SEP -^'2006 
 
THE 
 
 OCT 2 1920 
 
 EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS; 
 
 WITH 
 
 A COMMENTAEY 
 
 AND REVISED TRANSLATION, 
 
 AND INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS, 
 
 ARIEL ABBOT LIVERMORE. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 CROSBY, NICHOLS, AND COMPANY. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 CHARLES S. FRANCIS AND COMPANY 
 
 185 4. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by 
 
 Abiel Abbot Liveemoke, 
 
 in tlie Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE: 
 METCALF AND COMPANY, STEREOTYPERS AND PRINTERS. 
 
TO THE 
 
 LIBEKAL CHRISTIANS OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 THE 
 
 CHURCH OF THE FUTURE, 
 VARIOUS BODIES, BUT ONE SOUL, 
 
 THIS 
 ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIM AN EPISTLE, "HARD TO BE UNDERSTOOD," 
 
 IS 
 
 AFFECTIONATELY AND RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
CONTENTS* 
 
 ESSAY I. 
 
 PAGE 
 THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIEING 1 
 
 ESSAY n. 
 
 THE EPISTLES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 29 
 
 ESSAY m. 
 
 THE APOSTLE PAUL 42 
 
 ESSAY IV. 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS 71 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE RODMANS. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 The Salutation, Introduction, and a Description of the "Wickedness of the 
 Gentiles 81 
 
 Chapter II. 
 The Impartiality and Equity of the Divine Government, both to Jews and 
 Gentiles 99 
 
 Chapter III. 
 A Description of the Wickedness of the Jews, as well as of the Gentiles, and 
 the Insufficiency of the Law, unless it were fulfilled by the Righteousness 
 of Faith 109 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 
 The Promise confirmed to Abraham, on the Ground, not of the Eighteous- jti 
 ness of the Law, but the Righteousness of Faith 116 
 
 Chapter V. 
 The Effects of the Righteousness of Faith on the Character, and its Results 
 in the World, by establishing a new Spiritual Human Race with Christ at 
 the Head, corresponding to the Natural Human Race with Adam at the 
 Head 122 
 
 Chapter VL 
 The Doctrines of Emancipation from Sin, and Sanctification of Heart and 
 Life 128 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 The Cessation of the Law on Account of its Inability to meet all the Spirit- 
 ual Wants of Man 135 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 The Adaptation of the Gospel to all the Offices of a Perfect Religion for the 
 Human Soul 144 
 
 Chapter IX. 
 
 The Divine Sovereignty in the Rejection of the Jews and the Choice of the 
 Gentiles defended on Historical Inferences from the Old Testament . .157 
 
 Chapter X. 
 The Righteousness of Faith in Jesus Christ required of both the Jews and 
 the Gentiles " . 169 
 
 Chapter XL 
 
 The Calling of the Gentiles was to redound, not to the Injury, but the Final 
 Redemption, of Israel itself 177 
 
 Chapter XII. 
 The General Practical Duties of Christianity to God and our Fellow-men . 188 
 
 Chapter XIII. 
 Duties to the State, and the Generalization of all Precepts in Love . .197 
 
CONTENTS. Vli 
 
 Chapter XIV. 
 
 Che Special Duties of Christians in the INIidst of Heathen Communities . 206 
 
 Chapter XV. 
 
 Che same Subject continued ; and the Success of Paul's Ministry among the 
 Gentiles as being blessed by God 215 
 
 Chapter XVI. 
 friendly Salutations and Messages to the Christians at Eome from Paul 
 and his Bretlu-en at Corinth. — Benediction and Doxology . . .224 
 
 k REVISED TRAI^rSLATION OF THE EPISTLE TO THE 
 ROMANS 231 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS. 
 
 E S S A Y I. 
 
 THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 
 
 The question of the inspiration of the Hebrew and Chris- 
 tian Scriptures is one of those great moral problems, which 
 never are, but always are to be, solved. It was discussed in 
 the earliest, and probably will be in the latest ages. For it 
 is in part an historical inquiry, and different principles of 
 historical judgment will lead to different conclusions. It is 
 an intellectual and spiritual question, and therefore all the 
 complexities of mental culture and moral character wiU 
 come into play, and determine each person to his result. 
 But perchance new words will not be thrown away on such 
 a rich and sublime theme, pertaining to the point where the 
 mind of God has connected itself with the mind of man. 
 To-day, as in the morning prime of the Church, when 
 learned fathers mused and wrote, the fresh dew rests upon 
 it, and glistens bright to heaven. Ever new, as ever old, 
 the march of human affairs, the novel experiences of the 
 race, the arrival of new geniuses, and the successive crises 
 of Christianity, cannot drain dry of interest to every consci- 
 entious mind the magnificent question. 
 
 Man still asks, and will for ever ask, as if it were too good 
 news to be true, Has the Infinite Intelligence in any sense 
 spoken ? Is there a Word of God ? Is there a whisper ©f 
 1 
 
^ THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 
 
 the Eternal Wisdom, a breath of the All-brooding Love ? 
 And if there is, is it worthy of its amazing origin, and fit 
 for its glorious mission ? Have the serene heavens articu- 
 lated to the ear of the laboring Earth then lofty truths, and 
 explained her dark secret ? Has this little globe, where 
 man sins in haste and repents at leisure, in all its revolutions 
 through boundless space, ever grazed on the golden shores 
 of immortality ? Or, has no other light ever fallen from the 
 sky but that of sun, moon, and stars ; no other voice spoken 
 in the great silence above than that of the deep-toned thun- 
 der ; and no other spirit stirred in the bosom of man than 
 his own restless heart ? The ear of Mercy suffers not the 
 cry of the young ravens to go unheard ; has it not caught 
 as faithfully " the still, sad music of humanity," and vibrat- 
 ed with answering compassion ? In reply to such interro- 
 gations, we answer, in the first place, generally. Yes ; there 
 is a Word of God, more articulate than the lessons of the 
 creation; the Highest has spoken, not with the accents 
 of a mortal tongue, but by the revelation of wisdom and 
 love, less clearly unfolded in the law by Moses, but shin- 
 ing forth in full effulgence in the grace and truth of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 But as soon as we advance beyond this general propo- 
 sition, we alight upon a hotly contested arena of theological 
 warfare, where several theories find their several champions. 
 First, we have the doctrine of the plenary verbal inspiration 
 of the Scriptures, or of the major part of them, and gener- 
 ally held by the Trinitarian churches. According to this 
 view, the sacred writers were amanuenses to the Holy 
 Ghost, to record whatever was dictated to them, word by 
 word, and sentence by sentence. The New Churchy or 
 Swedenborgians, hold a similar theory, modified by the 
 doctrine of an internal sense, and correspondences, and also 
 by the rejection of the historical books of the Old Testa- 
 
THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. d 
 
 ment, and the Epistles of the New, as uncanonical. The 
 Roman Church adheres to a literal and infallible inspiration 
 of the books of the Bible ; but then the truth thus conveyed 
 is only to be administered in homoeopathic doses to the mass 
 of mankind, as they are able to bear it, under the lock and 
 key of St. Peter, and his unerring successors in the papal 
 chair. The belief in natural inspiration, — the inspiration 
 of truth and love given to every man, the light that lighteth 
 every man that cometh into the world, but given to some 
 more than others, shining more clearly in Moses and in 
 Christ, in David and Paul, than in others, but shining also 
 in Socrates and Seneca, — this belief is extensively dif- 
 fused in Germany, and has strong advocates in England 
 and Arnerica. By this rule all inspiration is of one and the 
 same kind, and differs only in degree. But the doctrine we 
 prefer is what may be called a moral inspiration ; special, 
 miraculous, supemsituYol, but not wwnatural ; above reason, 
 but not irrational ; a spiritual even more than an intellectual 
 afflatus, vouchsafed in different degrees according to the 
 age and its wants, from the baptism of the cloud to that of 
 water, and thence to that of fire and the Holy Spirit, the 
 dove and the cloven tongues. But according to this view, 
 the Bible itself is not the identical inspiration, but a record 
 of inspirations ; a history, a monument, of that golden 
 age, when the blind Earth, after all her far, solemn voy- 
 agings around the universe, put as it were into port, saw 
 a vision of angels from the heavenly hills, and heard as 
 the mighty sound of many waters the voice of her Sov- 
 ereign. 
 
 We would remark, before commencing the argument in 
 favor of any one of these theories, that this multifarious 
 state of the question does not stagger our faith in the spe- 
 ciality of inspiration, and its uncounted value to mankind. 
 For all great spiritual subjects must lie, from the nature of 
 
4 THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 
 
 the case, in indefinite and wavering outlines upon the gen- 
 eral mind. Some will draw the circle here, others there. 
 God, Jesus Christ, the soul, duty, truth, immortality, are all 
 subject to this imperfect conception, and conflicting realiza- 
 tion, and degrees of faith. Some ask. What precisely is in- 
 spiration ? How much of it is in the Scriptures, or in par- 
 ticular books ? What is the exact limit where the natural 
 ceases, and the supernatural begins ? We cannot tell any 
 more than we can say exactly what reason, what genius, is. 
 These points are in litigation as well as that of inspiration. 
 One man says, genius is self-excitement ; another, that it is 
 the power of lighting its own fire ; another, that it is tran- 
 scendental intuition ; and yet another, that genius is study ; 
 it is that in the mind which studies. But these various 
 definitions cannot destroy our faith in the gift of God called 
 genius, however hard it may be to define it. The doctrine 
 of inspiration, or of supernatural genius, like the rest of its 
 class, is neither definable, nor demonstrable by a multipli- 
 cation, but by a moral, table. 
 
 Some one has said, that many men are convinced, but 
 few are persuaded ; the one being more exclusively a men- 
 tal, and the other a combined mental and moral state. The 
 fact of inspiration is based on impregnable intellectual 
 grounds, but full justice is not done to it, until it makes its 
 appeal to the deep spiritual experiences and moral senti- 
 ments of our being. " Spiritual things are spiritually dis- 
 cerned." " In his light we see light." " He that doeth his 
 will shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God," or 
 not. It is all the better, not the weaker, for this class of 
 truths, that they cannot be decided by Euclid and the black- 
 board, but address the whole living man through the entire 
 range of his faculties, and put to the test every drop of his 
 manhood, be it in head, or heart, or hand. Give us, we say, 
 these moral questions, which inclose in theiJ discussion 
 
THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 5 
 
 education, character, life, conscience, as well as bold thought ; 
 for their agitation does us more good than other questions 
 can by their settlement. Welcome the themes that over- 
 come us with a new emotion, break the rusty chains of 
 monotony, and lead us up to a mount of mystic Transfigu- 
 ration. "With human beings in every conceivable attitude 
 toward the Infinite and Eternal, from defiant rebellion to 
 adoring trust, how should any rigid uniformity of belief as 
 to the nature, quantity, or mode of that aid by which God 
 assists his striving children be possible ? That must be a 
 poor and small, not a wellnigh boundless question, which 
 can be solved with absolute certainty, can be put into the 
 scales and weighed with a pound of tea, or set down upon 
 the slate and worked out by the rule of three. We make 
 these remarks because the tendency of our material times is 
 to be impatient of moral uncertainties and contingencies, 
 and to call nothing true which cannot be proved, and noth- 
 ing good which will not pay. Better the reign of the 
 Schoolmen again, than that our vast and varied being should 
 be shrivelled up to the materialism of business, or to the 
 mere mechanics and mathematics of science. The ele- 
 ments which enter into this single question of inspiration 
 are subject to the laws of two worlds. Both poles look to- 
 wards an infinitude ; one on the side of immortal man, and 
 the other on the side of the Eternal God. 
 
 Then, again, in their use as well as their nature, it is all 
 the better that moral problems, such as the one under con- 
 sideration, do not, like the forty-fifth proposition, annihilate 
 choice, and extort assent. That cannot be the greatest of 
 questions which can be settled in this world. The Supreme 
 Intelligence has not with his revelations sought to override 
 the soul's birthright of freedom, but has tenderly respected 
 the fearful play of the human will, as a privilege incalcula- 
 bly dear and valuable. Inspiration does not become dem- 
 
6 THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 
 
 onstration or infallibility. But the Church of Rome, for 
 example, misunderstands human nature as much as she 
 transcends her own sacred office, when she padlocks the 
 mouth of discussion, and excommunicates all who do not 
 bow in compliance with her own assumed exemption from 
 error. She, a mortal Church, undertakes to do that which 
 the Eternal One himself forbore to do out of his regard to 
 man's moral freedom. But by inflicting a mortal wound 
 upon reason, she has sentenced not man alone, but herself, 
 to irrationality. She decrees that science, literature, and 
 theology shall not move in this moving universe, and the 
 retribution is sure as doom, that she herself shall be tied to 
 the dead past, and die with it. Other bodies of Christians 
 have sought to establish the same eternity for their frag- 
 mentary ism, and to shut the doors on all progress. But 
 not in such wise has the wisdom from above been given to 
 the family of man. The Infinite does not descend in fire 
 from heaven to consume with his brightness the finite. 
 The truths of inspiration are not refrigerators and silencers, 
 but awakeners, of the intellect and the heart. Nothing is 
 fixed, nothing final ; ends become means, conclusions prem- 
 ises, to lead on and up to higher ends and nobler results, 
 to God, to immortality, to the eternity of eternities. Hence, 
 though above man so high, the Inspired One respects him, 
 and teaches him to respect himself: "I speak as to wise 
 men, judge ye what I say ; why even of yourselves judge 
 ye not what is right ? " The Scriptures are so wonderfully 
 given, as to be an unfailing fount of wisdom, and yet they 
 do not play the tyrant over the nature they were commis- 
 sioned to redeem. Thus the Infinite gives, thus the finite 
 receives in kind, wisdom, truth, love without end. Virtue 
 under this system is no chain, but a deliverence from all 
 chains, — perfect freedom, perfect joy. While every Chris- 
 tian must say with the deepest humility, " By the grace of 
 
THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 7 
 
 God I am what I am " ; he will equally recognize that other 
 hemisphere of truth, " Ask and it shall be given you, seek 
 and ye shall find." For the Most High has delegated to his 
 child the awful trust to some extent of self-creation, with 
 its tremendous risks and its superlative happiness. 
 
 We would not dogmatize, then, on the subject of inspira- 
 tion, or say that our theory is the only one consistent with 
 the best influence of the Scriptures upon the inner and outer 
 life, for we do not believe that the Great God has narrowed 
 to such confines the flowing streams of his spirit. Upon 
 whom doth not his light arise? Nevertheless, while we 
 would not dogmatize, we are entirely and earnestly per- 
 suaded that wrong notions of the nature, extent, and method 
 of divine aid blight with a killing mildew many of the fair 
 blossoms of Gospel promise. For the exact fact, reality 
 truth, is always a million times better than any error, how- 
 ever moderate, or seemingly innocent. The distance be- 
 tween error and truth cannot be measured by any arithmetic 
 of ours. Terrible evils in the long range of the future may 
 be coiled up in the serpent eggs of some insignificant fal- 
 sities of to-day. Good Christians do verily grow towards 
 perfection under every variety of spiritual cultivation ; but 
 then the proposition stands for ever that the best method is 
 the best, and that it is to be sought with the whole heart, 
 soul, mind, and strength, as we love our Maker. 
 
 But one of the most common and fatal sources of error 
 in regard to inspiration, as to all spiritual matters, is the in- 
 clination to run to extremes in opinion, and in no country 
 more than America has this tendency been accelerated by 
 the surrounding forces of society. It is an age of haste. 
 We precipitate ourselves with the momentum of gravitation 
 on whatever we undertake, and apply our minds to moral 
 and political subjects as fiercely as our axes to the ancient 
 forests. Americans like strong doctrines and strong laws. 
 
8 
 
 THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 
 
 The medium, which Horace pronounced most safe,^ is too 
 tame for their exasperated genius. The law of extras and 
 ultras is in the ascendant. Hence, remarkable results fol- 
 low. They whet the five points of Calvin to their utmost 
 sharpness, or break them off altogether. They raise the 
 revival system to a white heat, and glory in putting their 
 converts through quick. One distinguished divine declares 
 Christianity to be a failure, and another alleviates the irra- 
 tional dogma of original sin by the supposition of a pre- 
 existent state. Hell has been stormed and carried by assault 
 by one denomination, and -the Devil himself unceremoni- 
 ously reduced to a nonentity. Extreme individualism is 
 crumbling up already broken sects into still smaller frag- 
 ments, as if division were the only fundamental rule. Fa- 
 naticism knows no stop until it invents a new style of Ma- 
 hometanism, and plants a new Mecca for the faithful in the 
 valley of Utah. Rationalism drives on full tilt until it lands 
 on the cloud banks of Pantheism. " That bourne whence 
 no traveller returns " is now visited twenty times of an 
 evening, and a railroad is not more thronged with comers 
 and goers. The truth is, our young blood boils too hotly 
 in the veins to give us the grace of strong, serene life. We 
 are eager, rush- headlong, go the whole, do not discriminate, 
 and prefer smart, brilliant paradoxes to sound, moderate 
 truths that are not startling. Nowhere on the planet does 
 the moral pendulum oscillate with a wider sweep from side 
 to side, because nowhere else are the faculties of the whole 
 man mustered, as here, to the conflicts of politics, morals, 
 science, and theology. These extravaganzas are more hope- 
 ful than harmful, for they show that the dead and buried 
 souls of men have heard " the trump of resurrection " ; and 
 though they stagger awhile in their grave-clothes, as did 
 Lazarus at the broken tomb, they shall soon hear a com- 
 manding voice of the Master, " Loose them ; let them go." 
 
THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 9 
 
 To apply these remarks to the matter before us; — we 
 are satisfied, from the best inquiry and observation we can 
 make, that a large number of persons of education and in- 
 telligence are out-and-out rationalists. The exaggerated 
 statement of a writer in a late number of that very able re- 
 ligious newspaper, the New York Independent, is that four 
 fifths of the young men of our country, who have so many 
 lectures written for their special behoof, are sceptically in- 
 clined. We would qualify this by saying, that we are not 
 hastily to infer that these times are more irreligious than 
 others, for religion may be manifested now in new forms. 
 But for all that, disbelief in some quarters has become a 
 fashion ; while, on the other hand, the Evangelical churches, 
 as they exclusively term themselves, are insisting in their 
 books and tracts, with even stronger emphasis, on the ex- 
 treme views of a verbal and plenary inspiration, as if alarmed 
 at the daring invasions of human reason. But a split must 
 come erelong even among them, and already the charges of 
 heresy are hurled as ready missiles from the lofty battle- 
 ments of more than one of their seats of learning at some 
 peccant man or school. But it is a peculiarity of evil, that 
 it cannot be overcome by evil ; only good is a champion 
 equal to that encounter. We would modestly propose to 
 act as mediators between the extreme right and the extreme 
 left, and with our Unitarian views point out what we regard 
 as a more excellent way. We would show the rationalist, 
 that the highest act of human reason is to discern and re- 
 ceive the lessons of the Divine Reason, and that his theory 
 makes revelation an even greater wonder than it was before 
 with the doctrine of miracles. We have not credulity 
 enough to believe in his view, as he says he has not enough 
 to believe in ours. On the other side, we would show the 
 advocates of a verbal dictation, that, so far as the supposed 
 advantages of such a process are concerned, a miracle would 
 
10 THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 
 
 still be necessary in every case to guard each mind from 
 error in perusing the book thus written ; for the difficulties 
 of language, translation, various education and spirituality, 
 still intervene, and shatter their perfect white light of truth 
 into the sevenfold dyes of the rainbow. The subject must 
 be insured against error, as well as the object rendered im- 
 maculate, else their case is not made out. But the discrep- 
 ancies of testimony confirm the honesty of the witnesses, 
 the varieties of intellectual and moral power charm us as in 
 a work of genius, and the age-long language and world-wide 
 character of the book set it heaven-high above the range of 
 suspicion that it was the work of a clique or the project ol 
 a conspiracy. This theory confounds all simplicity, and 
 destroys all progress. It makes the Old Testament as good 
 as the New, and sets the Gospels on the same level with 
 the Epistle of Jude or the Book of Revelation. 
 
 But such is the craving for excitement, the appetite for 
 bold, extreme views, that the moderate man is charged with 
 want of moral courage. Because a man does not startle 
 the world with turning Romanist on one side, or Pantheist 
 on the other, it is gravely suggested that he is deficient in 
 independence. Strong, piquant statements fascinate the 
 world, though the truth may be crucified between them. 
 The main aspect of religious controversies is, that both par- 
 ties are so wide of the mark, that you care little who suc- 
 ceeds. It is the potsherds of the earth, grinding one against 
 another ; — let them grind. How faintly do we as yet see 
 that the truth, the truth, winnow it clean as we can from 
 the chaff" of corruptions, is aU-important, and infinitely valu- 
 able, and worthy of a world more of pains, studies, and 
 sacrifices than we make, to secure it without spot or 
 blemish. 
 
 Another eiTor and evil in the consideration of this ques- 
 tion of Biblical inspiration and authority is, that all its 
 
THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 11 
 
 contents have been merged in one volume, the writers all 
 squared by the same standard, the characters all required to 
 be morally perfect, the same Procrustean rule applied as the 
 test to the Song of Solomon and the Sermon on the Mount. 
 No moral perspective has been observed, and no moral im- 
 agination has been exercised, in recreating and reconceiving 
 the diversified life of the ancient world. The Scriptures we 
 hold to be inspked, a speciality in literature, an authority in 
 faith, " the law of the spirit of life," — a book which man, 
 or men, could not have composed, collected, and commis- 
 sioned — one paramount key-note sounding from beginning 
 to end — unless the writers had enjoyed an illumination 
 superior to what Virgil received in waiting his poems, Xen- 
 ophon his histories, or Shakespeare his plays. But then the 
 inspiration is not one in quantity or one in quality through- 
 out. It has rises and falls, lights and shadows, expansions 
 and contractions, of the divine element. So it is in the 
 works of creation ; why not then in the works of grace ? 
 We do not presume to tie up the Infinite Power to one 
 mode of operation in matter ; why should we in the yet 
 more boundless realm of spirit ? In this characteristic, we 
 submit, the Bible is a natural book, it lies like fair Nature 
 herself, vast, varied, unequal, beautiful, amazing, but hold- 
 ing an infinity of particulars subordinate to the one grand 
 strain. It is a book which steers clear of the common van- 
 ity of authors ; one in which the writers claim little for 
 themselves, but all for theu* subject, — are sometimes un- 
 known, — do not override the freedom of man, — at times 
 say they speak as men ; but yet a book in which one har- 
 monious and ever-brightening radiance of the religious sen- 
 timent shines, from Old to New, from Adam to Christ, and 
 the idea of God, and man's duty to him, sit enthroned and 
 sovereign. It is a history, poem, hymn, sermon, prophecy, 
 argument, dialogue, essay, fiction, tragedy, and its sweep of 
 
12 THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 
 
 variety is equal to its steadiness of aim. In such a state 
 of things, to plant a genealogy from Chronicles side by side 
 with the beatitudes, and to attempt to extract as much spir- 
 itual nutriment out of the sketches of the rude Philistines 
 and Edomites as from the Epistles to the Corinthians, seems 
 to be a confounding of all moral distinctions. The Canon 
 has always been in discussion ; some receiving more and 
 others less ; Luther stigmatizing the Epistle of James as an 
 epistle of straw, and Swedenborg rejecting those of Paul 
 from the word of the Lord, as not of the highest authority 
 and spirituality. Now we contend that the spiritual and 
 vivifying power of the Scriptures is not impaired, but en- 
 hanced, by this various dealing with its contents, and this 
 miscellaneous condition of the book itself. For man was 
 not made to be most influenced by set rules, but by large 
 principles ; not by an abstract creed, confession, or constitu- 
 tion, indited after the manner of a legal instrument, but by 
 a mingling in one volume of all the methods of literary and 
 moral composition. The very state of the Bible, which is 
 objected to as invalidating its authority, is most favorable 
 for awakening attention and inquiry, speaking to different 
 stages of culture, and leaving human freedom inviolate. 
 Each one calls that part best, which is best suited to his 
 state of character. He reads what he affects. He calls that 
 inspired which to him is inspiring, and he truly judges that 
 the height of the cause must bear some proportion to the 
 depth of the effect. So tenderly has the right of free judg- 
 ment been respected, and so little has the human mind been 
 overborne by the wisdom from on high, that thus far the 
 major portion of the Christian world is buried in Judaism, 
 sticks to Moses and the Prophets, and has not yet reached 
 Jesus and his glorious company of Apostles, nor heard the 
 angelic song of Glory to God, and peace on earth, nor the 
 parables of the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan, nor 
 
THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 13 
 
 the prayer on the cross. But by the refining and reforming 
 processes of Christian thought, Judaism is gradually waning 
 from its supremacy, is chiefly valued as it stands connected 
 with the Gospel as its antecedent, and because its records 
 are the treasure-house of such unequalled strains of devo- 
 tional poetry, golden sentences of wisdom, and sublime 
 prophecies, while the Gospel is daily rising to its just sov- 
 ereignty, us the effectual instrument for the regeneration of 
 the whole world. 
 
 According to the declarations of the book itself, revelation 
 is progressive, the Jewish Scriptures containing a promise, 
 and the Christian a fulfilment of the same. It is remark- 
 able that, while all other nations placed the age of gold in a 
 remote past, the Hebrews dated it in the far-off future. 
 But if there are these gradations in the general system from 
 the law of Moses to the love of Christ, why should it be a 
 thing incredible, that there are degrees of illumination, and 
 that, while to One was given the Spirit " not by measure," 
 to others of the sacred speakers and penmen it was granted 
 as they were fitted to bear it, or as the wants of the time 
 required ? Among miracles there may be the greater and 
 the less ; why should not the supernatural as well as the 
 natural works of God exhibit variety ? We may not be 
 able to tell the precise quantity or quahty of inspiration in 
 a given case, as we often find it difficult to determine the 
 exact calibre of a genius, and define the position of a 
 Wordsworth in one age, or a Smith in another ; but when 
 we see the sun, we say without hesitation, " There is the 
 king of day," though we may be unable to compute the 
 temperature, number, or essence of his beams. So we say 
 of the Bible, " There is the sun of suns, with light from be- 
 yond the empyrean." Like the mighty luminary of the 
 sky, it has some dark spots on its disc, but when we can- 
 didly examine it, and see its incomparable superiority to 
 
14 THE BIBLE, INSPIRED Ax\D INSPIRING. 
 
 the sacred books of other nations ; when we find it so sug- 
 gestive of spiritual truth, dealing with the highest relations, 
 duties, and prospects of man as it respects God, the uni- 
 verse, and futurity ; when we contemplate the unity and 
 progressive nature of the plan it unfolds, and consider that 
 the agents who were concerned in it lived thousands of 
 years apart, and that the conspiracy to impose upon man- 
 kind, if conspiracy it was, ramified over distant generations, 
 and embraced a long line of the gi-eatest and best men who 
 have lived on the earth, with Jesus Christ at the head, and 
 that these men lifted up a light in the world which would 
 condemn their own characters if their purposes had been 
 dishonest ; and when we reflect upon the results of this 
 work in the world, its duration, its subjection of different 
 ages, nations, and civilizations more or less completely to 
 its controlling spirit, its rich and unceasing development of 
 truth to suit the progress of man, new germs coming out 
 of old seeds ; — upon a calm survey of all this ground, we 
 cannot doubt that the Scriptures contain the record of a 
 supernatural revelation from God, mingled indeed more or 
 less with the individualities, and of course the imperfections, 
 of the persons who indited them, but possessing an inspira- 
 tion and an authority, in addition to their truth, not granted 
 to other books of wisdom and genius. It is philosophical 
 to account for a stupendous effect by seeking for an ade- 
 quate cause, and we confess we can discover no cause able 
 to produce the effect the Bible has had upon the world ex- 
 cept its special and inspired character. No other sacred 
 books have claimed universality, or insisted upon being 
 heard in the forum of conscience and the privacy of the 
 heart, as the unerring guide, as the perfect comforter, as the 
 life-giving inspirer. It is not criminal to neglect to read 
 Plato's Dialogues, — other things may more than make up 
 for that loss ; but it is criminal to neglect to read the New 
 
THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 15 
 
 Testament, for he who misses that loses a great good, which 
 no library of Alexandria or the Vatican can supply. 
 
 It has sometimes been said, in reply to these views, that 
 the volume does not claim to be inspired, and that it sets up 
 for itself no such superiority as its advocates allege in its 
 behalf. But to this we answer that it does contain a 
 " Thus-saith-the-Lord,''^ repeated many times, and that how- 
 ever we may make that phrase a mere Hebraism to express 
 a good impulse, or a dictate of reason and conscience, yet 
 we cannot avoid the conclusion that the conduct of the 
 Prophets and of the Apostles was often regulated by some 
 principle or communication from above, different from the 
 ordinary exercise of the human faculties. If it is replied 
 that these were peculiar men, gifted religious geniuses, abo- 
 riginal saints and sages, then we would inquire, why other 
 nations, far more favored by education, position, and native 
 talent, have not been able to produce, we do not say a 
 whole list like that of the Hebrew commonwealth, but even 
 one solitary character of a faith like Abraham's, of a purity 
 like Joseph's, of a wisdom like that of Moses, of devotional 
 song like the Psalms of David, of hallowed imagination 
 like that of Isaiah, of a charity like the love of John, and of 
 a zeal equal to Paul's. The Israelites were once slaves, a 
 stiff-necked people, according to their own candid history, 
 not richly endowed either intellectually or morally, hard to 
 be improved, easy to backslide ; yet they supply a cluster 
 of religious leaders, reformers, and idealists, such as the 
 world has never witnessed before or since, — such as not 
 merely one nation, but all nations, cannot match. And 
 when upon such pillars the capital was set, — the Lord of 
 glory, — the Temple of the Most High was perfected on 
 earth. These men speak and act as for God, and not man, 
 and, inspired with a holy spirit themselves, they have be- 
 come divinely inspiring to others, who have even so much 
 
16 THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 
 
 as touched the hem of their garments. The mighty cause 
 has achieved a sublime effect. We rather would say, that 
 it is an eminent feature of this book that it does claim a 
 rightful supremacy over the faith and obedience of all men, 
 a kingdom of heaven over all the kingdoms of earth. They 
 do speak in character, and they unconsciously assume, when 
 they do not directly express, their right and title to enlighten 
 and guide every man's mind, heart, and conscience before 
 his Maker. Especially in the New Testament, where the 
 plan of thousands of years culminates to its glorious con- 
 summation, the assumption by Jesus and his Apostles of 
 more than human wisdom and authority is plain as the 
 noonday. If this were fanaticism, it combined with it a 
 discretion and a power to substantiate its claims, such as 
 no other fanaticism ever afforded, and such too as no other 
 wisdom of the wise, nor power of the strong, has been able 
 to present. If this were dishonesty, it was coupled with 
 the most remarkable purity of private life, fervor of self- 
 sacrifice, love of the truth, and devotion to the good of 
 mankind. If it is so easy for poets to sing like David, for 
 preachers to argue like Paul, and if it was only a rare re- 
 ligious genius who spoke through the wondrous lips of 
 Jesus, then we would earnestly press the question till it is 
 answered. Why, why has the history of six thousand years 
 been so destitute of such instances ? Why cannot vast 
 Christendom now, with its rich experience, its cultured mind 
 and heart, yield one work, or small chapter, or hymn, that 
 shall be read without blame along with the seventeenth 
 chapter of John, or the fifteenth of the First of Corinthians ; 
 one that shall carry such a weight of spirituality, that shall 
 so speak to the depths of the moral nature, and announce the 
 duties of a race with such an easy and natural majesty, as 
 the beatitudes and golden rules of the Galilean carpenter ? 
 The argument of permanency is a strong one in behalf of 
 
THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 17 
 
 an inspired and authoritative revelation. Wise Egypt, pol- 
 ished Greece, and proud Rome, as institutions, exist no 
 more ; but homely Judaea, as an institution, lives, spreads, 
 emigrates, and lays hold of immortality. Assyrians, Ty- 
 rians, and Romans, as races, are obsolete, but the Jews are 
 shone upon by to-day's sun in every latitude and longitude, 
 a quite universal people, hale and hopeful from the battle 
 of three thousand years. The pivot of the argument is here, 
 that the religion and polity of this wonderful people, though 
 superseded by their development and exhaustion in Chris- 
 tianity, were so potent with vitality from their divine origin, 
 that they live on and keep the heart warm and the soul 
 firm from generation to generation, long after the original 
 impulse has been transferred elsewhere. If Judaism, the 
 incipient institution, have such longevity, what will be the 
 duration of Christianity, its full-grown power ? The Veds 
 of Hindooism, the Morals of Confucius, the Oracles of Zo- 
 roaster, the Koran of Mahomet, are doomed and declining. 
 None of these have been able to get the least hold upon the 
 Western and ascending races ; they are imbedded only in 
 the Eastern and perishing races. The seeds of truth from 
 Judaea flying westward have taken root, and the fate of 
 Babylon has not been the fate of Jerusalem, to die out of 
 all memory and affection of mankind. Our domestic Ma- 
 hometanism of the Great Salt Lake, and its volume of 
 fables, contain the elements of a speedy dissolution. This 
 book, on the other hand, does not die, but lives ; is trans- 
 lated into many scores of languages and dialects, and dif- 
 fused like the leaves of Vallombrosa, east, west, north, south, 
 to the ends of the world. Other systems, propped up by 
 colossal pillars of empire, buttressed and fortressed by hoary 
 customs, are waning, and dropping piecemeal ; but tlxis vol- 
 ume is young and beautiful to-day, and no thought yet has 
 gone higher than its thought of God, no love has welled up 
 
18 THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 
 
 from such depths as its love of God. How shall we speak 
 befittingly of the difference between the two cases, except 
 we say, " The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth 
 away, but the word of the Lord endureth for ever " ? 
 
 Then look at its power of resistance against all the en- 
 ginery brought to bear upon it in these hard-headed Western 
 nations. All species of scepticisms have taken their turns 
 at it to demolish it, — the scorn of Lucian, the philosophy 
 of Hume, the history of Gibbon, the science of France, the 
 freedom of Paine, the rationalism of Germany, the material- 
 ism of England and America ; but none of these things es- 
 sentially move it. For they who say of the Church, " We 
 have sapped its life," and of the Scriptures, " Lay that vol- 
 ume on the upper shelf," have not read the papers, and are 
 not living in the living world. Indeed, they have no more 
 apprehension of the zeal, number, breadth, and success of 
 the Christian enterprises now on foot, and wafting their 
 promises to every clime, than a babe has of the powers of 
 language. We well know how even learned men may re- 
 fine and re-refine their theories, and run off" upon a wrong 
 track, until they lose all hold of the realities of the universe, 
 and their arguments and their principles become as baseless 
 as the fabric of a dream. Is it not so with this class ? 
 
 We press the inquiry, then. How happens it, if this reve- 
 lation does not contain the special, inspired truths of the 
 divine and otherwise and hitherto incommunicable reason 
 of the Absolute and Infinite One, that the more the din of 
 appetite and passion is hushed, and the still, small voice of 
 reason is heard, — that the farther and the loftier science 
 and learning swell their triumphs, — that the more arts and 
 inventions are perfected, — and, in a word, the more deeply 
 the human soul enters into the knowledge of the scheme of 
 creation, — the more widely does this scroll fly abroad in 
 the earth, scattering its leaves as from the tree of life for the 
 
THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 19 
 
 healing of the nations ? If not consentaneous with the 
 higher than human plane of thought, how has so old a book, 
 so new and young a power, permeating with its spirit edu- 
 cation and government, art and literature, leading the 
 world's leaders, burning in the lyrics and stories of freedom 
 and the appeals of temperance, and melting in the accents of 
 peace, and smoothing the seamed and haggard face of soci- 
 ety with every lovely feature an angel might wear ? That 
 the Bible, asbestos-like, can stand the fire and light of 
 modern investigation, and grow purer and brighter by the 
 searching analysis ; that it becomes mistress of the hardiest 
 races, and is spread most widely throughout two nations 
 and fifty millions of haughty Anglo-Saxons, and that, un- 
 satisfied with any past achievements, it goes on conquering 
 and to conquer; — these are presumptive evidences of no 
 little weight in support of some remarkable power in these 
 books, unknown before. For we still urge the question 
 upon every reflecting mind, Why have the rebellious He- 
 brews effected a result to which the philosophical Greeks, 
 the sagacious Romans, the devout Arabs, the contemplative 
 Hindoos, the brilliant Persians, and the moral Chinese, have 
 proved unequal ? By what wit or wisdom were they of a 
 provincial state able to accomplish the universal and the 
 eternal kingdom ? We know no better solution than the 
 words of Jesus on a like occasion, — " Even so. Father, for 
 so it seemed good in thy sight." 
 
 This lofty superiority of the Gospel especially has been 
 well expressed by Ackermann, in his work entitled " The* 
 Christian in Plato." He says, as quoted in the Christian 
 Examiner for January, 1839 : — 
 
 " We affirm that, out of the Church of the Lord, there 
 never was a more Christian philosophy than the Platonic. 
 We affirm that Christianity, — which from the beginning 
 lay in the bosom of history, — before its bodily appearance 
 
20 THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 
 
 in the person and life of Jesus, had reached a degree of 
 perfection in the minds of thinking men, who were inquiring 
 after divine truth, — and this ideal gospel was Platonism. 
 In uttering this, we have said the most and the best of him 
 which we can say with a well-grounded conviction. Pla- 
 tonism can never have more than an ideal power and great- 
 ness. 
 
 " But now if Platonism, by its ideal nature, its religious 
 sublimity, the perfect beauty of its dialectic form, is so ad- 
 mirably fitted to astonish and inspire the thinking, and to 
 win all souls that aspire after the Divine, — how great, how 
 infinitely great, must be the hidden, inward power of the 
 plain words of the humble Jesus, which, though destitute of 
 all that is so enchanting in Platonism, have not only estab- 
 lished a mighty Church, but have triumphantly outlasted 
 Platonism, its most venerable and most powerful antago- 
 nist ! And if, as is well known, in the whole philosophical 
 literature of ancient and modern times, no production can 
 be found which equals Platonism in its aesthetic perfection 
 of form, in profoundness, in wealth of ideas, and in the lofty 
 soaring of a spirit inspired by God, how incomparably high 
 must Christianity stand, since we see the loftiest work of 
 human art and wisdom far beneath it ! " 
 
 But in advocating the characteristic of a special inspira- 
 tion in the Scriptures, we encounter some who reject it on 
 the basis of a mistaken intellectualism. They wellnigh 
 adore, it may be, the specialities of genius, their Goethe, or 
 Carlyle, or Coleridge, but recoil from the specialities of in- 
 spiration, the Isaiah, the James, as something contracted 
 and canting. We would suggest to any such, that thought 
 must be incarnated, and that that wisdom is most wise 
 which walks among men and mingles with their life its pure 
 and holy stream. These persons profess, to use one of their 
 own terms, to ignore the moral, and look upon mere thought 
 
THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 21 
 
 as the chief immaterial power, and for inspiration they write 
 genius. But the point is, that by this step they lose not 
 only the rich spiritual experiences of a believer in a special 
 Christianity, but they in reality forego the grandest form 
 and the most enduring which intellectual energies can 
 achieve, and that is wisdom. We live in an age and a land 
 where smartness, shrewdness, cunning, and brilliancy of 
 thought are esteemed as the most regal gifts of the mind, 
 and full-orbed and compacted wisdom is put at a lower 
 figure, if it have not the trumpets of praise and self-love to 
 blow its own progress. The leading sceptics, however, as 
 a general rule, have not been the first-class minds, the im- 
 mortal few who have led the ages, but they have been 
 themselves the thing they most admired in others, ingenious, 
 smart, active, shrewd intellects, but not clothed upon with 
 Mntonic thunder or Newtonian light. The ingenuity 
 which can invent a new steam-engine, or discover a better 
 method of growing peaches, is not always associated with 
 the other attributes which are requisite to appreciate the 
 lofty, contemplative thought, the impartial wisdom, the au- 
 gust reverence before highest Heaven, the fervent and life- 
 and-death devotion to the truth, and the all-embracing char- 
 ity, of ffim who spake as never man spake. Let those who 
 are disposed to reject revelation, in any form or degree, un- 
 derstand that in doing so they are not taking a higher, but 
 a lower, intellectual, as well as moral position, than the full 
 receiver. The brilliant eccentricities of genius delight us 
 for a time, but they soon become " stale, flat, and unprofit- 
 able." Intellectual dynasties rise, flourish, and decline. At 
 certain periods of life we are Byronic, then Carlylian, then 
 Franklinian, then Shakespearian. At certain ages,, of Peri- 
 cles, Augustus, or Queen Anne, a special form of literature, 
 shaped by the ideas which have then come to light, is de- 
 veloped, superseded, and in time fossilized into the perma- 
 
22 THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 
 
 nent formations of which our intellectual earth is built 
 up. But it is the solitary glory of the book of books, God- 
 breathed and life-giving, to arch itself over all ages ; and 
 
 while 
 
 " His truths upon the nations rise, 
 They rise, but never set." 
 
 In the wisest intellects of Greece and Rome there is a cer- 
 tain unsoundness ; we feel that they have not got hold of 
 the true theory of the universe and intellectually thought 
 the thoughts of God. Hence, upon their works must be 
 written, " Mene, mene, tekel, iipharsin.^^ They are read and 
 will ever be read by a few of the learned, and known as 
 mighty names and spells of power by a larger class of the 
 intelligent, but they exert no real controlling power on the 
 mind of universal humanity. They are not strong, wise, 
 all-sided, and absolute enough to hold the spiritual sceptre 
 of the ages. Before Christianity got fairly under weigh, 
 Platonism and the Aristotelian philosophy for a time quite 
 overbore it ; but as it has won for itself a larger freedom, and 
 spread over a greater extent of mind, it has sloughed off 
 these earlier corruptions, and it has, and it will, more and 
 more become itself, in its native spirit of power, and love, 
 and a sound mind, and reign sovereign over the philosophy, 
 as well as the morals, of the world, and inspire art, science, 
 and literature with their inmost wisdom, as much as piety 
 and philanthropy with their justifying and rapturous senti- 
 ments. We may rest doubly assured, that no mere feeble 
 work of mind, however elevated in moral tone, could thus 
 master the masters of the mental sphere. The testimony 
 of such imperial natures as Taylor, Milton, Pascal, Locke, 
 Newton, Bacon, Scott, Wordsworth, Coleridge, demon- 
 strates that they felt a deep in the Scriptures calling upon 
 the deep in then* own being ; or, as the last has expressed 
 it, that in " the Bible there is more that finds me, than I 
 
THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 23 
 
 have experienced in all other books put together ; that the 
 words of the Bible find me at greater depths of my beino- ; 
 and that whatever finds me brings with it an irresistible evi- 
 dence of having proceeded from the Holy Spirit." 
 
 But it is said, What do you gain by your speciality of 
 revelation ? You only receive at the most the truth, and 
 the rejecter of inspiration receives as much as that, and 
 more than that is folly or superstition. Is he not as happy 
 in his unbelief, as you are in your belief ? Does he not ex- 
 tract as much good from life, and from the great Nature, 
 and encompassing Providence, and solemn Past, as you do ? 
 We must reply, that, according to our views, he loses much 
 every way. He misses intellectually no little of the power 
 which the full conviction of faith would give ; and he fails 
 of receiving in the heart that peculiar peace and rest of soul, 
 which come from reposing on the promises of God, and 
 feeling that they are his promises, and that, if these fail, 
 
 " The pillared firmament itself is rottenness." 
 
 The more earnest the faith, the more do we rise from the 
 din and smoke of earth into the stormless calm and azure 
 of heaven's heights. Life then assumes ever a deeper 
 meaning, a tenderer joy, a more heart-felt satisfaction. We 
 pass within the outworks to the life of life ; and the zest of 
 youth and spring is again fresh in sense and soul. For in 
 the Scriptures we look at all things from a divine, not a 
 human stand-point, and the joy and strength and love of 
 the Highest pass into us while we are beholding. And then 
 also, in those darker days, when " the house we live in " be- 
 gins to decay, and " mind and memory flee," how securely 
 does the devotee to this higher wisdom and love witness the 
 desolation going on, and hear the busy carpenters tearing 
 down the scaffolding of his existence, only that his true be- 
 ing may stand out in all its simple beauty and reality ! 
 
24 THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 
 
 He knows as Plato never knew ; and the special wisdom of 
 God hath appeared to bring this life and immortality to 
 light, that, though "his outward man perish, the inward 
 man is renewed day by day " ; and " that, if his earthly 
 house of this tabernacle were dissolved, he has a building 
 of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the 
 heavens." 
 
 As the Scriptures are inspired, so, if faithfully used, do 
 they become life-awakening and soul-inspiring. As they 
 are living, their pupil is living likewise ; as they are wise 
 and loving, he is changed into the same image from strength 
 to strength, and from glory to glory. The soul of the world 
 is brutish, and its ear dull of hearing ; but when God thun- 
 ders and lightens out of heaven, men cannot but look up 
 with awe ; and when he says, in the still, small voice of 
 love, though it thrills through the soul more than all the 
 thunderings and lightnings of Sinai, " This is my beloved 
 Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him," they cannot 
 but hear him, and they have heard him more than any or 
 all other teachers for twenty centuries, and they will go on 
 hearing him for ever. 
 
 We live, in truth, in an image-breaking age. We are 
 impatient of the past, because forsooth it is the past. We 
 bid it good-by, and seem to care not to meet it again. Our 
 young country stands straining on the lists, champing the 
 bit till it is white with foam, and hot with impatience to 
 thunder forth and scour the plain in still wider circles of 
 enterprise, and challenge still prouder victories over matter 
 and over men. Young America is a terrible power in the 
 earth. But the voice of the Master, mightier than that of 
 any earthly potentate, shall be able to say, " Peace, Peace ! " 
 instead of war, to this Hercules, and he shall sit clothed 
 and in his right mind. 
 
 But in order that the inspiration in the Bible may become 
 
THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 25 
 
 inspiration in us, we must read, and muse, till the fire burns. 
 The deep book must be read with our deepest mind. " K 
 the well is deep, and we have nothing to draw with, from 
 whence then can we have that living water ? " Voltake 
 confessed that he had not even read the whole of the book 
 upon which he poured out such a merciless scorn. Other 
 infidels have confessed to a similar neglect. We say, then, 
 for honesty's sake, give as much study to your theology as 
 you do to your geology or astronomy, your navigation, engi- 
 neering, or farming, and " hasten slowly " in making up a 
 final judgment on a collection of books so various, so rever- 
 end, and so ancient. But if you weigh it carefully, and 
 drink in its sphit, if you read and re-read its Job and its 
 John, and con its moral tables and golden rules, and exult 
 in its songs, and hush your heart with its prayers, and de- 
 scend depth after depth into the passion and pathos of Jesus, 
 and, after all this spiritual process, you still find it to be 
 only a bundle of Jewish and old wives' fables, then you will 
 have falsified, we do not say the highest yearnings and 
 moral instincts of your own being, but the colossal testi- 
 mony of the ages, the innermost experience of the wisest 
 men of the Christian ages. He who turns from the book, 
 when he has thus taken it home to heart and head, has not 
 only to disclaim the power of the Scriptures, but he has got 
 a yet harder battle to fight with history, to deny " Christian- 
 ity as an existing power in the world, and Christendom as 
 an existing fact, with the no less evident fact of a progres- 
 sive expansion." 
 
 But were we never so familiar with the Scriptures, and 
 could we rehearse memoriter its psalms and its parables, it 
 is not then by any means to be laid aside, as an old-world 
 book, which we have learned out. The Bible can never be 
 exhausted in that way. If it wears threadbare, it is to the 
 superficial and cold, not the warm-hearted and the deep- 
 
26 THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 
 
 souled. We honor God in matter by going to see his Great 
 and his Fair, and we should honor him in mind by admir- 
 ing yesterday and to-day and for ever the types of his Great 
 and his Good, the heroes of his earlier, and the saints of his 
 later dispensation. We greet with all hail the spring and 
 the song of birds ; we walk in the autumn wood without 
 weariness ; and with fresh delight and wonder revisit Niag- 
 ara and the Alps, the Atlantic and the Rhine. Why should 
 we not commune with the Super- Nature, the Soul of things, 
 with new inspiration ? Here is the oldest history, the purest 
 theism, here are the wisest laws, the highest idealities of the 
 spirit-world, and the thoughts of the Son of God. There 
 may be a familiarity which breeds contempt, but there is an 
 intimacy which ripens into love. The use of the Bible pro- 
 miscuously in schools, to be spelled and murdered by dul- 
 lards of the form, may be injurious, but its reverential and 
 early reading by childhood must be favorable to clearness 
 of intellectual vision, as well as purity of heart. It may be 
 so read as to enslave, not free, the soul ; there is such a su- 
 perstition as Bibliolatry, but ,when intelligently and rever- 
 ently studied and digested into the mind, it becomes the 
 charter of the fairest freedom, as well as the missal of the 
 lowliest faith and penitence. Then we would say, let these 
 holiest words be lisped by children at their mother's knee, 
 and let them circle round the fireside of home, and let them 
 make musical and devout the walls of school-room and cap- 
 itol. Life is too hard with soul-seducing temptations and 
 crushing afflictions, for us to cast away this balm of the 
 heart, this munition against evil. Verily we cannot es- 
 trange ourselves from this wise and mighty counsellor with- 
 out losing something of the best part of life, and vacating 
 a domain of rich experience, refined intellectual culture, and 
 sweet and happy ideas of God and life and life's future, for 
 the want of which no amount of earthly prosperity and 
 
THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 27 
 
 pleasures, though broad as the sea and countless as the 
 sands on its shore, can ever compensate. 
 
 Inspu'ation is not infallibility ; else it must be subjective 
 in the mind of each receiver, as well as subjective in the 
 mind of the giver. Inspiration is no chain of compulsion, 
 either to the intellect or the heart. High and holy as it is, 
 and descending from the heaven of heavens, it falls gently 
 on the soLil, as the rain comes from the zenith, nor mars nor 
 breaks a single petal of the tenderest flower. Though com- 
 ing from above, it is, like all light, discolored by the atmos- 
 phere it passes through, and issues to us as Mosaic, Pau- 
 line, Johannine, or Petrine. Inspiration is not, again, perfect 
 character, any more than it is perfect knowledge. It is a 
 help, not a substitute, for our natural powers. The men 
 inspired may not always be the men perfect ; there is in 
 them likewise the play of the terrible engine of the will. It 
 is as Peter said of the miracle done to the lame man at the 
 Gate Beautiful, so of the world taught, — " Why marvel ye 
 at this ? Or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by 
 our_own power or holiness we made this man to walk ? " 
 It was not because they were so perfect in character, or so 
 wise in intellect, beyond all other men, that Paul and John 
 spoke as they did, but because they were illuminated from 
 on high that they and all men might become more wise and 
 more perfect. Inspiration casts no discredit on human na- 
 ture, but it honors and glorifies it rather, that it can be the 
 sharer and congenial recipient and user of so heavenly a 
 wisdom. It has no conflict with, and assumes no haughty 
 precedence of, reason and genius, but, on the contrary, the 
 intellectual kings and princes of the race have bowed their 
 laurelled heads at the foot of the cross, and have felt glori- 
 fied, not humiliated, by the act. In its light they have seen 
 light, and been made strong and beautiful as angels by its 
 life and its love. From its elevated plane of vision, they 
 
28 THE BIBLE, INSPIRED AND INSPIRING. 
 
 have spoken with a second-hand inspiration, and have kin- 
 dled anew the failing hope of the world, and disarmed the 
 problem of despair, the destiny of man. 
 
 O wonderful Bible ! book of the ages, theme of David 
 and Paul, of Moses and Jesus ! a recorded revelation from 
 Infinite Wisdom to frail, ignorant man, sitting in sackcloth 
 and ashes ! Egypt is gone, but a race of slaves from her 
 boso_m have been the teachers and leaders of the nations. 
 Greece and Rome, too, have had their rise and growth, de- 
 cline and downfall, and they too are gone ; their mytholo- 
 gies and their philosophies have crumbled with their Par- 
 thenons and their Pantheons. But this mighty river of 
 thought, the confluence of divers streams of wisdom on the 
 highest subjects of God and the soul and the soul's eternity, 
 taking its rise in the remotest mountains of antiquity, flow- 
 ing down with an ever-accumulating volume and power 
 through successive climes and countries, bearing on its 
 broad bosom the freight of untold treasures, — corn from 
 Egypt, gold from Ophir, myrrh and frankincense from 
 Arabia, silks from Persia, oil and honey from Syria, and its 
 own richest wealth from Judah's sacred mount, — still pour- 
 ing onward with its deepening and resistless tide, as from 
 the hollow of God's own hand, at once giving a refreshing 
 draught to a thirsty soul, and fertilizing provinces and king- 
 doms with its inexhaustible streams ; — what if it have a 
 tinge and a taste from the soils it has passed through, a sed- 
 iment from the affluence of its tributaries, and a bitter and 
 a sweet from the luxuriant vegetation which adorns its 
 banks and dips into its current ? Is it not still the Great 
 River of the waters of life, making glad the city and church 
 of our God, rolling ever onward with its majestic sweep, 
 and carrying with it the innumerable commerce from every 
 kindred and tongue and people under heaven toward the 
 Greater Sea? 
 
ESSAY II. 
 THE EPISTLES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 The New Testament has, properly speaking, four kinds 
 of writings embraced in it, the Life of Jesus Christ in the 
 Four Gospels, the History of the Founding of his Church 
 in the Acts of the Apostles, the Commentaries of the Apos- 
 tles themselves on their Master's work and doctrine, and 
 their own, in the Epistles, and a mystic, magnificent Proph- 
 ecy at the conclusion, in the Book of Revelation. There is, 
 therefore, an epic order and completeness in the volume. 
 It has a beginning, a middle, and an end, or rather the be- 
 ginning of an end. Biography in the Gospels, History in 
 the Acts, the Epistles, and Prophecy in Revelation, make up 
 the fourfold literature of the New Testament. And what- 
 ever may be said, or conjectured, of the way in which these 
 writings were preserved, and gathered into one volume at 
 last, we cannot doubt that the providence which was in 
 their production was also in their preservation. 
 
 The Epistles are all characteristic. They are no vain rep- 
 etitions of one another, and though they contain no new 
 doctrines, or additional substance of the Gospel, they give 
 new views of its relations to the existing systems of faith 
 and practice at that time in the world. They reflect decid- 
 edly the style of thought and character of those who wrote 
 them, and contain internal evidence of their real authorship. 
 Paul's pen moves, like himself in his missionary tours, in 
 impetuous sallies against error and superstition and sin, but 
 not without an instinctive, though not a formal, order and 
 logic. John's word is Love, love of God to men, love of 
 
 3* 
 
30 THE EPISTLES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 Christ, love of men to God and Christ and one another, — 
 love at first, love at last, love midway. James is an essay- 
 ist, gives the reasons of things, moralizes, and philosophizes, 
 and illustrates. Peter breaks out with the noble impulses 
 of his fiery zeal, and glories in his personal evidence of the 
 dignity of the Lord. While Jude mingles the light of the 
 new with examples from the older dispensations, and the 
 author of the Epistle to the Hebrews draws a detailed com- 
 parison between the Jewish and the Christian system in 
 favor of the latter. 
 
 The Epistles thus written by Apostles and apostolic men 
 were the earliest commentaries upon the life and doctrine 
 of Jesus Christ. In the Acts of the Apostles we have their 
 deeds, in the Epistles we have what is equally interesting, 
 their words. They add no fresh matter to the Gospel, as 
 some critics have asserted, nor increase by a single unit or 
 fraction the truths of Christianity. But they have an ex- 
 ceeding charm, as showing what impressions the new light 
 made as it broke on the human vision, what new experi- 
 ences it wrought, how the new state of mind and character 
 agreed with the old, what plans, theories, explanations, con- 
 jectures, hopes, followed their conversion, what was their 
 posture of mind in presenting the Gospel to others, and how 
 it stood the test of time and trial, and with what prophecies 
 and promises they cast it, when they meditated their own ces- 
 sation from the work, into the bosom of the mighty Future. 
 Nothing could indeed be more opportune to the cause of 
 the Christian religion than thus to have the very letters of 
 apostles and disciples on the subject nearest to their heart, 
 written from the midst of the great work of preaching the 
 Gospel to the world. These writings cannot stand as high, 
 as an authority of what Christianity is, as the words of 
 .Jesus himself, but they illustrate those words, show how 
 they took root in human nature at that period, how they 
 
THE EPISTLES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 31 
 
 were misunderstood or misapplied, and what guards, cau- 
 tions, encouragements, were necessary for the infant Church. 
 
 Especially in the selection of Paul to give the largest tes- 
 timony of this kind, we see a certain impartiality of Provi- 
 dence. A person is called, not of the original Twelve, one 
 unbiased by personal attachment to Jesus, unacquainted 
 with his life, but one of great learning, genius, and weight 
 and force of character, who, from an independent standing- 
 point, should give his testimony to the truth, reality, value, 
 and power of the Gospel. But we have elsewhere, in a 
 succeeding essay, developed more at length the priceless 
 boon of such a recruit to the Christian ranks as the Apos- 
 tle Paul. 
 
 The value of the Epistles is not, therefore, that we can 
 settle by them dogmatically any disputed question. The 
 points open before' are as open afterwards. Their office, in- 
 deed, is not an authoritative one at all, — that had been suf- 
 ficiently discharged before ; but it is moral, suggestive, cumu- 
 lative. In the mouth of two or three witnesses should every 
 word be established. Here is the more deliberate judgment 
 of the apostolic mind, in later years of life, after the first fer- 
 vors of discipleship had ripened into an abiding devotion, 
 and they moved forth from the provincial limits of Judaea 
 upon the broad arena of the world. They witnessed the 
 central spiritual Power beginning its impersonal and im- 
 mortal work in the earth. It might have been said that the 
 Gospels were enough, that the Epistles were superfluous ; 
 as the Turk objected to the Alexandrian Library, that, if it 
 contained only what was in the Koran, then it was useless, 
 or if it contained more than was in the Koran, then it was 
 pernicious. But the worth of the Epistles is seen when we 
 consider that we understand Christianity by the experience 
 and testimony of other minds, as well as by those of our 
 own, and that a Pauline or a Johannine interpretation, even 
 
32 THE EPISTLES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 if it add no new article to the creed, nor make any actual 
 conquest of original truth, helps to set us right about what 
 has been revealed, opens new vistas of thought, clothes old 
 sentiments with fresh illustrations and figures, envelops us 
 in a new atmosphere of associations, and serves as a prime 
 conductor to powerful influences, which were otherwise in- 
 sulated and impotent by distance of time, and antiquity of 
 custom and mode of thought. 
 
 It is noteworthy that the Epistles have two characteris- 
 tics ; namely, that they are local and temporary, at the same 
 time that they are universal and perpetual. Like all things 
 spontaneously and lyrically done, they were written with 
 the best adaptation to Rome and Ephesus at that day, 
 while they meet with full satisfaction the demands of the 
 world, and of all time. Thus their speciality is their charm 
 and forte, and their impress from the questions of that age 
 their suitableness for all ages. For the difficulties and de- 
 ficiencies of the churches and individuals addressed were of 
 such a nature as to bring in turn most important principles 
 into review, discussion, and application, so that we here 
 have what may be called the Handbook of the Christian 
 Religion. The controversies cover the chief ground of op- 
 position to the Gospel, both among the Jews and the Gen- 
 tiles, and if the writers did not enter into the Atheistic de- 
 bate to prove that there is a God, or far into the Deistic one 
 to prove that there is a Christ, it was because both facts 
 were essentially taken for granted, and the real objections 
 lay elsewhere. For as Judge Marshall once keenly re- 
 marked, in the Supreme Court of the United States, to a 
 young lawyer who was arguing an obvious point at a tedi- 
 ous length, " Some things must be presumed to be known 
 to this bench," so some facts must be taken for granted as 
 true in this world, or we shall never make any headway. 
 Sixty centuries have not passed over the world in vain. It 
 
THE EPISTLES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 33 
 
 is hardly worth the while to stop to prove to a blind man 
 that the sun shines, or to a deaf one that it thunders. More 
 imperative duties call us away, than to convince a fool of 
 his folly, or a crazy man of his insanity. The Apostles, 
 therefore, leaving the fields of mere speculative criticism 
 and debate, where a handful will always doubt, and where 
 almost unanimous humanity will believe in the monumen- 
 tal facts of revelation, moved all their forces to those prac- 
 tical points, where the real obstacles lay to the cordial re- 
 ception of Christianity by the mass of mankind in Jewish 
 and heathen communities, and to its supremacy over their 
 lives ; and they executed this function so effectually, that in 
 four centuries the religion of Him who was hung upon the 
 cross, and buried in a tomb, had ascended the throne of the 
 Caesars, and waved its sceptre over the known world. 
 
 The Epistles are less intelligible to the men of another 
 generation, because of their peculiar form as epistolary writ- 
 ings. They are the letters of only one side of the corre- 
 spondence, and the messages, verbal or written, on the other 
 side are sunk in oblivion. The peculiar state of things 
 which called them forth is also a matter of mere inference 
 or allusion. But what thus makes them harder to under- 
 stand, makes them more individual, and piques our curios- 
 ity. For the odor and color of the times, and nations, and 
 places, are in them. They are savored with Judaea, and 
 they taste of Asia Minor and Greece. They daguerreotype 
 in sunlit pictures the Christian movement in its varying 
 phases, an-est it and perpetuate it in the young flow and 
 flush of life, and give it to our view to-day as a piece of the 
 granite reality of history. It is doing in religious literature 
 what is done in art in the burial of Pompeii in the ashes of 
 Vesuvius, and the revelation of the very form and pressure 
 of life, the stamp of the human bosom, on the disinterred 
 ruins at this late day ; or, to cite an even more memorable 
 
34 THE EPISTLES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 instance from geology, it is a view of the first age of the 
 Church like the picture of the ancient earth in its throes of 
 birth into a new era, which we see drawn in eternal lines of 
 stone on myriads of fossils of plants and animals. 
 
 This sweet and solemn antiquity, too, more than makes 
 up for any obscurity, and it grows more hallowed and pow- 
 erful as the ages roll away. For here are no crude specu- 
 lations of yesterday, but the venerable thoughts of two thou- 
 sand years ago. Could their authors have anticipated such 
 a perpetuity, such a celebrity, such -a stupendous influence 
 in the world ? Probably not ; and it is well they wi*ote un- 
 consciously and instinctively for greater and for longer than 
 they themselves knew. Had they foreseen the result, that 
 thought would have been a distm-bing cause to theii' com- 
 position. Paul would have written less pertinently for 
 Colosse, had he known he was writing for England and 
 America in 1854. But doing best for that time, he did best 
 for all time, and struck a chord which has vibrated in the 
 heart of ages. This is no made-up and artificial immortal- 
 ity ; no trick and artifice of men have kept these writings 
 so long afloat, and saved them from falling into oblivion. 
 They live, and spread, and take to themselves the suprem- 
 acy of the world, because it is their indefeasible right and 
 title, and no power can say them nay. Tney have earned 
 all they own. 
 
 How often and how reverently have these words which 
 we con over to-day been read and meditated upon in the 
 long ages of the past, by men of every kind and character 
 and condition ! They have been lisped in nurseries, and 
 committed to memory in schools, and mused over in soli- 
 tude, and preached from pulpits, and ejaculated at the altars 
 of prayer and the bedsides of the dying. The mother and 
 her child, master and pupils, priest and people, monks and 
 nuns, choirs and cathedrals, theologians and philosophers, 
 
THE EPISTLES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 35 
 
 have bent over these immortal words with holy awe, and to 
 the young they have been a religion, to the sorrowing a 
 comfort, to the wicked a fear, and to the tempted a defence. 
 Amid persons of what infinite varieties of character, in what 
 varying moods of mind, under what complexities of circum- 
 stances, and with what diversities of motives, have these 
 words of John and Paul been applied, and how have they 
 sounded on their way in the world, and made the stony 
 Memnon of humanity awake and sing in the morning beams 
 of the Sun of Righteousness ! Men and nations wax old 
 and pass away, but these words live, bright with eternal 
 truth, warm with eternal love. " The grass withereth, and 
 the flower thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord 
 endureth for ever." 
 
 Furthermore, we can readily see how much diversity, as 
 well as antiquity, has. woven its spell over these books. 
 The very names of Romans, Corinthians, Hebrews, are sug- 
 gestive of volumes of history. They have a broad geo- 
 graphic and historic scale. They rest upon innumerable 
 pillars of ancient association. They are the product of mani- 
 fold exigencies, the expression of various mhids, and echoes 
 from the life of different cities and countries. If the sys- 
 tem of revealed truth had been presented by but one intel- 
 lect, though a highly versatile one, we can readily perceive 
 how much the Gospel would have lacked of its present 
 power and interest, and the charm of its diverse style, taste, 
 and intellectual and spiritual action upon the one truth. In 
 this view, how barren and tame is the Koran of Mahomet, 
 compared with the New Testament I Paul's chapter on 
 Charity is not a work of supererogation after the Master's 
 Twofold Law of Love, and the Parable of the Good Samar- 
 itan. James too can utter good exhortations on the neces- 
 sity of morality, and the union of faith and works, which do 
 not tire after the Sermon On the Mount. The Gospels are 
 the best, but the Epistles are good. 
 
36 THE EPISTLES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 The evidences that the Epistles are the genuine produc- 
 tions of the authors to whom they are accredited, are vari- 
 ous and satisfactory. As to their purity, we have the testi- 
 mony of many ancient manuscripts, versions, and quotations 
 from the early Christian Fathers, showing that they existed 
 from the first essentially in the same form they retain at 
 present. Eagle eyes, of both friends and foes, have watched 
 over the Christian records, no serious corruptions have crept 
 into the text, and antiquity furnishes the means of purifying 
 the few spots which have dimmed the fine gold of truth. 
 Then as to their authorship, we may say it is as well au- 
 thenticated as that of other ancient writings, — as well as 
 the circumstances of the case will admit. We have as good 
 reason to believe that Paul wrote the Epistle to the Romans, 
 and James his Epistle, and John his, as we have to believe 
 that Virgil wrote the ^neid, or Cicero the Oration for the 
 Poet Archias. He that doubts the latter must, like Father 
 Hardouin, doubt the other. There is the declaration of both 
 believers and unbelievers in Christianity. There is a long- 
 string of quotations, reaching back to an early period. There 
 are the undesigned coincidences between the history and the 
 Epistles, which, in reference to Paul, Paley has wrought up 
 with so much completeness in his Horse Paulinae. These are 
 the intrinsic reasons of the case, the internal marks of truth, 
 the style, the cast of thought, the animus^ all combining to 
 form a somewhat impalpable, but very persuasive, very cogent 
 proof, that they were written by the persons purported to be 
 their authors, and that they have not been materially altered 
 or corrupted. If we trace back these books from the point 
 of the present, step by step, and age by age, we can easily 
 gather from such an induction of successive suppositions, 
 as to their being corrupted, or imposed on mankind in one 
 era or in another, the extreme difficulty and improbability, 
 and almost impossibility, of such a prodigious fraud being 
 
THE EPISTLES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 37 
 
 perpetrated upon the world, and nobody being found to de- 
 tect and expose it, in all the range of the early centuries, 
 when they were gaining their foothold of general accep- 
 tation. 
 
 But even if the present testimony were invalidated, and 
 the voices of tradition, history, style, and character were 
 dumb, here are at least the books themselves in existence, 
 and in possession of a vast influence, and we must account 
 for them in some way, and for the spell they have thrown 
 over the world. Something cannot come from nothing. 
 Who wrote them ? Who framed the mighty arguments of 
 the Epistle to the Romans ? Who winged the heavenly 
 dove that flies aloft in the Epistles reputed to be John's ? 
 If these Apostles did not compose these words, we do not 
 therefore get rid of wonders, but, on the contrary, we multiply 
 them. Then there were as good as two Pauls, two Johns ; 
 the Paul of the Acts and the Paul of the Epistles ; the John 
 of the Gospels, and the John of the Epistles ! To believe 
 in two is harder than to believe in one. These books must 
 be accounted for, and is there any explanation of their 
 origin easier, more natural, or involving less credulity, than 
 the current one in the Christian world, that they are the 
 productions of those authors to whom they are generally 
 attributed, and that they have been handed down, through 
 all the accidents and vicissitudes of ages, in as sound a 
 state of preservation and accuracy as the classics, or any 
 work equally ancient ? Nay, that they are in a better con- 
 dition than other works of antiquity, because they were 
 kept and copied with more care on account of their sacred 
 character, because they were more extensively quoted in the 
 Christian Fathers, and were translated in a greater number 
 of versions. 
 
38 THE EPISTLES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 There are in all twenty-one Epistles, thirteen by the 
 Apostle Paul, one by the Apostle James, three by the Apos- 
 tle John, two by the Apostle Peter, one by Jude, and one 
 to the Hebrews, usually attributed to the Apostle Paul, but 
 probably written by some author of the apostolic age, per- 
 haps Apollos or Barnabas. About one third of the New 
 Testament is thus put in an epistolary form. 
 
 There has never been any very serious doubt, among 
 Christian wiiters, of the authorship of any of these Epistles, 
 except that to the Hebrews, the Epistle of James, the Second 
 Epistle of Peter, the Second and Third Epistles of John, 
 and the Epistle of Jude. The merits of the question of 
 their genuineness rest upon an induction of circumstances 
 in each separate instance. They have been very generally 
 received as canonical, and as having been written in the 
 apostolic age, if not by the Apostles themselves ; but they 
 are not regarded by Biblical critics universally as being of 
 as high authority in the settlement of disputed points in 
 theology as the other Epistles. 
 
 The general object of the Epistles to the Romans and 
 Galatians was to show that righteousness and salvation 
 were to be gained under the system of Christianity by faith 
 inspired by love, and were to be manifested in a good life. 
 These are Doctrinal Treatises. 
 
 The Epistles to the Corinthians, the Ephesians, the Phi- 
 lippians, the Colossians, and the Thessalonians, whilst they 
 also inculcated the Christian doctrines, were more specially 
 devoted to correct errors and corruptions which had sprung 
 up in the churches in those respective places. Many of 
 these vices were the fruits of Paganism, which had not 
 yet been entirely eradicated. This class of Epistles- is 
 Pastoral. 
 
 The Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and PhUemon are per- 
 sonal exhortations, advice, and congratulations. These pri- 
 
THE EPISTLES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 39 
 
 vate letters were made public on account of the great value 
 of their contents. 
 
 The Epistle to the Hebrews was written to show by alle- 
 gorical interpretations the superiority of the Christian dis- 
 pensation to that of the Jews, and how the former had nat- 
 urally grown out of the latter, as a natural development and 
 progress of the less to the greater, and elements to their 
 perfect organization. 
 
 The object of the Epistle of James is to correct some er- 
 roneous notions which had sprung up in relation to faith and 
 works, perhaps from the strong language of Paul, and to 
 inculcate practical Christianity. This Epistle, with those 
 of Peter, the First Epistle of John, and the Epistle of Jude, 
 are called General or Catholic Epistles, because they were 
 addressed to Christians at large, rather than to any particu- 
 lar churches. The author of this Epistle is supposed to be 
 James the Less, a kinsman or cousin of our Lord. 
 
 The Epistles of Peter have for their general purpose a 
 mingling of Christian doctrines, designed to correct preva- 
 lent errors, and of practical exhortations to righteousness of 
 life in a corrupt and heathenish age. They conclude with 
 assurances of the speedy coming of Christ in his kingdom. 
 
 The First Epistle of John is general, and inculcates Love 
 with as much earnestness as Paul insists on Faith, or James 
 on Good Works. Neither is there the least shade of incon- 
 sistency between the three. All are right ; and put the three 
 together. Faith, Love, and Good Works, and you have a 
 complete and well-proportioned Christian character. The 
 natural characteristics of these several apostolic minds led 
 them to look at the Gospel from these different stand-points, 
 which are in radical reality one and the same. For it is the 
 one Christian heart that loves, trusts, and works, as the leaf, 
 the flower, and the fruit grow on the same tree, and from 
 the same deep root. Were there no leaf of Faith, there 
 
40 THE EPISTLES OF THE NEAV TESTAMENT. 
 
 would be no flower of Love ; and were there no leaves and 
 flowers, there would be no fruits of Good Works. 
 
 The Second and Third Epistles of John, addressed re- 
 spectively to Cyria, or, as it is rendered in our English ver- 
 sion, the Elect Lady, — it is doubtful whether it is a com- 
 mon or proper name, — and to Gains, are short greetings 
 filled with the same love, which is the eternal theme of the 
 Gospel of John and the Fh'st Epistle. 
 
 The Catholic or General Epistle of Jude is one whose 
 genuine authorship is in question, but it is probably the 
 composition of a brother of James the Less, the kinsman of 
 our Lord. He warns the churches against the vices of the 
 heathen world, and reminds them of the certainty of the 
 law of God's retributive providence, as administered under 
 the elder dispensation, and as impending in the later one 
 over evil-doers, and he predicts the approaching advent of 
 Christ in his kingdom. 
 
 A more particular introduction to each of these Epistles 
 will be given hereafter, as they shall severally be com- 
 mented on. 
 
 The Probable Order, Date, and Place of Writing of 
 
 THE SEVERAL EpiSTLES. 
 
 
 Place. 
 
 
 A. D. 
 
 1 Thessalonians, 
 
 Corinth, 
 
 
 52 
 
 2 
 
 (( 
 
 
 52 
 
 Galatians, 
 
 Corinth or 
 
 Ephesus, 
 
 52 or 53 
 
 1 Timothy, 
 
 Crete, 
 
 
 Latter end of 55 
 
 Titus, 
 
 Ephesus, 
 
 
 56 
 
 1 Corinthians, 
 
 (( 
 
 
 56 
 
 2 
 
 Macedonia, 
 
 
 57 
 
 Eomans, 
 
 Corinth, 
 
 
 58 
 
 2 Timothy, 
 
 Rome, 
 
 
 61 
 
 Ephesians, 
 
 u 
 
 
 62 
 
 Colossians, 
 
 Cl 
 
 
 62 
 
THE EPISTLES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 41 
 
 A. D. 
 62 
 
 62 
 63 
 65 
 
 Philemon, 
 
 Philippians, 
 
 Hebrews, 
 
 1 Peter, 
 
 2 Peter, 
 James, 
 
 1 John, 
 
 2 John, 
 
 3 John, 
 Jude, 
 
 Place. 
 
 Rome, 
 
 u 
 Italy, 
 Babylon, 
 
 
 Ephesus 
 u 
 
 
 70 
 
ESSAY III. 
 
 THE APOSTLE PAUL. 
 
 St. Paul, though chosen last, is the first in rank of the 
 " glorious company of the Apostles." The Twelve, striving 
 among themselves who should be the greatest, little thought 
 that a native of Tarsus, a city of an insignificant province 
 of Asia Minor, would bear off the palm from the children of 
 the Holy Land. They were appointed to a general office, 
 but he was singled out for a peculiar mission, for which 
 neither the zeal of Peter nor the love of John was adequate. 
 To overstep the limits of Palestine, and carry the Gospel to the 
 vast Gentile world, required a rare combination of gifts, and 
 in Paul that combination was found. The chosen one must 
 be born as it were between Judaism and Gentilism, that he 
 might not be too much tyrannized over by either system. 
 He must be conversant, too, with the old, that he might 
 better measure and appreciate the new. Paul was a Greek 
 by nativity, a Koman by citizenship, and a Jew by religion. 
 Versed in Gentile lore, and taught at the feet of Gamaliel, 
 he was prepared to see, when his eyes were opened, the per- 
 fection of the truth as it is in Jesus. With a profound 
 sense of duty inwrought by the Jewish faith, with the cul- 
 ture of a Grecian city, and under the shield of that magic 
 citizenship by which E-ome was then opening privileges to 
 the traveller who possessed it over the habitable globe, Paiul 
 was furnished in a remarkable manner for his work, by 
 birth, education, and position. 
 
 In considering also the " final causes " of the selection of 
 Paul by that Infinite Intelligence, who adapts now an in- 
 
THE APOSTLE PAUL. 43 
 
 sect to its element of air or water, and now a planet to its 
 orbit, we discern much of fitness and foresight. There is a 
 great work to be done, and a mighty workman is chosen for 
 its execution. The original nature of Paul fitted him to 
 perform a sublime mission. Without question, he is the 
 leading intellect among the sacred writers. He had a too 
 sharply defining imagination for a poet, too logical an un- 
 derstanding for a psalmist, and too impassioned a nature 
 for a philosopher ; but he nevertheless combined in himself 
 much of all these characters. His illustrations are often 
 beautiful, his soul is constantly attuned to praise, and by 
 single flashes of thought he compasses results which others 
 attain by long processes of argumentation. Whatever there 
 might be of ruggedness of outline in the forms in which he 
 presented his thoughts, those thoughts themselves burned 
 with an inextinguishable fire of conviction. He was no 
 quoter nor second-hand repeater. Whatever might go into 
 his mind came out personal and Pauline. Wide in his out- 
 look, yet distinct in his aim ; indomitable of will, but flexi- 
 ble when that will must bend or break ; profound in his 
 thought, but practical in its application ; zealous in temper- 
 ament, yet imbued with a charity that would clasp the 
 world in his embrace ; loving controversy, but loving the 
 truth better than victory ; highly intellectual, yet always 
 paying allegiance to the supremacy of the moral powers, — 
 the Apostle presented an ample range of contrasts in his 
 genius and character. The intense earnestness of his mind, 
 in whatever direction it moved, and whatever posture it 
 took, is seen in every sentence. Culture had not quencjied 
 the generous flame of native ardor. Inspiration had not 
 dulled the energies of a spirit which concentrated the forces 
 of a hundred wills in a single breast, and which heaved with 
 the afTections as of a hundred hearts. His whole being pul- 
 sates with life. Every faculty is in a high state of vitality. 
 
44 THE APOSTLE PAUL. 
 
 If we complain of imperfections, they are not the imperfec- 
 tions of deficiency, but of superabundance. If his page be 
 dark, it is " dark with excess of light." When he enters 
 upon his theme, the windows of heaven are opened and the 
 fountains of the great deep are broken up. It is as the wise 
 man said, " Lo, my brook became a river, and my river be- 
 came a sea." In the flood of emotions and thoughts on 
 which he is borne along, all temporal interests are swal- 
 lowed up, and the reader arrives with the \vriter at the same 
 all-important conclusions, and responds the same devout 
 Amen! 
 
 The Apostle's life also possessed a remarkable unity. 
 He believed Judaism divine, and he advocated it with his 
 whole soul. And when new light came, and he recognized 
 the higher divinity of the Gospel, he was " not disobedient 
 unto the heavenly vision." His notable conversion, there- 
 fore, was a change in direction, not in motive, or zeal, or 
 conscientiousness, or devotion to the service of God. It 
 was like the change of his name, the substitution of one, 
 and that the first, letter for another, changing, but not anni- 
 hilating, the original sound. 
 
 Yet Paul had passed through very different religious ex- 
 periences from those of the other Apostles, and he derived 
 new power from this source. It has been said, that we 
 cannot fully know the strength of an opponent's argument, 
 unless we have at some time been of his belief. Paul was 
 a Hebrew of the Hebrews. A Jewish doctor could tell him 
 nothing new. He had been a Jew after Christ had lived 
 and died, a Jew in opposition and persecution, and he had 
 tasted the guilt of that passion and the force of that preju- 
 dice. Men and women he had hauled to prison and to 
 death. In his inhuman bigotry he " breathed out threaten- 
 ings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord," and 
 persecuted them from city to city. The very existence of 
 
THE APOSTLE PAUL. 45 
 
 the Christian Church was endangered by this arch-enemy. 
 But in the height of his career, he is arrested by a voice 
 from heaven ; a voice, not of vengeance, but of mild expos- 
 tulation and warning from the Lord, whose cause he was 
 pursuing with rancor and murder. Every circumstance 
 connected with the conversion of Paul substantiates its mi- 
 raculous origin. But within the precincts of his own mind, 
 we detect no compulsion or violation of his free agency. 
 The blow by which he was stopped in his course of perse- 
 cution was sudden, but the process of mind through which 
 he became fully imbued with the Christian faith and charity 
 was progressive. For a season he sits in blindness and 
 prayer, neither eating nor drinking. For three years he 
 dwelt in Arabia and foreign places, and only once during 
 fourteen years visited Jerusalem, the head-quarters of the 
 new faith. Though no one, accordingly, was more active 
 in proclaiming Christianity to the world, or entered so fully 
 into what might be called the missionary cause of that pe- 
 riod, no one, again, had a more personal, peculiar, and vivid 
 religious experience. From a persecutor he had been raised 
 to the glorious office of an Apostle ; the chief of sinners, he 
 had found mercy. Hence there is a vividness of emotion, 
 an intense yearning of love and gratitude, that can find no 
 words strong enough to do them justice. Jesus had not 
 been known to him personally in his daily walks and famil- 
 iar conversation and travels, as he had to the other disciples. 
 He had spoken to him from heaven, and communicated in 
 visions. He was, therefore, a more solemn and awe-inspiring 
 being, a more transcendent benefactor, to Paul, than to John 
 who reclined in his bosom, or to Peter who denied him and 
 was pardoned. Paul was very far from regarding or speak- 
 ing of Jesus as God, but he more constantly calls him 
 Christ and Lord. The events of his own life became the 
 background on which his rescue from the guilt and fate of 
 
46 THE APOSTLE PAUL. 
 
 a persecutor of the Church stood out in strong relief. His 
 own experiences became motives to prompt him to save 
 others. He had measured the depth of that pit out of 
 which he had been drawn, and he spared no toil or suffering 
 to lift up others also from its dark recesses into light and 
 liberty. The line kindles with personal emotion when he 
 speaks of sin and pardon and salvation, and he added to the 
 power of argument the intensity of persotial consciousness 
 and conviction. 
 
 Then, too, his life subsequently to his conversion fur- 
 nishes abundant materials to illustrate and vivify his dis- 
 co arse. He had sounded all the depths of the inward life, 
 and he had traversed all the regions and scenes of its objec- 
 tive manifestations. Hence his character was one of no 
 halting or half-way quality. The pendulum of its move- 
 ment had a ^vide swing, and it passed through many arcs 
 of a complete circle. What the Apostle said, he said with 
 all his heart, and what he did, he did with all his might. 
 His faculties have totality of action, and when they enter 
 into battle they give their whole momentum to the charge, 
 without fear or misgiving. He could speak like a prophet, 
 because he had lived like a hero. He could write with the 
 enthusiasm of poetry, though without its form, because in 
 his history were the elements of romance. His journeys, 
 his perils, his shipwrecks, his scourgings and stonings, his 
 chains and imprisonments, his joys and his triumphs, all af- 
 forded vivid figures of speech, with which his glowing mind 
 clothed itself in the act of composition. He had touched 
 the exti'eme points of earthly vicissitude, and measured the 
 length and breadth of hope and fear. One day on the point 
 of being adored as a god, he was liable on the next to be 
 killed as a common malefactor. Now the object of the 
 most affectionate confidence, and revered as holding the 
 sceptre of an Apostle's authority, he was exposed by the sud- 
 
THE APOSTLE PAUL. 47 
 
 den turn of the wheel of his fortunes to the suspicions of 
 his friends or the malignity of his enemies. Under such 
 circumstances, his words are laden with the unction of the 
 truth for which he lived and suffered. His language be- 
 comes action rather than the medium of meditation, and 
 the page seems to heave with the throbbings of a living 
 heart. It thrills and trembles with the exultations and ago- 
 nies of his powerful emotional nature. " Who," he ex- 
 claims, " is offended, and I burn not ? " "I glory in my 
 infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 
 The writings of Paul, as said by a brother Apostle, " are 
 hard to be understood," but he himself is transparent and 
 intelligible. His weaknesses and his excellences are de- 
 picted with all the accuracy of legal testimony. 
 
 In analyzing, therefore, the sources of his power, we de- 
 tect as one of the gi-eatest charms of his writings their 
 vigorous and vital personality. His epistles are an auto- 
 biography. They might be called " The Confessions of St. 
 Paul." However abstruse the point of controversy, the face 
 of Paul himself looks out from amidst the arguments. We 
 feel that it is a warm and living hand, fed from a great 
 heart, that is leading us through the labyrinth of free will 
 and foreknowledge. Paul will ever stand within the circle 
 of om- human sympathies, for if we cannot in every instance 
 trace the line of his thoughts in their logical sequence, 
 though we never can doubt that that sequence exists to his 
 own mind, we always feel the electric shock of his enthusi- 
 asm. His tears and bloody stripes wet the leaf we read, 
 and the resonance of his gratitude echoes and re-echoes from 
 side to side. His dangers and sufferings, his joys and tri- 
 umphs, his glorious self-sacrifice and his poignant self-re- 
 proaches, his scathing moral indignation and his sweet and 
 earnest charity, are portrayed on every page as by the colors 
 of the painter, more than the words of the writer. This 
 
48 THE APOSTLE PAUL. 
 
 autobiographical characteristic of his \\Titings may diminish 
 in some measure the perfection of that " dry light " in which, 
 a more impersonal writer would look at his subject, but it 
 will ever add an inexpressible charm to the earliest contro- 
 versies of the Christian Church, that they were incorporated 
 into the living experience and interest of so large and vital 
 a soul as that of the Apostle to the Gentiles. To this qual- 
 ity especially we may attribute much of the interest which 
 attaches to his A\Titings in the churches of the Reformation, 
 because in him more than in any other Apostle is manifest- 
 ed that marked and self-relying independence which consti- 
 tutes the genius of Protestantism. 
 
 Paul had points of resemblance to the other Apostles, but 
 there were also points of difference. He had zeal, but it 
 was unlilvc the zeal of Peter. It was the zeal of a wider 
 and more cultivated natm-e, and hence it was intellectually 
 more catholic, and morally more courageous. The horizon 
 of the one was long limited to the boundaries of Palestine. 
 The horizon of the other, from his earliest conversion, be- 
 came the utmost ends of the earth. 
 
 The love of Paul was great, but it was different from the 
 love of John. The affections of Paul were more concerned 
 with persons, and those of John more with principles. The 
 charity of Paul had a more sympathetic, earthly, and ch'- 
 cumstantial character. He remembers all his friends, de- 
 lights in mentioning their names, and has a good word for 
 each and all. The love of John is impersonal, mystical, 
 rapt, as if already borne beyond the fellowship of time and 
 sense. To the great mass of toiling, struggling spirits seek- 
 ing to rise to God on the wings of ardent devotion, and to 
 embrace all humanity in universal charity, Paul speaks the 
 more effective word of encouragement. But to the few of 
 celestial temper and exquisite tenderness of soul, John is 
 the more welcome Apostle ; for, lying in the bosom of 
 
THE APOSTLE PAUL. 49 
 
 Christ and of God, he discourses without a pang or effort 
 of perfect union with the Divine nature, and of the heaven 
 of love in which that union is eternal. 
 
 Again, Paul moves in a different plane from that of 
 James, who is the Apostle of what may be called the minor 
 morals. Paul is more versatile, and passes readily from the 
 discussion of the great questions of Judaism and of Chris- 
 tianity to the inculcation of the humblest social duties. 
 But James dwells almost habitually in the range of the pru- 
 dential and familiar. Paul illustrates from his imagination 
 as well as from his experience ; while James animates his 
 subject with the ship, the wave, the fountain, the horse, the 
 rich man with his gold ring, and the poor man in his rags. 
 Paul gives principles, James rules. The motives to which 
 Paul appealed are drawn from a wider compass of thought, 
 and from more profound depths of sentiment ; while those 
 employed by James lie within the limited, spiritual sphere 
 of a fisherman of Galilee. The Epistle of James is con- 
 densed, epigrammatic, and allows but a short space between 
 its premises of doctrine and its conclusions of duty. But 
 the phalanx of Paul's style sweeps the whole field of revela- 
 tion, history, and human nature, touches heaven and touches 
 earth, and from the whole immense range of contemplation 
 brings to bear on the human heart, not reasons of conscience 
 or utility alone, but inspirations of love and quickenings of 
 spiritual power. 
 
 As the characteristics of Paul differ from those of his apos- 
 tolical associates, so has he had a peculiar influence and 
 destiny in Christian history. He may be called the Apostle 
 of the Protestant Church, if John be that of the Oriental 
 and the Greek, and Peter of the Roman Catholic. The 
 Cathedral of St. Paul stands in London, the Protestant 
 metropolis, and St. Peter's is in Rome. The mysticism of 
 John, the zealous but compromising spirit of Peter, and the 
 
50 THE APOSTLE PAUL. ^ 
 
 strongly marked intellectual and controversial qualities of 
 Paul, have unconsciously given a cast and coloring to the 
 great bodies of Christendom. As Christ has not yet be- 
 come the real head of his own Chm'ch, those who stood as 
 it were in the capacity of mediators between him and the 
 world have given, not merely a local name and habitation, 
 but an intrinsic spirit, to the churches of nations and ages. 
 Orientalism delights in the Johannine love, and the mystic 
 union with the divine. The Romish Church has too readily 
 coalesced with the existing faith and ceremonies of its con- 
 verts, whether in ancient Rome or in modern China, as Peter 
 is accused of doing with regard to Judaism. But the Apos- 
 tle Paul is essentially a controversialist in the good sense 
 of that term, an evangelical dialectician, a tenacious advo- 
 cate of the truth, ready at all times to do good battle for its 
 smallest iota, whether in theology or morals. The mystical 
 and the ceremonial sects receive Paul with qualification. 
 The followers of Swedenborg do not regard him as canoni- 
 cal, and the liturgies *of Greece, Rome, and England contain 
 scarce a sentence from his glowing utterances of truth and 
 love. But the Protestant chiefs have held Paul in gi'eat re- 
 pute. Luther found in him the doctrine of justification by 
 faith, which he hurled as his most effective missile at the 
 Vatican. Calvin took, as heads to his sermons, hundreds 
 of texts from the Epistles of Paul, but scarcely one from the 
 Gospels, and the confessions of faith of all those churches 
 which hold the Trinitarian dogmas and the doctrines of 
 grace, technically so called, bristle with weapons, offensive 
 and defensive, from the same grand armory. 
 
 In order to understand the causes of the somewhat exclu- 
 sive and despotic influence which the writings of Paul exer- 
 cise over the majority of the Protestant world, we must 
 take into consideration a variety of facts. Paul's writings 
 are argumentative, and Protestantism, in coming out of the 
 
THE APOSTLE PAUL. 51 
 
 errors of the past and remonstrating against them, necessa- 
 rily lives and moves and has its being in controversy. Then 
 the vitality of Paul was great ; great in his person, great in 
 his mission, and great in history. He has none of the Ori- 
 ental repose. Paul never could be imagined as the father 
 of monkery. The Protestant and American age, therefore, 
 with all its energy, inventiveness, and restless progress, finds 
 itself mirrored in him as its congenial representative. His 
 vast circumference of intellectual vision, and the strange 
 contrast of his spiritual experiences, that seemed to be al- 
 most too many to be comprehended in the life of one man, 
 place him in contact at innumerable points of sympathy 
 with the many-minded soul of Protestantism. He is decid- 
 ed, and perhaps sometimes borders on dogmatism, though 
 he gives sufficient scope to the speculative faculty. And 
 those very qualities which, to our minds, mar himx as an 
 image of absolute perfection, make him all the more the 
 Apostle of a peremptory, doctrinal, and yet inquisitive age. 
 His zealous and practical characteristics also, his earnest 
 exhortations and rousing appeals, are much in harmony 
 with modern religious methods, and especially with that 
 great moral crusade in which Christendom is now precipi- 
 tating itself upon the heathen world. Paul the man of facts 
 and of business, Paul the itinerant preacher, Paul the trav- 
 eller from city to city and country to country, Paul the 
 writer of epistles to the churches and calls for contributions 
 of charity, Paul the foreign missionary, must excite unusual 
 interest in an age of locomotion, philanthropy, and missions. 
 He has, as we most firmly believe, been marvellously misin- 
 terpreted, looked at, so to speak, microscopically rather than 
 telescopically, and of course made to preach doctrines 
 which he never held, and the incipient element of which in 
 the Christian Church it was one of the leading aims of his 
 letters to extinguish. Still, in certain preliminary and infe- 
 
52 THE APOSTLE PAUL. 
 
 rior stages of the progi'ess of the individual and of mankind, 
 we can easily conceive that Paul, with his highly-colored 
 peculiarities, would exercise a more potent sway than Jesus 
 Christ, with his stainless perfections. Paul was chosen to 
 be the Apostle to the Gentiles, and the Gentiles make up 
 the greater part of the world. 
 
 We believe that there is a new age of Christianity to 
 come, when they who have been so long striving, as did the 
 Twelve, who should be the greatest, will return to Him who 
 is the greatest, and when the churches of the Fathers shall 
 give way to the churches of the Epistles ; and the churches 
 of the Epistles to those of the Gospels ; the churches of the 
 Apostles to the Church of Christ. Those who call them- 
 selves evangelical would be better characterized as epistoli- 
 cal, for they draw, as did Luther and Calvin, more largely 
 from the Epistles than from the Sermon on the Mount. 
 The true order is Patristical, Apostolical, Christian. The 
 reform which still remains unaccomplished in theology is to 
 recede from the commentaries of his followers to the text 
 and spirit of the Infallible Teacher. 
 
 But if we complain of the errors of interpretation, it de- 
 volves upon us to show why and how all was obscure, and 
 how it happens that he who said, " In the Church I had 
 rather speak five words with my understanding that I might 
 teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown 
 tongue," should furnish in his own writings the chief de- 
 batable region of theological controversy. 
 
 In the first place, if Paul was an Apostle of Inspiration, 
 he was also a being of impulse. His genius was regulated 
 not by rule, but it swayed and vibrated under a powerful 
 enthusiasm of a healthful description. In rhetoric, he can- 
 'not conclude one figure of speech before he enters upon 
 another. He is full of allusions, suggestions, and hints, and 
 is dramatic without marking distinctly the changes of the 
 
THE APOSTLE PAUL. 53 
 
 dialogue. In logic, his power of argument is unquestion- 
 able, but a clew is needed to guide us through the labyrinth, 
 where aisles and side passages are constantly diverging 
 from the main corridor. Paul is abrupt, emotional, paren- 
 thetical ; he makes rapid transitions and obscure intima- 
 tions, and repeats in one connection what he has said in 
 another. He reasons, allegorizes, narrates, and exhorts, in 
 the same breath, and makes his page, not a homogeneous 
 texture, but a rich mosaic. And like the ancient orators 
 and philosophers, in general, he writes informally and un- 
 systematically ; not announcing his subject and its divisions 
 when he begins, nor marking the successive stages of its 
 advancement, nor pausing to recapitulate when he is done. 
 We can conceive a close logical thinker, a severe legal un- 
 derstanding, a profound and far-sighted intellect, taking 
 great pleasure in unravelling the tangled skein of his dis- 
 course, and in following the one consecutive thread of his 
 argumentation, until it should be confessed, what we be- 
 lieve to be true, that the last charge that can be sustained 
 against the Apostle is, that he is a loose and illogical writer. 
 If he break the rules of composition, it is to follow the 
 higher laws of his own transcendent intellect. 
 
 Then his writings are all epistolary. Judging by his 
 speeches reported in the Acts of the Apostles, his oral dis- 
 course was sufficiently intelligible. But a letter is necessa- 
 rily a blind composition except to the correspondents them- 
 selves. It refers to many things known only to the parties 
 concerned, is filled with obscure allusions, and takes many 
 points for granted. It is unexpected in its transitions, in- 
 formal in its statements, bold in its liberties, familiar and 
 personal in its illustrations, careless in its diction, and loose 
 in its arrangement of topics ; a production written on the 
 spur of the moment, rather than by mature study and 
 careful review, and often most successful as a letter 
 
 5* 
 
54 THE APOSTLE PAUL. 
 
 when least capable of being classed with any other com- 
 position. 
 
 In writing to public bodies, as he generally did, Paul es- 
 capes some of the infelicities of the epistolary style, and 
 raises his letters more into the rank of set treatises. His 
 subject, too, the wonderful new religion, and his object, the 
 conversion to the Gospel of all mankind, imparted of course 
 a gravity and dignity not common to ordinary correspond- 
 ence. His salutations are Christian gi'eetings, and his 
 compliments, exhortations to love and good works. He is 
 lyrical, percussive, impassioned, and at times satirical, but 
 all in earnestness and good nature, and all the filaments of 
 the discourse are woven into a complete whole. With the 
 principles he held, and the end he had in view, the letters 
 of Paul are works of artistic beauty, and full of unity and 
 life. They are the flower of his genius, dashed with a 
 heavenly odor, and imbued with a quick contagion to all 
 true souls of like divine sentiments. They burn, they glow, 
 they are warm and heaving with life-blood. 
 
 Besides these qualities of an informal style and an im- 
 passioned soul, the Epistles have the length, the stress of 
 argument, and the range of thought, essential to works of a 
 larger calibre. For whatever Paul did must bear the stamp 
 of a strong and earnest nature. He was not one to trifle 
 or bandy words with friend or foe, but threw his whole soul 
 into every thought and action. The bright blade of his fal- 
 chion is always unsheathed. His mind is ever at its full 
 tension. Hence his letters, though written for a transient 
 purpose, bore his spirit like a rushing wind to distant cities, 
 and diffused it throughout humanity. He alludes, in one 
 instance, to the weightiness of his epistles, as not being 
 matched by the authority of his personal presence. But 
 none except himself has disparaged his oral address. His 
 discourses in the Acts of the Apostles are full of beauty and 
 
THE APOSTLE PAUL. 65 
 
 power, and we read of the effects of his eloquence, when, 
 standing as a defenceless prisoner before the proud and titled 
 of the earth, " he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, 
 and judgment to come." 
 
 We must remember, likewise, that all was not as clear to 
 the Apostle, though miraculously illuminated, as to those 
 who have lived later, and possessed in Christian history the 
 key of interpretation. We behold the Gospel in its diffu- 
 sion, he beheld it in its cradle. Though less subjective than 
 the other Apostles, he might be said to be too near the ob- 
 ject to see it well. Granted that he was a prophet, yet it is 
 one of the conceded points of his office, that he does not 
 fally comprehend the burden and bearing of his own predic- 
 tions. Granted that he was inspired, yet inspiration is help, 
 not substitution ; a gift of degrees ; and it is not of univer- 
 sal infallibility any more than it is of absolute sinlessness, 
 and does not forego individual thought, style, argument, and 
 illustration. Paul again and again announces himself as 
 speaking as a man, as well as from the Lord. He is evi- 
 dently and professedly his own free agent, as well as the 
 servant of Jesus Christ ; the personal pronoun often occurs 
 in his writings, and he utters himself, not with a servile dic- 
 tation forced upon his mind, but with a truth-seeking aspi- 
 ration rising from it. He drew the water of life from the 
 fountains of his own being, though those fountains were as 
 the rock in the desert until smitten by a divine rod, and bit- 
 ter as those of Marah until sweetened by the branch of 
 Christian charity. 
 
 In reviewing the actions and writings of historical charac- 
 ters, we are too prone to imagine that they judge themselves 
 from our point of view instead of their own. We attribute 
 to them an anticipation of all that has since befallen them 
 of fame and influence. We do not sufficiently consider, 
 that to them, as to us now, the future spread out a cloudy 
 
56 • THE APOSTLE PAUL. 
 
 curtain ; or if, as in the case of prophet and apostle, they 
 could discern the faint shadows of events to come, yet their 
 perspective was very imperfect. Time, that brought the ful- 
 filment, must also bring the explanation. There is no reason 
 to suppose that Paul foresaw that his Epistles would con- 
 stitute more than a third part of the permanent Scriptures 
 "of the Christian Church. Many believe, and not without 
 plausible reasons, that he viewed the catastrophe of all 
 things as then impending, and that his own were some of 
 the last zealous words that would be spoken to arouse dor- 
 mant consciences. Paul gives no intimation of having fore- 
 seen Christian Europe and Christian America. Much less, 
 probably, did he suspect that the hurried and impassioned 
 letters which he dictated in, the intervals snatched from tent- 
 making, travelling, and preaching, and which bore the form 
 and imperfection of the hour in some respects, would be 
 exalted into permanency and universality, and that one hun- 
 dred and fifty languages at the end of twenty centuries 
 would repeat his exhortations and arguments to all the 
 tribes of men. He wrote, if we may say so, instinctively, 
 rather than intentionally. As he himself said, "necessity 
 was laid upon him," and a zeal, all absorbing and unselfish, 
 urged him onward. Thus writing for the time, he has 
 doubtless written the best for all times, though, had he fore- 
 seen his fortune as an author as well as an Apostle, he 
 would probably have re-edited his letters, to use the modern 
 phrase. But it is well that he did not know the boundless 
 sphere of his influence, for it might have proved a disturbing 
 cause even to his apostolic singleness of heart. It is well 
 that the great do not ever anticipate at the moment the 
 consequences that are to flow from their words and deeds. 
 With all their obscurities, therefore, the Epistles accomplish 
 a greater mission for universal humanity, because they speak 
 so individually to Timothy and Philemon, Romans and 
 
THE APOSTLE PAUL. 57 
 
 Ephesians. The cases of his churches in fact generalized 
 the world. But being " Tracts for the Times," and all the 
 better for that reason, we must not complain that these let- 
 ters contain some riddles when read in our times. Paul had 
 in his mind, when he wrote, men and women living in a 
 totally different state of society from the present, and the 
 whole warp and woof of whose social and traditional exist- 
 ence were otherv\dse compounded and colored. It is in- 
 deed wonderful that, in this view, while the form and occa- 
 sion of the Apostle's works were thus peculiar and tempo- 
 rary, their spirit is so central, and their adaptation so com- 
 prehensive and eternal. 
 
 Another cause of obscurity lies in the controversial char- 
 acter of the Epistles. We have not the statements of the 
 other side, except by implication. We are obliged to read 
 Paul's opponents through Paul. Most of that world of 
 thought and manners which Paul had in his eye, which 
 shaped his arguments, gave complexion to his style, fired 
 his enthusiasm, and aroused his energy, is irrevocably dead 
 and buried, and not even the best trained and most creative 
 moral and historical imagination can raise it again to life. 
 We have glimpses here and there of customs and characters 
 then prevalent, and of the agitating questions of the Church, 
 but they are pale and ghost-like. If the Apostle were hard 
 to be understood in his own day, and his reasonings began 
 so early to be wrested to prove another doctrine than he in- 
 tended, how significant was that fact of the fortune of sub- 
 sequent ages, when whole systems of theology would be 
 built upon his authority, that are alien to his spirit ! 
 
 We are not inclined, again, to make sufficient allowance 
 for the barrenness of language at that period for communi- 
 cating such truths as Jesus and his Apostles taught. The 
 Hebrew tongue was very limited in its vocabulary, and stiff 
 and circumscribed in its idioms. The Greek, though in 
 
58 THE APOSTLE PAUL. 
 
 some respect the most perfect of languages, had yet sprmig 
 from a people rather volatile and witty than spiritually- 
 minded, and more aesthetic than moral. And the Jewish 
 Greek, or Hellenistic dialect, though richer than either He- 
 brew or Greek alone for the purposes of the sacred writers, 
 was yet too confined and sensuous to give a distinct and 
 luminous outline to that new cast of moral thought, and 
 those higher spiritual conceptions, which it was the mission 
 of Paul to introduce into the Gentile world. Old words 
 must be filled with a new sense. Old idioms must dilate 
 with a grander style of spiritual imagination. Hence we 
 often feel that the writer was obliged to resort to circumlo- 
 cutions, and multiplicity of terms and sentences, to do him- 
 self justice, and that his language sometimes breaks down 
 under the weight of his thoughts. Then the translation 
 into English has still further complicated the difliculties of 
 language. Paul, though rendered in the tongue of Shake- 
 speare and Milton, is obscure, with the best helps of modern 
 criticism. But we can easily imagine, that, if he had origi- 
 nally possessed such a rich and powerful instrument of 
 spiritual expression as the English or German of our day, 
 the demands of so many-sided and profound a soul as that 
 of Paul to defend and embody itself in words would have 
 been more adequately supplied. 
 
 From these remarks upon the general obscurity of the 
 Apostle, we would descend to some specific points in which 
 he has been, as we think, greatly misunderstood. Unhappy 
 Paul, crucified in the body in his day, crucified in the spirit 
 in ours ! He is constantly made to prove what he never 
 believed, to uphold what he spent himself in overthrowing, 
 and quoted continually as authority for sentiments on which 
 he would have bestowed a hearty anathema maranatha. 
 Cant recites, witli" measured tone and dogmatic purpose, 
 sentences that came glowing in a white heat from his ardent 
 
THE APOSTLE PAUL. 59 
 
 soul. Bigotry is intent upon digging up the flowers which 
 he planted to adorn the garden of God, to find some root of 
 bitterness. Theologians express their ideas in his words, 
 rather than his ideas in thek words. The most free from 
 technical or philosophical limitation of any of the \\T:iters of 
 the New Testament, unless it be John, recasting the Gospel 
 in his own forms of phraseology, Paul is the last man to be 
 quoted to justify any sort of exclusiveness or uncharitable- 
 ness in religion, or to tie down all the world to the same 
 formularies of faith, worship, and works. A freely living 
 and a freely moving soul, airing himself in the atmosphere 
 of different countries and continents, conversant with the 
 works of God and the philosophies of men, touching at one 
 point the culture of the intellectual Greek, and at the other 
 that of the believing Hebrew, commissioned to proclaim 
 and establish in new regions so loving and liberal a system 
 as the Gospel, love from God, and good-will to men, with 
 his bosom heaving in sympathetic beatings to every pain 
 and wrong of the race, and with his tears flowing like a 
 fountain whenever ill betided any portion of the Church, 
 P;iul is made to utter a language at variance with every 
 emotion of his heart, and every purpose of his life, when 
 he is interpreted as the teacher of doctrines inconsistent 
 with the fatherly character of God, condemnatory of human 
 nature, and darkening its destiny here and hereafter. Paul 
 has given us, not a body of divinity, rigid and narrow, but 
 a soul, and that soul consists in faith, hope, and charity. 
 With what amazement would he have looked upon the 
 spectacle of modern textual theology ! With what severity 
 would he have lashed that principle of interpretation that 
 can at one time torture out of his WTitings justifications 
 for exclusive creeds and persecuting churches, and at an- 
 other, licenses for social inhumanity and public wi'ong ! 
 Would he recognize, indeed, and own as his writings, those 
 
60 THE APOSTLE PAUL. 
 
 epistles, crumbled up, almost without regard to connection, 
 into chapters and verses, compacted sentences divided and 
 subdivided into separate propositions, sometimes mistrans- 
 lated, and shaded with the expressions and biases of a dark 
 age of society and theology, — when read, read piecemeal, 
 as if constituting a charm, not a composition, — and when 
 quoted, quoted in fragments, broken from their place and 
 connection, to point a sentence or prop up a doctrine, as if 
 they were independent proverbs, not closely jointed limbs 
 of a living and inseparable body ? There is no part of the 
 Sacred Scriptures so much injured by this mode of treat- 
 ment as the long sentences and close argumentation of the 
 Apostle Paul. No book but one so potent and vital as the 
 Bible could survive for any considerable time such a Me- 
 dean process. As it is, a new translation can hardly be ex- 
 pected that will secure so generally the suffrages of the 
 Protestant sects in England and America as the imperfect 
 one of King James's reign. But in the mean time, para- 
 graph Bibles, and editions with here and there an explana- 
 tory note in the margin, like those of Shakespeare and other 
 English classics, to say nothing of commentaries, might do 
 something to remove the veil from these glorious works. 
 The Epistles are a mine still to be worked, and capable of 
 yielding new supplies to the golden currency of truth. 
 
 One very important question in regard to these writings 
 is, whether they really make any essential doctrinal addition 
 to the Christian Religion, or not. They no doubt contribute 
 many new illustrations, applications, and developments of 
 the truth, but do they impart what is absolutely new, and 
 what cannot be found in the Gospels and the Acts of the 
 Apostles? On this subject theologians have differed, but 
 even those who take the negative still concede a species of 
 new revelation to Paul, inasmuch as he gives more fully 
 than any other the philosophical explanation of the conclud- 
 
THE APOSTLE PAUL. 61 
 
 ing facts in the life of Jesus, the crucifixion, resurrection, 
 and ascension, and his posthumous influence upon his 
 Church. Macknight, one of the most moderate and candid 
 of critics, speaks as follows : " With respect to the Gospels 
 and the Acts of the Apostles, let it be remarked, that, while 
 the gi-eatest regard is dne to them, especially to the Gospels, 
 because they contain the words of Christ himself, we are 
 not in them to look for the full account of the Gospel 
 scheme. Their professed design is to give, not a complete 
 history of our religion, but the history of its Founder, and of 
 that illustrious display he made of his glory as the Son of 
 God and Saviour of the world, together with an account 
 of the spreading of the Gospel after our Lord's ascension. 
 The Gospel doctrine is to be found complete only in the 
 Epistles, where it is exhibited with great accuracy by the 
 Apostle to whom the Holy Ghost revealed it as Christ had 
 promised." Other commentators and divines avow the 
 same remarkable theory, and the spirit of it has widely 
 vitiated the theology of many centuries. 
 
 We believe, on the other hand, that Paul was not a re- 
 vealer, but an analyzer, applier, commentator, of the Gospel. 
 He philosophized about its facts and truths, but he did not 
 originate a single essential one. If any distinct principle of 
 Christianity were disclosed in the Epistles alone, we should 
 regard it as a matter of great wonder, if not of questionable 
 authority. We cannot believe, with Bolingbroke, that the 
 Gospel of Christ is one thing ; and that the Gospel of Paul, 
 and of all those who have grafted after him on the same 
 stock, is another. But if the doctrines of grace, so called, 
 do depend solely or chiefly upon the words of Paul, then we 
 submit that they occupy a secondary, and not a primary, 
 place in Christian theology. That Jesus should be born 
 and sent into the world to bear witness to the truth, and 
 should leave that truth unspoken, and that it should devolve 
 
62 THE APOSTLE PAUL. 
 
 on one who had not been imbued with the spirit of his Mas- 
 ter's personal intercourse and instructions, but converted 
 from the ranks of his enemies, to consummate the glorious 
 design, is utterly incredible. We believe the character of 
 God, and of his Son, the need of the Gospel, and all its 
 leading features, its succession to Judaism, and its univer- 
 sality for the race, are all taught in the Gospels and Acts 
 of the Apostles. The miracles, parables, and conversations 
 of our Lord are not distinctly dwelt upon, though they are 
 referred to by Paul, but the primal truths which underlie them 
 are the basis of his every argument and exhortation. If the 
 doctrine of the Trinity, the total depravity of human nature, 
 justification by faith, election, effectual grace, and the final 
 perseverance of the saints, or any other dogma, were actually 
 to be found in Paul, we should regard it as wonderful in- 
 deed that our Saviour had not even lisped of it in his Ser- 
 mon on the Mount, his commission to the Twelve or to the 
 Seventy, his parables, or his farewell discourses and prayers 
 with his disciples. But the proof-texts which are employed 
 to defend the above doctrines are more largely drawn from 
 the Epistles of Paul than from other portions of the Scrip- 
 tures. The Apostle settled some controversies, but he has 
 originated many more. For the sake of maintaining the 
 value of tradition, the Roman Catholics and the Puseyites 
 contend that the doctrine of the^Trinity cannot be upheld 
 on the authority of the New Testament alone. The Fathers 
 must be brought in to complete the structure which the 
 Apostles left unfinished. Were that ground tenable, it is 
 evident that, so far as you thus sti*engthen tradition, you 
 really weaken the word of God. It is a dangerous conces- 
 sion to make respecting any Christian doctrine, that it is 
 defensible upon some other grounds than those of the Bible. 
 And so we may say of Calvinism, that if it be, as some say, 
 in the Epistles of Paul, but not in the discourses of Christ, 
 
THE APOSTLE PAUL. 63 
 
 SO much the worse for Calvinism, to say nothing of Paul. 
 It is pretty conclusive evidence that Christianity and Cal- 
 vinism are discordant systems. But we hold that there is 
 no such unfortunate clashing of authorities ; that the New 
 Testament is a homogeneous book ; that all its witnesses 
 yield a harmonious testimony, and that the Gospel is one 
 and the same in essence, though differently cast and colored 
 in passing through finite minds, and that the Christianity 
 of Paul is easily seen to be identical in all its substantial 
 with the Christianity of the Evangelists. 
 
 Dr. Channing justly says, in a letter to a friend : " You 
 must show that the passages in the Epistles which are 
 thought to teach other and higher docti-ines than Jesus 
 taught are in fact- only different forms of the same truth, — 
 and narrower forms, being adaptations of it to a particular 
 age, and very peculiar state of the Church. As long as men 
 think they find in the Epistles great principles not commu- 
 nicated in the Gospels, the latter will pass only for initia- 
 tory teaching. Here, I apprehend, is the chief use of Bib- 
 lical criticism, — not to disclose new truths, but to show 
 that the darker parts of the New Testament, which belong 
 almost wholly to the Epistles, contain the same doctrine 
 with the simple and luminous teaching of Jesus." * 
 
 The mistake which has been committed in relation to the 
 doctrine of Justification by Faith has so lately been exposed 
 in a number of the Christian Examiner, f that it is unneces- 
 sary to dwell upon it further. Paul's doctrine is one thing, 
 an amplification in fact of what may be found in every 
 verse of the Sermon on the Mount, but the doctrine which 
 has been attributed to Paul is quite another thing. In fine, 
 we might suppose that the strongest espousers of the notion 
 of any justification, except that implied in the superiority 
 
 * Memoir, Vol. n. p. 416. t For March, 1851. 
 
64 THE APOSTLE PAUL. 
 
 of the spiritual principle in Christianity over all merely legal, 
 ceremonial, or habitual rules, was sufficiently demonstrated 
 by the Apostle himself. If Paul preach justification by 
 faith, he preaches again and again still more loudly j ustili- 
 cation by charity ; and if he insist upon the value of doc- 
 trine in his discussions, he always winds up his Epistles 
 with the most spirit-stirring exhortations and provocatives 
 to love and good works, as if the destiny of a thousand 
 souls depended on every grace and virtue, and the only rea- 
 sonable conclusion to the whole matter was, to fear God 
 and keep his commandments. 
 
 That the Election of Paul is not anything more than the 
 election of Christ, or the election, in fact, of nature, or life, 
 we believe, is substantiated, not by any stiff and formal the- 
 ory, that cuts the knots it cannot untie, but by the necessary 
 and rational interpretation of language. If we please to re- 
 sort to a theology of texts, and bits of patchwork, and be- 
 lieve that " figures of speech are the pillars of the Church," 
 we can prove anything and believe everything. But if we 
 take into view the broad and general tenor of the Apostle's 
 teachings, we shall see him vindicating with seraphic fire 
 the impartiality, not the exclusiveness, of the Divine admin- 
 istration, and that, if God diversified men's external privi- 
 leges, he made those most favored with spiritual advantages 
 the more responsible trustees of such benefits for the good 
 of all. The election of Paul is like the election of Provi- 
 dence, by which birth, nation, age, clime, color, are deter- 
 mined for us, or by which the painter, the poet, the artisan, 
 are by the natural faculties of their minds predestinated to 
 their several offices. He made the doctrine, not one of 
 ease, but of energy ; not of final condition, but of interme- 
 diate privilege ; and he does not put his own case, sealed 
 and illustrated as it apparently was by the most explicit 
 Divine authentication, beyond the possibility of his being a 
 castaway. 
 
THE APOSTLE PAUL. 65 
 
 And in relation to that capital article of modern theology, 
 the Atonement, it is remarkable how little the fact has been 
 taken notice of, that, while the Apostle lays great stress 
 upon the death of Christ, or, to use the vivid and speaking 
 metaphor, " his blood," he lays tenfold more emphasis on 
 the resurrection of Christ, as the controlling evidence of the 
 truth of his mission," as the life-giving revelation of immor- 
 tality. As it has been said a hundred times, and must be 
 said as many more, the word atonement occurs but once in 
 the New Testament (Romans v. 11), and there, according 
 to uniform usage, it should be rendered reconciliation. The 
 modern idea of the Atonement is rebutted on every leaf and 
 chapter of these letters, and wherever it seems to find any 
 occasional footing, it hangs merely upon the flowers of the 
 Apostle's branching and luxuriant rhetoric, and constitutes 
 no part of the essential root and trunk of his reasoning. 
 We believe the doctrine in question subversive of the natu- 
 ral justice of God, while conflicting at every point with that 
 boundless mercy which shines as a central sun in the Gos- 
 pel. The expression, "for Christ's sake," which is fre- 
 quently used in prayers and graces, and is designed to con- 
 vey the impression, that what God gives to man he gives, 
 not on account of his own intrinsic benevolence, or man's 
 own intrinsic need, but on account of what Christ has done 
 and suffered to purchase his favorable regards to a rebel and 
 rejected race, also occurs but once in the Christian Scrip- 
 tm-es (Ephesians iv. 32), and should by every principle of a 
 uniform translation be there construed in or through Christ. 
 The idea of its being necessary that something should be 
 done or suffisred by Christ, in order to render it consistent 
 for God to forgive even his penitent child, is the master idea 
 of the Atonement, and there is not a vein or artery in the^ 
 Protestant body which has not been more or less tinged by 
 it. The doctrine of the Atonement is the main post in the 
 
 0* 
 
66 THE APOSTLE PAUL. 
 
 battle-field of modem controversy, and under differing forms, 
 and with the interest either of adoption or of denial, it com- 
 mands the range of theological literature. The mode of 
 understanding the figurative language of the Scriptures, on 
 which it is maintained, would equally wxll give countenance 
 to the doctrine of Transubstantiation ; and let it be added, 
 that the theory on which it is founded perpetuates the sys- 
 tem of Jewish exclusiveness, with this single gloomy ad- 
 dition, that, unlike that temporal system, it spreads it over 
 the vast compass of man's spiritual being, and sends it 
 down to the remotest ages of futurity. 
 
 It is not a little singular, that the wi'itings which so often 
 take for their theme the liberty of Christ, the spiritual eman- 
 cipation from the letter to the spirit, the universal faith of 
 Jew and Gentile, bond and free, should be the very ones 
 that by a misunderstanding are employed to promulgate the 
 partial and limited systems of Depravity, Election, and the 
 Atonement. Who indeed would recognize in the systems 
 of Calvin and his modifiers, unyielding as iron, and fixed 
 and remorseless as fate, the tender and trembling responsi- 
 bility of Paul, the charity that yearned and prayed for the 
 worst, and cast not a solitary creature, except as self-exiled 
 and self-condemned, beyond the pale of mercy ? K it be 
 doubted whether a system of theology can be essentially 
 mutilated by the process of adding a little here, and sub- 
 tracting a little there, which in obedience to their theories 
 has been practised by the gi-eat doctors of Christendom upon 
 the Epistles, take an illustration in Hogarth's picture of 
 Perspective., and see how fatally by such a perversion nature 
 and reality may be driven out with a pitchfork in that art 
 which represents ideas by forms, and which is kindred to 
 that which represents them by words. 
 
 John Keats makes a distinction between great men and 
 sublime men. Of the very few constituting the latter class, 
 
THE APOSTLE PAUL. 67 
 
 Paul is one. He was a sublime man in his nature. Wher- 
 ever he lived, and whatever position he might occupy, he 
 would leave his mark upon the world, broad, peculiar, and 
 eternal. He possessed that immeasurable might of will and 
 resource of soul, which make one stronger than a million of 
 ordinary capacity. They become under his creative and 
 inventive agency as clay in the hands of the potter. They 
 are as the elementary substance through which his electric 
 energies circulate. In the true census, men are to be 
 weighed, not counted. Genius is an intellectual gift, but 
 sublime men are more than geniuses. They are seers, 
 prophets, apostles, founders of states, fathers of their coun- 
 try, moral and spiritual archetypes of new eras of history, 
 new stages of man's progress towards God. This class 
 possess genius, but their genius is not exclusive ; it is but 
 one element of that august assemblage of powers by which 
 they communicate a new vital force to the dormant mass 
 of humanity, and speak the work of genesis, that brings 
 order and beauty out of ages of darkness, chaos, and de- 
 spair. It is their mighty moral, as well as intellectual power, 
 which makes the earth gravitate nearer to heaven, and man 
 more to resemble his Maker. To genius, to a superlative 
 moral nature, Paul added the more transcendent gifts of 
 inspiration. Sublime as a man, he became still more sub- 
 lime as an Apostle of Christ. 
 
 Paul was sublime in his life and actions. His history 
 includes contrasts greater than those of any romance. Once 
 a persecutor of that faith of which he afterwards became the 
 very chiefest Apostle, arrested in the height of his defiance 
 by the voice from heaven of that Master for whose sake he 
 afterwards died, after adding suffering to suffering and labor 
 to labor while he lived, the story of Paul, were we not so 
 familiar with it from the nursery, would be read as the most 
 wonderful of biographies, and as containing at once the 
 
OS THE APOSTLE PAUL. 
 
 sublimity of epic, and the pathos of tragic life. We are ac- 
 customed to estimate these subjects so exclusively from a 
 devotional and conventional point of view, that we fail to 
 form those clear critical and sesthetical judgments at which 
 we arrive in estimating other questions of history and biog- 
 raphy. The scale of Paul's enterprises was Titanic. To 
 change the religion of the world was a task of no little mag- 
 nitude. His actions are great, like his plans, — great in con- 
 ception, great in motive, and great in progress, execution, 
 and result. Anything small, mean, or unworthy we may 
 be sure took instant flight from so impressive and luminous 
 a presence. Wherever he moves, he bears with him the 
 sceptre of unresisting authority and godlike beneficence. 
 What men have erroneously called boastings were but the 
 expressions of his childlike frankness, and the uncalculating 
 pouring forth of that love which only asked as its reward 
 sympathy in return. No man surpassed Paul in candor, 
 none in the disinterestedness of his motives. Both in the 
 quantity and the quality of his work, his life rose to the sub- 
 lime. In all the great centres of the old nations, at the head 
 fountains of thought and influence, Jerusalem, Athens, 
 Ephesus, Corinth, Rome, he was present, and his presence 
 was felt ; he spoke a word that stirred the world, and that 
 word was the Gospel of Christ, the sum of Divine wisdom 
 for man. Paul awoke revolutions, organized institutions, 
 and applied Christianity to new uses and adaptations, and 
 gathered in a grand unity Jew and Gentile, bond and free, 
 in one Church. Three hundred years did not elapse before 
 the cross was the ensign of Rome, when Rom.e was the 
 mistress of the world. And to-day, in all the hundred cap- 
 itals of the nations, in a hundred different tongues, Paul is 
 read, preached, and meditated upon, and next to the unap- 
 proachable Master impels the religious thought of the races 
 and the ages. 
 
THE APOSTLE PAUL. 69 
 
 Paul is sublime in his writings and in his earthly immor- 
 tality. The brightest geniuses pale in the revolutions of 
 time. Their names may be known as the commonplaces 
 of history and literature, but their ideas have grown obso- 
 lete, their compositions cease to instruct and charm ; little 
 by little they die out of the memory of men, and they trans- 
 mit to other hands the sceptre of their once unquestioned 
 dominion. Their works are as the fossils of an earlier 
 stratum of the earth. They lie in dead languages and on 
 dusty shelves, read by a handful of scholars, but retaining 
 little living hold upon the mind of the civilized world. But 
 it is the glory of Paul, as it is of a greater than Paul, to win 
 new power by time, to add as years and centuries pass new 
 subjects to his faith, new provinces to his empire. The 
 author of one third of the New Testament, the preacher of 
 Christian truth to mankind, no king ever had so wide a 
 sway, no kingdom such a duration. He has spoken words 
 that have thrilled deeply, and will thrill for ever, the soul of 
 man. Coleridge said, " I think St. Paul's Epistle to the 
 Romans the most profound work in existence."* Channing 
 remarked, " We cannot but consider the letters of Paul, 
 with all their abrupt transitions and occasional obscurities, 
 as more striking exhibitions of genuine Christianity than 
 could have been transmitted by the most labored and arti- 
 ficial compositions." f It is in the words of Paul that Chris- 
 tian devotion offers her warmest tribute of praise, Christian 
 joy expresses her ecstasies, and Christian sori'ow finds the 
 charm of her soothing and her patience. Paul guides and 
 instructs the living, comforts the sick and stricken, and opens 
 upon the bed of death the bright vistas of a hope shining 
 down from heaven. In Paul, Charity found a tongue' to 
 discourse with more than human eloquence of her beauties 
 
 * Table Talk, Vol. II. p. 100. t Memoir, Vol. I. p. 380. 
 
70 THE APOSTLE PAUL. 
 
 and glories, and in Paul the Resurrection and Life Ever- 
 lasting speak in a tone so reasonable and so majestic, so 
 convincing to the understanding, and so consolatory to the 
 heart, that even at the mouth of the grave, where we com- 
 mit " earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust," Faith 
 seizes the extinguished torch of life, lights it anew at her 
 altar, and leads the way through the dark valley of the 
 shadow of death with a hope built in heaven and full of 
 immortality. 
 
ESSAY IV. 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE KOMANS. 
 
 Though first in the order of the Epistles, the letter to the 
 Romans is not probably the first in time. The Apostle is 
 supposed to have \vritten more than half of his epistles to 
 the churches before this date. But the reasons of its being 
 placed in the forefront were, that it was addressed to the 
 Christians in the chief city of the world, that it was the long- 
 est one, and the most important in doctrine and exhortation. 
 So highly, indeed, was it valued in the history of the Church, 
 that it was called the INIarrow of Divinity, the Key of the 
 New Testament, the Christian Chm-ch's Confession, the 
 Most Divine Epistle of the Most Holy Apostle. 
 
 This Epistle was undoubtedly written at Corinth, be- 
 cause Gains, who is here spoken of as his host (Romans 
 xvi. 23), was baptized by Paul at Corinth (1 Corinthians i. 
 14), and because Phoebe, who is commended to the Roman 
 church, and was probably the bearer of the letter to Rome, 
 was deaconess of the church of Cenchrea (Romans xvi. 1), 
 the port of Corinth, and a few miles distant from that 
 city. The Apostle also mentions Erastus as the chamber- 
 lain of the city (Romans xvi. 23 ; compare 2 Timothy iv. 
 20), and Corinth was a city of high rank, and the capital of 
 Achaia. 
 
 The Apostle made two separate visits at Corinth, the first 
 of about a year and a half in duration (Acts xviii. 1, 11), and 
 the second of about three months (Acts xx. 2, 3). By as 
 accurate a comparison of the dates of his journeys as can 
 well be made at the present day, in the absence of a specific 
 
72 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 chronology, Paul is conjectured to have wnritten the Epistle 
 to the Romans about the year 58 of our Lord. 
 
 There is no valid ground for the belief of the Roman 
 Catholics, that the church at Rome was founded by the 
 Apostle Peter, or for the inference from it, that, because 
 Christ said to Peter, " I will give unto thee the keys of the 
 kingdom of heaven," and " Upon this rock I will build my 
 Church," therefore the Church of Rome is entitled to hold 
 supremacy over the other churches of the world, which may 
 be far superior to her. For where Peter is spoken of in Eu- 
 sebius, as the founder of the church, it is conjointly with 
 Paul, and the probability is, that in both cases it is to be 
 understood of the subsequent establishment and enlarge- 
 ment of the Church rather than of the original foundation. 
 
 Who was the real founder of the church at Rome, is a 
 question to which no confident answer can now be given. 
 " The strangers of Rome," spoken of in Acts ii. 10, may 
 have carried the knowledge of Jesus to the capital of the 
 world. The Christian brethren and sisters spoken of so 
 affectionately by Paul (Romans xvi. 3-16) were no doubt 
 actively engaged in promoting the cause of Christianity, if 
 they were not the prime movers. But that the Church of 
 Rome was not originally founded by an Apostle is strongly 
 to be inferred from Romans xv. 20-22, where Paul expressly 
 lays it down as one of the fixed principles upon which he 
 proceeded in his apostolic labors and missions, not to inter- 
 fere with another man's work, or build on another man's 
 foundation. 
 
 The genuineness of this Epistle as the ^\^:iting of the 
 Apostle Paul rests upon the following testimonies. It pur- 
 ports to be his work, and has his name attached to it. The 
 voice of antiquity, both historical and ti-aditional, pro- 
 nounces Paul as the author. Then the internal evidences 
 are numerous and conclusive that he wrote the Epistle. 
 
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. 73 
 
 The style, cast of thought, moral characteristics, all belong 
 to him. The undesigned coincidences between the history 
 of Paul in the Acts of the Apostles, and the allusions in the 
 Epistle, have been developed in a very convincing argument 
 by Paley, in his Horse Paulinas. The authorship of the 
 Epistle has never been seriously questioned. 
 
 It is difficult now to reenter into that world of physical, 
 intellectual, social, political, and religious relations in which 
 Paul was living, and from which he wrote this Epistle. 
 But warm-hearted as he was, he naturally contracted, cha- 
 meleon-like, the color of the circumstances around him, and 
 while he was faithful to the lofty landmarks of Christianity, 
 he taught the new religion with adaptation to the men of 
 that period^ He doubtless learned from Priscilla and Aquila 
 (Romans xvi. 3) the state of things in the imperial city, and 
 having an opportunity, in an age when there were no mails 
 or telegraphs, to send a letter to Rome by Phebe, he writes 
 the following Epistle. As he was soon to take another 
 journey to Jerusalem, to carry the contributions of the 
 churches to relieve the poor disciples there, and expose him- 
 self to great danger, he may be supposed to write under a 
 quickened sense of responsibility, and with the utmost 
 anxiety to guard the Roman church from the heresies which 
 were creeping in. 
 
 If we divide the Epistles into three classes, the Doctrinal, 
 the Ecclesiastical, and the Pastoral, we shall place the Epis- 
 tle to the Romans in the first division. 
 
 We find in it, indeed, no new doctrines, no positive addi- 
 tions to the Gospels, except in the way of argument, illus- 
 tration, and application. But Paul had a twofold problem, 
 requiring great delicacy, address, pith, and eloquence to 
 solve ; namely, to wean the Gentile part of the Church from 
 their fondness for the Grecian philosophy, and to withdraw 
 them from their Pagan practices ; and also to lead the Jew- 
 7 
 
74 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 ish converts to conform to the faith and obedience of the 
 Gospel, instead of the laws of Moses. We are prone to 
 forget in what a crude and formative state were these early 
 chm'ches, how lately they had been converted from old 
 creeds and customs, how truly they were babes in Christ, 
 and needed the sincere, pure milk of the Word. We are, 
 therefore, under an illusion when we look back to the prim- 
 itive Church as the golden age of Christianity. We learn 
 enough from the New Testament, and still more from the 
 early church histories, to convince us that abominable cus- 
 toms and monstrous heresies were found at an early day in 
 the churches founded by the Apostles themselves. (1 Corin- 
 thians V. 1 ; vi. 5, 6, 18 ; xi. 21 ; xv. 12 ; Ephesians v. 18 ; 
 1 John iv. 2-4; Revelation ii. 6, 15.) The real golden 
 age of Christianity is buried in a remote future, not in a 
 traditional past. 
 
 It has sometimes been asserted that Paul raised as many 
 questions as he laid, that his writings are the debatable 
 land of theology, and the grand armory of the theological 
 warfare, from which every combatant may pick out the 
 weapon that pleases him best. But it is plain that Chris- 
 tianity came to arouse dormant human nature, and it is but 
 natural that the first exhibitions of its activity should be 
 somewhat irregular. Jesus said, he came to bring, not 
 peace, but a sword. Discussion, argument, controversy, are 
 inseparable concomitants to the progress of truth. We may 
 deprecate justly the angry jars of the conflict, but we cannot 
 help being gratified with the victories of truth, and hailing 
 its champions as among the most illustrious benefactors of 
 mankind. Paul has indeed awakened much controversy, 
 but it has resulted from misinterpretation of his writings, 
 from preconceived theories, and stubborn prejudices, and 
 philosophy, falsely so called, and we cannot but rejoice to 
 see these slowly yielding the field to the mighty prevalence 
 
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. 75 
 
 of truth. "The Conflict of Ages" has not been in vain, 
 and the Apostle, though quoted too long on the wrong side 
 of the question, is truly the Achilles of the host. He was 
 the sublime vindicator of spmtual freedom in his day, and he 
 is the legitimate father and forerunner of Luther, who has 
 led the way to civil and religious independence in our age. 
 Paul and Luther have many spiritual features alike, but 
 not less did the mission they came to perform in ages wide 
 apart bear a kindred resemblance. 
 
 The single key, in few words, we conceive, which will 
 unlock the Epistles of Paul to the Romans and the Gala- 
 tians, is not, as has been stated, "justification by faith," as 
 if the great question were, how a man is judged or estimated 
 on the side of God, but "righteousness by faith," faith- 
 righteousness, or how a man really is in his own character, 
 on the side of himself. The Apostle shows conclusively, 
 that neither Grecian wisdom nor Hebrew law could be 
 trusted as adequate to produce this superior, spiritual faith- 
 righteousness ; that, in fact, they had both been tried, and 
 found wanting, but that religion of Jesus was chartered, 
 treasured, and energized with powers adequate to achieve 
 the gi-and result. It was the wisdom of God, and the power 
 of God unto salvation. 
 
 To meet the successive points of this high argument, and 
 vindicate for so lowly an instrument as the Gospel of the 
 Crucified One an entire right to lead the most civilized na- 
 tions, to command Greece, Rome, or whatever else was 
 most refined or powerful in the ancient world, nay, to take 
 the children of Revelation themselves under its tutelage, and 
 to fulfil the faith of Abraham, the Law of Moses, the hope 
 of David and Isaiah, was the programme of these Epistles. 
 For we can understand that the righteousness, which was 
 based upon knowledge, philosophy, wisdom, and thus con- 
 nected only with things seen and temporal, the Grecian 
 
76 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 type of character, must be far inferior to the righteousness 
 founded on the principle of faith, and thus connected with 
 things unseen and eternal ; and, again, that the law-right- 
 eousness of the Hebrews, like the wisdom-righteousness of 
 the Greeks, must be hard, technical, definite, and limited, 
 and that it could never rise to the height and beauty of a 
 spiritual character, formed on the ideal of a Heavenly Sav- 
 iour and Father, and energized by the hopes and promises 
 of eternal life. In the fulness of time, when other experi- 
 ments had failed, the well-beloved Son came, that he might 
 establish the righteousness which is by faith, and which 
 would thus have in itself a perpetual spring of growth, puri- 
 fication, and power. The word justification occurs but 
 three times in the New Testament (Romans iv. 25, v. 16, 
 18), and in those instances the idea would be truly given by 
 the term righteousness ^ understood in the active sense, or 
 the process of making righteous or just. Romans iv. 25 : 
 " Who was delivered for our ofTences, and was raised again 
 for the making of us righteous.''^ Even in the Calvinistic 
 translation of King James the true idea occasionally breaks 
 out, as in Romans v. 19 : " By the obedience of one shall 
 many be made righteous." 
 
 The vice of the common theory of Pauline interpretation 
 is, that it makes the Apostle, who w^as an enemy to all 
 shams and an advocate of the most earnest realities, con- 
 cerned chiefly on the questions, how man can escape, not 
 sin, but condemnation ; and how he can gain, not righteous- 
 ness and sanctification, but acceptance. This is putting 
 the emphasis altogether in the wrong place. Faith-right- 
 eousness, not faith-justification, was the bent and aim of the 
 Apostle's discourse, and faith-justification was to be the 
 consequent, not the antecedent, to faith-righteousness. By 
 substituting Christian faith instead of Grecian wisdom, or 
 Hebrew law for the mainspring and motive-power of life 
 
THE EPI8TLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. 77 
 
 and character, Paul had taken hold of the most effective 
 and well-adapted instrument in the universe for the achieve- 
 ment of the great end of human existence. He was prima- 
 rily devoted to the discussion of the need, value, fitness, 
 beauty, and divine intention of this instrument, but that he 
 either neglected or forgot the natural and necessary works 
 of obedience, benevolence, and improvement, which would 
 flow as surely as streams from the parent fountain, is dis- 
 proved by the long and animating exhortations with which 
 he filled the concluding portions of every epistle, calling 
 trumpet-tongued upon his converts to show the purity and 
 strength of their faith by the consistency of their lives and 
 the devotion and benevolence of their characters. 
 
 The difficulty of understanding the Apostle's writings 
 arises not from the matter so much as the form of his com- 
 position. He was an artisan, but not an artist. His ma- 
 terials were abundant, his arguments weighty, his figures of 
 speech brilliant, his stream of thought and feeling deep and 
 impetuous ; but not adhering to the rules of rhetoric and logic, 
 it is sometimes impossible, and not unfrequently hard, to 
 grasp his meaning. His obscurity is not attributable to im- 
 perfect conception or feeble statement of his ideas, but to 
 the number, the rapidity and sweep, of his thoughts and 
 emotions ; not to negative blank darkness, but to blinding, 
 dazzling light. We are distracted by the affluence and 
 splendor and intricate confusion of the intellectual treasures 
 which he pours out before us. We feel that here are gifts 
 of mind and heart, appeals of eloquence, and gems of imagi- 
 nation, sufficient to set up and endow half a dozen orators 
 and poets, while the Apostle himself, owing to his lack of 
 artistic order and clear logical sequence, comes short, in the 
 appreciation of the world at large, of being either a first- 
 class reasoner or illustrator of truth. But to the few, who 
 penetrate his unpromising exterior, and enter the secret 
 
 7" 
 
78 - THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 places of his power and his glory, the image of the Apostle 
 Paul rises upon the view as one of the greatest writers the 
 world has ever seen, independently of his title to inspiration. 
 His style has been called by a German critic a battle; I 
 would rather say it was a thunder-storm, — the torrents of 
 rain pouring down from the sky, the vivid gleams of light- 
 ning darting among the clouds, and the deep-toned thunder 
 rolling in the distance, — a certain indistinctness over the 
 whole, and a commingling of elements, but everywhere 
 glory, majesty, terror, richness, and beauty ; and after his 
 darkest passages the rainbow of the Divine love arches over 
 the heavens, and tinges with its lovely colors the black and 
 drenched earth. 
 
THE 
 
 EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. 
 
REFERENCES. 
 
 The following editors, autliors, and commentators have been consulted in 
 tlie preparation of the comments on the Epistle to the Romans : — Gries- 
 bach, Tischendorf, Luther, Beza, Tyndale, Sacy, McKnight, Comprehen- 
 Five Commentary, Doddridge, Trollope, Adam Clarke, Bloomfield, Barnes, 
 Stuart, Dabney, Hammond, Le Clerc, Hemy, Chalmers, Burder, Burkitt, 
 Lardner, Lightfoot, Cellerier, Lord Lyttelton, Paley, Haynes, Winer, De 
 Wette, Hug, Olshausen, Neander, Tholuck, Norton, "Whitwell, Robinson, 
 Belsham, Home, Abbot, Farmer, Wilson, ISIilman, Taylor, More, Hodge, 
 Goadby, Lnproved Version, Gerard, Whately, Fratres Poloni, Poole, Chris- 
 tian Examiner, and Christian Register. 
 
THE 
 
 EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Salutation, Introduction^ and a Descrijjtioji of the Wichedness of the Gentiles. 
 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to he an apostle, separated 
 
 1. Paul. It was the custom an- 
 ciently to place the name of the 
 writer at the beginning of an epistle, 
 instead of at the close, as is done 
 noAV. Acts xxiii. 26. The letters 
 missive of churches now retain the 
 old method. The change of the 
 Apostle's name from Saul to Paul has 
 been variously accounted for ; either 
 as a compliment to Sergius Paul us, 
 Acts xiii. 7, 9, 13, or as a prefer- 
 ence of a Gentile to a Hebrew name, 
 which is a more probable supposition. 
 Paul was an apostle to the heathen 
 world, and he was willing to conform 
 to their taste in matters of indiffer- 
 ence. 1 Cor. ix. 21, 22. The critics 
 cite many cases of a similar trans- 
 formation ; as o? Tarplion into Try- 
 ■plio, JoiaJcim into Alkimos. — A ser- 
 vant of Jesus Christ. Tischendorf 
 edits, Christ Jesus. The original is 
 slave; that being the condition of 
 most servants in the East. It was a 
 term of honor rather than shame, 
 when connected with a master of 
 great dignity. The slaves of kings 
 were often their chief officers, and 
 sometimes prime ministers. The ob- 
 vious sense is, that Paul was wholly 
 devoted for hfe, body and soul, to 
 Jesus Christ, as his master ; who had 
 subdued and converted him by his 
 power ; a service not of bondage, 
 
 but of perfect liberty.* — Called to 
 he an apostle. Chosen an apostle. 
 The italics of the translators are 
 needless here, as in many other in- 
 stances. The Apostle, with a becom- 
 ing dignity, advances at the outset 
 his credentials and claims to be 
 heard, as an authorized messenger 
 of God. Some have conjectured that 
 Paul was the true substitute for Ju- 
 das Iscariot, and that the choice of 
 Matthias, Acts i. 26, v/as not made 
 with the Divine sanction. Be that as 
 it may, the appointment of Paul to 
 the sacred office was an undoubted 
 interposition of God, bearing in every 
 particular the most unquestionable 
 marks of miraculous agency. Acts 
 ix. He was equal in office to Peter 
 and the other Apostles. It was not a 
 service he had voluntarily assumed, 
 or in which he stood on his own 
 word or authority ; he bore the com- 
 mission of Heaven, and none might 
 innocently gainsay his message. It 
 was not he, it was God, it was Christ, 
 empowering him, as a chosen vessel, 
 
 * When writers call the Apostle boastful, 
 they forget that he couples with his own name 
 servant, and that his boasting was not that of 
 self-esteem, but of exultant gratitude, and con- 
 scious authority and power, for which he was 
 accountable, and which men were to respect, 
 not for his sake, but for God's sake and their 
 own weal. 
 
82 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 untp the Gospel of God, Avhicli lie had promised afore by his 2 
 prophets m the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son Jesus Clirist 3 
 
 to bear the Gospel to the Gentile 
 world. Jesus and the Twelve ut- 
 tered their message primarily "to 
 the lost sheejD of the house of Israel." 
 The sj)ecial designation of Paul was 
 to preach the Gospel to all nations. — 
 Separated unto, i. e. set apart, or con- 
 secrated, to the office of proclaiming 
 the good news from heaven. Jer. 
 i. 5; Acts xiil. 2; Gal. i. 15. The 
 whole stress of the verse is, at once 
 to establish his claims as an apostle, 
 and also, as Theophylact said, "to 
 express his humble-mindedness, and 
 to intimate that he had not found 
 because he had sought, but that he 
 had come because he was called." 
 John XV. 16, 19. Negatively, in Gal. 
 i. 1, and positively, in 1 Cor. i. 1, 
 2 Cor. i. 1, Eph. i. 1, Col. i. 1, 1 Tim. 
 i. 1, 2 Tim. i. 1, he reiterated his 
 apostolic authority, as coming, " not 
 of men, neither by man," but " by 
 the will of God," " by the command- 
 ment of God our Saviour, and Lord 
 Jesus Christ." 
 
 2. Which clearly refers to Gos- 
 pel. — Promised afore. This phrase 
 will be better understood after it is 
 known that it is all comprised in one 
 verb in the original Greek. The 
 simple word means to bring a mes- 
 sage, or news, tidings; compounded 
 with a particle, meaning icell or good, 
 it signifies to bring good news; and 
 hence comes its secondary meaning, 
 to announce the Gospel, to preach 
 Christianity, which is preeminently 
 glad tidings, to mankind ; and com- 
 poimded with two other Greek par- 
 ticles, meaning hefore, and upon or 
 to, it occurs in the text, and should 
 be rendered 2'>rocJaimed or announced 
 hefore. Thus Stuart, " tohich he 
 formerly, or in former times, de- 
 clared or published." The word 
 afore in English has either become 
 obsolete, or fallen into vulgar use, 
 
 and before, in all correct speech and 
 writing, has taken its place. — By 
 his p)rophets in the holy Scriptures. 
 The term jyrophets here includes all 
 the Avriters of the Old Testament, 
 whether lawgivers, like Moses, psalm- 
 ists, like David, or professed predic- 
 tors of future events, like Isaiah ; and 
 the holy Scri^ytures mean all their writ- 
 ings. Tliis was a sentence of con- 
 ciliation for the Jewish Christians, to 
 soothe their easily alarmed prejudices 
 at the admission of Gentiles into the 
 Church, by proclaiming the antiquity 
 and Hebrew sanction of the Gospel 
 promises. Every j^art of the declara- 
 tion is guarded and weighty. As 
 Erasmus observes, " the promise is 
 not made by any body whatever, 
 but by God himself; nor through 
 any persons whatever v/ithout distinc- 
 tion, but through his true and divine 
 prophets ; nor in any ordinary way, 
 but in the sacred Scriptures." Gen. 
 xii. 3 ; xxii. 18 ; Isa. xi., liii., Iv., Ixi. ; 
 Jer. xxxi. 31-34; Dan. vii. 13, 14; 
 ix. 24 - 27 ; Joel ii. 28 - 32 ; Mcah 
 V. 2; Hag. ii. 6-9; Zech. ix. 9; 
 Mai. iii. 1 ; iv. 5, 6. These refer- 
 ences are but specimens of a general 
 character of prediction, anticipation, 
 hope of the Messiah, which runs 
 quite through the Hebrew Scrip- 
 tures, from the first book to the last. 
 This ruling idea constitutes a part of 
 the very substratvmi of the elder dis- 
 jDensation. The testimony of the 
 prophets is often appealed to by our 
 Lord and his disciples. Luke xxiv. 
 25-27,44-46; Acts x. 43; xviii. 28; 
 xxvi. 22, 23; Tit. i. 2 ; 1 Pet. i. 10; 
 2 Pet. i. 19-21. For the general 
 expectation, not only among the 
 Jews, but in all nations, of the com- 
 ing of a great deliverer about the 
 time of the advent of Jesus Christ, 
 see the comments on Matt. ii. 2. 
 3. Concerning his Son Jesus Christ. 
 
I-] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 83 
 
 our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the 
 4 flesh ; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to 
 
 This connects with verse 1 , the inter- 
 mecUate clause being parenthetical, 
 or at least explanatory, and the whole 
 reads, separated unto the Gospel of 
 God concerning Ids Son Jesus Christ. 
 Tliohick observes, " We find here, 
 what often occurs in the writings of 
 this author, a large group of coordi- 
 nate clauses. AVitli reference to 
 these, we remark, that Paul's pecu- 
 liar mode of thinking, and conse- 
 quently also of expression, is most 
 aptly compared to a throng of waves, 
 where, in ever loftier swell, one bil- 
 low presses close upon the other. 
 Like all men of lively temperament, 
 he ever seeks to heighten the im- 
 pressions of liis words, by appending 
 new explanations or definitions." — 
 Which ivas made of the seed of David 
 according to the fleshy or loho luas 
 horn of the seed of David as to his 
 natural descent. All the ingenious 
 commenting of Olshausen and others 
 upon these words, to extort the idea 
 that the whole human nature of 
 Jesus is here meant, mind as well as 
 body, in contrast with his divine 
 nature, as expressed in the next 
 verse, is purely groundless and gra- 
 tuitous. It is an ex post facto, or 
 subsequent notion, inferred from one 
 of the greatest corruptions of the 
 Christian doctrine, and having no 
 basis in the living text of God's Avord. 
 The simple statement is, that Jesus 
 was, so far as his early parentage was 
 concerned, born of Mary, the de- 
 scendant of David, and it is a work 
 of supererogation to go behind that 
 statement. The Apostle might have 
 a twofold purpose ; first, to negative 
 that early heresy that the INIessiah 
 did not come in actual flesh and 
 blood; 1 John iv. 2, 3 ; 2 John 7; 
 and secondly, to dignify Christ in 
 the eyes of the Jews, and to show the 
 fulfilment of ancient prophecy by 
 
 the fact of his sonship to Iving David. 
 See Matt. i. 1 ; ix. 27; xii. 23; xv. 
 22; xxii. 45; Luke xviii. 39; John 
 vii. 42 ; and many other texts, which 
 prove that by the Son of David was 
 understood the long-desired Son of 
 David, or the Messiah. The asser- 
 tion of Barnes, that " the expression 
 ' according to the flesh ' is apjilied to 
 no other one in the New Testament 
 but to Jesus Christ," and the deduc- 
 tion from that, that the phrase has 
 some very deep and sphinx-like idea 
 in it, is all confuted by Rom. ix. 3, 
 where the same words are emploj'ed 
 relating to the Jews. 
 
 4. Declared. Margin reads deter- 
 mined. The word in Greek means 
 to define, limit, determine, decree. 
 Horizon in Enghsh is one of its de- 
 rivatives. It occurs only eight times 
 in the Christian Scriptures, either as 
 a verb or participle, and six of the 
 eight are in one writer, Luke. In 
 Luke xxii. 22, Acts xi. 29 and xvii. 
 26, it is rendered in the Common 
 Version, determined; in Acts ii. 23, 
 determinate ; Acts x. 42 and xvii. 31, 
 ordained ; Heb. iv. 7, limited; and in 
 the present instance, declared. The 
 meaning seems to refer to his being 
 proved or clearly shown to be the 
 Son of God, not as it respects the 
 original decree or ordination of God, 
 but in the sight and to the satisfac- 
 tion of mankind. The mode in 
 which this was done is stated in the 
 next clause of the verse, viz. loilh 
 j)0wer ; powerfully declared to be 
 the Son of God. Col. i. 29. So Lu- 
 ther and many others make the 
 phrase adverbial. The point in 
 which he was thus declared is then 
 stated, to wit, according to the spirit 
 of holiness, or, as to his, Christ's, holy 
 spirit ; it was there the stress of the 
 proof fell. And then the means by 
 which the declaration and proof wore 
 
84 
 
 THE. EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead : by whom 5 
 we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith 
 among all nations, for his name : among whom are ye also the 6 
 
 given follows, i. e. hy the resurrec- 
 tion from the dead. By printing the 
 word Spirit Avith a capital, it is inti- 
 mated that the Holy Spirit of God is 
 signified, whereas the Avords, accord- 
 ing to the sjurit of holiness, are con- 
 trasted Avith those in the foregoing 
 verse, according to the flesh, and sim- 
 ply mean the holy spirit of our Lord, 
 as the sanctified and sent of the 
 Father. The resurrection is ap- 
 pealed to, in numberless places, as 
 the " confirmation strong " of his be- • 
 ing the Messiah, the Son of God. 
 There Avere many other proofs, but 
 this one took the lead, and more 
 poioerfully demonstrated liis claims as 
 a divine teacher. Matt. xii. 38 - 40 ; 
 xxviii.lS; Acts ii. 22-36 ; x. 39-42; 
 xiii. 30 - 37 ; 1 Cor. xv. 14 - 17 ; 2 Cor. 
 xiii. 4; 1 Pet. iii. 18. It is perhaj)s 
 needless to add, but for the cavil 
 made, that the resurrection of Jesus 
 to life and immortality proves far 
 more than the restoration to life of 
 Lazarus, or any one else, because it 
 occurred under Avidely different cir- 
 cumstances, and was folloAved by con- 
 sequences altogether peculiar. The 
 miracles of Christ Avere all shining 
 proofs of his divine mission, so de- 
 clared by him, so recei\'ed by the 
 people, so preached by his Apostles, 
 so believed in the Church Universal ; 
 but the miracle of the resurrection 
 Avas the superlative and crowning 
 Avitness that he Avas the Son of God. 
 
 5. By lohom, i. e. by or throuoh 
 Jesus Christ. He was the media- 
 torial, not original cause. The spirit- 
 ual gifts came from God through his 
 medium. — We. I, Paul. — Grace 
 and apostleship. Hendiadys, or a He- 
 brew rhetorical figure for grace of 
 apostleship. So "life and immor- 
 tahty " means " immortal life." Paul 
 would represent himself as " not a 
 
 whit behind the very chiefest Apos- 
 tles " of the original band ; for if 
 they did not assume their apostle- 
 ship of themselves, but received it 
 from the Master, so did he, under even 
 more solemn circumstances. Acts ix. 
 One of the most burning convictions 
 of his mind Avas the inconceivable 
 grace Avhich had converted him from 
 a blasphemer and persecutor to an 
 Apostle. 1 Tim. i. 13 - 15. The Avord 
 grace is elsewhere translated, in some 
 cases, ^afor. See Luke i. 30; ii. 52; 
 Acts ii. 47; vii. 10; xxv. 3. Uni- 
 formity of rendering is important to 
 a good translation, wherever the 
 original Avords signify the same thing. 
 — For obedience to the faith. The 
 marginal reading is, to the obedietice 
 of faith. Our author here touches for 
 the first time Avith a gentle hand upon 
 the grand theme of his letter, " tJie 
 obedience of faith, as contradistin- 
 guished from legal obedience." It was 
 Iiis ofiice emphatically, as an Apostle 
 " among all nations," or to the Gen- 
 tiles as Avell as the Jews, to proclaun 
 the obedience of faith, to convince 
 men to obey the Gospel, not as a form 
 or ritual, but as a faith, as a great in- 
 ternal and spiritual principle of life, 
 peace, and progress. He afterwards 
 brings out this idea into mountain- 
 like prominence, and accumulates 
 upon it the mighty poAvers of his 
 genius and inspiration. — For his 
 name, i. e. for his sake ; for his 
 glory. " In order that, by means of 
 the propagation of the faith among 
 all nations, Christ may be glorified." 
 
 G. The called of Jesus Christ, i. e. 
 Christians. The mischievous after- 
 thought of the commentators, and 
 their prying curiosity, Avhether it 
 means Christians by profession, or 
 Christians in reality, disciples exter- 
 nally called and enjoying the out-* 
 
I] 
 
 TO THE KOMANS. 
 
 S5 
 
 7 called of Jesus Christ : to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, 
 called to he saints : Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father 
 
 ward means and privileges of Chris- 
 tianity or disciples ejfectualhj called 
 and inwardly sanctified and sealed 
 unto the day of redemption, may aU 
 be spared. It is a substantive term 
 meaning Christians ; and when we 
 can decide what we mean at the 
 present day by that term, we can 
 ascertain beyond doubt what Paul 
 intended when he said, " the called 
 of Jesus Christ." It was not for the 
 Apostle, it is not for any mortal 
 this side of the revelations of eternity, 
 to pronounce who is, and who is not, 
 called effectually by God in his provi- 
 dence, and by Christ in his Gospel. 
 We look upon certain companies of 
 believers, and we call them Chris- 
 tians, suljstantively, bodily. They 
 may be in errors of doctrine, as were 
 the disciples at Rome, or in errors of 
 conduct, as were the disciples at 
 Corinth; but neither the errors of 
 doctrine in the one, nor the vices of 
 the other, prevented the inspired 
 preacher of Christianity from calling 
 them disciples. Christians, " beloved 
 of God called to be saints." There is a 
 lancet criticism which cuts up every- 
 thing by the roots, and suffers noth- 
 ing to wear its natural grace and 
 simplicity in the held where it enters. 
 The writers of the Holy Scriptures 
 used free popular language, bold fig- 
 ures of rhetoric, (Quotations, allusions, 
 as authors have done in every age ; 
 and unless we interpret their words 
 accordingly, if Ave wring every phrase 
 to see how much meaning we can 
 extort from it, if we cut — to use the 
 commonplace of critics — their lan- 
 guage to the quick, we turn the reve- 
 lation into a mystery and the Bible 
 into a lildden book. The methods 
 of Biblical (criticism are often spoken 
 of slightingly, but they are as essen- 
 tial in their place as the arts of com- 
 puting numbers, for we never can 
 
 force the rhetorical, any more than 
 the numerical figures, to yield the 
 right result mthout the right rules. 
 
 7. To all that he in Rome, lie does 
 not say Romans, but all, foreigners 
 and natives, Jews as well as Gentiles. 
 That searching critic upon the Com- 
 mon Version, Spuonds, would prop- 
 erly substitute are for the obsolete ni- 
 dicative he. — Beloved of God, called 
 to he saints. See the remarks on the 
 preceding verse. Terms similar to 
 these were applied to the relation be- 
 tween God and the Israelites. See Ex. 
 xix. 6; Dent, xxxii. 19; xxxiil. 3; 
 where they are called " a kingdom of 
 priests," " a holy nation," " his sons 
 and daughters," " his saints," and 
 " the people " whom he " loved." The 
 Epistles abound with such phrases 
 relative to the Christian Church. 
 Rom. viii. 33 ; Eph. i. 4 ; Phil. ii. 15 ; 
 Col. ili. 12; 2 Thess. ii. 13; 2 Tim. 
 ii. 10 ; Tit. i. 1 ; 1 Pet. ii. 9 ; 1 John 
 ill. 1, 2. As to the term saints, Arch- 
 bishop NeAvcome says, " All Chris- 
 tians were thus called, because they' 
 were dedicated to God, 1 Cor. vii. 14, 
 and because they professed a religion 
 which tended to make them holy." 
 1 Cor. vl. 11. See also Acts xxvi. 
 10; Rom. xii. 13 ; 1 Cor. vi. 1 ; Eph. 
 ill. 8. But, he adds, " those who were 
 thus denominated might fall from 
 personal holiness." While, on the 
 other hand, the very benediction of 
 the Apostle is a wish that they might 
 have more and more sanctity and 
 spirituality, thus precluding the no- 
 tion that they had " already attained, 
 or Avere already perfect," or even out 
 of all manner of spiritual danger. — 
 Grace to )/ou, and peace. A wish that 
 all the blessings of the Gospel, its 
 happiest influences, might be shed 
 over their hearts and lives. The apos- 
 tolic benediction has various forms, 
 as it occurs in different Epistles, but 
 
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus 8 
 Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole 
 
 its general import is the same, and 
 cannot be mistaken. Well -would it 
 be if the ministry of modern days 
 adhered more closely to these forms, 
 instead of habitually introducing, 
 as many do, doctrinal phraseology, 
 which has no guaranty in the word 
 of God, and which often jars on the 
 ear of their dissenting brethren. — 
 From God our Father^ and the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, i. e. according to Dr. 
 Wells, Salmeron, Pyle, Dr. A. Clarke, 
 and others, whose authority is ad- 
 duced by Wilson in his " Conces- 
 sions of Trinitarians," " AU blessings 
 spiritual and temporal be unto you, 
 from God our Father, as the Foun- 
 tain of them, and from the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, as the channel through 
 which they are conveyed to us." 
 Coleridge, also a Trinitarian, repudi- 
 ates in strong terms the idea of any 
 invocation. "Invoked! Surely a 
 pious wish is not an invocation. 
 ' May good angels attend you ! ' is no 
 invocation or worship of angels." 
 But if it were otherwise, and there 
 were something of the nature of a 
 prayer, the conjunction of the name 
 of Christ with that of God no more 
 proves his deity, than the language 
 of Paul in Acts xx. 32 is to be taken 
 as predicating divine attributes of 
 " the word of his grace," because he 
 connects it with " God " in the same 
 clause. See also Eph. vi. 10, and 
 the comments on Matt, xxviii. 19. 
 Some have proposed to read, " God, 
 the Father of us and of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ"; but it is a violence 
 which the usages of the language will 
 not bear. No real difficulty arises 
 from the ordinary formula. 
 
 We have now closed the introduc- 
 tion of the Epistle. In violation of 
 the rule of the rhetoricians, to make 
 the first sentence short, the Apostle 
 opens wide his subject with words of 
 
 power and number. " No sooner 
 does he mention the name of Christ, 
 than the whole import of the title 
 flashes upon his mind," and he con- 
 denses the whole revelation of Chris- 
 tianity in the first paragraph. Ac- 
 cording to Griesbach's edition, if the 
 parenthetical clauses in verses 2, 3, 4, 
 5, and 6 were left out, the simple 
 subject-matter of the introduction 
 would read thus : " Paul, a servant 
 of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apos- 
 tle, separated unto the Gospel of 
 God, concerning his Son Jesus Christ 
 our Lord, to all that be in Rome, be- 
 loA^ed of God, called to be saints : 
 Grace be to you, and peace from God 
 our Father and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ." As Olshausen remarks, Paul 
 directs attention in his salutation to 
 three points: 1. The pre-announce- 
 ment of the Gospel by the prophets ; 
 
 2. The dignity of the Redeemer ; and 
 
 3. His own calhng to the office of an 
 Apostle. 
 
 8-15. The Apostle, having saluted 
 his brethren with a Christian greet- 
 ing, gives in these verses an intro- 
 duction to his Epistle, delicate, con- 
 ciliating, and respectful. 
 
 8. First. In order, in time. — 
 Through Jesus Christ. In consider- 
 ation of, with respect to, Jesus Christ. 
 As stated by Cappe, the preposition 
 through here does not represent Jesus 
 Christ as the medium of conveying 
 the Apostle's thanks to God, but as the 
 medium of conveying to the Corin- 
 thians the blessings that excited his 
 thanksgivings on t^^eir behalf; and by 
 whom, therefore, his gratitude might 
 be said to be inspired. — ^ For you all, 
 or, as we should say, on your account. 
 — Your faith is spoken of, i. e. with 
 praise, celebrated. In chap. xvi. 19, 
 it is " your obedience " that " is come 
 abroad unto all men " ; and in 1 Thess. 
 i. 8, " For from vou sounded out the 
 
IJ 
 
 TO THE ROJMANS. 
 
 87 
 
 9 world. For God is my witness, wliom I serve with my spirit in 
 the Gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you 
 
 10 always in my prayers ; making request, if by any means now at 
 length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to 
 
 11 come unto you. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto 
 
 word of the Lord " ; and " in every 
 place your faith to God-ward is 
 spread abroad." The cause of thanks- 
 giving in every case was that the Gos- 
 pel was first believed, then obeyed, 
 and then professed and published to 
 others. The Apostle's gratitude alights 
 sometimes on one and sometimes 
 on another point in this process. — 
 Throughout the ivhole tvorld, which 
 means, in the phraseology of that 
 day, the Roman empire ; for that 
 included nearly all the known world. 
 From no other city, in fact, could the 
 knowledge of Christianity be so wide- 
 ly diifused as from the city of Rome, 
 which was then the metropohs of the 
 globe. The Apostle to the Gentiles 
 felt deeply thankful, that, from the 
 great centre of human power and 
 fame, the Gospel of Christ was going 
 forth for the knowledge, faith, and 
 obedience of the nations, and he 
 gracefully compliments the disciples 
 there for their instrumentality in such 
 a work, and seeks to win their favor- 
 able attention. 
 
 9. God is my witness. A solemn 
 appeal to God in confirmation of 
 what he declares. It is not an oath, 
 but it savors of the spirit of an oath. 
 — With my spirit, i. e. spiritually, 
 sincerely, with a true heart, and not 
 according to a mere outward ritual. — 
 Without ceasing, — always. Griesbach 
 and Tischendorf correct this repeti- 
 tion of the same idea, by pointing the 
 passage so that always is joined to 
 verse 10, where it properly belongs. 
 The whole then reads, " that without 
 ceasing I make mention of you, (10) 
 always in my prayers making re- 
 quest," &c. So Luther, Beza, Sacy, 
 and many others. The ardent affec- 
 
 tions of the Apostle carried in the 
 arms of his prayers his converts and 
 all the disciples of Christ to the 
 throne of grace, where he unceas- 
 ingly invoked upon them the needful 
 blessings of their condition. 1 Cor. 
 i. 4 ; Eph. i. 16 ; 2 Tmi. i. 3. Since 
 the duty of intercessory prayer is 
 illustrated by such examples as those 
 of Jesus and his Apostles, there can 
 be no doubt of its efficacy, nor ex- 
 cuse for its neglect. 
 
 10. If hy any means; or, that if 
 by any means. Some editions put 
 this clause, to the word God, in paren- 
 theses; but it is to be taken as the 
 burden of his petition, making re- 
 quest that he might have a prosper- 
 ous journey to visit them. The his- 
 tory in Acts XXV. - xxviii. shows that 
 his journey to Rome was far from 
 prosperous in outward respects, car- 
 ried there as he was a prisoner, and 
 being shipwrecked on the way ; but 
 those were light things for his hero- 
 ism, if he could be the instrument of 
 spreading the doctrines of life. — By 
 the will of God. A promise, that is 
 never out of place, expressed or un- 
 dei-stood, in the plans of so depend- 
 ent a creature as man. James iv. 15. 
 
 11. For I long to see you, %i.c. Chap. 
 XV. 23-29. Though the Apostle had 
 many personal friends at Rome, as 
 the Ust in chap. xvi. testifies, yet his 
 great object was not - friendship, or 
 the pleasures of travel, or the spec- 
 tacle of a magnificent city, but the 
 promotion in them and in himself of 
 the purposes of the glorious Gospel. 
 In comparison Avith them, all other 
 things sunk into insignificance. — 
 Some spiritual gift. Not mu-aculous, 
 but mutual. Ver. 12. The Apostle 
 
88 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; that is, 12 
 that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith 
 
 desired to aid them, and to be aided 
 himself in the religious life. Specially 
 commissioned and endowed to preach 
 the Gospel, and to produce its super- 
 human credentials, he was not above 
 the range of human sympathies, aux- 
 iliaries, and necessities. He antici- 
 pates, by a journey to Rome, liis 
 own growth in grace and goodness, 
 as well as the confirmation of their 
 faith. Such is the nature of Chris- 
 tianity in every age ; a system of 
 giving and of receiving, of blessing 
 and of being blessed, of action and of 
 reaction of good ; this is the sphere 
 of vital relations and influences into 
 which we are introduced by the be- 
 nevolent Saviour. — To the end you 
 may he established. " This does not 
 refer to an increase of knowledge, - 
 but to a more lively and cheerful ac- 
 ceptation of what they already knew, 
 to that more vigorous excitement of 
 spiritual life which is always the con- 
 sequence of intercourse among men 
 of congenial sentiments in religion." 
 
 12. This is a commentary on the 
 preceding verse. He is afraid he has 
 used too strong an expression. The 
 object is to soften the bearing which 
 it might seem to have, and to show 
 that his wish was not to " have do- 
 minion over their faith," but to " be 
 helpers of their joy." The church of 
 Rome was not of his planting, as was 
 that at Corinth ; and we perceive a 
 great difference in the tone of the 
 Epistle to the Romans, compared with 
 that of the Epistle to the Corinthians, 
 arising from that fact. In one case, 
 he speaks more as a father or mas- 
 ter, in the other, as a brother and 
 equal. This dehcacy of spiritual 
 touch, to use a figure from another 
 profession, and this fine adaptation 
 of style and manner to the occasion, 
 ■without infringing in the least upon 
 sincerity and entire rectitude, has 
 
 procured for Paul the title of " a per- 
 fect Christian gentleman." — Cbm- 
 forted together. Tholuck thinks " the 
 sense to be preferred is to refresh, 
 stir up, which is always the fruit of 
 social intercourse between men of 
 vital religion." " We must not, how- 
 ever, suppose that mere communica- 
 tion by word is here meant ; there is 
 also implied that inexplicable, imme- 
 diate action of spirit upon spirit, 
 which takes place whenever there is 
 a fellowship in love, and more espe- 
 cially among Christians. — The mu- 
 tual faith both of you and me.* It 
 has been said, that the moment 
 another joins his belief to our own, it 
 adds an inmieasurable strength to 
 our assurance. The Apostle has 
 here used the y^ord faith for the third 
 time, and it is the grand ralljing- 
 point of his ideas throughout the 
 Epistle. But hy faith he meant, and 
 we ought to understand, nothing nar- 
 row, technical, mysterious, or irra- 
 tional. It is the great spiritual p)rin- 
 ciple, in contradistinction to ritual 
 rules ; the life of the new, growing 
 character, not the dead routine of 
 habit ; the internal world of sincere, 
 self-wrought convictions and earnest 
 purposes, contrasted with a super- 
 ficies, not of hypocrisy, but of second- 
 hand notions, adopted habits, and all 
 the borrowed garb of traditions and 
 conventionalities. Faith of the heart, 
 deep-seated, living, working, growing, 
 transforming ! faith in God, in Christ, 
 in goodness, in immortality, the be- 
 heving, confiding, aspiring, hoping 
 state of the heart ! The wonder is, 
 not that the word is ever hovering, 
 like a Pentecostal tongue of fire, 
 
 * He deferentially intimates that they could 
 benefit him, as •well as he them, and that the 
 obligation would by no means be all on their 
 side. AVhat a beautiful Christian poUteuess 
 and refinement softens the zeal of authority 
 and apostleship ! 
 
I.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 89 
 
 13 both of you and me. Now I would not have you ignorant, breth- 
 ren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let 
 hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as 
 
 14 among other Gentiles. I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the 
 10 Barbarians ; both to the wise and to the unwise. So, as much as 
 
 in me is, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you that are at Rome 
 
 along the Apostle's hne, but that men, 
 souls, minds, kindled by God, should 
 fall into such deathlike torpor, as for 
 ever to need the electric word. 
 
 13. Oftentimes I purposed to come 
 unto you. Chap. xv. 2.S, 24, com- 
 pared with the text and with Acts 
 xix. 21. Paley, in his " Horte Pau- 
 linaj," draws an inference from the 
 easy, incidental, but uncalculated 
 agreement of these passages, in favor 
 of the truth of the history, and the 
 authenticity of the Epistles. By the 
 induction of a great number of these 
 particulars of conformity between the 
 acts and the writings of Paul, he has 
 welded an argument of much strength 
 against the historical doubter. — Let. 
 Obsolete English for " prevented," 
 "hindered." Isa. xliii. 13 ; 2 Thess. 
 ii. 7. — Some fruit. The object was 
 spiritual benefit, edification, improve- 
 ment^ that almost forgotten word in 
 the current creeds of the churches 
 calling 'themselves by the noble 
 titles, Catholic, EvangeHcal, Chris- 
 tian. Every verse of St. Paul im- 
 plies, presupposes, that neither he 
 nor his converts had attained the 
 perfection of the Christian life ; rather, 
 that they had but entered upon 
 the inunortal race of progress. — As 
 among other Gentiles, or, better, " as 
 among the rest of the Gentiles." 
 
 14. / am debtor. This is no merit 
 of mine ; I only do my duty. Paul 
 had been placed under obHgations by 
 his special calling and conversion to 
 minister as widely as possible to the 
 world of the glad tidings of heaven. 
 He was a chosen vessel, Acts ix. 15, 
 for this purpose. But his native zeal 
 
 made him feel with far more vividness 
 these obligations, and labor with far 
 greater intensity to fulfil them. 1 Cor. 
 ix. 16. — Greeks^ Barbarians; wise 
 umoise ; or, as we should say, " civ- 
 ilized " and " uncivilized " ; " learn- 
 ed " and " unlearned." By the Greeks 
 were meant the Greeks and Romans, 
 who professed to be civilized, (though 
 in reality they were in a species of 
 barbarism,) and who called all other 
 nations, as the Jews, Egyptians, &c., 
 Barbarians. The terms were de- 
 signed to cover all nations and all 
 conditions. Paul's mission was as 
 broad as humanity. " The Gospel 
 claims to have power to instruct all 
 mankind, and they who are called to 
 preach it should be able to instruct 
 those who deem themselves wise, and 
 who are endowed with science, learn- 
 ing, and talent ; and they shoidd be 
 willing to labor to enlighten the most 
 obscure, ignorant, and degraded 
 portions of the race. This "is the 
 true spirit of the Christian minis- 
 try." — Barnes. 
 
 15. As much as in me is. As far 
 as it respects myself; or, as far as my 
 ability or opportunity may serve. — 
 To you that are at Rome also. A 
 better rendering of the original is, 
 " Even to you that are at Rome." 
 The point was, that he was ready to 
 preach the humble doctrines of a 
 crucified Master even to the proud 
 and refined inhabitants of the im- 
 perial city. He does not say "Ro- 
 mans," but " those at Rome," Jews as 
 well as Gentiles. This ends what 
 has been called the Introduction; 
 though we are to recollect that the 
 
90 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 also. For I am not asliamed of the Gospel of Christ : for it is the le 
 power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth ; to the 
 
 Apostle makes no set divisions, and 
 follows no arbitrary rules. 
 
 16. For I am not ashamed, &c. 
 Griesbach and other critics omit the 
 "words, of Christ, as not in the Greek. 
 As has been remarked, this sentiment 
 was dictated by the association of 
 ideas ; for after mentioning Rome, the 
 city of power and splendor, he nat- 
 urally reverted to the Gospel of 
 humility, love, and mercy, and de- 
 clared his courage to preach it even 
 before the lords of the earth. He 
 should not blush for his Divine Master 
 even in the imperial presence itself. 
 Mark viii. 38 ; Rom. x. 11 ; 2 Tim. i. 8, 
 12; 1 Pet. iv. 16; 1 John ii. 28. 
 Though the declaration of the heroio 
 Apostle was pecuharly fitted for a 
 period when the name of a crucified 
 Saviour was coupled with infamy, yet 
 the sentiment is worthy of adoj^tion 
 now as then, and has a use in every 
 age. There is such a thing even at 
 this day of its wide-spread diffusion, 
 and the general respect paid to its 
 claims, as being ashamed of the jiure, 
 undefiled, uncompromising Gospel. 
 Among infidels, Avho call it false, 
 worldlings, who brand it as visionar}-, 
 and bigots, who make it odious, we 
 may shrink from the full and fearless 
 avowal of our faith. Denying Peter 
 and timid Kicodemus have had their 
 imitators in every age. But there is 
 no cause to be ashamed of the Gos- 
 pel in itself, when we have distin- 
 guished its heaven-sent truth from 
 human corruption, and its perfect 
 precepts from the inconsistent lives 
 of its professors. For it is the truth 
 of God, the hfe of Christ, and the 
 salvation of a sinful world. We 
 ought never to be ashamed to beHeve, 
 profess, and follow our Master in any 
 circumstances whatever, or at any 
 period of life ; his service is true 
 honor and unfading glory. His re- 
 
 ligion " has an immortal life, and will 
 gather stren^h from the violence of 
 its foes. It is equal to all the wants 
 of man. The greatest minds have 
 found in it the light which they most 
 anxiously desired. The most sorrow- 
 ful and broken spirits have received 
 from it a heahng balm for their woes. 
 It has inspired the subhmest virtues 
 and the loftiest hopes. For the cor- 
 ruptions of such a religion I weep, 
 and I should blush to be their advo- 
 cate ; but of the Gospel itself I can 
 never be ashamed." No. Its doc- 
 trines, promises, examples, its cross 
 and its crown, are worthy of all ac- 
 ceptation, of eternal gratitude and 
 eternal praise. 
 
 " Jesus ! and shall it ever be, — 
 A mortal man ashamed of thee ! 
 Ashamed of thee, ■whom angels praise, 
 Whose glories shine through endless days ! 
 
 " Ashamed of Jesus ! that dear friend, 
 On whom my hopes of heaven depend ! 
 No ! when I blush, be this my shame, 
 That I no more revere his name ! 
 
 ' ' And oh I may this my glory be, 
 That Christ is not ashamed of me ! " 
 
 — The potcer of God. 1 Cor. i. 18, 
 24. The dynajnis, the dynamical 
 moral agent of God for the salvation 
 of mankind. It is a great rehef to 
 human weariness and distrust, while 
 engaged in promoting the influence 
 of Christianity, to fall back on this 
 proposition, and remember that it is 
 " the power of God," and therefore 
 instinct with all the energies and 
 means of a final victory over sin and 
 wretchedness. — To every one that he- 
 lieveth. The Gospel is the power of 
 God, but faith is the necessary con- 
 dition of its ef&cacy on the part of 
 man. Beheving is receiving it in 
 good faith, as if it were the power 
 and truth of God, and obeying and 
 practising upon it with that full per- 
 suasion. — To the Jeio first, &c. Not 
 by preference, for the strain of the 
 
I.] TO THE ROMANS. ^ 91 
 
 17 Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness 
 
 Epistle is to place all on an impartial 
 platform, but in order of tune, and 
 opportunity of knowledge and obedi- 
 ence. Mat. XV. 24. Thus this verse 
 may be said to contain the gist of 
 the whole controversy, viz. : 1. The 
 Gospel is true, is the power of God 
 unto salvation. 2. The condition on 
 the part of man is to receive it in 
 faith, and of course to work out its 
 saving purposes. 3. Its universality 
 over all religious and national parti- 
 tions, whether Jewish or Gentile. The 
 Apostle bears down upon these points 
 with all the enginery of his learning, 
 genius, and zeal, in the following 
 chapters ; and if he seem obscure, it 
 is because we are dazzled with ex- 
 cess of light ; or if doubtful in proof, 
 it is through the complicated abun- 
 dance, not the poverty of his argu- 
 ments and illustrations. 
 
 17. Therein^ i. e. in the Gospel, is 
 the righteousness of God revealed. 
 Many render the noun, justification, 
 pardon, acquittal, freeing from con- 
 demnation, accepting and treating 
 as righteous. So Stuart, Thomp- 
 son, Improved Version, Bloomfield, 
 Barnes, and a host of others, both 
 Liberal and Calvinistic. But there is 
 perhaps a deeper sense than that, 
 and one that also has its authorities. 
 — The rifjhteousness of God ; or rath- 
 er, " the means by which God would 
 make us righteous." See the Scrip- 
 tural Interpreter, Vol. VII. p. 242. So 
 Tholuck : " The Gospel makes known 
 a way to that perfect fulfihnent of 
 the laAv which is required by God." 
 So Robinson, in liis Lexicon of the 
 New Testament : " The righteousness 
 which God approves, requires, be- 
 stows." So Doddridge : " The method 
 which God hath contrived and pro- 
 posed for our becoming righteous." 
 " The righteousness of God plainly 
 signifies, in several passages of this 
 Epistle, not the essential righteous- 
 
 ness of God's nature, but the manner 
 of becoming righteous, which God 
 hath appointed and exhibited in the 
 Gospel." So Goadby : " It may sig- 
 nify the method which God has con- 
 trived or proposed for our becoming 
 righteous ; for the righteousness which 
 arises from a scheme which God has 
 by his infinite wisdom planned, and 
 through his goodness revealed to men, 
 may properly be called the righteous- 
 ness of God ; and it may further be 
 called so, as being that righteousness 
 which he requires, or which is most 
 acceptable to him, as being most 
 agreeable to his nature." So Adam 
 Clarke : " God's method of saving 
 sinners." Though there are shades 
 of difference in these interpretations, 
 they all unite in the common idea, 
 that by " tlie righteousness of God " the 
 Apostle does not here mean God's 
 method of treating the sinner as just, 
 but his method of making the sinner 
 Just, of doing the ivork ; for the difii- 
 culty which the Gospel meets is not 
 how God should treat men, and how 
 remit their ofiences, but how men 
 should become what they ought to be, 
 just, righteous, in heart and life. 
 The word justification, some may be 
 surprised to learn, occurs but three 
 times in the whole Bible ; and those 
 are in this Epistle, chap. iv. 25, v. 
 16, 18 ; and in every instance the 
 better rendering is righteousness. The 
 great need of a sinful world is not 
 justification, but righteousness ; the 
 righteousness of God ; his method 
 of helping men to become righteous, 
 true, pure, good. Doubtless there is 
 a secondary idea involved ; and that 
 is, the pardon of those who have 
 failed of doing their whole dut}' ; the 
 remission of sins. But this secondary 
 idea has by most theologians of the 
 old schools been raised into the place 
 of the primary one, and the prunary 
 one has fallen into a lower rank. 
 
92 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL [Chap. 
 
 of God revealed from faith to faith : as it is written, The just shall 
 
 That the question opened by the 
 Apostle is not one of justification so 
 much as one of righteousness, is 
 demonstrated by what follows, in 
 which he describes the abominable 
 unrighteousness of the Gentiles, and 
 also the loickedness of the Jews under 
 the Law, and therefore the need of 
 the Gospel method of makmg both 
 Jews and Gentiles soundly righteous, 
 and so, of course, acceptable to God ; 
 viz. by faith, by the great spiritual 
 principle of Christianity, in contra- 
 distinction to the mere light of reason 
 and nature among the Gentiles, and 
 tlie legal system of the Jews. Paul's 
 doctrine is, then, 1. A doctrine of 
 righteousness ; 2. By consequence, a 
 doctrine of justification ; not the re- 
 verse, as too often interpreted. Chap, 
 iii. 22; x. ^-10. — From faith to faith. 
 L e. from one degree of the spiritual 
 principle to another and higher. 
 Thus the Listitute 988 of Gerard is, 
 that " a noun repeated, and governed 
 by different prepositions, forms an 
 idiomatical expression, denoting con- 
 tinuance and increase." Ps. Ixxxiv. 
 7 ; Jer. ix. 3. Thus Theophylact : "It 
 is not sufficient to have believed at 
 first. We must ascend from initial 
 to more perfect faith." Tholuck also 
 understands the phrase as a cHmax, 
 and agrees with Melancthon, Beza, 
 Le Clerc, and others ; but many take 
 different views. The fundamental 
 idea of faith, as held by many, is, that 
 it is capable of no increase nor diminu- 
 tion ; that, being once received, it is 
 wholly and for ever received, allow- 
 ing neither addition nor multipHca- 
 tion. But the general apostoHc repre- 
 sentation of the spiritual principle of 
 the Gospel is its progressive degrees 
 from weakness to strength. Such is 
 its nature, whether in the form of 
 faith or hope, which is but a species 
 of vivid faith, or charity, which is 
 human or brotherly faith and confi- 
 
 dence. Chap. vi. 19 ; 2 Cor. il. 16 ; 
 iii. 18. — As it is written. The Old 
 Testament was law, Hterature, and 
 rehgion to the Jews; and the fre- 
 quency with which it is quoted by 
 Jesus and his preachers shows us 
 how essentially the germ of the more 
 spu'itual revelations of the new were 
 wi'apped up in the ruder forms of the 
 old covenant. Men do not know how 
 much they lose when they cease to 
 reverence Moses and the prophets. 
 — The just shall live hy faith. The 
 order and sense of the original is, 
 " The just by faith shall five." So it 
 is pointed by Griesbach. It is a quo- 
 tation from Hab. ii. 4. The aj)pHca- 
 tion at first was doubtless to the evils, 
 national or personal, rehgious or 
 civil, under which the old Hebrews 
 were suffering, and from which the 
 faitliful man was delivered. The use 
 here, by accommodation, is to portray 
 the effect of the faith-inspired right- 
 eousness in achieving man's true Hfe. 
 The just, or, to preserve uniformity 
 of rendering, the righteous, by faith, 
 shall inherit what may by eminence 
 be called " life." The righteousness 
 of the Gentiles was imperfect, the 
 righteousness of the Jews legal; as 
 Jesus told his disciples that their 
 righteousness must exceed the right- 
 eousness of the Scribes and Pharisees. 
 Matt. V. 20. But the man who was 
 righteous from the spiritual faith of 
 the Gospel, would possess the true 
 being of the soul. We may see in 
 the general interpretation of this pas- 
 sage, also, the swaying bias of the 
 ancient theology. The question was 
 transposed from how men should be 
 just or righteous, to how they should 
 Hve, or be happy ; for the term life 
 sometimes means happiness in the 
 Scriptures. But the powerful binint 
 of the Apostle's eloquence against 
 Gentile and Jewish errors is every- 
 where faith-righteousness; knomng 
 
I. 
 
 TO THE EOMANS. 
 
 93 
 
 18 live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven 
 against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the 
 
 19 truth in unrighteousness ; because that wliich may be known of 
 God is manifest in them ; for God hath showed it unto them. 
 
 full well that, if men's souls were thus 
 made alive out of the death of tres- 
 passes and sins, there would be no 
 danger or difficulty but what God 
 would accept and forgive them, and 
 they Avould live, be happy. His fears 
 were not for God's government, but 
 for man's fulfilment of" its conditions 
 and eternal laws. " A righteous man 
 is a man who is right in all his rela- 
 tions. He is right towards himself, 
 having harmony within ; right to- 
 wards his fellovf-inen, sustaining to- 
 wards them just the offices, and cher- 
 ishing just the dispositions, which be- 
 come Inm ; right towards God. Eight- 
 eousness is, therefore, the one com- 
 mand, the one Gospel." — Gannett. 
 18. For the torath of God, &c. The 
 righteous displeasure of God at the sins 
 of his rational creatures is not, of 
 course, like the anger and wrath which 
 we speak of in reference to human pas- 
 sions. The expression is, as all agree, 
 anthropatliic, or speaking of God after 
 the manner of men. The Apostle pro- 
 ceeds now to show the crying need 
 of this faith-righteousness, of which 
 he had ijiven a description in verses 
 16 and 17; first, i. 18-32, by the 
 shocking degradation of the Gentiles ; 
 and secondly, i. 1-iii. 19, by the 
 unfaithfulness of the Jews to their 
 greater privileges, as the possessors 
 of a special revelation from God. — 
 From heaven, i. e. from above ; a 
 divine disclosure. The righteous chs- 
 pleasure of God at the moral disobe- 
 dience of his creatures is shown in 
 the natural retribution Avhich sooner 
 or later follows the transgressor, and 
 finds him out with unerring certainty; 
 also in the successive revelations of 
 the Hebrew Scriptures, which are as 
 full of warnings as of promises ; and, 
 
 finally, in the Gospel of Christ, which, 
 though a system of love throughout, 
 is nevertheless decisive in maintain- 
 ing the^ integrity of the moral law, 
 and cautioning men against its small- 
 est infractions. — Ungodliness and un- 
 righteousness. Impiety and injustice. 
 Two generalizations which respective- 
 ly cover the violations of the tAvo great 
 moral laws, love to God, and love to 
 man. — Who hold the truth in unright- 
 eousness. Or, more correctly, who 
 hinder, obstruct, or stifle the truth 
 by injustice, iniquitously. They re- 
 pressed, as Neander paraphrases it, 
 the truth that manifested itself to 
 them, the consciousness of truth that 
 was springing up in their minds, 
 by sin. The germ of truth that be- 
 gan to be opened was crushed and 
 destroyed ; for the deification of na- 
 ture falsified the religious element, 
 and turned down to the seen and 
 temporal what from its nature is a 
 yearning after the invisible, infinite, 
 and eternal. Such a perversion must 
 work immense mischief, making what 
 is highest in man sink the lowest, and 
 throwing the hohest sanctions over 
 tlie grossest passions. 
 
 19. That ichich may Ijehioicn. Not 
 what was known, but what was know- 
 able, or to be known. — Is manifest 
 in them. Is manifested in their minds. 
 The handwriting of God was upon 
 their souls, created in his image. 
 God in nature found a sense of God 
 in man to appeal to, where it had not 
 been wronged and effaced. A divine 
 hand has laid deep in the soul this ele- 
 mental basis of worship and heavenly 
 love, and the structures of false re- 
 ligions stand as firmly as they do, 
 because they have this foundation. — 
 God hath shelved it unto them. How 
 
94 
 
 THE EPISTLE OE PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 For tlie invisible things of him from the creation of the world are 20 
 "clearly seen, being miderstood by the things that are made, even 
 his eternal power and Godhead ; so that they are without excuse : 
 because that, when they knew Ood, they glorified him not as God, 21 
 
 he has done it, is exhibited in the 
 next verse. Acts xiv. 1 7 ; xvii. 
 26-28. 
 
 20. This verse is a powerful vindi- 
 cation of the truth of natural theol- 
 ogy, the evidence of the existence 
 and power of God from his works, 
 and the sufficiency of the creation, 
 were man true to his own nature, to 
 teach him at least some of the primary 
 lessons of the divinity. The fine bal- 
 ance of the Apostle's mind, even in 
 his intense zeal for the revelation of 
 Christ, is shown by his concession in 
 this passage of the reality and power 
 of the teaching of God in the physical 
 universe, " the natural apostles of the 
 sun, moon, and stars." He recognized 
 the world as the shadow of God, the 
 evanescent forms of matter as the 
 projection of the eternal reahties of 
 the spirit. A creation crowded with 
 visible efiects leads the mind naturally 
 back to the great fountain of causes 
 in God. — For the invisible things^ &c. 
 Griesbach justly makes all but the 
 last clause parenthetical, so that, if it 
 were left out, the sense woukl be 
 complete thus, joining v. 19 to the 
 last clause of v. 20 : " God hath showed 
 it to them, so that they are TN^thout 
 excuse." — From the creation. 1. e. 
 in time, ever since the world was made. 
 — Clearly seen. Even Aristotle says, 
 " God, who is invisible to every mor- 
 tal being, is seen by his Avorks." TJie 
 natural impression made on the mind 
 of man of the being and attributes of 
 God is not necessarily due to science, 
 though it may be heightened by it. 
 The untutored Indian believes with- 
 out hesitation in the Great Spirit. — 
 Being understood. Literally, minded. 
 The difficulty with most things is, that 
 they are merely sensed, so to speak, 
 
 not minded ; mind is not put into the 
 observation, but eye, and ear, and 
 sense only are concerned. — Even his 
 eternal power, &c. These were " the 
 invisible tilings of him." " The idea 
 of almightiness first strikes the relig- 
 ious consciousness on the contempla- 
 tion of nature ; and hence the con- 
 sciousness of dependence on a higher 
 power is the predominant sentiment 
 in natural religion." — Godhead, di- 
 vinity, or supreme, godlike excel- 
 lence. Wisdom of Solomon xiii. That 
 the -power of God is not the only 
 cpiahty enstampecl on the creation, is 
 indicated by the obhgation alluded to 
 in verse 21, " neither were thankful," 
 and by Acts xiv. 1 7. Still it devolved 
 on Jesus peculiarly to show men the 
 Father in God. — Without excuse. 
 Idolatry is not represented as a mis- 
 fortune, but as a sin. Of course 
 there are different complexions of 
 guilt in different periods and persons ; 
 but that a system that does so much 
 to imbrute the soul and deprave soci- 
 ety is caused by some moral lapse 
 and darkening of the inner light, is 
 self-evident. Conscience must have 
 been often trodden upon, and the 
 strong instincts of the heart resisted, 
 before men could come to the woi-ship 
 of Juggernaut, and to suttees, or the 
 burning of widows on the funeral 
 pyres of their husbands. A^^en we 
 leave the light of the soul and God, 
 there is no guaranty against any 
 amount of folly and wickedness, how- 
 ever great or gross. 
 
 21. The reason why " they were 
 without excuse " is here given. The 
 knowledge they possessed, or had the 
 opportunity to acquire, they did not 
 carry into effect, and consequently, 
 in process of time, they lost their 
 
I] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 95 
 
 neither were thankful ; but became vain in their imaginations, and 
 
 22 their fooUsh heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be 
 
 23 wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncor- 
 ruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to 
 
 knowledge of the true God. The 
 parable of the talents contains the 
 doctrine appUcable to this subject. 
 Matt. XXV. 29. " If therefore the light 
 that is in thee be darkness, how great 
 is that darkness." — Glorified — thank- 
 ful Two points, one referring to 
 the reverence due to the Divine sov- 
 reignty, and the other to the love due 
 to the Divine goodness. — Vain in 
 dlieir imaginations, &c. The Apostle 
 speaks in metaphysical order. Un- 
 faitlifulness to the sense of God in the 
 soul, and to the knowledge they pos- 
 sessed of liim, beclouded their intel- 
 lect, and then darkened their heart. 
 So surely does the wronging of any 
 one part of our being, so fearfully 
 and wonderfully made, diffuse evil 
 and misery into every other part. 
 One traitor is enough to betray the 
 whole citadel to the enemy. Idols 
 were often called vanities in the Scrip- 
 tures, because they Avere nothing. 
 2 Kings xvii. 15 ; Acts xiv. 15. And 
 vain was therefore a term applicable 
 to a mind that followed them ; while 
 the moral corruption flowing from 
 the worship of false gods sufficiently 
 demonstrated the darkness of the 
 heart. Eph. iv. 18, 19. 
 
 22. It was a peculiarity of the an- 
 cient sages that they did not call 
 themselves wise, but, with a tinge of 
 affectation, "lovers of wisdom," or 
 philosophers. This wisdom, which 
 was not Avisdom, was the rock on 
 which the Greeks split in their rejec- 
 tion of the Gospel, as previously in 
 their construction of a cruel and 
 licentious mythology. To men seek- 
 ing after such wisdom, the cross of 
 Christ was foolishness. 1 Cor. i. 22, 23. 
 These ancient systems of false phi- 
 
 losophy have largely infected Christian 
 theology, and perverted the truth as 
 it is in Jesus. It will be long before 
 the Church will outgrow entirely the 
 errore which have been superadded 
 to the simphcity of Christ by the 
 pantheistic and scholastic schools of 
 the ancient masters. Men still draw 
 their ideas of the nature of God and 
 man from Plato, Aristotle, Philo, and 
 Augustine, more than from the New 
 Testament. 
 
 23. There were three stages to the 
 process. First, false and foolish sys- 
 tems of philosophy, verse 22 ; then 
 idolatry, verse 23 ; and finally, the 
 practical immoralities and obscenities 
 'that flowed from idolatry. — Changed, 
 &c. They substituted for the glory 
 due to the Eternal God the homage 
 paid to perishable creatures. The 
 great value and task of the Hebrew 
 revelations, and the explanation of 
 many of the Jewish institutions, was 
 the aim to lift mankind out of this 
 pit which they had dug for them- 
 selves. It hardly seems credible, 
 were not history authentic on the 
 subject, that intellectual and moral 
 beings could sink so low as to worship 
 a cat or dog, a snake or crocodile. 
 Juvenal says, in the fifteenth of his 
 Satires : — 
 
 " VTho kno'.ys not to what monstrous gods, my 
 friend, 
 The mad inhabitants of Egypt bend ? 
 'While these the ibis piously enshrine, 
 Those think the crocodile divine ; 
 others ..... 
 
 Set up a glittering brute of uncouth shape, 
 And bow before the image of an ape ; 
 Thousands regard the hound with holy fear, 
 Not one, Diana ; and 'tis dangerous here 
 To violate an onion, or to stain 
 The sanctity of leeks with tooth pi'ofane. 
 holy nations I Sacro-sanct abodes, . 
 AVTiere every garden propagates its gods ! " 
 
96 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore 24 
 God also gave tliem up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their 
 own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves : 
 who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and 25 
 
 24. Wherefore God also gave tliem 
 up, &c. See also similar phraseology 
 in verse 26. This language cannot, 
 of course, be intended to signify that 
 God does really forsake even the 
 most abandoned ; but it is a mode of 
 speaking of him from a human point 
 of view. We may desert God, but 
 God never deserts us. We must be 
 careful in these cases not to make 
 logic out of the old Hebrew rhetoric. 
 The Jews, deeply penetrated with 
 the conviction of the dependence of 
 all things on God, referred to him 
 and his working all events, and they 
 at times seemed to annihilate the free 
 agency of man, when they really de- 
 signed only to express their conscious- 
 ness of the superintending providence 
 and love of God over all, from the 
 greatest to the least. The Apostle 
 uses the idioms of his nation. The 
 attempt to make "the theology of 
 the heart " stand for " the theology 
 of the intellect " has been productive 
 of not a httle evil and error in Biblical 
 criticism. The laws of God are vin- 
 dicated in the punishments as well as 
 the rewards of moral actions ; and 
 that they who do wrong should go on 
 from bad to worse, is a result which 
 takes place as naturally, under his 
 providence, as that they who do well 
 should go on from good to better and 
 best. Ecclus. iv. 19. The system is 
 God's; under which he that hath 
 gains more, and he that hath not 
 loses even that he hath. The lan- 
 guage in Eph. iv. 19 is, "have given 
 themselves over," &c. — Through the 
 lusts, &c. Symonds says in, and 
 Tholuck to, the lusts. This revolting 
 pictine of moral coriTiption reminds 
 us how common a feature Hcentious- 
 ncss is of all forms of gross error aiid 
 
 absurdity in rehgion. It would ap- 
 pear as if an abandonment of a tem- 
 perate and rational faith were the 
 signal to plunge into the foulest sties 
 of i^ollution. Witness the history of 
 modern fanaticisms, as well as the 
 idolatries of the ancient world. When 
 the central light of creation is put 
 out, men undertake to walk by the 
 guidance of the phosj)horic glare of 
 their own most depraved passions. 
 
 25. Truth of God into a lie. Philo, 
 in speaking of the amazement of 
 Moses at the Israelites for making the 
 golden calf, says, " What a lie they had 
 substituted for how great a reality ! " 
 Idols were called " lies," " vanities," 
 nothings. Jer. xvi. 19, 20 ; Amos ii.4. 
 — Worshijyped and served. Better, 
 reverenced and worshipped ; the first 
 verb referi-ing to the sentiment, and 
 the other to its expression in worship, 
 or some other mode. — More than, 
 or, rather than. The proneness of the 
 world to idolatry, as proved by ail 
 past history, should make the Chris- 
 tian Church extremely guarded, both 
 in its doctrines and its ritual, against 
 any competition between any thing 
 created and that eternal and un- 
 created and all-glorious Intelligence 
 from whom all things have proceeded. 
 It is to be feared, however, that even 
 the disciples of Him who said, " Our 
 Father who art in heaven," have not 
 kept entirely clear of this insidious 
 perversion of true worship. And in 
 view of the corruptions of the Chris- 
 tian Church, both doctrinal and prac- 
 tical, we can say with another sense 
 and application than the writer had, 
 "What greater calamity can fall upon 
 a nation than the loss of worship? 
 Then all things go to decay. Genius 
 leaves the temple to haunt the senate 
 
I] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 97 
 
 served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. 
 
 26 Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections : for 
 even their women did change the natural use into that which is 
 
 27 against nature : and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use 
 of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another ; men with 
 men working that wliich is unseemly, and receiving in themselves 
 
 28 that recompense of their error which was meet. And even as 
 they did not Hke to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them 
 
 or the market. Literature becomes 
 frivolous; science is cold. The eye 
 of youth is not lighted by the hope 
 of other worlds, and age is without 
 honor. Society lives to trifles, and 
 when men die, we do not mention 
 them." — Who is Messed for ever. 
 Amen. Paul here shows his educa- 
 tion at the feet of Gamaliel. After 
 anything that might seem to be 
 irreverent, both Jews and Mahom- 
 etans are accustomed to insert a dox- 
 ology, as if to deprecate any partici- 
 pation in such impietv. Rom. ix. 5 ; 
 2 Cor. xi. 31 ; Gab 'i. 5. Tholuck 
 mentions that, in a history of here- 
 sies sprung from Islamism, the pious 
 author, as often as he introduces a 
 new sect, adds, " God be exalted 
 above what they say!" The word 
 Amen is derived from a Hebrew 
 verb, it is certain, true, and implies 
 assent to what has been said, and a 
 prayer that it may come true. The 
 Masonic expression is similar, " So 
 mote it be." 
 
 26, 27. For this cause, &c. Like 
 cleaves to like. But the wickedness 
 of these hcentious idolaters excltided 
 the pure idea of God. Their sphere 
 of corruption repelled his sphere of 
 holiness. Without raking over the 
 loathsome particulars of this mass of 
 abominations, it is enough to say, 
 in general, that the ancient Greek 
 and Roman writers have left on their 
 pages abundant testimony to the 
 truth of tliis picture, in all its darkest 
 colors, as painted by the Apostle. 
 9 
 
 And the history of modern idolatry, 
 as given by travellers and mission- 
 aries, presents evidence of corruption 
 and gross sensuality scarcely less 
 horrible. But if it be said, as it 
 sometimes is done, by way of objec- 
 tion to, or disparagement of, Chris- 
 tianity, that the hcentlousness of 
 modern cities in Christendom is 
 equal in enormity to any tales of 
 ancient or idolatrous countries, it 
 should be considered that these 
 dreadfid sins do not, as in heathen- 
 ism, receive permission or encourage- 
 ment from religion, but exist uncler 
 protest and in spite of it, and that 
 the whole aim and spirit of the Gos- 
 pel is to purify the bodies as well as 
 the souls of men, to carry the beauty 
 of holiness into all the relations of 
 the sexes, and to throw the check of 
 self-denial over all the animal in- 
 stincts. Lev. xviii. 22, 23 ; 2 Kings 
 xxiii. 7 ; 2 Mac. vi. 4. The depth of 
 degradation is set forth in these 
 verses, as it was not lust merely, but 
 unnaturql lust, of which the Apos- 
 tle brings an accusation against the 
 Gentile world. — That recompense of 
 their error ivhich ivas meet. An in- 
 evitable retribution of course fol- 
 lowed such violations of the natural 
 laws, both in the body diseased and 
 in the mind corrupted. 
 
 28. They were so abandoned they 
 seemed to be God-forsaken. See com- 
 ments on verses 18, 24, 26. The 
 natural consequences which resulted 
 from transjxressinff the laws and econ- 
 
98 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 over to a reprobate mind, to do those tilings Tvbich are not con- 
 venient ; being filled with all imrighteousness, fornication, wicked- 'jg 
 ness, covetousness, mahciousness ; full of envy, murder, debate, 
 deceit, mahgnity ; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, so 
 proud, boasters, inventors of exM things, disobedient to parents, 
 
 omy of the physical and moral world 
 are' set down in the Hebrew style as 
 a divine judgment. — Bepr abate. An 
 adjective' dei-ived from the verb 
 above, •• did not hke.'' Either a mind 
 incapable of moral judgment or dis- 
 crimination, or one vile and depraved, 
 and deserving reprobation. '-It is 
 properly used of adulterated coin." 
 — Xot convenient. Not becoming, fit, 
 decent. The original conveys a 
 stronger sense than the Enghsh trans- 
 lation. The progress of wickedness, 
 from its incipient stages to its final 
 points, is given with gi-eat vividness 
 and Hogai-thian fidelity and plain- 
 ness in this whole passage. It imrolls 
 from point to point, like a panorama. 
 Becrinning with suppression of the 
 innate sense of the divuie in the 
 soul, and the rejection of the testi- 
 mony of natui-e to the being and 
 character of God, and proceeding 
 through various lapses of pretended 
 philosophy and practical idolatry, the 
 heathen fell, step by step, mto deeper 
 and deeper degradation, until they 
 realized the hideous condition de- 
 scribed in verses 29-32 by the bril- 
 liant, cumulative st^'le of Paul, in 
 which one strong word is piled upon 
 another, hke Pelion upon Ossa. The 
 feet that Patil had traveUed far and 
 wide over the Eastern world, and 
 dwelt in the great cities of the most 
 polished nations, must add much 
 weight to his testimony over that of 
 one who had never looked beyond 
 the windows of his own hermitage. 
 
 29. Being JiUed with all unrigfd- 
 eotisness. Violation of the elemental 
 law of love to God by idolatry-, and 
 of love to man by unnatural lust, 
 epread disorder through all the de- 
 
 tails of moral dut;^-, and made everv 
 point at which man came into con- 
 tact and relation with man a sore and 
 a sin. Each word of this dark sen- 
 tence conveys a distinct signification. 
 — Unrighteousness. A general term 
 covering the whole ground. — Forni- 
 cation. All illicit intercourse, Gries- 
 bach and Tischendorf's editions 
 exclude this word. — Wickedness. 
 Mahce, evil disposition. — Covetous- 
 ness. Love of one's own, to the 
 exclusion of the good of another. — 
 Maliciousness. Injurious treatment, 
 a habit of doing mischief to othei-s. — 
 Full of envy. A rhetorical variation, 
 naturally inti'oduced to reheve the 
 mind. Envy is the evil spirit that 
 grows up among the inequahties of the 
 human conchtion. — Murder. Pubhc 
 and private, wholesale and retail ; in 
 war. the amphitheatre, and by assas- 
 sination. — Debate, i. e. stiife, sharj) 
 contention. — Deceit. Juvenal says 
 in his Satires, '-What shaU I do at 
 Rome? I cannot He." — Mcdignity. 
 More particularly, misrepresentation, 
 a devil of great power in modern 
 days. — Whisperers. Slanderers in 
 secret 
 
 30. Baclhiters. Not so, but slan- 
 derers in public ; the reverse of 
 ivhisperers. The want of a correct 
 Enghsh version of the sacred Scrip- 
 tures renders it necessary- to give a 
 considerable amount of mere verbal 
 criticism, which would otherwise be 
 entirely superfluous. — Inventors of 
 evil things. I. e., in the corrupt age 
 of Grecian decay and Roman luxury, 
 of new pleasures, vices, and cruelties, 
 in which the history- of that period 
 shows that kings and their parasites 
 abounded. A high premium was 
 
IL] 
 
 TO THE EO]SIAKS. 
 
 99 
 
 31 without understanding, coTenant-breakers, without natural affec- 
 
 32 tion, imijlacable, unmerciful : who, knowing the judgment of Grt)d, 
 that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only 
 do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 The Impartiality and Equity of the Divine Government, both to Jetcs and GentiUs. 
 Therefore thou art inexcusable, man, whosoever thou art that 
 
 promised by a Roman emperor to any 
 one who would invent a new pleasure. 
 Eccles. iii. 29. — Disobedient to par- 
 ents. The customs of the heathen 
 world in relation to the exposure of 
 parents in sickness or old age, and 
 non-provision for their comfort gen- 
 erally, when they became useless, are 
 incredibly cruel and unnatural. 
 
 31. Tlie Apostle speaks in the fig- 
 ures of rhetoric, like other writers ; 
 and in this description of the wicked- 
 ness of the old pagan world, he em- 
 ploys alliteration in several instances 
 in the original, though it is of course 
 lost in the translation ; thonon and 
 pTionon, asunetous and asunthetom, 
 &c. — Without natural affection. The 
 case of sick and infirm parents has 
 been mentioned. Children also, es- 
 pecially of the female sex, were some- 
 times exposed by their unnatural 
 parents to wild beasts, or to die of 
 cold and hunger. " Emperors mur- 
 dered their parents, and violated 
 their sisters." — Unmercl/uL This has 
 a difiereut signification from the pre- 
 vious woi'd implacable. One word 
 relates to their enemies, and the other 
 'CO the poor, afflicted, or sufiering in 
 general. The heathen did not for- 
 give their foes, and so were im- 
 placable ; they did not provide for 
 the relief of human distress and want, 
 and so were unmerciful. The whole 
 ancient world had not one hospital, 
 asylum, refuge for the deaf, dumb, 
 blind, insane, wounded, or sick! 
 Even the natural affections were not 
 sufficient to call such institutions into 
 
 being until the worth of man as man, 
 as a child of God, was revealed in 
 the hght of a divine, immortal feith. 
 It should be obsened, however, that 
 Griesbach indicates the probable, 
 and Tischendort" the ceitain. omission 
 ot* implacable, as spurious, in the text. 
 
 32. Judgment. Law, ordinance. — 
 Worthy of death, i. e. of the severest 
 punishment. — But have pAeasure in 
 them that do them. This was the cH- 
 max of depravity. They not only 
 did these deeds in the heat of im- 
 pulse, but, with a reflex action of the 
 understanding, they coolly and delib- 
 erately approved of others in doing 
 the same things, or they bore part 
 with them in doing the same thmgs. 
 
 In such gloom was the ancient 
 world wrapt without revelation. How 
 blind, and miserable, and earth-bound 
 a being was man when left to him- 
 self I For if the many were sunk ia 
 wickedness, the few were addicted to 
 eiTors so gross, and the blemish of so 
 many coiTuptions clung to their lives 
 and characters, as to leave us Httle 
 to choose between them. Aristotle 
 and Cicero permitting revenge, Cato 
 suicide, and Socrates saciificing to 
 -Esculapius, were quite as sad moral 
 vagaries in such sons of hght, as the 
 brutaUty of the soldier, the pollution 
 of the devotee, and the hard heart 
 of children towards their parents, in 
 the people at large. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Apostle proceeds from point 
 to point, without foTmal arrangement 
 
100 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL [Chap. 
 
 judgest : for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thy- 
 
 or announcement of topics, leaving to 
 the reader to detect the joints in his 
 armor. Without any title put to 
 them, his writings Avould be seen at 
 once to be epistolary, by the freedom, 
 abruptness, obscurity, and want of 
 finish with which he wrote. The 
 world has too long undertaken to 
 interpret as complete and methodical 
 treatises upon Christianity what were 
 earnest, informal, and fragmentary 
 •* Tracts for the Times," circulars to 
 the churches, and letters to friends. 
 
 The present chapter advances in 
 the line of argument commenced in 
 the last one. The Gospel was a free 
 gift to all men. All who received it 
 on conviction would be saved by it. 
 It was a free gift. Neither Jews nor 
 Gentiles had done anything to merit 
 this Divine interposition, for both had 
 sunk into great wickedness. But as 
 no claim existed by reason of their 
 depravity, so, on the other hand, no 
 obstacle in either case existed on 
 account of that same depravity. The 
 mercies of God were not purchased 
 by merits, nor excluded by sins. 
 Having in a few ghastly outlines 
 sketched the horrible corruption of 
 the heathen world, of man in a state 
 of nature, Paul now abruptly turns 
 round, and virtually asks a Jewish 
 objector, whom he might readily 
 imagine "vvas carping by his side at 
 the gross wickedness of the Gentiles, 
 (putting his question in the second 
 person to give force to his address,) 
 But is the case much better with you, 
 boasted children of Abraham ? If 
 the heathen have been unfaithful to 
 the light of nature, have not you been 
 a-hnost equally so to the law of Moses 
 and its moral spirit? Is not your 
 claim as preposterous as theirs ? But 
 Paul in the discussion does not limit 
 himself to the solitary topic of the 
 ground on which the Christian reve- 
 lation was o-iven ; for, breakins; awav 
 
 in the freedom of a zealous interpreter 
 of all God's dealings with man, he 
 justifies the ways of Providence in all 
 directions, and announces the equi- 
 tableness of the whole Divine ad- 
 ministration, as commenced in this 
 world and to be continued in the 
 next. It is still a great service, even 
 at this late day, to show that the 
 natural sentiment of justice has not 
 been wounded by the varying gifts 
 of either Nature, Providence, or Reve- 
 lation, whether bestowed on individ- 
 uals or nations. " Shall not the Judge 
 of all the earth do right?" Well 
 does IVIilton pray, at the beginning of 
 Paradise Lost, 
 
 " What in me is dark 
 Illumine, what is low, raise and support; 
 That to the height of this great argument 
 I may assert Eternal Providence, 
 And justify the ways of God to man." 
 
 1. Therefore. This indicates too 
 close a logical sequence, where scarce- 
 ly any exists. It is rather a gently 
 transitional than a closely consecutive 
 term, and would be better worded by 
 moreover^ then, accordinghj. Though, 
 if there be a closer connection, it 
 must be, as Neander says, in this 
 way : As the Apostle had said, 
 i. 32, that the height of wickedness 
 was that they not only did evil, but 
 took pleasure in others that did the 
 same, thus shownig a deliberate, con- 
 scious corruption of heart; so those 
 who know the law of God well 
 enough to judge others, condemn 
 themselves in the very act of judg- 
 ing, because they do the same things ; 
 all the while showing by the fact that 
 they set themselves up as judges, 
 that they know Avhat is good, though 
 they pursue the wrong. The infer- 
 ence, if there be any, is from the 
 guilt of approving sin in others, the 
 Gentiles having a certain light of 
 nature, to the guilt of condemning 
 sin in others, the Jews having the 
 
II. 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 101 
 
 i> self; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure 
 that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which 
 
 3 commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest 
 them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt 
 
 4 escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of 
 liis goodness and forbearance and long-suiFering ; not knowing that 
 
 5 the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance ? But, after thy 
 hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath 
 
 clearer light of the law, and yet 
 doing things as bad as the Gentiles. 
 It would have offended the Jews to 
 specify them by name ; the change in 
 topics is accordingly made by impli- 
 cation rather than by assertion. — 
 man^ whosoever thou art. Man, a 
 covert way of introducing the Jews ; 
 and man, as contradistinguished from 
 God in verse 2. So Locke. The 
 Apostle was always careful to make 
 his argument heavy, but his ad- 
 dress courteous and inoffensive. — 
 The same things. Paul does not care 
 to enumerate the particulars ; but 
 this declaration of the gross immo- 
 rahty of the Jews is amply sustained 
 by the discourses of Christ, by the 
 history of Josephus, and the fact of 
 the retributive overthrow of the Jew- 
 ish nation. 
 
 2. But whatever may be the in- 
 consistency of human judgment, we 
 know there is a judgment somewhere 
 that is true and right, and that is the 
 Divine one. Some suppose a Jewish 
 interlocutor here, but it is quite 
 needless. Though the Jews are not 
 entitled, because of their own short- 
 comings, to sit in condemnation on 
 the heathen, yet there is One whose 
 judgment is founded on truth and 
 rectitude, and he is of " purer eyes 
 than to behold evil, and cannot look 
 on iniquity." 
 
 3. He begins to unmask his bat- 
 tery. He here appeals to the Jew- 
 ish conscience. Chrysostom puts the 
 
 9* 
 
 antithesis well : " Thou hast not es- 
 caped thine own condemnation, and 
 shalt thou escape that of God ? " The 
 fact that you are the children of 
 Abraham, will avail you nothing in 
 mitigation of the sentence, much as 
 you may pride yoiu-selves upon it, 
 but will rather aggravate your guilt, 
 because you have been unfaithful to 
 a greater Ught than the Gentiles ever 
 possessed. He dimly intimates the 
 great argument of his. letter, that the 
 Jewish prerogative would avail noth- 
 ing under Christianity. He is laying 
 doAvn self-evident propositions, that 
 would open the way for conclusions 
 which the Jews had not foreseen. 
 
 4. " Despisest, or " presumest upon," 
 or " misconstruest " his rich and abun- 
 dant goodness. — Nol knowing. jSlore 
 specifically, not " considering." — 
 Leadeth. Should lead, or seeks to lead ; 
 that is its natural effect and inten- 
 tion. The xVpostle multiplies words 
 to describe the enduring mercy of 
 God ; and in proportion as that was 
 great, the darker and deadlier be- 
 came the sin of impenitence. Tliis 
 passage is referred to in 2 Peter iii. 
 15. "Goodness" in both instances 
 means not so much moral excellence 
 in general, as kindness. 
 
 5. After, &c. I. e. agreeably to 
 the dictates of thy hard and impeni- 
 tent heart. — Treasurest. Layest up, 
 httle by little, as if it were something 
 precious, instead of vile and corrupt. 
 A tinge of irony lurks in the word. 
 
102 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap 
 
 against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment 
 of God ; who will render to every man according to his deeds : 6 
 to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory 7 
 
 — The day of ivratJi, or punishment, 
 the effect of indignation. — Revelation 
 of the righteous judgment. Stuart 
 suggests, " revealed righteous judg- 
 ment." The Apostle, in accordance 
 with Hebrew usage, to which our 
 Lord himself conformed in teaching 
 the doctrine of a future righteous 
 retribution, dramatizes the idea by 
 fixing on a " day," and announcing 
 the decision of a "judge" seated on 
 a bench. It is a great pity that the 
 interpreters of the Scriptures have 
 not learned even yet the distinction 
 between the form and the substance, 
 or what is pictorial and what is essen- 
 tial, but often stickle with as much 
 pertinacity for words as for the im- 
 mortal truth, which they convey. 
 
 6. According to his deeds. The 
 grand principle is here announced 
 of the impartiality of God's awards, 
 as made with single reference to life 
 and character. The theological issues 
 which have been got up relative to 
 faith and good works, as to which is 
 the criterion of acceptance, are irrele- 
 vant. Character is the test ; charac- 
 ter of course having a root in faith, 
 or, in other words, in a deep, iuAvard 
 principle of spiritual truth, and bloom- 
 ing outAvardly by a necessary force 
 of hfe in the flowers and fruits of 
 beautiful and useful good works. If 
 it be possible to state any doctrine in 
 human language so that it cannot be 
 mistaken or misrepresented, the doc- 
 trine of a righteous moral retribution 
 is so stated in this passage. As men 
 Uve, so will they be judged here and 
 hereafter ; live inwardly, in motive, 
 will, desire, and intention, as well as 
 outwardly, in act, speech, and habit. 
 The Gospel does not alter the native 
 grounds of acceptance with God, 
 as the Apostle announces here, ex- 
 cept as greater privileges establish a 
 
 greater trust to be accounted for, 
 and more animating and effectual 
 motives to obedience. The impar- 
 tiality of the Divine administration is 
 evinced in the award meted out to 
 the Gentiles according to their lesser, 
 and to the Jews according to their 
 greater light. Of course, the infinite, 
 back-lying cause of all good is in God ; 
 and man's highest exertions could not 
 call into existence one pulsation of 
 the eternal life of the spirit, as they 
 cannot one sensation of the mortal 
 life of the body. But then the life 
 of the spirit, as well as the life of the 
 body, is dependent on certain condi- 
 tions, and over those man has a par- 
 tial control, and so far as he has, he 
 is responsible. Good works save no 
 man ; but without good works no 
 man can be saved. The cause of 
 salvation is God, and especially God 
 in Christ, reconciling the world unto 
 himself; but the cause acts through 
 instruments and conditions, and those 
 man is livingly conscious to himself 
 that he can to some extent govern. 
 But the basis of his true action is 
 faith ; faith in God, faith in his own 
 spiritual and immortal nature, and 
 faith in Christ as his Divine Leader. 
 7. Patient conti7i uance in icell -doing. 
 Perseverance m a good life. Beautiful 
 words of soberness and truth ! Re- 
 member that these are the wOTTls 
 of the Apostle of faith, and that they 
 are not inconsistent Avith his teach- 
 ings of faith, as constituting the main- 
 spring of righteous action. — Glory 
 and honor and immortality. I. e., as 
 we should say in EngHsh, " a glori- 
 ous and honorable immortality "; but 
 it is much better and richer in these 
 cases to retain the HebreAv idiom. 
 " Behold," says Chrysostom, " Iioav, in 
 discoursing of the things to come, 
 bcino; unable to describe them, he 
 
n.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 103 
 
 8 and honor and immortality, eternal life : but unto them that are 
 contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, 
 
 9 indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of 
 man that doeth evil; of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 
 
 10 but glory, honor, and peace to every man that worketh good ; to 
 
 calls them glory and honor. For as 
 they surpass all that is human, human 
 things cannot supply any image ade- 
 quate to represent them. From among 
 the objects of this earth, hoAvever, 
 which seem to us the brightest, he 
 instances, and he could do no more, 
 glory and honor and life." In spirit- 
 ual vision and tone of reality, in 
 speaking of things unseen and eter- 
 nal, we perceive the unrivalled supe- 
 riority of the Apostles of Christ over 
 all other moral teachers. They speak 
 what they do know, and testify to 
 that which they have seen. 
 
 8. Contentious^ &c. Rebellious, or 
 stubborn in opposition. The Jews 
 were called " stiif-necked," and that 
 is the quality indicated here. By 
 the truth is here meant whatever 
 each man feels to be truth, what is 
 truth to him, Jewish truth to the 
 Jews, and Gentile truth to the Gen- 
 tile. The truth in itself is one and 
 the same ; but as seen through differ- 
 ent mediums, it comes to the univer- 
 sal spiritual sense, so to speak, of 
 man, shaped and colored diversely, as 
 that sense itself varies in different 
 men. The Apostle here refers, as is 
 evident from the sequel, to this origi- 
 nal truth. — But obey unrighteousness. 
 Are not true to their moral convic- 
 tions. — Indignation, &c. Still, as in 
 former instances, anthropathic. The 
 indignation of God must not be con- 
 founded with the sour and bitter 
 petulance of man. The dialect of 
 earth must of course very imperfect- 
 ly represent the things of heaven- 
 
 9, 10. Tribulation and anguish, &c. 
 Words are heaped upon words in the 
 fluent speech of Paul, to depict the 
 
 suffering of the unfaithful soul. The 
 two previous terms, the indignation 
 and wrath of God, become here the 
 tribulation and anguish of the wrong- 
 doer. The Apostle constantly de- 
 picts the punishment of sin as mental, 
 not material. His own rich and glow- 
 ing nature taught him that in the soul 
 was the vital sphere of ecstatic bliss 
 or deepest misery. — To the Jew first, 
 and also to the Gentile. The first in- 
 dicates here the comparison which 
 had already been implied in the pre- 
 vious course of his argument. The 
 Jew, first in privilege, must also be 
 first in punishment, if disobedient ; 
 highest in reward, if faithful. This 
 is nature and justice as well as rev- 
 elation ; and whatever we may find in 
 human systems drawn from Paul's 
 Epistles, we never find in those Epis- 
 tles themselves aught that clashes in 
 the least with the eternal sentiments 
 of equity and justice and honor, that 
 are incorporated into the substance 
 of human nature itself. Difference 
 of talents and opportunities affords 
 no ground of injustice, for of him to 
 whom much has been given much 
 will be required. — Glory, honor, 
 and peace. No doubt figures taken 
 from what men most covet, and such 
 as set forth in a striking light the 
 transcendent life and happiness of a 
 righteous soul. — Worleth good. How 
 plain and simple and beautiful are 
 the descriptions of the Apostle as to 
 the value of good works, and the 
 nature of the justification which the 
 
 good may hope to 
 
 Not James 
 
 is more conclusive on the subject of 
 righteousness of life, as constituti. ig 
 the onlv foundation of the Divine oc- 
 
104 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [CUAP. 
 
 the Jew first, and also to tlie Gentile : for there is no respect 1 1 
 of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law 12 
 shall also perish without law ; and as many as have sinned in the 
 law shall be judged by the law ; (for not the hearers of the law are 13 
 
 ceptance. In fact, the Apostle was 
 too good a worker himself, not to 
 know the power and efficacy of an 
 active obedience. 
 
 11. No respect of persons ivith God. 
 However nationally the Jews might 
 be distinguished by the possession 
 of a divine revelation, that circum- 
 stance individually Avould not alter 
 the grounds of the equitable assign- 
 ment of good to tlie good and evil to 
 the evil. An effectual quietus is here 
 administered to the haughty Jewisli 
 pride, which took airs to itself for en- 
 joying, however it might use, the 
 rich gifts of the Divine mercy. To 
 rebuke that disdainful selfishness was 
 one of the first steps towards accom- 
 plishing the object of the Epistle, and 
 proclaiming the right of the Gentiles 
 to become Christians without first be- 
 coming Jews and being circumcised. 
 That spirit, once condemned by Paul, 
 is still too rife in the Christian world, 
 and in the narrow and jealous spirit 
 of its exclusiveness the Church has 
 proved itself to be too often as it 
 were only a new edition of Judaism. 
 It has not come to be a superfluous 
 task to preach that God is no re- 
 specter of persons, even in the nine- 
 teenth century of our Lord. For the 
 walls of caste and class and clan 
 still tower aloft and divide the great 
 brotherhood into hostile sects, parties, 
 races, and nations. 
 
 12. Without law. Meaning those 
 who had no revealed law, or rule of 
 conduct, like the Jews. This is a 
 further elucidation of the principle 
 stated above. — Sinned in the law. 
 The Jews would be judged by the 
 light they had, and it was self-evident 
 that, as their light had been clearer 
 upon the questions of duty, so must 
 
 their responsibleness be enhanced, 
 and their conduct be more rigidly 
 judged than that of the benighted 
 Gentiles. 
 
 13-15. Paul's favorite custom of 
 parenthesis. As he had advanced a 
 general principle, wluch included all 
 men in the impartial government of 
 God, he feels that it would not be 
 perfectly intelligible unless it were 
 more fully explained and amplified. 
 Two points of obscurity required at- 
 tention. He had spoken of the " trib- 
 ulation and anguish," v. 9, that might 
 come even on the Jews, who were so 
 l^roud of their national prerogatives 
 as to feel that their salvation was in- 
 sured to them. This problem is solved 
 by the obvious truth, that merely to 
 hear the law would not avail the 
 Jews, though they were children of 
 Abraham, unless hearing ripened into 
 obedience. The other point was to 
 make it apparent how he could prop- 
 erly speak of a " law " in reference to 
 the Gentiles. This difficulty was met 
 by falling back on the moral nature 
 of man, and showing that there was a 
 law written on the " heart," a con- 
 science, and accusing and excusing 
 thoughts, which rendered the Gen- 
 tiles responsible agents. Nowhere 
 more than in St. Paul, the supposed 
 teacher of human depravity, that 
 might be called " total," or, as it has 
 come to be very much regarded in an 
 age • of the humanities and philan- 
 thropies, " half total " is there oftener 
 or more fervently uttered the noblest 
 fiiith in man, man as the child of 
 God, man as the temple of the Holy 
 Spu'it, man as the receiver of the 
 moral law in a state of nature, and 
 pervaded by those spiritual question- 
 ings, and alternate self-reproaches 
 
II.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 105 
 
 14 just before God, but the doers of tlie law shall be justified ; for 
 when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things 
 contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto 
 
 15 themselves : which show the work of the law written in their hearts, 
 their conscience also bearins^ witness, and their thoudits the mean- 
 
 and self-approvals, which stamp the 
 lowest of the race as bearing one link 
 of that moral chain on earth whose 
 other remote link is joined to the 
 throne of God in heaven. They mis- 
 judge and wrong the magnanimity 
 of the Apostle's confidence in man, 
 who pick out texts that darken this 
 view of our nature, or predicate any 
 other than an acquired depravity. 
 He speaks vividly of the wickedness 
 of the world, yet not as natural, but 
 as unnatural ; as the abuse of those 
 powers which God had originally be- 
 stowed. The depth to which man 
 sank showed the height from which 
 he fell. The dark list of his wicked- 
 nesses set off by contrast the fearful 
 abuse of those powers which glowed 
 originally with a divine purity and 
 brightness. — Jusl^ justified. The fact 
 that these two terms are used in op- 
 posite members of the same antithesis 
 demonstrates that their signification is 
 similar ; for the primary, elementary 
 idea is in both terms the being just in 
 itself considered, and the secondary 
 and inferred idea, the being regarded 
 as just by another, the legitimate con- 
 sequence, of course, of being just in 
 one's self. It would be equally good 
 for the argument to put "just" in the 
 last as in the first clause of the sen- 
 tence, and read the whole thus : " For 
 not the hearers of the law are just be- 
 fore God, but the doers of the law shall 
 be just." Tischendorf omits the before 
 law, thus making the proposition gen- 
 eral. They shall of course be re- 
 garded and judged as just. Tlie most 
 unanswerable commentary on the 
 Scriptures is that Avhich the S.'rip- 
 tures themselves afford. — Are a law 
 
 unto themselves. Tlie heathen na- 
 tions do not agree with one another 
 as to the code of moral action, but 
 none are so degraded as to repudiate 
 all distinctions of right and wrong. 
 Some things are good, morally, and 
 some are bad, morally, even in the 
 Hottentot kraal and the Austra- 
 lian bush. Conscience and God are 
 said by travellers to have terms for 
 their expression in every lang-uage, 
 however meagre. On this original 
 moral basis in man, it is evident, the 
 revealed law must rest for its founda- 
 tion. Revelation comes not to create, 
 but to educate. It is light where 
 there was before an eye to see, it is 
 bread Avhere there Avas before a palate 
 to taste and a stomach to digest. No 
 real advantage is ever permanently 
 gained by undervaluing the natural 
 moral sense for the sake of glorifying 
 revelation. None were more ready 
 than the bearers of these special mer- 
 cies to men, to acknowledge and ap- 
 preciate the indestructible elements 
 of morals and faith in human nature 
 itself Would that their followers had 
 been as considerate ! — The icork of 
 the law. The working operation of 
 the natural law, which he goes on 
 to particularize below. — Conscience. 
 Better, consciousness, moral sense of 
 good and evil in its exercise. This 
 is introduced to explain what he 
 means by the law written in the heart. 
 The recognition of conscience is abun- 
 dant in heathen literature. — Their 
 thoughts the ineanwhile, &c. Their 
 thoughts alternately accusing and ex- 
 cusing one another. This refers to a 
 second and subsequent action of the 
 mind, when it more deliberately re- 
 
106 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [CHAr. 
 
 while accusing or else excusing one another;) — in the day when is 
 God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my 
 Gospel. Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and n 
 
 views and rejudgcs its actions and 
 motives. Man has sometimes been 
 compared to a court, in which the 
 heart is judge, conscience is the jury, 
 consciousness and memory the wit- 
 nesses, the thoughts the counsel, ac- 
 cusing and excusing one another. 
 Consciousness and memory bear tes- 
 timony as to the fact itself alleged. 
 The thoughts busily suggest this or 
 that thing in aggravation or extenua- 
 tion of the offence. Conscience, as a 
 jury, simply decides on the law and 
 fact, whether the individual be guilty 
 or not. And the heart, or combined 
 moral man, pronounces sentence ac- 
 cording to the decision of the moral 
 sense and the circumstances of the 
 case, mingling mercy with justice. 
 Such comparisons, however, are very 
 liable to mislead, if pressed into too 
 many particulars, and taken accord- 
 ing to the letter and not the spirit. 
 Analogies are very good for illustra- 
 tions, but they make hazardous argu- 
 ments. 
 
 16. In the day. A resumption of 
 the subject of v. 1 2. " When " would 
 express the simple sense of " the 
 day," without its dramatic garb. — 
 The secrets of men ^ i. e. not only their 
 open acts, but their hidden purposes 
 and motives, will be subjects of judg- 
 ment, for from these their open acts 
 have proceeded. The decisions of 
 human conscience would be corrected 
 by the Divine tribunal. Eccles. xii. 
 14; 1 Cor. iv. 5. — By Jesus Christ. 
 The distinct and independent per- 
 sonality of Christ, as another being 
 than God, could not in any form 
 of language be more explicitly an- 
 nounced tlian in the text. " By " 
 expresses agency and subordination, 
 and it is to be observed that this ex- 
 ercise of the office of judge is dated 
 
 in the future, indicating that the sep- 
 arate identity of Christ continues be- 
 yond this world. John v. 27. — Gos- 
 j)el. In its ecclesiastical, not histori- 
 cal sense. Paul, without a doubt, re- 
 fers not to any Gospel he had written, 
 but to his preaching of the Gospel. 
 Rom. xvi. 25. 
 
 17. Behold. Griesbach and Tis- 
 chendorf correct the text so that it 
 reads " but if," which better suits the 
 logic. The Apostle here tightens the 
 chain of his reasoning in relation to 
 the Jews, and unfolds more fully the 
 bearing of his argument, that the 
 greater were their opportunities of 
 light and knowledge, the less excusa- 
 ble were they for doing what they 
 condemned in the Gentiles ; and that 
 if the Mosaic law had thus failed of 
 perfecting their life, how much was 
 the greater motive-power of the Gos- 
 pel needed ! — Thou. He uses the 
 singular number rhetorically, and 
 thus makes his appeal more direct 
 and pungent. — Art called, kc. Mac- 
 knight writes " surnamed." The high 
 distinction is thine of being called a 
 Jew. No terms could be more op- 
 probrious than those with which the 
 Jews loaded the Gentiles. Paul se- 
 lects the points of national pride 
 among his countrymen with the un- 
 erring instincts of his own experi- 
 ence. — Restest in the laic. Stuart, 
 "leanest on the law." The fallacy 
 of the Jews was to rest in the law 
 as final, when by its very nature it 
 was progressive and prospective, and 
 served only as a schoolmaster to 
 b)ing them to a greater teacher, 
 Christ. — Mahest thy boast of God. 
 Gloriest in God as peculiarly thy 
 God, a local, national Divinity, not 
 the Father of universal humanity. 
 Deut. iv. 
 
II.l 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 107 
 
 18 makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will, and approvest the 
 
 19 things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law ; and 
 art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the bhnd, a hght of 
 
 20 them which are m darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher 
 of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the 
 
 21 law. Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not 
 thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal ? 
 
 22 thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou com- 
 mit adultery ? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege ? 
 
 23 thou that makest thy boast of the law, through bi^eaking the law 
 
 18. Knowest his icill. It was the 
 boast of the Jews that they had been 
 admitted into the inner counsels of 
 the Ahnighty, and they took airs of 
 great superiority to the rest of man- 
 kind on that account, though, as the 
 event has proved, they were Winded 
 to the beneficent plan by which all 
 mankind would be comprehended in 
 the impartial love and salvation of 
 the Father of all. — Approvest, &c. 
 The Uteral sense is, " triest the tliino-s 
 that difier"; but on this is gvafted in 
 the usage of language the secondary 
 idea, that in this trial the things that 
 are worthy are approved, and the op- 
 posite rejected. This clause refers 
 to that educated and discriminating 
 moral sense Avhieh was trained under 
 the system of Mosaic laws and insti- 
 tutions. The moral code of the Jews 
 was elevated as much above that of 
 other nations of antiquity, as their 
 worship transcended the grovellings 
 of idolatry. 
 
 19,20. A guide, — a light, — an in- 
 structor, — a teacher. The New Tes- 
 tament gives us many intimations of 
 the spiritual pride with which the 
 Jewish people looked down from the 
 height of their privileges on the rest 
 of the world, and the jealous exelu- 
 siveness with which they claimed to 
 be guides and teachers of others, 
 while they called the Gentiles " blind," 
 "in darkness," "foolish," "babes"; 
 
 and the writings of the Rabbins are 
 full of illustrations of the same dispo- 
 sition. The fact was, that they had 
 superior advantages, but the infer- 
 ence they deduced from it was false 
 and mischievous, viz. a lordly arro- 
 gance and a narrow contempt, and 
 the practical fruit in self-complacent 
 corruption of life and character was 
 still more deadly. Matt. xi. 25 ; xv. 14 ; 
 xxiii. la. — Hast the form of knowl- 
 edge and of the truth in the law ; i. e., 
 dropping the Hebraism, " the form of 
 true knowledge in the laAv." The 
 great outlines of truth were delineat- 
 ed by Moses and the Prophets, but it 
 remained for Christ to clothe those 
 outlines, grand as they were, with the 
 humanized and intelligible spirit of 
 the Father. " God is one," meets the 
 want of the mind. " God is a Par- 
 ent," satisfies the heart. In these 
 verses the writer dwells at length on 
 all the points of national boasting 
 among the Jews, that he may make 
 the better preparation for the reproof 
 he was about to administer in the sub- 
 sequent passage. 
 
 21-23. He gives additional em- 
 phasis by putting the appeal to their 
 consciences in the interrogative form. 
 He specifies the well-known immoral- 
 ities of the Jewish people, and even 
 of their rulers and priests and teach- 
 ers, as glaring violations of that more 
 perfert form of religious truth of 
 
108 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 dislionorest tliou God ? For the name of God is blasphemed 24 
 among tlie Gentiles through you, as it is written. For circumcision 25 
 verily profiteth, if thou keep the law : but if thou be a breaker of the 
 law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Therefore, if the 20 
 uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his un- 
 circumcision be counted for circumcision ? And shall not uncir- 27 
 
 which the Hebrew commonwealth 
 had been made the depositary. That 
 a great depravation of manners and 
 morals had crejot into the Holy Land 
 is sufficiently proved by the conces- 
 sions of Josephus and other Jewish 
 writers, as well as by the rebukes of 
 Christ and his disciples and apostles. 
 The various specifications of Paul 
 are, however, rather to be received 
 rhetorically than logically, though 
 without question theft, adultery, sac- 
 rilege, and blasphemy were throw- 
 ing, at that period, dark shadows over 
 the Jewish name, and dishonoring 
 Him whom they worshipped, among 
 the heathen nations throughout which 
 they were scattered abroad. As il- 
 lustrative of this passage^ consult the 
 following: Matt. ii. 5-14; iii. 10; also, 
 the vials of a holy indignation poured 
 out in Matt, xxiii., Mark vii. 7-13, 
 from the lips of mercy itself. 
 
 24. As Paul was writing to the 
 Jews in a considerable measure, he 
 uses the anjumentum ad hominem, the 
 personal argument, and substantiates 
 his positions out of the mouth of their 
 own revered prophets. We may sup- 
 pose that he had several passages in 
 his mind, at the moment of writing, 
 as well as the general strain of pro- 
 phetic remonstrance. See 2 Sam. 
 xii. 14 ; Neh. v. 9 ; Is. hi. 5 ; Ezek. 
 3jcxvi. 23. 
 
 25. It shows the immense transition 
 through which the mind of the Apos- 
 tle had passed in its moral revolution, 
 to set such a declaration as this by 
 the side of his blind zeal for Juda- 
 ism and perset-ution of the Christian 
 Church, that dated back but a few 
 
 years. No doubt circumcision to the 
 true Jew was good, as an expression 
 of fealty to God, a signature written 
 in blood, of obedience to what he felt 
 to be a divine command, as is every 
 act, be it a sigh, or a tear, or a word, 
 by which the soul indicates its rela- 
 tion to the Highest. But, of course, 
 all the truth and efficacy of rites and 
 ceremonies, under whatever system, 
 older or later, depend on the sincer- 
 ity and earnestness with which they 
 spring from a moved soul at the time, 
 and are indorsed by a good life after- 
 wards. It is observable that circum- 
 cision stands for Judaism, as the cross 
 for Christianity. 
 
 26. Paul carries his triumph still 
 farther into the adversary's country. 
 He had just rebuked the presumption 
 of the faithless .lew ; he now encour- 
 ages the humility of the faithful Gen- 
 tile. There is a running argument 
 conveyed by implication all along in 
 these verses. Its purport is, that if, 
 even under the former dispensation, 
 righteous uncircumcision was better 
 than unrighteous circumcision, how 
 much more would the same principle 
 hold good under the spiritual system 
 of Christianity, and how vain to re- 
 quire the Gentiles to be Jews before 
 they could be recognized as Chris- 
 tians ! 
 
 27. The tables would be turned. 
 The Jews who began, ver. 1, with tak- 
 ing the bench of judgment, would find 
 himself at the criminal's bar, while 
 the man whom he had contemned as 
 the culprit would be seen rising into 
 the majesty of the judge. We must 
 remember that this Epistle, though 
 
III. 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 109 
 
 cumcision which is by nature, if it fuhil the law, judge thee, who by 
 
 28 the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law ? For he is not 
 a Jew which is one outwardly ; neither is that circumcision wliich 
 
 29 is outward in the flesh : but he is a Jew which is one inwardly ; 
 and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the 
 letter ; whose praise is not of men, but of God. 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 A Descri2)tion of the Wkledness of the Jews, as icell as of the Gentiles, and the Insif- 
 ficiency of the Law, unless it were fulfilled by the Righteousness of Faith. 
 
 What advantage then hath the Jew ? or what profit is there of 
 
 addressed to the Romans, was in- 
 tended for Roman Jews in general, 
 or those who, once Jews, had then 
 become Christians. Paul takes them 
 on their own ground, and by holding 
 up the liigh spiritual demands even of 
 the Law, demolishes their boasted in- 
 fallibility and sinlessness as Jews, and 
 shows the superiority of the faithful 
 heathen over the faithless Hebrew. 
 He breaks to pieces their national 
 idols, and, including all under the 
 same category of disobedience, infers 
 the universal need of Christ. 
 
 28, 29. The teeming mind of Paul 
 is not content with following a single 
 line of thought, but it throws out 
 filaments of attachment and nutri- 
 ment on every side, like a vigorous 
 and deeply rooted tree. While the 
 upshot of his Epistle is Christianity, 
 he reflects back Hght on the Law, and 
 defines the true Jew. At the very 
 moment when he would lift the 
 minds of his readei'S above the nar- 
 rowness of that sectarian spirit among 
 his JeAvisli brethren, which " gave to 
 party what was meant for mankind," 
 he dignifies the Law even more than 
 its own upholders did, by analyzing 
 its vital spirit, and detecting in it the 
 immortal essence of truth, and in 
 faithful obedience to it, an allegiance 
 of the heart to God. For the doc- 
 trine which Paul here advocates, he 
 could adduce numerous testimonies 
 10 
 
 from both the earher and later dis- 
 pensations, which agreed in laying 
 the stress of obedience on the heart, 
 and not on external conformity. — 
 Neither is that circumcision, &c. ; as 
 if he had said, that is not circum- 
 cision which is onhj outward in the 
 flesh. The Jewish observances, ex- 
 ternal as they were, had their only 
 living roots in the heart, and if they 
 failed of that spiritual hold, they 
 proved but a " sere and yellow leaf" 
 Unfaithful as the Jews often proved 
 to this code of definite and impera- 
 tive law, and therefore falling even 
 below the better class of Gentiles, 
 who were a law unto themselves, 
 the Apostle clearly demonstrates the 
 want of that quickening spiritual 
 faith, which, as a moral principle, 
 would accomphsh what a mere legal 
 principle never could effect, a regen- 
 erated and progressive life of the soul, 
 a steady assunilation to the Father 
 through the Son. 
 
 CHAPTER HI 
 
 Another link of the argument is 
 presented. If the Jew were entitled 
 to no precedence over the Gentile in 
 receiving the new gift of God in tlie 
 Christian dispensation, then the ob- 
 jector would cavil at the advantage 
 of being a Jew at all and living under 
 the Law and the Prophets. To this 
 disputant the unflinching Apostle 
 
110 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [ClIAP. 
 
 circumcision ? Much, every way : chiefly, because that unto them 2 
 were committed the oracles of God. For what if some did not 3 
 beheve ? shall theii* unbelief make the faith of God without effect ? 
 God forbid : yea, let God be true, but every man a Har ; as it is 4 
 written. That thou mightest be justified in thy saymgs, and might- 
 est overcome when thou art judged. But if our unrighteousness 5 
 commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say ? Is God 
 unrighteous who taketh vengeance ? I speak as a man ; God for- 6 
 
 now addresses himself, and adopts 
 the Socratic method of question and 
 answer. 
 
 1. The Jewish adherent is sup- 
 posed to speak and catechize the 
 Apostle as to the proud preeminence 
 of his nation, as one favored by God, 
 and whose distinguishing badge and 
 symbol was circumcision. 
 
 2. This verse begins the reply to 
 the above objection. Discarding the 
 numerous pri\aleges of the Jews, 
 which he recounts in chap. ix. 4, 5, 
 Paul seizes upon the Scriptures as a 
 sufficient answer on this occasion, 
 constituting as they did so rich a 
 source of spiritual hfe and inspiration. 
 They are called elsewhere. Acts vii. 
 38, the lively, or life-giving oracles. 
 
 3. But might not tliis advantage 
 of possessing the Scriptures be over- 
 ruled. For of what use was the in- 
 strmnent if it were not received and 
 applied in faith ? The truth was, as 
 hinted in the first clause, that some, 
 many, did not believe, but that sin 
 could not render ineffectual the faith, 
 or, better rendered, the faithfulness 
 of God. His benevolent purpose 
 stood, though man failed in doing the 
 part assifjned to him. Macknioht and 
 some other critics assign this verse to 
 the Jewish objector, rendering the 
 last question, " shall not their unbe- 
 Hef," &c. 
 
 4. God forbid. There is no word 
 God in the Greek ; it is simply, Let 
 it not be, or may it not be so. — Let 
 God he true, &c. It is better to sup- 
 
 pose God is faithful, even if it should 
 drive us to the conclusion that all 
 men were steeped in falsehood. At 
 all hazards, we know and are sure, 
 that, if there is evil on any hand, it is 
 not in God. — Tliat thou rnightest he 
 justified. Ps.h. 4. Ever}' examination 
 into the works or ways or word of 
 the All-Perfect One can of course 
 only reveal more distinctly his glori- 
 ous goodness and justice. 
 
 5. The opponent again speaks. If 
 all the sin and evil in the world only 
 enhance the justice and glory of 
 God, because they call forth those 
 attributes to aid in overcoming them, 
 then why should such useful servants 
 of the Almighty suffer condemnation? 
 It is a natural and powerful objec- 
 tion. As Paul asks, Paul only could 
 answer it. — Commend^ i. e. illus- 
 trate, or honor. — / speah as a man. 
 Humanly speaking ; speaking as men 
 do. 
 
 6. The reply of the Apostle is 
 abbreviated and suggestive ; as if he 
 had said. What righteous judo;ment 
 could there be upon such principles ? 
 and we know that the Judge of all 
 the earth will do right. Gen. xviii. 
 25. The fact of such a boundless 
 authority as is invested in God ex- 
 cludes the possibility of his confound- 
 ing right with wrong, as the above 
 supposition would imply. In such prin- 
 ciples the fact of a righteous adminis- 
 tration of the affairs of God's moral 
 government must be given up, be- 
 cause men would not be responsible. 
 
III.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 7 bid : for then Low sliall God judge the world ? For if the truth of 
 God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory, why yet 
 
 8 am I also judged as a sinner ? And not rather, as we be slander- 
 ously rejDorted, and as some affirm that we say, Let us do evil, that 
 
 9 good may come ? whose damnation is just. TThat then ? are we 
 better than they ? No, in no wise : for we have before proved both 
 
 The reference to Abraham would be 
 effectual with the Jews. 
 
 7. This verse is still a continuation 
 and amplification of what the Jewish 
 interlocutor objected in verse 5, and 
 which was interrupted by the Apos- 
 tle repelling instantly in verse 6 the 
 idea that God would not judge the 
 world, and that he would not judge 
 it in righteousness. If the sins of 
 men are the occasion of more flilly 
 revealing the lustre of the Divine 
 truth and mercy, why are those sins 
 punishable, and not rather matters 
 of honor and reward ? Cavillers of 
 every age have harped on the same 
 rusty chord. It is enough to say, 
 that though the cloud and the rain do 
 give some rich prismatic tints of the 
 light of the sun, which his fuU beams 
 would not peld, yet his greatest 
 glory and majesty are in his un- 
 clouded and meridian shining. The 
 light of heaven breaks through the 
 darkest sins of men ; but far more 
 Avould the goodness of God be seen 
 and felt if they had always been true 
 and faitliful. But being finite and 
 imperfect, that is simply to suppose 
 an impossibihty. 
 
 8. This is accounted the rejoinder 
 of the Apostle. The and implies the 
 continuation of his argument, and the 
 idea seems to be to carry out the 
 objector's sophism in the previous 
 verse, and show its absurdity by its 
 mere statement. "Why should we not 
 then, according to your principles, 
 avow the doctrine (which we are 
 unjustly accused of holding) of doing 
 evil that good may come V You ac- 
 knowledge that is wrong ; the very 
 
 accusation against us imphes that its 
 condemnation is regarded as just. 
 VThy do you then adopt a sentiment 
 which leads to the same conclusion ? 
 Theodoret says, " It is right to know 
 that, when the holy Apostles taught 
 that where sin hath abounded grace 
 did much more abound, some profes- 
 sors of the old religion, spreading 
 falsehoods to their prejudice, reported 
 that they said, Let us do e^^^ that 
 good may come." — Slanderously re- 
 jyorted. Blasphemously said. — Let us 
 do evil, &c. This principle of ex- 
 pediency has been too general in 
 every age, but it has been associated 
 in most Protestant minds with the 
 order of Jesuits in modern times. 
 All who take any other principle 
 than the right as their idtimate stand- 
 ard, fall under this category and 
 condemnation. Nothing short of be- 
 lieving the true, loving the good, and 
 doing the right, can fill out the 
 measure of a true disciple of Christ. 
 — Damnation. A Calvinism for con- 
 demnation. The figurative language 
 of the Bible is always sufficiently 
 expressive vrithout our Enghsh addi- 
 tions. Doddridge regretted extremely 
 some of these harsh renderings. There 
 is no reference whatever to a future 
 state, but a simple declaration that 
 such persons were condemned, and 
 that their condemnation was just. 
 
 9. What then ? &c. Put by some 
 as another question of the opponent, 
 but by Locke and Tischendorf as 
 commencing a new paragraph of the 
 Apostle afler the dialogue was con- 
 cluded. The question reverts to 
 verse 1, as to whether in moral char- 
 
112 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 Jews and Gentiles, tliat they are all under sin ; as it is written, lo 
 There is none righteous, no, not one : There is none that under- 1 1 
 standeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone 12 
 out of the way, they are together become unprofitable ; there 
 is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sep- 13 
 ulchre ; with their tongues they have used deceit ; the poison of 
 asps is under their hj)S : whose mouth is full of cursing and bit- m 
 terness : their feet are swift to shed blood : destruction and mis- \l 
 ery are in their ways : and the way of peace have they not known : 17 
 there is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know^ that \l 
 what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are~under 
 the law : that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may 
 become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law 20 
 
 acter, not privileges, the Jews had 
 any preeminence over the Gentiles ; 
 and the answer was a decided nega- 
 tive. What was before proved is 
 now repeated, that both Jews and 
 Gentiles were in a depraved, de- 
 graded spuitual condition, and there- 
 fore needed the Gospel, one as well 
 as the other. The Jew could not 
 plead his righteousness as constitut- 
 ing any claim to this blessing any 
 more than the very Pagan. 
 
 10-18. To substantiate his position 
 beyond contradiction, he quotes from 
 their sacred writings as applicable to 
 the Jews what they were so ready to 
 apply to the Gentiles, a brilliant, po- 
 etic picture of the deep apostasy of 
 mankind, in which every faculty and 
 sense is singled out as enacting its 
 part in the drama of wickedness. 
 Throat, and tongue, and lip, and eye, 
 and foot, with all the internal powers 
 which act through these instruments, 
 have become parties and agents in 
 the spiritual rebellion. The whole 
 moral and physical man was in insur- 
 rection against the authority of con- 
 science and God. Still, such pas- 
 sages are not logic, but rhetoric, and 
 they arc misquoted and -^vrested when 
 they are employed to demonstrate 
 that there is no goodness in the 
 
 world, and that man's best acts are an 
 abomination to God. The quotations 
 are from the Septuagint version of 
 the Psalms, in order as follows, with 
 some freedoms : Ps. xiv. 1 - 3 ; v. 9 ; 
 cxl. 3 ; X. 7 ; Is. lix. 7 ; Ps. xxxvi. 1 . 
 The Jews were prone to apply these 
 severe condemnations to the Gentiles, 
 but it was of the Jews they were orig- 
 inally written, and to whom they are 
 now apphed. The argument of Paul 
 would possess a double force when 
 expressed in words endeared by the 
 national faith. 
 
 19. The Laic. A comprehensive 
 term, meaning the writings of the 
 whole Jewish revelation. Psalms and 
 Prophets, as well as the Pentateuch. 
 John X. 34. In the case above, the 
 quotations were not from Moses, but 
 from David and Isaiah. This severe 
 description of the depravity of men 
 was addressed to the Jews, who were 
 under the LaAv ; and if they could not 
 escape such charges even with their 
 privileges and aids to righteousness, 
 then, certainly, the whole world must 
 bow in silent condemnation before the 
 perfect purity and goodness of God, 
 and confess itself worthy of punish- 
 ment. 
 
 20. The deeds of the Law, i. e. acts 
 of obedience to the Law, or such deeds 
 
III.l 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 113 
 
 there shall no flesh be justified in liis sight : for by the law is the 
 
 21 knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the 
 law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets ; 
 
 22 even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ 
 unto all and upon all them that beUeve: for there is no differ- 
 
 as the Law requires or approves. In 
 the 19th verse Law has the article the 
 before it, but here it has not in the 
 original, though the translators have 
 erroneously put it in. The Apostle 
 makes his proposition general. By 
 deeds of law, by legal obedience, can 
 no man be justified. The path of our 
 acceptance with God does not lie in 
 that direction. We are not disposed, 
 with many critics, to understand by 
 Law here the ceremonial law of 
 Moses in contrast with the moral 
 hiAv, nor the Law of Moses, perhaps, 
 at all, but law universally. " No 
 flesh " seems a general expression, 
 referring to the whole human family. 
 The catalogue of sins enumerated 
 above were not violations of the 
 Mosaic law specially, but of all law. 
 And granting that the proposition 
 held good of the Mosaic law, and re- 
 ferred primarily to that, a fortiori, by 
 so much the stronger reason, as that 
 was the accredited and superior pro- 
 vision of God, would the same be true 
 of every inferior and less distinct law 
 of conscience or nature. If Jewish 
 obedience could not justify, much less 
 could pagan obedience. And the 
 reason plainly is, that the obedience 
 could not be obedience, could not be 
 perfect ; there would be much to for- 
 get and to forgive, and for that law, 
 as law, makes no provision. Neither 
 conscience nor law is a consoler or 
 forgiver. The object of both is to 
 bring sin to light, to reveal the hid- 
 den moral quality of actions, not to 
 provide the main motive of obedience, 
 or to furnish the reparation when the 
 evil is done. Other powers must do 
 that office. Both are powerful and 
 essential in their province, but their 
 10* 
 
 province is not universal. — Justified. 
 The grand scope of the Apostle's 
 argument all through these chapters 
 is not that narrow point to which it 
 is generally referred, of justification, 
 properly so called, but, as elsewhere 
 translated, of righteousness, and God's 
 righteousness ; that is, God's method 
 of making men righteous. That was 
 the chief ami of all revelation, not 
 how to account men, how to justify 
 them, but how to make them just, 
 how to give them a spiritual rectitude 
 and rig-ht and holy development, so 
 that they might be proper subjects of 
 moral acquittal. 
 
 21, 22. The LaAv was a schoolmaster 
 to bring men to Christ ; good for its 
 time, and place, and people ; but the 
 fidl method of God's righteousness, 
 i. e. his operation of making men 
 righteous, and so of course fitting 
 them to be justified and accepted by 
 him, was not, by law, a mere declara- 
 tion of duty, of things forbidden and 
 things required, but by that method 
 to which the Law and Prophets them- 
 selves bore witness, as superior to 
 themselves, and that method was by 
 faith, a spiritual principle, faith in 
 Christ, a moral motive, taking pro- 
 found hold of the heart, and not a 
 simple legal motive, appealing to the 
 conscience. In all this course of re- 
 mark the Apostle shows liimseLf as 
 good a philosopher of human nature 
 as he is theologian of the Gospel. — 
 Unfa all and upon all, &c. The invi- 
 tation to this faith of Christ, the spir- 
 itual lever to raise the world, was as 
 broad and generous as humanity. 
 There was no restriction to Jews, no 
 favoritism, no chosen nation, — wel- 
 come the world to the world's Saviour, 
 
114 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 fCi 
 
 ence ; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God ; 23 
 bemg justified freely by his grace through the redemj^tion that is 24 
 in Christ Jesus ; whom God hath set forth to he a propitiation 25 
 through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remis- 
 sion of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God ; to de- 26 
 
 to God's righteousness, to the soul's 
 life, and to heaven's reward. 
 
 23, 24. All have sinned. The Gen- 
 tile had not kept the law of con- 
 S science and light of nature, the Jew 
 
 had not fulfilled the Law of Moses, — 
 all alike had come short of the glori- 
 ous distinction of being righteous, the 
 honor God gives to the faithful. Here 
 Locke distinctly recognizes the prin- 
 ciple we have laid down, though he 
 does not elsewhere so clearly follow 
 it, and he renders the 24th verse, 
 " being made righteous gratis by the 
 fivor of God, through the redemp- 
 tion which is by Christ Jesus." The 
 grace of God is his favor, free, un- 
 bought, flowing from the fountain of 
 his pure love, and the eminent in- 
 stance of that grace is the gift of 
 Christ, and his mode of making men 
 righteous by him. Here are the Gen- 
 tile law of conscience and light of 
 nature and the Jewish Law of Moses 
 fulfilled in a higher law of faith, a 
 spiritual principle, involving trust, 
 love, hope, and centring in Christ, 
 as the majestic and spotless ideal of 
 humanity, the being Avho showed us 
 hoAv God would hve on the earth, if 
 God were man. 
 
 25, 26. Propitiation, rather a pro- 
 pitiatory or mercy-seat, in reference 
 to the mercy-seat in the Jewish tem- 
 ple, which was the golden lid of the 
 ark, over which the'cheinibim bowed, 
 and on which the Shekinah, or cloud 
 of the Divine glory, rested ; the place 
 of the holy presence Avhere God ap- 
 peared and spoke his will. Ex. xxv. 
 17-22; Lev. xvi. 14-17; Heb. ix. 
 4,^ 5. Once a year it was sprinkled 
 with blfJod. Christ was now the mer- 
 
 cy-seat, sprinkled with his o^ti blood, 
 the bright and holy place of the Di- 
 vine presence and glory shining in 
 his face ; liim over whom angels bowed 
 and sung their song of jubilee, and 
 through whom God appeared and 
 spoke his will. Christ is " the altar 
 form of the divine," — we accept the 
 term of a late divine. Dr. Bushnell, — 
 but then it is in a free spiritual sense, 
 in no narrow^ legal, technical import. 
 This Jewish figure would have no 
 speaking significance except to the 
 Jews, and cannot have been meant 
 for universal impression, because the 
 rest of the world lack the prehmina- 
 ry facts on which that figure is pred- 
 icated, viz. the temple, mercy-seat, 
 sacrifices, &c. of that ancient people. 
 Still, the scion of divine truth being 
 once well set in the old stock of Ju- 
 daism, it throve apace, and now the 
 world subsists its spiritual life on 
 Christ, not because he is a mercy-seat, 
 but because it eats the bread God has 
 prepared, and its tormenting hunger 
 is satisfied, and strength and growth 
 have come apace. — Faith in his Mood. 
 The cleansing power of Christ is of 
 course in no hteral sense in his blood, 
 but in the great love and self-sacrifice 
 that led him to do and suffer so much 
 for man's disenthralment from sin. 
 The noxious emphasis put upon the 
 physical sufferings, as if they were a 
 payment of our debts, an endurance 
 of what we should otherwise have 
 suffered, but what we shall not suff"er 
 now, has often blinded men to that 
 glorious sacrifice of the spirit, that 
 bowing of the most noble nature that 
 was ever on the earth to shame and 
 loss and agony, for our sakes. Juda- 
 
nil 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 115 
 
 clare, I say, at tliis time liis righteousness : that he might be just, 
 
 27 and the justifier of him which beheveth in Jesus. Where is boast- 
 ing then ? It is excluded. Bj what law ? of works ? Nay, but 
 
 28 by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified 
 
 ism was legal, but, really, Christianity, 
 as many preach it, is made more le- 
 gal than Judaism. Its cords are not 
 cords of love, but of steel. Its spirit 
 is made, not a spirit of salvation, but 
 of condemnation. The moutli of its 
 teachers is opened, not with promises, 
 but with threatenings. Its character 
 of Gospel, or of good news, is made 
 to consist in its declaration of safety 
 to a mere fragment, an infinitesimal 
 of the human family, and its consign- 
 ment of the vast majority of conscious 
 and immortal spirits to everlasting 
 woe. Tiiohick justly remarks, that 
 " blood stands for bloody death, the 
 acme of his holy and love-devoted 
 hfe." — The 25th verse is somewhat 
 obscure in its connection of clauses 
 and their dependence on and rela- 
 tion to one another, but the follow- 
 ino; ideas will be found in it, thouirh 
 a diversity of judgment exists among 
 the critics as to the meaning of the 
 particles. 1. Jesus Christ is set forth 
 as the mercy-seat-, the manifestation 
 of the presence and love of God. 
 2. Faith in Christ, and especially in his 
 blood or cross, the crowning act and 
 embodiment of his spirit and life, is 
 the means by which that benefit is 
 appropriated. 3. Notwithstanding the 
 Jews and Gentiles had sinned, God 
 passed by or overlooked those sins in 
 his forbearance, and still declared his 
 righteousness, i. e. his method of mak- 
 ing men righteous. Acts xvii. 30. 
 In verse 2Gth, the Apostle resumes 
 the idea of God's declaring or setting 
 forth this method of making men 
 right, and thus at the same time, 
 1st, showing his own righteousness, 
 or that he himself was just, and also, 
 2d, making righteous or just, and of 
 course accounting liim so, whoever 
 
 appropriated the benefit to himself by 
 faith. — In Jesus. Tisehendorf re- 
 jects these words, as not belonging to 
 the true text. By the fatal misU\ke 
 of confounding illustrations with ar- 
 guments, the above passage respect- 
 ing Christ, as the mercy-seat of God, 
 has been employed to uphold the 
 theory of vicarious atonement. But 
 the Apostle uses that fact to exjilain 
 his subject, not to establish a rigid 
 analogy between the tAvo, — between 
 the use of the mercy-seat in Judaism 
 and the office of Jesus in the Gospel. 
 27, 28. All ground of glorying, 
 whether of the Jews in the jjunctil- 
 ious observance of their Law, or of the 
 Gentiles in their philosophy and light 
 of nature, is therefore excluded. The 
 lower system of law in both cases is 
 superseded by the higher system of 
 faith. The Divine method of making 
 good men, and accepting and account- 
 ing them such, is henceforth a system 
 of faith, a spiritual principle, working 
 by love, Avorking on the whole nature 
 of man, and transforming him into 
 the image of Christ. The wise man 
 said : " To depart from Avickedness is 
 a thing pleasing to the Lord : and to 
 forsake unrighteousness is a propitia- 
 tion." Ecclus. xxxv. 3. Jesus is the 
 projiitiatory, as he^is called in ver. 25, 
 or the propitiation, as he is also 
 temied, 1 John ii. 2 ; not because he 
 is either literally, — and it is evident 
 he could not be both at the same 
 time, except in a figure, — but be- 
 cause the moral and divine influence 
 he wields over the human heart is 
 such that he disposes, draws men to 
 accomplish that good work of faith, 
 obedience, and the forsaking of all 
 unrighteousness, which is a true pro- 
 pitiation. The error which the Apos- 
 
116 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 bj faith without the deeds of the law. Is he the God of the Jews 29 
 only ? is he not also of the Gentiles ? Yes, of the Gentiles also : 
 seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, 30 
 and uncircumcision through faith. Do w^e then make void the law 31 
 through faith ? God forbid : yea, Ave estabhsh the law. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Promise confirmed to Abraham^ on the Ground^ not of the Righteousness of the Law, 
 hut the Righteousness cf Faith. 
 
 What shall we say then that Abraham, our father, as pertaining to 
 
 tie was combating with so much force 
 was not that a pure and holy hfe was 
 of little or no account with God, but 
 that, in order to produce such a life, 
 a system of faith, a system adapted to 
 the heart and hope and love of man, 
 and not merely a legal technical sys- 
 tem, ajDpealing chietly to the con- 
 science, was needed, and was provided 
 in Christianity. It was not because 
 they were Jews, but because they 
 were men, that the converts of Paul 
 could hope for the benefits of the new 
 system. It was not by the care and 
 diligence they took in observing law, 
 but the faith they reposed in Christ, 
 which would enable them to make 
 rapid advancement in Christianity. 
 The great work they first had to do 
 was the work of faith, and the chief 
 law they were to observe was the law 
 of faith, for faith is a work and is a 
 law. 
 
 29, 30. The sum of these verses is 
 simply, that God i» the God of the 
 whole family of mankind, and not of 
 one branch of it only, and that he is 
 just as ready to accept to the system, 
 whose privileges are secured by faith, 
 the Gentile as the Jew, or, to use the 
 abstract terms, the uncircumcision 
 as the circumcision. By faith and 
 through faith mean the same. 
 
 31. The conclusion is, that the 
 Jews, so far from objecting to this 
 view, should accept it as "the real 
 method of fulfillins and estabhshinii 
 
 the Law. For the Law was not final 
 and perfect, but introductory and 
 prospective. Jesus came, as he said, 
 not to destroy, but to fulfil it. Matt. 
 V. 17. He, therefore, who demon- 
 strated the end at which the Law 
 itself aimed, was the friend, and not 
 the enemy of the Law. Paul, there- 
 fore, instead of being an iconoclast 
 of what his nation most reverence, 
 proves himself to be still a Hebrew 
 of the Hebrews, by leading them on 
 from law to faith, from Moses to 
 Christ, from the rudimental begin- 
 ning to the glorious consummation 
 and capital of the Divine dispensa- 
 tions. 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 As the Apostle was writing to Jews 
 principally, — and though in name an 
 Epistle to the Romans, this is really 
 an Epistle to the llebrews, — he cites 
 in this stage of his argument the emi- 
 nent instance of Abraham. At first 
 sight it Avould appear to be one not 
 applicable, or, if applicable, not favor- 
 able to his cause. But under his dis- 
 criminating zeal it becomes a power- 
 ful weapon of defence, and carries 
 conviction to one taking a Jewish 
 point of departure. '' 
 
 1. This verse, hke the beginning 
 of chap, iii., contains the question of 
 a Jewish opponent. He there took 
 up the general case of the chosen 
 people, but here the particular case 
 
IV.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 117 
 
 2 the flesh hath found ? For if Abraham were justified by works, he 
 
 3 hath whereof to glory ; but not before God. For what saith the 
 
 of the patriarch Abraham. Owing 
 to a mistranslation, the precise point 
 of the question is lost. It is not 
 what Abraham hath found, but what 
 he hath found or obtained as it re- 
 spects the flesh, i. e. circumcision. 
 A better rendering would be : What 
 shall we say, then, that Abraham, our 
 father, hath obtained as it respects 
 the flesli. 
 
 2, 3. The Apostle replies. But 
 the particle for implies that some- 
 thing Avas understood, as much as to 
 say, There is no ground for boasting, 
 " for if Abraham were justified by 
 works, he hath whereof to boast, but 
 not as it respects God." As uniform- 
 ity of rendering is very desirable, the 
 term which, in chap. iii. 27, is trans- 
 lated " boasting," should be so given 
 here, instead of " glory." In the last 
 clause the Apostle denies the prop- 
 osition so far as God, the standard, 
 is concerned ; though, so far as man 
 was concerned, Abraham might be 
 thought to have ground of boasting. 
 The Apostle would show that their 
 much-honored ancestor was himself 
 originally in the precise category of 
 the Gentiles now ; and that he was 
 admitted to the distinguished privi- 
 leges of a divine revelation on the 
 basis of faith, and not on works or 
 olaedience to laAv, except by the law 
 and work of faith, the very process 
 through which both Jews and Gen- 
 tiles were received to the Christian 
 fellowship. Of course nothing that 
 any mortal could do would merit 
 from God any, even the least, of his 
 favors, whether temporal or spiritual. 
 All is of pure love and grace, in this 
 life and in the life to come. When 
 we speak of being saved by our own 
 merits, if any do, we use words of 
 foolishness. We are saved, if saved 
 at all, by the free, unpurchased mercy 
 of God. But then this very mercy 
 
 has established certain conditions 
 which must be fulfilled on our part. 
 The first of these is faith, the second 
 obedience. They are not the cause, 
 but the condition, of salvation. They 
 were so in the case of Abraham, of 
 the Jews, and of the Gentiles. One 
 law reigns over all. In beating down, 
 therefore, the exclusive pretensions 
 of the Jews, Paul does not disparage 
 Avorks in their place and for their 
 proper use, — his Epistles are eloquent 
 vindications of good works, — but he 
 w^ould elevate the spirit of religion 
 above its letter, moral principle over 
 legal conformity, and the exercise of 
 the religious aflections and aspira- 
 tions over the mere activity of con- 
 science in yielding submission to a 
 law. Truly speaking, faith itself is a 
 Avork, and the great Avork ; for Avhen 
 it is accomplished, in spirit and in 
 truth, all other Avorks folloAV as nat- 
 urally as the day the night. Mark 
 the Avords of Jesus, John vi. 29, 
 " This is the work of God, that ye 
 beheve on him Avhom he hath sent." 
 If the question be whether justifica- 
 tion — i. e. to be put in the AA\ay of 
 being, and of being accounted, just 
 or righteous, and so ultimately of 
 salvation — be meritorious or gratui- 
 tous, the ansAver must be, gratuitous. 
 But if the question be — and here 
 is the real hinge betAveen the Cal- 
 A'inist and the Arminian — AAdiether 
 it be conditional or unconditional, w^e 
 decide at once that it is conditional. 
 Abraham fulfiUed that condition;^ 
 Avhich Avas faith. That AA'as his duty 
 and his Avork, and he did it; and 
 obeying that law of faith, it Avas 
 counted to him for righteousness, for 
 the simple and sufficient reason that 
 it xca^ righteousness. The only true 
 God AA'ould only count as righteous- 
 ness Avhat Avas so in reality, not pro- 
 ceeding upon those subterfuges and 
 
118 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 Scripture ? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him 
 for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not 4 
 reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but 5 
 beheveth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for 
 righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of e 
 the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 
 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose 7 
 
 make-believes in which men entangle 
 and sophisticate themselves. Faith 
 is the Hving germ of all righteous- 
 ness, out of which all the graces and 
 virtues bloom and bear fruit. — The 
 Scripture. Gen. xv. 6. 
 
 4, 5. Abraham's case is here gen- 
 eralized into a universal proposition. 
 God accepts no man because he is 
 perfectly righteous, because no man 
 is so ; but he justifies and puts in the 
 way of righteousness and perfect 
 goodness him who is endued with 
 this vital germ of faith. These are 
 no arbitrary and artificial relations of 
 the parties, but natural, original, and 
 fundamental. Peter declared it when 
 he said, " Of a truth I perceive that 
 God is no respecter of persons ; but 
 in every nation he that feareth him 
 and worketh righteousness is accepted 
 with him." And he who has faith, 
 which is faith, possesses the possi- 
 bilities and probabilities of all right- 
 eousness, however he may err, or 
 even commit black and heinous sins, 
 as did Abraham, David, and Peter. 
 What is all human virtue by the side 
 of Christ, and before the glory of 
 God, but a marred and stained work ? 
 Saints are called saints by courtesy, 
 and in a figure of speech ; but " there 
 is none good but One, that is, 
 God." Tf the religious privileges ac- 
 corded to Abraham and to the Jews 
 had been given because they had ful- 
 filled the whole duty of man, it might 
 have been reckoned as the payment 
 of a debt, and not the granting of a 
 favor. But they could plead no 
 claim on the score of merit. Their 
 
 only and sufficient fitness for the 
 blessing was that they believed in 
 God earnestly and sincerely, and that 
 trust, being the elementary principle 
 and representative of all the noble 
 results which would follow, procured, 
 not as cause, but as condition, for 
 very imperfect and even sinful men, 
 by anticipation, the promises of God. 
 It may interest English readers to 
 knoAv that counted in the 3d verse 
 and 5th, reckoned in the 4th, and im- 
 puteth in the 6th, are the same word 
 in the original. Uniformity of ren- 
 dering would be a decided improve- 
 ment in our present version. 
 
 6-8. To substantiate his argumen- 
 tum ad ho7ninem, his special appeal to 
 the Jews, he adds the other greatest 
 name of Hebrew history, David. 
 Ps. xxxii. 1, 2. The Psahnist is un- 
 derstood to refer to himself. Here 
 also the vital point is expressed in 
 the last clause of Ps. xxxii. 2, " and 
 in whose spirit there is no guile." 
 Though he had deeply sinned, yet, 
 owing to this faith in God, he did not 
 give up in despair, but still prayed for 
 pardon, still rose and struggled on, and 
 fought the good fight of faith. Such a 
 man is blest, not because he is perfect, 
 not because he is not very sinful, but 
 because he has a working faith, a 
 guileless, honest purpose ; and though 
 overtaken by temptation, he ralHes 
 a<2;ain and ao;ain, " never says die," 
 to use a common saymg, but " be- 
 lieveth all things, hopeth all things." 
 But if we were to take the passage 
 to prove, what some seem anxious to 
 use it for, that God treats men with- 
 
iv.i 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 119 
 
 8 sins are covered. Blessed is tlie man to whom the Lord will not 
 
 9 impute sin. Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision 
 ojily, or upon the uncircumcision also ? for we say that faith was 
 
 10 reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reck- 
 oned ? when he was in circumcision, or m uncii'cumcision ? Not in 
 
 11 circumcision, but in uncircumcision. Ajid he received the sign of 
 circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had 
 yet being uncircumcised : that he might be the father of all them 
 that believe, though they be not circumcised ; that righteousness 
 
 12 might be imj)uted unto them also : and the father of circumcision 
 to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in 
 the steps of that faith of our father Abraham which he had being 
 
 13 yet uncircumcised. For the promise, that he should be the heir of 
 
 out any regard to their good or ill 
 moral desert, gives and withholds his 
 blessings capriciously, forgives one 
 gratuitously, and sends another to an 
 eternal hell, we should feel that this 
 was wresting the Scripture to man's 
 destruction and God's dishonor. Abra- 
 ham had faith, and so had David and 
 Paul ; and though one was a liar and 
 a bigamist, and another an adulterer 
 and murderer, and another a perse- 
 cutor and bigot, yet that faith, buried 
 as it sometimes seemed to be and 
 overwhelmed under the desolations 
 of terrible passions and temptations, 
 was the spark of spiritual Hfe, that 
 never went out, but burned on, and 
 burned oiF in the end all impuri- 
 ties. 
 
 9-12. Paul resumes and pursues 
 'the argument from Abraham, and 
 turns the example and name, which 
 the Jews were most ready to quote 
 to justify their excluslveness, into a 
 potent precedent against them. The 
 faith of Abraham, which was right- 
 eousness, preceded, not followed, cir- 
 cumcision, and he took that seal, not 
 as title to future privileges, but a 
 sign of pri\'ileges granted already. It 
 was the seal of possession, not of 
 ])romise. Gen. xv. 6; xvii. 24, 25. 
 Abraham was ninety-nine, and his 
 
 son Isaac thirteen years old, when 
 the rite was performed, while his 
 righteous faith had a much earlier 
 date. Hence, ver. 11 and 12, two 
 consequences very significant fol- 
 lowed ; the first, that Abraham is the 
 father of them who trust in God, 
 though not sealed with the peculiar 
 Jewish ceremony, and to whom that 
 trust is accounted incipient and pro- 
 spective righteousness ; and then, 
 again, that he is not the father of the 
 circumcision, as such, but to them 
 only of the circumcision who walk in 
 his steps of faith, faith wliich he ex- 
 ercised before he was himself cir- 
 cumcised; one consequence an en- 
 couraging one to the Gentiles, who 
 had faith, though they had not cir- 
 cumcision ; the other an alarming 
 one to the Jews, who had the circum- 
 cision, but had not faith. 
 
 10, 11. How was it then reckoned? 
 i. e. under what circumstances. Light- 
 foot shows from the Talmud, that the 
 Jews gave this very term of a seal or 
 sign to the rite of circumcision. 
 
 13. The strong and beautiful de- 
 velopment of the Apostle's historical 
 argument proceeds to a new point. 
 The Jews had three strong-holds, as 
 they thought, for their pociiMir na- 
 tional distinction, impri'gnabk* against 
 
120 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 tlie world, 2vas not to Abraham, or to liis seed, tlu^ough the law, but 
 through the righteousness of faith. For if they wliicli are of the u 
 law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none 
 effect: because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is 
 is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith, that it might he by le 
 grace ; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed ; not 
 to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the 
 
 the Gentile claim to the rights and 
 privileges of the Gospel, unless they 
 first submitted to the Jewish ritual. 
 These were Scripture, circumcision, 
 and Law. The first the Apostle had 
 disposed of in ver. 2-8 by refer- 
 ence both to Abraham and David. 
 The second, circumcision, had been 
 despatched in ver. 9-12. The 
 third, Law, so far as it related to 
 Abraham, he enters upon now. AVith- 
 out the formahty of heads and topics, 
 the reasonings of Paul wiU always be 
 found to have a method. — For the 
 promise^ &c. The remarkable fact is 
 cited, that the promise to Abraham, 
 on wliich the Jews phmied theinselves 
 so highly, was not given to Abraham 
 when he was under the Law system, 
 but under the faith system ; and the 
 Apostle would infer, therefore, that it 
 was not restricted to his seed under 
 the Law merely, but extends to his 
 seed under faith, and was equally 
 open to Jew and Gentile, provided 
 they fulfilled the condition he did, of 
 believing. So far from being a sub- 
 ject of the Law, Abraham lived in the 
 enjoyment of the distinguished bless- 
 ings and promises granted to his faith 
 more than four hundred years before 
 the Law was given. — Heir of the 
 tcorld. Gen. xv. 5, xvii. 5, are re- 
 ferred to, not literally, but freely. 
 
 14. If to be under the Law, as the 
 Jews now claim, is requisite to this 
 heirship, then the promise to Abra- 
 ham and his posterity is rendered 
 null, for he was under faith, and 
 not under the Law. He thus con- 
 vinces the Jews that, if thev made 
 
 their privileges depend on Law, and 
 not on faith, they overturned their 
 own system. To maintain faith was 
 as necessary for them as for the Gen- 
 tiles. 
 
 15. The nature of law is rigid. It 
 is more a terror to evil-doers than a 
 praise to them that do well. Its oflice 
 is not consolation, but condemnation. 
 Its spirit is rebuke of evil, indigna- 
 tion at wrong ; it " worketh wrath," 
 displeasure. It reveals what trans- 
 gression is, but it cannot of itself 
 give the power of obedience and per- 
 formance ; for that power we must 
 look to higher principles and motives. 
 Chap. vii. 7-13. 
 
 16. Instead of shaking, as he might 
 seem to do, the structure of Judaism, 
 by this train of argument, he put it 
 upon a firmer foundation. He re- 
 moved it from the uncertain ground 
 of obedience, capiicious and varying 
 in each individual example, and es- 
 tablished it upon the broad and eter- 
 nal basis of the free grace and mercy 
 of God. He made it sure to the 
 branch of the law, and also to the, 
 branch of faith. McKnight remarks, 
 that " in this passage, by the most 
 just reasoning, the Apostle hath over- 
 thrown the narrow notion of bigots, 
 who confine the mercy of God Avithin 
 the pale of this or that church, and 
 by a noble hberality of sentiment he 
 hath declared that all who imitate 
 that faith and piety which Abraham 
 exercised, while uncircumcised, shall, 
 like him, obtain the inheritance 
 through the free mercy of God by 
 Jesus Christ." 
 
IV.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 121 
 
 17 faith of Abraham ; who is the father of us all, (as it is written, I 
 have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom 
 he beheved, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those 
 
 18 things which be not as though they were : who against hope be- 
 lieved in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, 
 
 19 according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And 
 being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, 
 when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness 
 
 20 of Sarah's womb : he staggered not at the promise of God through 
 
 21 unbehef; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being 
 fully persuaded, that what he had promised, he was able also to per- 
 
 22 form. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. 
 
 23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to 
 
 24 him ; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we beheve on 
 
 25 him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead ; who was dehv- 
 ered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. 
 
 17. As it is written. Gen. xvii. 5, 
 quoted from the Septua^nt version. — 
 Before Mm, i. e. God ; in his sight, or 
 in his account. — Quickeneth the dead, 
 i. e. Abraham and Sarah, who were 
 as good as dead. — Calleth those things, 
 &c. He foresaw the natural and 
 spiritual creation which would grow 
 out of this stock of Abraham, as if it 
 were already in existence. 
 
 18 - 22. He proceeds to enumerate 
 the circumstances which made his 
 faith so difficult and so praiseworthy. 
 He considers not himself nor his wife, 
 but saw in the power of the Almighty 
 means to overcome every natural ob- 
 stacle. Being firm in this filial trust 
 in God, and confident that his power 
 was equal to his promise, he had no 
 doubts or fears. In this sublime re- 
 hance on the Being of Beings, Abra- 
 ham had taken the first step of all 
 righteousness, and hence it was so 
 accounted to him. It was a nominal 
 admission of a preexisting fact; it 
 was a declaration of what was already 
 true. His faith was counted to him 
 for righteousness, because it icas 
 
 11 
 
 righteousness, — not a manifestation, 
 but a spirit, not in motion, but in be- 
 ing, — righteousness that was prelim- 
 inary, hopeful, antecedent, causative 
 of more and more of its own nature. 
 In ver. 19, now is expunged from the 
 text by Tischendorf as spurious ; also 
 in ver. 21. 
 
 23-25. And he then apphes this 
 illustrious and venerated example of 
 the father of the nation to the case in 
 point. If they would be children of 
 Abraham, as "they boasted of being, 
 they must vindicate their right to 
 that title by showing the same spirit 
 in their altered circumstances which 
 the patriarch exhibited in his day. 
 For to follow an example is not to 
 foUow its letter, but its spirit ; not to 
 do precisely the acts which the ex- 
 emplar did, but to act as he would 
 do if he were placed in our circum- 
 stances. Honorable mention was 
 made of the faith of Abraham, not to 
 glorify his name alone, but to kindle 
 a like flame of holy love and trust in 
 the bosom of every child of God, Jew 
 or Gentile, and especially to direct it 
 
122 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Effects of the Righteousness of Faith on the Character, and its Results in the World, 
 by establishing a new Spiritual Human Race with Christ at the Head, corresponding to 
 the Natural Human Race with Adam at the Head. 
 
 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God 
 through our Lord Jesus Chiist : bj whom also we have access by 2 
 faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the 
 glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also ; 3 
 knowing that tribulation Avorketh patience ; and patience, experi- 4 
 ence ; and experience, hope : and hope maketh not ashamed ; be- 5 
 
 to that new and glorious object of 
 faith presented in Jesus Christ our 
 Lord, to whom was set the seal of 
 truth that he was raised from the 
 dead. Delivered should be translated 
 delivered up. Our offences were the 
 cause of his sufferings, but he did not 
 suffer to appease the anger of God, 
 or to take the place of the punish- 
 ment which men would otherwise 
 have endured as a penalty for their 
 transgressions. His death was to 
 have a moral, not a diplomatic effect, 
 and to change not the divine decrees, 
 but the human heart and will. His 
 resurrection was the attesting of the 
 fulfilment of that system of Christian- 
 ity in which all men, according to 
 their faith or self-approbation of the 
 benefits of the dispensation, would be 
 put in a way of justification, i. e. re- 
 ligious privileges leading on to the 
 righteousness of character and fife 
 from the elementary righteousness of 
 faith, and perfecting all in a spirit 
 moulded, colored, and inspired after 
 the pattern of the divine in Jesus. 
 
 CHAPTER y. 
 
 1, 2. Having shown what the na- 
 ture of this faith in Christ was, and 
 hoAv the elder cHspensation justified 
 it, the Apostle proceeds to develop 
 its efiects and finiits. The first of 
 these is peace or reconciliation with 
 God. 'When we have this confiding 
 trust through Christ in God as our 
 
 Heavenly Father, and are put by it 
 in the way of righteousness, the justi- 
 fication process, we become contented 
 and satisfied. We bow to the will of 
 God, we accept his dealings "srith us 
 submissively, because we are assured 
 that his laws and his dispensations, be 
 they joyous or be they grievous, are 
 well meant, and full of hidden bless- 
 ings and love. — Access. A temi 
 taken from the custom of the East, 
 where there is an officer whose par- 
 ticular duty it is to introduce persons 
 to the king in his seclusion and state. 
 Jesus introduces us to the presence 
 of the Most High Sovereign. — This 
 grace, or favor, is the Gospel, to which 
 the avenue is faith. — We stand, or 
 stand firm ; in reference to the wrest- 
 lers in the games, who maintained 
 a strong and erect position. — Re- 
 joice. The same term in the original 
 which is rendered boasting In hi. 27, 
 and glo7'y in iv. 2 and v. 3, and 
 joy in V. 11. The hope of the glory 
 of jjod is the hope of that glory which 
 God gives, of which by sin we come 
 short, but to which by faith we attain, 
 il. 23. 
 
 3-5. Instead of regarding afflic- 
 tions, as the Jews were prone to do, 
 as judgments and tokens of God's dis- 
 pleasure, Paul, in the light of Chris- 
 tianity, deems them as means of 
 greater attainments In the true life 
 of the soul. He proceeds to point 
 out the sequence of Cliristian cxpe- 
 
TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 123 
 
 cause the love of God is shed abroud in our hearts by the Holy 
 
 6 Ghost, which is given unto us. For when we w^ere yet without 
 
 7 strength, in due time Christ died for tlie ungodly. For scarcely for 
 a righteous man will one die : yet peradventure for a good man 
 
 8 some would even dare to die. But God commendeth liis love to- 
 ward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 
 
 9 Much more then, being now justified by liis blood, we shall be saved 
 10 from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were 
 
 riences, and to rejoice in trials in- 
 stead of being cast down by them. 
 Ecclus. ii. 10 ; Acts v. 41. The order 
 is trial, patience, proof, hope. Trials, 
 properly borne, cultivate patience ; 
 patience affords us proof of what we 
 really are, and this proof becomes the 
 basis of our reasonable hopes for the 
 time to come, sucli as will not fail 
 or disappoint us, for the exercise of 
 these affections and virtues in us is 
 re-enforced by a higher power, by 
 communications from the love and 
 holy spirit of God himself. Robin- 
 son translates the word rendered ex- 
 perience by proof, approval, tried 
 integrity. Holy Ghost, in our version, 
 begins with capitals, to indicate that 
 it is a person ; tjut no such idea is, we 
 beheve, intended by the original. 
 The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, 
 which had in love imparted spiritual 
 graces and gifts to the Christian Apos- 
 tles and believers. Such are the 
 glorious golden links of the chain 
 which draw up the soul heavenward, 
 — trial, patience, proof, , hope, pos- 
 session, — but they are all melted and 
 welded in the love of God to us, and 
 are made pure by his spirit. 
 
 6. Without strength, — ungodly. 
 Terms in which is described the state 
 of the Jews under the Law, and of the 
 Gentiles in a state of nature, at the 
 time of the coming of Christ, accord- 
 ing to chapters i., ii., iii. — In due 
 time, i. e. the fulness of time, as else- 
 where expressed in the Scriptures, 
 or the appointed time for the coming 
 
 of Christ. — For. In behalf of, or for 
 the sake of, not in the place of, or as 
 a substitute for, the ungodly. 
 
 7, 8. To exalt the idea of Christ':^ 
 seh-sacrifice, the Apostle appeals to 
 the common experience of mankind. 
 For a righteous man, i. e. one who 
 simply did right, scarcely one Avould 
 be willing to sacrifice his life, though 
 for a good man, one who did good, a 
 public benefactor, some would have 
 resolution enough to give up their 
 own hves. But the distinction of the 
 death of Christ is, that it took place, 
 not for the good, not for the right- 
 eous even, _but for the downright 
 wicked. Martyrs die for their coun- 
 try, die for Christ and God, and are, 
 therefore, animated in their sufferings 
 by the dignity and holiness or great- 
 ness of the beings vni\\ which they 
 connect themselves by the act. But 
 in the case of Christ the sacrifice was 
 for the unrighteous and wicked. 
 
 9, 10. The antithesis established 
 in these verses is between what Christ 
 did for them in a state of sin, and 
 what he could do after he had by his 
 sufferings brought them into a state 
 of faith and prospective righteous- 
 ness. In the ninth verse the con- 
 trasted terms are justified and saved^ 
 and in the tenth reconciled and saved. 
 These are most im])ortant verses, as 
 showing the particular offices of the 
 death of our Lord, as compared with 
 those fulfilled by his life and teach- 
 ings. The pi-ecise effeet of his death 
 was to produce faith ; first, in his im- 
 
124 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 reconciled to God by the death of his Son; much more, being 
 reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we ii 
 also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have 
 
 mediate disciples and apostles, who, 
 until that event and his resurrection, 
 never really entered into the spirit- 
 ual conception of his kingdom ; and 
 secondly, in all men, Jews and Gen- 
 tiles, by this luminous and impressive 
 proof of his love, self-sacrifice, disin- 
 terestedness, and the heavenly nature 
 of the kingdom he came to establish. 
 That faith "thus produced was the ac- 
 cess to justification, the righteous pro- 
 cess ; therefore, to beheve was to be 
 justified, to be reconciled ; and in 
 order to effect behef, a real, com- 
 prehensive, and spiritual faith, look- 
 ing " before and after " the death of 
 the founder of the system, seemed to 
 be unavoidable and essential. — Saved 
 from lorath. Wrath in the punish- 
 ment of sin, as seen from the human 
 point of view, but benevolence as seen 
 from the Divine plane. What is called 
 wrath in God must be different from 
 wrath in man, though it is not to be 
 supposed that displeasure at sin and 
 approbation of virtue are unknown 
 to Him whose name and natiire are 
 Love and God or the Good. What 
 the nature of the icratli here spoken 
 of was, is evident from the fact that 
 theVoue of God is said to have pro- 
 vided, ver. 8, 15, the means of 
 saving the sinner. — Saved by Ms life. 
 This declai-ation is highly worthy of 
 note, as distinguishing the life of 
 Jesus, his teachings, examples, &c., 
 as the grand instruments of our own 
 salvation no less than his death. His 
 cross wins us, reconciles us, " draws," 
 as John has it, " all men unto him"; 
 but his spiritual life, his righteous- 
 ness, carry on in us the process of 
 sanctification, changing us into the 
 same likeness, until our moral safety 
 is secured. God now shows his mercy, 
 not, as before, in the death, but much 
 
 more in the life of Jesus, his life on 
 earth and his life in heaven. 
 
 11. Joi/. Elsewhere rendered too 
 capriciously by King James's men, 
 boast, rejoice, glory. The Apostle 
 institutes an indirect comparison here 
 between the Christian glorying in 
 God through Jesus Christ, and the 
 Jew glorying in the Law by Moses, or 
 in being the child of Abraham. — 
 Atonement. This word occurs only 
 here in the whole New Testament, 
 but it has singularly given a name to 
 a much disputed Christian doctrine. 
 It is the same term wliich, as a verb, 
 is translated reconciled in verse 10. 
 It should be here reconciliation, a 
 restoration of the sinner from a state 
 of disobedience and hostility to one 
 of union with God. This sense was 
 intended by the translators them- 
 selves when they used the tenu atone- 
 ment, for it meant reconciliation, not 
 satisfaction ov jjropitiation, in the con- 
 temporaneous hterature, the " old 
 English undefiled." Thus in Shake- 
 speare's play of OtheUo : 
 
 '•'• Lod. Is there division 'twixt my lord and 
 
 Cassio ? 
 " Des. A most unhappy one : I would do 
 
 much 
 To atone them, for the love I hear to 
 
 Cassio." 
 
 Tluis in Beaumont and Fletcher : 
 
 " Bar. I have heen atoning two most wran- 
 gling neighbors." 
 
 Thus Dryden : 
 
 " The king and haughty empress, to our won- 
 der, 
 If not atoned, yet seemingly at peace." 
 
 Other examples might be cited to the 
 same purport. So far as this term is 
 concerned, the idea expressed by this 
 passage is, that, through Christ, the 
 sinner, who was before alienated, was 
 made at one with, atoned, reconciled 
 to God. 
 
v.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 125 
 
 12 now received the atonement. Wherefore, as by one man sin 
 entered into the world, and death by sin ; and so death passed upon 
 
 12-21. In this well-known passage 
 Paul turns over a new leaf of his 
 argument, and describes in a grand 
 and compreliensive comparison the 
 benefits of the Gospel as made free 
 to all mankind. He represents Jesus 
 Christ as the spiritual head, as Adam 
 was the paternal ancestor, of the whole 
 family of man. As Jew and Gentile 
 both dated back to Adam as their 
 great natural head, so was it designed 
 in the new dispensation that they 
 should both ahke, one without exalta- 
 tion over the other, hail from Christ 
 as their spiritual head and progenitor. 
 This is the leading outline of thought, 
 but the Apostle descends into a 
 minute comparison in many points 
 between the physical and the spirit- 
 ual Adam. The sin of the first Adam 
 is set against the righteousness of 
 the second Adam; death produced 
 by sin, against the life produced by 
 righteousness ; condemnation, against 
 justification ; many made sinners 
 by one man's sin, against many 
 made righteous by the obedience of 
 one ; offences abounding by the de- 
 tective power of the Law, against 
 grace abounding even more ; sin 
 reigning unto death, against grace 
 reigning through righteousness unto 
 eternal life by Jesus Christ. We 
 read so familiarly and technically 
 the sublime strains of Paul, and take 
 them so much as a matter of course, 
 inwoven as they are into the current 
 theology, that we fail to appreciate 
 their wonderful power and richness, 
 and the immense addition they are to 
 the treasures of Christian thought. 
 However unable we may be to ar- 
 range the exact joints and articu- 
 lations of this compact logic, we can 
 yet gain sufficient inkling of the gen- 
 eral purpose to be satisfied that Paul 
 was no loose, inconsequential writer, 
 and that, though addicted to rabbin- 
 
 ical styles of expression and ar- 
 rangement which sometimes embar- 
 rass us, he yet soared with a lofty 
 genius and a Christian freedom into 
 regions all his own. 
 
 12. Sin entered into the world by 
 one man, because, according to the 
 history in Genesis, Adam was the 
 first to sin, the first to set an exam- 
 ple, and to infect his constitution, and, 
 through the laws of hereditary de- 
 scent, the constitution of his posterity, 
 with evil more or less inveterate. 
 But the supposition that Adam acted 
 in any federative capacity by which 
 all men became hostile by their very 
 nature to all good and prone to all evil, 
 is a monstrous impeachment of His 
 goodness who should thus place on so 
 perilous a contingency the fate of a 
 whole race. It is a supposition not 
 sustained by facts ; for bad as men are, 
 they are not purely evil. It is a sup- 
 position not recpiired by any means in 
 this course of reasoning ; for it is of sin, 
 actual transgression, positive offences, 
 disobedience, not of depravity of 
 nature, that Paul is here speaking. 
 By turning rhetoric into logic, and 
 figures of speech into literal proposi- 
 tions, the warm pictures of man's 
 actual wickedness have been con- 
 verted into cold formulas, expressive 
 of the total theoretic depravity of his 
 spiritual constitution. — One man. 
 Adam is mentioned as being the 
 more conspicuous actor, and standing 
 for the twain who were one flesh. — 
 Death hy sin. The penalty joined to 
 the offence. What is that penalty ? 
 That it is not merely natural, physical 
 death, is evident from the fact that 
 the grace of God by Christ does not 
 remove it, but men continue to die as 
 before. By death we are to under- 
 stand, then, moral as well as natural 
 evil ; it is a general term to describe 
 all the bad consequences of disobe^ 
 
126 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 all men, for that all have smned : for until the law sin was in the 13 
 world : but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, i4 
 death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not 
 sinned after the simiUtude of Adam's transgression, who is the 
 figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also 15 
 is the free gift : for if through the offence of one many be dead, 
 much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by 
 
 dience, both to the body and the 
 soul. The redemption of the Gospel 
 delivers men from bad habits, de- 
 structive vices, which attack health 
 and life, from the fear of death, 
 which is its chief evU, and from sin, 
 which disqualifies the soul for its fuU 
 hfe and happiness hereafter. The 
 mistake we often make in trying to 
 understand a passage like this, freely, 
 popularly written, is that we cut too 
 close, press the meaning of terms too 
 far, and do not give enough scope and 
 freedom of movement to a deeply 
 moved and highly impassioned nature, 
 pouring itself out in a mingled flood 
 of arguments, illustrations, historical 
 references, glancing from heaven to 
 earth, and earth to heaven, to the 
 past, to the future, to man, to God, 
 to Adam, to Christ, to life, death, 
 and futurity. — All have sinned. All 
 sufier the penalty, because all have 
 committed the offence, and not merely 
 because Adam sinned. Nothing ap- 
 pears in this passage of what school- 
 men and theorists call original sin; 
 it is actual, personal unrighteousness 
 which is laid at every man's door. 
 
 13-17. This passage is an ex- 
 planatory and parenthetical one ac- 
 cording to the common version, though 
 Griesbach and Tischendorf incor- 
 porate it into the regular tenor of 
 discourse. — For until the law. I. e. 
 sin existed not only after the La»v was 
 given, by which it was more fully 
 brought to light, but it was found in 
 the world from the beginning, though 
 not imputed or charged so severely 
 upon men who lived only under the 
 
 Hght of nature. Actsxvii.30. Neander 
 gives the following as the probable 
 train of thought in ver. 13, 14, a 
 very obscure passage : " Paul brings 
 forward the objection that the sin of 
 Adam had reigned in the world until 
 Moses, although no positive law was 
 in existence, and without law there 
 could be no imputation of sin. He 
 repels this objection by the fact that 
 death still reigned even over those 
 who had not sinned, like Adam, against 
 a positive law. This fact is an ob- 
 jective evidence of imputation, and, 
 as is evident from the preceding re- 
 marks, this imputation proves itself 
 to be just in the conscience, which 
 exhibits men as transgressors of an 
 undeniable divine law." — The figure 
 of him that was to come. 1. e. the 
 second Adam. In what respects the 
 first Adam was a type or figure of 
 the second is unfolded by the Apostle 
 in the following passage, to the end 
 of the chapter. 
 
 15. Some critics make the first 
 clause of this and of the 16th verse 
 interrogative instead of affirmative. 
 Paul discriminates the difference be- 
 tween the offence of the first and the 
 gift of the second Adam. While, by 
 the sin of the first, the consequences 
 of death passed upon many, i. e. all, 
 so by the second did the gracious gift 
 of God in life and light and love 
 abound unto many, i. e. aU. The 
 remedy provided was designed to be 
 as extensive as the malady. The 
 " many " in one case is as broad a 
 term as the "many" in the other. 
 We may dwell upon single terms, and 
 
v.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 127 
 
 16 one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it 
 was by one that smned, so is the gift : for the judgment was by one 
 to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justifi- 
 
 17 cation. For if by one man's offence death reigned by one ; much 
 more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of 
 
 18 righteousness shall reign ui Iffe by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore, 
 as by the offence o^ ono, judgment came upon all men to condemna- 
 tion, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon 
 
 19 all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience 
 many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many 
 
 20 be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered, that the offence 
 migjit abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more 
 
 squeeze a great deal of meaning out 
 of cue or two words, and pour our 
 theories into the vehicles prepared by 
 the author, but we do not thus arrive 
 most directly at his probable mean- 
 ing, for we may thus refine until we 
 refine all the substantial meaning 
 away. Any other work reduced to 
 this exhaustive process would be en- 
 tirely killed, but the Bible has an 
 indestructible vitaHty, and bears being 
 murdered again and again by dull 
 and prosy theologians and commen- 
 tators. 
 
 1 6 . Then another superiority of the 
 Christian over the Adamie state was, 
 that in one case it was a penalty in- 
 curred by one at first, and visited 
 upon the guilty and condemned ; but 
 m the other, free grace abounded 
 notwithstanding many offences, to 
 put mankind into the process of 
 righteousness and justification. 
 
 17-19. These are amplifications 
 of the same thought, and presenting 
 other faces of the same crystal. In 
 ver. 17, the contrast is between 
 death and life, in ver. 18, between 
 condemnation and justification, and 
 in ver. 19, between one man's dis- 
 obedience leading to many sins, and 
 many men's righteousness resulting 
 from one man's obedience. — One 
 
 man's offence should read one offence. 
 — Made righteous. Tliis points to 
 the position which we have all along 
 endeavored to establish in regard to 
 the interpretation of this Epistle, that 
 the great question with Paul was not 
 justification by faith, as both Ortho- 
 dox and Liberal interpreters seem to 
 allow, but righteousness by faith. It 
 was not how God might treat or re- 
 gard man being a sinner as if he 
 were righteous, but how he might 
 render him being a sinner really right- 
 eous. It was not a justification-pro- 
 cess, but primarily a righteousness- 
 process, a mode of making man right- 
 eous, and only secondarily a process 
 of justification. 
 
 20. That the offence. Not of course 
 in order to make it abound, but so 
 that it did abound. To obviate the 
 tacit objection which might be made 
 why the Law should enter, as if to 
 aggravate the evils of the Adamie 
 state and multiply offences by exalt- 
 ing the moral standard, it might now 
 be said that it was done to bring out 
 in bolder relief the abounding grace 
 of the Gospel. " The universaHty of 
 the Apostle's expressions is very 
 remarkable. The same ' many ' who 
 were made sinners by the disobedi- 
 ence of one are made righteous by 
 
128 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 abound : that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace 21 
 reign through righteousness unto eternal Hfe by Jesus Chiist our 
 Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The DoctHnes of Emancipation from Sin, and Sanctif cation of Heart and Life. 
 What shall we say then ? Shall we contmue m sin, that grace 
 
 the obedience of the other. If all 
 men are condemned by the offence 
 of one, the same all are justified by 
 the righteousness of the other. These 
 universal terms, so frequently re- 
 peated and so variously diversified, 
 cannot be reconciled to the Hmitation 
 of the blessings of the Gospel to the 
 elect alo7ie, or to a part only of the 
 human race." 
 
 21. Sin and grace are represented 
 as two monarchs disputing the throne 
 of the world, and reigning over their 
 respective empires of death and life. 
 But, as if to guard against misappre- 
 hension both here and elsewhere, 
 righteousness is constantly introduced 
 as the result of grace, and as the con- 
 dition of eternal life. Instead of a 
 good life and character being under- 
 valued by the Apostle in these pas- 
 sages as of little worth, they are put 
 in the foreground as the object of 
 grace, and the fruit of the Gospel, 
 and the preliminary to that eternal 
 life by our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 Judaism still hngers in the Chris- 
 tian churches. The Epistles of Paul 
 are needed to emancipate us, and 
 lead us into the fulness and freedom 
 of the knowledge of Christ. 
 
 CHAPTER Yl. 
 
 The doctrine of justification has 
 been hitherto discussed, but from this 
 point in the Epistle the doctrine of 
 sanctification is taken vip. These 
 words, J usdfi cat 10)1 and sanctifca'ion, 
 are old theological terms, and thc}- 
 convey little meaning now to many. 
 
 Let us try to explain them. The 
 Jews claimed the privileges of the 
 Gospel exclusively to themselves, but 
 Paul opens the door to the Gentiles 
 as also embraced in the plan of the 
 grace of God. Neither Jew nor 
 Gentile had any merits or clauns to 
 plead ; both were sinners before God, 
 and he admitted them to the blessings 
 of his love freely, without money and 
 without price. He put them, in other 
 words, in the way of becoming, of 
 being made. just, holy, good. The 
 Jews were taken as they were, and 
 the Gentiles were taken as they 
 were ; and the Jews did not have to 
 become Gentiles, nor the Gentiles 
 Jews, in order to become the disciples 
 of Christ. They were both put in 
 the way, entered in the school, the 
 Church, the fold of Christ, freeh', by 
 the pure and loving and compas- 
 sionate grace and favor of God. The 
 sole condition of their entrance was 
 faith, confidence ; for in order to get 
 any good from the Gospel, they must 
 come to it in a humble, believing, 
 prepared state of mind, conscious of 
 sin, conscious of spiritual need, and 
 relying fully upon Christ as able to 
 supply that need to the utmost. It 
 then depended subsequently upon 
 the personal fidelity of the disciple 
 how far he was benefited, purified, 
 quickened, and prospered in the 
 spiritual hie, after thus by an act of 
 free and unpurchased love and grace 
 being put in the way of God's right- 
 eousness, i. e. in God's method and 
 culture for making righteous, holy, 
 and good men. The question arose, 
 
VL] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 129 
 
 2 may abound ? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, 
 
 3 live any longer therein ? Know je not, that so many of us as 
 were baptized into Jesus Christ were bajDtized into liis death? 
 
 and Paul proceeds to discuss it, 
 whether so generous and gracious a 
 system, relaxing the seventy of the 
 old Hebrew law, would not be abused, 
 and the Gospel, free to Jew or Gen- 
 tile, asking only faith or trust as its 
 elementary condition, disdaining no 
 sinner, however flagrant, be made a 
 system of license, and not a culture 
 of holiness. After being placed by 
 the liberal ofiers of Christianity on 
 the basis of this ample justification, 
 the sins of neither Jews nor Gentiles 
 being any more remembered against 
 them, and only faith being demanded 
 for the present and fidelity for the 
 future, would the system work well ? 
 would they not relapse, would they 
 not be ready to yield to sin because 
 God had provided such ample means 
 to cancel and destroy it, and so mer- 
 cifully increased his blessings when 
 men had most aggravated their trans- 
 gressions ? Hitherto the Apostle had 
 applied himself to the discussion of 
 the establishment and conditions of 
 the Gospel method of righteousness 
 and holiness ; he now turns to its 
 practical reception and operation, the 
 philosophy of its motives and influ- 
 ences, and how it would bear upon 
 human nature to sanctify it. In other 
 words, he now changes the topic from 
 justification to sanctification. 
 
 1, 2. The argument is further de- 
 veloped. The objection would nat- 
 urally arise, that, if no virtue of ours 
 could establish any claim to God's 
 favor on the ground of merit, but that 
 his blessings must still descend to us 
 on the score of his free love and 
 grace, the Apostle was confounding 
 all moral distinctions. If, as men be- 
 came more corrupt, the mercy of God 
 had been made more apparent, should 
 we not continue and increase in sin. 
 
 to call down more and more of such 
 glorious gifts of the Spirit? The 
 answer, in one \vord, is, No ; it would 
 be inconsistent. — God forhid. Let it 
 not be. — Dead to sin, live, &c. The 
 two courses are as opposite as any 
 thing can be ; one is as death, and 
 the other as life. If we are really 
 dead, we certainly cannot five. So 
 the man of sin is slain once for all. 
 Paul may be here regarded not so 
 much as answering existing as antici- 
 pated objections which his large and 
 sympathetic moral imagination, not 
 to say prophetic power, foresaw. Anti- 
 nomianism was the name later given 
 to this exaggeration of grace to the 
 discredit of practical obedience and 
 good works. 
 
 3-7. The simple thought here is, 
 that the disciples of Christ by bap- 
 tism, which was the sign of their 
 allegiance to their Master, had re- 
 nounced their former wicked life, and 
 could not therefore consistently re- 
 sume it. As has been said, if Christ 
 died /or sin, they died to sin. But 
 the mind of Paul, rich in comparison 
 and analog}', was not content with 
 the simple thought. He overflows ; 
 he pours out a flood of contrasts, re- 
 semblances, relations to the central 
 idea, fragmentary and incomplete, but 
 suggestive and instinct with power 
 and hfe. With what a master's hand 
 does he carve out new forms and 
 images of truth, and create new 
 spheres of contemplation ! We are 
 apt to make so much of the inspira- 
 tion of Paul that we are blind to his 
 sublime genius, one of the greatest in 
 every faculty that was ever enshrined 
 in mortal clay. 
 
 Baptized into Jesus Christ. So was 
 it said of the Israehtes that they were 
 baptized into Moses in the cloud and 
 
130 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death : that like 4 
 as Chi-ist was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, 
 even so we also should walk in newness of life. For il* we have 5 
 been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be 
 also in the likeness of his resurrection : knowing this, that our old 6 
 man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, 
 that henceforth we should not serve sm. For he that is dead is 7 
 freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we beUeve that s 
 
 in the sea. 1 Cor. x. 2. This mode 
 of expression means that they took 
 upon themselves the profession of a 
 faith or rehgion by such a rite as 
 baptism, or figuratively by whatever 
 outward sign. Matt, xxviii. 19. To 
 be baptized into Christ meant the 
 same as to be baptized into the name 
 of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 We get a clew to several facts here. 
 1. Baptism was a perpetuated Chris- 
 tian rite. 2. Baptism was a token of 
 Christ's death, as well as the Supper. 
 3. Baptism would seem to have been 
 performed by affusion or inmiersion ; 
 though, from the silence of the Scrip- 
 tures on the subject as to the definite 
 mode, we learn that that mode was 
 not essential, else it would have been 
 described. The silence as well as 
 the speech of the Scriptures is signifi- 
 cant. The somewhat circuitous path 
 of the Apostle's association of ideas 
 seems to be first, in ver. 2, of the 
 Christian having died to sin, theu, 
 ver. 3, this death to sin having been 
 symbolized by baptism into the great 
 vital fact of the Gospel, the dearth of 
 Christ ; from death, by a natural as- 
 sociation, he passes, ver. 4, to the 
 resurrection from death, verified 
 bodily in Christ, and to be verified 
 spiritually in each behever; in ver. 
 5, he clinches the connection of ideas 
 between baptism and burial, death 
 and resurrection, by reiterating it in 
 more direct terms ; and, ver. 6, is led, 
 in speaking of Christ's death, to recall 
 what kind of a death it was, crucifixion. 
 
 and that, as his body was crucified, so 
 should our old man, our body of sin, 
 perish, and then we should be eman- 
 cipated from the service of sin ; for 
 he who is dead, or that which is dead, 
 cannot sin. Thus this oblicjue and 
 somewhat zigzag chain-work of ideas 
 conducts us to the same conclusion as 
 above, that, as the man of sin had 
 been slain once for all, he could not 
 by any possibility rise again to do 
 mischief. It was simply irrational 
 and impossible, therefore, for a Chris- 
 tian to talk of continuing in that to 
 which he had died. 
 
 7-11. An amplification of the 
 same thought of the inconsistency of 
 a Christian voluntarily continuing in 
 sin. As the Apostle had showed on 
 the negative side of death the impos- 
 sibility of living any longer by choice 
 in sin, so now he shows the same im- 
 possibility on the positive side of hfe. 
 — Dead to sin. They could not abide 
 in it or return to it any more ; now 
 much more, being alive to righteous- 
 ness, they could not relapse. They 
 have had therefore two pledges to 
 the faithfulness of disciplesliip, — 
 death to sin and life to Christ. They 
 were as insensible to sin as the dead 
 are to an object, and they were as 
 conscious of Christ as if he were an 
 integral part of their being, or section 
 of their life. 
 
 7, 8. There are two conclusions to 
 the proposition in ver. 6, that " the 
 old man " is crucified ; one is, that he 
 who is thus dead is " freed," literally 
 
VI.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 131 
 
 9 we sliall also live with him : knowing that Christ, being raised 
 
 from the dead, dieth no more ; death hath no more dominion over 
 
 10 him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once : but in that he 
 
 ] 1 liveth, he hveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to 
 
 be dead, indeed unto sin, but ahve unto God thi'ough Jesus Christ 
 
 1-2 our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that 
 
 13 ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your 
 
 members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin : but yield 
 
 justified^ from sin, or delivered from 
 its degrading service and bondage, — 
 a negative benefit ; and also, ver. 8, 
 that there is a positive new life, an- 
 swering to the new organic spiritual 
 man, implanted by Christ. The lan- 
 guage of the seventh verse is proba- 
 bly a scrap from the Talmud, which 
 Paul knew by heart, where it says, 
 " The man who cUes is freed from the 
 commandments. 1 Pet. iv. 1." And 
 the analogy is drawn in ver. 8, that, 
 if we follow Jesus in liis death, we 
 shall also follow him in his life and 
 resurrection. Neander remarks, with 
 great justice, that "expositors, for 
 want of entering sufficiently into the 
 profound views of the Apostle, and 
 of grasping the comprehensive sur- 
 vey that stretches from the present 
 into the future, have often erred, by 
 a mistaken reference of such passages 
 either solely to the spiritual resun-ec- 
 tion of the present state, or solely to 
 the bodily resurrection of the future." 
 The truth is, that Paul often merges 
 and mingles one in the other, with a 
 free and flowing rhetoric, that does 
 not stop to measure words. 
 
 9, 10. He argues that the death of 
 Christ, the Head of the new faith, 
 ought not to shake any one's confi- 
 dence in the eternity of his spiritual 
 power and life. For he died to sin, 
 or on account of the sinful", uudeyel- 
 oped spiritual condition of mankind 
 once, or once for all, and so he can- 
 not die again, liis " passion " cannot 
 be repeated. "This death was the 
 
 death of death." The connection he 
 once sustained to a mortal and 
 tempted concUtion is broken for ever. 
 But so far as his life is concerned, 
 that is infinite and eternal, for it has 
 God for its scope, to whom he liveth. 
 Xone would infer from this passage, 
 as some beheve, that the Son of God 
 is the sole God since his ascension, 
 or that his distinct and conscious per- 
 sonality, which he possessed on earth, 
 is swallowed up and lost in the God- 
 head. The personal existence of 
 Jesus is as distinctly recognized 
 apart from God in heaven as on 
 earth. 
 
 11. For the same thing is required 
 of the disciple as of his Master. Like 
 Christ, like Christian. The twofold 
 process, — death to sin, and fife to 
 God, — they also are to undergo, with 
 this difference, that it is to be carried 
 on through a medium, a Mediator, 
 " through Jesus Christ our Lord " ; 
 a term which stands for his whole 
 life, death, teachings. Gospel ; for 
 they are all media, instrumentahties, 
 agencies to accomplish the union of 
 man with God and of man with man. 
 
 12 - 14. The personification of Sin 
 is continued. — Thei^fore. The ra- 
 tional conclusion from the foregoing 
 remarks was, that the dominion of 
 sin was not to be allowed even in 
 our mortal bodies, whose passions and 
 appetites are so strong, much less in 
 the immortal mind. The body of 
 itself cannot of course sin, any more 
 than any other mass of matter, but 
 
132 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and 
 your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin i 
 shall not have dominion over you : for ye are not under the law, 
 but under grace. What then ? shall we sin, because we are not 15 
 under the law, but under grace ? God forbid. Know ye not, that le 
 to whom ye }deld yourselves servants to obey, liis servants ye are 
 
 through its senses and propensities, 
 which° are aU good in themselves, 
 and only evil when allowed to gain 
 the ascendency over the moral and 
 spiritual faculties, the body can bring 
 even the mind into subjection to the 
 law of the members, and turn the 
 very instruments created by God for 
 righteous and holy purposes into 
 weapons of moral evil. Thus hunger 
 may lead to gluttony, thirst to drunk- 
 enness, love to lust, speech to slan- 
 der, and by this civil insurrection 
 and war within man, the ti-ue sover- 
 eignty may be usurped by the mob 
 of%odily passions. But it is a totally 
 unauthorized and most pernicious 
 error to infer that man is born natu- 
 rally and whohy depraved, because 
 he is connected for a time with this 
 material organization, out of whose 
 perversion these occasions to sin 
 arise. The mind and the members 
 were both pronounced "good" by 
 the AU-wise Creator, and it is only 
 when the order of authority is re- 
 versed, and the law of the mind is 
 subjugated to the law of the mem- 
 bers, that we can call either mind or 
 members evil. He then libels not 
 only himself, but his Maker, who lit- 
 erally, and not in an impassioned and 
 figurative sense, calls his nature to- 
 tally depraved. Man can hardly 
 sink so low, or so entirely divest 
 himself of the spiritual attributes, 
 that something good, some " moral 
 remains," will not survive. 
 
 " E'en from the tomb the voice of Xature cries, 
 E'en in our ashes Utc their wonted fires." 
 
 Chrysostom well remarks : " He does 
 not say. Let not the flesh live. 
 
 neither act, but. Let not sin reign. 
 For he came not to abrogate hu- 
 man nature, but to rectify the wiU." 
 — Alive from the dead. The Greeks 
 and Romans, polished as they were 
 by a splendid material and intellect- 
 ual civilization, were spiritually dead 
 in trespasses and sin, and even sur- 
 passed the untutored children of na- 
 ture in their rank vices of sensuality. 
 But the Christian believers had been 
 brought to life from this moral death, 
 and they were bound therefore to 
 bring forth the fruits of such a hfe in 
 all manner of virtues and graces. — 
 Fo7' sin shall not have, ^'c. The 
 promise is given, that sin would be 
 even better subdued imder grace, or 
 the gracious influence of Christianity, 
 than under a legal system like the 
 Mosaic code, or, in general, any dis- 
 jDensation of law. For law appeals 
 to only a part of man's nature, his 
 will, conscience, understanding, and 
 fears, but grace to the higher afiec- 
 tions and aspirations likewise, which 
 are far more availing and enduring. 
 The fact, therefore, that they were 
 under the gracious system of Chris- 
 tianity, with all its tender and affect- 
 ing motives of Christ and him cruci- 
 fied, instead of relaxing their moral 
 conduct, was even more effectual 
 than the austere code of Moses to 
 guard them against sin. 
 
 15, 16. The Apostle resumes the 
 question of ver. 1, with a modifica- 
 tion, though it is rather a new illus- 
 tration than a new argument he gives 
 in the following verses. The main 
 idea of the first of the chapter was, 
 that it was simply inconsistent and 
 
VI.] 
 
 TO THE KOMANS. 
 
 133 
 
 to whom ye obey ; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto 
 
 17 righteousness ? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of 
 sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which 
 
 18 was deUveredyou. Being then made free from sin, ye became the 
 
 19 servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men be- 
 cause of the infirmity of your flesh : for as ye have yielded your 
 members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity ; 
 even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto 
 
 20 hohness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from 
 
 impossisible that one who had died to 
 his old sinful life should continue in 
 it any longer. He organically cut off 
 from such an inconsequence as well 
 as immorality. The main idea of the 
 last half of the chapter is that of ser- 
 vice, slavery ; an illustration well un- 
 derstood then, and, alas ! too intel- 
 ligible now. After stating the cavil- 
 ler's objection, and expressing his 
 abhorrence of it, — God forbid^ — he 
 proceeds to remind them of the neces- 
 sity of the servant rendering obedi- 
 ence to liis master. The service we 
 have chosen we must take the con- 
 sequence of, for we cannot obey one 
 master and obtain the rewards of 
 another. We are paid in kind. Good 
 is paid with good, and evil is paid 
 with evil. — His servants ye are, &c. 
 You must take the alternative of the 
 condition you have adopted. God 
 does not punish men arbitrarily, but 
 according to the nature of the course 
 they pursue. He has affixed by con- 
 stant laws certain consequences to 
 certain actions. He has coupled sin 
 and death, and obedience. and right- 
 eousness, by irreversible bonds. To 
 be good is to be happy, i. e. to five ; 
 to be wicked is to be miserable, i. e. 
 to die. 
 
 1 7. That ye were the servants of sin. 
 The emphatic word is were. The 
 matter for thanks was not in reality 
 that they were, but that they were so 
 no longer. A truer rendering there- 
 fore would be, " But God be thanked, 
 12 
 
 that, having been the servants of sin, 
 ye have obeyed," &c. — That form, 
 original, mould, type o/ doctrine. The 
 disciples are represented as poured 
 like melted wax or metal into this 
 mould, and taking the exact impres- 
 and stamp of Christianity. 
 
 18-20. You cannot but be the ser- 
 vants of somebody. There is no 
 other alternative. Again, if you are 
 the servants pf one, you cannot be 
 the servants of another. No man 
 can serve two masters. Formerly 
 you were under bondage to sin, 
 and, of course, you were exempt from 
 the service of righteousness, ver. 20. 
 But having changed this service from 
 one master to another, you are now 
 the servants of righteousness, and are 
 just as free from the service of sin 
 now as you were from that of right- 
 eousness before, ver. 18. And, ver. 
 1 9, as in one case there was a progress 
 from step to step, a pihng up of sin on 
 sin, and your faculties, by the momen- 
 tum of habit and use, acquired greater 
 and greater proneness to evil ; so 
 now, as the process is reversed, these 
 same members and powers of your 
 nature gain more and more aptitude 
 for the new service, and go on from 
 moral righteousness to spiritual hoh- 
 ness, from justification to sanctifica- 
 tion. — I speak after the manner of 
 men, &c. ; i. e. I take illustrations 
 from human society and the institu- 
 tion of slavery, with which you are 
 familiar, in order that you may, not- 
 
134 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye 21 
 are now ashamed ? for the end of those things is death. But now 22 
 being made free from sin, and become servants to Qpod, ye have 
 your fruit unto hohness, and the end everlasting Hfe. For the wages 23 
 of sin is death ; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord. 
 
 withstanding your unspirituality, the 
 better understand the unsearchable 
 riches of Christ. 
 
 21-23. Having portrayed the dif- 
 ferent nature of the service of their 
 former life and the service of Christ, 
 and the utter inconsistency and im- 
 possibility, if they had become Chris- 
 tians, of their going back to waUow 
 in the mire of heathenism again, or to 
 accept the beggarly elements of a 
 former dispensation, Paul now antith- 
 esizes the rewards of one career to 
 those of the other, as a continuation 
 of the same argument why they could 
 not continue in sin. — What fruit. 
 The phrase is significant. Not by 
 arbitrary rewards and punishments 
 does the Moral Governor of the world 
 mete out the opposite results of sin 
 and goodness, but as natural conse- 
 quences, as fruit, they grow up on 
 the good tree or the evil. Virtue is 
 paid in virtue, and vice in vice ; or, 
 in the words of the Talmudists, quoted 
 by Tholuck, " a good action is the 
 reward of a good action, as a wicked 
 action is punished by a second." As 
 has been said, the universe is so con- 
 structed that nothing can hurt us but 
 ourselves; sin, or its occasions and 
 temptations in our own heart and 
 life. — The end of those things is death. 
 We need not cut down the glowing 
 Apostle to the bold statement of 
 either physical or spiritual death. 
 Not thus can we interpret well. He 
 
 says these things are deadly, destruc- 
 tive ; they plant diseases in the body, 
 they plant stings in the conscience, 
 and conjure up terrors in the future. 
 The same remarks apply below to the 
 sentence, " The wages of sin is death." 
 Imagine the sinner a laborer, and the 
 wages he earns are destructive of his 
 health, his happiness, and his hopes. 
 For every purpose of moral impres- 
 sion this indefiniteness of language is 
 better than the most elaborate descrip- 
 tions of punishment. The results of 
 our lives on earth are too vast to be 
 gathered up into any one form or 
 phrase of words, unless it be some 
 such broad ones as life and death. — 
 Fruit unto holiness. Paid in kind, 
 as remarked above. — Wages — gift. 
 The sinner earns his own fate, works 
 it out as if it were day-wages. But 
 the service of virtue is disinterested. 
 God wisely arranged it that we may 
 love and serve him for his own glori- 
 ous sake, and not for the loaves and 
 fishes. When we seek the thing, the 
 reward will take care of itself But 
 if we are thinking all the time of the 
 reward, the act will be Hkely to be 
 vitiated by self-reference. Not hap- 
 piness, not virtue's reward, but virtue, 
 is " our being's end and aim." And 
 by Jesus and his Gospel has the gift 
 of eternal life been communicated, 
 and the knowledge and conditions of 
 it made household words in the whole 
 earth. 
 
VII.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 135 
 
 CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 The Cessation of the Law on Account of its Inability to meet all the Spiritual Wants of 
 
 Man. 
 
 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to tliem tliat know the law,) 
 
 how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he hveth ? 
 
 2 For the woman which hath a husband is bound by the law to her 
 
 husband so long as he liveth ; but if the husband be dead, she is 
 
 CHAPTER vn. 
 
 1-6. The Apostle continues the 
 subject of a complete sanctification, 
 or, in other words, of a perfected 
 human being after the model of 
 Jesus. His object in this section is 
 to show that every scrap and frag- 
 ment of obhgation to the Law were 
 annihilated. He addresses the Jews, 
 who Avere acquainted with the Law, 
 and shows them by a famihar illus- 
 tration how entirely it had been 
 superseded by the Gospel, and how 
 perfectly free they were to become 
 Christians without any longer con- 
 tinuing to be Jews. It was a matter 
 requiring great delicacy and address 
 to maintain the Divine legation of 
 Moses and the original binding author- 
 ity of his institutions, and at the same 
 time to lead the Jews onward, who 
 had been thus educated, and every 
 fibre of whose intellectual and moral 
 being was inwoven in the Law, and 
 to open to their faith and admiration 
 the greater beauties and glories of 
 Christianity. In truth, the idea of 
 the progressive nature of all religion, 
 as well as of life in general, seems to 
 be one of the hardest lessons for man 
 to learn, whether under the Jewish or 
 the Christian system. He becomes 
 fossilized in ceremonials and creeds, 
 and hears with reluctance the cease- 
 less command of God's providence, 
 Go up higher. 
 
 1. yl.N- long as he liveth. The word 
 he is not in the original, but is put in 
 by the translators. The question is 
 
 whether the personal pronoun should 
 be he, the man, or ?V, the Law, for the 
 Greek will admit of either word. 
 Commentators as usual are ranged on 
 opposite sides of the question, but it is 
 more consonant to the argument. Paul 
 is made to say the very thing in the 
 Common Version which he was try- 
 ing to disprove. He wished to show 
 that the Law was not living, that 
 it was dead; that it could have no 
 more rightful dominion over the Jews, 
 because it had been superseded by 
 that more perfect form of faith and 
 worship of which it was the harbin- 
 ger. 
 
 2, 3. He proceeds to enforce the 
 idea of the abrogation of the Law in 
 general by an instance of its par- 
 ticular cessation in the case of the 
 marriage contract. A woman is under 
 obligation to be faithful to her hus- 
 band so long as he lives, but at his 
 death she is released from all such 
 claims, and is at perfect Hberty to 
 marry a second husband, without the 
 charge of adultery. 1^ Cor. vii. 39. 
 Thus final and utter is the dissolution 
 of the Law of Moses by the entrance 
 of the Gospel of Christ. The LaAv 
 was dead, and all indebtedness to it 
 had for ever ceased. It was a thing 
 of the past, as much as the obligation 
 legally of a woman to be bound to 
 her husband after he had died. In 
 regard to the many questions how 
 St. Paul's rhetoric shall be justified, 
 and how the several limbs of his com- 
 parison shall be matched with one 
 another, we have nothing to say 
 
136 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 loosed from the law of Aer husband. So then if, while her husband 3 
 liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adul- 
 teress : but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law ; so 
 that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. 
 'Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by 4 
 the body of Christ ; that ye should be married to another, even to 
 liim who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit 
 unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, 5 
 
 while the main diift of his remarks 
 is so apparent. Thus Beza says, 
 " The old man is the wife, sinM de- 
 sire the husband, sins the children " ; 
 and Augustine, that " there are three ; 
 the soul is the woman, the passions 
 of sin the husband, and the Law the 
 law of the husband." Origen, Chry- 
 sostom, Calvin, and others, " Men 
 are the wife, the Law the former hus- 
 band, Christ the new one." If Paul 
 were a writer who carried out his 
 figures regularly, all such criticism 
 would be very fine and useful, but 
 he is not ; and to attempt in every 
 instance to set the different parts in 
 order is not only a work of super- 
 erogation, but of impossibility. To 
 hunt needles in haymows, or to at- 
 tach again the strewn leaves of the 
 forest to the identical boughs from 
 which they have fallen, would be as 
 easy and as profitable as to pursue 
 this "word-criticism to its niceties, 
 with a view of resting upon it any 
 essential doctrine or precept. The 
 Bible in general, and the writings of 
 Paul in particular, He, hke great Na- 
 ture herself, vast, various, somewhat 
 chaotic and disjointed, a creation in 
 progress, and not a creation finished, 
 but everywhere fuU of gleams of sur- 
 passing beauty, touches of deepest 
 feeling, and electricities and magnet- 
 isms and fires of quickest power. 
 The words of Prof Stuart are most 
 true, and it would have been well 
 if he had always " recked his own 
 rede." " Many a time have I read 
 
 the Epistle to the Komans without 
 obtaining scarcely a glimpse of it. 
 AVlien I ask the reason of this, I find 
 it in neglect to look after the general 
 object and course of thought in the 
 writer. Special interpretation stood 
 in the way of general views ; the ex- 
 planation of words hindered the dis- 
 cerning of the course of thought." 
 
 4, 5. Ye also are become dead to the 
 law. Mark the courtesy and fine 
 sense of the Apostle. Instead of say- 
 ing the Law was dead, which would 
 have carried out his analog}' in regu- 
 lar order, he avoids shocking their 
 prejudices by making a bald tiecla- 
 ration hke that, and adroitly says, ye 
 are dead. This confusion of figures, 
 and also of persons, ye and we, in 
 these verses, is common to all lively 
 and copious writers. Christ was the 
 new husband, and union with him, 
 instead of yielding the deathhke re- 
 sults of the Law, was to bring forth 
 living and godlike fruit. — Who is 
 raised from the dead. A vital article 
 in Paul's creed was the ascended and 
 glorified Messiah. The Apostles who 
 were personally acquainted with our 
 Saviour call him most frequently by 
 the simple name of Jesus, while Paul, 
 who surveys his greatness at a dis- 
 tance, and views him as seated aloft 
 in the heavens, the conquerer over 
 sin and death, usually employs the 
 title of Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 Christ our Lord. — Motions of sins. 
 Better, as in tlie marginal reading of 
 the common version, passions. Paul 
 
VII.J 
 
 TO THE ROIVIANS. 
 
 137 
 
 which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth 
 
 6 fruit unto death. But now we are dehvered from the law, that 
 being dead wherein we were held ; that we should serve in new- 
 
 7 ness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. What shall we 
 
 nowhere commits the lapse of making 
 nature identical with sin, or sin with 
 nature. — Which icere hy the law. 
 The passions were stirred up by com- 
 ing into contact Avith the Law ; the 
 irresistible fury of desire against the 
 immovable rojk of the constitution 
 of things. James i. 14, 15. 
 
 6. That being dead. Just above it 
 was ?/(?, who are dead to the Law, but 
 the idea once being broached, and 
 the oifence of its first blush being 
 taken away, he now says directly, by 
 a change of person, that the Law is 
 dead, while the ?/e, which was dead 
 above, is now alive to Christ as the 
 new Master. It is proper to say, 
 however, that both Griesbach and 
 Tischendorf edit as follows, keeping 
 up the figure as in ver. 4 : " But now, 
 being dead, we are delivered from 
 the Law, wherein we were held." — 
 In newness of spirit., &c. 2 Cor. iii. 6, 
 7. This is a Hebraism, Avhich, prop- 
 erly rendered into English, would 
 read, that we should serve the new 
 spirit, and not the old letter. Reve- 
 lation, like the rest of the creation, is 
 progressive ; the Law came by Moses, 
 grace and truth by Jesus Christ. 
 The Gospel too has its earlier and 
 later ages, its morning daybreak and 
 its noonday glory. It therefore be- 
 comes the duty of man to follow the 
 leadings of the Divine hand, and to 
 move onward with the moving uni- 
 verse. He must live up to the spirit 
 of his age, and have full confidence 
 that there is yet new light to break 
 out of the word of God. The more 
 wisdom and love we carry to the 
 revelation, the more wisdom and 
 love we find there ; and the more 
 fiithfuUy we act up to our present 
 light, the more clearly does the future 
 12 * 
 
 shine upon us. The human soul is 
 a germ, destined to an everlasting 
 growth in wisdom and goodness ; and 
 it is not the province of any being 
 except Omnipotence to say. Thus 
 far shalt thou go and no farther. Dr. 
 Arnold has well said, " There is 
 nothing so revolutionary, because 
 there is nodiing so unnatural and so 
 convulsive to society, as the strain to 
 keep things fixed when all the world 
 is by the very laws of its creation in 
 eternal progress ; and the cause of 
 all the evils of the world may be 
 traced to that natural, but most dead- 
 ly, error of human indolence and cor- 
 ruption, that our business is to pre- 
 serve, and not improve. It is the 
 ruin of us all alike, individuals, 
 schools, and nations." 
 
 7-25. This passage discourses one 
 subject, the inability of the Law to 
 meet the spiritual wants of human 
 nature throughout. If the law were 
 dead, as he had proved it was, a 
 Jewish objector would ask, Why is 
 it dead ? Is the Law sin ? Is the 
 Law bad ? How can it be, if it was 
 given by God ? Paul replies at 
 length in this section, showing where- 
 in the Law succeeded, and wherein it 
 failed, and what would avail to an- 
 swer the whole demand of the soul. 
 This is strictly in accordance with 
 the general object of the Epistle to de- 
 monstrate the value of faith-righteous- 
 ness, and its superiority to the philo- 
 sophical righteousness of the Greeks, 
 or the legal nghteousness of the He- 
 brews. 
 
 The form in which tliis discussion 
 is carried on is by personification 
 and dramatic interchange of charac- 
 ters. The Law is one person, Sin is 
 another, the /, the essential man, is 
 
138 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 say then ? Is the law sin ? God forbid. Nay, I had not known 
 sin, but by the law : for I had not known lust, except the law had 
 said. Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the com- s 
 mandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For 
 
 another. By this means the consid- 
 eration of an abstract theological 
 topic is made vivacious and intelli- 
 gible, and impressed on the memory 
 and imagination as it could not be 
 done by mere abstruse language. 
 
 But in the interpretation of this 
 chapter, we find among the critics 
 the same tendency before referred 
 to under ver. 2, 3, of pressing par- 
 ticulars too far, and not looking 
 clearly enough at the general pur- 
 pose. The Scriptures must no more 
 be cut to the quick in criticism than 
 any other book of history, poetry, 
 or morals. Ne quid nbnis^ there may 
 be too much of a good thing, is a 
 feeling not infrequent in reading re- 
 Hgious Hterature. 
 
 7. The Apostle queries as if with 
 an objector, respecting the mission of 
 the Law, Is the Law sin, because it is 
 now obsolete, and has no more any 
 rightful dominion over men ? By 
 no means. So far from being bad 
 itself, the very spirit of the Law is to 
 reveal what is evil ; it is the spear of 
 Ithuriel whose touch is to disclose 
 the horns and cloven foot; it is a 
 moral judgment-seat. It was the 
 mission of the Law specially to give 
 activity to the conscience, and thus 
 bring sin to light, as it was of the 
 Hebrew ritual to cultivate veneration, 
 and is of the Gospel to quicken love 
 and benevolence. The Law was good 
 as far as it went, but it could not ac- 
 complish every thing. Jesus came 
 not to destroy, but to fulfil it, to carry 
 forward its plan to an entire com- 
 pletion. — Thou shall not covet. Exod. 
 XX. 17. It has been suggested that 
 this quotation is made after the He- 
 brew manner, only the beginning 
 being given, but that the whole tenth 
 
 commandment is intended by it. — 
 The courtesy of the Apostle is again 
 manifest in his saying /, instead 
 of you, and thus appropriating what- 
 ever might be obnoxious in his com- 
 parison, to himself 
 
 8. But sin, taking occasion, &c., 
 strengthened by the consciousness 
 which the Law itself gave of the guilt 
 of sin. Sin is impersonated through- 
 out this chapter, and is represented 
 as lying in wait, like an artful enemy, 
 for its victims. It is the body of sin 
 lying back, which, instigated by the 
 prohibition of the Law, results in 
 the particular lust or concupiscence. 
 And without the Law there would be 
 no sin, i. e. the consciousness of sin 
 would not be created ; mankind would 
 do the same wicked acts, but they 
 would not be aware, at least in so 
 high a degree, how wicked they were. 
 The absolute violation of a law is as 
 great in the case of an ignorant as 
 of an intentional agent, but the dif- 
 ference as to relative guiltiness in the 
 two cases is world-wide. In one case, 
 man sins with his eyes wide open, 
 and in the other with them shut, or 
 blinded. — All manner, &c. There 
 is no end to the multiplex forms 
 which the seminal principle of moral 
 evil will take on, when it is warmed 
 into life and is exasperated by the 
 opposition and revelation of the pro- 
 hibitory law. The language of Paul 
 is of course highly figurative and 
 panoramic, giving in large and high- 
 colored outhnes the battle, which is 
 carried on in the breast of man, in 
 miniature. All attempts likewise to 
 settle the inquiry how far the Apostle 
 is speaking in his own person, and 
 how far in that of another man ; or 
 how far he personates himself in his 
 
vn.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 139 
 
 9 without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law 
 once : but when the commandment came, sin revived, and 1 died. 
 
 10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to he 
 
 11 unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, de- 
 1-2 ceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, 
 
 unregenerate, and how far in his re- 
 generate state ; or whether he assumes 
 at different stages of his argument both 
 characters, — overstrain the point, and 
 make a stitf interpretation. The Apos- 
 tle evidently wrote in the spirit 
 of a glowing enthusiasm, without al- 
 ways stopping to measure the exact 
 force of his words, or indicating the 
 precise points of transition in his dis- 
 course. In general we may say, this 
 is a picture of human nature, in three 
 conditions : first, before the Law was 
 made known, in which the sense of 
 good and ill was blunt ; secondly, 
 after the promulgation of the Law, 
 when the conflict began of its prohi- 
 bitions with the aroused propensities 
 to sin, the grapple between the inte- 
 rior /and the circumstantial me ; and 
 thirdly, the Christian experience, 
 where the faith of Jesus has been 
 strong enough to give the preponder- 
 ance to the good principles, and dis- 
 comfit the bad ones, and the restless 
 heart of man finds rest in truth and 
 love. 
 
 9. This verse describes the process 
 from the state of careless, unobserv- 
 ant nature, where man feels compar- 
 atively contented with his sins, be- 
 cause he is not aware of their hei- 
 nousness, to the legal condition, in 
 which the prohibitions of the Law set 
 his offences in order before him, and 
 thunder in the startled ear of con- 
 science the penalties of disobedience. 
 At this threatening aspect of the spir- 
 itual state, the heart of man dies 
 within him. His hope and his cour- 
 age fail, because he sees the yawning 
 chasm between the just requirements 
 of God on one side, and his own 
 
 short-comings on the other. Olshau- 
 sen remarks : " As a rapidly flowing 
 stream rolls calmly on, so long as no 
 object checks it, but foams and roars 
 as soon as any hinderance stops it, 
 just as calmly does the sinful element 
 hold its course through the man, so 
 long as he does not stem it ; but if he 
 would realize the Divine command- 
 ment, he begins to feel the force of 
 the element, of whose dominion he 
 had as yet no boding." 
 
 10, 11. As sin was the general 
 fountain, of which lust or concupis- 
 cence was one of the issues, so the 
 Law was the general authority, of 
 which the commandment is repre- 
 sented as a special provision or in- 
 junction. The object of the com- 
 mandment indeed was to produce 
 spiritual life and happiness, but the 
 knowledge of the nature and enor- 
 mity of sin, which was made known 
 by the Law, rendered the particular 
 sin of which I was guilty more aggra- 
 vated and deadly than it would have 
 been, if I did the same thing without 
 the knowledge which the law gives. 
 Lev. xviii. 5 ; Luke x. 28. Thus Ne- 
 ander writes : " The deception wliich 
 was practised by the power of the 
 hitherto slumbering, but now ram- 
 pant, sinful desires, consisted in this, 
 that when the Law in its glory, the 
 moral archetype, first revealed itself 
 to the higher nature of man, he was 
 filled with earnest desire to seize the 
 revealed ideal; but this desire only 
 made him more painfully sensible of 
 the chasm which separated him from 
 the object after which he aspired. 
 Thus, what appeared at first a bliss- 
 ful ideal, by the guilt of death-pro- 
 
140 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Ci 
 
 and the commandment lioly, and just, and good. Was then that ]3 
 which is good made death unto me ? God forbid. But sin, that it 
 might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good ; that 
 sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For we u 
 
 ducing sin became changed into its 
 opposite." 
 
 12. The law is Jwhj, &c. The 
 Apostle was sailing between Scylla 
 and Charvbdis, for on one hand he 
 had to show the superiority of the 
 neAv way of salvation to the old one, 
 and at the same time, on the other, to 
 avoid so far shocking the prejudices 
 of the Jews as to turn them away in 
 disgust from his argument, or to do 
 violence to his own hallowed associa- 
 tions of an early religious education. 
 He here reiterates his eulogy of the 
 Jewish Law. Not because he loved 
 Judaism less, but because he loved 
 Christianity more, he had become 
 an apostle and advocate of the Gos- 
 pel to all nations. We see in this 
 verse the easy, impulsive movement 
 of a noble nature, intent upon its 
 purpose, but just to what was past, 
 and honoring the rudimentary school 
 of the Law and the Prophets. He 
 says both the general law and the 
 special commandment were praise- 
 worthy, and he lavishes upon them 
 terms of respect. * 
 
 13. But if the Law and command- 
 ment were thus excellent, how could 
 they work so ill and deadly an eflect 
 upon human consciousness and char- 
 acter ? Did they change their nature 
 so that good had the effect of evil, 
 and sweet tasted like bitter ? Far 
 from it. It was sin that was detected, 
 not the Law that was perverted. Just 
 as letters written in lemon-juice ap- 
 pear when brought to the fire, though 
 they were before invisible, so did the 
 dcathlilvc character of sin manifest 
 itself when touched by the criterion 
 of the Law. What in' the twilight of 
 natural conscience appeared as sin, 
 became doubly malignant in the clear 
 
 daj^light of the Law. The Law did 
 great good as far as its sphere ex- 
 tended, but it never was designed to 
 " come full circle" in the Divine plan. 
 It was a preliminary education, an 
 infant school of religion for the 
 world. The Divine ordinance was to 
 " erect amongst the people of Israel 
 a hearth and an altar for God, from 
 which as a centre the sacred fire 
 might then be more easily spread over 
 the whole earth." 1 Tim. i. 8. — God 
 forbid. But sin, &c. By pointing 
 tliis clause differently, according to 
 Griesbach and Tischendorf, a much 
 clearer sense is given, and an answer 
 is made to the preceding question, 
 thus : Was then that which is good 
 made death unto me ? God forbid ; 
 but sin ; that is to say, sin was made 
 death unto me ; that it might appear 
 sin, might appear in its true colors, 
 working death in me by that which 
 is good, that is, by the Law, that in 
 tliis way, by the detection of the LaAv, 
 sin might be revealed in its real char- 
 acter as exceedingly sinful. Rom. v. 
 20. Thus we detect " in the symp- 
 toms of a positive disease the mor- 
 bific matter which has been for a long- 
 time lurking in the system." 
 
 14. There is no complaint there- 
 fore to be made of the Law ; ■ its ten- 
 dency is spiritual as far as it goes ; 
 but it does not go far enough, and, 
 while it brings to light the venomous 
 nature of sin, provide a cure for its 
 fatal poison. What is to be com- 
 plained of is sin, our second evU 
 selves, for " it is the royal privilege 
 of good that from all e\i\ it knoAvs 
 how to educe good, as it is the cui-se 
 of evil that it perverts to evil all that 
 is good." — / am carnal, &c. There 
 has been much ink wasted by the 
 
VII.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 141 
 
 know that the law is spiritual : but I am carnal, sold under sin. 
 
 15 For that which I do, I allow not : for what I would, that do I not ; 
 
 16 but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I 
 
 17 consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that 
 
 critics to decide how far St. Paul is 
 giving his own individual experi- 
 ences, and how far he speaks for 
 human nature at large. Perhaps we 
 may more truly sav, that he sweeps 
 both the general and the personal 
 into the full torrent of his speech, 
 and, with his quick-glancing mind, 
 appropriates to his argument all that 
 was truest of men in the plural, while 
 he dissected man in the singular, and 
 demonstrated the morbid anatomy of 
 sin as a disease of human nature. — 
 Sold under sin. Enslaved, bound as a 
 slave to the master who has bought 
 him. In the use of the /instead of we, 
 we perceive the delicacy with which 
 Paul identifies the evil with himself 
 rather than with his countrymen. 
 
 15 - 20. The colHsion between the 
 sense of duty and sensual desire, be- 
 tween the higher and the lower na- 
 ture, between the law of the mind 
 and the law of the members, the 
 essential interior I and the circum 
 ferential me, is here drawn out at full 
 length. It is a portrait, a daguerreo- 
 t}^e of what is going on down deep 
 in the bosom, of the game of life 
 which every man is playing for his 
 soul. The Apostle painted on a great 
 scale what is true of the humblest or 
 the youngest of the human family, 
 the ceaseless struggles between appe- 
 tite and reason, passion and con- 
 science, the superficial desires and 
 the innate moral forces. Gal. v. 1 7. 
 
 15. I allow not. Literally, I know 
 not; i. e. I am perplexed to under- 
 stand it ; I know not how it is that I 
 should act so inconsistently, as not to 
 do what I would, but, on the con- 
 trary, to do the very thing I hate. 
 This is a puzzle. The present ren- 
 dering of the common Enghsh ver- 
 
 sion mystifies the sense completely by 
 seeming to repeat the same foi-mula 
 twice in the same verse ; but the 
 above rendering relieves the diffi- 
 culty entirely. Tholuck remarks here 
 that hitherto the Apostle had " con- 
 trasted himself in respect of his whole 
 being with the Divine law ; now, how- 
 ever, he begins to describe a discord 
 which exists within himself We set 
 out with the fact that the Apostle 
 still supposes an original element in 
 man cognate with the Divine Being. 
 This is the rehgious and moral sense 
 which can never be wholly eradicated 
 in man without his thereby ceasing 
 to be man. Even the individual who 
 sinks very low never entirely loses 
 the consciousness that that divine 
 element constitutes his proper self, 
 and that to it all the rest must be- 
 come homogeneous ; in fact, that it is 
 the Divine seed in him, which is 
 choked indeed, but no more. Ac- 
 cordingly, the Apostle represents the 
 sin, or flesh, as something foreign to 
 man, and the godly element as his 
 proper I. Ver. 1 7, 20. Hence also 
 does he call that element the inward 
 man, the true core of man." Ver. 22. 
 
 16, 17. Though I do what is wick- 
 ed, yet if I do it against my better 
 convictions on account of the urgency 
 of temptation, I virtually approve of 
 the law as excellent, notwithstanding 
 my inconsistent conduct, because in 
 my heart of hearts I reverence its 
 sanctity. I will therefore divide my 
 personality, and say it is no more I 
 proper who do the evil deed, but in- 
 dwelling sin, an unlawful settler upon 
 my premises, a tenant, whose behavior 
 I do not like, and whom I should be 
 glad to evict from ray property. 
 
 18-20. This is mostly an amph- 
 
142 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, that is, is 
 in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing : for to will is present ^vith me ; 
 but hoio to perform that which is good I find not. For the good 19 
 that I would, I do not : but the evil which I would not, that I do. 
 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that 20 
 dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil 21 
 is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the 22 
 inward man : but I see another law in my members, warring 23 
 against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the 
 
 fication, after the usual copious man- 
 ner of the Apostle, of what he had 
 said before. No stronger testimony 
 against the innate total depravity of 
 niankind can be adduced than that 
 of Paul, the very teacher who is gen- 
 erally supposed to teach this and the 
 other Augustinian and Calvinistic 
 doctrines in the most decisive man- 
 ner. If language has any meaning, 
 sin in the soul is not predicated by 
 him as any more inborn or natural, 
 than disease in the body, or as con- 
 stituting the inmost self and usurping 
 the central seat of personality, but as 
 an excrescence, a laAv of the outward 
 members, not of the mind, the inner 
 and immortal selfhood. 
 
 This coUision of the higher and 
 lower powers of man is known to 
 proflnie as well as sacred literature. 
 Tholuck quotes richly to tliis effect. 
 Thus Thucydides says : " It is an im- 
 possibility, and shows great simplicity 
 for any one to think that, when human 
 nature is driven eagerly to the com- 
 mission of any act, it can be hindered 
 either by the force of laws or any- 
 thing however formidable." And 
 Xenophon has this passage from a 
 Persian : " For I have manifestly two 
 spirits. For a spirit that is one and 
 single is not both bad and good at 
 once, nor at once loves things virtu- 
 ous and things vicious, and at once is 
 willing and unwilling to do them. 
 -But it is clear that there are two 
 
 spirits, and that when the good 
 prevails, the virtuous things are done, 
 and when the bad, then are wrong 
 things attempted." Diodorus, Euripi- 
 des, Epictetus, Simplicius, Plautus, 
 Seneca, Lactantius, and the Jewish 
 Kabbins, are quoted to the same ef- 
 fect. Ovid writes : " Desire prompts 
 one thing, my mind persuades me to 
 another. I see and approve the bet- 
 ter, but follow the worse." Even the 
 Christian is not exempt, so long as he 
 lives, from temptation, but has to pray 
 like Paul that he may not be a cast- 
 aAvay ; or, having some thorn in the 
 flesh of which he cannot be rid, that 
 the grace of Christ may be suflicient 
 for him. 2 Cor. xii. 7 - 9 ; Phil. iii. 
 12, 13. 
 
 21 - 23. He sums up the evidence. 
 There is this contrariety in human 
 nature, so steady and uniform that 
 he calls it a law, that when our better 
 nature wills what is good, our lower 
 propensities do what is evil. The 
 interior and essential self does not 
 cease to reverence and enjoy the 
 moral ideal of love, beauty, and truth, 
 the law of right; but the appetites 
 are grovelling, and the passions are 
 headlong, and they carry the soul 
 captive in self-indulgence and pleas- 
 ure. — Bringing me into captivity. 
 The literal sense is, taking me pris- 
 oner of war. The psychology of 
 Paul, and his doctrine of the inner 
 and outer man,~ the law of the mind 
 
VII.l 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 143 
 
 24 law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am ! 
 
 25 who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? I thank God 
 
 and the law of the members, corre- 
 spouds with many of the views of the 
 old moralists and philosophers, as 
 Plato. Plotinus, Pliilo, and Plautus. 
 All tlirough this passage the object 
 ! of the Apostle seems to be to ilhis- 
 I trate, by a detailed picture of the 
 I working of human nature, the in- 
 i ability of the LaAv to achieve the 
 i complete redemption of man from 
 I moral evil. The mere declaration of 
 the Avickcdness of sin, and its pro- 
 hibition, cannot keep mankind from 
 sinning ; but they must be addressed 
 by more powerful motives. Law, as 
 a restraint, is good, but higher motives 
 must arouse the soul to positive good, 
 as the best bulwark and safeguard 
 against evil. Faith must sunmion 
 into the field the powers of the world 
 to come. Let in the light of heaven, 
 and the darkness of earth will flee 
 away. The whole philosophy of 
 moral action is contained in another 
 precept of the Apostle : Overcome 
 evil with good. Good is the only 
 sufficient antidote in the universe to 
 evil. But by the expulsive power 
 of a new affection all the forces of 
 sin may be put to rout. Faith, hope, 
 and charity, these three give us the 
 victory over " the world, the flesh, 
 and the Devil." 
 
 24. Wound up to desperation by 
 the conflict between different powers 
 of his own nature, the civil war in his 
 breast, he exclaims, Who can deliver 
 me from the body of this death ! or, as 
 is variously rendered, " the body of 
 such ruin," or, " the body of this 
 misery," or from the sensual power, 
 which causes me suffering and death. 
 Misery and death are used as syno- 
 nymcs, as well as life and happiness. 
 The idea may be, also, that it Avas 
 better to die than to live in such a 
 strife with one's self, and tormented 
 with remorse for evil done, and as- 
 
 pirations for good left undone. The 
 margin reads, this hody of death. 
 2 Cor. V. 4, 8. 
 
 25. The common view is, that hith- 
 erto Paul had been speaking as an 
 unconverted Jew, but that he now 
 resumes his own address, and gives 
 thanks for his own personal redemp- 
 tion. That idea is not natural. Paul 
 had been through all these experi- 
 ences on both sides of the question. 
 He sketches them off in bold outlines, 
 not stojjping to say how much ap- 
 plied in each instance to himself, and 
 how much Avas appropriated from the 
 example of others. 1 Cor. xv. 57. 
 — I thank God, &c. As much as to 
 sa}', Jesus Christ delivers me from 
 this wretchedness and moral death. 
 This was the logical conclusion of the 
 whole chapter. Jesus could do what 
 the Law could not accomplish, — put 
 an end to the internal insurrection. 
 But in exalting Christianity to the 
 first place, we must remember that 
 the Law occupies the second place, 
 and that it was a good schoolmaster 
 to bring men to Christ. The chief 
 scope of the Law was conscience ; the 
 Gospel came to include in its ample 
 culture the heart, with all its bound- 
 less affections and aspirations. The 
 last clause is but an enumeration of 
 what had been expressed before. 
 
 There are three principal forces, 
 or creators of character, which at dif- 
 ferent periods have engaged the at- 
 tention of mankind. They are all 
 good, and there is need of them all 
 to keep the whole man sound and 
 morally healthy and growing ; but the 
 error has been, that too exclusive 
 devotion has been given to one, and 
 the others have been neglected. 
 These three are, Wisdom, which an- 
 swers to the mind; Law, which re- 
 fers to the conscience ; and Faith, 
 wliich appeals to the heart. The 
 
144 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself 
 serve the law of God ; but with the flesh the law of sin. 
 
 CHAPTER Vin. 
 
 The Adaptation of the Gospel to all the Offices of a Perfect Religion for the Human Soul. 
 
 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in 
 Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 
 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free 2 
 
 three most eminent civilizations, or 
 refinements of human society, have 
 been based upon these three ideas : 
 the Grecian upon Wisdom, the He- 
 brew upon Law, and the Christian 
 upon Faith ; but the greatest of these 
 is Faith. ' 
 
 CHAPTER Vin. 
 
 The Apostle naturally turns from 
 the deficiencies of the Law, and the 
 inefiectual struggles of its subjects, to 
 the satisfactions of Christian faith. 
 This chapter is concerned with the 
 capacity of the Gospel to perform 
 all the functions of a perfect rehgion 
 for human nature, and thus to justify 
 itself as the legitimate successor and 
 substitute of the preliminary dispen- 
 sation. All the points of its adapta- 
 tion are touched upon ; its freedom, 
 its spirituality, its peace, its life, its 
 filial spirit, its hope, its patience, its 
 prayerfulness, and its love. Few 
 passages can be found in the Scrip- 
 tures which in the same compass 
 contain a more full and glowing 
 portraiture of all the excellences, 
 beauties, and glories of the rehgion 
 of Jesus, and none in any hterature 
 more eloquent in expression, or more 
 glowing with wisdom, truth, and love. 
 
 The commentators divide the chap- 
 ter into several sections, according to 
 their various theories and views of 
 the Apostle's aim and reasoning, but 
 scarcely any two agree together. In- 
 deed, it is evident that Paul did not 
 lay out his discourse with formal ar- 
 ranorements like modern divines, but 
 
 commingled logic and rhetoric to- 
 gether, made sudden and abrupt 
 transitions, frequent parentheses, and 
 gave, perhaps, within the limits of a 
 single chapter, specimens of half a 
 dozen different styles and modes of 
 argument, appeal, remonstrance, and 
 illustration. There is no writer whose 
 composition is so compacted and dove- 
 tailed together as that of the Apostle 
 Paul. His style has " the universal 
 joint," of which mechanics speak, and 
 while it moves in every direction, it 
 holds firmly to its purpose. 
 
 1. There is therefore now no con- 
 demnation, &c. As an inference from 
 the foregoing chapter, he draws the 
 conclusion, that now, under the Chris- 
 tian faith, there is no condemnation 
 of the Law against those who have 
 abandoned it and become disciples 
 of Christ. Their new loyahy releases 
 them from their old duty. As Jesus 
 said to Nicodemus, '• he that behev- 
 eth on him is not condemned." Con- 
 demnation is a legal term, and as the 
 Law is dead, its subjects are free. The 
 last clause of the verse, w?io icalk not 
 after the flesh, hut after the Spirit, is 
 rejected from the text, as of insuffi- 
 cient authority, by Griesbach, Tis- 
 chendorf, De Wette, and many other 
 critics and editors. It was probably 
 interpolated as an explanation of the 
 phrase in Christ Jesus, from ver. 4, 
 first into the margin, and then into 
 the text, until it was generally re- 
 ceived ; but it is not in the best ver- ■ 
 sions and manuscripts. , 
 
 2. The spiritual laws of the Chris- i 
 
vni.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 145 
 
 3 from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in 
 that it was weak through the tlesh, God sendini^ liis own Son in 
 
 tian faith had not only released men 
 from the bondage of tlie Mosaic in- 
 stitutions, but they had also emanci- 
 pated the believing soul from the 
 more terrible laws of moral trans- 
 gression and death. E,om. vii. 25. 
 The main stress of the Apostle's dis- 
 course is to show that the Gospel is 
 good, not so much to accjuit its re- 
 ceivers and justify them, as to spir- 
 itualize them and raise them out of 
 the bondage of the aj)petites and pas- 
 sions. Righteousness and hoHness are 
 the great ends of religion, not justifi- 
 cation ; not how we stand with God, 
 but how we are in character and hfe 
 before him. It is astonishing how much 
 error is produced by a slight displace- 
 ment of terms, or a small change of 
 definitions, as a single rivet loose in a 
 machine will throw the whole into 
 utter disorder. The current ortho- 
 dox system has fastened upon the 
 Church a legality of Christianity as 
 hard and bony every whit as the 
 legahty of Judaism. It is stih. Thou 
 shalt believe, or die ; as it was before, 
 Thou shalt do, or die. It pays the 
 debts of the sinner as punctually and 
 fuUy by the sufferings and merits of 
 Christ, as the Law before required it 
 t(j be done by the obedience of the 
 devotee. Instead of freedom, spirit- 
 ual motives, culture, growth, hope, 
 patience, and love, we hear from the 
 Church the termagant tones of de- 
 nunciation, threatenings of hell-fire, 
 dogmatic and compulsory belief, ex- 
 ckisive communion, and severe judg- 
 ment. The Church has come out of 
 the legalities of the Old Testament 
 only to enter into a new set of legal- 
 ities, erroneously predicated upon the 
 Xew, and under Catholicism to be 
 subjected to the law of ceremonies 
 aud dignities, and under Calvinism 
 to the law of creeds and dogmas. 
 The Christianity of the Church is 
 13 
 
 still Law, not Love. — The printing 
 of the word Sjjirit with a capital 
 is an error, because it is intended 
 to carry, and does carry, the im- 
 pression, that by it is meant the 
 Holy Spirit, or the third person of 
 the Trinity; whereas there is noth- 
 ing throughout the whole chapter to 
 justify such an idea. The spirit here 
 spoken of is the spirit of man, the soul, 
 the law of the mind, chap. vii. 23, the 
 higher moral and spiritual nature. 
 The phrase in this verse would better 
 read, the law of spiritual life, &c. 
 
 3. Positive good is the only remedy 
 for positive evil, as the only antidote 
 to darkness is hght. The power of 
 sin must be met by an answering 
 power, and that power is provided in 
 the Gospel. The passions are ram- 
 pant and the appetites eager ; then 
 the moral forces must be equally decid- 
 ed and energetic. The defect of the 
 Law was that its fonu was, Thou shalt 
 7iot, — a system of restraint, a curb 
 put upon the lower man ; but the glory 
 of Christianity is, that it says. Thou 
 shalt, — thou shalt love, believe, hope, 
 obey, — and is thus a system of ex- 
 citement and culture to all the noblest 
 faculties of human nature, as well as 
 a restraint on the lower desires. The 
 Law rather stirred up the opposition 
 of the propensities, than spoke to the 
 depths of the soul. The very air of 
 a prohibitory command kindles the 
 embers of sleeping desire, as the an- 
 cients wrote ; Seneca, " that parri- 
 cides began with the law " ; and 
 Horace, " that the human race, bold 
 to perpetrate anything, rush through 
 forbidden evil " ; and Ovid, " that we 
 stri^-e for wdiat is denied, and always 
 desire what is refused." King Sol- 
 omon spoke to like effect when he 
 said, " Stolen waters are sweet, and 
 bread eaten in secret is pleasant." 
 Neander rejects the notion that the 
 
146 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh : 
 that the righteousness of the law might be fuLfilled in us, who walk 4 
 not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the 5 
 flesh do mind the things of the flesh ; but they that are after the 
 
 meaning of this verse is that " Christ 
 bore for men the punishment attached 
 to sin by the Law," but interprets 
 this and the next verse thus : " That 
 what was mipossible to the Law, what 
 it was unable to effect owing to the 
 predominant sinfulness in human na- 
 ture, was accomplished by God when 
 he sent his Son into the world in that 
 human nature which had hitherto 
 been under the dominion of sin, and 
 when he condemned sin, that is, de- 
 spoiled it of its power and supremacy, 
 and manifested its powerlessness in 
 that human nature, over which it had 
 before reigned, in order (ver. 4) that 
 the requirements of the laAv might be 
 fulfilled in behevers, as those whose 
 lives were not governed by sinful 
 desire, but by the spirit, the divine 
 vital princijjle of the spirit that pro- 
 ceeded from Christ." I am happy to 
 introduce such passages from modern 
 orthodox writers, because they prove 
 that the ancient bigotry is breaking 
 up and passing away, and new views 
 are dawning upon the human soul. 
 The able and conclusive work by 
 Mr. Wilson on the Concessions of 
 Trinitarians might be matched by 
 another equally satisfactory on the 
 concessions of Calvinists. — And for 
 sin. Because of, or on account of 
 sin. No doubt it was on account of 
 the existence of sin, and with a view 
 to do it away in the world, that 
 Christ came ; but here is nothing said 
 or implied, as both Neander and 01s- 
 hausen confess, of a vicarious sacri- 
 fice or atonement, whatever may be 
 found elsewhere. — Condemned sin. 
 Not the disciples are condemned, 
 ver. 1, because they have left the 
 Law and become Christians, but sin is 
 the thing condemned. As the dis- 
 
 ciples of Jesus, they would be ac- 
 cepted if they were Jews, and they 
 would not be condemned if they 
 were Gentiles. 
 
 4. Of the law. I. e. the right- 
 eousness required by the Law. It 
 appears, then, that there is no con- 
 trariety between the Law and the 
 Gospel, because righteousness is the 
 great desideratum in both systems ; 
 but what the Law, appealing to less 
 powerful motives and influences, 
 could not accomplish, is eff'ected by 
 Christianity. But it is never to be 
 forgotten that the system of Moses 
 advocated a high moral standard of 
 action, and that its residt was, imper- 
 fect as were its motives and sanctions, 
 viewed as an education for the race, 
 that under liis system were exhibited 
 some of the noblest specimens of 
 character the world has ever seen. 
 
 5. The different moral states of 
 persons, as they pursue one or an- 
 other aim in hfe,. is described by 
 the Apostle with a simplicity and 
 directness that a child could under- 
 stand. We take on the hue of our 
 pursuits, chameleon-like, and if riches, 
 fame, or pleasure be our chief inter- 
 est, they assimilate to their own spirit ; 
 or if righteousness, goodness, and 
 usefulness be our " main chance," 
 then we grow into their likeness. 
 Hence it is of the greatest conse- 
 quence that we should, if possible, 
 arrange the circumstances of our lot 
 in life, our profession, family, citizen- 
 ship, neighborhood, church, friend- 
 ship, and all other things, so that they 
 will bear favorabl}', and not adversely, 
 on the religious life. The Christian, 
 like the mariner, must learn to take 
 advantage of all the winds and waves 
 to carry him on his true course. The 
 
VIII. 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 147 
 
 6 Spii'it, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnaUy-minded is 
 
 7 death ; but to be spirituallj-minded is life and peace. Because 
 the carnal mind is enmity against God : for it is not subject to the 
 
 8 law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the 
 
 power of temptation and sin may 
 never Uq entirely vanquished and an- 
 nihilated, but the general progress 
 will be certain and triumphant as the 
 morning light. 
 
 6. This is a summary of all religion 
 anc^ all morality, an epitome of all 
 human experience, history, and des- 
 tiny. Paul would raise the contem- 
 plation of his readers above the nar- 
 row confines of the question between 
 JeAvs and Gentiles, and show them 
 both the higher view of life and faith, 
 the eternal boundaries of moral being 
 independent of all special beliefs. 
 Whether they were children of Abra- 
 ham, or " dogs of the Gentiles," they 
 would be bound by those original and 
 eternal necessities of our moral being, 
 by which vice is misery and ruin, and 
 virtue life and peace. As it respect- 
 ed Christianity, they would be no 
 better if they were Jews, and they 
 would be no worse if they were Gen- 
 tiles. Spiritual considerations tow- 
 ered heaven-high above all nationali- 
 ties and religious jDarties. 
 
 7. This verse contains a statement, 
 which is self-evident, and inevitable 
 by the very terms in which the prop- 
 osition is couched. The carnal, 
 worldly mind is not in harmony with 
 God, from the very fact that it is 
 carnal and worldly. James iv. 4. 
 These qualities erect a barrier moun- 
 tain-high against the Divine Spirit and 
 peace. While the world is in, God 
 must be out, of the heart. The law 
 in spiritual things is as decisive as in 
 material ones, no two bodies can oc- 
 cupy the same space at the same time. 
 " Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." 
 Gal. vi. 8. This is one thing, but it 
 is another and more laborious attempt, 
 to prove from this verse the total sin- 
 
 fulness of human nature. For, ob- 
 serve, it is not the mind that is pro- 
 nounced enmity against God, but the 
 carnal mind, that which minds the 
 things of flesh and sense supremely, 
 that which is obedient to the law 
 of the members, chap. vii. 23. The 
 Apostle constantly recognizes an in- 
 terior I, and core of the spiritual be- 
 ino;, that always remonstrates against 
 being made the tool and slave of the 
 body, and living to fulfil its low pur- 
 poses. Indeed if the natural state of 
 the human being in his healthy and 
 normal exercise Avere hostility to God, 
 why does his conscience remonstrate, 
 why does reason resist, and why does 
 the heart loathe, a sinful life ? In 
 that case peace and satisfaction, in- 
 stead of remorse and bitterness, would 
 follow wrong-doing, because such a 
 course would square with the native 
 bent of the powers. We are told on 
 high authority, that " he that sinneth 
 wrongeth his own soul " ; but how 
 can he do that, if it is already full of 
 corruption and sin ? Mankind are 
 doubtless bad enough, and their spir- 
 itual condition is dark and gloomy 
 enough, but we need not color more 
 highly than the reality, or think to 
 honor Christ and Christianity by mak- 
 ing the pit out of which they draw 
 the sinner deeper than it is in truth. 
 Else we incur the hazard of dishonor- 
 ing the creation and providence of 
 God, in proportion as we glorify the 
 speciality of revelation. 
 
 8. That are in thejlesh, i. e. in the 
 fleshly, sensual mind ; for they disobey 
 the first grand orcUnance of human 
 nature, which requires that the spirit 
 should govern the body, not the bod}^ 
 the spirit. Their conduct cannot be 
 satisfactory to the Creator, because it 
 
148 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 flesli cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the 9 
 Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any 
 man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ 10 
 he in you, the body is dead because of sin ; but the Spirit is life 
 
 is a direct violation of his plan and 
 law. Chrysostom well says, he does 
 not affirm that the bad man cannot 
 become a good one ; but that, while 
 he continues .to be bad, he cannot 
 possibly obey God, or please him." 
 Fire is not so opposite to frost, nor 
 hght to darkness, nor sweet to bitter, 
 as is right to wrong, and the spirit of 
 vice and sensuality to the pure and 
 benevolent law of God. 
 
 9. The distinction is here indicated 
 between the spirit of the behever, 
 and the spirit of God, and the spirit 
 of Christ, and as much separate per- 
 sonality is ascribed to one as to 
 another. The true Christian life im- 
 plies such a permanency and uni- 
 formity of a righteous, benevolent, and 
 holy disposition in man, that it may 
 be said that the spirit of God and of 
 Christ have taken up their constant 
 abode in him. This is the sense of 
 the word dwell. Therefore, in such a 
 case the fleshly life is excluded by 
 force of preoccupation, and the in- 
 ferior propensities are held in check, 
 not by the grinding compulsion of a 
 law, but by the fulness and abundance 
 of the divine hfe, which overflows, 
 restrains, and sanctifies them. 1 Cor. 
 iii. IG. Olshausen remarks, that " the 
 possession of this spirit of Christ is 
 naturally not to be measured accord- 
 ing to the mere feeling (the agreeable 
 sensation of the nearness of God, of 
 comfort, of spiritual joy), for this is 
 too fleeting, and the state of grace 
 may be entirely unimpaired, even in 
 great barrenness and dryness, — nay, 
 in the progress of the inward life, the 
 sweet sensations of the first young 
 love are almost ever disappearing; 
 but according tj its real effects and 
 fruits. If the man observes not these 
 
 in himself, and temptations at the 
 same time increase and strengthen, 
 then at all events he is in a suspi- 
 cious and assaulted state." No creed 
 in Christendom has so good a criteri- 
 on of what really disquaUfies a man 
 from being a Christian as this little 
 sentence of Paul :,." Now if any man 
 have not the spirit of Christ, he is 
 none of his." Not dogma, not ritual, 
 not profession, justifies the title, but 
 the state of the heart. For although 
 the truth is an all-important instru- 
 ment to create the right spirit, yet 
 some men with bungling tools can 
 achieve more work than others with 
 all the inventions and appliances of 
 the age. The test of the children of 
 the light is, that they are looking to- 
 wards the light, though at ever so 
 great a distance, and that it shines 
 upon and irradiates their faces, and 
 cheers and guides their pathway, up- 
 ward and onward through all the 
 stages of their spiritual career. 
 
 10, 11. Various criticisms have 
 been made upon the sense of this 
 passage, but the true import is not 
 very difficult to understand, nor are 
 the different views AvhoUy dissimilar 
 one to another. There is a negative 
 proposition, a positive proposition, 
 and, finally, a promise. The negative 
 proposition is, that the body is dead 
 because of sin ; or, in other words, by 
 the Christian spirit the old man with 
 his passions and desires is mortified, 
 or put to death. The positive prop- 
 osition is, that the effect upon the 
 spirit is life, as the effect upon the 
 body is mortification or death, and 
 that a new man comes into bein^. 
 Then the promise is, that the spirit 
 of God, so quick and powerful that 
 it made even the dead Christ hve 
 
VIII. 
 
 TO THE KOMANS. 
 
 149 
 
 11 because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up 
 Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from 
 the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that 
 
 12 dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the 
 
 13 flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye 
 shall die : but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of 
 
 again, Avill give new vitality even to 
 the frail body, and make it a glorious 
 instrument of righteousness. But 
 here, as elsewhere, there is a large in- 
 definiteness, and penumbra or shadow 
 of sense, surrouudmg the Apostle's 
 thought. In one clause he seems to 
 be speaking of this life, then he dilates 
 in his conception, and, glancing from 
 time to eternity, he comprehends both 
 worlds in his survey. This indistinct- 
 ness is not probably a blemish in con- 
 sidering themes so vast as those he 
 handles in this chapter. If the intel- 
 lectual effect is not so sure, the spirit- 
 ual influences are more rich and sug- 
 gestive from the wide horizon of his 
 contemplation. Rom. vi. 5-7. Eph. 
 ii. 5. Olshausen remarks : " As surely 
 as the spirit is immaterial, yet really 
 dwells in the material body, so surely 
 does the Divine Spirit penetrate and 
 unite with the human, without annul- 
 ling his essence, or confounding his 
 laws ; for the human spirit is the very 
 organ for the Divine, and that is a per- 
 verse state (sin) if he is not working 
 in it. "We have too httle knowledge 
 of the substance of the spirit to get a 
 clear insight into such penetration of 
 spirit by spirit; meanwhile nature 
 offers analogies not to be rejected in 
 the material world; for instance, the 
 penetration of electric or magnetic 
 streams." 
 
 In regard to the style and logic of 
 Paul, Locke remarks in this connec- 
 tion : " I think there is not anywhere 
 to be found a more pertinent, close 
 arguer, who has bis eye always on the 
 mark he drives at. Tliis men would 
 find if they would study him as they 
 13* 
 
 ought, with more regard to the divine 
 authority than to hypotheses of their 
 own, or to opinions of the season. I 
 do not say that he is everywhere clear 
 In his expressions to us now, but I do 
 say he is everywhere a coherent, per- 
 tinent writer, and wherever In his 
 commentators and Interpreters any 
 sense is given to his words that dis- 
 joints his discourse, or deviates from 
 his argument, and looks like a wan- 
 dering thought, It is easy to know 
 whose it Is, and whose the imperti- 
 nence Is, — his, or theirs who father It 
 on him." 
 
 12-17. These verses may be con- 
 sidered In some measure as going to- 
 gether, and constituting a species of 
 parenthetical clause on the spiritu- 
 ality and filial adoption of the true 
 disciples of Jesus. 
 
 12, 13. As he had before argued 
 that they Avere not debtors to the Law, 
 to live after the Law, chap. vll. 4, so 
 now he shows that they were to five, 
 not a less strict and elevated life than 
 the JcAvIsh believers, but one more 
 so, one on a higher moral plane, and 
 connected to God by a nearer and 
 tenderer relationship. — Mortify, put 
 to death the sinful deeds and desires. 
 To die or to live, the respective Issues 
 of two different kinds of fife, are 
 equivalent to being miserable or be- 
 ing happy. Sin creates a deadness 
 of the wliole man, where it Is al- 
 lowed free scope, and bhghts body, 
 mind, and heart by Its blasting power. 
 Jesus came that " we might have life, 
 and that we might have it more 
 abundantly." He unseals In the 
 depths of human nature "a well 
 
150 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of i4 
 God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the 15 
 spirit of bondage again to fear ; but ye have received the Spirit of 
 adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth le 
 witness with our spii'it, that we are the childi'en of God : and if 17 
 children, then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ ; 
 if so be that we suffer with Jmn, that we may be also glorified 
 
 of water, springing up into everlast- 
 ing life." 
 
 14. The true sons of God are not 
 the children of Abraham alone, but 
 those who have the spirit of God, 
 whether they be Jews or Gentiles. 
 The relationship is not by physical 
 descent or race, but by spiritual re- 
 semblance. The connection of ideas 
 with ver. 13 seems to be, that they 
 shall live and not die, because by 
 means of their spiritual likeness they 
 are children of God, i. e. mimortal like 
 God, and not subject to dissolution. 
 
 15. The Christian believer, instead 
 of being admitted to a less intimate 
 relationship with God than was en- 
 joyed by the chosen people, or being 
 subjected by the new dispensation to 
 a slavish fear, as was the case, neces- 
 sarily, with the Jews, because they 
 were a rude people and their faith 
 was a rudimental one, entered into 
 the most delightful spirit of adoption, 
 or filiation with God, so that he could 
 without blame or fear call God by his 
 most endeared name of Father. 01s- 
 hausen remarks, that "Abba, hke 
 Papa, can be spoken by the mouth 
 even of the babbling child, and prop- 
 erly therefore characterizes genuine 
 childlike disposition and manner." 
 Gal. iii. 26 ; iv. 6. The rise and 
 progress of true religion in the soul 
 may be tested very much by this cri- 
 terion, how much we have of the true 
 fiUal and confiding love of a cliild to- 
 wards our Heavenly Father, and how 
 far we can, under all circumstances, 
 even of darkness and grief and fear, 
 
 cast ourselves into his arms, and say, 
 " Even so. Father, for so it seemed 
 good in thy sight." 
 
 16, 17. He now comes to the proof 
 that this spirit of adoption Avas a re- 
 ality, and not a fancy, and he appeals 
 to the inward testimony of the spirit. 
 The disposition itself is the proof, and 
 carries its own weight of argument 
 with it. The voice of God in the 
 heart cannot deceive us, but gives us 
 persuasive evidence that we are the 
 sons and daughters of an Almighty 
 Parent. But an important inference 
 follows, that, if we are the children of 
 God, then, as in earthly relationships 
 of a hke kind, we are his heirs, and 
 have an inheritance, in prospect, 
 great and glorious as becomes such a 
 testator, and one too which we share 
 with the elder brother and oldest son 
 of the spiritual family, our Saviour 
 Jesus Christ. 2 Cor. i. 22 ; 1 John 
 iv. 13. AVhat delightful assurances, 
 what comforting hopes, and what ani- 
 mating motives are supplied from this 
 source to enable us both to do and 
 to endure all the holy will of Him 
 whose children we are ! We may 
 look up to heaven, and forward to 
 eternity, if this conviction be planted 
 deep and strong in our heart of hearts, 
 without distrust or terror. For we 
 know that here and hereafter, now 
 and for ever, all is eventually well, all 
 is right, all is good, all is infinitely 
 blessed and glorious, in the universe 
 of One so mighty, so wise, and so 
 good. Luke xxii. 29 ; John xvii. 
 24 ; Rev. iii. 21. 
 
VIII. 
 
 TO THE EOMANS. 
 
 151 
 
 18 together. For I reckon that the suflferings of this present tune 
 are not worthy to he compared with the glory wliich shall be re- 
 
 19 vealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth 
 
 18. 2 Cor. iv. 17 ; Col. ill. 4. He 
 draws encouragement from tliis son- 
 ship and heirship to God, to support 
 the disciples of Jesus in their hard 
 struggles and persecutions in the 
 world. If they looked for honors 
 and rewards in the present state, they 
 were of all men most miserable ; but 
 when they included both worlds in 
 their contemplation, they were the 
 happiest and most enviable of mortals. 
 Nothing they suffered here, though it 
 were the dungeon, cross, rack, or stake, 
 could for a moment weigh against the 
 glory and bliss and eternal peace of 
 heayen. Even the Jewish Rabbin 
 caught a similar idea, when he said, 
 " One hour's refreshment in the world 
 to come, is better than the whole of 
 hfe on this side of the grave." It is 
 true we may exaggerate, but it is 
 equally true that we may underrate, 
 the happiness of heaven. For if there 
 is any meaning in language, any rea- 
 son for exultation, any truth in the 
 yearnings of the human heart,- any 
 rehance on the visions of apostles and 
 prophets, martyrs and confessors, any 
 trust in the promises of Jesus, then 
 the life of the good in the world of 
 spirits is to possess a richness, fulness, 
 peace, love, and spontaneous and joy- 
 ous exhilaration, such as our best ex- 
 periences here but very faintly repre- 
 sent and prophesy. 
 
 19-22. In this subhme passage, 
 the Apostle, wanned with his subject, 
 depicts the whole creation as yearn- 
 ino; and agonizing and travailing in 
 pain to achieve this glorious spiritual 
 emancipation of the children of God. 
 But we must beware of that prosaic 
 and bold hterality, which has so much 
 stood in the way of the Occidental 
 nations understanding the Oriental 
 Bible. For by what the Apostle 
 
 here says, we are not at liberty to 
 suppose that he predicates either the 
 fall of inanimate nature with the so- 
 called fall of Adam, or the restoration 
 of inanimate nature Avith the return 
 of man to the ways of righteousness 
 and peace. At the most, Paul but 
 describes, as in ver. 21, the ncAv and 
 higher uses to which even the material 
 world would be put by a Christian 
 civilization than by savages and bar- 
 barians. But the main current of his 
 eloquence is unquestionably after the 
 spirit of King David in his Psalms, 
 where the exuberance of his piety 
 and love overflows and invests all 
 nature with its own glorious hues, 
 and he calls upon rocks, hills, seas, 
 stars, and every work and every 
 creature of God, from the worm in 
 the sod to the angel in the sky, to 
 unite with him in praising the Al- 
 mighty, and sinoing his songs of grati- 
 tude and love. The longing, the 
 Apostle would say, that man might 
 find his way to God, is so intense, 
 the prophecy of the manifestation of 
 God's children is so sure, that all 
 nature breaks forth in unison with it. 
 It is the key-note of the universe, by 
 which rivers flow, and stars revolve, 
 and nations rise and fall. To this 
 point the sum of created things is 
 gathered, and herein all culminates 
 and flowers, that mankhid should be- 
 come the rational, aflectionate, and 
 obedient cluldren of God. In setting 
 forth the idea, the Apostle makes use, 
 no doubt, of the phraseology of his 
 age and nation, by which a restora- 
 tion of all things, a golden age to 
 come, is frequently described. XJi® 
 lion and the lamb were to lie down 
 together. Poisons would no more 
 infest the earth, nor tempests sweep 
 the sky, nor sickness and pain fasten 
 
152 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [CUAP. 
 
 for tlie manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was 20 
 made subject to vanity, not wilhngly, but by reason of him who 
 hath subjected the same in hope ; because the creature itself also 21 
 shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious 
 liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole crea- 22 
 
 on the human body. Heaven would 
 come down to earth, and men would 
 be as happy as angels. But Paul 
 touches lightly on the imagery of 
 such an age of peace and felicity; 
 and there is no intrinsic evidence 
 here that he used the popular no- 
 tions in any closer sense than to 
 illustrate the splendid march of Chris- 
 tian regeneration and life, and con- 
 summation of all the lower ends and 
 auns of created things in the one total 
 and superlative object of the union 
 of m^n with God. Tholuck sums 
 up much wisdom in few words, when 
 he says : " Such descriptions are 
 neither to be interpreted altogether 
 outwardly, nor yet altogether in- 
 wardly." It may here be mentioned, 
 that the Jewish theologians held the 
 tenet that " the Messiah would renew 
 the world and purge and consecrate 
 the place of hell itself." Said one : 
 " Though all things were created 
 perfect, they nevertheless became 
 corrupt when the first man sinned, 
 nor will they return to their right 
 condition until the Messiah cometh, 
 because there are six things which 
 shall return to their primeval state, — 
 the beauty of man, his life, the 
 length of his stature, the fruits of the 
 earth, the fruits of the trees, and the 
 lights of heaven." In illustration of 
 the passage, Luther is also quoted as 
 saying : " God will not only make the 
 earth, but also the heavens, far fairer 
 than they now are. The present 
 world is his working clothes ; here- 
 after he will put on an Easter and 
 Whitsunday suit." 
 
 19. Earnest expectation of tJie crea- 
 ture. Even the dumb and voiceless 
 
 ereation — for so should creature be 
 rendered — longs to witness the vis- 
 ible glory of a new spiritual state of 
 mankind. 
 
 20. For thQ external world has 
 been made subject to the abuse of 
 man on account of his ignorance and 
 his wickedness, not as it were by its 
 own choice, but by the will of its 
 Lord and Master, who has done it in 
 anticipation of that " good time com- 
 ing," when man would no more lay a 
 wasteful or sacrilegious or perverting 
 hand upon plant, mineral, elemerft, or 
 animal. 
 
 2L So that the recovery of man's 
 spiritual na,ture shall be matched by 
 a like redemption of the natural world 
 from its neglect or abuse, and its con- 
 secration to the highest purposes of 
 human existence, and the fulfikaent 
 of the Divine plan. 
 
 22. All nature has undergone, as 
 it were, the pains of parturition, in 
 expectation of that brighter and hap- 
 pier era of human improvement and 
 spiritual regeneration ; for she has 
 felt herself wronged and perverted 
 from her true end by the lusts and 
 passions of an ignorant and mcked 
 race. Her fair fields have been dyed 
 with human blood; her benevolent 
 forces have been turned into instru- 
 ments of fratricide ; her seas have 
 been the pathway of the slave-ship, 
 robbery, and piracy ; her richest pro- 
 ductions have been tortured into the 
 means of gluttony and intemperance, 
 and her fair domains and possessions 
 have been the prizes of a grasping 
 covetousness and a proud ambition. 
 The creation is deUvered to man to 
 re-make and embellish, not to mar 
 
vin. 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 153 
 
 23 tion groaneth and travailetli in pain together until now. And not 
 onlj they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, 
 even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adop- 
 
 24 tion, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by 
 hope : but hope that is seen is not hope : for what a man seeth, 
 
 25 why doth he yet hope for ? But if we hope for that we see not, 
 2G then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise the spirit also 
 
 helpeth our infirmities : for we know not what we should pray for 
 
 as we ought : but the spirit itself maketh intercession for us with 
 
 27 groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the 
 
 and deform. He is to be a co-worker 
 with God in reducing the wildness of 
 rude elements and coarse materials 
 to science and art, and making a gar- 
 den, a farm, a ship, a home, a city, 
 where before were a forest, and the 
 wikl beasts, and the unvisited sea. 
 
 23. This earnest longing is es- 
 pecially shared by those who have 
 tasted the incipient blessings of the 
 Christian Hfe, and who know to what 
 higher good, even a complete emanci- 
 pation of the soul and an entire con- 
 secration of the bodily powers, the 
 Gospel leads the way. Nothing can 
 cause so much disquiet to the true 
 follower of Jesus, as the hinderances to 
 the full and harmonious development 
 of his Christian character, and the 
 stumbhng-blocks to a true and noble 
 life. Loss and pain and grief are 
 sore evils, but they cannot comj)are 
 in poignancy of suffering with a rest- 
 less heart, or a wounded conscience, 
 or a corrosive temper, or a worldly 
 ambition, or a sensual desire, or any- 
 tliiug else which impairs or depresses 
 the inward life. 2 Cor. v. 2, 4 ; 1 John 
 iii. 2. 
 
 24, 25. Saved hj hope ; or, in hope. 
 Our salvation thus far is rcither a 
 matter of hope than of reahty. We 
 hope we are saved. Neander re- 
 marks, that, " from the relation of the 
 Christian life of faith and love to a 
 creation that is to be perfectly de- 
 veloped and completed only in the 
 
 future state, it follows that faith and 
 love cannot subsist without hope." 
 " The faith that operates by love 
 could not persist in the efforts which 
 so many obstacles oppose, in conflict 
 with the inward and outward world, 
 if the prospect were not granted of 
 certainly attaining its end. Hence 
 jjersevei-ance in the work and conflict 
 of faith is the practical side of hope." 
 — With jmtience ; or, perseverance. 
 Patience is a passive virtue, persever- 
 ance is an active one. 
 
 26, 27. The spirit here spoken of 
 cannot be the Spirit of God, because 
 he is represented as knowing what 
 its mind is, which it would be un- 
 necessary to remark if he were that 
 identical spirit itself. But the Apos- 
 tle personifies the indwelhng spirit 
 of the Christian life and character, as 
 he had before sin, chap. vii. 1 7, which 
 worked hke a distinct power in him- 
 self. Li enumerating, therefore, the 
 offsets to the trials and persecutions 
 wliich the Christians were exposed 
 to, he mentions this aid of the spirit 
 of spirit, of the character, the historic 
 unity and continuity of soul, which 
 helps make many things clear. If we 
 have infirmities, we also have aids; 
 an unmortal nature struggles, and 
 aspires, and dilates within us. We 
 cannot by a distinct act of volition 
 pray as we ought, but this instinctive 
 and spontaneous spirit, soul of our ^ 
 soul, intercedes for us with inarticu- 
 
154 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 hearts knoweth what is the mind of the spirit, because he maketh 
 intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we 28 
 know that all things work together for good to them that love 
 God, to them who are the caUed according to his purpose. For 29 
 whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to 
 the imao-e of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many 
 
 late sighs, and instructs us how to 
 pray. — Knoweth lohat is the mind of 
 the spirit. Whitwell translates it, 
 " Foi' he who seareheth the heart 
 knoweth what the purpose of the 
 spirit is, that it is conformable to his 
 will in its requests for Christians." 
 The All-seeing One recognizes the 
 purity of motive of the spirit in its 
 spontaneous supplications and inward 
 intercessions. There are two steps, 
 therefore, in these verses; first, the 
 natural uplifting of the spirit to God 
 in prayer and aspiration, not always 
 spoken ; and secondly, there is the 
 consciousness that God knows all, 
 and approves of this movement of 
 the human heart toward himself A 
 Mahometan quoted by Tholuck has 
 written : — 
 
 " Each Lord, appear! thy lips pronovmce, con- 
 tains my Here am I' 
 
 A special messenger I send beneath thine 
 every sigh. 
 
 Thy love is but a girdle of the love I bear to 
 thee; 
 
 And sleeping in thy Come, O Lord! there 
 lies Here, son! from me " 
 
 — Because he, or it, the spirit, maketh 
 intercession. 
 
 28. To confirm still further their 
 independence of the Law, and to re- 
 lieve their minds of all anxieties they 
 might have respecting the security 
 of their salvation, he now declares 
 that they were embraced in the pur- 
 pose and plan of God, and might 
 therefore dismiss all their fears. — 
 To them that love God, whether Jews 
 or Gentiles. A spiritual qualification, 
 and not a national one, was all that 
 was necessary to secure this great 
 boon. The very purpose of God was 
 
 to save such as loved and obeyed 
 him, and were thus his called, chosen, 
 elect ones. To the good, the whole 
 universe has been so exquisitely 
 made and balanced and inspired, as 
 to do only good in the long run, and 
 never final evU. To bring about 
 this result, reflect likewise how well 
 the soul itself must be attuned in all 
 its powers, and how admirable and 
 intentional Its adaptation must be to 
 the creation in which it dwells and 
 is educated ! The suggestion here 
 made was full of consolation to the 
 persecuted Christian, that pain and 
 persecution and death could not 
 really and intrinsically harm him, so 
 long as he kept up the union of love 
 with God, and observed his com- 
 mandments of which that love was 
 the fulfilling. This is a sufficient key 
 to unlock the dark problem of human 
 destiny ; for if we place ourselves at 
 the right point, at the focus of love, 
 then we can look all its confusion 
 into order, and all its evil into good, _ 
 for much of evil is only good in the 
 process of development. So ingeni- 
 ously and so benevolently have all 
 things been made, that nothing can 
 permanently hurt us except we our- 
 selves. AVhat a motive is here sup- 
 plied to knowledge, obedience, dili- 
 gence, faith, and love I 
 
 29, 30. The simple thought of 
 these formidable verses is, that they 
 need not fear exclusion from the 
 pale of God's mercy if they tran- 
 scended the Law, for it was his very 
 purpose, his choice, liis election, his 
 decree, that this very thing should 
 take place, that Chiistianity should 
 
VIII. 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 155 
 
 30 brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also 
 called : and whom he called, them he also justified : and whom he 
 
 31 justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these 
 
 32 tilings ? If God he for us, who can he against us ? He that spared 
 not his own Son, but delivered hhn up for us all, how shall he not 
 
 supersede Judaism, and that they, 
 whom he was addressing in his Epis- 
 tles, should be disciples of Jesus, and 
 not of Moses. To make the idea 
 more impressive, he enlarges it, 
 and welds to;2;etber a long chain 
 of words, — foreknow, predestinate, 
 called, justified, glorified, — to bind 
 their salvation strong, and show them 
 that they could not be lost out of so 
 comprehensive a plan, which extend- 
 ed to every particular of their calling, 
 and of their character as Christians. 
 Norton translates thus : " For those 
 whom God foreknew, he predestined 
 should be conformed to the image of 
 his Son, that he might be the first- 
 born among many brethren ; and 
 whom he predestined, he summoned ; 
 and whom he summoned, he made 
 righteous ;- and whom he made right- 
 eous, he glorified." God is spoken of 
 as having already glorified the dis- 
 ciples of Christ, because it is certain 
 that he will do it. He sent liis Son, 
 but it was not to stand alone in the 
 heavenly places of virtue and good- 
 ness and spiritual power ; many 
 brethren like him, more or less, were 
 also to be gathered around him, 
 lovely forms of character, fair and 
 holy and sublime images of the great 
 Archetype, — apostles, prophets, mar- 
 tyrs, confessors, patriots, philanthro- 
 pists, the Christ-like and the God-like. 
 As to the question of Election or 
 Predestination as a theological doc- 
 trine, it Avill be more fully discussed 
 in the next chapter, much of which 
 is occupied with its considerations 
 and bearings. Suffice it to say here, 
 that this passage was laid down by no 
 means as a doctrine of exclusion, — 
 
 not how many were rejected, but as a 
 doctrine of comfort and encourage- 
 ment, — how many were called and 
 purposed to be Christians, and had, 
 as it were, the Divine guaranty that 
 they should not fail of eventual salva- 
 tion. God had given them the glori- 
 ous distinction, independently of na- 
 tional lines, to bear the image of his 
 Son, and to grow into his peifection 
 and love. Eph. i. 4-6. 
 
 31, .32. Then. If this be so, what 
 ■ shall we say ? What limit shall we 
 assign to the security and happiness 
 of "the Christian V With the Al- 
 mighty on our side, we need fear no 
 enemy, for all hostility is powerless 
 against his shield of protection. It 
 was, perhaps, from some passages like 
 the conclusion of this chapter, that 
 Longinus judged Paul worthy of a 
 place among the greatest orators of 
 antiquity. In giving us his Son, we 
 have the strongest pledge and bond 
 which could possibly be given by 
 God to insure to us his love, for in 
 that unspeakable gift all things were 
 included and guaranteed. The sub- 
 jective and personal realization of 
 the goodness of the Creator is not 
 sufficient at all times, ver. 26, 27, but 
 we require, and in Jesus we possess, 
 an objective and eternal expression 
 and word of the love of God, stronger 
 than any language, — a great and 
 manifest and most significant fact, all 
 over vocal and articulate, and jubi- 
 lant of the love of God for his chil- 
 dren. Too much stress can hardly be 
 laid on the life and death of Jesus ; 
 but it is evident, here as well as else- 
 where, that the cliief purpose they 
 fulfil is to lead us on and up to that 
 
156 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 with him also freely give us all things ? AYho shall lay any thing 33 
 to the charge of God's elect ? It is God that justifieth. Who is 34 
 he that condemneth ? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen 
 again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh inter- 
 cession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ? 35 
 shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, 
 or peril, or sword ? As it is written. For thy sake we are killed 36 
 all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 
 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him 37 
 
 inconceivable and majestic benignity 
 of the Father. 1 John iv. 9, 10. 
 
 33, 34. That the purpose of the 
 Apostle is one of vindication and de- 
 fence, not of indoctrination, as before 
 intimated, is apparent here, where he 
 reiterates the calling and justification 
 of God and the intercession of Christ, 
 as proofs that the disciples were safe. 
 There remain, therefore, none to ac- 
 cuse or to condemn, for the only two 
 beings who have any rightful author- 
 ity to do it are God and Christ. God 
 would not do it, for he is himself the 
 Justifier ; and Christ would not do it, 
 for he is the Intercessor. 1 John 
 ii. 1. If any tiling seems assured in 
 the Scriptures, it is the distinct per- 
 sonality of Christ as separate from 
 God, as one being is separate from 
 another ; and this is here represented 
 as extending to the future world, as 
 well as the present state. 
 
 35-39. The Apostle here rises into 
 a strain of the loftiest and most im- 
 passioned eloquence, in describing the 
 certainty of the Christian's hope, and 
 the immortaUty of the love of God to 
 him, as manifested by Jesus Christ. 
 He presents the thought first in 
 an interrogative form, — Who shall 
 separate us ? and then in a positive 
 form, — Nothing shall separate us from 
 this great fountain of life and happi- 
 ness. — The love of Christ, i. e. the love 
 which Christ had for his disciples, not 
 the love which liis disciples had for 
 
 him. He could not have spoken 
 either with that ecstasy or that as- 
 surance of the feeble and fluctuating 
 sentiments of men that he could of 
 the ovei'flowing mercies of God, and 
 the eternal love of Jesus. It must be 
 a coal from the altar of heaven, not a 
 spark of human striking, that could 
 kindle and that could justify so splen- 
 did a flame of enthusiasm. — Shall 
 tribulation, or distress, &c. The items 
 of trial here enumerated were the 
 ones to which the Christians of that 
 day were especially exposed. But 
 they were bound to live through them 
 all, and retain their hold of the great 
 treasure which had been vouchsafed 
 to them in this heavenly love and 
 compassion of Jesus and of the Father. 
 — As it is loritten. Ps. xliv. 22. The 
 old times were made good, and, as in 
 the days of Jewish persecution and 
 slaughter, so now the faithful few 
 were obliged to face danger and 
 death. It was not many years after 
 this was written, that Paul himself 
 suffered martyrdom at Rome under 
 Nero, the Emperor, by being be- 
 headed, according to the most re- 
 hable traditions, and thus encoun- 
 tered the fate which he had long 
 foreseen was in store for him. 
 
 37. More than conquerors. So far 
 from being defeated by these adver- 
 sities and trials, they only call forth 
 a more unflinching courage, and win 
 for us a greater victory. Through 
 
IX.] 
 
 TO Tin-: KOMANS. 
 
 157 
 
 38 that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, 
 nor angels, nor princii)alities, nor powers, nor things present, nor 
 
 39 things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall 
 be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ 
 Jesus our Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Divine Sovereic/nfy in the Rejection of the Jews and the Choice of the Gentiles 
 defended on Ilistorical Inferences from the Old Testament. 
 
 I SAY (he truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me 
 
 this love of Him who died for us, we 
 die for Hun, and repay martyrdom 
 with martyrdom, and cross with cross. 
 38, 39. Phil. i. 6 ; 1 Tim. i. 12. But 
 he was not content to repudiate the 
 suspicion that any of the peculiar 
 trials and sorrows of the Christian 
 world at that time could shake their 
 hold upon this heavenly love ; he chal- 
 lenges the whole creation to deprive 
 them of the boon. He darts from 
 earth to heaven, from time to eter- 
 nity, from life to death, and calls 
 upon worlds above worlds, and cre- 
 ations beyond creations, to produce 
 any cause potent enough to tear away 
 this eternal pillar of faith and hope, 
 the love of God in Jesus Christ to- 
 wards mankind. He appealed to 
 mighty agents ; he rose to angels and 
 archangels ; he dared the visible and 
 invisible; for nothing could be so 
 strong, so living, so lasting, so preva- 
 lent and victorious, as this Eternal 
 Mercy. We believe it, we know it. 
 All things declare it in heaven and 
 earth ; and two thousand years of 
 Chiistianity since these words were 
 written have rolled up an ever- 
 accumulating amount of testimony to 
 their truth, have multiplied million- 
 fold their witnesses, and peopled this 
 world and the world to come with 
 the examples of their beauty and 
 power. AVhat Paul prophesied his- 
 tory has fulfilled ; and prophecy and 
 history now clasp hands for a yet 
 14 
 
 more glorious future. The spirit of 
 tliis passage gives assurance of the 
 final triumph of the Gospel in this 
 world, and it inspires a calm and a 
 strong assurance that all will event- 
 ually be won to this omnipotent 
 love in the world to come. 
 
 A poor, simple man once said : 
 " I have lost all my property ; it is all 
 gone. I have lost all my relations ; 
 my last son is dead. I have lost my 
 hearing and my eyesight. I am all 
 alone, old and poor ; but it aU makes 
 no difference. Christ never grows 
 old, Christ never is poor, Christ never 
 dies, and Christ never will forsake 
 me."*- 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 This is one of the hardest passages 
 to interpret probably in the whole 
 Scriptures ; for the subject treated of 
 is the very purpose and will of God 
 in his government, providence, and 
 grace in that dark and debatable 
 region where human freedom borders 
 upon the Divine decrees. Man pro- 
 poses, God disposes. God's kingdom 
 ruleth over all, but man has a king- 
 dom within a kingdom. Man wills, 
 acts, thinks, chooses, but the very 
 faculties by which he performs all 
 these decisive acts were originated, 
 planned, decreed, moulded, and col- 
 ored by the Supreme Power. All 
 this world is made by the Blessed 
 
 *Mrg. Stowe. 
 
IQQ THE EPISTLE OF PAUL [Chap. 
 
 witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and con- 2 
 
 God, and in no part of it has any 
 evil Demiurgus had a finger. How, 
 then, shall we account for evil and 
 sin ? Why are we to be blamed for 
 the action of faculties and elements 
 which we had no option in bringing 
 into existence, or shaping into form 
 and destiny ? Or, as the Apostle 
 puts it in the mouth of an objector, 
 AVhy doth he yet find fault ? Is not 
 God himself the author of sin ? How 
 can man be finite and be at the same 
 time responsible ? 
 
 These and other wild speculations 
 like them may not be capable of being 
 refuted by anything hke a demon- 
 strative argument, but they are capa- 
 ble of a fair moral answer, and of 
 being sufficiently relieved and ex- 
 plained for all the practical purposes 
 of cordial duty and of entire confi- 
 dence in the goodness and wisdom of 
 the Supreme Being. 
 
 The sovereignty of God is a great 
 and glorious truth. To decree all 
 things is of the very nature of God, 
 who would not be God if he did not 
 originate and determine all things, 
 endow all beings with their pecuhar 
 nature, arrange for them their abode 
 and their culture, and mark out for 
 them their general course and the 
 boundaries of their being. The decrees 
 of God, therefore, are not an abuse, 
 but a legitimate and necessary use of 
 infinite power as it respects God; 
 and they are not a terror, but a 
 mercy, as it respects man, for they 
 are his only shield against blank night, 
 and chaos, and annihilation. The 
 single anxious question is, whether 
 these decrees are just or unjust, 
 benevolent or cruel, or indifferent? 
 Is the election of God partial or un- 
 partial, has he or has he not respect 
 of persons, or are his decrees capri- 
 cious, and does he treat liis creatures 
 at random ? 
 
 The point being settled, then, that 
 
 God, to be God, must be a Deter- 
 miner and a Decreer of all things in 
 general, we come to this second stage 
 of the inquiry : Whether the character 
 of his decrees, so far as we know 
 them, is such as comports with his 
 justice, honor, and benevolence. The 
 sources of our information are Life, 
 Consciousness, Observation, History, 
 and Scripture. Now all these wit- 
 nesses convey to an attentive and 
 candid mind a broad and firm im- 
 pression of the righteousness and 
 benignity of the Infinite Disposer, as 
 generally viewed in the present world. 
 The numerous Scripture declarations 
 of the goodness and truth of God are 
 not merely the ejaculations of pious 
 and trusting hearts, but the truest 
 and most profound utterances of the 
 reality of things ; a just vindication 
 of the ways of God to man, when 
 they have been subjected to the most 
 piercing intellectual and moral ex- 
 amination. There is, in fact, only 
 just that amount of darkness resting 
 upon the subject of the moral gov- 
 ernment of God which we ought to 
 expect from its infinite and eternal 
 character, and from our very limited 
 apprehension of its nature and oper- 
 ations. This certainly could not be 
 the universe of the Almighty, if our 
 puny faculties, born yesterday, could 
 grasp with success its vast problems, 
 and explain the uses of all things. 
 We find it a somewhat difficult task 
 to comprehend a new pattern of the 
 steam-engine, or to trace all the parts 
 and bearings of a watch or a clock. 
 Shall we not, puzzled with tilings 
 finite, learn to reverence and wait, 
 rather than to hastily prejudge, or 
 unfilially complain, as it regards the 
 boundless questions of a system of 
 things whose Maker is God, whose 
 space is Infinity, whose duration is 
 Eternity, and whose agents and sub- 
 jects are innumerable creatures of 
 
IX.] TO THE ROMANS. 159 
 
 3 tiuual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were 
 
 life and progress, from the worm to 
 the seraph ? 
 
 Thus comprehensively viewed, we 
 find not one word in this ninth chap- 
 ter of Romans, respecting the Divine 
 sovereignty and decrees, that is not 
 taught us in all our human life, and 
 that is not perfectly harmonious with 
 the absolute eternal perfection of God, 
 and with his just and benevolent deal- 
 ing with his finite and dependent 
 creatures. We rise from the perusal 
 of Paul's reasoning in this chapter, 
 not only with Bossuet's famous ejacu- 
 lation, " God is great ! " but with the 
 more peculiarly Christian conclusion, 
 " God is good ! " 
 
 As if aware that he might by his 
 reasoning in the last chapter have 
 given offence to his Jewish brethren, 
 and desirous to win them to a candid 
 judgment of his reasoning, he turns 
 to them with the warmest and most 
 patriotic devotion, and commemorates 
 the great glories of the Hebrew com- 
 monwealth. But liis regard for their 
 past renown as the people of God 
 did not bhnd his eyes to their ap- 
 proaching fate, of which he warns 
 them now and which he proceeds to 
 show by an historical argument was in 
 harmony with the past dealings of 
 God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 
 the history of Moses and Pharaoh, 
 and the prophecies of Hosea and 
 Isaiah. Out of the mouth of their 
 own history, therefore, he adduces the 
 arguments that would condemn them 
 and justify God in his rejection of 
 Israel, and his adoption of the Gen- 
 tiles in the new Church of Christ. It 
 was a special argument to the Jews, 
 argamentum ad hominem, and could 
 be but imperfectly understood except 
 by that people ; but the principles 
 which he here discusses are applica- 
 ble to all cases, and to every age of 
 the world. 
 
 Three additional preliminary re- 
 
 marks are all that are required. One 
 is, that it is primarily an election to 
 external privileges and advantages 
 which is here discussed, and only 
 secondarily and as resulting there- 
 from by the use or abuse of said privi- 
 leges and advantages, that the moral 
 and spiritual state and character come 
 within the reach of the predestinat- 
 ing agency of God. Jacob was chosen 
 and Esau rejected, but Esau seems to 
 have been cpiite as good a man as 
 Jacob, perhaps better. Many Jews, 
 although of the privileged race, were 
 notoriously bad ; while many of the 
 Gentiles, though less favored in ex- 
 ternal advantages, attained to a su- 
 perior spiritual life. 
 
 The next remark is, that the elec- 
 tion here spoken of is by no means a 
 final decision of the everlasting des- 
 tiny of the parties concerned. There 
 is not a word, or a syllable, intimating 
 that the election of Jacob instead of 
 Esau, insured the eternal salvation 
 of one, or prejudiced the eternal sal- 
 vation of the other. On the con- 
 trary, to them who received most 
 would the demand be made for most 
 in return. The condition of the Jews, 
 w^ho so largely rejected Christ, and of 
 the Gentiles, who so often accepted 
 him, showed that, even as respected 
 their spiritual state here, the one by 
 not being of the elect was not cut off 
 from Gospel privileges, nor the other 
 necessarily included in its blessings ; 
 then how much less hkely it was, that 
 it sealed their eternal fate ! 
 
 The third remark is, that the elec- 
 tion spoken of in this chapter is of a 
 piece with the whole system of Divine 
 Providence and human hfe. Elec- 
 tion to religion is like election to art, 
 to business, to literature, to clime, and 
 class, and color, and the period of the 
 world, and state of society, in which 
 each individual is born. He who de- 
 creed that Moses should be the leader 
 
160 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL [Chap. 
 
 accursed from Christ for my brethren, mj kmsmen according .to 
 
 of the children of Israel, and Pharaoh 
 king of Egypt, decreed that Raphael 
 should be a great painter, and Goethe 
 a poet, and Channing a divine. The 
 justification, therefore, of the vanety 
 of gifts, talents, and positions in hu- 
 man life, and its consistency with a 
 just and benevolent Providence, are 
 based on the same ground as the 
 selection of the Jewish or the Chris- 
 tian Church out of the miUions of 
 mankind. The only proviso in either 
 case that is necessary as a caveat 
 against injustice, is that temporary 
 conditions and privileges shall not be 
 decisive of eternal consequences. 
 
 1-5. These verses contain a spe- 
 cies of deprecatory introduction to 
 an argument, in which Jewish history 
 itself would be employed to vindicate 
 the choice of the Gentiles and the 
 rejection of the Jews, as it respected 
 the Christian Church. 
 
 1. In Christ, as a Christian. — Cun- 
 science, as a conscientious Christian. 
 — Holy Ghost, as a conscientious and 
 inspireol Christian. The Apostle, as 
 usual, does not directly state, in so 
 many words, the point about which 
 he is so deeply agitated, but leaves it 
 to be inferred that it is the condition 
 of his countrymen the Jews, as it re- 
 gards their attitude towards the Chris- 
 tian Church. 
 
 2. Norton translates this verse, 
 " that I have great grief and con- 
 tinual pain in my heart," &c. 2 Cor. 
 xii. 15. " So fervent a brotherly 
 love, which affectionately embraced 
 in the Spirit, as fellow-members, all 
 who are engrafted into Christ, which, 
 eager to unite the whole globe into 
 one Church of the Saviour, found not 
 space enough for the vehemence of 
 its operation in all the region from 
 Jerusalem to Illyricum, Rom. xv. 
 19-23, could not but glow to incor- 
 porate into the Lord's Church the 
 peculiar people which in its maternal 
 
 bosom had borne the germ of that 
 Church, and brought it forth to the 
 world." 
 
 3. For I could icish that myself icere 
 accursed from Christ, &c. There are 
 two points in doubt among the com- 
 mentators ; one is what was the nature 
 of the Apostle's wish, and the other, 
 whether it was proper for him to 
 make the wish he did. As to the 
 first, there can be but little doubt 
 that he used, and intended to use, a 
 very strong expression, signifying his 
 willingness to do or suffer any thing 
 right and reasonable for the sake of 
 recovering his brethren from their 
 unbelief Lardner quotes and ap- 
 proves Photius as remai-king, that 
 the Apostle does not say, " I wish," 
 but " I could wish, if it were fit, if it 
 were lawful, and if my fall and misery 
 might be beneficial to others," &c. 
 The word here rendered accursed is 
 a noun in the Greek, meaning an 
 offering, or gift to the gods, such as 
 it was customary to suspend in the 
 heathen temples ; and hence the 
 secondary meanings of devoted, con- 
 secrated, or given over to death, or 
 accursed, gradually going so far as to 
 mean almost the opposite to the first 
 sense. Acts xxiii. 14 ; 1 Cor. xii. 3 ; 
 xvi. 22 ; Gal. i. 8, 9. Margin reads, 
 " separated." He had just spoken, in 
 chap. viii. 38, 39, of Avhat had no 
 power to separate him from the lov^ 
 of God, death, life, height, depth, &c. ; 
 but he now seems to say, that if any- 
 thing could do such an almost impos- 
 sible thing, it would be his desire by 
 such a perdition to draw the Jews to 
 the feet of Jesus. Similar expres- 
 sions are elsewhere found, as Moses 
 says with deep feeling, Exod. xxxii. 
 32 : " Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive 
 their sin : and if not, blot me, I pray 
 thee, out of thy book which thou hast 
 written." Elsewhere Christ himself 
 is represented as having been made 
 
IX.] TO THE ROMANS. 161 
 
 4 the flesh : who are Israelites ; to whom peHaineth the adoption, 
 
 "a curse for us," Gal. iii. 13; and 
 his disciples are taught to be willing 
 to " lay down their lives " for their 
 brethren, 1 John iii. 16. It is simply, 
 therefore, to be viewed as a strong 
 expression of Paul's wilHngness to 
 suffer anything and everything to 
 win his brethren to Christianity. He 
 did not stop to measure terms, he 
 took the strongest word he could find, 
 accursed^ without intending probably 
 to say, however, dogmatically and 
 literally, as some critics would force 
 him to do, that he was willing to be 
 condemned eternally himself, in order 
 to save the Jews. For he was not 
 talking law or mathematics, but pour- 
 ing out a stream of glowing and im- 
 passioned thought. It was not a sup- 
 posable case, that his condemnation 
 would work such an advantage to his 
 brethren. He makes the expression, 
 because in that way he could best 
 describe how much he longed to ac- 
 complish their conversion, and how 
 dear they were to his heart. The 
 Ai-abians are quoted as using strong 
 language of affection for a friend, 
 " Let my soul be a ransom for thee," 
 and in • the Talmuds of the Jews is a 
 hke expression. As it regards the 
 propriety of his wish, it is justified by 
 his intense and ovei-flowing love. As 
 Fenelon remarks, " He feels every- 
 thing with an infinite purity and 
 cpiickness; he bears in his heart all 
 the churches ; the whole universe is 
 too narrow for this heart ; he rejoices ; 
 he is afflicted; he is an^^ry; he is 
 moved with tenderness ; his heart is 
 as if the seat of all the strongest pas- 
 sions. He humbles himself; he mag- 
 nifies himself; he has the authority 
 of a father, and the tenderness of a 
 mother ; he loves with a jealous love ; 
 he wishes to be anathema for his 
 children." 
 
 4, 5. Norton translates as follows : 
 " Who are Israelites, whose was the 
 U *\ 
 
 glory of being adopted as sons, whose 
 were the covenants, and the law, and 
 the service of the temple, and the 
 promises, and from among whom the 
 Messiah was to be born ; he who was 
 over all, being God blessed for ever. 
 Amen." The Apostle enumerates 
 the glorious distinctions of the Jewish 
 people ; they were the sons of Israel, 
 and the cliildren of God ; the glory 
 of the Shekinah had stood over their 
 temple ; 1 Sam. iv. 21 ; the earlier 
 and later covenants, the Law, the 
 temple-service, and the promises, 
 then the glory of such an ancestry, 
 and more than all, the birth of the 
 Messiah, were all theirs. He then 
 concludes with a doxology, or an as- 
 cription of praise to God, as if moved 
 to gratitude while recounting all these 
 favors of the Heavenly Benefactor. 
 
 The last clause is very generally 
 adduced by the orthodox commenta- 
 .tors, as conclusive proof that Christ 
 was God over all, blessed for ever. 
 But the following reasons are entirely 
 subversive of such an inference : — 
 
 1st. There is a doxology here at all 
 events, and the Apostle was not ac- 
 customed to offer doxologies to Christ, 
 but to his Father and our Father, and 
 to his God and our God. Rom. i. 
 25 ; 2 Cor. i. 3 ; xi. 31 ; Eph. i. 3. 
 
 2d. Again, Paul was too good a 
 reasoner, after speaking of Christ in 
 relation to his fleshly descent, which 
 he had just done, ver. 5, to introduce 
 the inconsistency of making him at 
 the same time the eternal and un- 
 created God. 
 
 3d. Tischendorf and other able 
 critics edit the sentence with a full 
 period after came^ and thus make the 
 last clause an entirely independent 
 doxology. " God, who is over aU, be 
 blessed for ever. Amen." 
 
 4th. Nothing could have been more 
 mal apropos to the Apostle's purpose 
 of convincing the Jews of the truth 
 
162 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chai*. 
 
 and the glory, and the covenants, and the givmg of the law, and 
 the service of God, and the promises ; whose are the fathers, and of 5 
 whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God 
 blessed for ever. Amen. Xot as though the word of God hath 6 
 taken none effect. For they are not all Israel which are of Israel : 
 neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all cliil- 7 
 dren : but. In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which s 
 are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God : but 
 the cliildren of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is 9 
 the word of promise : At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have 
 a son. And not only this ; but when Rebecca also had conceived lo 
 
 of the Gospel, than to declare that 
 Jesus, who was crucified on the cross 
 of Calvary, was the Eternal God, 
 who was over all things, blessed for 
 ever. Even if that doctrine had been 
 true, he was too good a logician not 
 to seize a more favorable moment to 
 announce it. He had already a most 
 difficult task on his hands, to wliich 
 he devotes his whole strength, and 
 he would not have needlessly com- 
 plicated the embarrassment of his 
 position by asserting to the Jews that 
 Christ was very God. 
 
 5th. A pretty conclusive argimient 
 against the use now extracted by 
 Trinitarians from this clause is the 
 fact, that, in the Arian controversy 
 about the Trinity, this text was not 
 adduced in its support. This fact 
 clearly indicates the earlier and purer 
 mind of the Church on the subject, 
 when Platonism and Orientahsm had 
 not yet entirely overgrown the fair 
 fabric of Christianity. 
 
 6, 7. It would be the ready objec- 
 tion of the Jews to Paul's doctrine, 
 that, if the Gentiles were admitted 
 into the Christian Church on the 
 same footing as the Jews, then the 
 promise of God had failed. He re- 
 plies, By no means ; for Israeli tes are 
 not all children of Abraham, nor are 
 all the children of Abi-aham Israelites. 
 God is adopting no new and unheard 
 
 of principle, but one as old as the 
 earliest times. The selection he made 
 of Isaac and his seed out of all the 
 children of Abraham, is similar to his 
 estabhshment of the Christian Church 
 now, independently of the limits of 
 Jews or Gentiles. The emphatic 
 word is Isaac. Not the whole family 
 of even the patriarch Abraham were 
 included in the promise, but only 
 Isaac and his line. So, because they 
 were Jews, it did not follow that all 
 would become Christians and inherit 
 the fullest promises of God. Gen, 
 xxi. 12; John viii. 37-39. 
 
 8, 9. That is, or that is equivalent 
 to savdng. Gal. iv. 23, 28. Fleshly 
 descent did not avail even in the 
 most memorable instance, in which, 
 if ever, it might be pleaded, that of 
 the great father of the faithful. But 
 only the children of the promise Avere 
 included in the census of election. — 
 Sarah. This word is emphatic. Gen. 
 xviii. 10. She was the selected woman 
 whose posterity were to leu the 
 religious movements of the ages. 
 
 10-13. Gen. XXV. 21, 23. In order 
 to make out an even more notable 
 case of temporal adoption and rejec- 
 tion, he cites the instance of the very 
 children of tlie favored Isaac and 
 grandchildren of the favored Sarah, 
 — children, too, of one parentage, of 
 Isaac and Rebecca, and not of more, 
 
IX.] 
 
 TO THE EOMANS. 
 
 163 
 
 11 by one, even by our father Isaac, (for the children being not yet 
 born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God 
 according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that 
 
 12 calleth,) it was said unto her, The elder shall serv* the younger. 
 
 13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. 
 
 14 What shall we say then ? Is there unrighteousness with God ? God 
 
 15 forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will 
 have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have 
 
 16 compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that 
 
 17 runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the Scripture saith 
 unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. 
 
 as in the case of the children of 
 Abraham and his wives ; one child, 
 Jacob, was taken, and the other, 
 Esaii, was left. It certainly was not 
 moral character that decided the elec- 
 tion, for it took place before the chil- 
 dren were born or had made any 
 choice of either good or evil. So that 
 the plan of Divine selection was illus- 
 trated, and it was seen that the will 
 of God, not the works of man, was 
 the determining cause. — Jacob have 
 I loved, &e. A Hebraism ; as much 
 as to say, I have preferred Jacob to 
 Esau, the younger instead of the elder, 
 contrary to the usual law of primogeni- 
 ture. Not on account of moral or 
 spiritual character specially, for in 
 many respects Esau was superior to 
 Jacob ; but " even so. Father, for so 
 it seemed good in thy sight." But all 
 these cases were only illustrations of 
 temporal election to privileges, and 
 they did not necessitate any final in- 
 justice or eternal decision of salvation 
 or condemnation. There is no injus- 
 tice done to an Indian because he is 
 not made an EngUshman, nor to me 
 because I was not created a Milton. 
 I have reason to rejoice and be thank- 
 ful that I was created at all, nor stand 
 at bay on the terms of my position, 
 higher or lower, on the scale of cre- 
 ation ; else I might object that I was 
 not made an angel instead of a man, 
 
 or a god instead of an angel. The 
 spirit of criticism and complaint, once 
 let loose, would finally be contented 
 with nothing short of infinitude and 
 perfection. 
 
 14-16. Ex. xxxiil. 19. But the 
 objector may inquire, whether such a 
 course is compatible on the part of 
 God with his Infinite perfection. Paul 
 makes an answer to the Jews espe- 
 cially by quoting their revered law- 
 giver, whose words always had the 
 greatest weight with them. This prin- 
 ciple of selection was early promul- 
 gated by the words of God to Moses. 
 God is not therefore unjust in reject- 
 ing the Jews and admitting the Gen- 
 tiles to the new kingdom; for he 
 declared long ago to Moses, your 
 leader, that he should do precisely 
 the thing you are now complain- 
 ing of, and that he was under no 
 restrictions, and should raise up and 
 ordain to new and greater privileges, 
 and the moral and spiritual results 
 flowing therefrom such as he chose in 
 his righteous wisdom. Ps. cxxl. 1 con- 
 tains, as has been observed, a good 
 comment on ver. 16. 
 
 17, 18. The general testimony to 
 Moses, ver. 15, Is heightened by the 
 memorable historical example of the 
 chief enemy of the Israelites. There 
 was a fearful suggestion to the chosen 
 people In citing Pharaoh, as if to say, 
 
164 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 that I miglit show my power in thee, and that my name might 
 be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy i8 
 on whom he will have 7nercy, and whom he wiU he hardeneth. 
 
 they had respectively changed places, 
 and, instead of being the favored 
 ones of God as then, they were now 
 in the station of the rebellious king, 
 and the despised Gentiles were rising 
 to their position of privilege. But 
 throughout this whole remarkable 
 chapter, though the point of the 
 Apostle is to prove by historical cases 
 that the purpose of God stood not in 
 what man did, but in what he willed, 
 there yet is an undertone of good 
 works admitted, so to speak, enough 
 to prove that God has respect to the 
 characters of his children, if he have 
 not to their persons, at least in their 
 final destiny. Pharaoh became a 
 well-known instance of the retribu- 
 tion of the Divine government for his 
 cruelty and his injustice. Ex. ix. 16. 
 Tholuck says : " Stern Calvinists, such 
 as Beza, Peter Martyr, Parseus, and 
 Gomar, give the Apostle's sentiments 
 the following sense : I have created 
 thee, O Pharaoh, to make of thee a 
 vessel of wrath, by whose perdition I 
 may display my omnipotence. Were 
 it possible for God thus to speak to 
 man, then alas for us ! AVhat are 
 we but dwarfs, that must be content 
 to be formed by the hand of an un- 
 conquerable Cyclops, and broken into 
 pieces again, as toys, for his amuse- 
 ment. The points which the exposi- 
 tors and doctrinalists of this school 
 have overlooked is, that we must 
 never suppose God to act except in 
 complete harmony with himself, and 
 consecpiently with the whole of his 
 attributes. In the doctrine of abso- 
 lute decrees, however, justice would 
 act and determine without wisdom 
 and without love." Query, whether 
 even justice were not violated in 
 such a government as the one repre- 
 sented above by Beza and others, 
 quite as much as wisdom and love. — 
 
 All the earth. The story of Pharaoh's 
 overthrow was known to Greek, Latin, 
 Arabian, and Christian writers, be- 
 sides its proclamation wherever the 
 Jews carried their history abroad. — 
 And tchom he tvill he hardeneth. I. e. 
 God shows to one greater, and to 
 another less compassion. He treats 
 Moses with comparative mercy, and 
 Pharaoh with comparative harshness. 
 So some would paraphrase it. 2 Sam. 
 xxii. 26, 27; Ps. xviii. 2-6. The 
 sense is not active, but passive. God 
 may be said to harden the wicked, 
 because he may allow them to harden 
 themselves, and they may even turn 
 the instruments of his mercy into 
 means of still greater depravity, just 
 as the miracles of Moses only seemed 
 to make Pharaoh still more perverse ; 
 though it could only be said in a 
 strong, anthropomorphitic sense, that 
 God used such means to effect that 
 end. Neander well remarks : "When 
 Paul says, God hardeneth whom he 
 will, the freedom of the Divine will 
 in reference to the Divine punish- 
 ment is maintained against the delu- 
 sion of the Jews, that their nation 
 could not be an object of the Divine 
 displeasure. But that this punish- 
 ment should be conditional, depend- 
 ing on the criminality of man as a 
 free agent, is by no means excluded, 
 but rather imphed in the idea of 
 hardening.'^ That God does not liter- 
 ally harden any human heart, or 
 tempt any man to sin, any more than 
 he is tempted himself, is too obvious 
 to require to be stated. James i. 13, 
 14. But, from a misunderstanding 
 of the Apostle's writings, very er- 
 roneous ideas respecting the free 
 agency and. responsibilities of man, 
 and the character and purposes of 
 God, have been advocated in the 
 Christian Church, and have been 
 
IX.1 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 165 
 
 19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For 
 
 20 who hath resisted his will ? Nay, but, O man, who art thou that 
 repliest against God. Shall the tiling formed say to him that 
 
 21 formed it, Why hast thou made me thus ? Hath not the potter 
 power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto 
 
 2-2 honor, and another unto dishonor ? What if God, wilHng to show 
 his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long- 
 
 23 suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction : and that he 
 might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, 
 
 stamped with the alleged sanction of 
 the Apostle. His zeal and bold 
 figurative mind have supplied just 
 those terms, which, being understood 
 literally, furnish an ostensible sup- 
 port to the Augustinian and Calvin- 
 istic theology. But when justly in- 
 terpreted, they encourage no such 
 views, either of the total helplessness 
 and depravity of man, or of the elec- 
 tion by God of some to eternal life, 
 and of others to eternal woe, before 
 they Avere born. If any sentiments 
 or doctrines are clear, and habitually 
 insisted on, both first and last, by St. 
 Paul, they are, that every man has 
 imperative duties to perform of faith, 
 love, and obedience ; and that God 
 has cast off none beyond the pale of 
 his mercy, but holds open the door 
 of mercy to all, and that no fatal 
 decree bars the progress of any soul 
 to life, liberty, and heaven ; that, on 
 the contrary, he sent his Son into 
 the world, not to pass sentence of 
 condemnation upon it, but that the 
 world through him might be saved. 
 
 19 - 21. Isa. xlv. 9 \ Jer. ii. 29. To 
 this doctrine of Divine sovereignty 
 objection might be made that it took 
 away human responsibility, and that 
 God was unreasonable to condemn 
 his children when he had made and 
 ordained them as he had. Palfrey 
 has explained it thus: You cannot 
 see the reasons of God for forming 
 mankind after the present order, not, 
 as some erroneously suppose, that he 
 
 has no reasons, but acts capriciously, 
 but that yQu could not understand 
 those reasons. The potter has reasons 
 for making one vessel to honor and 
 another to dishonor; but the clay 
 cannot know his reasons. The object 
 of Paul is evidently to silence that 
 curious and speculative inquiry, that 
 is disposed to take nothing for granted, 
 but endeavors to pry into all the 
 secrets of the universe, and will not 
 bow in faith and hope, and wait for 
 the coming of that better day*when 
 the mysteries of fife will be cleared 
 up for ever, and we shall know even 
 as we are known. It was not, Paul 
 would teach, in the line of this cap- 
 tious, querulous inquiry, that any- 
 thing good could be reached, but in 
 the other direction of faith, of fihal 
 obedience and love. In expostulat- 
 ing with God man would be in as 
 absurd a position as the vessel in 
 holding a controversy with the potter. 
 22-24. Continuing the figure of 
 the clay and the potter, he makes 
 the supposition, which, of course, was 
 only a supposition, and could not be 
 a truth, that God was willing to sacri- 
 fice his creatures in order to manifest 
 his power and glory. But that, if 
 that were the case, he had certainly 
 showed great compassion towards 
 them at the last ; for he had brought 
 these vessels of wrath, as the Jews 
 were incHned to call the Gentiles, 
 into the new kingdom ; for it was 
 not of the chosen vessels of the Jews 
 
166 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 which he had afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom he hath 24 
 called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles ? As he saith 25 
 also in Hosea, I wiU call them my people, which were not my 
 people ; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall 26 
 come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them. Ye are 
 not my people ; there shall they be called the children of the living 
 
 only that the Christian Church was 
 formed exclusively, but the vessels 
 of wrath, fitted to destruction, as 
 every predestinarian Jew contended, 
 were also admitted. The Jews were 
 to beware, lest, having been so long 
 vessels of mercy, they should now 
 find ^eir position reversed, and they 
 should become vessels of wrath, and 
 the Gentiles vessels of mercy in their 
 place. — Endured ivith much long- 
 suffering^ &c. Olshausen truly re- 
 marks, that he is disposed to believe 
 that " we must assume that the Apos- 
 tle intended by this method to signify 
 the different relation in which God 
 stands to the good and the evil, since 
 he employs such different terms for 
 the one from what he does for the 
 other." (In one, it is vessels of 
 wrath fitted to destruction, — i. e. by 
 themselves, — and in the other, it is 
 the vessels of mercy, wliich he had 
 afore prepared unto glory.) For, 
 Olshausen continues, " there is some- 
 thing not only discordant, but abso- 
 lutely contradictory, in the idea that 
 God endures with much long-suffering 
 what he has hunself prepared." Can 
 anything be more horrible to infer 
 than the conclusion of Gomar, a 
 Calvinistic critic, that, "when God 
 will condemn a man, he first creates 
 sin in him in order that, after he has 
 been phmged into sin, he may be 
 justly damned " ? But to such results 
 does the bald and dead-letter in- 
 terpretation of Paul's writings lead. 
 His Epistles are thus an armory from 
 which every species of weapon may 
 be taken, offensive or defensive, and 
 
 capable of being used for evil some- 
 times as weU as for good. It is evi- 
 dent, throughout this passage relating 
 to the clay, and the potter, and the 
 different vessels, that it is only in 
 relation to the temporal disposal of 
 nations that the act of the Divine 
 sovereignty is spoken of, and not in 
 respect to the final determination of 
 the salvation or rejection of individ- 
 uals in the eternal world. Rom. x. 
 12; Gal. iii. 28; Eph. i. 11, 12. 
 
 25, 26. He proceeds to show by 
 the prophets, as he had previously 
 done by the history of the patriarchs 
 and of Moses their great lawgiver, 
 that mankind were appointed to the 
 privileges of rehgious truth, not on 
 account of merit, but by the disposal 
 of the Higher Power. Hos. i. 10; ii. 
 23. Tholuck agrees that " it is not 
 the vocation of individuals into the 
 kingdom of grace which is treated of, 
 but that of entire national masses, 
 and so not of an absolute, but only 
 of such a conditional decree, on God's 
 part, as depends on faith, conse- 
 quently upon the bias of the will." — 
 Osee^ or Hosea, as it is printed in 
 the better editions even of the Eng- 
 hsh versions. The obsolete spelling 
 requires to be corrected throughout 
 the Enghsh Bible. The original ap- 
 plication of the prophet's words in 
 these verses was to the children of 
 Israel, that they would be restored 
 from their fallen and captive condi- 
 tion, which they had brought upon 
 themselves by their sins. But the 
 secondary application by the Apostle 
 of the words of this ancient Scripture 
 
IX.] 
 
 TO THE EOMANS. 
 
 167 
 
 27 God. Esaias also cri^th concerning Israel, Though the number 
 of the cliilclren of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall 
 
 28 be saved : for he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteous- 
 ness : because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. 
 
 29 And as Esaias said before. Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us 
 a seed, we had been as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrah. 
 
 30 Wliat shall we say then ? That the Gentiles, which followed not 
 after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the right- 
 
 is to the call of the Gentiles and the 
 rejection of the Jews, particularly 
 the former. 
 
 27, 28. He adds to the testimony 
 of Hosea that of Isaiah x. 22, 23. — 
 Crieth. As if on a great occasion, 
 when he would arouse and warn the 
 careless in their fancied security. — 
 A remnant shall be saved. I. e. a 
 remnant only. It was not the first 
 time, the Apostle would say, that 
 Israel has been decimated by the 
 retributions that have overtaken her 
 sins. Her own prophets bore witness 
 to the righteous chastisements of 
 God. — Finish the icork. The margin 
 reads account. Make a short or con- 
 tracted account. — Cut it short in 
 righteousness^ &c. The sense of which 
 is, that God would fiilfil his fixed and 
 righteous decree, and shortly, speed- 
 ily, bring it to its consummation in the 
 land of JudaBa. By accommodation 
 and illustration this ancient warning 
 was applicable to the rejection of the 
 Jews from Christian privileges on ac- 
 count of their unbelief All would 
 not come into the new kingdom and 
 thus be saved. But it was quite im- 
 pi'obable then that the Jews would 
 A'cnture into open conflict with the 
 overmastering power of Rome, and 
 thus surely draw down destruction 
 upon themselves. This great catas- 
 trophe, however, happened in a few 
 years afterwards, when Vespasian 
 and Titus wellnigh obliterated the 
 Jews from the face of the earth, and 
 drove them forth to be vagabonds 
 
 and exiles in all the world, and no 
 more to possess a country, a city, or 
 a holy national temjile of Divine wor- 
 ship under the sun. 
 
 29. Esaias. Greek for Isaiah, i. 9. 
 The emphasis in this vei-se is qp the 
 word seed. I. e. unless a part had 
 been preserved, the case of Israel 
 would have been as bad as that of 
 the corrupt cities of the plain. The 
 winnowing process was not applied 
 to the nation for the first time now, 
 but was as old as the days of Isaiah. 
 The Jew was thus answered from 
 the books of his own faith, and taught 
 by the very prophets in whom he so 
 much trusted, not to be lulled into a 
 deceitful security as to the adoption 
 necessarily of the chosen people into 
 the Christian kingdom, for a day of 
 fearful reckoning and expurgation 
 was at hand. 
 
 30, 31. The Gentiles, not having 
 any false grounds of confidence, any 
 mock-righteousness, came readily to 
 the method of righteousness by faith, 
 as proposed by the Gospel. AVhereas 
 the Jews, who had been trained by a 
 system of Law, became so addicted 
 to it and so bigoted in their adhesion 
 to it, that, when the higher law- 
 dispensation came, many of them 
 rejected it, because they did not per- 
 ceive that it was, in feet, not the 
 destruction of their old Law, but its 
 glorious fulfilment. It might then be 
 said, perhaps, Was not Gentilism 
 better than Judaism? and why was 
 the elder dispensation given at all ? 
 
168 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 eousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the 31 
 law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. 
 Wherefore ? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by 32 
 the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling-stone. 
 As it is written. Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling-stone and rock 33 
 of offence : and whosoever beheveth on him shall not be ashamed. 
 
 Because Judaism, on the whole, though 
 attended by these drawbacks, was a 
 necessary initiation of religious truths 
 and institutions in an idolatrous world, 
 to prepare the way for Jesus, — a 
 schoolmaster to bring men to Christ. 
 Jesus would have made still less ad- 
 vancement of his kingdom in Greece 
 than in Judaea. As it was, the first 
 churches in Gentile cities were chiefly 
 Jewish in their materials, and Moses 
 and the prophets furnished the stock 
 on which the Gospel ingrafted its 
 scions, and commenced the growth of 
 new spiritual fruits and the promise 
 of a fresh spring-time of humanity. 
 Neander acutely observes, — and I 
 quote him because liis orthodoxy is 
 unquestioned, — that such language 
 as is used in these verses " by no 
 means imphes that the conduct of 
 men makes no difference in the im- 
 partation of grace, but exactly the 
 contrary ; for he thus expresses the 
 hinderance to the reception of the 
 Gospel by the Jews, arising from the 
 direction of their minds, from the 
 state of their hearts ; namely, that a 
 confidence in their own ' willing and 
 running' prevented their conscious- 
 ness of their need of redemption, 
 while those classes of heathens among 
 whom the Gospel was first propa- 
 gated were more easily led to em- 
 brace it, because they indulged in no 
 such false confidence." 
 
 32, 33, And how did this tremen- 
 dous moral lapse take place, but by 
 the JeAvs pursuing a wrong course, 
 swerving from the early spirit of 
 their religion, which was conceived 
 and brought forth in faith, — for 
 
 Abraham was a man of superlative 
 faith, and in faith found his nght- 
 eousness ? They had gone in quest 
 of a legal, moral righteousness, not 
 animated by the higher sentiments 
 and aspirations of the soul ; and they 
 therefore became dry, hard, and 
 bigoted, and cut themselves off from 
 the heavenly sources of spiritual life 
 and growth. Isa. Iviii. 2, 3. 
 
 " Bound on a Toyage of awful length, 
 Through dangers little known, 
 A stranger to superior strength, 
 Man vainly trusts his own. 
 
 " Eut oars alone can ne'er prevail 
 To reach the distant coast ; 
 The breath of Heaven must swell the sail, 
 Or all the toil is lost." 
 
 — Tliat Stumbling-stone. The doc- 
 trine of a crucified Messiah was in 
 the way of the Jews accepting Chris- 
 tianity ; for they were in expectation 
 of a temporal kingdom, and they 
 could not brook the idea of the 
 humiliation of Jesus of Nazareth, 
 born in a manger, living as a car- 
 penter till he entered on his ministry, 
 poor and lowly and unattended with 
 worldly pomp, and dying at last on the 
 ignominious cross of Calvary. Such 
 a life, no matter how devout, lovely, 
 or benevolent it might be, clashed at 
 every point with their most cherished 
 notions, and crushed their fondest 
 hopes. Luke ii. 34 ; Acts iv. 1 1 ; 1 
 Cor. i. 23. — ^4^ it is written. Isa. viii. 
 14 ; xxviii. 16. The quotation is made 
 from both texts. Matt. xxi. 42. Prob- 
 ably neither of these passages origi- 
 nally related to the Messiah, but they 
 had been accustomed to be so ap- 
 plied in the Jewish commentaries, 
 and Paul employs them as an argu- 
 
X.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 169 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Righteousness of Faith in Jesus Christ required of both the Jews and the Gentiles. 
 
 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that 
 2 they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a 
 
 ment in combating their pecuhar 
 state of unbelief They were but 
 showing national characteristics long 
 ago observed and described. — Asham- 
 ed. The margin reads confounded. 
 The stone which God had placed as 
 the corner-stone of his edifice in 
 Mount Zion, the strength and orna- 
 ment of his great temple of revela- 
 tion, became to the Jews a block to 
 stumble over and foil upon. 
 
 Well might the Apostle mourn and 
 weep, and wish himself accursed from 
 Christ for his brethren, when he re- 
 flected upon the shame and sadness 
 of their fall, their rejection of the 
 Prophet of prophets, who came to 
 fulfil their whole system of religion, 
 and the denial of the chosen Son of 
 God by the chosen people of God. 
 Nothing in history is more full of 
 pathos, nothing is more mysterious in 
 providence and revelation, and noth- 
 ing throws a more discouraging aspect 
 over the nature and condition of man, 
 than the rejec.'tion of Jesus Christ by 
 the Jews, the crucifixion of the Son 
 of God in the holy city of Jerusalem. 
 These are historical events full of 
 saddest import, of terrible warning, 
 and almost incredible contrasts. But 
 a light gleams out of the darkness : 
 " Whosoever believeth on him shall 
 not be ashamed." These are words 
 of inexpressible comfort, and of im- 
 mortal hope. Amid all the darkness 
 and discouragement of human de- 
 pravity, whether revealed in history, 
 or in our own consciousness, we know 
 that a human being has never exist- 
 ed, that seized hold of this promise 
 as if he were grasping the horns of 
 the altar, to whom these words have 
 not been trebly made good, and 
 15 
 
 " good measure, pressed down and 
 shaken together and running over, 
 been given into his bosom." 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 1 , 2. The present chapter is a con- 
 tinuation of the same general argu- 
 ment as that of the last one, wiih new 
 reasons, and inferences from the Old 
 Testament. As the Apostle had 
 spoken severely, in chap. ix. 31 -33, 
 of the lapse of the Jews in their re- 
 jection of the ]Messiah, and the cause 
 of it in their own conceited self- 
 righteousness, he now, by the natural 
 reaction of alternate emotions, is led 
 to feel deeply for their rejection of 
 Christ, and to express his yearning 
 for them in the most compassionate 
 terms. He calls those whom he ad- 
 dresses his brethren. He says, that, 
 so far from having any hard feelings 
 against the JeAvs, his constant prayer 
 is for their good and salvation. It 
 was not merely saying words of con- 
 ciliation, but it was the deep desire 
 and wrestling of his heart tor them 
 that they might come into the blessed- 
 ness of Christianity. — For I.irael. 
 Griesbach, Tischendorf, and all the 
 best critics read " for them," meaning, 
 however, the same, namely, the Israel- 
 ites. But the manuscripts and ver- 
 sions require the alteration. A new 
 edition of the Bible is much needed, 
 in which these palpable errors shall 
 be corrected. — A zeal of God ; or, a 
 zeal for God and his law. The zeal 
 of the Jews was so strong a national 
 characteristic, as to be proverbial. 
 John xvi. 2, 3 ; Acts xxi. 20 ; xxii. 
 3 ; Gal. i. 14. It arose from their 
 original constitution as a people, from 
 the fact that they had been put in 
 
170 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being 3 
 ignorant of Grod's righteousness, and going about to establish their 
 own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the right- 
 eousness of God. For Cln-ist is the end of the law for righteous- 4 
 
 tnist with great religious privileges, 
 and from the persecutions thej^ had 
 endured from other natiens, who had 
 sought to cori'upt their allegiance to 
 God. The New Testament is full of 
 illustrations of this zeal ; it led to the 
 crucifixion of Jesus, and the persecu- 
 tion of his disciples. Paul was actu- 
 ated by it when he was arrested by a 
 Adsion from heaven on his way to 
 Damascus. The Jewish writers re- 
 cord many instances of the zeal of 
 their nation for the law, and the 
 Apocrypha gives a narrative of mar- 
 tyrdoms in its behalf. — Not according 
 to knowledge. But the error was, that 
 their zeal was not intelligent, and 
 therefore it was narrow, bigoted, ob- 
 stinate, and persecuting. It was not 
 baptized into love, gentleness, and 
 the higher and more genial exercises 
 of the spuntual nature. In the par- 
 ticular instance under consideration, 
 if their minds had been as much en- 
 lightened as their feelings were ex- 
 cited, they would recognize Jesus as 
 their Messiah, and they would per- 
 ceive that he was the very completion 
 and fulfilment of that Law, to wliich 
 they gave so contracted and blind, 
 though devoted, an adherence. 
 
 3, 4. Ignorant of God's rigliteous- 
 ness, &c. He now explains what he 
 meant in ver. 2, by accusing them of 
 want of knowledge. They had set 
 up in the place of God's method of 
 making men righteous and holy, 
 namely, faith-righteousness, a method 
 of their own, namely, law-righteous- 
 ness, which of course acted as a vir- 
 tual exclusion of the other mode. 
 " The Apostle uses the expression 
 submitted, since he considers the cause 
 of their not receiving what God is 
 willing to bestow to be a spirit of in- 
 
 subordination, a want of humility 
 and acquiescence in the Divine ar- 
 rangement." — Christ is the end of the 
 law, &c. That is, he is the very ful- 
 filment of the system of Law on which 
 the Jew so much prides himself 
 The Law ends in Christ, who came 
 not to destroy it, but to fulfil it. 
 Matt. V. 17. The same argument is 
 virtually renewed here that is con- 
 ducted in chap. vii. The whole state 
 of the case is somewhat after this 
 wise. Man is in sin, and he knows 
 how to escape this wretched state. 
 He deeply feels the evil and the 
 misery of sin, but the law of his 
 members is stronger than the law of 
 his mind, and he yields to his baser 
 appetites and passions. In this state 
 Jesus Christ is presented to him as 
 the realization of the perfect life. 
 He is the righteousness of God, and 
 sanctification and wisdom and re- 
 demption. He sljows what every 
 man may become in a degree. He 
 shows what the result of the law of 
 the mind is, when that law is per- 
 fectly obeyed, as it could not be un- 
 der the Mosaic Law, because the mo- 
 tives were not strong enough. To 
 believe in Christ is therefore to be- 
 Ueve in personal perfection and good- 
 ness. Our past sins still annoy us, 
 for we do not get rid of all their con- 
 sequences, and at times their old 
 roots sprout up again, and trouble us. 
 But we do not despair, for we feel 
 that we are justified in our best hopes 
 and prospects by the righteousness 
 of Christ ; both objectively towards 
 God by the observance of his law, 
 and subjectively towards ourselves 
 by seeing what our nature is capable 
 of becoming, if we persevere, hold 
 fast the profession of our faith, and 
 
X.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 171 
 
 5 ness to every one that believeth. For Moses describeth the right- 
 eousness which is of the law, That the man wliich doeth those things 
 
 6 shall hve by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speak- 
 eth on this wise : Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into 
 
 7 heaven ? that is, to brmg Christ down from above : or, Wlio shall 
 descend into the deep ? that is, to bring up Christ again from the 
 
 8 dead. But what saith it ? The word is nigh thee, eveii in thy 
 mouth, and in thy heart : that is, the word of faith, which we preach ; 
 
 do not give up the formation of a 
 spiritual character, and the leading 
 of a spiritual Ufe. We take refuge 
 in Jesus Christ, therefore, as our faith 
 and salvation. We cannot be saved 
 except by him, nor can the world 
 find deliverance except in his name. 
 He is the desire and the healing of 
 aU nations. He has engrafted a ncAv 
 life upon the stock of humanity, and 
 a better kind of fruit grows on the 
 scions of his setting and culture. All 
 men are henceforth to become better 
 that he has lived. He is the great 
 head and leader of a second human 
 race, as Adam was the head and 
 leader of the first human race. See 
 chap. V. Such seems to be a true 
 statement of the condition of man- 
 kind, and the position and offices of 
 Jesus Christ, as the Teacher, Master, 
 Saviour, Redeemer, and Example of 
 the world. 
 
 5. Moses, &c. Lev. xviii. 5. The 
 Law of INIoses requires perfect obe- 
 dience, and makes no allowance for 
 any defect in duty. The law of 
 Christian Faith is equally strict in its 
 requirements, and it releases man 
 from no obligation, but it brings a 
 new set of motives and considerations 
 to bear upon liim, and introduces 
 him to a class of truths and promises 
 elevated far above the i-ange of the 
 human reason, and fitted to inspire 
 him with courage and perseverance 
 when he is led astray into temptation, 
 and to animate him to recover his lost 
 ground. In faith is a magazine of 
 
 boundless resources, and when man's 
 heart and flesh fail, God and Christ 
 become the strength of his heart and 
 his portion for ever. 
 
 6-8. Speaketh on this wise, &c. 
 Deut. XXX. 12-14. The language 
 of Moses, the very lawgiver himself, 
 is thus quoted to justify the doctrine 
 of righteousness by faith. The only 
 change made is to adapt it to the case 
 in hand ; — a method of using and 
 appl}Ting the Scriptures quite current 
 among the Jews, but by no means 
 always indicating the idea of a pro- 
 phetical intention. The broad and 
 conspicuous sense of the passage is, 
 that the spirit of Christianity was not 
 to be sought afar, but at home in the 
 heart and in the Hfe. There was to 
 be the seat of its enjoyment and of 
 its power. Not by climbing up to 
 heaven and bringing Christ down 
 bodily, nor by descending into Hades 
 and bringing him up, by no difficult 
 and distant act, was this faith to be 
 insured, not by sacrifices, nor pilgrim- 
 ages, nor macerations of the body, 
 nor genuflexions, nor any of the as- 
 cetic and painful exercises of heathen 
 worship, nor the severities of the Law. 
 The eternal word of tnith and faith 
 was in the mouth and in the heart, 
 on the very hps, and in the very 
 bosom of man ; nearer and closer and 
 more binding on his nature than any- 
 thing else. A similar use of the word 
 Christ, as synonymous with a true 
 faith in spiritual realities, in truth, 
 God, and heaven, may be found in 
 
172 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt 9 
 believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou 
 shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteous- 10 
 
 1 Cor. X. 4, 9, and Heb. xi. 26. 
 Olshausen remarks, that " unbelief 
 has for its characteristic a turning to 
 what is outward. It regards God as 
 a distant being. From this outward 
 direction the spirit is called back into 
 its inward depths, in which it finds 
 God's eternal word present, and this 
 finding is faith itself." Hence, the 
 more deeply and confidingly we sink 
 into the arms of God, and let our- 
 selves down into the deep waters of 
 the spirit, and allow them to over- 
 llow us, the more truly do we enter 
 into life, and become living, happy, 
 and creative sources of good to all 
 around. If even the earlier dispen- 
 sation could speak such words through 
 Moses of the interior power of re- 
 ligion, how much more were they 
 applicable to the spirituality of the 
 new one ? 
 
 9, 10. The act of the Christian is 
 twofold ; he must believe, and he must 
 say he believes. Faith and profession 
 — which in times of danger, like those 
 in which the Apostle was writing, be- 
 came confession — are the two poles 
 of character ; one outward, and one 
 inward ; one most necessary for one's 
 self, the other most necessary for 
 others, but not unnecessary for one's 
 self; one laying hold of the greatest 
 s})iritual power, the heart, and the 
 other of the greatest social instrument, 
 speech. Matt. x. 32, 33 ; 2 Cor. iv. 13. 
 The articles of this early creed, that 
 was to do such great things for its sub- 
 ject, were not numerous or hard, as 
 creeds of human manufacture have 
 since become ; they were not as long 
 even as the so-called Apostles' Creed, 
 or the Mcene, much less the Athana- 
 sian, the Augsburg, the Westminster, 
 or the Thirty-nine Articles of the 
 Church of Eno;land. If creeds are so 
 
 essential, and an exact geographical 
 outline of all the boundaries of his 
 faith upon a host of points is so very, 
 useful and important to the Christian 
 Church, it is very astonishing that the 
 Apostle did not sketch a creed for us. 
 But if we examine a httle more close- 
 ly, do we not find that he did this 
 very thing in a simple and effectual 
 way, which other men have since 
 been trying to do in a very compli- 
 cated and wire-drawn method, and 
 have embarrassed by many need- 
 less distinctions and details, laying 
 down many traps for weak conscien- 
 ces, and multiplying insincerities for 
 strong ones ? The confession was 
 that Jesus is the Lord, is the Christ ; 
 and the faith was that he is raised 
 froEU the dead. These two articles 
 were the Pauhne creed, and if they 
 were pillars strong enough to bear 
 up the majestic temple of such a 
 character and life as his, we can pro- 
 nounce them fully adequate to all the 
 present exigencies of moral and spir- 
 itual beings. The staff Paul walked 
 with is good enough and strong 
 enough for our pilgrimage. In the 
 confession of Peter, the belief was 
 even more simple ; it was in Jesus 
 as the Christ, the Son of God. The 
 doctrine of the resurrection was not 
 in the creed, because the fact of the 
 resurrection was not as yet in the 
 history ; but when it was, it became 
 important, as summing up much of 
 the substance of the Gosj)el in one 
 point as it respected its miraculous 
 character, its spirit of love and self- 
 sacrifice, and its assurance of ever- 
 lasting life. Jesus did not raise him- 
 self from the dead, but God raised 
 him up, and by this great miracle in- 
 dorsed, as it were, all the other mira- 
 cles as of divine asencv. Jesus and 
 
X.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 173 
 
 1 1 ness ; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For 
 the Scripture saith, Wliosoever believeth on him shall not be 
 
 12 ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the 
 Greek : for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon 
 
 13 him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall 
 
 14 be saved. How then shall they call on liim in whom they have not 
 
 the Resurrection were the two heads 
 of the Apostle's sermons elsewhere. 
 Acts i. 22 ; iv. 2 ; xvii. 18 ; xxiv. 21. 
 AVhy, we would ask, in the name of 
 truth and salvation, did not the Apos- 
 tle Paul lay down the programme of 
 the doctrines of the Trinity, the Atone- 
 ment, the Total Depravity of Man, the 
 Deity of Christ, Election, and other 
 points, on the present occasion of stat- 
 ing a saving faith, if those articles are 
 essential ; and if he did not do it, if he 
 concentrated the attention of his con- 
 verts on two memorable truths and 
 facts, as the vital germs of the new 
 and divine life, namely, Jesus the 
 Lord, and his Resurrection, may we 
 not fairly infer that he did not deem 
 them salvatory, if, indeed, he was not 
 then, on the contrary, entirely unac- 
 quainted with these errors, which af- 
 terwards chiefly sprang up from the 
 unhallowed union of Christianity and 
 Jewish and Pagan philosophy ? It 
 will be observed that ver. 1 contains 
 a Hebrew paralleUsm. 
 
 11-13. The same generous and 
 unrestricted platform of salvation is 
 here laid down for all who call on 
 the name of Jesus, as elsewhere dis- 
 tinguishes the ministry of Paul. He 
 is at the farthest possible remove from 
 sectarianism, and no name is more 
 perverted than his when used to 
 bolster up a party. He is the advo- 
 cate of the largest Christian liberty ; 
 and his Epistles are sadly tortured 
 when they are interpreted to teach 
 any theology less comprehensive than 
 that of God as the Universal Father, 
 Man as the equal Brother, Jesus as the 
 common Saviour, and Heaven as the 
 15* 
 
 home of mankind at last. His teach- 
 ings stand justified to the highest 
 reason, to the most impartial love, 
 and to the brightest hope. It is the 
 ignorance, the superstition, the fear, 
 and the hardheartedness of mankind 
 that have petrified these flowing 
 streams of fife into fossil theologies, 
 and frozen up the natural sympathies 
 of the human bosom to beheve in 
 such doctrines as that of Infant 
 Damnation, and to perpetrate such 
 horrors as those of the Inquisition 
 and of Smithfield. — Shall not he 
 ashamed. Isa. xxviii. 16; xlix. 23; 
 Rom. i. 16 ; ix. 33. Such passages as 
 these are evidently quoted by way of 
 acconmiodation. They are spiritually 
 applicable, and describe a state of 
 tilings, and a relation between per- 
 sons and things, resembling the 
 one originally intended. — Wliosoever 
 shall call, &c. Joel ii. 32. Both Jews 
 and Gentiles are treated with the 
 utmost generosity and benevolence 
 by God, and in proportion as they 
 call upon him, seek his grace, and 
 inquire after the methods of his spir- 
 itual influence, they will alike be- 
 come the objects of his parental love 
 and mercy. He knows no nationality, 
 no clime, no color, no party, but 
 whosoever comes to him in faith 
 shall by no means come in vain. It 
 is dehghtful to turn irom the narrow 
 systems of human exclusiveness and 
 dogmatism to the all-encompassing 
 mercy and the liberal promises of our 
 Heavenly Father. For his thoughts 
 are not as our thoughts, and his ways 
 are not as our ways. 
 
 14, 15. The Apostle, who through- 
 
174 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 believed? and liow sliaU they believe iii him of wliom they have 
 not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how is 
 shaU they preach, except they be sent ? as it is written, How beau- 
 tiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring 
 
 out this chapter is engaged in con- 
 ciliating the Jewish mind to welcome 
 the introduction of the Gentile ele- 
 ment into the Clmstian Church, would 
 here justify incidentally his own mis- 
 sion and ministry to the Greeks and 
 Romans, bv the necessity of their call- 
 inw on God through the instrumental- 
 ity of preachers sent for the pur^DOse. 
 Bv a gradation of questions, he es- 
 tabUshes the need of Christian mis- 
 sions to the Gentile world, and ends 
 by quoting from one of the most 
 admired Hebrew prophets a descrip- 
 tion of the beautiful ministry of those 
 Avho thus went forth to do the great- 
 est possible good to theh fellow-men. 
 — How beautiful are the feet, &c. I. e. 
 How grateful is the coming, &c. Of 
 course this is simply a form of ex- 
 pression to describe the desirable- 
 ness of their advent, and the moral 
 gi-ace and joy of such a beneficent 
 movement iii human affairs, when 
 the highest truths, and the brightest 
 promises, and the most important 
 duties would be generally proclaimed 
 to mankind. Nearly twenty centuries 
 have passed away since these blessed 
 words were written, and how far are 
 we still as Christian nations from 
 fulfiUing this great commission, and 
 preaching the^Gospel to every crea- 
 ture, especially in its true and pure 
 character as the Gospel of peace, as 
 glad tidings of good things ! War, 
 not peace, is too often the relation 
 between us and the Pagan world. 
 The Gospel, also, which the mission- 
 aries thus far have spread abroad, 
 is too darkly imbued with human 
 errors and corruptions, and repre- 
 sents God in too severe, and man in 
 too hopeless, a condition, to justify the 
 
 Apostle's description of the Chris- 
 tianity he was interested in com- 
 municating to the world. Isa. Iii. 7. 
 He apphes the language of the old 
 prophet, employed to describe the 
 restoration of Israel from captivity, 
 to the Apostles and preachers of the 
 Gospel. This long running hne of 
 quotations bv the Apostle would have 
 an indescribable effect in soothing the 
 Jewish apprehensions, and reconcil- 
 ing his countrymen to the new dis- 
 peiisation. For it showed them that 
 Christianity was but a species of 
 spiritual completion and consumma- 
 tion, in a nobler sense than was 
 originally anticipated, of the best 
 promises and declarations of the He- 
 brew Scriptures. A certain air of 
 indefiniteness necessarily rests upon 
 the point of connection between the 
 Jewish and the Christian system, nor 
 are we obliged to ascertain hterally 
 and exactly the precise truth of the 
 case in order to reap from Chris- 
 tianity all the benefit it is fitted to 
 impart, or to respect Judaism as 
 its divinelv authorized forerunner. 
 These subj'ects must, from the verj^ 
 nature of the case, lie in large and 
 indistinct outhnes to the minds even 
 of the most learned and spiritual, 
 as is ai:i;arent from the wide diversity 
 of opinions among critics and theolo- 
 odans. We may be sure, at least, that 
 a narrow, close", literal, and dogmatic 
 interpretation is certainly out of the 
 line of the truth, and that only as we 
 drink in the spirit of the Gospel m 
 copious draughts, and take the most 
 elevated, charitable, and enlarged 
 views of the meaning and mission ot 
 Christianitv, shall we reasonably hope 
 to be successful in understanding this 
 
TO THE ROaiANS. 
 
 175 
 
 16 glad tidings of good things ! But thej have not all obeyed the 
 gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath beheved our report? 
 
 17 So then faith cometh by hearmg, and hearing by the word of God. 
 
 18 But I say, Have they not heard ? Yes, verily, their sound went 
 
 19 into all the earth, and their words unto the end of the world. But 
 I say, Did not Israel know ? First Moses saith, I will provoke 
 you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foohsh nation 
 
 last and greatest gift to mankind, and 
 its connection with what went before 
 it in the mighty plan of God. 
 
 16. But the objection might be 
 made, that, widely as the Gospel had 
 been preached, it had by no means 
 Avon universal assent and obedience. 
 The hearers of the word had not 
 always been its doers. St. Paul 
 therefore replies again, in the words 
 of Isa. liii. 1, that this was no unex- 
 pected or discouraging result ; for if 
 the Jews did not uniformly hearken 
 to their religious teachers, it was but 
 reasonable to suppose that a similar 
 unfaithfulness might prevail among 
 the less favored Gentiles. It was cer- 
 tainly no worse in this respect under 
 the Gospel than it had been under 
 the Law and the Prophets. 
 
 17. In other words, religion is a 
 system of causes and effects, and if 
 the causes are put in operation, the 
 effects will in a measure be produced. 
 The word of God must be heard in 
 order to be believed, and though con- 
 siderable allowance must be made for 
 the blindness and prejudice of men, — 
 for even Jesus and Paul did not con- 
 vert all their auditors, -s— yet, as a 
 general rule, in proportion to the 
 wide and zealous dissemination of 
 Christian truth in the world, will be 
 the result in faith and obedience. 
 John xvii. 20. We shall reap as we 
 sow. 
 
 18. Ps. xix. 4, 5. But the Apostle 
 vindicates himself and his fellow- 
 Apostles by declaring, that, so far as 
 hearing the Gospel was concerned, 
 the condition of believing it had been 
 
 fulfilled. They had been diligent, east 
 and Avest, and north and south, in pro- 
 claiming it to all Avho would hearken 
 to its gracious messages. Their minis- 
 try had been so universal, that it might 
 be likened to the influence of the 
 heavenly bodies, as described in the 
 Psalms. Their ordinances and ser- 
 vices had been like day and night, 
 and the shining of the sun in all the 
 world. "When we reflect," says 
 Neauder, "what it must have im- 
 ported to a Jew to behold that Divine 
 revelation, which hitherto had only 
 been promulgated within the narrow 
 limits of Judaea, conveyed by numer- 
 ous messengers to Greeks, Romans, 
 and barbarians ; when we reflect hoAv 
 it must have floated before the mind 
 of Paul, that now a fire had been cast 
 into humanity, which, continuing to 
 kindle genei-ation after generation, 
 would bring about a totally new order 
 of things ; when we reflect upon all 
 tliis, can it appear strange, that, al- 
 though as yet but an inconsiderable 
 part of the world had received the 
 word of hfe, the Apostle should use 
 such comprehensive expressions ? " 
 
 19. The Jews ought to know from 
 their own Scriptures that the Gospel 
 was properly offered to the Gentiles, 
 for both Moses and Isaiah said as 
 much as that. Deut. xxxii. 21. "No 
 people" and "foohsh nation" stood 
 for the Gentiles. "Whether the rejec- 
 tion of Israel, of which Moses spoke, 
 was a prophecy of what befell the 
 Jews in their earlier or their later 
 history, it is not necessary to decide ; 
 it is enough to know that the princi- 
 
176 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 I will anger you. But Esaias is very bold, and saitli, I was found 20 
 of them that sought me not ; I was made manifest unto them 
 that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith, All day long I 21 
 have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying 
 people. 
 
 pie laid down would find several 
 verifications. The Jews would be 
 made jealous by seeing blessings, 
 which they supposed were peculiar 
 to themselves, imparted widely to 
 other nations. The prediction has 
 been fulfilled ; for not keeping their 
 minds and hearts open with an en- 
 larged spirit, they were offended, in- 
 stead of being gratified, as they should 
 have been, at witnessing the diffusion 
 of the blessings of revelation to all 
 mankind. 
 
 20. But Esaias is very hold, &c. 
 Isa. Ixv. 1. The prophet Isaiah was 
 even more strong and decided, and 
 asserted that God would be found 
 by, and be manifested to, those who 
 sought him not, namely, the idolatrous 
 and heathen nations. The warning 
 of Moses was in case the children of 
 Israel forgot their allegiance to their 
 lawful Head and King, whereas the 
 present verse relates to the positive 
 admission of the Gentiles to higher 
 privileges, at all events, and inde- 
 pendently of any thing the Jews 
 should do or leave undone. 
 
 21. To Israel he saith. Isa. Ixv. 2. 
 Not only the Gentiles would be ac- 
 cepted, but, what was even more 
 alarming, the Jews would run the 
 hazard of becoming castaways them- 
 selves, and forfeiting to a more de- 
 serving people privileges which they 
 had ceased to improve. The position 
 of the prophet, standing and all day 
 Ions stretching out his hands and 
 
 entreating them to return and live, 
 and showing the most affectionate 
 and importuning interest in their 
 welfare, notwithstanding their dis- 
 obedience and opposition, is a fine, 
 graphic picture, drawn by a rich 
 imagination. Tholuck says, that, "if 
 from tliis passage we once more look 
 back upon the tenth and ninth chap- 
 ters, it is manifest how httle Paul 
 ever designed to revert to an absolute 
 decree, but meant to cast all blame 
 upon the urmt of icill in man, resist- 
 ing the gracious tdll of God. 
 
 The history of the Jews is in many 
 respects a sad one, but it is only an 
 enlarged sketch of what has befallen 
 every nation, on a smaller scale ; 
 namely, to rise and flourish while 
 faithful to the laws of God, and then 
 to suffer decline and downfall when 
 it became disobedient and corrupt. 
 The providence of God manifested 
 through Israel is similar to the uni- 
 versal providence manifested through 
 Egypt, Greece, Borne, and all nations. 
 Woe is unto any people, no matter 
 how powerful or how famous, that 
 has not respect unto the eternal 
 laws of God, and builds not its re- 
 nown and its strength upon the Rock 
 of Ages. The Jews exist in every 
 nation, as living \ritnesses of the truth 
 of their ancient prophecies, and of 
 the certainty of the retributions of 
 the moral government of God. Their 
 history is an eternal miracle and les- 
 son to mankind. 
 
XI.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 177 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 The Calling of the Gentiles to redound, not to the Injury, hut the Final Redemption, 
 of Israel itself 
 
 I SAY then, Hatli God cast away his people ? God forbid. For I 
 also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, o/*tlie tribe of Benja- 
 
 2 min. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. 
 Wot ye not what the Scripture saith of Ehas ? how he maketh 
 
 3 intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 The eleventh chapter is occupied 
 with an answer to the objection, that, 
 if what had been said betbre in chaps. 
 vii.-x. was true, then God had re- 
 jected his chosen people Israel; which 
 would be a thing incredible. First, 
 the Apostle cites himself, ver. 1, and 
 the " remnant " of his countrymen, as 
 evidence that all were not rejected, 
 ver. 2-5, and afterwards argues that, 
 as the casting away was not total, so 
 it would not be final, ver. 11-24; but 
 that, as the rejection of the Jews had 
 seemed to act favorably for the time 
 being on the conversion of the Gen- 
 tiles, so finally the faith of the Gen- 
 tiles would react beneficially on the 
 chosen people, ver. 25-32. He con- 
 cludes with a spirit-stirring apos- 
 trophe to the grandeur and wisdom 
 of the Divine plans, ver. 33-36. 
 
 1. Hammond suggests that it was 
 probably this chapter to Avliich the 
 Apostle Peter referred, 2 Pet. iii. 16, 
 as hard to be understood, and liable 
 to be wrested to bad uses. — God for- 
 bid. Literally, Let it not be, the 
 word God not being in the original 
 at all. — For I also am, &c. The 
 notable instance of the Apostle to the 
 Gentiles was an evidence that there 
 was no necessary and wholesale re- 
 jection of the Israelites. He else- 
 where glories in his Hebrew ances- 
 try. 2 Cor. xi. 22 ; Phil. iii. 5. 
 Paley remarks that the Apostle fol- 
 lows this thought, that God had not 
 
 cast away his people, throughout 
 this chapter, "in a series of reflec- 
 tions calculated to soothe the Jewish 
 converts, as well as to procure from 
 their Gentile brethren respect to the 
 Jewish institutions. Now all this is 
 perfectly natural. In a real St. Paul, 
 writing to real converts, it is what 
 anxiety to bring them over to his 
 persuasion would naturally produce ; 
 but there is an earnestness and a 
 personality, if I may so call it, in the 
 manner, Avhich a cold forgery, I ap- 
 prehend, would neither have con- 
 ceived nor supported." 
 
 2. His people ivhich lie foreknew. 
 A circumlocution for Israel. God 
 chose the Jews, not as favorites, but 
 as instruments ; not as idle and irre- 
 sponsible recipients of his bounties, 
 but as stewards, who should give ac- * 
 count; not as spoiled and indulged 
 children, but as trustees of a great 
 bequest to the world; the flame of 
 heaven was kindled among them, 
 not to warm merely their hearth- 
 stone, but to be the altar-fire of the 
 whole earth. If the election of the 
 Hebrews was then an election to 
 piivileges and blessings, it was also a 
 promotion to the highest and most 
 responsible trusts and duties on earth, 
 namely, to be the light-bearers and 
 religious leaders of the world. — Wot. 
 Old English, now obsolete, for know. 
 — Of Eiias, or, as the marginal read- 
 ing is, in Elias ; that is, according to 
 the ancient mode of quotation, in the 
 section relating to Ehas. 1 Kinss 
 
178 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 thy prophets, and digged down thine altars ; and I am left alone, 
 and thej seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto 4 
 him ? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have 
 not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this 5 
 present time also there is a remnant according to the election of 
 grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works : otherwise 6 
 grace is no more grace. But if it he of works, then is it no more 
 
 xix. 10-18. — Saying is omitted by 
 both Griesbach and Tischendorf. 
 Paul is peculiarly happy in quoting 
 an instance of the difi'erence between 
 the Church visible and the Church 
 inyisible, and the encouragement 
 there always was that the heart of 
 the people was really sounder than it 
 appeared to be to a casual observer. 
 
 3, 4. 1 Kings xvi. 31, 32 ; xviii. 30. 
 Ahab, the wicked king of Israel, mar- 
 ried Jezebel, a heathen woman, the 
 daughter of the Sidonian king, and 
 introduced the worship of Baal, a 
 heathen deity, instead of the service 
 of Almighty God. The children of 
 Israel were with great difficulty 
 Aveaned from idolatry, and they were 
 constantly liable to relapse. It is 
 sufficiently evident that only the 
 power of a revelation and authority 
 above themselves could hav^e raised 
 them out of this national, character- 
 istic habit, and banished at last idol- 
 worship for ever from the Hebrew 
 commonwealth. — To the image of 
 Baal. Baal is here represented in 
 the original as a goddess, but else- 
 where as a god. The gender was 
 sometimes mascuUne, and sometimes 
 feminine. 
 
 5, 6. The old saying was made 
 good in a nobler sense than the origi- 
 nal one, and there was now, as then, 
 "a faithful fevf." — The election of 
 grace. Dropping the HebreAv idiom, 
 we read it the gracious election, or 
 choice. — But if it be of works, then it 
 is no more grace: otherwise work is 
 no more work. This is all omitted 
 
 as spurious by Griesbach and other 
 critics of the highest class. It really 
 adds nothing to the sense before ex- 
 pressed, unless it be to intensify the 
 thought by reitei-ation and amplifica- 
 tion. The doctrine of election has 
 been sufficiently commented on in 
 the ninth chapter. It is evident that 
 it is an election to privileges, and not 
 final and eternal condition or chai'ac- 
 ter, of which the Apostle speaks. It 
 is an election too, which, though origi- 
 nally on the part of the All- wise Dis- 
 poser undetermined by the personal 
 merit of the individual, immediately 
 takes on a character from the faith- 
 fulness or unfaithfulness of the elect- 
 ed party of further approval or disap- 
 proval. Thus the chosen people found 
 in election no charm to keep off the 
 natural retribution of their sins, and 
 the Gentiles not chosen found accept- 
 ance in proportion as they feared God 
 and wrought righteousness. When 
 we speak of works, we must remem- 
 ber that faith is a work, and one of the 
 greatest works a human being can 
 perform, and the Apostle grounds 
 salvation on faith. John vi. 28, 29. 
 There is an election of God, by which 
 he causes one man to be born in 
 Africa and another in the United 
 States, one man in a Mahometan and 
 another in a Christian land, one man 
 black and another white, one man 
 simple and another a genius ; and 
 there Is no injustice, only variety, In 
 such election, because no more Is re- 
 Cjulred of each one than he Is gifted 
 with powers to fulfil. But from the 
 
XL] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 179 
 
 7 grace : otherwise work is no more work. What then ? Israel 
 hath not obtained that which he seeketh for ; but the election hath 
 
 8 obtained it, and the rest w^ere bhnded ; according as it is written, 
 God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should 
 
 9 not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this day. And 
 David saith. Let then- table be made a snare, and a trap, and a 
 
 point of this varied endowment, con- 
 stitution, and condition, from the 
 moment the soul begins to act, the 
 free agency and responsibility of man 
 run parallel with the overruling 
 power and providence of God, In 
 faith, in choice, in obedience, in de- 
 votion to duty, in every good word 
 and work, all the way up from the 
 germ to the full-grown man and per- 
 fected Christian, man must work, 
 labor, persevere, or he cannot inherit 
 the promises of God. The doctrine 
 of the Apostle, therefore, relating 
 to election, and his exhortations to 
 duty, to good works, chaps, xii.-xv., 
 are perfectly accordant one with the 
 other. He who believes in Jesus 
 Christ has already done one of the 
 greatest works a human being can 
 possibly perform, and one that leads 
 on to the whole diadem of Christian 
 graces and virtues. 
 
 7, 8. As Israel was an election from 
 the rest of the world, so was there 
 also a further winnowing of Israel, an 
 election of an election. — The rest were 
 Winded^ &c. Deut. xxix. 4 ; Is. vi. 
 10 ; 2 Cor. iii. 14, 15. God of course 
 does not actually make any human 
 being worse by a direct agency, or 
 add a feather's weight to give the 
 preponderance of the moral scale on 
 the side of evil. But he is repre- 
 sented as doing that which he did not 
 actually prevent, and causing that 
 blindness which took place under his 
 providence, and which he did not 
 directly remove. This was in accord- 
 ance with the Hebrew habit of ascrib- 
 ing everything, both good and bad, to 
 the immediate agency of the higher 
 
 powers. — Unto tJiis day. Olshausen 
 remarks, that " it is evident from these 
 words that the Apostle has in view in 
 the first instance only a temporary 
 hardening, and hopes that it will soon 
 be possible to remove the spirit of 
 slumber from them, Avithout being 
 obliged to apprehend that they will 
 afterwards, when awake, continue to 
 resist, and only incur heavier guilt." 
 Griesbach edits this verse, with the 
 exception of this clause, as parenthet- 
 ical, thus connecting hlinded in ver. 
 7 with unto this day in ver. 8. 
 
 9, 10. A7id David saith. Ps. Ixix. 
 22, 23. The expressions of David 
 towards his enemies were still more 
 severe than those of the prophet, for 
 he seemed to invoke direct malechc- 
 tions upon them. He says. Let the 
 very place of God's bounty, the daily 
 table, become a curse to them, and 
 let the bhnded eyes and bowing form 
 of age be theirs. It has been cus- 
 tomary among commentators to justi- 
 fy these words of David, as uttered 
 not only against his enemies, but 
 against those of God. Yet on no 
 such ground can we excuse his re- 
 vengeful directions to his son Solo- 
 mon just before his death, and those 
 perhaps are a key of explanation to 
 some passan;es in the Psalms. 1 Kin^ 
 il. 1-9. The truth is, that Christi- 
 anity is not responsible for the con- 
 duct of the patriarchs, kings, and 
 prophets of the elder dispensation. 
 Revelation did not drive out their 
 human nature, nor entirely overcome 
 its downward propensities. Inspira- 
 tion docs not signify either infallibil- 
 ity in all knowledge, or moral perfec- 
 
180 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 stumbling-block, and a recompense unto them : let their eyes be lo 
 darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. 
 I say then. Have they stumbled that they should fall? God for- ii 
 bid : but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, 
 for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall ofthem he the 12 
 
 tion of character. Even the Apos- 
 tles, who had been under the influ- 
 ence of the example and the teach- 
 ings of the Master, were not perfect 
 men. When Paul, therefore, quotes 
 such sentiments as those of the ninth 
 and tenth verses, he is not to be un- 
 derstood as doing it necessanly by 
 way of approbation, but of illustra- 
 tion. He argues with the Jews on 
 their own ground, and adduces the 
 words of their most revered king and 
 psalmist as descriptive of the retribu- 
 tion that would overtake the enemies 
 of the truth. The rich privileges of 
 Christianity would be perverted by 
 the obstinate and unbelieving, and 
 turned into evils, just as David wished 
 the blessings of the happiest and most 
 joyous jDart of life, the bounties 
 and hospitahties of tlie table, might 
 become snares, traps, stumbling- 
 blocks, and retributions to his wicked 
 persecutors. Christianity in the days 
 of Paul was darkened to the Jcavs 
 by the mists of prejudice and error, 
 just as the j)oet king in his poetic 
 rage and ecstasy desired that his foes 
 might be made blind, old, and de- 
 crepit. AVe know what the spirit of 
 Christ is, and there is nothing in this 
 passage, interpreted as above, which 
 was designed by Paul to conflict with 
 that boundless love and mercy of the 
 Lord ; but in desci-ibing the natural 
 consequences of unbelief and of the 
 rejection of the Gospel, he quotes the 
 poetry of David, as we now quote a 
 tavorite author for description, im- 
 pression, or illustration of our views. 
 11. Having settled the question 
 that the rejection of the Jcavs is not 
 total, he now proceeds to prove that 
 it is not final, but that the conversion 
 
 of the Gentiles would be an instru- 
 ment to react favorably for the resto- 
 ration of Israel to Christianity. This 
 train of thought is pursued through 
 most of the remainder of this chap- 
 ter. — That they should fall, i. e. ut- 
 terly. From his strain thus far, it 
 might be inferred that he regarded 
 the moral overthrow of the chosen 
 people as decisive. But such is by 
 no means his conclusion, for he ralhes 
 from this point, and expatiates on 
 the hope that the action and reaction 
 of Judaism and Gentilism on one 
 another would be reciprocally bene- 
 ficial. — For to provoke them to jeal- 
 ousy. The Vulgate better reads, 
 that they may be emulous of them. 
 See ver. 14. It was emulation rather 
 than jealousy that was to be promoted 
 by the causes under consideration. 
 Acts xiii. 46. In the mighty move- 
 ments of the Apostle's mind from 
 side to side of his argument, he main- 
 tains the equilibrium of loss and gain, 
 rebuke and hope, and indulges in no 
 unhealthy and morbid complaints. 
 While he draws from the old Scrip- 
 tures sentences of severe condemna- 
 tion, he also finds there his materials 
 of consolation and courage. As Tho- 
 luck quotes from Chrysostom : " But 
 as he had greatly run the Israelites 
 down, and strung accusation upon 
 accusation, bringing forward prophet 
 after prophet crying out against them, 
 Isaiah and Ehas and Moses and 
 David and Hosea, and that not once 
 nor twice, but frequently, lest in this 
 way he might plunge them in de- 
 spair, and obstruct their return to the 
 faith ; and, on the other hand, lest he 
 mioht lift the believers from among 
 the Gentiles into arrogance, and, by 
 
XI.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 181 
 
 riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the 
 
 13 Gentiles ; how much more their fulness ? For I speak to you 
 Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify 
 
 14 mine office : if by any means I may provoke to emulation thein 
 
 15 ivJiich are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the 
 casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall 
 
 16 the receiving of them he, but life from the dead ? For if the first- 
 fruit he holy, the lump is also holy : and if the root he holy, so are 
 
 puffing up, injure them in the article 
 of their taith, he again consoles the 
 Jews, saying, that by their fall salva- 
 tion is come to the Gentiles." 
 
 12-15. The rejection of the Gos- 
 pel by the Jews, and the persecution 
 of the Apostles and disciples at Jeru- 
 salem drove the preachers of Christi- 
 anity abroad to all other countries, so 
 that the truth was earlier preached 
 to the Gentiles than it would have 
 been, if its adherents had found full 
 occupation at home. Acts viii. 1 ; 
 xi. 19 - 21 ; xiii. 46-48. Therefore, 
 if the want of faith in the Jews had 
 so signally been overruled for " the 
 riches of the Gentiles," and their 
 spiritual advantage, then how much 
 more likely it was that the conversion 
 of the Israelites would react favor- 
 ably upon the Gentile world, and con- 
 tribute to the wider dominion of the 
 faith of Jesus ! - If the faU of the 
 chosen was so potent with good, how 
 much better would be their Christian- 
 ization. — / am the Apostle of the 
 Gentiles^ &c. He boldly avows that 
 his mission was to the Gentiles as 
 well as to the Jews, nay, that he was 
 pecuharly the messenger of the Gos- 
 pel to heathendom. Elsewhere in 
 this work the remarkable adaptation 
 of Paul to this office has been spoken 
 of, and the vast sphere of his mission- 
 ary labors described. But he was not 
 exclusive in his sympatliies, though 
 he was specially the Apostle to the 
 Gentiles ; he wished still to be instru- 
 mental of the greatest good to his 
 16 
 
 fallen countrymen, and he magnified, 
 enlarged his office, so as to include 
 them in his ample labors, sacrifices, 
 and prayers. " He would clasp the 
 universe to liis heart, and keep it 
 warm." — Provolce to emulation . The 
 same Greek word as in ver. 11, and 
 better rendered here than there by 
 the term jealousy. Uniformity in 
 translation is also very desirable. — 
 Life from the dead. This seems to 
 be not a literal statement that the 
 conversion of the heathen would be 
 a resurrection from the dead, but an 
 hyperbole of the gladness and tri- 
 umph of siich a change as their em- 
 bracing Christianity. The Orientals 
 say of great revolutions, that it is 
 " as if the resurrection-day were 
 come." The mind of Paul, rising and 
 falhng with the deep pulsations of 
 strong feeling and thought, seizes the 
 most vivid images to portray his sub- 
 ject, and he must be interpreted in a 
 spirit kindred to that in which he 
 wrote, or we miss entirely the scope 
 of his argument and appeal. 
 
 16. It has been observed that if is 
 used in the original no less than eight 
 times in ver. 12-21, forming a series 
 of suppositions designed to act by 
 way of conciliation in his expostulat- 
 ing with the Jews. — For if the first- 
 fruit he holy, &c. This verse con- 
 tains two figures of speech meaning 
 the same thing. The object was to 
 show what encouragement there is 
 that Israel would be redeemed. This 
 is inferred, first, from the fact, that, if 
 
182^ 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 the brandies. And if some of the branches be broken off, and n 
 thou, bemg a wild ohve-tree, wert grafFed in among them, and with 
 them partakest of the root and fatness of the ohve-tree, boast not is 
 against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, 
 but the root thee. Thou wiit say then, The branches were broken 19 
 off, that I might be graffed in. Well ; because of unbelief they 20 
 were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, 
 but fear : for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest 21 
 
 the destination of the first-fruit was 
 holiness, then the main lump or mass 
 might be presumed to have the same 
 destination ; and secondly, that, if the 
 root of the tree had a certain charac- 
 ter, then the branches must be par- 
 takers of the same character. As 
 the fathers and patriarchs of the 
 Jev/ish state had proved holy and 
 faithful, it Avas reasonable to hope 
 that the race would carry out their 
 historic unity and destiny, and the 
 children of Abraham and the sub- 
 jects of Moses would prove, in the 
 great crisis of their national for- 
 tunes, the advent of Christianity, 
 Avorthy of their illustrious and de- 
 voted ancestry. 
 
 17-24. This passage contains a 
 prolonged illustration, which seems 
 to have been suggested to the Apos- 
 tle's mind by liis figure of the root 
 and branches, in ver. IG. There 
 were three parties to be represented, 
 and his quick and teeming imagina- 
 tion fastens upon the tree as their 
 best emblem. Jer. xi. 1 6 . The early 
 fathers of the Hebrew commonwealth 
 were the root, the trunk and branches 
 v»^ere the Jewish people, and the 
 Gentiles were the scions which were 
 engrafted upon the Jewish stock, 
 wliich had been pruned of its unfruit- 
 ful branches to make room for the 
 new settings. The first inference 
 was, that, if the root was good, the 
 branches were likewise good. The 
 second inference was, that, if the tree 
 had been trimmed and new bcions 
 
 had been set, they must beware of 
 taking airs upon themselves over 
 the original branches, for if those 
 branches had for good reasons been 
 exscinded, then much more might 
 the adopted grafts for good reasons 
 suffer a hke fortune. The third in- 
 ference was, that if the horticulturist 
 unnaturally engrafted foreign scions 
 in a good olive-tree, the presunift- 
 tion was much stronger that, if oc- 
 casion required, he would re-engraft 
 the natural branches upon their own 
 tree. And all the inferences were 
 hopeful ones both for the Jews and 
 for the Gentiles, and also full of ad- 
 monition, as shoAving that the Great 
 Disposer Avas no respecter of persons, 
 and that the Jews Avere not such 
 favorites that they would escape pun- 
 ishment if they Avere unfaithfiil, and 
 that the Gentiles were not so far for- 
 gotten or neglected that they would 
 not be admitted to the highest piivi- 
 leges of human beings, but that they 
 again must be upon their guard, for 
 if the first election of the Jcavs could 
 not save them from retribution when 
 they apostatized from their faith, 
 much less would the second election 
 of the Gentiles to the distinguished 
 rank of Christians avail them any- 
 thing, if they betrayed the glorious 
 cause Avhich had been given them In 
 trust. A finer intermingling of les- 
 son and Avarning and encourage- 
 ment, or a more beautiful play of ap- 
 peal to the various motives of which 
 human nature is susceptible, cannot 
 
XL] 
 
 TO THE EOMANS. 
 
 183 
 
 22 lie also spare not thee. Beliold therefore the goodness and severity 
 of God : on them which fell, severity ; but toward thee, goodness, 
 if thou continue in his goodness : otherwise thou also shalt be cut 
 
 23 off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbeUef, shall be 
 
 24 graffed in : for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou 
 wert cut out of the olive-tree which is wild by nature, and wert 
 graffed contrary to nature into a good olive-tree ; how much more 
 shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own 
 
 well be conceived. For we see by 
 this instance, among others, what a 
 dramatic master of hmnan nature 
 was the Apostle, who could thus argue 
 with persuasiveness both with the 
 prejudices of his own people and the 
 ignorance of the heathen. — And thou, 
 being a loild olive-tree, ivert graffed in, 
 &c. The question has been raised 
 Avhether the Apostle was correct in 
 his principles of horticulture, and 
 whether the custom was not the re- 
 verse of what he has here described, 
 and whether it was not customary to 
 engraft good scions on a wild stock 
 rather than wild scions on a good 
 stock. But to this objection it has 
 been replied, that both ancient and 
 modern writers describe such a pro- 
 cess with the olive-tree as the Apos- 
 tle has here given, so that his illustra- 
 tion is an apposite one. — But if thou 
 boast, &c. If disposed to be arro- 
 gant over the Jews, remember how 
 the case stands between you and 
 them, that they were the original 
 people, and you the secondary elec- 
 tion. — Thou standest bg faith. This 
 verse is a memorable testimony and 
 proof, that, though the first bestow- 
 ment of privileges was by the sole 
 appointment of God, and " it is not 
 In man that walketh to direct his 
 steps," yet the retention and con- 
 tinued enjoyment of their religious 
 blessings did most essentially de- 
 pend upon the fidelity or the neglect 
 of the recipients. By works of faith, 
 or sins of unbeUef, Jew and Gentile 
 
 ahke would stand or fall before the 
 impartial law of Christianity. There 
 was no room therefore for pride, but 
 every reason for solicitude. — Be not 
 high-minded, but fear. These two 
 states of mind are opposite to one 
 another, as faith and unbelief are, 
 above. The fear is not meant to be 
 a slavish dread, but a reasonable 
 anxiety and carefulness. — For if God 
 spared not the natural branches, &c. 
 Palfrey's English edition of Gries- 
 bach adds as the concluding clause 
 of ver. 21, " perhaps he will not spare 
 thee." John xv. 2-6. — If thou con- 
 tinue in his goodness, &c. If they 
 abide not still in unbelief, &c. AYhlle 
 one class of expressions would indi- 
 cate that a divine fate and necessity 
 determined all things, and that man- 
 kind were but passive and helpless 
 instruments in the divine hand, 
 another class speaks with great clear- 
 ness and emphasis of the liberty and 
 free agency of man, and the fearful 
 responslbleness resting upon him. 
 So far from inculcating the doctrines 
 of absolute decrees, of irresistible 
 grace, and of the necessary persever- 
 ance of the saints in holiness or of 
 sinners in wickedness, Paul is at 
 every stage of his argument putting 
 in an appeal to conscience, and call- 
 ing upon his readers to be faithful. 
 He thus qualifies, not only the doc- 
 trinal chapters of the middle of the 
 Epistle with the ethical chapters of 
 the closing part, but he intersperses 
 throughout the warnings against evil, 
 
184 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 olive-tree ? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant 25 
 of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that 
 blindness in part is hapi^ened to Israel, until the fulness of the 
 Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved : as it is 2q 
 written, There shall come out of Zion the DeHverer, and shall 
 turn away ungodhness from Jacob : for this is my covenant unto 27 
 them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the 2s 
 
 and promises to the faithful, and calls 
 to duty. He is therefore the last 
 man in the world to be quoted in 
 favor of any relaxation in working 
 out our salvation, any remittance of 
 labor, any despair of human abihty, 
 or any depreciation of the unspeak- 
 able value, necessity, and possibihty 
 of the Christian virtues and graces. 
 And whenever he is thus quoted, it 
 is by the method of employing only 
 one set of his terms, roundly assert- 
 ing the total action of God in every- 
 thing, without the other set, which 
 would suitably limit and qualify them. 
 25. Brethren. However earnest- 
 ly the Apostle argued, and however 
 forcibly he combated the prejudices 
 of his converts, he would not allow 
 them to forget that they were breth- 
 ren one of another, children of one 
 common Parent. Where did Socra- 
 tes, Plato, Cicero, or Seneca ever 
 generahze so grandly and philosophi- 
 cally all men, Jews and Gentiles, 
 bond and free, into one brother- 
 hood ? — This mystery, i. e. that the 
 Gentiles were to be admitted to the 
 Christian kingdom, while the unbe- 
 lieving Jews would be rejected. This 
 extension of piivileges, and this vis- 
 itation of penalties, were secrets hid- 
 den hitherto, but now made known. 
 There are still many mysteries, many 
 hidden secrets in rehgion, but there 
 are no contradictions nor absurd- 
 ities ; there is nothing against reason, 
 though there is much above reason. 
 — The fulness of the Gentiles, &c. 
 Jesus expresses a similar thought in 
 
 Luke xxi. 24. One of the secrets of 
 understanding the writings of St. 
 Paul is to recognize his almost uni- 
 versal use of the figure of antithesis. 
 He balances thought against thought, 
 and term against term. Hence the 
 need of caution in understanding his 
 style, and in taking his illustrations 
 in too literal a vein. Hard as it might 
 be, it was yet needful to allow that a 
 partial blindness had fallen upon Is- 
 rael, and meantime the Gentiles were 
 entering the Church in great num- 
 bers. The disciples of Jesus were 
 first called Christians, not at Jerusa- 
 lem, but at Antioch in Syria; and 
 while the Apostles wrote letters to 
 almost all the great cities of the 
 Gentile world, Rome, Corinth, and 
 Ephesus, they directed none to Mount 
 Zion. 
 
 26, 27. Is. xxvii. 9 ; lix. 20. Lard- 
 ner paraphrases it thus : " In this 
 way, according to this method of 
 Divine Providence, all good and well- 
 disposed men, both Jews and Gen- 
 tiles will be saved, that is, will be 
 brought into the way of salvation, 
 will be taught by the Gospel, or will 
 embrace the means of salvation pro- 
 posed therein ; the Jews being all 
 along provoked to emulation by the 
 Gentiles, and the Gentiles being con- 
 firmed in their faith by the circum- 
 stances of the Jewish people." — My 
 covenant. Jer. xxxi. 31, 34, and 
 elsewhere in the prophets. — Take 
 away their sins^ i. e. to provide the 
 means of their effectual removal. 
 Jesus was the Lamb of God, that 
 
XI. 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 185 
 
 gospel, they are enemies for jour sakes ; but as touching the elec- 
 
 29 tion, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and 
 
 30 calling of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past 
 have not beheved God, yet have now obtained mercy through their 
 
 31 unbelief: even so have these also now not believed, that through 
 3-2 your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded 
 
 came to take away the sin of the 
 world, John i. 29, 36, not in a me- 
 chanical, but in a spiritual sense. 
 His mission was to regenerate human 
 nature with new motives and princi- 
 ples, so as to save men from sin, and 
 from sinning, and to create the an- 
 tagonistic and exclusive state of hoK- 
 ness and love. 
 
 28, 29. So far as the Gospel is con- 
 cerned, the alienation of the Jews 
 accrued to your benefit, but so far as 
 the election is concerned, the Jews 
 stih continue to occupy a peculiar 
 position of interest and affection, on 
 account of the long line of illustrious 
 patriarchs and prophets who have 
 adorned their faith. — The gifts and 
 calling of God, &c. ; i. e. God repents 
 not of his disposal of things, and re- 
 calls not his appropriation of benefits 
 to his creatures. Tliis is a caution 
 against anthropathic or humanly 
 conceived ideas of the nature and 
 plans of the Supreme Being, and it 
 explains what was meant by those 
 earlier forms of language in the Old 
 Testament, where he is described as 
 having repented of the creation of 
 man, or of the execution of any of 
 his designs. Gen. vi. 6 ; Ex. xxxii. 
 14 ; 1 Sam. xv. 29, 35 ; Jonah iv. 2. 
 The assignment of human members, 
 senses, and passions to the Deity was 
 a necessary mode of conveying relig- 
 ious ideas to the minds of the early 
 races in the infancy of their develop- 
 ment ; but by erroneous and literal 
 methods of interpretation, it has 
 proved in later times a most prolific 
 source of prejudice and infidelity. 
 This verse, therefore, is the best 
 16* 
 
 comment upon many passages of 
 Scripture. 
 
 30, 31. These verses repeat the 
 same thought contained in the illus- 
 tration of the olive-tree, and in ver. 
 11, 12, 15, 25, that, in the wonder- 
 working providence of God, even the 
 unbelief of the Israelites would re- 
 dound to the conversion of the Gen- 
 tiles and the -wider extension of the 
 truth as it is in Jesus. So infinite is 
 the mysterious wisdom of the AU- 
 perfect One, that the seeming fail- 
 ures and flaws of this plan achieve 
 a greater good. All this play and 
 interchange of benefits in the great 
 plan, from Jews to Gentiles, and from 
 Gentiles to Jews, were also most hap- 
 pily adapted, when they were under- 
 stood, to soften the bitter feuds of 
 nationality and religion, and to reveal 
 to them the fact that they were stand- 
 ing both together on one common 
 platform of the Divine mercy ; for if 
 children of God, then were they 
 brethren of one another. — Through 
 your mercy \ i. e. the mercy shown 
 to you. — Obtain mercy. 'When, after 
 the present rejection of the Jews, they 
 are again taken into the Church, it 
 is described in this term of " obtain- 
 ing mercy." 
 
 32. Concluded them all in unbelief 
 Sec. Better, included. As the pre- 
 vious verses suggested considerations 
 of reciprocal benefit as motives to 
 love and good-will between the two 
 great parties, so this one presents 
 views to humble their pride and re- 
 duce them to one level. The Jews 
 had no reason to assume any superi- 
 ority over the Gentiles on account of 
 
186 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 tliem all iii unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. O the 33 
 dejDth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! 
 how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding 
 
 their earlier position in the majestic 
 plan of revelation, nor the Gentiles 
 any cause to despise the Jews because 
 they had welcomed Chiistianity more 
 cordially than the mass of the cliil- 
 dren of Abraham. The lesson to 
 both sides was humility, solicitude to 
 be faithful, gratitude to God, and 
 mutual fraternity. What a different 
 history would the last nineteen cen- 
 turies have recorded, if the reasonable 
 and merciful counsels of Paul had 
 prevailed instead of those malignant 
 and persecuting passions which, under 
 the holy garb and in the sacred name 
 of the Prince of Peace, waged the 
 wars of the Crusades, built the In- 
 quisition, banished and killed the 
 Jews, and dyed every Christian coun- 
 try with streams of human blood ! 
 And now, will not mankind cease 
 their horrid fratricide, and henceforth 
 learn to abstain from the hatred that 
 twice curses ; that curses him that 
 indulges it, and curses him that suffers 
 from it ? The dark clouds of war 
 rolling up the Eastern horizon, and 
 enveloping all Europe and no small 
 part of Asia and Africa in their folds, 
 declare the yet virtual Paganism of 
 Christian nations, and reveal the im- 
 mense extent of that spiritual regen- 
 eration and pacification of the human 
 family which Paul did so much to 
 further, but which is stiU to be the 
 work of ages to come. — That he 
 might have mercy upon all. The word 
 all is not indeed to be urged in such 
 cases beyond its natural and easy 
 import into an extreme literalness ; 
 but one cannot help remarking that 
 the mercy is spoken of as commen- 
 surate with the unbelief, and keeping 
 even step with it in the unfolding of' 
 the glorious scheme of salvation. Gal. 
 iii. 22. It is difficult to understand 
 
 the force of such passages, unless they 
 contemplate in the boundless range 
 of the future a final and entire 
 restoration of all the human family, 
 Jews and Gentiles, and all the indi- 
 viduals of each class, under the edu- 
 cational and disciplinary nurture of 
 God to holiness and happiness. But 
 with such a belief, they become truly 
 a Gospel, glad tidings of great joy, 
 and they furnish the most encouraging 
 and heart-cheering motives to exer- 
 tion in the cause of human redemp- 
 tion. 
 
 33. the depth of the riches, &c. 
 Job xi. 7-9; Isa. Iv. 8, 9. This 
 forms the concluding strain of the 
 Apostle's inference, from the whole 
 doctrinal ground he had been survey- 
 ing, of the relations of Christianity to 
 the two principal parties concerned 
 with it; namely, the Jews, already 
 favored with a preparatory revela- 
 tion, and the Gentiles, who had been 
 trying their natural experiments of 
 civilization in Greece, Rome, and 
 other countries. Both had signally 
 failed of achieving, under their re- 
 spective systems of Law and of Wis- 
 dom, the highest objects contem- 
 plated in man's position in this world, 
 and had demonstrated the need of 
 the superior system of faith offered 
 by Christianity. All were included in 
 unbelief, and upon all God had mercy 
 in sending his Son into the world, not 
 to condemn, but to save it, and at once 
 to be a light to hghten the Gentiles 
 and the glory of his people Israel. As 
 the Apostle looked upon this entire 
 map of Divine Providence, and saw 
 its seeming discords resolved into a 
 higher harmony, and all its parts com- 
 bining together in the disclosure of 
 the glorious intentions of God, and in 
 the development of the holiness and 
 
XL] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 187 
 
 34 out ! For who liath known the mind of the Lord ? or who hath 
 
 35 been his counsellor ? or who hath first given to him, and it shall 
 
 36 be recomjDensed unto liim again ? For of him, and through him, 
 and to him, are all things : to whom he glory for ever. Amen. 
 
 blessedness of mankind, he breaks 
 forth into exclamations of gratitude 
 and joy, of wonder and adoration, be- 
 fore such infinite greatness and good- 
 ness. There is a most valuable les- 
 son taught by this passage. For if 
 the Apostle, after so many chapters 
 of discussion and argument, in which 
 he would seem to have made every- 
 thing clear to his own mind, if not to 
 that of his readers, is yet obliged to 
 fiill back and repose in the boundless 
 wisdom, power, and goodness of Al- 
 mighty God, as the best explanation 
 of all difficulties, and the most satis- 
 factory justification of the whole plan 
 of life, revelation, and futui'ity, then 
 how appropriate it is for every hum- 
 bler student of the same divine lore to 
 have more faith than knowledge, and 
 more charity than dogmatism, upon 
 questions of such scope and per- 
 plexity ! 
 
 34, 35. See Isa. xl. 13 ; Job. xv. 8, 
 xfi. 11; 1 Cor. ii. 16. The Apostle 
 quotes freely from the elder Scrip- 
 tures such sentences as illustrated the 
 infinite sufficiency and wisdom of the 
 Divine plan, and the necessary de- 
 pendence and obligation of man to 
 the Giver of all good. The language 
 is not exact, and it shows conclusively 
 that the quotations were probably 
 made from memory, and that no such 
 claim as that of plenary inspiration 
 or perfect verbal accuracy can be 
 maintained for the Epistles; as, in- 
 deed, what use would they subserve, 
 if they could be made good, that is 
 not better fulfilled by the moral and 
 spiritual inspiration of truth and love 
 which it is universally conceded ani- 
 mates every sentence with life and 
 power ? 
 
 36. This verse is a doxology ; and 
 
 as such it is much more worthy of 
 general use than such ascriptions as 
 terminate the prayers, chants, and 
 graces of many modern Christians, 
 and are designed to teach or in- 
 sinuate the unscriptural doctrine of 
 the Trinity. For example, "For 
 Christ's sake," a phrase occurring 
 only once in the New Testament, 
 Eph. iv. 32, and mistranslated there 
 for in or through Christ: also, " Glory 
 to the Father, and to the Son, and 
 to the Holy Ghost ; as it was in the 
 beginmng, is now, and ever shall be, 
 world without end " ; — "To whom, 
 with Thee and the Holy Ghost, be all 
 honor and glory, world without end." 
 Why do our fellow-Christians persist 
 in using so many of these unauthor- 
 ized and unscriptural phrases, instead 
 of returning to the simpHcity and 
 beauty of the sacred word. — Are all 
 things^ &c. I. e. from God as the 
 Source, through him as the Means or 
 Instrument, and to him as the End, 
 are all things. Dr. Samuel Johnson 
 has wefi paraphrased the sentiment 
 in the words : 
 
 " Prom thee, Great God, we spring ; to thee we 
 tend, 
 Path, Motive, Guide, Original, and End." 
 
 Upon this concluding passage 01s- 
 hausen remarks : " This whole con- 
 templation of the wonderful ways of 
 the Lord, who knows how to gather 
 his flock unto himself out of all lan- 
 guages, kindreds, and tongues, was 
 assuredly fitted to excite a feeling of 
 amazement and admiration. To this 
 feeling, then, the Apostle gave vent in 
 an exclamation, which is indeed short, 
 but deeply felt, and full of great 
 ideas This bold and power- 
 ful flight seems, however, to have a 
 foundation only on the supposition of 
 
188 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 The General Practical Duties of Christianity to God and our Felknc-men. 
 I BESEECH you therefore, bretlu-en, by tlie mercies of God, that ye 
 
 an entire restoration. If only some, 
 or but a few in all, are blessed, how 
 is God's wisdom to become manifest 
 in the result? But if all become 
 blessed, without prejudice to free-will 
 or justice, this assuredly appears as a 
 miracle of God. The docti-ine of a 
 restoration has very many passages 
 of St. Paul's Epistles apparently in its 
 favor." 
 
 A spirit of energetic hope and of 
 boundless love heaves in the breast 
 of the Apostle, and we cannot recon- 
 cile his large and general terms with 
 the supposition that there will not be 
 a final restoration of the human family 
 to virtue and eternal life. He speaks 
 in the doctrinal part of the Epistle, 
 which is here concluded, of election 
 and condemnation, but in most in- 
 stances he evidently refers to the 
 possession and use, or the reverse, of 
 spiritual privileges in the present life, 
 not to the final condition of the soul 
 in a future world ; and where he 
 does enter the vast scenes of futurity, 
 whether here or hereafter, he lifts up 
 such a strain of devout and jubilant 
 praise to the Almighty Father, as 
 seems only to meet with its full justi- 
 fication In the restitution of all things, 
 and the reconciliation of the whole 
 family of mankind to the love, trust, 
 and obedience of the holy and benev- 
 olent Father, through his Son Jesus 
 Christ. 1 Cor. xv. 24-28; Eph. i. 
 20-23; 2 Tim. i. 10. 
 
 CHAPTER xn. 
 
 Having completed the doctrinal 
 portion of his letter to the Roman 
 Christians, St. Paul proceeds to dis- 
 cuss the ethics of the Gospel, and 
 their relations and applications to all 
 the conditions in which his hearers 
 
 and readers were situated. But the 
 hfe of mankind on earth is in its 
 essential characteristics so nearly 
 alike in every age and country, that 
 the duties here inculcated and mi- 
 nutely specified are such as are obliga- 
 tory in their general outlines, if not 
 in all their details, upon the Christian 
 Church everywhere. In this chapter 
 he expounds the duties of the disci- 
 ples, first to God, ver. 1-8, and 
 then more at length their social and 
 religious obhgations to one another, 
 ver. 9-21. Chapter xlli. treats of 
 the Christian's duty to the state, and 
 the general embodiment of all service 
 and obligation in the law of love. 
 Chapters xiv. and xv. relate to the 
 condition of Paul's converts In hea- 
 then communities, and their duties 
 thence arising, with personal matters 
 touching his writing to them, and his 
 promised visit at Rome. Chapter » 
 xvl. ends the Epistle with friend- 
 ly salutations, cautions, and benedic- 
 tions. 
 
 1. / beseech you tlierefore, &c. 
 He earnestly entreats his brethren, 
 whose hearts might be supposed to 
 be touched by the powerful argu- 
 ments and appeals he had thus far 
 addressed to them, to give attention 
 to the exhortations which follow, and 
 the logical inference from the views 
 of God's mercy which had 'been pre- 
 sented was, that they should fulfil 
 their part in self-consecration, faith, 
 and obedience. If, then, any conclu- 
 sion could be drawn from his remarks 
 upon faith In previous chapters, or 
 the election to religious privileges, 
 unfavorable to the practical duties of 
 hfe, it is entirely corrected by the les- 
 sons now given. Paul was not opposed 
 to good works as works, but to Avorks 
 from such a principle as the Law, that 
 
XII.] 
 
 TO THE EOMANS. 
 
 189 
 
 present jour bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, 
 2 which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to tliis 
 
 did not cover the whole of human na- 
 ture, or go down to its deepest roots, 
 as compared with works from the liv- 
 ing motives of faith, that encompassed 
 all faculties, and laid hold of higher 
 powers in God and Christ, and 
 reached forward to another life. The 
 law of Christian duty was not to be 
 less, but more, strict than the law of 
 Jewish duty ; but it was re-enforced 
 in its practical workings by more 
 persuasive and powerful motives. 
 The Old Testament cannot fui-nish 
 such a catalogue of good works to be 
 done, as this discourse of the Apostle 
 of faith ; nor can the classic or Orien- 
 tal literature produce such an essay 
 upon ethics. These considerations 
 should react upon the foregoing chap- 
 ters of the doctrines of Paul, and 
 should teach us what a wrong we do 
 him", and what a wresting we make of 
 his words, when we cite him as an 
 Luthority against the value, necessity, 
 and imperative obligation of good 
 works. On the contrary, he digged 
 deep and laid his foundation of Chris- 
 tian truth firm and broad, in order 
 that he might raise the noblest super- 
 structure of character and hfe, which 
 the world had seen since the incar- 
 nation. — Your todies, i. e. because 
 they stand simply for yourselves ; or 
 because the body of the animal was 
 the offering made in the heathen" and 
 Jewish sacrifices ; or because the 
 body was the lowest part of human 
 nature, and most required tliis spirit- 
 ual sanctification. A combination of 
 such reasons may have determined 
 the choice of the word. — A living 
 sacrifice, in contradistinction to the 
 dead animals which were offered at 
 the altars. — Hobj, i. e. free from 
 blemish or defect, as was required of 
 the offerings made to the gods among 
 the heathen, or in the temple service 
 at Jerusalem. Mai. i. 7, 8. — Accept- 
 
 ahle unto God. That is, well-pleas- 
 ing to him. — Your reasonable service, 
 your spiritual ministry, your service 
 of the mind and heart, and not mere 
 external observances. This is the 
 summary of what went before. It is 
 in reference to the same thought, that 
 the Apostle says elsewhere, '' Bodily 
 exercise profiteth little," 1 Tim. iv. 8. 
 By wliich he meant that the ascetic 
 and sacrificial ordinances of religion 
 could not compare in value Avith the 
 interior and spiritual exercises of 
 faith, charity, and hope. All the 
 services and duties enjoined by Chris- 
 tianity are eminently reasonable, and 
 require for their performance, not 
 only deep religious faith, but strong 
 common sense. In this opening verse 
 is unfolded in fcAv, but fit, words the 
 entire progrannne of practical Chris- 
 tianity. Old things are passed away ; 
 behold, all things are become new. 
 The system of an exclusive priest- 
 hood, of sacrifices of the dead bodies 
 of animals and the fruits of the earth, 
 and of painful and expensive pilgrim- 
 ages, bodily austerities, and macera- 
 tions, had been superseded by the 
 reasonable service and worship of 
 the Gospel, in which all were priests 
 unto God, and the offering was to be 
 a willing and pure-minded dedication 
 of one's self, all the powers of body 
 and mind, all possessions, and influ- 
 ences, and gifts, to the service of God, 
 and Christ, and mankind. The suc- 
 ceeding specifications of duty were 
 but the branches, boughs, leaves, 
 flowers, and fruits of the one total 
 consecration and act of faith, which 
 constituted the main trunk of the 
 Christian tree. 
 
 2. The first obstruction to this su- 
 perior life of self-consecration comes 
 from the world, the circumstances 
 around one, and therefore the warn- 
 ing of the Apostle is here given 
 
190 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that 
 ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will 
 of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every 3 
 
 against the sin of conformity and 
 compliance. Man is not made in the 
 present state ; he is making, or rather 
 he is scarcely begun to be made. 
 He is but a germ, a seed, an acorn, a 
 bulb. He is all the time in a process 
 of creation , — earth-creation, self-crea- 
 tion, God-creation. He is not there- 
 fore judged yet as to what he will be 
 or do, or how he will enjoy or suffer. 
 For the scaffolding is still around him, 
 the bricks and mortar are lying aU 
 about, and the sound of the trowel and 
 the hammer and the plane and the 
 saw give note that here is a house, a 
 building, a human habitation, an in- 
 carnation and temple of the Divinity. 
 The question which the Apostle dis- 
 cusses in the text is whether this work 
 shall have for its pattern an earthly 
 or a heavenly style of arcliitecture. 
 The Catholic Testament reads. Be 
 reformed in the newness of your 
 mind. The germ of this new hfe is 
 in the mind, which can be regener- 
 ated by the Gospel, and changed 
 not into the coarse and earthy image, 
 but into the fine and heavenly one. 
 This process of self-formation and 
 spiritual assimilation is indeed ever- 
 more going on in us, whether we will 
 it or not, whether we know it or not. 
 We arc constantly growing worse or 
 better, more earthly or more heaven- 
 ly-minded. The exhortation here is 
 to Avatch over this process, and guard 
 against an easy subsidence into the 
 follies and vices of our time, and 
 claim and pursue the ever nobler 
 good that is above us, and that hangs 
 as rich, ripe fruit just Avithin our 
 reach if we would put forth adven- 
 turous hands and pluck it. — That ye 
 may prove. John vii. 17 ; Ps. xxv. 9. 
 As much as to say, such a renewed 
 mind and character, built after the 
 
 divine and Christian type, is the touch- 
 stone of what is the will of God. We 
 emerge from the darkness of igno- 
 rance, and petty cares, and earthly 
 environments, into the clear azure 
 of superior and heavenly knoAvledge, 
 through the portal of this renewed 
 mind and spiritual life. We see only 
 so much hght as we use, and we taste i 
 only so much food as we eat, and we 
 possess and enjoy only so much good ■., 
 as we appropriate and incorporate. I 
 — That good, and acceptable, and per- 
 fect. These may better be under- 
 stood as adjectives used as nouns, \ 
 thus, the good, the well-jjleasing, the 
 perfect; and these are synonymous 
 Avith the AAdll of God, and Avhat consti- 
 tutes that Avill as it regards our moral 
 conduct and spiritual life. The ideal 
 of spiritual excellence is described In 
 these terms, and the higher we rise in 
 the pursuit and acquisition of these 
 qualities, and the more entirely our 
 mind Is renewed from Avithin to cor- 
 respond to them, the more clear and 
 impressive does our knowledge be- 
 come of what truly is the will of God, 
 and what are his purposes concern- 
 ing us and all things. 
 
 3. The grace given unto me. The 
 apostolic office and authority, which 
 rendered it no assumption on his part 
 to counsel and to command his con- | 
 verts. Humility Is the pioneer of 
 virtue Avhich he sets forth In his enu- 
 meration. For only as the Christian 
 possesses this quality Is he prepared 
 to act, well his part in that difficult 
 and diversified sphere of duty and 
 trial Into which he is about to Intro- 
 duce him, in the succeeding catalogue 
 of virtues and graces, high and beauti- 
 ful, but hard Avon and easily lost. — 
 To every man that is among tjou. No 
 matter "how liighly exalted any one 
 
XILJ 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 191 
 
 man that is among you, not to tliink of himself more highly than 
 
 he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath 
 
 4 dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many 
 
 members in one body, and all members have not the same office ; 
 
 6-60 we, heing many, are one body in Christ, and every one members 
 
 6 one of another. Havuig then gifts differing according to the grace 
 
 might be at Eorne, the capital of the 
 •world, by rank, birth, nation, or office, 
 the Apostle felt entitled by his office 
 to give him those sph-itual directions 
 which all needed in achieving the 
 work of the Christian character. — 
 To tliink soherhj. " True humility 
 is the right and healthy view of our- 
 selves and our position." 
 
 The saint that wears heaven's brightest crown 
 In deepest adoration bends ; 
 The weight of glory bows him down 
 Then most when most liis soul ascends : — 
 » Nearest the throne itself must be 
 The footstool of humility." 
 
 — The measure of faitli. Tliis was 
 the criterion of standing in the Chris- 
 tian Church. Each one was to oc- 
 cupy the position assigned him in the 
 providence and grace of God with 
 contentment, and without either am- 
 bitiously grasping at a higher position 
 than truly belonged to him, or indo- 
 lently sinking below the one which 
 his gifts justified him in holding. 
 The lesson is, Suum culque, his own 
 to each one. Gal. vi. 4. 
 
 4, 5. He used the well-known illus- 
 tration of the limbs and members of 
 the human body to describe the dif- 
 ferent offices and functions of the 
 several orders in the Church of Christ. 
 It is a most apposite comparison ; for 
 it justifies the system of Revelation 
 by an appeal to the system of Nature, 
 and preaches contentment by the 
 argument of necessity ; for as all can- 
 not be the eye, some must be the 
 hands, and some the feet ; and it 
 satisfies the sense of usefulness by the 
 reflection, that all are necessary in 
 their places, and appeals to the senti- 
 
 ment of union in Christ, and respon- 
 sibility to him as the head of the 
 common body. This is a favorite 
 illustration of Paul's, and he employs 
 it on several occasions. 1 Cor. xii. 
 12-27; Eph. iv. 25; v. 30. 
 
 6-8. He proceeds to specify the 
 diffijrent functions of the several 
 members of the Christian Church, 
 some higher and some lower, but all 
 necessary in their places for the com- 
 plete working of the body of Avliich 
 Jesus Christ was the head. — Gfts. 
 These charisms, or special gifts, range 
 from the office of an apostle to that 
 of a deacon ; and seem to include 
 both the special and the natural 
 duties assigned to different individu- 
 als. As remarked by Thorn, " It is 
 not possible to define the functions 
 of the several individualities of office 
 and of operation, to which St. Paul 
 assigns a place in the administration 
 of the early Church. Some of these 
 relate to the vivid communication of 
 spiritual energy, which a soul deeply 
 moved itself can impart to others; 
 some, to the more practical qualifica- 
 tions for the wise government and 
 direction of a church, at every mo- 
 ment hable to fatal collisions ; and 
 some to interior details of mutual as- 
 sistance and cooperation, the partic- 
 ulars of which have for ever escaped 
 us." — According to the grace that is 
 given to us. The Christian Church 
 was not one dull and uninteresting 
 body of persons exactly alike, but it 
 presented all varieties of life, all the 
 diversity of members of the human 
 constitution. There was the eye of 
 the seer and prophet, the tongue of 
 
1 
 
 192 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 LChap. 
 
 that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to 
 the proportion of faith ; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering ; 7 
 or he that teacheth, on teacliing ; or he that exhorteth, on exhor- 8 
 tation : he that giveth, let him do it with simphcity ; he that ruleth, 
 with clihgence ; he that showeth mercy with cheerfuhiess. Let 9 
 
 the teacher, the heart of the exhort- 
 er and comforter, and the hand and 
 foot of the ministering servants. No 
 organ was supei-fluous, none was able 
 to monopoHze all uses and honors, 
 and discard the others as unworthy. 
 There were different degrees of 
 special aid and inspiration, and dif- 
 ferent natural endo^vments. There 
 was the grace given to an apostle, 
 and the grace given to a deacon. 
 The exhortation of the text there- 
 fore is, that each one should be faith- 
 ful in his sphere, with self-respect 
 and mutual deference. " Christians 
 are only to aim at rightly applying 
 the measure of ability they have re- 
 ceived ; to do everything according 
 to its proportion. They are not to 
 indulge conceit, or to pass beyond 
 the Hmits of their own stand-point." 
 — Whether prophecy. This does not 
 necessarily mean the capacity of pre- 
 iicting future events, but the procla- 
 mation of religious truths with a vivid 
 sense of spiritual power and the con- 
 sciousness of the reahty of the mes- 
 sage of the spirit. This function 
 ranked next to the apostolic office. 
 — Proportion of faith ^ or the measure 
 of spiritual power and inspiration. 
 — Ministry. This pertained to the 
 administration of the external affairs 
 of the Church, as attendance upon 
 the sick, and the distribution of alms 
 to the poor. — Teaching. This was 
 the instructional and catechetical 
 duty, to educate the young, enlighten 
 the ignorant, and communicate the 
 truth already made known by the 
 apostle and prophet. — Exhortation. 
 This word in Greek has the twofold 
 sense of admonition, and of consola- 
 tion. These several offices of minis- 
 
 try, teaching, exhortation, &c., might 
 be held and discharged by the same 
 person. — Giveth — tvith simplicity., i. e. 
 without the alloy of improper motives. 
 He now enters upon the specification 
 of duties common to Christian believ- 
 ers in general, or such as fell within 
 the scope of considerable numbers. 
 — liuleth, ivith diligence. This is a 
 caution against the proverbial evil of 
 " the law's delay." — Mercy., icith 
 cheerfulness. He that forgiveth an 
 injury should not do it in so cold 
 and reluctant a manner as to take 
 away half the grace and welcome of 
 the deed. In reference to passages 
 like the text, Neander, the greatest 
 of modern ecclesiastical historians, 
 says; " The view we are led to foi-m 
 of the original constitution of the 
 churches among Gentile Christians, 
 as they existed in the apostohc age, 
 that it teas entirely democratic, is 
 also one of the distinguishing marks 
 between the churches of Gentile and 
 those of Jewish origin. The case 
 appears to be thus: All the affairs 
 of the churches were still transacted 
 in an entirely public manner, so that 
 every deliberate meeting of the 
 church resembled a strictly popular 
 assembly. But it happened, of course, 
 that although no definite offices were 
 instituted, to which certain employ- 
 ments were exclusively attached, yet 
 each one occupied himself with those 
 matters for which he possessed a 
 pecuhar charism (gift) ; those who 
 had the gift of teaching generally 
 attended to teaching, those who pos- 
 sessed the gift of church govern- 
 ment occupied themselves with the 
 duties pertaining to it. Thus in 
 every meeting of the church there 
 
XII.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 19: 
 
 love be without dissimulation. Ablior that which is evil ; cleave 
 
 10 to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with 
 
 11 brotherly love;- in honor preferring one another; not slothful in 
 
 12 business ; fervent in spirit ; serving the Lord ; rejoicing in hope ; 
 
 was a division among its members of 
 the various business, in proportion to 
 the pecuHar charisms of individuals, 
 yet without the institution of any 
 definite church offices." 
 
 9. As the root and trunk of all the 
 Christian functions, he insists upon 
 love, free from guile or pretence. — 
 Evil and good are here probably used, 
 not to describe the quaUties usually 
 attached to them as abstract terms, 
 but rather to describe dispositions of 
 the heart, either malicious or benevo- 
 lent. The words ahlior and cleave 
 imply the greatest intensity of pur- 
 pose. Our avoidance of malevolent 
 feehngs, and our adherence to kindly 
 ones, are to be no tame and cold 
 acts of the spiritual nature, but zeal- 
 ous and whole-souled. One of the 
 Fathers said, " Wait not till thou art 
 loved by another, but make advances 
 and begin ; for thus shalt thou reap 
 the reward of his friendship." 
 
 10. To illustrate and impress still 
 further this beautiful sentiment of 
 Christian love, he likens it to the 
 family instinct of fraternal affection. 
 We are to love our fellow-men as if 
 they were our own mother's sons ; 
 for are they not the sons of our com- 
 mon Father in heaven? And this 
 love is to be manifested in one of the 
 most difficult of all positions, in yield- 
 ing our own advantage or honor for 
 the sake of another. How different is 
 the eager and grasping temper of the 
 world from the conciliating, friend- 
 ly spirit of the Gospel ! Iron is not 
 more unlike gold than is the rule of 
 society compared with the rule of 
 Christ. " Nothing," says Chrysostom, 
 " tends so much to make friends, as 
 endeavoring to overcome one's neigh- 
 bor in doing him honor." 
 
 17 
 
 11. Some limit this verse to a quali- 
 fication of the nature of love in the 
 preceding one ; as that there are 
 many who have good affections 
 enough, but who take no pains to act 
 them out in the relations and trials 
 of human life. But the movement 
 of the whole passage indicates rather 
 an indeijendent exhortation to dih- 
 gence, zeal, and service to God. 
 — Business. Not business in the 
 usual sense of that word, but, as De 
 Wette interprets, zeal for all good in 
 the kingdom of God. The word is 
 translated diligence in ver. 8. Ecc. 
 ix. 10. This clause and the next 
 describe the negative and positive 
 sides of the same duty, and the third 
 clinches both with a higher consecra- 
 tion. — Serving the Lord. Griesbach 
 and some other critics make a differ- 
 ent reading, " serving the opportu- 
 nity ; " but the text as it is, is to be 
 preferred. The duty of carrying our 
 religion into our daily life cannot be 
 insisted on with too strong an em- 
 phasis. If the lamp of Revelation 
 has been lighted in heaven, it is that 
 it may guide our footsteps in this 
 dark earth. If a coal is taken from 
 the eternal fire of God's altar, it is to 
 kindle a flame on our hearth-stone, 
 and make our home warm and cheer- 
 ful. Where do we more need both 
 the restraining and the Impulsive, 
 the consolatory and the admonishing 
 principles of the Gospel, than In the 
 thickest of life's cares and duties and 
 engagements, from day to day, and 
 from hour to hour ! ^Vliat other 
 shield can so defend, or what other 
 balm can so comfort and sustain ! 
 
 12. Hope comes after faith, and 
 love, and amid the trials of life widens 
 the prospects of earth to the great 
 
194 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; distributing to 13 
 the necessity of saints ; given to hospitality. Bless them which per- u 
 secute you : bless, and curse not. Eejoice with them that do re- is 
 
 horizon of heaven. Joy is the proper 
 counterpart to hope, and patience to 
 tribulation, and perseverance to pray- 
 er. This is a description of the true 
 method of meeting and overcoming 
 trial and sorrow, and the different 
 parts of the process are consistent 
 and cooperative with one another. 
 Because he is patient under his afflic- 
 tions, the true disciple no less ear- 
 nestly prays to be delivered from 
 them, and looks forward with exulta- 
 tion to the day of final freedom from 
 every clog and chain of earth. The 
 most perfect character is thus a bal- 
 ance between difierent forces, a 
 mediation between widely sundered 
 powers and influences. 
 
 13. The virtues here recommend- 
 ed were especially necessary, in that 
 age of the world, and under the 
 peculiarly scattered and endangered 
 condition of the Httle band of behev- 
 ers, amidst their numerous enemies, 
 both Jews and Gentiles. Though 
 hospitality was a cherished duty of 
 the ancient nations, and found fre- 
 quent and eloquent eulogies in the 
 classic hterature, yet, like every other 
 native plant of virtue, it requires to 
 be cultured and pruned in the garden 
 of the Lord. \Vhile all that was 
 good in the heathen code of morals 
 is to be found in the apostolic ethics, 
 it is here raised to new heights of dis- 
 interestedness and sanctified by mo- 
 tives of regard for the will of God 
 and the love of Christ. The Hindoos 
 beautifully say, as a reason for show- 
 ing hospitality even to their enemies, 
 that " the tree does not withdraw its 
 shade even from the wood-cutter." 
 Most affecting motives to hospitality 
 are suggested in Matt, xxv, 35 - 40, 
 and Heb. xiii. 2. 
 
 14. In an age of persecution, when 
 
 the Christians went forth as sheep 
 among wolves, it was especially need- 
 ful that they should take with them 
 the loftiest standard of forgiveness, 
 else their hearts would become hard 
 and embittered, and the Gospel would 
 die out of their souls. But this sub- 
 Hme precept, so often inculcated by 
 Jesus, so beautifully exemplified by 
 him on the cross, is of no local or 
 transient application, but universal 
 and eternal. Not a day passes when 
 it is not imperatively needed in every 
 position of human life, that the wheels 
 of society may revolve without Lor- 
 rid discord, and that the children of 
 God's infinite love may learn to treat 
 one another as he treats us all. There 
 can be no more striking testimony to 
 the superhuman origin of the Chris- 
 tian rehgion, than its pure and holy 
 precepts, so counter to the spirit of 
 the world, and so superior to its most 
 admired systems of philosophy and 
 morals. What a change had Saul, 
 the arch-persecutor of the Christians, 
 undergone, to become Paul the Apos- 
 tle of the meek and forgiving Jesus, 
 inculcating boundless love and un- 
 wearied piety and mercy ! Matt. v. 
 7, 44 - 48 ; Luke xxiii. 34 ; Acts vii. 
 60. 
 
 15. Chrysostom remarks that it is 
 harder to rejoice sincerely with the 
 joyful, than to weep with the sorrow- 
 ing; and Rochefoucault makes the 
 startling remark, that in the misfor- 
 tunes of our best friends there is 
 something which is not altogether 
 displeasing to us. Of coui^e it could 
 only be an ill-regulated nature that 
 took dehght in any one's troubles, 
 especially in those of the near and 
 dear ; but there are many ill-regulated 
 and undisciphned minds and hearts 
 even in the purest Christian commu- 
 
XIL] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 195 
 
 16 joice, and weep with tliem that weep. Be of the same mind one 
 toward another. Mind not liigh things, but condescend to men of 
 
 17 low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to 
 no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of aU 
 
 18 men. If it be possible, as much as Ueth in you, live peaceably with 
 
 19 all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give 
 
 nity. One of the most important 
 branches, therefore, to the general 
 sentiment of love, is here sketched, 
 — a sincere and cordial sympathy 
 with our fellow-men in both their 
 joys and their sorrows. This is one 
 of the last and most refined manifes- 
 tations of the genuine Christian char- 
 acter and life, and it makes the dark 
 and howling wilderness of barbarous 
 human nature, of untamed and un- 
 controllable passions, bud and blos- 
 som as the rose. 
 
 16. A continuation of the same 
 duties of sympathy, condescension, 
 and humility in social matters. — Be 
 of the same mind ; that is, as DeWette 
 and Tholuck expound, be like-mind- 
 ed ; united. Rom. xv. 5 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 
 11 ; Phil. ii. 2. In the sequel, humil- 
 ity is enjoined, because " the greatest 
 enemy to concord is pride." — Mind 
 not high things, but condescend to men 
 of low estate. As the Catholic Tes- 
 tament runs, " not minding high 
 things, but consenting to the humble." 
 The authorities, however, are in gen- 
 eral in favor of understanding the 
 phrase as applicable to men, rather 
 than things, though the adjective in 
 the original Greek leaves it undeter- 
 mined. Luther paraphrases it. Let 
 yourselves down to the wretched, 
 nay, withdraw not yourselves from 
 the poor and despised, who as yet 
 know not the Gospel. 
 
 17. To no man evil for evil. It has 
 been aptly said, that to render evil 
 for good is devil-like, evil for evil is 
 brute-like, good for good is man-like, 
 but to render good for evil is Christ- 
 Hke and God-like. We are summoned 
 
 by the voice of revelation, which 
 is echoed in the depths of our own 
 spiritual being, to adopt the highest 
 style of magnanimity and mercy, and 
 strive to be perfect as our Father in 
 heaven is perfect. — Provide things 
 honest, &c. These checks and bal- 
 ances, put to the manifestations of 
 the higher life, are fine instances of 
 the superior wisdom of Christianity 
 AVhIle this lofty tone of love, sym- 
 pathy, superiority to revenge, and 
 heavenly-mindedness, is to be jealous- 
 ly preserved, the good opinion of the 
 world is by no means to be scorned. 
 For honest read beautiful, honorable , 
 so we obtain a more exact and im- 
 pressive exhortation. 
 
 18. If it be possible, &c. Here is 
 the same worldly wisdom mingled 
 with heavenly truth. Peace, peace 
 with all men, is to be pursued, but 
 then we are to remember the hin- 
 drances and not to expect impossi- 
 bilities. We are to do all in our own 
 power, and, so far as we can control 
 external causes, to live a peaceable 
 life ; but in spite of our best endeavors 
 our good intentions may be defeated. 
 Fire and water cannot meet in har- 
 mony, and good and evil must clash ; 
 but it is the part of the disciple of 
 Jesus to sacrifice everything but prin- 
 ciple on the altar of peace. 
 
 19. The duties of forgiveness are 
 so peremptory, and so difficult, that 
 this master of morals adds line upon 
 line and precept upon precept to en- 
 force them. — Avenge. Revenge. — 
 Give place unto ivrath : i. e. do not 
 come between God and the sinner, 
 but make room for tlie suitable pun- 
 
196 
 
 THE EPISTLE OE PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 place imto wrath ; for it is written, Yengeance is mine ; I will re- 
 pay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thme enemy hunger, feed him ; 20 
 if he thu'st, give him drink : for in so doing thou shalt heap coals 
 of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil 21 
 with good. 
 
 ishment which he will inflict upon 
 the wicked, and which will be much 
 better adapted to his case than any 
 penalties of yours. " Do not antici- 
 pate the ways of God, allow time and 
 space to his righteous retributions." 
 
 — It is icritten. Deut. xxxii. 35. A 
 free cpiotation. Even the elder cov- 
 enant thus raised the standard of a 
 high reference to God in all injuries, 
 rather than to indulge in petty per- 
 sonal revenge in the treatment of our 
 enemies. 
 
 20, 21. The first verse is the de- 
 scription of the method of the duty, 
 and the second the generahzation of 
 the principle. " The sweet revenge " 
 of the Christian is to do good unto 
 his foe until he is ashamed of his ill- 
 conduct and turns and repents of it 
 and asks forgiveness. Thus the best 
 revenge is taken by not revenging 
 yourselves, but by treating your ene- 
 my in the kindest possible manner. 
 
 — Coals of fire on Ms head. The 
 Greek of coals is the word from which 
 anthracite is derived. The sense of 
 the illustration is a little obscure. 
 The intention is obvious to express 
 the giving of pain, for in such imagery 
 the Orientals speak of that act." 
 " Coals of the will " are equivalent 
 to " cutting jests that give pain." 
 The only question is what sort of 
 pain is meant, the punishment of God, 
 made more severe by your kindness, 
 or the sinner's own shame. Tholuck, 
 Olshausen, and others, inchne to the 
 latter idea, and " consider the coals 
 of fire as an image for that torment- 
 ing sense of shame, which in the end 
 forces the adversary to supplicate for- 
 giveness, inasmuch as no heart, how- 
 
 ever hard, can permanently resist a 
 love so uniform, patient, and every- 
 where forgetting and subordinating 
 self" 2 Esdras xvi. 53 : Pro v. xxv. 
 21, 22. — Be not overcome of evil, &c. 
 The only possible conquest we can 
 make of evil is by the suj^erior instru- 
 ment of good, of error by truth, of 
 darkness by light, of hatred by love, 
 of sin by holiness. It is by the power 
 of a positive principle alone we can 
 overcome all weakness and evil, and 
 by the expulsive and exclusive energy 
 of a new and holier affection that we 
 can drive away the evil spirits that 
 haunt us, and introduce the peace of 
 God, which passeth all understand- 
 ing. Even heathen Seneca had a 
 glimpse of this truth, when he said, 
 " Pertinacious goodness concmers the 
 evil." 
 
 This beautiful chapter of Christian 
 piety and ethics is capable of being 
 viewed in several distinct hghts. 
 
 1st. It is in itself a very strong 
 proof of the superhuman origin, the 
 Divine authority, and the happy ten- 
 dency of the Christian revelation. 
 For we can find no passage in an 
 uninspired writer, either in ancient 
 or modern literature, so condensed, 
 so qualified, so commanding in its air 
 of authority, yet so gentle and hu- 
 mane in its tone of love and sym- 
 pathy, so comprehensive in its rules 
 of duty, so high and unyielding in its 
 standard of obhgation, yet so practi- 
 cal as it respects the wants and weak- 
 nesses of mankind. We can in short 
 devise no reason why these books of 
 the New Testament have 
 
 " So got the start of the majestic world, 
 And borne the pahn alone," 
 
XIII.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 197 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Duties to the State, and the Generalization of all Precepts in Love. 
 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no 
 
 except that they were written by 
 those who acted under special com- 
 mission and authority from Him of 
 the Infinite Reason and the Infinite 
 Love. 
 
 2d. Here is also an interpretation of 
 what Christianity is ; here is its por- 
 trait taken by one of the " old mas- 
 ters." If we wish, therefore, to under- 
 stand Paul's doctrines, as developed 
 in the previous parts of the Epistle, 
 we must read them in the all-illumi- 
 nating light of Paul's duties, which are 
 laid down in this and the succeeding 
 chapters. We thus learn the consist- 
 ency of his system, and see that while 
 faith was one of its poles, pointing to 
 God and heaven, good works was the 
 other pole, pointing earthwards, and 
 touching with its attraction all human 
 relations. Thus contemplated, the 
 hard and obscure passages of -this 
 Epistle melt away in sunlight, and 
 we see with wonder and admiration 
 from what depths of the s](irit these 
 practical directions are drawn, and 
 to what heavenly heights they reach 
 in the kingdom of God. 
 
 3d. As a sketch of the moral fruits 
 of the Gospel, a hand-book of daQy 
 duty, this chapter is beyond all price. 
 If we wish to know whether we are 
 really Christians or not, here is the 
 judgment-seat. If we wish for in- 
 formation wherein we are in doubt, 
 or impulse wherein we are weak, 
 here is knowledge, and here is in- 
 spiration. K we desire to know what 
 would be the state of human society 
 under the full stress of Christian in- 
 fluences, we have but to imagine all 
 the virtues and graces here laid down, 
 in full play and harmonious concert, 
 to understand the blessedness of that 
 church and kingdom which Jesus 
 17* 
 
 came to found on earth, and the per- 
 fection of that spiritual and social 
 being which has been put witliin 
 human reach even here below. With 
 faith, love, and hope taking the lead, 
 and producing all their luxuriant 
 and beautiful branches, blossoms, and 
 fruits, we have before us the veritable 
 and majestic tree of life, " which bore 
 twelve manner of fruits, and yielded 
 her fruit every month ; and the leaves 
 of the tree were for the healing of 
 the nations." 
 
 CHAPTER XIH. 
 
 The relations of Christianity to 
 civil society and the institutions of 
 the state have been much misunder- 
 stood. For while, on one hand, pas- 
 sages like the one before us are cited 
 as proofs that the Gospel has nothing 
 whatsoever to do with politics, unless 
 it be to enjoin passive obedience to 
 the existing powers, on the other 
 hand, it is declared to be identical 
 with republicanism. It is difficult for 
 the world, from its low stand-point, to 
 comprehend so exalted a system, and 
 not fall into the most contradictory 
 theories respecting its connection 
 with the present state of things, on 
 one side, and with the infinite possi- 
 bilities of progress on the other. But 
 there are some considerations which 
 may serve, at least, to show that the 
 Apostle and his compeers did not love 
 their country less because they loved 
 Christianity more, and that they in- 
 culcated no slavish subserviency to 
 tyrants, however they might counsel 
 peace, contentment, and acquiescence 
 in unavoidable evils. The Gospel is 
 a radical cure for every poUtical and 
 social, as well as every moral, abuse 
 
198 ^ THE EPISTLE OF PAUL [Chap. 
 
 power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 
 
 and sin. It puts the axe of reforma- 
 tion at the root of the tree, and cuts 
 up every plant and shoot of evU 
 growth. But its method of attack 
 leads to its misconception as an in- 
 strument of social and civil regenera- 
 tion. Because it does not, in so many 
 words, denounce war, slavery, despo- 
 tism, intemperance, gambhng, and 
 kindi-ed evils, it is hastily inferred by 
 some moralists that Christianity has 
 no specific and deadly hostility to 
 them, and does not work with direct 
 agency for their overthrow. These 
 critics overlook the fact, that the 
 Gospel goes to the fountain-head in 
 the human heart, whence are all the 
 issues of life, and aims, by purify- 
 ing that, to cleanse all its streams. 
 Whereas, if the method of reforma- 
 tion had been by direct attack upon 
 specific evils, instead of lading down 
 a platform of exhaustive and univer- 
 sally applicable principles, the disap- 
 pearance of one set of social wrongs 
 would have been but the signal to 
 the onset of a new flock, feathered 
 and colored after the fashion of the 
 hour. No ; the method of the Saviour 
 and his Apostles subverts the whole 
 kingdom of evil itself, not so much by 
 special prohibitions as by the creation 
 of an opposite and exclusive kingdom 
 of God. It is superfluous to say. Do 
 not make war, Do not keep slaves, 
 after you have said, Love your 
 neighbor as yourself, and, Do unto 
 others whatsoever you would that 
 others should do unto you ; for the 
 greater comprehends the less. The 
 preoccupation of a new affection 
 gives assurance that a Christian will 
 not rob, steal, lie, nor murder. But 
 if, instead of proceeding on this truly 
 philosophical mode of overcoming 
 evil with good, the specification of 
 crimes and vices had been in form, 
 and not in their interior spirit and 
 root of evil, the compend of morals 
 
 would have been larger than the 
 Code of Justinian, and would soon 
 have become obsolete. But now the 
 spiritual magazine is perpetually 
 charged, and the warfare of eternal 
 principles against the shifting phe- 
 nomena of depraved passions and 
 appetites is never remitted. No e^ il 
 can escape with impunity. The Gos- 
 pel sickle sweeps into its ample 
 bend every stalk and straw of the 
 multitudinous growth of sin. By re- 
 forming on the basis of principles, it 
 reforms permanently the immorahties 
 and evil institutions and customs of 
 society, and hastens the coming of 
 that great day when the will of God 
 shall be done on earth as it is done 
 in heaven. 
 
 Truly understood, then, this pas- 
 sage gives no encouragement to the 
 theory of the divine right of kings, to 
 the vindictive character of punish- 
 ments inflicted by the magistrates, or 
 to the cruel and arbitrary caprices of 
 slavery and despotism. For one most 
 important qualification which the 
 Apostle interposes in his reasoning 
 is, that the powers are presumed to 
 be a terror to evil works, not to the 
 good, which characteristic takes them 
 of course out of the category of iiTe- 
 sponsible and tyrannical domination, 
 and assigns them a place among 
 the beneficent and heaven-sanctioned 
 agencies and restrictions of God's 
 moral government over men. For 
 when Paul speaks so decidedly of 
 the duty of obeying the civil author- 
 ities, and says the magistrate beareth 
 not the sword in vain, it has been 
 incredulously asked, whether he could 
 mean that the existing Roman em- 
 peror, Nero, was " ordained by God," 
 or was " a minister of God for good," 
 or that those who resisted the tyrant 
 were to be condemned as " resisting 
 the ordinance of God," or that the 
 sword, in his case, was not " borne in 
 
Xm.] TO THE KOMANS. 199 
 
 2 Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power, refeisteth the ordmance 
 
 vain," and worse than vain, — " that 
 sword with which Nero ripped up the 
 body of his OAvn mother, that sword 
 for whose blow Nero avowed the 
 wish that his country had but one 
 neck, and under which, be it ob- 
 served, St. Paul himself afterwards 
 suffered martyrdom for resisting the 
 ordinances of Nero, not to violence, 
 but in obedience to the service of 
 his higher Master, in preaching 
 the doctrines of salvation through 
 Christ '? " But, in reply to these in- 
 terrogations, it should be considered, 
 that Paul is supposed to have written 
 this Epistle to the Romans about the 
 year 58, and that Nero became em- 
 peror only four years before, in 54 ; 
 that he was then very young, and 
 that he had not as yet displayed to 
 their full extent those cruelties and 
 barbarities which have since made his 
 name a horror and a shame in the 
 annals of the human species. Be- 
 sides, Paul lived remote from Rome, 
 and there were no mails, telegraphs, 
 or steamers in those days to convey 
 to the distant provinces of the empire 
 the news of the capital. The Apostle, 
 too, was arguing upon general prin- 
 ciples, and not upon the subjection due 
 to any particular ruler or emperor. 
 He wished to turn the thoughts of 
 the Christian body away from tem- 
 poral ambition or worldly policy, and 
 teach them tliat their true kingdom 
 was not of this world, and that their 
 true course was to show themselves 
 good subjects of the respective gov- 
 ernments under which they lived. 
 It was indeed only by this pacific 
 policy that the Christian faith could 
 win its way in the world, or be pre- 
 served from the intrigues and corrup- 
 tion of politics. The grand seat of its 
 power was not primarily in its direct 
 external moulding of the manners, 
 customs, or laws of society, but its 
 dominion was over the heart. Still, 
 
 there can be no question that its 
 ultimate power is to be developed in 
 the entire regeneration of society, as 
 well as of the individual soul. The 
 kingdom within is to give form to the 
 kingdom without, and the kingdom 
 without to give energy and reality to 
 the kingdom within. The private 
 life and character of Christians can 
 only attain their purest manifestation 
 on the large scale, when the institu- 
 tions of society and all external cir- 
 cumstances that bear upon them are 
 in accordance with the standard of 
 Christ ; while, on the other hand, all 
 attempts to reform things without 
 regenerating men will prove a total 
 failure. Action and reaction, reforma- 
 tion and regeneration, faith and good 
 works, piety and morality, civilization 
 and Christianity, are mutual parts 
 of the same heaven-ordained whole. 
 What God hath joined together, let 
 not man put asunder. 
 
 1. Let every soul, i. e. every per- 
 son. — The higher powers. By these 
 are meant the magistrates, of what- 
 ever rank, to whom subjection was 
 due in the state. The proposition 
 Avas a general one, that Christians, 
 because they were disciples of "a 
 Heavenly Master, were not therefore 
 released from their aUegiance to the 
 civil authority; indeed, that they 
 were most distinctly bound to be 
 good citizens, because the very pur- 
 port of the state and of the church 
 agreed in this respect, when their 
 respective functions were properly 
 discharged, that they both were a 
 restraint upon evil works and an en- 
 couragement to good ones. — Or- 
 dained of God. The same doctrine 
 is taught in Titus iii. 1 and 1 Pet. ii. 
 13, 14. The origin of civil society is 
 in the Divine Providence, which has 
 determined the powers and circum- 
 stances of man and appointed the 
 sphere of the social relations for most 
 
200 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 of God : and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 
 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. "Wilt 3 
 thou then not be afraid of the power ? do that which is good, and 
 
 important purposes of culture and 
 discipline of the immortal faculties of 
 our being. This broad and general 
 truth is laid down by the Apostle 
 without necessarily indorsing mon- 
 archy as of divine right, or giving 
 any countenance to tyranny or slav- 
 ery, or even making in republics the 
 voice of the people synonymous with 
 the voice of God. General state- 
 ments of truth must, of course, be 
 taken with reasonable qualifications. 
 For, both in the case of Paul and that 
 of Peter, we know that the duty of 
 obeying God rather than men was 
 distinctly avowed, and that they both 
 finally sacrificed their lives to a mar- 
 tyr's glorious death, rather than obey 
 the iniquitous decrees of the Roman 
 authorities at the expense of their 
 religion. The magistrates were the 
 higher powers, but there were higher 
 powers than they, to whom they 
 yielded uncompromising fealty, even 
 truth, and Christ, and God. For all 
 the genuine authority of the state 
 was derived from these higher sources, 
 and, unless exercised in harmony with 
 the moral government of God, it was 
 to be repudiated as having violated 
 th^. single condition on which it was 
 entitled to respect and obedience. 
 " The right of revolution," therefore, 
 as it has been called, is not taken 
 away by the Apostle in this passage, 
 when it is properly limited, for he 
 was himself an actor in the most stu- 
 pendous revolution that was ever 
 enacted ; one that finally changed 
 the faith of the Roman empire from 
 Paganism to Christianity, and one 
 that broujght the Apostle and his 
 fellow-disciples into collision with the 
 civil government, and involved not a 
 few of them in martyrdom. 
 
 2. Damnation. This is usually as- 
 
 sociated in men's minds with punish- 
 ment hereafter; but the better ren- 
 dering is always condemnation, for 
 that covers the whole ground of the 
 original word, and leaves the question 
 of the time and duration of the pen- 
 alty and discipline necessary for the 
 wrong-doer in the same indefiniteness 
 in which the Apostle places it. The 
 idea of the verse is, that civil obedi- 
 ence is a Christian duty, because 
 government is of providential origin 
 and authority, and they, therefore, 
 who prove refractory subjects, will 
 expose themselves to condemnation 
 and punishment. These words of 
 caution were needed by the converts 
 from among the Jews, who were in- 
 clined to refuse to pay tribute to 
 Csesar, and who were but too prone 
 to embark in rash and ruinous insur- 
 rections, such as finally drew down 
 on them the vengeance of Rome and 
 overthrew the Jewish temple and 
 city and nation in irretrievable de- 
 struction. 
 
 3. The ground is here stated on 
 which obedience to the civil power 
 could be conscientious and reason- 
 able. When the functions of gov- 
 ernment were rightly discharged, and 
 the evil were restrained and punished, 
 and the good were encouraged, the 
 ruler became "a minister of God," 
 and was to be obeyed and aided as 
 such in the maintenance of his author- 
 ity. We see here, therefore, the all- 
 important qualification which limits 
 the general proposition of the previ- 
 ous verses. The rulers are officers 
 of God, and are to be cheerfully 
 obeyed as such, as long as they fulfil 
 their true offices of promoting the 
 great moral purposes of the Divine 
 government itself; but when they 
 abandon that high position, and lend 
 
XIII.] 
 
 TO TIIE ROMANS. 
 
 201 
 
 4 thou slialt have praise of the same : for he is the minister of God 
 to thee for good. But if thou do that wliich is evil, be afraid ; for 
 he beareth not the sword in vain : for he is the minister of God, a 
 
 5 revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth eviL Wherefore 
 ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for con- 
 
 6 science' sake. For, for this cause pay ye tribute also : for they are 
 
 themselves to fraud, to oppression, to 
 abuse of their fellow-men, — when- 
 ever they do by their conduct virtu- 
 ally subvert the ends and aims of 
 God's government, and become in- 
 struments to enslave, corrupt, harass, 
 and injure mankind, — their author- 
 ity is at an end, and they can sus- 
 tain no claim for the respect and 
 obedience of mankind. In truth, in 
 such cases " resistance to tyrants is 
 obedience to God," for Hberty is not 
 only a right and privilege, but a duty, 
 since only in a state of liberty can a 
 human being attain his true growth 
 and development, and become the 
 perfect being which his Creator jDlan- 
 ned, and which the whole system of 
 human life is constructed to produce. 
 4, 5. Factious disturbers of the 
 peace would find that not only the 
 right, but that might, was on the side 
 of the civil authority, and that, if 
 they did acts of injustice, or raised 
 insurrections against the peace and 
 order of society, they would not 
 escape condign punislmient. — Bear- 
 eth not the sword in vain. The sword 
 is here introduced as the emblem of 
 authority, as the axe and the dagger 
 were employed at different jDcriods 
 of the Roman republic and empire 
 to symbolize the same thing. We 
 see, therefore, that the passage is 
 strained beyond its obvious and natu- 
 ral import, when it is made to teach 
 necessarily the doctrine of capital 
 punishment. The kind and amount 
 of infliction for any particular crime 
 is not defined, because that question 
 did not fall within the province of the 
 Apostle, he being a morahst, not a 
 
 legislator ; but he simply declares the 
 universal proposition that the evil- 
 doer was to stand in awe of the civil 
 magistrate, for he might be sure that 
 he would find his emblem of authority . 
 was not in vain. — A revenger to exe- 
 cute lorith, &c. We should be going 
 out of the record, if we inferred that 
 it was proper for human governments 
 to indulge the spirit of retaliation, or 
 that the term " wrath " was to be ap- 
 phed in any other than a strongly 
 figurative sense to the dealings of 
 God with his cliildren. These ex- 
 pressions are a part of the necessary 
 anthropomorphism, or human charac- 
 ter, attached to description of what is 
 so far above us, and beyond our reach, 
 as the divine government. — Con- 
 science' sake ; i. e. obedience was to be 
 rendered, not only from the dread of 
 punishment, but from conscientious 
 motives of right, regarding the civU 
 rulers as standing in a certain sense 
 in the place of providence itself to 
 the mass of mankind under their do- 
 minion. 
 
 6. Pay ye tribute also. The ques- 
 tion was much agitated among the 
 Jews whether it was right to pay 
 tribute to their heathen masters ; but 
 it was decided in the affirmative by 
 our Lord, Matt. xvii. 24-27, xxii. 
 17-21, and by Paul in the present 
 passage, who assigns as the reason for 
 it, that the officers are ministers of 
 God, who are devoted to the mainte- 
 nance of justice and order between 
 man and man, and therefore entitled 
 to support. DeWette, Olshausen, 
 and Tholuck agree in making this 
 very thing stand for the general sub- 
 
202 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Ren- 7 
 der therefore to all their dues : tribute to whom tribute is due ; cus- 
 tom to whom custom ; fear to w^iom fear ; honor to whom honor. 
 Owe no man anything, but to love one another : for he that loveth 8 
 another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit 9 
 adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not 
 
 ject of the passage, viz. the service 
 of God in upholding law and order, 
 and not the special matter of the col- 
 lection of the tribute, spoken of in 
 this verse. The payment of taxes to 
 heathen magistrates was justifiable, 
 because the money was devoted to 
 the preservation of civil society, to 
 the support of law, and the restraint 
 of crime and sin. 
 
 7. To all their dues. The topic of 
 tribute started in the fruitful mind of 
 Paul the general question, what are 
 our dues to our fellow-men, and re- 
 minded him how much we owe to 
 one another, and especially that great 
 debt of love, which we never can 
 entirely pay, and which indeed we 
 are happier in never entirely dis- 
 charging. The precept was to ren- 
 der toCffisar the things that are 
 Caesar's, and to God the things that 
 are God's. — Tribute was the general 
 tax, and custom a special duty upon 
 some articles. — Fear and honor were 
 especially due to magistrates, and 
 love to all mankind in general. 
 
 8. Owe no man anything, &c. Pe- 
 cuniary debts are a great snare to 
 tlie character, and have proved the 
 destruction of many noble virtues. 
 Every man should strive, as St. Paul 
 suggests, to keep clear of them, or 
 if he becomes entangled in them, to 
 free liimself from their depressing 
 and hazardous embarrassment by all 
 means as soon as possible. He whose 
 delicate sense of honor and con- 
 science feels a stain as a wound, will 
 strive to be faithful and punctual in 
 discharging all his social and legal 
 obligations, and not only in fulfilling 
 
 the law of the land, but the law of 
 love, and doing as he would be done 
 by. Olshausen truly remarks, that 
 " love has the wonderful quality, that, 
 the more it is practised, the more 
 amply it unfolds itself and rises in its 
 
 claims While therefore in other 
 
 circumstances a man stands better in 
 proportion as he owes less, love is in 
 the best condition the more that it 
 feels itself in debt Hence is in- 
 exhaustible as God himself, and is the 
 absolute fulfilment of the law. In 
 man, however, love is growing, and 
 consequently is only the fulfilment of 
 the law in process of approximation." 
 James ii. 8. The debts of love are 
 always paying, and always growing, 
 for the more we pay, the more we 
 have to pay, and the more we ought 
 to pay. The capacity grows by what 
 it feeds on, and both in the number 
 of objects on which we bestow our 
 affections, and the intensity of our 
 love, the more guests the heart en- 
 tertains the more room it has, and 
 the purer and stronger is its affection 
 for each one. 
 
 " Charity, serene, sublime. 
 Beyond the reach of death and time. 
 Like the blue sky's all-bounding space. 
 Holds heaven and earth in its embrace." 
 
 9. For this, Tliou shalt not commit, 
 &c. Matt. xxii. 34-40 ; 1 John iv. 
 21. The generalization of all the 
 negative commands. Thou shalt not 
 do this, or that, into the one positive 
 law of love, Thou shalt love thy 
 neighbor as thyself, indicates the su- 
 perior tone of the Gospel over every 
 other code of morals. For it aims, 
 not only to prevent the evil, but to 
 
XIII.] 
 
 TO THE KOMANS. 
 
 203 
 
 bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet ; and if there he any other 
 commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, 
 
 10 Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to 
 
 1 1 his neighbor : therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And that, 
 
 do the good, and to use in fact the 
 good as the antidote to the evil. For 
 he who has a germ of love implanted 
 In his heart will soon outgrow those 
 lower states of character in which he 
 would be induced to kill, or steal, or 
 do. any other moral enormity. The 
 sunlight of Christian love sends all 
 the foul harpies of passion and every 
 bird of ill omen into their own native 
 night. — Thou shalt not hear false 
 ivitness, is conceded by the best 
 critics to have no title to be consid- 
 ered genuine in the text, for the 
 authorities are against it. 
 
 10. 1 Cor. xiii. 1-13 ; Gal. v. 14. 
 The reason of the generahzation of 
 the previous verse is here given ; 
 namely, that as love can do no ill to 
 any one, therefore it is superfluous to 
 exhort him who loves his neighbor 
 not to steal, or covet, or kiU, for his 
 very state of feeling not only pre- 
 cludes those, but every species of 
 social wrong, so that when we lay 
 down love as the basis, we predicate 
 the fulfilment of every iota of the 
 moral law. Hunt's parable of Abou 
 Ben Adhem and the Angel cannot be 
 repeated too often, so let it be read 
 here. * 
 
 " Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase I) 
 Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, 
 And saw, within the moonhght in liis room, 
 Making it rich, and like a Uly in bloom, 
 An angel, writing in a book of gold. 
 Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold ; 
 And to the presence in the room he said, 
 ' What writeet thou ? ' The vision raised its 
 
 head. 
 And, with a look made of all sweet accord, 
 Answered, ' The names of those that love the 
 
 Lord.' 
 ' And is mine one ? ' said Abou. ' Nay, not so,' 
 Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low, 
 But cheerly still ; and said, ' I pray thee then, 
 AV'rite me as one that loves his fellow-men.' 
 The angel wrote and vanished. The next night 
 It came again, with a great wakening hght, 
 
 And showed the names whom love of God had 
 
 blessed, 
 And lo ! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest." 
 
 11. And that. That is, aU this is 
 to be done, love is to be observed, the 
 law is thus to be fulfilled by the dis- 
 ciples, mindful that the time is short, 
 and the day of retribution is at hand. 
 The time-element is brought in to 
 add force to the exhortation. Many 
 critics are disposed to regard Paul 
 and the other Apostles as believers 
 in the speedy second-coming of 
 Christ on earth, and as therefore urg- 
 ing upon their converts an immedi- 
 ate attention to the subject of relig- 
 ious duty in view of the swift advance 
 of the great day of the Lord. There 
 is considerable phraseology in the 
 New Testament, which may seem, 
 when literally construed, to favor this 
 theory of apostolic fallibility, and the 
 following passages have been referred 
 to in illustration : Phil. iv. 5 ; 1 
 Thess. V. 2, 6; Heb. x. 25, 37; 
 James v. 7, 9 ; 1 Peter iv. 7 ; 2 
 Peter iii. 10-12; Rev. xxii. 12. 
 Tholuck accounts for this erroneous 
 opinion partly by the general law of 
 human nature, which leads man to 
 think that the object of his hope is just 
 at hand, and partly on account of the 
 language of admonition which Jesus 
 often used, that his followers should 
 be prepared for the great crisis, and 
 which was like the phraseology taken 
 from the old prophets, where they 
 were describing the approaching 
 blessings or judgments of God. IMatt. 
 xxiv. 29, 42 ; xxv. 13 ; Luke xxi. 
 34-36. But there are several strong 
 objections to the doctrine, that the 
 Apostles were in an error upon this 
 subject. 
 
 1st. That it almost necessarily in- 
 
204 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of 
 sleep : for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 
 The night is far spent, the clay is at hand : let us therefore cast off 12 
 the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let 13 
 
 volves Christ himself in the same mis- 
 take^ for he uses very similar language 
 to theirs. But we cannot suppose 
 that a wisdom so great as his in other 
 things failed entirely in regard to so 
 important a matter as the duration of 
 his kingdom on earth, or that his pro- 
 phetic vision, so sure in other matters, 
 was blinded in this grand point of in- 
 terest. 
 
 2d. The inteiy relation of the Apos- 
 tle's language is made too literal on 
 this theory, and we are found taking 
 the burning sentences of the Orient 
 and interpreting them by the cold 
 rules of the Occident, as if every 
 figure of speech were an accurate 
 mathematical proposition. 
 
 3d. Paul himself in the Second 
 Epistle to the Thessalonians specially 
 discards the notion of the second 
 advent as near at hand, and bids his 
 converts not be alarmed at any repre- 
 sentations which he had made, and 
 which it appears they had misunder- 
 stood ; 2 Thess. ii. 2, 3 ; as men now 
 misunderstand the same language and 
 construe it as a prediction of Christ's 
 second coming on earth. 
 
 4th. The use of the language in 
 question is compatible with the be- 
 lief that a great length of time would 
 intervene before Christ came, for simi- 
 lar phraseology is employed in Rev. 
 xxii. 12; yet the author had been 
 describing a series of events wliich 
 would occur before the coming of 
 Christ, one of which alone would oc- 
 cupy one thousand years. Kev. xx. 
 2, 6, 6. 
 
 5th. In fact, all the demands of the 
 languagejcespectmg the speedy second 
 coming of Christ are satisfied, when 
 we take into consideration the near- 
 ness of the approach of death to each 
 
 man, and so, in a sense, the coming of 
 Christ to him ; and again, the usual 
 prophetic manner of describing the 
 pohtical and religious revolutions of 
 the world by the war of the natural 
 elements, and the overthrow of the es- 
 tabUshed ordinances of nature, in sun, 
 moon, and stars, day and night, and 
 the ongoings of the material creation. 
 For now is our salvation nearer 
 than when we believed. This, and the 
 first clause of the next verse. The 
 night is far spent, the day is at hand, 
 are put into a parenthesis by Gries- 
 bach in his critical edition. Locke 
 paraphrases it, that your salvation is 
 nearer than when you first entered 
 into the profession of Christianity. 
 
 12. The general purport of ver. 
 11-14 is sufficiently manifest ; — it 
 is that they should rouse themselves 
 to duty, as men awaking out of sleep, 
 as soldiers suddenly called to battle, 
 and hastily putting on theh armor. 
 The past ages of the world were de- 
 scribed under the figure of night, and 
 the coming Christian ages under that 
 of day. The inference was, therefore, 
 that the conduct of the Christian 
 should bear some resemblance to the 
 great change in the circumstances of 
 the world, and the condition of Chris- 
 tianity. Children of the light and 
 the day were called upon to be wide 
 awake, to be up and doing, to repudi- 
 ate the works of darkness, to put on 
 the armor of the day, and thus be pre- 
 pared to fight the battle of life as 
 good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Eph. 
 V. 11-14; vi. 12; John iii. 19-21. 
 
 13, 14. The vices here described 
 were the fruits of a dark and benight- 
 ed condition of the world, when but 
 httle light from above shone on the 
 path of human duty and destiny. 
 
XIII. 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 205 
 
 us walk honestly, as in the day ; not in rioting and drunkenness, 
 14 not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying : but 
 ' put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the 
 flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. 
 
 Sad to say, not one sin in the old 
 catalogue has become entirely obso- 
 lete during all these mighty spaces 
 of time, this score of centuries of the 
 era called after Christ. Still, some 
 advancement has been made, and the 
 Christian Church is purer than it 
 was at Corinth, with its intoxication 
 around the table of the Lord, and its 
 licentiousness among near relations. 
 But the exhortation is still pertinent, 
 to clothe one's self in the mantle of 
 Christian-like excellences, and keep 
 the body under, with its grasping 
 desires and earth-bound passions. — 
 Honestly. This word is translated, 
 1 Cor. xiv. 40, decently, and might 
 be properly rendered so here, for the 
 question was rather as it regarded 
 decency of conduct than honesty. 
 Olshausen remarks, that, " in the ad- 
 monitions which here follow, we must 
 not think of gross manifestations of 
 fleshliness, such as even the Law 
 punishes, so much as of more deh- 
 cate spiritual manifestations in evil 
 thoughts and inclinations, which may 
 be quelled by a careful discipline of 
 the body." — Rioting. Eather, ca- 
 rousals, revels, " after supper, the 
 guests often sallying into the streets 
 with torches, music, frolic, and songs, 
 in honor especially of Bacchus." — 
 Chambering and ivantonness. These 
 were the vices of Ucentiousness, as 
 the others were of intoxication. The 
 degradation of the heathen world in 
 
 both these respects was almost in- 
 credible, according to their own his- 
 torians and poets ; and although our 
 modern civilization is bad enough, 
 yet we find, by comparing notes, that 
 the Christian religion has raised ,the 
 standard of duty higher, and that 
 some of the darkest features of life 
 in Greece and Rome have been ame- 
 liorated and purified. But an almost 
 infinite work yet remains to establish 
 peace, to emancipate the enslaved, to 
 raise up the fallen drunkard, to en- 
 lighten the ignorant and the de- 
 graded, and preach the Gospel to the 
 poor ; but for this glorious reforma- 
 tion we have now ample means and 
 motives, and need not despair of a 
 steady growth of the Gospel in the 
 hearts and lives of our race. — Make 
 no provision, &c. The life of the 
 body is secured by instincts which 
 act with certainty and constancy ; but 
 the life of the soul requires special 
 efforts and culture, for it is not in- 
 stinctive, but rational, conscientious, 
 and affectional, and requires the 
 hand of diligent cultivation. The 
 spiritual life is not unnatural, but 
 rather, if we may say so, supernatural, 
 or above nature, a portion of divine 
 life, a vision of heavenly truth, a 
 breath of purer air, an inspiration of 
 deeper love. 
 
 " Through thee. Lord, we own 
 A new and heavenly birth, 
 Kindred to spirits round thy throne, 
 Though sojourners of earth." 
 
 18 
 
206 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 CHAPTER Xiy. 
 
 The SjJecial Duties of Christians in the Midst of Heathen Communities. 
 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, hut not to doubtful dis- 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Lsr pursuing the great subject of 
 the Christian hfe, whose basis is faith, 
 and whose animating spirit is love, 
 the Apostle comes in this chapter to 
 the discussion of some of the local 
 questions of the Roman Church, in 
 which the law of love and the temper 
 of forbearance and candor were aU 
 essential. The particular state of 
 things in the ancient Church which 
 called forth these sentences has passed 
 away, but their wisdom and beautiful 
 spirit are imperishable, and applicable 
 in every age and in every Church. 
 The general duty of love is reduced 
 down to such distinct specifications, 
 that he who runneth may read, and 
 the humblest understanding may see 
 how the divine sentiments of the 
 Christian religion are to be carried 
 out in every-day Hfe. We are prone 
 to arrogate to modern Christendom 
 a superior culture and refinement ; 
 but the relations of him, who taught 
 such lessons as these, to them who 
 profited by his instructions, must have 
 been cast in a finer mould than usual, 
 and they can well challenge competi- 
 tion with the social sentiments of the 
 most highly civilized communities of 
 the present Christian world. Glorious 
 Apostle ! goodly Church ! Here were 
 the germs taking root for an infinite 
 growth, for a lovely blooming, and 
 rich fruitage of humanity. The tree 
 of life, banian-like, was to drop its 
 branches from these hving centres, 
 and take ever wider circles of ex- 
 pansion until it filled the earth. 
 
 1. Him (hat is loeak in tJie faith, 8ic.; 
 that is, the person not sufficiently 
 advanced in the Christian character 
 to rise above weak and superstitious 
 scruples in relation to various ob- 
 
 servances of food and drink, and fes- 
 tivals and customs, A question has 
 arisen, whether the Apostle refers to 
 ascetics who abstained from a rich 
 diet on principle, or to those who 
 were afraid they should pollute them- 
 selves, if they indulged in meat and 
 wine, with what had been offered as 
 sacrifices and hbations to the heathen 
 gods. There were, no doubt, in the 
 early ages, those who practised a vege- 
 tarian diet. The Essenes among the 
 Jews, and the new Pythagorean school 
 among the Greeks and Romans, advo- 
 cated great abstinence in living. But 
 the more probable opinion is, that 
 reference is here made to those Chris- 
 tian converts from Judaism who liad 
 been accustomed to the distinction 
 of clean and unclean animals, aiid all 
 the punctilious observances of the 
 Law, and who dreaded lest they 
 should contaminate themselves if 
 they partook of the ordinary food 
 exposed in the pagan markets. This 
 view corresponds better with our his- 
 torical information, and it answers all 
 the demands of the text. The per- 
 son " weak in faith," therefore, was 
 characterized by a scrupulousness, 
 more nice than wise, arising from his 
 previous legal stand-point in morals, 
 where there was much artificial judg- 
 ment as to what was right and Avron:;. 
 and from his inability to rise to the 
 higher platform of faith-righteousness, 
 in wliich what was evil or what was 
 good was determined by its essential 
 moral character. By faith we may 
 here understand Christian convic- 
 tions. — Not to doubtful disputations. 
 As the margin reads, " Not to judge 
 his doubtful thoughts"; or, as Robin- 
 son translates. Not to make one's self 
 the judge of the doubts or scruples of 
 the convert. The sense is obvious. 
 
XIV.] 
 
 TO THE EOMANS. 
 
 207 
 
 2 putations. For/ one believeth that he may eat all things : another, 
 
 3 who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not liim that eateth despise him 
 that eateth not ; and let not him which eateth not judge him that 
 
 4 ^viteth; for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest 
 another man's servant ? to his own master he standeth or falleth ; 
 yea, he shall be holden up : for God is able to make him stand. 
 
 5 One man esteemeth one day above another : another esteemeth 
 every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own 
 
 Respect the conscience of a disciple, 
 who still adheres in many things to 
 his earher faith ; do not reject him 
 from your fellowship, or trouble him 
 with disputes. It is therefore at once 
 a precept of conscience and one of 
 charity. Acts xx. 35 ; 1 Cor. viii. 12. 
 
 2. This verse is adduced by one 
 class of critics as evidence that as- 
 cetics, or vegetarians, are meant in 
 the text. But all the necessities of 
 the passage are met more naturally 
 by supposing that "the words applied 
 to the social feasts of the Christians, 
 at Avliich the Jewish converts pre- 
 ferred abstaining altogether from 
 meats of flesh, being afraid of eating 
 what was unclean." 1 Cor. viii. 7 ; 
 1 Tim. iv. 3. There were two classes 
 in the bosom of the Church ; one of 
 free-thinking Gentiles, who had no 
 compunction in eating whatever was 
 placed before them, asking no ques- 
 tions for conscience' sake ; and the 
 other of those who confined them- 
 selves to vegetables, lest they might 
 unknowingly " eat something unclean 
 and defiling, the flesh of idolatrous 
 sacrifices." As many animals were 
 offered in sacrifice, much of the meat 
 unconsumed at the altar, or by the 
 priests, was exposed for sale in the 
 common market, and bought up by 
 the inhabitants for daily consump- 
 tion. — Herbs. Vegetables, garden 
 plants. 
 
 3,4. The two parties were probably 
 Jews and Gentiles ; the latter eating, 
 and the former not eating, animal 
 
 food, for the reasons given above. 
 The twofold precept was to one, not 
 to despise, and to the other, not to 
 condemn, since, before the absolute 
 standard of God, each was accepted. 
 Col. ii. 16 ; James iv. 12. — Who art 
 thou that Judgefft, &c. It is an inva- 
 sion of the Divine sovereignty to 
 pronounce judgment on our fellow- 
 men. He who in these matters of 
 comparatively little consequence is 
 condemned by his followers, will, if 
 conscientious, be sustained by God. 
 But the whole passage teaches the 
 duty, not only of obeying, but also 
 of educating and enlightening con- 
 science. 
 
 5, 6. A new set of questions is here 
 introduced, relating to the observance 
 of religious festivals and days. — One 
 man esteemeth one day, &c. The con- 
 vert from Judaism adheres to his old 
 usages of keeping some days sacred ; 
 for example, the Sabbath, the new- 
 moon, fast and feast days ; while the 
 Gentile convert can feel no special 
 respect for them whatever, because 
 he has been diflerently educated. 
 The genius of the Gospel, therefore, 
 is liberty, that each one should follow 
 the bent of his own reason and con- 
 science ; and charity, that he should 
 allow to others the same privilege. — 
 Let every man, &c. A similar senti- 
 ment to those in ver. 22, 23. What 
 is done should be done on the strength 
 of personal conviction ; and then the 
 light that is in one, the inner light, 
 that lights every man that cometh 
 
208 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Ci 
 
 mind. He tliat regardeth the day regardeth it unto the Lord ; 6 
 and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard 
 it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks ; 
 and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God 
 thanks. For none of us Uveth to himself, and no man dieth to him- 7 
 self. For whether we live, we Hve unto the Lord ; and whether 8 
 we die, we die unto the Lord 
 
 whether we live therefore, or die, 
 
 into the world, will grow constantly 
 brighter and brighter. " His own 
 mind, after aU, is the ultimate text by 
 which everything is to be tried by 
 man, even those systems of truth and 
 authority that claim to be infallible." 
 He must decide by this standard 
 whether revelation itself is entitled 
 to his confidence and obedience. — 
 Regardeth. The margin reads ohserv- 
 etli. Both act under a sense of moral 
 obligation, and with reference to 
 God, one in keeping, and the other 
 in not keeping, the day. 1 Cor. x. 
 31. The same was true in regard to 
 eating or not eating ; for in both 
 cases they gave thanks to God, and 
 the central idea of his government, 
 and their duty to him, kept all things 
 in good order, and preserved the 
 moral perspective of life and character 
 unimpaired. 
 
 7, 8. For none of us Uveth to him- 
 self. We are parts of a great whole, 
 and can claim no isolation or absolute 
 independence. This thought, too, 
 that we belong to God, in life and^ in 
 death, is a transporting view, for it 
 raises us out of the narroAv sphere of 
 our individual interests, and gives us 
 the citizenship of the universe. Bel- 
 sham forcibly remarks : " By the law 
 of our profession, self, the great idol 
 of the unbelieving world, is totally 
 annihilated. Neither the attainment 
 of wealth, nor the gratification of the 
 passions, nor the preservation of lib- 
 erty, nor social enjoyments, ncr the 
 love of life, nor the fear of death, are 
 any longer sufi'ered to predominate 
 
 in the breast, or to maintain any un- 
 due influence over the mind. When 
 a man becomes a believer in Christ, 
 he learns to look beyond himself, and 
 to direct his regards to worthier ob- 
 jects." 2 Cor. V. 6, 8 ; 1 Thess. v. 10. 
 The specific evil of any sin is, that it 
 makes the creature the centre of life in- 
 stead of the Creator; of ambition, that 
 it seeks glory, seeks to be first, not to 
 be useful, not to be a true and faith- 
 ful part of the greater kingdom of 
 God ; of pleasure, that it would bar- 
 ter away the greater, the universal 
 good, for transient gratification ; of 
 avarice, that it hoards for itself, makes 
 its individual prosperity superior to 
 all other things, to justice, truth, 
 benevolence, the state's honor, the 
 Church's holiness, and the home's 
 affections. Vice, therefore, hke the 
 Ptolemaic system of astronomy, puts 
 selfishness as the pivot of the uni- 
 verse, and makes sun and moon and 
 golden stars revolve around it ; yea, 
 God himself to exist to further its 
 aggrandizing schemes. But holiness, 
 like the Copernican system of the 
 worlds, which puts the sun at the 
 centre, and makes the earth, moon, 
 and planets with their satellites all 
 revolve around the greater orb of 
 light and life, fixes God as the point 
 of attraction, and the controller of all 
 subordinate worlds and beinfjs. Noth- 
 ing can make a human being more 
 wretched than to give him up to the 
 execution of his own purposes, un- 
 sanctified and unguided by refer- 
 ence to the will of God ; for he un- 
 
XIV. 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 209 
 
 9 we are the Lord's. For to this, end Christ both died, and rose, 
 and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and hving. 
 
 dertakes to manage the interests of an 
 immortal being by the rush-light of 
 his own Httle undersfemding, instead 
 of seeking the counsel of Hun who 
 knoweth all things. On the other 
 hand, nothing can more surely make 
 a soul happy here and hereafter than 
 to live unto God, to keep nigh unto 
 him in the consciousness of the spirit, 
 to take hold of his mighty hand to 
 lead us through the dark passages of 
 life, and in all things to follow his 
 plan, and not our caprice, and to 
 bend freely and gladly all powers, 
 possessions, and means to do his holy 
 will in action, and to bear his holy 
 will In suifering and discipline. Nor 
 can we doubt that He, who has thus 
 had the entire creation, control, and 
 moulding of human nature, who has 
 assigned the places of its abodes and 
 its education, who is the Supreme 
 Master of Ufe and death. In whom we 
 live and move and have our being, 
 and to whom we go to be judged 
 after death, will in the infinite range 
 of his worlds, in the countless ages 
 of his teaching, and by the manifold 
 influences of liis fatherly love and 
 chastening, for every child he has 
 made, find means to draw every soul 
 created in his own image to himsetf, 
 and purge away all the blots of sin ; 
 for living or dying, we are the Lord's. 
 But the glorious hope of that final 
 restoration when the last prodigal son 
 shall have come back from eating the 
 husks of his selfishness and his lust to 
 the bountiful provisions of his father's 
 house, is grievously abused, when it 
 is emplo}'ed to relax the Immediate 
 bond of virtue, or to lessen the tre- 
 mendous guilt and horror of sin. 
 The dictate of wisdom is. To-day if 
 ye will hear his voice, harden not 
 your hearts. 
 
 9. And rose and revived. Gries- 
 18* 
 
 bach edits this, and lived. Acts x. 
 42 ; 2 Cor. v. 15. Christ hved that 
 he might be the Lord of the living, 
 and he died that he might be the 
 Lord of the dead ; in other words, 
 the sunple thought is, that he tried 
 all human fortunes, was humiliated, 
 and was exalted, that he might be a 
 sufficient Saviour to every human 
 being, that he might reign both in 
 earth and in heaven. Tholuck says : 
 " Since the completion of the work of 
 redemption, Christ is the Lord of all 
 Avho are admitted into the divine 
 kinodom, and this not ^nly during 
 their pilgrimage upon earth, lout even 
 beyond the grave." May we not 
 suppose Indeed, with great probability, 
 and in harmony with various intima- 
 tions of Scripture, that Jesus still 
 leads on his brethren of the spirit- 
 land in the way of spiritual life and 
 progress, and that the work he ac- 
 complishes for the spirits of men in 
 the present world is but the com- 
 mencement of a glorious education 
 in wisdom, love, and holiness, a near- 
 er approximation to God, winch is to 
 be carried on through the never-end- 
 ing future ? The most perfect of 
 their race, the Howards, Fenelons, 
 and Miltons, but learn here the a b c 
 of that infinite lore which is treasured 
 up in the councils of heaven, but 
 thrill with a few prehminary emo- 
 tions to that immeasurable lo re which 
 flows forth without ceasing from the 
 Heart of the universe. Heaven could 
 indeed, we may reverently say, only 
 remain heaven to Christ and his fol- 
 lowers, as it should open a sphere for 
 the exercise and culture of all those 
 graces and virtues which distinguished 
 their character Avhile on the earth, 
 while the more felt and manifested 
 ])resence and glory of the Supreme 
 Father must dilate every spirit with 
 
210 
 
 THE EPISTLE X)F PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 But why dost thou judge thy brother ? or why dost thou set at lo 
 naught thy brother ? for we shall all stand before the judgment- 
 seat of Christ. For it is written, As I hve, saith the Lord, every ii 
 knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So 12 
 then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let 13 
 
 new power and Ufe. Acts vii. 55, 56, 
 59, 60 ; ix. 4, 5 ; x. 14 ; 1 Cor. xi. 
 23 ; Heb. vii. 25. 
 
 " The Saviour now is gone before 
 To yon blest realm of light : 
 0, thither may our spirits soar, 
 And wing their upward flight ! " 
 
 10. One party, probably the Jews, 
 judged or condemned their oppo- 
 nents ; and the other party, the Gen- 
 tiles, set at naught, or despised, the 
 scrupulous Jews ; but both transcend- 
 ed their sphere, for all alike were 
 amenable at a higher bar. 2 Cor. 
 Y. 10. — The judgment-seat of Christ. 
 The Alexandrine, Clermont, and 
 other important manuscripts, read 
 God, instead of Christ,^ and Tischen- 
 dorf follows that reading in the text 
 in his edition ; but Griesbach speaks 
 of it as " worthy of regard, and de- 
 serving further examination, but yet 
 inferior to the received reading." It 
 is remarkable that several of the 
 strongest proof-texts of the Trinity 
 labor under critical doubts of their 
 genuineness; for example, the one 
 in question ; Acts xx. 28 ; 1 Tim. iii. 
 16 ; and 1 John v. 7. We cannot sup- 
 pose for a moment that a direct fraud 
 was perpetrated upon the Scriptures 
 to furnish weapons for the Atliana- 
 sian side of the Trinitarian contro- 
 versy, for such an attempt would 
 have been detected and exposed as 
 soon as it was made; but we can 
 easily conceive that notes favoring 
 the doctrine of the Trinity might be 
 introduced first into the margin, then 
 placed in the substance of the page 
 in a smaller hand, and finally copied 
 in the text as of equal authority with 
 it. In fact, how can we otherwise ac- 
 count for the very singular fact men- 
 
 tioned above? But in the present 
 instance, if the word Christ retain its 
 position in the text, it furnishes no 
 valid argument for the doctrine of 
 the three persons in one God. For 
 the reason assigned by Jesus himself 
 for his having the judgment commit- 
 ted to him was not because he was 
 the Son of God, or divine in his 
 being, but because he was the Son 
 of man, and might be supposed to 
 have a fellow-feeling with those who 
 were brought before his tribunal. 
 John V. 22, 27. Dr. Priestley justly 
 says, " The judgment-seat of Christ 
 and that of God are the same ; not 
 because Christ is God, but because 
 he acts in the name and by the author- 
 ity of God, which is fully expressed 
 when it is said that ' God will judge 
 the world by Jesus Christ.' " 2 Cor. 
 V. 10. 
 
 11, 12. For it is written. Isa. xlv. 
 23. The dominion over the faith and 
 the conscience belonged unto God, 
 and not to man, and confession was 
 to be made, not to fallible and harsh- 
 judging mortals, but to the Lord and 
 Searcher of the heart. This was the 
 declaration of the earlier Scriptures, 
 and this was the spirit of the later 
 dispensation. It is possible, however, 
 that the profession of faith is rather 
 meant here, than confession of sins. 
 — Shall give account of himself , not 
 of another. Gal. vi. 4, 5. Indepen- 
 dent of one another, they were aU in 
 common dependent on God, and just 
 in proportion as they were free from 
 human domination, they were subject 
 to the Divine government. What 
 principle can operate more effectual- 
 ly to check the wrong-doer, than the 
 thought, that, however secret his act 
 
XIV.] 
 
 TO THE RO'MANS. 
 
 211 
 
 us not therefore judge one another any more : but judge this rather, 
 
 that no man put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his 
 u brother's way. I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that 
 
 there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any- 
 15 thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. But if thy brother be 
 
 grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy 
 
 may be, though it be in darkness and 
 solitude, yet he is open to the inspec- 
 tion of One who will bring every 
 work into judgment, whether it be 
 good or evil, and that the decisions 
 of this judgment will be more per- 
 fectly carried out in the world of 
 spirits than they can be in this in- 
 fancy of our being ! 
 
 13. Luke vi. 37. There is a paro- 
 nomasia, a play upon words, here : 
 Judge not one another, but judge or 
 decide this point, &c. He wished to 
 persuade the stronger to bear with 
 the weaker, and to refrain even from 
 practices which might be innocent 
 m themselves, for the sake of those 
 who would be led astray by their 
 example. Tholuck remarks, that 
 " the disposition which Paul evinces 
 in these exhortations proves what a 
 mighty influence the Christian faith 
 had had in making him indulgent 
 and humble ; for if we reflect upon 
 his natural character, we can well 
 suppose that he would have been 
 more chsposed to kindle into anger 
 at the weak and scrupulous, and to 
 treat them with severity. But the 
 spirit of Christ had taught him to be 
 weak with the weak. And in the 
 Christian Church, which is never 
 composed but of those who bear and 
 those who are borne, this is the only 
 way in Avhich the bond of perfectness 
 and of peace can subsist; to wit, 
 when the child aspires to manhood, 
 and the man becomes a child. Such 
 mutual subordination and forbear- 
 ance is a salutary medicine for pride. 
 
 14. By the Lord Jesus. Either by 
 personal communications, of which in- 
 
 stances are given in Acts ix. 4, 5, 
 1 Cor. xi. 23, 2 Cor. xii. 1, or by the 
 natural action of the Gospel upon his 
 character in giving him refinement of 
 thought, and charity, and gentleness 
 of heart. — Unclean ; i. e. common. 
 Matt. XV. 11. As much as to say, 
 the ritual standard of the Jews is an 
 artificial one ; but to one whose con- 
 science has been educated in that 
 school, some things are lawful, and 
 others are unlawful, and he must 
 abide by his own personal convic- 
 tion ; for if anything is common to 
 him, or unclean, he must act accord- 
 ingly, and respect the decisions of 
 his own mind. For if he does not 
 regard his own rule, then he is not in 
 a condition to become a good subject 
 of any other kingdom. Luke vi. 37. 
 15. But, while the rule of the weak 
 brother is plain, and he must obey 
 the present dictate of conscience, the 
 rule also of the strong brother is just 
 as plain ; namely, that he should treat 
 these scruples tenderly, and refrain 
 from wounchng in the slightest degree 
 one who was punctilious in meatsand 
 drinks and days. Jesus set the ex- 
 ample of even dying that he might 
 save, not the strong, but the weak, and 
 caU, not the righteous, but sinners, to 
 repentance. A savor of his compas- 
 sionate and all-sacrificing spirit was 
 to be the ameliorating influence to 
 act on these relations between Chris- 
 tians at different stages of progress 
 and spiritual culture. — Destroy not 
 him, &c. I. e. peril not his salvation 
 by inducing him to adopt a course of 
 conduct against his own conscience. 
 1 Cor. viii. 11. 
 
2i2 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Ci 
 
 not him with thy meat, foi' whom Christ died. Let not then your le 
 good be evil spoken of: for the kingdom of God is not meat and 17 
 di'ink ; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 
 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, is 
 
 16,17. Your good. By which may 
 be uuderstood the superior intelli- 
 gence and liberty of those who were 
 not embarrassed by such scruples. 
 They must not, by their want of 
 charity, or disposition to shock the 
 prejudices of their less advanced 
 brethren, forfeit their own lofty posi- 
 tion of independence, and bring it 
 into ill-repute. 1 Cor. viii. 8 ; x. 29, 
 30.— The kingdom of God, &c. The 
 strong antithesis is put between the 
 observances in cpiestion and those 
 master principles in which the es- 
 sence of Christianity consisted. The 
 category of non-essentials might be 
 much enlarged, and we might truly 
 say, The kingdom of God not only 
 does not consist in meat and drink, 
 but it standeth not in creeds, in cere- 
 monials, in names, in dogmas, in hu- 
 man rules, in ecclesiastical authority, 
 about which there have been such 
 endless contentions, and which, by 
 one or another party, have been set 
 up as pillars of the Church. But the 
 Apostle seizes upon the spiritual 
 points as the vital ones, and enumer- 
 ates three, righteousness, peace, and 
 spiritual joy, as comprehending the 
 leading features of the new and glo- 
 rious kingdom. Words become, by 
 long and peculiar use, so technical 
 that we can scarcely penetrate below 
 them, and reach the living fountain 
 of meaning which plays at the bot- 
 tom. But in the first word he de- 
 termines the prominent object of the 
 Gospel to be, not what Luther and 
 his followers have asserted, justifica- 
 tion by faith, but righteousness ; the 
 ardent and thorough-going soul of 
 Paul would not stop short of the 
 most substantial good, the reality of 
 reahties. In peace or peaceableness 
 
 is summed up the true position to- 
 wards others, as in righteousness is 
 contained that pertaining to one's 
 self, and in holy spiritual joy, joy in 
 the Holy G4ios*t, a right posture of 
 soul so far as happiness and hope are 
 concerned. Not that such enumera- 
 tion by any means exhausts the whole 
 subject, but we may suppose that the 
 Apostle uses the most pregnant words, 
 and instinctively selected each one as 
 the representative of a salient point 
 in the Christian style of character. — 
 Holy Ghost. As the first letters of 
 these words are commonly printed in 
 capitals, the impression is made that 
 a person is meant, the so-called third 
 person of the Ti^nity. But that this 
 is not necessarily the interpretation 
 is evident from the writings even of 
 some Trinitarian critics; for Le Clerc, 
 Limborch, and Schleusner refer the 
 phrase to the spirit of the Gospel, in 
 fact to Christianity, as the holy prin- 
 ciple and energy which gives true en- 
 jo}'ment to man's heart. See Wilson's 
 Concessions, on this passage. The 
 words Holy Ghost may also be ap- 
 plied to righteousness and peace, as 
 well as to joj/. The holy spirit of the 
 Gospel would dilate and sanctify aU 
 these words with a new and fuller 
 signification. Lardner understands 
 the Apostle, not as speaking of the 
 joy which we possess ourselves, but 
 of that which we are instrumental in 
 imparting to others, the satisfaction 
 which we procure to our fellow-men. 
 18, 19. The three lines of action, 
 service to Christ, acceptableness with 
 God, and favor among men, are, 
 when rightly balanced, harmonious 
 wath one another. Natural piety and 
 faith in Jesus and morality in society 
 are kindred each with the other. We 
 
XIV.] 
 
 TO THE KOMANS. 
 
 213 
 
 19 and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the thino-s 
 which make for peace, and thhigs wherewith one may edify an- 
 
 20 other. For meat destroy not the work of God. All thino-s indeed 
 
 21 are pure ; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. It is 
 good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby 
 
 here have a declaration as to what is 
 the ground of justification or ac- 
 ceptance with God ; namely, spirit- 
 ual righteousness, peaceableness, and 
 happiness. Eph. iv. 3. The clear 
 and potent duty of a Christian, there- 
 fore, is to promote friendly and pacific 
 feelings, and mutual improvement in 
 spiritual things. To edify one an- 
 other was to build up one another in 
 the Christian life, afi:er the usual 
 figure of the Apostle. Instead of 
 thwarting this great purpose, either 
 by harsh condemnation on one side, or 
 by silent contempt on the other, the 
 disciples were to unite all their spir- 
 itual forces to help one another ; for 
 if Christianity can be expressed by 
 any one word, that word is love. 
 
 20, 21. He perseveres in his theme 
 of charity and forbearance. Above, 
 it was, Destroy not the work of Christ, 
 ver. 15 ; here, it is. Destroy not the 
 work of God, by indulgence in an 
 unimportant matter of food ; for 
 though you may be able to do it with 
 a clear conscience yourself, yet to 
 another man it has the rank odor of 
 guilt. Abstractly considered, one kind 
 of food may be as innocent as another, 
 but as men are educated, what is 
 harmless to one is laden with^in to 
 another. Conscience is not a fixed 
 quantity, but a movable term, a 
 fluxion ; for though it exists in all, it 
 is as various in form and texture as 
 the features of the face. Perhaps the 
 human being could not be found who 
 does not recognize something as right 
 and something as wrong, something as 
 good and something as evil ; but the 
 particular things called right and good, 
 or wrong and evil, will be found to 
 
 vary widely in different ages, coun- 
 tries, and rehgions. Charity, there- 
 fore, must go with conscience as its 
 appropriate balance-wheel. — It is 
 good neither to eat Jiesh nor to drink 
 icine, &c. The very important prin- 
 ciple is here introduced, that we 
 should ^ve up even innocent gratifi- 
 cations in themselves, for the sake of 
 helping our brother more effectually 
 in his work of reformation and self- 
 improvement. One of the specifica- 
 tions is no longer applicable, — that 
 of eating flesh ; but the other, the 
 drinking of wine, or any spirituous 
 liquors, though for different reasons 
 than those which existed in the time 
 of Paul, still stands as good as ever. 
 The Temperance reformation has 
 brought this idea into great promi- 
 nence and use. And were such a 
 thing possible as that we could our- 
 selves use the articles as a beverage 
 with perfect impunity, it would remain 
 as an act of virtue, and as a Christian 
 duty, according to the lofty standard 
 of Paul's morality, to abstain totally 
 from them for the sake of our neigh- 
 bor, who may be addicted to bad 
 habits, and who may be capable of 
 being restored to the paths of sobriety 
 and reason if he meet with proper 
 sympathy and pure examples and 
 high principle among those able to 
 befriend him. The ancient Christian 
 was to abstain from wine, lest its use 
 should scandalize his weaker brother, 
 who looked upon it as a horrible prof- 
 anation to drink what might have 
 been procured to be used as a liba- 
 tion in the idol-worship. The modern 
 Christian is, by the same rule of ten- 
 der solicitude for his brother's virtue 
 
214 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 thj brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. Hast tliou 22 
 faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that con- 
 demneth not himself in that tiling which he alloweth. And he 23 
 that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith : 
 for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. 
 
 and sobriety, to abstain from the 
 same article, if by such an act he can 
 save a soul from death, and hide a 
 multitude of sins. 
 
 22, 23. 'By faith in these verses is 
 not meant the religion of Jesus in 
 general, but rather a personal con- 
 viction of what is right. It is a senti- 
 ment, which is to be cherished as be- 
 tween the soul and its Maker, as too 
 dear and precious a thing to be at 
 the beck of fashion or caprice, or to 
 be adopted as an imitation of other 
 men. 1 John iii. 21. While having 
 this personal confidence that what 
 you are doing is right, do not carry 
 it out in such a way as to cause your 
 brother-man to sin. Be willing to 
 concede a point to his scruples, if it 
 is a matter in which you will not 
 violate your sense of duty. — Hast 
 thou faith f Griesbach and Tischen- 
 dorf read it without the interrogation. 
 Thou hast faith. — Happy is he, &c. 
 St. Paul has here laid down the true 
 method of the culture of a sound and 
 a dehcate conscience ; namely, in 
 things positively commanded by the 
 law of God, to yield unhesitating 
 obedience, but in things indifferent 
 to follow the leadings of conscience, 
 to obey carefully what on the whole 
 seems to be for the best ; and thus, by 
 doing the nearest duty, the path of 
 life grows clearer, and the discrim- 
 inating power of conscience is in- 
 creased. But while all this work is 
 faithfully and sedulously carried on 
 within the confines of the heart, ex- 
 ternally, in our treatment of other 
 men and our example and influence 
 with them, we are with as much 
 jealousy to avoid overrithng their 
 honest scruples, though they may 
 
 seem to us to be weak and imma- 
 terial, as we should guard against 
 suffering our own to be trampled un- 
 der foot. While, then, conscience is 
 the keeper of peace at home, charity 
 is the keeper of peace abroad. — He 
 that doubteth is damned, &c., is con- 
 demned. Thus Neander paraphrases : 
 " An individual who, though not 
 sufiiciently advanced in Christian 
 knowledge to attain the conviction 
 that the eating of meat sacrificed to 
 idols is in itself indifferent, is yet 
 seduced by worldly considerations to 
 partake of it, acts in a manner de- 
 serving of condemnation, since he 
 does not act according to his convic- 
 tions. And, ver. 15, whoever eats of 
 flesh offered to idols, following his 
 own inclination, and taking no ac- 
 count of the scruples of his weak 
 brother, and thus seduces him to fol- 
 low his example without a firm con- j 
 viction of its rectitude, troubles his ^ 
 brother's conscience, and acts himself 
 contrary to the law of love, and sins." " 
 1 Cor. viii. 12. — For ichatsoever is 
 not of faith is sin; i. e. whatever is 
 not done with a persuasion of its law- 
 fulness is sinful. This rule apphes 
 just as much to the uninstructed as 
 to the instructed conscience. The 
 philo.?bphy and the morality of Paul's 
 doctrine are alike sound and rational. 
 For conscience is given to each man, 
 and he must follow his own, and not 
 another man's, standard of duty. If 
 it is a dark, or a scrupulous, or a 
 morbid conscience, still it is the best 
 he has, and he must follow it notwith- 
 standing its imperfections. And if 
 he thus faithfully adheres to its dic- 
 tates, it will grow clearer and more 
 intelligent, and its decisions wiU more 
 
XV. 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 215 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The same Subject continued; and the Success of Paul's Ministry among the Gentiles^ as 
 being blessed bij God. 
 
 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, 
 
 and more come into unison Avith the 
 everlasting right and truth. For he 
 who truly obe}s conscience will obey 
 one of its ceaseless requisitions, which 
 is, that he should not hearken to ob- 
 stinate self-will, or prejudice, but that 
 he should seek every means in liis 
 power of enlightening his sense of 
 duty, as well as of rigidly obeying it, 
 and should call in the service of the 
 intellect and the heart as necessary 
 assistants to a clear and comprehen- 
 sive conscientiousness, such as is con- 
 stantly becoming conformed to the 
 unerring standard of right in the 
 moral government of God. 
 
 It is most interesting and beautiful 
 to see how the truth as it is in Jesus 
 and his Apostles thus matches the 
 moral and spiritual constitution of 
 man, so that not tlie hght is more 
 harmonious and pleasant to the eye, 
 nor the bread more strengthening to 
 the digestive organs. We perceive 
 that there is, so to speak, a dim native 
 Christianity in the soul, which only 
 requires to be brought into union 
 with the Christianity of the New 
 Testament to come out in clear and 
 luminous outlines, and to glow with 
 a divine beauty and sanctity. For 
 does not reason always darkly teach 
 even in the lowest ? Does not con- 
 science command with more or less 
 authority '? Does not hope spring 
 eternal in the breast ? Does not love 
 ever keep a coal burning on even 
 the humblest altar of the heart ? 
 But how soon, when Jesus speaks the 
 word of energy and progress to these 
 ever-living and ever-working powers, 
 do they put on such new and more 
 heavenly forms, acquire such superi- 
 
 ority over the lower propensities and 
 the superficial desires of the animal 
 nature, that we say, Behold, a new 
 birth, a new man ! For a son of 
 man and of the earth, we have a son 
 of God and heaven, and it doth not 
 yet appear what he shall be. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 At the close of the fourteenth chap- 
 ter, Griesbach appends the 25th, 2Gth, 
 and 27th verses of chapter sixteen, 
 as properly belonging there, and he 
 has many distinguished Bibhcal critics 
 mth him in this opinion. But the 
 reasons, both from manuscripts and 
 from versions, and also from the in- 
 ternal character of the passage and 
 its most probable position on the 
 whole, decide the question the other 
 way. 
 
 i - 13. This paragraph is occupied 
 ■with the subject of the last chapter, 
 the proper treatment of the disciples 
 by one another in the internal rela- 
 tions of the Church, and the mutual 
 conciliation of Jews and Gentiles. 
 Their peculiar position recpiired the 
 full exercise of those graces of tender- 
 ness, gentleness, forbearance, respect, 
 and patience, which properly belong 
 to the Christian character. " His ob- 
 ject -was, on the one hand, to check 
 the free-thinking Gentile Christians 
 from self-exaltation in relation to 
 their weaker Jemsh brethren in the 
 faith ; and, on the other hand, to re- 
 mind the Jewish Christians that the 
 admission of the Gentiles into the 
 kingdom of God was no InlWngement 
 of the rights of the Jewish people, 
 and that it was in unison with the 
 predictions of the Old Testament." 
 
216 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Ci 
 
 and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his 2 
 neiglibor for his good to edification. For even Clirist pleased 3 
 not himself; but, as it is written, The rej)roaches of them that 
 reproached thee fell on me. For whatsoever things were written 4 
 
 1, 2. The strong were those who 
 disregarded superstitious scruples, 
 and the loeak those who still remained 
 so far in their previous faith as to 
 judge of right and wrong by that 
 standard rather than by the superior 
 rule of Christ. 1 Cor. viii. 7 ; ix. 19; 
 1 Thess. V. 14. So the strong were 
 not to feel their might, and forget 
 right, but they were to be gentle, and 
 kind towards those less robust than 
 themselves in adhering to a clear and 
 Christian principle. But in yielding 
 to the wishes and scruples of others, 
 it was necessary to make one qualifi- 
 cation, that it should be for his bene- 
 fit, not for his harm, not to encourage 
 him in anything which Avas positively 
 wrong, but to lead along and encour- 
 age his timid faith until it acquired 
 full vigor, and was freed from all 
 morbid tendencies. This was the 
 edification, the building up of one's 
 neighbor in a noble and sound man- 
 hood, a true Christian character. 
 
 3. The illustrious example, that 
 shines like the sun in a dark and 
 selfish world, is given to corroborate 
 the precept. Jesus was forbearing, 
 gracious, tender, sympathetic, bear- 
 ing long with his disciples, and lead- 
 ing tliera gently in all their wayward- 
 ness, even as a shepherd his sheep. 
 It certainly is a striking proof of the 
 practical character of Christ and of 
 his Gospel, that he took his disciples 
 just as they were, rude and coarse 
 and sinful and weak, like the rest of 
 the world, and not rare and unusual 
 specimens of human nature, and that 
 out of these unpromising materials 
 he created "the glorious company 
 of the Apostles " ; but the wonder- 
 ful alchemy by which he effected 
 so divine a transformation was the 
 
 patience of love and the persever- 
 ance of faith. Ps. Ixix. 9 ; John viii. 
 50. — The reproaches of them, &c. 
 The language of the Psalmist was 
 made good, and the complaint of 
 David, that the reproaches against 
 God fell upon his servant, was veri- 
 fied in the life of Jesus. " Ye have 
 both seen and hated both me and my 
 Father," were his Avords to the Jews. 
 4. 2 Tim. iii. 16. This verse is 
 worthy of the attention of those who 
 think they have wholly outgrown the 
 Old Testament, and can derive no 
 more instruction or aid from it in the 
 spiritual life ; for by the Scriptures is 
 here meant, of course, the Law and 
 the Prophets. The great end, too, 
 which they are fitted to subserve, is 
 also touched upon ; viz. as a moral 
 and spiritual, not a dogmatic instru- 
 ment. It is as sentiment, not as dog- 
 ma, not as a statement of doctrines 
 upon any subject, or even as a rule 
 and precept, that we now use these 
 venerable books. They are "pa- 
 tience and comfort " to us ; they in- 
 spire " hope " and courage ; they lay 
 open the deep places of human na- 
 ture ; and they burn with a per- 
 petual devotion to God, and enthu- 
 siasm for his holy cause. As kindling 
 memorials of the piety of the saints 
 and heroes of the most ancient ages, 
 they will remain dear to the Chris- 
 tian heart through all generations. 
 But if the Apostle is justified in using 
 such strong language in reference to 
 the Hebrew Scriptures, how much 
 more truly may we say of the life of 
 Christ and of his disciples, and the 
 divine truths of the Gospel, that they 
 were written aforetime for our learn- 
 ing, that we through patience and 
 comfort of these later Scriptures 
 
XV.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 217 
 
 aforetime Tvere written for our learning, that we through patience 
 
 5 and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now the God of 
 patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward 
 
 6 another according to Christ Jesus : that ye may with one mind and 
 one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, to the 
 
 might have hope. For they teach us 
 by all their manifold examples and 
 lessons, that this is not a world so 
 dead and fallen in which we have 
 our being, but that it is alive in every 
 part with the presence and power 
 and spirit of our God. When we 
 pray, we speak not into the dark, 
 address no deaf Deity, but one instant 
 to hear and to answer, and ever 
 ready to give a greater good than we 
 can pray for, though it may not be 
 the one to which we cling in our 
 fond wishes. So that we are taught, 
 whatever form or creed we may pro- 
 fess, that religion is a living senti- 
 ment of the heart ; of patience, com- 
 fort, and hope ; and that its all- 
 animating exhortation is, "Wait on 
 the Lord, be of good courage, and he 
 shall strengthen tliine heart : wait, I 
 say, on the Lord." 
 
 5, 6. Having spoken of the Scrip- 
 tures as a source of patience and 
 comfort, he is led by the law of asso- 
 ciation to that higher and living foun- 
 tain of these and all other graces in 
 God himself 2 Thess. iii. 16 ; Phil, 
 ii. 2. Those were but broken beams 
 of light, this the Eternal Sun itself 
 But it was not as the abstract Deity, 
 as the Infinite and Incomprehensible, 
 that he presents himself to us, but he 
 comes within the circle of our faith 
 and affections as the Father of Jesus, 
 as bowing his majesty and manifest- 
 ing all that could be manifested of 
 his perfect attributes in a being like 
 unto ourselves. Two natural conse- 
 quences flowed from this revelation 
 and faith of God as a Father; one 
 was to be like-minded one toward 
 19 
 
 another, — the social duty ; and the 
 other was, with one mind and one 
 mouth to glorify God in his newly 
 discovered character of Father, — the 
 spiritual duty. So that in these verses 
 we have the two great eternal poles, 
 the Fatherhood of God and the Broth- 
 erhood of Mankind, around which the 
 whole moral heavens revolve, — Con- 
 isolation. Uniformity of rendering 
 would translate this word comfort^ as 
 in the foregoing verse. — With one 
 mind and one mouth glorify God. 
 " The noble consequence of that con- 
 cord is, that the whole Church, like 
 a fraternal choir, gives praise to God." 
 — God, even the Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. We see here the great 
 clearness with which Jesus is distin- 
 guished from God, and the character 
 given to God as being the Father ot 
 Jesus, and as such the sole object 
 of Avorship to Christians. Certainly 
 Paul would have looked with undis- 
 guised amazement upon the fact, if 
 he had foreseen it, that his writings 
 would be quoted in support of the 
 idea that God and Jesus were one 
 and the same being, or that He who 
 was called the Father and he who 
 was called the Son were in any other 
 sense one than in love and coopera- 
 tion, or that supreme honor and wor- 
 ship should be given to any but to 
 God, the Father of Jesus, of angels, 
 and of men. 
 
 7. The superlative example of this 
 gracious behavior was Jesus Christ; 
 and every one that named him as 
 friend and teacher was to aspire after 
 a like perfection, without, however, 
 losing his own identity or individ- 
 
218 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 glory of God. Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the a 
 circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto 
 the fathers : and that the Gentiles might glorify God for Ms mercy ; 9 
 as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gen- • 
 tiles, and sing unto thy name. And again he saith, rejoice, ye Gentiles, 10 
 with liis people. And again. Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles ; and 11 
 laud him, all ye people. And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a 12 
 root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles ; in hun 
 shall the Gentiles trust. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy 13 
 
 uality. Jesus teaches us not to he 
 poor imitators, but to develop our- 
 selves after the true plan with which 
 we were created ; to be, in the com- 
 mon phrase, ourselves and nobody 
 else. But we are taught by facts and 
 examples ; and in Christianity we are 
 introduced to the spotless character 
 of Jesus and the infinite perfections 
 of God as evidences of the reaUty 
 and beauty of goodness. Jesus leads 
 his followers " to the glory of God," 
 and it is the duty and joy of every 
 one who has tasted the sweetness and 
 power of a spiritual life to cooperate 
 in the same work of rescuing men 
 from sin and woe, and to open to 
 them the glorious hopes of the Chris- 
 tian future. Properly constituted and 
 conducted, every church is a rehgious 
 Normal School. 
 
 8. From the great stress the Apos- 
 tle had put upon the privileges of the 
 Gentiles, some might be led to the 
 conclusion that he overlooked the 
 Jews. But no ; he reminds them that 
 Jesus was the great teacher of the 
 Hebrew dispensation, the fulfiller of 
 the hopes of the chosen people. So 
 far from rejecting his people, God 
 had crowned all his other mercies 
 to them of prophet and priest and 
 psalmist, by sending the Son of his 
 love to teach the consummation of all 
 his plans and to perfect the promises 
 he had made unto the fathers from 
 the beginning, namely, that in him 
 all nations should be blessed. 
 
 9-13. And one of the most mem- 
 orable of those Hebrew promises was, 
 that the Gentiles should be embraced 
 in the scheme of salvation, as was in- 
 dicated by the prophets. The pas- 
 sages quoted may be found in Ps. 
 xviii. 50; Ixvii. 5; cxvii. 1; Deut. 
 xxxii. 43; Isa. xi. 10; and they all 
 bear upon the point that the Jews 
 were favored with a revelation of the 
 will, love, and goodness of God; not 
 for their selfish aggrandizement, or 
 even for their own highest spiritual 
 gi'owth, but that they were a trust 
 company for the world to keep in its 
 purity, and to transmit unimj^aired 
 to the farthest dwellers on earth, and 
 to the most distant ages, the glorious 
 wisdom of God, the richest, purest, 
 and most dehghtful of all knowledge. 
 They were the light-bearers of the 
 race ; but in proportion to their 
 duty and trust was the privilege of 
 the Gentiles. If the glory of the 
 chosen people was brilliant, in that 
 very proportion was the claim and 
 reasonable expectation of the rest of 
 mankind great. — Now the God of 
 liope^ &c. It is unnecessary to dwell 
 upon each separate clause of this pas- 
 sage, but the fourteenth verse ex- 
 presses so jubilant a strain, and char- 
 acterizes so forcibly the Christian 
 spirit, that it deserves a passing word. 
 " In him shall the Gentiles trust," or 
 hope. "Now the God of hope fill 
 you with all joy," &c. How many 
 encouraging words are in this single 
 
XV.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 219 
 
 and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the 
 
 14 power of the Holy Ghost. And I myself also am persuaded of 
 you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all 
 
 15 knowledge, able also to admonish one another. Nevertheless, breth- 
 ren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting 
 you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God, 
 
 16 that I should be the minister of Jesus Chi'ist to the Gentiles, 
 mmistering the Gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles 
 
 verse, and what energy and elasticity 
 are bound up in its few phrases ! 
 Hope, joy, peace, power, God, Holy 
 Ghost, abounding, and believing ! 
 Too sadly and solemnly has this same 
 ' thing, religion, brooded over the dim 
 world of humanity, and dulled the 
 fine edge of joy, and darkened the 
 hope of man, and weakened his power, 
 and harrowed up his peace, and ^ven 
 him false and degrading ideas of the 
 glory of God and his all-surrounding 
 and holy spirit. But it has not been 
 the pure religion of Jesus and of Paul 
 which has done this, but the erroneous 
 systems of Jewish and Pagan philos- 
 ophy that have stolen their way into 
 the holy of holies of the Gospel, and 
 that have set themselves up above all 
 that is called God. For we see by 
 this verse, and a hundred others in 
 this Epistle, how full of joyous life, 
 power, peace, and hope, is the gen- 
 uine Christian spirit; and while it is 
 so tender, gentle, and sympathetic 
 towards the weakest of the brethren, 
 how strong and brave it is in all manly 
 and majestic attributes ! 
 
 " Joj"^ e'en here I a budding flower, 
 Struggling with storm and shower, 
 Till its season to expand, 
 Planted in its native land." 
 
 14, 15. After so much free speak- 
 ing and lecturing, Paul, like a true 
 Christian gentleman as he was, depre- 
 cates the idea of intending to be 
 censorious or dictatorial towards the 
 Roman Christians; for he was con- 
 vinced, on one hand, that they were 
 
 not unworthy persons by any means, 
 but endowed with a large measure of 
 current virtue, as the Church went ; 
 and on the other, that his claim of giv- 
 ing advice was not wholly unauthor- 
 ized and gratuitous, for he had been 
 put in commission with the Gospel. 
 He was too apt a student of human na- 
 ture not to know that a due modicum 
 of praise is a great auxiUary of well- 
 doing, and that many virtues are 
 starved to death in this world be- 
 cause they never get a word of com- 
 mendation, but receive, perhaps, in- 
 stead of it, blame and reproach. The 
 gracious Lord of all does not hesitate 
 to say, Well done, good and faithful 
 servant ! and we may so far folloAv so 
 high and mighty an example, at a 
 humble distance, as to say, that we 
 know of our brethren that they are 
 "full of goodness." Magical and 
 electric is the word of praise ; espe- 
 cially is it a great and good thing " to 
 be praised by a praiseworthy man." 
 And in the case of the text, we know 
 that all eulogistic words were so quali- 
 fied and balanced by the cautions 
 and admonitions of the Apostle, that 
 none of his readers would be injured 
 by his congratulations. The poor, 
 persecuted Christians were beset be- 
 fore and behind with too many perils, 
 toils, and woes not to be benefited 
 by a good word, a hearty God-speed, 
 while all the world was looking on in 
 scorn and contempt, and classing 
 them with fools and fanatics. 
 
 16, 17. That the offering up of the 
 
220 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 miglit be accej)table, being sanctified by the Holy Gbost. I liave 17 
 therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things 
 which pertain to God. For I will not dare to speak of any of those 18 
 things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles 
 obedient, by word and deed, through mighty signs and wonders, 19 
 by the power of the Spii'it of God ; so that from Jerusalem, and 
 round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the Gospel of 
 Christ. Yea, so have I strived to preach the Gospel, not where 20 
 Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's founda- 
 tion : but as it is written. To whom he was not spoken of, they shall 21 
 
 Gentiles, &c. This figure of speech 
 was in harmony with the customs of 
 Jewish worship, the Apostle being 
 the piiest to perform divine service, 
 and the Gentiles being the oblation 
 to be offered up, and the Holy Ghost 
 being the power to give sanctity to 
 the sacrifice. It was tlierefore matter 
 of honest congratulation that he had 
 met with so much success in preach- 
 ing the Gospel, and that his labors in 
 things pertaining to God, that is, the 
 divine service, had not been in vain. 
 While, therefore, disposed to praise 
 others within reasonable bounds, he 
 was not afraid to take the just credit 
 to himself of being a useful Apostle ; 
 for the healthy and natural virtue of 
 a true seh-estimation belongs to St. 
 Paul. 
 
 18, 19. He was not disposed to 
 claim any undue merit, or to exag- 
 gerate his services, but he wished 
 simply to refer to the words and to 
 the works of his ministry, as tokens 
 of spiritual and divine power, and to 
 show them how, through these in- 
 strumentalities, the Gentiles had been 
 introduced in great numbers to the 
 knowledge and practice of the Chris- 
 tian religion. The circuit of this 
 first great itinerant of the Church 
 was from the central point of Jerusa- 
 lem over the countries of Judfea, 
 Arabia, Samaria, Syria, Phoenicia, 
 Asia Mnor, Greece, and Macedonia, 
 
 and the islands in the ^gean and 
 Mediterranean Seas, to the country of 
 Illyricum, in the circumference which 
 lay between Macedonia and the Adri- 
 atic. Illyricum is not mentioned in the 
 Acts of the Apostles, in the enumera- 
 tion of the travels of Paul, though it 
 is said that he went over the parts of 
 the country contiguous to Macedonia, 
 Acts XX. 2 ; and he probably at that 
 time entered Elyricum. The history 
 and the Epistle give, therefore, an 
 incidental support to one another. — 
 Fully persuaded implied that he had 
 made a complete declaration of the 
 truths of the Gospel, and full jDroof of 
 all the offices of his ministry. 2 Cor. 
 ii. 12-14; Acts xix. 1, 10, 21. 
 
 20, 21. It appears from this pas- 
 sage, and also from 2 Cor. x. 16, that 
 it was a strict rule of the Apostle's 
 ministry not to sow seed on another 
 man's field, or to " boast in another 
 man's line of ^hings made ready to 
 our hands." For many obvious 
 reasons, so large and original a ge- 
 nius as Paul preferred to make his 
 own field for the propagation of the 
 Gospel. There was less growth of 
 errors, sectarian passions had not 
 been excited, and if there were any 
 to whom the truth was not as yet 
 " spoken," it was all the more neces- 
 sary they should " see," and that 
 those who had not " heard " should 
 "understand." Isa. Hi. 15. <, 
 
XV.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 221 
 
 2-2 see : and tliey that have not heard shall understand. For which 
 
 23 cause also I have been much hmdered from coming to you. But 
 now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire 
 
 24 these many years to come unto you, whensoever I take my jour- 
 ney into Spain, I will come to you : for I trust to see you in my 
 journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first 
 
 25 I be somewhat filled with yjour company. But now I go unto 
 
 26 Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it hath pleased them 
 of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the 
 
 22-24. St. Paul had been so in- 
 cessantly occupied with preaching the 
 Gospel in Greece and Syria, and 
 other contiguous countries, that he 
 had found no opportunity to visit 
 Rome, great as the demand of the 
 capital was upon his attention. Chap. 
 i. 10, 11, 13. — Having no more place 
 in these parts, &c. As much as to 
 say, having broken ground in all the 
 principal places in the eastern prov- 
 inces of the Roman empire, and 
 established radiating points of faith 
 in Ephesus, Athens, Corinth, and 
 other cities, he was prepared, spirit- 
 ual conqueror and leader as he was, 
 to advance upon the unoccupied 
 West; and in that campaign he pro- 
 posed to make Rome a place to halt 
 and recruit in, but not to labor in 
 specially, because it was already pre- 
 occupied. The extreme point of his 
 missionary ambition Avas Spain, as 
 the westernmost country, the " Ultmia 
 Thule " of Europe in that direction ; 
 but the intermediate countries were 
 of course to be included. It is a 
 wholly undecided point whether Paul 
 ever visited Spain or not, but the prob- 
 ability is that he did not, as he in his 
 journey to Rome was taken as a pris- 
 oner, and after that it is presumed 
 he had no opportunity to consum- 
 mate his sublime plans of benev- 
 olence. — Broufjht on my way, &c. 
 This custom of accompanying friends 
 or going to meet them on a journey 
 was more common in the early stages 
 19* 
 
 of society, when travelling was more 
 laborious and perilous. Acts xxviii. 
 15; 1 Cor. xvi. 6. — Somewhat filled 
 with your company ; as if it would not 
 be easy to satiate the earnest desires 
 of his heart to see, and know, and 
 love them. To the great heart of 
 Paul, the Roman Christians were in- 
 expressibly dear, as is indicated by 
 his messages in chap. xvi. to each one 
 personally; and he could not have 
 enough of their company. 
 
 25 - 28. He here describes the 
 cause which called him from Corinth, 
 where he is now writing to Jerusalem 
 before he could visit Rome ; namely, 
 his carrying a contribution of the 
 Macedonian and Grecian churches 
 to relieve the poor disciples at Jeru- 
 salem. This reciprocity of return- 
 ing temporal favors for spiritual ones 
 was every way advantageous, as the 
 Church was then circumstanced ; for 
 it relieved the poor at Jerusalem, it 
 cultivated benevolence in Macedonia 
 and elsewhere, it taught the com- 
 mencing Church one of the great 
 lessons of its aim and being, it served 
 to melt away that wall of ice which 
 separated Jews from Gentiles, and 
 it gave the Apostle an opportunity to 
 confirm his theory of a true Church 
 of Christ by the exhibition of its 
 practical working and usefulness. 1 
 Cor. xvi. 1-3. The incidental valid- 
 ity which is given to tMs narrative 
 by the Acts of the Apostles has been 
 developed by Paley. For the three 
 
222 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 poor saints which are at Jerusalem. It hath pleased them verily ; 27 
 and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made 
 partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister 
 unto them in carnal things. When therefore I have performed 23 
 tliis, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into 
 Spain. And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come 29 
 in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ. Now I be- so 
 seech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's ,sake, and for the 
 love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers 
 to God for me ; that I may be dehvered from them that do not be- 31 
 lieve, in Judoea ; and that my service which / have for Jerusalem 
 
 facts here referred to, a contribution 
 in Macedonia, a contribution in 
 Achaia, and an intention of Paul to 
 visit Jerusalem, see Acts xx. 2, 3 ; 
 xxiv. 17-19; 2 Cor. viii. 1 - 4 ; ix. 2. 
 Such slight but agreeing circum- 
 stances are perfectly natural in an 
 honest conjunction of different works, 
 but they are perfectly incredible as 
 forgeries. They are too skilful to 
 have befallen by chance, and they 
 are too simple to have been contrived. 
 The comparative poverty of the dis- 
 ciples at Jerusalem, and the wealth 
 of those in Macedonia and Achaia, 
 gave a fine opportunity for a species 
 of benevolent barter, — one giving 
 ti-uth, and the other gold, one ma- 
 terial, and the other spiritual things. 
 This is a much better rule of judg- 
 ment than the usual worldly idea, 
 that all that is given or done for 
 churches, ministers, hospitals, and 
 missions is pure charity ; and not 
 that it is in reality the discharge of a 
 sacred debt wliich we owe for our 
 possession and enjoyment of the 
 truth. Therefore the Apostle hesi- 
 tates not to say " debtors " in speak- 
 ing of the Gentile converts to Chris- 
 tianity, If there is gratuity on either 
 side, we may say it is not on the side 
 of religion ; for how infinitely do the 
 labors of such a man as Paul out- 
 weigh all the gold and silver of either 
 
 hemisphere! — Sealed to them tJiis 
 fruit : i. e. executed the plan of afford- 
 ing aid by this act of benevolence, 
 this fruit of the Christian spirit and 
 character. — Spain. The idea of 
 visiting that country was a cherished 
 plan, and the way in which he re- 
 peats the word indicates the free and 
 artless character of a letter. 
 
 29. Fulness of the blessing. The 
 Hebrew idiom for the rich, full bless- 
 ing of the Gospel. Thus does Paul 
 ever speak of Christianity as some- 
 thing great, generous, and good, of 
 large spirit, of charitable temper. 
 
 30-32. He reserves to the last, 
 with his usual seff-forgetting and re- 
 nouncing habit, the dangers which 
 threatened himself from the bigotry 
 of his own countrymen, and which 
 finally proved fatal by sending him a 
 prisoner to Rome, where he after- 
 wards suffered martyrdom. See Acts 
 XX. 22, 23, where the narrative authen- 
 ticates the present passage. Often 
 and tenderly he uses that conciliating 
 word brethren, and then he calls upon 
 them, by the high and sacred names 
 of Christ and the Spirit, to use inter- 
 cessory prayer in his behalf that he 
 might be exempted from dangers. 
 Col. iv. 12. Paul had two causes of 
 anxiety, two subjects for prayer, one 
 without the Church and one within, 
 one lest the unbelieving Jews would 
 
XV. 
 
 TO THE KOMANS. 
 
 223 
 
 32 may be accepted of the saints ; that I may come unto you with joy 
 
 33 by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed. Now the 
 God of peace he with you all. Amen. 
 
 make trouble, which they afterwards 
 did, and the other lest the contribu- 
 tion from the foreign Gentiles would 
 not be acceptable to the native Jew- 
 i^li party in the Church. Of the re- 
 sult in the latter case, we have no in- 
 lonnation ; but as it regarded the for- 
 mer, we know that the sad presenti- 
 ments and anticipations of the Apos- 
 tle were fulfilled. As Olshausen re- 
 marks, " The knowledge of the Divine 
 plans was not in St. Paul of a fatalis- 
 tic nature ; he does not say, — I know 
 tliat 1 must surely go to Rome, and 
 therefore I have no need of any pre- 
 caution or of any intercession ; rather 
 it was a lively, free accpiaintance with 
 the plans of the free personal God, 
 which are fulfilled through the Avork- 
 ing together of the free action of free 
 beings." 
 
 33. The world was dark and frown- 
 ing, fears within and fightings with- 
 out ; but how beautiful is the invoca- 
 tion of peace through the God of 
 peace ! These gleams of sunshine 
 give rehef to the otherwise sombre 
 picture of labor, and dangerous 
 travel, and savage elements and 
 more savage men, and persecution, 
 and all manner of suffering and trial, 
 for they show the comparative quiet 
 of the heart, the steady and assured 
 centre of faith, however the world 
 might rock and reel. — According 
 to the best critics Amen is not gen- 
 
 The Apostle here concludes the 
 ethical, as he had ended at chap. xiii. 
 36 the doctrinal part of his letter. 
 
 The fornier is based upon the latter, 
 and the natural connection between 
 the two is that of cause and effect. 
 The doctrine was weighty, and the 
 inference was all-important. If faith 
 is the doctrine, the inference is a 
 good life, so that faith-righteousness 
 comprehends both parts of the Epistle. 
 There may be particular passages in 
 doubt, but the general aim is clear, 
 broad, and irresistible. A closer 
 chain of reasoning never was welded 
 together, nor was there ever one 
 where the heat and fire still kindle 
 and burn along the line, as with the 
 original zeal of the writer. Kings 
 and kingdoms may rise and fall, but 
 these great themes of truth, faith, 
 duty, love, hope, and destiny will 
 never cease to awe and entrance the 
 human bosom. They are ever abreast 
 of the times, and no withering blasts 
 of age have passed over the eighth 
 chapter of Romans or the fifteenth 
 chapter of the First of Corinthians. 
 Would indeed that we might be even 
 with these high recpiisitions, and that 
 we might be as good Christians in the 
 nineteenth as Paul was in the first 
 century of the era of our Lord, as 
 ardent advocates of liberty, as stren- 
 uous defenders of truth, as elocpient 
 expounders of faith, as beautiful teach- 
 ers and learners and doers of charity, 
 gentleness, and peace ! But until 
 this is the case, let us learn the noble 
 lessons of the Apostle's truth, and 
 foUow the advice of his practical 
 exhortations, and catch the inspira- 
 tion of liis liigh-toned and wonder- 
 ful hfe ! 
 
224 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Friendly Salutations and Messages to the Christians at Rome, from Paul and his 
 Brethren at Corinth. — Benediction and Doxology. 
 
 I COMMEND unto you Phebe, our sister, which is a servant of the 
 church which is at Cenchrea : that ye receive her in the Lord, as 2 
 becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she 
 hath need of you : for she hath been a succorer of many, and of 
 myself also. Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ 3 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 This concluding chapter of the 
 Epistle is composed of salutations 
 and Christian greetings, conceived in 
 the kindliest spirit of Christian love, 
 and graciously expressed. The dis- 
 cussion of general principles did not 
 lead the author to forget that man- 
 kind were made up of individuals, 
 each with a heart to feel and an im- 
 mortal soul to be saved. With a 
 bold and free hand he sowed his 
 pages thickly with names, facts, and 
 events, conscious of honest purposes, 
 and exempt from all fears of being 
 detected in any forgery. Several in- 
 cidental and undesigned coincidences 
 have been pointed out by Paley and 
 olRer writers on the evidences of 
 ^Christianity, showing the honest rec- 
 ord of the Epistle, and vindicating 
 its authenticity. No man whose 
 heart Avas not as clear as crystal 
 would thus multiply against himself 
 the means of his own detection ; and 
 the facts that his statements remained 
 undisputed at the time, and that they 
 have been credited since without any 
 material implication against them, 
 even by the most virulent opponents 
 to Christianity, give us the strongest 
 presumption of their truth. 
 
 1,_ 2. Phehe, our sister, &c. On the 
 Christian principle, that " whosoever 
 shall do the will of my Father which 
 is in heaven, the same is my brother, 
 and sister, and mother." Phebe was 
 a servant, or deaconess, of the church 
 
 in Cenchrea, an officer rendered 
 necessary in those times by the pecu- 
 liar customs of society in which the 
 Gospel was planted. The care of 
 the sick, the disbursement of charities, 
 the instruction of catechumens, and 
 the rite of baptism, required female 
 service in some cases. Probably the 
 person in question was a woman of 
 wealth and influence, and had such 
 aifairs to require her presence at 
 Rome as could be materially aided 
 by the cooperation of Christian 
 friends there. Cenchrea was the 
 port of Corinth on the iEgean Sea 
 towards Asia Minor, as Lechea or 
 Lechaeus was that on the Ionian Sea 
 towards the west. That Paul had 
 been in the place before is evident 
 from Acts xviii. 18, and he speaks 
 warmly of the aid he had received 
 from her. Paul requests them to 
 welcome her in a Christian manner, 
 for hospitality was a great and essen- 
 tial virtue at a period when the 
 Christians were exposed to the scorn 
 and persecution of those to whom 
 they went forth as heralds and 
 preachers of salvation. — A succorer, 
 &c. A patroness, curatrix. Females 
 also rendered essential service to our 
 blessed Lord by contributing aid to 
 his necessities, and they have ever 
 been among the most devoted friends 
 and co-laborers of the Christian min- 
 istry in every age. As Christianity 
 has done much for woman, so has 
 woman done much for Christianity. 
 3. Priscilla. Griesbach and Tis- 
 
XVI.] 
 
 TO THE EOMANS. 
 
 225 
 
 4 Jesus : who have for my life laid down their own necks : unto 
 whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the 
 
 5 Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house. 
 Salute my well-beloved Epenetus, who is the first-fruits of Achaia 
 
 6 unto Christ. Greet Mary, who bestowed much labor on us. 
 
 chendorf read Prisca, of which Pris- 
 cilla is the diminutive. The mention 
 of her before that of her husband has 
 been argued by some to indicate her 
 prominence of position and character, 
 even when compared with her dis- 
 tinguished companion. Notwithstand- 
 ing the objections which have some- 
 times been uttered against the Apos- 
 tle, as not assigning a sufhciently 
 broad sphere to woman, or giving her 
 an equal social or ecclesiastical posi- 
 tion with that of the other sex, yet 
 where do we find in ancient litera- 
 ture a more considerate respect paid 
 to woman than in the New Testa- 
 ment ? and who has diginified woman 
 with a more cordial regard, or a truer 
 spiritual ecjuaUty, than the author of 
 this Epistle ? 
 
 4. Who have for rmj life^ &c. The 
 transactions here referred to probably 
 occurred at Ephesus, as related in 
 Acts xix. 23-41, for it appears from 
 Acts xviii. 18-26, that they accom- 
 panied him thither from Corinth. 
 The expression implies that they ex- 
 posed themselves to imminent peril, 
 hazarded their lives for him. 1 Cor. 
 xvi. 19 ; 2 Tim. iv. 19. The more 
 gratitude was probably felt towards 
 them, because, being Jews, they had 
 espoused the cause of the Gentiles in 
 the great controversy relating to their 
 admission into the Christian Church 
 without adopting Jewish customs. 
 
 5. The church that is in their house. 
 In their generous behavior they had 
 made their own dwelling a place of 
 the meeting of the Christian Church. 
 — First-fruits of Achaia unto Christ. 
 The best editions read Asia, by which 
 is meant Proconsular Asia, or Asia of 
 
 which Ephesus was the capital. The 
 epithets of endearment and kindly 
 regard with which Paul greets the 
 brethren testify how far Christianity 
 in his soul was removed from a stoical 
 insensibiHty, and how v/armly it em- 
 braced in the arms of an ovei'flowing 
 charity all who had named the name 
 of Christ. It seems as if the heart of 
 the Apostle could not satisfy itself 
 with loving enough, but he poured 
 forth expressions of love and bound- 
 less benevolence. One is " well be- 
 loved," another is " beloved in the 
 Lord," another is "my beloved," 
 another is " my kinsman," and " work- 
 fellow," " helper," " host," " brother, 
 sister, mother." All these expres- 
 sions are used to describe his affec- 
 tionate attachment. The difierence 
 between the Gospel and heathenism 
 is quickly felt when we compare a 
 letter of Cicero with a letter of Paul 
 in this respect. 1 Cor. vi. 15. As a 
 very good evidence that Peter was 
 not in Rome at this time, and that in 
 fact he had not been there up to this 
 time, it is noticeable that no mention 
 whatever is made of him by Paul, in 
 writing to the very church which has 
 since been specially connected with 
 his name, and from which Paul, who 
 seems to have had more to do with it 
 than Peter, has been strangely dis- 
 severed in ecclesiastical tradition and 
 history. 
 
 6-11. Mary. Nothing further is 
 known of her, except this high eulo- 
 gium, of which it may be said, as of 
 the noble deed of another Mary, 
 " Wheresoever this Gospel shall be 
 preached throughout the whole world, 
 this also that she hath done shall be 
 
226 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 Salute Aiidronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and mj fellow-prison- 7 
 ers, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Chi-ist 
 before me. Greet Amphas, my beloved in the Lord. Salute 9 
 Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved. Salute 10 
 Apelles, approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobu- 
 lus's houseJiold. Salute Herodion, my kinsman. Greet them that 11 
 be of the household of Narcissus, which are in the Lord. Salute 12 
 Tryphena and Try]^)hosa, who labor in the Lord. Salute the be- 
 loved Persis, which labored much in the Lord. Salute Rufus, 13 
 chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. Salute Asyncritus, 14 
 Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethi^en which are 
 with them. Salute Philologus and Juha, Nereus and his sister, 15 
 and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them. Salute one le 
 another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you. 
 
 spoken of for a memorial of her." — 
 Andronicus and Junia. They are 
 supposed to be husband and wife, but 
 what was their degree of kinship to 
 Paul, and what were the circum- 
 stances in which they were fellow- 
 prisoners with him, are now matters 
 buried in obHvion. The term Ajjos- 
 tles is here used, not in its strictness, 
 but in general for preachers of Chris- 
 tianity. Acts xiv. 4, 14. The fact, 
 worthy of note, is mentioned, that 
 they were earlier converts to the 
 Gospel than Paul. — The names of 
 Amplias^ Urhane^ Stachys^ Apelles, 
 Aristobidus, and Herodion stand not 
 merely as honorable words in this 
 catalogue of the saints, but they 
 furnish a suggestive hint of the great 
 body of Christian worth and holy 
 character which has passed away 
 and left no sign ; the humble disci- 
 ples, who have contributed their part 
 to the strength of the Christian body, 
 and whose virtues have gone to make 
 up a share in the grand whole of 
 the Church, and its sanctification in 
 the world. — HouseJiold of JVarcissus. 
 There was a freedman of that name 
 in the reign of the Emperor Claudius, 
 
 but he was not living at this time. 
 It may have been his family, however, 
 or friends, who are spoken of in this 
 connection. 
 
 12-16. Of Tryphena, Trypliosa, 
 Persis, only the names and the praise 
 of Paul remain. But Rufus is sup- 
 posed by some to be the brother of 
 Alexander, and the son of Simon the 
 Cyrenean, Markxv. 21 ; but the con- 
 nection is altogether uncertain. — 
 Hermas is conjectured to be the 
 author of one of the early Christian 
 works called " The Shepherd," con- 
 tained in a collection termed the 
 Apocryphal Kew Testament. — Holy 
 kiss. In the fervors of the Church at 
 the beginning, this sign was used as 
 the natural expression of the frater- 
 nal and sisterly affection of the mem- 
 bers for one another ; but when it 
 gave rise to unjust imputations, and 
 created scandal against the disciples, 
 it was dropped. It is said to have 
 been most used after the administra- 
 tion of the Lord's Supper. 1 Peter 
 V. 14. — The churches of Clirist. 
 Paul could speak for at least two, for 
 one was estabHshed at Corinth and 
 another at Cenchrea. The best re- 
 
JCVI.l 
 
 TO THE KOMANS. 
 
 227 
 
 17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions 
 and offences contrary to the doctrme which ye have learned ; and 
 
 18 avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, but their own belly ; and by good words and fair speeches 
 
 19 deceive the hearts of the simple. For your obedience is come 
 abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet 
 I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concern- 
 
 20 ing evil. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your 
 feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ he with you. 
 
 vised editions read all the cliurclies. 
 It is a powerful testimony to the life 
 and deep earnestness of the Chris- 
 tian cause at this period, that the 
 ti'uth was not only theoretically be- 
 heved, but that Christian love was 
 practically cultivated and shed abroad 
 throughout the rising communities of 
 the disciples, and the great hearts 
 which beat at the centre of the move- 
 ment were felt in their pulsations to 
 the humblest and remotest limbs of 
 the body of Christ. 
 
 17-20. This paragraph is a last 
 caution, a kind of postscript added to 
 what he had said before against dis- 
 sensions, which he was so anxious to 
 extirpate from the early Church, and 
 which warred so directly at every 
 point with the truth and love in 
 Jesus. The particular point of de- 
 bate was the Gentile controversy, 
 but it ramified into various side is- 
 sues, and gave broad scope to many 
 of the selfish propensities of human 
 nature. It was sufficiently apparent 
 to the clear discernment of Paul, that 
 there were men enough disposed to 
 make " a gain of godliness," and who, 
 under all their seeming zeal for Christ 
 and his Church, cloaked the unholy 
 purposes of self-aggrandizement, and 
 deceived the world with fair profes- 
 sions and the counterfeits of zeal and 
 truth, passed, among the unsophisti- 
 cated, as current coin. Pliil. iii. 2, 
 18, 19; Tit. iii. 10; 2 Pet. ii. 3, 18. 
 But, notwithstanding the perils of 
 
 "false brethren," the Apostle ex- 
 pressed an undoubting confidence 
 in the firmness of the Church at 
 home to resist all these seductions, 
 and complimented them on their 
 well-known obedience or tractable- 
 ness. He was too wise a moralist not 
 to know that praise will often go fur- 
 ther than blame, and that an encour- 
 agement of success will reach places 
 in the human heart wliich could not 
 be touched by the severe hand of cen- 
 sure. — In the expression luise unto 
 that which is good, and simple concern- 
 ing evil, reference is apparently made 
 to Matt. X. 16. — Simple, unsuspicious, 
 with a single eye. Matt. vi. 22. — 
 There was special appositeness in the 
 term God of peace, as it was " dissen- 
 sions " against which he was warning 
 the Christians at Rome in this very 
 connection. — In the term bruise Sa- 
 tan, perhaps Gen. iii. 15 was in the 
 writer's mind. The word Satan is an 
 Orientalism for evil, evil accuser, and, 
 like AVisdom, Sin, the Law, the Word, 
 and other terms, when personified, it 
 is employed to give vivacity to the 
 idea of the activity and danger of 
 evil. — The grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, &c. Paul can never -svish 
 enough benedictions upon the heads 
 of his brethren, but he repeats, adds 
 postscript after postscript, and can 
 scarcely tear himself away at last 
 from so attractive and absorbing a 
 theme. These successive enchngs, 
 which occur one after another, xv. 
 
228 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 
 
 [Chap. 
 
 Amen. Timotlieus, my work-fellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and 21 
 Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you. I, Tertius, who wrote this Epis- 22 
 tie, salute you in the Lord. Gaius, mine host, and of the whole 23 
 church, saluteth you. Erastus, the chamberlain of the city, saluteth 
 you, and Quartus, a brother. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 24 
 he with you all. Amen. Now to him that is of power to estabhsh 25 
 you according to my Gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, 
 according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret 
 since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the Scrip- 26 
 
 83, xvi. 16, 20, 24, 27, are so many 
 stumbling-blocks to the critics, who 
 attempt to systematize everything ac- 
 cording to a set rule of their own. 
 But are they not very much in uni- 
 son with the free-working and irreg- 
 ular form of Paul's composition ? — 
 Amen, in ver. 20, is omitted by the 
 best editors. 
 
 21. Timothem ; i. e. Timothy, to 
 whom the Epistles were addressed. 
 Acts xvi. 1, 2. — Lucius. Thought 
 by many to be Luke the Evangelist, 
 the well-known companion of Paul in 
 many of his journeys. AVe learn 
 from Acts xx. 4, that three of these 
 individuals, namely, Sosipater, Gaius, 
 and Timothy, accompanied Paul into 
 Asia Minor. The Sopater of Acts 
 XX. 4 and the Sosipater of this pas- 
 sage are probably the same. 
 
 22. Tertius. Paul's amanuensis. 
 The name is a Latin word meaning 
 " the third." The Apostle was ac- 
 customed to employ a writer, and it 
 has been conjectured that some of 
 the breaks in his sentences, and some 
 of the irregularities of his style, are 
 to be attributed to this fact. But he 
 was accustomed to add his own auto- 
 graph to his Epistles as an indorse- 
 ment of their contents. 1 Cor. xvi. 
 21 ; Gal vi. 11 ; Col. iv. 18 ; 2 Thess. 
 iii. 17. We have here a beautiful 
 exemplification of the equahty and 
 fraternity on which the Gospel places 
 man with man, in the fact that the 
 amanuensis salutes the churches as 
 
 well as the Apostle, and that his soul 
 and soul's salvation are counted of 
 like value with those of the chiefest 
 of the Church. 
 
 23, 24. Gains. Whether Gaius of 
 Derbe, mentioned in Acts xix. 29, 
 XX. 4, is the same, cannot now be de- 
 termined, but it is quite Hkely. 1 
 Cor. i. 14 ; 3 John 1. — Erastus, tJie 
 cJiairiberlain oftlie city; that is, prob- 
 ably, of Corinth. By chamberlain is 
 meant treasurer, manager of the city 
 funds, or, in the Roman designation, 
 qusestor. He is mentioned elsewhere, 
 Acts. xix. 22; 2 Tun. iv. 20.— The 
 grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. 
 This is a prayer or benediction, sim- 
 ply implying the best wishes of the 
 Apostle for the spiritual and Christian 
 good of his converts and brethren. 
 It is perfectly proper for one who is 
 not a behever in the deity of Jesus 
 Christ to use such a form of expres- 
 sion, as it was for Paul to commend 
 his hearers " to God, and to the word 
 of his grace," though the word of his 
 grace is not even a person, much less 
 God. — GVace has a peculiar techni- 
 cal signification in our tongue, and 
 the original would be better trans- 
 lated \yy favor. 
 
 25-27. A prolonged and sublime 
 doxology concludes the Epistle, in 
 which the chief features of the whole 
 subject of the work are sketched. 
 God, as the original and everlasting 
 author of Eevelation ; its purpose in 
 his will and commandment; its incep- 
 
XVI.] 
 
 TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 229 
 
 i tures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the ever- 
 lasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith : 
 
 27 to God only wise, he glory through Jesus Christ, for ever. 
 Amen. 
 
 Written to the Romans from Corinthus, and sent by Phebe, servant of 
 the church at Cenchrea. 
 
 tion by the prophets ; its full promul- 
 gation ; and its mystery, or secret, of 
 the admission of the Gentiles, entirely 
 laid open by the mission and preach- 
 ing of Christ ; its comprehension of 
 men of all nations, Jews as well as 
 Gentiles, in its benevolent plan, and 
 the aim and end of the whole system 
 in the " obedience of faith," or faith- 
 righteousness, character founded on 
 a spiritual principle, — are all set forth 
 in these few words with a remarkable 
 terseness and power ; and the assur- 
 ance is given that he who had thus 
 begun a good work in them would 
 not suffer it to fail, but would estab- 
 lish them according to the Gospel. 
 Eph. iii. 9, 10 ; Col. i. 26 ; 2 Tun. i. 
 10. By the term " obedience of 
 faith" is concisely expressed the 
 whole subject of this Epistle ; not 
 justification by faith, — that idea only 
 partially covers the ground ; but right- 
 eousness by faith, obedience to all 
 the laws of God by the motive-power 
 of faith, not by that of wisdom, as 
 among the Greeks, or by that of law, 
 as among the Jews. Christianity 
 opened heaven, brought God nigh to 
 man, and introduced as acting agen- 
 cies upon the life of to-day the 
 boundless hopes, promises, and warn- 
 
 ings of the future state of being. In 
 depth, permanence, and consistency, 
 the obedience of faith, therefore, must 
 possess a marked superiority over all 
 other codes of morals or systems of 
 religion. The Gospel reaches the 
 ultimate point, and leaves nothing on 
 this side of the eternal world, capable 
 of being used as a legitimate motive 
 to righteousness of life, which it does 
 not enhst in its sacred and all-com- 
 prehending cause. It wiU be ob- 
 served, that the ascription of glory is 
 not given by Paul to Jesus Christ, as 
 we hear it in these days in many 
 churches which have wandered from 
 the simplicity of the early Gospel 
 usages, but to God through Jesus 
 Christ. 1 Tim. i. 17. For "he is the 
 Medium, Mediator, through whom 
 our blessings have descended, and 
 through whom our prayers should 
 ascend. 
 
 The inscription at the close is, no 
 doubt, a true description of the title 
 of the Epistle, the place where it was 
 composed, and the person by whom 
 it was conveyed to Rome ; but it is 
 rejected by the best editors as not be- 
 longing to the original, but as being 
 added by a later hand. 
 
 The Epistle at whose conclusion 
 we have now arrived contains some 
 of the most difficult passages to under- 
 stand in all the Scriptures. But for 
 strength of argument, for earnest 
 grappling with the highest themes of 
 20 
 
 reHgious faith, for bold and impas- 
 sioned eloquence, for burning zeal, 
 for beauty of imagination, and for 
 glowing love, where can we find any 
 work superior to the Epistle to the 
 Romans? The few dark spots on 
 
230 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE KOMANS. 
 
 tlie splendid disc of this orb of light be its cbarity, the more uncompro- 
 
 we can well pardon, for the immeas- mising its liberty. Its divine verses 
 
 urable light and warmth of its efful- have not grown dead and cold by 
 
 gence. The more deeply it is studied, time, but they still meet the religious 
 
 the more consecutive will its train of wants of the heart, and preach the 
 
 reasoning be found to be ; and the fiospel to all ages in its freshness and 
 
 more fully its comprehensive spirit is its power. May we receive, beheve, 
 
 felt, the more fervent will be seen to and obey them ! 
 
REVISED TRANSLATION 
 
 OP 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE EOMANS, 
 
THE 
 
 EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE TIOMANS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, chosen as an Apostle, set apart 
 2 for the Gospel of God, which he had promised before by his 
 s prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was 
 
 4 born of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was declared 
 the Son of God with power according to the spirit of hoHness by 
 
 5 the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through 
 whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the 
 
 6 faith in all nations for his name's sake, among whom are ye also 
 
 7 the chosen of Jesus Christ, to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, 
 chosen to be saints, grace and peace to you from God our Father 
 and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that 
 
 9 your faithfulness is spoken of throughout the whole world. For 
 God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit in the Gospel of 
 
 10 his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you, always mak- 
 ing supplication in my prayers, that if possible I might now at 
 length, God willing, make a prosperous journey to come unto you. 
 
 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual 
 
 12 gift, in order that you may be strengthened ; that is, that I may 
 be comforted among you by the mutual faith both of you and me. 
 
 13 But I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that I have often 
 purposed to come to you, though I have hitherto been prevented, 
 in order that I might have some fruit among you also as among 
 
 14 other Gentiles. I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Bar- 
 is barians, both to the wise and to the unwise ; so, as much as in me 
 16 is, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you also at Rome. For I 
 
 am not ashamed of the Gospel ; for it is the power of God unto 
 
 20* 
 
234 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL [Chap. 
 
 salvation to every believer, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 
 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to 17 
 faith ; as it is written. The just by faith shall live. 
 
 For the indignation of God is revealed from heaven against all is 
 ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, holding the truth in un- 
 righteousness ; because that which may be known of God is mani- 19 
 fest to them, for God hath showed it to them. For the invisible ao 
 things of him, even his eternal power and Godhead, from the crea- 
 tion of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things 
 made, so that they are without excuse : because that when they 21 
 knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, 
 but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was 
 darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 22 
 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image hke 23 
 unto corruptible man and birds and quadrupeds and reptiles. 
 Wherefore God gave them up, through the lusts of their hearts to 24 
 impurity, to dishonor their own bodies among themselves : who 25 
 exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served 
 the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. 
 Amen. On this account God gave them up to vile affections, for 20 
 even their women exchanged the natural use for that which is 
 against nature ; and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use 27 
 of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with 
 men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves 
 the due recompense of their error. And inasmuch as they did not 2s 
 like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a 
 reprobate mind to do those things which are not becoming ; being 29 
 filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malicious- 
 ness ; full of envy, murder, contention, deceit, malevolence ; whis- 
 perers, slanderers, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, 30 
 inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understand- 31 
 ing, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, cruel ; 
 who knowing the judgment of God, that they who commit such 32 
 things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but take pleasure 
 in them that do them. 
 
n.] TO THE EOMANS. 235 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Wherefore thou art inexcusable, O man, wliosoever tliou art 
 that judgest : for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest 
 
 2 thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we 
 know that the judgment of God is according to truth against them 
 
 3 who commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that 
 judgest them who do such things, and doest the same, that thou 
 
 4 shalt escape the judgment of God ? Or despisest thou the riches 
 of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering, not considering 
 
 6 that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance ? But after 
 thj hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath 
 against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment 
 
 6 of God ; who will render to every man according to his deeds : 
 
 7 to them who, by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory 
 
 8 and honor and immortality, eternal life ; but unto them that are 
 contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, 
 
 9 wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of 
 man that worketh evil ; of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile ; 
 
 10 but glory, honor, and peace to every man that doeth good ; to the 
 
 11 Jew first, and also to the Gentile : for there is no respect of per- 
 sons with God. 
 
 12 For as many as have sinned without law, shall also perish with- 
 out law ; and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged 
 
 13 by the law ; (for not the hearers of the law are just before God, 
 
 14 but the doers of the law shall be made just ; for when the Gen- 
 tiles, who have not the law, do by nature the things contained in 
 the law, they, having not the law, become a law unto themselves ; 
 
 15 who show the working of the law written in their hearts, their 
 conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing 
 
 16 or else excusing one another;) in the day when God shall judge 
 
 17 the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel. But 
 if thou art called a Jew and restest in the law and makest thy 
 
 16 boast of God and knowest his will and approvest the things that 
 
 19 are more excellent, being instructed out of the law ; and art confi- 
 i^ent that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them who 
 
 20 are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, 
 
236 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL [Chap. 
 
 who hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law : — 
 thou, therefore, who teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? 21 
 thou who preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal ? thou 22 
 who sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit 
 adultery ? thou who abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege ? 
 thou who makest thy boast of the law, by breaking the law dishon- 23 
 orest thou God ? For the name of God is blasphemed among the 24 
 Gentiles through you, as it is written. For circumcision indeed 25 
 profiteth, if thou keep the law ; but if thou be a breaker of the law, 
 thy circumcision becomes uncircumcision. If, therefore, the uncir- 26 
 cumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncir- 
 cumcision be accounted as circumcision ? And shall not uncir- 27 
 cumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who 
 by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law ? For he is 28 
 not a Jew who is one outwardly ; neither is that circumcision 
 which is outward in the flesh : but he is a Jew who is one inward- 29 
 ly ; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in 
 the letter ; whose praise is not of men, but of God. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 What advantage, then, hath the Jew ? or what profit is there 
 in circumcision ? Much every way : first, indeed, because unto 2 
 them were committed the oracles of God. For what ? if some did 3 
 not beheve, shall their unbelief make the faithfulness of God with- 
 out effect ? By no means ; let God be true, though every man is a 4 
 har ; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, 
 and mightest overcome when thou art judged. But if our unright- 5 
 eousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say ? 
 Is not God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a 
 man.) By no means : otherwise how shall God judge the world ? 6 
 For if the truthfulness of God hath more abounded by my lie unto 7 
 his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner ? And shall we 8 
 not say, as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that 
 we say. Let us do evil that good may come ? whose condemnation 
 is just. 
 
 What then ? are we any better ? Not at all ; for we have al- 9 
 
 i 
 
III.] TO THE EOMANS. 237 
 
 10 ready proved that botli Jews and Gentiles are all under sin ; as it 
 
 11 is written, There is none righteous, no, not one : there is none that 
 
 12 understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They have 
 all gone out of the way, they have together become unprofitable ; 
 
 13 there is none that doetli good, no, not one. Their throat is an open 
 sepulchre ; with their tongues they have used deceit ; the poison 
 
 14 of asjDS is under their hps ; whose mouth is full of cursing and 
 le bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood ; destruction and 
 17 misery are in their ways ; and the way of peace have they not 
 \l known ; there is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know 
 
 that whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them who are under 
 the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world 
 
 20 become guilty before God. Because by the deeds of the law there 
 shall no flesh be made righteous in his sight ; for by the law is the 
 knowledge of sin. 
 
 21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, 
 
 22 having the testimony of the law and the prophets ; even the right- 
 eousness of God by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all 
 
 23 believers ; for there is no distinction. For all have sinned, and 
 
 24 come short of the glory of God ; being made just freely by his 
 
 25 grace through the redemption that is in Clirist Jesus ; whom God 
 hath set forth as a mercy-seat through faith in his blood, to declare 
 his righteousness, for the remission of past sins through the forbear- 
 
 26 ance of God : to declare at this time his righteousness (his method 
 of making men righteous) that he might be righteous, and that he 
 might make him that beheveth righteous. 
 
 27 Where is boasting, then ? It is excluded. By what law ? Of 
 23 works ? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that 
 
 29 a man is made righteous by faith without the deeds of the law. Is 
 he the God of the Jews only ? Is he not also of the Gentiles ? 
 
 30 Yes, of the Gentiles also ; since it is the same God who shall make 
 the circumcision righteous by faith, and the uncircumcision right- 
 
 31 eous by faith. Do we then make the law void through faith ? 
 By no means ; but we confirm the law. 
 
238 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL [Chap. 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 What shall we say, then, that Abraham our father hath obtamed 
 as it respects the flesh ? For if Abraham were made righteous by 2 
 works, he hath whereof to boast, but not before God. For what 3 
 saith the Scripture ? Abraham beheved God, and it was reckoned 
 unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the re- 4 
 ward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh 5 
 not, but beHeveth on him that maketh righteous the ungodly, his 
 faith is reckoned for righteousness. Even as David also describeth 6 
 the blessedness of the man unto whom God reckoneth righteous- 
 ness without works : Blessed are they whose iniquities are for- 7 
 given, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom 8 
 the Lord will not reckon sin. Is tliis blessedness then for the cir- 9 
 cumcision only, or for the uncircumcision also ? for we say that 
 faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How then was 10 
 it reckoned ? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision ? 
 Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. And he received the 11 
 sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness of faith which he 
 had yet being uncircumcised : that he might be the father of all them 
 that believe, though they be not circumcised ; that righteousness 
 might also be reckoned unto them : and the father of the circum- 12 
 cised, who are not only of the circumcision, but who also walk in 
 the steps of that faith which our father Abraham had while he was 
 yet uncircumcised. For not through the law was the promise made 13 
 to Abraham, or to his seed, that he should be the heir of the world, 
 but through the righteousness of faith. For if they who are of the u 
 law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise rendered of none 
 effect ; because the law worketh wrath ; for where there is no law, 15 
 there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith, that it may be 16 
 by grace ; in order that the promise might be sure to all the seed ; 
 not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the 
 faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, (as it is written, I n 
 have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he 
 believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those 
 things which be not as though they were : who against hope be- is 
 lieved in hope, that he would become the father of many nations. 
 
v.] TO THE KOMANS. 239 
 
 19 according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And 
 ; being not weak in faith, he regarded not his own body now dead, 
 
 being about one hundred years old, nor the deadness of Sarah's 
 
 20 womb : he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, 
 
 21 but he was strong in faith, giving glory to God ; and being fully 
 persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 
 
 ^ And therefore it was reckoned to him for righteousness. Yet it 
 was not written for his sake alone, that it was reckoned to him ; 
 
 24 but for us also, to whom it will be reckoned, if we believe on hiir 
 
 25 who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered 
 up for our offences, and was raised again for our righteousness. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Therefore, being justified (or put in the way of righteousness) 
 by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ : 
 
 2 by whom also we have access into this grace wherein we stand, 
 
 3 and rejoice m hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but 
 we rejoice in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh 
 
 5 patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope 
 maketh not ashamed ; because the love of God is shed abroad in 
 
 6 our hearts by the holy spirit which is given unto us. For Christ, 
 when we were yet without strength, in due time died for the un 
 
 7 godly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die ; yet perad- 
 
 8 venture for a benefactor some would even dare to die. But God 
 commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, 
 
 Christ died for us. Much more, then, being now justified (or put 
 in the way of righteousness) by his blood, we shall be saved from 
 
 10 wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were rec- 
 onciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being recon- 
 
 11 ciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also 
 rejoice in God, through our Lord Jesus Chi'ist, by whom we have 
 now received the reconciliation. 
 
 12 Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death 
 by sin, even so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned ; 
 
 13 for until the law, sin was in the world ; but sin is not reckoned 
 
 14 when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to 
 
240 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL [Chap. 
 
 Moses, even over tliem that had not sinned after the simihtude of 
 Adam's transgression, who is the type of him that was to come. 
 And not as is the offence, so also is the free gift ; for if through is 
 the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, 
 and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath 
 abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is i6 
 the gift ; for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the 
 free gift is of many offences unto justification (or the way of right- 
 eousness). For if by one man's offence death reigned by one ; 17 
 much more they who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of 
 righteousness shall reign in hfe by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore is 
 as by one offence, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, 
 even so by one righteousness the free gift came upon all men unto 
 justification (or the way of righteousness) of life. For as by one 19 
 man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience 
 of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered 20 
 that the offence might abound ; but where sin abounded, grace did 
 much more abound; so that, as sin hath reigned unto death, even 21 
 so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by 
 Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 What shall we say, then ? Shall we continue in sin, that grace 
 may abound ? By no means. How shall we, that are dead to 2 
 sin, live any longer therein ? Know ye not that so many of us as 3 
 were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 
 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death : so that 4 
 as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, 
 even so we also should walk in newness of hfe. For if we have 5 
 been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also 
 in the likeness of his resurrection ; knowing this, that our old man 6 
 is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that 
 we should no longer serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from 7 
 sin. But if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also 8 
 live with him : knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, 9 
 dieth no more ; death hath no more dominion over him. For in 10 
 
VII.] ^ TO THE ROMANS. 241 
 
 that he died, he died unto sin once for all ; but in that he liveth, 
 
 11 he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be 
 dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ. 
 
 12 Let not sm, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that ye should 
 
 13 obey the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instru- 
 ments of unrighteousness unto sin : but yield yourselves unto God, 
 as those that are aUve from the dead, and your members as instru- 
 
 14 ments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion 
 over you ; for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 
 
 15 What then ? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, 
 
 16 but under grace ? By no means. Know ye not that to whom ye 
 yield yourselves as servants to obey, his servants ye become whom 
 ye obey ; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto right- 
 
 17 eousness ? But God be thanked, that, havmg been the servants 
 of sin, ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which 
 
 18 was delivered unto you. Being then made free from sin, ye be- 
 
 19 came the servants of righteousness. (I speak after the manner of 
 men because of the weakness of your flesh.) For as ye have 
 yielded your members servants to uncleanuess and to iniquity 
 upon iniquity, even so now yield your members servants to right- 
 
 20 eousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, 
 
 21 ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in 
 those things, whereof ye are now ashamed ? For the end of those 
 
 22 things is death. But now, being made free from sin, and having 
 become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, but the 
 
 23 end is everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift 
 of God is everlasting life in Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the 
 law,) that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth. 
 
 2 For the woman who hath a husband is bound by the law to her 
 husband as long as he liveth ; but if her husband be dead, she is 
 
 3 loosed from the law of her husband. Therefore, if while her hus- 
 band is ^^'ing she be married to another man, she shall be called 
 an adulteress ; but if her husband die, she is free from the law, so 
 
 21 
 
242 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL jChap. 
 
 that she will not be an adulteress, though she be married to another 
 man. Wherefore ye also, my brethi'en, have become dead to the 4 
 law by the body of Christ ; that ye should be married to another, 
 even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring 
 forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, our sinful 5 
 passions, which were by the law, wrought powerfully in our mem- 
 bers to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are freed from e 
 the law, since we have become dead to that by which we were held 
 in bondage, so that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not 
 in the oldness of the letter. 
 
 Wliat shall we say then ? Is the law sin ? By no means. On 7 
 the contrary, I had not known sin but by the law : for I had not 
 known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not lust. But sin, s 
 taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner 
 of lust ; for without the law sin were dead. For I was aUve with- 9 
 out the law once ; but when the commandment came, sin revived, 
 and I died ; and the commandment, wliich was ordained to Hfe, I 10 
 found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the command- 11 
 ment, deceived me, and by it slew me ; so that the law is holy, and 12 
 the commandment holy and just and good. Was, then, that which 13 
 is good made death unto me ? By no means. But sin was made 
 so, in order that it might appear as sin, working death in me by 
 that which is good ; that sin by the commandment might become 
 exceedingly sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I 14 
 am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow not ; for 15 
 what I would, that do I not ; but what I hate, that do I. But if I le 
 do that wliich I would not, I consent unto the law as being good. 
 Now then, it is no more I that do this, but sin that dwelleth in me. n 
 For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing ; is 
 for to wiQ is present with me, but not how to perform that which 
 is good. For the good that I would, I do not ; but the evil which 19 
 I would not, that do I. Now if I do that I would not, it is no 20 
 more I that do it, but sm that dwelleth in me. I find, then, a law, 21 
 that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight 22 
 in the law of God after the inward man ; but I see another law in 23 
 my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing 
 me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O 24 
 
Vlll.] TO THE ROMANS. 243 
 
 wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of 
 25 this death ? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So 
 then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the 
 flesh the law of sin. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in 
 
 2 Christ Jesus. For the law of spu-itual life m Christ Jesus hath 
 
 3 freed me from the law of sin and death. For what the law could 
 not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God has done, who, 
 sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and on account 
 
 4 of sin, condemned sin in the flesh ; in order that the righteousness 
 of the law might be fulfilled m us, who walk not after the flesh, 
 
 6 but after the spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the 
 things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit the thmgs of 
 
 6 the spirit. For to be carnally-minded is death, but to be spiritu- 
 
 7 ally-minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity 
 against God ; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed 
 
 8 can be. Those, then, that are in the flesh, cannot please God. 
 
 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the 
 spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any one hath not the spirit of 
 
 10 Christ, he is none of his. But if Christ be in you, the body indeed 
 is dead through sin, but the spirit is aUve through righteousness. 
 
 11 But if the spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwell 
 in you, he who raised up Christ from the dead shall quicken even 
 your mortal bodies by liis spirit that dwelleth in you. 
 
 12 Therefore, brethren, we are not debtors to the flesh to live after 
 
 13 the flesh. For if ye hve after the flesh, ye shall die ; but if ye 
 through the spirit do destroy the deeds of the body, ye shall Hve. 
 
 14 For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of 
 
 15 God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to 
 fear ; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, in which we cry, 
 
 16 Abba, Father. The spirit itself beareth witness with our spu'it 
 
 17 that we are the children of God ; but if children, then heirs ; heirs 
 indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer 
 with him, that we may also be glorified together. 
 
244 - THE EPISTLE OF PAUL [Chap. 
 
 For I reckon that tlie sufiferings of tlie present time are not is 
 worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in 
 us. For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the 19 
 manifestation of the sons of God. For the creation was made sub- 20 
 ject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath sub- 
 jected the same, in hope that the creation itself also shall be deliv- 21 
 ered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious Hberty of the 
 children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth 22 
 together and travaileth in pain until now ; and not only so, but we 23 
 also, who have the first fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan 
 in ourselves, waiting for the adoption, that is, the redemption of our 
 body. For we are saved in hope ; but hope that is seen is not 24 
 hope ; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for ? But if 25 
 we hope for that we see not, then with patience do we wait for. it. 
 
 Likewise, the spirit also helpeth our infirmities ; for we know 26 
 not what we should pray for as we ought ; but the spirit itself 
 maketh intercession for us with unutterable groanings. And he 27 
 that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the spirit, 
 that it maketh intercession for the saints according to the will 01 
 God.. And we know that all things work together for good to 28 
 them who love God, to them who are called according to his pur- 
 pose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be 29 
 conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born 
 among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, 30 
 them he also called ; and whom he called, them he also made 
 righteous ; and whom he made righteous, them he also glorified. 
 
 What shall we say, then, to these things? If God be for us, 31 
 who can be against us ? He that spared not his own Son, but de- 32 
 livered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely 
 give us all things ? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's 33 
 elect ? Is it God that justifieth ? Who is he that condemneth ? 34 
 Is it Christ that died ? yea, rather that is risen again, who is even 
 at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us ? 
 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ? Shall tribulation, 35 
 or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or 
 sword ? As it is written. For thy sake we are killed all the day 36 
 long ; Ave are reckoned as sheep for the slaughter. But in all 37 
 
IX.] TO THE KOIVIANS. 245 
 
 these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved 
 
 38 us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, 
 nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor 
 
 39 powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creation, shall be able to 
 separate us from the love of God, which is m Christ Jesus our Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 I SPEAK the truth in Cln-ist, I lie not, my conscience also bear- 
 
 2 ing me witness in the holy spirit, that I have great grief, and con- 
 
 3 tinual pain m my heart. For I could wish that I myself were 
 accursed from Christ for the sake of my bretlu-en, my kinsmen 
 
 4 according to the flesh, who are Israelites ; whose is the adoption, 
 and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and 
 
 5 the service of the temple, and the promises ; whose are the fathers, 
 and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came. God who is 
 
 6 over al] be blessed for ever. Amen. Not as though the word of 
 God had taken none effect. For they are not all Israel who are 
 
 7 of Israel ; nor, because they are the seed of Abraham, are all chil- 
 
 8 di-en ; but. In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is to say. They 
 who are children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, 
 
 9 but the children of the promise are reckoned for the seed. For 
 this is the word of promise : At this time will I come, and Sarah 
 
 10 shall have a son. And not only so ; but Rebecca also conceived 
 
 11 by one, Isaac our father. For the children not yet having been 
 born, nor having done anything good or evil, in order that the pur- 
 pose of God according to election might stand, not by works, but 
 
 12 by him that calleth, it was said unto her. The elder shall serve the 
 
 13 younger ; as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I 
 hated. 
 
 14 What shall we say, then ? Is there unrighteousness with God ? 
 
 15 By no means. For he 'saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom 
 I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will 
 
 16 have compassion. It is not therefore of him that willeth, nor of 
 
 17 him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the Scrip- 
 ture saith unto Pharaoh, That for this same purpose I have raised 
 thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name 
 
 21* 
 
246 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL [Chap. 
 
 migM be declared througliout all the earth. -Therefore he hath is 
 mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou 19 
 wilt then say unto me, Wliy doth he still find fault ? For who 
 hath resisted his will ? Nay, but, O man, who art thou that repH- 20 
 est against God ? Shall the thing formed say to the former, Why 
 hast thou made me thus ? Hath not the potter power over the 21 
 clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another 
 unto dishonor ? What if God, willing to show his wrath and 22 
 make known his power, endured Avith much long-suffering the ves- 
 sels of wrath fitted to destruction ; and that he might make known 23 
 the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had before 
 prepared unto glory, even us whom he had called, not of the Jews 24 
 only, but also of the Gentiles ? As he saith also in Hosea, I will 25 
 call them my people who were not my people, and her beloved 
 who was not beloved. Ajid it shall come to pass, that in the place 2G 
 where it was said to them. Ye are not my people, there shall they 
 be called the children of the living God. Isaiah also crieth con- 27 
 cernmg Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as 
 the sand of the sea, a remnant only shall be saved ; for he will 2s 
 fulfil and execute in righteousness his word, because the Lord will 
 execute liis word upon the earth. Adid as Isaiah said before. Ex- 29 
 cept the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had become as 
 Sodom, and we had been likened unto Gomorrah. 
 
 What shall we say, then ? That the GentUes, who did not seek 30 
 after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the right- 
 eousness wliich is by faith ; but Israel, who followed after the 31 
 law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. 
 Wherefore ? Because they have not sought it by faith, but as it 32 
 were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stum- 
 bling-stone ; as it is written. Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbhng-stone 33 
 and rock of offence, and whoever beheveth on him shall not be 
 ashamed. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, 
 that they may be saved. For I bear them testimony that they 2 
 
S.] TO THE ROMANS. 247 
 
 3 have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For being 
 ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own 
 righteousness, they have not submitted themselves to the righteous- 
 
 4 ness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to 
 6 every believer. For Moses describeth the righteousness, which is 
 
 of the law. That the man that doeth those things shall Hve by 
 
 6 them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh in this 
 way. Say not in thy heart. Who shall ascend into heaven ? that is, 
 
 7 to bring Christ down. Or, Who shall descend into the abyss ? that 
 
 8 is, to bring up Chi'ist again from the dead. But w^hat saith it ? 
 The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart ; that 
 
 9 is, the word of faith, which we preach ; that if thou shalt confess 
 with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt beheve in thy heart that 
 
 10 God hath raised him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For 
 with the heart man believeth unto righteousness ; and with the 
 mouth he confesseth unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, 
 
 12 Whosoever beheveth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is 
 no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord 
 
 " 13 of all is rich to all who call upon him. For whosoever shall call 
 
 14 upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they 
 call upon him in whom they have not believed ? and how shall they 
 believe in him of w^hom they have not heard ? and how shall they 
 
 15 hear ^^^thout a preacher ? and how shall they preach except they 
 be sent ? as it is written. How beautiful are the feet of them who 
 preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good 
 things ! 
 
 16 But not all have obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah saith. Lord, 
 
 17 who hath beheved our report ? So then faith cometh by hearing, 
 IS and hearing by the word of God. But I say. Have they not 
 
 heard ? Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their 
 
 19 words unto the ends of the world. But I say, Did not Israel 
 know ? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to emulation by 
 them that are no people, and by a foohsh nation I will anger you. 
 
 20 But Isaiah, is very bold, and saith, I was found by them that sought 
 me not ; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. 
 
 21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my 
 hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. 
 
248 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL [Chap. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 I SAY, then, Hath God rejected his people ? By no means. For 
 I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Ben- 
 jamin. God hath not rejected his people whom he foreknew. 2 
 Know ye not what the Scripture m Ehjah saith ? How he mak- 
 eth intercession to God against Israel : Lord, they have killed thy 3 
 prophets, and digged down thy altars ; and I only am left, and 
 they are seekmg my life. But what saith the answer of God to 4 
 him ? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have 
 not bowed the knee to Baal. Even so, then, there is at this pres- 5 
 ent time also a remnant according to the election of grace. But if 6 
 it be of grace, then it is no more of works, else grace is no more 
 grace. But if it be of works, it is no more of grace ; else works 
 are no more works. What then ? Israel hath not obtained that 7 
 which they seek for ; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest 
 were bhnded ; according as it is written, God hath given them the 8 
 spirit of slumber, eyes that see not, and ears that hear not unto this 
 day. David also saith. Let their table become a snare, and a trap, 9 
 and a stumbling-block, and a recompense to them. Let their eyes 10 
 be darkened, that they may not see, and their back be always 
 
 bowed down. 
 
 » 
 
 I say, then. Have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means. 11 
 But through their faU salvation is come to the Gentiles to provoke 
 them to emulation. Now if their fall be the riches of the world, 12 
 and their diminishing the riches of the Gentiles, how much more 
 their fulness ? For I speak to you Gentiles ; inasmuch as I am 13 
 the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office ; if by any 14 
 means I may provoke to emulation my kuismen after the flesh, and 
 save some of them. For if the rejection of them be the reconcih- 15 
 ation of the world, what shall the reception of them be but life 
 from the dead ? But if the first-fruits be holy, so shall the lump le 
 be ; and if the root be holy, so shall be the branches. 
 
 But if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a 17 
 wild olive-tree, wert gi-afted in their stead, and made partaker of 
 the root and fatness of the olive-tree, boast not over the branches ; is 
 but if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 
 
XII.] TO THE ROMANS. 249 
 
 19 Thou wilt say, then, The branches were broken off, that I might be 
 
 20 grafted in. Well ; because of unbelief they were broken off, and 
 
 21 thou standest by faith. Be not liigh-minded, but fear. For if 
 God spared not the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare 
 
 22 thee. Behold, therefore, the kindness and severity of God : on 
 them that fell, severity ; but on thee, the kindness of God, if thou 
 
 23 adhere to his kindness ; otherwise, thou also shalt be cut off. And 
 they also, if they adhere not to unbeHef, shall be grafted in ; for 
 
 24 God is able to graft them in again. For if thou wert cut out of 
 the olive-tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary 
 to nature into a good olive-tree, how much more shall these, which 
 are natural, be grafted into their o^vn olive-tree ! 
 
 25 For I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this 
 mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits, that blind- 
 ness has befallen Israel in part until the fulness of the Gentiles 
 
 26 shall come in. And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, 
 The deUverer shall come out of Zion, and shall turn away ungod- 
 
 27 liness from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them, when I 
 
 28 shall take away their sins. As it regards the Gospel, they are 
 become enemies on your account, but as it regards the election, 
 
 29 they are beloved on account of the fathers. For God does not 
 
 30 repent of his gifts and calling. For as you once did not beheve in 
 God, but now you have obtained mercy through their unbehef ; 
 
 31 even so have these also now disbeheved, that through the mercy 
 
 32 shown to you they may obtain mercy. For God hath included 
 
 33 all in unbehef, that he might have mercy upon aU. O the depth 
 of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! How 
 unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out ! 
 
 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord ? or who hath been liis 
 
 35 counsellor ? or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recom- 
 
 36 pensed to him again ? For of him, and thi-ough him, and to him, 
 are all things : to him be glory for ever. Amen. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 I BESEECH you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that 
 you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, 
 
250 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL [Cuap. 
 
 wliicli is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this 2 
 world, but be ye transformed by tlie renewing of your mind, that 
 you may prove what the will of God is, even that which is good, 
 and acceptable, and perfect. For I say, through the grace given 3 
 unto me, to every one that is among you, not to tliink of himself 
 more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according 
 as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as in 4 
 one body we have many members, but all the members have not 
 the same office ; so we, being many, are one body m Christ, and 6 
 are members one of another. Having, then, gifts differing accord- 6 
 ing to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us 
 prophesy according to the proposition of faith ; or ministry, let us 7 
 wait on our ministering ; or he that teacheth, on teaching ; or he 8 
 that exhorteth, on exhortation : he that giveth, let him give with 
 simplicity ; he that ruleth, with diligence ; he that showeth mercy, ' 
 with cheerfulness. 
 
 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil, 9 
 cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another 10 
 with brotherly love ; in honor preferring one another ; not slothful 11 
 in business ; fervent in spirit ; serving the Lord ; rejoicing in hope ; 12 
 patient in tribulation ; praying without ceasing ; distributing to the 13 
 necessities of the saints ; given to hospitality. Bless them which u 
 persecute you ; bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that re- 15 
 joice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind ig 
 one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to the 
 humble. Be not wise in your own conceits. Render to no man 17 
 evil for evil. Provide things honorable in the sight of all men. If is 
 it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 
 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto 19 
 wrath ; for it is written. Vengeance is mine ; I will repay, saith 
 the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, {eed him ; if he 20 
 thu'st, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of 
 fire on his head. Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by 21 
 good. 
 
UV.] Tu THE ROMANS. 251 
 
 CHAPTER Xm. 
 
 Let every soul be subject unto the powers that are supreme. 
 For there is no power but from God ; the powers that be are or- 
 
 2 dained by God. So that he who resisteth the power resisteth the 
 ordinance of God ; and they who resist shall receive to themselves 
 
 3 rondemnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to 
 tlie evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that 
 
 4 ^\ liich is good, and thou shalt have praise for the same. For 
 he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that 
 which is evil, be afraid ; for he beareth not the sword in vain ; for 
 he is the minister of God, an avenger to execute wrath upon him 
 
 5 that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only 
 
 6 because of wrath, but for conscience' sake. On this very account 
 also pay tribute ; for they are God's ministers who attend continu- 
 
 7 ally upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues ; 
 tribute to whom tribute ; custom to whom custom ; fear to whom 
 
 8 fear ; honor to whom honor. Owe no man anything, except to 
 love one another ; for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 
 
 9 For this is. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not kiU, 
 Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet ; and if there be any 
 other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saymg, 
 
 10 namely. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself Love worketh 
 no ill to one's neighbor ; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 
 
 11 And this, too, knowing the time, that it is the hour to awake out of 
 sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we became be- 
 
 12 lievers. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us 
 therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the 
 
 3 armor of light. Let us walk becomingly, as in the day ; not in rev- 
 elHng and drunkenness, not in licentiousness and wantonness, not 
 
 4 in strife and envy ; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 make not provision for the lusts of the flesh. 
 
 CHAPTER XrV. 
 
 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to judge of his 
 2 scruples. One indeed believeth that he may eat everything, but 
 
252 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL [Chap. 
 
 lie who is weak eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise 3 
 him that eateth not ; but let not him that eateth not .condemn him 
 that eateth ; for God hath accepted him. Who art thou that con- 4 
 demnest another man's servant ? To his own master he standeth 
 or falleth ; but he shall stand, for God is able to make him stand. 
 One man esteemeth one day above another ; another esteemeth s 
 every day ahke. Let each one be fully persuaded in his own 
 mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it to the Lord, and 6 
 he that regardeth not the day to the Lord, he doth not regard it. 
 He also that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks ; 
 and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God 
 thanks. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to 7 
 himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord ; and 8 
 whether we die, we die unto the Lord ; whether we Hve, therefore, 
 or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Clmst both died and 9 
 lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living. 
 But why dost thou condemn thy brother ? or why dost thou set at 10 
 naught thy brother ? for we must all stand before the judgment- 
 seat of God. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every 11 
 knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So 12 
 then every one of us shall give account of himself unto God. 
 
 Let us not therefore judge one another any more, but judge this is 
 rather, that no man put a stumbling-block, or an occasion to fall, in 
 in his brother's way. I know and am persuaded in the Lord 14 
 Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself ; but to him that es- 
 teemeth anything as unclean, to him it is unclean. But if thy 15 
 brother be grieved on account of thy meat, now walkest thou no 
 longer charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom 
 Christ died. Let not your good, then, be evil spoken of; for the |f 
 kingdom of God is not meat and drink ; but righteousness, and 
 peace, and joy in the Holy Spmt. For he that in these things is 
 serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved by men. Let 19 
 us therefore pursue the things that make for peace and mutual edi- 
 fication. For meat destroy not the work of God. All things 20 
 indeed are pure ; but it is evil to that man who eateth with offence. 
 It is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine, nor to do any- 21 
 thing whereby thy brother stumbleth. Thou hast faith. Have it 22 
 
 
XV.] TO THE ROMANS. . 253 
 
 to thyself before God. Happy is lie that condemneth not himself 
 23 in that thing which he alloweth. But he who has scruples is con- 
 demned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith ; for whatever is 
 not of faith is sin. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 But we who are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the 
 
 2 weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each one of us please his 
 
 3 neighbor in respect to that which is good unto edification. For 
 even Christ did not please himself; but as it is written. The re- 
 
 4 proaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. For whatso- 
 ever things were written formerly were written for our instruction, 
 in order that we, through the patience and the consolation of the 
 
 5 Scriptures, might have hope. And may the God of patience and 
 consolation grant that you may be Hke-minded one toward another, 
 
 6 according to Christ Jesus ; that you may with one mind and one 
 mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 7 Wherefore welcome you one another, as Christ also welcomed you, 
 
 8 to the glory of God. For I say that Christ became a minister of 
 the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises 
 
 9 made to the fathers, that the Gentiles should glorify God for his 
 mercy ; as it is written. For this cause I will confess thee among 
 
 10 the Gentiles, and I will sing unto thy name. And again he 
 
 11 saith. Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. And again. Praise the 
 
 12 Lord, all ye Gentiles, and laud him all ye people. And again 
 Isaiah saith. There shall be a root of Jesse, and one shall rise to 
 
 13 reign over the Gentiles, in whom the Gentiles shall hope. Now 
 may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, 
 that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 14 But I myself also am persuaded concerning you, my brethren, 
 that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able 
 
 15 also to admonish one another. Yet I have written the more boldly 
 unto you in part, as further putting you in mind, because of the 
 
 16 grace that is given unto me by God, that I should be the minister 
 of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering the Gospel of God, 
 
 22 
 
254 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL [Chap. 
 
 tliat the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being 
 sanctified by the Holy Spii'it. I have therefore cause of glorying n 
 in Christ Jesus as to the thmgs which pertain to God. For I will is 
 not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not 
 wrought through me for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word 
 and deed, through the power of signs and wonders, through the id 
 power of the spirit, so that from Jerusalem, and round about even 
 to Illyricum, I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ. But I 20 
 was very desirous so to preach the Gospel, not where Christ was 
 named, lest I should build on another man's foundation ; but as it 21 
 is written. They shall see, to whom he was not spoken of, and they 
 who have not heard shall understand. 
 
 Wherefore also I have been much hindered from coming to you ; 22 
 but now having no longer a place in these regions, and having a 23 
 great desire for many years to come to you, whenever I shall go 24 
 into Spain, I will come to you. For I hope to see you as I pass 
 through, and to be sent on my way thitherward by you, after I 
 have first been somewhat satisfied with your society. But now I go 25 
 unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it hath pleased 26 
 Macedonia and Achaia to make some contribution for the poor 
 saints who are at Jerusalem. It hath pleased them verily, and 27 
 their debtors they are ; for if the Gentiles have shared in their 
 spiritual contributions, they ought also to minister unto them in 
 temporal things. When, therefore, I have accomphshed this, and 28 
 sealed to them this fruit, I will pass by you on my way to Spain. 
 And I know that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the ful- 29 
 ness of the blessing of Christ. But I beseech you by our Lord 30 
 Jesus Christ and the love of the spu'it, that ye strive together with 
 me in your prayers to God in my behalf; that I may be delivered 31 
 from them that do not believe, in Judeea ; and that my service for 
 Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints ; that I may come unto 32 
 you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed with you. 
 The God of peace be with you all. Amen. 33 
 
XVI.] TO THE RO]MANS. 255 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Now I commend to you Pliebe, our sister, who is a deaconess of 
 
 2 tlie church at Cenchrea ; that you may receive her in the Lord, in 
 a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatsoever she 
 may have need of you ; for she hath been a helper of many, and 
 of myself also. 
 
 3 Salute Prisca and Aquila, my fellow-laborers in Christ Jesus 
 
 4 (who have for my Hfe exposed their own, to whom not only I 
 
 5 give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles) ; and the 
 church which is in their house. Salute Epenetus, my beloved, 
 
 6 who is the first-fruits of Asia unto Christ. Salute Mary, who 
 
 7 labored much for us. Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen 
 and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who 
 
 8 also preceded me in Christ. Salute AmpHas, my beloved in the 
 
 9 Lord. Salute Urbanus, our fellow-laborer in Christ, and Stachys, 
 
 10 my beloved. Salute Apelles, approved in Christ. Salute them 
 
 11 who are of the household of Aristobulus. Salute Herodion, my 
 kinsman. Salute them who are of the household of Narcissus, 
 
 12 who are in the Lord. Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labor 
 in the Lord. Salute Persis, the beloved, who labored much in the 
 
 13 Lord. Salute Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and 
 
 14 mine. Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, 
 
 15 and the brethren with them. Salute Philologus and Julia, Ne- 
 reus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints with them. 
 
 16 Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ 
 salute you. 
 
 17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them who cause divisions 
 and oflfences, contrary to the doctrine which you have learned ; 
 
 18 and avoid them. For such persons serve not the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, but their own appetite, and by good words and fair 
 
 19 speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. For your obedience is 
 known to all. I rejoice therefore concerning you, yet I wish you 
 to be wise as to that which is good, but simple as to that which is 
 
 20 evil. And the God of peace shall quickly bruise Satan under 
 your feet. 
 
 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 
 
256 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 Timothy, my fellow-laborer, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosi- 21 
 pater, my kinsmen, salute you. I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, 22 
 salute you in the Lord. Gains, the host of me and of the whole 23 
 church, saluteth you. Erastus, the chamberlain of the city, and 
 Quartus, a brother, salute you. 
 
 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 24 
 Now unto him who is able to establish you according to my 25 
 Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the reve- 
 lation of the secret, kept hidden in ancient times, but which is now 26 
 manifested, and by the prophetic Scriptures, according to the com- 
 mandment of the everlasting God, is made known to all nations for 
 the obedience 9f faith, — to the only wise God be glory through 27 
 Jesus Christ for ever. Amen. 
 
 THE END. 
 
7713C6 gOC J 
 
BS2665.L784 
 
 The Epistle of Paul to the Romans : with 
 
 ^Pri_ncetonJheological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
 1 1012 00068 0142