NOV 22 1.910 * 
 
 Division 3S? " ' 
 Section .VVS'drr' 
 
THE WESTMINSTER NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 THE CAPTIVITY AND THE 
 PASTORAL EPISTLES 
 
THE WESTMINSTER NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 Gf.neral Editor 
 ALFRED E. GARVIE, M.A.(Oxon.), D.D.(Glas.) 
 
 PRINCIPAL OF NEW COLLEGE, LONDON 
 
 THE CAPTIVITY 
 
 AND THE 
 
 PASTORAL EPISTLES 
 
 WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES 
 By the Rev. JAMES STRACHAN, M.A. 
 
 AUTHOR OF "HEBREW IDEALS " 
 
 
 ® '* KOV22I910 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 
 
 LONDON 
 
 ANDREW MELROSE 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Introduction , 
 
 Commentary— 
 Colossians 
 Philemon 
 Ephesians 
 Philippians 
 
 1 Timothy 
 
 2 Timothy 
 Titus 
 
 Index 
 
 •AGK 
 
 I 
 
 32 
 
 S7 
 103 
 165 
 201 
 236 
 257 
 273 
 
 NOTE 
 
 To give a satisfying interpretation of seven epistles in a book 
 of this size appears to the present writer almost out of the 
 question, and he can only hope to shed rays of light here and 
 there. To save some space a good many improved readings 
 have been introduced in heavy type — mostly from the R.V. — 
 without reference to those which have been displaced. There is 
 an immense literature on Paul and his teaching. After reading 
 what English, American, French, German, and Dutch scholars 
 have said about him, the writer has endeavoured to do his own 
 thinking. His opinion on the composition of the Pastoral 
 Epistles is not generally held by scholars in Great Britain, nor 
 does it accord with the common tradition in the Church, but it 
 has been forced upon him by the internal evidence of the 
 epistles themselves. 
 
THE 
 
 WESTMINSTER NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 THE CAPTIVITY AND THE PASTORAL 
 EPISTLES 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 PAUL IN ROME. 
 
 As the apostle of the Gentiles Paul made it his 
 aim to capture the great cities of the Roman 
 Empire for Christ. Having the instincts of a 
 born strategist, he always worked with a definite 
 policy, a carefully thought out plan of action. He 
 attacked the citadels of paganism one after the 
 other. He laid the foundation of Christ's kingdom 
 in the chief seats of commerce, learning, and art. 
 He evidently believed that the rest of the Empire 
 could be conquered in detail, as the thoughts 
 awakened at the centres of intellectual activity 
 must sooner or later pass to the remotest towns 
 and villages. Early in his career he began to hear 
 the call of Rome, and it was a voice which he could 
 not silence. Time after time he was on the point 
 of starting for the mother-city, and time after 
 time he was prevented. His purpose was often 
 
2 Westminster New Testament 
 
 thwarted, but never for a moment abandoned. 
 Rome lay ever on the far horizon of his mind. 
 His desire to see it at length became over- 
 mastering. Even when he was journeying East 
 his thoughts were flying West. Jerusalem, the 
 goal of his youthful dreams, was now but a stage 
 on th« winding road to Rome. He saw the city 
 in his dreams, he prayed that he might reach it, 
 he was consumed by the desire to preach in it. 
 His passionate yearning was far deeper than the 
 mere patriotic sentiment of a Roman citizen. It 
 was justified by his sure sense of the supreme 
 strategic importance of the metropolis, the 
 gathering-place of all nations. He probably 
 realised that his own greatest work must be 
 accomplished there. At any rate he knew that 
 the decisive blow to paganism had to be struck 
 at the world's great centre. Till he came to 
 Rome he could never fully appreciate the strength 
 of the dominion of the Caesars, nor measure 
 against it all the power of Christ. For the world- 
 city he had a world-gospel. Once there, he would 
 pour new life-blood into the throbbing heart of 
 civilisation, to circulate through eveiy vein of all 
 the Empire. 
 
 At length his heart's desire was realised. " And 
 so we came to Rome ... we entered Rome," says 
 his companion and historian, thankful for this 
 crowning mercy, conscious of chronicling an epoch- 
 making event. It is true that Paul did not come 
 to Rome, as he had hoped, with full freedom of 
 action. He was sent thither as "an ambassador in 
 bonds," and he probably remained a prisoner till 
 the day of his death. Yet his ministry in Rome 
 was supremely effective. He could scarcely have 
 
Captivity and Pastoral Epistles 3 
 
 accomplished more had he enjoyed perfect liberty. 
 By his courage in adversity, by his magnetic power 
 over other preachers, by his reception of inquirers 
 in his hired house, by his influence among the 
 Praetorian Guard, and by his repeated defences 
 before his imperial judges, he made a profound 
 impression upon Christian and pagan Rome. And 
 by the letters which he dictated in his Roman 
 prison he left a memorial more enduring than 
 brass, a pattern of Christian faith to shape the life 
 of the Church in all ages. 
 
 THE EPISTLES OF THE CAPTIVITY. 
 
 If we may provisionally accept the ordinary 
 division of the Pauline letters into four groups, 
 Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians, and Philippians 
 will form the third group, and the order in which 
 they are here given probably represents their true 
 chronological sequence. Between Romans, the 
 last of the second group, and Colossians, the first 
 of the third, there must be an interval of several 
 years, and when we pass from the one to the other, 
 we at once feel that we begin to breathe a new 
 atmosphere and move amid a different set of 
 conditions. The old battle-cries of justification by 
 faith alone and liberty from the law, which ring 
 through all the epistles of the second period, are 
 scarcely heard in those of the third. In the 
 interval the cause of spiritual liberty has triumphed. 
 Judaism has received its death-blow. It has been 
 settled once for all that the Mosaic yoke is not to 
 be imposed upon Gentile Christians. Paul himself 
 has done far more than any other apostle to bring 
 about this result. He has best understood the 
 
4 Westminster New Testament 
 
 genius of Christianity. He has taken the great 
 thoughts of Christ and made them current coin in 
 the Roman Empire. And he has at the same time 
 established his own position as the supreme 
 inspired teacher of the perfect reHgion. From 
 this period onward he no longer requires to maintain 
 his apostolic authority ; he is calmly conscious of 
 the unique place which he has won in the whole 
 Christian Church. 
 
 With many differences of detail there is a 
 marked similarity of style in the four Epistles of 
 the Roman Imprisonment. They are less fiery and 
 impetuous than those of the earlier groups. They 
 breathe a more tranquil spirit. Their logic is not 
 so remorseless. They are more tender and 
 meditative. They are pervaded by a more cheerful 
 optimism^ a more serene and joyful confidence. 
 If the epistles of the first and second groups re- 
 semble the flush of dawn and the fervour of midday, 
 those of the third group suggest the mellow 
 loveliness of afternoon, and those of the fourth the 
 peace of evening. The change in style reflects 
 the change in the writer's outward conditions. 
 Paul the restless traveller and missionary is forced 
 at last to sit still. For four or five years he seems 
 to be doomed to a life of tedious inaction. And 
 Paul the prisoner already begins to feel that he 
 is Paul the aged. But how wise was the 
 providence which gave the man of enterprise a 
 season of quiet reflection! There were two long 
 pauses in Paul's strenuous life as a Christian, 
 the one at the beginning, the other at the end of 
 his career, and the world owes more than it knows 
 to the Arabian desert and the Roman prison. 
 
 Colossians, Philemon, and Ephesians were 
 
Captivity and Pastoral Epistles 5 
 
 evidently written from the same place about the 
 same time. There are many links of connection 
 between them. Tychicus is the bearer of both 
 Colossians and Ephesians (Col. iv. 7, 8 ; Eph. vi. 
 21, 22), and Onesimus, the subject of Philemon, 
 is the companion of Tychicus (Col. iv. 9). Greetings 
 are sent in Colossians and Philemon to the same 
 group of friends (Col. iv. 10, 12, 14; Philem. 
 23, 24). In Philem. 2 a message is sent to 
 Archippus, and in Col. iv. 17 we learn that he 
 held an official position in the church of Colossae. 
 To some scholars — such as Meyer, Haupt, Sabatier 
 — it seemed probable that these epistles were 
 written in Paul's Caesarean prison, but this theory 
 has now few advocates. The following facts are 
 against it. Onesimus, the fugitive slave, would be 
 much more likely to seek refuge among the 
 teeming millions of Rome than in a little Syrian 
 town ; and he would find it less difficult to gain 
 access to Paul in a Roman hired house than in a 
 Caesarean gaol. In Rome it would be far easier 
 for the apostle to send letters to distant churches 
 and to receive messengers from other lands. Only 
 in Rome was it natural for him to expect a speedy 
 settlement of his case. If he wrote jprom Caesarea, 
 before his departure for Rome, it is strange that 
 he should speak of going to Colossae, and not say 
 a word about the long-expected voyage to Italy 
 which must have filled all his thoughts. 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 
 
 This letter was written by Paul to a church 
 which he had not founded and which he had never 
 been able to visit. But he was profoundly inter- 
 
6 Westminster New Testament 
 
 ested in Colossae because its church sprang into 
 being as the result of the labours of his convert 
 and delegate, Epaphras. Colossae was one of three 
 sister cities in the upper valley of the Lycus, an 
 affluent of the Maeander, in the heart of the 
 Roman province of Asia. It lay on the south side 
 of the river, under the shadow of Mount Cadmus 
 (7000 feet high) with its eternal snow. Ten miles 
 farther down the stream was Laodicea, which was 
 faced by Hierapolis, picturesquely perched on an 
 elevation at the other side of the valley, six miles 
 distant. Laodicea and Colossae were on the great 
 road from Ephesus to the Euphrates, the most 
 important route of commerce and intercourse in 
 the eastern part of the Empire. Xenophon in his 
 story of the Ten Thousand speaks of "the 
 populous, prosperous, and beautiful city" of 
 Colossae. But as the other two cities grew, 
 Colossae began to wane, and Strabo, about the 
 time of Christ, speaks of it as "a small city" 
 {polisma). Nevertheless it continued to be one of 
 the most important meeting-places of East and 
 West. While its permanent population was Phrygian, 
 with an admixture of Greeks and Jews, it was 
 constantly visited by travellers of all nationalities, 
 who kept it for ever simmering with new ideas. 
 
 These three cities of the Lycus valley were 
 Epaphras' mission-field, and his labours seem to 
 have been speedily crowned with success. Three 
 churches were planted, and rapidly grew. But it 
 was that kind of rapidity which makes wise men 
 shake their heads. It was too feverish to be healthy. 
 Some of those who eagerly expressed their faith 
 in Christ, and took His Church by storm, brought 
 with them many of the cherished ideas of the 
 
Captivity and Pastoral Epistles 7 
 
 time, partly Jewish and partly pagan, which they 
 not only saw no reason to discard, but which they 
 were prepared to defend as an important, indeed an 
 essential, part of God's message to men. They 
 made Christianity too popular by making it too 
 easy. They proved that the old faith could live 
 with the new ; that a man might become a 
 Christian mthout shedding any of his principles 
 or prejudices. The result was that the gospel was 
 soon in imminent danger of being submerged by 
 a rising tide of non-Christian beliefs and practices. 
 Epaphras at length became alarmed, and went all 
 the way to Rome to consult his chief. While it 
 was in his power to give a glowing account of the 
 success of his mission, he was at the same time 
 obliged to speak of the serious dangers that 
 threatened the life of all the young communities 
 which he had planted in that perfervid atmosphere 
 of Eastern speculation. 
 
 The beginning of the Christian era is the age 
 of the eclectic. In consequence of the decay of 
 national and popular religions, all the possible 
 permutations and combinations of beliefs new and 
 old are being tried. The Lycus valley, a hotbed 
 of theosophy, gnosticism, and mysticism, is the 
 natural scene of one of the most striking of these 
 experiments. The new teachers at Colossae care- 
 fully refrain from saying anything directly opposed 
 to the gospel of Epaphras (i.e. of Paul). They 
 merely call it imperfect, and profess to be able to 
 supplement it. They know the way to lead the 
 Christian beginner onward and upward to perfec- 
 tion. They can initiate him into the mysteries of 
 the higher life. They can put into his hand the 
 key of philosophy. They teach him that as the 
 
8 Westminster New Testament 
 
 flesh is the seat of sin, it must be mortified ; strict 
 dietary rules must be observed ; the festivals of 
 the Mosaic law are to be kept ; and in general life 
 is to be regulated in accordance with the best 
 human traditions, from whatever quarter they are 
 borrowed. As the Pauline idea of God is so one- 
 sided, failing to explain the original relation 
 between the supreme God and sinful matter, and 
 so to lay the foundation for a scheme of recon- 
 ciliation, it must be balanced by a doctrine of the 
 mediation of angels, aeons, or elemental spirits. 
 The gospel which Epaphras has preached must 
 be supplemented by the splendid visions of 
 the mystic and the meritorious practices of the 
 ascetic. Redemption is not the function of Christ 
 alone ; the labour is divided among the whole host 
 of God's angelic ministers, before whom men must 
 bow in trembling adoration. 
 
 Just as much of our Lord's teaching was elicited 
 by the errors of His disciples, so is much of Paul's 
 by the errors of the churches. The doctrine of 
 Colossians is Christianity reconceived and restated 
 in contact with the philosophy of one of the 
 centres of Greek culture. To the Gnostic doctrine 
 of aeons or angels the writer opposes the grandest 
 and fullest conception of the Person of Christ that 
 is to be found in the Bible. Three normative 
 conceptions he presses upon the minds of his 
 readers — the uniqueness of Christ's personality, 
 the completeness of His work, the finality and 
 perfection of His revelation. The Colossians seek a 
 true idea of God — in Christ dwells all the fulness of 
 the Godhead ; of creation — Christ is the original of 
 all created being, including the angelic orders ; 
 of history — all things are from Christ and unto 
 
Captivity and Pastoral Epistles 9 
 
 Christ ; of redemption — believers are buried with 
 Christ and rise with Him to newness of life ; of 
 atonement — Christ has by the blood of His cross 
 won the sinner's peace. They seek a philosophy 
 — in Christ are all the treasures of wisdom hidden ; 
 a higher life — it is hid with Christ in God. They 
 seek initiation into all mysteries — Christ is the 
 open Secret of the universe. They desire to attain 
 perfection — man is complete in Christ. 
 
 Some scholars have found in the new theology 
 of the Colossian Church a full-blown Gnosticism. 
 This was the theory of the founders of the 
 Tubingen school, who sought to bring the epistle 
 down to the middle of the second century. But 
 there are now few critics who do not accept the 
 Pauline authorship of the letter. Some writers — 
 among them Hort, Murray, and Peake — tiy to 
 explain all the Colossian errors as of purely Jewish 
 origin. But it was strange indeed if a predomi- 
 nantly Gentile church, surrounded by an atmosphere 
 of mystic theosophy, never came under the spell 
 of any ideas save those of Jewish birth. Most 
 scholars find in the epistle a blend of Jewish and 
 semi-Gnostic ideas and practices. It is a mistake to 
 suppose that the power of the Gnostics began in 
 the second century. " The Gnosticism with which 
 Colossians is at strife," says Jiilicher, ^^ is even older 
 than Christianity itself. The false teachers could 
 have made their appearance within the Christian 
 Church in the year 60 a.d. just as easily as in 120." 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON. 
 
 Among the writings of Paul this little letter is 
 unique as a message to a dear and intimate friend on 
 
lo Westminster New Testament 
 
 a purely private matter. The apostle must have 
 dictated many such letters in the course of his 
 long life, and how much we should give for a 
 volume containing the Private Correspondence of 
 St. Paul ! The Pastoral Epistles are also addressed 
 to individuals, but they are — at least in their 
 present form — for the most part official, dealing 
 with the affairs of the Church at large. But 
 Philemon is quite unecclesiastical. It is a tenderly 
 human document, so charming in style, so courteous 
 in tone, so gracious and genial in spirit, so instinct 
 with the noblest sentiments of brotherhood, that it 
 is universally regarded as one of the purest gems of 
 early Christian literature. 
 
 Brief as it is, Philemon is suggestive of the 
 mighty social revolution which Christianity was 
 just beginning to effect throughout the Roman 
 Empire. It wafts to us the breath of a new life ; 
 it speaks with the voice of a dawning era ; it 
 flashes light upon new and undreamed-of horizons 
 of thought and action. It enables us partly to 
 reconstruct a thrilling tale of the wonderful days 
 of the first contact and conflict between the 
 Christian faith and the old-world paganism. Farrar 
 in his historical romance. Darkness cmd Dmvn, and 
 Abbott in his Onesimus, have let their imagination 
 play round the attractive theme. 
 
 Philemon was a gentleman of Colossae whose 
 mind had been awakened by the preaching of Paul 
 (ver. 19). Probably his conversion occurred during 
 the apostle's great mission in Ephesus, when '^^all 
 who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord." 
 After the decisive change we find him so earnest in 
 Christian service that Paul joyfully thinks of him as 
 a fellow-labourer (ver. 1). He converts his pagan 
 
Captivity and Pastoral Epistles n 
 
 house into a Christian home. He transforms the 
 largest room of it into a church, which his warm 
 invitations and welcomes soon fill with worshippers. 
 He devotes his wealth to hospitality and charity. He 
 delights to prepare a prophet's chamber for any 
 messenger of Christ. Many a saint has cause to 
 bless him for his ovei*flowing goodness. 
 
 Onesimus was one of Philemon's slaves. He 
 WTonged his master — apparently he robbed him — 
 and fled to Rome in the hope of escaping detection. 
 There he came in contact with Paul, whose name 
 had been familiar to him in his Colossian home, 
 whom he may even have seen and heard during 
 the Ephesian mission. Whether he met the apostle 
 by chance, or sought him out when his ill-gotten 
 goods were squandered and his poverty brought 
 him to himself, we are not told. But that meeting 
 was evidently the turning-point of his life. What 
 Paul told him of the love of Christ and the forgive- 
 ness of sins made him a new man, and from that 
 time he began to minister to the apostle with the 
 fond devotion of a spiritual son. Paul on his side 
 became so attached to his convert that he found it 
 extremely difficult to part with him. He felt that to 
 take away Onesimus would be like tearing out his 
 own heart. But there was a question of conscience 
 involved in the matter. Paul saw that not only in 
 justice to Philemon but in kindness to Onesimus 
 he must make the sacrifice which was so hard. 
 Repentance must be followed by reparation. 
 Onesimus understood, and consented to return to 
 his master. But Paul did not send him back 
 empty-handed. He gave him this charming note of 
 recommendation, which brings us face to face with 
 the apostle not as a theologian, a controversialist, a 
 
12 Westminster New Testament 
 
 missionaiy, but as a warm-hearted Christian gentle- 
 man opening his inmost heart to a loved and 
 trusted friend. 
 
 The letter reveals the power of Christianity to 
 equalise all social conditions and unify all types of 
 character. Paul, Philemon, and Onesimus represent 
 the Jew, the Greek, and the Barbarian. The proud 
 Pharisee, the cultured pagan, and the Phrygian 
 slave come each under the spell of the Nazarene ; 
 their differences are conjured away, and they kiss 
 each other as brothers. Those who are one in 
 Christ cannot but love one another. They glory 
 in the sense of new relationships ; they are all 
 members of God's family of love ; they use the sweet 
 language of brotherhood in its pristine freshness. 
 Paul thinks of Philemon as ^'^our beloved " (ver. 1), 
 and twice addresses him as " brother " (vers. 7, 20). 
 Onesimus is his ^^ child" (ver. 10), or his "brother 
 beloved " (ver. l6). Paul knows that Philemon will 
 receive Onesimus back as "a brother beloved" 
 (ver. l6). Twice he speaks of Philemon's already 
 proved " love " (vers. 5, 7), and now he makes his 
 special appeal to him in the great name of ^' love " 
 (ver. 9). " For love's sake " is the keynote of the 
 epistle. Amor omnia vincit. 
 
 Some readers of the epistle cannot help wondering 
 that Paul sent a fugitive slave back to his master, 
 and never advised him, nor any of the servile 
 class to which he belonged, to claim their liberty. 
 The early Church, however, was greatly wise in 
 its attitude toward the social and political problems 
 of the time. Paul has none of the spirit of a 
 revolutionary. He never criticises or satirises the 
 social institutions of the Empire. He is always 
 eager to show that Christianity is consistent with 
 
Captivity and Pastoral Epistles 13 
 
 good citizenship. At a time when every second 
 person living is a bond-servant he counsels patient 
 submission. He bids the slaves of heathen masters 
 remain as they are. He does not even ask 
 Philemon^ a Christian master, to set his slave free. 
 As Lightfoot finely says, " the word emancipation 
 seems to tremble on his lips, but it is never uttered." 
 Had submission not been preached by the apostles 
 and enforced by their example, the new religion 
 must have ended in a splash of blood. But Chris- 
 tianity never set class against class. Its blessings 
 were for men of all ranks and conditions. Its 
 reforms were not violently imposed from without. 
 It worked from within. It quietly prepared the 
 way for immense social changes by changing men's 
 lives. It gave bondmen spiritual liberty, which is 
 sooner or later followed by every other kind of 
 liberty. It sent Onesimus back to his master ^^ no 
 longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a brother 
 beloved" (ver. l6). Godet is therefore justified 
 after all in calling this epistle " the first petition 
 in favour of the abolition of slavery." 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 
 
 It is practically certain that this epistle was not 
 written to the Ephesians alone. Three things have 
 convinced all scholars that there must have been 
 other readers. (1) The letter has no local colour 
 and no personal greetings. Paul spent three most 
 strenuous years in Ephesus, he founded the church 
 of that city, he left behind him many converts and 
 intimate friends, and it is inconceivable that he 
 should have written them without recalling any 
 fond memories or sending any affectionate saluta- 
 
14 Westminster New Testament 
 
 tions. The writer of the epistle warms to his 
 theme^ but not to his readers. He gives no ex- 
 pression to his inner feeUngs ; he never breaks 
 through his official reserve. Ephesians is the most 
 detached and Catholic epistle he ever wrote. How 
 he ivould have addressed the Ephesians had he 
 been writing to them alone, is sufficiently indicated 
 by his heart-to-heart utterance to the Ephesian 
 elders in Acts xx. A message intended exclusively 
 for Ephesus would have been at least as exuber- 
 antly personal as the letters to the Corinthians and 
 Philippians. (2) There are passages in which the 
 apostle writes as to readers who are unknown to 
 him. He speaks of "having heard" of their faith 
 (1. 15); he presumes that they "have heard" of 
 his stewardship (iii. 2) ; and he hopes that they 
 have "heard Christ" (iv. 21). He could never 
 have written thus to the Ephesians. (3) The words 
 " at Ephesus " in i. 1 are omitted by many ancient 
 authorities. The oldest and best MSS, the Sinaitic 
 and the Vatican, both read " to the saints who are, 
 and to the faithful." Origen in the third century, 
 Basil in the fourth, and Jerome in the fifth, all 
 testify that this was the prevailing reading. 
 Marcion, writing in the second century, had before 
 him a MS. which read " to the saints who are at 
 Laodicea." Now we find that when Paul writes 
 his letter to the Colossians, he bids them " likewise 
 read the epistle from Laodicea" (Col. iv. 16). He 
 does not call it "the epistle to the Laodiceans," as 
 if he had written a letter expressly for them. It 
 is a letter which is to come to the Colossians via 
 Laodicea, and it is a very plausible conjecture that 
 " the epistle from Laodicea " is no other than the 
 so-called " epistle to the Ephesians." With these 
 
Captivity and Pastoral Epistles 15 
 
 three sets of facts in view, nearly all scholars now 
 lean to the hypothesis, first suggested by Beza and 
 afterwards popularised by Ussher, that this is a 
 Circular Letter (or Encyclical) addressed to a 
 group of churches in Proconsular Asia. Probably 
 the original letter contained a blank space in the 
 opening verse : " to the saints which are . . . and 
 to the faithful." Either a copy was sent to each 
 church with its name inserted, or else (as Hort 
 prefers to think) the original went the round of 
 the churches, and a fresh name was filled in by 
 the bearer and reader (probably Tychicus) in each 
 place which he visited. 
 
 There are numerous affinities between Ephesians 
 and Colossians. The themes, the language, and 
 the structure of the two epistles are to a great 
 extent the same. There are 155 verses in 
 Ephesians, and 78 of them contain phrases to 
 which parallels can be found in Colossians. '' The 
 riches of His glory," "the fulness," "the old 
 man," " circumcision not made with hands," 
 are specimens. Both epistles dwell on the glory 
 of Christ's Person and His mystic union with 
 the Church. Both enforce, often in identical 
 terms, the practical duties of the Christian 
 life. Some scholars think that the epistles must 
 be the work of two different writers, the second 
 of whom borrowed largely, in somewhat slavish 
 fashion, from the first. But there is a much simpler 
 and more natural hypothesis. The many coin- 
 cidences in the two letters are most easily and 
 satisfactorily accounted for on the assumption that 
 Ephesians was composed and dictated while the 
 apostle's mind was still saturated with the ideas 
 and expressions of the letter to the Colossians. 
 
i6 Westminster New Testament 
 
 " Conceived at the same time, in the same spirit, 
 they seem to us like twin sisters, that suffer from 
 separation, each of them complete only when the 
 other is beside her" (Sabatier). 
 
 Still there are important differences between 
 the two epistles which must not be overlooked. 
 Colossians is polemic, Ephesians eirenic ; Colossians 
 concise, Ephesians diffuse ; Colossians local, 
 Ephesians Catholic ; Colossians personal, Ephesians 
 abstract ; Colossians logical, Ephesians meditative. 
 In Colossians the stress is laid on Christ's relation 
 to the cosmos, in Ephesians on His relation to the 
 Church. In Colossians Christ is the Fulness of 
 God, in Ephesians the Church is the Fulness of 
 Christ and of God. The idea of " the Heavenlies," 
 which is so prominent and recurrent in Ephesians, 
 is absent from Colossians. There are striking pas- 
 sages in Ephesians — those on predestination, the 
 work of the Holy Spirit, the contrast between light 
 and darkness, the mystery of Christian marriage, 
 the panoply of Cxod — which have no parallels 
 in the earlier and shorter letter. Ephesians 
 has many O.T. allusions, Colossians scarcely any. 
 
 Ephesians is par excellence the epistle of the 
 Church. It was written in Rome, and we cannot 
 fail to note the influence of Roman ideas on 
 the mind of Paul. He was proud of his Roman 
 citizenship, and it is not at all improbable '^ that 
 he conceived the great idea of Christianity as the 
 religion of the Roman Empire, and that he thought 
 of the various districts and countries to which he 
 had preached as parts of the grand unity " 
 (Ramsay). His creative genius laid down the 
 lines on which Church history was to move. The 
 Rome of the Caesars fired his imagination and made 
 
Captivity and Pastoral Epistles 17 
 
 his thinking imperial ; it gave him a mould from 
 which he drew the idea of a universal spiritual 
 empire ; it enabled him to visualise Christ's con- 
 ception of the kingdom of God on earth. As an 
 apostle he had long been engaged in empire- 
 building ; he had been capturing and claiming 
 province after province for Christ ; he had been 
 gathering into a grand unity all that was best and 
 noblest in the Roman world. And now he depicts in 
 glowing colours the ideal Church which has gradually 
 been taking definite shape in his mind. Ephesians 
 is the paean of the Church ; it has been called " a 
 creed rising into an impassioned psalm." It welds 
 all local churches into one holy catholic Church ; it 
 bids us contemplate a world-wide spiritual kingdom, 
 a new humanity in Christ Jesus. And its style is 
 in perfect harmony with the grandeur of its 
 themes. Luther calls it the noblest epistle of the 
 New Testament, Coleridge thinks it is '' one of the 
 divinest compositions of man." 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS, 
 
 In 42 B.C. the plain of Philippi was the scene of 
 one of the decisive battles of the world. There the 
 old Roman Republic made its last stand. Brutus and 
 Cassius fell, and imperialism triumphed. Philippi 
 was thereafter a sacred name to Augustus. He 
 raised the city to the dignity and privilege of a 
 colony, half filling it with Roman veterans, so that 
 it became a miniature Rome. About a century 
 later, in 50 (Turner) or 52 (Harnack) a.d., it was 
 visited by the first ambassadors of Christ. Outside 
 the city gates at a quiet prayer-meeting, and 
 within the prison walls after a crashing earthquake, 
 
 2 
 
i8 Westminster New Testament 
 
 Paul won his first European converts, and amid 
 experiences of joy and pain, trial and triumph, the 
 Philippian Church was founded (Acts xvi.). 
 
 No church ever gave Paul the same unalloyed 
 satisfaction. In no part of the Empire were there 
 converts whom he found such comfort in revisit- 
 ing, or to whom he had such delight in writing. 
 The Philippians had evidently noble qualities 
 before they became Christians. The Macedonian 
 natives and the Roman colonists were alike fine 
 types of manhood. They preserved the simpler 
 manners of an earlier time. They were truthful 
 and honest, sane and serious. They understood 
 the sacredness of a promise. It was not for 
 nothing that many of them had taken the oath of 
 allegiance (the sacramentum) to Caesar. They 
 brought their instincts of loyalty into the Church. 
 Their Christianity was a new allegiance and 
 devotion. It did more than enlighten their 
 understandings, it laid hold of their hearts. They 
 were not very easily impressed, but when they 
 were once moved and won they were absolutely 
 faithful. Galatia was foolish and fickle, Corinth 
 factious and giddy, Colossae fanciful and dreamy, 
 but Philippi stood fast like a Roman phalanx. 
 From first to last the Christians of that church 
 seem never to have given Paul an anxious thought. 
 No wonder he calls them his ^'^ joy and crown." 
 
 Paul showed his confidence in the Philippians 
 by accepting at their hands favours which he 
 received from no other church. His rule was to 
 refuse gifts of money for himself, though he spent 
 not a little time in collecting alms for others, 
 especially for the poor saints in Jerusalem. He 
 knew how likely the acceptance of gifts was to be 
 
Captivity and Pastoral Epistles 19 
 
 misunderstood. He could not run the risk of ap- 
 pearing to be mercenary. But he made an exception 
 in the case of the Philippians. He felt that they 
 were too noble to think evil. For them it was 
 blessed to give^ and he would not deny them the 
 pleasure. Once and again he gratefully accepted 
 their ungrudging gifts. They made themselves a 
 name for liberality (2 Cor. viii. 1-4). They 
 proved how well poverty and generosity may go 
 hand in hand. To Thessalonica and to Corinth 
 their messengers had already come with their 
 bounty (Phil. iv. l6 ; 2 Cor. xi. 9). But their 
 latest offering was especially grateful to the 
 apostle, for it came when his need was the sorest. 
 He was a captive, he was growing old, and his hands, 
 once so cunning, could now do nothing to support 
 him. Epaphroditus made a journey of 700 miles, over 
 land and sea, to bring the gift of the Philippians. 
 In his lonely prison Paul was deeply moved, and 
 ere long he poured all his feelings of gratitude into 
 the most affectionate letter he ever wrote. 
 
 The place and time of the writing of Philippians 
 can be detei*mined by internal evidence. The 
 writer is a prisoner who is expecting a speedy 
 termination of his case. His appeal to Caesar is 
 about to be finally disposed of. He has probably 
 — this is Mommsen's view — already appeared once 
 before his judges. He knows that the second 
 hearing will be decisive. His long years of wear- 
 ing suspense will soon be over. The issue may be 
 life or it may be death ; at any rate it will be an 
 end. This situation clearly implies that the 
 epistle was written at Rome, not at Caesarea, and 
 towards the close rather than near the beginning of 
 the Roman captivity. It also warrants the infer- 
 
20 Westminster New Testament 
 
 ence that Philippians was chronologically later than 
 Colossians and Ephesians, which were not written 
 under the same sense of imminent crisis^ and which 
 foreboded no fatal issue. The arguments adduced 
 by Bleek^ Lightfoot, and Hort for the priority of 
 Philippians are now almost ; abandoned. It is 
 true there is a greater likeness between Romans 
 and Philippians than between Romans and the 
 twin letters of Colossians and Ephesians. But 
 this is only what we should expect^ for Philippi 
 was a miniature Rome, while Colossse and Ephesus 
 were Asiatic to the core. It is also true that 
 Philippians bears no marks of the stress or strain 
 under which Colossians and Ephesians were written. 
 But Paul was an author who wrote with his eye on 
 the matter in hand. He had a great mind's power 
 of detachment and concentration. He must have 
 instinctively felt that it would be equally irrelevant 
 and perplexing to trouble the simple, practical 
 Philippians with the heresies of the subtle Gnostics 
 and morbid ascetics of, the Orient. If ever the 
 subject crossed his mind at all during the com- 
 position of the later epistle, he had good reasons 
 for deliberately avoiding it. 
 
 Philippians has been designated the most 
 epistolary of all the epistles. That means that it 
 is a real letter of hearty fellowship and friendship. 
 One might call it a love-letter. The writer does 
 not feel like an apostle, and does not call himself 
 one. He and Timothy are just what his readers 
 are — bond-servants of Christ Jesus. He cannot 
 keep up his official dignity among brethren who 
 have always loved him with such a whole-hearted 
 devotion. He sends them a letter which is quite 
 untrammelled by any idea of method. He expresses 
 
Captivity and Pastoral Epistles 21 
 
 himself not as a theological teacher, but as a 
 familiar friend. Jowett says that Paul's epistles 
 read like good conversation, and here the remark 
 is especially true. Pacing up and down his Roman 
 prison, dictating to his amanuensis, Paul speaks as 
 if he were face to face with his beloved converts, 
 talking to them as a father or an elder brother. 
 Epaphroditus listens and his heart glows, for he 
 knows what a priceless treasure he will have to 
 carry back to Philippi. 
 
 Philippians is distinctively the epistle of Christian 
 joy. As Bengel says, " Summa epistolce, Gaudeo, 
 gaudete." Now and again the tone becomes some- 
 what pensive, and there are passages of unstudied 
 pathos which the Philippians can scarcely have 
 read with dry eyes. But the dominant note 
 always rings out again strong and clear. Nor 
 is this joy a mere passing emotion — "joy whose 
 hand is ever at his lips bidding adieu." It is 
 a happiness whose source is perennial and in- 
 exhaustible ; a joy in the Lord, which is joy for 
 ever. 
 
 The letter flows on to the end in an almost con- 
 tinuous stream of praise. In Philippi there has 
 been no denial of the faith, no perversion of the 
 gospel, no incursion of deadly error. No notes of 
 anger, pain, and 'alarm are therefore heard in this 
 letter. No church, however, is perfect, and Paul, 
 acknowledging his own imperfection (iii. 12), 
 keeps the highest ideal before himself and his 
 brethren. If there are some little frictions and 
 jealousies at Philippi, the Spirit of Christ will 
 surely restore the rivals — two ladies are named 
 — to harmony and love. And if there is in this 
 church some of the old Roman and Mace- 
 
22 Westminster New Testament 
 
 donian hauteur, some of the not unnatural pride 
 of conquering races, Paul knows an infallible 
 corrective. Vain-glory is humbled and abashed in 
 the presence of Christ Jesus, the Highest who 
 stooped to be crucified. Thus incidentally is 
 introduced the magnificent passage on the Per- 
 son of Christ, containing the fullest statement 
 to be found in the Bible of His humiliation 
 and consequent exaltation (ii. 5-11). It is not 
 a paragraph in a theological treatise, it is part 
 of a touching and earnest plea for lowliness of 
 mind. 
 
 The Pauline authorship of Philippians is now 
 scarcely questioned. Renan, Pfleiderer, and the 
 other radical critics accept it as genuine. Von 
 Manen stands almost alone in his doubts. He 
 thinks that all is confused so long as one regards 
 this epistle as an actual letter written in all 
 simplicity and sent by Paul, the prisoner in Rome, 
 to his old friends in Philippi. It is really a letter 
 of edifying composition. The " Philippians " are 
 early Christians of the good old time, to which 
 a new generation may with benefit have their 
 attention directed. The real author, who made a 
 conscious effort to reproduce the Pauline manner, 
 lived in Syria or Asia Minor about the 3^ear 
 125 A.D. On this theory he must have been an 
 astonishing literary artist, with a depth of insight 
 and a delicacy of feeling almost without a parallel. 
 One is sorry he has hid his name. But the theory 
 is quite unnecessary. Not a single idea can be 
 shown to be unpauline ; and the sincerity of the 
 letter is not the art which carefully conceals art, 
 but the simplicity of nature. 
 
Captivity and Pastoral Epistles 23 
 
 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 When we pass from the epistles of the third 
 Pauline group to those of the fourth, we are at 
 once conscious of a startling change. We breathe 
 another air, we look on new scenes, we hear the 
 unmistakable voices of a diiferent life. Before 
 we refer to the question of the authorship of these 
 epistles, let us note certain common characteristics 
 which quickly arrest our attention. 
 
 (1) The language and style of the Pastorals are 
 noteworthy. There is a new vocabulary. About 
 one-fifth of the words — 176 out of 896 — are 
 found nowhere else in the N.T. Latinisms are 
 especially remarkable. The syntax is also new. 
 Paul's familiar dialectical particles, " so then " and 
 "therefore," are absent. This indicates a want 
 of logical connection and organic unity in the 
 thoughts of the writer. The letters consist of a 
 series of detached passages on a great variety of 
 subjects. They have not the mystic inwardness, 
 the spiritual depth, the intellectual force and grip 
 of the earlier letters. They contain no new 
 doctrines, no fresh ethical principles. They are 
 conservative and imitative rather than original. 
 They lack the fire and energy of creative work. 
 
 (2) These epistles contain an earnest but an 
 unreasoned defence of Pauline doctrine. Their 
 Christianity is the religion of orthodox piety. 
 Their essential requirement is soundness in the 
 faith. They say much of the sin of "departing 
 from the faith," "erring from the faith." And 
 here faith, instead of being the moral energy which 
 lays hold of the living Christ, is crystallising into 
 a creed. The emphasis always falls either on 
 
24 Westminster New Testament 
 
 ^' sound doctrine " (which occurs eight times) and 
 ^'^ teaching" (fourteen times), or on ^^ piety" 
 (eleven times). The Christian's duty is to be 
 grave (six times) and sober (ten times), to avoid 
 the things that are unsettling, and give heed to 
 those that tend to godly edifying. He shuns all 
 foolish speculations as unprofitable and vain. And 
 the method of meeting opponents and objectors 
 is new. Instead of receiving a full and convincing 
 answer, they are branded as heretics. 
 
 (3) Some of the most characteristic Pauline 
 doctrines are conspicuously absent. The Pastorals 
 say nothing of the sonship of believers, of recon- 
 ciliation to God, of the vital union of Christians 
 with Christ. Paul's monogram, In Christ, is 
 entirely wanting. The brooding sense of a mystic 
 presence, an indwelling power, is foreign to the 
 writer's habit of mind. Spiritual gifts, which 
 constituted the life and strength of the earlier 
 Church, are reduced in the Pastorals to a single 
 gift (charisiJi), which is imparted, not to all 
 believers but only to the preacher, and that by the 
 laying on of the hands of the presbytery. This mode 
 of spiritual communication would have been incon- 
 ceivable at Corinth, first because there was no 
 presbytery, and second because the divine fire fell 
 on all believers alike without any human media- 
 tion. While the earlier epistles emphasised the 
 law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, the 
 Pastorals lay greater stress on painstaking '' good 
 works " (fourteen times), and give a new prominence 
 to the ideas of merit and reward. 
 
 (4) The spirit of the Pastorals is ecclesiastical 
 rather than missionary. The burning question 
 of the day is the salvation of the churches rather 
 
Captivity and Pastoral Epistles 25 
 
 than the winning of souls. The problem of foreign 
 conquest gives precedence to that of home defence. 
 A solid bulwark must be erected to stem the 
 invasion of false doctrine. The Church calls for 
 sober, grave, godly men who can be trusted to 
 stand in the old paths and maintain the old 
 traditions. Every community must have its com- 
 pany of "overseers" who will act as a vigilance 
 committee. The flock of God needs anxious 
 shepherding in these perilous times of worldli- 
 ness, apostasy, and false doctrine. Something of 
 the old feeling of confidence is gone, and a spirit 
 of alarm has come into the air. But it is hoped 
 that if the Church is duly officered and disciplined, 
 she will still be strong enough to cope with all 
 her adversaries. Accordingly the whole Christian 
 life is brought under the control of ecclesiastical law. 
 Organisation takes the place of inspiration. The 
 authority of the Church is substituted for the 
 omnipotence of the Spirit. The age of the prophet 
 is past, that of the bishop and deacon is come. 
 
 (5) The author of the Pastorals advocates a 
 statelier church service. He limits the office of 
 preaching and teaching, which in the dawning era 
 of Christianity was open to all, to the clergy, 
 not only for the maintenance of sound doctrine, 
 but for the more solemn and dignified worship 
 of God. He is a lover of beautiful forms. He 
 preserves some lovely fragments of early Church 
 hymns and creeds, and a number of admirable 
 aphorisms — faithful sayings — which he and other 
 preachers were in the habit of using. He pre- 
 scribes prayers, evidently of the nature of a 
 liturgy, for kings and all men, and he requires 
 earnest attention to reading, that is, the litur- 
 
26 Westminster New Testament 
 
 gical reading of the Old Testament and probably 
 of portions of the New. His religious symbolism 
 trembles on the verge of realism. He calls the 
 font the laver of regeneration, and his language 
 suggests that the imposition of hands is a means 
 of conveying grace. 
 
 (6) It is on the side of practical piety that the 
 writer of the Pastorals shows to greatest advantage. 
 His epistles form a manual of Christian duty. 
 He is no deep thinker or subtle dialectician ; he 
 hates controversy ; he is impatient of theosophic 
 discussion. He is not endowed on the speculative 
 or mystic sides. But in the sphere of ethics he 
 is wise and sane. One of his favourite words is 
 " healthy/' and at times we do him some injustice 
 by translating it " sound." He is healthy-minded. 
 He is as far removed from asceticism on the one 
 hand as from antinomian licence on the other. To 
 him it is morbid not to marry, not to eat flesh, 
 not to drink wine. He has no patience with the 
 vagaries of the celibate, the vegetarian, the 
 ascetic abstainer. His Christianity is the consecra- 
 tion of the natural. He loves the domestic virtues, 
 the tranquil life, the civic order. He utterly rejects 
 the prevailing idea that matter is corrupt and the 
 body evil. He sees the essential goodness of 
 eveiy thing created by God. He is of the Church 
 of those who believe that 
 
 "He prayeth best who loveth best 
 All things both great and small ; 
 For the dear God who loveth us. 
 He made and loveth all." 
 
 These are the main characteristics of the Pastoral 
 Epistles, and the conclusion which the majority 
 
Captivity and Pastoral Epistles 27 
 
 of modern scholars, if not in Britain, at least on the 
 Continent, feel constrained to draw from a mass of 
 internal evidence is that the letters as a whole 
 are Pauline, but not Paul's. They were probably 
 written by one of his followers, an earnest con- 
 tinuer and promoter of his work, about the end 
 of the first century or the beginning of the second, 
 some forty years after Paul's death. Those who 
 are familiar with the literature of that period are 
 constantly reminded, as they read the Pastorals, 
 of the Didache, of Clement of Rome, of Barnabas, 
 of Polycarp. The Pastorals are, with all their 
 limitations, morally and spiritually far richer than 
 any of these writings, but the historical situation 
 which they reflect is practically the same. 
 
 It is, however, exceedingly probable that the 
 Pastorals are based on letters of the apostle to his 
 comrades Timothy and Titus, and that some con- 
 siderable portions of his own work have been pre- 
 served in them. 2 Timothy is the most personal, 
 least official, of the three, and chaps, i. 9-11^ 
 ii. 1, 8-13, and iv., except verses 3, 4, have the 
 true Pauline ring. In Titus the following passages 
 seem to form the apostolic framework : i. 1-9, 
 10-16, iii. 1-7, 12-13. 1 Timothy is the least like 
 Paul's own work. Whatever was the order of 
 the original letters, it seems certain that the 
 added portions of 2 Timothy are considerably 
 older than those of Titus, which again are prior 
 to those of 1 Timothy. The errors of 2 Timothy 
 are less sharply defined than those of the other 
 two epistles, and the institutions of Titus are less 
 fully developed than those of 1 Timothy. It 
 cannot be said that in 2 Timothy "faith" ever 
 unquestionably signifies a creed that is received. 
 
28 Westminster New Testament 
 
 while in the other epistles this meaning is frequent. 
 In 2 Timothy the word ^^ Saviour" is used of 
 Christ, in Titus of Christ and God, and in 
 1 Timothy of God alone. 2 Timothy in its 
 present form is therefore nearest to, 1 Timothy 
 farthest from, the apostolic tradition. But the 
 additions to all the three (or more) original 
 letters are most probably from the same hand. 
 In style, diction, and contents they bear the unmis- 
 takable mark of unity. The same spirit pervades 
 them all. The writer is not a Jew but a Greek. 
 He speaks of Jewish fables as an outsider, and he 
 does not quote the Old Testament in the Pauline 
 manner. The Hebraic, not to speak of the 
 Rabbinic, spirit is absent from his writings. His 
 language is that of a Greek scholar. His style 
 has an Athenian ease. His religious vocabulary 
 is largely borrowed from the thinkers of Greece. 
 Several of his ethical terms bear the hall-mark 
 of Stoicism. His sympathies are wholly Gentile. 
 
 " We need not doubt that the disciple was aided 
 by the same Divine Spirit who dwelt in the 
 apostle himself" (Simcox). He writes in all good 
 faith. Fragments of Paul's correspondence coming 
 into his hands, he expands them in the light of 
 the needs of his own time. He writes from what 
 he conceives to be the apostolic standpoint. He 
 tries to merge himself in the personality of Paul, 
 as Plato did in that of Socrates. He has no 
 literary ambition, no motive but an earnest desire 
 to solve the difficult problems of the growing 
 Gentile Church in accordance with the apostolic 
 tradition. He gives his message the august 
 sanction and support of his master's name. Such 
 phenomena are not infrequent in Holy Scriptures, 
 
Captivity and Pastoral Epistles 29 
 
 and we need not impugn his literary ethics. If 
 it was not quite possible for him to wear the 
 mantle of the greatest of the apostles, we do not 
 wonder. His epistles will always have much more 
 than a historical value, for they contain some of 
 the devotional treasures of the Bible. 
 
 THE DEATH OF PAUL. 
 
 It was at one time almost an article of faith 
 that Paul was successful in his appeal to Caesar, 
 that he was acquitted by his Roman judges, that 
 he resumed his missionary activity in various parts 
 of the Empire, east and west, and that he enjoyed 
 his liberty till the last and worst period of Nero's 
 rule, when he was again arrested and tried, and 
 this time condemned to death. Scholars of the 
 eminence of Harnack and Ramsay still adhere to 
 this hypothesis. But it must be admitted on 
 examination that the grounds on which the theory 
 rests are but very slender. The famous passage 
 in Clement of Rome which is always quoted is 
 inconclusive. He says that " Paul, having taught 
 the whole world righteousness, and having gone to 
 the goal of the West, and having borne witness 
 before the rulers, was thus released from this 
 world and went to the Holy Place, having become 
 the supreme example of patience." "The goal 
 of the West" muT/ be Spain, but as the two 
 succeeding clauses of the sentence certainly 
 refer to Rome, that interpretation is not so 
 probable as the one which makes the metropolis 
 itself the westernmost point of Paul's career. The 
 Pastorals make no allusion to a tour in the Western 
 Mediterranean. The earliest distinct reference 
 
30 Westminster New Testament 
 
 to a Spanish journey is found in the Muratorian 
 Fragment, written in the end of the second 
 centur)^, and its words are probably no more than 
 an inference that the hope expressed in Rom. xv. 
 24, 28 was reaUsed. If there was an acquittal and 
 release, Luke's silence on the point is all but 
 inexplicable. It is clear that one of the objects 
 for which he wrote the Acts was to prove by a 
 long series of instances that Christianity was 
 favourably received by the Roman authorities. 
 The narrative of Paul's trial and acquittal in the 
 earlier and better days of Nero's rule would have 
 formed the crowning example of this favourable 
 treatment, and the force of the argument would 
 have been in no way diminished by a change of 
 attitude in the Emperor's closing period of mad 
 misrule. Sir W. Ramsay is driven by Luke's 
 silence to the hypothesis that the historian in- 
 tended to write a third book giving an account 
 of the trial, release, and later missionary labours 
 of the apostle, an intention which he was unable 
 to carry out. But if there never was an acquittal, 
 the conclusion of the Acts is perfectly natural. 
 Clement's well-known words that the Neronic 
 martyrs (of 64< a.d.) were "gathered unto Paul 
 and Peter" imply that the latter had previously 
 won the martyr's crown. The silence of all the 
 writers of the first two centuries on Paul's release 
 and after-work is equally hard to account for. 
 The Apologists for Christianity, who were so 
 earnest in their endeavour to prove their faith 
 innocent and harmless, could have found no more 
 convincing argument than the famous trial and 
 triumphant acquittal of Paul by the highest Roman 
 tribunal. But on this point not one of them has 
 
Captivity and Pastoral Epistles 31 
 
 a word to say. The Pastoral Epistles are really 
 the only foundation for the theory of a release. 
 In their present shape they certainly cannot be 
 placed in the time covered by the Acts of the 
 Apostles. But as historical criticism makes it 
 probable that the greater part of these epistles is 
 post-apostolic, and that the apostolic sections can 
 be placed within the Lucan period, this argument 
 loses all its force. The conclusion which we reach 
 is that Paul remained a prisoner in Rome to the 
 end of his life. The forces arrayed against him 
 were too strong. His appeal did not succeed. 
 He was condemned, not as a follower of Christ, 
 but as "a mover of sedition among all the Jews 
 throughout the world." Nevertheless he died a 
 martyr. He poured out his blood as a libation 
 to God. In life he was the greatest of all 
 Christians ; in death he perfected his fellowship 
 of Christ's sufferings. 
 
Col. i. I, 2. 
 GREETING. 
 
 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and 
 
 2 Timotheus our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren 
 in Christ which are at Colosse : Grace be unto you, and 
 peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 1. an apostle. Paul asserts his apostleship as 
 a ground for intervening at a critical moment 
 in the affairs of the church of Colosse. Having 
 seen the risen Christy and received his commission 
 immediately from Him^ he knows that he is on a 
 par with the original apostles^ the chosen witnesses 
 of the Resurrection (see 1 Cor. ix. 1). He is an 
 apostle by the will of God. This is the secret 
 at once of his profound humility and his masterful 
 authority. He can neither boast of his apostleship 
 as if he had been raised by merit to that eminence, 
 nor be slow to exercise his rights as if he doubted 
 the reality of his call. The name of Timothy, 
 so closely associated with that of Paul in two of 
 the great Missionary Journeys, (would be well known 
 in Asia Minor, Perhaps he acts as amanuensis. 
 
 2. to the saints. In the N.T. sense of the 
 word, a sinner becomes a sahit at the very moment 
 of his conversion. His sainthood is determined by 
 his relation to Christ as a believer. The apostle 
 would have repudiated the title "Saint Paul" 
 with a sensitive dread, unless he had been assured 
 
Colossians i. 3-8 33 
 
 that the humblest and obscurest believer would 
 share the appellation with him. faithful 
 brethren is another designation of all the 
 followers of Christ. "Faithful" means first "full 
 of faith/' and then "worthy of trust." The one 
 meaning naturally runs into the other ; for faith, 
 in the Pauline sense, is a moral energy which 
 necessarily manifests itself in loyal and loving 
 conduct. Faith and faithfulness are related as 
 root and fruit, in Christ is Paul's monogram, 
 expressing his abiding sense of the mystic, vital 
 union of believers with the risen Christ. To 
 understand it is to know his deepest secret, to reach 
 the innermost core of his experimental religion, in 
 Christ . . . at Colosse. Compare John's " I was 
 in the isle ... in the Spirit." The Christian has 
 two environments : he dwells among men, and he 
 lives, moves, and has his being in God. Grace . . . 
 peace. The phrase links the Western to the 
 Eastern salutation, as if wedding Hellenism to 
 Hebraism. The light-hearted greetings of Jew 
 and Greek simply meant "Be happy" and "Be 
 peaceful." But in the Christian usage the words 
 are evangelically enriched and deepened. " Grace " 
 is the free and loving favour of God in its saving 
 power, and "peace" the repose of a soul which 
 He has saved from sin and brought into harmony 
 with Himself. 
 
 Col. i. 3-8. 
 
 THANKSGIVING FOR THE FAITH AND 
 LOVE OF THE COLOSSIANS. 
 
 3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus 
 
 4 Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your 
 faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all 
 
 3 
 
34 Westminster New Testament 
 
 5 the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, 
 whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the 
 
 6 gospel ; which is come unto you, as it is in all the world ; 
 and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the 
 day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth : 
 
 7 as ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, 
 
 8 who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; who also 
 declared unto us your love in the Spirit. 
 
 Paul sounds the clear note of praise. It is ever 
 his way to appreciate before criticising. There is 
 much in the condition of the Colossians for which 
 he must heartily thank God — their faith and love, 
 both strengthened by their hope of the speedy 
 return of Christ ; their personal acceptance of the 
 world-wide gospel ; their regard for the evangelist 
 — Paul's delegate — who has been labouring among 
 them for years^ and who has now come to Rome 
 with a tale full of gratitude for their kindness. 
 
 3. praying always. The breath of prayer 
 blows through all the letters of Paul^ especially of 
 prayer for others. Intercession is really a great 
 part of his apostolic life, and it is one of the 
 secrets of his evangelical power. "In every 
 letter prayer stamps its solemn grandeur upon 
 the page. If we except the Book of Psalms, 
 which is expressly the universal liturgy of the 
 Bible, nothing like it is observed in any other 
 writer of holy scripture " (Pope). 
 
 4, 5. faith . . . love . . . hope. In l Cor. 
 xiii. the three Christian graces are placed side by 
 side for comparison. Here they are not only 
 brought together but interlaced, and their union 
 is strength. Faith worketh by love, and both 
 faith and love are fortified by the hope which is 
 laid up in the heavens — the hope of Christ's 
 
Colossians i. 3-8 35 
 
 speedy return in power and glory. "Paul does 
 not express the idea that the Christian is moved 
 by the selfish hope of reward, but that the vision 
 of the final issue is needed to keep Christian faith 
 and love untroubled amid the confusions of the 
 present " (Von Soden). 
 
 6. you ... all the world. The gospel which 
 Epaphras has preached is not provincial but cosmo- 
 politan. The false teachers have brought into the 
 Colossian Church ideas which are for the moment 
 making a mighty stir. " They think the babble of 
 their bourg the murmur of the world." But their 
 loud talk is purely parochial, while the truth is 
 catholic. The gospel is " in all the world, bearing 
 fruit and increasing." To the limitations of a philo- 
 sophical school Paul opposes the universalism of 
 Christianity and the universality of its blessings. 
 He uses for the first time the argument which was 
 urged with such effect in after ages, and com- 
 pressed into the famous words, " Quod semper, quod 
 uhique, quod ah omnibm." Paul feels, like Wesley, 
 that his parish is the world. He gives utterance to 
 the amazing self-consciousness of the early Church, 
 which at a time when it numbered but a mere 
 handful of members was already calmly reckoning 
 on the conquest of mankind. Christ for the world, 
 and the world for Christ ! the grace of God. 
 Paul throws his shield over Epaphras, and eulogises 
 his work, because he knows him to be an enthu- 
 siastic preacher of grace. "The true gospel as 
 taught by Epaphras was an offer of free grace ; the 
 false gospel was a code of rigorous prohibitions, a 
 system of human devising " (Lightfoot). 
 
 7. faithful minister ... on our behalf. 
 This is the true reading (R.V.). Epaphras, himself 
 
36 Westminster New Testament 
 
 a Colossian (iv. 12), was probably one of Paul's 
 converts and disciples in the great Ephesian 
 mission. He was then commissioned to go to the 
 Lycus valley as Paul's delegate, or vice-evangelist. 
 The three communities which he founded were 
 thus in a sense Paul's own churches. Hence we 
 understand the apostle's eagerness to tell the 
 Colossians how he loved and trusted his fellow- 
 Servant as Christ's faithful minister. 
 
 8. your love. This may mean either their love 
 of Epaphras or their love of one another, love 
 in the Spirit is love inspired and sustained by the 
 Holy Spirit. Higher than all natural, intellectual, 
 social affinities, this is the purest, strongest, most 
 enduring friendship. 
 
 Col. i. 9-14. 
 
 PRAYER FOR THEIR GROWTH IN 
 SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not 
 cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled 
 with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual 
 
 10 understanding ; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord 
 unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and 
 
 1 1 increasing in the knowledge of God ; strengthened with 
 all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience 
 
 12 and longsuffering with joyfulness ; giving thanks unto 
 the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of 
 
 13 the inheritance of the saints in light : who hath delivered 
 us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into 
 
 14 the kingdom of his dear Son : in whom we have redemption 
 through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins : 
 
 Just because the Colossians are already true 
 Christians, Paul prays that they may receive the full 
 
Colossians i. 9-14 37 
 
 knowledge of God's will, a knowledge which shall 
 manifest itself in a life pleasing to Christ, fruitful 
 in service, and tending to a still further increase 
 in knowledge ; a life of Divine power sustaining a 
 spirit of joyful endurance ; a life of abiding thank- 
 fulness to the Father for the miracle of salvation. 
 
 9. For this cause. Because the Colossians 
 have already so much faith, love, and hope, there- 
 fore the apostle wants them to reach forth to 
 perfect knowledge and goodness. He does not 
 allow them to rest satisfied. He stirs in them a 
 divine discontent with their attainments, a coveting 
 of the best gifts, a holy aspiration after an ever 
 higher, and finally the highest, life, we means 
 Paul and Timothy. Eager themselves for the 
 prayers of others (iv. 3), they ungi-udgingly give 
 their time and strength to this mighty work 
 
 of intercession, knowledge . . . spiritual 
 wisdom and understanding. The word trans- 
 lated "knowledge" is a favourite one in the 
 Roman epistles, meaning advanced, mature, full 
 knowledge. There is an earthly knowledge which 
 puffs up, a wisdom which God makes foolish 
 (1 Cor. viii. 1, i. 20) ; but there is a heavenly 
 knowledge, a spiritual wisdom — communicated 
 by the Holy Spirit — which is the very torch of 
 truth, lighting up the whole path of life. The best 
 corrective of " knowledge (gnosis) falsely so called " 
 (1 Tim. vi. 20) is the full-knowledge (epignosis) 
 of Christ, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom 
 and knowledge hidden (Col. ii. 3). This knowledge 
 is never theoretical, always practical ; it is the know- 
 ledge of God's will, given to men not to gratify their 
 intellectual curiosity, but to change their lives, 
 control their actions, shape their eternal destinies. 
 
38 Westminster New Testament 
 
 10. to walk worthily. This the Colossians 
 will do if they give the Lord — which in the 
 Pauline epistles always means Christ — His rightful 
 place^ the highest place, in their affections (cf. 
 Matt. X. 37). unto all pleasing means ^^so as 
 to please Him in all things/' and that not only as a 
 servant satisfies his master, but as a son pleases his 
 father or a lover delights his bride, bearing fruit. 
 Cf. John xii. 24, xv. 2, 5, 8, i6. every good 
 work, bringing tangible and substantial benefits 
 to somebody, is fruit, while devout sentiments, 
 which end in themselves, are leaves without fruit. 
 How impressive is the repetition of all . . . all 
 . . . every ... all ... all (vers. 9-ll)! How 
 characteristic of Paul, who could never be content, 
 and never wished any believer to be content, with 
 anything less than the utmost and the best of 
 everything in the kingdom of grace ! 
 
 11. strengthened . . . power . . . might of 
 his glory. This is the measure of the Christian's 
 resources. Personally impotent, he has all the 
 might of God's gloiy — His revealed presence — to 
 aid him, and cannot fail. The energy of God, 
 appropriated by faith, nerves him to endure not 
 only without murmuring, but with positive joy. 
 The Stoic, brave in the strength of self-reliance, 
 suffers with a patience which is far removed from 
 joy. He can only claim that "in the fell grasp 
 of circumstance he has not winced or cried aloud." 
 But the Christian, upheld by a strength much greater 
 than his own, goes through the same experience 
 rejoicing. Arnold cannot rise higher than '^^sad 
 patience, too near neighbour to despair"; Paul 
 knows the secret of patience with joy. 
 
 12. 13. made us meet to be partakers. 
 
Colossians i. 9-14 39 
 
 Or, "qualified us/' enabled us to fulfil all the con- 
 ditions, gave us a clear title, the inheritance 
 . . . in light. Salvation is not obtained by 
 purchase or conquest, but is a gift, a heritage ; 
 we are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. 
 The inheritance is ours not merely because it is 
 held in reserve for us in the light of eternal 
 glory, but because we "possess our possessions," 
 partially at least, as soon as we are delivered 
 
 out of the power of darkness. The Christian 
 
 life begins with an act of supernatural power, 
 parallel to the deliverance of Israel from the 
 bondage of Egypt. The Father intervenes to 
 rescue His children, by nature miserably enslaved 
 under a tyrannous evil power, here almost personified 
 as the power of Darkness. At the same time we 
 are translated so as to become colonists and 
 citizens of a new kingdom. Paul usually con- 
 ceives the kingdom of God as eschatological, but 
 not here. As he makes the deliverance and the 
 translation synchronise, he is evidently thinking of 
 Christ's kingdom on earth. He describes it as the 
 
 kingdom of the Son of God's love, a phrase 
 which beautifully suggests the excellence of 
 Christ's loving dominion over men. His reign of 
 grace. 
 
 14. redemption . . . forgiveness. Redemp- 
 tion is, in the stricter sense, rescue by ransom ; 
 in the wider sense, deliverance of any kind. It 
 is here synonymous with the forgiveness of OUr 
 sins. Many immense benefits come to us in the 
 wake of forgiveness, but the initial experience of 
 pardon is so transcendently wonderful that the part 
 may well be put for the whole. Omit "through 
 His blood," taken over from Eph. i. 7. 
 
40 Westminster New Testament 
 
 Col. i. 15-23. 
 THE UNIQUENESS OF CHRIST. 
 
 15 who ivS the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of 
 
 16 every creature : for by him were all things created, that 
 are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, 
 whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, 
 or powers : all things were created by him, and for him : 
 
 1 7 and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 
 
 18 And he is the head of the body, the church : who is the 
 beginning, the firstborn from the dead ; that in all things 
 
 19 he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father 
 
 20 that in him should all fulness dwell ; and, having made 
 peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile 
 all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be 
 
 21 things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were 
 sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked 
 
 22 works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his 
 flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable 
 
 23 and unreproveable in his sight : if ye continue in the faith 
 grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the 
 hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was 
 preached to every creature which is under heaven ; whereof 
 I Paul am made a minister ; 
 
 With profound reverence Paul now approaches 
 the central theme of the epistle^ the Person of 
 Christj God's Image, born before all creation ; 
 through whom and for whom all things were 
 created ; in whom the universe holds together ; 
 who is also the Head of the Church ; in whom 
 the Divine fulness dwells ; and through whom 
 God is reconciling all things to Himself. This is 
 the supreme Christological passage in the apostle's 
 writings. It represents Christ as the pre-mundane. 
 
Colossians i. 15-23 41 
 
 pre-existent Son of God, the First of all spiritual 
 beings. It brings all heaven and earth to His 
 feetj it humbles the highest angels before His 
 face, it makes Him the Original and the Ideal of 
 all existence, it presents Him as the Head of the 
 new spiritual creation, it gives Him the pre- 
 eminence in all things. But the point of most 
 urgent practical importance is that in a sinful 
 world He is the Reconciler of all things to God. 
 Why should the Colossians, who have had thrilling 
 experiences of His reconciling power, turn away 
 to other, lower, angelic mediators ? The sunshine 
 of Christianity is better than the cold moonlight 
 of Judaism and the flickering rushlights of theo- 
 sophy. 
 
 15. the image. Christ both represents and 
 manifests God, who is Himself hidden. Ethically 
 and essentially He is at once the Revealer and 
 the Revelation of the Eternal Spirit. The idea is 
 that He is not merely like God — quite another 
 word being used to express likeness — but that He 
 is God manifest. Not only on earth in the days of 
 His flesh, but in His timeless heavenly life was 
 He, and is He, the Image of God — God's Repre- 
 sentative acting in the sphere of things visible 
 (cf John i. 18; Heb. i. 3). the firstborn. 
 Among the Jews the word was one of the titles 
 of the Messiah. The Rabbis interpreted '^^first- 
 born " in Ps. Ixxxix. 27 as Messianic. In common 
 speech the word signified, first, temporal priority, 
 and then, in virtue of the rights of primogeniture, 
 lordship. Both ideas are included when Christ is 
 called the Firstborn. He is before, and He is Lord 
 over, all creation. All that the wise thinkers of 
 Israel, all that the mystic dreamers of Alexandria, 
 
42 Westminster New Testament 
 
 said of the "Wisdom" and the "Word" of God 
 is realised in Christ (see Prov. viii. 22 ; Wisd. vii. 
 21, 26, viii. 1 ; and Philo passhn). " Paul heaps the 
 highest titles upon his Christ, because he is certain 
 that he has in Him the final Revelation and the 
 perfect Salvation " (Lueken). The central ideas of 
 Colossians are overwhelmingly grand. "The in- 
 tellectual daring of them is almost inconceivable ; 
 imagination fails to realise the pressure under which 
 the mind must have been working when it rose to 
 the height of such assertions " (Denney). 
 
 i6. by him created . . . created by him. 
 Read " in Him . . . through Him." Christ was 
 the conditioning Cause and the mediating Agent 
 of God's work. On all that ^\Q see around us — 
 Nature and humanity alike — we may write " made 
 through Christ." The Colossian Gnostics looked 
 on the visible world as the device of some demiurge, 
 and despised it ; Paul knew its real Author, and 
 reverenced His work. It awes him to think of 
 Christ's cosmic significance. Christ is the Artist 
 of Nature. He made the lilies which He loved. 
 " Something lives in every hue Christless eyes have 
 never seen." thrones . . . powers. Gnostic 
 names for aeons or angels — supernatural beings 
 who have emanated from the Godhead. From this 
 verse Milton got his grandiose line, "Thrones, 
 dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers." The 
 Colossians were giving themselves up to the study 
 and worship of these dread beings. Paul seems to be 
 impatient of the whole hierarchy. It matters little 
 to him whether they are creatures of fact or of 
 fancy. He puts down the mighty from their seats. 
 Angels must not usurp the authority or dim the 
 glory of their Lord. He must not be lost sight 
 
Colossians i. 15-23 
 
 43 
 
 of in the crowd of His creatures. He alone 
 shall reign in human hearts. through him 
 and unto him. Inserting also in him, from 
 the first part of the verse^ we learn that He 
 is Centre and Lord of all things, past, present, 
 and future. 
 
 "Christ is the end, for Christ was the beginning; 
 Christ the beginning, for the end is Christ." 
 
 17. he is before all things. "He" is 
 
 emphatic, and the verb is a timeless present. 
 With this ^^HE IS," compare Christ's own "I 
 AM" in John viii. 58. in him all things 
 consist. Christ is the Centre of unity, the 
 Principle of cohesion, in the universe. He makes 
 it a cosmos, an ordered whole, and apart from Him 
 it would fall back into chaos. But for Him the dread 
 prayer would be answered, " Let Nature's germens 
 tumble all to ruin, even till destruction sicken." 
 
 18. the head of the body, the church. 
 From the thought of Christ's dominion in the 
 natural world Paul passes to that of His lordship 
 in the spiritual realm. The Church is here the 
 Church universal — the whole company of believers 
 throughout the world. Christ is to them what the 
 head is to the body, the principle of life, energy, 
 and authority. He vitalises, inspires, governs 
 them. He organises them in mystic union with 
 Himself. He is the beginning, the original 
 Source of all life and power ; and He is the first- 
 born from the dead, the first of many brethren 
 who are liberated from the cold dominion of death. 
 As He was the Firstborn of all aminated (ver. 15), 
 so He is of all re-animated, beings. "Jesus and 
 the Resurrection" formed the essential message 
 
44 Westminster New Testament 
 
 of the early Church, in all things . . . the 
 preeminence. Summmg up, the writer hails 
 Christ as supreme in every realm. It is evident 
 that nothing less than Godhead is ascribed to One 
 who thus fills and rules all things. 
 
 19. all fulness. Better, '^all the fulness" 
 (R.V.). This is one of the grandest words in the 
 N.T. It occurs again in ii. 9j and several times 
 in Ephesians. It has here a definite theological 
 meaning. It is the totality of Divine powers and 
 attributes. Paul uses it as a Avord familiar to the 
 Colossian Gnostics. They regarded the aeons (or 
 angels) who emanated from God as His Pleroma. 
 Paul asserts, on the contrary, that the Fulness — 
 the whole nature of God, with its wealth of wisdom, 
 power, and love — has taken up its permanent abode 
 in Christ. 
 
 20. having made peace through the blood 
 
 of his cross. The new Colossian teachers offered 
 peace through angelic mediators. Paul repudiates 
 the offer, and boldly maintains that these very 
 mediators, if they have any objective reality, 
 need themselves to be reconciled, and that for 
 them as for man the one element of atonement is 
 the blood which Christ shed on His cross. tO 
 reconcile all things to himself. This is Paul's 
 
 larger hope. Grammatically the words are simple, 
 theologically they are difficult. They imply that 
 Reconciliation in Christ is not limited to the Church, 
 nor to humanity, nor yet to intelligent beings. It 
 extends to all things, whether on earth or in 
 the heavens. This is part of the Father's good 
 pleasure. It is a glorious hope which impinges 
 on the doctrines of human freedom and Divine 
 judgment, but must not be allowed to emasculate 
 
Colossians i. 15-23 45 
 
 them. Paul leaves the apparent antinomy un- 
 resolved. ^^The heart has its reasons, which reason 
 does not know " (Pascal). 
 
 21. alienated and enemies. Instead of being 
 
 dear friends and loving children. Sin is more than 
 ignorance and imperfection. In the last analysis 
 it is conscious hostility to the will and character 
 of God. 
 
 22. the body of his flesh. "Body" is here 
 Christ's natural body, as distinguished from His 
 spiritual body, the Church (ver. 18). tO present 
 you holy. God is ethically perfect, and gives 
 Himself to the task of making His children perfect, 
 that He may have their fellowship for ever. He 
 is not the good-natured, easy-going God — the hon 
 Dieu of the Frenchman — who cares only to see 
 His children happy. He will have them without 
 blemish before Him. 
 
 23. if ye continue. It is not enough to begin 
 well. Every step forward requires a fresh volition. 
 There is perpetual danger of going back. The 
 perseverance of the saints is an endless succession 
 of new beginnings, grounded and stedfast. 
 
 The one word means that the Christian is built on 
 a firm foundation, and the other that he is therefore 
 
 immovable, the gospel . . . was preached 
 in all creation under heaven. This is the 
 
 language of glowing enthusiasm. The hyperbole 
 startles the mind into the recognition of an astonish- 
 ing fact — that Christianity is swiftly making way 
 everywhere, whereof I ... a minister. Paul 
 again endorses the evangel preached by Epaphras. 
 He sets his seal to it as God's message to all the 
 world, whose catholicity is the guarantee of its 
 truth. 
 
46 Westminster New Testament 
 
 Col. i. 24-29. 
 JOY AND LABOUR IN THE MINISTRY. 
 
 24 who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that 
 which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for 
 
 25 his body's sake, which is the church : whereof I am 
 made a minister, according to the dispensation of God 
 which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God ; 
 
 26 even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and 
 from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints : 
 
 27 to whom God would make known what is the riches of 
 the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles ; which is 
 
 28 Christ in you, the hope of glory : whom we preach, 
 warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom ; 
 that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus : 
 
 29 whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, 
 which worketh in me mightily. 
 
 The keynote of this paragraph is the reiterated 
 phrase^ '' every man." Paul rejoices to suffer like 
 Christ for the Church's sake, as a minister appointed 
 to preach God's Mystery to every man, to warn 
 every man, that he may present every man perfect. 
 For this glorious end he labours and strives, vs^ith 
 an energy imparted to him by the almighty Worker. 
 
 24. I rejoice in my sufferings. This is a 
 feeling to which Paul gives frequent utterance. 
 In his life of freedom he was " sorrowful yet always 
 rejoicing " (2 Cor. vi. 10) ; and now, as a captive, he 
 rejoices not only in the midst of his sufferings but 
 because of them, as he recognises that they are the 
 means of spiritual blessing to others wiiom he loves. 
 I fill up that which is lacking of the 
 afflictions of Christ. Nothing could be added 
 to the atoning sacrifice which Christ offered once 
 
Colossians i. 24-29 47 
 
 for all. It was finished. But "the sufferings of 
 the disciple are almost as necessary for the instruc- 
 tion of the Church as those of the Saviour for its 
 redemption" (Monod). Perhaps they are called 
 the afflictions of Christ because the sufferings of 
 the members of His mystical body are the suffer- 
 ings of the Head (cf. Isa. Ixiii. 9). " What do 
 you see now ? " Margaret Wilson was mockingly 
 asked when her companion was drowning before 
 her eyes in the pitiless Solway. "What do I 
 see/' she answered^ "but Christ wrestling there. 
 Think ye that we are the sufferers ? No, it is Christ 
 in us." 
 
 25. the dispensation of God. Or, "the 
 
 stewardship." Paul feels that he is entrusted 
 with the Divine Householder's goods, the riches 
 of His grace, for distribution among His family. 
 Every truth, every blessing, which he receives in- 
 volves the duty of imparting it to the needy. To 
 hoard the Divine bounty, not to give it out with 
 a lavish hand, is to defraud both God and man. 
 to fulfil the word of God means "fully to 
 preach " it, as the verb is translated in Rom. 
 XV. 19 ; to do justice to the message by telling it 
 abroad in the fulness of its truth and grace ; to 
 publish it all eveiywhere. 
 
 26. even the mystery. This word occurs ten 
 times in Colossians and Ephesians. In the common 
 (demotic) speech of the time mystery meant any 
 secret. But Paul seems to have borrowed it rather 
 from the famous Greek mysteries, the doctrines and 
 practices of which were only divulged to the 
 initiated. In N.T. theology the word means a 
 purpose of God, long hidden but in the fulness of 
 the times revealed. Here it signifies His eternal 
 
48 Westminster New Testament 
 
 design to offer redemption to Jew and Gentile 
 alike in Jesus Christ. The thought of being 
 chosen to divulge this Divine secret to all the 
 world makes Paul's heart glow. In describing it 
 he uses some of the warmest words in his vocabu- 
 lary — " the riches of the glory of this mystery." 
 manifested to his saints. The Greek 
 
 mysteries were jealously guarded from the vulgar 
 crowd, and whispered only in the ears of the chosen 
 few. The Christian mystery is proclaimed to all, 
 but, since spiritual things are spiritually dis- 
 cerned, it remains a mystery still to all who have 
 not been divinely illuminated. 
 
 27. this mystery . . . Christ in you. In the 
 former verse the Mystery was a purpose, in this 
 it is a Person. All God's gracious designs centre 
 in Christ, and the risen Christ is immanent in every 
 believer as his life-power. Luther used to say, 
 " If any one were to knock at my breast, and ask. 
 Who lives here? I should answer. Not Martin 
 Luther, but the Lord Jesus Christ." (Cf Gal. 
 ii. 20 and Eph. iii. 17.) the hope of glory. 
 To be in mystical union with Christ, proving the 
 meaning of His own words, " Abide in Me, and I 
 in you," is to have the calm assurance of ere long 
 being for ever with Him and beholding His glory. 
 The very sweetness of this relation is the proof 
 that it is meant for immortality. "Glory" is here 
 (as so often in John's writings) another name for 
 heavenly blessedness. 
 
 28. every man . . . every man . . . every 
 man. All the benefits of the gospel are intended 
 for all men. This is Paul's reply to the Colossian 
 superman. Christianity makes no superior persons. 
 It has no esoteric doctrines, no occult mysteries to 
 
Colossians ii. i-y 49 
 
 add to its plain and public utterances. Its temple 
 has no outer and inner courts ; its veil of secrecy 
 is rent in twain^ and every man without exception 
 may enter the Holy of Holies. The Reign of 
 Christ creates among men not an intellectual 
 oligarchy but a spiritual republic. 
 
 29. I labour, striving. Both words were used 
 by Jesus — " all ye that labour/' " strive to enter 
 in." Labour is toil inducing weariness, and striving 
 (literally, agonising) is a metaphor of the arena, 
 where gladiators wrestled for their lives. So the 
 minister of Christ toils and WTestles for the lives 
 of others. Cura curarum, cura animarum. " Some- 
 times I grow weary in it, but never of it," said 
 Whitefield. What keeps the energies of such men 
 from flagging ? Some power which worketh in 
 them mightily. 
 
 " ' 111 and o'erworked, how fare you in this scene?' 
 * Bravely, . . . for I have lately been 
 Much cheered by thoughts of Christ, the living Bread.' " 
 
 Col. ii. 1-7. 
 
 CONFLICT FOR CHURCHES UNVISITED. 
 
 For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for 
 you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have 
 
 2 not seen my face in the flesh ; that their hearts might be 
 comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches 
 of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledg- 
 ment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of 
 
 3 Christ ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and 
 
 4 knowledge. And this I say, lest any man should beguile 
 
 5 you with enticing words. For though I be absent in the 
 flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding 
 
 4 
 
50 Westminster New Testament 
 
 your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ. 
 
 6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so 
 
 7 walk ye in him : rooted and built up in him, and stablished 
 in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein 
 with thanksgiving. 
 
 The apostle's care is not limited to those com- 
 munities the seeds of which he has himself planted 
 and watered, but extends to others — such as those 
 of Colossae and Laodicea — which he has never 
 seen. He earnestly desires that they may be 
 confirmed in their faith, welded together in love, 
 and advanced to the full knowledge of the Mystery 
 of God — Christ. As all wisdom and knowledge 
 are hidden in Him, the churches need only to be 
 rooted and grounded in their faith, enjoying its 
 blessings to the full with thankful hearts. 
 
 1. what a great conflict I have for you. 
 
 Paul is in his Roman prison, those to whom he 
 writes are in their far-off Phrygian valley. But dis- 
 tance does not prevent him from making their 
 cause his own. With profound sympathy, pain- 
 ful anxiety, fervent intercession, and earnest 
 brain-work, he contends on their behalf. Like a 
 strong protagonist he throws himself between them 
 and their spiritual foes, in a battle which is not 
 so much his as the Lord's, them at Laodicea. 
 Ten miles down the Lycus valley from Colossae. 
 The Laodicean converts are exposed to the same 
 dangers as their neighbours. Hierapolis, the last 
 of the famous triad, is named later, and no doubt 
 had similar perils (iv. 13). 
 
 2. that their hearts may be comforted. 
 " Comforted " (^fortis, strong) must here be under- 
 stood in its orginal sense — strengthened, encouraged, 
 fortified. What the Colossians needed was not con- 
 
Colossians ii. 1-7 51 
 
 solation in sorrow, but confirmation in their 
 Christian faith. They were not suffering for 
 Christ's sake ; the letter to them says not a word 
 about persecution ; but they were in spiritual 
 danger, and the cause lay partly in their own weak 
 hearts. Therefore, instead of being lulled to rest 
 with gentle words, they needed to be aroused to 
 fight a brave battle for the truth. This letter is 
 not the soothing strain of a peace-pipe, but the 
 stirring blast of a trumpet, they being knit 
 together in love. Not wasting their energy in 
 mutual jealousy and strife, but presenting a solid 
 front to the foe. Divided they will fall, united 
 they stand. Their tie of fellowship is not self- 
 interest but holy love — the same golden chain that 
 binds them to Christ. Such love — both His and 
 theirs — is the bond of perfectness (iii. 14). unto 
 . . . the full assurance of understanding. 
 Paul does not fear the completest enlightenment ; 
 rather he covets it. "Let knowledge grow from 
 more to more." But not the dry light of reason. 
 The heart makes the theologian. The deep and 
 strong emotion of Christian love is a splendid 
 teacher, guiding us unto a sure and conscious 
 insight into the things of God. Love purifies the 
 affections, and "only as the heart is clean may 
 larger vision yet be mine." that they may know 
 the mystery of God, even Christ. Of the many 
 possible renderings of this difficult passage, the R.V. 
 has the best. Christ Himself is the Mystery of God, 
 the Father's Secret, now divulged to all the world 
 (cf. 1 Tim. iii. l6). God did not wish to remain 
 for ever unknown and unknowable. He whispers 
 the Secret of being ; it is Christ. The Christian 
 is no agnostic facing an inscrutable mystery, vainly 
 
52 Westminster New Testament 
 
 trying to answer the riddle of the sphinx. He is 
 the true Gnostic — he knows. 
 
 3. treasures . . . wisdom . . . knowledge 
 hidden. These were the familiar catchwords of the 
 philosophical Christians of Asia. Ordinary Christi- 
 anity might do well enough for good, simple people, 
 but for enlightened minds there was a profounder 
 knowledge, a riper wisdoin, whose treasures were 
 hidden from common eyes. Paul's reply, couched in 
 the language of his opponents, is that in Christ alone 
 are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge 
 hidden. Here the words have a Hellenic colour ; 
 one might almost render them ^'^ philosophy and 
 science." Paul regards Christianity as the queen 
 of the sciences, imparting a wisdom which cannot 
 be received at any school or college of secular 
 knowledge. Her lessons are learned at the feet 
 of Christ, who is '^^made unto us wisdom" (1 Cor. 
 i. 30), whose words make men " wise unto salva- 
 tion." The mysteries of His gospel are hidden 
 only from the wise and prudent, they are revealed 
 unto babes. 
 
 4. enticing words. Rather, " persuasiveness of 
 speech " ; an excellent thing in itself, to be assidu- 
 ously cultivated by all who have a noble cause to 
 plead, but, like every other art, easily perverted to 
 ignoble uses. The Colossians were the victims of 
 orators who could prove that black was white. 
 
 5. absent in the flesh . . . with you in the 
 spirit. In the spirit Paul is well-nigh ubiquitous. 
 Love gives wings to his imagination, and in one 
 moment he is here, there, everywhere. So vivid is his 
 power of visualising distant things that they impress 
 him as much as if he were an eager onlooker. He 
 begins to pray for Colossae, and, praesto ! he is 
 
Colossians ii. 1-7 53 
 
 there, joying and beholding the church's order 
 and Stedfastness ! These last words are military 
 terms, such as abound in the Roman letters. With 
 soldiers all around him by day and night, Paul 
 began to think in martial language. The church 
 at Colossae as a whole was like a company of strong 
 Praetorians, drawn up in brave array, presenting 
 a solid, impenetrable front. This is very high 
 praise. It proves conclusively that the greater part 
 of the Colossian Church was still firm in its allegiance 
 to Christ. The danger of apostasy was real, but 
 a timely warning would surely avert it. 
 
 6, 7. ye received Christ Jesus the Lord. 
 The full name is deeply significant. Faith is the 
 act of receiving (l) the promised Christ, (2) the 
 historical Jesus, (3) the universal Lord. As 
 Messiah, as Man, and as Master He is unique and 
 supreme in this world. But more ; His lordship 
 is unlimited ; He whose throne is the human heart 
 is Lord of all worlds, walk . . . rooted . . . 
 builded up. Paul was never greatly troubled by 
 mixed metaphors. There are a good many of 
 them in his letters. Imagery came naturally to 
 him, but he wrote with his eye on spiritual facts 
 rather than rhetorical figures. Here he wishes a 
 Christian's faith to be at once practical as a man's 
 daily walk, firm as the roots of a tree, and stately 
 as the walls of a palace, abounding in thanks- 
 giving. '^^ Abounding " is one of Paul's favourite 
 words, and it is strongly indicative of his tempera- 
 ment. He uses it some fifteen times, and he always 
 seems to image the Christian life as a brimming river, 
 full to overflowing. As he can say '' I have all 
 things and abound " (Phil. iv. 18), he feels it natural 
 to abound most of all in gratitude. 
 
54 Westminster New Testament 
 
 Col. ii. 8-15. 
 ALL FULNESS DWELLS IN CHRIST. 
 
 8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and 
 vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudi- 
 
 9 ments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him 
 
 10 dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye 
 are complete in him, which is the head of all principality 
 
 1 1 and power : in whom also ye are circumcised with the 
 circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body 
 of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ : 
 
 12 buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with 
 him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath 
 
 13 raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your 
 sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he 
 quickened together with him, having forgiven you all 
 
 14 trespasses ; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances 
 that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took 
 
 1 5 it out of the way, nailing it to his cross ; and having 
 spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them 
 openly, triumphing over them in it. 
 
 The Colossians must not allow themselves to be 
 captivated by an empty philosophy and human 
 traditions, which would substitute the elements of 
 the world for the living Christ. In Him is all the 
 fulness of God, and they live a full life in Him. 
 They need no circumcision of the flesh, having in 
 Him that of the Spirit. God has raised them with 
 Christ from death to life, forgiven their sins for His 
 sake, cancelled the hostile law on His cross, and 
 triumphed over the principalities and powers. 
 
 8. spoil you. The R.V.'s "maketh spoil of 
 you" is too stiff. '^'^ Capture you," "carry you 
 away," "captivate you," is the meaning of the 
 
Colossians ii. 8-15 55 
 
 word. Don't let yourselves be caught ! through 
 his philosophy. This is the only time that Paul 
 uses the word^ and if he were a modern he would 
 put it in inverted commas. He is using it ironically 
 as the grand name chosen by the Colossian teachers 
 for their specious system. He says nothing against 
 true philosophy — " the love of wisdom." He treated 
 the philosophers of Athens very courteously 
 (Acts xvii. 18). Milton is justified in saying — 
 
 " But charming is Divine philosophy, 
 Not harsh and crabbed as dull fools suppose, 
 But musical as is Apollo's lute." 
 
 How different was this crude Colossian 
 "philosophy/' half Judaic, half Gnostic, which 
 Paul impatiently dismisses as empty deceit ! Its 
 advocates had convinced themselves that it was 
 the panacea for human ills, and their eloquence 
 made it seem plausible enough. It gave ex- 
 pression to certain ideas which were floating in the 
 air at the time, and certain tendencies which 
 reappear in human nature at all times. But as 
 a gospel it was a hollow deception. There 
 was nothing in it but wind. after the 
 
 tradition of men. Cf. Mark. vii. 8. the 
 rudiments of the world. Better, "elements." 
 For the interpretation of the epistle this word 
 is of the utmost importance. It does not mean 
 elementary teaching, like the " rudiments " 
 of Latin or the "elements" of Euclid. 
 It means the personal elemental spirits — the 
 angels — of stars, winds, clouds, heat, cold, 
 and so forth. These spirits were supposed to 
 animate and rule the whole material world, and 
 to control human destinies. They are ranked as 
 
56 Westminster New Testament 
 
 " thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers " 
 (of. i. 16). They are greatly to be feared, devoutly 
 to be worshipped, earnestly to be appeased. They 
 act as mediators between the absolute God and 
 sinful matter, and if they are friendly they can 
 intercede for men. To know them is the higher 
 "knowledge." Their cult supplements {sotto voce 
 supplants) simple Christianity. This was the new 
 teaching at Colossae. Of course it was extremely 
 old. Animism is probably the most ancient of all 
 forms of religion, and not after Christ. Not 
 according to, in harmony with, Christ. A most 
 suggestive and satisfying phrase. Christ is the one 
 rule and standard of faith and life. To be in per- 
 fect accord with His mind and will is all that the 
 Colossian Christian, or any Christian, needs. Why 
 seek communion with "the beggarly elements," 
 when "we have the mind of Christ " } The spirits 
 of Nature can never help us as His Holy Spirit can. 
 9. the fulness of the Godhead. " Fulness " is 
 the sum of the powers and attributes of Deity 
 (see p. 44). In Greek there are two words for 
 " Godhead," with only an iota of difference betw^een 
 them; the one expresses the quality, the other 
 the essence, of Deity. It is the second that is 
 used here. In Christ incarnate — now risen and 
 glorified, but still clothed in human form — dwells 
 the plenitude of true Deity. He not only has for 
 us the value of God, He is God. The doctrine is 
 difficult to believe, but once believed it is the 
 master-key that turns every lock. 
 
 " I say, the acknowledgment of God in Christ 
 Accepted by the reason, solves for thee 
 All questions in the earth and out of it." 
 
 (Browning.) 
 
Colossians ii. 8-15 57 
 
 10. ye are complete in him. "In Him 
 
 (emphatic) ye are made full." All who are in 
 vital union Avith Him receive of His fulness, and 
 so are themselves made full. The brimming 
 fountain fills every vessel that is brought to it. 
 Divine love in Christ expands to an ocean fulness, 
 where there is enough for everybody (cf. John 
 i. 16). who is the Head. Christ has sovereign 
 power over all those high elemental spirits of 
 nature, by whatever sonorous names they may be 
 called, such as principalities and powers. We 
 are complete in Him, without them. Why invoke 
 angelic mediators to eke out His supposed 
 imperfections ? 
 
 11. circumcision. There were two kinds, the 
 one made by hands, the other without ; the one 
 a physical mark, the other a new creation, 
 synonymous with conversion. The one left the 
 natural man as he was, the other took him out of 
 the body of the flesh into the realm of the 
 Spirit. The one was of Moses, being prescribed 
 by the lawgiver ; the other (though often taught 
 even in the O.T.) was distinctively of Christ, 
 whose religion is always inward and spiritual. 
 The Colossians— all who were genuine converts — 
 had the inward reality, and needed no obsolete 
 symbol, whatever the "enlightened" might say 
 (cf. Gal. iii. 3). 
 
 12. buried . . . raised. The completeness of 
 the spiritual change is here indicated in another 
 way. So closely are we united to Christ, that we 
 die with Him and rise again with Him (cf. 
 Rom. vi. 3, 4). Such power has our faith in the 
 working of God, who raised Christ from the dead, 
 that we ourselves die unto sin and live unto 
 
58 Westminster New Testament 
 
 righteousness. This spiritual renewal was beauti- 
 fully symbolised by baptism in its primitive form of 
 immersion. 
 
 13. you, being dead. An appalling expression. 
 Walking, talking, eating, drinking, but dead ! It 
 means destitute of the life which is life indeed, 
 the life from, in, with, and for God. Like the body 
 that is separate from the soul, so the soul that is 
 separate from God is dead. The wages of sin is, 
 here and now, death. Paul reminds the Colos- 
 sians that they were also dead for another reason — 
 through their alienation from the commonwealth of 
 Israel, which is proved by the uncircumcision of 
 their flesh. This was rather their misfortune 
 than their fault. But now they have experienced 
 the power of God, who animates the dead. He 
 quickened them, raised them to life, at the time 
 when He forgave all their trespasses, justification 
 and regeneration being two aspects of one and the 
 same spiritual crisis. There is perfect harmony 
 between Paul's forensic and ethical conceptions of 
 the Atonement. We note that, in order to identify 
 himself with his readers alike in their sin and 
 forgiveness, he suddenly changes his pronoun : 
 " you did He quicken, having forgiven 21s all our 
 trespasses " (R.V.). 
 
 14. the bond. There is an aspect in which 
 the law is a bond that is against us, rigorously and 
 remorselessly demanding its pound of flesh — our 
 life. Unlike Shylock's bond, it is just. But in a 
 tremendous figure Paul assures us that God in 
 mercy took that bond — that legal warrant — and 
 nailed it to the cross, the same nails that pierced 
 the hands of His Son rending the accusing docu- 
 ment to pieces and nullifying it. Or, in other 
 
Colossians ii. 16-23 59 
 
 figures, the bond written in ordinances is wiped 
 out, like writing from a tablet; cleared OUt of 
 the way, like stumbling-blocks from a path. The 
 whole verse is evidently dictated in a spirit of 
 passionate gratitude. The writer knew both the 
 bondage of the law and the freedom of the gospel 
 — the haunting fears of Judaism, the perfect peace 
 of Christianity. 
 
 15. having despoiled the principalities and 
 powers. See ver. 8. The connection between 
 these spiritual beings and the cancelled bond is 
 this. The law was believed to have been given 
 through angels, who are here called, as before, 
 principalities and powers (cf Gal. iii. 19). As 
 soon as the bond was nailed to the cross and the 
 law abrogated, the power of the angels of the law 
 was gone. Through that cross God despoiled 
 them, making a shew of them openly, 
 triumphing over them in it. These dread 
 ministers of the law have done their duty, and are 
 now discharged. Their day is past, their sceptre 
 is broken. Are the Colossians to worship them, or 
 the Lord of all men and angels ? 
 
 Col. ii. 16-23. 
 CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 
 
 16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, 
 or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of 
 
 17 the sabbath days : which are a shadow of things to come ; 
 
 18 but the body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of 
 your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of 
 angels, intruding into those things which he hath not 
 
 19 seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not hold- 
 
6o Westminster New Testament 
 
 ing the Head, from which all the body by joints and 
 bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, 
 
 20 increaseth with the increase of God. Wherefore if ye 
 be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, 
 why, as though living in the world, are ye subject 
 
 21 to ordinances, (Touch not ; taste not ; handle not ; 
 
 22 which all are to perish with the using ;) after the command- 
 
 23 ments and doctrines of men ? Which things have indeed 
 a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and 
 neglecting of the body ; not in any honour to the 
 satisfying of the flesh. 
 
 Being set free from the law, and raised to a new 
 life in Christ, the Colossians must not submit to 
 legal ordinances, which are but a shadow of the 
 blessings which they have already received. They 
 must not surrender their precious liberty at the 
 behest of angel-worshippers who have lost their 
 hold of Christ, the Head, from whom the body 
 receives all its nourishment. Being liberated from 
 the power of elemental spirits, let them see the 
 futility of ascetic practices, which procure for men 
 a reputation for wisdom, but give them no real 
 power to subdue their bodily appetites. From the 
 morally indifferent questions of food and ceremonial 
 cleanness Paul earnestly seeks to turn the minds 
 of the Colossians to the vital problems of moral 
 conduct. 
 
 16. Let no man judge you. Christian Hberty 
 is very dear to Paul. He asserts it here as 
 earnestly, though not quite so vehemently, as he 
 did in Galatians. Many things once counted 
 essential are now to him matters of indifference. 
 ^' Thou shalt " is changed into ^' You may or may 
 not, as you please." The Christian is free from the 
 law. On hygienic or philanthropic grounds the 
 
Colossians ii. 16-23 61 
 
 Colossian believer may still abstain from certain 
 meats and drinks, and on religious grounds he may 
 still observe certain sacred days. But he must 
 do neither on legal grounds ; he should both 
 claim for himself and give to every other man 
 freedom to follow the law of the Spirit of life. 
 Spiritual tyranny is the worst kind of despot- 
 ism. 
 
 17. the shadow ... the body. The Old 
 Testament adumbrates the New ; '' shadow and 
 body " means shadow and substance. The 
 Colossian teachers were like the dog in ^sop's 
 fable, that snatched at the image and lost the 
 bone. They did not hold fast Christ (ver. 19). 
 
 18. Let no man rob you of your prize (R.V.). 
 The figure is athletic, taken from the racecourse 
 (cf. Phil. iii. 14). by a voluntary humility 
 
 and worshipping of angels. These two phrases 
 throw light on one another. The Colossian 
 teachers were too humble to go into the immediate 
 presence of God, where only the highest " princi- 
 palities and powers" might venture nigh. They 
 would not ^^ rush in where angels feared to tread." 
 They felt they needed a long succession of created 
 spirits to mediate between them and the absolute, 
 unapproachable Deity. Their lowliness of mind 
 constrained them to bow down before His ministers 
 and supplicate their aid. Paul calls this a volun- 
 tary, artificial, uncalled-for humility, not to speak 
 of its idolatry. The one Mediator between God 
 and man teaches that God is a perfectly approach- 
 able Father. This makes angelolatry superfluous. 
 Children do not need a company of go-betweens 
 to plead their cause ; they climb their father's 
 knee and speak for themselves, dwelling in the 
 
62 Westminster New Testament 
 
 things which he hath seen (R.V.). This is 
 probably the true reading, the best MSS omitting 
 the negative. The words are ironical. Some of 
 the Colossian teachers were visionaries, spiritualists. 
 They made a parade of the manifestations and 
 communications which they received, apparently 
 from angels, in dreams and trance-states. Paul 
 does not believe in the things which they have 
 seen, vainly puffed up. This shows the value 
 of their humility. Their penetration of the 
 secrets of the angel -world inflates their self- 
 conceit. They despise the commonplace religion 
 of the uninitiated Christian. They have the 
 knowledge which pufFeth up, not the love which 
 buildeth up. 
 
 19. not holding fast the Head. The Head 
 is Christ, who has twice already been so named 
 in the epistle. To lose hold of the Head, from 
 whatever cause, is a fatal schism. It means 
 becoming a withered limb. From the Head the 
 whole spiritual organism, the Church, receives a 
 constant supply of life and power, and so increases 
 with the increase of God. This is Paul's way 
 of accounting for the growth of the Church. So 
 long as she keeps herself in contact with her 
 Divine Head, she cannot but grow. God giveth 
 the increase. Gibbon's famous Five Causes of 
 the progress of the early Church left out the final 
 Cause. 
 
 20,21. if ye be dead. Better, "if ye died." "If" 
 assumes a fact. The Colossians have had a definite 
 experience which the apostle calls "death." Con- 
 version is the rending asunder of things that have 
 been vitally united. As the natural separation of 
 the soul from the body is death, so the moral 
 
Colossians ii. 16-23 63 
 
 separation of the soul from the world and sin 
 is death. In both cases a man may '' take an 
 unconscionable time in dying/' but death itself 
 occurs at a definite moment. from the rudi- 
 ments. See p. 55. as though living in the 
 world. Of course in a sense they^ as Christians, 
 7vere still living in the world, but not in the sense 
 of being conformed to its tastes and habits. They 
 were crucified to the world. Their true life was 
 hid with Christ in God. why do ye subject 
 yourselves to ordinances? It is extremely 
 probable that Paul's early life had been plagued by 
 "ordinances.'' "Handle not, taste not, touch 
 not " (observe the climax) had been dinned 
 into his ears till the parrot-words tormented him 
 day and night. Now he is joyously free, and he 
 calls on every believer to share his buoyancy of 
 spirit. When Luther passed from the same miser- 
 able bondage to the same glorious liberty, he 
 wrote his splendid treatise " Of the Freedom of a 
 Christian Man." Faith does not bind us with 
 prohibitions or prescriptions, it makes us the 
 unfettered followers of Christ (cf. John viii. S6). 
 
 22. all which things. The things which are 
 not to be handled, tasted, touched. Paul appeals 
 to common sense. If we do taste and eat these 
 meats, well, there is an end of them. They perish 
 with the using. Why should we attach any 
 moral value to them ? (cf. Matt. xv. 11). 
 
 23. Which things have a shew of wisdom. 
 These " creeds which deny and restrain " are based 
 on a certain philosophy of life. If matter is essenti- 
 ally evil, and the body the seat of sin — which was 
 the well-nigh universal assumption of those times — 
 then reason demands that the natural instincts of 
 
64 Westminster New Testament 
 
 the vile body should be sternly repressed. This 
 line of argument has given a show of wisdom to 
 asceticism, which is here called ^^ severity to the 
 body," or, more literally, " unsparing treatment of 
 the body." But the primary hypothesis is false. 
 The body is not the seat of evil ; it is not vile. 
 
 "Let us not always say, 
 ' Spite of this flesh to-day, 
 
 I strove, made head, gained ground upon the whole ! ' 
 As the bird wings and sings, 
 Let us cry, ' All good things 
 
 Are ours, nor soul helps flesh more, now, than flesh 
 helps soul ! ' " 
 
 will-worship. Worship according to our own 
 will. If God requires us to serve Him in one 
 way, and we, with the best intentions and the 
 deepest reverence, do it in another way, our 
 devotion is will-worship. The other name for it 
 is wilfulness. The Indian fakir and the Roman 
 devotee try to please God by abjuring all pleasure. 
 Who bade them do it ? The spirit of genuine re- 
 nunciation is expressed in the words, " I worship 
 thee, sweet will of God." humility. See ver. 18. 
 The last words of the chapter are difficult ; the 
 R.V. is probably right. Ascetic practices are not 
 in any value against the indulgence of the 
 flesh. Here " the flesh " has its technical Pauline 
 meaning — the natural man, the unregenerate self 
 The monk who mortifies his body by wearing a 
 hair-shirt may all the time be subtly pleasing him- 
 self, feeding his own vanity, and so indulging " the 
 flesh." The self needs something more than re- 
 pression ; it needs the impartation of that Divine 
 life which renews and transforms the whole man- 
 hood, body and soul alike. 
 
Colossians iii. 1-4 65 
 
 Col. iii. 1-4. 
 
 THE RISEN LIFE. 
 
 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which 
 are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 
 
 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the 
 
 3 earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ 
 
 4 in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then 
 shall ye also appear with him in glory. 
 
 Here controversy ends. Paul turns with delight 
 from the exposure of the false to the exposition 
 of the true. Let the Colossian Christians^ eschew- 
 ing the cold rigours of legalism and asceticism, 
 understand that they belong to a much more 
 congenial order of things. Risen with Christ, they 
 have only to realise the Christ-life, which is already 
 potentially theirs. It is now a hidden life, but it 
 will one day be fully manifested, when all be- 
 lievers will participate in the glory of the returning 
 Christ. 
 
 1. If ye were raised. The "if" is logical. It 
 does not insinuate a doubt, but posits a fact. We 
 might say "since." Christians are dead (ver. 3) 
 and "raised together with Christ." Every fact 
 in the Redeemer's career becomes a moral and 
 spiritual experience in the life of the believer. 
 seek the things that are above. It is natural 
 for the re-born soul to aspire. Its cry is ever 
 Excelsior ! The things that are pure, holy, 
 spiritual, heavenly, are its native air. It cannot 
 be satisfied with an earthly environment. It must 
 be in spirit where Christ is. Christianity is the 
 elevation of our whole manhood into a Divine realm 
 of thought and action. " Hitch your wagon to a 
 
 5 
 
66 Westminster New Testament 
 
 star/' was Emerson's advice. " Attach yourself to 
 the risen Christ/' is Paul's. 
 
 2. Set your mind on the things . . . above, 
 not ... on the earth. Faith gives a man at 
 once a wonderful detachment and a wonderful 
 attachment of spirit. It alters all his tastes and 
 desires^ so that he is no longer fascinated by the 
 world of illusion and change^ but gives his heart 
 to the eternal realities of the kingdom of God (cf. 
 Matt. vi. 19-21). 
 
 3. your life is hid with Christ in God. '' The 
 world/' says Bengel, "knows neither Christ nor 
 Christians^ and Christians do not even clearly know 
 themselves." The Christian life is at once patent 
 and latent. While we admire its flowers and fruits, 
 we cannot see the hidden roots. The brimming 
 river glides before our eyes, but among what far-off 
 hills did it take its rise ? Christian manhood and 
 womanhood attract every beholder by their grace 
 and strength, sweetness and purity. But what is 
 seen is only an effect. The cause is to be sought 
 not in the abysmal deeps of personality, but in 
 the soul's mystic union with her risen and glorified 
 Redeemer. 
 
 4. Christ, who is our life. In the previous 
 verse our life is said to be hid with Christ, in 
 this one it is said that He is the Life (cf. John 
 i. 1). When He called Himself the Life (John 
 xi. 25, xiv. 6), He implied more than that He is the 
 Possessor and Bestower of life. He meant that the 
 life which He imparts is Himself. He quickens 
 us by giving us His own very being, making us 
 partakers of His Divine nature. The Holy Spirit 
 is the Life-Giver, Christ is the Life. Our know- 
 ledge of our own true life is at present as imperfect 
 
Colossians iii. 5-1 1 67 
 
 as our knowledge of His resurrection life. But 
 when He shall be manifested, returning to reign 
 in power and splendour, then all who are one with 
 Him shall be manifested with Him ; they shall be 
 seen in their true colours and come to their own, 
 participating by grace in His glory. 
 
 Col. iii. 5-11. 
 SINS TO BE DESTROYED. 
 
 5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth ; 
 fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil con- 
 
 6 cupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry : for 
 which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the 
 
 7 children of disobedience : in the which ye also walked 
 
 8 some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put 
 off all these ; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy 
 
 9 communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, 
 seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds ; 
 
 10 and have put on the new man, w^hich is renewed in know- 
 
 1 1 ledge after the image of him that created him : where 
 there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircum- 
 cision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free : but Christ is 
 all, and in all. 
 
 The Colossians who are dead and risen with 
 Christ are summoned to the Christian's true task, 
 which is not speculative but practical. They have 
 it in their power to put to death all the grosser 
 sins of impurity and put away the subtler sins of 
 malice. Holiness, both negative and positive, is 
 a possibility to those who have once for all put off 
 as an unclean garment the old self, and put on as a 
 stainless robe the new self, which is the gift of the 
 
68 Westminster New Testament 
 
 Creator and His own likeness. The new creation 
 raises men of every race and condition to the same 
 spiritual status, Christ being the one Ideal of re- 
 deemed humanity, and bringing the same blessings 
 to all. 
 
 5. Mortify your members. Better, "put to 
 death/' "slay," "kill" (cf Matt. v. 29,30). "I 
 find it hard to be a Christian," said Browning, and 
 it is harder morally than intellectually. For to be 
 a Christian a man must wage a ceaseless warfare 
 Math the passions and desires of his lower nature. 
 " Thoughts must be slain which disobey." " No 
 matter how, if only sin dies out in me." your 
 members must be slain, not as if they were the 
 seat of sin — the will is that — but because they 
 have been the tools and weapons of the old 
 sinful self. This use they have upon the earth, 
 as the scene of temptation. From the bodily 
 members to their sinful activities the transition in 
 the apostle's mind is swift and impatient, so that he 
 makes things concrete and things abstract stand 
 in a somewhat bizarre apposition. He is thinking 
 of the nastiness of sin, and neglects the niceties 
 of grammar. The black catalogue which follows 
 would be quite different in the polite speech of 
 men of the world. The vices enumerated are 
 various forms of "love," which serious men brand 
 with words of loathing. The perversions of that 
 holy passion which is " a very flame of the Lord " 
 are the most degrading of sins. " Slay them," says 
 the indignant apostle, naming them as criminals 
 to be given over to the executioner. To sins of 
 impurity Paul significantly adds COvetousneSS, 
 the worship of gold. " How many respectable 
 middle-aged gentlemen are now mainly devoted 
 
Colossians iii. 5-1 1 69 
 
 to making money^ whose youth was foul with 
 sensual indulgence ! " (Maclaren). 
 
 6. the wrath of God. His personal moral 
 indignation ; His love, pained and wounded, com- 
 pelled to scourge and chastise. This is one of 
 His essential attributes, wide as the poles asunder 
 from that impotent good-nature which we so 
 readily ascribe to Him. His power to make us 
 holy, and so happy, lies in the very resentment 
 which consumes our sins. " The love which draws 
 us nearer Thee is hot with wrath to them." the 
 sons of disobedience is a Hebrew idiom. The 
 abstract principle of unbelief or disobedience is 
 figured as giving birth to children and claiming 
 them for its own (cf. Luke vii. 35). 
 
 7. some time is Old English for "at one time," 
 "once." So in Shakespeare, "Our sometime 
 sister, now our queen." ye lived in these 
 things. "Lived" means more than "existed." 
 All that "life" meant to them, all its zest and 
 pleasure, was extracted by them from these gross 
 sins. It is the opposite of " living " in and for 
 God. 
 
 8. also ... all these. Sins of temper are no 
 more to be spared than sins of lust. The Christian 
 must put them all away, without evasion, excep- 
 tion, or compromise. It is a poor excuse that we are 
 naturally inclined to be hot-tempered, for it is the 
 very task of grace to triumph over nature. Every 
 rebellious spirit must be evicted from Mansoul, 
 where Christ should reign alone. The R.V. changes 
 blasphemy into "railing," as the Greek word 
 {fylasphemia) is not limited, like the English, to 
 railing against God. 
 
 9f 10. Lie not. Veracity was never an Oriental 
 
70 Westminster New Testament 
 
 virtue. Hebrews and Greeks alike delighted in 
 tales of clever and successful lying. But the 
 Christian must be true, because he worships the 
 God of truth, the old man . . . the new man. 
 We should now say the old and new self The 
 Christian never loses his identity, yet he is perfectly 
 conscious of being " a new creature." His old 
 habits of thought and action have been discarded 
 like a suit of old clothes. All things have become 
 new (cf. Rom. xiii. 14). renewed unto know- 
 ledge is a most suggestive phrase. The Gnostic 
 teachers at Colossae were intellectuals, who believed 
 that men could be initiated into the higher know- 
 ledge of God. Salvation was by illumination. But 
 Christianity makes short work of intellectualism. 
 It teaches that obedience is the organ of spiritual 
 knowledge, that man must be morally and 
 spiritually renewed unto knowledge (cf. John 
 vii. 17). after the image (of Gen. i. 26, 27). 
 God has both made and re-made man in His own 
 image (cf. 2 Cor. v. 17). 
 
 11. there is neither Greek nor Jew. Better, 
 " there cannot be." Not merely the fact but the 
 possibility of racial division is negatived. " The 
 Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans " 
 expressed the old order, and this sentence expresses 
 the new. It glows with the writer's own sense of 
 wonder. It is addressed to Phrygians by one who 
 used to be an ultra-Pharisee, full of haughty 
 contempt for " lesser breeds without the law." 
 His selfish exclusiveness is now transformed into 
 a universal sympathy. National distinctions (Greek 
 and Jew), ceremonial (circumcision and uncircum- 
 cision), educational (barbarian, Scythian), social 
 (bondman, freeman), are all powerless to keep men 
 
Colossians iii. 12-17 71 
 
 asunder when they are united to Christ Jesus, who 
 is all and in all, filling the whole of life with 
 His presence. Paul applies this principle with a 
 splendid, reckless daring. The Scythians were 
 the barbarians par excellence of his time. Josephus 
 speaks of them as ^^ differing little from wild 
 beasts," and Herodotus calls them ^^ cannibals." 
 But Christianity saw in each of them, as it sees in 
 the negro of our time, a man and a brother. 
 
 Col. iii. 12-17. 
 GRACES TO BE CULTIVATED. 
 
 12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, 
 bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meek- 
 
 13 ness, longsuffering ; forbearing one another, and forgiving 
 one another, if any man have a quarrel against any : even 
 
 14 as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these 
 things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 
 
 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which 
 
 16 also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let 
 the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom ; 
 teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and 
 hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your 
 
 17 hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or 
 deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks 
 to God and the Father by him. 
 
 Goodness should be positive as well as negative. 
 The Colossians are to clothe themselves with all 
 the Christian graces, which will take the place 
 of the heathen vices they have discarded. Just 
 because they are chosen to salvation, they must 
 not proudly keep themselves aloof from the un- 
 saved, but ever appear among them adorned with 
 
72 Westminster New Testament 
 
 all fair charities, girt about with love. Their re- 
 ligion must be of the heart. Compassion in the 
 heart, peace in the heart, music in the heart will 
 commend it sweetly to others. Let Christ's ex- 
 ample be their guide, Christ's word their wisdom, 
 Christ's name their inspiration for all service. 
 
 12. God's elect, holy and beloved. Three 
 epithets applicable to every Christian. He is chosen, 
 consecrated, loved by God. The initial steps in his 
 salvation were taken not by himself but by God, 
 who called him in grace and marked him for His 
 own ; and now the sense of God's abiding love 
 makes him passionately eager to do all His will. 
 bowels of mercies. Or, "a heart of compassion." 
 The Jews regarded the intestines as the seat of 
 feeling, we regard the heart. Both ideas are, of 
 course, psychologically wrong, but when such ex- 
 pressions are once popularised, they endure like the 
 language itself. 
 
 13. kindness . . . meekness . . . forbear- 
 ing . . . forgiving. These words reflect that 
 new Christian spirit in the presence of one's 
 enemies which completely changed human life in 
 the old world. As Seeley has finely shown in his 
 Ecce Homo, while the ancients regarded it as an 
 amazing stretch of goodness for a man to waive his 
 right of revenge, Christ has made forgivingness the 
 normal attitude of all His followers towards His 
 
 and their adversaries, even as the Lord forgave 
 you. The term " even as " occurs very frequently 
 in the New Testament. To study all the uses of 
 it is an excellent way of drinking in the Spirit of 
 our Lord and learning to walk in His steps. It 
 contains a startling revelation of the possibilities 
 of Christianity as Christ-likeness. "Forgive one 
 
Colossians iii. 12-17 73 
 
 another" is made a new commandment by this 
 mighty motive and this perfect pattern — " even as 
 the Lord forgave you." 
 
 14. above all these things. ''Better, "over," 
 keeping the metaphor of clothing, love, which 
 is the bond of perfectness. Weymouth here 
 misses the point by translating " the perfect bond 
 of union." The apostle is not speaking of Christian 
 union, but of that love which is the bond of all 
 the Christian graces, keeping them together and 
 fostering their full and harmonious development. 
 
 15. the peace of God. The best MSS have 
 "of Christ." This means more than the peace 
 which Christ gives us ; it is that very peace which 
 reigned in His own heart because His will was in 
 perfect accord with the Father's will (cf. John 
 xiv. 27). " In His will is our peace," says Dante. 
 to which ye were called. Hence we are to 
 understand that we never quite fulfil our vocation, 
 never fully realise the purpose of God, till the 
 peace of Christ rules in our hearts. 
 
 16. the word of Christ. The gospel is so 
 named here alone. The genitive may be objective 
 or subjective — the word spoken about Christ, or 
 the word spoken by Christ. Paul usually says " the 
 word of God," but he varies the expression here 
 because throughout this epistle he is engaged in 
 vindicating the honour of Christ. The gospel is 
 His gospel, indeed He is the gospel, dwell in 
 you richly. Paul loves the imagery of wealth. 
 " Riches " occurs eight times in his Roman letters. 
 He talks like a multi-millionaire who has "un- 
 searchable riches" (cf. 1 Tim. vi. 17). "Yet how 
 rich is my condition, God and Heaven are all mine 
 
 own ! " teaching . . . with psalms and hymns 
 
74 Westminster New Testament 
 
 and spiritual songs. The gospel was to be 
 sweetly sung as well as earnestly preached. The 
 worship of the early Church was much more spon- 
 taneous than it is in our modern assemblies ; far 
 more was left to the control of the ever-present 
 Spirit ; prophetic utterances and fervent outbursts 
 of song were eagerly welcomed. The end and aim 
 of music was never mere aesthetic pleasure, but 
 always definite teaching and warning. It has a 
 magical power to reach the hearts which have 
 resisted the appeals of rhetoric and the arguments 
 of reason, psalms of the O.T., hymns of the 
 Christian Church, and generally all SOngS (liter- 
 ally odes) filled with the breath of the Holy Spirit, 
 were used in the primitive Church, singing with 
 grace in your hearts. The order of the Greek 
 is ^^with grace singing in your hearts." It is the 
 song, not the grace, that is said to be in the heart, 
 though of course the grace must be there too. 
 The music of the lips gives utterance to the music 
 of the soul. " My cage confines me round, my 
 heart's at liberty," sang Madame Guy on in her 
 French prison. 
 
 17. do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 All ! Let the shepherd tend his flocks, the plough- 
 boy cut his furrows, the mason well and truly lay 
 his stones, in that great Name, and how all labour 
 is hallowed and ennobled ! " Thine is the forge, 
 the mart, the loom ! " giving thanks. Only two 
 verses back we read "and be ye thankful." The 
 reiteration indicates the primary importance of the 
 act and the spirit of thanksgiving. If a man once 
 realises that he is a debtor to the grace of God, 
 how can he ever after help being thrilled with a 
 sense of adoring gratitude ? 
 
Colossians iii. i8-iv. i 75 
 
 Col. iii. i8-iv. i. 
 RELATIVE DUTIES. 
 
 18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it 
 
 19 is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not 
 
 20 bitter against them. Children, obey your parents in all 
 
 21 things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, 
 provoke not your children to anger, lest they be dis- 
 
 22 couraged. Servants, obey in all things your masters 
 according to the flesh ; not with eyeservice, as men- 
 
 23 pleasers ; but in singleness of heart, fearing God : and 
 whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not 
 
 24 unto men ; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the 
 reward of the inheritance : for ye serve the Lord Christ. 
 
 25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which 
 iv. I he hath done : and there is no respect of persons. 
 
 Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and 
 equal ; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven. 
 
 The reciprocal duties of wives and husbands, 
 children and parents, servants and masters, are 
 enforced as an essential part of their primary duty 
 to Christ, who is here named seven times, six times 
 as "the Lord " (" God " in ver. 22 should be " the 
 Lord"), and once as the "Master in heaven." 
 
 18. Wives, be in subjection. It can scarcely 
 now be denied that Paul here puts a piece of old 
 cloth upon the new garment of Christianity. In 
 some of his ideas of woman he remained a typical 
 Oriental. Sometimes he qualified his teaching re- 
 garding her with a diffident " I think," but here he 
 dogmatises. Perhaps he enjoins the subjection of 
 women, as he enjoined that of slaves, as a necessity 
 for the times. At any rate his teaching in the one 
 case needs to be revised as it has been in the other. 
 
76 Westminster New Testament 
 
 What the timeless Christian Spirit requires of 
 husband and wife is not lordship and subjection, 
 but mutual love and reverence, hallowed in both 
 souls by faith in the Eternal Love, in the Lord 
 (cf. vers. 20, 23). Every natural human relation- 
 ship is transfigured in the light of the supreme 
 relationship between Christ and His Church. The 
 secular becomes sacred when the temporal is re- 
 garded snh specie ceternitatis, 
 
 20. Children, obey your parents. To this 
 rule there is but one exception — when it collides 
 wdth the other principle, "We must obey God 
 rather than men." No Christian son or daughter 
 ever sets aside the general rule without extreme 
 reluctance and profound regret. 
 
 2L children . . . discouraged. A child has 
 a very keen sense of justice, and if his father treats 
 him harshly and unfairly, he is first provoked 
 to bursts of anger, and then becomes profoundly 
 discouraged. Having done his best and failed, 
 what is the good of trying any more ? He loses 
 heart. Henceforth he will regard his father — 
 though he will shrink from calling him a tyrant 
 — with a wretched, paralysing fear instead of a 
 happy, confident love. Stevenson says it is better 
 to break a child's neck than to break his spirit. 
 
 22-iv. 1. Servants, obey. The full force or 
 this precept is felt in the translation, '* Slaves, 
 obey." Paul does not sound the heart-stirring note, 
 " Slaves, be free!" Such rash words would have 
 rendered him liable to the charge of inciting 
 to rebellion. He perforce accepts slavery — in the 
 meantime. Instead of fomenting wild dreams of 
 immediate emancipation, he seems to rivet the 
 fetters of the poor slaves. As an apostle he com- 
 
Colossians iii. i8-iv. i 77 
 
 mands them to obey their masters in all things, 
 working as faithfully when they are out of 
 sight as when they are under supervision, and he 
 grounds his stern injunction on the fear of the 
 Lord, as if he knew that Christ Himself would be 
 pleased with their meek submission. Well may the 
 Christian slaves heave a sigh if this is all the 
 comfort that the new religion can offer them in 
 their misery ! But let them look at the other side. 
 If they work heartily for the Lord, and not for 
 
 men. He will recompense them, a thing which it 
 rarely enters the heart of an earthly master to 
 do. He will give them an inheritance, though 
 all human laws declared that a slave can never 
 become an heir. With the Lord there is no 
 respect of persons ; slaves are in His eyes as 
 real persons as their masters, and not, as they 
 have been told so often that they have almost 
 come to believe it, mere chattels, living tools, 
 beasts of burden. Their masters are enjoined to 
 give them what is just and equal, hence, mirabile 
 dictu ! they have rights, though all the sages have 
 rejected the idea with scorn. And, finally, their 
 
 masters have also a Master in heaven, and 
 
 must one day give an account to Him, side by side 
 with the lowest of their menial servants. Here are 
 principles of spiritual equality which from the first 
 mitigated, and at the last abolished, that terrible 
 institution of slavery, which a Roman historian 
 characterised as ^^the sum of all villanies." And 
 here are eternal laws of truth and justice which 
 ought still to enlighten the minds and quicken the 
 consciences of masters and servants, employers and 
 employed, in lands which boast that they have seen 
 the end of the long night of slavery. 
 
78 Westminster New Testament 
 
 Col. iv. 2-6. 
 
 PRAYER— BEHAVIOUR AMONG NON- 
 CHRISTIANS. 
 
 2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanks 
 
 3 giving ; withal praying also for us, that God would open 
 unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, 
 
 4 for which I am also in bonds : that I may make it mani- 
 
 5 fest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward them 
 
 6 that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech 
 be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may 
 know how ye ought to answer every man. 
 
 Paul urges the Colossiaiis to be steadfast in 
 prayer, and begs them to give himself a place in 
 their petitions. He enjoins them to be wise in 
 their intercourse with those who are still strangers 
 to Christ, seizing every opportunity of winning 
 them, cultivating the gift of gracious speech that 
 they may never be at a loss how to answer either 
 bitter cavillers or earnest inquirers. 
 
 2. Continue in prayer. The R.V. strengthens 
 the verb '^ continue " with the adverb '^ sted- 
 fastly." ''Persevere in prayer" gives the exact 
 sense. Whether prayer be a delight or an agony, 
 men are to be unwearied in it. In this connection 
 how impressive are our Lord's precepts, "Watch 
 and pray " ; " Men ought to pray always, and not 
 to faint." His own supplications were attended 
 with " strong crying and tears," and He spent long 
 night-watches in them. " Cold mountains and the 
 midnight air witnessed the fervour of Thy prayer." 
 with thanksgiving. The spirit of prayei; is of 
 great moment. If God has already showered 
 blessings upon us, can we ask Him for yet more 
 
Colossians iv. 2-6 79 
 
 without having hearts burning with gratitude and 
 lips jubilant with praise ? 
 
 3. praying for us also. For Paul and 
 Timothy^ and perhaps other associates. '^ Orate 
 jn'o 7iohis, pray for us/' is the constant and urgent 
 request of all true ministers of Christ (cf, 1 Thess. 
 V. 25 ; 2 Thess. iii. 1). They are greedy of prayer ; 
 they covet it as the truest kindness they can 
 receive from their brethren ; they know that '^ more 
 things are wrought by prayer than this world 
 dreams of." may Open unto us a door. May 
 remove hindrances and grant favourable oppor- 
 tunities. With what earnestness do statesmen 
 labour to keep an open door, with freedom of 
 intercourse, for a nation's commerce ! With a yet 
 more passionate eagerness did the apostle and his 
 companions desire an open door (" a great door and 
 effectual," 1 Cor. xvi. 9) for the word. Even if it 
 was for a time barred and bolted in their faces, they 
 never despaired ; God would, in answer to many 
 prayers, fling it open unto them. As soon as ever 
 they found the way clear, they were ready to enter 
 in and tell the mystery of Christ. This is one 
 of Paul's favourite words, occurring ten times in 
 the Prison Epistles. Writers like Matthew Arnold 
 have made earnest attempts to fathom the secret of 
 Jesus, the Man of Nazareth, but they have missed the 
 secret of Christ, the Son of God. All the power 
 of the gospel lies in the presentment to the human 
 mind of a Personality in which God and man meet. 
 
 *' Thou seemest human and Divine, 
 The highest, holiest manhood Thou." 
 
 4. as I ought to speak. The preacher's 
 manner is almost as important as his matter. Paul 
 
8o Westminster New Testament 
 
 desired to "speak boldly/' to "speak in the Spirit 
 of God/' to "speak the truth in love/' to "speak 
 not as pleasing men^ but God who trieth our 
 hearts." Richard Baxter wished to speak 
 
 ". . . as though he ne'er might speak again, 
 And as a dying man to dying men." 
 
 5. them that are without. Beyond the pale ! 
 The Church's true spirit is discerned in its 
 attitude towards this numerous, and (especially in 
 our own time) not diminishing class. We do not 
 say, " Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus, No salvation 
 outside the Church." It is no Church question at 
 all. It is a question of one's vital relation to God. 
 Paul feels, with an infinite compassion, that to be 
 without Christ is to be without God and hope. 
 "I find/' wrote Dr. Chalmers, "that without a 
 hold of Christ there is no hold of God at all." It 
 is not God's will that any should be in the outer 
 darkness of doubt, redeeming the time. 
 
 " Making your market fully from the occasion " 
 (Ramsay) ; eagerly seizing, and cheerfully paying 
 the price for, every opportunity of serving God by 
 persuading those who are without to come within 
 the great Divine family circle. 
 
 6. speech . . . with grace . . . with salt. 
 
 Here it is a pity to limit "grace" either to the 
 Greek or the Hebrew meaning of the word. The 
 Christian's speech should be with both human 
 grace (courtesy, affability, sweet reasonableness) 
 and Divine grace (God's own spirit of redeeming 
 love). And his speech should be seasoned with 
 salt, exciting, stimulating, pungent, not stale, in- 
 sipid, tasteless. Attic salt was Attic wit. Christians 
 should cultivate the gift of saline speech, else they 
 
Colossians iv. 7-18 81 
 
 can scarcely be the salt of the earth. Those who 
 live by the ocean are most likely to be impregnated 
 with ozone, how to answer every one. Not 
 with the clever intellectual retort, the rapier thrust 
 ■w^hich transfixes and silences the caviller, but with 
 the convincing power of simple truth, which is 
 often most unanswerable when most naive 
 (cf. 1 Pet. iii. 15). 
 
 Col. iv. 7-18. 
 
 PERSONAL INFORMATION, SALUTATIONS, 
 AND FAREWELL. 
 
 7 All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a 
 beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellowservant 
 
 8 in the Lord : whom I have sent unto you for the same 
 purpose, that he might know your estate, and comfort 
 
 9 your hearts ; with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved 
 brother, who is one of you. They shall make known unto 
 
 10 you all things which are done here. Aristarchus my 
 fellowprisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister's son to 
 Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments : 
 
 11 if he come unto you, receive him;) and Jesus, which is 
 called Justus, who are of the circumcision. These only 
 are my fellowworkers unto the kingdom of God, which 
 
 12 have been a comfort unto me. Epaphras, who is one of 
 you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring 
 fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and 
 
 13 complete in all the will of God. For I bear him record, 
 that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in 
 
 14 Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis. Luke, the beloved 
 
 15 physician, and Demas, greet you. Salute the brethren 
 which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church 
 
 16 which is in his house. And when this epistle is read 
 among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the 
 Laodiceans ; and that ye likewise read the epistle from 
 
 6 
 
82 Westminster New Testament 
 
 17 Laodicea. And say to Archippus, Take heed to the 
 ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou 
 
 18 fulfil it. The salutation by the hand of me Paul. 
 Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen. 
 
 Details of the apostle's life in Rome, interesting 
 to all who love him for his work's sake, need not 
 be committed to writing, as they can be described 
 to the Colossians by the bearer of the letter. 
 Some of Paul's comrades in Rome — three Jews 
 and three Gentiles — desire to transmit their greet- 
 ings to the brethren at Colossee. Then the apostle 
 dictates instructions as to the reading of this and 
 another epistle, sends an exhortation to a leading 
 Colossian worker, and ends the letter by penning 
 an autograph salutation, a tender little appeal 
 for sympathy, and a benediction. 
 
 7-9. All my affairs . . . our estate ... all 
 things that are done here. Paul has no private 
 life. All his " affairs " and his " estate " are bound 
 up with the progress of Christ's kingdom on earth. 
 He belongs to the Church. He has no reserves. 
 He wears his heart on his sleeve. He thinks it 
 perfectly natural that others should wish to knoM^ 
 all about him. He is not afraid of personal para- 
 graphs. To talk of his affairs will not be foolish 
 gossip, it will be profound spiritual conversation. 
 Tychicus . . . Onesimus. These are Christian 
 comrades, w^ho are expecting to pass many days of 
 happy fellowship in the long journey over sea and 
 land from Rome to Colossae. The one is a convert 
 (probably) of Paul's Ephesian mission, the other 
 (certainly) of his Roman captivity. The one is no 
 longer a ^^ Casual " (as ^^ Tychicus" signifies), but a 
 
 faithful minister and fellow-servant in the 
 Lord, and the other now really " Profitable " (a true 
 
Colossians iv. 7-18 83 
 
 " Oiiesimus ") as a faithful and beloved 
 brother. 
 
 10. Aristarchus. "A Macedonian of Thes- 
 salonica " (Acts xxvii. 9), a Jew with a Gentile 
 name, probably one of Paul's earliest European 
 converts. Mark . . . receive him. "Welcome 
 him." Paul could not have written so warmly 
 of Mark some twelve years before^ when the two 
 men were companions for the first time. For 
 after doing some good missionary work, the 
 cousin of Barnabas became faint-hearted and 
 went home to his mother. But that was not the last 
 of him. He put his hand to the plough, and looked 
 back, and yet he did not lose the kingdom. The 
 Lord gave him time to atone for the sin of his 
 youth, and so disciplined him that he became morally 
 strong and brave, lived down his past, effaced all 
 distrust from the apostle's mind, and was ulti- 
 mately recalled to be his companion and share the 
 last dangers of his Roman captivity (cf. 2 Tim. iv. 11). 
 
 11. Jesus. It is strange to remember that 
 many an obscure man once bore this name, which 
 is now too sacred to give to any child. It is the 
 Greek form of Joshua. With the double name 
 "Jesus Justus" compare "John Marcus," "Saul 
 Paulus," Jews of the Empire often having both a 
 Jewish and a Roman name. These only, of all 
 the Jewish Christians, were brave enough to co- 
 operate with the apostle and to be a COmfort to 
 him in Rome. See Phil. ii. 20. 
 
 12. Epaphras. Paul at length comes to the 
 name that is most familiar to all, and most dear 
 to many of, the Colossian Christians, that of their 
 spiritual father, their greatly perplexed pastor, 
 who has gone to Rome to consult his chief about 
 
84 Westminster New Testament 
 
 the dangers which threaten the churches of the 
 Lycus valley. The just and chivalrous words 
 which Paul here writes regarding this servant 
 of Christ Jesus are a faithful minister's reward. 
 They bring before us a true Pastor, striving in 
 all his prayers for his people, his one supreme and 
 absorbing desire in life being to see them stand 
 perfect and full-assured in all the will of 
 
 God, their minds in complete harmony with the 
 Mind whose gospel is the music of the world. 
 Here Paul seems to quote Epaphras' very words, 
 having been impressed by them as they knelt often 
 in prayer together in the Roman prison. 
 
 14. Luke, the beloved physician, was the 
 writer of the Third Gospel and the Acts. He 
 was with Paul in many of his travels, a fact which 
 he indicates in his narrative by the use of the 
 pronoun ^'^we." Paul loved him as a friend, 
 and, being no Christian scientist, relied on his 
 professional skill in days of sickness and suffering. 
 and Demas. This is all that is here said about 
 him. When the apostle's other comrades are all so 
 honourably mentioned, and make their exit bearing 
 their blushing honours thick upon them, is it right 
 that he should be dismissed without one word of 
 praise ? There are moments when, to a sensitive 
 spirit, a mere name is a name dishonoured. But 
 Paul was no doubt just. Perhaps he already guessed 
 that the honour which Demas loved was of another 
 kind than a passing allusion in an apostolic letter. 
 At any rate the curt reference is ominous, and 
 ere long the true spirit of Demas will be revealed 
 (see 2 Tim. iv. 10). 
 
 15. Laodicea. Ten miles down the valley 
 from Colossae, a city " rich and increased in goods " 
 
Colossians iv. 7-18 85 
 
 (Rev. iii. 17). Hierapolis, or Sacred City, six 
 miles north of Laodicea, on the other side of the 
 valley. The three cities were Epaphras' diocese. 
 He could preach at Colossae on a Sunday morning, 
 ride down to Laodicea for the afternoon, and over 
 to Hierapolis in the evening. Nymphas. Some 
 MSS read " Nympha " and " her house," but the 
 masculine has the greater support. Nymphas 
 was evidently a wealthy convert of Laodicea, the 
 owner of a large house, which he threw open for 
 divine service. Thus there was a church in his 
 housC) church meaning not the room, but the 
 people who filled it. The only consecration which 
 the aula (atrium) needed was the prayers and 
 praises of God's people. " Where'er they seek Thee 
 Thou art found, and every place is holy ground." 
 For "his house" we should probably read their 
 house. Having mentioned Nymphas, Paul at 
 once thinks of the members of his family, and so 
 glides into the plural relative. 
 
 16. the letter from Laodicea. Evidently a 
 letter written by Paul to Laodicea. Reasons for 
 believing that this was "the epistle to the 
 Ephesians " are given in the Introduction (p. 14). 
 
 17. Archippus, called by Paul his "fellow- 
 soldier" (Philem. 2), was probably the son of 
 Philemon. He is enjoined to fulfil his ministry. 
 It is most likely that he was taking care of the 
 Colossian Church while Epaphras was visiting 
 Rome. He had no easy post. He had daily to 
 deal with clever Gnostics and dreamy Theosophists. 
 He had to pilot his ship among many rocks and 
 quicksands.' He needed to "fulfil" his ministry in 
 the old sense of the word, to fill it to the full with 
 words of wisdom and deeds of love. 
 
86 Westminster New Testament 
 
 18. my own hand. See 2 Thess. iii. 17. 
 Remember my bonds. As Paul lifts his hand 
 
 to write his salutation, his chain rattles, and he 
 asks the Colossians to remember his bonds. The 
 quiet simplicity of the appeal, which he might 
 have couched in tragic language, and its place 
 just before the peaceful benediction, make it all 
 the more heart-moving. Grace be with yOU. 
 This is the shortest formula of blessing ; the 
 longest is found in 2 Cor. xiii. 14. In the Christian 
 Church the apostolic benediction takes the place of 
 the beautiful Aaronic blessing. Num. vi. 24. 
 
Philem. 1-3. 
 
 GREETING. 
 
 Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, 
 unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer, 
 
 2 and to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, 
 
 3 and to the church in thy house : Grace to you, and peace, 
 from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 This letter is written by the apostle to a Chris- 
 tian brother in Colossae, with (probably) his wife 
 and son, and the community of believers who are 
 in the habit of meeting for worship in his house. 
 
 1. Paul, a prisoner. The soft pathos of the 
 opening words at once arrests our attention, 
 " Paul an apostle " writes most of the letters, and 
 sometimes he finds it necessary to be masterful, 
 but "Paul a prisoner" writes this one, and he is a 
 suppliant. He has no foes to confront, no heretics 
 to refute, no backsliders to correct, no sleepers to 
 awaken ; he has only a humble petition to send to 
 a dear and true friend. Happily in his captivity he 
 is not denied the use of paper and ink. " Few know 
 the heart of a prisoner," sighed Rutherford ; " my 
 silence is my greatest prison." But by putting a 
 pen into the hand of such prisoners Christ let them 
 break their silence and speak in words which endure 
 for ever, a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Paul gets 
 beyond all second causes to the first. It was no 
 irony of fate, no cruel combination of circumstances, 
 87 
 
88 Westminster New Testament 
 
 neither Jewish malice nor Roman policy, but the 
 will of his Master, that brought him to a Roman 
 prison, and Timothy. He is intimately acquainted 
 with Philemon's household, so that his name will 
 strengthen the appeal which Paul is about to make. 
 Philemon our beloved and fellow-worker. 
 *^^ Beloved" sometimes expresses the love of God 
 for His Son, or for His Church, and often, as 
 here, the love of a Christian for his brother. The 
 classical words for "love," with their sensuous 
 associations, could not give adequate expression to 
 a love so spiritual, and the word happily selected 
 for the purpose {agape) is one of the master-terms 
 of Christianity. Philemon was Paul's fellow- 
 WOrker first, probably, during the long and fruitful 
 mission in Ephesus, and then in Colossae, though the 
 apostle had never seen the latter city. 
 
 2. our beloved Apphia. " Apphia our sister " 
 has much stronger MS. authority. This Christian 
 lady was no doubt Philemon's wife, to whom Paul 
 naturally appealed on behalf of Onesimus, for it 
 rested on her as much as on her husband to give 
 the penitent man a kind welcome home, to for- 
 get his guilty past, and to cheer him to face 
 the future with a new hope. Archippus was 
 probably their son, and it was essential that his 
 warm sympathy should also be enlisted on behalf 
 of the returning wanderer. Besides, we learn in 
 Col. iv. 17 that Archippus had a ministry to fulfil, 
 and it would probably fall to him to receive 
 Onesimus into the fellowship of the believers who 
 met as a church in his father's house. Paul honours 
 him with the title of fellowsoldier, which will 
 suggest to him the inspiring thought that they are 
 both following the same Leader, wearing the same 
 
Philemon 4-7 89 
 
 armour, displaying the same banner, fighting the 
 same battles, seeking the same glory. Paul's im- 
 prisonment in Rome and daily contact with the 
 finest soldiers in the world gave him vivid and 
 glowing ideas of gospel compaigning. 
 
 3. Grace . . . peace (cf. Col. i. 2). Here 
 the name of the Son is linked with that of 
 the Father, as in Phil. i. 2, and nothing could 
 more clearly indicate the unique greatness of 
 Christ. 
 
 Philem. 4-7. 
 THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER. 
 
 4 I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my 
 
 5 prayers, hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast 
 
 6 toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints ; that the 
 communication of thy faith may become effectual by the 
 acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ 
 
 7 Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, 
 because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, 
 brother. 
 
 Paul is writing to a brother for whose faith and 
 love he has often ere now had occasion to thank 
 God, for whose growth in spiritual knowledge he 
 has often prayed, and of whose kindness to the 
 saints it has been a joy and comfort to hear. 
 
 4. I thank my God. A frequent and fervent 
 Pauline utterance (see Rom. i. 8 ; 1 Cor. i. 4 ; Phik 
 i. 3). Every epistle except Galatians has a thanks- 
 giving after the opening greeting. '^ My God " is 
 more warm and intense than "God" or "our 
 God." Luther was right when he said that all 
 the comfort of the gospel lies in the personal 
 pronouns. " My God " implies an act of glad appro- 
 
9b Westminster New Testament 
 
 priation, once made and a thousand times repeated. 
 There is a world of difference between the cold, 
 distant recognition of " the Deity " and the ecstatic 
 heart-devotion expressed in the words, "I will praise 
 Thee, O God, my God." making mention of 
 thee. Another familiar Pauline phrase. The 
 apostle's numerous friendships made him a man of 
 many prayers. His intense sympathy had to find 
 an outlet in fervent intercession. Philemon was 
 only one of a multitude, most of them far away, 
 whom he bore in spirit to the throne of grace. 
 
 5. hearing of thy love. Philemon's love 
 would be eulogised to Paul by Epaphras, his 
 minister, and even by Onesimus, his runaway 
 slave. Philemon's beautiful name means " Lover," 
 and he is well worthy of it. Those who knew him 
 best always spoke first of his love, without for- 
 getting, however, to link it (as here) to his faith. 
 Evidently a rich man, he filled his days with 
 thoughts of hospitality and deeds of kindness. 
 Nothing pleased him more than a request to make 
 ready a lodging — a prophet's chamber — for some 
 weary Christian worker (ver. 22). On his tombstone 
 might have been inscribed at last the words, " He 
 refreshed many saints " (ver. 7). faith toward the 
 Lord Jesus. The rush of the apostle's thoughts 
 upsets the logical order of the sentence, so that he 
 seems to be commending Philemon for '^ faith 
 toward all the saints." But clearly what he means 
 is love toward all the saints and faith toward the 
 Lord Jesus. " Faith toward the Lord " is a rare but 
 suggestive phrase (cf. 1 Thess. i. 8). There is a 
 difference between faith in and faith toward 
 God. The one is faith resting, the other faith 
 aspiring. Believers calmly repose in, or on, the 
 
Philemon 4-7 91 
 
 Saviour possessed, and yet they wistfully look and 
 eagerly press toward the Saviour not yet fully 
 possessed. The Christ whom they have found 
 makes them passionately long for " the Christ that 
 is to be." 
 
 6. that the communication of thy faith. 
 Better, the communicativeness, the fellowship of 
 thy faith. Paul refers to Philemon's acts of kind- 
 ness, his deeds of lavish generosity, prompted by 
 faith. He always thinks of faith as an active moral 
 principle. It proves its reality by its sympathy. 
 It thrives by sending out feelers in all directions, 
 by insinuating itself into the lives of others, by find- 
 ing in every man a brother to succour and save. It 
 has "a fellowship of hearts to keep and cultivate." 
 effectual in knowledge. Full spiritual know- 
 ledge ; a favourite word in these Prison Epistles 
 (see Col. i. 9). The logical order of ideas is here 
 to be carefully noted. Faith manifests and verifies 
 itself by a fellowship of love, which in turn becomes 
 effectual (has its result and reward) in a full 
 knowledge, deep, vital, experimental, of every 
 good thing" (every spiritual blessing) which is 
 ours or in US, wrought into the fabric of our 
 renewed nature. Truth reveals her face, not to 
 those who burn the midnight oil, but to those who 
 daily love their brothers. Philemon was probably 
 no scholar, but he believed, he loved, he knew, 
 unto Christ. For His glory, which is to be sought 
 in all our moral and spiritual strivings and attain- 
 ments. 
 
 7. I had much joy ... in thy love. A 
 spiritual happiness intensified in the gloom of a 
 prison-house. How often Paul makes it clear that 
 the chief pleasure of his life, next to his joy in the 
 
92 Westminster New Testament 
 
 Lord, springs from his knowledge of the noble con- 
 duct, the beautiful morale, of his Christian converts 
 and friends! They are now his ^'joy" and his 
 '^ crown," and they prepare for him a perpetual 
 delight and reward. To hear of Philemon's love to 
 complete strangers far away is enough to thrill his 
 heart and light up his countenance with a pure 
 spiritual gladness. At such moments Christ's own 
 joy is in him, and his joy is full, refreshed by 
 thee. Better, "through thee." How suggestive 
 the phrase is ! All Philemon's kind deeds were 
 rather done through him than by him. He was 
 not only acting in the Spirit of Christ ; he was the 
 human medium of Christ's own Divine compassion. 
 
 "Let it be no more my working, 
 
 Nor my wisdom, love, and power, 
 But the grace of Jesus only. 
 
 Passing through me hour by hour." 
 
 brother. The tender, caressing word is kept 
 till the close of the sentence. It has the natural 
 emphasis of a last word, on which the voice dies 
 away. Brotherhood was still too new a thing in 
 the world to have had time to be soiled with 
 all ignoble use. It was the beautiful creation of 
 Christ ; it was His own Spirit of brotherly love 
 breathed into each of His followers. 
 
 Philem. 8-21. 
 PAUL PLEADING FOR ONESIMUS. 
 
 8 Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to en- 
 
 9 join thee that which is convenient, yet for love's sake I 
 rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, 
 
 ID and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I beseech thee 
 
Philemon 8-21 93 
 
 for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds : 
 
 11 which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now 
 
 12 profitable to thee and to me : whom I have sent again : 
 thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels : 
 
 13 whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead 
 he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the 
 
 14 gospel : but without thy mind would I do nothing ; that 
 thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but 
 
 15 willingly. For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, 
 
 16 that thou shouldest receive him for ever ; not now as a 
 servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially 
 to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh, 
 
 17 and in the Lord? If thou count me therefore a partner, 
 
 18 receive him as myself. If he hath wronged thee, or 
 
 19 oweth thee ought, put that on mine account ; I Paul have 
 written it with mine own hand, I will repay it : albeit I 
 do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine 
 
 20 own self besides. Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee 
 
 21 in the Lord: refresh my bowels in the Lord. Having 
 confidence in thy obedience I wrote unto thee, knowing 
 that thou wilt also do more than I say. 
 
 Paul waives his apostolic authority and humbly 
 begs a favour. He has a difficult personal moral 
 problem to solve^ and not without reluctance 
 accepts the only possible solution. His heart 
 argues with his conscience^ and loses. '' Onesimus 
 the Christian belongs to you/' says the one voice ; 
 ^' all that is best in him he owes to you. He loves 
 and adores you as your spiritual child. Your prison 
 will be a heaven to him. Gratitude makes him 
 eager to live for you, and if need be die with you. He 
 will a hundred times rather remain with you than 
 return to his old life. Be kind to him and let him 
 have his wish. You cannot disappoint him." But 
 the other voice makes answer : ^^No, he belongs to 
 
94 Westminster New Testament 
 
 Philemon. He has done a wrong and must confess 
 it. It is his duty to return and make restitution. 
 He cannot be right with God until he has done 
 everything in his power to put himself right with 
 man." So Paul resolves to send Onesimus home 
 to his master ; but he confidently bespeaks for 
 him no pagan reception^ which might mean torture 
 or death, but a warm, loving, Christian welcome, 
 not unlike that which the prodigal son received 
 when he came back from the far country to his 
 father's house. 
 
 8. all boldness in Christ. Paul admired bold- 
 ness, and asked others to pray that he might 
 display it (Eph. vi. 20). Luke noted his posses- 
 sion of it (Acts ix. 29). He hoped that to the 
 very end he would retain it (Phil. i. 20). But 
 there were times when his instincts prompted him 
 to be gentle and persuasive rather than bold and 
 authoritative. To a brother like Philemon it was 
 far better to say, " I beseech you," than " I 
 enjoin you." that which is convenient. The 
 word " convenient " has lost much of its meaning. 
 What is convenient for a person means now no 
 more than what does not give him any trouble. 
 Formerly it meant what was in harmony with his 
 highest principles, what was worthy of his religious 
 profession. This was what Philemon had to con- 
 sider — what was befitting" for him as a Christian, 
 what his Lord would expect of him. 
 
 9. for love's sake. This may mean either 
 for the sake of the love between Paul and 
 Philemon, or for the sake of love in general as 
 the Christian ideal. Either sense is excellent. 
 The spirit of love might suffer if Paul were to 
 enjoin instead of entreating, for love is the most 
 
Philemon 8-21 95 
 
 sensitive as well as the greatest thing in the world. 
 It presupposes a spiritual equality between those 
 who love, and it is pleased when its rights are 
 scrupulously regarded. Paul the aged. This 
 is probably the apostle's real meaning, though 
 Lightfoot contends that we should read '^ Paul 
 the ambassador" (so the margin of R.V. ; cf. 
 Eph. vi. 20 ; 2 Cor. v. 20). The simple, pathetic 
 word ^"^old man" suits the language of entreaty 
 far better than a formal, official title. How old 
 Paul was at this time we cannot tell, and the point 
 is not very important. He was " a young man " 
 at the time of Stephen's death (Acts vii. 58), and 
 perhaps he was still nearer fifty than sixty. Yet 
 he might already look on himself as an old man, 
 worn in the service of Christ. Walter Scott called 
 himself " an old grey man " when he was fifty-five. 
 Happily there is a sense in which such men never 
 grow old (Ps. xcii. 14). 
 
 10. my son . . . Onesimus. Better, "my 
 child." Paul lingers long (as the R.V. shows) before 
 he utters the name — so sweet to him, but for the 
 time, as he well knew, so unpleasant to Philemon 
 — leading up to it with language of caressing 
 tenderness, such as a mother might use of her 
 new-born babe. He writes of his prison-child, 
 born again of the Spirit of God, Onesimus. One 
 can imagine how Philemon opened his eyes as he 
 read the words, how he flung down the roll in 
 impatience, and then how the sudden flush of hot 
 anger softened into an expression of wonder and 
 pity and joy. The incredible had happened. The 
 hardened sinner had come home with the spirit of 
 a little child. 
 
 11. unprofitable . . . profitable. Paul smiles 
 
96 Westminster New Testament 
 
 as he dictates this sentence. He gently plays 
 with his convert's name, writing what he has 
 doubtless often said. " Onesimus " means '■ Help- 
 ful." It was a name given to many Greek slaves, 
 and one which they were naturally proud to bear. 
 But this slave has belied his name. He has been 
 a good-for-nothing. He has defrauded his master 
 and absconded. But now he has undergone the 
 great spiritual change which never fails to bring 
 with it a moral transfonnation, and Paul is sure 
 that he will henceforth live up to his name. He 
 will be a real " Helpful " both to Paul and to 
 Philemon. 
 
 12. I have sent back to thee. Not without 
 
 sorrow, but with a clear sense of duty, Paul directs 
 the fugitive to return. One wonders if he would 
 do the same even if Philemon were a pagan 
 master. Probably he would, though his command 
 would be ten times more difficult to obey. He 
 would not break the laws of Rome by keeping 
 another man's property. The time was still far 
 distant when a nation would proudly say of fugitive 
 slaves, '^ They touch our country, and their shackles 
 fall." The conscience of mankind had first to be 
 educated by the Spirit of Christ, in his OWn 
 person, that is, my very heart. So the R.V. 
 The latter is a wonderfully tender expression. As 
 a lover calls his beloved his sweetheart, so Paul 
 calls the slave whom he has learned to love, his 
 *^own heart." Onesimus was doubtless in eveiy 
 way worthy of his affection. It is quite possible 
 that he was a man of some culture, like many 
 other slaves of the Empire. The higher their 
 education the greater their value to their masters. 
 
 13. I would have retained. "I would fain 
 
Philemon 8-21 97 
 
 have kept" (R.V.). That "fain" is a very happy 
 stroke of translation. It brings out all the wistful- 
 ness of the great apostle, so hungering for human 
 sympathy, while yet so resolute to let no soft 
 sentiment relax his stern sense of duty, that on 
 thy behalf he might minister unto me. This 
 is another exquisite touch. Such words of loving 
 insight, so much higher than clever tact, would go 
 straight to Philemon's heart, making him say, 
 " Would that he had kept him to minister for me ! 
 I would gladly give Paul ten Onesimuses, if I had 
 them, to pay him a little of my own infinite debt." 
 the bonds of the gospel. Compare " my bonds 
 in Christ" (Phil. i. 13), and "a prisoner of Christ 
 Jesus" (vers. 1, 9)- How calmly the hard fact 
 is accepted ! There is no shrill shouting against 
 injustice. Imprisonment is accepted as an honour. 
 The apostle's phrase became a technical expression 
 for a common experience which was as cheerfully 
 welcomed as one's daily bread, because it was the 
 Master's will. Under the words there breathes 
 the heroic spirit which made three centuries of 
 confessors and martyrs. 
 
 14. without thy mind. The decision lay with 
 the master who was nearly a thousand miles away. 
 A month must elapse before Philemon could hear 
 and speak. Paul had a scrupulously fine sense of 
 honour. It was no unctuous rectitude, but the 
 instinctive equity of a Roman citizen as well as of 
 a Christian gentleman that impelled him to render 
 to every man his due. not as of necessity, but 
 willingly. Paul's retention of Onesimus, viewed 
 in however favourable a light, would have been an 
 unwarranted liberty. Philemon's service would 
 have lost all its grace by losing its spontaneity. 
 
 7 
 
98 Westminster New Testament 
 
 15. For perhaps. "Perhaps" indicates a 
 measure of uncertainty. Paul will not rashly 
 dogmatise when he only knows " in part." He 
 suggests what seems to him likely, and no more. 
 He shrinks from a " verily." he waS parted 
 from thee. The realistic truth was that 
 Onesimus ran away in disgrace ; the idealistic, 
 that God parted him for a season from his master. 
 There is an alchemy that extracts from the dross 
 of human transgression the fine gold of Divine 
 providence. Compare Joseph's account of his own 
 kidnapping (Gen. xlv. 5), and Peter's wonderful 
 version of the death of Christ in Acts ii. 23. for 
 a season . . . for ever. God's temporal separa- 
 tions end in everlasting spiritual reunions. The 
 pain of estrangement is forgotten in the rapture 
 of meeting to part no more. "This my slave," 
 Philemon would say, " was dead and is alive again, 
 and was lost and is found." 
 
 i6. no longer as a slave, but . . . a brother 
 beloved. This is the miracle of the gospel. The 
 Spirit of Jesus makes Philemon and Onesimus, 
 taskmaster and slave, brothers not only in name 
 but in truth. Not that Onesimus necessarily ceases 
 to be a slave in law. Paul does not plead for his 
 liberation. He comes within a step of doing so, 
 but he never takes it. Yet Onesimus' position 
 will be completely changed. His master will 
 daily meet him, and greet him, and treat him as 
 a brother. And thus the very principle of bond- 
 service — that some men may be regarded as goods 
 and chattels — is undermined, and manumission 
 becomes merely a matter of time. Slavery will 
 die a natural death, specially . . . how much 
 rather. Literally, "most of all to me, and how 
 
Philemon 8-21 99 
 
 much more to thee." A fine example of logical 
 inexactitude^ indicative of great warmth of feeling. 
 Paul's regard for Onesimus will be superlative^ 
 Philemon's more than superlative ! Excellence is 
 beggared by super-excellence ! both in the flesh 
 and in the Lord. Philemon and Onesimus will 
 be brothers both in the world and in the Church. 
 Brothers at the Communion Table will not be 
 strangers in the market. 
 
 17. me a partner. In the great business of 
 winning souls for the kingdom of God. Less 
 technically^ a comrade, an intimate friend. 
 receive him as myself. Paul has already called 
 Onesimus his child (ver. 10), his heart (ver. 12), his 
 brother (ver. l6). Now he speaks of him as his 
 other self. Perfect love is the fusing of two souls 
 in one. The request of the letter is that Onesimus 
 the Christian may receive as cordial a welcome 
 as would be accorded to Paul the Apostle (cf. 
 Matt. x. 40). 
 
 18. if he hath wronged thee at all, or oweth 
 thee aught (R.V.). This was no doubt the 
 truth, but the hypothetical "if" and the qualifying 
 "at all" and "aught" soften as far as possible 
 the reference to a crime which has been sincerely 
 repented of. Plain, direct, severe censure is for 
 the hardened conscience, gentle language for the 
 contrite heart. put that tO my aCCOUnt. 
 Charge it to me as Onesimus' friend, his other self, 
 his double, who love him so much that I cheerfully 
 make all his obligations my own. 
 
 19. I Paul write it. In general he wrote only 
 the salutation with his own hand, as the credential 
 in every epistle (2 Thess. iii. 17). But here he 
 takes the pen in his hand for another purpose. 
 
lOO 
 
 Westminster New Testament 
 
 He gives Philemon an autograph promissory note, 
 a sort of I.O.U., and signs his name " Paul." 
 He writes his bond in set, formal, lawyer-like 
 terms, as one who means business. But he does 
 it half playfully, for if he knows Philemon at 
 all, he is sure that so true a Christian gentleman 
 will never demand the fulfilment of the bond, but 
 will freely and heartily forgive a brother's trespasses, 
 as his own have been forgiven, thou Owest tO 
 me thine own self. Thus quietly is Philemon's 
 great secret told. He as well as Onesimus is 
 Paul's convert. He found his true self when he 
 found Christ, and he did both through the 
 apostle's influence. To a spiritual father a spiritual 
 child — such as Philemon became when his hairs 
 were grey — instinctively feels himself under 
 supreme obligations. Paul knows how gladly his 
 friend will do something to liquidate his debt. 
 
 20. let me have joy . . . refresh my heart. 
 In the Greek both the "me" and the "my" are 
 emphatic. One can hear the circumflex accent in 
 the apostle's voice. Others have happy memories 
 of good Philemon's love. He has been a brother 
 to many. He has gladdened them and refreshed 
 them. Now it is Paul's turn. "Do something 
 that will bring joy to me, that will refresh my 
 heart, and do it in Christ, for His sake, in His 
 Name and Spirit." The unusual Greek verb in 
 " let me have joy, or help," is the root of the name 
 " Onesimus," and it seems clear that Paul is again 
 playing upon the word. "Let Philemon himself 
 now be a ' Helpful,' an ' Onesimus,' to me ! " 
 
 21. Having confidence. As the tone of the 
 whole letter shows. It is not a small favour that 
 the writer asks — forgiveness for a criminal. But 
 
Philemon 22-25 ^^^ 
 
 he knows that he has only to speak and it will 
 be granted. This is not confidence in human 
 nature as such, but in the Spirit of Christ which 
 penetrates and transforms human nature. Paul 
 knows that Philemon, the Christian, who feels 
 that he has been forgiven ten thousand talents, 
 will not take by the throat the brother who owes 
 him a few hundred pence. 
 
 Philem. 22-25. 
 HOSPITALITY— SALUTATIONS. 
 
 22 But withal prepare me also a lodging : for I trust that 
 
 23 through your prayers I shall be given unto you. There 
 salute thee Epaphras, my fellowprisoner in Christ Jesus ; 
 
 24 Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers. 
 
 25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. 
 Amen. 
 
 22. prepare me a lodging. This is too 
 
 frigid. A lodging for Paul ! It suggests a room 
 outside in the inn, a place among strangers ! 
 Paul does not insult his friend by hinting at such a 
 thing. What he requests is, '' Be ready to show me 
 hospitality." The warmth and sacredness of 
 Eastern hospitality have always been proverbial. 
 for I hope I shall be granted unto you. The 
 apostle is not a prophet in the narrow sense of the 
 word. He can only use the language of hope. 
 The Divine will is not fully revealed to him. 
 There is a sweet naivete in his use of the word 
 granted unto you. It would be affectation to 
 appear ignorant of the immense importance that 
 would attach to his visit to Colossae, so high is 
 the veneration, so great the love, which his labours 
 
I02 Westminster New Testament 
 
 have won for him in the heart of all the churches. 
 But in his self-consciousness there is not a touch of 
 boastfulness. 
 
 23, 24. Epaphras, my fellow-prisoner, who 
 was so well known in Colossae. If "fellow- 
 prisoner" is to be taken literally^ it means that 
 his relations with Paul were so intimate as to 
 excite suspicion and lead to his temporary con- 
 finement. But it may only mean that he was so 
 constant a visitor, so faithful an attendant, in 
 Paul's prison, that he might be said to share the 
 apostle's captivity. For the other names mentioned 
 here see Col. iv. 10, 14. They are valuable links 
 of connection between the two epistles, and marks 
 of the authenticity of both. 
 
 25. Cf Gal. vi. 18. your spirit means the 
 spirit of the persons named in the beginning of the 
 letter. Paul does not say "your spirits," for one 
 spirit animates and unites that household. He 
 prays that in every bosom that spirit may be 
 partaker of the same grace. 
 
Eph. i. I, 2. 
 
 SALUTATION. 
 
 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the 
 saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ 
 2 Jesus : Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, 
 and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 L Paul . . . will of God. See Col. i. 1. The 
 first of many parallelisms of thought and expression 
 in the two epistles. See Introduction, p. 15. to 
 the saints. Holy ones ; persons consecrated ; 
 delivered from sin and devoted to God's service. 
 See Col. i. 2. which are at Ephesus. It is 
 probable that Paul did not write the words "at 
 Ephesus/' which are wanting in the best MSS 
 and omitted by many early writers who quote the 
 passage. It is certain that one ancient copy of 
 the letter had the words " in Laodicea/' and it is 
 hkely that others bore the names of other Asian 
 cities, the epistle being really an apostolic en- 
 cyclical. See Introduction, pp. 13-15. and the 
 faithful. Not a second class, but " the saints " in 
 another aspect. " Faithful " has a spiritual and an 
 ethical meaning — full of faith and worthy of trust, 
 believing in Christ and loyal to Christ. The two 
 meanings are frequently and very naturally blended, 
 faith and life, creed and conduct being as cause 
 and effect. in Christ Jesus. Paul's "mono- 
 gram," expressing his central, vital teaching in a 
 
 X03 
 
I04 Westminster New Testament 
 
 single mystic phrase. To catch the meaning of 
 that in is to find the key to his whole theology 
 of experience. The phrase occurs, in various 
 forms, twelve times in the first thirteen verses of 
 this chapter. It is one of the links between Paul 
 and John, and our Lord's own words, " Abide in 
 Me" (John xv. 4), are nowhere more wonderfully 
 illustrated than in " Ephesians." The minds of 
 the two great apostles ran parallel. Neither of 
 them could live without that mystic union. They 
 had both learned the secret from Christ. Faith 
 not only gives us a fellowship with, but somehow 
 incorporates us in, the risen Lord. 
 
 " I have a life in Christ to live ; 
 I have a death in Christ to die : 
 And must I wait till Science give 
 All doubts a full reply?" 
 
 2. Grace . . . peace. See Col. i. 2. and 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. The words, omitted 
 by the R.V. in Col. i. 9,, are certainly authentic 
 here. They imply that grace and peace come 
 equally from God and from Jesus Christ, and 
 nothing could more clearly or impressively indicate 
 Paul's sense of the Divine majesty of his Lord. 
 
 Eph. i. 3-14. 
 ELECTION AND REDEMPTION. 
 
 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly 
 
 4 places in Christ : according as he hath chosen us in him 
 before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy 
 
 5 and without blame before him in love : having pre- 
 
Ephesians i. 3-14 105 
 
 destinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ 
 
 6 to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to 
 the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made 
 
 7 us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption 
 through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the 
 
 8 riches of his grace ; wherein he hath abounded toward us 
 
 9 in all wisdom and prudence ; having made known unto 
 us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure 
 
 10 which he hath purposed in himself: that in the dispensa- 
 tion of the fulness of times he might gather together in one 
 all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which 
 
 1 1 are on earth ; even in him : in'whom also we have obtained 
 an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose 
 of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own 
 
 12 will : that we should be to the praise of his glory, who 
 
 13 first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after 
 that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salva- 
 tion : in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed 
 
 14 with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of 
 our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased 
 possession, unto the praise of his glory. 
 
 This passage is a magnificent hymn of praise. 
 It begins, like some old Hebrew Psalm, with 
 "Blessed be God/' and ends "to the praise of His 
 glory." From first to last it is essential poetry. 
 It might be arranged in strophes, like the Psalms 
 and Canticles in the Revised Version. The writer 
 glows with the inspiration of his theme. He is 
 at once calm and enthusiastic as he writes a hymn 
 to the grace of God, or rather to the God of grace. 
 He weaves into one splendid sentence — perplexing 
 to the grammarian, but adorable to the lover of 
 verbal music, like some grand composition of 
 Beethoven — his thoughts of election, adoption, 
 redemption, of the mystery of the Father's will. 
 
io6 Westminster New Testament 
 
 the gift of the Son, the sealing of the Holy Spirit. 
 His thoughts are all Christo-centric. God gives 
 us every spiritual blessing in Christ. Before the 
 creation of the world He chose us in Christ. His 
 grace has been historically mediated to us in 
 Christ. We have our redemption in Christ. It 
 is God's purpose to bring all things under one 
 Head in Christ. Formerly the Jews hoped in 
 Christ, now the Gentiles also believe in Christ. 
 And we are sealed with the promised Spirit in 
 Christ. Every conception is linked to the vital 
 truth of the mystic union of the redeemed with 
 the Redeemer, so that Christ is all in all. 
 
 3. Blessed be the God . . . who hath 
 
 blessed us. Songs of praise ascend where streams 
 of mercy flow. God blesses us and we bless Him ; 
 but how different is the content of the verb in 
 the two clauses ! We bless God with thoughts 
 and words, He blesses us with gifts and deeds of 
 infinite love, with every spiritual blessing. 
 " Every " is emphatic. If we have the feeling that 
 temporal blessings are unevenly distributed, it is a 
 consolation to know that spiritual blessings will be 
 divided with absolute impartiality. The prayer for 
 gold may be unheeded, the prayer for grace is 
 always answered. '' No good thing will He with- 
 hold." in the heavenly places. Literally, 
 " the heavenlies." The phrase occurs other four 
 times in this epistle (i. 20, ii. 6, iii. 10, vi. 12), and 
 nowhere else in the N.T. The heavenly places are 
 not in a land that is very far off. They lie " within 
 and about the true Christian " (Lightfoot). Isaac 
 Walton wrote in his memorial of a friend — 
 
 "Of this blest man let this just praise be given, 
 Heaven was in him before he was in heaven." 
 
Ephesians i. 3-14 107 
 
 4, 5. he chose us . . . having foreordained 
 
 us. Election is not a speculative cobweb^ but a 
 fact of experience. Every believer knows that his 
 salvation is from beginning to end a Divine act. 
 And it is certain that God does nothing im- 
 pulsively. He thinks things out (as any wise man 
 does) before He acts ; whatever He effects in time 
 He has planned in eternity. He therefore thought 
 of us and of our salvation before the foundation 
 of the world, and if the world has been spinning 
 for long aeons instead of a few thousand years, that 
 only makes the Divinity that shapes our ends the 
 more wonderful, holy and without blemish. 
 This is God's ideal for us, and He does not mock 
 us by bidding us look up to unattainable heights of 
 holiness. He shows us infinite possibilities. His 
 design that we should be pure and sinless in His 
 holy eyes is one which He Himself will see 
 carried through, in love. In their present posi- 
 tion the words are provokingly vague. Many 
 scholars take them over into the 5th verse, and 
 read, "having in love predestined us." Then 
 they at once begin to palpitate with meaning. 
 They make destiny beautiful. They teach us that 
 God's plans and purposes are all lustred by His 
 love. They constrain us to trust a sovereignty 
 which is everlastingly directed by an infinitely 
 tender Heart. untO adoption as SOns. Paul 
 recognised that all men are the offspring of God 
 (Acts xvii. 28), but whenever he writes of sonship 
 — as he does frequeiitly — he refers to the new 
 spiritual relationship into which men enter by faith 
 in Christ. The glorious liberty of the sons of God 
 is for the new-born. The figure of adoption is 
 borrowed from Roman law, with which Paul the 
 
io8 Westminster New Testament 
 
 Roman citizen was familiar. The practice of taking 
 a child out of another family and making it one's own 
 was entirely alien to Jewish thoughts and habits. 
 
 6. his will . . . his grace. Paul rings the 
 changes on these two great ideas. Both are 
 intensely real to him. He is filled with awe as he 
 thinks of " the good pleasure of God's will," " the 
 mystery of His will/' " the counsel of His will." 
 But he is filled with delight as he thinks of " the 
 glory of His grace/' "the riches of His grace." 
 He knows that the one truth balances the other. 
 He steers a clear course between the Scylla of 
 fatalism on the one side and the Charybdis of 
 sentimentalism on the other. He believes that 
 nothing happens without the sovereign volition^ 
 and nothing without the infinite goodness, of 
 God. With precisely the same sense of the 
 real harmony of apparent antitheses^ Brown- 
 ing exclaims, "All's love, and yet all's law." in 
 the Beloved. One of the sweetest of the 
 Saviour's names. It had already been a designa- 
 tion of the Messiah among the Jews. Christ is 
 beloved of the Father for His own sake ; we are 
 beloved (v. 1) for His sake. He, the altogether 
 lovely, is always well-pleasing to God ; we, unlovely 
 and unlovable, are well-pleasing because He en- 
 circles us with His love. 
 
 7. our redemption. This great word has the 
 stricter sense of rescue by ransom, and the wider 
 of deliverance by any means. The Christian 
 redemption is always related to the shedding of 
 the blood of Christ, which is regarded as a ransom- 
 price (cf 1 Pet. i. 18, 19). Paul is at pains to 
 define redemption as the forgiveness of tres- 
 passes. The definition was probably meant 
 
Ephesians i. 3-14 109 
 
 especially for the perusal of the Gnostics, who 
 believed in redemption by illumination. Forgive- 
 ness is not by any means the only element in 
 redemption, but it is the first and most essential, so 
 that the part may be identified, as it is here, with 
 the whole, riches of his grace. " Riches " occurs 
 five times in this letter. It is characteristic of Paul. 
 He teaches us that all the limitless wealth of God 
 is made over to us in Christ. See Col. iii. l6. 
 
 8, 9. God has made His grace to abound 
 toward us. Here Bunyan got half of the title of his 
 autobiography, '^ Grace Abounding to the Chief of 
 Sinners." The other half was suggested to him by 
 1 Tim. i. 15. wisdom and prudence are lauded 
 in the Prison Epistles. Contrast the disparagement 
 of them in Luke x. 21 and 1 Cor. i. 20, 26. In the 
 one case wisdom is spiritual — the knowledge of 
 the mystery of God's will — in the other it is 
 carnal and secular. In the N.T. mystery means 
 an open secret — something once hidden but now 
 revealed (see p. 47). The Divine plan of redemp- 
 tion, the admission of the Gentiles, and the union 
 of Christ with His Church, are the mysteries of this 
 epistle, in which the word occurs six times. 
 
 10. a dispensation, or " stewardship " ; literally, 
 '^ economy." God is the great Householder, and 
 the Church His household ; Christ is the Steward 
 who has supreme control over its affairs. He is en- 
 trusted with the management of everything in this 
 age, or stage, of the world's history, called (from 
 this passage) the Christian " dispensation." the 
 fulness of the times, or seasons, of revelation 
 and providence, is the time of Christ, our own era 
 of grace, which will ere long end in timeless glory. 
 to sum up all things in Christ. Lit, to bring 
 
lO 
 
 Westminster New Testament 
 
 all things under one Head. ("Recapitulate" 
 comes from the equivalent Latin word.) This is 
 at once the Christian programme of Paul the 
 apostle and the imperial ideal of Paul the Roman 
 citizen. He knows that the unity which the 
 Caesars have impressed upon the Empire is external 
 and superficial. But another organising and 
 reconciling Factor has come. Christ will succeed 
 where the Caesars have failed. By destroying sin 
 
 He will restore all things, both in heaven and on 
 
 earth, to their normal condition of harmony and 
 unity. The reunion of God's separated creation 
 will be effected by the correlation of all things to 
 one Head. It will not be a mere fusion or coalition, 
 but a vital and organic union. This will be the 
 " summing-up " of history — the consummation 
 devoutly to be wished, all things might be 
 translated " the universe/' and the vast expansion 
 of the meaning of the word in modern times only 
 makes the apostle's confident hope the more 
 impressive. Every Christian must needs be an 
 optimist, both for himself and for all creation. 
 
 11. we have obtained an inheritance. 
 Here the A.V. is at least as good as the R.V. 
 That in Christ we have been made heirs of God is 
 a familiar Pauline idea (see Rom. viii. 17). The 
 R.V. gives the expression an O.T. turn. "We 
 were made a heritage " means that God has chosen 
 us as His lot or inheritance. " The Lord's portion 
 is His people" (Deut. xxxii. 9). foreordained . . . 
 purpose . . . counsel . . . will. Paul is not 
 afraid to "reason high of providence, foreknow- 
 ledge, will, and fate." He is no determinist, but 
 he wants to eliminate all idea of merit from the 
 minds of those who are heirs of salvation. He 
 
Ephesians i. 3-14 m 
 
 wishes us to recognise the teHc action of a supreme 
 Mind and Will. He bids us bless the Hand that 
 guided and the Heart that planned. His teaching 
 is in harmony with the growing conviction of modern 
 times^ that all force is mind-force. 
 
 12 J 13. we . . . ye. We Jev/s, ye Gentiles, 
 we . . . hoped in Christ. We cherished the 
 Messianic hope ; we waited long for the morning. 
 Now the day has dawned ; Israel's hope is realised ; 
 the Christ has come, in whom ... in whom. 
 One of Paul's many broken constructions. The 
 second " in whom " picks up the thread, the 
 truth, the gospel. Outside the gospel there is to 
 Paul nothing worthy to be called "the truth." It 
 alone gives him^ as an educated and thinking man^ 
 a reasoned view of life and the universe. The 
 patient seeker after truth finds it in Christy and the 
 conception of things which satisfies his intellect 
 transforms his life. The "word of truth" is more 
 than a philosophy^ it is a gospel of salvation, ye 
 
 were sealed with the Holy Spirit. BeUevers 
 were marked or certified as true Christians when 
 they received the Spirit of promise — the Spirit who 
 had been promised. The reality of their faith in 
 Christ was attested, both to their own conscious- 
 ness and to the judgment of others, by their 
 spiritual gifts and graces. The Spirit's work upon 
 them was like the signing and sealing of a testa- 
 ment, only it was profound, inward, spiritual. 
 Some ancient Fathers and some modern Catechists 
 have spoken of baptism as the seal of union with 
 Christ. That, however, is only an outward and 
 visible sign. The real seal is the unmistakable 
 and indelible stamp made on the human spirit 
 itself by the operation of God the Holy Ghost. 
 
112 Westminster New Testament 
 
 14. which is the earnest. Read "who." 
 The reference is not to " promise " but to " Spirit." 
 It is a pity that the neuter " which " should ever 
 follow "the Holy Spirit/' as it habitually does 
 both in the A.V. and the R.V. Both grammatically 
 and theologically this is confusing. An earnest is 
 an instalment of purchase-money, paid at once as 
 a proof of the reality of a bargain and a pledge of 
 full payment. (The Scotch say " arles/' from the 
 French arrhes — one of many linguistic proofs of an 
 old entente cordiale.^ The Spirit of truth and love 
 and power, who possesses us rather than is possessed 
 by us, is the first instalment of the inheritance 
 which is ours in Christ, unto the redemption 
 (see ver. 7). This great word has sometimes a 
 backward, sometimes a forward look. Here the 
 reference is evidently to the final and perfect 
 redemption — the deliverance, still by ransom, 
 from the last effects of sin (cf. Rom. viii. 23). 
 Paul takes some of the most cherished words of 
 the Old Covenant — promise, inheritance, redemp- 
 tion, possession — over into the New, making the 
 Gentiles partakers of the sacred treasures which 
 they have so long enshrined, in order that a far 
 greater Israel, an innumerable company of 
 redeemed spirits — God's own possession — may 
 live to the praise of His glory. 
 
 Eph. i. 15-23. 
 PRAYER FOR THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM. 
 
 15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord 
 
 16 Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give 
 thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers ; 
 
Ephesians i. 15-23 113 
 
 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of 
 glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revela- 
 
 18 tion in the knowledge of him : the eyes of your under- 
 standing being enlightened ; that ye may know what is 
 the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory 
 
 19 of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding 
 greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according 
 
 20 to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought 
 in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him 
 
 21 at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all 
 principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and 
 every name that is named, not only in this world, but 
 
 22 also in that which is to come : and hath put all things 
 under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things 
 
 23 to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that 
 filleth all in all. 
 
 Paul tells his readers of an oft-repeated act of 
 praise and prayer. He habitually thanks God 
 for the faith and love of the churches to whom 
 he is writings and fervently desires for them a 
 fuller knowledge of the glory of their spiritual 
 heritage, and of the marvellous power which is 
 working on their behalf — the same power which 
 raised Christ from the grave and made Him 
 supreme over all creation and Head of the Church 
 which is His body and His fulness. 
 
 15. I also, having heard. It was natural 
 that Paul should write in such terms to the 
 Colossians, whom he had never seen (Col. i. 4) ; 
 but could he say that he had merely " heard " of 
 the faith of the Ephesians, among whom he had 
 lived and laboured for nearly three years ? It is 
 scarcely possible. Acts xx. shows how warm and 
 intimate were his relations with the Christians of 
 Ephesus. In this epistle he must have in view, 
 
114 Westminster New Testament 
 
 in addition to such readers, a number of other 
 churches, of which he has only heard by report. 
 See Introduction, p. 13. faith . . . love. Paul 
 probably dictated both these words, just as the 
 A.V. has them. The R.V., following the best 
 MSS, omits ^Hove," but the resultant reading is 
 extremely awkward. " Faith towards all the 
 saints" is an expression quite without parallel. 
 The omission may be an error, not of the copyist, 
 but of Paul's own amanuensis. 
 
 16. cease not. See Col. i. 3; Philem. 4. 
 thanks . . . prayers. It is a striking fact that 
 nearly all the apostle's recorded thanksgivings 
 and prayers are altruistic. His own personality 
 does not overshadow the throne of grace. In 
 his intense desire to save others he all but 
 forgets (like Wilberforce) that he has a soul of 
 his own to save, and his sympathy is pre-eminent 
 in his communion with God. His prayers are 
 intercessions. His spirit basks in the sunshine 
 of others' joy ; and only the sorrows of others throw 
 a shadow over him. 
 
 17. the God of our Lord. God endears 
 Himself to us through all the others who have 
 loved and worshipped Him. We feel drawn to the 
 God of Abram, David, Isaiah ; we adore the God 
 of the saints and martyrs ; we will think often 
 before we renounce our own father's and mother's 
 God. But the God who wins all our love is the 
 God of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who knew 
 Him best has perfectly revealed Him to us 
 as the Father of glory, a phrase which adds 
 so much to the Psalmist's '' King of glory " 
 (Ps. xxiv. 8, 10). a spirit of wisdom. Some 
 would read "the Spirit of wisdom." In any case 
 
Ephesians i. 15-23 115 
 
 the real spirit of wisdom is the gift of tlie 
 Holy Spirit who guides men into all truth. The 
 apostle who most deeply distrusts ^^the wisdom 
 of this world" (1 Cor. i. 20) most highly prizes 
 " spiritual wisdom " (Col. i. 9)^ " the wisdom of God " 
 (1 Cor. ii. 7). " Knowledge comes, but wisdom 
 lingers." 
 
 18. the eyes of your heart. Plato speaks of 
 
 "the eye of the soul/' and Milton prays: "So 
 much the rather, Thou, Celestial Light, dwell 
 inward, there plant eyes." the hope of his 
 calling is the hope related to the calling which 
 He has given us. This is not so much the sub- 
 jective emotion as the objective prospect ; the 
 radiant heavenly hope that is set before us ; the 
 beckoning Christian vision of perfection, riches 
 . . . glory . . . inheritance. No one knew better 
 than Paul how to make magnificent language 
 express magnificent things. " Our inheritance " 
 (repeated from ver. 14) is now called "His inherit- 
 ance among the saints," — the inheritance which is 
 His gift to the saints. Another interpretation, 
 which makes the saints themselves His heritage, 
 on the analogy of "the Lord's portion is His 
 people," is less likely. 
 
 19. his power to US-ward. His power stream 
 ing toward us, and for ever energising on our 
 behalf. In iii. 20 it is called "the power that 
 worketh in us." The same Divine might by 
 which Christ rose victorious from the grave is 
 taking us in hand, so that nothing is impossible. 
 We have all omnipotence behind us, and we 
 cannot fail (cf. Isa. xl. 26-31). 
 
 20. he raised him. Christianity as a con- 
 quering faith reposes on this fact of history. The 
 
ii6 Westminster New Testament 
 
 N.T. message is distinctively the Gospel of the 
 Resurrection. Christ's rising again from the dead 
 is the most stimulating and uplifting force in the 
 moral life of mankind, for it is the victory of 
 idealism over materialism. It lights for us the lamp 
 of immortality, made him to sit on his right 
 hand. On the throne of the universe, as Lord 
 of all. The adoring hosts with songs surround it, 
 and He sits thereon (Rev. iii. 21). 
 
 21. far above all. The highest place that 
 Heaven affbrds is His by right, principalities 
 . . . dominion. These words were current in 
 the angelology and angelolatry of the time ; 
 abstract names for the invisible elemental spirits 
 of heaven and earth (see Col. i. l6). If Paul does 
 not relegate them to the region of myth, he at 
 any rate dethrones them from the place of worship 
 in the human heart. For him there is but one 
 Name that is to be named with Divine honours. 
 
 22, 23. put . . . under his feet. A remini- 
 scence of Ps. viii. 7, where man is idealised as lord 
 of creation. That conception is first fully realised 
 in Christ, risen, exalted, reigning, head . , . tO 
 the church. In Paul's epistles the word " church " 
 ranges in meaning from the little company of 
 believers worshipping in a private house, or the 
 single congregation of a town, to the Christian 
 community of a province or country, and finally 
 to the whole brotherhood of believers throughout 
 the world — the Church universal or Catholic. In 
 Ephesians it always has the widest significance. 
 The relation between Christ and His Church is a 
 matter of supreme importance. It is not merely 
 the external association of sovereign and subject, 
 teacher and taught, but the vital, organic relation 
 
Ephesians ii. i-io 117 
 
 of head and body. Christ is literally the Life of 
 the Churchy which is His body, and through which 
 He accomplishes His will. And just as the body 
 can do nothing without the Head, so, we may 
 reverently say, the Head can do nothing without 
 the body. Therefore the Church is also called 
 the fulness, or complement, of Christ. All the 
 fulness of the Godhead dwells in Him (Col. ii. 9), 
 and He imparts all that fulness to the Church, 
 which thus becomes His medium of perfect self- 
 realisation. " Such is Christ's love for the Church, 
 that He, as it were, regards Himself as incomplete 
 unless He has the Church united to Him as a 
 
 body" (Beza). him that filleth all in all. 
 The reference is to Christ. He fills all things with 
 all things. The universe is His and the fulness 
 thereof. For other statements regarding His 
 relation to "all things," see Col. i. 17 ; Heb. i. 3. 
 
 Eph. ii. i-io. 
 THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD. 
 
 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses 
 
 2 and sins ; wherein in time past ye walked according to 
 the course of this world, according to the prince of the 
 power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the 
 
 3 children of disobedience : among whom also we all had 
 our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, 
 fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind ; and 
 were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 
 
 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith 
 
 5 he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath 
 quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are 
 
 6 saved j) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit 
 
ii8 Westminster New Testament 
 
 7 together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus : that in the 
 ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his 
 
 8 grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For 
 by grace are ye saved through faith ; and that not of 
 
 9 yourselves : it is the gift of God : not of works, lest any 
 man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created 
 in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before 
 ordained that we should walk in them. 
 
 He who raised and exalted Christ has in love 
 raised and exalted sinners with Him, saving them 
 not because of any merits of their own but in the 
 wealth of His grace, and preparing them for a 
 life of holiness which He has already prepared 
 for them. This is one of the grandest evangelical 
 passages in the N.T. It abounds in vivid, startling 
 contrasts — death and life, nature and grace, works 
 and faith, wrath and love, this world and the 
 heavenlies, the working of the spirit of evil and 
 the workmanship of God. 
 
 1. And you . . . This is another of Paul's many 
 broken constructions {anacoloutha). In the Greek 
 we do not reach the verb which has slipped from 
 his mind till we get to the 5th verse, where he 
 recovers the lost thread. But the translators have 
 inserted the missing word in the 1st verse, when 
 ye were dead. The natural man is in a state of 
 moral and spiritual insensibility, similar to that 
 of a paralysed arm in the body. He is dead to 
 the motives and voices of the spiritual world, just 
 as the true Christian in his turn becomes dead to 
 the motives and voices of the sensual world (Col. 
 iii. 3). dead ... ye walked ... we lived. 
 The sequence is very striking. Their hearts 
 throbbed, their eyes glistened, their spirits danced 
 in busy scenes of earthly gloiy and pleasure, love 
 
Ephesians ii. i-io 119 
 
 and hope. They seemed to be bubbling over with 
 vitality. Yet they were dead ! (Cf. 1 Tim. v. 6.) 
 
 2. the course of this world, or this age. There 
 is a drift of opinion, a tide of sentiment, in the epoch 
 on which we have been cast from which none of us 
 can quite escape. "The spirit of the age" is a modem 
 phrase which scarcely conveys the idea, unless we 
 were to think of the Zeitgeist as predominantly bad. 
 the prince of the power of the air. " That the 
 notion of the air being the dwelling-place of spirits, 
 and specially of evil, was current, appears to be 
 beyond doubt. There is no difficulty in supposing 
 that St. Paul is here alluding to such current 
 notions. Nor are we to suppose that he is con- 
 veying any special revelation about the matter " 
 (Abbott). To us moderns the idea of an air-prince 
 inevitably suggests something quite different ! the 
 prince ... of the spirit that now worketh. 
 This is a difficult clause. The thought seems to 
 be that there is an impersonal evil spirit that 
 seduces the minds of disobedient men, and that 
 this world-spirit has a personal origin. It is clear 
 that Paul believed not merely in a principle 
 but a prince of evil, a superhuman instigator of re- 
 bellion against God, a prince ruling not in absolute 
 kingship, but as a pretender, a usurper, sons of 
 disobedience. A Hebrew mode of expression. 
 Compare " sons of iniquity," " sons of light," 
 " sons of perdition." Also, children of wrath in 
 the next verse, which means worthy of, or exposed 
 to, wrath, as in such phrases as "a son of stripes," 
 "a son of death." 
 
 3, 4. wrath . . . mercy . . . great love. The 
 proximity of the words is striking. Pure love and 
 equally pure wrath are next neighbours. Perhaps 
 
I20 Westminster New Testament 
 
 nothing is so desiderated in the religion of to-day 
 as the restoration of the idea of wrath. It is so 
 difficult for men to be angry without sinning that 
 we naturally shrink from attributing wrath to God. 
 But who can either love or fear a God who does not 
 care enough for us to be wrathful (with perfect holi- 
 ness) when we sin, as the most loving father is angry 
 with sons who have been really wicked ? Paul be- 
 lieves in a God of wrath because he believes in a 
 God of great love. The spirit of man is both 
 " consumed and quickened by the glance of God." 
 we also are Jews^ the rest Gentiles. 
 
 5. quickened us . . . with Christ. Another 
 expression of the marvellous union between Christ 
 and believers, which is so close that every ex- 
 perience of His has its spiritual analogue in them. 
 They die with Him, and they are quickened (be- 
 come ^^ quick/' or alive) with Him. Then they 
 ascend with Him, and sit in heavenly places with 
 Him, while all the time they remain on this 
 prosaic earth, have ye been saved. Salvation 
 is variously viewed in the N.T. as past, present, or 
 future. Here it is regarded as an accomplished 
 fact, never requiring to be repeated, but with 
 abiding issues. 
 
 5-8. by grace . . . exceeding riches of his 
 grace ... by grace. Grace, which is God's 
 redeeming love for sinners, is the cardinal fact in 
 Paul's theology. It occurs over a hundred times 
 in his letters. It is his ineintable w^ord. Its various 
 aspects are to him the facets of a priceless gem. 
 Merit has no place in salvation, which is from be- 
 ginning to end by grace, through faith. Pride 
 is a mistake as well as a sin ; grace precludes all 
 glorying ; salvation comes to us as the gift of God. 
 
Ephesians ii. 11-22 121 
 
 9,10. not of works . . . for good works. No 
 
 man dreaded good works so much as Paiil^ and 
 no man loved them more. His mind was perfectly 
 balanced. He saw clearly that while we are not 
 saved by good works, we are created in Christ 
 Jesus /or good works. We do not serve for salva- 
 tion, we are saved for service. It has been well 
 said by Adolphe Monod that this little word ^'^for" 
 reconciles St. Paul and St. James better than all 
 the commentators, we are his workmanship. 
 All Nature is God's handiwork, but the finest 
 products of His skill are sinners made saints. 
 
 created us in Christ Jesus (cf. Gal. vi. 15). 
 
 Breathing into man the breath of life was scarcely 
 so wonderful as is breathing into sinful man the 
 Holy Spirit. Conversion is the highest kind of 
 creation. 
 
 Eph. ii. 11-22. 
 CHRIST MAKING AND PREACHING PEACE. 
 
 11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles 
 in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which 
 is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands ; 
 
 12 that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from 
 the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the 
 covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God 
 
 13 in the world : but now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes 
 
 14 were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he 
 is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken 
 
 15 down the middle wall of partition between us; having 
 abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of com- 
 mandments contained in ordinances ; for to make in 
 
 16 himself of twain one new man, so making peace ; and that 
 he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the 
 
122 Westminster New Testament 
 
 17 cross, having slain the enmity thereby : and came and 
 preached peace to you which were afar ofif, and to them 
 
 18 that were nigh. For through him we both have access by 
 
 19 one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no 
 more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the 
 
 20 saints, and of the household of God ; and are built upon 
 the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ 
 
 21 himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the 
 building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple 
 
 22 in the Lord : in whom ye also are builded together for an 
 habitation of God through the Spirit. 
 
 The sweet, dominant note of this passage is peace. 
 Having heard it once, we listen for it again and 
 again, and not in vain. To see the olive branch 
 which a Jew presented to the Gentile world was in 
 those days enough to take one's breath away. In 
 his hot youth Paul would have rejected the idea of 
 a compact between the circumcised and the un- 
 circumcised with unlimited scorn. But a portent 
 has appeared which has, in his own language, slain 
 and aljolished the old enmity. It is the Cross. 
 Jew and Gentile come nigh to God, and to one 
 another, through Christ's blood. Both have access 
 in one Spirit to the Father, and in His presence 
 they are reconciled. Christ creates a new man- 
 hood, neither Jewish nor Gentile but Christian ; and 
 all believers form one holy temple inhabited by God. 
 
 11. remember that aforetime. Not incon- 
 sistent with the advice to forget the things which 
 are behind (Phil. iii. 13). If you are thinking of the 
 past complacently, forget it ; if humbly and thank- 
 fully, cherish the memory (cf. Isa. li. 1). '^ I often 
 take a dander up and down my unregenerate days," 
 said a Scottish saint. Circumcision had once 
 been to Paul a sacramental mark, the sign of 
 
Ephesians ii. 1 1-22 123 
 
 entrance into covenant with God, but by Divine 
 grace he has emancipated himself entirely from 
 that realm of ideas. Instead of a sign in the flesh, 
 made by human hands, he now desires a reality in 
 the spirit, made by the hand of God. 
 
 12. without Christ . . . without God. The 
 spiritual poverty of the Gentiles seemed to Paul 
 a fivefold deprivation. They were without the 
 Messiah, without the commonwealth of Israel, 
 without the covenants, without hope, without God. 
 Contrast what he says of Israel (Rom, ix. 3-5). 
 The statement that the Gentiles are ^^ without 
 God " is a general one. There were noble excep- 
 tions. Paul elsewhere quotes with approval a 
 devout Gentile saying, " For we are also His off- 
 spring." But even now a reading of the best that 
 has been said by the religious teachers of Greece 
 only serves to confirm one's sense of the vast 
 superiority of the religious heritage of Israel, 
 aliens . . . strangers. In those days it was the 
 Gentiles who were to the Jews undesirable aliens. 
 They were strangers — a familiar civic term — to the 
 theocratic kingdom, outlanders who had no rights 
 and privileges among the chosen people, spiritual 
 inferiors who received at the best but a cold 
 welcome as proselytes of the gate. 
 
 13. far off . . . made nigh (cf. Isa. Ivii. 19). 
 To sin is to go into the far country, to repent is to 
 come nigh again to the Father's House. On the 
 whole the heathen were unquestionably remote from 
 God in comparison with Israel, who had heard the 
 voice, " Draw nigh to Me, and I will draw nigh to 
 you." nigh in the blood of Christ. His life- 
 blood is the condition of our acceptance (Matt, 
 xxvi. 28). Every believer becomes like a high 
 
124 Westminster New Testament 
 
 priest entering the holy place of communion with 
 blood not his own. 
 
 14.. he is our peace. "He" is emphatic — 
 He in His own person, He alone. The primary 
 idea is peace between Jew and Gentile, but that 
 of peace between God and man is close at hand. 
 None of the gifts of God come to us apart from 
 Christ, the unspeakable Gift. We ask God to 
 give us truth, life, peace ; we receive Christ, and 
 find that He is the Truth and the Life, He is our 
 Peace. both one. Instead of a sharp division 
 there is now a perfect union, all nations forming 
 one family of the living God. the middle wall. 
 The figure was probably suggested to Paul by the 
 wall in the Temple area dividing the Court of the 
 Gentiles from that of the Jews. On this wall was 
 inscribed a warning (unearthed only a few years 
 ago) that any man of another nation who passed 
 inside would have himself to blame for the death 
 which would ensue. Paul in imagination sees 
 this wall broken down, as within a few years it 
 was broken down in fact. For a modern parallel 
 one thinks of the wall of partition at the Jews 
 Wailing Place, where for many centuries they 
 cried in vain for entrance. At last a bloodless 
 revolution has come, the gates are open, and the 
 outcasts are admitted inside, just as if the middle 
 wall had suddenly been broken down. 
 
 15. the enmity, even the law. The apposi- 
 tion of these two expressions is somewhat harsh, 
 but the meaning is clear. The enmity is the 
 racial antipathy between Jew and Gentile. Christ 
 has ended it by abrogating the laM^, which is 
 the ground of Jewish pride and hostility, and 
 bringing in the new order of grace, which is 
 
Ephesians ii. 11-22 125 
 
 equally kind to Jew and Gentile. By drawing to 
 Himself these age-long national foes^ by filling 
 them both alike with His Spirit^ Christ creates 
 of the twain one new man, a wholly fresh type 
 of manhood, which is at once international and 
 ideally human just because it is Christian. 
 
 16. reconcile unto God. Christ brings Jew 
 and Gentile into right relations to each other by 
 bringing both into right relations to the Father 
 in one body, the Church, having slain the 
 enmity. How many evils He slew in the hour 
 He was slain ! His cross is a two-edged sword 
 with which He kills all envy and strife. It is a 
 magic wand with which He transforms sworn foes 
 into bosom friends. 
 
 17. he . . . preached peace . . . peace. 
 
 The repetition has rhetorical force. Christ makes 
 peace (ver. 15), indeed He is our peace (ver. 14), 
 before He preaches peace. he came and 
 preached. When.^ After His death and resur- 
 rection, in the might of His Spirit, through the 
 ministiy of His apostles and prophets. Thus He 
 reached the Gentiles who were far off. And by 
 such means He is preaching still. Every true 
 evangelist is an organ-pipe filled with the breath 
 of His Spirit. 
 
 18. our access to the Father. Only the 
 pure and holy can enjoy God's fellowship. Such is 
 Christ, and such are we who are identified with 
 Him by faith. We have the freedom of children 
 in our Father's house and presence. 
 
 19- the household of God. This translation 
 retains the idea of a house, but is apt to suggest 
 " servants," which is not the thought. The family 
 (consisting of children) is the real meaning. There 
 
126 Westminster New Testament 
 
 is not only a City of God, in which we who were 
 strangers and foreigners are now fellow-citizens 
 with the saints, enjoying the full freedom of the 
 City, but a Family of God, in which we who were 
 wayward and wandering children are now at home 
 with our Father, with never a thought of quitting 
 His presence again. 
 
 20. the foundation. This may mean the 
 foundation laid by apostles and prophets, or the 
 foundation which consists of apostles and prophets. 
 The second is the likelier meaning, though else- 
 where Christ Himself is emphatically called the 
 one foundation (1 Cor. iii. 11). The Church is 
 based on the faith of Christians and the Godhead 
 of Christ (see Matt. xvi. 18). He is here called 
 the chief corner stone, which in ancient archi- 
 tecture was regarded as more important than the 
 foundation (cf 1 Pet. ii. 6). prophets are of 
 course N.T. prophets, men inspired and enthused 
 by the new Evangel, not fore-tellers but forth- 
 tellers of God's message to a redeemed world. 
 
 21, 22. each several building. We have to 
 imagine " an extensive pile of buildings in process 
 of construction at different points on a common 
 plan. The several parts are adjusted to each other 
 so as to preserve the unity of design" (Abbott). 
 The whole grows into a symmetrically beautiful 
 sanctuary. There are many churches, and yet one 
 Church, which is the habitation of God in the 
 Spirit. The Christian Jew who is so fascinated 
 by this splendid conception has forgotten the old 
 Temple on Mount Sion, because he sees a new and 
 infinitely more spacious one rising in the Lord, 
 resplendent with all the might and majesty of the 
 risen and exalted Redeemer. 
 
Ephesians iii. 1-13 127 
 
 Eph. iii. 1-13. 
 PAUL'S MISSION TO THE GENTILES. 
 
 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you 
 
 2 Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace 
 
 3 of God which is given me to you-ward : how that by 
 revelation he made known unto me the mystery ; (as I wrote 
 
 4 afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may under- 
 
 5 stand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) which in 
 other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as 
 it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by 
 
 6 the Spirit ; that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of 
 the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the 
 
 7 gospel : whereof I was made a minister, according to the 
 gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual 
 
 8 working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the 
 least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach 
 
 9 among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ ; and 
 to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, 
 which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in 
 
 10 God, who created all things by Jesus Christ : to the in- 
 tent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly 
 places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom 
 
 11 of God, according to the eternal purpose which he pur- 
 
 12 posed in Christ Jesus our Lord : in whom we have boldness 
 
 13 and access with confidence by the faith of him. Wherefore 
 I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which 
 is your glory. 
 
 This paragraph is a digression. Paul goes off at 
 a tangent, and does not return to his starting-point 
 till ver. 14. A reference to his imprisonment on 
 behalf of the Gentiles prompts him to enlarge on 
 the commission which he has received to declare to 
 all men the Divine Secret, long hidden but now 
 
128 Westminster New Testament 
 
 revealed, that the Gentiles are fellow-heirs with the 
 Jews, fellow-partakers with them of all spiritual 
 privileges. The passage is intensely interesting as a 
 reflection of Paul's self-consciousness, which com- 
 bines an almost abject lowliness with an amazing 
 loftiness of spirit. He is less than the least of all 
 saints, and yet it is given to him to illuminate by 
 his mission and teaching not only the nations of 
 this world but the highest created intelligences in 
 heavenly places. 
 
 1. I Paul. We have already come upon this 
 formula in Col. i. 23 ; Philem. 19. A man may repeat 
 "I " very often without being in the least egoistic, 
 if he is all the while saying, " I live, and yet not I, 
 
 but Christ liveth in me." the prisoner of Jesus 
 
 Christ. This designation is used, with variations, 
 four times in the Pauline epistles. It is thus that 
 Nero's prisoner prefers to regard and name himself. 
 He is suffering for Christ's cause ; his Master has 
 brought him to a Roman prison. So Rutherford 
 used to sign himself ^^ Christ's prisoner in Aber- 
 deen." So Luther was His prisoner in the Wartburg, 
 Bunyan in Bedford. The whole world of letters 
 as well as the Church has reason to thank Him for 
 selecting such men as His prisoners. When the 
 prison doors closed upon them, Heaven opened. 
 
 2. Here the construction is broken. Paul is 
 beginning a prayer (see ver. 14), when the word 
 '' Gentiles " suggests to him his great commission, 
 and he must needs speak of it. if ye have heard. 
 Paul eould not have addressed such words to a 
 church with which he was familiar. See Introduc- 
 tion, p. 14. the dispensation (see i. 10). Paul is 
 the steward in God's House, the dispenser of His 
 grace to all the Gentiles, that grace of God 
 
Ephesians iii. 1-13 129 
 
 (so R.V.) was given him not for his own sake, but 
 for the whole world. 
 
 3, 4. by revelation. A phrase of frequent 
 occurrence in Paul's epistles (see Gal. i. 12, ii. 2). 
 He claims to be an inspired man, to whom Divine 
 secrets have been supernaturally disclosed. His 
 doctrine is not the product of other men's best 
 teaching or of his own strenuous thinking, but 
 of God's direct communications to him (Gal. 
 i. 15, i6). the mystery . . . the mystery of 
 Christ, which . . . hath now been revealed. 
 It is God's love of the Gentiles, resulting in their 
 admission to His favour on equal terms with the 
 Jews, that is so named. To us this is a common- 
 place, but to Paul it was as startling as the 
 discovery of a new world. aS I wrote afore. 
 Better, ^^as I have already written above." 
 
 5. his holy apostles and prophets (cf. ii. 
 20). This clause forms one of the common argu- 
 ments against the Pauline authorship of the 
 epistle. The author, it is said, could never have 
 talked of the " holy apostles " if he had been one of 
 them himself; the phrase betrays the conditions 
 of a later age ; it has already a Catholic flavour. 
 But in point of fact Paul habitually calls all Chris- 
 tian saints (or holy), and frequently uses the word 
 when he is personally included. He would not in 
 the least object to our saying "St. Paul " if only 
 we would say " St. John Brown " and " St. Peter 
 Jones." It is not a question of man's holiness, 
 but of God's hallowing. To speak of oneself as 
 " consecrated " is to claim no merit, for consecration 
 (except when we abuse the word) is a Divine, not 
 a human act. 
 
 6. fellow-heirs. The word "fellow" is thrice 
 
I30 Westminster New Testament 
 
 used in the verse (R.V.). Paul rejoices in the 
 thought of the goodly fellowship^ still so novel and 
 so strange^ of Jews and Gentiles. They are all heirs 
 of the same kingdom, members of the same body, 
 partakers of the same promise in Christ JesUS. 
 
 7. I ... a minister. This thought always 
 moved Paul to adoring wonder. The ministry 
 came to him by the gift of the grace of God. 
 His natural endowments, his home privileges, his 
 college education, and especially his conversion, 
 contributed to the result. But it was a Divine 
 call over and above all this that made him a 
 minister. It was the working of the power of 
 God within him. One remembers the advice of 
 a great preacher to young men not to become 
 ministers if they can help it ! If they are once 
 thrilled by the touch of that Divine Power they 
 cannot help it. They bow to their fate. Woe to 
 them if they preach not, rapture if they do ! 
 
 8. less-than-the-least. It is all one word in 
 Greek, a word Avhich none but Paul could have 
 coined, in which the comparative degree is piled 
 on the top of the superlative. Never was a man 
 more conscious of personal un worthiness than Paul. 
 He would have cheerfully accepted Renan's de- 
 scription of him as "an ugly little Jew," only it was 
 his moral rather than his physical ugliness that 
 troubled him. And yet unto me was this 
 grace given! Compare David's words, "What 
 am I . . . that Thou hast brought me hitherto.?" 
 the unsearchable riches. Never till we come 
 to the Pastorals do we find the word "riches" 
 used in the sense of material wealth. Paul 
 delights to think of his spiritual treasures. He 
 is " poor yet making many rich," for he possesses. 
 
Ephesians iii. 1-13 131 
 
 and shares with others^ all the wealth of Christ, 
 which is unsearchable (cf. 1 Cor. iii. 21). 
 
 9. to make all men see. Lit., to clear up, or 
 
 bring to light (cf. 2 Tim i. 10). Paul is calmly 
 conscious that his preaching to the Gentiles 
 is the greatest clearing up of ideas — Aiifkl'dning, 
 as the Germans say — that the world has ever 
 seen. It is the disclosing of the Divine Secret 
 of the ages. No wonder Paul was amazed that 
 he should be the chosen medium of this vast 
 illumination. 
 
 10. known through the church. There is also 
 an enlightenment in heaven ! The highest created 
 spirits — principalities and powers — are not perfect 
 in knowledge ; God has many things still to teach 
 them ; and now their time of revelation is come. 
 They are to complete their education by the study of 
 things on earth. The Church — the whole company 
 of beUevers — is to instruct these students of heaven. 
 She knows better than they can the manifold (or 
 many-coloured) wisdom of God. She can teach 
 them what she has learned by sinning, suifering, 
 and being saved. In her as in a mirror they will 
 see reflections of Divine attributes more brilliant 
 and wonderful than they have ever yet beheld. 
 These are things which " the angels desire to look 
 into" (1 Pet. i. 12). From all this we learn that 
 our little planet, with its enthralling spiritual 
 drama, is immensurably greater in Heaven's sight 
 than whole solar systems. Bigness is not great- 
 ness ; mind is the measure of all things. 
 
 12. boldness and access. In this verse Paul 
 comes quietly back to earth, and feels again for 
 the common chord. Apart from Christ we have 
 no confidence in prayer, unless we are fools who 
 
132 Westminster New Testament 
 
 rush in where angels fear to tread. But in Christ 
 we use the boldness and freedom of children who 
 know that they have the run of their father's 
 house. As another apostle says, " Perfect love 
 casteth out fear." 
 
 13. my tribulations . . . your glory. The 
 prisoner bids his readers not pity his sufferings too 
 much, even if endured for their sake. Looked 
 at in another light, they will all be trans- 
 figured. Seen as God beholds them, they are 
 experiences to glory in. Faith sees the martyr's 
 aureole round his head, his crown of glory that 
 fadeth not away. 
 
 Eph. iii. 14-21. 
 THE LOVE WHICH PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our 
 
 15 Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven 
 
 16 and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to 
 the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by 
 
 17 his Spirit in the inner man ; that Christ may dwell in your 
 hearts by faith ; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 
 
 18 may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the 
 
 19 breadth, and length, and depth, and height ; and to know 
 the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might 
 
 20 be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that 
 is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask 
 
 21 or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto 
 him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all 
 ages, world without end. Amen. 
 
 This is the noblest of all the recorded prayers of 
 St. Paul, leading up to one of his grandest dox- 
 ologies. The power of the Spirit, the indwelling 
 of Christ, the knowledge of His love, the fulness 
 
Ephesians iii. 14-21 133 
 
 of God — these are the blessings which he asks for 
 his readers. And then he gives glory to God who 
 can do infinitely more than he or they can either 
 ask or think ! 
 
 14. I bow my knees. His boldness and con- 
 fidence (ver. 12) do not detract from his profound 
 reverence. Standing was the usual Jewish posture 
 in prayer (Mark xi. 25), kneeling was expressive of 
 unusual emotion. 
 
 1 5. every family. The Greek word for "family " 
 (^patria) comes from the one for "father" (pater). 
 Paul's meaning is that not only the Holy Family 
 in Heaven, but each family on earth, is in the 
 closest connection with the Eternal Father, as 
 the very name indicates. Divine Fatherhood is 
 not a figure of speech, but an eternal reality 
 mirrored in the most common and at the same 
 time most sacred of human relationships. 
 
 16. riches of his glory. We may well pray for 
 great blessings when we think of the wealth of Him 
 to whom we pray. " None can ever ask too much." 
 power through his Spirit. The Christian is at 
 once a weak man, who even glories in his weakness 
 (2 Cor. xii. 5, 9)j and a strong, brave, victorious 
 man, who is filled and thrilled by the might of 
 the Divine Spirit (Acts i. 8). 
 
 17. Christ ... in your hearts. It is not a 
 memory, an influence, a doctrine, but the living 
 Christ that dwells in the believer's heart (cf. Gal. 
 ii. 20 ; Col. i. 27). Paul is the greatest and the 
 sanest of mystics. Reason, conscience, imagination, 
 heart, and will are all infinitely strengthened by the 
 immanence of the risen Saviour. His real presence 
 is conditioned by faith ; it is not magical but 
 spiritual, rooted and grounded. Here are two 
 
134 Westminster New Testament 
 
 figures. The Christian life is a growth, with love 
 as the soil ; and a structure, with love as the 
 foundation. Love is not further defined, but pro- 
 bably it is here both Divine and human, the 
 second emanating from the first. As love is 
 God's first attribute, it must be the radical or 
 basal principle of the whole Christian character. 
 
 18. able to comprehend. Or, ^^ strong to appre- 
 hend." One needs to have a strong soul, keen in 
 spiritual intelligence, to grasp the fact about to 
 be mentioned. The passionate longing for real 
 knowledge is characteristic of the Prison letters. 
 The four dimensions of the thing to be appre- 
 hended need not be too laboriously defined — broad 
 as the world, long as eternity, high as heaven, deep 
 as hell. They indicate in general its vastness. 
 But what is this thing, which Paul seems to forget 
 to specify.^ Probably love, which he has just 
 mentioned in the previous verse, and is about to 
 name again in the next. What raises him to such 
 a pitch of wonder is the "huge tenderness" of 
 the love of Christ. 
 
 19. know . . . passeth knowledge. Though 
 
 this love is so broad and deep and glorious, we 
 may know it with the intuition of the spiritually 
 renewed mind. Every Christian has a real and 
 growing knowledge of Christ's love. And yet we 
 do not, we cannot know it. " God only knows the 
 love of God." It eternally invites, and eternally 
 eludes, our efforts to grasp and to measure it. It 
 satisfies us just because it is transcendent, infinite. 
 " Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is 
 high, I cannot attain unto it." filled with all 
 the fulness of God. This means filled with God 
 in all His fulness. Emptied of ourselves, we are 
 
Ephesians iv. 1-16 135 
 
 filled up to the measure of our faith with His 
 wisdom, love, and power. Some of His saints have 
 been called God-intoxicated men. 
 
 20. exceeding abundantly. Another of the 
 superlatives in which Paul took such delight. He 
 minted not a few of them as a means of circulating 
 his own stupendous thoughts. God is able to do 
 all that we ask, above all that we ask, abundantly 
 above all that we ask, exceeding abundantly above 
 all that we ask, exceeding abundantly above all 
 that we ask or think ! Nothing is beyond the 
 power which worketh not only for us but 
 in us, enlarging our capacities to receive all 
 that God has to give. No wonder that the 
 apostle bursts into a fervent doxology, "To Him 
 be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus for 
 ever ! " 
 
 Eph. iv. 1-16. 
 
 DIVERSITY OF GIFTS, UNITY OF SPIRIT. 
 
 I therefore^ the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that 
 ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 
 
 2 with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, for- 
 
 3 bearing one another in love ; endeavouring to keep the 
 
 4 unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one 
 body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope 
 
 5 of your calling ; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 
 
 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through 
 
 7 all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given 
 grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 
 
 8 Wherefore he saith, H^hen he ascended up on high, he 
 
 9 led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto inen. (Now 
 that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended 
 
 10 first into the lower parts of the earth ? He that descended 
 
136 Westminster New Testament 
 
 is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, 
 
 1 1 that he might fill all things. ) And he gave some, 
 apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some, evangelists ; 
 
 12 and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the 
 saints, for the vv^ork of the ministry, for the edifying of 
 
 13 the body of Christ : till we all come in the unity of the 
 faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a 
 perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness 
 
 14 of Christ : that we henceforth be no more children, tossed 
 to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, 
 by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby 
 
 15 they lie in wait to deceive ; but speaking the truth in love, 
 may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, 
 
 16 even Christ : from whom the whole body fitly joined 
 together and compacted by that which every joint 
 supplieth, according to the effectual working in the 
 measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto 
 the edifying of itself in love. 
 
 Here we pass from Divine truths and principles 
 to their application. No Christian doctrine has 
 merely a theoretical interest. There is no such 
 thing as an abstract and otiose faith. Creed and 
 conduct, doctrine and duty, faith and fidelity are 
 causally related like tree and fruit, fountain and 
 stream. After a general exhortation to conduct 
 worthy of the Christian vocation, Paul gives 
 perfect expression to his doctrine of the essential 
 unity of the Church, as the one body of Christ, 
 animated by one Spirit, baptized in the name of 
 one Lord, loving one Father in heaven, supplied 
 with a rich variety of gifts for one great purpose — 
 the evolving of a Christlike manhood in every 
 individual believer. It is the most remarkable 
 utterance regarding the universal Church to be 
 found in the whole N.T. 
 
Ephesians iv. 1-16 137 
 
 1. I therefore. For similar transitions from 
 teaching to exhortation see Rom. xii. 1 ; Col. iii. 5. 
 the prisoner. There is a quiet dignity in the 
 words. The writer's imprisonment does not im- 
 pair^ but greatly enhances^ his authority. That 
 very fidelity to principle which has brought him 
 so low has exalted him more than ever in the eyes 
 of all the churches. tO walk worthily. Compare 
 Christ's repeated phrase ^^ worthy of Me" (Matt. 
 X. 37, 38). This epistle contains six emphatic 
 references to the Christian walk. We have been 
 created in Christ Jesus for it (ii. 10); it should be 
 in keeping with our vocation (iv. 1); it must be 
 altogether different from that of non-Christians 
 (iv. 17); it is to be Christlike (v. 1-2), transparent 
 (v. 8), and circumspect (v. 15). 
 
 2, 3. lowliness . . . peace. This garland of 
 graces adorns every true Christian. He is 
 lowly, meek, patient, forbearing, loving, peaceful. 
 Ideally, of course, no human walk is perfectly 
 worthy of the gospel. The Christian life is one 
 of endeavouring here and attaining hereafter. 
 the unity of the Spirit. A wonderful phrase, 
 describing a unity not based on self-interest, not 
 dictated by policy, not ratified by contract ; the 
 sacred unity of men diverse in views, tempera- 
 ments, and inclinations, but all animated, controlled, 
 and subdued by one and the same Spirit, peace 
 is the bond in which this unity is to be 
 maintained. Not peace at any price, but peace 
 with honour to God. 
 
 4-6. one body . . . one God and Father. 
 "One" is impressively used seven times. The unity 
 of the Church is established by six other great 
 unities. There is one mystical body animated by 
 
138 Westminster New Testament 
 
 one Spirit, cheered by one Hope, saved by one 
 Faith, ruled by one Lord, purified by one 
 Baptism, loved by one Father. There may 
 be many changing conceptions of each of these 
 realities, but there must be one abiding truth, and 
 the nearer we come to it in thought and life, the 
 more complete must be our Christian unity. God 
 . . . over all . . . through all . . . in all. 
 The first expresses His transcendence, the second 
 and third His immanence. God is the infinite 
 Spirit, 
 
 ' ' that impels 
 
 All living things, all objects of all thought, 
 
 And rolls through all things." 
 
 7, 8. gifts unto men. The unity of the Church 
 is a unity in diversity. There is no more monotony 
 in the realm of Grace than in that of Nature. 
 When Christ rose and ascended. He was a return- 
 ing Conqueror, laden with spoils, which He at once 
 began to distribute to His Church. This He did, 
 not indiscriminately, but wisely and carefully. 
 He gave gifts unto men, and His gifts were men. 
 The Church's true wealth, like the nation's, is not 
 its silver and gold, but its noble human lives, he 
 Saith. Better, "it is said," ''on dit." Some think 
 that " God " or '^the Scripture" is to be understood. 
 The quotation is from Ps. Ixviii. 18, but "received 
 gifts among men " is changed into " given gifts unto 
 men." " St. Paul does not intend either to quote 
 exactly or to interpret, but in the familiar Jewish 
 fashion adapts his passage to his own use, knowing 
 that those of his readers who are familiar with the 
 psalm would recognise the alteration and see the 
 purpose of it " (Abbott). 
 
 9. ascended . . . descended. The doctrines 
 
Ephesians iv. 1-16 139 
 
 of Christ's pre-existence and incarnation are clearly 
 implied here. Some indeed think that " descended 
 into the lower part of the earth " means " descended 
 into Hades." But the more probable meaning 
 is "came down to this lower earth." "The 
 doctrine of a Hades-visit and a Hades-ministry 
 has no obvious relation" to the matter under 
 discussion (Salmond). 
 
 10. above all the heaven. An allusion to the 
 "seven heavens" of the Jews. Christ is above 
 the seventh. The Son of the Highest takes the 
 highest station. His presence is the glory of the 
 "ninth heaven" of Dante's Paradiso. fill all 
 things (cf. i. 23). He who has ascended up on 
 high pervades and energises all things with His 
 activity. 
 
 11. he gave apostles . . . teachers. 
 
 Parents give their sons to the ministry^ their 
 daughters to the mission field, but it is Christ who 
 first gives them, as His best gifts to His Church. 
 apostles. The word was not limited to the 
 Twelve, but applied to Paul, Barnabas, James, 
 
 and others, prophets. See ii. 20. pastors and 
 
 teachers were not itinerant but settled ministers, 
 having the double function of shepherding and 
 instructing a local church. One man was a 
 pastor-teacher. 
 
 12. for the perfecting. Christ gives gifts 
 unto men for the perfecting (or full equipment) 
 of the saints unto the work of ministering with a 
 view to the building up of His body. The clauses 
 are not co-ordinate as in the A.V., but each 
 dependent on the one preceding. Talents are 
 for equipment, equipment for ministering, and 
 ministering for the building up of the Church. 
 
I40 Westminster New Testament 
 
 The passage contains no suggestion of a ministerial 
 " order." Every believer is^ in the primitive sense 
 of the word — the sense intended here — a minister 
 of Christ. 
 
 13. we all attain. Here is a twofold ideal. 
 (1) unity through faith and full knowledge. The 
 causes of division are imperfect faith and imperfect 
 knowledge. The more firmly we believe in Christ 
 and the more definitely we know Him^ the more 
 close do we draw to each other. (2) The perfect 
 manhood of all believers. Christ has no favourites. 
 He perfects (fully equips) some for the perfecting 
 (full growth) of all. There is something splendidly 
 Pauline^ both in conception and expression^ in the 
 synonym given here for perfection — " the measure 
 of the stature of the fulness of Christ." If this 
 is the Christian ideal, it is not presumptuous to 
 say to any believer, ^^Be Christlike." it is only 
 summoning him to fulfil his destiny. 
 
 14. no longer children. Suggested by " full- 
 grown" in the previous verse. The ^'^ perfect 
 man" remains for ever childlike, but has long 
 ceased to be childish. And he is no more tOSSed 
 to and fro on waves of doubt and error (cf; Jas. i. 6). 
 sleight . . . craftiness . . . wiles. This ex- 
 presses Paul's opinion of the teaching of some of 
 his contemporaries, inside as well as outside the 
 Church. It seems to him quite insincere, reminding 
 him of clever conjuring, skilful throwing of dice, 
 sharp practice generally. It finds an easy prey 
 among those who are still children, simple and 
 inexperienced. 
 
 15. speaking the truth. Better, ^^ cherishing 
 truth," i.e. Divine evangelical truth. This is to 
 be done in love, for the highest truth loses 
 
Ephesians iv. 17-24 141 
 
 all its sweetness for ourselves and all its power 
 over others if it is not lodged in a loving heart. 
 grow up . . . into him. This is the language 
 of biology, Christ is not merely an outward 
 Example given us for imitation ; He is the Type 
 to which the new life within us is to conform. 
 As the acorn mysteriously grows up into the oak^ 
 conforming to its type, so the believer grows up 
 into Christ. Before the new birth such growth is 
 impossible ; after, it is natural and one might 
 say inevitable. 
 
 16. Christ ... all the body. Another figura- 
 tive statement of the dependence of the Church 
 universal, as Christ's spiritual Body, upon Him as 
 its Head. The vital and organic relation of the 
 members, first to their Head, and then to each 
 other, is the secret of the Body's continual growth 
 in the life-giving element of love. 
 
 Eph. iv. 17-24. 
 LEARNING CHRIST. 
 
 17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye 
 henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity 
 
 18 of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being 
 alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that 
 
 19 is in them, because of the blindness of their heart : who 
 being past feeling have given themselves over unto lascivi- 
 
 20 ousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye 
 
 21 have not so learned Christ ; if so be that ye have heard 
 him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is 
 
 22 in Jesus : that ye put off concerning the former con- 
 versation the old man, which is corrupt according to the 
 
 23 deceitful lusts ; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind ; 
 
142 Westminster New Testament 
 
 24 and that ye put on the new man, which after God is 
 created in righteousness and true hoHness. 
 
 This is one of many Pauline passages which 
 bring the old and false life into sharp contrast 
 with the new and true. The marks of the one 
 are vanity, darkness, alienation, ignorance, heart- 
 hardening, insensibility, licentiousness, unclean- 
 ness, greediness, corruption, lust, deceit. The 
 marks of the other are truth, righteousness, 
 holiness (cf. Gal. v. 19-23). 
 
 17. I testify ... in the Lord. Paul makes 
 an appeal to his readers, the power of which 
 lies in the boldness with which he identifies him- 
 self with Christ and speaks in His name, walk 
 
 no longer as the Gentiles. Paul might have 
 exhorted his readers not to walk like the other 
 Gentiles, but his view is that they have entirely 
 ceased to be Gentiles. Formerly they were 
 Gentiles in contrast with the Jews ; now they are 
 Christians in contrast with the Gentiles. The 
 word " Gentiles " had almost the same taint or 
 stigma as "heathen." 
 
 18. the life of God. This is also man's true 
 life. The moral and spiritual life to which we are 
 called is not arbitrarily imposed upon us as the 
 mere will of God ; it is commended to us as the 
 very life of God, which He personally lives. And 
 the real human tragedy is that we are alienated 
 from this life through our ignorance, and that 
 our very ignorance is not innocent. We pity the 
 sorrows of humanity — a refined form of self-pity ; 
 but the ultimate truth is that humanity has 
 hardened its heart until its light has become 
 darkness. Hardening implies guilt, and humanity 
 
Ephesians iv. 17-24 143 
 
 behaves itself as guilty. It has an uneasy 
 conscience ; it cannot hide its sense of shame ; 
 whenever it pauses to recollect itself, it trembles 
 as a guilty thing surprised. 
 
 19. gave themselves up (contrast Rom. i. 24>, 
 26, 28). Here the abandonment is ascribed to their 
 own will: ^^ They gave themselves up." A Divine 
 reaction is necessitated by the human choice. If we 
 deliberately make evil our good. His love is 
 thwarted. If He cannot persuade us, He will 
 not compel us. But does He ever cease to say, 
 *^How shall I give thee up.^" (Hos. xi. 8). 
 
 20. ye did not so learn Christ. An extreme 
 understatement (called in rhetoric a litotes), making 
 the reader exclaim, " God forbid ! we learned Him 
 in exactly the opposite way." Learning Christ is 
 much more than learning about Him ; it means 
 coming to know Him as a living personal Saviour 
 and Friend. He is not only the Teacher but the 
 Truth ; He does far more than preach, He w, the 
 Gospel. 
 
 21. ye heard him. Not with their outward 
 ears did they (Gentiles) ever hear the Prophet of 
 Nazareth ; but in the depths of their soul they 
 heard the risen Christ calling them to arise and 
 follow Him. They were taught in him, taught 
 not only by His apostles or evangelists, but in an 
 experience of living fellowship with Himself. 
 
 22-24. put off . . . put on. The knowledge 
 of Christ always makes a man change his habits, 
 which means, literally, his clothes ; habits, good 
 or bad, being the garments of the soul. Here 
 the verbs are both aorists, indicating two sharp, 
 decisive, and simultaneous actions, by which a man 
 casts away the old nature, loathing it as a thing 
 
144 Westminster New Testament 
 
 of corruption, and eagerly puts on the soul's 
 new nature, loving its perfect purity. lustS of 
 deceit . . . righteousness of truth. Lusts and 
 lies are bosom friends, righteousness and truth kiss 
 each other, after God is a phrase which contains 
 much in little. The new man, the twice-born, is 
 created in harmony with God's great idea, re- 
 fashioned in His own image, in righteousness 
 and holiness, and will no longer disappoint 
 his Maker. 
 
 Eph. iv. 25-32. 
 
 SINS TO BE UPROOTED, GRACES TO BE 
 CULTIVATED. 
 
 25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth 
 with his neighbour : for we are members one of another. 
 
 26 Be ye angry, and sin not : let not the sun go down 
 
 27 upon your wrath : neither give place to the devil. 
 
 28 Let him that stole steal no more : but rather let him 
 labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, 
 
 29 that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no 
 corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but 
 that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may 
 
 30 minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the 
 holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day 
 
 31 of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, 
 and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, 
 
 32 with all malice : and be ye kind one to another, tender- 
 hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's 
 sake hath forgiven you. 
 
 Many of those whom Paul was addressing were 
 like fresh converts in some modern mission field, 
 raw recruits in the army of Christ, with everything 
 still to learn. They must be warned against such 
 
Ephesians iv. 25-32 145 
 
 elementary sins as lying, bad temper, stealing, 
 filthy and abusive talk, bitterness and malice. 
 They must be exhorted to be truthful, honest, 
 diligent, pure in speech, meek in spirit, kind and 
 forgiving in disposition. 
 
 25. lying . . . truth. Untruthfulness of all 
 sorts seems to be ingrained in the Oriental 
 character. Paul has a charm which can exorcise 
 the lying spirit. My neighbour and I are both 
 members of the body of Christ, and the right 
 hand never lies to the left. It is impossible that 
 I should deceive the man whom I love in Christ. 
 
 26, 27. angry, and sin not (Ps. iv. 4). There 
 are times when anger is highly virtuous, and he is 
 a poor creature, neither loving good nor hating evil 
 greatly, who is never righteously indignant. But 
 anger's work is soon done, and the tide of 
 passionate feeling should quickly subside. A day 
 of it is usually more than enough. In the East 
 the new day began at sunset, not in the morning. 
 The advice, therefore, to the angry man is not 
 to ^^ sleep over it," but to put the angry feeling 
 away before the sun goes down. Else how can 
 he pray, " Forgive ... as we have forgiven " ? 
 To brood over wrongs is to be mastered by the 
 
 spirit of evil, to give place to the devil. 
 
 28. steal no more. This being a moral law 
 of every nation, to fall below the world's standard 
 would dishonour the name of Christ, who so often 
 asked His followers, "What do ye more than 
 others } " working ... to give. The anticipated 
 pleasure of being able to help dear friends in need 
 is one of the strongest incentives to labour. 
 
 29. corrupt speech. The utterance of an 
 impure imagination. To have clean lips we must 
 
146 Westminster New Testament 
 
 "stanch the spnng of guilty thought." The grace 
 of God withm us enables us so to speak as to give 
 grace to others. 
 
 SO. grieve not the Spirit, who is a Person, 
 the most sensitive in the universe. A look, a 
 tone, a thought may grieve Him, and before we 
 know it the Spirit of joy and peace is gone, and 
 will only return at the sight of our tears. 
 
 31, 32. all bitterness . . . malice. Christi- 
 anity charms away all sins of temper. It constrains 
 us to be kind . . . forgiving. The Cross that 
 procures our pardon makes us all tender-hearted. 
 
 " In the course of justice none of us 
 Should see salvation : we do pray for mercy, 
 And that same prayer doth teach us all to render 
 The deeds of mercy." 
 
 Eph. V. 1-14. 
 CHILDREN OF LIGHT. 
 
 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children ; 
 
 2 and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and 
 hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to 
 
 3 God for a sweet-smelling savour. But fornication, and 
 all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named 
 
 4 among you, as becometh saints ; neither filthiness, nor 
 foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient : 
 
 5 but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no 
 whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, 
 who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom 
 
 6 of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with 
 vain words : for because of these things cometh the wrath 
 
 7 of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye 
 
 8 therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes 
 darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord : walk as 
 
Ephesians v. 1-14 147 
 
 9 children of light : (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all 
 
 10 goodness and righteousness and truth ;) proving what is 
 
 11 acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with 
 the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 
 
 12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are 
 
 13 done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved 
 are made manifest by the light : for whatsoever doth make 
 
 14 manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that 
 sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give 
 thee light. 
 
 The forgiving love of God in Christ is the 
 motive and the measure of Christian love. Sins 
 of uncleanness should not even be named among 
 Christians ; it is a shame to speak of them ; they 
 arouse God's wrath and exclude from His kingdom. 
 Children of light have nothing to do with the 
 works of darkness but to reprove them, to expose 
 them, to let Christ's light flash upon them and 
 destroy them. 
 
 1. followers of God. Better, "imitators ot 
 God," We have to thank the R.V. for this 
 wonderful phrase. The imitatio Dei is the highest 
 endeavour of the human mind. The mere thought 
 of its possibility is an ennobling inspiration. Man's 
 ideal is God, nothing lower. His loftiest conduct, 
 in the measure in which it resembles the life of 
 God, is the expression of His true self. Only for 
 God's dear children, re-born of His Spirit, is 
 this imitation possible, but for them it becomes a 
 second nature. What a piece of work is a Christian 
 man ! In thought and action he can imitate the 
 living and true God. 
 
 2. walk in love. Eveiy Christian is to be in 
 love, living and walking in this element. In the 
 special sense of the word Paul was perhaps never 
 
148 Westminster New Testament 
 
 " in love/' though we really do not know ; but in 
 the Christian sense of the word^ love was the air 
 which he habitually breathed^ witness 1 Cor. xiii. 
 even as Christ . . . loved. This verse directs 
 us to imitate the Son as the previous one called 
 us to imitate the Father. It sets before us the 
 perfect example of Christ. It sounds like an echo 
 of His own " new commandment, that ye love one 
 another, even as I have loved you " (John xiii. 34), 
 The Christian motive and standard give the old 
 law of love to one's neighbour a new significance 
 and power, loved . . . and gave himself. 
 
 Christ loved not in word, but in deed and in truth. 
 His love is interpreted and measured by the 
 Cross. Paul scarcely ever mentions the one without 
 the other, for in his thought they are inseparable. 
 His Gospel is not, '^^ He loved me," but '^^ He 
 loved me and gave Himself for me " (Gal. ii. 20 ; 
 cf. Eph. V. 25). He regards Christ's death as an 
 
 offering and a sacrifice to God, and for man. 
 The moral influence of the Cross upon human 
 hearts was not for Christ the primary consider- 
 ation. His first thought was God. He desired to 
 enable His Father to lavish His love upon sinners 
 without dimming the glory of His holiness. Loving 
 us, whom He knew to be guilty. He offered Him- 
 self to God on our behalf, and that oblation has a 
 
 spiritual fragrance — an odour of a sweet smell — 
 
 which makes it infinitely well-pleasing to God. 
 
 3. as becometh saints. In the N.T. sense 
 every Christian is a saint (see Col. i. 2), and 
 purity becomes a saint as valour a soldier. Con- 
 cerning a whole class of sins it befits a follower 
 of Jesus to be silent. They are offences which 
 bring a blush to the cheek of innocence. It is 
 
Ephesians v. 1-14 149 
 
 shameful even to speak of them (ver. 12)^ except it 
 be to reprove them (ver. 11). Paul names some of 
 them in this very passage,, in order that he may 
 brand them. No one could be more plain and 
 explicit than he in exposing heathen vices, but he 
 cannot write the words and think of the things 
 without a burning feeling of shame. Henry 
 Drummond used to say he felt as if he must 
 change his very clothes after listening to some 
 men's confessions. 
 
 4. rather giving of thanks. High thoughts 
 expelling low ; hallelujahs dulling the ears to 
 Satanic ribaldiy. 
 
 5. kingdom of God and Christ. Nothing 
 that defileth can enter it^ for it is pure as God is 
 pure. Christ habitually spoke of the kingdom of 
 God, or of Heaven, only rarely of His own 
 kingdom. Paul's linking of the Father's kingdom 
 with the Son's is a striking testimony to his sense 
 of the majesty of Christ. The two realms are one 
 because the two Persons are one (cf. Rev. xi. 15). 
 
 6. empty words. Paul refers to the perilous 
 sophisms of ultra-spiritual teachers within the 
 Church, who made light of sins of uncleanness, 
 arguing that if the spirit was pure it did not matter 
 what happened to the vile body. In the sacred 
 name of liberty they offered the followers of Jesus 
 a licence to do as they pleased. They used religion 
 to excuse vice. They made their philosophy " pro- 
 curess to the lords of hell." 
 
 7. Be not . . . partakers with them. We 
 
 are not to seek the friendship of those Avho on any 
 pretext palliate evil. We are to think of them as 
 sinners for whom Christ died, and pray for their 
 conversion, but, be they never so rich, handsome. 
 
I50 Westminster New Testament 
 
 and clever, they are enemies of God and must not 
 be our friends. 
 
 8, 9. darkness . . . light. Those who formerly 
 were not only in the darkness, but themselves 
 darkness visible, are now not only in the light, but 
 themselves light in the Lord, shining far into the 
 darkness around them. Both Christ and Christians 
 are the light of the world (John viii. 12 ; Matt. 
 V. 14). children of light. A beautiful Hebrew 
 idiom. Contrast ii. 2, 3 and v. 6. Milton calls light 
 itself the ^'^ offspring of Heaven first-born." Every 
 Christian is a child of the light, and every Christian 
 grace a fruit of the light (R.V.). This second 
 figure was too original for some of the early copy- 
 ists, who changed it into " the fruit of the Spirit " 
 (cf. Gal. V. 22). 
 
 11. unfruitful works of darkness. The 
 figure is maintained. Plants thrive in light and 
 wither in darkness. 
 
 12. done in secret. Every one who does evil 
 hates the light (John iii. 20). The special refer- 
 ence here is to the hateful orgies of the occult 
 pagan mysteries. 
 
 13. made manifest (cf. John iii. 20, 21). 
 We expose sin most effectively, not by denouncing 
 it, but by bringing it into contrast with the beauty 
 of holiness. Light reveals darkness, and the mere 
 presence of virtue makes vice hide its head for 
 shame, everything that is made manifest is 
 light. This clause is very difficult. How can the 
 hidden vices in question be said with any point 
 to become light? Perhaps we ought to read, 
 " everything that makes manifest is light." 
 
 14. he saith. Or, "it is said." (Cf. iv. 8.) 
 But what is the source of the quotation.'' The 
 
Ephesians v. 15--21 151 
 
 words are not found verbatim in Scripture. 
 The nearest approach to them is in Isa. Ix. 1. 
 Did Paul's memory fail him when he tried to cite 
 this familiar passage ? It is extremely unlikely. 
 It is much more probable that he quotes from 
 some early Christian liturgy. "The words may 
 have been used in the reception after baptism'' 
 (Abbott). Conversion is described as an awaking 
 from sleep, an arising from the dead, a coming 
 forth into the light of day (cf Luke i. 78). 
 
 Eph. V. 15-21. 
 THE FULNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but 
 
 16 as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 
 
 17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the 
 
 18 will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, 
 
 19 wherein is excess ; but be filled with the Spirit ; speaking 
 to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 
 singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord ; 
 
 20 giving thanks always for all things unto God and the 
 
 21 Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; submitting 
 yourselves one to another in the fear of God. 
 
 For the seventh and last time Paul exhorts his 
 readers to think of their " walk." Let them be 
 careful and wise, eager to make the most of time, 
 and endeavouring to know the Lord's will. Instead 
 of the delusive joys of the wine-cup, let them seek 
 the exhilaration of the Holy Spirit and the rapture 
 of song. And let them ever be thankful and humble. 
 
 15. circumspectly. Or/'^carefully." The adverb 
 goes with ^^ook" rather than with ^^walk." Care- 
 ful eyes make sure feet. unwisC . . . wise. The 
 
152 Westminster New Testament 
 
 same apostle who so frequently depreciates 
 worldly wisdom, ardently praises the wisdom 
 which consists in *^ understanding what the will 
 of the Lord is." 
 16. redeeming the time. " Making your 
 
 market to the full from the opportunity of 
 this life" (Ramsay). The chance of doing good 
 in evil days is so precious that no price is too 
 high to pay for it. If we cannot purchase the 
 privilege of serving Christ without bartering our 
 treasures, let us never grudge the expense (see 
 Matt. xiii. 45). Buy nothing in the market of 
 Vanity Fair, but buy truth and time in God's 
 great Exchange. 
 
 18. drunken . . . filled. Every man seeks ex- 
 hilaration. He loves to have his feelings excited, 
 his imagination fired, his spirit thrilled. The drink 
 habit is the perversion of a natural instinct. It is 
 a fool's way of drowning care and rising victorious 
 over the ills of life. Intoxication is a parody of 
 inspiration. Wine can never do the work of the 
 Spirit of God in the body and soul of man. But 
 let every believer be filled with the Spirit, 
 intoxicated with God, and he at once realises the 
 power of a holy enthusiasm to quench the passion 
 for sensuous excitement, as a great fire puts out a 
 little one. 
 
 19. psalms, hymns, songs (see Col. iii. 16). 
 
 The reference is rather to singing in social and 
 domestic circles than in Church gatherings. 
 The Hebrew psalms, the Christian hymns, the 
 spiritual odes of experience, are to make all life 
 musical. If we have melody in the heart, so 
 that " our secret souls a holy strain repeat," we go 
 even to life's battles like soldiers marching to martial 
 
Ephesians v. 22-33 153 
 
 strains. We can " make life, death, and the vast 
 forever, one grand sweet song." 
 
 20. thanks always for all things. This is 
 still more emphatic than the words of Paul's 
 earliest epistle, "in everything give thanks" 
 (1 Thess. V. 18). There is no room for murmuring 
 in the Christian life. All things are somehow the 
 expression of our Father's love. " I worship thee, 
 sweet will of God." 
 
 21. the fear of Christ. This is doubtless the 
 correct reading ; all the best MSS have it. But it 
 is so singular that the perplexed copyists changed 
 it into the familiar phrase, "the fear of God." 
 The meaning is that Christ is not only to be loved 
 as the Redeemer of our souls, but feared as the 
 Judge of our daily lives. " The fear of the Lord " 
 {i.e. Christ) is a motive of subduing power 
 (2 Cor. V. 11). Here it is used as an incentive 
 to humility in our intercourse with our fellow- 
 Christians. 
 
 Eph. V. 22-33. 
 HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 
 
 22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as 
 
 23 unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, 
 even as Christ is the head of the church : and he is the 
 
 24 saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject 
 unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in 
 
 25 every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ 
 
 26 also loved the church, and gave himself for it ; that he 
 might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by 
 
 27 the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious 
 church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing ; 
 
 28 but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought 
 men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that 
 
154 Westminster New Testament 
 
 29 loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet 
 hated his own flesh ; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, 
 
 30 even as the Lord the church : for we are members of his 
 
 31 body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall 
 a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined 
 
 32 unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a 
 great mystery : but I speak concerning Christ and the 
 
 33 church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular 
 so love his wife even as himself ; and the wife see that she 
 reverence her husband. 
 
 The apostle gives special injunctions to wives and 
 husbands. Wives owe subjection to their husbands, 
 and husbands love to their wives. The relation is 
 compared to that of Christ and the Church. As 
 Christ is Head of the Church, so the husband is 
 head of the wife ; and as Christ loves the Church, 
 so the husband is to love his wife. 
 
 22-24. Wives, be in subjection . . . subject 
 in everything. Add to this the words in ver. 33, 
 "and let the wife see that she fear her husband." 
 Cf Col. iii. 18. Here the apostle's thoughts are 
 those of the ancient world, Jewish and Gentile. 
 He shares to some extent the universal Oriental 
 conception of the natural inferiority of woman to 
 man. He confirms the ideas of his time. The 
 theory of the subjection of woman is one which the 
 twentieth century is keenly scrutinising. Woman's 
 " lord and master " is a creature of the past. Her 
 obligations are not subjection and fear, but the 
 same reverence, confidence, and love which are 
 her own due. Husband and wife are not superior 
 and inferior, but equals in Christ Jesus. 
 
 23. being himself the saviour. Paul calls 
 attention to the fact that the analogy between 
 Christ as Head of the Church and the husband as 
 
Ephesians v. 22-33 ^55 
 
 head of the wife fails in one important point. Christ 
 is the Saviour of the body^ that is, the Church ; in 
 this respect He is alone and incomparable. Here 
 the word saviour occurs for the first time in the 
 Pauline epistles. Only once again (Phil. iii. 30) do 
 we meet it till we come to the Pastoral Epistles, 
 where it is applied to the Father more often than 
 the Son. 
 
 25. love . . . even as Christ. In this ideal 
 
 there is nothing relative to time and place. It 
 is absolute ; no higher is conceivable. Conjugal 
 love finds its motive and measure in Christ's love 
 of His Church. It is no violent delight with 
 violent end. It is as pure and spiritual as it is 
 warm and passionate. " It is not Time's fool ; it 
 hath the quality of everlastingness." " Many 
 waters cannot quench it." Christ loved . . . 
 and gave himself (cf. Gal. ii. 20). Paul cannot 
 dissociate the love of Christ from Calvary. It is 
 the Saviour's dying love — sacrificing and redeeming 
 — that has such tremendous driving power in the 
 life of humanity (see 2 Cor. v. 14, 15). From 
 this passage we learn that the Cross wins its 
 greatest triumphs in the Christian home. 
 
 26, 27. sanctify it. '' It " rather detracts from 
 the beauty of this exquisite passage. Substitute 
 " her " four times, to keep the charm of the figure. 
 The Church is regarded as Christ's bride. He 
 loves her, purifies her, adorns her, and finally 
 presents her, glorious, immaculate, fair in eternal 
 youth, " without spot " of sin, " or wrinkle " of age, 
 "or any such thing" (see Rev. xix. 7,8). the 
 washing of water. Lit., "the laver of water." 
 Christ cleanses the Church symbolically with 
 water, spiritually with the word. There is no 
 
156 Westminster New Testament 
 
 occasion to read even the beginning of a sacra- 
 mentarian doctrine into these words. 
 
 28, 29. as their own bodies. Even as Christ 
 loves the Church which is His mystical body^ so the 
 husband is to love his wife who has^ in the same 
 spiritual sense^ become his body, his Own flesh 
 (ver. 29), identified with himself (vers. 28, 33). 
 
 31. See Gen. ii. 24. 
 
 32. This mystery is great. The mystery is 
 (probably) the sacred union of the Bridegroom and 
 the Bride, with which marriage is compared. 
 Here the Vulgate reads, " SacTamentum hoc 
 magnum est," which led the Roman Church to 
 regard marriage as a sacrament. I speak is often 
 used by Paul with the sense of "I mean." 
 
 Eph. vi. 1-9. 
 
 CHILDREN AND PARENTS, SLAVES AND 
 MASTERS. 
 
 Children, obey your parents in the Lord : for this is right. 
 
 2 Honour thy father and mother ; which is the first com- 
 
 3 mandment with promise ; that it may be well with thee, 
 
 4 and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, 
 provoke not your children to wrath : but bring them up in 
 
 5 the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Servants, be 
 obedient to them that are your masters according to the 
 flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, 
 
 6 as unto Christ ; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers ; 
 but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from 
 
 7 the heart ; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, 
 
 8 and not to men : knowing that whatsoever good thing 
 any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, 
 
 9 whether he be bond or free. And, ye masters, do the 
 
Ephesians vi. 1-9 157 
 
 same things unto them, forbearing threatening : knowing 
 that your Master also is in heaven ; neither is there respect 
 of persons with him. 
 
 Children owe obedience to their parents, slaves 
 to their masters. The children of Christian parents 
 are in the Lord, and are to be trained according to 
 His principles. Bond-servants have their labour 
 dignified and hallowed by these great thoughts : 
 they owe obedience to Christ, they are servants of 
 Christ, they can do the Mill of God, they can 
 render service to the Lord, and they will receive 
 their reward from the Lord. Masters are to 
 remember that they have a Master who has no 
 favourites. 
 
 1 . obey ... in the Lord. Paul is familiar with 
 the idea that every Hebrew child was an heir of 
 the blessings of the Old Covenant, and he assumes 
 that the children of Christians are in the Lord, i.e. 
 in Christ. They belong to Him, they have been 
 united to Him, even before their baptism, which 
 is the symbol of their union, this is right. In 
 harmony both with natural law and withjrevelation. 
 The Holy Child Jesus was subject to His parents 
 (Luke ii. 51). 
 
 2. with promise. If the reference is to the 
 commandments of the Decalogue, the fifth is the 
 only one which has a promise appended to it. But 
 the Ten, which were doubtless first learned, formed 
 a preface to many others, some of which were 
 commandments with promise. 
 
 S. on the earth. This takes the place of the 
 O.T. words, " in the land which the Lord thy God 
 giveth thee" (Ex. xx. 12). There is one Hebrew 
 term for "land" and "earth." The apostle shows 
 
158 Westminster New Testament 
 
 how untrammelled his spirit is by changing a 
 territorial promise into a world-wide one. He 
 knows well that the Divine Father means to bless 
 all His children. 
 
 4. provoke not. ^^ Perhaps it is some terrible 
 family scene that made Paul so keenly alive to the 
 duty owed by a father to his children. Probably 
 nothing in family life makes a more awful and 
 lasting impression on a sensitive mind than a scene 
 where a respected and beloved parent makes a 
 demand beyond what love or duty permits, and 
 tries to enforce that demand by authority and 
 threats. If Paul had to face such a scene, we can 
 appreciate the reason why he lays so much stress 
 on the duty of parents to respect their children's 
 just feelings. According to our conjecture Paul 
 had good cause to know the harm that parents 
 may do by not reasonably considering their 
 children's desires and beliefs " (Ramsay). 
 
 5. Slaves, be obedient. The words are ad- 
 dressed to Christian slaves — men and women — 
 who have become spiritually free. It is hard for 
 them to be told that their obligations to their 
 masters, Christian or heathen, remain absolutely 
 unchanged. The N.T. preaches no immediate 
 social revolution. It does not denounce slavery 
 as it denounces drunkenness and immorality. It 
 dreads anarchy, it loves order. It does not lay 
 the axe at the root of the upas tree, but it does 
 something more wonderful : it creates a new 
 atmosphere in which the tree withers and dies. 
 fear and trembling. Many contexts prove that 
 this phrase expresses no more than that earnest, 
 anxious desire to do one's very best which animates 
 all conscientious servants. It does not mean the 
 
Ephesians vi. 10-20 159 
 
 ignoble feeling of slavish terror (see 2 Cor. vii. 15 ; 
 Phil. ii. 12). 
 
 6, 7. eyeservice. Contrast young Milton's 
 resolve to live ^^as ever in my great Taskmaster's 
 eye." men-pleasers. Compare the apostle's 
 indignant question in Gal. i. 10, "Am I seeking 
 to please men?" All servants begin to work with 
 a new spirit as soon as they resolve to be God- 
 pleasers, " doing service, not unto men." 
 
 8. shall receive again. All faithful service is 
 recognised, remembered, and recompensed by the 
 Divine Master. Fidelity receives its present 
 reward, inward and spiritual if not outward and 
 material, and in the Great Day it will receive its 
 final reward — entrance into the joy of the Lord 
 (Matt. XXV. 21, 23). 
 
 9. the same things. ''All things whatsoever 
 ye would that men (here slaves) should do to you, 
 do ye (masters) also to them" (Matt. vii. 12). 
 Treat them with the same respect and affection 
 which you expect to receive from them. They 
 are not " animated tools," as Aristotle said ; they 
 are "brothers beloved" (Philem. l6). This pre- 
 cept, if observed in the spirit, would of course lead 
 straight to manumission ; for what master, if he had 
 a taste of slavery, would not long to be free ? Thus 
 the leaven began to work, which was ere long to 
 change the whole social system of the ancient world. 
 
 Eph. vi. 10-20. 
 THE ARMOUR OF GOD. 
 
 10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the 
 
 11 power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, 
 that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 
 
i6o Westminster New Testament 
 
 12 For we wresLle not against flesh and blood, but against 
 principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the 
 darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in 
 
 13 high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour 
 of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, 
 
 14 and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having 
 your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breast- 
 
 1 5 plate of righteousness ; and your feet shod with the prepara- 
 
 16 tion of the gospel of peace ; above all, taking the shield 
 of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery 
 
 17 darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, 
 and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God : 
 
 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the 
 Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and 
 
 19 supplication for all saints ; and for me, that utterance may 
 be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to 
 
 20 make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am 
 an ambassador in bonds : that therein I may speak boldly, 
 as I ought to speak. 
 
 Seductions to sin come to us not only from this 
 visible world^ but from an invisible world of 
 malignant spirits. We have to maintain a conflict 
 with forces of evil. While we live^ temptations 
 will not die. How shall we win our battle ? By 
 wearing the panoply of God and praying at all 
 seasons in the Spirit. For all saints Paul desires 
 supplication^ and makes a pathetic appeal on his 
 own behalf^ that as an imprisoned ambassador he 
 may speak with boldness. 
 
 10. be strong. The Christian's moral power 
 (his dunamis or dynamic energy) is really spiritual 
 power. It is the strength of union with Christ, 
 who was victorious in life's whole battle, and 
 whose conquering might becomes ours through 
 faith (cf 2 Cor. xii. 9). 
 
Ephesians vi. 10-20 161 
 
 11. whole armour. The Greek word is panopUa, 
 whence our *^^ panoply" (see Luke xi. 22). The 
 Eternal City was nothing if not military, and Paul 
 spiritualises a brilliant figure that flashed before 
 his eyes every hour of the day — the full-armed 
 Roman soldier. He thinks of an armour of celestial 
 metal and tempering which the Christian soldier 
 needs to wear. There is a striking passage on 
 the Divine panoply in the " Book of Wisdom " 
 (v. 1 7) which may have been familiar to the apostle. 
 the wiles. Lit., the methods. 
 
 12. flesh and blood. Earthly, human tempters, 
 in contrast with invisible foes, world-rulers. 
 Great kings were thus magniloquently described 
 in Rabbinical literature. Here the reference is to 
 demoniacal powers, in the heavenly places. 
 Some read, ^' For we wrestle ... in the heavenly 
 places," which are already entered by faith. 
 Clearly, however, it is not the wrestlers, but the 
 hosts of evil, who are located in the heavenlies. 
 This is a very unusual conception, parallels to which 
 are, however, found in some pre-Christian literature, 
 especially in the " Book of the Secrets of Enoch." 
 
 13. in the evil day. Any time of fierce tempta- 
 tion. On the day of His betrayal Jesus said, 
 "This is your hour, and the power of darkness." 
 Our conduct in some day of trial will fix our destiny, 
 to withstand ... to stand. To withstand in the 
 time of attack, to stand steady and ready always. 
 As the danger is perpetual, the Christian soldier 
 must be perpetually on the alert, never off his guard. 
 
 14-17. The pieces of the armour of God are 
 
 truth, the believer's own sincerity and simplicity ; 
 
 righteousness, alike of status and of character, 
 
 imputed and imparted ; readiness to go and preach 
 
 II 
 
1 62 Westminster New Testament 
 
 the gospel of peace ; faith, the active principle of 
 the Christian Hfe ; salvation, Divine deliverance 
 from the guilt and power of sin ; and the word of 
 God, which was Christ's own weapon in His 
 spiritual conflicts. With all this we are braced, 
 covered^ shod, shielded. Our weapons of defence 
 are numerous, our single weapon of offence is the 
 sword of the Spirit. The one part of the Christian 
 soldier's person for which there is no protection is 
 his back ; it is to need none. He must have 
 " breast and back as either should be." fiery dartS 
 were used in ancient warfare ; they were darts or 
 arrows tipped with tow, dipped in pitch, and set on 
 fire. The tow, the pitch, and the fire have all 
 their analogues in our moral conflicts. 
 
 18. all prayer. The four ^^ all's" in this verse 
 are characteristic of Paul — all prayer, all seasons, 
 all perseverance, all saints (cf. Phil. i. 3, 4). His 
 eager spirit is satisfied with nothing less than the 
 maximum of everything. Prayer in the Spirit is 
 the antithesis of praying with " vain repetitions " 
 (Matt. vi. 7). The Spirit creates the atmosphere 
 of real communion and intense devotion. 
 
 19, 20. with boldness. Moral courage; ht., 
 ^^outspokenness." Although Paul has spoken so 
 bravely for Christ in many lands, he yet feels, 
 perhaps more than ever, the need of the prayers of 
 his brethren, to inspire him with confidence when 
 he opens his mouth in the capital of the world. 
 He has a clear conception of how he ought to 
 speak. The spirit of the ambassador of Christ is 
 almost as important as his message. Not with 
 bated breath and whispering humbleness, but with 
 the fearless eloquence of conviction, is he to make 
 known the mystery of the gospel. 
 
Ephesians vi. 21-24 ^^3 
 
 Eph. vi. 21-24. 
 PAUL'S MESSENGER— FAREWELL. 
 
 21 But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, 
 Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the 
 
 22 Lord, shall make known to you all things : whom I have 
 sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know 
 
 23 our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts. Peace 
 be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the 
 
 24 Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them 
 that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. 
 
 2L ye also. The passage about Tychicus is 
 almost the same as Col. iv. 7. Only, also is added. 
 The conjunction has critical value, linking as it 
 does the two epistles together, and indicating that 
 Colossians was written just before Ephesians. in 
 the Lord. This is the last of many uses of this 
 phrase in the epistle. Not only the Christian 
 brotherhood and ministry, but all spiritual blessings 
 and offices, are fruits of the mystic union between 
 Christ and His Church. " In the Lord " indicates 
 both the sphere and the atmosphere in which 
 every privilege is to be enjoyed and every task to 
 be fulfilled. 
 
 23-24. Peace . . . faith. Paul shows his 
 originality in his benedictions as in everything else. 
 They never become stereotyped. This one is in 
 the third person instead of the second — "all them " 
 instead of "you" — which harmonises well with the 
 theory that the letter is addressed not to one com- 
 munity but to a circle of churches, love OUr Lord. 
 This is what He desires first, most, and always. 
 " Do you love Me } " is His question (John xxi. 15). 
 Love alone slakes His thirst. love ... in 
 
i64 Westminster New Testament 
 
 sincerity. This does not accurately render the 
 great word with which the epistle ends, and the " in 
 uncorruptness " of the R.V. is intolerably prosaic. 
 " Imperishably/' " unchangeably/' or " everlast- 
 ingly/' is the idea. Our love of Christ, like His 
 love for us, is to be a never-withering flower. 
 
Phil. i. I, 2. 
 
 SALUTATION. 
 
 Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all 
 the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the 
 2 bishops and deacons : Grace be unto you, and peace, from 
 God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 1. servants. Gr., "bond-servants." The word 
 implies Christ's ownership of believers^ and their 
 obligation to do His will. But the servile element 
 is quite eliminated. Christ's service is perfect 
 freedom — the obedience of sons (Rom. viii. 15). 
 Paul feels no need to assert his apostolic authority 
 in addressing this best-loved church. He is the 
 servant of Christ like the lowliest believer, all the 
 saints. See Col. i. 2. bishops and deacons. 
 " Bishops " are literally those who have the over- 
 sight. There were several of them in one church. 
 " Deacons " are those who serve the church. The 
 Philippian Churchy as the oldest in Europe, had 
 more time than others to develop her institutions. 
 But there can be no doubt that "the Pauline 
 epistles, omitting for the present the Pastorals, 
 exhibit Church polity in a rudimentary and fluid 
 state in which official designations are not clearly 
 defined, and the offices themselves have not taken 
 
 permanent and definite shape " (Vincent). 
 
 165 
 
i66 Westminster New Testament 
 
 Phil. i. 3-II. 
 THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER. 
 
 3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 
 
 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making re- 
 
 5 quest with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from 
 
 6 the first day until now ; being confident of this very thing, 
 that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform 
 
 7 it until the day of Jesus Christ : even as it is meet for me 
 to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart ; 
 inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and 
 confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my 
 
 8 grace. For God is my record, how greatly I long after 
 
 9 you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, 
 that your love may abound yet more and more in know- 
 
 10 ledge and in all judgment ; that ye may approve things 
 that are excellent ; that ye may be sincere and without 
 
 1 1 offence till the day of Christ ; being filled with the fruits of 
 righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory 
 and praise of God. 
 
 Paul never wrote to any church with a gratitude 
 so warm and strong as that which wells up within 
 him when he addresses the Philippians. He 
 always remembers them with joy, they dwell in 
 his heart, and he yearns for intercourse with them. 
 He prays that they may grow towards perfection 
 in love, knowledge, righteousness. 
 
 3, 4. all . . . always . . . every . . . all. 
 This exuberance is Pauline. The writer is any- 
 thing but a cold logician. He is a man of the 
 warmest, tenderest feeling. with joy. This is 
 the keynote of the epistle. ''^ Joy " and '^'^ rejoice" 
 occur ten times. The prisoner in Rome rejoices 
 greatly (iv. 10), and again and again he bids his 
 
Philippians i. 3-1 1 167 
 
 church in Philippi rejoice. Ten years have passed 
 since he founded that church, and his happy rela- 
 tions with it have never been disturbed. It has 
 been a ceaseless comfort to him ; and it is still his 
 joy and crown (iv. 1). 
 
 5. fellowship in. Rather, " fellowship unto/' 
 i.e. in furtherance of, the gospel. Paul and the 
 Philippians, though far apart, have been working 
 together in a great cause. He delights to think 
 of them as comrades. "Fellowship" doubtless 
 refers especially to the pecuniary aid which they 
 have several times sent him, but he thinks rather 
 of that communion of spirit which has prompted 
 their generosity. 
 
 6. begun . . . perfect. The good work 
 began at the time of their conversion, and it 
 was going on. From first to last it was Divine, 
 and as such it could not stop short of perfection. 
 God is not content with half-done work ; He will 
 "perfect that which concerneth us." Therefore 
 we who co-operate with Him must not be easily 
 satisfied. Our positive and comparative degree 
 must rise to the superlative ; our good be crowned 
 with the best. " That to perfection's sacred height 
 we nearer still may rise." " I shall be satisfied 
 . . . with Thy likeness." the day of Jesus 
 Christ. The time of His second coming (^parousia, 
 presence) ; " the day when the Lord reveals Himself 
 in His fulness to the world, when He judges evil 
 and fulfils His great purpose of redemption among 
 men" (Davidson). The apostles expected that day 
 to dawn in their lifetime. 
 
 7. in my heart. This is the language of love. 
 Paul was a true Greatheart. Multitudes found 
 shelter and comfort in his sympathy, partakers 
 
i68 Westminster New Testament 
 
 with me. The Philippians cast in their lot with 
 Paul. By their v/arm affection and generous gifts 
 they identify themselves, as far as distance allows 
 them, with the cause for which he suffers. While 
 he languishes in a Roman prison, experiencing the 
 law's delays, they are with him in spirit, as if 
 sharing his bonds, defence is to be taken in the 
 strict legal sense. But it is the gospel, rather than 
 Paul, that is on the defence. He fully realises 
 the importance of his trial before the highest 
 earthly tribunal. As protagonist of the Church, 
 as defender of the faith, he aims at the con- 
 firmation of the gospel in the Roman Empire. 
 He wishes it to be recognised as a legitimate 
 religion, which will be a step towards its adoption 
 as the one universal and absolute religion. 
 
 8. I long for you. With that peculiar affection 
 which warms the heart of a Christian minister. 
 It is a longing ^Mn the tender mercies of Jesus 
 Christ," as if one's own personality were merged 
 in that of the great Lover of souls. 
 
 9-11. I pray. Another of those wonderful 
 prayers which so enrich Paul's letters, making him, 
 after our Lord Himself, the best master of the art 
 of prayer. A man's earnest and fervent petitions 
 clearly reveal his ideals. He wrestles with God 
 for things which he really desires for himself and 
 others. Paul's highest wish for the Philippians is 
 that the love which is already their distinction — 
 not a blind but a clear-sighted love, a sure guide 
 to things excellent — may so increase that their 
 spirit shall always be sincere, their example 
 innocuous, their life full of fruit to God's glory. 
 abound is a favourite Pauline word, used four 
 times in this epistle, and often elsewhere. The 
 
Philippians i. 12-26 169 
 
 grace of God hath abounded . . . the sufferings 
 of Christ abound . . . that your love may abound. 
 ''Love alone knows no excess." without offence 
 may mean either " without stumbling " or " with- 
 out causing others to stumble." fruitS should be 
 "fruit." Compare "the fruit of the Spirit/' Gal. 
 V. 22. The Christian graces form a unity, a single 
 luscious cluster of ripe fruit. 
 
 Phil. i. 12-26. 
 CHRIST IS PREACHED. 
 
 12 But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things 
 which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the 
 
 13 furtherance of the gospel ; so that my bonds in Christ are 
 
 14 manifest in all the palace, and in all other places ; and 
 many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my 
 bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without 
 
 15 fear. Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife ; 
 
 16 and some also of good will : the one preach Christ of 
 contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to 
 
 17 my bonds : but the other of love, knowing that I am 
 
 18 set for the defence of the gospel. What then? notwith- 
 standing, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ 
 is preached ; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. 
 
 19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through 
 your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 
 
 20 according to my earnest expectation and my hope, that 
 in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, 
 as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my 
 
 21 body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live 
 
 22 is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this 
 is the fruit of my labour : yet what I shall choose I wot 
 
 23 not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to 
 
 24 depart, and to be with Christ ; which is far better : never- 
 
 25 theless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And 
 
I70 Westminster New Testament 
 
 having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and con- 
 tinue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith ; 
 26 that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ 
 for me by my coming to you again. 
 
 This passage finely illustrates Paul the aged's 
 breadth of vision and tolerance of spirit. He 
 recognises the soul of good in things evil, the bright 
 side of dark providences, the root of the matter in 
 very imperfect characters, the service rendered to 
 God even by jealous and spiteful rivals. In Rome, 
 in prison, he rejoices, and will rejoice, for Christ's 
 cause is prevailing. 
 
 12. the things which happened unto me. 
 Lit., '^ the things concerning me," my circumstances, 
 my prison experiences. These have tended to the 
 progress of the gospel. If the first natural 
 feelings of the Philippians who have heard of his 
 captivity have been distress and anxiety, let their 
 next feeling be gratitude, for the cause which 
 seemed to be receiving a set-back is really ad- 
 vancing by leaps and bounds. Such indications 
 of progress accord far better with the Roman than 
 the Caesarean imprisonment, and the references to 
 the Praetorian Guard (ver. 13) and Caesar's house- 
 hold (iv. 22) seem quite conclusive for the Roman 
 authorship. 
 
 13. in Christ. The R.V. gives these words 
 their right place in the sentence : " My bonds have 
 become manifest as being in Christ." The real 
 meaning of the charge against him has been 
 revealed. He is no ordinary criminal, no political 
 agitator. He is in prison for his faith in Christ. 
 And his noble bearing as a captive is commending 
 that faith to all with whom he comes in contact, in 
 
Philippians i. 12-26 171 
 
 the palace (A.V.) is a translation that still has some 
 defenders. While no native Roman would ever 
 use the word prcetorium in this sense^ it is suggested 
 that a provincial like Paul might make this 
 mistake ! But the rendering in the R.V. is much 
 better. The Praetorian Guard consisted of 10^000 
 picked men^ and not a few of them were hearing 
 the name of Christ. Mommsen and Ramsay- 
 suggest that the word refers rather to "the 
 judicial authorities" before whom Paul has already- 
 appeared ; but this idea lacks corroboration. 
 
 14. waxing confident. Paul's arrival in Rome, 
 even as a prisoner,, thrills the church there like 
 the coming of a general to a weak and dispirited 
 army. His mere presence has a quickening and 
 reassuring effect. Despondency, doubt, and fear 
 are put to shame by his invincible spirit. 
 
 " Languor is not in your heart, 
 Weakness is not in your word, 
 Weariness not in your brow. 
 . At your voice, 
 Panic, despair, flee away." 
 
 15-17. envy and strife . . . faction. Some 
 preached Christ in a spirit of rivalry. They were 
 moved by jealousy to publish Love Divine! They 
 were slack in the work of evangelising till they 
 received this strange and sinister inspiration. We 
 cannot suppose that they were Judaisers. If they 
 had been, Paul must have condemned instead of 
 commending their preaching. They were orthodox 
 men who loved the pre-eminence. They preached 
 not because of zeal for the glory of God, love to 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, or a desire to save souls, 
 but for the purpose of throwing another preacher 
 
172 Westminster New Testament 
 
 into the shade. They thought it would be a bitter 
 thing for Paul in prison — it -would add affliction 
 to his bonds — to hear of their success. They did 
 not know that great soul. He rejoices in their 
 preaching. He disregards their motives and thinks 
 only of their message. They are making Christ's 
 name to resound through the city, and that is 
 enough for him. If there are many greater 
 preachers in Rome than Paul^ no one is so glad as 
 Paul. How Christ will be magnified ! 
 
 *' Lo, I rejoice 
 In thy success as thou ! Let our God's praise 
 Go bravely through the world at last ! What care 
 Through me or thee ? " 
 
 19. to my salvation. Paul is still seeking 
 salvation ! Not in the narrow sense of the word 
 — the forgiveness of sin. He received that long 
 ago, but he is not satisfied. He is pricked with a 
 holy discontent. He seeks a full, perfect, final 
 salvation, the Supply. It is difficult to decide 
 between the two renderings, "the supply which 
 the Spirit gives," and "the supply which is the 
 Spirit." Both are grammatically correct, and each 
 gives a good sense. 
 
 20. ashamed, in the sense of " shamed," put to 
 shame by others. There is no fear of Paul's ever 
 being ashamed to own his Lord. But he is about 
 to be tried again, and he wants to comport himself 
 with such calm confidence before his judges that, 
 instead of being covered with shame, he may, living 
 or dying, glorify Christ. His keen sense of personal 
 honour is rooted in his single-minded desire for the 
 honour of his Lord. Enough if he can be sure that 
 " whatever record leaps to light, HE never shall be 
 shamed." 
 
Philippians i. 12-26 173 
 
 21. to live is Christ. " Paul has no honour and 
 no friend but Christ." tO die is gain. The natural 
 thought is that death ends all. " Linqiienda dovuis 
 et tellus et placens uxor," sighs Horace. The rest is 
 darkness. No^ says Paul, to die is gain. For to 
 die, as to live, is Christ ! 
 
 22. if to live. The construction of this verse is 
 doubtful. The R.V. and its margin show the 
 possible renderings of the Greek words. The 
 sense seems to be, that Paul would desire death as 
 gain, unless the proper result of his labours should 
 be his continuance in life, and then he would be in 
 a dilemma. 
 
 23. in a strait. Hemmed in between two 
 alternatives. To the apostle life and death are both 
 desirable things. He is willing to depart, not 
 because he sighs for rest, but because to die is to 
 be with Christ ; and willing to remain, because life 
 means labour for the welfare of those whom he loves. 
 The shepherd is ready to stay with his flock, the 
 pilot at his wheel, the sentry at his post. tO 
 depart. Literally, to unmoor one's vessel and put 
 out to sea, or to strike one's tent and silently move 
 away (cf. 2 Tim. iv. 6.). tO be with Christ. Paul 
 no longer thinks of death as a sleep till the second 
 advent (1 Thess. iv. 14). It is an immediate en- 
 trance into the joy of his Lord. The upper room 
 of the Father's House, with the glorious Presence, 
 the beatific Vision, is very far better than any- 
 thing on earth. 
 
 " We bow our heads at going out, we think, 
 And enter straight another golden chamber of the King's, 
 Larger than this we leave, and lovelier." 
 
 25. I know. This is not an inspired prophecy. 
 
174 Westminster New Testament 
 
 but a personal conviction. Christ's Church still needs 
 the apostle, and he is immortal till his work is done. 
 
 Phil. i. 27-30. 
 THE LIFE WORTHY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of 
 Christ : that whether I come and see you, or else be 
 absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one 
 spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the 
 
 28 gospel ; and in nothing terrified by your adversaries : 
 which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you 
 
 29 of salvation, and that of God. For unto you it is given in 
 the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also 
 
 30 to suffer for his sake ; having the same conflict which ye 
 saw in me, and now hear to be in me. 
 
 There is a manner of life, a style of living, that is 
 worthy of the gospel, giving fitting expression to 
 its principles in the sphere of duty. The notes of 
 this life are steadfastness and unity of spirit, activity 
 on behalf of the gospel, courage in the face of 
 opposition. The heroism which God gives to those 
 who toil and suffer for Him is a prophecy of their 
 final salvation. 
 
 27. manner of life. Literally, «^*^Only live-as- 
 citizens worthily of the gospel." The corresponding 
 noun, " citizenship," or citizen-life, is found in iii. 20. 
 If you are citizens of the eternal kingdom of God, 
 live up to, in harmony with, this great conception. 
 " What manner of persons ought ye to be ? " one 
 spirit . . . one soul. Paul does not make fine 
 psychological distinctions, but uses popular lan- 
 guage. This is the first of several exhortations to 
 unity in the Philippian Church. There seems to 
 have been some slight clashing of opinions and 
 
Philippians ii. i-ii 175 
 
 crossing of wills among a few of its members. Paul 
 rallies the whole Church to contend for something 
 far higher than little personal victories — to strive 
 for the faith of the gospel. "Faith" has here 
 its usual meaning of personal trust in Christ as the 
 Saviour, which is the active principle of the whole 
 Christian life. Not till we come to the Pastorals 
 do we find the word used in the sense of an 
 objective faith, a formulated creed. 
 
 28. the adversaries. Heathen opponents. 
 token of perdition . . . salvation. The heroism 
 of the saints is itself a prophecy or omen of the 
 issue of their conflict. The very spirit in which 
 they fight is an indication that they are on the 
 winning side and their adversaries doomed to 
 disaster. Faith must be triumphant, it must issue 
 in salvation, final and complete, which is mean- 
 while a future boon for " saved " men. 
 
 29. granted ... to suffer. A paradox. God 
 rewards the faithful by giving them the opportunity 
 and prerogative of suffering. Adversity, as Bacon 
 said, is the blessing of the N.T. A brave soldier 
 counts it the highest honour to be sent into the 
 fighting line, where the dangers are greatest and 
 wounds are most plentiful. 
 
 30. the same conflict. A metaphor of the 
 arena. Christians are God's athletes, wrestling 
 (lit. "agonising") in the power of faith and over- 
 throwing all their spiritual foes. 
 
 Phil. ii. i-ii. 
 
 THE MIND OF CHRIST JESUS. 
 
 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any 
 comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any 
 
176 Westminster New Testament 
 
 2 bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, 
 having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 
 
 3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory ; but in 
 lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than them- 
 
 4 selves. Look not every man on his own things, but every 
 
 5 naan also on the things of others. Let this naind be in you, 
 
 6 which was also in Christ Jesus : who, being in the form of 
 
 7 God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God : but 
 made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form 
 
 8 of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men : and 
 being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and 
 became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 
 
 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given 
 
 10 him a name which is above every name : that at the name 
 of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and 
 
 1 1 things in earth, and things under the earth ; and that every 
 tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the 
 glory of God the Father. 
 
 This splendid passage on the Person of Christ is 
 not part of a theological discussion. It emerges 
 naturally in the course of a pathetic plea for 
 harmony of spirit, brotherly love, lowliness of mind. 
 These graces are commended, not by moral rhetoric, 
 but by a simple, resistless appeal to the supreme 
 example of Christ. He who was the Highest 
 stooped to be the lowest of all. He emptied Him- 
 self of His Divine condition. Humanity, service, 
 obedience unto death, the shame and anguish of 
 the Cross, were the degrees of His descent. God 
 has rewarded His humiliation with an exaltation 
 above all creatures, and a Name which commands 
 universal homage. 
 
 1. Paul returns to his earnest plea for that 
 unity of spirit which is sister to lowliness of mind 
 (i. 27, ii. 3). He appeals first to certain invariable 
 
Philippians ii. i-ii 177 
 
 concomitants of genuine faith, which cannot but 
 tend to foster these graces. There is a comfort, a 
 consolation, a fellowship, a compassion, which are 
 in their very nature self-forgetful, social, unifying. 
 In the measure in which they are active, they weld 
 a church into a true and strong brotherhood. 
 
 2. my joy. Pastoral joy. Paul's happiness in 
 his Philippian Church is already great, and they 
 can fulfil it — absolutely perfect it — by unity and 
 harmony of spirit. They will not refuse him this 
 joy; they cannot grieve his spirit. Such is his 
 second plea — a boldly personal one, which he 
 knows he has earned the right to urge. same 
 . . . same . . . one . . . one. Paul uses the 
 
 tautology of earnestness. Every Christian has his 
 individual characteristics, and no man is of much 
 use to the Church unless he has a mind, a will, an 
 ideal of his own. Yet all Christians are animated 
 by one and the same Spirit. " We have the mind 
 of Christ." 
 
 3. faction and vainglory. Personal ambition 
 and vanity should have no place in the society of 
 Jesus. The greatest is he who humbles himself 
 as a little child, lowliness of mind. Augustine 
 called humility the first, second, and third 
 Christian grace. In classical Greek the word 
 was always used contemptuously for meanness or 
 abjectness of spirit. Christianity gave it a new 
 ethical content, making it the expression of that 
 new spirit which came into the world with Christ 
 — the lowliness which is the condition and the 
 index of true greatness (see Matt. xi. 29). 
 
 5. this mind. The Christian is one who has, 
 in the highest sense, come to his right mind. 
 This is the mind of Christ, who is every man's 
 
 12 
 
178 Westminster New Testament 
 
 true self. Animated by His Spirit, we at once 
 begin the realisation of our ideal manhood. 
 
 6. form of God. The word " form " signifies 
 both reality and appearance. In His pre-incarnate 
 state Christ was really God, and He was manifested 
 as God, not yet to man, but to spiritual intelligences. 
 a prize. A thing to be grasped at, violently and 
 prematurely seized. It will not do to interpret 
 this as meaning, "He counted not equality with 
 God a thbig to be held fast'' It is not a question of 
 retaining but of attaining. The prize is still in the 
 future. It has to be won. Christ would not at 
 once claim the value of God among men ; He 
 would not compel them straightway to fall down 
 and worship Him as Divine. He would labour and 
 suffer and wait. His Divine honours must not be 
 snatched before the time ; they must come to Him 
 at the end and as the reward of a career of self- 
 renunciation. He would take no royal road, no 
 short cut, to the lordship of human hearts (see 
 Matt. iv. 1-10). As if the highest place were not 
 already His by right. He would win it by lowly 
 love and perfect sacrifice. 
 
 7. emptied himself. Not of His Divine 
 nature, but of the glories and prerogatives of 
 God. "Veiled in flesh the Godhead see. Mild, 
 He lays His glory by." form of a servant. As 
 above, the word "form " again implies that He was 
 what He seemed to be — now a servant, or rather 
 a bond-servant, the likeness of men. " Like- 
 ness" expresses similarity without sameness, 
 which is here a most important distinction. He 
 was man, but with a mysterious difference. His 
 manhood was not His whole self. It did not 
 exhaust His significance. The very fact that He 
 
Philippians ii. 12-18 179 
 
 habitually called Himself the Son of Man indicated 
 a consciousness of something far higher and grander. 
 
 8. in fashion as a man. " In appearance/' in 
 outward guise, in what appealed to the senses. 
 He was a man. There was no aureole round His 
 head, no Divine form or comeliness, obedient. 
 That is, unto God, whose will it was that He 
 should suffer, the cross. It is now the beauti- 
 ful symbol of the religion of holiness and love. 
 But in ancient minds it aroused the same feelings 
 of revulsion and horror as the gibbet does in ours. 
 " Far be the very name of the cross," cried Cicero, 
 " not only from the bodies of Roman citizens, but 
 from their imagination, eyes, and ears ! " 
 
 9-11. exalted him. By the valley of humilia- 
 tion He came to the highest celestial altitudes. 
 This is the finest illustration of His own words in 
 Matt, xxiii. 12. the name. The great Name given 
 to Christ was The Lord. In O.T. Greek this was 
 the glorious Divine Name, taking the place of the 
 Hebrew "^ Jahveh," which came to be regarded as 
 too sacred for human lips to utter. In the very 
 first age of the Christian Church it was transferred 
 by all believers — many of them passionate mono- 
 theists — to the crucified and risen Christ. It was 
 God's purpose, they believed, that every tongue 
 should praise Him and acknowledge Him to be 
 the Lord ! This is Divinity indeed. 
 
 Phil. ii. 12-18. 
 
 WORKING OUT SALVATION. 
 
 12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as 
 in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, 
 work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 
 
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 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to 
 
 14 do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmur- 
 
 15 ings and disputings : that ye may be blameless and harm- 
 less, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a 
 crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as 
 
 16 lights in the world ; holding forth the word of life ; that 
 I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in 
 
 17 vain, neither laboured in vain. Yea, and if I be offered 
 upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and 
 
 18 rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do ye joy, 
 and rejoice with me. 
 
 There is nothing that quickens the moral life 
 of man like a passion for Christ. In view of His 
 humiliation and exaltation the Philippians are 
 exhorted to work out for themselves a full salva- 
 tion^ co-operating herein with God, the supreme 
 Worker. By thankful, peaceful, unblamable lives 
 let them shine in the world. Let them convince 
 the apostle that his toil has not been fruitless. 
 He and they, like all other Christians, are priests 
 bringing offerings to God ; and if his libation 
 must be his own blood, he is ready to make it. 
 Let the martyr's death be an occasion of triumph 
 in the Church. 
 
 12. my beloved. The true pastor loves his 
 church as a lover his bride, your salvation : 
 in the fullest sense of the splendid term. As 
 believers, they are already saved ; let them work 
 out a complete salvation. They have within 
 them the germ of the perfect life ; let them 
 labour to bring it to full fruition. Work out what 
 God is working in ! He gives all His resources 
 to any one who will be His fellow-labourer. '' All 
 the work of the world," says a man of science, 
 " is merely a taking advantage of energies already 
 
Philippians ii. 12-18 181 
 
 there." fear and trembling. Not the abject 
 terror of bond-service^ but the sensitive fear of 
 love, which will leave nothing undone, and 
 always aims at perfection (see Eph. vi. 5). 
 
 13, 14-. to will ... to work. God both 
 awakens the desire for salvation and enables us to 
 attain it. He creates a passion for the ideal, and 
 brings it within our reach. He takes infinite pains 
 with us. He works wisely and effectually, never 
 overpowering our wills, but treating us as rational 
 beings who are to be constrained, not compelled, 
 to let Him have His way with us. Faith works 
 with Him towards the realising of all His good 
 pleasure, His perfect satisfaction. 
 
 15. lights in the world (see Matt. v. 14). 
 '^ Murmuring and disputing," like every other 
 " blemish " of character, dim our spiritual light. 
 children of God should have the likeness of 
 the royal family of heaven. The crooked and 
 perverse, who dwell in the world around us, 
 ought to see at a glance that the believer's life has 
 been straightened out. 
 
 16. run . . . labour. Both are favourite words 
 in Paul's vocabulary, suggestive of the high 
 pressure at which he lives. For him the world 
 is an arena in which men must run, a sounding 
 labour-house vast in which they must toil. And 
 he hopes it is not all an effort unmeaning and 
 vain. May there be something to glory of in the 
 crowning day — the day of Christ, who will 
 award the prizes. 
 
 17. I am offered. Poured out as a Hbation 
 or drink-offering. Paul thinks of the Philippians 
 as Christian priests, who offer faith and all its 
 fruits as a sacrifice and service to God. If, over 
 
i82 Westminster New Testament 
 
 and above this sacrifice of theirs, he must pour 
 out^ as from a wine-cup, his own heart's blood, he 
 will not grieve. He rejoices to give the best to 
 the Highest, and he bids others rejoice as they 
 think of love's final sacrifice. 
 
 Phil. ii. 19-30. 
 FELLOW- WORKERS. 
 
 19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly 
 unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I 
 
 20 know your state. For I have no man likeminded, who 
 
 21 will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, 
 
 22 not the things which are Jesus Christ's. But ye know the 
 proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath 
 
 23 served with me in the gospel. Him therefore I hope to 
 send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with 
 
 24 me. But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come 
 
 25 shortly. Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you 
 Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and 
 fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered 
 
 26 to my wants. For he longed after you all, and was full 
 of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been 
 
 27 sick. For indeed he was sick nigh unto death : but God 
 had mercy on him ; and not on him only, but on me also, 
 
 28 lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I sent him there- 
 fore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye 
 may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. 
 
 29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness ; and 
 
 30 hold such in reputation : because for the work of Christ 
 he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply 
 your lack of service toward me. 
 
 Paul is happy in his fellow-workers^ and no 
 wonder, for how he loves, honours, and trusts 
 them ! Here we get a brief but charming glimpse 
 
Philippians ii. 19-30 183 
 
 of two of them. Timothy has ever the warmest 
 place in that great heart. No man is quite like 
 him. He does not, like so many, serve his own 
 interests. From the first there has been an elective 
 affinity between him and the apostle, who always 
 thinks of him as a son. Epaphroditus' portrait, 
 sketched here and nowhere else, is also singularly 
 beautiful. He is an altruist, with a heart always at 
 leisure from itself. He lives to run the errands of 
 others. He hazards his life for the sake of others. 
 In sickness he is troubled only by the trouble of 
 others. Such a man is to be welcomed with joy 
 and held in honour everywhere. 
 
 19-1 hope. Hopes and fears pursue each other 
 in Paul's mind. His end may not be yet. Perhaps 
 it will be possible ere long to spare Timothy. 
 
 20. no man likeminded. Literally, "equal- 
 souled." Timothy is the man after Paul's own 
 heart. No other comrade has a "soul" of just 
 the same fine fibre. The Philippians know what 
 he is, for they have put him to the proof. He 
 was with Paul at the founding of the Philippian 
 Church (Acts xvi.). care truly. It is in this 
 aspect that Timothy most resembles Paul — in his 
 anxiety for the spiritual welfare of the churches. 
 
 21. all seek their own. Strong words, uttered 
 under some keen sense of disappointment. To be 
 a Christian and to prefer one's own things to those 
 of Christ, seeking comfort and ease, shirking duty 
 and danger — this seems a contradiction in terms. 
 It is to lose life in trying to find it. 
 
 22. serveth . . . serveth with. The added 
 "with" in the second clause is very suggestive. 
 Paul was about to say, " As a son serveth his father, 
 so Timothy serveth me." But he checks himself 
 
i84 Westminster New Testament 
 
 midway, struck with a sudden fear of seeming 
 too masterful, and gives the sentence another turn : 
 ^^he serveth ivith me." Paul and Timothy are 
 brethren, both alike servants of Christ. It is a 
 touching proof of the apostle's simplicity and 
 humility. 
 
 23. I shall see how. His vision is limited. 
 He waits the issue in uncertainty. He modifies 
 his first strong "I know" (i. 25) into "I hope" 
 (twice, vers. 19, 23) and "I trust" (ver. 24). 
 
 25. my brother. Paul and Epaphroditus are 
 brothers, living in the same spiritual household ; 
 fellow-workers, labouring in the same business ; 
 fellow-soldiers, fighting in the same army — 
 the household, the business, the army of Christ. 
 your messenger. Lit. "your angel," sent from 
 the Philippians with the tribute of their affection. 
 He was also their apostle and their priestly 
 minister. All these words are carefully chosen 
 for their sacred and honourable associations ; so 
 highly does Paul magnify the office of this alms- 
 bearer, almost putting a halo round his head. 
 
 26. he was troubled. Not because he was 
 sick, but because they had heard that he was sick. 
 He was troubled because he knew their hearts 
 were troubled about him. Their anxiety distressed 
 him more than his own almost fatal sickness. 
 This is the acme of self-forgetfulness. 
 
 27. sorrow upon sorrow, like wave after 
 wave. To Epaphroditus as to Paul death would 
 no doubt be a gain (i. 21), a transition of which one 
 might think with joy (ii. 18). Yet Paul is very 
 human, and he feels how real a sorrow the death 
 of a true friend would be to him ! God in mercy 
 spares him that grief. 
 
Philippians iii. 1-14 185 
 
 29. in the Lord. On his return Epaphroditus 
 must receive a welcome home. How well he will 
 have deserved one ! It is to be with all joy, and it 
 will be so much the sweeter if it is hallowed by the 
 sense of the presence of Christ Himself — if it is a 
 welcome "in the Lord." 
 
 30. hazarding his life. A figure taken from 
 gambling. Paul often watched the Roman soldiers 
 around him eagerly throwing dice. He saw some 
 reckless fellow put his all into a venture. Could 
 faith in Christ induce a man to risk as much ? Epaph- 
 roditus' noble conduct was the answer. He ventured 
 all for Christ's sake, lacking. The only thing which 
 was lacking in the Philippians' holy service — their 
 sacrificial offering of love — was the presentation of 
 their gift to the apostle. This was Epaphroditus' 
 task, and in fulfilling it he came very near the gates 
 of death. 
 
 Phil. iii. 1-14. 
 
 NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH. 
 
 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the 
 same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for 
 
 2 you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, 
 
 3 beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, 
 which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ 
 
 4 Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I 
 might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man 
 thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, 
 
 5 I more : circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, 
 of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews ; as 
 
 6 touching the law, a Pharisee ; concerning zeal, persecuting 
 the church ; touching the righteousness which is in the 
 
 7 law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those 
 
 8 I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all 
 
i86 Westminster New Testament 
 
 things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge ot 
 Christ Jesus my Lord : for whom I have suffered the loss 
 of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win 
 9 Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own 
 righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is 
 through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of 
 
 10 God by faith : that I may know him, and the power of his 
 resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being 
 
 1 1 made conformable unto his death ; if by any means I 
 
 12 might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as 
 though I had already attained, either were already perfect : 
 but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which 
 
 13 also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count 
 not myself to have apprehended : but this one thing I do, 
 forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching 
 
 14 forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the 
 mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 
 
 In these fourteen verses " I " occurs fourteen 
 times. The paragraph contains the writer's spiritual 
 autobiography. The first part of it tells of Saul 
 the Pharisee^ the second of Paul the Christian. 
 The Pharisee had every conceivable earthly advan- 
 tage : he belonged to all the aristocracies, social, 
 intellectual, spiritual ; and he counted his gains as 
 joyfully as a miser his gold. But to be a Christian 
 he threw every advantage and every privilege away ; 
 he counted the world well lost for Christ ; he sought 
 and found the righteousness of God through faith. 
 And now his one ambition is to become perfectly 
 Christlike. This is the ideal towards which he 
 eagerly presses, like a runner speeding to his goal. 
 
 1. rejoice. There is a shade of difference 
 between "rejoice-in the Lord" and "rejoice in- 
 the-Lord." The second is the meaning here. The 
 Lord's fellowship is for believers the sphere and 
 
Philippians iii. 1-14 187 
 
 element of spiritual joy. Paul would not have the 
 Christian mind " to anchor by one gloomy thought." 
 In Christ's presence is (here and now) fulness of 
 joy. the same things : as he had written in 
 previous letters, or spoken in his addresses, not 
 irksome : to go over the lesson again and again, to 
 make the truth impressive by reiteration. Paul 
 seems to be drawing his letter to a close, when 
 suddenly he thinks of a danger to his beloved con- 
 verts of which he must write once more. Has news 
 just reached him of a meditated attack by the 
 Judaisers on a church that has hitherto been safe ? 
 
 2. the dogs. In the East the dogs live in the 
 streets, homeless and ownerless. In Constantinople 
 there are to-day six thousand of them that belong 
 to nobody but the Sultan. Before Christ came the 
 Jew had long thought of the Gentiles as dogs. In 
 the shelter of his spiritual home, where his God 
 cared for him, he sometimes pitied but mostly 
 despised those outcasts who had no roof for their 
 heads. But Paul has come to know better. The 
 proud JeM's have made themselves the wanderers, 
 the outcasts — the dogS — while the Christian has 
 found the true home of the soul, evil workers : 
 counteracting the good done by the evangelists of 
 Jesus Christ, the concision. Paul has now come 
 to think of circumcision as a mere mutilation. 
 Physical gashing can never save the soul. Such 
 strong language has of course no bearing on the 
 question of the hygienic value of the ancient rite. 
 It is necessary for the exposure of a superstition. 
 
 3. the circumcision : which, in its only per- 
 manent religious significance, is "of the heart" 
 (Rom. ii. 29). The Christian proves that he has it 
 by three things : he knows how to worship — not 
 
1 88 Westminster New Testament 
 
 with ritual but by the Spirit ; what to boast of — 
 not of national privileges but of the world's Saviour; 
 what to put his confidence in — not in the flesh 
 but in that Saviour's merits. 
 
 4. the flesh. Man's condition before he becomes 
 a new creature in Christ Jesus ; the old self ; the 
 natural man. 
 
 5. Israel was a chosen race, Benjamin a noble 
 tribe, an Hebrew of Hebrews the speaker of a 
 
 sacred language, and a Pharisee an enthusiast for 
 Divine laws. Such an enthusiast was Paul, speak- 
 ing that language, sprung from that tribe and race ! 
 
 7. gain . . . loss. Paul wrote gains. He 
 had often counted them, and his heart glowed at 
 the discovery that he had perhaps more to his 
 credit than any man living. What blood was in 
 his veins ; how noble his extraction ; how strict his 
 legalism ; how blameless his life I These were his 
 assets, and he had no debts. But there came a 
 time when he transferred all his gains to the other 
 side of the account, massing them together as so 
 much "loss for Christ." On the vacant side of 
 "gain" he then wrote the one word Christ, 
 and knew that he was still the richest man in the 
 world. 
 
 8. the excellency. The surpassing value ; the 
 magnificence, the knowledge. There is a kind 
 of knowledge that merely flatters and puffs up its 
 possessor, but this kind edifies like love itself. To 
 know Christ is the highest wisdom and science, my 
 Lord. Paul usually writes " our Lord," but in this 
 intensely personal passage he grapples his Divine 
 Friend to his own soul with hoops of steel. The 
 comfort of the Bible, Luther used to say, lies in 
 the personal pronouns, loss of all things. In 
 
Philippians iii. 1-14 189 
 
 our own day the Jew who becomes a Christian is 
 still disowned and disinherited. Sometimes the 
 burial service is read for him by his kinsfolk. He 
 is dead to them ! 
 
 9. righteousness ... of God. This was 
 the gift of God to penitent sinners united by 
 faith to Jesus Christ. A splendid new concep- 
 tion, supplanting the old idea of righteousness 
 by law-abiding. " Paul taught the whole world 
 righteousness/' says Clement of Rome. 
 
 10. resurrection . . . sufferings. Paul de- 
 sires to share Christ's victorious power and His 
 sacrificial pain. The resurrection of Christ, a fact 
 of history, becomes to every believer a fact of 
 experience. Faith in it makes a man an optimist. 
 Its uplifting power is immeasurable. Paul also 
 desires to have fellowship with Christ's sufferings, 
 through profound sympathy with the world's sorrow 
 and need. He desires to become conformed unto 
 His death, to be ready for love's last and perfect 
 sacrifice (cf. 1 John iii. l6). 
 
 12. not . . . made perfect. Saul the Pharisee 
 thought himself ^^ blameless" (ver. 6), but Paul 
 the Christian knows better. He has not attained. 
 The glittering heights of holiness are still far 
 above him. He feels the immense stimulus of an 
 unrealised ideal. Christ apprehended him long 
 ago, and bade him apprehend perfection. "A 
 man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's 
 a heaven for.'' " 
 
 13. one thing. Paul's supreme passion unifies 
 and simplifies his life, focuses his energies, claims 
 all his time and thought for one mighty endeavour. 
 He forgets the things which are behind, especially 
 his successes, wasting no hours in complacent retro- 
 
iQo Westminster New Testament 
 
 spects, acting in the living present, and preparing 
 for the glorious future. 
 
 14. I press on. Like a runner he thinks of his 
 goal, and quickens his pace as he nears it. the 
 prize. Two meanings are possible : either, the 
 prize which is itself the high (upward, heavenward) 
 calling ; or, the prize which is associated with that 
 calling to make it more attractive. The Christian 
 thinks of the joy that is set before him, as Christ 
 Himself did (Heb. xii. 2). The calling is itself in 
 Christ Jesus, which indicates that He is the 
 medium through which we receive it. 
 
 Phil. iii. 15-21. 
 THE IMITATION OF THE SAINTS. 
 
 15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded : 
 and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall 
 
 16 reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we 
 have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us 
 
 17 mind the same thing. Brethren, be followers together of 
 me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an 
 
 18 ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you 
 often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the 
 
 19 enemies of the cross of Christ : whose end is destruction, 
 whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their 
 
 20 shame, who mind earthly things. ) For our conversation is 
 in heaven ; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the 
 
 21 Lord Jesus Christ : who shall change our vile body, that it 
 may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to 
 the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things 
 unto himself. 
 
 Having finished his chapter of self-revelation, 
 Paul returns to earnest exhortation. As a standard 
 
Philippians iii. 15-21 191 
 
 of conduct he boldly offers the example of the 
 saints. Many of those who profess to follow Christ 
 lead lives of shame^ but true Christians are citizens 
 of heaven, and must keep its laws, remembering 
 that the Saviour will return to make them, in body 
 as well as in spirit, like Himself. 
 
 15, 16. perfect. In ver. 12 Paul said, "I am 
 not perfect." It is somewhat puzzling to see that 
 he now includes himself among ^' the perfect." 
 The word is of course used Un two senses : 
 (1) absolutely good, pure, holy; (2) full-grown, 
 mature, no longer childishly ignorant and weak. 
 Both meanings are equally common in the N.T. 
 reveal . . . walk. The increasing revelation 
 comes to those who walk in the light. Obedience 
 has been finely called the organ of spiritual know- 
 ledge. 
 
 17. imitators. The reference in ver. l6 to 
 a rule of life prompts the question. What is the 
 rule } If the old law is dead, what takes its place ? 
 Paul answers by inviting men to walk in his own 
 footsteps — to imitate himself and his fellow- 
 workers (cf. 1 Cor. xi. 1). Alongside of the imiiafio 
 Christi there is need of an imitatio Christianorum. 
 Men who utterly disregard the former may be 
 allured by the latter. There is no egotism, only 
 the simplicity of truth, in Paul's words. But 
 what a weight of responsibility they lay on all 
 Christians ! 
 
 18,19. enemies of the cross. Christian liberty 
 seems to some minds liberty to sin. The in- 
 dulgence of the body, they think, cannot hurt the 
 soul. Christianity is not law but love — and such 
 love ! Paul weeps that " Christians " — enemies of 
 Christ's Cross — should thus glory in their shame. 
 
192 Westminster New Testament 
 
 and shudders at the thought of their end. god 
 . . . belly. "I bow before no other but myself, 
 and to my belly, chief of deities." 
 
 20. citizenship. This was always a great word 
 to Paul, and to the end he was doubtless proud to 
 say, '' Civis Romamis sum." But he has received, 
 not achieved, a far higher honour and dignity — the 
 citizenship of heaven. Every Christian enjoys the 
 privileges, shares the protection, and keeps the laws 
 of that glorious kingdom. He has civic rights in 
 a polity whose constitution is Divine and eternal. 
 
 21. our vile body. Paul does not say that. 
 He has none of the Stoic's and ascetic's contempt 
 for the body. He speaks of it reverently. It is 
 redeemed as fully as the soul. But it is mean- 
 while the body of our humiliation, subject to 
 weakness, decay, death. From all this Christ 
 has the power and the will to liberate it, by re- 
 fashioning it in the image of His own glorified 
 heavenly body. 
 
 Phil. iv. 1-9. 
 
 CHRISTIAN UNITY, JOY, AND PEACE. 
 
 Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my 
 joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. 
 
 2 I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be ot 
 
 3 the same mind in the Lord. And I intreat thee also, true 
 yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in 
 the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellow- 
 
 4 labourers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice 
 
 5 in the Lord alway : and again I say. Rejoice. Let your 
 moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 
 
 6 Be careful for nothing ; but in every thing by prayer and 
 supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made 
 
Philippians iv. 1-9 193 
 
 7 known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth 
 all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds 
 
 8 through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things 
 are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things 
 are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are 
 lovely, whatsoever things are of good report ; if there be 
 any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these 
 
 9 things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and 
 received, and heard, and seen in me, do : and the God of 
 peace shall be with you. 
 
 With one more outburst of warm affection 
 Paul gives his final exhortations to his Philippian 
 brethren. His ideal is a united Church, studying 
 the things that make for peace ; a Church pervaded 
 by the atmosphere of joy ; a Church whose members 
 are lifted by prayer above care, and who rival each 
 other in the eager pursuit of everything noble and 
 worthy of praise. 
 
 1. my beloved (twice). The word is tenderly 
 repeated. Paul thinks of his church with love, 
 with longing, with joy, with triumph, and again 
 with love. He loves first and last and without 
 end. crown is not the kingly or priestly diadem, 
 but the athlete's wreath of victory. The Philippian 
 Church is a chaplet for the apostle's brow. 
 
 2, 3. Euodia and Syntyche both loved the gospel, 
 both laboured with Paul in the gospel. They were 
 both '' in the Lord." But they could not labour 
 together without some friction. They were not 
 of the same mind. They looked askance at each 
 other's ways. Paul seeks to reconcile them. They 
 cannot be enemies in the Lord, they must be 
 friends. In the atmosphere of His realised presence 
 their differences melt away like ice in the sun- 
 beams, yokefellow. It is impossible to say who is 
 
 13 
 
194 Westminster New Testament 
 
 addressed here. Epapliroditus^ Timothy, the husband 
 of Euodia or of Syntyche are conjectures. Some 
 scholars read, " Synzygus, rightly so called." and 
 the rest. There are many workers in the Philip- 
 pian Church, and all are exhorted to be peace- 
 makers, as befits those whose names are written in 
 the Book of Life. 
 
 4. Rejoice. Christianity is in a sense "the 
 Worship of Sorrow." But its final outcome can 
 only be joy. It overcomes all the Weltschinerz — the 
 sorrow of the world. " I marvelled," says Tennyson, 
 
 "Wherefore rather I made choice 
 To commune with that barren voice, 
 Than him that said, ' Rejoice ! Rejoice ! ' " 
 
 5. forbearance. A well-known classical word, 
 translated by Matthew Arnold "sweet reasonable- 
 ness." We find it in 2 Cor. x. 1, where it is 
 rendered " the gentleness of Christ." The Lord 
 is at hand. How sweet was this thought to the 
 early Christians ! They greeted each other with 
 " Maran-atha " — " the Lord cometh ! " 
 
 6. careful : in the old sense of the word — harass- 
 ing care, worry, atra cura. The cure for such care- 
 fulness is prayerfulness with thanksgiving (cf Matt, 
 vi. 31, 32). 
 
 7. peace of God. That inward tranquillity 
 which is a gift of the God of peace. Like His gift 
 of infinite love, it is beyond the apprehension of 
 reason ; it is a thing to be experienced, never fully 
 understood. It will guard the heart, as brave 
 soldiers calmly defend a besieged town. Tempta- 
 tions, doubts, and fears seek admission, but find no 
 entrance into the citadel of Mansoul, where peace 
 reigns. 
 
Philippians iv. 10-20 195 
 
 8, 9. whatsoever things. No passage in 
 Paul's writings has such a Hellenic ring as this. 
 He earnestly recommends thinking. Hegel says 
 that "thinking itself is a service of God." Paul's 
 ideals for the reflective mind — truth^ honour, 
 justice, purity, loveliness — are all nobly classical. 
 These were virtues of which the Greeks would talk 
 all day and every day. But Christianity did two 
 things : it gave each of these themes a higher, holier 
 meaning ; and it transferred them out of the realm 
 of thought into that of action. This was thinking 
 to good purpose. "These things do." The dis- 
 tinction of Christianity is its magnificent driving 
 energy, its power to get things done, to change 
 dreams into deeds. 
 
 Phil. iv. 10-20. 
 PAUL'S SECRET OF CONTENTMENT. 
 
 10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last 
 your care of me hath flourished again ; wherein ye were 
 
 1 1 also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. Not that I speak 
 in respect of want : for I have learned, in whatsoever state 
 
 12 I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be 
 abased, and I know how to abound : every where and in 
 all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, 
 
 13 both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things 
 
 14 through Christ which strengtheneth me. Notwithstanding 
 ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my 
 
 15 affliction. Now ye Philippians know also, that in the 
 beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, 
 no church communicated with me as concerning giving and 
 
 16 receiving, but ye only. For even in Thessalonica ye sent 
 
 17 once and again unto my necessity. Not because I desire 
 a gift : but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. 
 
 18 But I have all, and abound : I am full, having received of 
 
196 Westminster New Testament 
 
 Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an 
 odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing 
 
 19 to God. But my God shall supply all your need according 
 
 20 to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now unto God and 
 our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 In conclusion, Paul tells of his joy in the latest 
 of the many gifts of the Philippian Church. He 
 acknowledges it with an exquisite courtesy, in 
 which a note of proud independence is charmingly 
 blended with one of touching gratitude. And 
 what does he make of " this matter of giving and 
 receiving"? He transfigures it. He throws over 
 it the radiance of heaven. He displays it in its 
 eternal spiritual relations. He shows its worth for 
 God. Christian beneficence blesses him that gives 
 as well as him that takes, yielding an ever-increas- 
 ing fruit (or interest) in all after-time. It is more 
 than a natural expression of loving sympathy 
 between man and man. It is a holy and fragrant 
 sacrifice to God, who will reward it in a manner 
 worthy of Himself. 
 
 10. ye have revived, "ye have made your 
 thought for me bloom again," like flowers in 
 spring-time. A delightful way of praising their 
 liberality, implying, it is superfluous to say, 
 no reproach, no suggestion of a time of wintry 
 coldness ! Far from it, they " were indeed taking 
 thought all along " (impf. tense) ; only they had 
 no opportunity of fulfilling their wish. 
 
 11. to be content. Literally, " self-sufl^cient," 
 independent of others. A favourite word among 
 the Stoics, from whom Paul probably borrowed it. 
 The Stoic was self-sufficient in the strength of his 
 own '' unconquerable soul " ; the Christian in the 
 might of the Spirit of Christ within him. 
 
Philippians iv. 10-20 197 
 
 12. instructed. '^ I have learned the secret." 
 Lit., " I have been initiated into the mystery." Paul 
 was familiar with the Greek mysteries, which 
 somewhat resembled those of Freemasonry. 
 Christianity too, he suggests, has its mysteries, 
 into which every believer ought to be initiated, and 
 one of them is the secret of contentment, of self- 
 sufficiency, of keeping one's spirit superior to the 
 fluctuations of fortune, like " a mark of everlasting 
 light above the howling senses' ebb and flow." 
 
 13. I can do all things. The Christian's 
 dynamic is the risen Christ. Nothing ever cuts 
 him ofl" from the centre of power but his own fail- 
 ing faith. Having in Christ an unlimited reserve 
 of superhuman strength, he can confront every 
 emergency, doing and bearing all things according 
 to the will of God. 
 
 14. fellowship. No grace seems higher to 
 Paul than communion in suffering. Just as it was 
 his own passionate desire to know the fellowship of 
 Christ's suffering (iii. 10), so he is profoundly 
 thankful that the Philippians wish to have fellow- 
 ship with him in his own experiences of captivity 
 and poverty. " Pain is the deepest thing we have 
 in our nature, and union through pain has always 
 seemed to me more real and more holy than any 
 other" (A. H. Hallam). 
 
 15. in the beginning of the gospel : the first 
 preaching of it in Macedonia, about ten years before 
 (see Acts xvii. 1-15). At that time the Philippian 
 Church alone gave him material aid. giving and 
 receiving. The Philippians giving, Paul receiving. 
 In Greek the words have a mercantile ring, like 
 our "credit and debit." The apostle playfully 
 suggests that the Philippians have opened an 
 
198 Westminster New Testament 
 
 account with him ! There is no reason for import- 
 ing (as some do) the idea of the interchange of 
 temporal for spiritual gifts. It is an ordinary- 
 matter of giving and receiving money. 
 
 16. in Thessalonica. Now Saloniki^ at the head 
 of the gulf of the same name. In that city Paul 
 remained for some time and] founded a church, but 
 the pecuniary help he received there, when he 
 was straitened in outward circumstances, came 
 not from the converts of the place but from 
 Philippi, 100 miles away. The fact stands out 
 clear and vivid in his memory after a lapse of ten 
 years. 
 
 17. Not that I desire the gift. For gifts 
 as such, apart from the love of the givers and the 
 blessing which their generosity must bring to 
 themselves, he has no desire. A cheque from a 
 well-wisher who was not a true Christian would 
 give him little or no pleasure. What he does desire 
 more than anything else is the fruit, or recompense, 
 which abounds to the advantage of those who 
 with a pure motive offer the sacrifices of love. 
 Strike out the A.V.'s '^may" ; the reward is 
 certain. 
 
 18. I abound. I have enough and more; my 
 cup overflows, the things. Paul instinctively 
 avoids the use of the word "money." The gift 
 of love was much more than a purse of gold ; it 
 was an offering to God, pure and acceptable ; like 
 the ascending odour of some ancient oblation, 
 the generosity of it was fragrant to His spirit. 
 So much good as that can be said of money ! 
 What is sometimes called *^^ filthy lucre" may 
 have the sweetness, to God and man, of a holy 
 sacrifice. 
 
Philippians iv. 21-23 199 
 
 19. all your need. " Your " is emphatic. " My 
 God will fulfil every need of yours^ as ye have 
 supplied mine." Paul feels that he can never 
 repay the gifts they have sent him ; he must 
 always be hopelessly in debt. But he can pray^ 
 and God will repay. His unsearchable riches 
 will adequately recompense the offering of love. 
 He will give " gloriously (in glory) in Christ Jesus." 
 Here " glory " is not the future glory of heaven ; 
 but the present splendour of Divine grace. 
 
 Phil. iv. 21-23. 
 GREETINGS AND FAREWELL. 
 
 21 Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which 
 
 22 are with me greet you. All the saints sakite you, chiefly 
 
 23 they that are of Csesar's household. The grace of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 
 
 21. every saint is every Christian. Paul may 
 mean either ^^ Salute - in - Christ eveiy saint/' or 
 ^'Salute every saint-in-Christ." The difference is 
 unimportant, and either sense excellent. Paul had 
 around him a large circle of brethren — converts 
 and comrades — who knew that he was writing, and 
 desired to send their loving greetings. 
 
 22. Caesar's household. The phrase is one 
 of many indications that the letter was written in 
 Rome rather than Caesarea. " Household does not 
 signify members of the imperial family, but the whole 
 menage of the imperial residence — slaves, freedmen, 
 household servants, and other dependents, possibly 
 some of high rank" (Vincent). The house in 
 which Nero was making himself eternally infamous 
 
200 Westminster New Testament 
 
 was a strange school for saints. But light pene- 
 trates the darkest places. Some of those who had 
 to wait every day in the presence of Nero were all 
 the time beholding the Face of Christ, and the 
 vision was transforming them into His image. 
 Paul had not been a prisoner in vain. 
 
1 Tim. i. I, 2. 
 
 GREETING. 
 
 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of 
 God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our 
 2 hope ; unto Timothy, my own son in the faith : Grace, 
 mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ 
 our Lord. 
 
 1, 2. by the commandment. Or, "the auth- 
 ority." The commission was not human but Divine. 
 God our Saviour. It is one of the peculiarities of 
 the Pastorals that they apply the word " Saviour " 
 to God the Father more frequently than to Christ 
 the Son — three times in 1 Timothy and as often in 
 Titus. This seems due to the author's Greek habits 
 of thought. Christ Jesus our hope. A new 
 
 and beautiful title of our Lord, the abstract noun 
 being made personal, as in Watts's hymn, " Our God, 
 our Help . . . our Hope." Christ is the ground, 
 the substance of believers' hopes for themselves and 
 the universe. Compare "the blessed hope " in Tit. 
 ii. 13. my true child. The apostle's dearest son, 
 for ten years his companion (cf. Phil. ii. 22). 
 mercy is an addition to the "grace and peace" 
 of the common Pauline salutation. So in 2 Tim. 
 1. 2. 
 
202 Westminster New Testament 
 
 I Tim. i. 3-II. 
 SOUND DOCTRINE. 
 
 3 As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went 
 into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they 
 
 4 teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and 
 endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than 
 
 5 godly edifying which is in faith : so do. Now the end of 
 the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of 
 
 6 a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned : from which 
 some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling ; 
 
 7 desiring to be teachers of the law ; understanding neither 
 
 8 what they say, nor whereof they affirm. But we know 
 
 9 that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully ; knowing 
 this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but 
 for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for 
 sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers 
 
 10 and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whore- 
 mongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, 
 for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if 
 there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine ; 
 
 1 1 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which 
 was committed to my trust. 
 
 Timothy has abeady been orally instructed to 
 remain in Ephesus as the guardian of soimd 
 doctrine. His charge is now put in writing. 
 He is to remember that the end and aim of all 
 Christian teaching is love. False teachers are 
 great only in talking, disputing, questioning ; their 
 confidence is in proportion to their ignorance ; 
 while they pretend to teach the law they have 
 not a notion of its real value. 
 
 3. at Ephesus. The words no doubt reflect 
 an authentic tradition of Timothy's life and work 
 
I Timothy i. 3-1 1 203 
 
 in this city after Paul's removal. mightest 
 charge. The word " charge " occurs seven times 
 in the epistle, five times as a verb, twice as a 
 noun. The idea is present to the writer's mind 
 from first to last. Sometimes it is he who gives 
 a charge to Timothy (i. 5, 18, vi. 13), sometimes 
 it is Timothy who is authoritatively to charge 
 (twice translated "command") others (i. 3, iv. 11, 
 v. 7, vi. 13). The letter as a whole might be 
 entitled " The Pastor's Charge." to-teach-a- 
 different-doctrine is one word in Greek. "To 
 be heterodox" conveys its flavour. There is a 
 theological standard which every one ought to 
 accept. The Church has established her confession 
 of faith, her pattern of sound words, and Timothy 
 is enjoined to command men to teach nothing 
 contrary to the creed — to be orthodox. 
 
 4. fables . . . genealogies. It is a question 
 whether these were the product of the Rabbinic 
 or the Gnostic mind, both of which were given to 
 spinning grotesque fancies and giving them forth 
 as gospel truths. As the heterodox teachers whom 
 the writer has in view pretend to be teachers of 
 the law (ver. 7), it is natural to infer that not a few 
 of the myths and genealogies in question were of 
 Jewish origin, minister questionings. Fanciful 
 tales merely tickle the ears and loosen the tongue. 
 They have no relation to the serious business of 
 life. They are received with foolish credulity 
 instead of rational faith. They end in conversation, 
 not conversion. Christianity, on the contrary, is 
 a dispensation of God, a stewardship of His 
 grace to men, imparting not barren ideas, empty 
 speculations, but eternal and life-giving truths. 
 
 5. the end, or purpose, of the charge which 
 
204 Westminster New Testament 
 
 Timothy receives is the awakening of love in the 
 hearts of his hearers. The gospel must prove that 
 it does not issue in a war of words but in Hves of 
 self-forgetting love. It is to attest itself by its 
 beautiful practical results. Its glory is that it has 
 power to kindle a passion of love in every heart 
 that receives it, to fill the whole earth with love 
 when it has free course. Such love, the writer 
 teaches, springs from a nature that has become 
 pure, inward, and sincere ; a man's heart, con- 
 science, and faith must each be adjusted to a 
 Divine standard before love can reign supreme in 
 his life. 
 
 6. vain jangling. Better, '' empty talking," all 
 the more silly because it is so solemn and religious. 
 " Empty chaff well meant for grain." 
 
 7. teachers (cf. Rom. ii. 21-23). Their self- 
 confidence is sublime, their intelligence puerile, 
 even childish. They have need to go to school 
 and begin at the lowest form. 
 
 8. the law. The law is good, but it is for those 
 who are not good. Its provisions are negative. 
 Its end is the repression of evil rather than the 
 promotion of righteousness. To the tempted it 
 utters its categorical "Thou shalt not." The 
 writer goes right through the Decalogue. The 
 ungodly are condemned in the first and second 
 commandments, the profane in the third and 
 fourth, murderers of fathers and mothers in the 
 fifth, manslayers, fornicators, man-stealers, profane 
 swearers in the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth 
 respectively. This commonplace idea of the use of 
 the Decalogue is far removed from the profound 
 Pauline conception of the historical function of 
 the law as a tutor to bring men to Christ. 
 
I Timothy i. 12-17 205 
 
 10. sound doctrine. These are favourite words 
 in the Pastorals. ^^ Sound" occurs seven times in 
 them and nowhere else; "doctrine" fifteen times, 
 against seven times in the rest of the N.T. 
 "Sound doctrine" is literally healthful teaching, 
 as opposed to what is sickly, morbid. This is 
 in itself a fine broad unfettered conception ; but 
 in the Pastorals " the doctrine " has become a 
 definite body of truth which is alone recognised as 
 "sound" or orthodox. These epistles are essen- 
 tially didactic; hence the frequent recurrence of 
 the words "teach," "teacher," "teaching," "apt 
 to teach." 
 
 11. gospel of the glory. This is magnificent 
 language. " The author can think of no more 
 striking contrast than that between the endless 
 prattle of the false teachers and the gospel of 
 the glory of the blessed God " (Kohler). 
 
 I Tim. i. 12-17. 
 
 PAUL'S VOCATION ILLUSTRATING DIVINE 
 MERCY. 
 
 12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, 
 for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the 
 
 13 ministry ; who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, 
 and injurious : but I obtained mercy, because I did it 
 
 14 ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was 
 exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ 
 
 15 Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all 
 acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to 
 
 16 save sinners ; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this 
 cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might 
 shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which 
 
2o6 Westminster New Testament 
 
 17 should hereafter beheve on him to life everlasting. Now 
 unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise 
 God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 Paul's ministry^ and the steps that led up to it, 
 form a striking object lesson for the Christian 
 Pastor. His savage indignation as a persecutor, 
 of which he could never think without remorse, 
 did not shut him out from mercy. He became 
 the subject of the Lord's abounding grace, and 
 felt that the chief of sinners was saved. He con- 
 cluded that the Lord must have specially chosen 
 him in order to display His longsuffering and to 
 illustrate the victorious power of faith. 
 
 12. enabled me: gave me ability for His 
 service, counted me faithful. After his years 
 of waiting and testing in Arabia and Tarsus, Paul 
 was approved as trustworthy (see Acts xi. 26, 
 xiii. 1). the ministry. Better, " His service." 
 
 13. The three sins which Paul confesses form 
 a climax, which our weak word " injurious " 
 spoils. He was a reviler of the name of Christ, 
 a persecutor of His Church, an outrager of 
 justice and humanity. I did it ignorantly. 
 Cf. Luke xxiii. 34. 
 
 14. grace . . . abounded. Add to this the 
 
 words of next verse, '^sinners, of whom I am 
 chief," and we have Bunyan's '^ Grace Abounding 
 to the Chief of Sinners." The Pharisee and the 
 Tinker went to the same school. Their great 
 minds ran parallel. Because they thought so 
 profoundly about their sin, they saw so clearly the 
 splendour of salvation, with faith and love. 
 In wonderful contrast to the old unbelief and 
 hatred. 
 
I Timothy i. 18-20 207 
 
 1 5. Faithful is the saying. The words occur 
 five times in the Pastorals (there alone)^ each time 
 introducing some weighty axiom. The use of 
 such set forms of speech became much more 
 common in the sub-apostolic age. I am chief. 
 An expression of the deepest humility. Paul the 
 aged does not say, " I was the chief of sinners/' 
 but " I am." The confessor really feels w^hat he 
 says. Other men's sins seem venial in comparison 
 with his own. While Christ " knew no sin/' and 
 never sought forgiveness, those who have become 
 most like Him have always had the sharpest sense 
 of personal guilt. This is one of the strongest 
 proofs of His uniqueness. 
 
 16. in me first. Better, "in me as chief/' as 
 in the previous verse. Paul feels that he is chosen 
 as a pattern, or sample, or typical case. If he 
 receives mercy, let no one despair. 
 
 " I the chief of sinners am, 
 I'm a miracle of grace." 
 
 17. King eternal. Lit., "King of the aeons, or 
 ages." " The writer so names God with evident 
 allusion to the Gnostics, who dream of orders of 
 aeons in which the being of the Godhead is 
 unfolded. God is Lord over them all, the only 
 true God" (Kohler). 
 
 I Tim. i. 18-20. 
 DANGER OF SHIPWRECK. 
 
 18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according 
 to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by 
 
 19 them mightest war a good warfare ; holding faith, and a 
 
2o8 Westminster New Testament 
 
 good conscience ; which some having put away concerning 
 20 faith have made shipwreck : of whom is Hymenaeus and 
 Alexander ; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they 
 ma}' learn not to blaspheme. 
 
 Timothy is urged to be a brave fighter in the 
 army of the Lord, under the stimulus of the 
 inspiring memories of his time of consecration to 
 Christ's service. It is not inappropriate to remind 
 him of some who made a fair beginning, but whose 
 faith and life went to wreck and ruin. 
 
 18. the prophecies. Before Paul called 
 Timothy to be his comrade in evangelism, 
 prophetic voices in the Church had given the 
 assurance that the young man would be a brave 
 soldier in the army of Jesus Christ, for beneath 
 his gentleness it had been discerned that he was 
 by no means lacking in strength of character. 
 Let him now fulfil these confident hopes, when he 
 has to stand alone in face of opposition, the (not 
 "a") good warfare is the same for him as for 
 every believer. If all saints are not soldiers, some 
 are failing in their duty. 
 
 19. thrust from them. Faith and conscience 
 are like good angels, eloquently pleading, reluctant 
 to depart, and finally so importunate that they are 
 incontinently thrust out of doors. It is a fatal 
 error. If an angry and mutinous crew throw 
 skipper and pilot overboard in a storm, it is a miracle 
 if they do not suffer shipwreck. Hymenaeus is 
 named again in 2 Tim. ii. 17. Alexander may be 
 the coppersmith mentioned in 2 Tim. iv. 14. 
 
 20. delivered to Satan. This is difficult to 
 interpret. Some indignant repudiation is implied. 
 An experience of the hardness and bitterness of 
 the fruits of sin may make men weary of ill-doing. 
 
I Timothy ii. 1-7 209 
 
 and thus Satan may become against his will a 
 teacher of virtue. 
 
 1 Tim. ii. 1-7. 
 
 PRAYERS FOR ALL MEN. 
 
 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, 
 intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men ; 
 
 2 for kings, and for all that are in authority ; that we may 
 lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 
 
 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our 
 
 4 Saviour ; who will have all men to be saved, and to come 
 
 5 unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, 
 and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ 
 
 6 Jesus ; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified 
 
 7 in due time. Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and 
 an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not ;) a 
 teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. 
 
 Here we can read between the lines that the 
 Church has fightings without and fears within. 
 She has to reckon, on the one hand, with a jealous 
 Government, ever spying upon her actions, ever 
 ready to let its wrath burst forth and shatter her 
 tranquillity ; and, on the other, with a form of 
 teaching within her own borders which questions 
 the unity of God and the humanity of Christ, while 
 it assumes that the knowledge of the highest truth 
 is the possession of an intellectual coterie. To 
 meet this situation, it is enjoined that prayers be 
 offered for all men, and especially for the Govern- 
 ment ; and it is taught that all men alike are to 
 be brought to a full knowledge of the truth, which 
 is summed up in the simple creed that there is 
 one God, one Mediator who is Himself man, and 
 one atonement once made for all men. 
 
 14 
 
2IO Westminster New Testament 
 
 1, 2. prayers ... for kings and all that 
 are in high place. ^^This is the answer which 
 the Church returns to all persecutions" (Kohler). 
 She will harbour no idea of revenge ; she will 
 give back love for hatred ; she will overcome evil 
 with good. Tranquillising her own spirit with 
 the great thought that God wills the salvation of 
 her enemies, since Christ paid a ransom for all, 
 she can forgivingly pray for them that despitefully 
 use her. She is surely therefore justified in claim- 
 ing that Christianity is essentially a loyal religion. 
 godliness and gravity. These words are 
 found in none of the letters ascribed to Paul 
 except the Pastorals, where ^^ godliness" (or 
 " piety ") occurs ten times and " gravity " three 
 times (also "grave" three times). Both terms 
 were familiar to the religious teachers of Greece. 
 The repetition of them in the Pastorals creates 
 a certain atmosphere. Christianity is elsewhere 
 a rapturous mystic communion with the risen 
 Saviour ; here it is piety. It is elsewhere the 
 heroic, aggressive advocacy of a splendid cause ; 
 here it is the gravity of a tranquil civic life. 
 
 4. who willeth. This does not mean "who 
 decrees that all men should be saved," but "who 
 wishes." If God's will were done, all men would 
 be saved, but God has made the human will free, 
 and never ovemdes it. God is now willing, is 
 man ? Whether all men will ultimately become 
 willing is quite beyond the scope of this passage. 
 It is far from teaching dogmatic universalism. 
 the knowledge. Better, "the full knowledge" 
 {epignosis). The Gnostics said that this was only for 
 the initiated, but in Christianity there is no inner 
 circle from which the vulgar throng are excluded. 
 
I Timothy ii. 1-7 211 
 
 All truth is common property. The Spirit takes 
 of the things of Christ to enlighten every man 
 (of. Col. i. 28). 
 
 5. one mediator. This truth seems to us 
 quite axiomatic, but it was only after a long 
 controversy that it was accepted by the whole 
 early Church. The Gnostics believed in a multi- 
 tude of mediators — angels or aeons — among whom 
 Christ was in danger either of being lost sight of 
 altogether, or of being transformed into a shadowy, 
 mythical (Doketic) being quite different from the 
 man Christ Jesus. The Divine greatness of 
 Christ and His perfect Son-of-manhood are truths 
 equally important to the writer. 
 
 6. a ransom for all. This recalls '' a ransom for 
 many " in Matt. xx. 28, only the preposition " for " 
 differs slightly in the two phrases : in the first it 
 means "on behalf of," in the second "in the place 
 of." A ransom is what is given in exchange for 
 another as the price of his redemption. Christ 
 gave himself — a ransom of infinite worth. The 
 language is figurative, and must not be pressed, as 
 it is when the question is asked. To whom is the 
 ransom paid ? Christ made an atonement which is 
 appropriate for all and appropriated by the many 
 who believe. the testimony regarding this 
 central fact of redemption could not be borne till 
 the fulness of the times — till the Christian era. 
 
 7. I was appointed. Elsewhere we find 
 frequent allusions to Paul's Divine appointment 
 to be a preacher, or an apostle, o?- a teacher. 
 Here the terms are all accumulated together 
 (cf. 2 Tim. i. 11). 
 
212 Westminster New Testament 
 
 I Tim. ii. 8-15. 
 WOMAN'S SPHERE. 
 
 8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy 
 
 9 hands, without wrath and doubting. In like manner also, 
 that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with 
 shamefacedness and sobriety ; not with braided hair, or 
 
 10 gold, or pearls, or costly array ; but (which becometh 
 
 11 women professing godliness) with good works. Let the 
 
 12 woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer 
 not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, 
 
 13 but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then 
 
 14 Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being 
 
 15 deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she 
 shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and 
 charity and holiness with sobriety. 
 
 Men, not women, are to lead others in prayer. 
 Women are to dress modestly, their best adornment 
 being their good works. They are to be silent in 
 the public assembly, neither teaching nor ruling. 
 The accepted belief that woman was created after 
 man and fell before him proves her inferiority. It 
 will be her salvation to limit herself to the bearing 
 and rearing of children, leading a quiet, sober life of 
 faith and love. 
 
 8. that the men pray. The men in distinction 
 from the women. The R.V. makes the meaning 
 clear by inserting '^ the." Those who pray are to 
 do it with uplifted hands, with holy hands, and in 
 a spirit of love. " The raising of the hands with 
 the palm upturned was the usual attitude of 
 prayer both in classical antiquity and in the early 
 Christian Church ; the opened hands expected to 
 be filled from above " (Kohler). " Holy hands " 
 
I Timothy ii. 8-15 213 
 
 meant more than clean hands (Ps. xxiv. 4) ; it 
 meant hands consecrated to the service of God. 
 To pray in an angry, disputatious spirit was to 
 forget that one was speaking in the audience- 
 chamber of a God of love. 
 
 9. Shamefastness is the correct spelling. It 
 means the modesty which is fast or rooted in the 
 character, whereas shamefacedness means sheepish- 
 ness. sobriety and ^^ sober " are found six times in 
 the Pastorals and in none of the other Pauline 
 letters. It was a Greek ideal, the first of the 
 four cardinal virtues — temperance, wisdom, justice, 
 courage. Like "sound," "grave," and "pious," 
 it gives its own stamp to the writings in which it 
 occurs so often. 
 
 10. not with braided hair . . . but through 
 good works. The change of preposition, from 
 ^' with" to "through," goes with the fact that the 
 second adornment is metaphorical. The author of 
 the Pastorals was extremely fond of the phrase 
 " good, or beautiful, works." He uses it fourteen 
 times. His temperament was not at all specu- 
 lative, but eminently practical. He reserves all 
 his enthusiasm for good conduct. Only once does 
 he, in true Pauline fashion, suggest the contrast 
 between faith and works (Tit. iii. 5). 
 
 11,12. to learn . . . not to teach. If it is re- 
 membered that the words were written in the East, 
 where it is proverbial that " woman has never a soul 
 to save," it will be seen that it was a great step of 
 progress to permit her even to learn. But she is 
 still to be kept in subjection. She may glorify God 
 by good works in private, but not by good words 
 in public. She must neither teach nor rule, but be 
 ** in quietness " — the last words are repeated with 
 
214 Westminster New Testament 
 
 emphasis. Logically this forbids her nowadays to 
 be a Sunday-school teacher, or an evangelist, or a 
 missionary. But injunctions regarding the subjec- 
 tion of woman, like those regarding the obedience of 
 bond-servants, can only be regarded as provisional. 
 Both women and slaves have been educated and 
 emancipated. Queen Elizabeth and Queen Vic- 
 toria have made ^^the regiment {i.e. sovereignty) 
 of women," Elizabeth Fry and Catherine Booth the 
 evangelism of women, facts beyond dispute. The 
 Holy Spirit has set His seal to the consecrated use 
 of all Nature's gifts to woman. 
 
 13. Adam . . . then Eve. Adam was created 
 first and sinned second, Eve was created second 
 and sinned first. Therefore let woman recognise 
 that she is both weaker and worse than man, and 
 let her never attempt either to teach or to control 
 him. The premises of this argument — in which 
 the Rabbis, to their shame, delighted — find no 
 confirmation either in science or in experience. 
 
 15. she shall be saved. Woman's devotion to 
 domestic duties, her absorption in her children, 
 will be — in a popular, not a theological sense — her 
 salvation. Here the German Hausfrau is the 
 ideal. 
 
 I Tim. iii. 1-13. 
 
 THE CHARACTER OF BISHOPS AND 
 DEACONS. 
 
 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a 
 
 2 bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be 
 blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of 
 
 3 good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach ; not 
 given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre ; but 
 
I Timothy iii. 1-13 215 
 
 4 patient, not a brawler, not covetous ; one that ruleth well 
 his own house, having his children in subjection with all 
 
 5 gravity ; (for if a man know not how to rule his own house, 
 
 6 how shall he take care of the church of God ?) Not a novice, 
 lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemna- 
 
 7 tion of the devil. Moreover he must have a good report 
 of them which are without ; lest he fall into reproach and 
 
 8 the snare of the devil. Likewise must the deacons be 
 grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not 
 
 9 greedy of filthy lucre ; holding the mystery of the faith in 
 
 10 a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved ; 
 then let them use the office of a deacon, being found 
 
 11 blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not 
 
 12 slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons 
 be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their 
 
 13 own houses well. For they that have used the office of a 
 deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and 
 great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. 
 
 Some of the qualifications for the episcopacy and 
 the diaconate now call forth the remark^ " Surely 
 that goes without saying ! " The bishop must be 
 the husband of one wife, must not take too much 
 wine, must not be a striker or brawler ! But these 
 things serve to throw a strong light on the con- 
 ditions in which the early Church was working 
 and the abuses she was setting herself to correct. 
 The injunctions are still very useful in the similar 
 environment of the modern mission field. 
 
 1. a bishop. "Bishop/' "apostle," and 
 "deacon" were at first loose, interchangeable 
 terms, expressing "oversight," "mission," and 
 " service " — functions rather than offices. In time 
 they have become specific and distinct. In the 
 Pastorals the "oversight" is an office which a man 
 may seek, but it is still far from the monarchical 
 
2i6 Westminster New Testament 
 
 episcopate of Ignatius, a fact which fixes their 
 date within the first century. It is a question 
 whether Paul liimself was a methodical adminis- 
 trator, skilled in ecclesiastical polity, or '' a mighty 
 idealist filled with Christian enthusiasm, who knew 
 no other church government than that of Christ 
 Himself inspiring His disciples with the knowledge 
 of what they ought to do and say " (Reville). 
 
 2. one wife. The meaning is not that a bishop 
 should marry only once, but that he should not 
 have two wives at once. Many converts would 
 have a plurality of wives, and they might not be 
 immediately required to put them all away except 
 one, but it was self-evident that only the man 
 whose own house was in order could be called to 
 take care of the Church of God. 
 
 6. lifted up with pride. " Puffed up," think- 
 ing little of the sacred duties of the office but 
 much of its honours, the bishop may fall into the 
 same condemnation as the devil, his ambition 
 being his ruin, his pride going before destruction. 
 
 7. good testimony. One might almost say 
 a good " testimonial " from those who are without. 
 The opinion of men of the world is not to be 
 disregarded in the choice of Church overseers. 
 Their spiritual vision is necessarily dim, but their 
 moral judgments are shrewd. They do not know 
 theology, but they know a good man. Their 
 reproach is a thing to fear. 
 
 9. the mystery. The now open secret, hidden 
 from none who have spiritual discernment (see 
 Eph. i. 9). 
 
 11. women in like manner. Not wives, but 
 women deacons. The position of the injunction — 
 right in the midst of the instructions about 
 
I Timothy iii. 14-16 217 
 
 deacons — makes this clear. Phoebe is called a 
 deaconess^ or servant, of the church of Cenchraea, 
 probably in an unofficial sense (Rom. xvi. 1); but 
 here is a technical order of deaconesses, "grave 
 . . . faithful in all things." Kohler suggests that 
 the verse may be a marginal note that has got into 
 the text ; this would explain why the next 
 sentence so strangely returns to the duties of 
 deacons. 
 
 13. a good degree. Or, rather, " standing." This 
 does not mean a higher step in the ladder of Church 
 honours, nor promotion in the Last Day, but the 
 personal esteem and influence in the Church which 
 are won by faithful service. Moral prestige is the 
 idea. 
 
 I Tim. iii. 14-16. 
 THE CHURCH AND ITS FOUNDER. 
 
 14 These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto 
 
 15 thee shortly: but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know 
 how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, 
 which is the church of the living God, the pillar and 
 
 16 ground of the truth. And without controversy great is 
 the mystery of godliness : God was manifest in the flesh, 
 justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the 
 Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into 
 glory. 
 
 Exemplary conduct is expected of those who 
 are members of the household of God, which has 
 to uphold the truth in the world, bearing its testi- 
 mony to the great Mystery of godliness — Christ 
 Himself in His various earthly and heavenly re- 
 lations. 
 
 14. The writer's movements are uncertain. He 
 
2i8 Westminster New Testament 
 
 offers counsel and warning in case his hopes of a 
 personal visit are disappointed. 
 
 15. the house of God. While in the 
 O.T. this meant the temple, in the N.T. it 
 means not the dwelling-house but the living 
 household of God. In the absence of the 
 definite article, Hort thinks we should read "a 
 house . . . which is a church ... a pillar and 
 ground/' meaning a local church, such as the 
 one at Ephesus. But this is vei*y doubtful. It 
 is much more likely that the whole society of 
 believers, the Church universal, is regarded as the 
 ground and stay of the truth. 
 
 16. the mystery of godliness. The Divine 
 Secret on which godliness is nourished. It is 
 scarcely to be rendered " the mystery of our (ob- 
 jective) religion" ; the idea is here more intimate 
 and personal. As in Col. i. 27, the Mystery is 
 Christ Himself. He who, not "God" {Jios, not 
 Theos), is undoubtedly the right reading (R.V.). 
 The " Secret " is alluded to in tones of awe, as 
 if one reverently hesitated to raise a veil. The 
 great Name is intentionally left unspoken, but all 
 the initiated will at once understand, and supply 
 the sweetest Name on mortal tongue. The words 
 which follow are probably taken from an early 
 Christian hymn or creed. The six clauses are 
 arranged in pairs, perhaps for antiphonal chanting. 
 Each clause presents some aspect of our Lord's 
 career, from His birth to His ascension, with a 
 progression of ideas, however, which is not temporal 
 but poetical. "Justified in the Spirit," probably 
 means "justified when He rose from the grave in 
 a spiritual body." Flesh is contrasted with Spirit, 
 angels with nations, and world with glory. " This 
 
I Timothy iv. 1-5 219 
 
 fragment, in its grand lapidary style, is worthy to 
 be placed by the side of the Apostles' Creed" 
 (Kohler). 
 
 I Tim. iv. 1-5. 
 
 FALSE TEACHERS. 
 
 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter 
 times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to 
 
 2 seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils ; speaking Hes in 
 hypocrisy ; having their conscience seared with a hot 
 
 3 iron ; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain 
 from meats, which God hath created to be received 
 with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the 
 
 4 truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing 
 
 5 to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving : for 
 it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 
 
 The Church must be prepared for aberrations 
 from the faith — for seductive doctrines inspired 
 from beneath and ascetic practices that mask evil 
 lives. Let her maintain her Christian liberty, 
 counting all meats clean (as her Lord did) which 
 are consecrated by God's word and by prayer. 
 
 1. the faith. Not so much the individual's sub- 
 jective trust as the Church's objective creed. The 
 word was rarely, if ever, used in this sense in 
 the first Christian age. devils . . . men. The 
 writer teaches that demons, or seducing spirits, 
 pervert men's minds, and then men pervert the 
 truth. It is not enough to explain sin psychologic- 
 ally ; one is ultimately driven back to metaphysics. 
 
 2. hypocrisy. Such seduction may explain, but 
 does not excuse, the hypocrisy of men who speak 
 lies. Their sin is laid to their own charge. 
 Indeed, it is well known that, however they brazen 
 
220 Westminster New Testament 
 
 it out before men^ they are branded in their 
 own consciences, as delinquent slaves were 
 branded in their bodies, so that they know them- 
 selves guilty. The meaning is not " seared " 
 (A. v.), callous, hardened beyond feeling, but 
 " self-condemned." The inward monitor has not 
 ceased to speak ; it is still doing its work to good 
 purpose. "To sit alone with my conscience is 
 judgment enough for me." 
 
 s, 4. forbidding . . . commanding : where 
 God neither forbade nor commanded. Celibacy 
 and asceticism were already in vogue when the 
 Pastorals were written. " The liberty of a Christian 
 man," for which Luther had long after to con- 
 tend so strenuously, was imperilled, which God 
 created. This was what the Gnostic denied. 
 Flesh and matter were to him inherently bad, so 
 bad that the great God could have had no hand in 
 their creation, which must have been the work of 
 some demigod. Such an idea the writer utterly 
 repudiates. Christianity will have nothing to do 
 with any morbid view of the world. In all things 
 it is healthy-minded. If to some minds flesh seems 
 intrinsically evil, " there is nothing either good or 
 bad, but thinking makes it so." It is the thinker, 
 not the thing, that is wrong. Christ has redeemed 
 man's body as well as his soul, and He has taught 
 His followers to make all meats clean (Mark 
 vii. 19). 
 
 5. it is sanctified. All human life has been 
 consecrated by the word of God, and is daily 
 consecrated by prayer. "Word of God" does 
 not mean exclusively the written word. One is 
 tempted to write Word with a capital letter. In 
 the highest sense, our earthly lot has been hallowed 
 
I Timothy iv. 6-16 221 
 
 by the living Divine Word, who became flesh and 
 dwelt among men. 
 
 I Tim. iv. 6-16. 
 A GOOD MINISTER. 
 
 6 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, 
 thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished 
 up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, where- 
 
 7 unto thou hast attained. But refuse profane and old 
 wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. 
 
 8 For bodily exercise profiteth little : but godliness is pro- 
 fitable unto all things, having promise of the life that 
 
 9 now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful 
 
 10 saying and worthy of all acceptation. For therefore we 
 both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the 
 living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of 
 
 11 those that believe. These things command and teach. 
 
 12 Let no man despise thy youth ; but be thou an example 
 of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in 
 
 13 spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance 
 
 14 to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the 
 gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, 
 with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. 
 
 1 5 Meditate upon these things ; give thyself wholly to them ; 
 
 16 that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto 
 thyself, and unto the doctrine ; continue in them : for in 
 doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that 
 hear thee. 
 
 A good minister is nourished on the words of 
 the faith, not on fables ; he practises godliness, not 
 asceticism ; he is an example to believers ; he is 
 a zealous reader, exhorter, and teacher ; cultivating 
 his gifts and concentrating his energies, he makes 
 visible progress ; ever taking heed to his life as 
 
222 Westminster New Testament 
 
 much as to his teachings he saves himself as well 
 as his hearers. 
 
 6, 7. nourished in the words. ''The words 
 of the faith " are the bread of life. They do more 
 than gratify the intellectual passion for learning ; 
 they create vital energy. Man lives by them 
 (Matt. iv. 4). fables. Lit. '^ myths," described as 
 profane and senile, bordering on the one hand on 
 blasphem)^, on the other on dotage. This applies 
 equally to the grotesque imaginations of the Rabbis 
 and the philosophical figments of the Gnostics. 
 
 8. bodily exercise refers not to athleticism 
 but to asceticism. The writer approves of a due 
 attention to the body. Some men would do well 
 to fast more, others to eat more. It is a matter 
 to be determined by common sense, and has a 
 little bearing upon health and happiness. But 
 godliness is beneficial for all things. It is 
 characteristic of the writer's sober, practical habit 
 of mind that he speaks of the profitableness of 
 godliness. The utilitarian spirit, which wishes to 
 make the best of both worlds, is not entirely 
 absent. This is in harmony with the fact that a 
 somewhat rigid and formal piety is here the 
 highest conception, whereas in the earlier epistles 
 faith in the risen Christ and ecstatic union with 
 Him are the master-ideas. 
 
 10. God . . . the Saviour. See i. i. all 
 men. Divine grace is all-embracing, but it is by 
 faith that some men receive it, and so are specially 
 blessed. 
 
 12. thy youth. This may expose Timothy, 
 as a spiritual guide, to criticism. But he may 
 atone for " the crime of being a young man," and 
 display qualities which will make him a shining 
 
I Timothy v. 1-16 223 
 
 example to every believer. The position of 
 faith in the ranks with the other graces, instead 
 of being the leader of them all, calls for note 
 (cf. vi. 1 1 ; 2 Tim. ii. 22). 
 
 13. give heed to reading. The public read- 
 ing of the O.T. (Acts xiii. 15; 2 Cor. iii. 14); 
 probably, too, by this time, of apostolic letters and 
 evangelical memoirs. 
 
 14. the gift that is in thee. The gift, or 
 Divine fire, is essential to the preacher. In the 
 earlier epistles it falls on all believers, without 
 any second cause, by the supernatural working of 
 the Holy Spirit. Here it is limited to the 
 preacher, and mediated by the Church, first 
 through the influence of prophetic voices, and 
 second through the touch of holy men. The age 
 of prophetic enthusiasm appears to have passed, 
 and that of churchmanship begun. 
 
 15. Here the changes in the R.V. are important 
 — "be diligent" for "meditate," and "progress" 
 for "profiting." 
 
 16. Take heed. There is a climax in the 
 words of urgent entreaty addressed to the 
 preacher: take heed, neglect not, be diligent, 
 give thyself, continue, save thyself. Eternal 
 issues, for himself and others, hang on his 
 fidelity. 
 
 I Tim. V. i-i6. 
 THE CONSECRATION OF WIDOWHOOD. 
 
 Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father ; and the 
 
 2 younger men as brethren ; the elder women as mothers ; 
 
 3 the younger as sisters, with all purity. Honour widows 
 
 4 that are widows indeed. But if any widow have children 
 
224 Westminster New Testament 
 
 or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, 
 and to requite their parents : for that is good and ac- 
 
 5 ceptable before God. Now she that is a widow indeed, 
 and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplica- 
 
 6 tions and prayers night and day. But she that liveth in 
 
 7 pleasure is dead while she liveth. And these things give 
 
 8 in charge, that they may be blameless. But if any 
 provide not for his own, and specially for those of his 
 own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than 
 
 9 an infidel. Let not a widow be taken into the number 
 under threescore years old, having been the wife of one 
 
 10 man, well reported of for good works ; if she have 
 brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she 
 have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the 
 afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work. 
 
 1 1 But the younger widows refuse : for when they have begun 
 
 12 to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry ; having 
 damnation, because they have cast off their first faith. 
 
 13 And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from 
 house to house ; and not only idle, but tattlers also 
 
 14 and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. I 
 will therefore that the younger women marry, bear 
 children, guide the house, give none occasion to the 
 
 15 adversary to speak reproachfully. For some are already 
 
 16 turned aside after Satan. If any m^an or woman that 
 believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not 
 the church be charged ; that it may relieve them that are 
 widows indeed. 
 
 This passage presents difficulties. Some con- 
 fusion is caused by the simultaneous treatment 
 of two subjects — the Church's care of poor widows, 
 and the establishing of an order of widows, rich 
 or poor, to serve the Church. Only widows (in 
 the ordinary sense) who are really destitute, 
 homeless, and friendless are to be provided for 
 
I Timothy v. 1-16 225 
 
 out of the Church funds. No one can be received 
 into the sacred order of Church widows till she 
 is sixty years of age, and unless she is devout and 
 prayerful, w4th the record of a life already spent 
 in good works. An unfavourable judgment is 
 passed upon younger widows. Some of them 
 have ^^ turned aside unto Satan," and for this 
 reason all of them are refused admission into 
 the holy sisterhood. They are advised to re- 
 marry, in the hope that the grace of God may 
 come to them along the channel of domestic 
 duties. 
 
 1. elder means here senior, implying nothing 
 official. Elder and younger men and women are 
 to be treated as fathers and brothers, mothers and 
 sisters. The Church is a holy family (see Matt, 
 xii. 50). 
 
 4-8. let them first learn. "First" means 
 before they seek Church relief. them is 
 ambiguous. The meaning may be either that 
 widows are to show their piety (or godliness) at 
 home by caring (if they can) for their family, or 
 that the family are to show their piety by caring 
 for their widowed mother. Either sense is quite 
 good. Not to provide for one's own is to be 
 worse than an unbeliever, who obeys the 
 dictates of nature and conscience (see Mark vii. 
 11-13). 
 
 9, 10. enrolled as a widow. Lit., " put on 
 the catalogue." Frequent reference is made in 
 the writings of the sul3-apostolic age to this order 
 of Church widows, consecrated to a life of prayer 
 and good deeds. Evidently it resembled some 
 modern sisterhoods. There is an entrance test 
 which is decidedly severe : the candidates must 
 
6 Westminster New Testament 
 
 22 
 
 already have lived holy and beautiful lives of 
 active usefulness. 
 
 12. condemnation. Probably the meaning is 
 that younger widows have incurred the displeasure 
 of the community because they have broken the 
 vow of service which they have too rashly made. 
 They have not kept faith with the Church. 
 Therefore in future the younger widows are all 
 to be refused admission into the new order. It 
 is evident that this veto, like that on female 
 prophesying, was of the nature of emergency 
 legislation. It would soon be discovered that the 
 age limit made many a good and faithful worker 
 bury her talent in the earth. 
 
 I Tim. V. 17-25. 
 
 TIMOTHY'S RELATION TO ELDERS- 
 PERSONAL ADVICE. 
 
 17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double 
 honour, especially they who labour in the word and 
 
 18 doctrine. For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle 
 the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is 
 
 19 worthy of his reward. Against an elder receive not an 
 
 20 accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Them 
 
 21 that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. I 
 charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 the elect angels, that thou observe these things without 
 preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. 
 
 22 Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of 
 
 23 other men's sins : keep thyself pure. Drink no longer 
 water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and 
 
 24 thine often infirmities. Some men's sins are open before- 
 hand, going before to judgment ; and some men they 
 
I Timothy v. 17-25 227 
 
 25 follow after. Likewise also the good works of some are 
 manifest beforehand ; and they that are otherwise cannot 
 be hid. 
 
 Elders are to be honoured, remunerated, and 
 unmolested. Should one of them really offend in 
 life or doctrine, he is to be reproved before his 
 brethren. No man is to be hastily ordained, and 
 there must be no favouritism. Judgment against 
 offenders is sometimes very easy, sometimes very 
 difficult. In a surprising digression Timothy is 
 warned against asceticism in the form of total 
 abstinence from wine. 
 
 17. the elders. In ver. 1 "elder" meant senior, 
 here it means presbyter. Age has given a name 
 to office. While all the elders rule, some are 
 also engaged in teaching", and the latter are paid 
 for their services. 
 
 18. The labourer. The quotation is from 
 Luke X. 7, which seems to indicate that when 
 the Pastorals were written the Evangelical nar- 
 ratives were already regarded as scripture. 
 
 19. Against an elder. This wise rule is taken 
 from Deut. xix. 15. 
 
 20. 21. before (twice). Better, "in the sight 
 of." Each elder is to live in the sight of all his 
 brethren. Timothy is to realise that he is in the 
 sight of God, Christ, and unfallen angels. The 
 nearness of the good, and especially of the best, 
 has an immense constraining and restraining power 
 over us. The silent appeal from the eyes of those 
 whom we honour and love is irresistible. The 
 Greek word for prejudice (R.V.) is a Latinism, 
 one of several which occur in the Pastorals. 
 
 22. Lay hands hastily. This probably refers 
 
228 Westminster New Testament 
 
 to the ordination of elders. The office is sacred, 
 laxity and haste in the choice and appointment of 
 officers is sacrilege. To condone or ignore sin is 
 to share it. 
 
 23. In a digression Timothy is advised to drink 
 a little wine, not as a beverage, but as a medicine. 
 Up till that time he had been abstaining. It was 
 the age of the Gnostic, who sought salvation by 
 asceticism, making abstinence not only a regimen 
 but a religion. Water-drinking had thus come to 
 be associated with deadly error ! At such a time 
 a man is bound to assert his liberty, whether he 
 uses it or not. It was in view of an entirely 
 different situation that Paul, without laying down 
 any law, stated a far higher principle (Rom. xiv. 21). 
 
 24, 25. before . . . after. Some men's sins are 
 so patent that they seem to come to court before 
 the culprit, making his trial a mere form ; others 
 will not come till they are hunted out of their 
 lairs. Sooner or later man's goodness comes to 
 light (cf. Ps. xxxvii. 6). 
 
 I Tim. vi. I, 2. 
 
 THE DUTIES OF SLAVES. 
 
 Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own 
 masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and 
 2 his doctrine be not blasphemed. And they that have 
 believing masters, let them not despise them, because they 
 are brethren ; but rather do them service, because they 
 are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These 
 things teach and exhort. 
 
 Christian slaves are greatly to honour, and faith- 
 fully to serve, their masters, whether pagan or 
 
I Timothy vi. 3-10 229 
 
 Christian. This will be for the glory of God and 
 the gospel. 
 
 1. under the yoke. This is a reference to 
 the old practice of making captives pass under a 
 "yoke," formed of a spear laid on two upright 
 spears, as the symbol of their degradation to slavery. 
 Just because bond-service was the hardest of lots, 
 it was the one in which Christians had the finest 
 opportunity of displaying the power of faith. A 
 great responsibility rested on Christian slaves, for 
 many critical eyes were on them. If they were 
 not better men and servants than others, would 
 not their God and their creed be blasphemed 
 by the heathen ? 
 
 2. believing masters. They are men who 
 recognise the spiritual liberty, equality, and 
 brotherhood of all believers, sitting side by side 
 with their slaves at the Table of the Lord. This 
 wonderful change from the old tyrannical relation- 
 ship puts Christian slaves on their honour. They 
 will not for a moment imagine that they are free 
 to be insolent to such men, who though their 
 brothers in Christ are their masters still, to be 
 served with all the greater heartiness and fidelity 
 because they are believing and beloved. 
 
 I Tim. vi. 3-10. 
 FALSE DOCTRINE. 
 
 3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome 
 words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the 
 
 4 doctrine which is according to godliness ; he is proud, 
 knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes 
 of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil sur- 
 
 5 misings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, 
 
230 Westminster New Testament 
 
 and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness : 
 
 6 from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with content- 
 
 7 ment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this 
 
 8 world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And 
 
 9 having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But 
 they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and 
 into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in 
 
 10 destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the 
 root of all evil : which while some coveted after, they have 
 erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with 
 many sorrows. 
 
 Those who teach unsound doctrine are proud, 
 ignorant, disputatious, corrupt, covetous. Chris- 
 tians alone have true riches and know the secret of 
 contentment. Covetousness exposes men to many 
 temptations, and is the root of all kinds of evil. 
 
 3-5. a different doctrine. Opposed to the 
 
 doctrine which is in harmony with godliness 
 (see i. 3). In the writer's mind orthodoxy and 
 reverence go together, while heterodoxy keeps 
 company with impiety. Heretics are conceited, 
 ignorant, quarrelsome, selfish. To those sweeping 
 statements there were, one hopes, some exceptions. 
 But the age of honest doubt was apparently not 
 yet come. Heretics do not as a rule now try to 
 appear godly for the sake of gain. 
 
 6. But godliness . . . is . . . gain. This is a 
 pious afterthought. The writer would of course 
 repudiate the idea of commending religion merely 
 because it pays. He does not confound piety with 
 prudence. Nevertheless, he thinks it well to assure 
 his readers that godliness is gain. Perhaps he 
 does it in the spirit of the philosophical maxim 
 that virtue is its own reward. 
 
 7. for neither (R.V.). Here ^-for" seems 
 
I Timothy vi. 11--16 231 
 
 clearly (as Hort says) an intrusion ; it mars the 
 beauty of a pathetic utterance that links together 
 birth and death. This is one of those rare cases 
 where^ in spite of all the MS. authority, the A.V. 
 gives us what the author most probably wrote or 
 dictated. 
 
 9, 10. desire to be rich. The evil of money 
 lies in the desire for it, the love of it, the reaching 
 after it, as if it were the chief good. The best as 
 well as the worst of men have to seek it ; but 
 while the former consecrate it to God, and make 
 it a blessing to the world, the latter spend it on 
 their lusts, and make it a curse to everybody. 
 
 I Tim. vi. 11-16. 
 EXHORTATIONS TO FIDELITY. 
 
 1 1 But thou, O man of God, flee these things ; and follow 
 after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meek- 
 
 12 ness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal 
 life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a 
 
 13 good profession before many witnesses. I give thee charge 
 in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before 
 Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good 
 
 14 confession ; that thou keep this commandment without 
 spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus 
 
 15 Christ : which in his times he shall shew, who is the 
 blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord 
 
 16 of lords ; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the 
 light which no man can approach unto ; whom no man hath 
 seen, nor can see : to whom be honour and power ever- 
 lasting. Amen. 
 
 Timothy is to flee all that is evil and follow all 
 that is good, to remember his own good confession 
 
232 Westminster New Testament 
 
 and that of his Lord, to keep the sacred charge 
 he has received until the return of Christ, which 
 will be effected by the one glorious God who is 
 over all. 
 
 11. man of God. Like some O.T. prophet, 
 called and dedicated to God's service (l Kings 
 xvii. 1 8, 24). " His one thought was God, in that 
 one thought he abode." righteousness. In the 
 great epistles righteousness is the gift of God, the 
 state of acceptance with Himself into which one 
 enters by faith. In the Pastorals (except in 2 Tim. 
 iv. 8) it means ethical, subjective, human righteous- 
 ness — right conduct between man and man. The 
 position of faith, in the middle of a group of 
 graces, instead of leading the van, is again remark- 
 able, for what is meant is saving faith in God, not 
 fidelity to man (cf. iv. 12). 
 
 12. the good fight. Here the figure is athletic 
 rather than military, taken from the arena, not 
 the field of battle. The contest is Faith against 
 Unbelief, and the prize is eternal life. So 2 Tim. 
 iv. 7. the good confession — that which eveiy 
 Christian ought to make (Matt. x. 32) — was made 
 by Timothy before many witnesses. This may 
 refer to his baptism, his ordination, or to that time 
 of trial and imprisonment which is mentioned in 
 Heb. xiii. 23. 
 
 13. in the sight of God. Timothy is reminded 
 that there are still more august witnesses of his 
 whole life. He is ever under the eyes of God 
 and Christ Jesus, who . . . witnessed. The 
 preacher's spirit is stirred by the memory of the 
 grand pattern of all good confessions, that of 
 Christ Himself before Pilate. How much it once 
 cost to be true to one's convictions is pathetically 
 
I Timothy vi. 17-19 233 
 
 indicated by the fact that the word for witness 
 {inartus, whence " martyr ") gradually came to mean 
 one who laid down his life for the truth. 
 
 14. the commandment. This may mean 
 either the charge contained in the present para- 
 graph, or the whole Pastoral charge to hold and 
 preach the gospel in its purity. the appear- 
 ing. The Second Advent. There are two words 
 for our Lord's return, and the one used in the 
 Pastorals (epiphany^ occurs but once in the earlier 
 epistles, in a passage where it is combined with 
 the other word — '' the manifestation, or appearing, 
 of His presence " (^parousia, 2 Thess. ii. 8). 
 
 15. only Potentate. This splendid passage is 
 probably another extract from a primitive Christian 
 hymn or creed. In iii. l6 Christ was exalted, 
 here God is glorified. The attributes in which 
 He is clothed have a bearing on a definite situation. 
 They meet and answer the spirit of the times. 
 They are intended for the reflection of all who 
 are either coquetting with the theosophy of the 
 Gnostics or conniving at the apotheosis of the 
 Caesars. The repeated only is very impressive. 
 What are all aeons and emperors in the presence 
 of the King of kings ? He is the only Potentate ; 
 He only hath immortality. 
 
 I Tim. vi. 17-19. 
 PRECEPTS FOR WEALTHY CHRISTIANS. 
 
 1 7 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not 
 highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living 
 
 18 God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy ; that they 
 do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to dis- 
 
234 Westminster New Testament 
 
 19 tribute, willing to communicate ; laying up in store for 
 themselves a good foundation against the time to come, 
 that they may lay hold on eternal life. 
 
 Christian men of wealth are exhorted to 
 humility, faith, liberality, to preparation for the 
 future, to thoughts of the only life which deserves 
 the name. 
 
 17-19. rich . . . rich: in different senses. He 
 who is rich in gold is urged to become rich in 
 good works. Not he who has much, but he who 
 gives much, is rich before God. The writer rings 
 the changes on this theme. The one kind of 
 wealth is uncertain, the other is sure as a bed- 
 rock — a firm foundation on which one may build 
 for all time to come, life indeed. This is in 
 contrast with the sense-life, or self-life, which 
 when it is over seems but a shadow, a vapour, 
 a dream. Much that is called life is mere existence 
 or vegetation. The life in God is real on both 
 sides of the grave. 
 
 I Tim. vi. 20, 21. 
 FINAL APPEAL TO TIMOTHY. 
 
 20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, 
 avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of 
 
 21 science falsely so called ; which some professing have 
 erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen. 
 
 20. that which is committed. Literally, " the 
 
 deposit." The word occurs again in 2 Tim. i. 12, 14, 
 and nowhere else. In the present passage there 
 can be no doubt as to the meaning. The deposit 
 is the treasure of evangelical truth — as dis- 
 
I Timothy vi. 20, 21 235 
 
 tinguished from every kind of error — entrusted to 
 Timothy's keeping, oppositions. Some scholars 
 find in this word an allusion to Marcion's 
 " Antitheses " — his tabulated passages from the 
 Old Testament and the Gospel arranged to prove 
 the difference of the two economies and the 
 superiority of the latter. In that case the sentence 
 must be (as Harnack thinks) a very late addition. 
 But " antitheses " may mean any teaching opposed 
 to true Christian doctrine, knowledge falsely 
 SO called. The word for knowledge is gnosis^ 
 and here a direct reference to the system of the 
 Gnostics seems most probable. These teachers 
 aiTogated this name to themselves because they 
 claimed to be able to penetrate the deepest 
 secrets of existence by a purely rational know- 
 ledge. They stood at the opposite pole from the 
 modem Agnostic^ who disowns all knowledge of 
 the ultimate mysteries of life. Their "know- 
 ledge " is here dismissed as " pseudonymous/' 
 falsely named ; as so much babble, full of sound, 
 empty of sense. 
 
 21. have erred. The word for "err" is 
 confined to the Pastorals, where it occurs four 
 times. It means " miss the mark," and there is 
 pathos in this final touch. Heretics are not con- 
 demned to suffer. They need fear no inquisition 
 They have simply " missed the mark." 
 
236 Westminster New Testament 
 
 2 Tim. i. I, 2. 
 
 THE SALUTATION. 
 
 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, 
 according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 
 
 2 to Timothy, my dearly beloved son : Grace, mercy, and 
 peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 
 
 1. The salutation is shorter than those at the 
 beginning of the other Pastorals, according to 
 is ambiguous. It may mean that Paul was called 
 either on the ground of the promise^ or for the 
 sake of publishing the promise (cf Tit i. 1). my 
 beloved son. Better, child (as in 1 Tim. i. 2), 
 always dear, and dearer than ever when the end 
 is in sight. Here the word does not necessarily 
 imply more than kinship of spirit, whereas the 
 phrase used in 1 Tim. i. 2, " my true child in the 
 faith/' seems to presuppose spiritual parentage. 
 
 2 Tim. i. 3-14. 
 THE SPIRIT OF POWER. 
 
 3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure 
 conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of 
 
 4 thee in my prayers night and day ; greatly desiring to see 
 thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with 
 
 5 joy 5 when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that 
 is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and 
 thy mother Eunice ; and I am persuaded that in thee also. 
 
 6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the 
 gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. 
 
 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear ; but of power, 
 
 8 and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore 
 ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his 
 
2 Timothy i. 3-14 237 
 
 prisoner : but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the 
 
 9 gospel according to the power of God ; who hath saved us, 
 
 and called us with an holy calling, not according to our 
 
 works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which 
 
 10 was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is 
 now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life 
 
 1 1 and immortality to light through the gospel : whereunto I 
 am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher 
 
 12 of the Gentiles. For the which cause I also suffer these 
 things : nevertheless I am not ashamed : for I know whom 
 I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep 
 that which I have committed unto him against that day. 
 
 13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard 
 
 14 of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That 
 good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the 
 Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. 
 
 Timothy is ever in Paul's thoughts and prayers. 
 The apostle's confidence in him is based on two 
 things — his personal and inherited faith, and his 
 Divine gift or Charism. One of the marks of the 
 true gospel is that it emancipates those who pro- 
 claim it from all fear and all shame. It gives them 
 the spirit of power ; it clothes them with God's 
 own might. It makes them willing to suffer, for it 
 irradiates their lives with the hope of immortality. 
 
 3, 5. forefathers . . . grandmother . . . 
 mother. Paul rejoices to remember that both 
 he and his dearest friend have an inherited faith. 
 Paul's ancestors served God, and Timothy's grand- 
 mother Lois and his mother Eunice gave him an 
 example of sincere faith. It was the influence of 
 these devout women that constrained Timothy to 
 accept Christ with all the ardour of young man- 
 hood. While faith is a personal relation to God, 
 
238 Westminster New Testament 
 
 it is unquestionably strengthened by the memory 
 of a line of believing "forbears." Grace does not 
 run in the blood, but it is natural and almost 
 inevitable that the ties of religion should be 
 entwined with those of home and kindred. 
 
 4. tears . . . joy. The younger man's tears at 
 parting, the elder man's joy at meeting. Both of 
 them were men of deep feeling, anything but Stoics. 
 Timothy was probably the more emotional of the two, 
 but Paul too had many melting moods (see 2 Cor. 
 ii. 4 ; Phil. iii. 18), and bids others not only rejoice with 
 those who do rejoice but weep with those who weep. 
 
 5. thy mother. Timothy belonged to that great 
 company of sons — including Augustine, Chrysostom, 
 Basil, the Wesleys, not to speak of Jesus of Nazareth 
 — whose spiritual indebtedness to their mothers 
 has been inestimable. 
 
 6. stir up the gift. The English is less ex- 
 pressive than the Greek, which means "stir (the 
 embers) into a flame." God's gift to the preacher 
 of glowing heart and kindling speech needs assidu- 
 ous attention to keep it from burning low like 
 the dull glimmer of dying embers on the hearth, 
 laying on of my hands. In 1 Tim. iv. 14 the im- 
 position of the hands of the elders, not of Paul, is the 
 medium by which the Divine fire comes to Timothy. 
 But there is no contradiction if we regard Paul 
 as presiding at the ordination, while the Presbytery 
 assisted him. Protestants have agreed to interpret 
 this rite as the outward sign and seal of an inward 
 spiritual grace already imparted, Catholics as the 
 mysterious means of there and then conveying 
 Divine grace by a human channel. If the latter 
 interpretation is correct — which is not improbable — 
 the conception must be pronounced quite un-Pauline. 
 
2 Timothy i. 3-14 239 
 
 7. a sound mind. The R.V. has "discipHne/' 
 meaning thereby the schooUng of others. But " self- 
 discipUne " would probably come nearer the idea : 
 " that calm self-possession, that presence of mind, 
 which is the indispensable condition of all success- 
 ful activity " (Kohler). 
 
 8. suffer hardship with the gospel (R.V.). 
 Here the gospel is personified and regarded as 
 sensitively suffering in a selfish world. Timothy is 
 exhorted to suffer with it. But the more probable 
 sense is, '^ Suffer hardship with me (Paul) on behalf 
 of the gospel" (see ver. 12). 
 
 9. saved us . . . called us. " Us " means not 
 merely " you and me," but all believers. The holy 
 calling which they receive is both to a heavenly 
 life and an earthly service. This beautiful passage 
 on the work of Christ is saturated with Pauline ideas. 
 One thing alone is new. The grace of God was not 
 only prepared for us, but given to us, in Christ 
 Jesus, before times eternal. Compare John's 
 great conception of "the Lamb slain from the 
 foundation of the world" (Rev. xiii. 8). The 
 Atonement and its benefits are regarded sub specie 
 celernitatis. 
 
 10. abolished death (see l Cor. xv. 55). For 
 the Christian " there is no death, what seems so is 
 transition." Christ has brought life and incorrup- 
 tion to light. Plato reasoned well, and gave a 
 noble voice to the pathetic human longing after 
 immortality. But he confessed that he was only 
 groping in the region of shadows. The philo- 
 sopher, the poet, the lover, and the saint have 
 each his own special arguments for a Hereafter. 
 But it is Christ who is the Light both of this 
 world and the world to come. His objective 
 
240 Westminster New Testament 
 
 resun-ection irradiated the spiritual land. It con- 
 firmed men's subjective aspirations and changed 
 them into things most surely believed. It makes 
 every Christian certain of a life beyond the grave. 
 
 12. I know whom. Better, "I know Him 
 whom." The apostle has trusted God, and is 
 persuaded that He is able to guard his deposit, 
 that is, the treasure of evangelical truth which 
 God has committed to him. There is a beautiful 
 mutual trust. Paul is God's trustee, and will do his 
 best to fulfil his sacred obligations, but he rejoices 
 that God Himself, and no mere man, is the supreme 
 and ultimate Trustee and Guardian of the faith. 
 This is certainly the meaning of the word ^^ deposit " 
 in the two other passages where it occurs (1 Tim. 
 vi. 20 ; 2 Tim. i. 14), and there is no reason for 
 changing it here as both the A.V. and the R.V. do. 
 
 14. guard by the Holy Ghost. Timothy is 
 enjoined to guard his deposit, received primarily 
 from Paul, ultimately from God, and to do it in 
 the might of the Holy Spirit who has taken up 
 His abode in him as in all believers. 
 
 2 Tim. i. 15-18. 
 
 MANY APOSTATES AND A FAITHFUL 
 FRIEND. 
 
 15 This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be 
 turned away from me ; of whom are Phygellus and Her- 
 
 16 mogenes. The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesi- 
 phorus ; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of 
 
 17 my chain : but, when he was in Rome, he sought me out 
 
 18 very diligently, and found me. The Lord grant unto him 
 that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day : and in 
 how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou 
 knowest very well. 
 
2 Timothy ii. 1-13 241 
 
 Paul has been saddened by the desertion of 
 some of his followers in the province of Asia^ but 
 he pours out his feelings of warm gratitude for 
 the kindness of a Christian of Ephesus^ who not 
 only helped him when he was in that city, but 
 has since then sought him out and cheered him 
 in his Roman prison. " This short paragraph be- 
 longs to those portions of the Pastoral Epistles 
 before whose naturalness and directness the critic 
 is silenced. Here a genuine fragment of an 
 apostolic letter has probably been used " (Kohler). 
 
 15. The two deserters named are otherwise 
 quite unknown. Whether they should be called 
 recreants from Christ as w^ell as from Paul 
 we cannot tell. Timothy no doubt knew them 
 well. 
 
 16. Onesiphorus is one who does nothing by 
 halves. He refreshes Paul "oft"; he seeks him 
 out "diligently"; he ministers to him in " many 
 things." He earns the blessing promised to those 
 who do a kindness to Christ by visiting and minis- 
 tering to a prisoner (Matt. xxv. 40). 
 
 18. the Lord grant. This parenthesis (R.V.) is 
 a slender foundation for a doctrine of prayers for 
 the dead, which some have built upon it. We 
 have, first, no right to assume that Onesiphorus 
 was dead ; and, second, a fervent ejaculation is not 
 the same thing as a deliberate, set prayer. 
 
 2 Tim. ii. 1-13. 
 
 ENDURANCE AND ITS REWARD. 
 
 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in 
 2 Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me 
 
 16 
 
242 Westminster New Testament 
 
 among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful 
 
 3 men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou there- 
 fore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 
 
 4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the aftairs 
 of this life ; that he may please him who hath chosen him 
 
 5 to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet 
 
 6 is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. The husband- 
 man that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits. 
 
 7 Consider what I say ; and the Lord give thee understand- 
 
 8 ing in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed 
 of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel : 
 
 9 wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds ; 
 
 10 but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure 
 all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain 
 the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 
 
 11 It is a faithful saying : For if we be dead with him, we 
 
 12 shall also live with him : if we suffer, we shall also reign 
 
 13 with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: if 
 we believe not, yet he abideth faithful : he cannot deny 
 himself. 
 
 Timothy is exhorted to suifer like a soldier, to 
 strive like an athlete, to labour like a husbandman. 
 He is to keep himself unen tangled, that he may 
 at any moment obey his Master's behests. He is 
 cheered by thoughts of the risen Christ, by Paul's 
 own example, by the vision of the eternal glory 
 of God's elect. He is reminded that every man 
 reaps as he sovv^s. 
 
 2. commit thou. Or, '^deposit thou." The 
 noun is found in i. 12, 14. The writer is careful 
 that there should be a tradition of Christian 
 doctrine in the Church. He entrusts the truth 
 to Timothy, who is to commit it to faithful (or 
 believing) men, who will teach others, and so on. 
 This is a fine conception — Quasi cursores, vitce 
 
2 Timothy ii. 1-13 243 
 
 lampada tradunt. But it is evident that " the real 
 tradition of doctrine is dependent on the character 
 of the teachers, and is not bound up with the 
 privileges of a class " (Kohler). The apostolic 
 succession is an evangelical succession. 
 
 S-5. a good soldier. Military language 
 abounds in the Roman epistles. The soldier's life 
 is one of hardship. He must put the claims of 
 king and country above those of home and family. 
 He must keep himself detached, unentangled, 
 though the attachments of life are just the most 
 pleasant part of i€ Nor is the athlete's life easy. 
 If the strong man who runs a race desires to win 
 the victor's wreath, he must obey the rules of the 
 sport to the letter. There is no prize to the com- 
 petitor who does not '' play the game." How much 
 (the apostle often says to himself) the Christian 
 has to learn from both the soldier and the athlete ! 
 What sacrifices they make, how terribly they toil, 
 for their own ideal — military or athletic glory. 
 Will not Timothy and every other Christian do 
 as much for their Lord } 
 
 6. The husbandman. The emphatic word in 
 this sentence is laboureth. The diligent, labour- 
 ing husbandman, as distinguished from the idler, 
 the fritter-day, will see the harvest first. The 
 field of the slothful is described in Prov. xxiv. 30. 
 Spiritual tillage is always toilsome ; the office can 
 never be a sinecure ; but all husbandry is God's 
 as well as man's (1 Cor. iii. 9), and He gives the 
 increase. 
 
 8. Remember Jesus Christ. This is the 
 
 Christian's inspiration as he goes to work and to 
 war. He remembers not only the dead Christ of 
 the past, but the risen, living Christ of the 
 
244 Westminster New Testament 
 
 present. He remembers Him at the Supper that 
 he may remember Him everywhere. 
 
 9. as a malefactor. This term is historically 
 exact. Paul was accused^ and ultimately con- 
 demned, not as a Christian, but as a disturber of 
 the peace, an evil-doer. To be a Christian was 
 not in itself a crime till the days of Domitian 
 (8 1-96 A.D.). the word . . . not bound. For so 
 much liberty as this the captive is grateful. From 
 his prison he is free to send forth winged words 
 that will fly to the ends of the earth. His soul 
 suffers from no prison damp or cramp. Other 
 captives have rejoiced in the same freedom of the 
 pen, and as splendidly used it : John on his rocky 
 isle, Bunyan in his Bedford ^klen," Rutherford in 
 his city by the Northern Sea. 
 
 10. for the elect's sake. Paul endures all 
 things i?i order that the elect may obtain salvation 
 with eternal glory. Election is not a Divine fiat 
 that settles matters out of hand. It counts not 
 only upon the vicarious suffering of Christ, but 
 upon the ministerial labour and suffering of His 
 Church. It is conditioned by human sympathy. 
 
 11-13. faithful . . . saying. The words thus 
 introduced are doubtless an extract from another 
 ancient hymn or confession. Their rhythm and 
 euphony are perfect. They might well have been 
 printed in poetical form. What courage they must 
 have inspired in those days of persecution ! They 
 form one of the most beautiful and suggestive 
 fragments of early Christianity. Some think that 
 the words if we died refer to spiritual death 
 in baptism, but there is more blood and fire in 
 them than that. They mean ^Mf we died as 
 martyrs." 
 
2 Timothy ii. 14-26 245 
 
 2 Tim. ii. 14-26. 
 THE FAITHFUL PREACHER. 
 
 14 Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them 
 before the Lord that they strive not about words to no 
 
 15 profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to 
 shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth 
 not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 
 
 16 But shun profane and vain babblings : for they will 
 
 17 increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat 
 as doth a canker : of whom is Hymenseus and Philetus ; 
 
 18 who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the 
 resurrection is past already ; and overthrow the faith of 
 
 19 some. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, 
 having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are his. 
 And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart 
 
 20 from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only 
 vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth ; 
 
 21 and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man 
 therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel 
 unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and 
 
 22 prepared unto every good work. Flee also youthful lusts : 
 but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them 
 
 23 that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and 
 unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender 
 
 24 strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive ; but 
 
 25 be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness 
 instructing those that oppose themselves ; if God per- 
 adventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging 
 
 26 of the truth : and that they may recover themselves out 
 of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him 
 at his will. 
 
 The servant of Christ the Lord is to be a faithful 
 workman, diligent, consecrated, efficient ; shunning 
 what is unprofitable as well as what is evil, 
 
246 Westminster New Testament 
 
 ardently pursuing the true and the good ; ever 
 peaceful, gentle, forbearing ; endeavouring by his 
 spirit as well as his teaching to charm his 
 opponents back from the mazes of error to the 
 paths of repentance and obedience. 
 
 14. strive-about-words. From the Greek we 
 derive our English term "logomachy." To 
 wrangle about party catchwords and shibboleths 
 is as unprofitable as beating the air. It subverts 
 the hearers. If Christianity is only a battle of 
 words, sane men wish to be saved from it. 
 
 15. approved unto God. Among these 
 argumentative doctors Timothy cannot hope to win 
 golden opinions. It would be no good sign if his 
 words and actions commanded their approval. But 
 that must not concern him. To his own Master 
 he stands or falls. God's approval is enough. 
 
 17. a gangrene. This means a cancer in the 
 Church, the body of Christ, extremely difficult to 
 excise, and almost certain to grow again and again. 
 An appalling image of the fatal results of the 
 levity of spiritual guides. 
 
 18. resurrection . . . past. It is difficult to 
 know exactly what was the doctrine of the two 
 teachers named. Perhaps they asserted that the 
 only resurrection which a Christian needs is 
 spiritual. They may even have quoted a number 
 of Pauline passages on that subject (such as 
 Rom. vi. 11 ; Col. iii. 1), ignoring others which 
 speak of a literal resurrection. If it had fallen 
 to Paul himself to correct this error, would he not 
 have given explanations ? 
 
 19. the foundation of God. When so many 
 strange doctrines were floating in the air, it was 
 a comfort to think of what was stable. The 
 
2 Timothy ii. 14-26 247 
 
 Church which God had founded was firm as His 
 own eternal throne. After the manner of ancient 
 temples and public buildings, the foundation is 
 said to have two mystical inscriptions, the one 
 regarding the mutual knowledge of Christ and His 
 members, and the other regarding the holiness of 
 those who name His Name. 
 
 20. honour . . . dishonour. Here the Church 
 is regarded as a mixed society (cf. Matt. xiii. 47). 
 Its members are like the vessels of a great house, 
 to be honoured or dishonoured by the Master. 
 The humblest member may be like a vessel of 
 pure gold, the greatest like one of base pewter. 
 What our Master looks for in all the members 
 of His household alike is golden conduct. 
 
 " Honour and shame from no condition rise : 
 Act well thy part, there all the honour lies." 
 
 22. flee . . . follow. This is excellent moral 
 strategy. Do not fight, but flee, youthful lusts, 
 and pursue other things. It is not the dictate 
 of cowardice, but of common sense. The way to 
 conquer temptation is to switch the mind entirely 
 off what is evil and switch it on to what is good. 
 We should now call this good psychology. 
 
 24. must not strive. The subject of this 
 paragraph is "the Lord's servant," and here we 
 learn that his doctrine is after all but one thing. 
 His spirit and bearing towards all men, and 
 especially his opponents, are equally important. 
 He can accomplish as much by courtesy and 
 charity as by preaching and teaching. The 
 servant has always the Master as his model : 
 
 " A soft, meek, patient, humble, tranquil spirit, 
 The first true Gentleman that ever breathed." 
 
248 Westminster New Testament 
 
 26. taken captive. The R.V. gives an entirely 
 new turn to this difficult sentence^ and introduces 
 the beautiful idea^ perfectly consonant with what 
 has gone before^ that it is the business of the 
 Lord's servant to captivate souls to do the will of 
 God. Every true preacher has a certain personal 
 magnetism, a spiritual fascination, which is the 
 gift of One who from the Cross takes all hearts 
 captive. 
 
 2 Tim. iii. 1-9. 
 DEGENERATES. 
 
 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall 
 
 2 come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, 
 covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to 
 
 3 parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, 
 trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers 
 
 4 of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, 
 
 5 lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God ; having a 
 form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from 
 
 6 such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep 
 into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, 
 
 7 led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able 
 
 8 to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes 
 and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the 
 truth : men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the 
 
 9 faith. But they shall proceed no further : for their folly 
 shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. 
 
 This passage is modelled on O.T. prophecy, 
 opening with the formula, " in the last days." 
 The list of twenty varieties of decadents in the 
 coming times does not seem to be arranged in any 
 logical order. There are pairs, such as " self-lovers, 
 money-lovers"; ^^pleasure-lovers, God-lovers"; and 
 
2 Timothy iii. 1-9 249 
 
 studied assonances which can scarcely be reproduced 
 in English^ Hke our '^^ haughty, naughty" ; '^ unthink- 
 ing, unthanking," These degenerates are Christians 
 only in name ; their godliness is an outward show, 
 not an inward power. They prey on the credulity of 
 weak-minded women ; they resist the truth ; they 
 are corrupt and reprobate. 
 
 4. pleasure . . . God. Alford quotes an 
 interesting parallel in Philo about "people who 
 are pleasure-lovers and passion-lovers rather than 
 virtue-lovers and God-lovers." 
 
 5. form . . . power. "Form" has here its 
 worst meaning ; it is what Carlyle politely calls a 
 simulacrum, and more rudely a sham. 
 
 6. creep into houses. Evidently the houses 
 of ladies of society. " One has not to look far 
 around in order to see feature after feature of this 
 sharply-etched picture confirmed to-day, and that 
 not only among the Jesuits" (Kohler). The 
 word for "take captive," or captivate, is different 
 from that in ii. 26. Unhappily there is not only 
 the fascination of the Lord's servant, but that of 
 the devil's. 
 
 8. Jannes and Jambres. These are the 
 traditional names of the Egyptian magicians who 
 by their enchantments imitated the miracles 
 wrought by Moses before Pharaoh (Ex. vii. 11). 
 They are found in some of the Targums, in Pliny, 
 Polybius, and many other ancient authors. It is 
 not like our Lord or Paul to quote such traditions. 
 
 9. theirs also refers to the same enchanters. 
 The idea is that as much as Israel's wonder- 
 worker was greater than Egypt's, so much is 
 orthodoxy greater than heterodoxy. The illustra- 
 tion has now lost some of its force. 
 
250 Westminster New Testament 
 
 2 Tim. iii. 10-17. 
 PAUL'S TEACHING AND EXAMPLE. 
 
 10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, 
 
 11 purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecu- 
 tions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at 
 Iconium, at Lystra ; what persecutions I endured. But 
 
 12 out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that 
 
 13 will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But 
 evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiv- 
 
 14 ing, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things 
 which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing 
 
 15 of whom thou hast learned them ; and that from a child 
 thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to 
 make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in 
 
 16 Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, 
 and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 
 
 17 instruction in righteousness : that the man of God may 
 be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. 
 
 Timothy has rightly resolved to walk in the 
 footsteps of Paul, teaching, acting, suffering like 
 his master. Every pious Christian must be ready 
 for persecution, and while things are getting worse 
 in the Church, Timothy must stand in the old 
 paths, believing and expounding the inspired scrip- 
 tures, which alone can give men saving wisdom, 
 and equip the servant of God for every duty. 
 
 11. what things befell me. It seems to be 
 implied that Timothy was a witness, if not a par- 
 taker, of those sufferings. But they were really 
 experiences of the First Missionary .Journey, before 
 he became Paul's companion. 
 
 15. the sacred writings. The Hebrew Bible, 
 or the Septuagint version of it. Timothy knew it 
 
2 Timothy iv. i-8 251 
 
 from a babe. To this day every Jewish boy 
 has to commit long passages of the O.T. in the 
 original language. By the time the Pastorals 
 were written, portions of the N.T. were also 
 probably regarded as holy scripture, wise 
 unto salvation. An extremely suggestive phrase. 
 There is no wisdom for wisdom's sake, any more 
 than there is art for art's sake, in the Bible. It 
 is all wisdom with an end — the salvation of sinners 
 from their sin. It all counts for little or nothing 
 till it is wisdom up tO this consummation. 
 
 16. Every scripture. The R.V. gives the true 
 rendering of this important passage, inspired-of- 
 God means "filled with the breath of God." 
 Holy men spoke as they were moved by the Holy 
 Spirit, and their great conceptions were enshrined 
 in their books. Every writing that is thus inspired 
 has abiding power to teach the ignorant, reprove 
 the wrong-doing, correct the erring, and train 
 in righteousness all men. The man of God 
 who knows his Bible thoroughly is complete 
 himself, and completely equipped for work 
 among others. 
 
 2 Tim. iv. 1-8. 
 
 LAST CHARGE TO TIMOTHY. 
 
 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his 
 
 2 appearing and his kingdom ; preach the word ; be instant 
 in season, out of season ; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all 
 
 3 longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when 
 they will not endure sound doctrine ; but after their own 
 lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching 
 
 4 ears ; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and 
 
252 Westminster New Testament 
 
 5 shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, 
 endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full 
 
 6 proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and 
 
 7 the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good 
 fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith : 
 
 8 henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, 
 which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that 
 day : and not to me only, but unto all them also that love 
 his appearing. 
 
 A last passionate appeal to Timothy to strain 
 every nerve as a preacher and evangelist. Errors 
 increase in the Church, religious fables find ready 
 credence, and the truth needs a new champion to 
 do and dare all things for her sake. Paul himself 
 is about to quit the arena ; his days of fighting 
 and running are over ; in his Lord's hand he sees 
 the crown of life, and he goes to receive it. 
 
 1. Christ . . . shall judge. See John v. 27 ; 
 Acts xvii. 31. his appearing". The word epiphany J 
 used here, is almost confined to the Pastorals. 
 " His coming " (paronsia, presence) is the term used 
 in the earlier epistles. 
 
 3. itching ears. Here the R.V. removes an 
 ambiguity. It is not the teachers but the hearers 
 whose ears itch. It is the business of the teachers 
 to tickle such ears, and "heaps " of them are willing 
 to do it. The hearers are delighted beyond 
 measure ; they have found teachers after their 
 own hearts. " After their own lusts," says the 
 stern censor. 
 
 6. being offered. The Greek means, " I am 
 being poured out as a libation." Seneca when dying 
 a Roman death took water and poured out a libation 
 •^^to Jupiter the Deliverer." Paul thinks of his 
 own blood as the drink-oflering presented to his 
 
2 Timothy iv. 9-22 253 
 
 God (see Phil. ii. 17). my departure. Compare 
 King Arthur's " I pass but shall not die." The 
 Greek word suggests one or other of two ideas : " It 
 is time that I move my tent/' or^ '' It is time that 
 I put out to sea." See Phil. i. 23. 
 
 7. fight . , . course. Life is an arena, where 
 men try their strength with stout combatants, and 
 their speed with swift runners. Paul loved such 
 language ; the idea of conflict stirred his blood ; 
 he carried the very spirit of the arena into far 
 greater combats. Like Browning : '' I was ever a 
 fighter, so — one fight more, the last and the best ! " 
 the faith. This need not mean here — as in so 
 many parts of the Pastorals — the Christian creed. 
 It is rather the subjective personal faith by which 
 Paul was first saved long ago in Damascus. 
 
 8. the crown of righteousness. It will be 
 Paul's crown — his wreath of victory — to be ac- 
 knowledged as righteous by the righteous 
 judge. The beautiful phrase does not mean the 
 reward of right conduct among men, but God's free 
 gift of celestial righteousness. Here, as always in 
 the N.T., the Lord means Jesus Christ. 
 
 2 Tim. iv. 9-22. 
 PERSONAL DETAILS, AND SALUTATIONS. 
 
 9 Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me : for Demas 
 
 10 hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is 
 departed unto Thessalonica ; Crescens to Galatia, Titus 
 
 1 1 unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, 
 and bring him with thee ; for he is profitable to me for 
 
 12 the ministry. And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus. 
 
 13 The cloke that I left at Troas, with Carpus, when thou 
 
254 Westminster New Testament 
 
 comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the 
 
 14 parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil : 
 
 1 5 the Lord reward him according to his works : of whom be 
 
 16 thou ware also ; for he hath greatly withstood our words. At 
 my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook 
 
 1 7 me : I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Not- 
 withstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me ; 
 that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all 
 the Gentiles might hear : and I was delivered out of the 
 
 18 mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every 
 evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom : 
 
 19 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Salute Prisca 
 
 20 and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus 
 abode at Corinth : but Trophimus have I left at Miletum 
 
 21 sick. Do thy diligence to come before winter. Eubulus 
 greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all 
 
 22 the brethren. The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. 
 Grace be with you. Amen. 
 
 Some of these sentences bear on the face of 
 them the stamp of authenticity. "It would be 
 incomprehensible^" as Kohler says, "that a later 
 writer should make Paul express anxiety about 
 books which he had left behind. Historical sense 
 must acknowledge that we have here to do with 
 a genuine epistolary fragment." 
 
 10. forsook me. Demaswas one of Paul's com- 
 panions in the earlier part of the Roman imprison- 
 ment. He is mentioned in Col. iv. 14, but without 
 a word of praise, while others receive something 
 like a distinguished service order. Now he is named 
 as a deserter. He has gone over to the ranks of 
 the enemy. He has followed his heart, which was 
 already in the world. "Forsook" is very strong 
 in the Greek. It is the word that is used in Matt, 
 xxvii. 46, " Why hast Thou forsaken Me .'' " 
 
2 Timothy iv. 9-22 255 
 
 11. Only Luke. This sounds as if Luke's com- 
 pany did not amount to much. Read^ ^^ Luke 
 alone." Nothing is farther from Paul's thoughts 
 than to depreciate " the beloved physician." 
 Take Mark. One can imagine how great an 
 influence Paul exercised upon both of these men, 
 who afterwards wrote the Second and Third 
 Gospels. 
 
 13. Thecloke. "Others translate the rare Greek 
 word as ' book-holder/ and think of a case or bag 
 in which Paul kept his precious rolls. That he had 
 left such a piece of baggage behind him would be 
 more easily understood than that he should after 
 so long a time ask for his cloke " (Kohler). The 
 books and parchments would then be the contents 
 of the portfolio, but what the much-prized " books " 
 themselves were we can only conjecture. 
 
 14. will render. The change of tense (R.V.) 
 saves the writer from the appearance of vindic- 
 tiveness. The malicious coppersmith may be the 
 same Alexander who is mentioned in 1 Tim. i. 20, 
 or the one in Acts xix. 33. Paul had more than 
 one thorn in the flesh. 
 
 16, 17. no one . . . But the Lord. This 
 intensely pathetic passage recalls our Lord's own 
 words when His end drew near : " Alone . . . yet 
 . . . not alone " (John xvi. 32). that all . . . 
 might hear. This implies that a profound 
 impression was made in Rome by Paul's magnifi- 
 cent self-defence, which was at the same time 
 a proclamation of the message of salvation in 
 Jesus Christ, the lion's mouth. Are the words 
 literal or figurative } Many Christians were flung 
 by Nero to the lions of the amphitheatre. But 
 Paul as a Roman citizen would not be in danger 
 
256 Westminster New Testament 
 
 of that ignominious death. Perhaps '' the lion " 
 was Nero himself. 
 
 1 8. will deliver. Death, before which so many 
 shudder as the greatest of all evils, is welcomed 
 by the apostle as the deliverance from every evil 
 work, kingdom . . . glory ... for ever. 
 Amen. Just the same sequence of ideas is found in 
 the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer. 
 
 19. Prisca and Aquila. Often mentioned as 
 friends of the apostle ; now settled at Ephesus. 
 Prisca (or Priscilla) is usually named before her 
 husband, and for this there was probably an obvious 
 reason. Onesiphorus. Seei. 16, 17. 
 
 20. 21. Trophimus. The Ephesian who was 
 unwittingly the cause of Paul's arrest in Jerusalem 
 (Acts XX. 4, xxi. 29). The four Roman Christians 
 who send Timothy greetings are otherwise un- 
 known, except that Irenaeus calls LinuS the 
 Bishop of Rome. Harnack dates his episcopate 
 64-78 A.D. 
 
 22. with thy spirit . . . with you. First a 
 special greeting for Timothy alone ; then a general 
 one to all who are with him. 
 
Tit. i. 1-4. 
 
 GREETING. 
 
 Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, 
 according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknow- 
 
 2 ledging of the truth which is after godliness ; in hope of 
 eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before 
 
 3 the world began ; but hath in due times manifested his 
 word through preaching, which is committed unto me 
 
 4 according to the commandment of God our Saviour ; to 
 Titus, mine own son after the common faith : Grace, 
 mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ our Saviour. 
 
 This greeting is distinguished from those of all 
 the other letters by its wealth of dogmatic state- 
 ments. While it magnifies faith, knowledge, and 
 godliness, it looks backward and forward to two 
 eternities ; it bases the gospel on an immemorial 
 promise made by the God of truth ; it rejoices in 
 the time of fulfilment and in the Divine message to 
 mankind. 
 
 1. according to the faith (R.V.). This render- 
 ing is very vague. If we read " with a view to," 
 we at once obtain a definite meaning. Paul's 
 apostleship is for the building up of the faith 
 of God's people, and for the spreading of a full 
 knowledge of the truth. God's elect are those 
 w^hose very faith is the sign and seal of His purpose 
 of grace. 
 
 17 
 
258 Westminster New Testament 
 
 2. before times eternal. Or, before times 
 age-long ; from time immemorial. " Before the 
 world was" (A.V.) imports an idea more definite 
 than the original contains. The language merely 
 suggests the dim and distant past. It is popular, 
 not philosophical. '' From of old " and '' from 
 everlasting " are used in Scripture as synonymous 
 (see Ps. xciii. 2 ; Mic. v. 2). 
 
 3. manifested the word (R.V.). To Jewish- 
 Christian ears this could scarcely fail to suggest not 
 only the spoken and written word, but the living 
 incarnate Word. So Jerome and others have 
 rendered here. If the suggestion were accepted, 
 there would of course be a link between the Pastorals 
 and the writings of John, our Saviour. Here the 
 words are appUed to God the Father, in the next 
 verse to Christ the Son. As regards the singular 
 vacillation of usage see p. 28. 
 
 4. a common faith. Not "the," as in A.V. 
 The faith thus designated is not the common faith 
 of the Church, but a faith which is common to the 
 writer and Titus. This may be either subjective 
 or objective. 
 
 Tit. i. 5-9. 
 THE APPOINTMENT OF ELDERS. 
 
 5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set 
 in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in 
 
 6 every city, as I had appointed thee : if any be blameless, 
 the husband of one wife, having faithful children not 
 
 7 accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, 
 as the steward of God ; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not 
 
 8 given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre ; but a 
 lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, 
 
Titus i. 5-9 259 
 
 9 temperate ; holding fast the faithful word as he hath been 
 taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to 
 exhort and to convince the gainsayers. 
 
 The qualifications are much the same as those 
 enumerated to Timothy. It is usually maintained 
 that this paragraph proves the terms " elder " and 
 " bishop " to be synonymous. Hatch declared a 
 generation ago that this matter had been practically 
 removed from the list of disputed questions. But 
 it is not so certain that he was right. It is strange 
 if two official designations were given to the same 
 person. " Either it may be said that the word 
 * bishop ' is not titular, but expresses function, 
 describing the whole body of presbyters generally 
 as ' overseers ' of the flock of God ; or that 
 the 'overseers' regarded as officers are repre- 
 sented as belonging to the class of presbyters 
 and appointed from their number, which does 
 not imply the identification of the official titles " 
 (Vincent). 
 
 5. things wanting. That is, church organisa- 
 tion, in every city : of Crete. Homer calls this 
 the island of a hundred cities. It was therefore 
 a great task that was set for Titus. He had need 
 to be a splendid organiser, ordain is too specific ; 
 "appoint" is the meaning. 
 
 6. faithful children. In the old sense of 
 "faith-full/' "believing." This is an addition to 
 the qualifications given in 1 Tim. iii. riot. The 
 adverb "riotously" is found in the story of the 
 Prodigal Son (Luke xv. 13). 
 
 7. the bishop. On the whole it seems best to 
 regard this term as still unofficial. We might read, 
 " For he who has the oversight of others must be 
 
26o Westminster New Testament 
 
 blameless." greedy of filthy lucre. Or, "given 
 to unfair gain." Polybius writes that "greed and 
 avarice are so native to the soil of Crete, that they 
 are the only people among whom no stigma attaches 
 to any sort of gain whatever." Titus' mission to 
 appoint elders in every city seems harder than ever. 
 A tremendous revival is needed first. 
 
 9. according to the teaching. Here the word 
 for teaching is Didache. One of the most im- 
 portant documents of the early Church is The 
 Didache of the Twelve Apostles, written about 100- 
 110 A.D., the manuscript of which was only recently 
 discovered. In the sub-apostolic age there were 
 evidently many attempts to fix a standard of doctrine 
 and practice. able tO exhort. Of whom is this 
 spoken ? It is evident that not every Cretan elder 
 would be able to exhort assemblies and convict 
 gainsayers. But how easy it is to deduce from 
 this paragraph the idea that it is the elder as 
 bishop who is alone sufficient for these things ! And 
 how natural to give the capable man power, to 
 magnify his office, to honour him as the bulwark 
 of Christianity ! That is the way to Ignatius, the 
 ardent advocate of episcopacy, and to Catholicism. 
 
 Tit. i. 10-16. 
 THE FALSE TEACHERS. 
 
 10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, 
 
 1 1 specially they of the circumcision : whose mouths must 
 be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things 
 
 12 which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake. One of 
 themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The 
 
 13 Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This 
 
Titus i. 10-16 261 
 
 witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that 
 
 14 they may be sound in the faith ; not giving heed to 
 Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from 
 
 1 5 the truth. Unto the pure all things are pure : but unto 
 them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure ; 
 
 16 but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They 
 profess that they know God ; but in works they deny him, 
 being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good 
 work reprobate. 
 
 The heretics with whom Titus has to contend 
 are mostly Jewish Christians. They practise 
 circumcision^ they love Jewish fables^ they dis- 
 tinguish between clean and unclean meats. Yet 
 it is assumed that they are Cretans^ with the 
 notorious characteristics of the race. They are 
 Cretanised Jews ! They pervert whole families, 
 and extract money from their dupes. Such men 
 are to be dealt with sharply and summarily. Their 
 mouths must be shut, for their lives deny the 
 God their lips confess. 
 
 10. unruly men. More accurately, '^^insub- 
 ordinate." The Church is regarded as a kind of 
 army of salvation, in which there are superior 
 officers to whom obedience is due. Heretics are 
 to be treated as insubordinate. Their mouths 
 must be stopped to prevent their doing further 
 mischief — making more rebels like themselves. 
 Still there is no thought of persecution. As yet 
 the Church's only weapon of repression is the 
 sword of the Spirit. If the preacher cannot touch 
 the heart and reach the conscience, he has no 
 short and easy method to fall back upon, vain 
 talkers. One word in the Greek — "chatterers." 
 
 11. they ought not. Men sometimes teach 
 error with the conviction that they have a message 
 
262 Westminster New Testament 
 
 from God which they ought to deHver. However 
 far they have gone astray, they are perfectly 
 honest and sincere. Apparently, however, Titus 
 has not to deal with this nobler kind of aberration. 
 He is to assume that all heresy is rooted in some 
 moral baseness. 
 
 12. a prophet. The poet Epimenides was the 
 author of the hexameter here quoted. He lived 
 in Crete about 600 B.C. Kohler says : "The author 
 calls him a prophet because he is such in the 
 opinion of his own admirers, not because he 
 personally believes him to be one." As if he 
 merely meant to say "a so-called prophet of 
 theirs." But this is not enough. The writer has 
 the mysterious feeling that this stern censor 
 of morals was in some sense a prophet speaking 
 for God, who, as Paul said at Lystra, "left 
 not Himself without witness" (Acts xiv. 17). 
 Cretians . . . liars. ^^To talk like a Cretan" 
 was a popular saying that was always received 
 with amusement or contempt. Every one knew 
 what it meant. 
 
 13. This testimony is true. Namely, the testi- 
 mony that Cretans are always liars. No politician 
 who cared for his reputation would dare to quote 
 and confirm such an utterance. A much milder 
 censure from his lips or pen would be keenly 
 resented and never forgiven. But it is by just 
 such faithful dealing that the prophet gains his 
 power. If he is a dumb dog that cannot bark, 
 he has mistaken his calling. If only he speaks 
 the truth in love, every allowance is made for 
 his hyperboles. 
 
 14. commandments of men. These were 
 condemned by our Lord (Matt. xv. 9). The 
 
Titus ii. 1-15 263 
 
 great moral laws of God are enough ; they stand 
 in no need of vexatious human additions. 
 
 15. to the pure all things are pure. The 
 ascetics tried to make themselves inwardly clean 
 by outward purity. They abjured pleasant foods, 
 social joys, love, and such like. They felt that 
 they ought to loathe all things agreeable to the 
 flesh as being inimical to the soul. They began 
 at the wrong end. Christianity starts by making 
 the heart pure, the conscience clean ; it restores 
 the spirit to conscious harmony with God ; then 
 all the natural joys of life become pure and holy. 
 
 16. They profess . . . they deny. Is the 
 testimony of their lips or their lives to be 
 accepted ? They hide their guilty secret from 
 men, but not from God. Their words confess 
 Him, their works deny Him. Their faith is 
 sound, but their characters will not bear examina- 
 tion. Dante gives them a painted face and a 
 cloak of lead — the intolerable burden of a false 
 life. 
 
 Tit. ii. 1-15. 
 RELATIVE DUTIES. 
 
 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine : 
 
 2 that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in 
 
 3 faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women likewise, 
 that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false 
 accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things ; 
 
 4 that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love 
 
 5 their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, 
 chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own 
 husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. 
 
 6 Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. 
 
264 Westminster New Testament 
 
 7 In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works : 
 in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, 
 
 8 sound speech, that cannot be condemned ; that he that 
 is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil 
 
 9 thing to say of you. Exhort servants to be obedient unto 
 their own masters, and to please them well in all things ; 
 
 10 not answering again ; not purloining, but shewing all 
 good fidelity ; that they may adorn the doctrine of God 
 
 11 our Saviour in all things. For the grace of God that 
 
 12 bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching 
 us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we 
 should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this 
 
 13 present world ; looking for that blessed hope, and the 
 glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour 
 
 14 Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might 
 redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a 
 
 15 peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things 
 speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let 
 no man despise thee. 
 
 Titus is to exhort aged and young men and 
 women to fulfil their Christian duties^ in all 
 things showing a good example. He is to exhort 
 slaves to be obedient and faithful. For the grace 
 of God has come with a message for all men, 
 offering a finished salvation, presenting a perfect 
 ideal, fostering a blessed hope. 
 
 2. sober, grave. Wordsworth seemed to find 
 this ideal realised in the kind of speech — 
 
 '* Such as grave livers do in Scotland use. 
 Religious men, who give to God and Man their dues." 
 
 sound in faith. Faith is here probably sub- 
 jective, not objective — the faith which receives, 
 not the faith which is accepted. For it is associated 
 with the graces of love and patience. 
 
Titus ii. 1-15 265 
 
 3. reverent in demeanour. The word trans- 
 lated "^reverent" (R.V.) is very expressive. It 
 implies that the aged matron is to be a priestess 
 in the sanctuary of the Home, having dedicated 
 herself to the service of a God who really hallows 
 the Hearth, as the old Penates (household gods) 
 never could, given to much wine. The Greek 
 verb is stronger — "enslaved." It is notoriously 
 more difficult to save a female than a male 
 drunkard, teachers-of-the-good. One word in 
 Greek. " The good " means the morally beautiful. 
 Matrons who have a fine morale of their own 
 cannot fail to make it attractive to others. 
 
 5. in subjection. See Col. iii. 18; Eph. v. 22. 
 keepers at home. The better reading is 
 "workers at home." Home is regarded as 
 woman's normal sphere, in which as a rule she 
 can best glorify God. Christianity comes to 
 emancipate women in many ways, but it begins 
 by making the old perennial obligations of wife- 
 hood and motherhood more sacred than ever. 
 
 6, 7. an ensample. It is good to exhort young 
 men, but far better to touch them by the influence of 
 a pure and holy life. A single concrete instance is 
 more convincing to them than a whole array of 
 abstract principles. They like to see ideal virtue 
 clothed in flesh and blood. They may resist all the 
 arguments of logic and the appeals of rhetoric, but 
 they yield to the fascination of a noble personality. 
 
 8. may be ashamed. Christian lives are the 
 best " evidences of Christianity." High characters 
 and holy lives have to be explained. Pure goodness 
 has shamed many a caviller first into a silent respect 
 for religion, and then into an enthusiastic profession 
 of faith. 
 
266 Westminster New Testament 
 
 10. adorn the doctrine. One of the highest 
 
 conceptions in the Bible. No archangel can do 
 morCj and no slave need do less^ than fulfil it. 
 By the life he leads and the spirit he breathes the 
 meanest toiler may shed lustre on the doctrine of 
 God his Saviour, may win eclat for the religion 
 which has brought heavenly joy into his dark and 
 cheerless lot. " God gets His highest praise from 
 the lips of little children. His robes of glory from 
 the faithfulness, honesty, and simplicity of slaves " 
 (Chrysostom). 
 
 11. salvation to all men (R.V.). God loves 
 all men, Christ has atoned for all men, salvation 
 is offered to, and should be pressed upon, all men 
 (cf. 1 Tim. ii. 4). 
 
 12. soberly, righteously, and godly. We are 
 to live in these three ways — for ourselves, for others, 
 and for God. The three words cover the whole 
 range of Christian duties. 
 
 13. the blessed hope. "Hope" means here 
 the thing hoped for, the hope laid up in 
 the heavens — the Second Coming of Christ. So 
 in common language we talk of looking and 
 waiting for our hope — say a ship to appear in 
 the offing bringing home to us a beloved friend. 
 our great God and Saviour. Is there 
 one subject here, or two ? God and Christ, or 
 Christ who is God.^ Grammatically either way 
 is correct. The A.V. chooses the one reading, 
 the R.V. the other. There are many passages in 
 the O.T. which predict the personal appearing of 
 the hitherto invisible God, but this is not a N.T. 
 conception. Rather, " the Son of man shall come 
 in the glory of His Father " (xMatt. xvi. 27). The 
 revised reading is therefore in harmony with the 
 
Titus iii. i-i i 267 
 
 faith of the early Church. And how it emphasises 
 the divinity of Christ — our great God ! 
 
 14. redeem . . . purify. Two aspects of our 
 Lord's saving work. He came to a race bound 
 with the fetters, and stained with the defilement, 
 of sin. He liberates and purifies them — makes 
 them holy freemen — and then keeps them for ever 
 as His special treasure, His priceless possession, 
 zealous of g"00d WOrks. His "treasure-people" 
 have a joyful sense of being called to labours of love. 
 Idleness would be misery to them. And they devote 
 themselves to " good works " which are really good. 
 They are all zealots (literally, "boiling") for social 
 beneficence, philanthropic service. Their enthusi- 
 asm for Christ means enthusiasm for humanity. 
 
 15. authority. This is the authority of 
 personality, not of office ; the moral influence of 
 the man who feels that the truth which has 
 gripped him is a thousand times greater than 
 himself. He is endued with power from on high. 
 He is the opposite of the man who is " dressed 
 in a little brief authority." 
 
 Tit. iii. i-ii. 
 
 THE PHILANTHROPY OF GOD. 
 
 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and 
 powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good 
 
 2 work, to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but 
 
 3 gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. For we our- 
 selves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, 
 serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and 
 
 4 envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the 
 kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man ap- 
 
268 Westminster New Testament 
 
 5 peared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, 
 but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing 
 
 6 of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost ; which 
 he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our 
 
 7 Saviour ; that being justified by his grace, we should be 
 
 8 made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is 
 a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm 
 constantly, that they which have believed in God might 
 be careful to maintain good works. These things are 
 
 9 good and profitable unto men. But avoid foolish questions, 
 and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the 
 
 10 law ; for they are unprofitable and vain. A man that is 
 an heretick after the first and second admonition reject ; 
 
 11 knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, 
 being condemned of himself. 
 
 Christians are to be exhorted to be good, law- 
 abiding citizens,, ready to fulfil every obligation to 
 the Government of the country. If they are 
 maligned for their faith, they are to be gentle 
 and meek. Let them humble themselves by 
 keeping green the memory of their own past 
 heathen life, and by ever fresh thoughts of the 
 Divine mercy which alone has made them heirs 
 of life eternal. Titus is instructed to give his 
 mind to things practical and edifying, to avoid 
 foolish questions, and to deal faithfully with 
 heretics. 
 
 1. subject to rulers. Christians are to be 
 good subjects, ready to do their duty to the State, 
 giving the authorities no just cause of complaint 
 (cf. Rom. xiii. 1). 
 
 2. gentle. "Sweetly reasonable." See Phil, 
 iv. 5. meekness. See Matt. xi. 29. The words 
 occur together in 2 Cor. x. 1. 
 
 3. we . . . aforetime. The author distinctly 
 
Titus iii. i-ii 269 
 
 includes himself among those who formerly led a 
 life of heathenish vice. He remembers it with 
 grief and shame ; it moves him now to meekness 
 and gentleness. But how difficult it is to think 
 of Paul;, the morally blameless Pharisee^ looking 
 back upon a time when he was " the slave of divers 
 lusts and pleasures " ! It is significant that neither 
 of the words " divers " and " pleasures " ever occurs 
 before the Pastorals. 
 
 4. love toward man. Literally, " philanthropy." 
 The writer teaches, not that, the Atonement 
 purchased God's benevolence, but that God's love 
 toward the human family appeared in the Atone- 
 ment. All human philanthropy is put in the 
 shade by the splendid philanthropy of God toward 
 a world of sinners. 
 
 5. saved through the font, or laver (Vul- 
 gate, lavacrumy This is the true reading. " The 
 font of regeneration" is a phrase which has done 
 much harm. It stands parallel to " the renewing 
 of the Holy Ghost" — a material and external 
 means of salvation beside an inward and spiritual. 
 If the one was really meant to be symbolical and 
 the other literal, the ambiguity is scarcely less 
 than tragic. For how great is the temptation to 
 emphasise what seems primary at the expense of 
 what is secondary. Regeneration by the font is 
 so easy, regeneration by spiritual renewal so 
 difficult. Here is the birthplace of Catholicism, 
 Roman and Anglican. 
 
 8. Faithful is the saying. Probably here as 
 elsewhere the phrase is not meant to clench what 
 has just been said, but to prepare the mind for what 
 is coming. Here it is the connection between 
 faith in God and the maintenance of good works 
 
270 Westminster New Testament 
 
 that is emphasised. Instead of " to maintain good 
 works " we might read '^ to be foremost in, to 
 excel in, good works." To all believers the testing 
 question is, "What do ye more than others?" 
 Good works are not the ground of salvation, but 
 a real salvation never stops short of them. 
 
 9. genealogies. Many Jewish Christians seem 
 to have had an insane passion for pedigrees of 
 men, which the Gnostic Christians changed into 
 an equally fatuous fondness for the genealogies of 
 angels. 
 
 10, 11. heretical. The word has two meanings 
 — schismatic and heterodox. The heretic either 
 rends the seamless garment of Christ, or else 
 denies some part of the Church's system of sound 
 doctrine. For a while the first meaning pre- 
 dominated (1 Cor. xi. 19; Gal. v. 20), then tlie 
 other prevailed, and " the Roman Church has 
 written the history of the word in blood " 
 (Kohler). 
 
 Tit. iii. 12-15. 
 PERSONAL DIRECTIONS. 
 
 12 When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be 
 diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis : for I have 
 
 13 determined there to winter. Bring Zenas the lawyer and 
 Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be want- 
 
 14 ing unto them. And let ours also learn to maintain good 
 
 15 works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful. All 
 that are with m€ salute thee. Greet them that love us in 
 the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen. 
 
 That these words are Pauline in the strict sense 
 there is no reason to doubt. The Nicopolis (city 
 of victory) referred to is probably the one in 
 
Titus iii. 12-15 271 
 
 Epirus, built to commemorate the decisive battle 
 of Actiiim ; not the city of that name either in 
 Cilicia or in Thrace. This is the only reference 
 to Paul's missionary activity in that quarter, and 
 the date of his wintering there cannot be fixed. 
 
 12, 13. Artemas and Zenas are mentioned 
 only here. Zenas was a lawyer in the sense that 
 he had once been a teacher of the Jewish Law. 
 His eminence as a Christian is indicated by the fact 
 that his name is counted worthy to be coupled with 
 that of Apollos the famous apostle. The two men 
 may have been assisting Titus in the evangelisation 
 of Crete. How much early Church history has 
 passed into oblivion! The apocryphal "Acts of 
 Titus " do not help us in the least. 
 
 14. for necessary uses. For the maintenance 
 of Christian ordinances. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abbott's Onesimus, lo. 
 
 Abounding, 53, 168, 198. 
 
 Access, 125, 131. 
 
 Adam and Eve, 214. 
 
 Adoption, 107. 
 
 Adorning the doctrine, 266. 
 
 Aions, 8, 42, 44, 207, 211. 
 
 Afflictions of Christ, 46. 
 
 Alienated, 45, 142. 
 
 Altruism, 114, 
 
 Angel- worship, 42,59,61,116. 
 
 Anger, 145. 
 
 Apostle, 32, 129, 139. 
 
 Apphia, 88. 
 
 Archippus, 85, 88. 
 
 Aristarchus, 83. 
 
 Armour of God, 160, 161. 
 
 Arnold, Matthew, 38, 79, 171. 
 
 Artemas, 271. 
 
 Ascension, 138. 
 
 Asceticism, 26, 64, 220, 263. 
 
 Augustus, 17. 
 
 Authority, 267. 
 
 Baptism, iii, 155, 269. 
 
 Baxter, Richard, 80. 
 
 Beloved, 88, 108, 193. 
 
 Bengel, 21, 66. 
 
 Biology, 141. 
 
 Bishops, 25, 165, 215, 216, 
 
 259. 
 Blasphemy, 69, 229. 
 Bodily exercise, 222. 
 18 
 
 Body, human, 64, 192. 
 
 Body of Christ, 43, 45, 47, 
 
 117, 141, 156. 
 Boldness, 94, 131, 162. 
 Bond of ordinances, 58. 
 Bowels of mercy, 72. 
 Branded in conscience, 220. 
 Bride of Christ, 155. 
 Brotherhood, 92, 98. 
 Browning, 56, 172, 189. 
 Bunyan, 206. 
 
 Cadmus, 6. 
 Cgesarea, 5, 170. 
 Caesars, 2, 233. 
 Caesar's household, 199. 
 Captive, 248, 249. 
 Catholicism, 260, 269. 
 Chief of sinners, 207. 
 Children, 76, 140, 158. 
 Children of God, 181. 
 Children of light, 146, 150. 
 Christology, 8, 22, 40, 176. 
 Chrysostom, 266. 
 Church, 16, 80, 116, 117, 131. 
 Churchmanship, 223. 
 Circular letter, 15, 103. 
 Circumcision, 57, 122, 187. 
 Citizenship, 13, 174, 192. 
 Clement of Rome, 29, 30, 189. 
 Cloke, 255. 
 Colossians, 5. 
 Comfort, 50. 
 
274 
 
 Index 
 
 Coming, second, 67, 167, 233. 
 Commandment with promise, 
 
 157. 
 Commandments of man, 262. 
 Complete, 57. 
 Concision, 187. 
 Contentment, 195, 196. 
 Corrupt speech, 145. 
 Course of the world, 1 19. 
 Covetousness, 68. 
 Creation in Christ, 42, 121. 
 Creeds, primitive, 218, 233, 
 
 244. 
 Cretans, 260, 262. 
 Cross, 44, 58, 125, 179, 191. 
 Crown, 193, 243. 
 
 Dante, 73, 139, 263. 
 Day of Jesus Christ, 167. 
 Dead in sin, 58, 118. 
 Death abolished, 239. 
 Death of Paul, 29. 
 Defence, 168. 
 Demas, 84, 254. 
 Denney, Prof., 42. 
 Departure, 173, 253. 
 Deposit, 234, 240, 242. 
 Didache, 27, 260. 
 Disobedience, 69. 
 Divine discontent, 37. 
 Dogs, 187. 
 Door, open, 79. 
 Drunkenness, 152. 
 
 Earnest, 112. 
 Eastern speculation, 7. 
 Ecce Homo, 'J2. 
 Eclectics, 7. 
 
 Elders, 225, 227, 258, 260. 
 Elect, 72, 244, 257. 
 Election, 104, 107. 
 Empire, influence on Paul, 16, 
 no. 
 
 Emptied Himself, 178. 
 Empty words, 149. 
 Enemies of the Cross, 191. 
 Enlightenment, 112, 131. 
 Envy, 171. 
 
 Epaphras, 6, 35, %t„ 102. 
 Epaphroditus, 185. 
 Ephesians, 13, 103. 
 Epimenides, 262. 
 Episcopacy, 25, 260. 
 Euodia and Syntyche, 193. 
 Evil day, 161. 
 Exaltation of Christ, 179. 
 Example, 265. 
 
 Fables, 28, 203, 222. 
 
 Faction, 177. 
 
 Faith, 27, 90, 175, 219, 223, 
 
 232. 
 Faithful, 33, 103. 
 Faithful sayings, 25, 207, 
 
 269. 
 Family, 133, 
 Farrar's Darkness and Dawn, 
 
 10. 
 Fear and trembling, 158, 180. 
 Fear of Christ, 153. 
 Fellowship, 91, 167, 197. 
 Fellow-soldiers, 88. 
 Fiery darts, 162. 
 Fight, good, 232. 
 Firstborn, 41, 43. 
 Flesh and blood, 161. 
 Flesh, confidence in, 188. 
 Font, 269. 
 Forbearance, 194. 
 Forefathers, 237. 
 Forgiveness, 39, 72, 109, 145, 
 
 146. 
 Form of God, 178. 
 Form of a servant, 178. 
 Forms of Church service, 25. 
 Foundation, 126, 246. 
 
Index 
 
 275 
 
 Fulfilling the word of God, 47. 
 Fulness, 16, 44, 54, 56, 1 17, 
 140. 
 
 Gains, 173, 188, 230. 
 
 Gangrene, 246. 
 
 Genealogies, 203, 270. 
 
 Gentiles, 142. 
 
 Gibbon, 62. 
 
 Gifts, 24, 138, 223. 
 
 Giving and receiving, 196, 197. 
 
 Glory, 48, 199. 
 
 Gnosticism, 7, 8, 9, 42, 211, 
 
 235. 
 Godet, 13. 
 Godhead, 56. 
 Godliness, 210, 218. 
 Good works, 24, 121, 267. 
 Grace, 35, 108, 120, 206. 
 Gravity, 210, 264. 
 Greetings, Eastern and 
 
 Western, 33. 
 
 Hands, laying on of, 25, 223, 
 
 238. 
 Hardening of the heart, 142. 
 Hardship, 239. 
 Harnack, 17, 29, 235. 
 Hazarding, 185. 
 Headship of Christ, 43, 57, 
 
 62, 116, 117. 
 Healthy-mindedness, 26, 220. 
 Heavenly places, 16, 106, 161. 
 Hellenism, 8, 33, 195. 
 Heretical, 270. 
 Heterodoxy, 203, 230. 
 Hidden life, 66. 
 Hierapolis, 6, 85. 
 Holiness, 45, 107. 
 Holy Spirit, iii, 112, 133, 
 
 146, 152. 
 Honour and dishonour, 247, 
 Hope, 34, 48, 115, 201, 266. 
 
 Horace, 173. 
 Hospitality, loi. 
 House of God, 218. 
 Humiliation of Christ, 22, 178. 
 Humility, voluntary, 61. 
 Husbands and wives, 75, 154. 
 Hymns, 74> ^S^- 
 Hypocrisy, 219, 263. 
 
 Ignatius, 216, 260. 
 
 Ignorance, 142. 
 
 Image of God, 41, 70. 
 
 Imitation of Christians, 191. 
 
 Imitation of God, 147. 
 
 In Christ, 33, 76, 103, 163, 
 
 170. 
 Inheritance, no, 115. 
 Initiated, 70, 197. 
 Isaac Walton, 106. 
 
 Jannes and Jambres, 249. 
 
 Jesus Justus, 83. 
 
 Jowett, 21. 
 
 Joy, 21, 46, 91. 
 
 Jiilicher, 9. 
 
 Justification of faith, 3, 189. 
 
 Keepers at home, 265. 
 King eternal, 207. 
 Kingdom of Christ, 39, 149. 
 Knowledge, 37, 51, 52, 134, 
 188, 235. 
 
 Labour, 49, 145, 243. 
 Laodicea, 14, 50, 84, 85, 103. 
 Larger hope, 44. 
 Law, 58, 59, 124, 204. 
 Learning Christ, 141, 143. 
 Less than the least, 130. 
 Libation, 181. 
 Liberty, 3, 59, 60, 63. 
 Life of God, 142. 
 Lightfoot, 13, 20, 35,95, 106, 
 
276 
 
 Index 
 
 Likeness of men, 178. 
 Lodging, loi. 
 Loss for Christ, 188. 
 Love, 12, 51, 73,94,132, 134, 
 
 148, 155, 168, 204. 
 Lowliness, 137, 177. 
 Luke, 30, 84. 
 Luther, 63, 89, 128. 
 Lycus valley, 6, 7. 
 Lying, 70, I45» 262. 
 
 Maeander, 6. 
 
 Malefactor, 243. 
 
 Man of God, 232. 
 
 Man, old and new, 70. 
 
 Marcion, 14. 
 
 Margaret Wilson, 47. 
 
 Mark, 83. 
 
 Marriage, 156. 
 
 Martyr, 233. 
 
 Mediators, 57, 211. 
 
 Men-pleasers, 159. 
 
 Metaphors, mixed, 53. 
 
 Milton, 42, 55, 159. 
 
 Mind of Christ Jesus, 175. 
 
 Minister, good, 221. 
 
 Mommsen, 19, 171. 
 
 Money, 18, 196, 198. 
 
 Monod, 47. 
 
 Monogram, Paul's, 24, 33, 
 
 102. 
 Music, 74. 
 Mystery, 47, 48, Si, 79, I09, 
 
 156, 218. 
 Mystics, 8, 133. 
 Myths, 222. 
 
 Name above every name, 176, 
 
 179. 
 Nero, 30, 199, 255. 
 NicopoHs, 270. 
 Nymphas, 85. 
 
 Obedience, 157, 158. 
 Old age, 95. 
 Oneness in Christ, 70. 
 Onesimus, 11, 82, 95. 
 Onesiphorus, 241. 
 One thing I do, 189. 
 Oppositions of science, 235. 
 Optimism, no, 189. 
 Ordinances, 63. 
 Ordination, 228, 238. 
 Orthodoxy, 23, 203, 230. 
 
 Palace, 170. 
 Partition wall, 124. 
 Pastoral Epistles, 23. 
 Pastoral joy, 177. 
 Pastor's Charge, 203. 
 Pastors and teachers, 139. 
 Patience, 38. 
 
 Peace, 33, 121, 124, 125, 137. 
 Peace of God, 73, 194. 
 Perfect, 189, 191. 
 Perfecting, 139, 167. 
 Perhaps, 98. 
 Persuasiveness, 52. 
 Philanthropy, 269, 
 Philemon, 9, 10, 88, 90. 
 Philippi, 17. 
 Philippians, 17, 165. 
 Philo, 42. 
 
 Philosophy, 52, 55. 
 Piety, 24, 210, 222. 
 Plato, 239. 
 
 Political problems, 12, 76, 158. 
 Potentate, 233. 
 Praetorian Guard, 3, 171. 
 Prayer, perseverance in, 78. 
 Prayers for all men, 209, 210. 
 Prayers of Paul, 34, 114, 
 
 168. 
 Preaching Christ, 169, 171. 
 Predestination, 107. 
 Pre-eminence, 44, 172. 
 
Index 
 
 277 
 
 Prince of power of air, 119. 
 Principalities, 56, 116. 
 Prisoner of Jesus Christ, 87, 
 
 128, 137. 
 Prize, 178. 
 
 Progress of the gospel, 170. 
 Prophecies on Timothy, 208. 
 Prophets, 25, 126, 139, 262. 
 Providence, 98. 
 Purity, 263. 
 Putting off and putting on, 
 
 143. 
 
 Quickening, 58, 125. 
 
 Raised with Christ, 57, 65. 
 Ramsay, Sir W., 29, 30, 80, 
 
 158, 171. 
 Ransom, 211. 
 Reading, 25, 223. 
 Reasonableness, sweet, 194, 
 
 268. 
 Reconciliation, 41, 44, 125. 
 Redemption, 108, 112, 267. 
 Regeneration, 269. 
 Rejoicing, 172, 186, 194. 
 Reproving sin, 149. 
 Resurrection, 115, 189, 246. 
 Revelation, 129. 
 Reverent, 265. 
 Riches, 73, 130, 133, 199, 
 
 234- 
 Righteousness, 189, 232, 253. 
 Rome, I. 
 Rudiments, 55. 
 Rulers, 210, 268. 
 Running and labouring, 181. 
 Rutherford, 87, 128. 
 
 Sacrifice, 148, 198. 
 
 Saints, 32, 103, 148. 
 
 Salt, 80. 
 
 Salvation, 172, 180, 215, 266. 
 
 Saviour, 28, 154, 258, 266. 
 
 Scripture, 251. 
 
 Scythians, 71. 
 
 Sealed, in. 
 
 Shadow and substance, 61. 
 
 Shamefastness, 213. 
 
 Shipwreck of faith, 208. 
 
 Sincerity, 164. 
 
 Slaves, 76, 96, 158, 159, 
 
 228. 
 Sobriety, 213, 264. 
 Social problems, 12, 76, 158. 
 Soldier, good, 243. 
 Sorrow upon sorrow, 184. 
 Sound doctrine, 24, 202, 205, 
 
 264. 
 Sound mind, 238. 
 Spain, 29, 30. 
 Spoiling, 54. 
 Steadfastness, 53. 
 Stealing, 145. 
 Stewardship, 47. 
 Stoicism, 28, 38, 196. 
 Strabo, 6. 
 Strait, 173. 
 
 Strife about words, 246. 
 Subjection of women, 75, 154, 
 
 213. 
 Subjection to rulers, 268. 
 Suffering, fellowship in, 189. 
 Summing up all things, no. 
 
 Teaching, 24, 205, 260. 
 Tennyson, 194. 
 Thanksgiving, 74, 78, 89, 149, 
 
 153- 
 Theosophy, 7> 4i' 
 Thessalonica, 198. 
 Thinking, 195. 
 Time redeemed, 80, 152. 
 Times eternal, 258. 
 Timothy, 32, 183, 250. 
 Toleration, 170. 
 
278 
 
 Index 
 
 Truth, III, 140, 161. 
 Tychicus, 82, 163. 
 
 Unity, 137, 140, 174, 177, 192. 
 Universe, no. 
 Unruly men, 261. 
 
 Van Manen, 22. 
 
 Walk, 38, 53, 137, 151. 
 Water-drinking, 228. 
 Weeping, 191, 238. 
 Widows, 224, 225. 
 Will of God, 32, 108, 210. 
 Will-worship, 64. 
 Wine, 228, 265. 
 
 Wisdom, 37, 52, 114, 131. 
 Witness, 233. 
 Wives, 75, 216. 
 Woman's sphere, 212, 214. 
 Word of Christ, 73. 
 Wordsworth, 264. 
 Workmanship of God, 117. 
 World, 35, 63, 119. 
 Wrath, 69, 119. 
 
 Xenophon, 6. 
 
 Yoke, 229. 
 Yokefellow, 193. 
 Youth, 222. 
 
 Zenas, 271. 
 
 Printed by Mokrison & GiBB Limited, Edinburgh 
 

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