles. And in the light of the great day (v. 16) we saw in vv. 17 — 24 how absurd it is to deny its application to the Jews : for everyone who does so takes up the ridiculous position there described. Thus the hope which found expression in vv. 3, 4 has been traced to, and dried up at, its chief source. DESTRUCTION. The words perish, destroyed, lost, represent, and collectively reproduce the sense of, one Greek word denoting utter ruin, i.e. the end of the normal and beneficial state of that which is lost, the utter failure of the maker's or owner's purpose regarding it. In this sense of ruin material or moral, the word is very frequent in the Greek drama. It is contrasted in 1 Cor. i. 18 with " saved," and in Lk. xv. 4, 6, 8, 9, 32 \\ ith " found." But it does not imply or suggest that the ruined object has ceased, or will ever cease, to exist ; although it by no means excludes this idea. Certainly the lost coin in Lk. xv. 8, 9 still existed uninjured : for it was afterwards found. But, by separation from its owner, it became to her practically non-existent ; her purposes about it were utterly frustrated. The broken wine-skins in Mt. ix. 17 perished when they were so damaged as to be useless. But, though torn, they still existed. A very common use of the word is to denote natural death, looked upon as utter ruin of human life on earth. But this by no means implies their annihilation : for most of the Greeks looked upon the dead as still conscious ; and Christ says in Lk. xi. 51 that " Zachariah perished between the altar and the house," just as we speak of good men as lost at sea. With these associations of thought, the word is used in Rom. ii. 12, ix. 22, xiv. 15 and throughout the N.T. to describe the future punishment of sin. As so used, it denotes loss of the " eternal life " promised (e.g. chs. ii. 7, vi. 23) to the righteous, the normal and blessed state of the children of God and the realisation of their original destiny, a life beginning in embryo now and to be fully developed at the great day. The loss of this glorious life is the utter ruin of the lost ones, the complete failure of the purpose of their being, and the loss of whatever gives worth to existence. All this, and no more, the word implies. It does not imply or suggest whether the ruined object continues to exist as a ruin, or has ceased to exist. Nor does the word itself exclude the possibility that the lost may be afterwards found. 88 EXPOSITION OF [div. i In Rom. ii. 12, the word will-perish asserts that the punishment described in vv. 8, 9 involves utter ruin ; as does the word " death " in ch. vi. 16, 21, 23, and "the second death" in Rev. ii. 11, xx. 4. But these terms do not define exactly the ultimate fate of the lost. The meaning of the word destruction and its bearing on the Eternal Punishment of Sin are discussed fully in my volume on The Last Things. SECTION VII CIRCUMCISION WILL NOT SAVE FROM GOD'S IMPARTIAL JUDGMENT Ch. II. 25 — 29 For circumcision profits, if thou practise law; but if thou be a transgressor of law, thy circumcision is become uncircumcision. 26 Jf then the uncircumcision keep the decrees of the Law, shall not his uncircumcision be reckoned for circumcision? 21 And the uncircumcision from nature, accomplishing the Law, shall judge thee who with letter and circumcision art a transgressor of law. 23 For not he that is so in that which is manifest is a Jew; nor is that which is manifest, in flesh, circumcision. n But he that is so in secret is a Jew ; and circumcision of the heart is in Spirit, not letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God. Circumcision, which meets us for the first time at the beginning of § 7, is as conspicuous a feature of it as was the Law in § 6. The mention of circumcision uncovers another secret ground on which the objector of vv. 3, 4 builds a hope of exceptional kindness on the day of judgment. In § 6 he hoped to escape then because God had specially favoured his nation by the gift to them only of the Mosaic Law. But the Law, to which the impenitent man ran for refuge, gave him up to the impartial justice of a dishonoured God. Only one ground of hope remains. He bears in his body the sign and seal of the Covenant of God : by the express command of God sec. 7] ROMANS II. 25—29 89 he was circumcised. But, just as in § 6 Paul showed that the Law, so now he will show that Circumcision, will not save an impenitent sinner from God's impartial judgment. 25. This verse confirms the condemnation implied in vv. 23, 24, by proving that circumcision will not save a man from it ; and thus still further supports the truth of God's impartial judgment, the great matter of this chapter. Circumcision profits : it is better to be a circumcised Jew than an uncircumcised heathen. But the abiding advantage is only for those Jews who practise what the Law bids. What the advantage is, Paul will, in ch. iii. I, inquire. The inquiry is needless here, because, whatever the benefits be, this man is shut out from them by the condition on which only they can be obtained. Circumcision was the sign of a covenant in which blessing was conditioned by obedience to the Law. There fore, as a visible pledge that God will bestow the promised blessings, it was a benefit ; but only for those who practise law. But if . . . transgressor of law : a complementary truth implied in this limitation, viz. that they who break this law are practically uncircumcised. Circumcision was originally a token of God's covenant with Abraham: Gen. xvii. 11. The blessings therein promised were a numerous posterity, a special relation to God as His people, the land of Canaan, and that from them should go forth a blessing to all mankind. As first given in Gen. xv. 18, the covenant was not limited by any condition whatever. It assumed the form, not of a law, but of a promise ; an absolute promise independent of man's conduct. See Rom. iv. 13. Afterwards, circumcision was added as a condition of a personal share in the promised blessings: Gen. xvii. 10 — 14. Later still God made another covenant at Sinai, which He confirmed and enlarged in the plains of Moab : Ex. xxiv. 7, Dt. xxix. 1. This covenant promised the favour of God and abundant temporal blessing on condition of obedience to the Law, and threatened His fearful displeasure in case of disobedience : Lev. xxvi., Deut. xxviii. Circumcision was enjoined (Lev. xii. 3) in the Law, and was thus a condition of blessing. It was therefore to the Jews of Paul's day a visible pledge that from Abraham's seed should go forth a blessing for the whole world, and that God would fulfil the covenant which promised personal blessings to those who obey the Law. Consequently, circumcision and the Law always stood together: Jno. vii. 23, Acts xv. 1. To undergo circumcision was to accept the Old Covenant as the basis of man's dealings with God : Acts xv. 5, Gal. v. 3, vi. 13. Consequently, to a transgressor 90 EXPOSITION OF [div. i of law circumcision was practically void : it had become uncir cumcision. See further under Gal. v. 2. 26. An inference from v. 25, of the fairness of which Paul asks his readers to judge. Uncircumcision : an abstract term used for a concrete embodiment of its idea, as in all languages and ages : so ch. iii. 30. Paul dismisses for a moment all thought about the man except that he is uncircumcised. Keep : view with jealous care, as when one guards a treasure : Gal. vi. 13, 1 Tim. v. 21, vi. 20, 2 Tim. i. 14. To disobey the decrees of the Law, is to cast them away as worthless. Reckoned : in the calculation of the great Judge. In v. 3, Paul questioned the man as to his own reckoning about himself: he now compels him to answer a question about God's reckoning. " Since the blessings of which circumcision is a pledge are given only on condition of obedience to the Law, will not the heathen who fulfils this condition obtain the blessings ? will he not on the great day stand, in the Judge's reckoning, in the position of a circumcised man ? " This question implies that out ward ordinances are of value, not in themselves, but only as means to moral ends ; and that the end is sometimes otherwise gained. 27. A solemn affirmation, following, as in vv. 5 and 23, an unanswered question. Uncircumcision from nature : absence of circumcision, resulting from the circumstances in which the man was born. See under v. 1 4. Accomplishing the Law : attaining the end for which it was given, realising in action what the Law sets forth in words. Compare the word keep in v. 26. Because the Gentile observes with jealous care the decrees of the Law, God will treat him in the judgment as circumcised : and because in him the purpose of the Law has been achieved, his presence in the judgment will pronounce sentence on thousands of Jews in whom that purpose has been utterly defeated. Shall judge : proclaim punishment awaiting him. Thee who etc. : vivid description of the unfaithful Jew. He has the letter of the Law before his eyes : in his body he bears the sign of the covenant : but he is none the less a transgressor of law. By his side in the judgment stands a man like Cornelius, in whom the moral purposes of the Law have been to some extent attained. In the impenitent Jew, these purposes have been altogether thwarted. The presence of the Gentile proclaims, in a way not to be misunderstood, the punishment awaiting the Jew. This verse does but re-echo the words of one Greater than Paul : Mt. xii. 41, 42. The indicative future shall-judge and the cases put conditionally sec. 7] ROMANS II. 25—29 91 in vv. 26 and 14 imply plainly the possibility of the case here supposed. Same teaching in Acts x. 35 ; and a good example in vv. 2, 22. From Rom. iii. 9, 23 we infer that this obedience, tried by the absolute standard of the moral law, was imperfect, and therefore (v. 20) could not justify. But it was sufficient to condemn utterly the immoral Jew. Verses 26, 27 also imply that in the great day the persons in question will enter eternal life : for the only distinction then (see vv. 7, 8) will be life or destruction. We therefore infer that some heathens will be saved through their obedience, though imperfect, to the law written in their hearts. This does not contradict ch. iii. 20. For their obedience, because imperfect, gives them no claim to salvation. Like those who put faith in Christ, they will be saved by the undeserved favour of God, who will reckon — not their faith : for they never heard the Gospel, but — their imperfect obedience for righteousness. This opens a door of hope for many in Christian lands whose religious advantages have been so few that they have never heard the Gospel in its purity and power. And it warns us not hastily to pronounce on the destiny of some upright men who have not the assurance of salvation enjoyed by many of the servants of Christ. 28, 29. A great principle, stated negatively and positively, and supporting v. 27. Manifest: set conspicuously before the eyes of men, as in ch. i. 19. It includes the various external forms which distinguish Jews from Gentiles. Jew . . . Circumcision : recalling the same words in vv. 17 and 25. In the flesh: the weak and dying part of man, to which circumcision belongs. Paul says that the real distinction of men is not in outward things, and that the true mark of that distinction is not in the weak body soon to be laid in the grave. In secret: so v. 16, "God will judge the secret things." Circumcision of the heart : commanded in Dt. x. 16 and promised in ch. xxx. 6, as the distinguishing mark of the true servants of God. All who have not this mark are "uncircumcised:" cp. Jer. ix. 25, 26, Acts vii. 51. The infinite superiority of circumcision of heart, as compared with that in which many Jews trusted, Paul assumes ; and goes on to say how it is brought about, viz. in Spirit. This last cannot be the human spirit, as in ch. i. 8 : for then it would be an empty repetition of heart. Most frequently, it denotes with Paul the Holy Spirit: and this gives a good sense here. Letter : outward form of the written Law. For the outward rite, only a written command was needed : the inward change can be wrought only by the Spirit of 92 EXPOSITION OF [div. i God. In 2 Cor. iii. 3, 6, written shortly before this epistle, we have an important coincidence of thought ; and, especially in v. 3, " written not with ink but with the Spirit of God," a con firmation of the above exposition. This passing mention of the Spirit is an allusion to teaching afterwards more fully developed. Praise not from men but from God : further description of inward religion, rebuking the vainglory which prompted so much of the outward religion of the Jews. Only that which obtains praise from God will avail in the great day. Verses 28, 29 state, in language recalling frequent and explicit O.T. teaching, a great principle which commends itself to the moral sense of all, and which supports both the statement in v. 25 and the inferences drawn from it in vv. 26, 27. If the real distinctions are within, uncircumcision will not necessarily deprive a man of the blessings of the covenant and circumcision will not save from condemnation one whose sins are the more inexcusable because committed in spite of a written law and by a circumcised man. To prove this, is the chief purpose of ch. ii., of which vv. 28, 29 sum up the result. God will judge men (v. 6) according to their works : and a man's works flow from his inmost self. He is (v. 11) no respecter of persons: and to respect persons is to treat a man, not according to his inward reality, but according to his appearance and circumstances. Any other theory lands us (vv. 21 — 24) in manifest absurdity. Thus is dispelled all hope of escape from the impartial judgment of God, whether based upon superior knowledge derived from the Law or upon outward and visible union with the people of God. Chapter II. treats of one subject, which naturally divides itself into the three sections I have adopted. Paul began by deducing in vv. 1, 2 from ch. i. 18 — 32 a universal truth. That this truth admits of no exceptions, he proves in vv. 3 — 1 1 ; and shows in 7'7'. 12 — 24 that a knowledge of the Law, and in vv. 25 — 29 that circumcision, give a man no right to make himself an exception. The earnestness and reality of Paul's tone prove that the opinions he combats were actually held and widely spread. Of this we have confirmation in the summary given in Mt. iii. of the teaching of John the Baptist. He saw men who while living in sin trusted for salvation to their relation to Abraham, and meets them with argu ments similar to those of this chapter. The ancient literature of the Jews reveals the same errors, opposed indeed by the better teachers, but widely current. So Thorath Adam f. 100, ch. 2, "All sec. 7] ROMANS II. 25—29 93 Israel shall have a portion in the age to come : " Shemoth Rabba f. 138. 13, "Let not heretics and apostates and impious ones of Israel say, Because we are circumcised, we do not descend into hell. Vi/hat does the Holy and Blessed God ? He sends an angel and makes them uncircumcised, that they may descend into hell." We have further and melancholy confirmation of the same in the applicability of the reasoning of this chapter to many Christians, not only in the dark ages, but in our own day and in the most enlightened Churches. Many who do what they know to be wrong rely for salvation, perhaps unconsciously, on their knowledge of the way of salvation — of which knowledge the only result is a readiness to teach or to condemn others less instructed or less orthodox than themselves — or on their outward connection with the people of God or their attention to religious ordinances. By teaching that God looks at the heart and judges all men according to their works, Paul pronounces sentence on all such. This may be seen by reading Christian instead of Jew in this chapter. The substitution only increases the force of the argument. The differ ence between the words and works of some who bear the name of Christ brings serious dishonour to His name, the name of Him who died to save them, and hinders the. work He died to accomplish. God who of old required circumcision of the heart requires to-day that men worship Him in spirit and truth. These deadly errors among ourselves give to this chapter an abiding and infinite worth. It also teaches the absolute necessity of repentance. Since God is angry with all sin, none except they who turn from sin can enjoy His favour. Consequently none can intelligently seek His favour except those who sincerely endeavour to avoid all sin, and none can intelligently believe that they possess it except those who actually conquer sin. Not only does Paul thus prove man's need of repentance, but by proclaiming God's anger against all sin he does all that words can do to lead men to it. This chapter is a safeguard against a common perversion of the fundamental doctrine of this epistle, Justification through Faith. And Paul sets up the safeguard before he develops the doctrine to be guarded. Div. I., of which ch. ii. is so important a part, was introduced in ch. i. 18 as logically necessary for the completeness of Paul's argument. We see now its moral and spiritual necessity. Through failure of some teachers to give prominence to the truths of this chapter, the doctrine of Justification through Faith has been frequently and seriously perverted. 94 EXPOSITION OF [div. i The teaching of ch. ii. holds a place in relation to the rest of the epistle analogous to that of the Epistle of James in relation to the Epistles of Paul ; of the ist Gospel in relation to the rest of the N.T. ; and especially of the teaching of John the Baptist in relation to the teaching of Christ. The resemblance is seen in modes of thought and even in phrases and words. It is therefore of great value as a means of harmonizing these very different, and at first sight apparently contradictory, portions of the New Testament. Notice carefully in chs. i. 19, 20, 24, iii. 12 — 15, 26, 27 Paul's account of the religious position of the Gentiles. God has mani fested Himself to them in the created universe, and has written His law upon their hearts in the inborn moral sense. He has punished them for their forgetfulness and contempt of Him, as shown in their idolatry, by giving them up to gross sin : and in the great day He will judge them according to their obedience or disobedience to the law written within. In that day, some who never heard of Moses will be accepted because, in their careful efforts to do right, the moral purpose of the Law of Moses was in some measure attained. The chapter from the study of which we now rise receives its entire practical value from the chapters which follow. It is a voice crying in a wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Like the greatest of the prophets, it points to that which is greater than itself. We may sum up the whole and its bearing on ch. i. in the words of the Master, " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." SECTION VIII YET THE JEWS HAVE REAL ADVANTAGES Ch. III. 1—9 What then is the advantage of the Jew, or what the profit of circumcision ? ' Much, in every way. First, that they were en trusted with the oracles of God. 3 For why ? If some had no faith, shall their lack of faith make of no effect the faith of God? * Be it sec. 8] ROMANS III. 1—9 9S not so. Let God be true, but every man a liar : according as it is written, "In order that Thou mayest be justified in Thy words, and mayest overcome when Thou comest into judgment." 5 But if our unrighteousness gives proof of God's righteousness, what shall we say ? Is God, who inflicts His anger, unrighteous ? (I say it as a man.) 6 Be it not so. Else, how will God judge the world? 1 For if the truth of God through my lie abounded for His glory, why am I also judged as a sinner? 8 And why not, ac cording as we are evil-spoken of, and as some affirm that we say, Let us do the evil things that the good things may come ? Whose judgment is just. 9 What then ? Are we shielding ourselves ? Not at all. For we have before-accused both Jews and Greeks that all are under sin. This section has two broadly-marked divisions. Verses 1 — 4 answer an objection suggested by ch. ii. 28, 29 : and vv. 5 — 9 overturn a final objection to the teaching of ch. ii., an objection suggested by this answer. 1. Question prompted by the assertion in ch. ii. 25 that to those who keep the Law "circumcision profits," and the assertion in vv. 28, 29 that the distinctions which avail are not outward but inward. In what then does the Jew go beyond the Gentile, and what is the profit of circumcision ? 2. He gains much, from every point of view. Several proofs come to Paul's mind. As in ch. i. 8, he mentions the first of them. A more complete catalogue of advantages is given in ch. ix. 4. Entrusted- with : literally believed : same word in same sense in 1 Cor. ix. 17, Gal. ii. 7, I Th. ii. 4, I Tim. i. 11, Tit. i. 3, Lk. xvi. 11, Jno. ii. 24: see note under ch. iv. 25. The oracles of God: solemn'utterances : so (LXX.) Pss. cvii. 11, xii. 6, Num. xxiv. 4, etc. ; and Heb. v. 12, 1 Pet. iv. 11. Same word used by the Greeks for the answers, chiefly prophetic, given by their gods at Delphi or elsewhere to those who sought their counselj But I have no proof that the phrase is ever used to denote the Old Testament as a whole. It is therefore best to understand by the oracles of God the direct utterances of God to man preserved in the O.T. and forming its most important element. Such are Gen. xii. 1 — 3, 7, xiii. 14, Ezek. ii. 1 — 8, iii. 1, 3 — 11 ; and they are the Holy of Holies of the sanctuary of the Jewish Scriptures. Like the Greek oracles, they 96 EXPOSITION OF [div. i were chiefly prophetic. They were entrusted to the Jews (cp. Acts vii. 38) for the ultimate good of all men. And possession of them was, in Paul's day, the great advantage of the Jew. While the Greeks were vainly discussing the nature of the gods, the Jews read in the sacred books about the Creator of the world, who became the God of Abraham. This was Paul's first proof of the profit of being a circumcised Jew rather than a heathen. Another significance of the rite is mentioned in ch. iv. 11. 3. Questions confirming the above proof of the advantage of being a Jew, by calling out and overturning an objection. This objection breaks off the list of advantages Paul was beginning to give. Had-no-faith : in Christ and the Gospel. For this was all-important in Paul's day for determining a Jew's relation to God. If some : how large a proportion of the nation had no faith in Christ, the readers knew well. But the unbelievers were at most only a part of the nation. Faith (ox faithfulness) of God: not reliance upon God, as in Mk. xi. 22 (cp. Gal. ii. 16, 20) ; but that stability and constancy of God on which His servants rely in sure confidence that He will fulfil His promises. For the verse following proves that an attribute of God is in question. See note under ch. iv. 25. Make-of-no-effect : to make inoperative and without result : same word in ch. iii. 31, iv. 14, vi. 6, vii. 2, 6, and very often with Paul. If God do not fulfil His promises, His own faithfulness will go for nothing. The ancient oracles were designed to prepare a way for, and to lead men to, Christ and the Gospel. But the mass of the nation had rejected Him and disbelieved the good news. And it might be thought that God will refuse to fulfil promises, e.g. Jer. xxxi. 3iff and Ezek. xxxvi. 25ff, which to so many had failed of their purpose. If so, the oracles have lost their value, and possession of them is no longer an advantage to the Jew. But Paul's question reminds us that in the promises the faithfulness of God is pledged, and that to suppose that they will fail is to suppose that man's want of faith will make God unfaithful. Cp. 2 Tim. ii. 13. 4. An emphatic negative answer to the foregoing question, confirmed by a quotation from the Old Testament. God is true in that His words always correspond with reality. See under ch. i. 18. If he were unfaithful, he would be untrue. For He foresees whatever He will do. When He spoke the promises, He foresaw Israel's unbelief and His own conduct in reference to it. Consequently, to give promises which He foresaw that He would not fulfil, would be deliberate falsehood. And this we sec. 8] ROMANS III. 1—9 97 cannot conceive. Rather let us say that God is true, and therefore faithful, in His treatment of a race of which every man is guilty of falsehood. The objection is answered. Every believing Jew can claim fulfilment of the promises old and new, even though the mass of the nation has rejected Him in whom the promises were to be fulfilled. Therefore the unbelief of others does not destroy the benefit of being born in a land where the promises are known. According as it is written: as in ch. i. 17. What Paul has just deduced from the character of God is in harmony with the ancient Scriptures. Paul quotes, word for word, LXX. Ps. Ii. 4. Justified : looked upon, declared to be, and treated as, righteous : see note under ch. iii. 26. In Thy words : the matter in which God submits Himself to the judgment of men. Mayest overcome : as when a man gains his suit in a court of law. Comest into judgment : by submitting his conduct and words to the judgment of men. The Psalmist confesses his own sin, " Against Thee only I have sinned, and that which is evil before Thee I have done ; " in order that, in condemning that sin, God's words may be seen to be just and He may receive at the bar of man's moral sense a verdict of approval. This implies the justice of God's condemna tion of sinners even in Israel. The exact rendering of the Hebrew is, " In order that Thou mayest be righteous when Thou speakest, be pure when thou judgest." But the common Greek rendering was sufficiently accurate for Paul's purpose. For the words righteous and pure denote evidently righteousness and purity in the eyes of men : and the whole passage implies that God seeks, even when pronouncing judgment, the approval of men. If so, He may be said to come into judgnent and to he justified. Paul has now guarded against serious perversion his teaching in ch. ii. 28, 29. Some might infer from it that he looked upon the outward distinctions of the Jew as worthless, and denied the divine origin of the covenant which created them. To Jews, this would be a serious objection to his teaching, and a weapon with which they would oppose it : and on the other hand it might lead those who accepted it to underrate the earlier dispensation. Paul guards against this double danger by declaring the great advantage of the Jews, and by quoting as the chief of them their possession of the records of the historic revelations of God to Israel. And he proves that the worth of these records is not lessened by the unbelief of so many of those to whom for the world's good 7 98 EXPOSITION OF [div. I they were entrusted. For, in the promises, God's character is involved : and this cannot be set aside byman's unfaithfulness. Notice here and throughout the epistle Paul's carefulness to defend at every point the divine origin of the Old Covenant. The great lesson of vv. 3, 4 is that God's character is a pledge that, whatever man may do, He will fulfil His promises on the conditions therein expressed. It is easy to apply this to ourselves. As we come to claim the promises of God, we remember that these promises have been by us again and again neglected and doubted and disbelieved ; and that at this moment they are set at nought by the mass of mankind. Dare we expect that God will fulfil promises so frequently trampled under foot ? Yes : He will fulfil them even to the letter. For our unbelief cannot make Him unfaithful. The inseparable connection of His character and His words is proof that every promise will be fulfilled. And, if so, the promises, however neglected, are of inestimable value to those who possess them. Under them lies, and in them we take hold of, the faithfulness of God. A tradition embodied, both in the Hebrew text and in the LXX., in the superscription to Ps. Ii. attributes it to David as an expression of his deep penitence after Nathan's rebuke (2 Sam. xii. 7) of his sin with Bathsheba. And we notice that, in spite of this terrible sin, which was severely punished, God fulfilled His covenanted promise to David recorded in 2 Sam. vii. 4 — 17. No better example could be found of the faithfulness of God in spite of the unfaithfulness of man. 5 — 9. The quotation in v. 4, which is illustrated by the story of David's deep sin, reminds us that the sin of man, so far from provoking unfaithfulness in God, sometimes brings out into clearer light His faithfulness and truth. But even this truth may be perverted into a last refuge for the man who lives in sin and yet hopes to escape from judgment. By the question in v. 5, Paul discovers the refuge ; and shows in vv. 6 — 9 how untenable it is. 5. Two questions, in which the readers are supposed to join. They introduce, by way of inference from v. 4, an objection. Unrighteousness : including the unbelief of most of the Jews, the falsehood of all men, and David's sin. God's righteousness : that God is righteous, as in vv. 25, 26. This meaning, different from that in vv. 21, 22, i. 17, is determined by the question, Is God unrighteous ? and by the word justified in v. 4. It is the agree ment between God's treatment of men and the principles underlying the Law. Men behold and declare this agreement, and thus sec. 8] ROMANS III. 1—9 99 justify God. We often observe that, as in the case of David, man's sin gives occasion for a manifestation of God's strict justice. Paul asks, What shall we infer from this ? Shall we say, because our unrighteousness, gives-proof-of Gods righteousness, that God is unrighteous when He inflicts His anger, i.e. when he punishes men for their sin ? These questions expose a covert attack on the teaching of ch. ii., viz. that to punish sin is unjust, because the punishment reveals the uprightness of God. As a man : asking a foolish question. 6 — 8. An absolute denial, supported by two other questions. The principle underlying the questions of v. 5 would make it impossible for God to judge the world, and would justify an immoral maxim. 7. Following Tischendorf, and Westcott's text, the R.V. reads but if, making v. 7 an additional statement or a new argument. Lachmann and Tregelles read for if, making it expound or confirm the argument underlying v. 6. This latter reading is given in the margins of Westcott and of the Revisers. The documentary evidence seems to me slightly to favour it. Moreover, the argument in v. 6 needs exposition and support : and this it finds in v. 7. This logical connection might easily be overlooked by a copyist ; and the words but if might be suggested by the same words in v. 5. Consequently, the slight change from for to but is more easily accounted for than the converse change. For these reasons, I prefer the reading in the Revisers' margin, and take v. 7 as expounding the argument underlying v. 6. My lie ... I also : Paul appeals to his own case. The truth of God : as in v. 4. Abound : work itself out into abundant results : so chs. v. 15, xv. 13. For His glory: so 2 Cor. iv. 15 : direction and tendency of this abundant manifestation of God's truthfulness, viz. to evoke man's admiration of the moral grandeur of God. Paul declared in v. 4 that God is truthful in His treatment and judgment of a race of liars. Therefore every lie, by bringing upon itself the foretold punishment, will give additional proof of God's veracity and thus more abundantly reveal His moral greatness. And if so, every man in the world may claim immunity from punishment. Every Jew and Gentile may come before the judg ment-seat and say, Why am I also judged as a sinner ? Even Paul himself, if all that his enemies said about him were true, could say this. Admit once this principle, and God cannot judge the world. Notice how the language and tone of this verse differ from the coldness of Western thought and speech. Paul meets a man who claims immunity from punishment because his sin brings ioo EXPOSITION OF [div. i glory to God ; and at once puts himself by the man's side and says that he also and everyone else may claim the same immunity. 8. Another disproof of the principle underlying the question in v. 5. Evil-spoken-of : blasphemed, as in ch. ii. 24. We: probably Paul and other Christian teachers. Some spoke evil of Paul and his companions by saying that they taught men to do bad things in order that good results might follow. Without discussing the truth of this charge, Paul makes use of a correct principle under lying it. The actions which it is unjust to punish it must be just to perform. If the end justifies the means, a man cannot be blamed who deliberately does wrong in order to bring about a good result. But this is what Paul's enemies bring as a charge against him. By so doing, they admit that the principle involved is wrong : and if so, the question in v. t,b must be answered, as Paul has answered it, in the negative. Whose judgment: the sentence pronounced by God on those who assert the principle attributed to Paul, a principle which he agrees with his opponents in condemning. 9. What then ? how do matters stand ? so chs. vi. 1 5, xi. 7. Are- we-shielding-ourselves ? literally holding before ourselves, i.e. as an excuse. This plain grammatical meaning (R.V. marg.)offhe word here used gives good sense, and is therefore better than the unintelligible R.V. text, are we in worse case than they? We have seen that the principle called in question in v. 5, viz. that it is unjust of God to punish sins which give proof of His justice, involves two serious moral consequences, viz. that not even a liar could be condemned as a sinner, and that it would be right to do wrong in order that good may come. We must therefore either accept these consequences or deny the principle which involves them. Paul asks, Which alternative do we take ? Is it our object to prove that there are no moral distinctions and will be no judg ment ? Are we, by stating this alternative, holding before ourselves a shield behind which we may escape punishment ? Not at all, or in every way not : absolute rejection of this side of the alternative. This rejection is proved by the foregoing argument in chs. i. 18 — ii. 29 : for we have before-accused etc. Both Jews and Greeks, all: the latter in §4, and the former in §§5 — 7. Under sin: so ch. vii. 14 : looked upon as a crushing weight under which the sinner lies, or a power from whose grasp he cannot escape. Notice here an assertion, even more plain than ch. ii. 1, that all men are sinners. This tremendous and universal charge is complete proof that the arguments in vv. 5 — 8 are not an excuse for sin. Verses 5 — 9 reveal Paul's purpose in choosing for his proof-text sec. 8] ROMANS III. 1—9 101 Ps. Ii. 4. It suggests a truth which may be perverted into a last excuse for sin. David's sin showed forth the sinlessness of God, and thus served a moral purpose : and all sin will eventually do the same. But is it not unjust for God to punish the sin of which He makes use to manifest His own glory and to accomplish His own purposes ? Such a question is proof of human folly. Paul meets it with an indignant negative. If this be unjust, to judge the world is unjust and therefore impossible. In this world of liars every man might say, My lie, by bringing on my head the threatened punishment, will show forth the truthfulness of God. If others escape because their sin glorifies God, why may not I also escape ? Thus the whole world would find excuse. Again, since all sin will eventually reveal the absolute uprightness of God, a man might deliberately go into sin with this in view. It would be right to do wrong : because all wrong will show forth the righteousness of God. A man might justly do the very things which our enemies bring as a charge against us that we teach men to do. But our opponents, by making this a charge against us, condemn it. In their condemnation, I agree. Hence either God is just when He punishes the sin of which He makes use to accomplish His own purposes, or the teaching with which we are falsely charged is right and the judgment day is a fiction. Which alternative do we accept ? Are we weaving a cover for our sin ? The arguments in chs. i. 18 — ii. 29 prove that we are not. We have already charged all men with sin, and proved that all sinners are exposed to punishment. The question in v. $b is answered : a shield which would equally protect all sinners protects none. Ch. iii. i- — 9 supplements ch. ii. The man who, in ch. ii. 2, claimed to escape the universal sentence has failed to make good his claim : he can hide himself neither (vv. 3 — 11) in the mercy of God, nor (vv. 12 — 24) in his possession of the Law, nor (vv. 25 — 29) in circumcision. Yet he cannot say that the accuser who has cast to the winds his excuses has thereby cast to the winds the reality of the advantages given by God to his fathers and to himself : for the privileges which he has failed to use are many and great. He cannot appeal to the glory which will accrue to God from his condemnation as a reason why the condemnation should not be carried out : for this appeal, if valid, would be valid for the whole world. The prisoner stands without reply before his accuser and before God. 102 EXPOSITION OF [div. i SECTION IX THE JEWS ARE CONDEMNED BY THEIR OWN LAW Ch. III. io— 20 According as it is written, " There is not a righteous man, not even one. " There is not an understanding one: there is not a man who seeks out God. u All have turned away: together they have become useless. There is none that does kindness : there is not even one." l3"An opened grave, their throat is: with their tongues they were beguiling" "Poison of asps is under their lips" u " Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness" 15 " Quick are their feet to pour out blood . . . wruin and calamity are in their ways: " and a way of peace they have not known'' I8 " There is no fear of God before their eyes" 19 But we know that so many things as the Law says, to those in the Law it speaks, in order that every mouth may be shut, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God. 20 Because from works of law will no flesh be justified in His sight : for through law comes knowledge of sin. Paul will now prove that the accusation in v. 9, which sums up the result of the argument of Div. 1., is in harmony with the ancient Scriptures : according as it is written: cp. v. 4, ch. i. 17. This he does by grouping together, without mentioning the human authors, five passages from the Psalms and one from the Book of Isaiah. The first asserts universality of sin in the Psalmist's day : four others imply that the sin even of circumcised Jews is hateful to God and will receive punishment : and the last confirms the teaching of ch. i. 21 that outward sin arises from inward neglect of God. Paul quotes for the most part word for word from the LXX. The differences between the quotations and the original text do not affect the argument. Examination will show that in each case the ancient writer means all, and more than all, Paul's argument requires. sec. 9] ROMANS III. 10—20 103 10 — 12. From Ps. xiv. 1 — 3, repeated in Ps. liii. 1—3. God looks down from heaven to see if there are any who show their intelli gence by seeking to know and please Him. Here is the result. His eye cannot detect one righteous man. Not one acts wisely, or makes it the object of life to find out God. All have strayed from the right path : all have together failed to attain their Maker's purpose. Not even one does good. Evidently the Psalmist's words include Jews as well as Gentiles. Consequently Paul's charge in v. 9 is but a repetition of an O.T. declaration about Jews and Gentiles of an earlier day. 13—17. Descriptions of bad men. An opened grave : so Jer. v. 16. So deadly were the arrows of the Chaldeans that the quiver from which they came seemed like a grave opened to receive the dead whom the arrows slew. But more deadly than arrows are the words of the men described in Ps. v. 9. They encourage or provoke to acts of violence and bloodshed : the opening of their mouth involves the opening of a grave to receive those whose death will result from their words. Hence, in the vividness of Eastern imagination, their throat is called a grave opened to receive the slain. David himself, if not with his lips yet with his pen, dug a grave for Uriah : 2 Sam. xi. 14. That the word throat denotes here, as in Ps. cxv. 7, an organ of speech, is proved by the words tongues and lips following. Beguiling: their tongues being used as instruments of guile. This made their words as dangerous and deadly as poison of asps, which lies concealed under their lips : word for word from Ps. cxl. 3. The Psalmist cries for deliverance from bloody and deceitful men. He is afraid of their secret plots. The lips with which the plots are communicated to others, and thus matured, are as deadly to him as the poison of a serpent. He appeals to God against them, and calls for their destruction. Whose mouth etc. : from Ps. x. 7 : a description of proud men who lay snares for the poor and innocent, and expect to escape, saying that God has forgotten their deeds and will not punish. The Psalmist appeals to God as one who beholds mischief and spite, and will requite it. This teaching of the Psalms is confirmed by a quotation from Isa. lix. 7, 8. Here are men whose feet are quick when their purpose is to shed blood. If you trace their steps, you find that they have left behind them ruin and calamity. War and violence are their only element : and a way of peace they have not known. Yet these men were Israelites : for the prophet declares (v. 2) that their sins have separated them from their God. Therefore, ,04 EXPOSITION OF [div. i in his view, God is angry with the sins even of those who possess the Law and bear in their bodies the seal of the covenant. 18. An explanation of the conduct described in the foregoing quotations : from Ps. xxxvi. I. As the writer ponders the trans gression of the wicked, he learns its cause, absence of fear of God. He is not before their eyes as an object inspiring fear: hence their wickedness. The real force of the above quotations lies not so much in the words quoted as in the entire context, and in the fact that such quotations might be indefinitely multiplied. They are a fair sample of the entire O.T., and prove its complete agreement with the teaching of Rom. ii. For the bad men here described were undoubtedly Jews. On what principle, and with what precise object, did Paul select these quotations ? We cannot conceive that he gives here a universal, or even a comparatively fair, description of the nation. He has rather gathered together into one awful picture the very darkest lines of the many delineations of character contained in the Jewish Scriptures. The men before us are of the worst kind. The opening of their mouths is the opening of a grave : they are deadly as vipers : their language is a curse : the prospect of murder hurries them on with rapid steps : where they have been, destruction and calamity are : and how to walk so as to be at peace, they know not. The delineations form one picture : vv. 13, 14 describe their words; vv. 15 — 17, their actions; and v. 18 gives the cause of the whole. Paul has, in my view, put together this mosaic of sin in order to prove that the O.T. teaches that Jewish privileges do not in themselves save even from the lowest depths of sin. He does not say that the objector in ch. ii. is as bad as these men. But whatever he pleads for himself these men might have pleaded. These bad men, whose names are forgotten but in whose character is plainly written the condemnation of God, arise from oblivion to declare that outward privileges, even though they come from God, and outward connection with the people of God, do not necessarily save. 19. A principle which both readers and opponents know, and which gives divine authority to the foregoing quotations. That quotations from the Psalms and the Book of Isaiah are spoken of as a voice of the the Law, implies that these books are an authoritative declaration of God's will concerning man's conduct and of the principles on which He governs, and will judge, the world ; and prove that in Paul's view even man's cry to God for sec. 9] ROMANS III. 10—20 105 deliverance, e.g. Ps. cxl., was also in some real sense God's voice to man. To those in the Law : those to whom the sacred books were given, and to whom they were therefore the moral element of life and action. Cp. 1 Cor. ix. 21 : "in law of Christ." It speaks : consequently the foregoing quotations are God's voice to Paul's readers. In order that etc. : purpose for which the words quoted from the Psalms and the Book of Isaiah were written. Every mouth shut : without excuse for sin. It recalls the excuses in ch. ii. All the world: Jews and Gentiles, without exception. Under judgment: exposed to punishment, because without excuse for their sin. Paul here asserts that God gave the Law, which finds in the O.T. permanent literary embodiment, in order that every man may stand before Him silent and condemned, i.e. in conscious and helpless exposure to punishment. Notice that this purpose of the Law of Moses, of which the teaching of the prophets was a divinely-inspired exposition, is identical with the purpose of God's manifestation of Himself in Nature, as stated in ch. i. 20 : " that they may be without excuse." We need not infer that this was the only purpose of these revelations : see Ps. cxix. 105. This purpose was far from the thought of the writers of the Psalms. It therefore implies that these last had an Author and purpose greater than the human authors and their immediate purpose. It therefore confirms the proof, afforded by the use of the term the Law to describe the quoted Psalms, that in them spoke One greater than man. 20. Because etc. : a universal principle stated in order to explain how the Law brings all men silent and guilty before God, and thus explaining why God used this means for this end. These words recall Ps. cxliii. 2. The writer prays God not to enter into judgment with him, on the ground that in His sight no living person is or will be counted righteous. That no one will, implies that no one can be justified. From works of law : actions in obedience to a written prescription, looked upon as a source or means of the judge's approval. Flesh : the material of which our bodies are composed: see note under ch. viii. 11. Since it is the only form in which human nature presents itself to us, all flesh includes all mankind. It represents humanity as limited by the conditions imposed by the material of the bodies in which we live and through which we act. We shall learn from ch. vi. 12 that the sin which prevents our justification by works has its throne in the flesh. 106 EXPOSITION OF [div. i This universal denial excludes justification by works both in this life and at the bar of God. For through law etc. : explanation and confirmation of the foregoing assertion. That these words are neither explained nor proved, reveals Paul's confidence that they need neither explanation nor proof. They appeal to the experience of all. We find that all progress in knowledge of the Law reveals a law which we have broken. It is true that in Christ we find deliverance from the power and stain of sin : consequently, by revealing with increasing clearness our own sinfulness and thus driving us to Christ for salvation, the Law leads us day by day to closer conformity to the will of God. But this is wrought by the Gospel, and only indirectly by the Law ; not by obedience to a command, but by belief of the Gospel. Now, if the Law reveals disobedience in all to whom it is given, it cannot justify. For justification through law can be obtained only by obedience. Therefore, by imparting knowledge of sin, the Law reveals its own powerlessness to justify. Verse 20 gives complete proof of the assertion in v. 19 that consciousness of guilt is not only an actual result of the Law but the purpose and end for which it was given. God gave to men commands which He knew they would not obey ; and threatened punishment in case of disobedience. What was His purpose in so doing? Not directly to produce obedience. For, if so, the Law was a failure : and God's foreknowledge makes it inconceivable that He would use means which He knew would not succeed. We are therefore, even apart from his apostolic authority, compelled to accept Paul's assertion that the actual result of the Law was also its designed result. God gave it in order to make us conscious of our lost state, and thus to prepare us for a revelation of righteousness through Christ. In ages to come, we shall look back upon the Law, not as a failure, but as a guardian-slave (Gal. iii. 24) who led us to Christ, and as an essential link of the chain which raised us from sin to eternal obedience and blessedness. Notice how much vv. 19, 20 increase the force of the foregoing quotations. In the quoted words the Law speaks, and declares how God will treat those to whom it is given : and God's purpose in giving the Law was precisely the purpose which, by the arguments of Div. I., Paul has sought to accomplish. THE LAW. A law is a setting forth, by an authority claiming sec. 9] ROMANS III. 10—20 107 to determine and limit the action of men, of what they are to do and not to do. So Prov. iii. 1 : " My son, forget not my law, but let thy heart keep my commands." The state claims this right over its citizens ; and therefore its enactments are called laws. And, since without penalties enactments are powerless, the laws of the state announce both what the citizens are to do and not to do and the punishment of disobedience. The laws of an absolute monarch are an announcement of the principles on which he will treat his subjects. On the ultimate foundation of law in the inborn moral sense of man, see the important quotation on p. 79. To Israel God was the only King and Lawgiver and Judge. Consequently, in the Bible, unless otherwise stated, the word law denotes always the Law of God. In Gen. xxvi. 5 God says, " Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My ordinances, and My laws." At Sinai God gave to Israel, through the agency of Moses, a body of definite prescriptions, to be henceforth their national law, and the basis of God's future dealings with the nation whom He had joined to Himself by solemn covenant. A rudimentary code of civil law is said to have been written by Moses at Sinai : Ex. xxiv. 4. Statutes of sacrificial worship were added, each called a law : Lev. vi. 9, 14, 25. In the plains of Moab, shortly before his death, Moses restated the Law, wrote it, and publicly gave the book to Israel as the authoritative standard of the will of God, according to which the people were to live and according to which they will be rewarded or punished : Dt. xxxi. 9, 26. Henceforth we read of the Book of the Law: Josh. i. 8, viii. 34, 2 Kgs. xxii. 8, 11, Neh. viii. 1. The Book itself, as being the authoritative and only permanent embodiment of God's will, is called the Law : 1 Kgs. ii. 3, 1 Chr. xvi. 40, 2 Chr. xxiii. 18, xxxi. 3, xxxv. 26, Ezra iii. 2. Hence the term the Law became, and is still with the Jews, the common title of the Pentateuch: Rom. iii. 21, Lk. xxiv. 44, Acts xxiv. 14. The ordinances given in the wilderness are attributed to Moses in 1 Cor. ix. 9, Heb. ix. 19, x. 28, Lk. ii. 22, xxiv. 44, Jno. i. 17, 45, vii. 19, 23, Acts xiii. 39, xv. 5. A narrative in Genesis is quoted in Gal. iv. 21 as the Law. In Rom. iii. 10 — 18, Jno. x. 34, quotations from the Psalms and one from the Book of Isaiah have the authority of the Law ; these books being thus placed on a level with the Pentateuch. Thus extended, the Law denotes in the N.T., unless otherwise defined, the Jewish Scriptures looked upon as a rule of 108 EXPOSITION OF [div. i life given by God to man, and as a declaration of the principles of God's government of the world. Looking now at the contents of these books, we notice that one spirit animates the whole. Its voice is, Do this and live. This is the essence of law : and this principle assumes authoritative form in the Old Covenant and in the Jewish Scriptures. The written word is the body, this principle is the spirit, of the Law. Hence the apparent variety in the use of the word. Just as the word man refers sometimes to bodily form, at other times to mental and moral character, so the term the Law refers sometimes to the Pentateuch and the other Holy Scriptures, and at other times to the great principle which inspires these ancient writings, viz. that God will treat men according to their deeds. The special reference must in each case be determined by the context. But in all cases the underlying meaning is the same. It is unsafe to rely in a translation upon the presence or absence of the definite article. But in the original the anarthrous term law refers, I believe, almost always to the general principle, Do this and live ; and the Law to the historical and literary form in which this principle took shape in the ears and eyes and thoughts of Israel. We have already met the word law in various connections of thought. We saw in Rom. ii. 12 that possession of the Law separated mankind into two great theological divisions ; that (v. 13) not those who hear, but those who obey, the words written therein will be justified ; that (vv. 17, 20, 23) in possession of the Book some trusted for salvation, and thought themselves wise because instructed from its pages ; and that (v. 24) by transgressing the written word they brought dishonour to God. The contents of the Book were written in the hearts of the Gentiles, who thus became to themselves, in some measure, what the Book was to the Jews : v. 14. By this means Gentiles sometimes accomplish, without having read them, the purpose for which the written commands were given to Israel : v. 27. The great purpose of the Law, wrought out unconsciously by its human agents, was to leave all men without excuse for sin ; and, because by nature none are able to obey it, to bring all men under conscious liability to punishment. A threefold purpose is, in this epistle, attributed to the Law ; viz. that (ch. v. 20) through it the one sin of Adam might multiply itself into the many sins of his children, that (ch. iii. 19) all sinners and therefore all men may be without excuse for sin and may know that God will punish them, and that (ch. vii. 13) they may become sec. 9] ROMANS III. 10—20 109 conscious of the indwelling and irresistible power of sin which prevents them from doing what they know to be right and even wish to perform. In other words, the Law was given to Israel and written in the hearts of all men, in order to bring about in all men actual personal sin, and consciousness of inward bondage and of coming punishment. These are the divinely-chosen and mysterious steps to a glorious goal, viz. actual obedience to the will of God, begun imperfectly on earth and to be fully realised in the life to come. But beyond these first steps the Law cannot lead us. DIVISION i., embracing chs. i. 18 — iii. 20, is a proof of the assertion in ch. i. 18. The proof and the defence of it against prevalent objection are now complete. By pointing to God's revelation of Himself in Nature, and to the immoral results of ungodliness, Paul proved in ch. i. 19—32 that God is angry with all ungodliness and sin. And if so, since all are sinners, God is angry with all men : ch. ii. 1. In v. 2, Paul repeats, after complete proof, the assertion in ch. i. 18. To expect exemption from this universal principle because of God's forbearance, is a mark of ignorance : ch. ii. 3— n. No reason for such expectation is found either in (vv. 12 — 24) the Law or in (vv. 25 — 29) circumcision. Yet the possession of the Law is to the Jew an advantage which the unbelief of the mass of the nation does not set aside : ch. iii. 1 — 4. Their unbelief will but demonstrate the righteousness of God ; yet even this will not save them from punishment :. vv. 5—8. In ch. iii. 9, Paul triumphantly combines the assertion in ch. i. 18 and its universal application in ch. ii. 1, 2. In ch. iii. 10—20, he shows that what he has proved agrees with the teaching of the ancient Scriptures. Div. I. was introduced to show that the righteousness revealed in the Gospel by faith proves the Gospel to be a power of God to save all that believe. The proof is now complete. Paul has shown us a world perishing because of God's anger against sin : therefore, if the good news from God announces God's favour towards all that believe, it is indeed to them the mighty arm of God stretched out to save. Notice the clearness and force of Paul's arguments. They rest in part on great principles which commend themselves to the moral sense of all, and which underlie the teaching of the entire Old Testament; and in part on social facts within the immediate observation of Paul's readers, and to some extent, even at this distance of time, within our own observation. If we admit the no EXPOSITION OF [div. i principles and facts, Paul's arguments compel us to admit his conclusions. Notice also that, just as in chs. ii. 6, 13, 24, 29, iii. 4 he shows that the principles from which his conclusions are drawn are in harmony with the Old Testament, so in ch. iii. 10 — 18 he shows that his conclusions are in harmony with the same. So conclusive is his reasoning that we have forgotten the apostolic authority of the reasoner. If Div. 1. were only a fragment from an unknown author, it would still carry complete conviction. Observe carefully Paul's use of the Jewish Scriptures. He nowhere appeals to isolated or difficult texts. Each passage is a representative of many others teaching the same truth. Examina tion proves that each quotation fairly involves the principle it was adduced to support. We may well take this great teacher as a pattern of Old Testament exposition. In Div. i., Paul has not carried us above the level of the Old Covenant. He has only gathered into one focus whatever the ancient Scriptures, looked upon as law, said and proved in former days. The name of Christ has occurred only once ; and then not as the Saviour, but as the Judge, of the world. Div. I. bears to the rest of the epistle the relation which the Old Covenant bears to the New. It is therefore a testimony to the permanent moral worth of the Old Testament. We have heard the Law : it has pronounced our condemnation and made us conscious of our need of salvation. And, since God is angry with all sin, no salvation will supply our need except one which makes us free from the guilt, the power, and the stain of sin. sec. io] ROMANS III. 21—26 in DIVISION II JUSTIFICATION AND ITS RESULTS Chs. III. 21— V SECTION X. JUSTIFICATION THROUGH FAITH AND THROUGH CHRIST Ch. III. 21—26 But now, apart from law, a righteousness of God has been manifested, witness being borne to it by the Law and the Prophets, 22 a righteousness of God through belief of Jesus Christ, for all that believe. For there is no difference : 23for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; 2i being justified freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, 2h whom God set forth as a propitiation through faith, in His blood, for demonstra tion of His righteousness, because of the passing over of the before- committed sins in the forbearance of God, 26for the demonstration of His righteousness in the present season, in order that He may be Himself righteous and a justifier of him that has faith of Jesus. 21. But now etc. : sudden and joyful transition from the con demnation of the Law to the light of the Gospel. Apart from law: independent of, and in some sense contradicting, the great principle underlying the Jewish Scriptures, viz. that the favour of God is conditioned by obedience to His commands. It is practically the same as " apart from works of law" in v. 28. Righteousness of God: as in ch. i. 17. Manifested: set conspicuously before the eyes of men, as in ch. i. 19. Compare and contrast ch. i. 17. The righteousness of God h.a&-beeiL-maniflested (perfect tense) once for all by the appearance of Christ and by His announcement of salvation : day by day " it is revealed by faith" (present tense), i.e. brought into the consciousness of each one, as each one believes. Witness-being-bome-to-it : day by day, as the ancient Scriptures are read. This testimony was mentioned in ch. i. 2 : and a specimen was given in ch. i. 17. Much more of it will be given in chs. iv., ix., x. The Law : the Pentateuch only. The Prophets : the other chief division of the Jewish Scriptures: cp. Mt. v. 17, ii2 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii vii. 12, xi. 13, xxii. 40. A fuller description is given in Lk. xxiv. 44: " the Law of Moses and the Prophets and Psalms.'' The phrase here is not only a common division of the O.T. but describes two conspicuous elements which run through the whole : for very much of the Law is expressly or symbolically prophetic, and the Prophets announce or rather reiterate God's will about man's conduct. The word law refers to the principle of law, which is the great feature of the Pentateuch : the term the Law refers to the book in which it assumes written form. 22a. Additional information about the righteousness of God, viz. the channel through which, and the persons for whom, it comes. Belief (ox faith) of Jesus Christ : an assurance of which Christ is Himself the personal object, a sure confidence that the words of Christ are true and will come true because they are spoken by One who cannot deceive and who is able to perform His own promises. Same construction with the genitive in v. 26, Gal. ii. 16 twice, iii. 22, Eph. iii. 12, Ph. iii. 9, Mk. xi. 22. For all that believe: persons for whom the gift of righteousness is proclaimed in the Gospel. The emphatic word all, like "everyone" in ch. i. 16, includes Jew and Gentile, whether previously moral or immoral. We can conceive the favour of God given through faith, yet only to a portion of those that believe. These words declare that faith is the only condition. Some have supposed that, although salvation is proclaimed for all who believe, God has secretly resolved to bestow only upon a portion of the race selected by Himself those influences without which repentance and faith are impossible. If so, salvation is limited, not really by man's unbelief, but by God's eternal purpose. This view seems to me at variance with the teaching of this verse : and I hope to prove in a note under ch. ix. 33 that it is utterly at variance with the teaching of Paul. This verse states the personal object of our faith, but not its object-matter. It tells us whom, but not expressly what, we must believe. But there can be no belief without something believed, no mental rest in an idea without an idea in which to rest. See note under ch. iv. 25. And evidently the object-matter of saving faith is the good news announced by Christ : so 1 Th. ii. 13, Mk. i. 15. We obtain the favour of God by belief that through the death of Christ God bestows His favour as a gift upon us who believe, this belief being reliance with all the interests at stake on the word and faithfulness and power of God. The conspicuous phrase righteousness of God \x\v. 21 and again sec. io] ROMANS III. 21—26 113 in v. 22 at once recalls the same phrase in ch. i. 17 ; and takes up and carries forward the thread of discourse which was broken off in ch. i. 18 in order to prove the need of the salvation announced in vv. 16, 17. This proof is given in chs. i. 18 — iii. 20, which I have comprised in Div. I., an integral portion of the epistle, the dark background of that Gospel of salvation which is its chief matter. Under this deep shadow we went suddenly in ch. i. 18, and emerged from it as suddenly in ch. iii. 21 ; and on emerging we found ourselves where we were before we entered it. This return to, and restatement of, teaching stated at the beginning of the doctrinal part of the epistle marks out this teaching as the foundation-stone of the Epistle to the Romans. Paul has now taught us that it has been publicly announced that, without requiring previous obedience to the Law but in harmony with the teaching of Moses and the prophets, God bestows, as a gift, a state which He approves ; and that this gift is obtained by believing the words of Christ and is designed for all that believe. In other words, he teaches that God accepts as righteous all who believe the glad tidings of salvation announced by Christ. This doctrine, in the equivalent form of justification through faith, meets us again in vv. 24, 26, 28, 30 ; is illustrated from the O.T., in the form of " faith reckoned for righteousness," throughout ch. iv. ; and is made in ch. v. 1 — 11 a ground of exultant hope of coming glory. The same doctrine is with equal clearness stated and defended in the Epistle to the Galatians. That his readers are justified, is taught in 1 Cor. vi. 11, Tit. iii. 7 ; and that by faith they are already in the way of salvation, which is the same doctrine in another form, is stated in other epistles bearing the name of Paul. By an important coincidence, the same doctrine in the same phrase is in Acts xiii. 39 attributed to Paul in a recorded address ; as is similar teaching in chs. xvi. 31, xxvi. 18. All this taken together is decisive documentary evidence that as matter of historic fact Paul taught, in language equivalent to that used in Rom. i. 17, iii. 21, 22, that God accepts as righteous, in spite of their past sins, all who believe the Gospel. This teaching, which we may conveniently speak of as Justification through Faith, is the First and chief Fundamental Doctrine of the Epistle to the Romans and of the theology of Paul. We now ask, How came Paul to claim, without proof, his readers' belief for this important and fundamental doctrine ? An answer is suggested by the fact that although the phrase "justified through faith" is found only with Paul, the equivalent doctrine ii4 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii that all who believe the Gospel are in the way of salvation is found in other N.T. documents altogether different in thought and phrase from the epistles of Paul. In the Fourth Gospel Christ is said to have frequently taught that all who believe in Him will have and already have eternal life : e.g. chs. iii. I5ff, 35f, v. 24, vi. 29, 35, 40, 47. If so, they already possess by faith the favour of God. Similar teaching, in Mk. i. 15, xvi. 16; Lk. viii. 12, xviii. 14. And in Mt. viii. 10, ix. 22, 29, xv. 28, xvii. 20, xxi. 21 we have, attributed to Christ, teaching wonderfully in harmony with the same. So also Jas. ii. 1, 14 — 26, v. 15 ; 1 Pet. ii. 6, 7, 1 Jno. v. 1 — 13. We notice also that the doctrine that God accepts as righteous all who believe in Him is unknown to writers earlier than Christ except somewhat vaguely as a prophecy of the future, e.g. in Hab. ii. 4, Isa. xxviii. 16 ; but that since His day it has been taught by many calling themselves His disciples. All this is decisive documentary evidence that this doctrine was actually taught not only by Paul but by Christ. And that Paul learnt it from Christ, he asserts in Gal. i. 11. That it was accepted by all Christians everywhere because they knew that it was taught by Christ, is a complete explanation, and the only conceivable explanation, of the confidence with which Paul assumes it without proof and makes it the foundation-stone of his theology. See further in Diss. vi. of my Galatians. 22b, 23. A short recapitulation of Div. I., proving the universal need of salvation implied in the universal assertion all that believe; just as Div. I., introduced in ch. i. 18, justifies similar words in v. 16. For there is no difference: summary of ch. ii. Same words in same connection in ch. x. 12. They are here supported by a reassertion of the teaching in chs. ii. 1, iii. 9, 19 : for all have sinned. The Greek aorist includes all sins in all ages up to the moment of writing. It must therefore be translated by the English perfect. For our preterite pushes the event into the past, and thus gives to it a definiteness, as separated from the present, which the Greek " indefinite " tense has not. Glory: admiration evoked by an object in the mind of a beholder, or that quality in the object which evokes admiration : see under ch. i. 21. In chs. i. 23, vi. 4, ix. 23 the glory of God denotes the manifested grandeur of God evoking His creatures' admiration ; and in chs. iii. 7, iv. 20, xi. 36, xv. 7 the admiration thus evoked. So "the glory of Jehovah" in Ex. xvi. 10, xxiv. 16, 17, and frequently in the O.T. ; cp. Lk. ii. 9. But this meaning does not give good sense here and in ch. v. 2. In ch. ii. 7, 10, the word sec. io] ROMANS III. 21—26 115 glory, i.e. a splendour evoking admiration, describes the reward of the righteous : so ch. viii. 18, 21, 1 Cor. ii. 7, xv. 43, Col. i. 27, iii. 4. They will share the splendour of Christ: Rom. viii. 17, 2 Th. ii. 14. This must be the meaning in Rom. v. 2 : "hope of the glory of God;" and it gives good sense here. For this future splendour, although concealed from view, is a present possession of the servants of Christ. Their afflictions are working out for them "an eternal weight oi glory? and already they can say "we have a house eternal in the heavens:" 2 Cor. iv. 17, v. 1. Thus understood, the glory of God here and in ch. v. 2 is the splendour which God gives, just as "righteousness of God" in chs. iii. 21, 22, i. 17, x. 3 is a righteousness which God gives. In both cases, the divine gift is related to a divine attribute ; but must be carefully distinguished from it. Fall-short-of : fall behind others, or fail to reach some goal set before them. Believers are already (ch. viii. 17) sharers of Christ's heritage of glory : but of this heritage they who have not by faith obtained a righteousness of God are destitute. In this sense, through their sin, they fall short of the glory of God. The middle voice scarcely implies that they are conscious of their failure : it implies only that it reacts in some way upon themselves. 24 — 26. A participial clause, grammatically subordinate to v. 23, followed by other subordinate clauses, but really introducing a new and all-important doctrine, viz. justification through the death of Christ. By introducing this great doctrine in this subordinate form, Paul intimates its logical connection with the doctrine of universal sin and failure. The prominence of this last doctrine throughout this epistle reveals its large place in the thought of Paul. 24. Justified: a judge's decision in a man's favour, as in ch. ii. 13. But in this last passage the word refers to the day of judgment ; whereas here the present tense heing-justified refers to a judgment now going on. Same word in same present tense in vv. 26, 28, ch. iv. 5. That it is introduced without further explanation, implies that its meaning is involved in what Paul has already said. If, as we learnt under vv. 21, 22, God accepts as righteous all who believe the Gospel, then is the Gospel a formal announcement of justification for all who believe it. They have no need to wait till the day of judgment to know their destiny : the judge has already pronounced their acquittal. In the Gospel, they read their own justification. It is (ch. i. 17) revealed by faith. Thus day by day men are being justified as one and another put faith in Christ. Paul could not say "having 116 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii been justified : " for this is not true of all who have sinned. More over, he does not speak of justification in the past tense till ch. v. I. He refers to it now only generally as a process going on. Cp. 2 Cor. v. 19 : " reconciling the world to Himself." Freely: as a gift: so Rev. xxi. 6, xxii. 17. By His grace: source of the gift, in the undeserved favour of God, i.e. the love of God contemplating its objects with a purpose of blessing : see under ch. i. 5. Redemption, or ransoming-off ': a setting free on payment, or by payment, of a price, combining the ideas of liberation and price. Same word in ch. viii. 23, 1 Cor. i. 30, Eph. i. 7, 14, iv. 30, Col. i. 14, Heb. ix. 15, xi. 35 ; simpler cognates in Mt. xx. 28, Mk. x. 45, Lk. xxiv. 21, Tit. ii. 14, 1 Pet. i. 18, Lk. i. 68, ii. 38, Heb. ix. 12, Acts vii. 35. These cognates are common in classic Greek for liberation of captives by payment of a ransom ; and in the LXX. for the liberation by price or substitute of those, e.g. the firstborn, on whom the Mosaic Law had a claim. Cp. Ex. xiii. 13, Num. xviii. 15, Lev. xxvii. 27 — 33, Num. iii. 46 — 51. Like most others denoting a combination of ideas, these words are sometimes used when only one of the ideas is present, viz. liberation: so Ex. vi. 6, xv. 13, etc. This last idea is evidently present here. For, "to justify the ungodly" (see Rom. iv. 5) involves liberation from the ruin which is the due penalty of sin : see chs. iv. 5, vi. 22, 23. Whether, and in what sense, this liberation involves payment of a price, we must learn from the further teaching of Paul. Through the redemption etc.: channel through which the justification goes forth from God ; just as " faith " is the channel (vv. 22, 28, 30) through which it reaches the sinner. In Christ Jesus : His personality being the element or environment in which the liberation takes place. This important phrase, peculiar to Paul, except that in a slightly different form it is very common in the Gospel and First Epistle of John, (see also 1 Pet. iii. 16, Jude 1,) meets us again in chs. vi. 11, 23, viii. 1, 39. It is a conspicuous and important feature of the teaching of Paul. See under ch vi. 11. 25. Whom God set forth etc. : further explanation of the redemp tion in Christ. Propitiation: cognates in 1 Jno. ii. 2, iv. 10, Heb. ii. 17, Lk. xviii. 13; also (LXX.) Lev. iv. 20, 26, 31, 35, xvi. 30, 32 — 34, Num. xvi. 46, 47. These passages make the meaning of the word quite clear. Propitiation was a means of forgiveness. To propitiate, was to shelter the sinner from the punishment due to his sin. In each case the propitiation was sec. io] ROMANS III. 21—26 117 provided and commanded by God. The O.T. use of the word recalls the sacrificial ritual of the Law of Moses : and the words in His hlood place the blood shed on the cross of Christ in relation to that which was so conspicuous in the Mosaic ritual. In Homer's Iliad bk. i. 147, 386, 444, 472 and elsewhere in classic Greek, the word is used in the sense of deprecating the anger and regaining the favour of an offended deity, the name of the god being put in the accusative : similarly Gen. xxxii. 20, Prov. xvi. 14. But this construction and conception are not found, in reference to God, throughout the Bible. In the passage before us, as in 1 Jno. iv. 10, God Himself provides the propitiation. In Heb. ix. 5, Ex. xxv. 17 — 22, the exact word used in Rom. iii. 25 denotes the mercy-seat, the place of propitiation. But to any comparison of Christ with the mercy-seat we have no reference throughout the New Testament. Moreover, the death of Christ is here mentioned as a demonstration, not of the mercy, but of the righteousness, of God. To call Him a mercy-seat, would add nothing to the meaning of this great statement of doctrine ; whereas, to call Him a propitiation, connects His death with the ancient sacrifices ; as in 1 Cor. v. 7, Eph. v. 2, 1 Pet. i. 19, Heb. ix. 26. It is therefore better to take the word to mean a propitiatory sacrifice, a means of atonement. In the ancient ritual, the blood of the sacrifice procured for the offerer forgiveness. God set-forth Christ conspicuously before the eyes of men to be a sacrifice by which they might escape from the punishment due to their sins. The word propitiation derives its force from the proof in Div. I. that all men are exposed to punishment. Through faith: means by which the propitiation becomes effective for each one. As each one believes, he goes from under the anger of God. God set forth Christ in His own blood: presented Him to the eyes of men covered with His own blood. This indicates wherein lay the propitiatory efficacy of this sacrifice. The above connection of thought is better than faith in His blood : for the phrase faith in (Eph. i. 15, 1 Tim. iii. 13, 2 Tim. i. 13, iii. 15) is not common with Paul : and we nowhere else find such an idea as faith in the blood of Christ. But the practical difference is not great : for justifying faith takes account of the death of Christ as the means of our pardon. Since the validity of the propitiation in Christ was in His blood, i.e. in His violent death, His blood and life were the ransom price of our justification : so Eph. i. 7, Mt. xx. 28, 1 Pet. i. 18, 19, Rev. v. 9. For in all human language every costly means used 118 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii to obtain a result not otherwise possible is correctly called the price paid for it. Thus the word propitiation sheds light on the foregoing word redemption. For demonstration of etc. : purpose for which God set forth Christ as a propitiation. His righteousness : as in v. 5 : the divine attribute by which God impartially administers His own laws and will judge the world. This meaning, differing from that of the same phrase in vv. 21, 22, is required by the words Himself righteous in v. 26. Such administrative righteousness, we commonly call justice : but in Greek the words are the same. Because of the passing over etc. : conduct of God in the past prompting Him now to give proof of His justice. Passing-over : not forgiveness, but apparent tolerance of sin shown in delay to inflict punishment. The before-committed sins : during the long ages of the past history of Israel. In the forbearance of God : as in ch. ii. 4 : His holding back the due punishment of their sins : cp. Acts xvii. 30, xiv. 16. God gave proof (ch. i. 24 — 27) of His anger against sin by now and then inflicting punishment on the Gentiles and on Israel. But He did not inflict the full penalty : else the whole race would have perished. He did not forgive, but to a large extent He passed over, the sins of men. Now, for a king to overlook crime, to forbear to punish, or even to delay punishment, is unjust. And God's character was lowered in the eyes of some by His forbearance, which they misinterpreted to be an indication that they will escape punishment. God gave Christ to die in order to demonstrate His justice in view of a tolerance of past sins which seemed to obscure it. 26. For the demonstration of His righteousness : conspicuous and emphatic repetition of the same words in v. 25. In the present season : the days of Christ, who, as we read in ch. v. 6, "in due season died for ungodly ones," in contrast to God's forbearance in earlier ages. In order that He etc. : further and final purpose of this demonstration of God's justice, and of His gift of Christ to die. This purpose implies that, apart from the demonstration of God's justice in the death of Christ, God could not be at the same time Himself just and a justifier of those who put faith in Jesus. For certainly He would not have given His Son to die in order to reach an end which might have been reached at less cost. In other words, Paul here asserts that God gave Christ to die in order to harmonize with His own attribute of justice the justification of believers announced in the Gospel. Faith of Jesus: belief of the words oi Jesus, as in v. 22, Him sec. io] ROMANS III. 21—26 119 that has faith : literally him whose position and character are derived from a faith of which Jesus is the personal Object : same phrase in v. 30, chs. i. 17, iv. 16, ix. 30, 32, x. 6, etc. These words keep before us Doctrine 1, asserted in v. 22. Verse 26 is Paul's last and highest word about the death of Christ ; and it is the fullest teaching in the New Testament, explaining all its other teaching on the same solemn subject. If the death of Christ was needful in order to demonstrate the justice of God in view of the justification of sinners announced in the Gospel and in view of His own past forbearance of sin, then Justice itself demanded this demonstration. For a ruler is bound not only to administer impartially his own laws but to make his impartiality manifest to all ; because whatever obscures his justice defeats the ends of justice, and whatever manifests it aids those ends. Now, if God gave Christ to die in order to harmonize with His own justice the justification of believers, then was Christ's death absolutely necessary for man's salvation : for God could not possibly be unjust. Consequently, by the death of Christ was removed an absolute barrier to man's salvation having its founda tion in the eternal nature of God. The above teaching explains the word redemption in v. 24 : for if, as we have just seen, man's salvation was impossible apart from some such demonstration of God's justice as is found in Christ's death, then was this last the price paid for our salvation. We need not ask, To whom paid? For the phrase is one of the most common and expressive of human metaphors. There was no bargaining with Satan, or between the Persons of the Godhead, but there was an infinite price paid. The word propitiation in v. 25 is also explained : for through the death of Christ believers are saved from the penalty of their sins which otherwise would have fallen on their own heads, just as in Egypt the firstborn was saved from death by the death of the Paschal lamb. In vv. 24 — 26, Paul asserts, without proof, the Second Funda mental Doctrine of this epistle, viz. that God gave Christ to die in order to harmonize with His own justice, and thus make possible, the justification of believers. The same doctrine He reasserts in ch. iv. 25, and draws from it important inferences in chs. v. 6 — 10, vi. 3 — 10, vii. 4, viii. 32 — 34, xiv. 9, 15 : it is equally prominent in other epistles from his pen. The complete confidence with which he asserts and assumes it, without proof, leaves no room to doubt that this remarkable doctrine was actually taught and held by the apostle Paul and by the Christians among whom he moved. 120 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii That our life comes through Christ's death, is taught clearly in Heb. ix. 12 — x. 19 ; 1 Pet. i. 18, ii. 24, iii. 18 ; I Jno. ii. 2, iv. 10 ; Rev. i. 5, v. 6 — 9, vii. 14. Similar teaching is attributed to Christ in each of the Four Gospels : Mt. xx. 28, xxvi. 28 ; Mk. x. 45, xiv. 24; Lk. xxii. 20; Jno. vi. 51, x. 11, xii. 24. That these numerous and various documents agree in teaching this remark able doctrine, proves clearly that it was universally held by the first generation of the disciples of Jesus ; and that it was actually taught by Him. For only thus can the agreement be accounted for. This proof is greatly strengthened by the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. Wherever there are Christians, they celebrate His death by the most solemn act of their worship. The uni- , versality of this custom proves clearly that it dates from the origin of Christianity. Now, if the servants of Christ live because He died, we wonder not that they commemorate His death by a feast : and we wonder not that in the most solemn crisis of His life He commanded them to keep this commemorative feast, thus giving it a unique position as the one recurrent rite of His Church, and thus indicating His purpose to make it a channel of special blessing. But, of this rite, and of the importance attached to it by Christians everywhere, I can conceive no other explanation. It is thus an abiding witness to the doctrine before us. A similar though less definite witness is borne by the animal sacrifices so conspicuous in the Mosaic ritual and in the worship of the ancient world. In almost every nation men believed that in some cases the guilty could be saved only by the blood of an innocent victim. Whence this strange belief? If the teaching of Rom. iii. 24 — 26 be true, we can conceive that He who wrote His law in the hearts of all in some way taught men to offer animal sacrifices, in order that, by their evident insufficiency, they might proclaim the need of a nobler Victim. On the whole subject, see Diss. vii. of my Galatians, on "The Cross of Christ ; " and Part iii. of my Through Christ lo God, on on "The Death of Christ." Paul has now, after proving that all men are or have been under condemnation, asserted two great doctrines, viz. (1) that God receives into His favour all who believe the good news announced by Christ, and (2) that this salvation comes through the death of Christ, whom God gave to die in order to harmonize with His own justice the justification of those who put faith in Christ. Of these doctrines, the first is implied in, and the second is the only explanation of, teaching which can be traced by abundant and sec. io] ROMANS III. 21—26 121 decisive documentary evidence to the lips of Christ. We may therefore, apart from the apostolic authority of Paul, accept each of these doctrines with perfect confidence as a sure basis for further theological research. REVIEW of § 10. Through the Gospel announced by Christ, God has, apart from obedience to law and from natural distinctions, manifested a righteousness which is His own gift to all believers. Such was needed : for all have sinned, and are thus destitute of the heritage of glory which belongs to the sons of God. This Gospel implies justification by God's free favour : and this is itself a proof of the moral failure of our race, a proof strengthened by the assertion of Paul that it was made possible only through the death of Christ. This last was therefore the ransom-price of our salvation. The payment was made, and the liberation takes place, in Him who was born at Bethlehem to be our King. Because no other means would avail, God set Him forth before the eyes of men, covered with His own blood, to be a pro pitiatory sacrifice sheltering from the punishment due to their sins those who believe. God did this in order thus to afford proof of His own righteousness, a proof made needful by His past forbearance and by His present purpose to proclaim pardon for those who believe the words of Jesus. To delay punishment, and still more to pardon the guilty, by mere prerogative, is unjust and therefore impossible to God. But that which by itself would have been unworthy of a righteous ruler, God has harmonized with His own absolute justice by the demonstration of it given in the death of Christ. JUSTIFICATION. The word rendered in N.T. justify denotes to make righteous, but always in a forensic or subjective sense. In non-biblical Greek, it denotes to claim as a right, to judge right, or to treat with justice, sometimes in the sense of condemning and punishing. In the LXX. it is a technical term for a judge's sentence in a man's favour, in Dt. xxv. 1, Isa. v. 23 ; and of God the Judge of the world, in Ex. xxiii. 7, 1 Kgs. viii. 32, 2 Chr. vi. 23, Isa. 1. 8. In Job xxxiii. 32, it denotes approval by a friend : and in 2 Sam. xv. 4, Ps. Ixxxii. 3 it is a judges' righteous sentence, thus approaching from another side the classic use of the word. The only passage in the LXX. in which the word can possibly denote objective conformity to the Law is Isa. liii. 11 ; and its use else where suggests that even here it means simply to procure for guilty men the acquittal of the great Judge, 122 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii In complete agreement with this use of the word in the lxx., is its use in the New Testament. From her works and her children has gone forth a declaration that Wisdom is in the right: Mt. xi. 19, Lk. vii. 35. We read in Lk. x. 29, xvi. 15 of men who justified themselves, in the sight of others and perhaps of them selves. Even the publicans, in Lk. vii. 29, "justified God," i.e. declared Him, by receiving Baptism, to be in the right in His severe words to them through the lips of John ; in the sense in which the word is used in the quotation in Rom. iii. 4. In Mt. xii. 37, as in Rom. ii. 13, the word denotes a favourable sentence of God at the great assize ; and refers in Jas. ii. 24, 25 to God's approbation of Abraham expressed in Gen. xxii. 16, and to His approbation of Rahab's faith as shown in her rescue amid the destruction of Jericho. Christ's words about the publican in Lk. xviii. 14 foreshadowed Paul's use of the word : for he "went down to his house justified" Throughout the Bible the word justify denotes, never impartation of inward righteousness, but always a reckoning or declaring or treating as righteous. This constant use of the word, in close harmony with its some what different use in classic Greek, determines its meaning in Rom. iii. 20, 24, 26, 28, 30, iv. 5, v. 1, 9 and in Gal. ii. 16, 17, iii. 8, 24 : and this determines the meaning of the equivalent word righteousness in Rom. i. 17, iii. 21, 22, ix. 30, x. 3, 4, 6. All these passages refer, not to actual conformity to the moral law, but to God's forgiving reception into His favour of those who put faith in Christ. And this is confirmed by the phrase " faith reckoned for righteousness" used in ch. iv. 3, 5, 9, 24 as an equivalent to "justified through faith." For the word reckoned is evidently forensic. To the above meaning of the word it cannot be objected that a forensic righteousness without actual conformity to the moral law is worthless. For, as we shall see, justification through faith is followed by adoption into the family of God, and by the gift of the Spirit of Adoption to be the animating principle of a new life of devotion to God. But this all-important teaching is clothed in other phraseology. It is not suggested by the word now before us. See further in Diss. vi. of my Galatians. Since we appear before God charged with sin, to us justification is acquittal. And, since we are actually guilty, it is practically pardon. But it is not looked upon as such : for, whereas pardon is a setting aside of law, justification is a carrying out of the new Law of Faith. sec. ii] ROMANS III. 27—30 123 In the N.T., no writer except Paul uses the phrase "justified through faith." Notice therefore an all-important coincidence in Acts xiii. 38, 39, in a recorded address of Paul. SECTION XI ALL BOASTING IS NOW SHUT OUT Ch. III. 27—30 Where then is the exultation ? It has been shut out. Through what kind of law ? Of works? No, but through a law of faith. 28 For we reckon that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law. 29 Or, of Jews only is He the God '? Not also of Gentiles ? Yes, also of Gentiles; 30 if, at least, there is one God who will justify circumcision by faith and uncircumcision through their faith. 27. Where then etc. : question suggested by § 10, and bringing out a logical consequence of it. The exultation : the well-known exultation of ch. ii. 17, 23. That Paul refers specially to Jewish boasting, is evident from vv. 29, 30. But all human boasting is shut out by § 10 : for its teaching rests on the truth that no man, by his own effort, can save himself. Paul looks round and cries, Where now is your exultation ? It has vanished from view : it has been shut out. By what means? By means of a law, i.e. a divine proclamation of the way in which God will rule and judge His people ? What kind of law ? one which re-echoes the voice of Moses, Do this and live ? No. God has shut out all boasting by promulgating a law which says, Believe and live. The Gospel is correctly called a law : for it is an authoritative declaration of God's will concerning us, and of the principles on which He will govern us. It is a law of faith : for it requires faith, and is thus distinguished from the Mosaic Law which required works. Im portant coincidences in Jno. vi. 29, I Jno. iii. 23. The word law reminds us that the voice of Christ is equal in authority to the voice from Sinai. 28, Restatement of Doctrine 1, taught in ch. iii. 21, 22 ; so put 124 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii as to be evidently a proof of the answer just given. The reading here is uncertain. The documentary evidence is about equally divided. All the Critical Editors prefer for, though Tregelles and Westcott express doubt, by putting therefore in their margin. The Revisers prefer therefore, putting for in the margin, as read by "many ancient authorities." This is therefore a case in which internal evidence may be allowed to decide. The reading for would make v. 28 a proof of v. 27 ; the reading therefore would make it an inference. Now this restatement of Paul's great doctrine cannot be an inference from a consequence of that doctrine, viz. that by it all boasting has been shut out : but it comes in appropriately as a restatement of the source from which the con sequence flows. I therefore prefer the Editors' reading, For we reckon etc. The point of the proof here given lies in the sharp contrast of faith and works of law, which echoes a similar contrast in w. 21, 22. The Gospel proclaims righteousness for all who believe it, without reference to previous obedience to law. Now the Gospel is an authoritative declaration of the will of God, and has therefore the force of law. By promulgating this new law, God has shut out all boasting on the ground of good works : for the new law implies that works cannot save. 29. Another ground of Jewish boasting. Do you exult in God as though He had nothing to do with any except Jews? Is He not the God also of Gentiles? Yes, also of Gentiles: Paul's answer, re-echoing his question. 30. A second restatement of Doctrine 1, in a form suited to overturn this second objection, strengthened by a great truth in which the Jews gloried, viz. the oneness of God. Circumcision : as in ch. ii. 26. It was a visible mark of the covenant on which rested the vain belief of the Jews that God was their God only. By faith (ch. i. 17) and through faith (ch. iii. 22) are practically the same. Their faith : that which the Gentiles evidently have. If there be one God, and if He will justify all on the same terms, then is He the God of both Jews and Gentiles. Notice here an important argument. The oneness of God is a proof that He is the God of all men : for a national god must be one among many. Thus a doctrine to which the Jews clung tenaciously supports the teaching of Paul and overthrows the exclusiveness of the Jews. We here meet again the two objections dealt with in §§ 6 and 7, those based on the Law and on circumcision. Each is overturned by a restatement of Paul's great doctrine of Justification through Faith, in forms suited to the objections they are designed to rebut, sec. 12] ROMANS III. 31— IV. 17 125 In ch. ii. 13, Paul overturned the first objection by pointing to a principle which underlies all law. He now shows that the Gospel, which has authority equal to that of the ancient law, likewise over turns it. And He shows that the Gospel, read in the light of a truth which the Jews were ever ready to assert, overturns also the second objection. That Paul mentions, as the first result of the Gospel, a matter so small as exclusion of Jewish boasting, may surprise us. But this boasting was probably the chief hindrance to the spread of the Gospel among the Jews. It lingered even among Jewish Christians : so Gal. iii. 2, iv. 21, v. 4. Paul wishes to show at once that it is utterly inconsistent with the Gospel. Moreover, that the Gospel shuts out all Jewish boasting, was to many a serious objection to it. So serious is this objection that Paul is compelled to meet it before he goes on to develop the spiritual results of the Gospel. By the reasoning of ch. iii. 27—30, he suggests the objection : in v. 31, he states it : and in ch. iv. he will entirely overturn it. Thus this section opens a way for the next. SECTION XII JUSTIFICATION THROUGH FAITH RECEIVES SUPPORT FROM THE CASE OF ABRAHAM Chs. III. 31— IV. 17 Do we then make law of no effect through faith ? Be it not so. Nay, we establish law. 1 What then shall we say that Abraham has found, our forefather according to flesh ? 2 For if by (or from) works Abraham was justified, he has a ground of exulta tion; but not in reference to God. 3 For what says the Scripture ? "But Abraham believed God, and it -was reckoned to him for righteousness'' 4 But to him that does work, the reward is not reckoned according to grace but according to debt : 5 but to hhn that does no work, but believes on Him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned 126 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii for righteousness. 6 According as also David describes the blessed ness of tlie man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works, '" Blessed are they whose lawlessnesses have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered over. SA blessed man is he to whom the Lord will not reckon sin" 9 This pronouncing-blessed then, is it upon the circumcision, or also upon the uncircumcision ? For we say that to Abraham was reckoned his faith for righteousness. w How then was it reckoned? IVhile in circumcision, or in uncircumcision ? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. " And he received a sign, that of circum cision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had in his uncircumcision; that he may be father of all that believe in uncircumcision, that to them also the righteousness may be reckoned; 12 and father of the circumcision, to them not of circumcision only, but also to them who walk in the steps of the faith in uncircum cision of our father Abraham. 13 For not through law was the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he should be heir of the world, but through a righteousness of faith. 14 For if they of law are heirs, faith has been made vain, and the promise has been made of no effect. 15 For the Law works out anger : but where no law is, neither is there transgression. 16 Because of this, it is by faith, in order tliat it may be according to grace, in order that the promise may be sure to all the seed, not to that of the Law only but also to that of the faith of Abraham, who is father of us all — ^according as it is written, "Because a father of many nations I have made thee" — before God whom he believed, who makes alive the dead ones, and calls the things which are not as though tliey were. 31. A question suggested by the inference in vv. 29, 30 that justification through faith shuts out all boasting that God is in a special sense the God of the Jews. This assumption was based on the fact that to them .only He gave the Law. Paul asks, Do we, by preaching a doctrine which ignores the distinction of Jew and Gentile, set aside the Law, which created that distinction ? Law : in its usual sense, viz. the Old Testament, viewed in its general character as a declaration of God's will and as a standard of right sec. 12] ROMANS III. 31— IV. 17 127 and wrong. There is nothing here, as there was in v. 21, to limit the word to the Pentateuch. Of-no-effect : as in ch. iii. 3 ; cp. Mt. xv. 6. It might seem that Paul, who preaches faith without reference to circumcision or previous obedience to law, denied the authority of the Old Testament. For there the favour of God depends on obedience to precepts, and circumcision is commanded as a sign of God's special covenant with Abraham's children. Now, to the Jews, the Old Testament was the authoritative standard of right and wrong. Does not the doctrine of justification through faith discredit, not only Jewish boasting, but those sacred books which were to the Jews the ground of moral obligation ? If so, two bad results will follow. Paul's teaching will weaken, in those who receive it, the authority of the Scriptures, and thus weaken the moral obligations therein embodied ; and the Gospel will be rejected by others whose conscience tells them that the voice of Sinai, which still speaks from the pages of the Old Testament, is the voice of God. Cp. Acts vi. 13. We establish law: by preaching faith as the condition of justification, we give additional proof of the divine authority of the sacred books. So serious and so plausible is the above objection that we cannot conceive Paul, who is so careful to prove everything, meeting it by a mere assertion, viz. that contained in this verse. A full proof of this assertion, we shall find in his exposition, in ch. iv., of the faith of Abraham. Even the narratives of the O.T. are included in the Law : for they announce the principles of God's government. For another example of a narrative in Genesis quoted as law, see Gal. iv. 21. IV. 1. What shall we say ? what shall we infer ? as in ch. iii. 5. If we defend the authority of the O.T., how shall we explain its teaching about Abraham? Our forefather: speaking as a Jew to Jews. According to flesh : in contrast to the spiritual father hood of v. 11. 2. Reason for introducing the case of Abraham. God's covenant with him proves that he found favour with God, and was in this sense justified. Now, if this justification was derived from works, he has a ground-of-exultation. This last word is cognate to, and recalls, those in chs. iii. 27 and ii. 17, 23. Paul proclaims a Gospel which shuts out all boasting ; and he now introduces the case of Abraham in order to test by it the objection that, by overturning Jewish boasting, the Gospel overturns the ancient law. But not in reference to God: his exultation would be, not an exultation in God, like that in ch. v. 11, but something infinitely 128 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii inferior. If from works done in obedience to law Abraham had obtained the favour and covenant of God, God would be to him, not the free Giver of every good, but only a master who pays according to work done ; and Abraham's confidence would rest upon, and his expectation be measured by, his own morality. Cp. Gal. vi. 4. The Gospel gives us that nobler joy which arises from confidence in God. This better exultation, a justification derived from works could not give, to Abraham or to us. 3. By introducing Abraham after saying that the Gospel confirms the Law, by admitting that justification from works would give him a boasting which Paul has proved that no man can have, and that it would deprive him of the only well-grounded exultation, Paul has implied clearly that Abraham's justification was derived from a source other than works. This he now proceeds to prove : for what says the Scripture ? This last word denotes a single passage. The whole collection is called " Scriptures," as in ch. i. 2, xv. 4, xvi. 26. Paul quotes Gen. xv. 6, perhaps the most important verse of the Old Testament. In chs. xii. 1, 7, xiii. 14, we read of God's promises to Abraham and of Abraham's conduct on receiving them ; but from ch. xv. 3, 4 we learn that the promise had not been fully believed. In v. 5, God solemnly repeats it. And now, for the first time in the Bible, we are told the effect produced in man's heart by the word of God : " He believed in Jehovah," i.e. he was fully assured that God's promise of posterity as numerous as the stars will be fulfilled. See under v. 18. These words are the more conspicuous because of the purely outward character of nearly all Bible narratives. Equally remarkable are the words following. Righteousness : fulfilment of a condition, inward or outward, on which God is pleased to bestow blessing, spiritual or temporal : see under ch. i. 17. God reckoned Abraham's faith to be a fulfilment of the only condition required; and, because he believed, gave to him the blessing promised. God commanded him to offer sacrifice ; and in that sacrifice again revealed Himself. " In the same day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram : " Gen. xv. 9, 1 8. Of that covenant, circumcision was afterwards appointed to be the sign : ch. xvii. 10. Thus Abraham's faith put him in a new relation to God. Reckon : as in ch. ii. 26, viii. 36, Gen. xxxi. 1 5, Prov. xvii. 28, etc. Reckon for righteousness: an important parallel in Ps. evi. 31, which is a comment on Num. xxv. 10 — 13. God graciously reckoned the loyal act of Phineas as something which He will reward with an eternal priesthood. Similarly, in sec. 12] ROMANS III. 31— IV. 17 I20 Dt. xxiv. 13, He promised to reward the return of a pledged garment ; and, in ch. vi. 25, general obedience to His commands. Same phrase in 1 Mace. ii. 52, expounding Gen. xxii. 16—18. Hence, in Jas. ii. 21, Abraham is said to have been justified by offering Isaac. The two phrases are practically equivalent. The reckoning may be spoken of as the mental act of God ; and justification as the formal declaration of it. Thus the Book of the Law declares that Abraham obtained the favour and covenant of God by belief of a promise. And, of that covenant, all the blessings which afterwards came to Israel were a result. Whatever distinguished the sacred nation from the rest of mankind, their deliverance from Egypt, the Law, the possession of Canaan, and the voice of the prophets, was given because of Abraham's faith : so Ex. ii. 24, Dt. ix. 5. The question in Rom. iv. 1 is answered. Abraham found justification through faith. Consequently, the preaching of faith is in unexpected harmony with the Old Testament ; and thus confirms the divine authority of the Law. Gen. xv. 6 is quoted also in Gal. iii. 6, Jas. ii. 23 ; and ten times in the works of Philo, an older Jewish contemporary of Paul. The rest of § 12 expounds Gen. xv. 6. In vv. 4, 5, Paul will show that it implies justification apart from works, which in vv. 6 — 8 he will confirm from Ps. xxxii. 1, 2 ; and justification without circumcision, of which rite he will in vv. 9 — 12 explain the purpose. He will show in vv. 13 — 15 why the promise was given to Abraham apart from law; and (vv. 16, 17) on the simple condition of faith. He will thus show that the Law is in harmony, not only with the Gospel proclaimed in § 10, but with the levelling of Jew and Gentile which was to the Jews so serious an objection to it. 4, 5. Proof, from Gen. xv. 6, that Abraham was justified apart from works, and had therefore no ground of exultation. Verse 4 describes the case of one whose claim rests on works, and v. 5 that of another who has no works on which to base a claim. It is then evident that Abraham belongs, not to the former, but to the latter, class. Paul assumes that there is no merit in faith, that it does not lay God under the least obligation to reward us. Consequently, whatever follows faith comes, not by necessary moral sequence, but by the undeserved favour of God: so v. 16. Therefore, that Abraham obtained the covenant through faith, proves that he had done no work to merit so great reward. For we cannot give a man as a mark grace, i.e. undeserved favour, 9 130 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii what we already owe him as a debt. Consequently, the recorded faith of Abraham puts him apart from those who obtain blessing by good works. The reward : or pay for work done. 5. The opposite class, to which Abraham does belong. That a man's faith is reckoned for righteousness, and thus put in place of works, proves that he does no good work which fulfils the required condition. Ungodly: as in ch. i. 18. That Abraham was such, we need not infer : and his obedience to God's call proves his fear of God. Paul states a general principle, in a form which applies to his readers rather than to Abraham. He obtained by faith a numerous posterity, and through the promised seed a fulfilment of the earlier promise that in him should all families of the earth be blessed. The promise made to us is escape from the wrath of God, and eternal life. To make this dependent on faith, implies that all men are exposed to punishment : and to expect justification through faith is an acknowledgment of un godliness, and a reliance upon Him who justifies the ungodly. By thus turning from Abraham to the sinner, Paul prepares a way for the quotation in the next verse. Thus Gen. xv. 6, which asserts that Abraham was justified through faith, implies also that he was justified apart from works. Therefore he has no ground of self-exultation, but a good ground of exultation in view of God. Consequently, Paul, by proclaiming a new law which shuts out all boasting on the ground of works, does not overthrow, but supports, the authority of the Old Covenant and of the Jewish Scriptures. 6 — 8. A quotation from Ps. xxxii. I, 2, in harmony with the foregoing. David: as in ch. xi. 9 from Ps. lxix. 22, 23. The name is found (Heb. and LXX.) in the heading of each Psalm. But to this we cannot give any critical value. Paul quotes the O.T. as he found it. See further in Diss. iii. Blessedness: the highest form of happiness, found only under the smile of God : so Mt. v. 3 — 11. This sacred sense is not absent in Acts xxvi. 2, 1 Cor. vii. 40. So Aristotle, Nic. Ethics bk. x. 8. 8 : " To the gods, the whole of life is blessed ; to men, so far as it is some likeness to divine activity:" cp. 1 Tim. i. 11, "the blessed God," vi. 15. David is quoted to support, not "faith reckoned for righteousness," but righteousness apart from works. Here we have a man guilty of acts of lawlessness and of sins. But they are forgiven and covered-over : cp. Jas. v. 20. To reckon sin, is practically to inflict punishment : so 2 Tim. iv. 16, 2 Cor. v. 19, Philem. 18. We have in Ps. xxxii, the joyful song of a pardoned man. Breaches sec. 12] ROMANS III. 31— IV. 17 131 of law have been forgiven, and a veil cast over sins. Conse quently, in the future God will not reckon the man a sinner. The Lord : see under ch. ix. 29. In v. 5, the Psalmist confesses his sin, and rejoices in forgiveness. He finds in God a refuge from trouble, and bids others rejoice in Him: vv. 7, 11. We have here a clear case of righteousness without works, of a man on whom, in spite of past sins, God smiles with forgiving grace. Thus the negative side of Paul's teaching is proved to be in harmony with the ancient Scriptures. Although Ps. xxxii. is not quoted in proof of justification through faith, we notice v. 10, " He that trusts in Jehovah, mercy shall compass him about." Ps. xxxii. is quoted only in passing : and Paul returns at once to Gen. xv. 6. As the words quoted do not mention faith, they were probably not quoted to prove expressly that the preaching of faith supports the Law. But, as we learn from Rom. iii. 19, they have the authority of law. And, by supporting an inference following necessarily from justification through faith, viz. justification without works, they point to another harmony of the Law and the Gospel ; and thus confirm the divine origin of both. 9 — 12. Further evidence, from the historic origin of circumcision, in support of the Gospel which announces righteousness apart from it, followed by an exposition of the purpose of the rite. 9, 10. This announcement-of-hlessedness : in Ps. xxxii. 1, 2. Is it for the circumcision as such, or also for the uncircumcision ? abstract for the concrete, as in chs. ii. 26, iii. 30. For we say etc. : reason for Paul's question, in which he takes his readers along with him, and for the tone of triumph in which he asks it. Paul and they have now learnt from Gen. xv. 6 that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. He asks, How then was it reckoned ? While in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? To this last question, there is only one answer. For fourteen years, Abraham was in covenant with God before he was circumcised. Con sequently, the rite is not needful for the validity of faith or for a covenant relation with God. All the distinguishing blessings of the Jewish race were a reward of the faith of an uncircumcised man. Paul's answer is an emphatic repetition of his own question. 11, 12. An explanation of the purpose of the rite, supplementing and strengthening the foregoing argument. Sign of : Mt. xxiv. 30, Lk. xi. 29. Circumcision was enjoined as a visible mark or token of the covenant of God with Abraham in the day when he believed : Gen. xvii. 11, xv. 18. A seal: a solemn and formal attestation of 132 EXPOSITION OF [div. h that to which it is annexed. So 2 Cor. i. 22, Eph. i. 13, 2 Tim. ii. 19. Specially appropriate to circumcision, this being a visible and permanent attestation. The sign of the covenant, ordained by God in the day when Abraham believed, was a divinely-erected monument of the covenant and of the validity of faith even apart from circumcision. That he may be etc. : purpose of this sign and seal, viz. that the faith of Abraham, thus made prominent, may lead many others to a similar faith, and that thus he may be father of a great family of believers ; and that all who believe, even without circumcision, may be able to call Abraham their father, and to claim the inheritance of sons. The meaning oi father is explained by heirs in v. 14 : cp. Gal. iii. 9, 29, also Gen. iv. 20, 21. That to them also etc. : further purpose of the rite. God's purpose was, by leading both Jews and Gentiles to a similar faith, to make them partakers of the righteousness which comes through faith. Father of circumcision : suggested by also in v. 11, which implies that God's purpose embraced others besides Gentiles. Even among those who bear in their bodies the sign of the covenant, Abraham was to have a spiritual posterity. But his true children are those only who imitate the faith of their father, which was earlier and nobler than circumcision. Walk : go along a line : so Gal. v. 25. vi. 16, Ph. iii. 16, Acts xxi. 24. Cp. Rom. vi. 4, viii. 4, xiii. 13, xiv. 15. Every act is a step forward in some direc tion. Faith in uncircumcision : emphatic repetition of the point of the argument in vv. 9 — 12. 13. Not through law ; about which as little was said as about circumcision when God made the covenant with Abraham. The promise: as stated in Gen. xii. 1 — 3, 7, xv. 18, xxii. 17. In these passages nothing was said about law, in reference either to Abraham or to his seed. The fulfilment of the promise was not conditioned by obedience to a prescribed rule of conduct. That he should be heir of the world: the promise described, not in the form given to Abraham, but as we, taught by the Gospel, now understand it. Abraham's children, i.e. those who imitate his faith, will one day possess a new earth and heaven : and this, because given to his spiritual children, will be the reward of his faith. Of this greater gift, Canaan was but an earnest. It will be obtained, not through law, but through a righteousness of faith, i.e. a state which the judge approves and which comes through faith. On the historic independence of the promise to Abraham and the Mosaic Law, see Gal. iii. 17. 14, 15. Reason why the promise was given apart from law. sec. 12] ROMANS III. 31— IV. 17 i33 They of law : who make law their starting-point in seeking life, and whose claim is derived from law : so Gal. iii. 10 ; cp. Rom. ii. 8, iii. 26, Gal. iii. 7, 9. Heirs : who receive the blessing in virtue of their imitation of, and therefore spiritual descent from, Abraham. Is-made-vain, or empty : same word in 1 Cor. i. 17, ix. 15, Ph. ii. 7. Made-of -no-effect : as in ch. iii. 3, 31, Gal. iii. 17. These two words are practically equivalent. Of the statement in v. 14, v. 15 is a proof. Works-out anger : brings men under the anger of God. For none can obey the Law as it claims to be obeyed : and God is angry with all who disobey. But where no law is, there are no prescribed limits, and therefore no transgression or overstepping of limits : same word in chs. ii. 23, v. 14. Before the Law, there was sin, but it did not assume the form of transgression. If when God gave the promises He had annexed the Law as their condition, He would have made fulfilment impossible. For none can keep the Law as it needs to be kept. Therefore He said nothing about law. He thus winked at or passed over the sinful ness of those to whom He spoke ; in view of the propitiation afterwards provided : cp. ch. iii. 25. Notice here another summary of Div. 1. The causes which made justification from works impossible to us made it impossible to Abraham. The constant recurrence of this teaching reveals its importance in Paul's theology. 16. Because of this : viz. that the Law works out anger, and would if it were the condition of fulfilment make the promise without result. Therefore the inheritance is by faith. According to grace : God fixed faith as its condition in order that it might be in proportion, not to man's merit, but to God's undeserved favour. As in v. 4, Paul assumes that there is no merit in faith. Sure : a firm basis for confident reliance. God made faith the condition of the promise, in order that all the seed, not only Jews but Gentiles also, may have a firm ground for expectation of fulfilment, and this measured not by their works but by God's grace. Had obedience to law been its condition, they could have looked forward to nothing except His anger. Who is father etc. : actual fulfilment of the purpose stated in v. 1 1. Of us all : including Jews and Gentiles. 17. According as ... I have made thee : a parenthesis asserting that the foregoing is in harmony with a promise of God to Abraham (Gen. xvii. 5) at the time of the change of his name. Israel was not many nations but one nation : and the sons of Hagar and Keturah were not heirs of the covenant. To what then 134 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii did this promise refer ? To something important : for it was embodied in a change of name. The only adequate explanation of it is that it refers to Abraham's spiritual children. Jew and Greek, Englishman and German, call him to-day their father. Thus the Gospel again confirms the divine origin of the Law by affording an explanation and fulfilment of a prophecy therein contained and otherwise unexplained. Before God etc. : completing the sentence interrupted by the parenthesis. Abraham stands before God whom he believed, who, as we shall see under v. 19, makes alive the dead, and calls, i.e. summons to His service and disposes of as He will, the things which are not as though they were. This description of God calls to our mind those elements of His nature on which Abraham's faith rested. Cp. Gen. xvii. 1 : "lam God Almighty ; walk before Me, and be thou perfect." God speaks to men and things not yet existing, and they come into being, and dispose themselves at His command. These words refer to the many nations whom, before they existed, God gave to Abraham to be his children. Before Him whose voice is heard and obeyed by nations unborn, to whom the decay of natural powers, even when amounting practically to death, was no obstacle, Abraham stood ; and believed. And, because he believed, he stood in that day before God as the father of the whole family of believers of every nation and age. Review. We shall best understand this section by attempting to rebuild Paul's argument from the materials he used. In Gen. xii. 2, 7, xiii. 16, God promised to make of Abraham a great nation, to give to his children the land of Canaan, and to make them numerous as the dust of the earth. In obedience to God, Abraham left his fatherland. But in Gen. xv. 1—3 we find him in fear and unbelief. It is night ; and there is darkness around and within. Although God has promised him a numerous posterity, Abraham speaks of a servant as his heir. God brings him out from the tent in which the lonely man nurses his loneliness, directs him away from the darkness around to the everlasting brightness above, and declares that his children shall be numerous as the stars. Abraham stands before Him who made the stars and calls them by their names, who is the Author of life, whom even death cannot withstand, who controls even men and things not yet existing. He hears the promise, believes it, and looks forward with confidence to his children unborn. His faith is recorded in the Book of the Law, where, in Gen. xv. 6, we read for the first time the effect upon the heart of man of the word of God. We also read that God accepted sec. 12] ROMANS III. 31— IV. 17 135 Abraham's belief of the promise as a fulfilment of the divinely- appointed condition of fulfilment. In that hour he stood before God as father of unnumbered children. The words of Gen. xv. 6 are soon explained by the act of God. Sacrifices are slain ; and in the presence of shed blood God makes "in that day" a covenant with Abraham. Of this covenant, the birth of Isaac, the deliverance from Egypt, the giving of the Law, the possession of Canaan, and all the distinctive privileges of Israel, were a fulfilment. We see then that the blessings of the Old Covenant were obtained by Abraham, for himself and for his children, by faith. Again, since Abraham obtained the covenant by believing a promise, it is evident that he had performed no work of which il was a due reward ; else it would have been given him as a debt. The words of Gen. xv. 6 remove him from those who earn some thing by work and put him among those who know that they are sinners and believe the word of Him who justifies the ungodly. Consequently, Abraham was justified without works. Therefore, though he may well exult in view of the grace of God, he can exult no more than we in view of his own works. Justification without works is also taught by David, who calls himself a sinner and rejoices in a pardoning God. Again, when Abraham believed, he was uncircumcised : and nothing was said about the rite till fourteen years after he received the covenant. Therefore, circumcision is not essential to the validity of faith, or to the favour and covenant of God. What then is the use of circumcision ? It was a sign of God's covenant with Abraham : Gen. xvii. 11. And, since the covenant was obtained through faith, circumcision, the visible and divinely- ordained sign of it, was a solemn and public attestation by God that faith, even without circumcision, is sufficient to obtain the favour of God. In our days, God has announced justification for all men on the one condition of faith. Therefore, remembering that the Old Covenant was preparatory to the New, we cannot doubt that the rite of circumcision was ordained in order to call attention to Abraham's faith, and thus to lead his children to similar faith. And, since the Gospel proclaims salvation for Jew and Gentile alike, we cannot doubt that circumcision was delayed in order to teach the believing Gentiles of future ages that they may claim Abraham as their father and the righteousness of faith as their inheritance. We are prepared for this levelling of Jew and Gentile by the fact that, at the time of Abraham's faith, as little was said about the Law as about circumcision. The reason is evident. If the promises had been conditional on obedience to law, they would have been 136 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii practically useless, and Abraham's faith an illusion. For neither he nor his children could keep the Law. The only result would have been disobedience and punishment. We therefore infer that nothing was said about law in order that sin, although existing, might not be a breach of the covenant ; and that faith was chosen as its condition because God was minded to bestow the blessing as a gift of pure favour, and in order that believers, both Jews and Gentiles, might look forward with certainty to a fulfilment of the promise. In the Christian Church, we see fulfilled the purpose for which circumcision was ordained, and the promise that Abraham should be a father of many nations. He stands to-day in actual fact, as he stood then in the purpose and foresight of God, as the father of us all. In § u, Paul proved that the Gospel breaks down the barrier hitherto existing between Jew and Gentile. Now this barrier was erected by the Law. To break it down, seemed to be a denial of the divine origin and authority of those Sacred Books which were to Israel the ground of moral obligation. But now Paul has proved from these Books that the covenant which was to the Jews the source of all their distinctive privileges was obtained by Abraham through faith and apart from circumcision and from law. An inference from this, viz. justification without works, has been confirmed from another part of the Holy Scriptures. This unex pected harmony confirms both Law and Gospel, for it reveals their common source. Consequently, the Gospel, which by the resurrec tion of Christ is itself proved to be divine, affords proof of the divine origin of the Law. If therefore, after saying that the Gospel con firms the Law, we are asked what benefits Abraham obtained for himself and his descendants, our reply is, Justification through faith, without works and without circumcision. In this section, Paul has touched one of the strongest internal proofs of the divine origin of the revelations recorded in the Bible, viz. the profound harmony which, amid a great variety of outward form, breathes through the whole. sec. 13] ROMANS IV. 18—25 137 SECTION XIII DESCRIPTION OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH Ch. IV. 18—25 Who against hope believed in hope, in order that he might become father of many nations, according to the spoken word, " So shall be thy seed'' 19And, without being weakened in faith, he considered his own body as good as dead, being about a hundred years old, and the death of the womb of Sarah. 20 But in view of the promise of God he did not doubt with unbelief, but was made strong by faith, givi-hg glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that what He has promised He is able also to do. 22 For which cause it was also reckoned to him for righteousness. 23 Moreover, it was not written because of him only, that it was reckoned to him, 2i but also because of us, to whom it will be reckoned, to those that believe on Him that raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 2b who was given up because of our trespasses and was raised because of our justification. In § 12, we learnt that Abraham obtained by faith the blessings of the Old Covenant. We saw him standing in the presence, and believing the word, of Him who makes the dead to live. Paul will now analyse Abraham's faith, and show that it is a model for ours. 18. Hope : in N.T., expectation of good ; in classic Greek, expecta tion of good or ill, e.g. Thuc. i. 1. Against hope ... in hope : literally upo7i hope ; so chs. v. 2, viii. 20, Acts ii. 26, xxvi. 6. Abraham's faith was a reliance upon the future when, humanly speaking, the future promised nothing. To the end that etc. : purpose of this faith. That what follows was a result of it, is at once evident : for it led to the birth of Isaac and the fulfilment of the promises ; and, by setting an example, it led thousands to exercise similar faith and to look back upon Abraham as their spiritual father. But it is needless to give to the preposition here used (eh to k.t.X.) any other than its ordinary sense of purpose : so in v. 11. For we cannot doubt that God led Abraham to believe in order to set an example to thousands who should afterwards walk in his steps. In the Bible, frequently a purpose far above their thought is attributed to the acts of men. This comes from a consciousness that nothing takes place without God's permission, and that nothing 138 EXPOSITION OF [div. n is permitted except what will work out His purposes. Hence men's acts have a meaning the actors think not of. When Abraham trampled under foot the expectation of nature, resting upon the expectation of faith, he was by his faith working out the purpose of God, a purpose corresponding to the promise believed. Cp. Mt. ii. 15, 23. The spoken word : spoken by God to Abraham. Contrast " as it is written " in v. 17. 19 — 21. A wonderful analysis of Abraham's faith and hope. 19. Negative aspect of his faith. The word not after considered is omitted in the four oldest MSS. and by all the Critical Editors ; and is certainly spurious. It may have been put in by a copyist who thought it needful to make up the sense, and supposed that some earlier copyist had omitted it. The practical difference is not great. In the one case, we are told that Abraham did not take into account his advanced age ; in the other, that he was un moved by his consideration of it. In either case, he was unmoved by the fact of his old age. Dead . . . death : reproductive powers, in both Abraham and Sarah, being dead. A hundred years old : referring to Gen. xvii. 1 ; not to ch. xv. 6, when Abraham first believed God's promise of a numerous posterity. When Ishmael was born, Abraham looked upon him as the pro mised seed : ch. xvii. 18. But God tried his faith by declaring in v. 16 that the promised child should spring from Sarah. In v. 17, we see the effort of his faith to overcome this new difficulty; and we infer with certainty that his faith was again victorious. Belief of this last promise was all that God required ; and the birth of Isaac soon followed. To this matured faith, Paul now refers. 20, 21. Positive description of Abraham's faith. He looked, with unshaken faith, at his own aged body ; but he looked also at the promise of God. That doubt is contrasted with faith, implies that God requires a faith which excludes doubt. So ch. xiv. 23, Mt. xxi. 21, Mk. xi. 23, Jas. i. 6. Had Abraham doubted, it would have been with unbelief. Strong by faith : able to break down obstacles : cp. Heb. xi. 33. Giving glory etc. : he recognised with admiration the grandeur of God. Being fully assured etc. : a description of Abraham's faith. Faith in a promise is a full assurance that the speaker will fulfil it. Here the fulfilment involved power greater than that of nature. Consequently, Abraham's assurance that God's word will come true implied an assurance that He is able to suspend the ordinary course of nature : for otherwise He cannot do what He has promised. sec. 13] ROMANS IV. 18—25 i39 Notice here an emphatic repetition of the ground of Abraham's faith. Owing to the kind of pro7nise believed, it was a reliance upon the power of God. Such reliance is the highest tribute of glory to God : contrast ch. i. 21. But faith is, here and everywhere, an assurance that God not only can, but actually will, perform His word. Abraham contemplated the natural impossibility of a child being born from himself and Sarah. But he fixed his eye on the promise of God and on the infinite grandeur and power of Him who had promised. This banished doubt and unbelief, and gave him the strength of faith. His faith was a reliance on the word and power of God. 22. For which cause : because he was fully assured etc. This may refer to Gen. xv. 6 or xvii. 15 — 23 : cp. 1 Mace. ii. 52. Because Abraham's faith was what has just been described, God accepted it as the condition required for fulfilment of the promise. This prepares a way for vv. 23 — 25. 23, 24. Bearing upon us, of the story of Abraham. It was not written because of him only, i.e. to pay honour to him, hut also because of US, i.e. for our good. By this assertion, Paul attributes to Genesis a purpose far above the thought of its human author ; and therefore attributes the book, in some real sense, to one who foresaw the day of Christ. So chs. iii. 19, xv. 4, 1 Cor. ix. 10, x. 11, Gal. iii. 8. Of all this, the O.T. contains abundant evidence. For the far-reaching harmony underlying the Old and New Testaments, of which Rom. iv. is so wonderful an example, must have a common and superhuman source. And if, as Paul every where assumes, the Old Testament contains actual revelations from God to man, and these preparing a way for the supreme revelation in Christ, we cannot doubt that, in the providence of God, they were written down in order that the permanent records might help the faith of those who in later ages should put faith in Christ. In other words, we need not doubt that the benefits actually derived by Christians from the Old Testament were designed by God. And if so, the world-wide importance of the Gospel makes this the chief purpose for which the Jewish Scriptures were given. The future tense, will he reckoned, cannot refer to the judgment day : for justification will then be, not by faith, but, as we read in Rom. ii. 13, by works. And the word us forbids us to refer it exclusively or mainly to those who in time to come will be justified. It is best to suppose that Paul puts himself beside the writer of Genesis and looks forward to the Gospel as still future. Just so in ch. v. 14 " the coming One " refers to the incarnation of 140 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii Christ ; and " we shall be," in ch. vi. 5, to our present Christian life. Similarly, in ch. vii. 14, Paul throws himself back into the days when he was under the Law ; and in ch. viii. 30 throws himself forward and looks back upon his final glorification as already achieved. This sudden change of mental standpoint is a mark of the intense vividness of his thought. He ever identifies himself with that about which he writes. Believe on : as in v. 5. To believe a promise, is to lean upo/i him that gave it. Him that raised Jesus : on whose superhuman power both Abraham relied and we now rely. Just as to him belief of the promise was impossible without an assurance that God is able to set aside the decay of nature, so now we cannot believe Christ's promise of eternal life unless we are sure that God is able to open the gates of death. For, that God raised Jesus from the dead, is an essential element of the Gospel : so ch. x. 9, Acts xvii. 18, 31. That Abraham's faith had in view a miracle in the future, ours one in the past, does not mar the similarity. For, past or future, each involved the infinite power of God. This reference to the raising of Christ suggested the words dead and make alive the dead in vv. 19 and 17. The birth of Isaac was virtually a resurrection of the dead. Again, the resurrection of Christ, once believed, becomes a proof of the power of God, and therefore a pledge that He will fulfil all His promises : so Acts xvii. 31, Eph. i. 20, 1 Pet. i. 21. Hence, the description here of God whom we believe is parallel to that in v. 17 of Him whom Abraham believed. 25. Two great facts closely related, one to Doctrine 2. Justifica tion through the Death of Christ, of which the significance will be expounded in ch. v. 1 — 11 ; and the other to Doctrine 1. Justifica tion through Faith, which has just been illustrated by the faith of Abraham. Thus this verse is a bridge between chs. iv. and v. Trespasses : sins looked upon as a moral fall where we ought to have stood upright: cp. ch. xi. II. Given-up : surrendered to a hostile power, as in chs. i. 24, 26, 28, viii. 32. Because we fell, Jesus was given over into the hands of His enemies that He might be a propitiation for our sins. And, just as our sins, taken in connection with God's purpose to save us, moved Him to give up Christ to die, so our need of justification moved Him to raise Christ from the dead : for without this proof of the divine mission of Christ there would have been no faith in Him and no justification through faith. So 1 Cor. xv. 17, 1 Pet. i. 3, 21 ; notice the want of faith in Lk. xxiv. 11, 21. God raised Christ from the grave in order to give to His disciples a firm foundation on which their faith may sec. 13] ROMANS IV. 18—25 Hi rest securely as a means of justification. This last word will become the key-note of the next section. The use of the same preposition (hia with accusative) with a past fact and a purpose touching the future need not surprise us. In each case it denotes, as always, a motive for action. When God resolved to justify, His own purpose became to Him a motive. Compare The Nicene Creed, " Because of us men and because of our salvation : " a very close parallel. The simplicity of this exposition renders needless Godet's suggestion that Paul refers to "a sentence of justification pronounced in favour of guilty humanity" in the resurrection of Christ. For of such collective justification Paul never speaks ; and the reference of the word here is fixed by the wordyM.M'zy&'rf.immediately following. In this section, no reference is made to any similarity or connec tion between the promises believed by Abraham and by us. The comparison does not embrace the object-matter of faith, but only the mental act and the personal object, viz. the God of power whose word is in each case believed. The promises believed and the blessings obtained are altogether different. But the disposition of mind and heart is the same. The total difference between the two cases is a great advantage : for it compels us to look, not at one particular promise, but at a great underlying principle, viz. that every promise is fulfilled to those who believe it. God promises to us, and by faith we obtain, pardon and holiness and every grace. At the same time, the careful reader will observe that the promises to Abraham receive their complete fulfilment only in the fulfilment of the promises given to us ; and that this fulfilment is brought about by the resurrection of Christ. The connection is referred to in Gal. iii. 16. Thus He is the centre towards which tends every step in the setting up of the Kingdom of God. Sections 11 — 13 defend a point in § 10 specially liable to objec tion, viz. faith as the one condition of righteousness. §11 provokes the objection, by showing that this condition overthrows all Jewish and human boasting. This is in complete harmony with the teaching of Div. 1. § 12 meets the objection by showing that faith was the condition on which were bestowed upon Abraham all the blessings of the Old Covenant. And § 13 teaches that his faith was similar to that required from us. The defence of faith as a condition of justification is now complete. The doctrine is assumed in the opening words of the next chapter ; and then all mention of faith ceases till ch. ix. 30, when the harmony of the Old and New will again meet us. 142 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii FAITH and belief and the cognate verb believe represent the same Greek and Hebrew words. They denote mental rest in an idea, touching past, present, or future. The idea in which we are at rest is often mentioned as the object-matter of our belief. We say, I believe it, or I believe that it is so : cp. Rom. vi. 8, x. 9, Jno. ix. 18, xvi. 30, 1 Jno. v. 1, 5, Mk. xi. 23, 24 ; also Jno. xi. 26, 1 Jno. iv. 16, Acts xiii. 41. The assurance may arise from perception by the senses, as in Mt. xv. 32, Jno. xx. 8, 29 ; from testimony of others ; from a course of reasoning, as in Rom. vi. 8 ; or from pure fancy. It may rest on good grounds, and correspond with reality ; or on evidence altogether insufficient, and be, as in 2 Th. ii. 11, an utter delusion. Yet in all these cases, if the mind be at rest in an idea, we say, He believes it. The most important beliefs are those which bear upon the future, and upon our own interests. Faith then assumes the form of expectation. We look forward, with an inward rest proportionate to the degree of our faith, to the realisation of that which we believe. Such beliefs call forth our strongest emotions, and frequently direct our actions. And only so far as objects and events are reflected in our belief do they influence our action. The variety of the effects of belief arises, not from different kinds or sources of it, and not altogether from different degrees of confidence, but chiefly from variety of its object-matter. When we believe, we submit ourselves to be influenced by the object -matter of our belief. But our submission is voluntary : and each act which springs from faith is a fresh and free submission. For we may refuse, if we will, to act according to our convictions. But such refusal always tends to weaken and destroy the conviction trampled under foot. A person is frequently introduced as the object of our belief. When we say, I believe him, we mean that our assurance arises from, and rests upon, the word and character of a speaker. In Jno. iv. 21, xiv. 11, Acts xxvii. 25, viii. 12, we have both the personal object and the object-matter of faith. Justifying faith is " belief of Jesus Christ : " Rom. iii. 22, Gal. ii. 16. This can only mean belief of the word of Christ, a mental rest reposing on His promise of life eternal for all who believe. In 2 Th. ii. 13, we have "belief of the truth ;" this last being the object-matter of saving faith. In Rom. iv. 5, 24, we have one who "believes on Him that justifies the ungodly," and "on Him that raised Jesus." Abraham's faith was an assurance, resting on the sec. 13] ROMANS IV. 18—25 143 power of God, that He will fulfil, in spite of natural impossibility, His promise of a numerous posterity. In the O.T., e.g. Ps. xiii. 5, xxxii. 10, we very often find " trust in God," and much less often, e.g. Num. xiv. 11, Dt. i. 32, the phrase "believe in Him." In the N.T., we have very often the words faith and believe, with God and Christ as their personal object ; and more seldom " trust in Him." The difference is sig nificant. Trust is a confident expectation resting on a man's character, but not necessarily on a definite promise. Consequently, all saving belief in God is trust : for it is a reliance upon His character that He will fulfil His words. But it is often more than trust : it is a definite assurance resting upon, and corresponding with, a definite promise of God. To ancient Israel, God revealed Himself ; and upon His revealed character His people rested their hopes of deliverance and prosperity. In our happier days, God has spoken in plain words His purposes of mercy for us ; and upon His very words we lean and expect their exact fulfilment. To denote a belief involving trust, the Hebrews used the phrase believe in, implying confident expectation touching the future con duct of the person believed in : so Gen. xv. 6, Ex. xiv. 31, xix. 9, Jer. xii. 6, Mic. vii. 5, Prov. xxvi. 25, 1 Sam. xxvii. 12; contrast Gen. xiv. 26, Prov. xiv. 15. The phrase believe in (mo-reveiv eh) is a conspicuous feature of the Fourth Gospel, also 1 Jno. v. 10, 13 ; but is rare elsewhere : Mt. xviii. 6, Acts x. 43, xiv. 23, xix. 4, Rom. x. 14, Gal. ii. 16, Ph. i. 29, 1 Pet. i. 8 : cp. Acts xx. 21, xxiv. 24, xxvi. 18. This rarity of the phrase is obscured by the Revisers' rendering of Mk. xi. 22, Acts iii. 16, Rom. iii. 22, 26, Gal. ii. 16, 20, iii. 22, Eph. iii. 12, Ph. iii. 9, Col. ii. 12. But we have no intelligible and correct English rendering of the phrase there used. Another phrase (iriareieiv e'v) is found in Mk. i. 15, Jno. iii. 15 ; cp. Eph. i. 15, Col. i. 4, 1 Tim. iii. 13, 2 Tim. i. 13, iii. 15. Since saving faith is reliance upon God's known character, we may speak of implicit faith, viz. such estimate of His character as, apart from any particular promise, is prepared to accept with confidence and expectation whatever He says ; and of explicit faith, viz. a definite assurance of the fulfilment of a definite promise. In the former sense, the phrase believe in Hi/7i is very common in the Fourth Gospel. But all faith in Christ has reference, direct or indirect, to His spoken word. It is now evident that Justifying Faith is an assurance, resting upon the word and character of God, that He now receives into His favour, according to His promise in Christ, us who here 144 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii and now accept that promise. And we have seen that this faith has a close parallel in the faith by which Abraham accepted, and obtained fulfilment of, God's promise to him of a numerous posterity through which blessing should come to all mankind. Under ch. vi. 11, we shall find another exercise of faith, laying hold of other promises, and followed by still more wonderful results. So far I have spoken of faith without reference to the Holy Spirit. In so doing, I have imitated Paul, who up to this point has not mentioned the work of the Spirit. We have studied faith merely as a mental process. For the spiritual source of our assurance of the favour of God, see notes under ch. viii. 17. SECTION XIV A WELL-GROUNDED HOPE Ch. V. 1— 11 Let us then, justified by faith, have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have been brought, by our faith, into this grace in which we stand ; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we also exult in our afflictions ; knowing that the affliction works out endurance ; * and the endurance, proof; and the proof, hope. 5 And the hope does not put to shame: because the love of God has been pou7'ed out in our hearts, through the Holy Spirit, which was given to us. "For Christ, while we were still powerless, in due season died on behalf of ungodly ones. ''For hardly on behalf of a righteous tnan will one die: for, on behalf of the good man, perhaps some one even dares to die. 8 But a proof of His own love to us God gives, that while we were still sinners Christ died on our behalf. " Much more then, having now been justified in His blood, we shall be saved through Him from the anger. 10 For if, while enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more sec. 14] ROMANS V. 1— 11 145 having been reconciled we shall be saved by His life. u A7id not only reconciled, but also exulti7ig in God through our Lord fesus Christ, through whom we have already received the reconciliation. In ch. iii. 21 — 26, we learnt that God gives righteousness through faith to all who believe ; and that He gave Christ to die in order to make this gift of righteousness consistent with His own righteousness. In chs. iii. 27 — iv. 25, we learnt that justification through faith, although it overthrows all Jewish boasting, is in harmony with God's treatment of Abraham. In ch. v. 1, Paul will assume that justification is through faith and through Christ, and will then go on to develop logically the results of these doctrines. We shall find (in vv. 1, 2) that they give us peace with God and a joyful hope of glory ; a hope (vv. 3, 4) not overthrown but con firmed by our present troubles, and resting on (vv. 5 — 11) the sure ground of the proved love of God. 1. Justified by faith: a summary of Doctrine 1, asserted in ch. iii. 21, 22 and defended in ch. iv. 1 — 24. By faith : as in ch. iii. 30. Let US have peace : a practical and logical con sequence of being justified by faith. Let-us-have peace was read probably by Tertullian at the close of the 2nd century ; and is found in all, or very nearly all, the Latin copies used throughout the Western Church. The same reading is repeatedly quoted and expounded by Origen and Chrysostom, who do not seem to have known the other reading ; and is found in all existing Greek copies earlier than the 9th century, and in some of the best cursives. The earliest trace of the reading we- have peace is in the Sinai MS., in a correction of the other reading- made perhaps in the 4th century. In the Vatican MS. a similar correction was made, perhaps in the 6th century. Three of the later uncials and a majority of the Greek cursives read we have peace. So do the existing copies of the writings of three Greek Fathers of the 4th and 5th centuries. But the point in question does not affect their arguments. Therefore, as their works exist only in a few copies made after this reading had become common, we cannot be sure that it was actually adopted by these Fathers. No early version has it except the later Syriac, which exists here, I believe, only in one copy. If we looked only at documentary evidence, we should at once decide that Paul wrote let us have peace. But some able expositors, e.g. Meyer, Godet, and Oltramare, have thought this 10 146 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii reading much less suited to the context than the weakly-supported reading we have peace. They say that exhortation would be out of place at the beginning of a calm exposition like that now before us; and that, since in vv. 9— n Paul takes for granted that his readers are already reconciled, he would not now urge them to be at peace with God. They therefore suppose that, in very early times, the single letter which compels us to translate let us have crept as an error into some important copy, and thus led to what would in this case be an almost universal corruption of the verse. This opinion is simple desperation. It requires us to believe, not only that all existing Greek copies earlier than the 9th century were made, directly or indirectly, from this one corrupted MS., but that copies of it were carried into both East and West, and that from them only were made all the Latin versions and MSS. and the four Eastern versions, and that copies of this corrupted MS. were the only copies known to the commentators Origen and Chrysostom. It is more easy to believe that the reading we have peace is a correction arising from inability to understand the other. Perhaps we have such a correction before our eyes in the Sinai MS. When once made, it would commend itself by its greater simplicity, and might be gradually adopted in the Greek Church as the ordinary reading. This would account for its presence in a majority of the later Greek copies, and for its absence from all the Latin copies and from the early Eastern versions. The reading I have adopted was given by Lachmann in his margin, and is given without note by all later Critical Editors. It is given by the Revisers, with a remarkable marginal note saying that " Some authorities read we have" They render it, " Being therefore justified by faith, let us have peace with God." This rendering is in my view incorrect ; and has been the cause of the rejection, by so many able expositors, of the reading found in all our best ancient copies. It has generally been assumed that the words justified by faith imply that the readers are already justified, and make this a reason why they should have peace with God. But this interpretation is by no means the only one which the words admit or indeed sug gest. The aorist participle implies only that peace with God must be preceded by justification by faith, and leaves the context to determine whether justification is looked upon as actual and as a reason for having peace with God, or as a means by which it must be obtained. This last is the use of the aorist participle in all the many passages in the N.T. in which it precedes a subjunctive or sec. 14] ROMANS V. 1— n 147 imperative. Compare 1 Cor. vi. 15, Acts xv. 36, Eph. iv. 25 ; also Aristotle Nicom. Ethics bks. iii. 5. 23, vi. 3. 1. The same con struction is found even with a future indicative in Rom. xv. 28, Acts xxiv. 25 : contrast Rom. v. 9, 10. This interpretation gives good sense here. The present sub junctive, let us have peace, denotes, not an entrance into, but an abiding state of peace with God, which Paul sets before his readers as their present privilege. The aorist participle preceding it implies that this abiding state must be preceded by the event of justification. In other words, this verse asserts that the doctrine of justification through faith, already stated and defended, puts within our reach an abiding state of peace with God. The above exposition is required by the meaning of the phrases justified by faith and peace with God. For, as we have seen, to justify the guilty is to pardon : and every king is at peace with those whom he pardons. The justified are already, by the very meaning of the word, at peace with God ; and remain so as long as they continue in a state of justification. To exhort such to have peace with God, as in the R.V., is mere tautology. This tautology is avoided in my exposition. For, though justification involves peace with God, the two phrases represent the same blessing in different aspects. Justification is a judge's declaration in a man's favour : the phrase peace with God reminds us that formerly there was ruinous war between us and God, and asserts that this war has ceased. It is our privilege to be hence forth at peace with God. The same idea is kept before us in vv. 10, 11, in the phrases "reconciled to God" and "received the reconciliation." The only objection to this exposition is that in vv. 2, 9, 10, 1 1 and in ch. viii. 1 Paul speaks of his readers as already justified. To this objection, an answer is found in Paul's habit of writing from an ideal and rapidly-changing standpoint. In ch. iii. 7, he puts himself among liars, and asks "why am I also still judged as a sinner?" In chs. ii. 1, iii. 9, he leaves out of sight those saved by Christ, and writes as though all men were still sinning, and therefore under condemnation. In ch. iii. 21, 22, we hear a proclamation of pardon ; and in ch. iv. its condition is discussed. As Paul describes Abraham's faith and justification, he declares that it was recorded in order to confirm beforehand the good news to be afterwards brought by Christ. As he stands by the writer of Genesis, he looks forward (v. 24) to the day when faith '' will be reckoned for righteousness " to all who believe the 148 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii Gospel. A prospect of peace with God opens before him. While he contemplates it, the Gospel day dawns upon him. In this verse, he calls his readers to wake up to the brightness of its rising. What he bids them do, he conceives to be actually taking place in himself and in them. In v. 2, the sun has risen ; and we stand in the sunshine of God's favour. If this exposition be correct, the subjunctive present, let us have peace, is rhetorical. Paul might have written, as so many later copies have given us his words, we have peace. But he prefers to urge his readers to appropriate the blessing about which he writes ; and immediately afterwards assumes that they are doing what he bids them. In other words, my rendering is much nearer to that of the Authorised Version than is that of the Revisers. It also permits us to translate in vv. 2, 3 we exult instead of the tame rendering in R.V. "let us rejoice." Dr. Sanday in The International Commentary, if I rightly under stand him, accepts my exposition. His paraphrase of v. 1 is, " We Christians ought to enter upon our privileges. By that strong and eager impulse with which we enroll ourselves as Christ's we may be accepted as righteous in the sight of God, and it becomes our duty to enjoy to the full the new state of peace with Him which we owe to our Lord Jesus the Messiah." In other words, he represents Paul as setting before his readers justification, which he has already expounded, as a gateway to peace with God. In his exposition, he correctly says, " The aor. part. SiKataBevres marks the initial moment of the state ripf/vr/v exapev. The declaration of 'not guilty,' which the sinner comes under by a heartfelt embracing of Christianity, at once does away with the state of hostility in which he had stood to God, and substitutes for it a state of peace which he has only to realise." Dr. Sanday acknowledges that my exposition " is perfectly tenable on the score of grammar ; and it is also true that justification necessarily involves peace with God." His only criticism is that my " argument goes too much upon the assumption that elp. ?x- = 1 obtain peace,' which we have seen to be erroneous." But this I have neither said nor suggested. These words denote only an abiding state of peace with God. My exposition of the words let us have peace finds further support in vv. 2, 3, where I have rendered and we exult, a rendering accepted by Dr. Sanday : see my note. Peace with God : not " peace from God " as in ch. i. 7, nor " the peace of God" as in Ph. iv. 7, but a new relation to God. Its sec. 14] ROMANS V. 1— n 149 sudden introduction without explanation and the argument based upon it imply that it is involved in Paul's previous teaching. And this we see at once. Since all men have sinned, and God has threatened (ch. ii. 12) to destroy all who continue in sin, He is in a correct and awful sense the adversary and enemy of such. They are at war with God. Just so every good king is an uncom promising foe of all who break his laws. Although he loves his subjects and desires to be at peace with them, he lifts his arm to smite those that rebel : for by rebellion they injure themselves and others. Similarly in the O.T. we find God an active enemy of sin and in some sense of sinners : Ex. xvii. 16, Mai. i. 4, Ezek. xxxix. 1. In the great day, His anger and fury (ch. ii. 8) will burst forth against them. And not only is God against sinners but they are against Him : ch. viii. 7. For they are fighting the battle of Sin, His inveterate enemy : ch. vi. 13. They are thoughtlessly resisting His purposes of mercy for themselves and others. There are therefore two obstacles to peace between God and sinners, viz. their opposition to Him, and His justice which demands their punishment. Of these, the latter obstacle is the more serious. For, whereas our opposition to God arises from ignorance and therefore may be removed by divine teaching, God's purpose to punish sin is right and good, and cannot, as we saw under ch. iii. 26, be set aside except in conjunction with such manifestation of His justice as is given in the death of Christ. In this sense we are "reconciled to God through the death of His Son : " v. 10. It is now evident that justification is a declaration of peace between God and man. For pardon always implies that the king's officers will no longer pursue or detain the pardoned man, but if needful protect him. Consequently, justification involves peace with God. These last words set before us another view of our position : for they remind us that in former days we had an adversary against whom resistance was useless, and fatal to ourselves. He was our adversary because we were bad and He is good. But now the conflict is past ; and we can go into His presence without fear. Of this peace with God, the peace which God gives (ch. i. 7, Ph. iv. 7) is a result. Through our Lord Jesus Christ: parallel to "through the redemption in Christ" in ch. iii. 24. These words are the key note of the chapter. They are further expounded in v. 10 : "through the death of His Son." 2. Through whom also etc.: through the agency of Christ we are not only saved from a disastrous war with God but also 150 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii brought into a position in which we enjoy the grace or smile of God, and therefore stand securely. We were far off from God's favour : ch. iii. 23. But Jesus took us by the hand and brought us near. Same word in Eph. ii. 18, cognate word in I Pet. iii. 18 : close parallels. This access is by faith : keeping before us the condition of pardon. Had we not believed, we should still be far off. Since justification is a gift of God's undeserved favour (chs. iii. 24, iv. 4, 16), Christ, through whose death God's favour reached us, may be said to have brought us into this grace. Under His smile, conscious of His favour, we stand, i.e. we maintain our position in spite of burdens which would otherwise weigh us down and in face of foes who would otherwise drive us back. Same word in ch. xi. 20, 1 Cor. .\. 12, xv. 1, 2 Cor. i. 24, Eph. vi. 11 — 14. Exult : as in ch. ii. 1 7. Grammatically we may render either and kt-us-exult or and we-exult. If we accept the above-given exposition of " let us have peace," we may accept here and in v. 3 the latter rendering. And this gives much better sense. To say that we actually exult in hope of glory and even in afflictions, is much more in harmony with the heroic confidence of Paul than is an exhortation to exult. The glory of God : the splendour in which God dwells and with which He will clothe His servants : chs. i. 23, viii. I7f, 21, 30, 1 Th. ii. 12, 2 Th. ii. 14. Notice the immediate consequences of justification, viz. peace with God, approach to God, the favour of God, a sure standing-ground, hope of the coming splendour, and exultation in view of it. 3, 4. Not only but also etc. : another exultation in addition to the above. Afflictions : same word as in ch. ii. 9, but in very different connection. Even the hardships which were so large a part of the outward life of the Roman Christians do not destroy but increase their exultant hope. This arises from knowing the effect of these hardships. They work-out endurance, i.e. they evoke and develop an heroic character which enables us to bear up and go forward under the burdens of life. Same word in ch. ii. 7. This endurance, since it is altogether beyond our power, affords proof that God is with us, and therefore that the Gospel we have believed is true. Proof: as in 2 Cor. ii. 9, viii. 2, ix. 13, xiii. 3. It denotes a good appearance after trial. This proof increases our hope : for it reveals the solidity of the foundation on which rests our expectation of the glory of heaven. Each link in this chain of cause and effect is essential. Our afflictions strengthen our hope, not directly, but by the endurance which they evoke. Our sec. 14] ROMANS V. 1— 11 151 e7idurance increases our hope, but only by giving proof of the strength of the arm on which we lean. But, apart from the afflictions, there would be no room for this endura7ice and this proof. Hence Paul says that each works out the other. As illustrations, compare Acts v. 41, 2 Cor. xii. 9, Ph. i. 28, Jas. i. 2 — 4. Notice the certainty of victory expressed in the words affl.ictio7i works out endurance. Of no other result, does Paul think. The faith which speaks thus is itself a pledge of victory. These words of Paul are true not only of all the trials of individuals but of the history of the Church as a whole. The endurance of others is a proof of what God will work in us if need be. Because of the courage which God gave them, we meet our foes, be they ever so strong, with a shout of victory. The Revisers' rendering let us rejoice in vv. 2 and 3 seems to me much poorer than the A.V. rendering we rejoice which they have put in their margin. As we have seen, it is not required by the reading let us have peace, where the subjunctive mood is only rhetorical : and the two indicatives in v. 2, we have had access and we stand, suggest the rendering I have given. The rendering exult is better than rejoice, which should be reserved for another Greek verb. Verses 3, 4 meet, and more than overturn, the objection that present trials are a counter-balance to the glory awaiting us. Our trials strengthen our hope, and thus increase our joy. The fury of the storm only reveals the strength of the rock on which God has placed our feet. 5. And our hope : which is not overthrown, but strengthened, by present trials. Does not put to shame : an abiding character istic of it. Many a hope which has enabled a man bravely to battle with great difficulties has eventually by its failure covered him with ridicule. Paul asserts that this is not the case with the Christian hope. Of this assertion, vv. $b — 11 are a proof. Cp. Ps. xxii. 4, 5. The love of God : expounded in v. 8 to be God's love to us. Poured-out: abundantly put within us, as in Acts ii. 17, x. 45. In our hearts : as in ch. i. 21, the seat of the understanding and the will. God's love is put within us as an object of our thought, and as a power evoking and moulding our emotions, purposes, actions : in other words, the knowledge that God loves us fills and rules us. These words appeal to our experience. Each will interpret them according as he has found God's love to be a living power within him, The Holy Spirit : now first mentioned, except the momentary 152 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii reference in ch. ii. 29. Which was given to us : to all the justified : otherwise Paul could not appeal to the love made known by the Spirit as a sure ground of the hope which immediately follows justification. Cp. ch. viii. 9. In our hearts : not into. The Spirit first Himself enters to be the soul of our soul, and then from within makes known to us God's love. That Paul makes no further reference to the Holy Spirit, implies that his argument rests upon God's love to us, not upon the fact that His love was revealed to us by the Spirit. The proof of God's love in in.'. 6 — 8 rests simply on the historic fact of Christ's death. The reference to the Spirit is only casual. Paul cannot speak of God's love, on which rests our glorious hope, without a tribute of honour to the Spirit through whose agency God makes known His love. This passing reference is a precursor of important teaching in ch. viii. 6 — 8. Proof that God loves us : v. 6 appeals to the fact that Christ died for us, v. 7 compares this fact with the highest proofs of human love, and v. 8 deduces from this comparison a proof of Christ's love. 6. Christ: put prominently forward as Himself the great proof of God's love. Powerless : unable to save ourselves, either by atone ment for the past or by future obedience. In due season : at the most suitable point of time : cp. Gal. iv. 4. This is in part evident even to us, and is an additional proof of God's love. On-behalf-of : v-rrep with gen. : it denotes benefit or help or service, and is thus distinguished from avrl (Mt. xx. 28), which means instead of. Cp. 2 Mace. vi. 28, vii. 9, viii. 21, "to die on behalf of the laws;" Ignatius to The Romans ch. iv., " to die on behalf of God." What the benefit is, must be inferred from the context. Christ died on behalf of ungodly-ones, i.e. in order that they may be saved : cp. ch. viii. 32, xiv. 1 5, etc. And since, had He not died, we must, He may be said as in Mt. xx. 28 to have died instead of us. Ungodly : as in ch. iv. 5. 7. Proof, by contrast with the most that man will do for man, of the greatness of the love implied in the foregoing statement. Hardly, or scarcely : an extreme supposition. Righteous : one whose conduct agrees with the Law. The above unlikely supposi tion is justified by a case which perhaps occurs. Good : beneficent, and therefore more than righteous. The good man : one whose conspicuous beneficence makes him a definite object of thought. Dares : suggesting the fearful reality of facing death, even for the good man. Notice the hesitation of these words as going almost beyond possibility, and the prominence given to the character of sec. 14] ROMANS V. 1— n 153 the man for whom conceivably one might perhaps venture to die. All human experience tells how rare is the case here supposed. 8. Proof of God's love for us involved in what Christ has actually done on behalf of sinners, in contrast to the difficult suggestion of a man dying even for the good man. This event of the past is ever with us, and each day gives-proof of God's love. Still sinners : continuing in sin even while God was giving proof of His love to them. 9. Triumphant inference from the proof of God's love given in vv. 6 — 8, supporting the assertion in v. 5 that His love makes it impossible that our hope will put us to shame. Much more : not greater abundance, as in ch. xi. 12, but greater certainty, as in vv. 10, 15, 17. It is much more easy to believe that we shall he Saved by Christ's life than that we have been justified by His death. To believe the latter, compels us to believe the former. Now : in contrast to days gone by. In His blood : recalling same words in ch. iii. 25 : a vivid picture. The blood which flowed from His hands and feet purchased our pardon. Shall be saved: final deliverance from all evil . so chs. x. 10, xiii. 11, Ph. i. 19, 1 Th. v. 8, 2 Tim. ii. 10. This salvation has already begun and is pro gressing : so ch. viii. 24, Eph. ii. 5 ; 1 Cor. i. 18, 2 Cor. ii. 15. Paul here looks forward to its completion. From the anger : of God against sin : so chs. i. 18, ii. 5, 8, 1 Th. i. 10. From the past Paul draws an inference for the future. If God loves us so much as to pardon our sins at the cost of the blood of Christ, He will not leave the pardoned ones to perish in the day of judgment. 10. Fuller restatement of the above argument. Enemies : sinners (v. 8) exposed to God's righteous hostility to sin. So ch. xi. 28, Col. i. 21, Eph. ii. 16. Reconciled: brought into a peaceful relation to God: so 2 Cor. v. 18, 19, 20, Eph. ii. 16, Col. i. 20, 22. It is not merely or chiefly removal of our hostility to God, but our deliverance from His righteous hostility and anger against sin. This is God's work : hence we-were-reconciled. For the meaning of this phrase, see Mt. v. 24, 1 Cor. vii. 11, 1 Sam. xxix. 4. It denotes here the removal, by means of Christ's death, of a barrier to peace with God having its foundation in the essential justice of God. Of His Son : the point of the argument. Christ's death proves God's love to us : for He is the Son of God. We shall be saved: repeating the argument of v. 9. In His life : by means of the power of the living and ascended Saviour, this looked upon as the environment of our salvation. What God has already done has cost the death of His Son, To complete our 154 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii deliverance, will require no fresh suffering ; but will require only the living power of Christ. The costliness of the beginning is a pledge of the completion of the work. Similar argument in ch. viii. 32. 11. A supplementary argument supporting the confidence ex pressed in v. 10, and another exultation in addition to those in tt'. 2, 3. Not only have we been reconciled but we are exulting in God. Cp. ch. ii. 17, 23. This recalls "exult in hope" in v. 2, and " exult in afflictions " in v. 3. Through our Lord etc. : re calling v. 1, and noting the completion of the argument there begun. Not only have we been reconciled to God through the death of His Son, but day by day we find in God matter of joyful confidence. Through whom etc. : emphatic repetition of the truth that our salvation in all its elements is through Christ. Already: or now, as in -'. 9. The argument is this. Our present joyful confidence is itself a pledge that our hope of final salvation will be fulfilled. For it has its root in God and has been evoked in us by means of the coming and death and resurrection of Christ. Such a confidence, thus evoked, cannot deceive. It therefore confirms the proof of blessing to come already deduced from our reconciliation through the death of Christ. The argument begun in v. -,b is now complete. God's love to us has been proved by the death of Christ for sinners compared with what man will do for the best of his fellows. And it has been shown that what God has already done for us at so great cost, and the confidence in God thus evoked, are a sure pledge that He will save us to the end. If so, we shall enter (v. 2) the glory of God ; and our hope of glory, strengthened by endurance of so many hardships, will not put us to shame. Notice the perfect confidence with which Paul assumes that all his readers, like himself, were once sinners and enemies of God ; that they have been justified and reconciled, and are now at peace with God; and that they know this. For nothing less than a full assurance of the favour of God could prompt the joyful exultation which glows in every line of this section, an exultation not quenched but intensified by the hardships of life. In v. 10, as in ch. i. 3, 4, we find the title Son of God. That enemies have been reconciled to God through tlie death of His Son, implies an infinite difference between Him and them, a difference based upon His relation to God as His Son. Moreover, Paul's appeal to the death of Christ as a proof of the love, not of Christ, but of God, reveals the peculiar closeness of Christ's relation sec. 14] ROMANS V. 1 — 11 155 to God. For it suggests a father who gives up his own son, whom he loves with a peculiar affection, to rescue others who are not his sons. This implies that Christ's relation to God is altogether different from ours. This important doctrine, Paul assumes here, as in ch. i. 3, 4, without proof, except the historic proof afforded by His resurrection. See Diss. i. And on this great doctrine rests the whole argument of this section. In ch. ii. 29, we felt for a moment the presence of the Spirit, as author of the circumcision of the heart. With this slight exception, the Holy Spirit and the love of God come before us now for the first time, and in the same verse. The connection is significant. The love of God, which is His inmost essence, is made known to us only by the inward presence of the Spirit of God. A knowledge of His love and the presence of the Spirit belong to the new life which in this chapter we have entered. The love of God was manifested in the historic fact of the death of Christ ; and is proved by Paul, from this fact, by human argument. Nevertheless, the assurance of God's love is produced in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Notice here the true place and office and connection of the facts of Christianity, of human reason ing, and of the Holy Spirit. Upon the facts is built up a logical argument : into this argument the Spirit breathes life and power, and thus makes the facts real to us. Therefore, before Paul begins to reason about the facts he pays homage to the Spirit. But he is none the less careful to prove by conclusive reasoning the historic certainty on which rests the Christian hope. It is always dangerous to accept as the voice of the Spirit that which does not rest on historic fact and sound logic. See notes under ch. viii. 17. Let us now analyse the spiritual life described in this section. Here arc men once living in sin because forgetful of God. They were therefore looked upon by God as enemies ; and were powerless to escape from, or make peace with, their great adversary. But God loved them : and, since their salvation was not otherwise possible, lie gave His Son to die for them, and proclaimed through His death the justification of all who believe. They believed ; and were justified, and thus reconciled to their adversary, and con sequently are now at peace with God. Christ has brought them near to God. They know that they are justified, and that their justification is a gift of God's favour towards them. Conscious of this, they stand securely, and look forward with exultation to an entrance into the glory in which God dwells. It is true that their path is crowded with enemies who press heavily upon them : but in 156 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii spite of these they go forward. Each victory reveals the strength of the arm on which they lean. Thus each conflict increases their assurance of final victory : and the trials of life, of which they understand the purpose, call forth in them a song of triumph. When they believed, God gave His Spirit to dwell in their hearts : and the Spirit has made them conscious that God loves them. Their assurance of His love, though produced by the Spirit, rests upon outward evidence which can be tested by human reasoning. Their present position has cost the death of Christ, and is therefore a proof of God's love, and a pledge that God will not leave them to perish. Indeed, their exultation in God is itself a proof of this. Therefore, although their entire life rests upon a hope of the future, their position is secure. For their hope is one which puts no man to shame. SECTION XV THE CURSE OF ADAM IS REVERSED Ch. V. 12—19 Because of this, just as through one i/ia7i sin entered into the world, and through sin death, and in this way to all men death passed through, inast/iuch as all sinned — ,3 For until the Law sin was in the world. But sin is not reckoned while there is no law. u Nevertheless, death reigned as king from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the Coming One. 15 Nevertheless, not as the trespass, so also the gift of grace. For if, by the trespass of the one, the ma7iy died, J/iuch 7/wre did the grace of God and the free gift, in the grace of the one man Jesus Christ, abound for the 7iia7iy. K And not as through one having sinned, is the free gift. For on the one hand the judgment came by one for co/idemnation, but the gift of grace came by many sec. 15] ROMANS V. 12—19 157 trespasses for a decree of righteousness. 17 For if by the trespass of the one death became king through the one, much more shall they who receive the abundance of the grace and of the free gift of righteousness reign in life as kings through the one, Jesus Christ. ls Therefore, as through one trespass a result came for all 7nen tending towards conde77ination, so also through one decree of righteousness a result came for all 7nen tending towards justification of life. 19 For, just as through the disobedie7ice of the one 7nan the many were constituted sinners, so also through the obedience of the one the many will be constituted righteous. 12. Because of this : introducing a logical result of the fact, stated in v. 11, that through Christ we have been reconciled to God, viz. that in Christ we have a parallel to the estrangement of our race from God through Adam's sin. Man : a human being of any age or sex : cp. Jno. xvi. 21. From v. 14 (cp. 1 Cor. xv. 22) we learn that the one 77ian was Adam : contrast Sirach xxv. 24, quoted below. Had not he sinned, death would not have gained a mastery over the whole race. Sin : personified as an active, ruling principle: so v. 21, vi. 12, 13, 17, 19. Sin entered: therefore before that time it was outside the world, i.e. the human race, the only part of the world capable of sin. In Gen. i. 31, we find a sinless world. These words suggest that Adam's sin was in some sense a cause of the many sins of his children : see note below. And in this way: through sin and through one man. Passed through: extended its dominion to all men. The death of each individual is a compulsory tribute to the sovereignty then usurped. Inasmuch as all sinned: a reason why through one man's sin death spread its sway over the entire race, thus expounding in this way. Paul says that when Adam sinned, all sinned. This cannot refer to their own personal sins : for, as will be proved in v. 13, these are not the cause of the universal reign of death. The mean ing of these difficult words, Paul will further expound in vv. 18, 19. Notice here a plain assertion that all men die because Adam sinned : so 1 Cor. xv. 22. This is also the easiest explanation of Jno. viii. 44. The same teaching may be fairly inferred from Gen. ii. 17, iii. 19, 22. But it is not elsewhere clearly taught in the Bible. We find it however in Wisdom ii. 23, " God created man for incorruptibility . . . but by envy of the devil death entered into the world ; " and in Sir. xxv. 24, " Because of her we all die." These quotations, from different authors, prove that the teaching before us 158 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii was known among the Jews before the time of Christ. See further in note below on " Original Sin." Verse 12 is incomplete : it states only one side of an important comparison. For, although grammatically the clause also in this way etc. might be taken as introducing the second member of the comparison, this would yield no adequate contrast. Evidently the comparison is broken off in order to prove the former side of it. The second side is informally introduced in v. 15 ; and the whole comparison is formally stated in vv. 18, 19. Similar broken con structions are found in Gal. ii. 6 — 9, Eph. ii. 1 — 5. 13, 14. Proof, from historic facts, of the doctrine stated in v. 12. That Paul interrupts his comparison in order to prove this first member of it, shows that it was not so generally accepted as to make proof needless. Law : the Law of Moses looked at in its abstract quality as a prescription of conduct : so ch. ii. 12. Until the Law . throughout the time preceding the giving of the Law: see v. 14. Sin reckoned: so ch. iv. 8. We have here a universal principle bearing upon the foregoing historic fact. It is true that during the whole period up to the time of Moses sin was in the world. But this will not account for the reign of death. For, although death is the penalty of sin, the penalty is not inflicted while there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned- as-king: although there was no law prescribing such penalty. There was sin . . . death reigned: but the latter was not a result of the former, because the connecting link, law, was absent. Likeness (as in ch. i. 23) of Adam's transgression : their sin was not, like his, an overstepping of a marked-out line. These words leave room for any men from Adam to Moses who may have broken definite commands prescribing a penalty, and who there fore died because of their own sin. Paul reminds us that the reign of death was not limited to any such cases. This argument is Paul's proof of the teaching in v. 12 that all men die because Adam sinned. It is true that all have sinned and that death is the penalty of sin prescribed to Adam in Paradise and afterwards in the Law given to Israel. But the universal reign of death long before Moses cannot be an infliction of the penalty threatened to him. It must therefore be an infliction on Adam's children of the penalty laid upon him (Gen. iii. 19) for his first transgression. The above argument is not invalidated by the law written in the heart, by which, as we read in ch. ii. 14, 15, they who have not received the Mosaic Law will be judged and punished. For this sec. 15] ROMANS V. 12—19 '59 law belongs to the inner and unseen world, and in that unseen world its penalty will be inflicted. The punishment of bodily death belongs to the outer and visible world ; and therefore cannot be inflicted in fulfilment of a law written only within. A similar argument may be drawn from the death of infants. Upon them, though innocent of actual sin, the punishment of death is inflicted. This proves that they come into the world sharing the punishment, and therefore in effect the sin, of Adam. But it suited Paul better to use an argument which keeps the Law before his readers. The case of infants confirms the conclusion at which, by another path, Paul arrived. Notice that to Paul death is essentially and always the penalty of sin. He sees men die ; and inquires for whose sin the penalty is inflicted. His view is confirmed by the fact that both in Paradise and at Sinai God threatened to punish sin by death, and thus set it apart from all natural processes as a mark of His anger. See further in the note below. Type : so ch. vi. 17 : a Greek word denoting a mark made by the pressure of something hard. It is used in Jno. xx. 25 for a mark of nails ; in Acts vii. 43 for a copy or imitation ; and in v. 44, Heb. viii. 5 for a model or pattern to be imitated. Hence commonly for a pattern to be followed : 1 Cor. x. 6, 11, Ph. iii. 17, 1 Th. i. 7, 1 Tim. iv. 12, Tit. ii. 7, 1 Pet. v. 3. The Coming One : Christ, to whom, standing by Adam, Paul looks forward as still to come. After teaching that God put Adam in such relation to mankind that his sin brought death to all men, he now teaches that in this, in an inverse direction, Adam was a pattern of Christ. He thus introduces the second side of the comparison broken off at the end of v. 12. This second side will occupy vv. 15 — 19. 15. Nevertheless, not as etc. : although Adam is a type of Christ, the comparison between the trespass (see ch. iv. 25) of Adam and the gift-of-grace (see ch. i. 1 1 ) of Christ does not hold good in everything. Where it fails, Paul will explain in v. 16. But he has introduced a new word, gift-of-grace, and must explain and justify it before he proves the denial of which it is a part. This explanation occupies the rest of v. 15 : it is also a partial statement of the other side of the comparison broken off in v. 12. For if etc. : explanation of the gift-of-grace which Paul has just put beside the trespass of Adam. By the trespass of the one, the many died: a restatement of v. 12. The free-gift: explained in v. 17 as " the free gift of righteousness." It is a manifestation of the grace of God : cp. ch. iii. 24 : "justified as a free gift by His 160 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii grace:' God's favour and the gift of righteousness reached us in the grace of the one man, i.e. amid the favour shown to us by Jesus Christ. Cp. 2 Cor. viii. 9. Abounded for : as in ch. iii. 7 : produced overflowing results in a definite direction, viz. towards the many. These last words denote a tendency, not necessarily an actual result. Nor does the indefinite term the 7/iany denote necessarily the same number of persons in each case : see under v. 19. The article implies only in each case a definite object of thought. Much more : greater certainty, as in vv. 9, 10. For here there can be no comparison in quantity. But considering God's character, it is much 1/wre easy to believe that the many are blessed than that the many die through one man. The former, Paul has proved : and his proof of it compels us to believe the latter. A similar kind of argument in vv. 9, 10. 16. Paul now adds to the surpassing comparison in v. 15/J a restatement of the denial in v. 15a, i.e. of the one point in which the comparison does not hold good : and not as etc. The free gift through Christ differs from the death which came through Adam in that the latter was occasioned only by one man having sinned : i.e. by one man's sin. This denial is expounded and proved in vv. 16b, 17. The judgment : the sentence pronounced in Paradise on Adam's sin. In consequence of one man, i.e. of his sin, this judgment became adverse, i.e. condemnation. These words look upon sin from a new point of view, viz. that of the judge who condemns it. This result followed from the action of one man. But the gift-of-grace follows, and undoes the effect of, many trespasses, and leads up to a decree-of-righteousness, i.e. acquittal, a direct contrast to conde/7ination. See under v. 18. 17. Practical result of the decree of acquittal just mentioned, prefaced by a restatement of the darker side of the comparison. Death became king: restatement of "the many died" in v. 15, in a form already adopted in v. 14. This reign of death was the punishment following the condemnation pronounced in Paradise. The abundance of the grace and of the free gift of righteous ness : resuming and expounding similar words in v. 1 5. They who receive etc. : only to those who believe does the blessing which comes through Christ surpass the loss through Adam. Notice the emphatic repetition, keeping before us the point of comparison : by the one maris trespass . . . through the one . . . through the one. Also the tone of triumph. Through Adam's sin death became our king. His dread summons, we sec. 15] ROMANS V. 12—19 i6t are compelled to obey. But a day is coming when upon the throne now occupied by death ourselves will sit and reign in endless life. That the numbers affected are not the same on both sides, does not mar the comparison : for Paul writes as a believer to believers. To them the gift through Christ outweighs the effect not only of Adam's sin but of their own (v. 16) many trespasses. 18. After the digression in vv. 13, 14, inserted to prove the former side of the great comparison in v. 12, and the second digression (in'. 15 — 17), in which he proves that the parallel does not hold good in all details, and also states the essential and glorious matter of the second side of the comparison, Paul comes now formally to state in v. 18 and to restate in v. 19 the whole comparison. The resumed thread is indicated by the phrase for all men, already used in v. 12 for the former side, now for the first time used for both sides, of the comparison. Therefore : a logical summing up and inference, as in chs. vii. 3, 25, viii. 12, ix. 16, 18, xiv. 12, 19. Through one trespass: emphatic resumption of similar words in w. 15, 17. For all men: resuming the same words in v. 12. For condemnation: resuming the same words in v. 16. Decree-of-righteousness : acquittal, as in v. 16, where its meaning is determined by its contrast to condemnation. In v. 16, this acquittal was mentioned as an outworking of God's grace : here it is a channel through which come justification and life eternal. It is best to take the word as denoting the Gospel announcement of pardon for all who believe, this being looked upon as a judicial decree and as pronounced once for all in Christ. For all men: a definite universal phrase which cannot denote less than the entire race, a meaning it must have in the former part of this verse. Same words, in same universal sense, in 1 Tim. ii. 1, 4, Tit. ii. 11. In Rom. xii. 17, 1 Cor. vii. 7, xv. 19, 2 Cor. iii. 2, the compass is less definite, but still universal. Justification : announcement of pardon, as in ch. iv. 25. Of life: result of justification. So v. 17. The meaning of v. 18 is obscured by the absence of any verb in either clause. So vv. \^a, 16a and b. The verb here must be supplied from the foregoing argument. The verse reads literally, Therefore, as through one trespass for all men, for condemnation, so also through o/ie decree of righteousness for all 7/ien for Justification of life. The word eh, which I have rendered for, denotes tendency, whether of actual result or more frequently of purpose. In ch. vii. 10, we have both uses in one short verse : 11 162 EXPOSITION OF [div. n the commandment was designed for life, but actually it resulted in death. The precise meaning in each case must be determined by the context. In v. i8n, we have an actual result : through one moral fall an influence has gone forth which has reached all men, and has resulted to all in condemnation to death. Through one proclamation of pardon has gone forth an influence designed for all men and leading to justification and life eternal. Over against a universal result, Paul sets a universal purpose to counteract that result. This universal purpose is all that his words grammatically mean, and all that his argument demands. When he speaks in the indicative future of actual results, as in vv. 17, 19, he does not use the definite term all men. 19. Summary of the reasons and explanations, as v. 18 summed up the conclusions, of vv. 12 — 17 : v. 18 corresponds with "to all men death passed through ; " v. 19, with " inasmuch as all sinned." Constituted sinners : made sharers of the punishment inflicted on Adam, and in this sense made sharers of his sin : a forensic reckoning. In a still deeper sense we have become sinners through Adam's sin : see note below. But of this deeper sense we have no hint here. Obedience : Christ's obedience to death, as in Ph. ii. 8. For in ch. iii. 24 — 26, of which ch. v. is a practical and experimental exposition, justification is attributed, not to Christ's obedient life, of which as yet in this epistle we have read nothing, but conspicuously to His death and blood. Shall be constituted righteous : faith reckoned for righteousness, as each one from time to time appropriates by faith the one decree of righteousness. The future tense as in ch. iv. 24, " us to whom it shall be reckoned :" cp. ch. v. 14, "the Coming One." This is better than to refer it to the great day : for believers are already accepted as righteous. Paul puts himself between Adam and Christ, and looks back to the sentence pronounced on the many because of Adam's sin and forward to the justification which in Gospel days will be announced to the many because of Christ's obedience to death. The change from all mat in w. 12, 18 to the many in vv. 1 5, .19 cannot have been adopted merely to remind us of the large number of persons referred to. For this would be more forcefully done by the words all men. But Paul could not say that all 7iie7i will be constituted righteous. For there are some of whom he writes with tears, in Ph. iii. i9j that their "end is destruction." And in v. 17 he limits his assertion to " those who will receive the abundance of the grace." That in the 2nd clause of v. 19 the phrase the many does not include so many as it does in the ist clause, does not mar sec. 15] ROMANS V. 12—19 163 the comparison. For the blessing is designed for all men, and will be actually received by all except those who reject it. We will now build up Paul's argument from his own premises. God created man without sin, and gave him a law of which death was the penalty. Adam broke the law, and was condemned to die : and this sentence we find inflicted also upon his descendants. It is true that they are sinners : but, since no law prescribing death as penalty has been given to them, their death cannot be a punish ment of their own sins. We therefore infer that the condemnation pronounced on Adam was designed for them, and that God treated them as in some sense sharers of his sin. In later, days, another Man appears. He was obedient, even when obedience involved death. Through His death, pardon is proclaimed for all who believe : and through Him many enjoy God's favour and will reign in endless life. Since the Gospel offers salvation to all men and is designed for all, we have in it a parallel, in an opposite direction, to the condemnation pronounced in Paradise, and in Adam a pattern of Christ. But we have more than a parallel. We also have broken definite commands. For our own sins, we deserve to die : but through Christ we shall escape the result, not only of Adam's sin, but of our own many trespasses. Therefore to all men the blessing is equal to the curse : for it offers eternal life to all. To believers, it is infinitely greater. Verse 18 implies clearly that God's purpose to save embraced all men. It therefore contradicts any theory which limits the efficacy of the Gospel by some secret purpose of God to withhold from some men the influences leading to repentance and faith which He brings to bear on others. The universality of these influences is implied, as we have seen, in ch. ii. 4. It is asserted or implied in ch. xiv. 15, 1 Cor. viii. 11, 1 Tim. ii. 4, iv. 10, Tit. ii. 11 ; Jno. iii. 16, vi. 51, xii. 47, i. 29, 1 Jno. iv. 14, ii. 2. Against these passages, there is nothing to set. For the more limited reference in Acts xx. 28, Eph. v. 25, Jno. x. 11, 15, xv. 13, xi. 52 is included in the wider ; and is easily explained. Similarly, the still narrower refer ences in 2 Cor. viii. 9, Gal. ii. 20. For they who accept salvation are in a special sense objects of Christ's love, even as compared with those who reject it. The entire N.T. assumes that the ruin of the wicked is due only to their rejection of a salvation designed for all. In ch. v. 1 — 11, Doctrine 2, Justification through the Death of Christ, was expounded in its bearing on the individual : in vv. 12 — 19, it is expounded in its bearing on the race as a whole and 1 64 Exposition of tDiv- » on our relation to the father of the race. In the reversal not only of the evils we have brought upon ourselves but of those resulting from a curse pronounced in the infancy of mankind, we see the importance and the triumph of the Gospel. Again, in ch. iv. Paul supported Doctrine i, Justification through Faith, by pointing out its harmony with God's treatment of Abraham. He has now supported Doctrine j by pointing out its harmony with God's treatment of Adam ; and has thus given a wonderful and un expected confirmation both of the Gospel and of the story of Paradise. Lastly and chiefly, we here find in the Gospel a solution (the only conceivable solution) of what would otherwise be an inexplicable mystery. Independently of the Gospel, Paul has proved that all men suffer and die because of the sin of one who lived before they were born. This would be, if it were the whole case, inconsistent with every conception we can form of the justice of God. We now find that it is not the whole case. The pardon proclaimed through Christ for all who believe justifies the curse pronounced on all because of Adam's sin. Thus the dark shadow of death discloses a bright light shining beyond it. Notice that Paul accepts the story of Paradise as embodying important truth. But, that he refers only to broad principles, leaves us uncertain whether he held the literal meaning of all its details. Original Sin. We have no indication that the word death in ch. v. 12 — 19 means anything except the death of the body. The argument rests on the story of Genesis ; and there we have no hint of any death except (Gen. iii. 19) the return of dust to dust. The proof in Rom. v. 14 of the statement in v. 12 refers evidently to the visible reign of natural death. And the comparison of Adam and Christ requires no other meaning of the word. Through one man's sin, the race was condemned to go down into the grave : and through one man's obedience and one divine proclamation of pardon believers will obtain a life beyond the grave. The whole argument is but a development of 1 Cor. xv. 22. Nor have we any direct reference to universal depravity as a result of Adam's sin. Had it been Paul's purpose to assert this result, this section would have been out of its place in the epistle. For as yet he has not referred explicitly to any moral change wrought in us by Christ. We may go further and say that the Bible nowhere teaches plainly and explicitly that in consequence of Adam's sin all men are born naturally prone to evil. That sec. 15] ROMANS V. 12—19 l6S this important doctrine may however be inferred with complete certainty from the teaching of this section read in the light of other teaching of Holy Scripture, I shall now endeavour to show. In ch. ii. 1, 3, 5, Paul assumed that, apart from the Gospel, all men are committing sin. In spite of (ch. ii. 14, 26) occasional and fragmentary obedience, he has convicted (ch. iii. 9) both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. By works of law (v. 20) will no flesh be justified before Him : for (v. 23) all have sinned. Unless justified through faith, all men are (ch. v. 6 — 10) morally powerless, godless, sinners, and enemies of God. All are or have been slaves of sin : ch. vi. 17, 19, 20. The awful reality of this bondage is described in ch. vii. 23, 24. It is closely connected with bodily life : for (ch. viii. 8) they that are in flesh cannot please God. All this implies an inborn and universal tendency to evil. And throughout the N.T. we find similar teaching. We cannot conceive man to have been thus made by a righteous and loving Creator. And that everything that He made was very good, is asserted in Gen. i. 31. A change has taken place: we seek its cause. In ch. vi. 16—22, we shall learn that to sin is to surrender ourselves to an evil power greater than our own, to be its slaves. This is plainly and solemnly asserted by Christ in Jno. viii. 34. Therefore, unless the sinner be rescued by one mightier than himself, his first trespass will inevitably be followed by a course of sin. If so, by his first sin Adam must have lost his moral balance, and fallen under the power of sin. And, since even the powers of evil are in God's hand, this inner result of sin must have been by His permission and ordinance. It was therefore a divinely-inflicted punishment. God decreed that the first act of disobedience should be followed by proneness to sin. It is now evident that the consequences of Adam's sin were both outward and inward. God gave up his body to the worms, and (cp. ch. i. 24, 26, 28) his spirit, in some real measure, to the power of sin. The former part of this penalty, we find inflicted on all Adam's children. This, Paul describes by saying, in vv. 12, 19, that in him they all sinned, and that through his disobedience many were constituted sinners. This suggests an original relation between him and them such that, in its physical consequence, his sin became theirs. It is equally certain that the latter part of the penalty is inflicted upon all. For we find that all men are actually, unless saved by Christ, slaves of sin. This cannot have been their 1 66 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii state as created. We can account for it only by supposing that they share not only the physical but the moral effect of their father's fall. By sin he sold himself into moral bondage : and because of his sin his children are born slaves to sin. The above is confirmed by an important picture of universal sin in Eph. ii. I — 3, concluding with the words " and were by nature children of anger, as the rest." Paul here traces actual sins to an inborn tendency. Similarly in Jno. iii. 6 Christ traces the necessity for a new birth to the origin of our bodily life, " born from the flesh." In Ps. Ii. 5, Job xi. 12, xiv. 4, xv. 14, we have indications of an inborn defect of human nature. Since this defect cannot be attributed to the Creator, it must have another cause : and this cause lies open to our view in the fall of the first father of our race, from whom we inherit the corruption of death. This inference is confirmed by all the facts of human heredity. Indisputably men inherit from their parents not only special physical weaknesses but special tendencies to various sins. In this sense we may say that Adam's sin was reckoned or imputed to his children : not that God looks on them as though they were in any way responsible for it, but simply that the evils which God threatened should follow sin have fallen upon Adam's descendants, by the decree of God, because Adam sinned. About the state of men unsaved, see further at the close of § 22. In Rom. v. 12 — 19, 1 Cor. xv. 22, Paul asserts plainly, following earlier Jewish writers, e.g. Wisdom ii. 23, Sirach xxv. 24, that the doom of death now resting on all men is a result of Adam's sin. On the other hand, modern Science leaves no room to doubt that animals died long ages before man appeared ; and that the death of man is closely related to that of animals. This apparent con tradiction demands careful consideration. The statement that "through one man sin entered into the world " does not necessarily include the death of animals. For the term the world may fairly be limited to the human race, as in ch. iii. 6, " God will judge the world," and in v. 19, " all the world become guilty before God ; " where all else except the human race lies outside the writer's thought. Consequently Paul's statement is not directly contradicted by the earlier death of animals. The real question before us is, What would have happened if Adam had not sinned? This question Natural Science cannot answer. For the intelligence and moral sense of man cannot be accounted for by any forces observed working in animal life ; and therefore reveal in him an element higher than everything in sec. 15] ROMANS V. 12—19 167 animals and closely related to the unseen Creator of animals and men.* Moreover, each of these elements, the animal and the divine, claims to rule the entire life of man. Between them, capable of being influenced by either, is the mysterious self- determination of man. All this belongs to his original constitution. In the inevitable conflict resulting from this dual constitution, man accepted as his lord the lower element of his nature. Like an animal, he ate attractive food, disregarding the divine prohibition. We need not wonder that by so doing he fell under the doom of death to which all animal life had long been subject. But we cannot doubt that man was absolutely free to yield submission to the higher, instead of the lower, side of his nature. And we have no proof whatever that, if he had done this, and thus claimed his affinity to God, he would have fallen under the doom of animals. This possibility lies outside the range of Natural Science. This last reports that animals died long before man appeared, and that to their death the death of man is closely related. Beyond this it cannot go ; except that it finds in man phenomena which cannot be accounted for by the forces observed in animals, thus revealing in him a higher life. It cannot therefore contradict the teaching of the great apostle. This teaching is confirmed by the repulsiveness of the phenomena of death, a repulsiveness increasing as we ascend the scale of life. This repulsiveness suggests irresistibly that a world in which death is the doom of every living thing is not itself the consummation of the Creator's purpose. It compels us to look for a new earth and heaven not darkened by the shadow of death. Against this hope, Natural Science, which sees only things around, has nothing to say. The objection we are considering need not therefore deter us from accepting the doctrine before us. We shall however do well to remember that this doctrine is taught in the N.T. only by Paul ; and that it is not made, even by him, a fundamental truth on which other teaching is built. It is introduced only to show how far-reaching is the salvation announced by Christ ; and therefore ought not to be quoted as one of the great doctrines of the Gospel. * This is well argued, by a naturalist of the first rank, in Wallace's Darwinism , pp. 461 — 474, 168 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii SECTION XVI THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW Ch. V. 20, 21 But a law entered beside, in order that the trespass might 7/iultiply. But where sin multiplied, grace abounded beyond measure ; 21 in order that, just as sin became king in death, in this way also grace /night become king, through righteousness, for eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. In § 15, we saw the bearing, each upon the other, of the two greatest events in the spiritual history of mankind, viz. the Fall and the Gospel. But Paul cannot overlook the third greatest event, the giving of the Law. He will now tell us the place and purpose of the Law in its relation to the other two events. This will teach us both its importance and its subordinate position : it was only a means to an end, but a divinely-chosen means to the noblest of all ends. 20. A law : the Mosaic Law, in its abstract character. God gave from Sinai a rule of conduct. Entered-beside, or alotigsidc : coming in between sin and death, and the Gospel. In order that etc. : purpose of God in giving a rule of conduct. The trespass : Adam's disobedience, as in v. 1 5. Multiply, ox become-7/iorc : in the "many trespasses" of v. 16. The express commands given at Sinai, following the one command given in Paradise, were followed by many acts of disobedience. If, as we have just seen, Adam's children inherited his fallen nature, these many trespasses were a result, and in this sense a multiplication, of his first trespass. Moreover, this was the only possible result of the gift of a divine law to a race born in sin. Paul therefore speaks of it as the designed result : in order that etc. But where etc. : another and surpassing event. Sin : the abstract principle underlying the concrete trespass. It prepares a way for the personification of sin in v. 21. Grace abounded- beyond-measure : the favour of God produced results far sur passing those of the one trespass. As explained in vv. 15 — 17, sec. 16] ROMANS V. 20, 21 169 they were superabundant in reversing the effects not of one but of many trespasses, and in giving life to many, each of whom deserved death for his own transgression. The one act of disobedience was followed by many such acts : and thus the empire of sin extended its sway. But this multiplication of the trespass, instead of evoking a corresponding outburst of divine anger, called forth God's goodwill, in the form of saving mercy, in measure greater than the spread of the evil. 21. Purpose of this superabounding grace, and ultimate purpose of the Law. Sin hecame-king: so vv. 14, 17, "death became king." In death : the visible throne from which sin proclaims its tremendous power. Every corpse laid in the grave is a result of sin, and reveals its power. Moreover, sometimes men have com mitted sin for fear of death : cp. Heb. ii. 15. Grace may-reign-as- king : the undeserved favour of God personified ; as death and sin have been. God's purpose is that His own undeserved favour, with royal bounty, may rule and bless those who once were under the sway of sin and death. Through righteousness : recalling "the gift of righteousness," in v. 17. It is a necessary condition of life eternal. This last (see under ch. ii. 7) is the ultimate aim of God's favour towards us. So ch. vi. 22, 23. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord : the one channel of grace and righteousness and life eternal. It is a conspicuous feature of ch. v. : see vv. 1, 11,17: cp. chs. i. 5, 8, iii. 24; 1 Cor. viii. 6, 2 Cor. v. 18. The purpose of the Law as here stated supplements and explains that stated in ch. iii. 19. The Law commends itself to our moral sense as right ; and, by bidding us do something beyond our power, it inevitably produces a consciousness of guilt, and leads up to further disobedience. All this was foreseen and designed by God as a means to a further end, viz. pardon and life. So Gal. iii. 23, 24. The above teaching about the Law of Moses is in part true of the law written in the heart. Had there been in Adam's children no inborn moral sense, his moral fall would not have produced the far-reaching and terrible results we now see. By erecting in every man this barrier against sin, God has revealed the mighty power of sin which breaks down the barrier, and the terrible moral con sequences of Adam's fall. But to this inner law there is no reference here. DIVISION ii. is now complete. The whole of it is a logical develoDment of two great doctrines asserted in ch. iii. 21 — 26. In 170 EXPOSITION OF [div. ii chs. iii. 27 — iv. 25, Paul shows that Doct. 1, Justification through Faith, shuts out all self-exultation, but is in harmony with God's treatment of Abraham : in ch. v., he develops Doct. 2, Justification through the Death of Christ, and shows that it gives us a well- grounded exultation in hope of glory, and is in harmony with, and is the only conceivable explanation of, God's dealings with mankind in Adam. The complete confidence with which Paul accepts the facts and utterances of Genesis and uses them to defend the great doctrines of the Gospel proves that in the days of the apostles the substantial truth of Genesis was admitted by Jews and Christians. See further is Diss. iii. If we accept the great doctrines asserted and assumed in ch. iii. 21 — -26, and the truth of Genesis, Paul's reasoning will compel us to accept the teaching of the whole division. Div. ii., like Div. I., concludes with an exposition of the purpose of the Law. The difference between the two expositions marks the progress we have made. Div. I. left us trembling beneath the shadow of Sinai, silent and guilty. But we have just learnt that the thunders of the Law are a voice of mercy, designed to lead us to Christ and thus to eternal life. Div. 1. made us conscious of our guilt : Div. n. has reconciled us to God, brought us under His smile, and opened before our eyes a prospect of eternal glory. But as yet we have heard nothing about an inward moral change. This will be the lesson of the great division before whose portal we now stand. sec. 17] ROMANS VI. 1— 10 171 DIVISION III THE NEW LIFE IN CHRIST CHS. VI.— VIII SECTION XVII IN THE DEATH OF CHRIST WE DIED TO SIN Ch. VI. 1— 10 What thc7i shall we say? Let us continue in si7i, in order that grace 7nay 77iultiply ? 2 Be it 710 1 so. We who died to sin, how shall we still live i7i it? 3 Or, are ye ig7iorant that so 77iany of us as were baptized for Christ were baptized for His death ? 4 We were buried therefore with Hi7/i through this baptism for death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also itiay walk in 7iewness of life. 6 For if we have beco7/ie united i7i growth in the likeness of His death, we shall on the other ha7id be so in that of His resurrection also; *k7iowi7ig this, that our old 7/ia7i was crucified with Him, i7i order that the body of sin may be made of no effect, that we 7iiay 710 lo7iger be servants to sin. 7 For he that has died is justified from si7i. 8 But if we died with Christ we believe that we shall also live with Him; 9 k/iowing that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no 7/wre : of Him, death is no longer lord. 10 For the death He died, He died to sin, once : but the life He lives, He lives for God. On entering ch. vi., we are at once conscious of a complete change of tone and feeling, a change more remarkable than that in ch. iii. 2 1 , because not accounted for by the altered position and prospects of the persons referred to. Justification, the great feature of Div. 11., meets us no more : other ideas take its place. We have entered another court of this wing of the temple of truth. Div. I. revealed to us the anger of God against all sin : Div. II. has now revealed deliverance from this anger, and restoration tg 172 EXPOSITION OF [div. iii His favour. Div. in. will reveal deliverance from the power of sin, and a new life free from sin. The one teaches what we receive through Christ ; the other, what we are in Christ. The order is significant : first reconciliation to God, then rescue from the power of sin. In ch. vi., we have the new life in its relation to sin and to God ; in. ch. vii., in its relation to the Law ; in ch. viii., in its relation to the Holy Spirit. Div. n. was a logical develop ment of the two great doctrines stated in ch. iii. 21 — 26; in Div. in., we shall find other fundamental doctrines, from which will be derived results of an altogether different kind. 1. What then shall we say? as in chs. iii. 5, iv. 1. Shall we infer from ch. v. 20, 2 1 that we may accomplish God's purposes by adding to the number of our sins in order that they may show forth the superabundant favour of God ? The connection of thought is kept up by the words grace and multiply. What Paul here suggests was the actual result of his own early hostility to the Gospel : 1 Tim. i. 14. 2. An emphatic denial, supported by two questions introducing a new and important topic. Thus the questions in v. 1 are stepping-stones to the new teaching in Div. ill., and show that it guards from immoral perversion the teaching of Div. II. We must not continue in sin, because (vv. 1 — 10) God's purpose is that we be dead to sin and living for God, and because (vv. 15 — 23) sin is obedience to a master whose purpose is death. Died to sin : separated from it, as a dead man is completely separated from the environment in which he lived : same phrase in vv. 10, 1 1, Gal. ii. 19, vi. 14; cp. Col. ii. 20, "died with Christ from the rudiments of the world." Paul assumes that we are in some sense dead to sin. If he can prove this, he will compel us, by the very meaning of his words, to admit that in the same sense we can no longer live in it. 3. Another question introducing, as something which the readers ought to know, a proof that we are dead to sin. Baptized : the formal and visible gate into the Christian life. Since Paul has not yet spoken of salvation except through faith, we must understand him to refer here to the baptism of believers : so Gal. iii. 27, Col. ii. 12. It was a conspicuous mode of confession, which, together with faith, is a condition of salvation : cp. ch. x. 9. For : see under ch. i. 1. Baptized for: as in Gal. iii. 27, Mt. xxviii. 19, Acts viii. 16, xix. 5 ; I Cor. x. 2, i. 13, 15 ; Mt. iii. II, Mk. i. 4. It means that baptism is designed to place the baptized in a new relation to the object named : but does not say exactly what the sec. 17] ROMANS VI. 1— 10 173 relation is. We shall learn in v. 5 that this new relation is an inward and spiritual contact with Christ which makes the baptized sharers of His life and moral nature : cp. 1 Cor. vi. 17, Gal. iii. 27. That God designs the justified to be thus united to Christ, Paul further expounds in vv. 4—10, by calling attention to those elements in Him which we are to share. For His death : more exact statement of the new relation to Christ to which baptism has special reference. This recalls Doctrine 2, stated in chs. iii. 25, iv. 25, v. 9, 10. Paul thus approaches his proof that his readers have died to sin. L Inference from v. 3. Buried-with Him: so Col. ii. 11. If baptism was a baptism for death, i.e. if it symbolized a union with Christ in His death, it was the funeral service of the old life ; a formal announcement that the baptized were dead, and a visible removal of them from the world, Jewish or heathen, in which they formerly lived. From the earliest sub-apostolic writings, we learn that immersion was the usual form of baptism. So Epistle of Barnabas ch. xi. : " We go down into the water full of sins and defilement ; and we go up bearing fruit in the heart." To this, probably, Paul here refers. Even the form of their admission to the Church sets forth a spiritual burial and resurrection. But this is a mere allusion : and the argument is complete without it. The hour of his readers' baptism, in which they ranged themselves formally in the ranks of the persecuted followers of Christ, was no doubt indelibly printed in their memory. Paul here teaches them the significance and purpose of that rite, and the nature of the new life they then formally entered. That immersion was not the only valid mode of baptism, we learn from The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles ch. vii., where, in reference to baptism, the writer bids, if water be not abundant, to " pour water three times on the head, in the name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit." In order that etc. : further purpose to be accomplished by our union with Christ. Christ not only died but was raised from the dead, among whom He lay. Through the glory of the Father : amid an outshining of the splendour of God manifested in Christ's rescue from the grave. Just as Christ etc.: in harmony with the historic fact that Christ's death was followed by a glorious resurrection, God's purpose is that we also as well as Christ henceforth live a resurrection life. Of this life, new7iess (see ch. vii. 6) is a conspicuous feature. For the change is so complete that in Christ the old things have passed away 174 EXPOSITION OF [div. iii or rather are become new: 2 Cor. v. 17. And, since life is movement, in this newness of life God designs us to walk. This last is a favourite metaphor of Paul : ch. viii. 4, xiii. 13, xiv. 15, Eph. ii. 2, 10, etc. ; also Jno. viii. 12, xii. 35, 1 Jno. ii. 6. 5. Proof that our burial with Christ was designed to lead to a life altogether new. If: argumentative, as in v. 8, ch. v. 10, etc. United-in-growth : literally growing-together, so that our development corresponds with, and is an organic outflow of, His. Likeness: as chs. i. 23, v. 14. By union with Him, we undergo a death like His. On the other hand : dXXd : a strong adversative particle indicating that the second clause utterly overpowers the first. Same word in chs. iii. 31, v. 14, viii. 37. " It is true that we suffer a death like His : but this we need not regret ; for from it we infer that we shall share a resurrection like His." We shall he : probably a rhetorical or logical future. For believers are already living a resurrection life. Same use of the future in v. 8, where the argument of this verse is repeated, after an exposition of the former part of it : cp. ch. iv. 24, v. 14, 19. 6. Collateral explanation of our union with Christ in His death, followed by a statement of its purpose. Our old man : so Eph. iv. 22, Col. iii. 9 : our old self. So complete is the change that Paul says that the man himself is dead. Crucified-together- with : so Gal. ii. 20, Mt. xxvii. 44, Mk. xv. 32, Jno. xix. 32 : shared with Christ His death on the cross. In what aspect of His death we are to be sharers with Him, we shall learn in v. 10 : how we are to become such, we shall learn in v. 11. Paul here asserts that on the cross of Christ not only His life on earth but our own former selves came to an end. In order that etc.: purpose of this union with Christ in His death. The body of sin: the sinner's own body in which (see vv. 12, 13) sin has set up its royal throne, whose desires he obeys, and whose members he presents to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. See also ch. vii. 5, 23. The importance of the body in Paul's theology and the subsequent argument here permit no other interpretation. Made-of-no-effect : as in chs. iii. 3, iv. 14. In former times the indolence, appetites, necessities, and dangers of the body ruled us with an influence we could not resist ; and led us into sin. It thus became a body of sin. But, now that our old self has been nailed to the cross of Christ, our body has lost its adverse power. No longer servants (or slaves: see ch. i. 1) to sin: purpose of this destruction of the power of the body, and ultimate aim of our crucifixion with Christ. In explanation of the words grow7i-together wilh the sec. 17] ROMANS VI. 1— 10 175 like/iess of His death in v. 5, Paul says that we have shared the death of Christ on the cross, in order that our bodies, hitherto organs of sin, may lose their control over us, and in order that thus we may escape from our former bondage to sin. 7. Explains the foregoing ultimate purpose of our crucifixion with Christ. He that has died, or, as we should say, is dead : the believer, whom Paul looks upon as not merely dying but dead on the cross. His former life has actually come to an end. Justified: proclaimed by law free from sin, this being looked at as an adversary at law claiming rights over us. The word thus returns to its simplest meaning, in O.T. and N.T., of judgment in a man's favour. Cp. Sirach xxvi. 29 : " With difficulty will a merchant be saved from wrong-doing : and a huckster will not be justified from sin." Over a criminal who has been put to death, the law has no further claim. And Paul here argues that in Christ's death we are dead, and therefore legally free from the master to whose power, for our sins, we were justly surrendered. 8— 10. Proof of the latter part, as vv. 6, 7 proved the former part, of v. 5. Died with Christ : crucified with Him, in v. 6. We believe : an assured conviction. It is also faith in God : for our hope of life rests, like Abraham's faith, on His promise and character. Shall live with Him : logical future as in v. 5 : very appropriate here because this life will continue to endless ages. Knowing that etc.: ground of the assurance just expressed, viz. the deathless life of Christ, raised from the dead. He dies no more : an unchanging truth, suitably put in the present tense. Of Him, death is no longer lord : recalling the royalty usurped in ch. v. 14, 17, to which even Christ submitted. Of v. 9, v. 10 is proof. Christ's death on the cross was a death to sin : these last words emphatic. Since death is the end of life, and removes a man absolutely from the environment in which he lived, this phrase can only mean that in some real sense, by His death on the cross, Christ escaped absolutely from all contact with sin ; just as by death the martyr escapes from his persecutors and his prison. And this we can understand. In Gethsemane, He groaned under the burden of our sins ; after His arrest, He was exposed to the insult and fury of bad men ; and during many hours He hung in agony on the cross. All this was painful and shameful, though not defiling, contact with sin. And we know not how much it was aggravated by inward conflict with sin. But at sunset the Sufferer was free : by death He had for ever escaped from all contact with the powers of darkness. In this very real 176 EXPOSITION OF [div. lit sense, the death which He died, He died to sin. For His death on the cross put an end to the mysterious relation to sin into which for our sakes He entered. Once, or once for all : cp. Heb. vii. 27, ix. 12, 26, 28, x. 10. The separation from sin was final. Moreover, though dead, Christ still lives. This is implied in v. 8, we shall live with Him. And the life which He lives, He lives for-God. This last word is the dative of advantage, as in 2 Cor. v. 15, and five times in 1 Cor. vi. 13. It asserts that, of the life of our Risen Lord, God is the one aim, that His every purpose and effort aims only to accomplish the purposes of God. Such was also His life on earth : Jno. iv. 34, vi. 38, xvii. 4. And such doubtless was the life of the pre-incarnate Son of God. Notice here a complete picture of Christ raised from the dead. By His death on the cross He escaped once and for ever from all contact with sin, and He now lives a life of which God is the one and only aim. This is the new life which they who share His escape from sin by His death on the cross expect (v. 8) also to share. The different renderings of the dative, dead to sin . . . living for God, are unavoidable. Literally, Paul's words mean, dead in relation io sin . . . living in relation to God. But the whole context shows that the relation to sin is separation from it, and the relation to God is devotion to Him. The R.V. rendering dead unto sin but alive unto God is unmeaning. Uniformity is dearly purchased at such a price. We will now endeavour to rebuild the argument oi vv. 1 — 10. Christ lived once under the curse of sin, and in a body subject to death. But He died ; and rose from the dead. By dying, He escaped for ever from all painful contact with sin and sinners, and from death, the result of sin: and He now lives a life of unreserved devotion to God. In former days, we were slaves to sin, and were thus exposed to the righteous anger of God. To make our justification consistent with His own justice, God gave Christ to die • and raised Him from the dead in order that He may be the personal Object of justifying faith. God's purpose is so to unite us to Christ that we may share all that He has and is : and for this end we were united to Him in baptism. We were thus formally joined to One who was by death set free from sin and death and who was raised by God to a deathless life. Therefore, so far as the purpose of God is accomplished in us, we are dead with Christ. And, if so, all law proclaims us free. We therefore infer that God's purpose is to set us free from all bondage to our own bodies and to sin. We also infer that God designs us to sec. 17] ROMANS VI. 1— 10 177 share the resurrection life of Christ. For we see Him, not only rescued from His enemies by His own death, but living in heaven a life of which God is the only aim. This assures us that God designs us to be united to Christ both in His separation from sin and in His active devotion to God. Therefore, so far as God's purpose is accomplished in us, we are (v. 2) dead to sin. Con sequently, to continue (v. 1) to live in sin, is to resist God's purpose and to renounce the new life to which baptism was designed to be the visible portal. In the above argument, we find, stated and assumed without proof but with perfect confidence, and made a basis of important moral teaching, a Third Fundamental Doctrine, viz. that God designs the justified to share, so far as creatures can share, by vital union with Christ, all that He has and is, to be like Him by inward contact with Him. This doctrine will meet us again in v. n, chs. vii. 4, viii. I, 17 ; also in 1 Cor. vi. 17, 2 Cor. v. 15, 17, Gal. ii. 20, Eph. i. 19, 20, ii. 5, 6, etc. Similar teaching in Jno. xv. 1 — 8, xvii. 21, 26, 1 Jno. ii. 6, 24, 28, iii. 6, 24, iv. 17. That this remarkable doctrine is assumed with complete confidence but with out proof by the two greatest apostles, men altogether different in temperament and modes of thought and almost unknown to each other, and that by one of them it is expressly attributed to Christ, can be accounted for only on the supposition that, like Justification through Faith and through the Death of Christ, it was in some equivalent form actually taught by Christ. This proof is in dependent of the apostolic authority of Paul. Notice that the above argument assumes Paul's Second Funda mental Doctrine, viz. Justification through the Death of Christ, taught in chs. iii. 24 — 26, iv. 25, v. 9, 10. For the only sense in which we can be crucified, dead, and buried with Christ, and thus dead to sin, is that through His death we are saved from sin. Moreover, the conspicuous place of the resurrection of Christ in vv. 4, 5, 9 reveals its importance as a link in the chain of salvation, and Paul's firm confidence that He had actually risen : cp. ch. i. 4. This importance is explained in ch. iv. 24, 25, where we read that the faith which justifies is a reliance " on Him who raised Jesus from the dead," and that He " was raised for our justification." Thus the argument now before us assumes Paul's First great Doctrine of Justification through Faith. As we proceed, we shall find that these earlier doctrines imply, as a necessary moral sequence, the new doctrine now before us. Thus each of these three great doctrines implies and confirms and supplements the others. 178 EXPOSITION OF [div. hi SECTION XVIII THEN SERVE SIN NO MORE Ch. VI. ii— 14 So also ye, reckon yourselves to be dead to sin but living for God in Christ fesus. xi Then let not sin reign as king in your 7iwrtal body, in order to obey iis desires. 13 Neither present the meitibers of your body, as weapons of unrighteousness, to sin; but present yourselves to God as if living from the dead, a7id the members of your body, as weapons of righteousness, to God. 14 For of you sin shall not be lord : for ye are not under law but under grace. In w. 1 — 10, Paul proved that God wills us to be dead to sin and living a new life: in vv. 11 — 14, he teaches how God's purpose may be realised in us, and bids us claim its realisation : in vv. 1 5 — 23, he will go on to prove, by comparison of the old and new, that this realisation is for our highest good. 11. Practical application of v. 10. So also ye : just as Christ once for all died to sin and lives for God, the case of the servants being added to, and corresponding with, that of their Lord. Reckon: a mental calculation, as in chs. ii. 3, iii. 28. Since, in this case, it results in a rational and assured conviction resting upon the word and character of God, it is the mental process of faith. Dead to sin : completely delivered from it, as Christ escaped from His enemies by His death on the cross. Living for God: as Christ lives (v. 10) upon the throne. [The particle fitv makes these two sides, negative and positive, of the new life distinct objects of thought.] In Christ Jesus : by inward and spiritual contact and union with Him who once died to sin and ever lives for God. So v. 23, chs. iii. 24, viii. 1, 2, xii. 5 ; Eph. i- 3)4, 6, 7, 9, i°, I2, '3. etc. Same phrase in a slightly different form in Jno. vi. 56, xiv. 20, xv. 2—7, xvii. 21, 1 Jno. ii. 6, 24, 28, etc. It is a conspicuous feature of the teaching of Paul and of John ; and represents Christ as the secure refuge and home and vital atmosphere of His servants, in which they are safe and at rest and live. Notice here a double relation to Christ : they are like Him, sharing His death to sin and life of devotion to God ; sec. 18] ROMANS VI. 11— 14 179 and in Him, their likeness to Him being an outflow of inward and vital contact with Him. The exhortation of this verse is not, like that in ch. v. 1, merely rhetorical. For it is repeated with evident practical earnestness in vv. 12, 13, 15 — 21, as a needful warning and encouragement. The experience here set forth is thus contrasted with pardon or justification, which the N.T. writers never exhort their readers to claim, but always assume that they already have : cp. ch. v. 9, 10, 11, 1 Cor. vi. 11, Eph. i. 7 ; 1 Jno. ii. 12. We have here two stages or sides of the new life, closely related but distinct in thought and usually in time. For many venture to believe that God here and now forgives their past sins, and thus by faith obtain forgiveness, who have not yet dared to believe that in Christ's grave their past life of sin is buried, and that by inward union with Him they will henceforth live a life of unreserved devotion to God. In this verse, we learn how to obtain this full salvation, viz. by reckoning, at God's bidding and in reliance upon His promise and His wonder-working power, that what He bids us reckon He will Himself, in the moment of our reckoning and henceforth, work in us by inward contact with Him who Himself died to sin and ever lives for God. This involves the great truth that, whatever God requires us to do and to be, He will work in us through Christ and in Christ. In ch. viii. 2 — 16, we shall learn that this inward union with Christ and new life in Christ is wrought in us by the agency of the Spirit of God. We come therefore to the cross and to the empty grave of Christ. We remember the sinlessness and the devotion to God of the dead and risen Saviour ; and we know that He died in order that we, by spiritual union with Him, may be like Him. Perhaps until this moment we have been defiled and enslaved by sin and only in small part loyal to God. But God bids us reckon ourselves to be sharers of the death and life of Christ. In view of the earnest love and infinite power manifested in the death and resur rection of Christ, we dare not hesitate ; and in contradiction to our past experience and to our present sense of utter weakness, we say, In Him I am dead to sin and henceforth living only for God. What we say, we reckon at God's bidding to be true ; and God realises in us, in proportion to our faith, by uniting us to Christ, His own word and our faith. Thousands have thus found, by happy experience of the grace and power of God, in a measure unknown to them before, a new life of victory over sin and of loyal devotion to God, 180 EXPOSITION OF [div. iii Notice in this verse a Fourth Fundamental Doctrine, viz. that the new life of victory over sin and devotion to God is wrought by God, through faith, in those who believe. This doctrine may be called (see under v. 19) Sanctification through Faith. It is in close harmony with, and a needful supplement to, Justification flirough Faith. For complete harmony with God, victory over all sin and unreserved devotion to God are as needful as forgiveness : and we are as little able by our own works to obtain the one as the other. When therefore we have learnt that God, who accepts as righteous those that believe, designs them to be sharers of the moral life of Christ, we are prepared to learn that also this new life in Christ is God's gift to those that believe. This close corre spondence and natural inference account for the informal manner in which this fourth doctrine comes before us. It was needless to state it explicitly, or to defend it. For the exposition and defence of justifying faith in ch. iv. avails equally for sanctifying faith. Like the faith of Abraham, expounded in ch. iv. 17 — 21, the faith which apprehends the new life in Christ is a reliance upon the word and power of God. Paul's explicit assertion and abundant defence of faith as the condition of justification give him a right to assume it silently, as he does here, as the condition of sanctification. Like justifying faith, sanctifying faith is a reliance upon the word and character of God. But they differ in their object-matter. The one accepts and appropriates the promise of pardon for all who believe : the other accepts and appropriates the promise of complete salvation from all sin and of a new life of devotion to God like that of Christ. Moreover, this latter is at once verified by a conscious experience of victory over sin and of felt loyalty to God : and this inward verification verifies also the faith with which we ventured to accept the Gospel of pardon. 12. Further exhortation arising out of the exhortation foregoing. Sin reign: as in ch. v. 21. In your body: as the throne and basis of its royal power. Cp. Rev. iii. 21 : "sit with Me in My throne." Mortal: emphatic, as in ch. viii. 11, "your 7/iortal bodies." That our body is not yet rescued from corruption and is therefore still under the dominion of the foe, is a reason why we should not submit to a power which seeks to dominate us by means of our body. In order to obey etc. : purpose for which men permit sin to usurp authority over them through their bodies, viz. they wish to gratify, i.e. to obey its desires. Desire : a definite wish going after an object pleasant or helpful. Same word in chs. i. 24, vii. 7, 8, xiii. 14 : cp. " desire of the flesh" in Gal. v. 16, 24, Sec. 18] ROMANS VI. 11—14 l2i Eph. ii. 3. It is in itself neither good nor bad : see Ph. i. 23, 1 Th. ii. 17, Lk. xv. 16, xvi. 21, xvii. 22, xxii. 15. The moral colour of the desire is reflected on it from the context. Hence the un- suitability of the R.V. rendering lust. But obedience to the desires of the body as a directive principle of action always leads to sin. For the body is the lower side of our nature, is essentially selfish, caring for nothing except itself, and is unconscious of the moral law. It therefore needs to be held in by a strong hand, to be laid (see v. 13) on the altar of God, and to be used for His service. To permit the body to rule, i.e. to make gratification of its appetites, or even its preservation, the end of life, is to permit sin to reign over us as king, and our bodies, already doomed to decay, to become its throne. Against such submission, and such motive, Paul warns his readers. 13. Another exhortation, the negative side expounding the practical result of obeying the desires of the body, and the positive side expounding what is involved in " living for God." Present : so vv. 16, 19, xii. 1 ; cp. xvi. 2, Col. i. 22, 28 : to place at the disposal of another. Members : the various parts of the body, each with its own faculty: ch. xii. 4, 1 Cor. xii. 12, 14, 18, 19, Mt. v. 29, 30, etc. Its looser modern use has led me to render members of your body. Weapons : instruments for carrying on war : ch. xiii. 12, 2 Cor. vi. 7, x. 4, Jno. xviii. 3. Being used for an evil purpose, they are weapons of unrighteousness. To obey the desires of our body, is to place our hands and lips at the disposal of sin to be weapons which it will use in unrighteous war. Yourselves : the personality behind the bodily powers, given up, not to sin, but to God. Present yourselves as if living from the dead : looking upon yourselves as //your life had come to an end, as if ye had been laid in, and raised from, the grave, and thus raised from among the dead, and as if now living a resurrection life ; and, thus viewing your position, place yourselves at the disposal of God. And your members etc. : a detail involved in present yourselves. Weapons of righteousness : a marked con trast . our hands and lips given to God to be used by Him in His righteous war. Instead of obeying the desires of our body, and thus permitting sin to erect its throne there and to use our bodily powers for its own ends, Paul bids us place our whole personality at the disposal of God, resolving that henceforth our hands shall do His work, our feet run on His errands, and our lips speak His message, in His conflict against sin. Notice here a new view of Christian duty. God bids us, not merely to avoid sin, but to place 182 EXPOSITION OF [div. Hi ourselves with all we have and are at His disposal for use in the tremendous struggle now going on between good and evil. 14. Encouragement to obey the foregoing exhortation. This last implies complete deliverance from service of sin. And Paul assures us, sin shall not be your lord. Under law : governed by God on the principle, Do this and live, i.e. treated by Him according to our obedience. Such was God's relation to Israel under the Old Covenant. Hence the Jews were under law: I Cor. ix. 20, Gal. iv. 4, 5. Some Christians desired to remain under the same terms : Gal. iv. 21. This momentary reference to the Law prepares a way for further teaching about it in ch. vii. Under grace : under a method of government determined not by mere justice but by the undeserved favour of God, i.e. under the reign (ch. v. 21) oi grace. God makes, not our deserts, but His own goodwill the standard of His treatment of us. Otherwise He would never have given His Son to die for us, or have brought to bear upon us, while in our sins, those influences (see ch. ii. 4) which led us to repentance and salvation. Upon the ground that God will treat us, not according to our works, i.e. according to the letter of the Law, but according to His undeserved favour, rest all our hopes of blessing from Him. In vv. 11 — 14, we have the Law and the Gospel of the new life in Christ, what God claims from us and what He is ready to work in us. He claims that we devote to Him and His service our whole personality and all our bodily powers. Incidentally we learn that He who makes this claim is engaged in tremendous conflict, and that He claims our devotion in order that He may use us in His righteous war against sin. Unfortunately we are not free to render to God the devotion He justly claims. For His foe is our lord : we are the fettered slaves of sin, and therefore cannot serve God. Paul bids us look upon ourselves as if we were dead, dead on the cross of Christ and buried in His grave, and thus free from our former bondage ; and, though dead, yet living, sharing the life of the Risen One, a life of unreserved loyalty to God. In obedience to this claim, we now lay, upon the altar consecrated by the blood of Christ, ourselves and all our bodily powers ; and we do this in faith, relying upon the promise and power of God that from this moment we shall be free from our old master and shall live by inward contact with Christ a life like His. This consecration and faith are a higher counterpart to the repentance and faith which arc the condition of justification. sec. 19] ROMANS VI. 15—23 183 SECTION XIX EXPERIENCE PROVES HOW BAD IS THE SERVICE OF SIN Ch. VI. 15—23 What the7i? Let us sin because we are not mider law but under grace ? Be it 7iot so. 16 R~7iow ye not that, to whom ye present yourselves servants for -obedience, his servatits ye are, of him whoiti ye obey, whether of sin for death or of obedience for righteousness? " But thanks to God that ye were servants of sin, but ye obeyed from the heart the type of teaclmig to which ye were given up. lBA7id, having been made free front sin, ye were 7nade servatits to righteoustiess. ™ After the ma7i7ur of 7iien I speak, because of tlie weakness of your flesh. For just as ye presented the members of your body, as servants, to U7i- clea7iness a7id to lawlesstiess, for lawlessness, so now presetit the 7nembers of your body, as se7vanls, to righteoustiess for sanctification. 30 For, whe7i ye were servants of sin, ye were free in regard of righteousness. 2l What fruit had ye at that time from the things of which ye are now ashamed? For the e7id of those things is death. 22 But tww, having beeti 7>iade free fro7n si7i and having bee7i 7iiade servazits to God, ye have your fruit, for satictification j and the e7id, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death : but God's gift of grace is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The two courses set before us in v. 13, Paul will now further describe, and will thus give good reasons why we should refuse the one and choose the other. 15. What then? as in v. 1. Does anyone say, Let US sin because God treats us not on principles of strict law but of undeserved grace ? This is another objection, in addition to that in w. 1, to the Gospel. This last reveals the favour of God to our race ; and, relying on His favour, some have carelessly run into sin. 16. They who thus sin know not what they do. Present your selves: thrust prominently forward to recall the same words in 184 EXPOSITION OF [div. ut v. 13. The natural order would be, Do yc not know that ye are servants of him to whom ye present yourselves etc. This verse implies the universal principle that if we obey a man we so far make ourselves his servants and use our powers to work out his purposes. So Aristotle, Nic. Ethics bk. viii. 11. 6: " The servant (slave) is a living instrument ; the instrument, a lifeless servant." Therefore, before we do the bidding of another, we must inquire who he is and what are his purposes. Servant, or slave : so ch. i. 1 : one who acts habitually at the bidding of another, his lord; cp. Mt. viii. 9: a cognate verb in Rom. vi. 6. It was the common word for Greek and Roman slaves : hence the contrast with "made free" in in'. 18, 20, 22 ; cp. 1 Cor. vii. 21, 22, xii. 13, Gal. iii. 28, Eph. vi. 8, Col. iii. 11, Rev. vi. 15. In contrast to a freeman, the slave was compelled to do the bidding of his lord. For obedience : purpose for which one gives himself up to be. a slave. This is emphasised by the repetition, whom ye obey. Whether of sin . . . or of obedience: the only alternative. That to commit sin is to be a slave of sin, Christ solemnly asserts in Jno. viii. 34. Death : not of the body, which is not a result of our own sin, but of the whole man: so vv. 21, 23, ch. viii. 13, Rev. xx. 14; cp. Mt. x. 28. It is the "destruction" of ch. ii. 12, Ph. iii. 19; the final penalty of sin. All sin tends inevitably to death : there fore, in Paul's personification, they who commit sin may be said to surrender themselves to the abstract principle of sin in order to work out death. On the other hand, obedience, also personified, tends always to righteousness, i.e. to conformity with the moral law. See under ch. i. 17. This verse implies that the only alternative is either to commit sin and thus work out its constant tendency, death, or to obey God and thus act in harmony with that which the moral law requires. 17. Review of the past, in the light oiv. 16, and evoking thanks to God. Te were slaves etc. : their former bondage, by its con trast with their present liberty, itself calls forth gratitude. Type : as in ch. v. 1 4. Type of teaching : in outline, like the mark (Jno. xx. 25) made by iron on clay. The English word stamp is used in a similar way. Given-up : as in chs. i. 24, 26, 28, iv. 25, and especially Acts xiv. 26. These words imply that the obedience of the Roman Christians was submission to the Gospel in that form in which, by the Providence of God, it had been preached to them. Practically it was the Gospel as preached to Gentiles, (cp. ch. i. 5, Acts xvii. 30,) in contrast to Jewish perversions ; but not in contrast sec. 19] ROMANS VI. 15—23 185 to the teaching of other apostles. For we cannot conceive Paul thanking God that the Romans heard the Gospel from men taught by himself rather than from the disciples of Peter or John. The patriarchs, and the Israelites under Moses and afterwards under the prophets, were handed over to other types of teaching. 18. Further description of the change. Being " dead to sin," they were made free from sin. Paul here assumes that his readers have made the reckoning to which in v. 11 he exhorted them. Made-servants, literally e7islaved, to righteousness : cp. 1 Cor. vii. 22, "the freeman, having been called, is a slave of Christ." The whole context (see my note) and the sustained contrast of slave and frcemati demand some such rendering. We are not hired servants who can leave their master's employ. For we are Christ's by creation and ransom ; and are therefore bound to Him by a tie we cannot break. Yet we are free : for His service is our delight. Servants to righteoustiess : bound by loyalty to Christ to do that which the moral law demands. 19. After the manner of men: cp. ch. iii. 5. It might seem improper to describe the servants of Christ by the common term for slaves. But Paul teaches divine truth by the words of common life ; and here warns us to distinguish between the outward form and the underlying truth. This warning holds good for the whole Bible : to men God always speaks as men do. Flesh : see note under ch. viii. 11. Weakness of ^OWX flesh: inability to under stand, arising from the limitations of bodily life, which always tend to warp our mental vision ; and from the peculiar limitations of the Roman Christians. Paul uses a comparison made needful by their only partial emancipation from the intellectual rule of flesh and blood. Now follows, as a reason for the foregoing warning, an ex hortation closely parallel to that in v. 13. Just as ... SO now: the past affording a pattern, in an opposite direction, for the present. Instead of " weapons," as in v. 13, we have here servants, or slaves : used as a neuter adjective. Uncleanness . . . law lessness : further personifications parallel to, and specifying, "sin" in v. 16. They remind us that sin defiles, and forces into antagonism to the Law, those who obey it. For lawlessness: in order to do that which the Law forbids : parallel to " for death" in v. 16. Sin leads, first to defilement and lawlessness, and then to death. To righteousness: as in v. 18. Sanctifica tion : the act of making holy : so v. 22, 1 Cor. i. 30, I Th. iv. 3, 4, 7, 2 Th.ii. 13, 1 Tim. ii. 15, Heb. xii. 14, 1 Pet- i. 2. See i86 EXPOSITION OF [div. in note under ch. i. 7. As claimed by God, all Christians are already objectively holy: so ch. i. 7. Paul now bids his readers to lay their various bodily powers upon the altar of God to do His work in harmony with the moral law, in order that thus they may become subjectively holy : for sanctification. Cp. 1 Cor. vii. 34, 1 Th. v. 23. 20 — 22. A comparison of the two kinds of service, based on experience. Free in regard of righteousness: if there is any bondage in doing right, they were free from it. They have there fore given the service of sin a fair trial. What fruit ? what good result, as an organic outworking of certain actions ? See under ch. i. 13. The actions are past, but the shame still remains : ye are now ashamed. Paul passes in silence over the answer which memory and conscience are compelled to give ; and states the reason why his readers reaped no harvest from the fields of shame in which they toiled. The end: the final outworking in which influences attain their goal : so v. 22, x. 4, 1 Cor. xv. 24, 2 Cor. xi. 15, Ph. iii. 19. Inasmuch as influences which have attained their full result cease to operate — otherwise they have not attained their full result — the word sometimes connotes the idea of cessation. So Lk. i. 33. But the idea of a goal attained is always present. The final outworking of those things to which Paul refers is death: as in v. 16. His readers gathered no fruit from their former actions : for they trod a path whose end is death. 22. Their present position, in joyful contrast to their former fruitless toil. Having-been-made-free . . . having-been-made- servants : solemn repetition, from v. 1 9. Te have your fruit : the good results of your toil are your abiding possession : cp. Ph. i. 22. For sanctification : as in v. 19 : direction and tendency of these good results. They tend towards the devotion of our powers to the service of God. The end : in conspicuous antithesis to the same words in v. 21. Eternal life: see under ch. ii. 7. It recalls ch. v. 21. Notice in solemn contrast, in w. 21, 22, the two poles of N.T. eschatology : death . . . eternal life. 23. Compact restatement of the foregoing contrast. Wages : so Lk. iii. 14, 1 Cor. ix. 7, 2 Cor. xi. 8 : the common term for the pay and rations of a soldier, thus recalling v. 13. They who serve in the army of sin receive death in return for their service. Gift- of-grace : recalling the same word in ch. v. 15, 16. Death is the just wages of sin: but eternal life is a gift of the undeserved favour of God. In Christ Jesus: as in v. 11. Eternal life is ours in virtue of His death and resurrection, and by vital union sec. 19] ROMANS VI. 15—23 187 with the dead and risen One. Our Lord : the Master whom we serve. This addition (contrast v. 11) recalls the idea of service, and the contrast of masters, which run through w. 12 — 23. In each case, the end is in harmony with the nature of the master obeyed. The contrast of past and present in vv. 16 — 23 is a very powerful motive for avoiding all sin, and is therefore a complete answer to the question in v. 15. To commit sin, is to place our bodily faculties at the disposal of an unseen power absolutely and actively hostile to God and tending always to death, a murderer from the beginning. On the other hand, the consecration of our faculties to the service of God produces for us good and abiding results culminating in eternal life. To commit sin, and thus to abandon the service of God, because God treats us, not on principles of mere justice, but with undeserved favour, is to destroy ourselves simply because we have power to do so. CHAPTER VI. deals with one subject, the believer's relation to his former life of sin, in answer to the question of v. 1. We must not continue in sin in order to work out the gracious purposes of God : for His purpose is that our former life of sin be buried in the grave of Christ and that we henceforth share His resurrection life : w. 2 — 10. Paul then teaches how this purpose of God may be accomplished in us, viz. by reckoning it to be here and now achieved in us by inward union with Christ ; and urges us to claim the fulfilment of this purpose: vv. 11 — 13. To this he encourages us, in v. 14, by pointing to our altered relation to God ; and gives, in w. 16 — 23, a very strong motive for unreserved consecration to the service of God. The chapter concludes with words almost the same as those at the end of ch. v. But how vast the progress we have made. Each chapter brings us within view of life eternal. But, as a consequence of the reign of grace through Christ, announced in ch. v., we have now an inward and vital union with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection, resulting in complete deliverance from the service of sin and in a life of unreserved devotion to God like that of Christ. In ch. v., we had justification, knowledge of God's love to us, and a joyful hope of glory : we are now sharers of the holy and immortal life of Christ. EXPOSITION OF [div. nl SECTION XX THROUGH CHRIST WE DIED TO THE LAW CH. VII. 1—6 Or, a/-e ye ignorant, brethren, (for to men who k/ww law, I speak,) that the Law is lord of the man for so lotig time as he lives? ' For the woman with a husband, to tlie living husband, is bound by law : but if the husband die, she is made of no effect from the law of the husband. 3 Therefore, while the husband lives, an adulteress she will be called if she become another man's : but if the husband die, she is free from the law, so as not to be an adulteress, though she have bccoitie another man's. * So that, my brethren, also ye were made dead to the Law through the body of Christ that ye might become another's, His who was raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For wheti we were in the flesh, the eitiotions of sins, aroused through the Law, were at work in the members oi our body, in order to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have beeti made of no effect from the Law, havi7ig died to that in which we were held down, so tliat we may serve in newness of Spirit, and tiot i/i oldness of letter. The argument of ch. vi. might to some appear invalid because it left out of sight the Law and the curse therein pronounced against all who commit sin. Our surrender to the bondage of sin was a just punishment of our disobedience. Does not God, by breaking off fetters imposed by the Law, dishonour the Law? This question Paul will answer by discussing in ch. vii. the teaching of ch. vi. in its bearing on the Law. It was suggested by the words /wt under law in ch. vi. 14. He will prove in ch. vii. I — 6 that by a strictly legal process we have been set free from the Law which formerly bound us to the service of sin and forbad our union with Christ ; in vv. 7 — 12, that, though freedom from the Law gives us life, yet the Law is not bad ; and in vv. 13 — 25 he will show us the purpose and working of the death-bringing Law, and thus prove its excellence. 1. To men who know law : to Jews and others familiar with the Law of Moses, and to Gentiles familiar with the universal sec. 20] ROMANS VII. i— 6 189 principles underlying all law. This is the new and important feature of ch. vii., as of ch. ii. 12 — 29. The Law: the divinely- given and authoritative Law of Moses, ever present in the religious thought of Jews. But the principle here asserted applies to every authoritative prescription of conduct. We therefore cannot infer from this verse that Paul's readers were chiefly Jews. Is-lord of : as in ch. vi. 9. So long time as he lives : conceding to the Law all it can claim, the concession suggesting a limitation. 2. The woman with a husband : a case in point involving the whole principle of law. The emphatic word living suggests a limitation valid in all law, and expressly stated in the rest of the verse. Bound : a feature of all law : it limits our action. Made- of-no-effect from : as in chs. iii. 3, 31, iv. 14, vi. 6 : made practically non-existent in the eyes of the Law. It is equivalent to free frotn in v. 3. But if the husband die, the woman goes beyond the operation of the law of the husband: i.e. the statute which forbids her to marry another. For the phrase law of, see Lev. vi. 9, 14, etc. 3. Fuller statement of the case of a married woman, as an inference from the principle stated in v. 1 : therefore etc. The husband may be a tyrant and murderer : another, kind and good, may wish to make her his wife. Yet, while the husband lives, the Law steps in and brands her as an adulteress if she attempts to escape from the tyrant by giving herself to another man. But if the husband die : same words as in v. 2. By his death she ceases to be a wife ; and passes, according to an essential principle of law, from under control of the law which forbad her second marriage. Death, without setting aside the law, has made her free from it. The case of the wife is specially suitable to the matter before us. For, in other cases, e.g. a man condemned to imprisonment for a term of years, the person set free by death is by death removed from our observation. But the widow is before our eyes, living and free. Moreover, her case suggests an im portant and beautiful metaphor : cp. 2 Cor. xi. 2, Eph. v. 25 — 27. 4. Application of the foregoing case to ourselves : so that also ye etc. Made-dead to the Law: placed beyond its control, as though we were dead : cp. Gal. ii. 19, a close parallel. Through the body of Christ : nailed to the cross. Through Christ's death, we were set free from the divine law which condemned us, for our sins, to be slaves of sin. That ye might become another's: God's purpose in saving us from bondage to sin, viz. that we might be united to Christ, Inasmuch as we are saved by the death of 190 EXPOSITION OF [div. hi Him to whom God designs us to be united, it is needful to add that He was raised from the dead : cp. ch. vi. 4, 5, 9. Had He not died, we had not been released : had He not risen, he would not have become our husband. Bear-fruit for God: practically the same as "fruit for sanctification" in ch. vi. 22. We were united to Christ that we may live a life producing good results, such as will advance the purposes of God. To fill up the comparison, we must consider ourselves to have been, not merely the servant, but the wife, of sin. Our husband was a murderer. But we had chosen him for our lord : and the Law recognised the marriage. God's original purpose was that we should be the bride of His Son. But we gave ourselves to Sin ; and the Law then forbad our union with Christ. In ch. vi., how ever, we have learnt that through Christ's death we ourselves are dead. Therefore, according to ch. vii. 1 — 3, we are legally free from the Law which forbad our marriage with Christ. We are made free by the death of One to whom we are so closely related that in the eyes of the Law His death is our death. Translated into the language of common life, this verse teaches that through the death of Christ is removed a barrier to our restoration to normal and blessed relation to Christ and to God having its foundation in the Law of God. 5. Reason why, " in order to bear fruit for God," we must needs be " made dead to the Law ; " and a restatement of the contrast of past and present. In the flesh : the material of our body as the environment in which the spirit lives, moves, and acts, an environ ment controlling at that time our entire action and thought. It is not so now. The flesh is (see Gal. ii. 20, 2 Cor. x. 3) the physical, but no longer the moral, element of our life. For although we ever feel its influence, it no longer controls us. The emotions of sins : emotions of desire evoked by forbidden objects in those who yield to their influence, and tending to produce sinful acts. They were evoked by means of the Law : strange words designed to awaken surprise and to prompt the objection in v. 7. They will be explained in vv. 7 — 11. When we were in the flesh, these e/notions were at work (cp. 2 Cor. iv. 12, Eph. ii. 2, 2 Th. ii. 7) in our members, the various parts of our bodies, moving our lips, hands, and feet, to words, deeds, and ways, of sin. When the body with its appetites was the controlling element of our life, it was the seat of emotions prompting sin. In order to bear fruit etc: tendency and purpose of these emotions. They made us fruitful ; but the fruit was poison. Of this, Paul's own earlier sec. 20] ROMANS VII. i— 6 i9i history was a literal and sad example. For death: as in ch. vi. 16, 21, 23. Fruit for death : in awful contrast to "fruit for God," in v. 4. Since these emotions, evoked by means of the Law, were at work with such deadly intent, we must needs die to the Law in order that we may bear fruit for God. 6. But now: introducing, as in ch. vi. 22, the joyful contrast ever present to Paul's thought. Made-of-no-effect from the Law : as in v. 2, which it recalls. Having died to that in which etc. : event which released us from the Law in which we were held- down, or held-fast: same word in ch. i. 18. So that we may serve : happy result of our liberation. [The infinitive with &crre states not objective fact, as does the indicative, but a subjective view of cause and effect.] Serve: same word as in v. 25, ch. vi. 6 ; cognate to servants in ch. vi. 16, 17, 19, 20, and to 7/iade-servants in vv. 18, 22. This family of words is a conspicuous feature of chs. vi. 6 — vii. 6. Notice that we are still servants or slaves, but (ch. vi. 22) to different masters and in a 7iew environment. New ness of Spirit : a new order of things of which the characterizing feature is the animating presence of the Spirit of God, in contrast to an old environment characterized by possession of a written letter. Same contrast of Spirit and letter in ch. ii. 29 ; and, more fully developed, in 2 Cor. iii. 3, 6, where " the Spirit of God " is contrasted with the letters written on the tables of stone. And this is probably the reference of the word Spirit here and in ch. ii. 29 : for it is evidently a forerunner of " the Spirit of God " in ch. viii. 9, 11, 14. If so, the letter must be the written Law of Moses, in possession of which the Jews (ch. ii. 23) boasted. The new feature of our present service is that our Master has given us, not a mere written word bidding us do this or that, but an animating Spirit, who opens our minds to understand and approve the will of God, and enables us to do it. This gift of the Spirit makes our present service altogether 7iew, and our former service altogether old. The above argument has less force for us than for Paul's readers. To any who objected that the teaching of ch. vi. would set aside the Law of Moses, it was a complete reply to say that the Law claims jurisdiction only over the living, and that believers are practically dead. But to us God has given a more tremendous and far-reaching law. To those who reject it, the Gospel is itself a condemning law : for they who disbelieve its promises are compelled to believe its threatenings. And from this law death is no deliverance : for its threatenings control the world to come 192 EXPOSITION OF [div. hi Hence the argument, in the form in which it stands here, does not meet our case. But, underneath the Jewish fonn of this argument, lie great and abiding principles of immense importance. It is a reassertion, in another form, of Paul's exposition, in ch. iii. 26, of the purpose for which God gave Christ to die, viz. to harmonize with His own justice the justification of believers. For, that we are in v. 4 said to be "dead to the Law through the body of Christ" can only mean that through His death is removed a barrier to salvation having its foundation in the Law of God. Now the Law is a literary embodiment of the justice of God. Consequently, to say that the Law forbad our rescue, is to say that the justice of God forbad it. But Paul has taught that God set forth Christ as a propitiation in His blood, in order that God maybe Himself just and a justifier of Him that believes in Jesus. If so, through the death of Christ we are set free, in harmony with the principle of law, from the law which condemned us to be slaves of the master we had so perversely chosen. This important coincidence of thought, under totally different phraseology, confirms our in terpretation of ch. iii. 26 ; is confirmed by Gal. ii. 19, iii. 13, Col. ii. 14, and by an interesting illustration in Heb. ix. 16, 17, in all which passages the death of Christ is placed in relation to the Law ; and sheds important light on the necessity and purpose of the death of Christ. This coincidence is the more important because no other N.T. writer connects the death of Christ with the justice or the law of God. This teaching has also experimental value. Many conscientious men feel that for God to pardon their sins and to smile upon sinners would be to set aside the eternal principles which underlie morality. And, because they know that God will not do this, they dare not believe His proclamation of pardon. They are in the position of a woman who has made a ruinous marriage from which now there is no escape. But in these verses we are reminded that the death of Christ, by revealing the inevitable connection of sin and death, has satisfied the external moral principles which forbad our pardon ; and that now, without in fringing them, God may and will set us free. Chapters VI. 1— VII. 6 describe the new life in its relation to sin, to the Law, to Christ, and to God. It is complete deliverance from sin, removes us legally from the domain of tlie Law which condemned us, unites us to Christ in His death and burial and in sec. 21] ROMANS VII. 7—12 193 His resurrection life, a life of fruitful devotion to God. Notice the complete confidence with which Paul accepts the death and resurrection of Christ as historic facts, and as essential factors in God's purpose of salvation, a confidence moulding his thought and creating new modes of thought and new phraseology peculiar to him. In his theology, the events which closed the life of Christ on earth are reproduced in His servants. This confidence, in (Gal. i. 13) a former persecutor, can be explained only by the reality of that which he believed : and no account of Paul's teaching which does not explain this remarkable element in it can be tolerated for a moment. Certain strange assertions in v. 5, needing explanation and defence, will next claim the apostle's attention. SECTION XXI YET THE LA W IS NOT BAD Ch. VII. 7—12 What then shall we say? Is the Law sin? Be it not so. Nevertheless, I had not known sin except through law : for I should not know desire except the Law said, " Thou shalt not desire." 8 But sin, having taken occasion, through the C07/1- mandment worked out in 77ie every desire. For apart from law sin is dead. 9 Moreover, I was alive apart fro/n law once. But when the commandment came, sin returned to life; and I died. 10 And to me the coi/wiandmenl which was for life, this was found to be for death. " For sin, having taken occasion, through the commandtnent deceived me and through it slew me. la So that on the one hand the Law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good 7. What then shall we say? What inference shall we draw? as in chs. vi. 1, iv. 1. The Law: of Moses, from which Paul quotes the tenth commandment. Sin : an embodiment of sin ; cp. 3 Cor v 21, Rom. viii. 7. In v. 5, Paul gave as a reason why we T3 194 EXPOSITION OF [div. iii were put to death to the Law that "through the Law came the emotions of sins " which " were at work " in our bodily powers with deadly purpose. He now asks, Are we to infer from this that the Law itself is essentially hostile to God ? and thus suggests a most serious objection to his foregoing teaching. This inference, Paul meets with an emphatic negative ; and then gives the correct inference. He did not say, nor do his words imply, that the Law is the voice of an enemy ; nevertheless, he does say that, had there been no law as an avenue of approach, there had been no sin. To this reply and the following argument, Paul gives great reality and force by narrating his own experience : I had not known sin. That he narrates it in proof of a general principle, implies that it is the experience of all. The word law does not limit this experience to Jews : for the great principles of morality which underlie all law are written (see ch. ii. 14) in the hearts of all men. But Paul, writing as a Jew, has in his mind the Law in that form in which he received it, viz. the voice of Sinai and the books in which from childhood that voice had spoken to him. Hence, as a sample of the Law, he quotes the tenth commandment. To know sin, denotes, not as in ch. iii. 20 a consciousness of having sinned, but that acquaintance with the nature and power of sin which is an immediate and terrible result of committing sin. This deeper meaning is involved in the further description given in v. 8. In this sense, the forbidden tree was the " tree of knowledge of good and evil," and Christ (2 Cor. v. 21) "knew no sin;" but (Isa. liii. 3) He knew grief; and Paul knew (2 Cor. v. 11) "the fear of the Lord." Through law : recalling same words in v. 5. The foregoing statement, Paul proves by quoting, as a fair example, one of the many commands of the Law : thou shalt not desire : word for word (LXX.) from Ex. xx. 17. Desire: as in chs. i. 24, vi. 12 : not necessarily bad desire. The tenth commandment forbids, not all desire, but desire of other men's goods. Paul takes for granted that we know the rest of the passage. That he refers throughout w. 7, 8 to evil desire, is made clear by the whole context. In proof of the general statement / had not known sin, he quotes the commandment most easily and frequently broken, the breach of which leads to that of all others. Had it not been for the Law, Paul would have been a stranger even to the beginnings of sin in wrong desire. 8. Occasion: Lk. xi. 54, 2 Cor. v. 12, xi. 12: a starting-point, the first step in a line of action. In the tenth commandment (cp. ch. xiii. 9) sin found a starting-point for deadly activity ; and sec. 21] ROMANS VII. 7—12 i95 through it worked-out (as in chs. i. 27, ii. 9, iv. 15, v. 3) in Paul every kind of desire. Sin thus made itself known to him. This is what Paul meant in v. 5 by " the emotions of sins which were through the Law." Notice the contrast of worki7ig-i7i and working- out in vv. 5, 8 : so Ph. ii. 12, 13. The one denotes inward activity ; the other, actual result. For apart etc. : a general principle proving the foregoing. Notice a further personification of sin. We have seen it as a king- enthroned in the bodies of men, making unrighteous war, using men as weapons and paying them wages, cherishing and working out purposes of death. Paul now proves that only through the Law were sinful desires wrought in him, by saying that apart from law sin is dead. Since sin is here personified as active and powerful, to say that it is dead, is to say that it is inactive and powerless. Just so a dead lion has claws and sinews, but no strength or activity. In Jas. ii. 17 — 26, a dead faith is one which produces no results : contrast a " living hope " and " living word of God" in 1 Pet. i. 3, 23. The principle here stated and the argument built upon it demand further study. " Sin is lawlessness : " 1 Jno. iii. 4. It is doing what God has forbidden. Consequently, had not certain objects been marked off as forbidden, there could not have been even wrong desire : for all desires would have been right. Therefore, but for the Law, we should never have known what it is to desire forbidden things ; nor have known by experience the depraving effects of such desires. There would have been no moral character, and no sin. This we may illustrate from the story of Paradise. If God had given no prohibition, the tempter would have had no weapon of attack ; and our parents would have been utterly beyond his reach. He brought in his mouth a command of God, and used it as a weapon of deception and murder, evoking first desire and then actual sin. Only thus can we conceive sin entering into human life. In this sense, sin is powerless apart from law ; and all sinful emotions come through law. So 1 Cor. xv. 56 : " The power of sin is the Law." 9 U. Further description and fatal result of the personal experience narrated in v. 8. Paul says, Once, in a day gone by, I was alive or living, without law, having no command requiring obedience. Then the commandment, the ioth or others, came : at its coming sin lived-again, as a dead body waking up into life : and I died. On this event Paul makes the sad comment, the commandment which was designed for life, i.e. to give or maintain 196 EXPOSITION OF [div. hi life, this was found by me to be for death. [Notice the pre position eh, which always denotes tendency, denoting first purpose, as usually, and then result. This different use of the same preposition in the same short sentence is made easy by the personification of sin. For, if sin be personified, we may speak of its tendency as a purpose.] The commandment given in Paradise was designed to save life by guarding our parents from the tree of death. The Law of Moses had the same purpose : Lev. xviii. 5, Dt. v. 33. Indeed, all that comes from the Author of Life, is designed to give or maintain life. In those who believe, the Law attains its end by leading them to Christ : Gal. iii. 24. Then follows, in v. 11, a sad restatement, in almost the same words, of the great calamity stated in v. 8. An added detail is that sin . . . deceived me : so Gen. iii. 13. Same strong word in 2 Cor. xi. 3 (cp. 1 Tim. ii. 14), in reference to Eve ; also Rom. xvi. 18, 1 Cor. iii. 18. Sin kills by persuading that the forbidden object is good : so Gen. iii. 5. Slew me : restating v. 9, I died. It is a result of the "desire" evoked by sin : v. 8. While sin lay dead or dormant, Paul was alive : but at the voice of the Law it woke up to life, and slew him. We have seen, under v. 9, that to Paul sin was once dead in the sense of being powerless and inoperative ; and that at the coming of the Law it sprang into life in the sense that in the commands of the Law it found a starting-point for activity and effect. We now ask, In what sense was Paul himself once alive or living, apart from law, and in what sense at the coming of the Law can it be said that he died? These words, when applied to Paul, a man capable of life and death in the fullest sense, must have a meaning far deeper than they can have when applied to sin, a mere abstract principle. But this deeper meaning must be in harmony with the essential significance of the words and with Paul's argument. The sadness of in'. 9 — n implies that the death which Paul died was a great calamity. It was wrought by sin using the Law as a weapon. Already in ch. vi. 16, 21, 23 we have learnt that death is a result of sin. This can be no other than the " destruc tion" or ruin (see under ch. ii. 12) which awaits sinners beyond the grave, destruction of body and soul. Now in ch. viii. 10 Paul speaks of the body as already dead, because already doomed inevitably to the grave ; and in Eph. ii. 1, 5, 1 Tim. v. 6 of sinners as already dead by means of their sins. So 1 Jno. iii. 14. This language is easily explained. We constantly speak of that which sec. 21] ROMANS VI I. 7—12 197 is inevitable as though it had actually taken place : for the future tense suggests uncertainty. The bad man is not dying but dead. For a dying man may recover by his own vital force, or a doctor may save him : but no power can save a bad man from the awful penalty of sin and give him moral life except that of Him who raises the dead. This language is the more appropriate because the sinner is in a very real sense separated from God the Source of life, destitute of the Holy Spirit who is the breath of the new life of the sons of God, and is, like a corpse, in a state of progressive (moral) corruption. In this sense, in spite of the outward morality mentioned in Ph. iii. 6, Paul was dead before (ch. viii. 2) " the Spirit of Life " in Christ Jesus made him free. Just as Lazarus could look back to a time when his body lay rotting in the grave, so Paul remem bered a time when he was in a state which, but for the life-giving power of God, would have inevitably developed into eternal death. Of this death, the Law was the instrument. For, had there been no prohibition, Paul could not have sinned and thus fallen under the death-penalty of sin. When was Paul alive, without law? Not while he was per secuting the Church and thus fighting against God. For he was then (chs. ii. 12, vi. 14, 1 Cor. ix. 20) in law and under law: and indisputably (Eph. ii. 1 — 5) he was spiritually dead. To say that he was then alive, is utterly alien from the thought of Paul and of the entire New Testament. But at a still earlier day, in infancy before the age of responsibility, he possessed a real though im mature life which death of the body could not destroy. However deeply a man be sunk in sin, however completely under its power to-day, he can look back to the early dawn of memory and say, In those days God smiled on me, and in the full sense of the word I was alive : and this is the saddest thought the bad man can have. But the infant grew to boyhood. Through his mother's lips, the commandment came to him ; and he learnt that God had forbidden him to do this and that. Now awoke to activity the innate but slumbering power of sin. Following the guidance of nature, like other men, he fell under the anger of God and became dead by means of his trespasses : Eph. ii. 3, 5. His death was loss of the life he possessed in the days of innocence, was wrought by sin, and by means of the Law. The above exposition is the only one possible. For in no sense can a man be called alive when he is asleep in sin, or be said to die when he wakes up to consciousness of his awful position. Nor 198 EXPOSITION OF [div. hi could the loss of such life, or such moral awakening, be spoken of in the tone of sadness which breathes in vv. 9, 11. For such awakening, however painful, was not a calamity, but the dawn of a new life. On the other hand, the metaphorical language used here and in Eph. ii. 1 — 5 must be interpreted with utmost caution. The mortality of infancy reminds us that by birth we are in some measure heirs of the penalty of Adam's sin : and in Eph. ii. 3, Jno. iii. 6 we find an inborn defect leading to actual sin and making needful a new birth. The passage before us is simply a pathetic picture, in the vivid thought of Paul, of a part of his own experience. That the term alive is never elsewhere in the N.T. applied to infants, is no serious objection to the above exposition. For we read very little about their spiritual position. The sacred volume does not gratify our curiosity in this direction. But the term life is frequently used to describe those on whom God smiles ; and our Lord's reception of little children proves that God smiles on them. Nor is this exposition inconsistent with the probably greater prevalence of sin among the Gentiles than among the Jews. For the Gentiles have the law written in every man's heart. Moreover, the fuller revelation of God to Israel evoked a spiritual life, which finds expression in the Psalms, far above the highest spiritual life of the Gentiles, and which could not but bear fruit in a higher morality. Verse 5 has now been explained and proved, and the Law has been vindicated. It is merely a weapon with which sin slew Paul. But we do not blame a sword because in the hands of an enemy it has slain the man for whose defence it was made. His death only reveals the strength of the foe who tore it from his grasp and used it for his destruction. Take an illustration. A man is condemned for murder. The law against murder was designed to save his life, by keeping others from killing him. It will now destroy his life. But this is no proof that the law is bad, or that it was enacted by an enemy : it proves only the strength of the evil disposition which, in spite of the law, drove the man to murder and to the gallows. Similarly Paul's case is inexpressibly sad ; but the fault is not with the Law, but with sin. Thus, while explaining and justifying v. 5, Paul has really cleared the Law from a charge which that verse seemed to bring against it, and his own teaching from the charge of antagonism to the Law of God. 12. So that etc. : result of the foregoing argument. [The particle piv without Se following indicates that the sentence is sec. 22] ROMANS VII. 13—25 199 broken off, like ch. v. 12, and that only a preliminary part of the result is here stated. The remainder we shall find in v. 13.] Paul has not actually proved that the Law is holy ; but has shown that v. 5 does not imply that it is unholy. The Law . . . the command ment : recalling vv. 7, 8. Holy : cp. ch. i. 2 : in definite relation to God and tending to work out His purposes. Commandment: the loth, quoted in v. 7. It is a specification of that part of the Law which actually slew Paul. He therefore lingers over it, and expounds what is implied in its being holy. Righteous : in harmony with the essential principles of right and wrong. Good : beneficial in its working. Such is whatever is holy, i.e. belonging to God. The word good sounds so strange to one to whom the Law has been the means of death that at this point Paul breaks off and asks a question which will become a starting-point for other teaching. In the answer to this question, he will state more fully the result of the foregoing argument. SECTION XXII THE LAW REVEALS THE BADNESS AND POWER OF SIN Ch. VII. 13—25 The good thing then, did it to me become death ? Be it not so. But sin did; iti order that it might be seen to be sin, through the good thitig workitig out for me death, in order that sin might become beyond measure a sinner through the commandtnent. " For we ktiow that the Law is spiritual : but I am a man of flesh, sold under sin. ls For what I am worki7ig out, I do not know : for not what I wish, this I practise, but what I hate, this I do. w But if what I do not wish, this I do, I agree with the Law that it is good. " And 7iow 710 longer do I work it out, but sin dwelling in me. K For I k7iow that there does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh, a good thitig. For to wish is present to me, but to 200 EXPOSITION OF [div. in ¦work out the good is tiot. 19 For not what I wish I do, a good thing, but what I do not wish, an cz'il thing, this I practise. m But if what I do not wish, this I do, no longer do I work it out, but sin dwelling in me. 2l I find therefore that to me who wish for the Law, to do the good, that to me the evil is present. -'For I take pleasure with the Law of God according to the inward man : n but I see another law iti the members of my body carrying oti war against the law of my mind and taking tne captive to the law of sin which is in the tnetnbers of my body. " Cala/uity- stricken man that I am ! who will rescue me froiti the body of this death ? 2i Thanks to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore I myself with the t/iind serve the Law oi God, but with the flesh a law of sin. 13. The good thing then etc. : question prompted by the foregoing word good, so incongruous to the sad experience just narrated. Paul asks, after asserting that the Law is good, Am I to infer that this good thing has become to me death ? This was so to the man condemned to death under the law against murder : see p. 198. But for himself Paul denies it, and goes on to state the actual case. But sin : a subject without a predicate, which must be supplied from the context, followed by a nearer, and then an ultimate, purpose. In these purposes, we find evidently the chief matter of this verse, viz. the purpose for which the Law, the good thing, was given. It is true, as Paul stated in v. 10, that the Law, which he has just declared to be good, had become to him a means of death. But this is not the whole case : for in that death there was a further purpose, and this purpose changes completely the whole aspect of the sad calamity which befell Paul. This will appear as the argument proceeds. The above-described calamity happened in order that sin might he seen to be sin: i.e. in order that its real character might be manifested. Through the good thing, to me working out death: mode of this manifestation. Workitig-out : bringing about results, as in v. 8 : so vv. 15, 17, 18, 20. In order that beyond measure etc. : a further purpose, or further description of the foregoing purpose. The abstract principle of sin becomes beyotid measure a sinner by working out more and still more deadly consequences. That these are brought about through the sec. 22] ROMANS VII. 13—25 20I commandment, itself good, reveals the tremendous and evil power of siti. The word sinner keeps up the personification of siti. Notice its conspicuous prominence in this verse. We have here another account, in addition to those in chs. iii. 19, v. 20, of the purpose of the Law. Each statement illustrates the others. The Law was a result of Adam's sin, and came in order that it might be multiplied into the many sins of his children, in order that thus the real nature of sin might appear. Con sequently Paul's death was due ultimately, not to the Law, but to sin. A still further purpose of the Law is stated in Gal. iii. 24 : " that we may be justified by faith." But this is not yet in view. 14. A conspicuous change from past to present. In order to explain a bygone event in his own experience, Paul now describes the constitution of the Law, and of himself; and his own bondage to sin. Whether vv. 14 — 24, which evidently describe the same experience, describe Paul's state while writing this letter, we will consider later. We know : as in chs. ii. 2, iii. 1 9, calling attention to what even Paul's opponents admit. Spiritual: as in ch. i. 11 : pertaining to the Spirit of God, who is frequently contrasted with the flesh : see ch. viii. 4 — 9. The Law expresses the mind of the Holy Spirit. Man-of-flesh, or flesheti : same word in 1 Cor. iii. 1, 2 Cor. iii. 3, Heb. vii. 7, and (lxx.) 2 Chr. xxxii. 8, Ezek. xxxvi. 26. See note under ch. viii. 1 1. Paul's entire personality was dominated by his material side. Sold: recalling a slave-market, and thus giving vividness to the picture. Under sin : as in ch. iii. 9 : the slave-master in whose power Paul now legally is. Cp. 1 Kgs. xxi. 20, 25, Isa. 1. 1. Notice the practical result of being, while the Law is spiritual, a man of flesh. The flesh is not bad : for it is a creature of God. But it is the lower side of man's nature, where sin erects its throne and whence it rules the man. Con sequently one who is under control of his own body is a sold slave of sin. He therefore cannot (ch. viii. 7, 8) obey a law expressing the mind of the Spirit of God, who is utterly adverse (see Gal. v. 17) to the rule of the body. The only possible immediate consequence of the gift of such a law to a man of flesh is a revelation of his bondage. And this inevitable con sequence is in v. 13 described as the purpose of the sad experience described in v. 11. 15—17. Further description of the bondage of the man of flesh. Work out: achieve results, as in v. 13. Like other servants, Paul does not understand the results he is working out. That 202 EXPOSITION OF [div. iii a soldier on the field marches and counter-marches he knows not why, and actually achieves results beyond his thought, proves that he is a servant working out the purposes of another. Just so, all sinners know not what they do : Lk. xxiii. 34. This ignorance Paul accounts for by saying that his action is not determined by, but runs counter to, his own wish. This is a mark, not only of service, but of compulsory and distasteful service. Then follows, in v. 16, an inference from this distasteful service, viz. that Paul agrees with the Law and recognises that it is good; and in v. 17 another inference, viz. that Paul is not the author of his own actions, but that they are wrought out by another dwelling in him. This stranger who has seized the helm of Paul's ship, he calls sin. 18—20. Proof of the correctness of the name just given to the stranger dwelling in Paul, completing the proof that he is (v. 14) a sold slave of sin. I know : a secret of Paul's own heart : contrast "we know" in v. 14. That is, in my flesh: limiting the above denial to the outer and material side of his nature. In that side which is nearest to the world around, and through which actions are wrought, there dwells a foreign element ; and Paul knows that it is not good. The proof is that in him is desire but no realisation. From this he infers that his flesh, the medium through which desire passes into action, is occupied by an enemy. And, since that which he desires and cannot do is good, and that which he does not desire yet does is evil, he infers with sad certainty that this enemy is sin. The words good and evil in v. 19 note the progress in argument since v. 15, where Paul merely asserts the contrast between his desires and actions, without any moral judgment on them. After thus identify ing the enemy who is the real author of his actions, Paul restates, in v. 20, word for word, the inference stated in v. 17. 21. Compact summing up of the main statement in vv. 15 — 20. [The grammatical construction of v. 21 is most difficult. The chief difficulty is the construction of rbv vopov. If we were to leave out these words, we could take ra deXovrt tfjol irotelv to koXov in apposition to the second e'poi, thrust forward out of its place in order to emphasise Paul's desire to do good even while evil is present. We could then render, I find therefore, to me who desire to do the good, that to me the evil is present. But we must do something with tov vopov, the Law, thrust in between evpiaKa and ra deXovri. This term is, in vv. 7, 14, 16, undoubtedly equivalent to the Law of God in vv. 22, 25 : and this is the ordinary meaning sec. 22] ROMANS VII. 13—25 203 throughout Paul's epistles. It is the meaning at once suggested by the same term in v. 21. On the other hand, we read in v. 23 of another law and of the law of sin : but here the new meaning is plainly stated. In v. 21, we must retain the ordinary meaning unless we have strong reason to the contrary. Dr. Sanday renders, " I find therefore this law — if it may be so called— this stern necessity laid upon me from without, that much as I wish to do what is good, the evil lies at my door." But he gives no example of any such use of this common term. An easier exposition is to retain its common use, and to take the accusative rbv vop-ov as governed, not by eipto-xw foregoing, but by Tea BeXovri following, and irotelv to koXov as epexegetic giving the purpose for which Paul desires the Law. Thus interpreted, the accusative is put before the governing verb for emphasis, just as for emphasis rei eXovn e'pol is pushed forward. This exposition gives to the term the Law its ordinary meaning ; and explains its conspicuous insertion here, viz. in order to reassert Paul's desire to obey the Law even while actually breaking it, recalling a similar assertion in v. 16 and preparing a way for a stronger assertion in v. 22. Elsewhere in N.T. the word 6eXv a