Romans · Chapter 1

V. 1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ-To this introduction the conclusion answers, Romans 15:15, &c.

Called to be an apostle-And made an apostle by that calling. While God calls, he makes what he calls. As the Judaizing teachers disputed his claim to the apostolical office, it is with great propriety that he asserts it in the very entrance of an epistle wherein their principles are entirely overthrown. And various other proper and important thoughts are suggested in this short introduction; particularly the prophecies concerning the gospel, the descent of Jesus from David, the great doctrines of his Godhead and resurrection, the sending the gospel to the Gentiles, the privileges of Christians, and the obedience and holiness to which they were obliged in virtue of their profession.

Separated-By God, not only from the bulk of other men, from other Jews, from other disciples, but even from other Christian teachers, to be a peculiar instrument of God in spreading the gospel.

Verse 1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ] The word doulov, which we translate servant, properly means a slave, one who is the entire property of his master; and is used here by the apostle with great propriety. He felt he was not his own, and that his life and powers belonged to his heavenly owner, and that he had no right to dispose of or employ them but in the strictest subserviency to the will of his Lord. In this sense, and in this spirit, he is the willing slave of Jesus Christ; and this is, perhaps, the highest character which any soul of man can attain on this side eternity. “I am wholly the Lord’s; and wholly devoted in the spirit of sacrificial obedience, to the constant, complete, and energetic performance of the Divine will.” A friend of God is high; a son of God is higher; but the servant, or, in the above sense, the slave of God, is higher than all;-in a word, he is a person who feels he has no property in himself, and that God is all and in all. Called to be an apostle] The word apostolov, apostle, from apostellein, to send, signifies simply a messenger or envoy; one sent on a confidential errand: but here it means an extraordinary messenger; one sent by God himself to deliver the most important message on behalf of his Maker;-in a word, one sent by the Divine authority to preach the Gospel to the nations. The word klhtov, called, signifies here the same as constituted, and should be joined with apostolov, as it is in the Greek, and translated thus: Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, constituted an apostle, &c. This sense the word called has in many places of the sacred writings; e. g. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called, klhqwmen, CONSTITUTED, or made the sons of God. As it is likely that no apostle had been employed in founding the Church of Rome, and there was need of much authority to settle the matters that were there in dispute, it was necessary he should show them that he derived his authority from God, and was immediately delegated by him to preach and write as he was now doing.

Separated unto the Gospel] Set apart and appointed to this work, and to this only; as the Israelites were separate from all the people of the earth, to be the servants of God: see Leviticus 20:26. St. Paul may here refer to his former state as a Pharisee, which literally signifies a separatist, or one separated. Before he was separated unto the service of his own sect; now he is separated unto the Gospel of God. On the word GOSPEL, and its meaning, see the preface to the notes on St. Matthew; and for the meaning of the word Pharisee, see the same Gospel, Matthew 3:7.

Verses 1, 2. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ — Though once a bitter persecutor; called to be an apostle — And made an apostle by that calling. The Greek, klhtov apostolov, is literally, a called apostle, or an apostle called, namely, expressly, as the other apostles were. When God calls he makes what he calls. The name apostle was sometimes given to different orders of men, Romans 16:7, but in its highest sense it was appropriated to the twelve, whom Christ appointed to be with him, Mark 3:14, and whom, after his resurrection, he sent forth to preach the gospel. As the Judaizing teachers disputed his claim to the apostolical office, it is with great propriety that he asserts it in the very entrance of an epistle wherein their principles are entirely overthrown. And various other proper and important thoughts are suggested in this short introduction: particularly the prophecies concerning the gospel; the descent of Jesus from David; the great doctrines of his Godhead and resurrection; the sending the gospel to the Gentiles; the privileges of Christians; and the obedience and holiness to which they were obliged, in virtue of their profession. Separated unto the gospel of God — Namely, to preach and propagate it. Separated by God, not only from the generality of other men, from other Jews, from other disciples, but even from other Christian teachers, to be a peculiar instrument of God in spreading the gospel. It is said, Acts 13:2, Separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them. But, this being nothing but a separation of Paul from the teachers at Antioch, to go and preach to the Gentiles, the higher separation, mentioned Galatians 1:15, is here intended. The gospel is here said to be God’s, because it is good news from God, than which a greater commendation of it cannot be conceived. Which he had promised afore — Of old time, frequently and solemnly: and the promise and accomplishment confirm each other. The promise in the Scriptures, that the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles, is taken notice of by the apostle, to convince the unbelieving Jews that in preaching to the Gentiles he did not contradict, but fulfil the ancient revelations.

Verse 1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, in the sense he himself illustrates to the Corinthians. Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.

Called to be an apostle, and endowed with heavenly gifts in a special manner, when the Lord himself appeared to him, as stated on Acts 9:15. 22:14. This call, being purely divine, made him a debtor to all men, and gave him a title to address the churches by word, and by letter. 2 Thessalonians 2:15.

Separated to the gospel of God; for which he instantly counted all things as loss.

1. Like the phrase from glory to glory, in 2 Corinthians 3:18, it may describe the successive stages of growing faith. Yet, though approved by Tholuck, this meaning has no relevancy to the present train of thought, and does not connect well with the adjoining clauses. 2. Better is that suggested by Augustine: from the faith of those preaching to the faith of those hearing; or, in fuller terms, from the faith of a faithful Church and ministry to the faith of a listening world. This connects well with revealed, and lies in the train of thought with a forcible meaning. 3. Best of all is that of Bengel, which refers it to the righteousness of God, being revealed as both derived from faith and offered to faith. It is, as Bengel says, “by faith from bow to stern.” This blends well also with the second meaning. As faith is the source whence we obtain our righteousness, so we offer that righteousness to the faith of the world. Justification originating from faith is offered to faith. Written—(Habakkuk 2:4.) The words in the Old Testament promise a temporal deliverance and life from the invasion of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans to the man who trusted in Jehovah. This must not, however, be viewed as a scrap, quoted merely like a piece of poetry verbally pat to the occasion. The higher meaning developed by inspiration lies concealed in the lower by that same Spirit. Faith in God is man’s tie of unity to God under both dispensations. The man so united to God, according to the prophet’s promise, would live through the approaching judgment of God. The man so united by faith to God shall live even through the judgment trial by the Son of man. That is, true faith in God, planted in the soul, is the vital seed and principle of eternal life. Paul’s view of the passage was accepted by Jewish writers. Wetstein cites the following: “The Israelites shall in the future age (or world) sing a new song, according to Psalm 98. By whose merit will Israel sing the song? By the merit of Abraham, because he believed God. (Genesis 15.) This is the faith by which Israel will possess, of which the Scripture speaks, Habakkuk 2.” (On the Jewish belief of the salvation of all Jews, see page 350.) If the Hebrew would permit, it would appear more suitable to Paul’s purpose to accept the rendering, The just by faith shall live. The text would then show that faith is the antecedent condition of being just. Yet, as it stands, it shows that faith is the condition of life, and so of that justification that is unto life. And so the apostle has borrowed from the prophet the motto, the proposition, the thesis of his epistle, THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH. Thenceforward to the close of the eleventh chapter extends his argument, wherein he shows the Ruin, the Remedy, the process by which the Remedy applies and operates, and the Defence of the whole. I. THE RUIN.

FALLEN MAN WITHOUT THE GRACE OF CHRIST, Romans 1:18-3:20.

1. Condition of the heathen world, Romans 1:18-2:16. The structure of human salvation must base its pillars deep in the profound of human ruin. Of that ruin, therefore, the apostle furnishes a just but gloomy picture. 1. He first portrays the heathen world, illustrating man’s fall by the extremes of depravity to which condemning history shows that human nature can go, (Romans 1:18-32.) 2. Leaving this deep depravity of the heathen masses, and approaching the Jews by covered advances, he next takes the case of the more moralized yet inconsistent heathen, whose rebukes of vice condemn themselves, (Romans 2:1-10.)

3. He touches the case of heathen who may be considered as keeping the law, (11-16.) 4. Having approached by ascending steps, he may now, without cause of offence, treat the case of the Jew, and through much and earnest debate with the Jew, conceptually present, he attains the conclusion that all are under sin, (Romans 2:17-3:20.) Such being the Ruin, there comes a demand for the Remedy.

(a.) The extreme depths of heathen self-depravation, 1:18-32.

1. Heathen depravation commences with apostasy from the

acknowledgment and worship of God arising from moral dislike to his holiness and in spite of the full power of knowing him, (18-22.) 2. Bestializing God, God abandoned them to their own impulses to bestialize themselves sexually, (23-27.) 3. Under this self-debasing process, doubly abandoned by God, the whole brood of possible vices spring up in confused and multitudinous variety, (28-32.)

In this portraiture it is to be noted: 1. That the apostle does not hold that historically and outwardly all depravity is equal; that is, that all persons, classes, and ages of the world are equally wicked. 2. Apostasy from God, springing from averse disposition, is the first stage and condition of all other extreme wickedness. 3. Sexual depravation is one of the earliest and productive stages, and the deepest. 4. Depravity, historically speaking, is not universally total, that is, pushed to the extremest display of wickedness possible to our nature. Depravity of all consists in this, that in all alike is the capacity for the extremest wickedness. And it is redemption even from that capacity that man needs.

Ver. 1. Writing as a stranger to the Christians at Rome, Paul begins by telling them his name, his position in the Church, the work for which he was placed in that position, and how this work brings him into contact with them.

Paul: in Latin, Paulus, as in Acts 13:7: well known as the name of an illustrious Roman family.

Servant: see under Romans 6:16: one who acts habitually at the bidding of another.

Servant of Jesus Christ: Paul’s first description of himself. The same title is given in Romans 6:22 to all Christians. In the O.T., the term “servant of Jehovah” sometimes (e.g. Joshua 1:1,2,7,13,15) denotes men who received direct commands from God, and who therefore in a special sense did His bidding.

Jesus: name given to our Lord at birth as a man among men: see Matthew 1:21.

Christ: a Greek word equivalent to Messiah in Hebrew (cp. John 1:41; 4:25) and denoting anointed. Cp. Acts 4:26, 27 with Psalms 2:2Psalm 2:2. In 2 Samuel 2:14, 16, Saul is called “Jehovah’s Messiah,” and in the LXX. “the Lord’s Christ.” The priest is called in Leviticus 4:5 Messiah or Christ. In Daniel 9:25 the word is expressly applied to the coming Deliverer and King. So Bk. of Enoch, ch. xlviii. 10. In this sense the word became common among the Jews. They used it constantly for the expected Saviour, in reference to the kingdom of which He was the designated Heir: see John 4:25. The name Jesus speaks of a known man who lived at Nazareth and was crucified at Jerusalem. To add to this the name Christ, was to declare that He is the hoped-for Deliverer and future King. By calling himself a servant of Jesus Christ, Paul acknowledges that Jesus is Messiah and pays Him honour by calling Him Master. These words also suggest the kind of work Paul has to do, viz. to aid in setting up His kingdom. And they express his thoughts as he takes up his pen to write this letter: he writes, not to please himself, but as a servant doing his master’s work. They thus give him a claim upon his readers’ attention. A man who knocks at our door and calls himself a servant of some great one implies that he has come on his master’s business, and claims an attention to be measured by the importance, not of himself, but of his master.

A called apostle: one who by a divine call was made an apostle. It asserts Paul’s position among the servants of Christ. Apostle: an English form of a Greek word denoting one sent on some special business. “Missionary,” derived from the Latin, has almost the same meaning. So John 13:16: “nor an apostle greater than he that sent him.” It is translated messenger in 2 Corinthians 8:23; <507425> Philippians 2:25. Same word in 1 Kings 14:6, LXX. Alex. MS. It was given by Christ (Luke 6:13) to the first rank of His ministers, because (John 20:21) they were personally sent by Him on a great mission: cp. 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11. By describing himself as an apostle, Paul claims this first rank. He was called to it by Christ as described in Acts 26:16-18: “to whom I now send thee.” See also 1 Corinthians 9:1; Galatians 1:1. Set apart for the Gospel of God: the work for which Paul was called to be an apostle. Set apart or marked off: a line drawn round him separating him from others: cognate to marked off in Romans 1:4. Gospel: the Greek word is cognate to “evangelist” and “evangelize,” and denotes good news, bringer of good news, etc. It is applied to personal matters in 2 Samuel 18:19, 20, 27, LXX.; Luke 1:19; 2:10: 1 Thessalonians 3:6. Cp. Isaiah 52:7 with Romans 10:15. The Gospel is good news from God. For this good news, i.e. to proclaim it, Paul was set apart. He had nothing else to do. Even when working as a tentmaker, he did so in order thus the more effectually to preach the Gospel: 1 Corinthians 9:12. In the purpose of God, Paul was set apart (Galatians 1:15, 16) before his birth: he received the actual call on the road to Damascus. In Acts 13:2 he was further set apart to take the Gospel to foreign countries. [The all-important preposition eiv, which I have rendered for, (in A.V. and R.V. unto,) denotes primarily motion towards the inside of something, then tendency intentional or involuntary, and very frequently definite mental direction or purpose. It may be studied in Romans 1:5,11,16,24,27;3:26;4:20;5:8,12,18;6:3,4;7:10;8:7,28;9:22,23; Romans 15:24-26;16:6. In Romans 2:4, it must be rendered towards. It denotes always direction, either of actual movement, or tendency, or thought and purpose.]

1 Paul commendeth his calling to the Romans, 9 and his desire to come to them. 16 What his Gospel is, and the righteousness which it showeth. 18 God is angry with all manner of sins. 21 What were the sins of the Gentiles. CHAPTER 1. Verse 1. Paul. — The Jews did not scruple to take Greek or Roman names, or to alter their own so as to be like them. Some hold that he took the name of Paul upon the conversion of Sergius Paulus the Roman governor, Acts 13:12.

A servant. — Doulov does not always mean a slave; but sometimes, as with us, a servant. So the master in the parable is represented as ordering the servant, doulov, indebted to him to be sold to pay the debt; which would have been of no advantage had he been already the absolute property of his lord. It is not therefore, as some suppose, in the oriental sense that St. Paul calls himself the doulov of Jesus Christ, and that Christians are called douloi; and it is not without reason that the translation, “Paul, a SLAVE of Jesus Christ,” would sound offensively. Not that all Christians are not the absolute property of Christ as purchased by him; but they are his also by rational and affectionate choice; and there is a manliness and a freeness in the spirit in which they serve him, which is inconsistent with the idea of slavery. Indeed St, Paul, being a Jew, was not likely to use the term slave in the oriental sense; for no Hebrew was allowed to be held in perpetual bondage, which was a state regarded with the utmost abhorrence as a condition of degradation. He would not, therefore, as Macknight assumes, use it as “a name of honour.” Called to be an apostle. — St. Paul in his epistle not only asserts his apostleship, as do other apostles in their epistles, but usually with some emphatic addition. His general formula is, “by the will of God:” here it is, called to be an apostle, that is, called specially, not when the twelve were called, nor in the same manner: but in a manner so remarkable, so miraculous indeed, called by our Lord himself in his glory, as to stamp his mission with the strongest authority. It was the more necessary for St. Paul to keep his apostolic character and authority prominently before the Churches, because the corrupting teachers of the perpetual obligation of Judaism, and those who wished to bring the Gentile believers under the yoke of the law, endeavoured to lower the authority of this great champion of Gentile liberty, and probably because he was not of the original number of the apostles chosen during the life of our Lord. That his apostleship was sometimes questioned by these perverse men, is certain; and on what other ground, it is difficult to conceive.

Separated unto the Gospel of God. — Here too he has respect to his vocation to the apostleship. He was then set apart by Christ himself for the special service of his truth; and from that time considered himself as wholly dedicated to that one work. And it is in this that the true ordination and separation of ministers consists. They are henceforward to be men of one business; separated from worldly pursuits and the worldly spirit, that they may give themselves up wholly to the ministry of the word. No other distinction by which they are separated from the rest of mankind is of any value without this. It is true that St. Paul sometimes made tents after he was an apostle; but not for his own benefit, but that he might not be burdensome to the Churches; and only from necessity, subordinating that, as well as every thing else, to his great work. As a Pharisee, he had been professedly a separated man, (vrb separavit,) but he was so truly, and in a higher sense. The Gospel is here called the Gospel of God, not because God and his gracious purposes to men are the subjects which it reveals, but because of its DIVINE AUTHORITY. The subject is declared in verse 3. It is the Gospel of God concerning his Son Jesus Christ.

V. 2. Which he promised before-Of old time, frequently, solemnly. And the promise and accomplishment confirm each other. Deuteronomy 18:18; Isaiah 9:6, 7; 53:1; 61:1; Jeremiah 23:5.

Verse 2. Which he had promised afore] Both in the law and in the prophets God showed his purpose to introduce into the world a more perfect and glorious state of things; which state was to take place by and under the influence of the Messiah, who should bring life and immortality to light by his Gospel.

Verses 1, 2. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ — Though once a bitter persecutor; called to be an apostle — And made an apostle by that calling. The Greek, klhtov apostolov, is literally, a called apostle, or an apostle called, namely, expressly, as the other apostles were. When God calls he makes what he calls. The name apostle was sometimes given to different orders of men, Romans 16:7, but in its highest sense it was appropriated to the twelve, whom Christ appointed to be with him, Mark 3:14, and whom, after his resurrection, he sent forth to preach the gospel. As the Judaizing teachers disputed his claim to the apostolical office, it is with great propriety that he asserts it in the very entrance of an epistle wherein their principles are entirely overthrown. And various other proper and important thoughts are suggested in this short introduction: particularly the prophecies concerning the gospel; the descent of Jesus from David; the great doctrines of his Godhead and resurrection; the sending the gospel to the Gentiles; the privileges of Christians; and the obedience and holiness to which they were obliged, in virtue of their profession. Separated unto the gospel of God — Namely, to preach and propagate it. Separated by God, not only from the generality of other men, from other Jews, from other disciples, but even from other Christian teachers, to be a peculiar instrument of God in spreading the gospel. It is said, Acts 13:2, Separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them. But, this being nothing but a separation of Paul from the teachers at Antioch, to go and preach to the Gentiles, the higher separation, mentioned Galatians 1:15, is here intended. The gospel is here said to be God’s, because it is good news from God, than which a greater commendation of it cannot be conceived. Which he had promised afore — Of old time, frequently and solemnly: and the promise and accomplishment confirm each other. The promise in the Scriptures, that the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles, is taken notice of by the apostle, to convince the unbelieving Jews that in preaching to the Gentiles he did not contradict, but fulfil the ancient revelations.

Ver. 2. Which he had promised afore by his prophets; and luminously so in a number of places, and by striking figures in the law. The christian preachers must all speak in conformity to the ancient seers. The woman’s Seed was promised to bruise the serpent’s head, and to bless all the nations of the gentile world. Genesis 3:15. 12:3. Moses, the prince of prophets, preaching Christ a little before he died, had said, “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, like unto me — and I will put my words into his mouth.” Deuteronomy 18:15, 18. This prophet was therefore to be greater than Moses, and to speak exclusively as the oracle of heaven. “He should preach deliverance to the captives, and the acceptable year of the Lord.” Isaiah 61:1.

2. Promised—This Gospel is new and yet old. Old, as being really folded up in the Old Testament and concealed in its precious promises; new, as unfolded and unfurled in a fresh form and promulgation. The apostle here and in this whole epistle develops what he had maintained in all his arguments with the Jews in their synagogues in their various cities, and in his defences in their various arraignments, that new Christianity was but the real continuity of old Israelitism, and that modern Judaism was but its cast-off garments. (See note on Acts 26:1; 6:13; 7:2.) Promised afore—Even as early as the protevangelium or primal Gospel announcement. (Genesis 3:15.)

Ver. 2. Further information about the Gospel for which Paul was set apart. Which he promised before: God foretold through the prophets not only good things to come but the announcement of the good things, i.e. that salvation would be preceded by glad tidings of salvation. See Isaiah 40:1-10; 52:7-10; Romans 10:15. In one sense, God proclaimed beforehand (Galatians 3:8) the good news to Abraham; but only as something far off and indistinct. To him and to the prophets it was only a promise of good things in a far future.

Prophets: men through whom God spoke to their fellow-men: see note under 1 Corinthians 14:40: cp. Hebrews 1:1, The words following prove that the prophets referred to were those whose writings have come down to us.

Scriptures: writings of any kind.

Holy: that which stands in special relation to God: see note below. The phrase Holy Scriptures separates these writings from all others, and classes them with the holy objects of the Old Covenant, e.g. the sabbath, temple, sacrifices, and priesthood, as belonging in a special sense to God. See Diss. iii. The promise of good news passed through the prophets’ lips: it abides and speaks in the sacred writings.

This verse claims attention for the Gospel. That for which the way was prepared during centuries, and to proclaim the advent of which men like Isaiah and Jeremiah were sent, must indeed be great. To many of Paul’s readers, the prophets were almost superhuman. And to them the Old Testament was separated from all other books as holy, i.e. as belonging specially to God. This holy book and these prophets of God declared that in days to come good news from God would be announced. (In Rom. 10, Paul will prove that his Gospel corresponds with what they foretold.) Therefore by his readers’ reverence for the book and the men he claims their attention. Again, by appealing to the prophets and the Scriptures, Paul pays honour to the Old Covenant. That the ancient prophets and books foretold the Gospel, increases our respect for them as well as for it. Paul thus guards against the error both of those who deny the abiding authority of the Old Testament and of those who claim as final the revelation therein recorded. We shall find that it was because these thoughts lay near the apostle’s heart that they came to his pen at the first mention of the Gospel. For coincidences, see Acts 13:32; 26:6; 3:18; 10:43.

Verse 2. Which was promised afore, &c. — To the Jew this point, being established was a conclusive argument. If the Christian system were the subject of the ancient prophetic promises of God made to all their fathers, and expatiated upon and repeated by all their prophets in succession, then the objection drawn from the supposed contrariety of the new doctrine to the old, was at once removed. Nothing was lost to the believing Jew but types and shadows, for which he obtained the great substance and end of the law for righteousness; and the exact accomplishment of the ancient revelations in the Gospel established and harmonized the divine authority of both. To the Gentile this was a cogent argument. To him it could be shown that the principles of Christ’s religion had existed, and had been gradually developed through successive revelations, all recorded in a series of sacred books of undoubted antiquity, all preserved with the utmost care; and in the hands of the Jewish people, — men who generally were agreed to reject, and in the most malignant spirit to persecute Christianity, — so that their treatment of Christ and his religion was a sufficient guarantee that they had not interpolated these sacred books in their favour. The attention of reflecting Gentiles would, no doubt, in the first place, be attracted by the miracles wrought by the first preachers; but the evidence from ancient promises and prophecies would come in mightily to confirm their faith. The prophets here mentioned are the inspired writers of the Old Testament, including also the fathers, as the patriarchs, the revelations, and promises to whom those writers record.

V. 3. Who was of the seed of David according to the flesh-That is, with regard to his human nature. Both the natures of our Saviour are here mentioned; but the human is mentioned first, because the divine was not manifested in its full evidence till after his resurrection.

Verse 3. Concerning his Son] That is, the Gospel relates every thing concerning the conception, birth, preaching, miracles, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed-royal, being, as far as his humanity was considered, the son of David, and then the only rightful heir to the Israelitish throne.

Verses 3-6. Concerning his Son Jesus Christ — The gospel is good news from God, concerning the coming of his Son to save the world. The Son of God, therefore, is the subject of the gospel, as well as its author: who was made — Gr. tou genomenou, who was, or, who was born, as the word also properly signifies; of the seed of David according to the flesh — That is, with regard to his human nature. Both the natures of our Lord are here mentioned; but the human is mentioned first, because the divine was not manifested in its full evidence till after his resurrection. And declared — Gr. tou orisqentov, determinately marked out; the word signifies, to fix the boundaries of a thing, and consequently to make it appear what it is; to be the Son of God — In a peculiar sense, in a sense in which no creature, man or angel, is or can be his Son; see Hebrews 1:2-12; according to the Spirit of holiness — His holy, spiritual, divine nature. “The phrase, kata pneuma agiwsunhv, according to the Spirit of holiness,” says Mr. Locke, “is here manifestly opposed to kata sarka, according to the flesh, in the foregoing verse,” and so must mean his divine nature; “unless this be so understood, the antithesis is lost.” With power — Powerful evidence, or in the most convincing manner; by the resurrection from the dead — That is, by his own resurrection, not by his raising others. Jesus being put to death as a blasphemer, for calling himself the Christ, the Son of the blessed, God would not have raised him from the dead, if he had been an impostor; especially as he had often foretold his own resurrection, and appealed to it as a proof of his being the Son of God, John 2:19. His resurrection, therefore, was a public testimony, borne by God himself, to the truth of our Lord’s pretensions, which put the matter beyond all doubt. By whom we — I and the other apostles; have received grace — Enlightening, pardoning, and sanctifying grace; and apostleship — The apostolical commission to preach grace, and salvation by grace, to Jews and Gentiles. Some, by grace and apostleship, understand the grace, or favour of apostleship. But that rendering is not literal; and it is certain that Paul did receive grace to enlighten his mind, pardon his sins, and subdue his heart to the obedience of Christ, and fit him for the ministry of the gospel, before he received the apostolical commission, whenever we suppose that commission to have been dated. For obedience to the faith among all nations — That is, that all nations may embrace the faith of Christ; for his name — For his sake, out of regard to him, or on account of his being the Son of God. For name may here signify the character of Christ, as the Son of God, and Saviour of the world. This name Paul was appointed to bear, or publish, before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel, Acts 9:15; and it is on account of this name or character, that all men are bound to obey him. Among whom — The nations brought to the obedience of faith; are ye — Romans; also — But the apostle gives them no pre-eminence above others; the called of Jesus Christ — Invited by him into the fellowship of his gospel, and a participation of all its invaluable blessings.

Ver. 3. Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, in the glory of his Person, his doctrine, and his kingdom. Here is the foundation on which the apostle builds. These words regard first, his humanity; and secondly, his Godhead. He was the Seed of David according to the flesh, the Messiah, the anointed of the Father. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall bring forth judgment to the gentiles, the unction of the Holy One, exalted above all kings. Such were all the ancient promises, as we have noticed in various places. See 2 Samuel 7:12, 14. <19D217>Psalm 132:17. Galatians 4:4. Hebrews 2:14. 7:14.

3. Concerning his Son—Depending on Gospel—the Gospel concerning his Son. The good news about the Messiah, for it should never be forgotten that, whereas Jesus is a name, Christ is a title. (See notes on Matthew 1:1, and John 4:25.) Seed of David—(See note on Matthew 1:1.)

Ver. 3.-4 The great subject-matter of the Gospel, still further claiming our reverent attention. Just as the title “Jesus Christ” set forth our Lord as a man among men and as the hope and future king of Israel, so the title His Son declares His relation to God. That Paul uses this term to denote one definite person, and expects his readers to know to whom he refers, implies that Christ is the Son of God in a sense which marks Him out from all others, i.e. that He stands in a relation to God shared by no one else. This unique relation finds fuller expression in Romans 8:3, 32. Who was born: literally came into being, either absolutely as men do at birth, or came into a new mode of being as when men become what they were not before. It neither implies nor excludes, previous existence. That Paul refers to Christ’s birth (cp. Galatians 4:4) through which He entered (John 1:14) a mode of being derived

from David’s seed, we infer from these last words. He sprang by birth from the descendants of David: John 7:42; 2 Timothy 2:8. Seed: common in the Bible (John 8:33, etc.) to denote offspring in whom a family lives on to other generations. Paul takes for granted, as needing no proof, that Christ sprang from David. As we read them, the genealogies in Mt. 1, and Lk. 3, are no complete proof of this: for they give only the descent of Joseph. But in this matter Paul is himself a reliable authority. The genealogy of Christ was important to the Jews of Paul’s day; and was doubtless (Hebrews 7:14) sufficiently evident. To us it is of less importance: and evidence which to us would be superfluous is not given. Christ’s descent from David gave Him a claim upon the Jews as a descendant of their ancient kings; and as a scion of the stock to which the future royalty was promised: Jeremiah 23:5; <19D211>Psalm 132:11. Flesh: the material of our bodies which we have in common with other men, and, in a different form, with all that breathes. See note under Romans 8:11.

According to flesh; limits the foregoing assertion to the outer, lower, visible, and material side of the nature of Christ, i.e. to the constitution of His body, which indisputably came forth from David’s seed. And this bodily descent is sufficient to justify these words, here and in Romans 9:3, 5, without supposing that Paul thought also of the derivation of His human soul from human ancestors. That the human soul of Jesus was in some measure thus derived, this suggested limitation does not deny. For, to limit an assertion is not to limit the extent of that which is asserted, but limits only the sense which the writer intends his words to convey. In this case, that all living flesh is animated by a corresponding invisible principle, makes it easy to extend to this invisible principle some things said about its visible frame. But the agency of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35) in the birth of Christ forbids us to infer that His human spirit stood in the same relation to human ancestry as do our spirits. This mysterious subject however was probably far from Paul’s thought. It was sufficient for his purpose to say that, touching His material side, He was born from David’s seed: for this made Him David’s heir.

V. 4. But powerfully declared to be the Son of God, according to the Spirit of Holiness-That is, according to his divine nature. By the resurrection from the dead-For this is both the fountain and the object of our faith; and the preaching of the apostles was the consequence of Christ's resurrection.

Verse 4. And declared to be the Son of God] See Clarke’s note on “Acts 13:33”, where this subject is considered at large. The word orisqentov, which we render declared, comes from orizw, to bound, define, determine, or limit, and hence our word horizon, the line that determines the farthest visible part of the earth, in reference to the heavens. In this place the word signifies such a manifest and complete exhibition of the subject as to render it indubitable. The resurrection of Christ from the dead was such a manifest proof of our Lord’s innocence, the truth of his doctrine, and the fulfilment of all that the prophets had spoken, as to leave no doubt on any considerate and candid mind.

With power] en dunamei, With a miraculous display of Divine energy; for, how could his body be raised again, but by the miraculous energy of God? Some apply the word here to the proof of Christ’s sonship; as if it were said that he was most manifestly declared to be the Son of God, with such powerful evidence and argument as to render the truth irresistible. According to the spirit of holiness] There are many differences of sentiment relative to the meaning of this phrase in this place; some supposing that the spirit of holiness implies the Divine nature of Jesus Christ; others, his immaculate sanctity, &c. To me it seems that the apostle simply means that the person called Jesus, lately crucified at Jerusalem, and in whose name salvation was preached to the world, was the Son of God, the very Messiah promised before in the holy Scriptures; and that he was this Messiah was amply demonstrated. 1st, By his resurrection from the dead, the irrefragable proof of his purity, innocence, and the Divine approbation; for, had he been a malefactor, as the Jews pretended, the miraculous power of God would not have been exerted in raising his body from the dead. 2d, He vas proved to be the Son of God, the promised Messiah, by the Holy Spirit, (called here the spirit of holiness,) which he sent down upon his apostles, and not on them only, but on all that believed on his name; by whose influence multitudes were convinced of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and multitudes sanctified unto God; and it was by the peculiar unction of this spirit of holiness, that the apostles gave witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, Acts 4:33. Thus, then, Christ was proved to be the true Messiah, the son of David according to the flesh, having the sole right to the throne of Israel; and God recognized this character, and this right, by his resurrection from the dead, and sending forth the various gifts and graces of the Spirit of holiness in his name.

Verses 3-6. Concerning his Son Jesus Christ — The gospel is good news from God, concerning the coming of his Son to save the world. The Son of God, therefore, is the subject of the gospel, as well as its author: who was made — Gr. tou genomenou, who was, or, who was born, as the word also properly signifies; of the seed of David according to the flesh — That is, with regard to his human nature. Both the natures of our Lord are here mentioned; but the human is mentioned first, because the divine was not manifested in its full evidence till after his resurrection. And declared — Gr. tou orisqentov, determinately marked out; the word signifies, to fix the boundaries of a thing, and consequently to make it appear what it is; to be the Son of God — In a peculiar sense, in a sense in which no creature, man or angel, is or can be his Son; see Hebrews 1:2-12; according to the Spirit of holiness — His holy, spiritual, divine nature. “The phrase, kata pneuma agiwsunhv, according to the Spirit of holiness,” says Mr. Locke, “is here manifestly opposed to kata sarka, according to the flesh, in the foregoing verse,” and so must mean his divine nature; “unless this be so understood, the antithesis is lost.” With power — Powerful evidence, or in the most convincing manner; by the resurrection from the dead — That is, by his own resurrection, not by his raising others. Jesus being put to death as a blasphemer, for calling himself the Christ, the Son of the blessed, God would not have raised him from the dead, if he had been an impostor; especially as he had often foretold his own resurrection, and appealed to it as a proof of his being the Son of God, John 2:19. His resurrection, therefore, was a public testimony, borne by God himself, to the truth of our Lord’s pretensions, which put the matter beyond all doubt. By whom we — I and the other apostles; have received grace — Enlightening, pardoning, and sanctifying grace; and apostleship — The apostolical commission to preach grace, and salvation by grace, to Jews and Gentiles. Some, by grace and apostleship, understand the grace, or favour of apostleship. But that rendering is not literal; and it is certain that Paul did receive grace to enlighten his mind, pardon his sins, and subdue his heart to the obedience of Christ, and fit him for the ministry of the gospel, before he received the apostolical commission, whenever we suppose that commission to have been dated. For obedience to the faith among all nations — That is, that all nations may embrace the faith of Christ; for his name — For his sake, out of regard to him, or on account of his being the Son of God. For name may here signify the character of Christ, as the Son of God, and Saviour of the world. This name Paul was appointed to bear, or publish, before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel, Acts 9:15; and it is on account of this name or character, that all men are bound to obey him. Among whom — The nations brought to the obedience of faith; are ye — Romans; also — But the apostle gives them no pre-eminence above others; the called of Jesus Christ — Invited by him into the fellowship of his gospel, and a participation of all its invaluable blessings.

Ver. 4. And declared to be the Son of God with power; that is, if we may follow the gloss of Chrysostom, and where can we find a safer or an equal guide, Apofanqentov, shown or exhibited in his proper light; for God, like the sun, can be seen only by his own light. To him, the Father had said, “Thou art my SON.” Psalms 2:7Psalm 2:7. The Father had sworn, and he will not repent, “Thou art a priest for ever” unto God. <19B004>Psalm 110:4. To this faith the church has subscribed, saying “surely shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength.” Isaiah 45:24. With the glory of the Saviour’s deity, the apostle associates the grandeur of his power. To know him, and the power of his resurrection, was the sublimest wish of his soul. He was declared the Son of God with power, when he had vanquished death, and commenced the work of putting all things under his feet; for his resurrection is the pledge of ours, and the gifts of grace shed down on the church are a demonstration that he reigns in heaven, as stated on Acts 13:33.

4. Declared—Outlined. The word is derived from orov, a boundary line, and signifies bounded, as with a line. As a painter draws an exact outline of an object, so the form and nature of Jesus was as it were chalked or outlined as God’s Son. With power—Rather in power, referring to the wondrous display of power with which God declared his Son at the resurrection. (See note on Matthew 28:2-4.) He was prophetically outlined as Son of God by the prophets by divine knowledge; the outline was filled up by divine power. Spirit of holiness—This completes the antithesis embodied in the person of Christ, Son of man according to the flesh, Son of God according to the spirit of holiness. This last phrase does not designate the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, but that spirit whose attribute is holiness. (See note on Luke 1:35.) By the resurrection from the dead—Literally, from resurrection of dead, dead, or dead ones, being plural. (See note on Luke 20:35.) Resurrection of dead, or of dead ones, probably is a reference to the fact that the act of power that raised Jesus also raised a retinue of saints, as an earnest of the power by which the final resurrection of all through him would be accomplished. (See note on Matthew 27:53.) The preposition from is used to indicate that it was out from this manifold display of power that the demonstration came that he was, as the centurion confessed, what he claimed to be, the Son of God.

The antithesis of Christ’s nature (given with much beauty from the Greek by Dr. Forbes) may be thus presented in English:

The born | from seed of David | according to flesh.

The outlined | from resurrection of dead | according to spirit. This is a striking representation of the human and the divine in the Godman.

Ver. 4. Notice the stately parallel, and the greater length and fulness of the second clause, corresponding with the greater dignity there set forth. Beside that which his Master became, Paul now sets something which He was

marked out to be, viz. Son of God. Literally, a boundary line was drawn between Him and others: so Numbers 34:6; Joshua 13:27, LXX. And, whereas the mode of being entered at birth was derived from David’s seed, this visible boundary was derived

from His resurrection. Since the distinction thus marked was derived, not from something peculiar to that one event, but from its abstract significance as an uprising of one who had been dead, the event is called generically a resurrection of dead ones. On earth, as we shall see in Diss. i. 7, Christ claimed to be, in a sense raising Him infinitely above all others, the Son of God. From His empty grave went forth proof that this claim was just. This proof is therefore a line drawn around Jesus on the page of human history and in human thought.

The words in power do not supplement the title Son of God. For the contrast in Romans 1:3 does not suggest weakness. But the word marked-out needs further explanation. The resurrection of Christ was a conspicuous manifestation of divine power. And in this manifested power lay the proof of the justice of Christ’s claim to be Son of God. From His empty grave went forth, amid an outshining of divine power, a line which marks the infinite exaltation of Jesus above men and angels. See 2 Corinthians 13:4; Philippians 3:10; Ephesians 1:19f; Matthew 22:29; Acts 3:12; 4:7.

According to flesh, i.e. in reference to the constitution of His body, our Lord was born from David’s seed: but

according to spirit, i.e. in reference to the inner, invisible, higher, immaterial, and animating side of His nature, He was marked out as Son of God. Paul now thinks no longer of the lips and hands derived from David’s seed, but of the unseen living principle which moved those hands, spoke through those lips, and smiled through that human face. By His resurrection, in reference to this unseen principle within, He was marked out as standing in a relation to God infinitely higher than that of even the noblest of His creatures.

In the human form born at Bethlehem, there dwelt, as the divine source of the human activity of Christ, the spirit of the eternal Son of God. But there dwelt also (see my Through Christ to God lect. xxxi.), closely associated with His human body, a created human soul, i.e. an animal life capable of hunger and thirst and bodily pain; and a human spirit permeated by, and reproducing the moral character of, the divine personality of the eternal Son. Each of these, as being invisible and immaterial, is spirit and not flesh. But the very close association of the soul with the body, its appetites corresponding, in all animals, with the nature of the body, suggests that this lower human soul of Jesus was in some measure derived from David’s seed. On the other hand, the sinlessness of the human spirit of Jesus, and the agency of the Holy Spirit at His birth, mark off His relationship to the race through one parent as quite different from our relation through two parents. Apparently, just as at first God breathed into an erect human form a rational spirit, thus creating a race holding a relation to God not shared by animals around, so at the incarnation, by the agency of the personal and eternal Breath of God, He breathed into human nature a higher life, thus placing humanity in a new and more glorious relation to Himself. But of these distinctions Paul probably does not here think. He thinks only of two contrasted elements in Christ. The power manifested in His resurrection proved that through Jewish lips (and, as we infer, through the mediation of a human spirit and soul) had spoken the Eternal Son of God. Spirit of Holiness: a spirit characterised by unreserved, devotion to God: see note under Romans 1:7. Such was, by its very nature, the spirit which animated the body born at Bethlehem. When we look at Christ’s body, we find Him like ourselves, and we call Him David’s Son: but when we consider the spirit which moved those lips and hands and feet, which breathed in that human breast, turning always and essentially to God, we declare Him to be Son of God.

With singular unanimity the early commentators, (Origen is indefinite and confounds the divine nature of Christ with the Holy Spirit, and so is Augustine,) Chrysostom and Theodoret in the East, followed by Photius (Question 283), Œcumenius, and Theophylact, with the very early anonymous writer quoted as Ambrosiaster probably in the West, understand by spirit of holiness the Holy Spirit. With them agree some moderns. The exposition given above, I have not found in any early writer. So general a consensus demands respectful attention, but not implicit obedience. For the following reason, with Meyer, Sanday, and other moderns, I am unable to accept it.

Of the Holy Spirit, there is no hint in the whole chapter. To make such reference clear, the usual title would have been needful. By not using this title, Paul suggests that he does not refer here to the personal Spirit of God. No other reason for the phrase spirit of holiness instead of Holy Spirit, can I conceive. Moreover, if Paul refers to the Holy Spirit, he leaves quite indefinite His relation to the risen Saviour. This would be the more remarkable because nowhere else does he speak plainly of the Holy Spirit (cp. Matthew 12:28; Luke 4:14) as a directive principle of the life of Christ. It is very unlikely that Paul would give a mere hint, in needlessly ambiguous language, of teaching which neither the context nor his own teaching elsewhere explains.

It cannot be objected that Spirit is the name, not of the Second, but of the Third, Person of the Trinity. For, although this term specially designates this last, as being present to our thought chiefly as the animating divine principle of the Christian life, yet it is not confined to Him. The entire nature of God is spirit; as is that in us which is nearest to God. Moreover, the term is used here to designate, not expressly the divine nature of Christ, but simply the higher element of His nature. That in Him this higher nature is divine, we learn elsewhere.

The order of Romans 1:3, 4 is the order of Christ’s historical manifestation. He first showed Himself to men as David’s Son: and then by resurrection was proved to be the Son of God.

Jesus Christ our Lord: the Son in His relation to us. He is Jesus of Nazareth, the hope of Israel, our Lord.

Lord: one who has control over men and things. So Matthew 21:40, “lord of the vineyard;” Matthew 12:8, “Lord of the Sabbath.” It is correlative with “servant,” as in Romans 14:4; Matthew 24:45,50;25:18-26; and is the title most frequently used to set forth Christ’s relation to us, as in 1 Corinthians 8:6; 12:3; Ephesians 4:5. For its use in the O.T., see under Romans 9:29. Our: probably without definite limitation. Of all Christians, Christ is Lord.

Verse 4. Declared to be the Son of God with power. — Orizw signifies to fix limits, and mark boundaries; and hence it is used for showing things to be what they really are. Our Lord is here said to have been declared to be the Son of God with power by his resurrection. That is, this was a declaration of this fact by evidence of the most powerful kind; and by that was confirmed and established. That our Lord was not constituted the Son of God by the resurrection, is clear from the fact that he had previously assumed that character, and was believed in as such by his disciples: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Whatever therefore was the import of that high title, — and in previous notes it has been proved to refer immediately to his Deity, — it was confirmed to our Lord by the irresistible proof of his resurrection from the dead; which, by establishing this, rendered all his other claims forever indisputable, and exhibited him before the world as an infallible TEACHER, a Divine SACRIFICE, the all- meritorious INTERCESSOR, and the almighty REDEEMER of men. The clause, according to the Spirit of holiness, has been taken in two views; either “according to his holy, spiritual nature,” in which sense it declares that Christ is the Son of God as to his divinity; or “according to the Holy Spirit” in his miraculous operations, in raising him from the dead, and in the Church as the consequence of his resurrection and ascension. These are the only two interpretations which are worthy consideration, several others which have been advanced being evidently forced and erroneous. The question between the two leading interpretations seems to be determined by the apparent antithesis which the apostle adopts, and that manifestly for the purpose of making the strongest distinction between the two clauses, kata sarka, according to the flesh, and kata pneuma agiwsunhv, according to the Spirit of holiness. Our Lord was the Son of David according to the flesh, or human nature; but he was the Son of God, according to the Spirit of holiness, which stands in direct opposition and contrast to the flesh, or human nature of Christ. Now the operations of the Holy Ghost, however they might demonstrate the truth of Christ’s claims, and among the rest that of being the Son of God, in a sense which implied the Divinity of that relation, cannot be placed in contrast with his flesh or human nature. As in respect of, or according to the flesh, he was the Son of David, so in respect of, or according to something else, which was essential to himself, he was the Son of God; of which Sonship the resurrection from the dead was the proof. The operation of the Holy Ghost was indeed connected with the resurrection, and his pentecostal effusion was its consequence; and by all these he was declared to be the Son or God: but that which declared, defined, and marked him out with its powerful evidence as having the peculiar relation of a Son of God, in that higher nature which thus stands distinguished from the human, is manifestly distinct from that on which that relation itself rested. It is objected that the Spirit of holiness is an unusual phrase by which to designate the divine nature of the Son; to which it may be replied, that it is equally singular if considered as used of the third person of the trinity, who is constantly called the Holy Spirit, but not the Spirit of holiness. “Holiness” is used in several passages of the Old Testament for the divine Majesty; and we shall see reason to conclude, when we come to the passage, that in the Epistle to the Hebrews St. Paul designates the higher and superior nature of Christ, “the eternal Spirit.” That is certainly the only true interpretation which preserves the antithesis between the Divine and human nature of Christ in the two clauses, according to the flesh and according to the Spirit of holiness, which would otherwise be lost; but the doctrine of the Divine Sonship of Christ is plainly enough asserted in this passage, independent of the clause in question. For let it be remarked that the apostle is speaking of what Christ is personally and essentially; for the authority of his official claims depends upon the truth of his personal ones, and if he be a Divine person he is every thing beside which he claimed to be. He is therefore considered by the apostle, distinctly in his two natures, as the Son of David, and as the Son of God, which, with the Jews everywhere, at Rome or Jerusalem, implied Divinity. To prove that he was the Son of David, no evidence was necessary but the Jewish genealogies; to prove him Divine, or, what was the same thing, the Son of God, as he himself professed before the Jewish council, — which condemned him on that very account as a blasphemer, — evidence of the strongest kind was necessary, and it was given in his resurrection from the dead.

V. 5. By whom we have received-I and the other apostles. Grace and apostleship-The favour to be an apostle, and qualifications for it.

For obedience to the faith in all nations-That is, that all nations may embrace the faith of Christ.

For his name-For his sake; out of regard to him.

Verse 5. Grace and apostleship] The peculiar influence and the essential qualifications which such an office requires. Without the GRACE, favour, and peculiar help of God, he could not have been an apostle: he had an extraordinary conversion, and an extraordinary call to preach the Gospel. Probably carin kai apostolhn, grace and apostleship, mean the same as carin thv apostolhv, the apostolical office; for so the word cariv means in Romans 12:3; 15:15; 1 Corinthians 3:10; Ephesians 3:8. See the various acceptations of the word grace, Romans 1:7.

For obedience to the faith] That by this office, which I have received from God, and the power by which it is accompanied, I might proclaim the faith, the Gospel of Jesus; and show all nations the necessity of believing in it, in order to their salvation. Here is: 1. The Gospel of the Son of God. 2. An apostle divinely commissioned and empowered to preach it. 3. The necessity of faith in the name of Jesus, as the only Saviour of the world. 4. Of obedience, as the necessary consequence of genuine faith. And, 5. This is to be proclaimed among all nations; that all might have the opportunity of believing and being saved.

Verses 3-6. Concerning his Son Jesus Christ — The gospel is good news from God, concerning the coming of his Son to save the world. The Son of God, therefore, is the subject of the gospel, as well as its author: who was made — Gr. tou genomenou, who was, or, who was born, as the word also properly signifies; of the seed of David according to the flesh — That is, with regard to his human nature. Both the natures of our Lord are here mentioned; but the human is mentioned first, because the divine was not manifested in its full evidence till after his resurrection. And declared — Gr. tou orisqentov, determinately marked out; the word signifies, to fix the boundaries of a thing, and consequently to make it appear what it is; to be the Son of God — In a peculiar sense, in a sense in which no creature, man or angel, is or can be his Son; see Hebrews 1:2-12; according to the Spirit of holiness — His holy, spiritual, divine nature. “The phrase, kata pneuma agiwsunhv, according to the Spirit of holiness,” says Mr. Locke, “is here manifestly opposed to kata sarka, according to the flesh, in the foregoing verse,” and so must mean his divine nature; “unless this be so understood, the antithesis is lost.” With power — Powerful evidence, or in the most convincing manner; by the resurrection from the dead — That is, by his own resurrection, not by his raising others. Jesus being put to death as a blasphemer, for calling himself the Christ, the Son of the blessed, God would not have raised him from the dead, if he had been an impostor; especially as he had often foretold his own resurrection, and appealed to it as a proof of his being the Son of God, John 2:19. His resurrection, therefore, was a public testimony, borne by God himself, to the truth of our Lord’s pretensions, which put the matter beyond all doubt. By whom we — I and the other apostles; have received grace — Enlightening, pardoning, and sanctifying grace; and apostleship — The apostolical commission to preach grace, and salvation by grace, to Jews and Gentiles. Some, by grace and apostleship, understand the grace, or favour of apostleship. But that rendering is not literal; and it is certain that Paul did receive grace to enlighten his mind, pardon his sins, and subdue his heart to the obedience of Christ, and fit him for the ministry of the gospel, before he received the apostolical commission, whenever we suppose that commission to have been dated. For obedience to the faith among all nations — That is, that all nations may embrace the faith of Christ; for his name — For his sake, out of regard to him, or on account of his being the Son of God. For name may here signify the character of Christ, as the Son of God, and Saviour of the world. This name Paul was appointed to bear, or publish, before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel, Acts 9:15; and it is on account of this name or character, that all men are bound to obey him. Among whom — The nations brought to the obedience of faith; are ye — Romans; also — But the apostle gives them no pre-eminence above others; the called of Jesus Christ — Invited by him into the fellowship of his gospel, and a participation of all its invaluable blessings.

Verse 5. By whom we have received grace, power, and apostleship, to subdue all nations to the obedience of faith, as God has promised by the prophets. Isaiah 49:5, 6. 55:11. Christ being the only Mediator between the holy God and a guilty world, there is salvation in no other.

5. Grace—Gratuitous pardon and divine favour. Apostleship—A divine office for securing like grace to others. Obedience to the faith—Faith without the article and in the genitive; obedience of faith, that is, an obedience consisting of faith as its vital power. All nations—Christianity, as Paul uniformly maintains, is a universal religion, to be preached to all, that it may be received by all.

Ver. 5. Christ’s relation to Paul and to his readers.

Through: dia with genitive: a most important N.T. word. It denotes the means, whether it be an unconscious instrument or an intelligent agent, through which an effect is brought about, the channel through which purpose passes into actuality; whether or not the agent be also the first cause. It denotes regularly Christ’s relation to the universe and to the work of salvation: so Romans 1:8;3:24;5:1,2,10,11,17,19,21; 1 Corinthians 8:6; John 1:3,10,17. The plural we does not refer to others who joined Paul in this letter, as in 1 and 2 Thessalonians, nor can it include the readers. For the phrase

in all the nations, added to give Paul’s reason for writing to men at Rome, calls our attention away from the other apostles. It refers probably to Paul only. Such use of the plural in formal documents is common in all languages and ages. It was perhaps suggested by remembrance that others besides Paul had received this apostleship, and a still larger number the favour of God.

Grace: that quality which calls forth favour or approbation in a beholder. Such objects are graceful. Since the favour called forth depends upon the character and abides in the heart of the beholder, we have the phrase “to find grace in one’s sight;” as in Luke 1:30; Acts 7:46. Since this favour springs from generosity, we read of “grace given” and “received:” Romans 12:3,6; 15:15; 2 Corinthians 6:1, and this verse. Favour prompts us to do good to its object; and this good done, arising simply from good-will, stands in contrast to obligation, as in Romans 4:4. When we were in sin, God looked upon us. Repulsive as we were, in His sight we found favour. For he saw in us His own image, so sadly marred: and the sight called forth in the breast of God that which prompted Him to save us. The grace of God is His love seeking out its object and contemplating it with a purpose of blessing.

Through the great Person just described, Paul and others became objects of the favour of God. Not that Christ moved God to look on us with favour, but that the birth and death of Christ are the channel through which God’s favour reached us. For Christ is Himself a gift of the “grace of God:” Hebrews 2:9. See Romans 3:24-26; 8:32.

Apostleship: Christ was the divine agent through whom God made Paul an apostle. Just as Elisha, a prophet sent from God and speaking with God’s authority, was appointed to his work by Elijah at God’s bidding, so Paul was appointed by the voice of Christ at the Father’s bidding. He was “an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the command of God:” 1 Timothy 1:1. See Galatians 1:1. First favour, then apostleship: for God’s favour is the source of all other blessings: 1 Corinthians 15:10; Ephesians 3:8.

For obedience of faith: same words in Romans 16:26: purpose for which Paul was made an apostle, viz. that men may obey faith: Cp. 2 Corinthians 10:5, “for the obedience of Christ.” We obey faith by believing. Faith is itself submission to God. To make this prominent, Paul writes, not “for faith” as in Romans 1:17, but for obedience of faith. Cp. Acts 6:7, “obeyed the faith;” also Romans 10:3, 16; 2:8. In all the nations: sphere in which God sent Paul to evoke obedience to faith.

Nations, or Gentiles: cp. Romans 15:10 with Deuteronomy 32:43; Romans 15:11 with <19B701>Psalm 117:1; and Romans 15:9 with Psalms 18:49Psalm 18:49. The Jews looked upon themselves as separate from all others, and therefore needed a word to mark the separation. They noticed that they were one; and called themselves a people, the people of God. The rest of mankind consisted of various nations, all strangers to Israel. Hence the contrast in Acts 26:17, 23. They therefore used the plural form nations, not merely for the aggregate of nations, but for the aggregate of individuals composing the nations. Consequently we must sometimes translate Gentiles, as in Romans 2:14; 3:29; Acts 13:48; 14:2, 5; and sometimes nations as in Romans 4:17, 18. The singular is always “nation,” as in Romans 10:19. Paul’s commission is for all the nations, and therefore includes Rome.

On behalf of His name: further object of the commission of Paul, viz. that the name of Christ may be known and honoured. So Acts 9:16; 15:26; 21:13; 2 Thessalonians 1:12; Acts 3:16. To believe what that name implies, and to confess it, were the conditions of salvation. That this name might be on every lip and in every heart, Paul preached and lived, and was ready to die.

Verse 5. Grace and apostleship. — Grace includes the personal salvation of St. Paul and his spiritual endowments. The GRACE comes first, then the OFFICE; for no man was ever by Christ sent forth as his minister, without previous experience of that grace which bringeth salvation. Nor is the case of Judas an exception, since there is just the same reason to conclude that, in the first stage of his apostleship, he was as sincere and enlightened as the rest. Those who would restrict grace here to miraculous gifts, do not appear to consider the superior importance of that effectual religious influence by which the heart of man is renewed “in knowledge and true holiness,” to the office of the ministry in all its stages, not excluding, however all necessary qualifications. The word may indeed be taken in its primary sense of favour; as when St. Paul says, “Unto me who am the least of all saints is this GRACE given, that I should preach,” &c. But this favour necessarily implies personal reconciliation with God, and the communication of Divine hallowing influence, without which man can neither fully know nor effectually teach the truths of Christianity. The apostleship was one of those offices which did not descend to a future age. Its nature indicated its temporary character. — The apostles were to lay the FOUNDATION of the Christian Church, and appoint those who were to build upon it. They had, as eye witnesses, to testify the resurrection of Christ, which was the great demonstrative fact of the truth of Christianity; and to qualify him for this, St. Paul had a vision of Christ in his glory. They were also to work miracles in the name of Christ, and thus to establish the truth of the facts and doctrines of which they were made the teachers. They too had an authority which no other ministers possessed. Under special inspiration they explained the doctrines of Christ, laid down the terms of man’s salvation, promulged the Christian law, and whatever things they thus “bound” or “loosed” on earth, that is, declared obligatory or otherwise upon men, were “bound” and “loosed” in heaven; so that God, in his moral government, deals with men according to the principles and rules they laid down in their preaching, and embodied in their writings, for the guidance of all future ages. This authority was peculiar to the apostles only, and given to them by an express act of Christ.

For obedience to the faith. — The end of the Christian ministry is to produce a true, firm faith in Christ; which is called the obedience to the faith, or rather the obedience of faith, because to believe is enforced by God’s command. Christianity does not therefore stand on the same ground as systems of human opinion and man’s wisdom, which no one is bound to believe, and from the rejection of which no evil, in the way of penalty, would result. Faith in Christ is the grand law of the new dispensation, and it is enforced under the highest sanctions. “He that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned.” No respect is here paid to the principle of the mental innocence of infidelity. That may apply to unauthorized systems; but he that made man, and knows man’s heart, has arranged the evidence of Christianity. To those who regard it seriously and honestly, it is sufficiently powerful to command entire faith; and when that does not follow, the fault is not in the weakness of the evidence, but in the state of the hearts of those who remain either in entire unbelief, or with whom faith is nominal and inoperative. They are therefore justly charged with criminality. They not only put away from them that salvation which God has connected with faith, but manifest a slight and contempt of the most stupendous displays of the Divine mercy, which places them under direct and eternal malediction.

For his name. — The preposition uper is best taken here in the sense of on account of; and the name of Christ, for the honour of Christ. The Gospel was preached to bring all nations to the obedience of faith, on account of the name or glorious honour of Christ, who is appointed the universal Saviour and King, to whose NAME “every knee” is ultimately to “bow.”

V. 6. Among whom-The nations brought to the obedience of faith. Are ye also-But St. Paul gives them no preeminence above others.

Verse 6. Ye are the called] Ye Romans are all invited to believe in Christ Jesus, for the salvation of your souls; and to you, with the rest, my apostolical mission extends. This appears to be the most obvious sense of the word called in this place-to be called by the Gospel is to be invited to believe in Christ Jesus, and become his disciples. The word sometimes means constituted, or made, as in Romans 1:1.

Verses 3-6. Concerning his Son Jesus Christ — The gospel is good news from God, concerning the coming of his Son to save the world. The Son of God, therefore, is the subject of the gospel, as well as its author: who was made — Gr. tou genomenou, who was, or, who was born, as the word also properly signifies; of the seed of David according to the flesh — That is, with regard to his human nature. Both the natures of our Lord are here mentioned; but the human is mentioned first, because the divine was not manifested in its full evidence till after his resurrection. And declared — Gr. tou orisqentov, determinately marked out; the word signifies, to fix the boundaries of a thing, and consequently to make it appear what it is; to be the Son of God — In a peculiar sense, in a sense in which no creature, man or angel, is or can be his Son; see Hebrews 1:2-12; according to the Spirit of holiness — His holy, spiritual, divine nature. “The phrase, kata pneuma agiwsunhv, according to the Spirit of holiness,” says Mr. Locke, “is here manifestly opposed to kata sarka, according to the flesh, in the foregoing verse,” and so must mean his divine nature; “unless this be so understood, the antithesis is lost.” With power — Powerful evidence, or in the most convincing manner; by the resurrection from the dead — That is, by his own resurrection, not by his raising others. Jesus being put to death as a blasphemer, for calling himself the Christ, the Son of the blessed, God would not have raised him from the dead, if he had been an impostor; especially as he had often foretold his own resurrection, and appealed to it as a proof of his being the Son of God, John 2:19. His resurrection, therefore, was a public testimony, borne by God himself, to the truth of our Lord’s pretensions, which put the matter beyond all doubt. By whom we — I and the other apostles; have received grace — Enlightening, pardoning, and sanctifying grace; and apostleship — The apostolical commission to preach grace, and salvation by grace, to Jews and Gentiles. Some, by grace and apostleship, understand the grace, or favour of apostleship. But that rendering is not literal; and it is certain that Paul did receive grace to enlighten his mind, pardon his sins, and subdue his heart to the obedience of Christ, and fit him for the ministry of the gospel, before he received the apostolical commission, whenever we suppose that commission to have been dated. For obedience to the faith among all nations — That is, that all nations may embrace the faith of Christ; for his name — For his sake, out of regard to him, or on account of his being the Son of God. For name may here signify the character of Christ, as the Son of God, and Saviour of the world. This name Paul was appointed to bear, or publish, before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel, Acts 9:15; and it is on account of this name or character, that all men are bound to obey him. Among whom — The nations brought to the obedience of faith; are ye — Romans; also — But the apostle gives them no pre-eminence above others; the called of Jesus Christ — Invited by him into the fellowship of his gospel, and a participation of all its invaluable blessings.

6. The called. (See note on ver. 1.)

Ver. 6. Brings Paul’s readers within the sphere of his apostolic work. He was sent to lead men “in all the nations” to obey faith; and in these nations were the Christians at Rome.

Ye also: in addition to the other nations among whom (Romans 1:13) he has laboured so long. Cp. Romans 1:15: “also to you at Rome.” Called ones of Jesus Christ: they belonged to Christ, and had been made His by a divine summons. This summons, Paul represents as given by the Father: so Romans 8:30; 9:24; 2 Thessalonians 2:14. The Gospel is God’s voice calling men to Christ; and is as solemn as the voice from the burning bush, or that on the road to Damascus. They who have obeyed the call are Christ’s called ones. Just as by the voice of Christ God made Paul an apostle and gave him a right to call himself such, so by the Gospel God gave his readers to Christ and gave them a right to call themselves His. See under Romans 8:28. Thus Paul, while claiming his own relation to Christ, recognises that of those to whom he writes. It is better to render and punctuate as above, not ye are called ones etc.: for the Roman Christians came within Paul’s sphere not by being called, but by being among the Gentiles.

Verse 6. The called of Jesus Christ. — “Calling” has reference to those parables of our Lord in which the Gospel is represented under the figure of a royal feast to which numerous guests are invited. Those who accept the invitation, and are received by the Master of the feast, are denominated THE CALLED, or invited, by way of eminence; and thus, rather than from military levies, or any other custom, was the term brought into the common theological language of the early Church. The great invitation to the free participation of evangelical blessings, was, under the authority and in the name of Christ, made by the apostles and first preachers to all nations, without distinction; and those who embraced it were eminently the called of Christ Jesus.

V. 7. To all that are in Rome-Most of these were heathens by birth, Romans 1:13, though with Jews mixed among them. They were scattered up and down in that large city, and not yet reduced into the form of a church. Only some had begun to meet in the house of Aquila and Priscilla.

Beloved of God-And from his free love, not from any merit of yours, called by his word and his Spirit to believe in him, and now through faith holy as he is holy.

Grace-The peculiar favour of God.

And peace-All manner of blessings, temporal, spiritual, and eternal. This is both a Christian salutation and an apostolic benediction. From God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ-This is the usual way wherein the apostles speak, "God the Father," "God our Father." Nor do they often, in speaking of him, use the word Lord, as it implies the proper name of God, Jehovah. In the Old Testament, indeed, the holy men generally said, "The Lord our God;" for they were then, as it were, servants; whereas now they are sons: and sons so well know their father, that they need not frequently mention his proper name. It is one and the same peace, and one and the same grace, which is from God and from Jesus Christ. Our trust and prayer fix on God, as he is the Father of Christ; and on Christ, as he presents us to the Father.

Verse 7. Called to be saints] Invited to become holy persons, by believing the Gospel and receiving the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Or, here, the word may have the meaning of made or constituted, as above; klhtoiv agioiv, to all that be in Rome, CONSTITUTED saints, for they had already received the Gospel grace, and were formed into a Christian Church. Grace to you] cariv umin; May you be partakers of the Divine favour, the source whence every blessing is derived.

I think it necessary, once for all, to give the several acceptations of this word grace which occur in the sacred writings.

1. The word carin signifies in general favour or benevolence, but especially that favour which is powerful and active, and loads its objects with benefits. Luke 1:30: Fear not, Mary, thou hast found FAVOUR, carin, with God. Luke 2:40: And the child grew-and the GRACE of God, cariv qeou, the favour of God was upon him. Luke 1:52: And Jesus increased in FAVOUR, cariti GRACE, with God and man. Acts 2:47: Having FAVOUR, carin, GRACE, with all the people. Acts 4:33: And great GRACE, cariv, FAVOUR, was upon them all. The apostles were at that time in universal favour with the multitude. In this sense the word occurs in a great variety of places, both in the Old and New Testaments.

2. Hence it is often used for the blessing which it dispenses; for, if God be favourably disposed towards a person, his beneficent acts, in that person’s behalf, will be a necessary consequence of such favour. John 1:14: Full of GRACE and truth; accomplished in all spiritual blessings. John 1:16: And GRACE upon GRACE: he who is full of the most excellent blessings, confers them liberally on all believers. Acts 11:23: When he had seen the GRACE of God, i.e. had the fullest evidence that they were richly endowed with heavenly gifts. 1 Corinthians 1:4: For the GRACE of God which is given you-the Divine blessings conferred upon you. 2 Corinthians 9:8: God is able to make all GRACE abound toward you; i.e. to enrich you with every benediction. This is also a very common acceptation of the word; and in this sense the word grace or favour is now generally understood among religious people. The grace of God meaning with them some Divine or spiritual blessing communicated.

3. It is sometimes taken for the whole of the Christian religion, as being the grandest possible display of God’s favour to a lost, ruined world: and in this sense it appears to be used, John 1:17: For the LAW was given by Moses; but GRACE and truth came by Jesus Christ: where the term GRACE is evidently opposed to LAW; the latter meaning the Mosaic, the other the Christian, dispensation. Acts 13:43: Barnabas persuaded them to continue in the GRACE of God; i.e. to hold fast their profession of the religion of Christ. Romans 6:14: Ye are not under the LAW, but under GRACE-ye are no longer under obligation to fulfil the Mosaic precepts, but are under the Christian dispensation. See also Romans 6:15; and see 2 Corinthians 1:12; 6:1; Galatians 1:6; Colossians 1:6; 2 Timothy 2:1, Titus 2:11: The GRACE of God, that bringeth salvation unto all men, hath appeared. The Jewish religion was restricted in its benefits to a few; but the Christian religion proposes the salvation of all men; and the author of it has become a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. Hebrews 12:15: Looking diligently lest any man fall from the GRACE of God-lest any man apostatize from the Christian religion, and the blessings of pardon and holiness which he has received through it. 1 Peter 5:12: This is the true GRACE of God wherein ye stand-the Christian religion which ye have received is the genuine religion of God.

4. It signifies all the blessings and benefits which Christ has purchased, and which he gives to true believers, both in time and eternity. See Romans 5:15, 17, where the grace of God is opposed to death; i.e. to all the wretchedness and misery brought into the world by Adam’s transgression. 1 Corinthians 16:23: The GRACE of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all-May every blessing purchased by Christ’s passion and death be the portion of you all. Galatians 5:4: Ye are fallen from GRACE-ye have lost the blessings of the Gospel by submitting to circumcision.

5. It signifies the apostolic and ministerial office, or the authority to propagate the Christian religion, and the unction or influence by which that office is executed; so in the 5th verse of this chapter, {Romans 1:5} as has been already noted: By whom we have received GRACE and apostleship, or, the apostolic office. Romans 13:3: I say, through the GRACE given unto me; i.e. I command you, by the authority of my apostolic office, &c. See also Romans 13:6.

6. It signifies a gift, salary, or money collected for the use of the poor. 1 Corinthians 16:3: Whomsoever ye shall approve-them will I send to bring your LIBERALITY, thn carin umwn, your GRACE; i.e. the collection made for the poor saints: see 1 Corinthians 16:1. 2 Corinthians 8:4: Praying us-that we would receive the GIFT, thn carin, the GRACE, the contribution made in the Churches of Macedonia, for the relief of the poor. In this sense it is used in Ecclus. xvii. 22: He will keep the GOOD DEEDS of man, carin, the same as elehmosunh, alms, in the beginning of the verse; and it signifies a kind or friendly act, in the same author. Ecclus. xxix. 16: Forget not the FRIENDSHIP, caritav, of thy surety. GRACES or cariv, was a deity among the ancients; and the three GRACES, ai treiv caritev, were called Pitho, Aglaia, and Euphrosyne; peiqw, mild persuasion; aglaia, dignity; eufrosunh, liberality and joyfulness; and these were always painted naked, to show that all benefits should be gratuitous, this being essential to the nature of a gift. See Suidas, in caritav.

7. It sometimes signifies merely thanks or thanksgiving. See Luke 17:9: Doth he thank, mh carin ecei, that servant? Romans 6:17: But God be THANKED, cariv oe tw qew. 1 Corinthians 10:30: For if I by GRACE, cariti, THANKSGIVING, as our margin has it, and properly.

8. It signifies remuneration, wages, or reward Luke 6:32-34: If ye love them that love you-do good to them which do good to you-lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what THANK have ye? poia umin cariv esti; what REWARD have ye? This appears, from the parallel place, Matthew 5:46, to be most evidently the meaning: tina misqon ecete; what REWARD have ye? The word is used in this sense by several Greek writers.

9. It signifies whatever is the means of procuring the favour or kindness of another. 1 Peter 2:19, 20: For this is THANKWORTHY, touto gar cariv para tw qew, this is the means of PROCURING FAVOUR from God.

10. It signifies joy, pleasure, and gratification, which is the, meaning of cara, and with which it is often confounded in the New Testament. Philemon 1:7: For we have great JOY, carin gar ecomen pollhn. Tobit vii. 18: The Lord give thee JOY, carin, for this thy sorrow. In this sense the word is used by the best Greek writers; and in this sense it appears to be used, 2 Corinthians 1:15.

11. It signifies the performance of an act which is pleasing or grateful to others. Acts 24:27: Felix, willing to show the Jews a PLEASURE, caritav kataqesqai, to perform an act which he knew would be highly gratifying to them.

12. It signifies whatever has the power or influence to procure favour, &c. Suavity, kindness, benevolence, gentle demeanour. Luke 4:22: All wondered at the GRACIOUS WORDS, toiv logoiv thv caritov, the benevolent, kind, and tender expressions; such as his text, Luke 4:18, would naturally lead him to speak. He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, &c. Ephesians 4:29; Colossians 4:6: Let your speech be always with GRACE; i.e. gracious, kind, benevolent, savouring of the doctrine of Christ: it is thus used by several Greek writers. See Schleusner. As the word cariv GRACE, most frequently signifies some blessing or benefit calculated to promote human happiness, it is generally derived from carw, I rejoice, because of the effect produced by the blessing.

And peace] eirhnh, the same as שלום shalom in Hebrew, generally signifying all kinds of blessing, but especially harmony and unity, and the bond of such unity. The most probable derivation of the word eirhnh is from eirw, I bind, and en, one-because peace unites and binds those who were, by discord, before disunited. In the New Testament it signifies-

1. Peace, public or private, in the general acceptation of the word, as implying reconciliation and friendship; and to the etymology of the word the apostle seems to allude in Ephesians 4:3: Endeavouring to keep the UNITY of the Spirit in the BOND of PEACE. Acts 12:20: They of Tyre and Sidon desired PEACE-they sought reconciliation, with Herod, by means of Blastus, the king’s chamberlain.

2. It signifies regularity, good order. 1 Corinthians 14:33: God is not the God of confusion, but of PEACE.

3. It signifies the labour or study of preserving peace and concord; and this is supposed to be its meaning, Matthew 10:34; Luke 12:51; and Acts 7:26. Romans 14:17: For the kingdom of God is righteousness and PEACE-the Christian dispensation admits of no contention, but inculcates peace. 1 Corinthians 7:15: God hath called us to PEACE-to labour to preserve quietness and concord. Hebrews 12:14: Follow PEACE-labour to preserve it.

4. It signifies the author or procurer of peace and concord. Ephesians 2:14: He is our PEACE-the author of concord betwixt Jews and Gentiles.

5. It signifies the Gospel and its blessings. Ephesians 2:17: And came and preached PEACE to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

6. It signifies all kinds of mental and corporeal happiness, and especially the happiness of Christians. Luke 1:79: To guide our feet into the way of PEACE-to show us the way to obtain true happiness. Luke 19:42: The things which belong unto thy PEACE-that by which thou mightest have been made truly happy. 1 Thessalonians 5:23: The very God of PEACE-God, the only source of true felicity. John 16:33: These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have PEACE-that ye might have confidence and happiness in believing on me as your only Saviour.

7. It signifies good wishes and affectionate prayers. Matthew 10:13: And if the house be worthy, let your PEACE come upon it. Our Lord commands his disciples, Matthew 10:12, to salute the house into which they entered; and this was done by saying, Peace be unto this house! that is, Let every blessing, spiritual and temporal, be the portion of this family! See Luke 10:6; John 14:27; Acts 15:33: They were let go in PEACE-they had the most fervent and affectionate prayers of the Church.

8. It signifies praise. Luke 19:38: PEACE in heaven and glory in the highest!-May all the heavenly host praise God, and give him the highest honour!

9. It signifies benignity, benevolence, favour. Romans 5:1: Being justified by faith, we have PEACE with God-In consequence of having our sins forgiven, we have a clear sense of the Divine favour. Philippians 4:7: The PEACE of God which passeth all understanding-the inexpressible blessedness of a sense of the Divine favour. See Schleusner’s Lexicon. From God our Father] The apostle wishes them all the blessings which can flow from GOD, as the fountain of grace, producing in them all the happiness which a heart filled with the peace of God can possess; all of which are to be communicated to them through the Lord Jesus Christ. See Clarke’s note on “Acts 28:31”.

Verse 7. To all that be in Rome — To all the Christians residing at Rome. Most of these were heathen by birth, verse 13, though the Jews mixed among them. They were scattered up and down in that large city, and not yet reduced into the form of a church. Beloved of God — And from his free love, not from any merit of yours; called to be saints — Or saints called, as kghtoiv anioiv may be rendered; that is, called by his word and Spirit to believe in him, and now, through faith, made saints, or holy persons. By this honourable appellation the Christians are distinguished from the idolatrous inhabitants of the city, and from the unbelieving Jews. Grace be to you — The peculiar favour of God, and the influences and fruits of his Spirit; and peace — Namely, with him, in your own consciences, and tranquillity of mind, arising from the regulation of your affections, from trusting in him, and casting your care upon him; from resignation to his will, and possessing your souls in patience under all the trials and troubles which you may be called to pass through. See Romans 5:1; Isaiah 26:3; Philippians 4:6. In this sense, it seems, the word peace is used in the apostolic benedictions. It may, however, also include all manner of blessings, temporal, spiritual, and eternal. From God our Father — The original source of all our blessings, who is now become our reconciled Father, having adopted us into his family, and regenerated us by his grace; and the Lord Jesus Christ — The one Mediator between God and man, through whose sacrifice and intercession we receive all the blessings of providence and grace. It is one and the same peace, and one and the same grace, which we receive from the Father and from the Son: and our trust must be placed, for grace and peace, on God, as he is the Father of Christ; and on Christ, as he reconciles us and presents us to the Father. “Because most of the Roman brethren were unacquainted with Paul, he judged it necessary, in the inscription of his letter, to assure them that he was an apostle, called by Jesus Christ himself, and that he was separated to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, in fulfilment of the promises which God had made by the prophets in the Scriptures, that the gospel should be preached to them. These circumstances he mentions, to remove the prejudices of the believing as well as of the unbelieving Jews, who, he knew, were displeased with him for preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. Withal, because the church of Rome had not been planted by any apostle, he instructed them in some particulars concerning the nature and character of Christ, which it was of great importance for them to know.” — Macknight.

Ver. 7. To all that be in Rome. The law and the prophets laid a good foundation for the knowledge and worship of God, and for the expectation of the Messiah. Jesus, the Lord and Christ, accomplished prophecy, laid the foundation stones of his church, and left the apostles to build. Then the Spirit on the day of Pentecost perfected revelation, by unfolding the mystery hid in ages past, and by qualifying the disciples for their work. Hence the consummation of divine truth is to be sought in the apostolic writings. This epistle is considered as the grand key to christianity; consequently, it should be daily studied, and well understood. In this view, the jews and proselytes at Rome had considerable advantages over us. The apostle’s words and phrases were then in familiar use. The terms sin, grace, flesh, spirit, faith, law, righteousness, election, &c., were no subjects of controversy at that time. It must be our business to get what light we can on each of these articles for the better understanding of this divine epistle.

Grace to you, and peace. See notes on 1 Corinthians 1:3, 4.

7. To all—The direction. Saints—One of the ordinary terms for Christians. Grace—May there be is understood. Grace is the method of our reconciliation with God; peace the result. St. Paul here introduces a higher address than the old term, Greeting.

Ver. 7. The definite greeting, for which Romans 1:1-6 have prepared the way.

Beloved of God: equivalent to “beloved by God” in 1 Thessalonians 1:4. God’s love is the source of all blessing, and the sure ground of our hope: cp. Romans 5:6; 8:39. Of this love, all men (Romans 11:28, John 3:16) are objects; but only believers are conscious objects. To them it is real and living, moulding their thoughts and life. Paul knows that the love which smiles on himself smiles also on them; and that in a consciousness of the same Father’s love, amid the same trials of life, both he and they rejoice and rest.

Called saints: further description of his readers.

Saints not only called to be saints, but actually holy men. So Romans 15:25, 26, 31; 16:2, 15, etc.: cp. 1 Corinthians 1:2. They were objectively holy: see note below. God claimed to be henceforth the aim of their life, purposes, effort. Therefore, apart from their own conduct, they stood in a new and solemn relation to God, as men whom He had claimed for Himself. They might be, like the Corinthians, carnal; but they were still sanctified in Christ: 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:3. To admit sin or selfishness into Christians, is sacrilege. Hence the word saint, their common N.T. designation, points out their duty. It points out no less their privilege. By calling us saints, God declares His will that we live a life of which He is the one and only aim. Therefore, since our efforts have proved that such a life is utterly beyond our power, we may take back to God the name by which He calls us, and humbly claim that it be realised by His power in our heart and life.

After describing himself, his business, and his readers, Paul adds words of greeting:

grace and peace. “May you be objects of the favour of God.” This is the source of all blessing, and therefore holds the first place in N.T. salutations. Peace: rest arising from absence of disturbing causes within, or around, or before us: the opposite of confusion and unrest: 1 Corinthians 14:33; Isaiah 57:20, 21. It is a result of the favour of God. We are at rest because He smiles, and we know that He smiles, on us.

Father: a constant title of God, as is Lord of Christ: cp. 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:5, 6. We look up to God as the Father from whom we sprang, and to Christ as the Master whose work we do. The grace of God is an outcome of His fatherhood. He smiles on His children. And, because we know that our Father smiles on us, we are at peace. The Lord Jesus Christ: in closest relation to the Father, as joint Source with Him of grace and peace. This remarkable collocation of names, constant with Paul, places Christ infinitely above man and infinitely near to God. It completes the honour paid to Christ in this first sentence of the epistle.

Notice the beauty and symmetry of Paul’s opening sentence. It is a crystal arch spanning the gulf between the Jew of Tarsus and the Christians at Rome. Paul begins by giving his name: he rises to the dignity of his office, and then to the Gospel he proclaims. From the Gospel he ascends to its great subject-matter, to Him who is Son of David and Son of God. From this summit of his arch he passes on to the apostleship again, and to the nations for whose good he received it. Among these nations he finds the Christians at Rome. He began to build by laying down his own claims; he finished by acknowledging theirs. The gulf is spanned. Across the waters of national separation, Paul has flung an arch whose firmly knit segments are living truths, and whose keystone is the incarnate Son of God. Over this arch he hastens with words of greeting from his Father and their Father, from his Master and their Master.

Every word increases the writer’s claim upon the attention of his readers. He writes to them as one doing the work of the promised Messiah, who lived at Nazareth and died at Jerusalem. Among the servants of Christ he holds no mean place, but has been solemnly called to the first rank. He has been set apart by God for proclamation of those joyful tidings whose notes were heard from afar by the ancient prophets and still resound in the words of the sacred books. The divine mission of the prophets and the sacredness of their writings claim attention for one who announces as present what they foretold as future. This claim is strengthened by mention of Him who is the great matter of the good news. Paul proclaims the advent of a scion of the house to which eternal royalty was promised; of One who, by divine power, by victory over death, has been separated from all others as the Son of God. This Son of David and of God is Paul’s Master and theirs. By His personal call, Paul has received the rank of an apostle. This office derives lustre from the grandeur of Him by whom it was conferred. The purpose of Paul’s mission is that in all nations men may obey faith. A further purpose is that the name of Christ, written in these verses in characters so splendid, may be revered and loved by all. Among these nations are Paul’s readers. But he does not write in order to lead them to faith: for Christ has already made them His own by a divine call. They are objects of God’s love, men whom He has claimed for Himself. Paul desires for them the smile of God, and the rest of spirit which only that smile can give. May it come to them from its only source, the common Father and the common Master. In these words there is no mere rambling among sacred topics, no running after some great thought, no mere desire to put Christ’s name into every sentence. But there is everywhere order and purpose. In Romans 1:5 we find Paul standing as an apostle on the level on which he stood in Romans 1:1. But how great an advance he has made! The long-foretold Gospel has given importance to the man set apart to proclaim it. The apostle has been into the presence of the Son of God; and the glory of that presence now irradiates the office received from one so great. He comes forth as an ambassador claiming for his Master the allegiance of all nations.

Observe, in this section and epistle, the facts and teaching assumed by Paul. He takes for granted the resurrection of Christ, and his own call by Christ; that Jesus claimed to be in a special sense the Son of God; that the prophets spoke from God; that their writings were sacred books; and that the Gospel is a divine call by which Christ claims men for God. HOLINESS. The words holy, hallow, holiness, and saint, sanctify, sanctification, represent in the English Bible nearly always one Hebrew and one Greek word, this last being the constant equivalent of the former in the Greek Septuagint Version. These words, so important for understanding the Bible, the character of God, and our relation to Him, demand careful study.

The above words are found only in reference to religion. They were familiar to Jews and proselytes by their use in the O.T., and by well-known objects which were called holy, e.g. the Sabbath, Mount Sinai, the firstborn of man and beast, the tabernacle with its altars and vessels, the priests and their clothing, the sacrifices, consecrated houses and fields, the censers used by Korah and his company, the wall of Jerusalem, and the Person and Name of God. See Exodus 29:1; 30:29, 35-37; 40:1-15; Le 21, 27, Numbers 3:11-13, and innumerable other O.T. passages. From these various and different objects and from an idea embodied in them all, we may now derive a definition of holiness. For we notice that all belong to God. He has claimed them for His own, He requires that they be used only to advance His purposes, and according to His bidding. And in this sense, i.e. as specially claimed by God and therefore in a special sense belonging to Him, they are holy. Hence the common phrase “holiness for Jehovah.” Cp. Leviticus 20:26. Holiness is written upon everything belonging to the Mosaic ritual, and is one of its most conspicuous features. It is as conspicuous as the shedding of blood, and as important. The word holy, thus understood, is applied to both men and things in two ways, viz. in reference to the purpose and claim of God and to the purpose and conduct of man. Whatever God claims for His own, we may speak of as holy without considering whether the claim is responded to. For, whatever man may do, God’s claim puts the object claimed in a new position. Men may profane it by setting God’s claim at nought; but they cannot destroy the claim. It remains to condemn the men who trample it under foot. The Sabbath, temple, priesthood, were holy, however polluted. But to pollute them was sacrilege, and defiance to God. This may be called objective holiness. If man’s will concur with the Will of God, if the object claimed be actually devoted to Him, if to Him its entire activity tends, we have what we may call subjective holiness: as in 1 Corinthians 7:34; 1 Thessalonians 5:23. It is described in Romans 6:11, “living for God, in Christ Jesus:” Cp. 2 Corinthians 5:15. This distinction of objective and subjective holiness is of the utmost importance. God sanctified the Sabbath and the firstborn: Genesis 2:3; Exodus 20:11; Numbers 3:11-51. Israel was bidden to sanctify it and them: Deuteronomy 5:12; Jeremiah 17:22-27; Exodus 13:1. God and His name are holy; therefore man must hallow them: Leviticus 20:26; 21:8; Isaiah 1:4; Leviticus 22:32; Isaiah 29:23. These last quotations remind us that the word holy is used not only to describe the objects which God claimed for Himself but also to set forth His own nature. And the connection proves that in both cases the word represents the same idea. But it is differently applied. For the objects claimed by God are “holy for Jehovah;” whereas He is “the Holy One of Israel.” When God claims to be the one aim of our existence, He not only puts us in a new position, and thus makes us objectively holy, but also reveals Himself in a new character. Henceforth we think of Him as the great Being who claims to be the aim of our every purpose and effort. By calling Himself holy, God announces that this claim has its root and source in a definite element of His nature. He is the beginning, and the end. All things are from Him and for Him. As thus understood, the holiness of God bears a relation to that of men analogous to the relation of the Creator to the creature.

We now see a reason for the ceremonial holiness so conspicuous in the Old Covenant. To teach men, in the only way in which they could learn it, that He claims to be the one aim of their being, God commanded certain men and things to be set apart for Himself in outward ceremonial form. These He called holy. When men had become familiar with the idea of holiness, thus set forth, God declared in Christ that this idea must be realised in every man and every thing, in spirit and soul and body. Hence the various holy objects in the O.T. are used in the N.T. to set forth the Christian life. We are a temple, priesthood, sacrifice: 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Peter 2:5, 9; Romans 12:1. Our future life will be a Sabbath-keeping: Hebrews 4:9. These were embodiments, in things, men, and time, of the idea of holiness. They set forth in symbolic form the body, spirit, and life of the people of God.

When that which exists only for God is surrounded by objects not thus consecrated, holiness becomes a setting apart for God. The more alien from God the objects around, the more conspicuous is this separation. Just so, the temple was closed to all but priests, themselves set apart from their fellows and from common life. But separation is only an accidental and subordinate idea. The word holy is frequently used without thought of separation, e.g. for the angels. In the world to come there will be absolute holiness, but no separation. For God’s pleasure will be the aim of every word and act of His glorified sons. The idea of separation appears also in the holiness of God. For, that He is the one object of His creatures’ purpose, effort, service, and worship, places Him and His Name at an infinite distance above all others. His claim reveals the difference between the creature and the Creator.

Since sin is an erection of self into the end and rule of life, it is utterly opposed to holiness. God’s holiness makes Him intolerant of sin, because sin robs Him of that which His holiness claims. Only the holy are pure, and only the pure are holy. But the words are not synonymous. Purity in the creature and opposition to sin in the Creator are the negative side of holiness. Holiness, however, is a positive attribute; and would have existed in God and in man even though there had been no sin.

Righteousness looks upon man as capable of obeying or disobeying a law; holiness, as capable of choosing and pursuing an aim, and of choosing God and His purposes to be the one aim of life. The antithesis of righteousness is transgression: that of holiness (see 2 Corinthians 5:15) is self. The contrast in the one case is Right or Wrong; in the other, Mine or God’s. Already we have met the word holy three times. The Scriptures are called holy. For they stand in special relation to God as a divinely-given record of divinely-given revelations. The spirit of the incarnate Son of God was an impersonation of holiness: for every movement of that spirit had God for its aim. Christians are called saints or holy persons objectively, as claimed by God. To refuse that claim is to act as Aaron, who is called in <19A616>Psalm 106:16 “the saint of Jehovah,” would have done had he refused the priesthood. And it is their privilege to be subjectively holy. On the whole subject, see further in my New Life in Christ lectures xii.-xv., and xxxii.

Verse 7. To all that be in Rome, &c. — To all the Christians in Rome. These were probably, for the most part, converted Jews, whose piety, zeal, and influence had, however, brought over many Gentiles. We have no account of the planting of this celebrated Church. From St. Paul expressing his desire to visit them for many years, it is plain that it existed at a very early period; and from its faith being so generally spoken of among Christians everywhere with admiration, that it had long acquired a noticeable maturity and stability. “The faith” might be taken back to Rome by some Jew or proselyte present at the day of pentecost, and there “pricked to the heart” under Peter’s sermon, and then, by baptism, added to the Church. Or, the dispersion of Christians and their preachers, which took place on the death of Stephen, might lead some to settle in Rome. The intercourse between Judea and the capital of the world was so constant, that Christian Jews, at the earliest period, must have visited it. Beloved of God, &c. — These expressions show the interesting relations in which every true Church stands to God; relations which no other association of men, however composed, or however dignified, can claim; and it affords a most powerful motive to a renunciation of the spirit, example, and sinful society of the world, and to confess Christ by visible fellowship with his true disciples. They are beloved of God, being his adopted children; the called, invited and received at the board of their Sovereign; saints, persons washed and sanctified from common and unholy uses to the peculiar service of God, and to offer to him as his priests the spiritual gifts and sacrifices of prayer, praise, and the obedient subordination of all their active powers to his sole will. This is the character of a true Church, and of the true members of which it is composed. And though indeed similar terms are applied collectively to the Jewish nation, who were, in a peculiar sense, his people and Church, it does not clearly appear that St. Paul applied these terms to a Christian Church, because they were originally applied to the Jewish. They so naturally arose out of the state into which Christianity had brought the members individually, and were so descriptive of it, that none so fit could have been adopted. But if they were indeed transferred from the Jewish to the Christian Church, they must from necessity have been used in a far stricter and special sense. The reason of this is, that the Jewish Church was founded upon natural descent from Abraham; the Christian Church is composed only of believers, who have undergone a moral change of nature, and who continue its members only so long as they remain vitally united to Christ, and bring forth the fruits of righteousness. There is indeed a visible Church connected with this, into which all children are introduced by baptism, and out of which those do not ordinarily pass who, by sins against the laws of Christ, cut themselves off from that true, invisible Church, the names of whose members are written in heaven; but to be in this Church is a state of PRIVILEGE, not necessarily a state of SALVATION. The apostles evidently contemplated the Churches to which they wrote, as for the most part at least composed of persons who “knew the grace of God in truth,” and had been reconciled to God, and regenerated by his Spirit. — Hence the description of a Church collectively was no more than a description of what was taken to be the state of its individual members, at least so many of them as gave a character to the whole society. For as unquestionably the apostles had views so just of Christianity, the grand remedy of the moral evils of human nature, that they thought they laboured wholly in vain unless “they turned men from darkness to light, and the power of Satan unto God,” and unless through the Gospel published by them, they “obtained forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among the sanctified” or hallowed ones; so they never could call those beloved of God, who had never been reconciled to God, nor those saints who had not been actually washed from their sins. Nor can there be any perversion of the New Testament more guilty and fatal than that which would teach us to estimate the effect intended to be produced by Christianity upon the hearts of men, by the force which such terms as beloved of God, or chosen people, or God’s sanctified, or the redeemed of the Lord, possess when applied collectively and nationally to the Jews. Such terms in the New Testament must have the force not of the old, but of the new dispensation: the shadow was in the former, the substance in the latter; and let no one deceive himself, for he that is in Christ IS A NEW CREATURE; as this epistle will fully unfold in its subsequent parts.

Grace to you and peace. — All spiritual blessings are summed up in these terms; in this, St. Paul’s favourite form of benediction. Grace is that special favour of God which he bears to those who are reconciled to him through the death of his Son, and adopted into his family, with all the benefits consequent upon it, — the gift of the Holy Spirit, the special care and protection of God, and the joyful hope of eternal life. Peace was the usual form of eastern salutation; but it is here raised in its import. It is not a wish or prayer for temporal blessings; but that rich satisfaction and sweet tranquillity of mind which arises from inward intercourse and communion with God as our Father and Friend, and from those abiding manifestations of his gracious presence, with which the true disciple is favoured.

V. 8. I thank-In the very entrance of this one epistle are the traces of all spiritual affections; but of thankfulness above all, with the expression of which almost all St. Paul's epistles begin. He here particularly thanks God, that what otherwise himself should have done, was done at Rome already. My God-This very word expresses faith, hope, love, and consequently all true religion.

Through Jesus Christ-The gifts of God all pass through Christ to us; and all our petitions and thanksgivings pass through Christ to God. That your faith is spoken of-In this kind of congratulations St. Paul describes either the whole of Christianity, as Colossians 1:3, &c.; or some part of it, as 1 Corinthians 1:5. Accordingly here he mentions the faith of the Romans, suitably to his design, Romans 1:12, 17. Through the whole world-This joyful news spreading everywhere, that there were Christians also in the imperial city. And the goodness and wisdom of God established faith in the chief cities; in Jerusalem and Rome particularly; that from thence it might be diffused to all nations.

Verse 8. First, I thank my God] From this to the end of Romans 1:17 belongs to the preface, in which the apostle endeavours to conciliate the good opinion of the Christians at Rome, and to prepare their minds for his reproofs and exhortations.

Your faith is spoken] kataggelletai, is celebrated, throughout the whole world-in every place where the Christian religion is professed, through all parts of the Roman dominions; for in this sense we should understand the words, the whole world.

Verse 8. I thank — In the very entrance of this one epistle are the traces of all spiritual affections, but of thankfulness above all, with the expression of which almost all Paul’s epistles begin; my God — This word expresses faith, hope, love, and consequently all true religion; through Jesus Christ — The gifts of God all pass through Christ to us; and all our petitions and thanksgivings pass through Christ to God: for you all, that your faith is spoken of — By this term faith, the apostle expresses either the whole of Christianity, as Colossians 1:3, &c, or some branch of it, as Galatians 5:22. And in the beginning of his epistles he generally subjoins to the apostolic benediction a solemn thanksgiving for the faith, or for the faith, love, patience, and other graces of the brethren to whom he wrote, to make them sensible of their happy state, and to lead them to a right improvement of the advantages which they enjoyed as Christians. Throughout the whole world — The faith of these Romans, being faith in the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah expected by the Jews, and in the living and true God through him, included, of course, their turning from every species of idolatry; an event which could not fail to be spoken of with wonder through the whole empire, as there were multitudes of strangers continually coming to Rome from the provinces, who, on their return home, would report what they had seen. This event would be especially made the subject of conversation in the churches everywhere, through all parts of the empire, it being matter of joy to them all that the religion of Christ was professed in the imperial city, more especially as it was a most happy presage of the general spread of their holy religion; the conversion of the Romans encouraging the inhabitants of other cities to forsake the established idolatry, and turn to God. And, indeed, the wisdom and goodness of God established faith in the chief cities, in Jerusalem and in Rome particularly, that from thence it might be diffused to all nations. Add to this, that Rome being the metropolis of the world, the conversion of so many of its inhabitants brought no small credit to the evidences of the gospel.

Ver. 8. Your faith is spoken of, kataggelletai celebrated, throughout the whole Roman world. No wonder that he should desire to see them, and to come in the fulness of evangelical benedictions. The particular objects of his mission were to lay his hands on some, and impart an encrease of divine endowments, as Peter had conferred the unction of the Spirit on the believers in Samaria.

We cannot say who first preached at Rome. The apostles did not leave Jerusalem and Judea for twelve years; but the fifteen thousand christians, dispersed on Stephen’s martyrdom, had settled on the northern shores of the Mediterranean. Mr. Whiston, in his primitive christianity, names Clement, a native of Rome, as seeing a man haranguing a crowd of people in the open air. He mingled with the people, and perceived that the preacher was a foreigner; and though he did not speak according to the rules of art, there was nevertheless so much unction and persuasive sweetness attending his word, as Clement had never heard before. He learned that his name was Barnabas, a christian preacher from Judea. From that time, Clement became a believer in Christ. This same Clement was made bishop of Rome, about the year 64 or 65, and while Paul was a prisoner in that city.

8. First—Before the main argument. The whole world—Wherever Christians exist. From this we learn, contrary to the supposition of some commentators, that a body of Christians now existed at Rome, and that from their metropolitan position the fact was well known throughout the wide spread Christian republic.

ROMANS

SECTION 2. — HE HAS LONG DESIRED TO

PREACH TO THEM CH. 1:8-15

In the first place, I thank my God through Jesus Christ about you all, that your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Gospel of His Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers beseeching if by any means at all a way will be opened for me, in the will of God, to come to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift of grace, in order that ye may be established; and that is, that we may be encouraged together in your midst through each other’s faith, both yours and mine. Moreover, I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, that frequently I purposed to come to you and was hindered till now, in order that I might have some fruit among you also, as also among the other Gentiles. Both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to wise men and to foolish, I am a debtor. Hence my readiness to preach, also to you in Rome, the Gospel.

Ver. 8. After greeting the believers at Rome, Paul declares his deep and long-cherished interest in them. Many thoughts arise, one after another, in his mind. He tells us the first; but does not arrange the others in order, pouring forth all in one full stream of thought and feeling. So in Romans 3:1. Paul’s first thought here, as in nearly all his letters, is gratitude. In approaching God, he first thanks Him for blessings received, and then asks for more.

My God: Paul’s own God, with whom he has personal and individual dealings. Even when thanking God for others, he turns his back on them and alone draws near to God. Cp. 2 Corinthians 12:21. For he feels that God’s goodness to his readers is personal kindness to himself. Through: as in Romans 1:5.

Through Jesus Christ: the channel of all blessing from God to man and of all thanks from man to God. Cp. Romans 7:25; Hebrews 13:15. You all: consequently throughout the epistle we have no reproof or correction. Contrast 1 Corinthians 1:4, 11.

Faith: the earliest Christian grace. The fuller description of the readers in Colossians 1:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 3:6 arose perhaps from fuller information. By thanking God for their faith, Paul recognised that in some fair sense it came from God. See under Romans 12:3. It must have made itself known by works of faith: but what these were, we are not told.

In all the world. This warns us not to take literally, without careful examination, the universal expressions of the Bible: see under Romans 5:18. Wherever Paul goes in his travels, he hears of his readers’ faith. What he hears calls forth gratitude to God: for the universality of their good name is some proof that they deserve it.

Verse 8. Through Jesus Christ. — This is to be specially noted as an example of the presentation of an act of thanksgiving to God, THROUGH Jesus Christ. It shows the light in which the apostle regarded the mediation of Jesus Christ; and all acts of prayer and praise are to have respect to him as the MERITORIOUS CAUSE of their acceptance on the part of God. Your faith is spoken of, &c. — Not merely their belief in Christ’s mission, and in Christianity, as of Divine authority; for without such belief they could not have been even nominally Christians; but their faith as a vital, actuating principle, producing love, zeal, and obedience to the whole will of Christ. As Christians from every part were in the habit of going to Rome, so on their return they published, with joyful admiration, the excellent spirit and example of the Church in that city, in which they would naturally feel the deepest interest, as being planted in the very seat of idolatry, and under the immediate cognizance of the imperial government. Thus its faith was spoken of, or honourably declared through the world, or Roman empire, in toto orbe Romano.

V. 9. God, whom I serve-As an apostle.

In my spirit-Not only with my body, but with my inmost soul. In the gospel-By preaching it.

Verse 9. Whom I serve with my spirit] latpeuw Whom I worship with the profoundest religious reverence; for so the original certainly means: I not only employ all the powers of my body in this service, but all those of my soul; being thoroughly convinced of the absolute truth of the religion I preach. Probably St. Paul opposes, in this place, the spiritual worship of the Gospel to the external, or what some call the carnal, worship of the Jews. Mine is not a religion of ceremonies, but one in which the life and power of the eternal Spirit are acknowledged and experienced.

Verses 9-12. For God is my witness — In saying I am thankful for your conversion, I might be well supposed to speak the truth, such an event being perfectly agreeable to the continual tenor of my petitions to God; whom I serve — Not only as a Christian, but as an apostle; with my spirit — With my understanding and conscience, will and affections, yea, with all the faculties of my soul, as well as with all the members of my body. Or, as the expression may be rendered, in my spirit, exercising faith in him, love to him, humility before him, resignation to his will, and zeal for his glory; in the gospel of his Son — To promote the success of which is the whole business of my life; that without ceasing I make mention of you in my prayers — In my solemn addresses to God; making request — Deomenov, entreating; if by any means, now at length — This accumulation of particles declares the strength of his desire; that I may impart to you — Face to face, by laying on of my hands, preaching the gospel, prayer, private conversation; some spiritual gift — With such gifts the Corinthians, who had enjoyed the presence of St. Paul, abounded, 1 Corinthians 1:7; 12:1, &c.; 14:1. So did the Galatians likewise, Galatians 3:5. And indeed all those churches which had the presence of any of the apostles, had peculiar advantages in this kind from the laying on of their hands, Acts 19:6; 8:17, &c.; 2 Timothy 1:6. But, as yet, the Christians at Rome were greatly inferior to them in this respect; for which reason the apostle, in the 12th chapter, where he has occasion to mention gifts, says little, if any thing, of any extraordinary spiritual gifts possessed by any of them. He therefore desires to impart some to them, that they might be established in their Christian faith, and fortified against all temptations, either to renounce or dishonour it. For by these gifts the testimony of Christ was confirmed to the members of the churches. That Peter had no more been at Rome than Paul, at the time when this epistle was written, appears from the general tenor thereof, and from this place in particular. For otherwise, the gifts which Paul wishes to impart to the believers at Rome, would have been imparted already by Peter. That is, that I may be comforted together with you — As I have great reason to believe we shall be; by the mutual faith both of you — Whose faith will be strengthened and confirmed by these gifts; and me — Whose faith will be encouraged and increased when I see believers established, and unbelievers converted by these gifts. As often as the apostles communicated spiritual gifts to their disciples, it was a new proof to themselves of God’s presence with them, and an additional confirmation of their mission from God in the eyes of others, both of which, no doubt, gave them great joy. In this passage, we see the apostle not only associates the Romans with, but even prefers them before, himself. How different is this style of the apostle from that of the modern court of Rome!

Ver. 9. God is my witness, whom I serve, Latreuw, worship, and adore, with my spirit; yea, with my whole soul. He speaks in a similar manner, and with the like earnestness to the Corinthians, when some had insinuated that he trifled with his promises. 2 Corinthians 1:18, 19. What a minister, and what a man of prayer!

9. Without ceasing—Regularly remembering the unseen Roman Church.

Ver. 9.-10. Explanation and confirmation of the foregoing: a reason for the gratitude just expressed. Paul thanks God for their faith, because he constantly prays for them, and because their faith is thus God’s answer to his prayer and a mark of God’s personal kindness to himself. Notice that Paul prays constantly for all the Churches to which he writes. In his devotions, he takes them one by one to God. Hence every blessing to them is a gift from God to him. The constancy of Paul’s prayer is greater than words can tell. He therefore appeals to

God, who is the only witness of his prayers.

Serve: as in Romans 1:25; 9:4; 12:1, not as in Romans 1:1: used in the Bible only for service of God, especially the priestly service of the temple. The temple was the palace of God: the priests were His domestic servants.

In the Gospel: sphere of Paul’s priestly work for God, viz. announcement of the good news about

His Son. Important parallel in Romans 15:16.

Spirit: that in man which is nearest to God and most like God. See note under Romans 8:17.

In my spirit: the inner, as the Gospel is the outer, sphere of Paul’s service. The service of the Jewish priests might be only bodily and mechanical. But the preaching of the Gospel was a sacrifice offered in the inmost and uppermost chamber of Paul’s being. So John 4:24. This inward service, in a matter so dear to God as that of His own Son, gave solemnity to Paul’s appeal. For the godless cannot appeal to God. But Paul’s well-known devotion to the service of God was proof that his appeal was neither frivolous nor false. The words whom I serve in my spirit expound and justify the words “my God” in Romans 1:8. They who in the solitude of their spirit bow down to God can appeal to Him as their God. Paul never prays for his readers without earnestly asking to be allowed to visit them.

A-way-opened: same word in 1 Corinthians 16:2; 3 John 1:2. It denotes, under the figure of a good way opened, any kind of prosperity. Now: a speedy visit hoped for.

At all: uncertainty as to details. The words

if by any means express a desire to come at any cost, and suggest difficulty and doubt. This prayer was answered in an unexpected manner. In the will of God: implies submission. But submission did not prevent earnest and persevering prayer. Paul’s desire was to go to Rome; but he will not do so till it becomes evident that what he desires is also the will of God. Cp. Romans 15:32. He also remembers that the opening of a way for him depends, not upon circumstances, but upon God. Cp. James 4:15.

Verse 9. For God is my witness, &c. — In calling God to witness to that great affection he had for the Church at Rome, whom he had never seen in the flesh, and his strong desire to have visited them, he conciliated them to receive that more perfect instruction in certain doctrines, somewhat offensive to the Jewish part of the members, which the epistle contains; and he probably meets a tacit objection, as to his apparent neglect of the Gentiles of the metropolis of the world, when he professed himself, in a peculiar sense, called to be the apostle of the Gentiles. He insists so strongly upon his frequent purposes and ardent desire to exercise his ministry in Rome, that we must suppose that he had been exposed to some imputation for not having already made that great city the scene of his labours. That he made mention of them in his prayers without ceasing proved how great an interest he felt in their welfare, though they had not been the fruits of his own ministry; and that he had been let or hindered in fulfilling the purpose of visiting them, and that, by indispensable engagements in his great work, and the appointments of the Holy Spirit, under which he acted, was a reason for his absence which admitted of no objection. Some interpreters have considered this as an instance of that dexterous courtesy by which St. Paul often succeeded in setting himself in a favourable position before his auditors or readers. Much of this contemptible criticism has been applied to his epistles; but art is subsequent to nature, and, at best, ill imitates it. Here all is truth and feeling, and not artifice; and the simple declaration of two truths, — his constant prayers for them, and his constant desires to visit them, — effected infinitely more than a laboured apology, into which he would no doubt have run had he been practising the art of the rhetorician.

Whom I serve with my spirit. — To serve with the spirit, is usually taken to signify, to serve with zeal and earnestness, ex toto animo; but it rather expresses the spiritual service in which St. Paul was engaged, and to which he had consecrated all his faculties.

V. 10. Always-In all my solemn addresses to God. If by any means now at length-This accumulation of particles declares the strength of his desire.

Verse 10. Making request, &c.] By this we see how earnestly the apostle longed to see Rome. It had long been a subject of continual prayer to God, that he might have a prosperous journey to, or rather meeting with, them, for so we should understand the word euodwqhsmai: that he had a prosperous meeting with them we cannot doubt; that he had a disastrous journey to them the 27th of the Acts fully proves.

Verses 9-12. For God is my witness — In saying I am thankful for your conversion, I might be well supposed to speak the truth, such an event being perfectly agreeable to the continual tenor of my petitions to God; whom I serve — Not only as a Christian, but as an apostle; with my spirit — With my understanding and conscience, will and affections, yea, with all the faculties of my soul, as well as with all the members of my body. Or, as the expression may be rendered, in my spirit, exercising faith in him, love to him, humility before him, resignation to his will, and zeal for his glory; in the gospel of his Son — To promote the success of which is the whole business of my life; that without ceasing I make mention of you in my prayers — In my solemn addresses to God; making request — Deomenov, entreating; if by any means, now at length — This accumulation of particles declares the strength of his desire; that I may impart to you — Face to face, by laying on of my hands, preaching the gospel, prayer, private conversation; some spiritual gift — With such gifts the Corinthians, who had enjoyed the presence of St. Paul, abounded, 1 Corinthians 1:7; 12:1, &c.; 14:1. So did the Galatians likewise, Galatians 3:5. And indeed all those churches which had the presence of any of the apostles, had peculiar advantages in this kind from the laying on of their hands, Acts 19:6; 8:17, &c.; 2 Timothy 1:6. But, as yet, the Christians at Rome were greatly inferior to them in this respect; for which reason the apostle, in the 12th chapter, where he has occasion to mention gifts, says little, if any thing, of any extraordinary spiritual gifts possessed by any of them. He therefore desires to impart some to them, that they might be established in their Christian faith, and fortified against all temptations, either to renounce or dishonour it. For by these gifts the testimony of Christ was confirmed to the members of the churches. That Peter had no more been at Rome than Paul, at the time when this epistle was written, appears from the general tenor thereof, and from this place in particular. For otherwise, the gifts which Paul wishes to impart to the believers at Rome, would have been imparted already by Peter. That is, that I may be comforted together with you — As I have great reason to believe we shall be; by the mutual faith both of you — Whose faith will be strengthened and confirmed by these gifts; and me — Whose faith will be encouraged and increased when I see believers established, and unbelievers converted by these gifts. As often as the apostles communicated spiritual gifts to their disciples, it was a new proof to themselves of God’s presence with them, and an additional confirmation of their mission from God in the eyes of others, both of which, no doubt, gave them great joy. In this passage, we see the apostle not only associates the Romans with, but even prefers them before, himself. How different is this style of the apostle from that of the modern court of Rome!

10. Request—His prayers for them were twofold: for their spiritual prosperity, and for divine permission to visit them. Prosperous journey—He journeyed to Rome at last, but by what few would call a prosperous trip. (Acts 28.)

Ver. 9.-10. Explanation and confirmation of the foregoing: a reason for the gratitude just expressed. Paul thanks God for their faith, because he constantly prays for them, and because their faith is thus God’s answer to his prayer and a mark of God’s personal kindness to himself. Notice that Paul prays constantly for all the Churches to which he writes. In his devotions, he takes them one by one to God. Hence every blessing to them is a gift from God to him. The constancy of Paul’s prayer is greater than words can tell. He therefore appeals to

God, who is the only witness of his prayers.

Serve: as in Romans 1:25; 9:4; 12:1, not as in Romans 1:1: used in the Bible only for service of God, especially the priestly service of the temple. The temple was the palace of God: the priests were His domestic servants.

In the Gospel: sphere of Paul’s priestly work for God, viz. announcement of the good news about

His Son. Important parallel in Romans 15:16.

Spirit: that in man which is nearest to God and most like God. See note under Romans 8:17.

In my spirit: the inner, as the Gospel is the outer, sphere of Paul’s service. The service of the Jewish priests might be only bodily and mechanical. But the preaching of the Gospel was a sacrifice offered in the inmost and uppermost chamber of Paul’s being. So John 4:24. This inward service, in a matter so dear to God as that of His own Son, gave solemnity to Paul’s appeal. For the godless cannot appeal to God. But Paul’s well-known devotion to the service of God was proof that his appeal was neither frivolous nor false. The words whom I serve in my spirit expound and justify the words “my God” in Romans 1:8. They who in the solitude of their spirit bow down to God can appeal to Him as their God. Paul never prays for his readers without earnestly asking to be allowed to visit them.

A-way-opened: same word in 1 Corinthians 16:2; 3 John 1:2. It denotes, under the figure of a good way opened, any kind of prosperity. Now: a speedy visit hoped for.

At all: uncertainty as to details. The words

if by any means express a desire to come at any cost, and suggest difficulty and doubt. This prayer was answered in an unexpected manner. In the will of God: implies submission. But submission did not prevent earnest and persevering prayer. Paul’s desire was to go to Rome; but he will not do so till it becomes evident that what he desires is also the will of God. Cp. Romans 15:32. He also remembers that the opening of a way for him depends, not upon circumstances, but upon God. Cp. James 4:15.

Verse 10. By the will of God. — The prayer that he might have a prosperous journey to them, that the opportunity might favourably open, and the journey itself be safe and crowned with good success, was made in submission to the will of God, to which we are thus taught to subordinate all our purposes and plans, even when they excite in us the strongest desires. St. Paul was let or hindered, verse 13, by that very will of God, in dutiful subjection to which he had made the request. The apostles were not in their own hands; and that peculiar guidance of the Holy Spirit, as to their labours, under which they were placed, appears to have been often vouchsafed by sudden and unlooked-for impulses, changing their places and counterventing their most deliberate purposes. This is one of the proofs that they were under that inspiration which they professed. A fanatic turns those impressions which he fancies to be from God, into the channel of his own will and inclination. The apostles had learned not “to live to themselves, but to Christ,” and to acknowledge, that in a work which respected the deep and comprehensive designs of God’s mercy to the world, not even spiritual and experienced men were, of themselves, competent judges either of TIME or PLACE. St. Paul was indeed permitted to visit Rome, but at a future time; and his journey was not to be that prosperous journey which he requested, but a journey of perils and suffering; he was indeed to enter Rome as an “ambassador,” but an “ambassadors in bonds.” So differently, in the mode, does God bring about those purposes and plans of ours which he is pleased to accomplish.

V. 11. That I may impart to you-Face to face, by laying on of hands, prayer, preaching the gospel, private conversation.

Some spiritual gift-With such gifts the Corinthians, who had enjoyed the presence of St. Paul, abounded, 1 Corinthians 1:7; 12:1; 14:1. So did the Galatians likewise, Galatians 3:5; and, indeed, all those churches which had had the presence of any of the apostles had peculiar advantages in this kind, from the laying on of their hands, Acts 19:6; 8:17, &c., 2 Timothy 1:6. But as yet the Romans were greatly inferior to them in this respect; for which reason the apostle, in the twelfth chapter also, says little, if any thing, of their spiritual gifts. He therefore desires to impart some, that they might be established; for by these was the testimony of Christ confirmed among them. That St. Peter had no more been at Rome than St. Paul, at the time when this epistle was written, appears from the general tenor thereof, and from this place in particular: for, otherwise, what St. Paul wishes to impart to the Romans would have been imparted already by St. Peter.

Verse 11. Some spiritual gift] This probably means some of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit, which, being given to them, might tend greatly to establish their faith in the Gospel of Christ; and it is very likely that such gifts were only conferred by means of apostles; and as the apostle had not yet been at Rome, consequently the Roman Christians had not yet received any of these miraculous gifts, and thus they differed widely from all the other Churches which had been raised by the apostle’s ministry.

Verses 9-12. For God is my witness — In saying I am thankful for your conversion, I might be well supposed to speak the truth, such an event being perfectly agreeable to the continual tenor of my petitions to God; whom I serve — Not only as a Christian, but as an apostle; with my spirit — With my understanding and conscience, will and affections, yea, with all the faculties of my soul, as well as with all the members of my body. Or, as the expression may be rendered, in my spirit, exercising faith in him, love to him, humility before him, resignation to his will, and zeal for his glory; in the gospel of his Son — To promote the success of which is the whole business of my life; that without ceasing I make mention of you in my prayers — In my solemn addresses to God; making request — Deomenov, entreating; if by any means, now at length — This accumulation of particles declares the strength of his desire; that I may impart to you — Face to face, by laying on of my hands, preaching the gospel, prayer, private conversation; some spiritual gift — With such gifts the Corinthians, who had enjoyed the presence of St. Paul, abounded, 1 Corinthians 1:7; 12:1, &c.; 14:1. So did the Galatians likewise, Galatians 3:5. And indeed all those churches which had the presence of any of the apostles, had peculiar advantages in this kind from the laying on of their hands, Acts 19:6; 8:17, &c.; 2 Timothy 1:6. But, as yet, the Christians at Rome were greatly inferior to them in this respect; for which reason the apostle, in the 12th chapter, where he has occasion to mention gifts, says little, if any thing, of any extraordinary spiritual gifts possessed by any of them. He therefore desires to impart some to them, that they might be established in their Christian faith, and fortified against all temptations, either to renounce or dishonour it. For by these gifts the testimony of Christ was confirmed to the members of the churches. That Peter had no more been at Rome than Paul, at the time when this epistle was written, appears from the general tenor thereof, and from this place in particular. For otherwise, the gifts which Paul wishes to impart to the believers at Rome, would have been imparted already by Peter. That is, that I may be comforted together with you — As I have great reason to believe we shall be; by the mutual faith both of you — Whose faith will be strengthened and confirmed by these gifts; and me — Whose faith will be encouraged and increased when I see believers established, and unbelievers converted by these gifts. As often as the apostles communicated spiritual gifts to their disciples, it was a new proof to themselves of God’s presence with them, and an additional confirmation of their mission from God in the eyes of others, both of which, no doubt, gave them great joy. In this passage, we see the apostle not only associates the Romans with, but even prefers them before, himself. How different is this style of the apostle from that of the modern court of Rome!

11. Some spiritual gift—Tholuck denies that this means a supernatural or charismatic gift or endowment, but incorrectly. Had Paul alluded to Christian graces he would have hardly limited his language to one grace, but have desired every grace. Besides the word impart, and the fact that it required his personal presence, show that a charism bestowed by apostolic hands was the thing meant. Established—To establish or confirm was the purpose of spiritual gifts. (Mark 16:20; 1 Corinthians 14:22.)

Ver. 11. Reason and motive of Paul’s prayer: he wishes to do them good. Gift-of-grace: any mark of God’s free favour. Same important word in Romans 5:15, 16; 6:23; 11:29: also in a technical sense in Romans 12:6, where see note. Cp. 1 Corinthians 1:7. Spiritual: pertaining to the Holy Spirit, probably. All inward gifts of God are wrought in man’s spirit by the Spirit of God: so 1 Corinthians 12:11. And Paul hopes to be a medium through which God will impart such gifts to his readers at Rome. For from within those in whom the Spirit dwells flow rivers of living water: John 7:38. Established: enabled to stand firmly in the Christian life, in spite of influences tending to throw them down.

May be established: not by Paul, but by God: Jude 1:24. But increased stability follows every spiritual gift.

Verse 11. Some spiritual gift. — The commentators who would interpret this of miraculous gifts, do not consider,

1. That the impartation of miraculous gifts does not appear to have so distinguished St. Paul’s ministry, at any time, that he should be anxious to take a journey to Rome for this purpose.

2. That St. Paul, in no place of his epistles, attaches so much importance to these gifts, as to make it reasonable to suppose that the great object of his desire to visit Rome, was to communicate them to the Church there. Generally he rather labours to repress that excessive admiration of them, into which the first Christians too frequently fell.

3. That for any thing that appears to the contrary, other apostles and evangelists could have communicated extraordinary gifts; or indeed they might “fall,” as we know they did, upon believers, without any human medium; but to St. Paul alone of all the apostles, the great office was assigned of explaining the precise constitution of the Christian Church, as it respects the liberty of the Gentiles from the law of Moses, and the cessation of the obligation of certain parts of that institution. His ministry was essential to a right understanding of some of these difficult and controverted points; but not at all to the impartation of the full measure of miraculous endowments.

4. The phrase some spiritual gift, if so interpreted, would intimate that some one gift in particular was necessary to the perfection of a primitive Church. Of this we have no intimation; nor can it be proved but that Churches might exist in those early times in a state of completeness and efficiency without having had imparted to any of their members any such gift at all; miraculous powers being confined, as to them, to the apostles or evangelists who first raised them up. We may therefore conclude more reasonably, that the spiritual gift, carisma pneumatikon, was not, in the proper sense, miraculous, but truly spiritual, as relating to the soul; and that it was to be imparted through his teaching them, according to that superior “knowledge which he had in the mystery of Christ;” and this view is supported by the intention he proposed, to the end that ye may be established, which is opposed to that wavering of mind which is produced, not by any doubt as to the Divine authority of Christianity, which miracles might remove, but by erroneous or defective views of its doctrines, the remedy of which was more perfect instruction. This is farther confirmed by verse 12, That I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. — The full knowledge of the important truths he wished them to understand, would produce an equal faith in them and in him. The knowledge being mutual, the faith would be mutual also, which would issue in their being comforted together. The reason, then, why St. Paul so earnestly wished to visit the Roman Christians was, that he might make them sharers of that more perfect knowledge of various branches of evangelical truth with which he had been endued; impress upon them all those motives to constancy and perseverance which such truths contained; and also that by his public ministry he might have FRUIT in Rome as among other Gentiles. — That spiritual gift which he was desirous of imparting to them by personal teaching, seems, in consequence of the Divine appointment hindering his purpose, to have been communicated through this important epistle; a writing equally adapted to the instruction of both the Jews and Gentiles, of which the Roman Church was composed, and of standing, unaltered value and efficiency to all classes of men to this day.

V. 12. That is, I long to be comforted by the mutual faith both of you and me-He not only associates the Romans with, but even prefers them before, himself. How different is this style of the apostle from that of the modern court of Rome!

Verse 12. That I may be comforted together with you] He here, with great address, intimates that he longs for this opportunity, as well on his own account as on theirs, and to show them that he arrogates nothing to himself; for he intimates that it will require the conjoint action of their faith as well as his own, to be the means of receiving those blessings from God to which he refers.

Verses 9-12. For God is my witness — In saying I am thankful for your conversion, I might be well supposed to speak the truth, such an event being perfectly agreeable to the continual tenor of my petitions to God; whom I serve — Not only as a Christian, but as an apostle; with my spirit — With my understanding and conscience, will and affections, yea, with all the faculties of my soul, as well as with all the members of my body. Or, as the expression may be rendered, in my spirit, exercising faith in him, love to him, humility before him, resignation to his will, and zeal for his glory; in the gospel of his Son — To promote the success of which is the whole business of my life; that without ceasing I make mention of you in my prayers — In my solemn addresses to God; making request — Deomenov, entreating; if by any means, now at length — This accumulation of particles declares the strength of his desire; that I may impart to you — Face to face, by laying on of my hands, preaching the gospel, prayer, private conversation; some spiritual gift — With such gifts the Corinthians, who had enjoyed the presence of St. Paul, abounded, 1 Corinthians 1:7; 12:1, &c.; 14:1. So did the Galatians likewise, Galatians 3:5. And indeed all those churches which had the presence of any of the apostles, had peculiar advantages in this kind from the laying on of their hands, Acts 19:6; 8:17, &c.; 2 Timothy 1:6. But, as yet, the Christians at Rome were greatly inferior to them in this respect; for which reason the apostle, in the 12th chapter, where he has occasion to mention gifts, says little, if any thing, of any extraordinary spiritual gifts possessed by any of them. He therefore desires to impart some to them, that they might be established in their Christian faith, and fortified against all temptations, either to renounce or dishonour it. For by these gifts the testimony of Christ was confirmed to the members of the churches. That Peter had no more been at Rome than Paul, at the time when this epistle was written, appears from the general tenor thereof, and from this place in particular. For otherwise, the gifts which Paul wishes to impart to the believers at Rome, would have been imparted already by Peter. That is, that I may be comforted together with you — As I have great reason to believe we shall be; by the mutual faith both of you — Whose faith will be strengthened and confirmed by these gifts; and me — Whose faith will be encouraged and increased when I see believers established, and unbelievers converted by these gifts. As often as the apostles communicated spiritual gifts to their disciples, it was a new proof to themselves of God’s presence with them, and an additional confirmation of their mission from God in the eyes of others, both of which, no doubt, gave them great joy. In this passage, we see the apostle not only associates the Romans with, but even prefers them before, himself. How different is this style of the apostle from that of the modern court of Rome!

Ver. 12. That I may be comforted — by the mutual faith both of you and me. Three times the apostle had poured this full cup of consolation into the bosom of the church in Jerusalem, by recounting the multitudes converted in Syria, Asia, and Greece. Acts 13:27. 14:3. 21:19, 20. What interviews can be more reviving to the church, or edifying in the Lord. John Arndt’s Verus Christianus, a body of divinity in two hundred short sermons, brought many Lutheran ministers to an experimental knowledge of the truth, and they established in their vestries or houses, weekly meetings for christian fellowship. John Nardin, minister at Blamont, did the same; and when accused, he referred to the ministers who had written on the special care of souls.

Dr. Woodward, during the reign of James 2., had many such meetings in London; and was aided by two clergymen, Dr. Horneck, and Mr. Smithies. Robert Nelson, esquire, was also an active member of those societies.

12. That is—Lest the reason last given might sound too patronizing, as if the apostle’s visit were a favour from his own side solely, he now explains by giving a reason of a mutual nature.

Ver. 12. A new thought: to do them good, is to receive good for himself. “If I impart to you a spiritual gift, making you firmer in the Christian life, both you and I will be

encouraged, i.e. moved to Christian hope and work (same word as exhort in Romans 12:1); I

by your faith and you by mine. Notice the modesty of these words. Even the great apostle will receive blessing from the Roman Christians. Similar modesty in Romans 15:14, 15.

V. 13. Brethren-A frequent, holy, simple, sweet, and yet grand, appellation. The apostles but rarely address persons by their names; O ye Corinthians; O Timotheus. St. Paul generally uses this appellation, Brethren; sometimes in exhortation, My beloved; or, My beloved brethren; St. James, Brethren, My brethren, My beloved brethren. St. Peter and Jude always, Beloved; St. John frequently, Beloved; once, Brethren; oftener than once, My little children.

Though I have been hindered hitherto-Either by business, see Romans 15:22; or persecution, 1 Thessalonians 2:2; or the Spirit, Acts 16:7.

That I might have some fruit-Of my ministerial labours. Even as I have already had from the many churches I have planted and watered among the other Gentiles.

Verse 13. But was let hitherto] The word let, from the Anglo-Saxon, [Anglo-Saxon] to hinder, signifies impediment or hinderance of any kind: but it is likely that the original word, ekwluqhn, I was forbidden, refers to a Divine prohibition:-he would have visited them long before, but God did not see right to permit him.

Verses 13-15. Now, brethren — Lest ye should be surprised that I, who am the apostle of the Gentiles, and who have expressed such a desire to see you, have never yet preached in Rome; I would not have you ignorant — I wish to inform you; that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you — See the margin. But was let (prevented) hitherto — Either by the greater necessities of others, as Romans 15:22, or by the Spirit, Acts 16:7, or by Satan raising opposition and persecution, or otherwise hindering, 1 Thessalonians 2:2, 18. That I might have some fruit — Of my ministerial labours; by the conversion of some, and the confirmation and edification of others; even as — I have already had from the many churches I have planted and watered, among other Gentiles, Romans 15:18, 19. I am debtor both to the Greeks, &c. — Being the apostle of the Gentiles, I am bound to preach both to the Greeks, however intelligent, and to the barbarians, however ignorant. Under the name Greeks, the Romans are comprehended, because they were now become a learned and polished people. For the meaning of the name barbarian, see the note on Acts 28:2, and 1 Corinthians 14:11; both to the wise and the unwise — For there were unwise even among the Greeks, and wise even among the barbarians; and Paul considered himself as a debtor to them all; that is, under an indispensable obligation, by his divine mission, to preach the gospel to them; bound in duty and gratitude to do his utmost to promote the conversion and salvation of men of every nation and rank, of every genius and character. So, as much as in me is — According to the ability which God gives me, and the opportunities with which he is pleased to favour me; I am ready, and desirous, to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also — Though it be the capital of the world, a place of so much politeness and grandeur, and a place likewise where it might seem peculiarly dangerous to oppose those popular superstitions to which the empire is supposed to owe its greatness and felicity: yet still, at all events, I am willing to come and publish this divine message among you; though it should be at the expense of my reputation, my liberty, or life.

Ver. 13. That I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other gentiles. This church was composed chiefly of converts from idolatry, Claudius having commanded, seven years before, that all jews should depart from Rome. Acts 18:2. Yet they had found means, after bowing to the tempest, to return to the city.

13. Purposed—His whole journeyings have been westward, as if with a presentiment that his destination was the great Capital, (Acts 19:21.) Let—Hindered. Hence we see that the apostles were not inspired in all their plans, purposes, or opinions.

Fruit—A fruitage of converts, which the apostle considered as the great harvest of his life. Other Gentiles—Though there were clearly Jews in the Roman Church, yet, as it was largely Gentile, and in the very center of Gentilism, he speaks as if they were a Gentile Church.

Ver. 13. Not only has Paul prayed to be allowed to see his readers, but he has

frequently purposed to come. This proves the earnestness of his prayer. Prayers not accompanied by serious effort to obtain the blessing asked for are an empty form.

I would not have you ignorant: so Romans 11:25; 1 Corinthians 10:1; 12:1; 2 Corinthians 1:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:13: it lays stress on what follows.

Hindered: explained in Romans 15:22. An object Paul had in view in his purpose to go to Rome, in addition to the objects described in Romans 1:11, 12, was to gather

fruit there as he had done among the other Gentiles. His success among others was a ground of hope for success at Rome.

Fruit: Romans 6:21, 22; 15:28; Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 5:9; Philippians 1:11, 22; 4:17: a good result derived from the organic outworking and growth of moral and spiritual life. To do good to others, is, according to the laws of the Kingdom of God, to receive a harvest of blessing for ourselves.

V. 14. To the Greeks and the barbarians-He includes the Romans under the Greeks; so that this division comprises all nations. Both to the wise, and the unwise-For there were unwise even among the Greeks, and wise even among the barbarians.

I am a debtor to all-I am bound by my divine mission to preach the gospel to them.

Verse 14. I am a debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians] It has been remarked before that all the nations of the earth, themselves excepted, were termed barbarians by the Greeks. See the origin of the word barbarous in the note on Acts 28:2. The apostle considers himself, by his apostolical office and call, under obligation to preach the Gospel to all people, as far as the providence of God might open his way; for this is implied in the Divine commission:-Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature-to the wise and the unwise; to the learned and cultivated as well as to the unlearned and uncultivated. This evidently appears to be the import of the terms.

Verses 13-15. Now, brethren — Lest ye should be surprised that I, who am the apostle of the Gentiles, and who have expressed such a desire to see you, have never yet preached in Rome; I would not have you ignorant — I wish to inform you; that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you — See the margin. But was let (prevented) hitherto — Either by the greater necessities of others, as Romans 15:22, or by the Spirit, Acts 16:7, or by Satan raising opposition and persecution, or otherwise hindering, 1 Thessalonians 2:2, 18. That I might have some fruit — Of my ministerial labours; by the conversion of some, and the confirmation and edification of others; even as — I have already had from the many churches I have planted and watered, among other Gentiles, Romans 15:18, 19. I am debtor both to the Greeks, &c. — Being the apostle of the Gentiles, I am bound to preach both to the Greeks, however intelligent, and to the barbarians, however ignorant. Under the name Greeks, the Romans are comprehended, because they were now become a learned and polished people. For the meaning of the name barbarian, see the note on Acts 28:2, and 1 Corinthians 14:11; both to the wise and the unwise — For there were unwise even among the Greeks, and wise even among the barbarians; and Paul considered himself as a debtor to them all; that is, under an indispensable obligation, by his divine mission, to preach the gospel to them; bound in duty and gratitude to do his utmost to promote the conversion and salvation of men of every nation and rank, of every genius and character. So, as much as in me is — According to the ability which God gives me, and the opportunities with which he is pleased to favour me; I am ready, and desirous, to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also — Though it be the capital of the world, a place of so much politeness and grandeur, and a place likewise where it might seem peculiarly dangerous to oppose those popular superstitions to which the empire is supposed to owe its greatness and felicity: yet still, at all events, I am willing to come and publish this divine message among you; though it should be at the expense of my reputation, my liberty, or life.

14. Debtor—Christ had, by granting him grace and apostleship, brought him under an infinite indebtedness, which he was obliged to pay off to the world needing a like salvation.

Ver. 14. Greeks and Barbarians: the common Greek summary of the civilised and uncivilised nations. Its use by Paul reveals to how great an extent in his day the civilisation of the world was Greek. The culture even of Rome was of Greek origin. He writes without thought probably to which class the Romans belong. The broad distinction in his day was between those who used the Greek language and partook of Greek civilisation and those who did not.

Wise: acquainted with arts and sciences learnt only by a special education. See note under 2 Corinthians 2:5.

Foolish: men of dull perception. “ To those who know more, and to those who know less, than others,

I am a debtor.” Paul received the Gospel in trust for all, without distinction of nationality or intelligence, and is therefore under obligation, both to God who entrusted it and to those for whom it was entrusted, to proclaim it to all within his reach. He is a steward of the mysteries of God: 1 Corinthians 4:1; 1 Peter 4:10. Therefore his efforts to do them good are but the discharge of a duty to God and to them. The civilisation and learning of the Greeks, the coarseness and ignorance of the barbarians, do not lessen this obligation. The wise need the Gospel, the foolish are capable of receiving it; and therefore both have a claim on Paul. Notice here a modest but correct view of Christian beneficence. To do all we can, is but to pay a just debt. To claim gratitude for doing good, is to mistake utterly our position and obligation.

Verses 14, 15. I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians. — The Greeks usually called all other people barbarians; a word indeed not so harsh in its meaning with them as with us, yet nevertheless implying political and intellectual culture in a lower degree than they assumed to themselves. — It is probable, however, that the Romans were, in St. Paul’s age, included in the term Greeks, as having long become a refined and cultivated people; and a term implying the reproach of inferiority not being likely to be used in current language, such as St. Paul here employs, with reference to the lords of the Greeks themselves. The context, indeed, proves that St. Paul includes the Romans in it, as well as in the term wise that follows; for his argument is, that being a debtor to all men, he was ready to preach, not only in places distant from the seat of empire, and less cultivated and discerning, but at Rome also; to the Greeks, to those instructed in the Greek philosophy and arts, as were the Romans; and to the wise, for Rome was crowded with sophists and professors of philosophy, both Greeks and Romans; as well as to the unwise. St. Paul calls himself a debtor with reference to his office. He, like all other ministers, acted under a commission to “preach the Gospel to every creature;” and being especially raised up for the service of the Gentiles, he was under special obligation to fulfil his ministry among them universally, whatever might be their rank and nation. His charity to the souls included in so vast a city as that of Rome, and his sense of duty, made him ready, proqumov, anxiously desirous, to preach the Gospel to the Romans also.

Verse 15. I am ready to preach] proqumon; I have a ready mind. I was only prevented by the providence of God from visiting you long ago. His time is best: in the mean time I write, by his direction, to comfort and instruct you.

Verses 13-15. Now, brethren — Lest ye should be surprised that I, who am the apostle of the Gentiles, and who have expressed such a desire to see you, have never yet preached in Rome; I would not have you ignorant — I wish to inform you; that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you — See the margin. But was let (prevented) hitherto — Either by the greater necessities of others, as Romans 15:22, or by the Spirit, Acts 16:7, or by Satan raising opposition and persecution, or otherwise hindering, 1 Thessalonians 2:2, 18. That I might have some fruit — Of my ministerial labours; by the conversion of some, and the confirmation and edification of others; even as — I have already had from the many churches I have planted and watered, among other Gentiles, Romans 15:18, 19. I am debtor both to the Greeks, &c. — Being the apostle of the Gentiles, I am bound to preach both to the Greeks, however intelligent, and to the barbarians, however ignorant. Under the name Greeks, the Romans are comprehended, because they were now become a learned and polished people. For the meaning of the name barbarian, see the note on Acts 28:2, and 1 Corinthians 14:11; both to the wise and the unwise — For there were unwise even among the Greeks, and wise even among the barbarians; and Paul considered himself as a debtor to them all; that is, under an indispensable obligation, by his divine mission, to preach the gospel to them; bound in duty and gratitude to do his utmost to promote the conversion and salvation of men of every nation and rank, of every genius and character. So, as much as in me is — According to the ability which God gives me, and the opportunities with which he is pleased to favour me; I am ready, and desirous, to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also — Though it be the capital of the world, a place of so much politeness and grandeur, and a place likewise where it might seem peculiarly dangerous to oppose those popular superstitions to which the empire is supposed to owe its greatness and felicity: yet still, at all events, I am willing to come and publish this divine message among you; though it should be at the expense of my reputation, my liberty, or life.

8-17. The direct address. Thus far in his superscription the apostle speaks of both himself and the Romans mainly in the third person singular and plural. He now addresses them in the second person plural directly, and treats of personal matters.

Ver. 15. Hence my readiness etc. The obligation just mentioned is another reason for Paul’s desire to visit Rome. He wishes to see his readers in order to do them good, and thus to strengthen the faith they already possess.

Preach-the-Gospel: literally to announce good news: cognate verb to the word Gospel in Romans 1:1. Same word in Romans 10:15; 15:20; 1 Corinthians 1:17, etc. It may be transliterated evangelize. REVIEW. “In writing to you, my first thought is gratitude to God: and I remember that all blessing comes through Christ. Wherever I go, I hear of your faith. The news fills me with thankfulness: for it is a gift of my God, and an answer to my prayers. How ceaseless are my prayers for you, is known only to Him whom in my heart of hearts I serve by proclaiming the good news of salvation through His Son. Whenever I pray for you, I pray that if well-pleasing to God I may be permitted by some means to visit you. My reason is that I desire to be a channel through which the Spirit may bestow some gift of God’s favour, and thus strengthen you. Such blessing to you will be a gain to me. If I come into your midst, I shall be encouraged by your faith and you by mine. Not only do I desire, but I have often purposed, to visit you: but hitherto my apostolic work has hindered me. For I wish to sow seed at Rome, and thus reap among you a harvest of blessing such as I have gathered among others. Moreover, I wish to discharge my obligation to Him who in His undeserved favour has entrusted to me, for the good of all men, the Gospel of Christ. This felt obligation makes me ready to preach the Gospel also at Rome.” In § 1, an ambassador claimed our respect by the greatness of his business and of his Master. In § 2, a man who calls us brethren wins our affection by the warmth of his love. He thanks God because he hears good about us: and he never prays without praying for us and praying that God will enable him to see our face. For years he has been planning to make a long journey to do us good. He is sure that intercourse with us will give encouragement to him: and he looks upon our Church as a field in which he will reap a harvest of blessing. Though we have never seen him and his name is highly honoured wherever there are Christians, he calls himself our debtor. In writing these words, Paul doubtless sought only to express his feelings towards these far-off brethren. But he could not have written words more calculated to increase the attention which his foregoing words called forth. In § 1, our spirits bowed before one who stood so high in the service of so great a Master. But now the ambassador of Christ comes to us as one like ourselves. Across the waters which roll between him and us, we hear a brother’s voice and see a brother’s face.

Verses 14, 15. I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians. — The Greeks usually called all other people barbarians; a word indeed not so harsh in its meaning with them as with us, yet nevertheless implying political and intellectual culture in a lower degree than they assumed to themselves. — It is probable, however, that the Romans were, in St. Paul’s age, included in the term Greeks, as having long become a refined and cultivated people; and a term implying the reproach of inferiority not being likely to be used in current language, such as St. Paul here employs, with reference to the lords of the Greeks themselves. The context, indeed, proves that St. Paul includes the Romans in it, as well as in the term wise that follows; for his argument is, that being a debtor to all men, he was ready to preach, not only in places distant from the seat of empire, and less cultivated and discerning, but at Rome also; to the Greeks, to those instructed in the Greek philosophy and arts, as were the Romans; and to the wise, for Rome was crowded with sophists and professors of philosophy, both Greeks and Romans; as well as to the unwise. St. Paul calls himself a debtor with reference to his office. He, like all other ministers, acted under a commission to “preach the Gospel to every creature;” and being especially raised up for the service of the Gentiles, he was under special obligation to fulfil his ministry among them universally, whatever might be their rank and nation. His charity to the souls included in so vast a city as that of Rome, and his sense of duty, made him ready, proqumov, anxiously desirous, to preach the Gospel to the Romans also.

V. 16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel-To the world, indeed, it is folly and weakness, 1 Corinthians 1:18; therefore, in the judgment of the world, he ought to be ashamed of it; especially at Rome, the head and theatre of the world. But Paul is not ashamed, knowing

It is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth-The great and gloriously powerful means of saving all who accept salvation in God's own way. As St. Paul comprises the sum of the gospel in this epistle, so he does the sum of the epistle in this and the following verse. Both to the Jew, and to the Gentile-There is a noble frankness, as well as a comprehensive sense, in these words, by which he, on the one hand, shows the Jews their absolute need of the gospel; and, on the other, tells the politest and greatest nation in the world both that their salvation depended on receiving it, and that the first offers of it were in every place to be made to the despised Jews.

Verse 16. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ] This text is best illustrated by Isaiah 28:16; 49:23, quoted by the apostle, Romans 10:11: For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him, shall not be ashamed; i.e. they shall neither be confounded, nor disappointed of their hope. The Jews, by not believing on Jesus Christ, by not receiving him as the promised Messiah, but trusting in others, have been disappointed, ashamed, and confounded, from that time to the present day. Their expectation is cut off; and, while rejecting Christ, and expecting another Messiah, they have continued under the displeasure of God, and are ashamed of their confidence. On the other hand, those who have believed on Christ have, in and through him, all the blessings of which the prophets spoke; every promise of God being yea and amen through him. Paul, as a Jew, believed on Christ Jesus; and in believing he had life through his name; through him he enjoyed an abundance of grace; so that, being filled with that happiness which an indwelling Christ produces, he could cheerfully say, I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. And why? Because he felt it to be the power of God to the salvation of his believing soul. This appears to be the true sense of this passage, and this interpretation acquires additional strength from the consideration that St. Paul is here most evidently addressing himself to the Jews. It is the power of God unto salvation] dunamiv gar qeou estin: The almighty power of God accompanies this preaching to the souls of them that believe; and the consequence is, they are saved; and what but the power of God can save a fallen, sinful soul?

To the Jew first] Not only the Jews have the first offer of this Gospel, but they have the greatest need of it; being so deeply fallen, and having sinned against such glorious privileges, they are much more culpable than the Gentiles, who never had the light of a Divine revelation. And also to the Greek] Though the salvation of God has hitherto been apparently confined to the Jewish people, yet it shall be so no longer, for the Gospel of Christ is sent to the Gentiles as well as the Jews; God having put no difference between them; and Jesus Christ having tasted death for EVERY man.

Verse 16. For — In whatever contempt that sacred dispensation, and they who publish it, may be held on account of the circumstances and death of its Author, the character of its ministers, and the nature and tendency of its doctrines; I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ — But rather glory in it. To the world, indeed, it appeared folly and weakness, 1 Corinthians 1:18, 23. Therefore, in the judgment of the world, he ought to have been ashamed of it; especially at Rome, the head and theatre of the world. But Paul was not ashamed of it, knowing it to be the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth — The great and gloriously powerful means of saving all who accept salvation in God’s own way, namely, the way of faith in Jesus, as the Son of God and Saviour of the world, and in the declarations and promises of God made through him: faith preceded by repentance toward God, accompanied by love to God and all mankind, and productive of all inward and outward holiness. To the Jew first — Who is far from being above the need of it, and to whom, by the special command of the Lord, it is to be first proposed and preached, wherever its ambassadors come; yet it is not to be limited to the Jew, but proclaimed also to the Greek — And the Roman, and Gentiles of every nation under heaven, who are all, with equal freedom, invited to partake of its important benefits. There is a noble frankness, as well as a comprehensive sense, in these words of the apostle; by which, on the one hand, he shows the Jews their absolute need of the gospel, and, on the other, tells the politest and greatest nation of the world, both that their salvation depended on receiving it, and that the first offers of it were in every place to be made to the despised Jews. As the apostle comprises the sum of the gospel in this epistle; so he does the sum of the epistle in this and the following verses. With regard to the names, Jews and Greeks, it maybe proper to observe here, that “after Alexander’s generals had established their empire in Egypt and Asia, the inhabitants of these countries were considered as Greeks, because they generally spake the Greek language; and, as the Jews were little acquainted with the other idolatrous nations, they naturally called all the heathens Greeks. Hence in their language, Jews and Greeks comprehended all mankind.” — Macknight.

Ver. 16. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for a thousand reasons. It has encountered great and powerful foes, the malice of the jews, the rage of heathen priests, the scorn and contempt of philosophers, the storm of popular fury. Ask of the Corinthians its moral powers in converting men from the grossest immoralities. “Such were some of you; but ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified.” Ask its power and efficacy of the Thessalonians, who turned in great numbers “from dumb idols to serve the living God, and to wait for his Son from heaven.” Ask the people of New Zealand, of Taheita, of Tonga, cannibals, infanticides, murderers of whole islands, what it has done for the salvation of their souls. Proofs that the gospel has lost none of its ancient powers. Let our infidels astound us no more with encomiums on French philosophy. What has the unhallowed wit of Voltaire done for the morals of Europe. It is atheism which covers us with shame, not the gospel of Christ.

16. Not ashamed—Though it be the Gospel of the Jesus crucified as a Jewish malefactor, and though it be in the centre of proud and powerful Rome, with the whole Gentile world pouring contempt upon it, yet is he ready to stand up unshamed and hold forth the cross. Power—The Gospel is as it were a concrete power, yet power to a given result. Every one— Here is universality without limit. That believeth—And here is the limit. The salvation is intrinsically universal; the limitation is the rejection by those who might accept. Jew first—Perfectly uniform was the practice of Paul, as appears by the narratives in Acts, to offer the Gospel in every place first in the synagogues of the Jews. (See note on Acts 27:18.) The grand reason for this was that the mission of Israel was to be a nation of priests and preachers for the conversion of the world to Jesus Messiah, and so long as a remnant of hope remained that the Jews would be true to this offer, so long to them the first offer should be made. The word Jew, contracted from Judean, is derived from the name Judah, and from the name of a tribe became the name of the race. Greek here stands for Gentile, as the Jews had mostly to do with Greek-speaking Gentiles.

ROMANS

SECTION 3 — FOR THE GOSPEL IS GOD’S

POWER TO SAVE ALL THAT BELIEVE

CH. 1:16, 17

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel. For it is a power of God, for salvation, to everyone that believes, both to Jew first and to Greek. For righteousness of God is revealed in it, by faith, for faith, according as it is written, “But the righteous man by faith will live.” Paul concluded § 2 with a new thought. He had expressed a desire to impart to his readers a spiritual gift and spiritual strength, to receive encouragement and gather fruit among them, and to discharge an obligation to them. In Romans 1:15, these desires assumed the form of a wish to preach the Gospel to them. Verse 16 gives a reason for this, viz. that the Gospel is a power of God to save. Therefore to preach it to the Christians at Rome will impart spiritual gifts and strength, will advance their salvation and thus bear fruit for Paul, and will discharge the obligation which the possession of such a Gospel laid upon him. Thus the last word of § 2 is the key-note of § 3.

Ver. 16. Paul mentions first, not the nature of the Gospel, but his own feelings about it. He is ready to preach it to them because he is not ashamed of the Gospel. He is not ashamed of it because he knows its saving power. The word shame was perhaps suggested by the greatness of Rome and the apparent worthlessness of a mere word in a man’s lips. But the thought of shame is banished by remembrance of the power and purpose of the Gospel. For Paul knew that in his words there lives and works the Creator’s power, that in those words this power is put forth to save men ready to die, that his word will save all men of any nation or rank who believe it, and that all men alike need salvation. This last point will be proved in § 4. Of such a word he is not ashamed even in the world’s great capital: and therefore he is ready to proclaim it even to the men of Rome. Power: something able to produce results. By means of the good news, God performs works of power So 1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Thessalonians 2:13. In creation a word was the instrument of God’s power, and the universe is upheld by the word of the power of Christ: Psalms 33:6Psalm 33:6,9; Hebrews 1:3. The words which called Lazarus from the grave and healed the lame man at the temple gate were a power of God. Such also is the Gospel. While men speak it, the might of God produces, through the spoken word, works possible only to God. So James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23: cp. Acts 8:10. Salvation: rescue of the lost, including the whole work of God in us till we are beyond the perils of the present life: see Romans 5:10; 13:11. Every moment by His power God saves us from evil.

For salvation: purpose and aim of the power of God put forth in the proclamation of the good news.

Believes: see note under Romans 4:25.

Everyone that believes the good news, of whatever nation or degree of culture, experiences the power which saves. To others, “the word of the cross is foolishness:” 1 Corinthians 1:18. Paul is ready to preach the Gospel at Rome because, to all who believe, it is a power of God to save. Jew and Greek: another division of men. “Greeks and Barbarians” were equal in reference to the Kingdom of God. Both were far off; Ephesians 2:13. But the Jews were “the sons of the covenant” and “of the kingdom:” Acts 3:25; Matthew 8:12. They were first not only in time but in privilege: Acts 13:46; Romans 3:1. Therefore in the great day they will be first in punishment and in reward: Romans 2:9,

10. Same contrast in Ephesians 2:17.

Greek: any who were not Jews, as in Mark 7:26, John 7:35; Acts 11:20; 14:1. This use of the word shows, as does Romans 1:14, how completely Greek thought and life had moulded the world in which Paul moved. The word is denotes here as in Romans 1:12, not identity, but coincidence in thought or practical identity. The word and the power are not the same, but they go together. The one is the outward form, the other is the life-giving spirit.

Verse 16. For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. — At Rome, of course, the Gospel, like every new system of philosophy, would come under the notice both of the intelligent and inquiring who abounded in that city, and the scrutiny of a jealous government itself. The sophists were skeptics or infidels; they therefore would subject all the supernatural pretensions of the preachers of this new religion to a severe test. But even the skeptical and the infidels were most strenuous advocates for upholding the popular superstition, as an instrument for managing the minds of the lower classes and maintaining the peace of society; and were equally jealous with the most superstitious of any thing which could tend to alienate the minds of any considerable portion of men from the religion of their ancestors. Neither, therefore, from the skeptical nor the superstitious could Christianity expect any favour. Nevertheless, says St. Paul, I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; he hesitated not to put it to the severest tests, and to expose it to the most piercing scrutiny, with entire confidence that he should not be confounded or made ashamed by the result. Persecuted it might be, but not disproved; and contemptuously slighted by some, but by others it would be received through the force of its evidence; and he knew that it would erect monuments of its own Divinity in the moral changes produced in individuals, and ultimately in society. The ground of this confidence in the Gospel, no doubt, embraced more particulars than are stated. St. Paul would naturally advert to the character of Christ, that summary of all high and commanding proofs in itself; to the evidence of miracles and prophecy; to its internal excellence; to the vast and varied range of its revealed truth; but he fixes upon ONE only, — its moral efficacy, — and with that he confronts every system of human invention. Its character is power, a power producing effects mercifully superhuman, and therefore the power of God, and this power of God directed to one grand end affectingly illustrative of the Divine benevolence, the salvation of men; a term in which St. Paul always includes their deliverance from sin, in its POWER and its CONSEQUENCE; of course the remission of sins by pardon, and the deliverance of the heart and affections, the springs of action in man, from its influence and pollution; the consequent restoration of man to the Divine favour and image, and to immortality and changeless blessedness. The Gospel had power to effect this, — that was the ground of the apostle’s confidence; and not only as to a few persons more favourably circumstanced than others to receive, to retain, and to improve moral impressions, but to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek; in which words he refers to the actual proof of the fact from experience. These mighty moral changes had taken place in the Jew first, because the Gospel had been first proposed to Jews and received by them; but not less was its efficacy marked among the Greeks who had been made “fellow heirs” with them, and partakers of the same benefit, without distinction or limitation. Wherever the medicine had been received, there the cure had infallibly followed.

V. 17. The righteousness of God-This expression sometimes means God's eternal, essential righteousness, which includes both justice and mercy, and is eminently shown in condemning sin, and yet justifying the sinner. Sometimes it means that righteousness by which a man, through the gift of God, is made and is righteous; and that, both by receiving Christ through faith, and by a conformity to the essential righteousness of God. St. Paul, when treating of justification, means hereby the righteousness of faith; therefore called the righteousness of God, because God found out and prepared, reveals and gives, approves and crowns it. In this verse the expression means, the whole benefit of God through Christ for the salvation of a sinner.

Is revealed-Mention is made here, and Romans 1:18, of a twofold revelation,-of wrath and of righteousness: the former, little known to nature, is revealed by the law; the latter, wholly unknown to nature, by the gospel. That goes before, and prepares the way; this follows. Each, the apostle says, is revealed at the present time, in opposition to the times of ignorance.

From faith to faith-By a gradual series of still clearer and clearer promises.

As it is written-St. Paul had just laid down three propositions:

1. Righteousness is by faith, Romans 1:17: 2. Salvation is by righteousness, Romans 1:16: 3. Both to the Jews and to the Gentiles, Romans 1:16.

Now all these are confirmed by that single sentence,

The just shall live by faith-Which was primarily spoken of those who preserved their lives, when the Chaldeans besieged Jerusalem, by believing the declarations of God, and acting according to them. Here it means, He shall obtain the favour of God, and continue therein by believing. Habakkuk 2:4

Verse 17. For therein] In the Gospel of Christ.

Is the righteousness of God] God’s method of saving sinners. Revealed from faith to faith] Shown to be by faith, and not by the works of any law; for Abraham, the father and founder of the Jewish people, was justified by faith, before even the law was given; and by believing, in reference to the spiritual object held forth in the various ordinances of the law, and now revealed under the Gospel, he and all his believing descendants have been justified. And thus the faith of the old covenant led on to the faith of the new covenant, which shows that salvation has been by faith from the call of Abraham to the present time. And, from the beginning, all that were just or righteous in the earth became such by faith, and by this principle alone they were enabled to persevere; as it is written, The just shall live by faith. That dikaiosunh, which we translate righteousness in this verse, signifies God’s method of saving mankind by faith in Christ, is fully evident from the use of the term in Romans 9:30: The Gentiles which followed not after RIGHTEOUSNESS-who had no knowledge by revelation, of God’s method of justifying and saving sinners, have attained to RIGHTEOUSNESS-have had imparted to them God’s method of salvation by faith in Christ. Romans 9:31: But Israel, the Jews, which followed after the law of righteousness-that law, the end or object of which is CHRIST, and through him justification to all that believe (Romans 10:4,) have not attained to the law of righteousness-have not found out the genuine plan of salvation, even in that law which so strongly and generally proclaims justification by faith. And why have they not found it? Romans 9:32: Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law-they did not discern that even its works or prescribed religious observances were intended to lead to faith in that glorious Mediator of whom they were the types and representatives; but the Jews trusted in the observances themselves, hoping to acquire justification and final salvation by that means. For they stumbled at the stumbling-stone-at the doctrine of Christ crucified as the only sure ground on which the expectation of future salvation can be founded. Therefore, being ignorant of God’s righteousness-God’s method of saving sinners, and going about to establish their own righteousness-their own method of salvation, by the observance of those rites and ceremonies which should have led them by faith to Christ, they did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God-they would not submit to be saved in God’s way, and therefore rejected, persecuted, and crucified the Lord Jesus; see Romans 10:3. This collation of passages most evidently shows that the word righteousness here means simply God’s method of saving sinners, or God’s way of salvation, in opposition to the ways and means invented by the fancies or prejudices of men.

There are few words in the sacred writings which are taken in a greater variety of acceptations than the word hqdx tsedakah in Hebrew, and dikaiosunh in Greek, both of which we generally translate righteousness. Our English word was originally rightwiseness, from the Anglo-Saxon, [Anglo-Saxon], justice, right, and [Anglo-Saxon], to know; and thus the righteous man was a person who was allowed to understand the claims of justice and right, and who, knowing them, acted according to their dictates. Such a man is thoroughly wise; he aims at the attainment of the best end by the use of the best means. This is a true definition of wisdom, and the righteous man is he that knows most and acts best. The Hebrew qdx tsadak, in its ideal meaning, contains the notion of a beam or scales in equipoise, what we call even balance; and it is well known that in all the personifications of Justice, both ancient and modern, she is represented as a beautiful female with a bandage on her eyes, and a beam and scales in her hand, so perfectly poised that neither end preponderates. The Greek word dikaiosunh has been derived from dicazw, to divide; and hence dikh, justice, because it is the property of this virtue to divide to each his due. With other etymologies it is useless to trouble the reader. Both the noun dikaiosunh and the verb dikaiow have a great variety of meaning in the New Testament; but they are all reducible to this original idea, acting according to the requisitions of justice or right. It may not be improper to notice some of the chief of these acceptations in this place.

1. The act of distributing to each man his due is the sense of the word, Acts 17:31: He will judge the world in RIGHTEOUSNESS, i.e. according to the principles of eternal justice and rectitude. See also Revelation 19:2: In RIGHTEOUSNESS doth he judge and make war.

2. It signifies a holy life, as proceeding from piety towards God. Luke 1:75: Might serve him in holiness and RIGHTEOUSNESS all the days of our life.

3. It signifies benignity, liberality, and particularly almsgiving, as justice and righteousness require us, being only stewards of God’s bounty, to share it with the necessitous. Matthew 6:1: Take heed that ye do not your ALMS, dikaiosunhn, your RIGHTEOUSNESS, before men.

Romans 3:5: But if our unrighteousness commend the RIGHTEOUSNESS, the benignity of God. 2 Corinthians 9:10: Increase the fruits of your RIGHTEOUSNESS, i.e. of your liberality.

4. It signifies God’s method of saving sinners; the way which is agreeable to his righteousness and liberality. See the former part of this note, and the scriptures there referred to.

5. It signifies the reward or issue of liberality. 2 Corinthians 9:9: He hath scattered abroad; he hath given to the poor; his RIGHTEOUSNESS-the reward of his bounty, remaineth for ever. See <19B209>Psalm 112:9.

6. It signifies the whole collection of graces, which constitute the complete Christian character. Matthew 5:6: Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after RIGHTEOUSNESS-they who ardently long for the full salvation of God. Matthew 5:10, 20: If your RIGHTEOUSNESS exceed not the righteousness, &c. Matthew 6:33: Seek the kingdom of God and his RIGHTEOUSNESS.

7. It signifies the result of faith in God and submission to his will, exemplified in a holy and useful life. Hebrews 11:7: By faith Noah prepared an ark, and became heir of the RIGHTEOUSNESS which is by faith-he escaped the deluge and became the instrument of repeopling the world.

8. It signifies an exact observance of religious ordinances and precepts. Philippians 3:6: Touching the RIGHTEOUSNESS which is of the law, blameless-having lived in an exact conformity to all the Mosaic precepts. In this sense it is to be understood, Matthew 3:15: Thus it becomes us to fulfil all RIGHTEOUSNESS-to observe every precept of the law.

9. It signifies the favour or pardoning mercy of God. Romans 4:6: The blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth RIGHTEOUSNESS— without works—the man is happy to whom God has granted the remission of sins, without respect to his observance of the law of Moses.

10. In 2 Corinthians 5:21, dikaiosunh, righteousness, is put for dikaiov, righteous: That we might become the righteousness of God-that we might receive such a righteousness or holiness, such a salvation, as is worthy of God’s grace to impart, and such as the necessities of mankind require.

A few of the leading acceptations of the verb dikaiow, which we translate to justify, may be here properly subjoined, as this verb is so repeatedly used in this epistle.

1. It signifies so declare or pronounce one just or righteous; or, in other words, to declare him to be what he really is. 1 Timothy 3:16: He was JUSTIFIED in the Spirit.-By the almighty power of the Spirit he was proved to be the TRUE MESSIAH.

2. To esteem a thing properly. Matthew 11:19: Wisdom is JUSTIFIED of her children.-Wisdom, propriety of conduct, is properly estimated by wise men.

3. It signifies to approve, praise, and commend. The publicans JUSTIFIED God, Luke 7:29; praised him for calling them to such a state of salvation. Luke 16:15: Ye are they which JUSTIFY yourselves before men-Ye are self-commended, self-applauded, and self-praised. In this sense it is often used in the Greek apocryphal books. Ecclus. vii. 5: JUSTlFY not thyself before the Lord-Do not applaud thyself in the presence of thy-Maker. Ib. x. 29: Who will JUSTIFY (praise or applaud) him that sinneth against his own soul. Ib. xviii. 2: The Lord only is righteous, dikaiwqhsetai, shall be JUSTIFIED, i.e. praised, because there is none other but he.

4. The verb dikaioomai is used to clear from all sin. 1 Corinthians 4:4: For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby JUSTIFIED-A man’s own consciousness of integrity is not a proof that he is clear from all sin in the sight of God.

5. A judge is said to justify not only when he condemns and punishes, but also when he defends the cause of the innocent. See EURIP. Heraclid. ver.

190. THUCYD. iii. p. 200. POLYB. iii. 31, and SCHLEUSNER on dikaiow. Hence dikaiousqai is taken in a forensic sense, and signifies to be found or declared righteous, innocent, &c. Matthew 12:37: By thy words shalt thou be JUSTIFIED-thou shalt be declared to be righteous. Romans 3:4: That thou mightest be JUSTIFIED in thy saying-that thou mightest be proved to be true in what thou hast said.

6. It signifies to set free, to escape from. Acts 13:39: And by him all that believe are JUSTIFIED from all things, from which ye could not be JUSTIFIED by the law-by faith in Christ a man escapes those evils which, otherwise, the law of Moses would inflict upon him. Romans 6:7: For he that is dead, dedikaiwtai, is JUSTIFIED, properly rendered by our translators, is FREED from sin.

7. It signifies also to receive one into favour, to pardon sin. Romans 8:30: Whom he called, them he also JUSTIFIED-he received them into favour and pardoned their sins. Luke 18:14: This man went down to his house JUSTIFIED-he humbled himself, repented of his iniquity, and God forgave his sin. Romans 3:20: By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be JUSTIFIED-no soul can have his sins forgiven through the observance of the Mosaic law. Romans 4:2: If Abraham were JUSTIFIED (had his sin pardoned) by works. 1 Corinthians 6:11: Such were some of you, but ye are JUSTIFIED-ye are received into the Divine favour, and have your sins forgiven. See James 2:21-25; Romans 3:24, 28; 5:1, 9; Galatians 2:16, 17; 3:11, 24; 5:4; Titus 3:7. In all these texts the word justify is taken in the sense of remission of sins through faith in Christ Jesus; and does not mean making the person just or righteous, but treating him as if he were so, having already forgiven him his sins.

The just shall live by faith.] This has been understood two ways: 1. That the just or righteous man cannot live a holy and useful life without exercising continual faith in our Lord Jesus: which is strictly true; for He only who has brought him into that state of salvation can preserve him in it; and he stands by faith. 2. It is contended by some able critics that the words of the original text should be pointed thus: oJ de dikaiov ek pistewv, zhsetai. The just by faith, shall live; that is, he alone that is justified by faith shall be saved: which is also true; as it is impossible to get salvation in any other way. This last meaning is probably the true one, as the original text in Habakkuk 2:4, speaks of those who believed the declarations of God when the Chaldeans besieged Jerusalem, and, having acted conformably to them, escaped with their lives.

Verse 17. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed — This expression sometimes means God’s essential, eternal righteousness, including both his holiness and justice, especially the latter, of which, together with his mercy, the word is explained, Romans 3:26; where we read, To declare his righteousness: that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus; this his essential righteousness being eminently shown in condemning sin, and in justifying the penitent, believing sinner. But frequently the expression means that righteousness by which a man, through the grace of God, is accounted and constituted righteous, or is pardoned and renewed, namely, the righteousness of faith, of which the apostle speaks, Philippians 3:9, terming it the righteousness which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness of God (Gr. ek qeou, from God) by faith: namely, acquittance from guilt, remission of sins, or justification through faith in Christ; or, as he expresses himself, Romans 4:5-8, faith imputed for righteousness, namely, through Christ’s obedience unto death, who was delivered for our offences, and raised for our justification. See this matter more fully explained in the notes on Romans 3:20-25; 9:30, 31; and 10:3-9. The meaning of the apostle, in the verse now under consideration, would be more manifest if his words were more literally translated, which they are by Doddridge and Macknight, thus: For in it (namely, the gospel) the righteousness of God by faith is revealed to our faith, or, in order to faith. “This translation,” says the latter of these divines, “which results from construing the words properly, affords a clear sense of a passage which, in the common translation, is absolutely unintelligible. Besides, it is shown to be the right translation by other passages of Scripture, in which the expression, dikaiosunh ek pistewv, righteousness by faith, is found, Romans 3:22; 9:30; 10:6; Philippians 3:9. Righteousness by faith is called the righteousness of God, 1st, Because God hath enjoined faith as the righteousness which he will count to sinners, [through the mediation of his Son,] and hath declared that he will accept and reward it as righteousness. 2d, Because it stands in opposition to the righteousness of men: which consists in sinless obedience to the law of God. For if men gave that obedience, it would be their own righteousness, and they might claim reward as a debt.” We may observe, further, the righteousness of faith is termed the righteousness of God, because God appointed and prepared it, reveals and gives, approves and crowns it. It is said to be revealed, because, whereas it was but obscurely intimated to the Jews, in the covenant with Abraham, and in the types of the Mosaic law; it is now clearly manifested in the gospel to all mankind. The expression, in our translation, from faith to faith, is interpreted by some of a gradual series of still clearer and clearer discoveries; but the translation of the clause given above, namely, the righteousness of God by faith is revealed in order to faith, seems evidently to express better the apostle’s meaning. As it is written — St. Paul had just laid down three propositions: 1st, Righteousness is by faith, verse 17; 2d, Salvation is by righteousness, verse 16; 3d, Both to the Jews and to the Gentiles, verse 16. Now all these are confirmed by that single sentence, The just shall live by faith: which was primarily spoken of those who preserved their lives, when the Chaldeans besieged Jerusalem, by believing the declarations of God, and acting according to them. Here it means, he shall obtain the favour of God, and continue therein, by believing. The words, however, may with propriety be rendered, The just by faith, that is, they who by faith are just, or righteous, (as dikaioi signifies,) shall live. “This translation is agreeable both to the order of the words in the original, and the apostle’s design; which is to show that the doctrine of the gospel, concerning a righteousness by faith, is attested even by the prophets. Besides, it represents Habakkuk’s meaning more truly than the common translation. For in the passage from which the quotation is made, Habakkuk describes the different dispositions of the Jews about the time they were threatened by the Chaldeans. Some of their souls were lifted up; they presumptuously trusted in their own wisdom and power, and, contrary to God’s command, refused to submit to the Chaldeans, and were destroyed. But the just, or righteous, by faith, who believed God and obeyed his command, lived. However, as the reward of faith is not confined to the present life, persons who are just or good, by believing and obeying God, shall certainly live eternally.” — Macknight.

Ver. 17. Therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. Ek pistewv eiv pistin, from faith in faith; a Hebraism, in which the article is omitted; otherwise the text would read dikaiosunh h ek pistewv eiv pistewv. This omission occurs also in Ephesians 2:15, and 2 Thessalonians 2:13. Then we cannot say here, as many do, that this faith is revealed in a succession of clearer and clearer revelations, for it is the righteousness of God which is revealed, which our apostle strikingly defines to be the great love of God to fallen man in not sparing his own Son, but freely delivering him up to the altar of the cross for us all, and with him freely giving us all things. This is the righteousness, high as the heavens, and copiously rained down on the earth; the everlasting righteousness opened in the gospel, the inestimable love of God to fallen man.

From this view it follows, that we are not justified by works of righteousness that we have done, but by his mercy, by the gift of righteousness; and that this righteousness is obtained by faith. This evangelical righteousness rests like a cloud of glory on the church; while on the other hand, it turns a louring side of darkness on the crimes of the gentile world. The contrast between the glory of the church, and the shame of the heathen, is just, for if men are not languishing in disease, what need have they of a physician?

17. For—From treating of the Romans, himself, and the Gospel, the apostle gracefully glides into the great thesis or topic of his epistle, namely, justification by faith in Christ revealed in the Gospel. Thus the closing point of the exordium is the starting point of the whole treatise. Righteousness of God—A phrase used in this epistle not to signify, as it usually does, the attribute of righteousness with which God is invested, but that righteousness with which God would invest man in order that man may come into likeness and unity with himself. From faith to faith—There are three meanings, to mention no more, given by commentators to this phrase:

Ver. 17. Righteousness, or justice: same word both in Hebrew and in Greek. It describes any object which has a standard with which it may be compared, and which agrees with that standard; that which is as it ought to be. Hence we have, in Leviticus 19:36, righteous weights and measures; in Matthew 20:4; Colossians 4:1, righteous wages; in 2 Timothy 4:8, a righteous judge; in Romans 2:5; Acts 4:19; John 7:24, righteous conduct and judgment. Aristotle (Nicom. Ethics bk. v. 1. 8) defines the word righteous to mean “legal and equal.” The righteous man treats all men on the same principle, viz. according to the standard laid down by law. And this is the common use of the word in classical Greek. God is righteous (cp. Romans 3:26) in that His treatment of men agrees with the principles of right and wrong admitted by all.

It was ever in the mind of the Jew that God is the Judge by whom, and with whose law, man’s conduct must be compared; and that upon this comparison depends God’s smile or frown, and man’s life or death. Hence the phrase “righteous before God” in Luke 1:6; Acts 4:9. Sometimes, e.g. Deuteronomy 6:25; 24:13, the word suggests reward from God for right action. In O.T. and N.T., that man is righteous whose conduct agrees with the Law of God, and who therefore enjoys His approval and will obtain His reward; and his condition is righteousness. Righteousness of God is here said to be revealed in the Gospel, by faith, for faith: and this revelation of righteousness is given as an explanation of the statement that the Gospel is a power of God to save all believers. In Romans 3:5, 25, 26 the same phrase denotes an attribute of God: cp. “is God unrighteous?” in Romans 1:5 and “Himself righteous” in Romans 1:26. But it cannot have this meaning here. For, that God is righteous, was revealed, not in the Gospel, but long before: nor would such revelation explain how the Gospel is a power of God to save all who believe, or be explained by the quotation from Habakkuk immediately following. Moreover, such manifestation of righteousness could not, as we read in Romans 3:21, be said to be “apart from law.” In Romans 10:3 we read of men who, “not knowing the righteousness of God, and seeking to set up their own, did not submit to the righteousness of God;” where again the phrase before us cannot describe an attribute of God. Nor can it in 2 Corinthians 5:21. But in Philippians 3:9 Paul writes, “not having a righteousness of my own, that which is from law, but that which is through faith of Christ, the righteousness from God on the condition of faith.” The closeness of the parallel and the good sense given leave no room to doubt that these last words describe the righteousness of God in Romans 1:17; 3:21, 22; Romans 10:3. As given by Him, it is called God’s righteousness, in contrast to any righteousness derived from obedience to law and therefore having its source in man. Revealed, or unveiled: used in N.T. only of a veil lifted up by God; and only of truth actually apprehended by man, thus differing from the word manifest in Romans 1:19; 3:21. The Jews sought God’s approval; but it was hidden from their eyes: cp. Romans 9:30, 31. The good news proclaims (cp. Romans 3:27) the new law of faith; and thus brings to light, to all who believe, the long-sought blessing. The revelation is made, from God’s side, through the Gospel: it is received, on man’s side, by (literally from) faith, i.e. by belief of the preached word. To those who do not believe, the Gospel is still veiled: so 2 Corinthians 4:3. For faith: purpose of God in choosing faith as the means of this revelation of righteousness: cp. Romans 1:5, “for obedience of faith.” In order that faith in Him may be the abiding state of His servants, God proclaims, “He that believes shall be saved;” and thus makes known to all believers a state in which God’s favour is enjoyed. The revelation is by faith, that it may lead to faith.

This verse explains the statement in Romans 1:16 that the good news is a power of God to save all that believe. As we shall see in § 4, man was perishing, and his perdition was a just punishment of his sin. Now a righteous judge cannot rescue a criminal from a righteous sentence. But, in the Gospel, God proclaims a new law, viz. “He that believes shall be saved;” and thus bestows His own favour on all that believe. The believer is now, by the gift of God, righteous. He has “obtained righteousness, even the righteousness which is from faith:” Romans 9:30. And the righteous Judge breaks off the fetters, and sets the prisoner free. How the “power of God” works out “salvation for everyone that believes,” we shall learn in Rom. 6, 8. To this salvation, righteousness as a gift of God is a necessary preliminary condition.

As it is written etc.: not given in proof of the foregoing assertion, which rests simply on the word and authority of Christ; (see under Romans 3:22) but pointing out a harmony between the new Gospel and the ancient Scriptures. Habakkuk (Hab 1) mourns the vileness and lawlessness around; and foresees as its retribution rapid and complete conquest by the Chaldeans. He appeals to the character of God, and expresses for himself and the godly in Judæa an assurance of deliverance grounded on God’s character, “We shall not die:” Habakkuk 1:12. The prophet betakes himself to the watch-tower, and awaits the reply of God. In solemn tones God proclaims the destruction of the proud Chaldeans, and declares that while others perish the “righteous man by his faith shall live:” Romans 2:4. The Hebrew word rendered faith, although cognate to the ordinary verb meaning “to believe,” denotes, not belief, but faithfulness, that constancy and stability of character which make a man an object of reliance to others. These quoted words assume that faithfulness is an element of the righteous man’s character, and declare that by his faithfulness he shall survive. It is however quite evident that this faithfulness arises from faith, i.e. from belief of the promise of God. Indeed, Habakkuk 1:12 is an expression of faith. The prophet is unmoved because he relies upon God. In Habakkuk 2:4, the words shall live refer primarily to the present life. When others perish, the righteous will escape. But in this sense the promise was only partially fulfilled. And the incompleteness of its fulfilment in the present life was a sure pledge of a life to come.

Thus, through the lips of the prophet, God proclaims, in face of a coming storm, that the righteous man will survive by his faith. In Christ, God spoke again. In face of the tempest so soon to overwhelm the Jewish nation, and some day to overwhelm the world, He announced that the man of faith shall live. And Paul, echoing this announcement, calls attention to the harmony between God’s word in Christ and His word in Habakkuk. This harmony, amid so much divergence, confirms the words both of Habakkuk and of Paul and of Christ. The omission by Paul of the word his in Habakkuk 2:4 is unimportant: for evidently it is by his own faith that the righteous man will live. The omission makes prominent that the righteous man is a man of faith. In Habakkuk 2:4 the words “by his faith” must be connected with “shall live;” and are put first for the sake of emphasis. And this gives good sense in Romans 2:17. But the difference is unimportant. We are told that the man who will survive is righteous and has faith. This is in remarkable harmony with Paul’s assertion that the Gospel is a power of God for salvation to all that believe.

The assertion, here made, that God accepts as righteous all that believe the Gospel, is the foundation-stone of this epistle. It is stated without proof. With what right, we will inquire under Romans 3:22, where we shall find a restatement of this doctrine.

Verse 17. For thereto the righteousness of God, &c. — This may be considered as the commencement of the leading subject of this epistle, the justification of guilty men before God. For the mention of this subject leads him to prove the necessity of such an interposition of the Divine mercy from the corrupt and condemned condition of all men, both Gentiles and Jews, on which he dwells in the concluding part of this and in the next chapter, with such force of argument, and such strength of language, unveiling both the crimes of mankind, and the depraved principles from which they flow, and bringing in as by a verdict “the whole world guilty before God.”

The phrase, the righteousness of God, has had as many senses attached to it as men have differed in their views of justification. Hence it is taken for freedom from the punishment of sin; for probity, for benignity, for righteousness by faith, and finally, as by Wahl and others; for the mode of obtaining righteousness or justification which God has exhibited in the Gospel, ratio divini favoris consequendi. The last is the true view of the apostle’s meaning, as will appear from his general argument. Man is under a law which connects life with obedience, death with transgression. The innocent, when brought before the bar, claim justification in their own right; they have never sinned, and are not therefore liable to punishment; but if the guilty are justified, that is, treated as righteous persons through an act of forgiveness, — which will appear to be the sense in which St. Paul uses the term justification when applied to the guilty, — they must be justified, or placed in this condition of righteous persons, through some special appointment of God. That appointment does not in the Gospel rest upon an act of God’s prerogative; but upon his having devised and accepted a SATISFACTION for sin, so that under a condition the remission of sin and the happy consequences of that act of grace, are mercifully offered to the acceptance of men in the Gospel. For this reason, that authorized and attested method of justifying the ungodly, which is contained in this Divine religion, is called the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. It stands opposed to “our own righteousness,” that which fallen men vainly fancy they can themselves attain to by efforts of their own: and it is that to which God hath set his seal as the only rule or method of reconciliation to himself, so that the guilty may escape the merited and actually denounced condemnation of his law. It is necessary to hold this simple and clear view of the subject steadily before us, in order to escape those darkening and perplexing comments by which unenlightened men on the one hand, and systematizing divines on the other, have often obscured so plain a subject. Revealed from faith to faith. — That great subject, the method of man’s justification, is said, to be revealed in the Gospel, not that it was a new doctrine, for from the beginning, up to Abel, the truly penitent were justified by faith in the grand propitiation for sin appointed by God; but because it was fully uncovered, as the word signifies, brought from under the veil of the types of the law, and the religious superstitions and gross ignorance of heathenism, and placed in its full lustre and evidence before the whole world. From faith to faith, may be understood as an intensive expression, like th anomia eiv thn anomian, Romans 6:19, “to iniquity unto iniquity,” that is, entire and absolute iniquity; or as implying progression from one degree of iniquity to the greatest. The sense under this view will be, as Locke and Seiler have it, “wholly by faith,” or from one degree or measure of faith to another; intimating that the doctrine has a progressive evidence, calling into exercise a higher and a still higher faith, and imparting the fulness of its benefits accordingly. This is an important truth; for Christianity has a germinant evidence in all its parts, and in none so much as in that most glorious portion of it which indeed constitutes its very essence, “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them;” the mystery of which is continually opening to the faithful; but in the text ek pistewv may be connected with the righteousness of God, a similar order of words frequently occurring. The meaning then will be, that the righteousness of God by, or through faith, God’s method of justifying men by the instrumentality of faith in Christ, is revealed eiv pistin, to faith, or, in order to faith, so that, by this means, the grace designed for all upon their believing, may be by all attained. This sense is clear and satisfactory. Rosenmuller and Schleusner interpret eiv pistin, “to those who have faith,” but erroneously; the end of the revelation being to produce faith in all to whom the publication of this good news of salvation might reach. The apostle does not here bring the quotation out of Habakkuk 2:4, as a prophecy fulfilled in the Gospel; nor, on the other hand, is it a mere ornament, as we use classical quotations. It is manifestly employed to give strength to the argument, and must therefore have some connection with it. That connection lies in the conformity of the evangelical doctrine of justification by faith, with the principles admitted by the saints of the Old Testament, and acted upon in the moral government of God. Whoever turns to the Prophet Habakkuk will observe that the passage is not, as some commentators have represented it, a declaration that those who believed God’s word as to the invasion of the Chaldeans, and submitted to them, should live. The words have no such meaning; but stand in a connection which obliges us to a very different interpretation. The prophet had had a vision of the destruction of the Babylonian power. This was accompanied with an intimation that the event would be delayed; yet “though the vision tarry, wait for it,” wait for its accomplishment in steadfast faith; which leads to a general observation, applicable to all the revelations of God; that the souls of men, “not upright,” lift themselves up against God, in proud rejection of his testimony; but that “the just shall live by his faith,” that is, it shall be life and salvation. So the just have always lived by faith in the revelations of God; and so says the apostle, as this is a standing rule of God’s moral government, those who believe the revelation of God’s method of justifying men by faith shall live by it. Those who render the passage, The just by faith, shall live, forget that this is not Old Testament language; and nothing is gained by it.

V. 18. For-There is no other way of obtaining life and salvation. Having laid down his proposition, the apostle now enters upon the proof of it. His first argument is, The law condemns all men, as being under sin. None therefore is justified by the works of the law. This is treated of Romans 3:20. And hence he infers, Therefore justification is by faith. The wrath of God is revealed-Not only by frequent and signal interpositions of divine providence, but likewise in the sacred oracles, and by us, his messengers.

From heaven-This speaks the majesty of Him whose wrath is revealed, his all-seeing eye, and the extent of his wrath: whatever is under heaven is under the effects of his wrath, believers in Christ excepted. Against all ungodliness and unrighteousness-These two are treated of, Romans 1:23, &c.

Of men-He is speaking here of the Gentiles, and chiefly the wisest of them. Who detain the truth-For it struggles against their wickedness. In unrighteousness-The word here includes ungodliness also.

Verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed] The apostle has now finished his preface, and comes to the grand subject of the epistle; namely, to show the absolute need of the Gospel of Christ, because of the universal corruption of mankind; which was so great as to incense the justice of God, and call aloud for the punishment of the world. 1. He shows that all the heathen nations were utterly corrupt, and deserved this threatened punishment. And this is the subject of the first chapter, from verse 18 to the end. {Romans 1:18-32} 2. He shows that the Jews, notwithstanding the greatness of their privileges, were no better than the Gentiles; and therefore the wrath of God was revealed against them also. This subject he treats in Romans 2:1-29 and Romans 3:1-19. 3. He returns, as it were, on both, Romans 3:20-31, and proves that, as the Jews and Gentiles were equally corrupt, they could not be saved by the deeds of any law; that they stood equally in need of that salvation which God had provided; that both were equally entitled to that salvation, for God was the God of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews.

By orgh qeou, the wrath of God, we are not to understand any uneasy passion in the Divine Being; but the displeasure of his righteousness, which is expressed by the punishments inflicted on the ungodly, those who retain not God in their knowledge; and the unrighteous, those whose lives are profligate.

As, in the Gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed for the salvation of the ungodly, so is the wrath of God revealed against the workers of iniquity. Those who refuse to be saved in the way revealed by his mercy must be consumed in the way revealed by his justice.

Ungodliness] asebeian,, from a, negative, and sebw or sebomai, I worship, probably intended here to express atheism, polytheism, and idolatry of every kind.

Unrighteousness] adikian from a, negative, and dikh, justice; every thing contrary to strict morality; all viciousness and profligacy of conduct. Who hold the truth in unrighteousness] In what sense could it be said that the heathen held the truth in unrighteousness, when they really had not that truth? Some think this refers to the conduct of their best philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato, Seneca, &c., who knew much more of the Divine nature than they thought safe or prudent to discover; and who acted in many things contrary to the light which they enjoyed. Others think this to be spoken of the Gentiles in general, who either did know, or might have known, much of God from the works of creation, as the apostle intimates in the following verses. But Rosenmuller and some others contend that the word katecein here does not signify to hold, but to hinder; and that the place should be translated, who through maliciousness hinder the truth; i.e. prevent it from taking hold of their hearts, and from governing their conduct. This is certainly a very usual acceptation of the verb katecein, which Hesychius interprets kratein, kwluein, sunecein, to retain, hinder, &c.; these men hindering, by their vicious conduct, the truth of God from being propagated in the earth.

Verse 18. For, &c. — There is no other way of obtaining righteousness, life, and salvation. Having laid down this proposition, the apostle now enters upon the proof it. His first argument is, the law, whether of nature or of supernatural revelation, condemns all men as having violated it, and as being under sin. No one, therefore, is justified by the works of the law. This is treated of to Romans 3:20. And hence he infers, therefore, justification is by faith. The wrath of God is revealed — Here and in the preceding verse mention is made of a two-fold revelation, of wrath and of righteousness: the former, little known to nature, is revealed by the law; the latter, wholly unknown to nature, by the gospel. The wrath of God, due to the sins of men, is also revealed by frequent and signal interpositions of divine providence; in all parts of the Sacred Oracles; by God’s inspired messengers, whether under the Jewish or Christian dispensations; and by the consciences of sinners, clearly teaching that God will severely punish all sin, whether committed against God or man; from heaven — This speaks the majesty of Him whose wrath is revealed, his all-seeing eye, his strict and impartial justice, and the extent of his wrath: whatever is under heaven, is under the effects of his wrath, believers in Christ excepted; against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men — He speaks chiefly of the heathen; and the term ungodliness seems especially to refer to their atheism, polytheism, and idolatry, comprehending, however, every kind and degree of impiety and profaneness; and unrighteousness includes their other miscarriages and vices, their offences against truth, justice, mercy, charity toward one another, with their various acts of intemperance and lewdness. According to which sense of the words, they are distinctly treated of by the apostle in the following verses. Who hold the truth in unrighteousness — Which word here includes ungodliness also; that is, who, in some measure at least, know the truth, but do not obey it, acting in opposition to their knowledge, and the conviction of their own consciences. Or, as the word katecontwn properly signifies, who detain, or imprison, as it were, the truth in unrighteousness. He thus expresses himself, because the truth made known, in some degree, struggles against men’s wickedness, reproves them for it, dissuades them from it, and warns them of punishment impending over it. All mankind, even the heathen, have been and are acquainted with many truths concerning moral duties, due to God, their fellow-creatures, and themselves. But, not hearkening to the voice of these truths, but resisting their influence, and disregarding their warnings, they have been and still are more or less involved in guilt, and exposed to condemnation and wrath. Dr. Macknight, who translates this clause, who confine the truth by unrighteousness, thinks the apostle speaks chiefly with a reference to the philosophers, legislators, and magistrates among the Greeks and Romans, who concealed the truth concerning God from the vulgar, by their unrighteous institutions. “The meaning,” says he, “is, that the knowledge of the one true God, the Maker and Governor of the universe, which the persons here spoken of had attained by contemplating the works of creation, they did not discover to the rest of mankind; but confined it in their own breasts as in a prison, by the most flagrant unrighteousness. For they presented, as objects of worship, beings which are not by their nature God; nay, beings of the most immoral characters; and by so doing, as well as by the infamous rites with which they appointed these false gods to be worshipped, they led mankind into the grossest errors, concerning the nature and attributes of the proper object of their worship. This corrupt form of religion, though extremely acceptable to the common people, was not contrived and established by them. In all countries they were grossly ignorant of God, and of the worship which he required. — They therefore could not be charged with the crime of concealing the truth concerning God. The persons guilty of that crime were the legislators, who first formed mankind into cities and states, and who, as the apostle observes, verse 21, though they knew God, did not glorify him as God, by making him the object of the people’s worship, but unrighteously established polytheism and idolatry as the public religion. Of the same crime the magistrates and philosophers were likewise guilty, who, in after times, by their precepts and examples, upheld the established religion. Of this number were Pythagoras, Socrates, and Plato, whom, therefore, we may suppose the apostle had here in his eye. For although these men had attained [in some degree] the knowledge of the true God, none of them worshipped him publicly, neither did they declare him to the people, that they might worship him. Plato himself held that the knowledge of the one God was not to be divulged. See Euseb., Præpar. Evang., lib. 10. cap. 9. And in his Timæus, he says expressly, ‘It is neither easy to find the Parent of the universe, nor safe to discover him to the vulgar, when found.’ The same conduct was observed by Seneca, as Augustine hath proved from his writings, De Civit. Dei., lib. 6. cap. 10. The same Augustine, in his book, De Vera Relig., cap. 5, blames the philosophers in general, because they practised the most abominable idolatries with the vulgar, although, in their schools, they delivered doctrines concerning the nature of the gods, inconsistent with the established worship.”

Ver. 18. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven, by the terrors of conscience for crimes driving men to destruction, to despair, and often to suicide; by remarkable visitations of bodily and mental diseases for sins; by strokes of famine, pestilence, and war; and by particular visitations. These visitations of wrath are understood to follow the times of longsuffering, and of the goodness of God which would lead men to repentance.

18. Wrath—Divine wrath is the intense divine opposition of good against bad, of right against wrong, of holiness against depravity. It exists most intensely in the most holy nature, and therefore most perfectly, and in truth infinitely, in the heart of God. It reveals itself in the form of penalty against those who embody the evil guiltily and responsibly in their own persons, such penalty being in the form of misery or destruction. Revealed from heaven—Commentators have indicated various ways in which the apostle could truly say that God’s wrath is revealed from heaven: by Scripture revelation, by the monitions of conscience, by the terrors and convulsions of the elements, by the judgment at the last day. We do not think the apostle had any one mode in view; but by a strong and almost poetic conception he describes what is true to the eye of an awakened conscience, the wrath of God disclosed like lightning from the sky upon the guilty head. Ungodliness—All apostasy from God first. Unrighteousness—All wickedness against man, second and consequent. Yet God appropriates both as sin against himself, and over both are lowering the revelations of his wrath. Hold—Impede, hold back, repress. Truth would destroy wickedness, and so wickedness fights against and forces back truth. In unrighteousness—Or by unrighteousness, the meaning would be much the same. The truth designated by the apostle is the truth of the divine nature (verses 19, 25, 28) and of the death-worthiness of sin, (verse 32.) It is these truths that human wickedness, to secure its own existence, opposes and represses, so that they lose all ascendency and known existence.

ROMANS

DIVISION I.

ALL ARE GUILTY

CHS. 1:18-3:20

SECTION 4 — FOR GOD IS ANGRY WITH ALL SIN

CH. 1:18-32

For there is revealed God’s anger from heaven upon all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, of those who hold down the truth in unrighteousness: because that which is known of God is manifest among them: for God manifested it to them. For the invisible things of Him, from the foundation of the world, being perceived through the things made, are clearly seen, viz. His eternal power and divinity; that they may be without excuse, because, having come to know God, not as God did they glorify Him or gave thanks; but they became vain in their reasonings, and their heart without understanding was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became foolish; and they changed the glory of the incorruptible God for a likeness of an image of corruptible man and birds and quadrupeds and creeping things. For which cause God gave them up, in the desires of their hearts, to uncleanness, that their bodies be dishonoured among themselves, men who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and revered and served the creature rather than Him that created, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

Because of this, God gave them up to passions of dishonour. For both their females exchanged the natural use for that against nature; and in like manner the males, having left the natural use of the female, burned in their lust one for another, males with males working out unseemliness, and receiving in themselves the necessary recompense of their error.

And, according as they did not approve to have God in their understanding, God gave them up to a disapproved mind, to do the things not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, an evil disposition; whisperers, evil speakers, hateful to God, wanton, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, without obedience to parents, without understanding, without fidelity to covenants, without affection, without mercy; men who, knowing the decree of God that they who practise such things are worthy of death, not only do they but are pleased with those that practise them. This section confirms Romans 1:17 by proving something without which it would not be true, viz. that all men are under the anger of God. Verse 17 explained how the Gospel is a power to save all that believe, by saying that in it is revealed a divinely-given conformity to the Law. This explanation rests on an assumption that all men capable of believing the good news are, apart from it, destitute of God’s favour. Otherwise, a revelation of his favour will not save them, but will bring to light only what they already possess. Therefore, in order to give force to Romans 1:17, this assumption must be proved. Otherwise, the force of Romans 1:16, which gave a reason for Paul’s readiness to preach at Rome, will not be felt: for unless the Romans need salvation, the Gospel’s power to save will not prompt Paul to bring it to them. Consequently, the entire weight of Romans 1:16, 17, which contain a summary of the epistle, rests upon the assumption that all men are, apart from the Gospel, under the anger of God. Paul’s earnest efforts to preach to all men the good news of salvation were prompted by his deep conviction of the lost state of all. In DIV. I. Paul asserts, and then proves, God’s anger against all sin. In § 4, he proves it in reference to the Gentiles; in §§ 5-7, in reference to the Jews. He shows (§ 8) that this is consistent with the privileges conferred on the Jews; and (§ 9) with the Jewish Scriptures. He assumes in Romans 2:1; 3:9, 19 that all men are sinners; and therefore draws, in Romans 3:19, 20, the inference that all men are guilty before God. The argument of this section presents peculiar difficulties. Its proofs are taken from the life and thought of the heathen in Paul’s day, well known to him and his readers but not to us. We may in part reproduce it from ancient writers and from the analogy of modern heathenism. But we are not sure of the extent to which the statements of the old writers were true of the mass of the population, and of the degree to which modern heathens resembles that which surrounded Paul. Consequently, we have no firm hold of the facts on which his reasoning rests; and therefore we cannot feel its full force.

A study of it will however be of great profit. We shall understand the writer’s conclusions, and the principles on which he argues. These we shall compare with what we see in ourselves and in the world around and with what we read in ancient literature; and we shall find that they shed light on some of the most mysterious problems of human nature.

Ver. 18. Not only is “righteousness of God revealed” in the Gospel but elsewhere

anger of God is revealed, or unveiled, i.e. brought to the knowledge of men.

Anger, or wrath: an emotion or disposition which prompts us to punish, the opposite of “grace.” It is common to God and men: cp. Ephesians 4:26. For the most part, it is now hidden in the breast of God; but it will burst forth upon the wicked “in the day of anger and revelation of the righteous judgment of God:” Romans 2:5. Paul here says that this anger is already being revealed or made known; but in what way he does not, in Romans 1:18, tell us. The Jews read the anger of God in the pages of the Old Testament. But of this there is no hint here. Consequently, we must wait for, and in Romans 1:24-32 we shall find, another revelation of the anger of God. It is revealed, not like the Gospel by a voice which speaks on earth, but directly

from heaven, whence God from His throne looks down upon all ungodliness. Notice two aspects of sin: ungodliness or want of respect for God, and unrighteousness or want of conformity to the law laid down for man’s conduct. Every sin deserves both names. But in some, as in Romans 1:21-23, the ungodliness, in others, as in Romans 1:24-32, the unrighteousness is more conspicuous.

All unrighteousness of men: rather than “all unrighteous men,” making prominent the exact object of God’s anger, viz. the sin rather than the sinner. Many and various forms of sin alike call forth the anger of God. Of those who etc.: further description of those with whom God is angry, giving the special aspect of sin which provokes God’s anger. All sinners hold down or hold back, i.e. resist, the truth: they prevent it from attaining its purpose. Sin is therefore positive resistance to God. Truth: correspondence between a reality and a declaration which professes to set it forth. Words are true when they correspond with objective reality: persons and things are true when they correspond with their profession. Hence a truth is a declaration which has corresponding reality, or a reality which is correctly set forth. Since God is Himself the great reality, that which correctly sets forth His nature is pre-eminently the Truth. Paul will prove that the heathen have the truth. It was designed to mould and raise their thought and life; but they prefer unrighteousness, and thus hold down the truth.

The rest of § 4 explains, accounts for, and proves, the assertion of Romans 1:18. It falls naturally into the following divisions: God is angry with all sin (a) because He made Himself known to men, Romans 1:19, 20; (b) but they refused to honour Him and fell into the folly of idolatry, Romans 1:21-23; (c) therefore God gave them up to dishonour, Romans 1:24; (d) men who put the folly of idolatry in place of the truth of God, Romans 1:25; (e) therefore God gave them up to dishonour and shame, Romans 1:26, 27; (f) they refused to know God, and God gave them up to all kinds of sin, Romans 1:28-32. Thus (d) and (e) are parallel to, and develop, (b) and (c).

Verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven. — Critics have differed as to the connection of these words with the preceding. Some regard gar as having an inchoative form, as marking the commencement of St. Paul’s argument with the Gentiles, drawn from their sinful condition, and consequent need of pardon. Others think that there is an implied contrast between the Gospel and the law of nature, the former proclaiming salvation, the latter denouncing wrath against offenders. But the usual force of the particle is best retained, and it marks the connection to be, that the Gospel is the more worthy to be published and embraced as the power of God unto salvation, because of the actual and extreme danger of men as sinners. In the Gospel there is a revelation of a divinely appointed method of pardon; and the necessity and value of this is grounded upon another and previous revelation of the wrath of God against all ungodliness, &c. That revelation of the judicial vengeance of God against sin was contained in the traditional law of the Gentiles, sometimes called natural law, confirmed and illustrated by the course of God’s moral government, and by the books of the Old Testament, so that both Gentiles and Jews had the means of knowing that the wages of sin is death, and indeed generally acknowledged it. This point the apostle does not therefore proceed to prove. The testimony of tradition, however perverted, the voice of conscience, the fact of man’s subjection to suffering and death, and the obvious connection of every species of sin with misery, were all witnesses to the Gentiles of the penal danger to which sin exposed them; and as to the Jews, their own law fulminated its curse against every transgression. The apostle therefore assumes that it will be granted by both, that the supreme Lawgiver has connected misery and death with sin; and he therefore goes on to prove that both Gentiles and Jews were actually guilty and under condemnation, and on this ground builds the grand doctrinal position of the early part Of this epistle, that we are “justified freely by the grace of God, through the redemption which is in, or by, Jesus Christ.” Ungodliness and unrighteousness. — These two terms express all possible human offences. Ungodliness comprehends all sins against God; unrighteousness, all offences against men. The one includes all forgetfulness of God, or contempt of him, or false worship, — all atheism, practical or speculative, all idolatry, superstition, and rebellion against his authority; the other, all injustice and uncharitableness. The words are not, however, used distinctively; and asebeia is sometimes used of sin in general.

Who hold the truth in unrighteousness. — This may be taken in the sense of restraining the truth by unrighteousness, without going along with those who think that those wicked magistrates and philosophers were intended who, though they knew better than the populace, in many respects, yet encouraged the popular superstition, from political motives. There is much truth in the fact; but the apostle is speaking too generally to allow us to think that he had any respect to this particular, and indeed very partial case. What he means to say evidently is, that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, not against ungodly and unrighteous men who had no means of knowing the difference between right and wrong, but those who had the truth, but restrained or hindered it in its moral influence upon them by their wilful and resolute unrighteousness. This view is fully confirmed by the succeeding verse. Another objection to the former opinion is, that it confines what follows to the magistrates and philosophers of the Gentiles; whereas, it is obvious that the apostle speaks of the Gentiles in general, as indeed his argument required. For it would have answered no purpose to prove the guilt of politicians and sages only, when it was necessary to show that “the whole world was guilty before God.”

V. 19. For what is to be known of God-Those great principles which are indispensably necessary to be known.

Is manifest in them; for God hath showed it to them-By the light which enlightens every man that cometh into the world.

Verse 19. That which may be known of God] Dr. Taylor paraphrases this and the following verse thus: “Although the Gentiles had no written revelation, yet what may be known of God is every where manifest among them, God having made a clear discovery of himself to them. For his being and perfections, invisible to our bodily eyes, have been, ever since the creation of the world, evidently to be seen, if attentively considered, in the visible beauty, order, and operations observable in the constitution and parts of the universe; especially his eternal power and universal dominion and providence: so that they cannot plead ignorance in excuse of their idolatry and wickedness.”

Verses 19, 20. Because that which may be known of God — Those great principles which are indispensably necessary to be known, such as his existence, his unity, his power, his wisdom, his goodness, and his righteous government of the world; is manifest in, or rather among, them — As eu autoiv should be here rendered: for God hath showed it to them — By the light which lightens every man that cometh into the world, John 1:9. The apostle’s assertion is confirmed by the writings of the Greek and Latin philosophers still remaining. See note on verse 21. For the invisible things of him — His spiritual nature and infinite perfections, called his invisible things, partly in opposition to the heathen deities, who being all corporeal, their being and properties were things invisible; and partly because they cannot be seen, except in their effects, by men’s bodily eyes; from the creation of the world — From the visible creation, from the heavens and the earth, from the sea and dry land, from plants and animals, from men’s own bodies, fearfully and wonderfully made, and especially from their intelligent, free, and immortal minds. Or the meaning may be, Since, or, from the time of the creation of the world; for the apostle does not use the preposition ek, by, but apo, from, or, ever since, the creation. Thus Dr. Whitby understands the expression, observing, “It seems not to signify the means by which they came to the knowledge of God, for these are afterward expressed, but rather to import, that from the beginning of the world the heathen had the means of knowing the true God from the works of creation; so ap archv kosmou is, from the beginning of the world, Matthew 24:21; and apo katabolhv kosmou from the foundation of the world, Matthew 13:35.” Are clearly seen — By the eye of the mind, being understood — They are seen by them, and them only, who use their understanding. The present tense, kaqoratai, are clearly seen, denotes the continued manifestation of the being and perfections of God, by the works of creation from the beginning; agreeably to Psalms 19:1Psalm 19:1, The heavens declare the glory of God. By the things that are made — “In this mundane system, every thing is so formed, that to the pious among the vulgar, God himself appears to be the author of all the operations of nature. But they who have obtained a partial knowledge of what is called natural philosophy, have, from the discovery of some second causes, been led to fancy, that the whole system may be accounted for without the intervention of a Deity. This is what the apostle calls, verse 21, becoming vain in their imaginations, or rather, foolish in their reasonings. Those, however, who have made the greatest advances in true philosophy know, that second causes, properly speaking, are no causes, because they have no efficiency in themselves, but are set in motion by God. And thus the most perfect philosophy always ends where the natural sense of mankind begins.” Even his eternal power and Godhead — “The true God, being eternal, is thereby distinguished from the fictitious gods of the heathens, who all had a beginning; the most ancient of them being represented as coming out of chaos, and their birth being sung by the heathen poets. Of the particular attributes of God, the apostle mentions only his power, because the effects of the divine power are what first strike the senses of men, and lead them most directly to the acknowledgment of a Deity. The word Qeiothv, Godhead, denotes every thing comprehended in the idea of God, namely, his unity, incorporeity, immutability, knowledge, wisdom, justice, &c.; all which, together with God’s eternal power, the apostle affirms every intelligent person may understand, by the things which are made.” Macknight. So that they are without excuse — And would be destitute of every just or plausible apology for themselves, if he should enter into judgment with them.

19. Known—The fact that man by understanding or conscience can know God’s truth, though it elevates his nature in the scale of being, does not diminish but increases the amount of his guilt and actual self-depravation. The very great wrong is that so noble an intrinsic nature, in its created elements, is abased by self-prostitution. The depravity does not lie in the will exclusively, as Tholuck suggests; but in the disordered affections first, and the will’s obeying and then redoubling the depravity of the affections, and spreading it over the whole nature. Known of God—The knowable things of God include not his substance, nor the fulness and mystery of his infinity, but his power, rectitude, and divine requirements over man. Manifest in them—Not merely among them collectively, but within each one individually. This does not affirm the existence in man of what is sometimes uncouthly styled the “God-consciousness.” It does not even affirm that man intuitively knows God’s existence. What it does affirm is explained in the next verse.

Ver. 19. Because they know better, God is angry with these ungodly and unrighteous men.

That which is known of God: His nature so far as it was known to the heathen. For to them Paul evidently refers: see Romans 1:23. Manifest: set conspicuously before men’s eyes, whether they see it or not. Same word in Romans 2:28; 1 Corinthians 3:13; 11:19; 14:25: cognate verb below, made-manifest, and in Romans 3:21; 16:26; 2 Corinthians 5:10,11, etc.: another cognate verb in Romans 7:13; John 1:5; 5:35, translated to shine. The word revealed denotes that which is actually known: see under Romans 1:17.

For God etc.; explains the foregoing by an historical fact. God wrote His own name before the eyes of men that all might read it. The statement in Romans 1:18 true of all men. But Romans 1:19, which begins the proof that all men have the truth, suggests the Gentiles, about whom alone there could be any doubt. This reference is the more natural because the Gentiles were the mass of mankind.

Verse 19. That which may be known of God. — Not certainly all that is humanly knowable respecting God, cognoscibile Dei; for the Gospel is a far brighter manifestation of God than any which the most favoured times of paganism could boast. To gnwston is evidently used for h gnwsiv, the knowledge of God; for St. Paul often uses neuter adjectives for substantives. This was manifest among them; for God had showed it to them. The original traditions from the patriarchs respecting God had been all along confirmed and attested by the visible works of God; so that the idea of God, his nature and government, being transmitted from age to age, serious and reflecting minds might have been established in these truths, and might have pursued them to profitable moral conclusions. Human reason was never left to acquire, for the first time, the knowledge of the existence of God from his works; but that doctrine being already in the world, the works of God made their constant appeal to the reason of man, presented to it an evidence of the most convincing kind, and opened courses of ennobling and sanctifying thought which, if they had taken the least delight in them, would have preserved men from all the degrading polytheism which followed.

V. 20. For those things of him which are invisible, are seen-By the eye of the mind.

Being understood-They are seen by them, and them only, who use their understanding

Verse 20. The invisible things of him] His invisible perfections are manifested by his visible works, and may be apprehended by what he has made; their immensity showing his omnipotence, their vast variety and contrivance, his omniscience; and their adaptation to the most beneficent purposes, his infinite goodness and philanthropy.

His eternal power] aidiov autou dunamiv, That all-powerful energy that ever was, and ever will exist; so that, ever since there was a creation to be surveyed, there have been intelligent beings to make that survey. And Godhead] qeiothv, His acting as God in the government and support of the universe. His works prove his being; the government and support of these works prove it equally. Creation and providence form a twofold demonstration of God, 1st. in the perfections of his nature; and, 2dly. in the exercise of those perfections.

Verses 19, 20. Because that which may be known of God — Those great principles which are indispensably necessary to be known, such as his existence, his unity, his power, his wisdom, his goodness, and his righteous government of the world; is manifest in, or rather among, them — As eu autoiv should be here rendered: for God hath showed it to them — By the light which lightens every man that cometh into the world, John 1:9. The apostle’s assertion is confirmed by the writings of the Greek and Latin philosophers still remaining. See note on verse 21. For the invisible things of him — His spiritual nature and infinite perfections, called his invisible things, partly in opposition to the heathen deities, who being all corporeal, their being and properties were things invisible; and partly because they cannot be seen, except in their effects, by men’s bodily eyes; from the creation of the world — From the visible creation, from the heavens and the earth, from the sea and dry land, from plants and animals, from men’s own bodies, fearfully and wonderfully made, and especially from their intelligent, free, and immortal minds. Or the meaning may be, Since, or, from the time of the creation of the world; for the apostle does not use the preposition ek, by, but apo, from, or, ever since, the creation. Thus Dr. Whitby understands the expression, observing, “It seems not to signify the means by which they came to the knowledge of God, for these are afterward expressed, but rather to import, that from the beginning of the world the heathen had the means of knowing the true God from the works of creation; so ap archv kosmou is, from the beginning of the world, Matthew 24:21; and apo katabolhv kosmou from the foundation of the world, Matthew 13:35.” Are clearly seen — By the eye of the mind, being understood — They are seen by them, and them only, who use their understanding. The present tense, kaqoratai, are clearly seen, denotes the continued manifestation of the being and perfections of God, by the works of creation from the beginning; agreeably to Psalms 19:1Psalm 19:1, The heavens declare the glory of God. By the things that are made — “In this mundane system, every thing is so formed, that to the pious among the vulgar, God himself appears to be the author of all the operations of nature. But they who have obtained a partial knowledge of what is called natural philosophy, have, from the discovery of some second causes, been led to fancy, that the whole system may be accounted for without the intervention of a Deity. This is what the apostle calls, verse 21, becoming vain in their imaginations, or rather, foolish in their reasonings. Those, however, who have made the greatest advances in true philosophy know, that second causes, properly speaking, are no causes, because they have no efficiency in themselves, but are set in motion by God. And thus the most perfect philosophy always ends where the natural sense of mankind begins.” Even his eternal power and Godhead — “The true God, being eternal, is thereby distinguished from the fictitious gods of the heathens, who all had a beginning; the most ancient of them being represented as coming out of chaos, and their birth being sung by the heathen poets. Of the particular attributes of God, the apostle mentions only his power, because the effects of the divine power are what first strike the senses of men, and lead them most directly to the acknowledgment of a Deity. The word Qeiothv, Godhead, denotes every thing comprehended in the idea of God, namely, his unity, incorporeity, immutability, knowledge, wisdom, justice, &c.; all which, together with God’s eternal power, the apostle affirms every intelligent person may understand, by the things which are made.” Macknight. So that they are without excuse — And would be destitute of every just or plausible apology for themselves, if he should enter into judgment with them.

Ver. 20. For the invisible perfections of God, his wisdom, goodness and love, are seen in the mirror of creation, even his eternal power, and Qeiothv, Divinity, or Godhead. Theos, the all-seeing Being, is the name of God with the Greeks; but Theiotes is used here to agree with the Hebrew Elohim, in Genesis 1. Of whom the prophet says, By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the Ruach, the Spirit, or breath of his mouth. Psalms 33:6Psalm 33:6. Therefore the word Godhead, as in our version, is a happy term to designate the perfections of Deity. Thus in Rome, as in Athens, the apostle leads the heathen from the study of nature to the contemplation of the healing power of grace.

20. Invisible things—God’s attributes, unseen by bodily eyes, are revealed to the understanding by things that are made. That is, from evidences of design and power seen in natural constructions the reason of man is able and is bound to infer God. From the time of the creation of the world, including the primitive ages, until now, those standing evidences of God have left man without excuse for not recognising his eternal power and Godhead. The syllable head in Godhead is the same as hood in manhood, so that the word signifies divinity.

The plain meaning of the apostle is, that the argument from external design (so conclusively stated by Paley) is so clear that men are excuseless from not knowing nature’s God. This is more noteworthy, as some at the present day, even claiming to be Christian philosophers, slight the design evidence as of no value, and rest the whole proof of God’s existence upon an intuitive and direct perception of God himself. That there are intuitions by which God is recognised we need not deny; but holy Scripture largely bases the assurance of the Divine existence upon the proofs derived from “the things that are made.”

Ver. 20. Proof of the foregoing. From the fact that the Gentiles actually knew God, Paul infers that He manifested Himself to them. The invisible things of Him: the existence and nature of the unseen God, equivalent to “that which is known of God,” and including His eternal power and all that is involved in His divinity. From the creation of the world: a note of time, as in Mark 13:19; 10:6. This measurement of time is chosen because by the works of creation God reveals His otherwise unseen nature. Notice here a revelation of God more widely spread, and earlier, than that of the Old Covenant. God’s works sprang from, and correspond with, His nature; and therefore they reveal it.

Through the things made the unseen Worker is clearly-seen; being-perceived by the eye of the mind, which looks through the visible to that which is beyond and above it.

Divinity: the whole of that which goes to make up our idea of God, all that in which God differs from us, including His eternal power. In Nature, this eternal God, so mighty and so different from us, is actually seen and known by men. Paul’s readers would judge of the truth of this assertion. And, if true, Romans 1:19 also is true. That men read in Nature the name of God, proves that it was written there by God. Therefore, since whatever God does He does with design, we infer that God wrote His name on the page of Creation in order that men might read it and thus know God. Just as God revealed Himself to the Jews through the lips of inspired men, so He also revealed Himself to the Gentiles in the thousand voices of the material world.

That they might be without excuse: purpose of God in thus revealing His nature, viz. in order to leave men without excuse for dishonouring Him. This statement is evidently true. For all that comes from God must have a purpose. And the purpose of God’s revelation of Himself in Nature could not be mere communication of knowledge: for knowledge is useless unless it lead to something beyond itself. Nor could its immediate purpose be to lead men to glorify God. For, as we shall see, man was fast bound in sin, and therefore unable to glorify God: and this revelation could not break his fetters. Its only possible result was a consciousness of guilt for dishonouring God. And, if so, this must have been its designed result. Therefore, apart from the authority of Paul, we are compelled by the facts of the case to accept his assertion that God revealed Himself in Nature in order to leave man without excuse for forgetting God. For the same purpose, the Law was given to the Jews: Romans 3:19. These revelations had, however, a further purpose of mercy and salvation. By evoking consciousness of guilt, they prepared a way for (Romans 1:17) a revelation of righteousness. But consciousness of guilt was all that they were able directly to produce; and is therefore spoken of as the end for which they were given.

Summary of Romans 1:18-20. The heathen knew God’s nature from His works. From this Paul infers that God made it known to them; and that He did so in order to remove from them all excuse for ungodliness and ingratitude. This proves that God desires man’s reverence and thanks; and proves that they who refuse to honour God resist the truth which God has revealed.

The assertion that through His works God was known to the heathen is abundantly confirmed by the literature of the ancient world. Of writers known to Paul’s readers, we notice that both Plato and Cicero appeal to the material world as manifestly a work of an intelligent Creator. See especially Plato’s Timæus pp. 28-30 and bk. ii. of Cicero’s Nature of the Gods, quoted on pp. 16-19 of my Through Christ to God.

Verse 20. For the invisible things, &c. — By this expression is meant the invisible attributes of God, and consequently his invisible self. The statues of the supposed heathen deities attempted to make visible their various attributes, by emblematical devices and symbolical sculptures. Here the apostle, by asserting the invisibility of God, declares, in fact, his ineffable and indescribable majesty, which is not to be represented by any human device, but to have its only proper manifestation in the glorious and magnificent works of his own hand. By these the invisible God, in his attributes, is seen by his attentive creatures. The apostle says, ta aorata, the invisible things or properties of God, because his essence is undiscovered and undiscoverable. We know him only by the perfections which he is pleased to manifest. There may be perfections which he has never manifested to us, and which we are in no state of preparation mentally to apprehend, even in the feeblest manner. The essence of even created minds is hidden from us; much more the essence of God; that in which all these properties of glory and majesty unite.

From the creation of the world. — This is equivalent to the created world. Some choose to render it, SINCE the creation, that is, from the time of the creation; alleging that apo is the preposition used. But apo is used to express the cause or instrument, and is then properly rendered, by means of; and there seems no reason why St. Paul should put it into his argument that God had been manifest by his works ever since the creation, because it was sufficient for his purpose to show that they were clearly so at that moment, and, if then, of course in all preceding ages, The use too of the present tense, kaqoratai, are clearly seen, shows that he was speaking of the time when he wrote.

Being understood by the things that are made. — The apostle shows how he uses the term clearly or distinctly SEEN, by means of the works of creation. Not that these works were parts of God, as many of the heathen thought, and as the pantheistic systems of the eastern world now teach, so that God might be seen IN them, but BY them as instruments and witnesses. These, he says, these invisible things are understood, nooumena, mentally seen or apprehended, — mente animoque cernuntur, as Rosenmuller renders it, — by the things that are made, and which are indubitable proofs of the wisdom and power of their Maker, though he is invisible. Some include in the ta poihmata all the operations of God in his moral government, and the previous dispensation of grace; and it is certain that the word used is wide enough in its meaning to comprehend them. The argument, however, rather binds us to take it in its stricter sense of the creation and preservation of those things which are visible in the frame and constitution of the world. But it by no means follows from this, that the apostle intended to teach that the principles of God’s moral government, his will, and our duties and hopes, in a word, all that has been termed natural religion, is to be learned by the study of physics, and that the visible world is a sufficient book for man. The apostle knew well that both among Gentiles and Jews from the earliest ages, there had been communications of moral truth in direct revelations, and traditions of those revelations; that the world had never been without moral laws, or without promises of redemption: and what he knew to be fact, universally acknowledged by those to whom he writes, he assumes; and considers, therefore, that what proves the existence of that God, made known, as to his will and designs, in these early and widely diffused revelations, gave authority also to all the truth which had ever been connected with the doctrine. He assumes, in fact, what we see assumed throughout the Scriptures, that God communicated the knowledge of himself and his will originally to mankind; that this knowledge, though disregarded and darkened, was never wholly lost; that the visible creation was a standing testimony to it as existing, not the means of first revealing it, nor of recovering it through a process of reasoning, if, in any instance, entirely lost.

Eternal power and Godhead. — The first impression made upon the mind, by a general survey of creation, is power; power without limits, power which we know operates undeviatingly and unweariedly from age to age, and stands therefore as a mighty confirmation of the original doctrine always connected with the idea of God — his eternity. Power, however, comprehends other attributes. — That power which we see in creation is not blind might; but the might of intelligence and of goodness, all which may be included in THE ENERGY of God: but as these are separate attributes, they naturally lead us up to the Being whose attributes they are; and to the distinctive general character of that Being; that which distinguishes him from all others; that which marks him as the supreme, the eternal ONE: which distinctive character is expressed by the apostle, by Qeiothv, Godhead, or Divinity, from Qeiov, the same as Qeov, God. To Qeion is often used by Greek writers for the Divine Being, the Deity. So that they are without excuse. — They were inexcusable for their ignorance, which was the result of criminal inattention to the testimonies of God, with which they were surrounded; and for their superstitions and idolatries, which were wilful perversions and wicked corruptions of the truths they knew, through the grossness of the imagination produced by immoral habits and vicious principles, fatal to spirituality of mind in religion, and therefore destructive of its true character. They were without excuse, because neither their ignorance of God, nor their errors or idolatries, resulted from any necessity, but were the objects of their free choice.

V. 21. Because, knowing God-For the wiser heathens did know that there was one supreme God; yet from low and base considerations they conformed to the idolatry of the vulgar.

They did not glorify him as God, neither were thankful-They neither thanked him for his benefits, nor glorified him for his divine perfection. But became vain-Like the idols they worshipped.

In their reasonings-Various, uncertain, foolish. What a terrible instance have we of this in the writings of Lucretius! What vain reasonings, and how dark a heart, amidst so pompous professions of wisdom!

Verse 21. Because that when they knew God] When they thus acquired a general knowledge of the unity and perfections of the Divine nature, they glorified him not as God-they did not proclaim him to the people, but shut up his glory (as Bishop Warburton expresses it) in their mysteries, and gave the people, in exchange for an incorruptible God, an image made like to corruptible man. Wherefore God, in punishment for their sins, thus turning his truth into a lie, suffered even their mysteries, which they had erected for a school of virtue, to degenerate into an odious sink of vice and immorality; giving them up unto all uncleanness and vile affections. They glorified him not] They did not give him that worship which his perfections required.

Neither were thankful] They manifested no gratitude for the blessings they received from his providence, but became vain in their imaginations, dialogismoiv, in their reasonings. This certainly refers to the foolish manner in which even the wisest of their philosophers discoursed about the Divine nature, not excepting Socrates, Plato, or Seneca. Who can read their works without being struck with the vanity of their reasonings, as well as with the stupidity of their nonsense, when speaking about God? I might crowd my page with proofs of this; but it is not necessary to those who are acquainted with their writings, and to others it would not be useful. In short, their foolish, darkened minds sought God no where but in the place in which he is never to be found; viz. the vile, corrupted, and corrupting passions of their own hearts. As they did not discover him there, they scarcely sought him any where else.

Verses 21-23. “Because that when they knew God — The writings of Plato, Xenophon, Plutarch, Cicero, and other philosophers, which still remain, together with the quotations made by Just. Martyr and Clem. Alexandrinus from those which are lost, prove that the learned heathen, though ignorant of the way of salvation, were not entirely unacquainted with the unity and spirituality of God, and had pretty just notions of his perfections, of the creation and government of the world, and of the duties which men owe to God and to one another. Their sin, therefore, in worshipping idols, and in concealing the true God from the vulgar, did not proceed so much from ignorance as from corruption of heart.” They glorified him not as God — Did not esteem him, pay homage to him, or worship and serve him in a manner worthy of him, and consistent with those apprehensions they had, or might have had, of him; neither were thankful — Grateful for his benefits. As the true God was not the object of the popular religion, no public thanksgivings were offered to him in any heathen country; and with respect to the private conduct of individuals, though there are still extant hymns in honour of the heathen gods, written by Orpheus, Homer, Pindar, and Horace, who were themselves philosophers as well as poets, we have never heard of any psalm or hymn composed by any heathen poet or philosopher in honour of the true God. It is observable, that thankfulness to God for his mercies, is here represented as a principal branch of religion, and undoubtedly no principle can be nobler, nor can any have a greater or more extensive influence. But became vain in their imaginations — Absurd, stupid, and ridiculous in their reasonings, concerning God’s nature and worship; entangling themselves with a thousand unprofitable subtleties, which only tended to alienate their minds more and more from every truly religious sentiment and disposition. And their foolish, asunetov, their undiscerning, unintelligent, imprudent heart was darkened — Instead of being enlightened by these sophistries, it was more and more involved in ignorance and error, and rendered impenetrable to the simplicity of the most important truths. What a terrible instance have we of this in the writings of Lucretius! What vain reasonings, yet how dark a heart, amid pompous professions of wisdom! Professing themselves to be wise — Greek, faskontev einai sofoi, saying that they were wise; “cum se dicerent, aut se dici sinerent sapientes:” when they called, or suffered themselves to be called, wise men. — Grotius. It evidently refers to their assuming the philosophic character, and to the pride they took in the title of wise men, or lovers of wisdom. They became fools — Degrading, in the lowest and most infamous manner, the reason which they so arrogantly pretended to improve, and almost to engross. Thus the apostle finely ridicules that ostentation of wisdom which the Greek philosophers made, by taking to themselves the name of wise men. And his irony was the more pungent, in that it was put into a writing addressed to the Romans, who were great admirers of the Greeks. And changed, &c. — As if he had said, As their folly and wickedness were evident in a variety of other vices, in which these heathen philosophers joined with the vulgar, so particularly in the early and almost universal prevalence of idolatry among them; for they changed the glory — The unutterable glory, of the incorruptible and immortal God — (the word afqartov means both) all the majestic splendours, in which he shines forth through earth and heaven, into an image, made by their own hands, like to corruptible and mortal man — Which, how elegantly soever it might be formed, was an abominable and insufferable degradation of the infinitely perfect and eternal Godhead, had their folly proceeded no further. But, not content with this, they set up as emblems of Deity and objects of worship, brute creatures and their images: birds, four-footed beasts, and creeping things — Even such vile reptiles as beetles, and various kinds of serpents, which creep on the dust. The learned Egyptians in particular, as is well known, worshipped dogs, snakes, nay, and even vegetables. We may observe here, 1st, That the word corruptible, applied to man, signifies not only his being liable to dissolution, but to moral pollution; and the term incorruptible, applied to God, signifies that he is not liable to either. 2d, “The great evil of the heathen idolatry consisted in their setting up the images of men and beasts in their temples as representations of the Deity, by which the vulgar were led to believe that God was of the same form, nature, and qualities with the animals represented by these images. And the persons who thus changed the glory of God were not the common people among the Greeks, but the legislators, magistrates, priests, and philosophers; for they were the persons who framed the public religion in all the heathen countries; who established it by their laws, and recommended it by their example.” — Macknight.

Ver. 21. When they knew God. Dr. Hide has done some service to the cause of religion by proving from oriental records, that the ancient Persians had for a long time persisted in the worship of one God, when all other nations had become Sabians in worship, or grossly attached to idolatry. Job 1:15.

21. Glorified him not—The intuitions by which God is known are largely the moral. Not to recognise or believe in God is not, like the ignoring a person in history or a fact in science, purely an intellectual defect, but also a moral. In his unfallen state man deeply and perfectly knew his God with a knowledge of holy love. And by that knowledge and love of the Holy One, man’s whole nature was regulated in harmony with itself and with God. By the fall that knowledge and love became primitively dim and feeble. Then man, historically not liking the holy God, nor glorifying him, nor feeling thankful, the regulator was lost, and so by apostasy from God man’s whole nature went into moral ruin, and all the depravities resulted described by the apostle in the present chapter. Vain in their imaginations—Rather, their reasonings. God being dim to their perceptions, their reasonings in regard to him became foolish and wicked. Heart was darkened—So that the twilight of pantheism first came on, and then the midnight of atheism or idolatry. In pantheism God became as a universal mist, losing his true personality and his moral attributes. Then the universal pantheistic mist was separated into parts, and the figures of finite nature-gods and goddesses emerged, and so idolatry arose.

Ver. 21.-23. Reason why they were without excuse, or the conduct which God made inexcusable by this revelation of Himself. The word know is so indefinite, especially with a personal object, that Paul could correctly say that the heathen knew God, and, as in Galatians 4:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:5, that they did not know God. To what extent they knew God, he has already stated in Romans 1:20.

Glorify: to welcome as an object of admiration, and by word or act to express admiration for the object glorified. See note under Romans 1:23. The heathen did not give to God the admiration and expressions of admiration which from His manifestation of Himself in Nature they knew that He rightfully claimed.

Nor did they give thanks for His kindness to them. Instead of giving to God admiration and gratitude, they reasoned about Him in a way which could lead to no good result, and their useless reasonings reacted upon themselves:

they became vain (see under Romans 8:20) in their reasonings, and their heart, which was without understanding, lost the light needful for apprehension of God and became darkened. So always. The eye which refused to see lost to some extent the power of sight.

The heart is the inmost centre of man. Hence the metaphors in Matthew 12:40; 2 Samuel 18:14; Jonah 2:3; Exodus 15:8. It is the seat of the understanding, and the source of the thoughts, desires, emotions, words, and actions; the motive power of human life, the helm of the human ship, from which the man looks out on the world around and shapes his course. Whatever is in the heart rules the conduct. Cp. Romans 1:24; 10:1, 9; Matthew 13:15; Ephesians 1:18; Matthew 15:18f; 1 Corinthians 2:9; 4:5; Hebrews 4:12. The modern distinction of head and heart is not found in the Bible. The heart, never the head, is the seat of the intelligence.

Their heart, not hearts: so Romans 6:12; 1 Corinthians 6:19f; according to Greek usage. Each has one heart, and each one’s heart is looked at singly.

Verse 21. Because that, when they knew God. — That is, THOUGH they knew God; knew him indeed sufficiently to have preserved them from the baseness of idolatry, and have laid the foundation of trust in him, and the giving of honour and worship to him. Nor is this at all contrary to what the apostle says in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, that the world “by wisdom knew not God;” since it is certain that what they called wisdom, or philosophy, was one main cause of corrupting the original theology of the Gentile nations; and that its speculations only served to feed the grossest parts of idolatry. For instance, the early philosophic doctrine of pantheism, teaching that God is all things, and all things God, gave a sort of divinity to every part of nature, and rendered it more easy for men to bring themselves to deify its elements and all remarkable and powerful agents or principles. Yet although, as to all the civilized nations of antiquity, and many of the barbarous nations also, we have sufficient evidence that they knew and admitted the existence of one supreme and only true God, yet they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, nor offered to him thanksgiving. To glorify God is to worship him because of his own perfections and majesty; to give thanks to him is an act of worship founded upon the benefits we receive from him. In the former we celebrate his glories; in the latter, proclaim his goodness: the former is founded upon admiration, love, and trust; the latter springs from gratitude, and is the source and root of universal and constant obedience. The expression, did not glorify him AS GOD, is emphatic. They were not ignorant of his existence; their poets and other writers sometimes said noble things respecting him; just as the idolaters of India speak in terms of highest honour of one supreme God at the present day, who, however, as they think, concerns not himself with them; and they, therefore, as to worship, wholly forget him. What we know of the idolatrous worship of civilized nations of the present day throws, indeed, great light upon the idolatry of more ancient times. The interposition of intermediate ideal beings, and the deification of creatures, have not among the people in India obliterated all knowledge of God; and, in their older sacred books, as in the writings of the Greeks, there are occasionally just and sublime things said of God, the traditions of better ages still keeping their hold upon the convictions of the mind. But these imaginary deities have wholly displaced the supreme God in their thoughts, and he is neither trusted in nor worshipped; the immediate government of the world is supposed to be in other hands, and all religious honour and service has been transferred to them. Throughout India not a temple is built to this very supreme God, whom all but those of the Budhist faith, who are atheists, acknowledge; and not a prayer is offered. — This seems to have been pretty nearly the fact, in the more civilized nations of antiquity, when St. Paul wrote. That they had knowledge of the true God, we have St. Paul’s testimony, as well as proofs in those extracts from numerous oriental, Greek, and Latin writers, which have been often brought to illustrate this subject; but that they erected a single temple to him, we have no satisfactory evidence. It is true that by the Zeuv or Jupiter of both Greeks and Romans was sometimes meant, though not usually nor popularly, the supreme God, the Jehovah of the Old Testament; but we have most satisfactory evidence, though of an incidental kind, even in inspired writ, that, by the Jupiter to whom temples were erected, and honours were regularly paid, this supreme Deity was not intended, but the Jupiter of the popular mythology. For if any one of the temples at Athens, though it were of Jupiter himself, had been erected to the true God, though under a foreign name and some misconceptions of his true attributes, the Apostle Paul, who had been about the city observing the “devotions” of the inhabitants, would scarcely have been driven to the necessity of fixing upon a solitary “altar,” without a priesthood or regular service, an apparently neglected place of accidental offering, as the text of his sermon, because it contained an inscription “TO GOD UNKNOWN,” and was probably a relic of the piety of past days, in some individual acknowledging that there was a God of perfections above the knowledge of creatures, a God incomprehensible, who ought to be worshipped. Surely, if there had been a single temple in the whole city, or state, or even Greece itself, which had been dedicate to the same being as this isolated and neglected altar, he would have found in this an admission in favour of his argument much more powerful and convincing, and one which it is evident, from his quoting one of their poets, he would have been glad to avail himself of. The very fact, therefore, that they had no temples erected to the true God, no public service offered to him, proves the apostle’s words: they glorified him not AS GOD, as the immediate ruler of the world, as the giver of good, or the avenger of evil, or as possessing attributes to be acknowledged, adored, and imitated. To use the expressive language of the Old Testament, they wholly “forgat God,” and gave his glory to them which are no gods.

But became vain in their imaginations. — En toiv dialogismoiv, in their thoughts and opinions. The word may indeed be taken for the reasonings of the philosophers; but we are to guard against those commentators who interpret the apostle as speaking principally of the heathen sages. He includes them, it is true, but, as his argument requires, in the mass of Gentiles, princes, magistrates, philosophers, priests, and people. The gross tendency to superstition in the mass, and the various doubtful or most erroneous speculations concerning the Divine nature among the pretended wine, and the artifice of priests to increase ceremonies, and visible objects of superstitious regard, for the sake of the gifts brought to their rival shrines, all produced opinions among the Gentiles generally in favour of idolatry; for of this St. Paul especially speaks. To become vain is, in the language of a Jew, to run into idolatry; and hence ta mataia, vain, deceiving, disappointing, and therefore absurd and foolish things as objects of religious trust, is the term for idols, answering to the Hebrew lbh. And their foolish heart, their UNDISCERNING, UNINTELLIGENT heart was darkened. Having courted error rather than held fast the truth which existed among them, led by the evil state of their hearts, (for it is the corrupt condition of the affections which perverts the judgment in matters of religion,) that undiscerning heart became farther darkened, so as to invent, defend, and practise the most senseless idolatries that ever debased the human intellect and corrupted human manners.

Verse 22. Professing themselves to be wise] This is most strikingly true of all the ancient philosophers, whether Greeks or Romans, as their works, which remain, sufficiently testify. The word faskontev signifies not merely the professing but the assumption of the philosophic character. In this sense the word faskein is used by the best Greek writers. See Kypke. A dispassionate examination of the doctrine and lives of the most famed philosophers of antiquity, of every nation, will show that they were darkened in their mind and irregular in their conduct. It was from the Christian religion alone that true philosophy and genuine philosophers sprang.

Verses 21-23. “Because that when they knew God — The writings of Plato, Xenophon, Plutarch, Cicero, and other philosophers, which still remain, together with the quotations made by Just. Martyr and Clem. Alexandrinus from those which are lost, prove that the learned heathen, though ignorant of the way of salvation, were not entirely unacquainted with the unity and spirituality of God, and had pretty just notions of his perfections, of the creation and government of the world, and of the duties which men owe to God and to one another. Their sin, therefore, in worshipping idols, and in concealing the true God from the vulgar, did not proceed so much from ignorance as from corruption of heart.” They glorified him not as God — Did not esteem him, pay homage to him, or worship and serve him in a manner worthy of him, and consistent with those apprehensions they had, or might have had, of him; neither were thankful — Grateful for his benefits. As the true God was not the object of the popular religion, no public thanksgivings were offered to him in any heathen country; and with respect to the private conduct of individuals, though there are still extant hymns in honour of the heathen gods, written by Orpheus, Homer, Pindar, and Horace, who were themselves philosophers as well as poets, we have never heard of any psalm or hymn composed by any heathen poet or philosopher in honour of the true God. It is observable, that thankfulness to God for his mercies, is here represented as a principal branch of religion, and undoubtedly no principle can be nobler, nor can any have a greater or more extensive influence. But became vain in their imaginations — Absurd, stupid, and ridiculous in their reasonings, concerning God’s nature and worship; entangling themselves with a thousand unprofitable subtleties, which only tended to alienate their minds more and more from every truly religious sentiment and disposition. And their foolish, asunetov, their undiscerning, unintelligent, imprudent heart was darkened — Instead of being enlightened by these sophistries, it was more and more involved in ignorance and error, and rendered impenetrable to the simplicity of the most important truths. What a terrible instance have we of this in the writings of Lucretius! What vain reasonings, yet how dark a heart, amid pompous professions of wisdom! Professing themselves to be wise — Greek, faskontev einai sofoi, saying that they were wise; “cum se dicerent, aut se dici sinerent sapientes:” when they called, or suffered themselves to be called, wise men. — Grotius. It evidently refers to their assuming the philosophic character, and to the pride they took in the title of wise men, or lovers of wisdom. They became fools — Degrading, in the lowest and most infamous manner, the reason which they so arrogantly pretended to improve, and almost to engross. Thus the apostle finely ridicules that ostentation of wisdom which the Greek philosophers made, by taking to themselves the name of wise men. And his irony was the more pungent, in that it was put into a writing addressed to the Romans, who were great admirers of the Greeks. And changed, &c. — As if he had said, As their folly and wickedness were evident in a variety of other vices, in which these heathen philosophers joined with the vulgar, so particularly in the early and almost universal prevalence of idolatry among them; for they changed the glory — The unutterable glory, of the incorruptible and immortal God — (the word afqartov means both) all the majestic splendours, in which he shines forth through earth and heaven, into an image, made by their own hands, like to corruptible and mortal man — Which, how elegantly soever it might be formed, was an abominable and insufferable degradation of the infinitely perfect and eternal Godhead, had their folly proceeded no further. But, not content with this, they set up as emblems of Deity and objects of worship, brute creatures and their images: birds, four-footed beasts, and creeping things — Even such vile reptiles as beetles, and various kinds of serpents, which creep on the dust. The learned Egyptians in particular, as is well known, worshipped dogs, snakes, nay, and even vegetables. We may observe here, 1st, That the word corruptible, applied to man, signifies not only his being liable to dissolution, but to moral pollution; and the term incorruptible, applied to God, signifies that he is not liable to either. 2d, “The great evil of the heathen idolatry consisted in their setting up the images of men and beasts in their temples as representations of the Deity, by which the vulgar were led to believe that God was of the same form, nature, and qualities with the animals represented by these images. And the persons who thus changed the glory of God were not the common people among the Greeks, but the legislators, magistrates, priests, and philosophers; for they were the persons who framed the public religion in all the heathen countries; who established it by their laws, and recommended it by their example.” — Macknight.

Ver. 22. Professing themselves to be wise by philosophy, they became fools, to liken the Godhead to birds, beasts, and serpents; for all those gods were a lie, a falsehood; they were not gods, but only wood, stone, and metals. In India, all the temples are built to idols, and none to the living God.

22. Wise—In discarding the primitive belief in God the first proud pretenders claimed credit for great worldly wisdom. Fools—As the idolatrous and depraving results showed. When the Psalmist said, The fool saith in his heart there is no God, we have the same profession of superiority over the poor pietists who worship the Creator, and the same fact of the being a fool.

And precisely as this proud destitution of the religious sentiment grows, either atheism or idol-worship is asserted. In our own day it is affirmed by some would-be philosophers that even a religion may exist in the mind of an atheist; and others claim that the being an atheist is no depreciation of a man’s moral worth. Doubtless a man can exist with a purpose of obeying the law of right who does not positively believe in the existence of God. Yet, as before said, the non-acknowledgment of God is not merely an intellectual defect, but a moral delinquency in itself. It renders prayer and communion with the Holy One impossible; it destroys all view of a divine moral government, all trust in the rule of an omnipotent reason, all firm hope of an immortality and retribution beyond the grave. The spiritual and religious sentiments and emotions are lost, and the moral sentiments and purposes fed and sustained by these become withered and dead. Theories of sensualism, animalism, and base development succeed, and though a few philosophers may act the part of sages, statesmen, or philanthropists, yet the masses will plunge into lawlessness and bestiality. Thus professing to be wise, even the philosophic few will be found to be false philanthropists and fools.

Ver. 22.-23. Proof that their heart was without understanding, and darkened.

Professing to be wise: a ludicrous contrast to their folly and their worship of animals instead of God.

Glory: admiration evoked by grandeur real or apparent, and expressing itself in words or actions. In this subjective sense, it is used in Romans 4:20; 11:36; 15:7; 16:27: cp. John 5:41, 44; John 12:43. In classical Greek, the word denotes an opinion, the impression an object makes on the mind of a beholder. But in the Greek Bible it denotes frequently the objective quality which evokes admiration, i.e. manifested grandeur.

The glory of God denotes here and Romans 6:4; 9:23; Titus 2:13; Revelation 18:1; 21:11, 23 the manifested grandeur of God, so calculated to evoke His creatures’ admiration. In Romans 15:7; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Philippians 1:11, the same phrase denotes admiration for God evoked by His manifested grandeur. Cp. “glory of the Lord” in Luke 2:9; 2 Corinthians 3:18. Men glorify God when they receive Him as an object of their admiration, and when, by words or acts, they make Him known to others to be the object of their admiration. See also under Romans 3:23; 5:2.

To such depth of folly fell the men to whom Paul refers that they put aside the splendour of God, incapable of decay, and put in place of it an image of men and animals doomed to decay. The contrast between

incorruptible (see under Romans 2:7) and corruptible puts their folly in clearest light.

Image: a concrete imitation.

Likeness: the generic quality in which one image is like another: cp. Romans 5:14; 6:5; 8:3; <502007> Philippians 2:7. With this abstract quality of an image of a perishing man is contrasted the outshining grandeur of the immortal God.

And of birds and quadrupeds and creeping things: further marks of their folly. The objects of their worship pass before us in slow procession, and increase our wonder at the folly of those who turn from God to worship imitations of these brute creatures. We see the principle of veneration so deeply seated in them that they must worship something: and so foolish are they that these images are fairer in their eyes than the Creator of the universe.

The facts of idolatry here asserted lie before us in the writings and relics of antiquity. Statues of men were worshipped by the Greeks: and the mummies of birds and reptiles, from the temples of Egypt, fill our museums. And, when Paul wrote, scarcely a serious voice had been raised in heathendom against this folly.

The clearness of the reasoning of the Greeks about other matters makes more conspicuous their failure in this all-important matter. That they saw not their folly, reveals their blindness.

Romans 1:21-23 prove that the heathen are without excuse for their idolatry: Romans 1:20 asserts that in order to leave them without excuse God manifested Himself to them in nature. In other words, the only possible result of this manifestation was its designed result. But this was not its ultimate aim. Nature, like the Law, (see Galatians 3:24,) was a guardian slave to lead men to Christ.

Verse 22. Professing themselves wise. — With respect to the Greeks and Romans, whom St. Paul had more immediately in his eye, the word faskontev implies a degree of boasting. Not only did these philosophers exult over the supposed ignorance of other nations, not excepting the Jews; but the people, generally, accounted others as barbarians in comparison of themselves. But among the barbarous nations so called by them, that is, the civilized or semi-civilized orientals, whose territories comprised then as now the greater portion of the human race, precisely the same kind of philosophy which the Greeks called wisdom was known, and has been transmitted to the present day. All the various schools of Greece may be found in India; nor is this profession of wisdom confined to the more learned among the orientals; but various metaphysical systems which respect the Divine nature, the soul of man, the hopes of a future life, the principles of right or wrong, more or less subtle in logic or imaginative, are diffused through the mass of the population, who boast of them as wisdom, and employ them to resist the evidence of truth, and to support their gross and degrading idolatries. This profession of wisdom is not, therefore, by any means, as is done by some commentators, to be confined to the Greek and Roman philosophers; but has been diffused with paganism everywhere, except it may be with those who have at length gone down into the absolutely savage state: and even traces of metaphysical and misleading reasoning on a few points is sometimes found among them.

They became fools, &c. — This is a strong expression, but may be fully justified. For what folly could exceed the idolatries of the most celebrated, and, as to the knowledge of arts; the most cultivated of these nations, Chaldea, Egypt, Greece, Rome, &c., which consisted in worshipping and trusting in imaginary beings, of whose very existence they had no evidence, to whose number they were constantly adding, and whose characters were confessedly gross, faithless, and licentious? What can so truly be called sottishness of mind, an infatuation which deprives men of right reason, as the worship of images of men, beasts, and reptiles, whether the things themselves were considered sacred as the representatives of invisible and powerful beings? — and the whole of what is called superstition as distinct from idol worship, — the attaching of virtue, for good or for evil, (and that operating necessarily, unless counteracted by some other power quite as blind,) to charms, particular actions, times, flights of birds, appearances of the entrails of sacrifices, extraordinary natural phenomena, and innumerable other things, to the entire exclusion of the wise and intelligent government of one true God, the sole Maker and Governor of the world? Nor was this confined to the vulgar only: the majority of the higher ranks were zealots in the respective religions of these countries, as appears from the stupendous temples erected everywhere for their celebration; while such as were generally skeptical often fell into atheistical or other errors, as far removed from reason as the folly which disgusted them; while the few who appear to have laid a faster hold of the floating traditions of truth, and spoke of one God as the Governor and Maker of all things, openly and constantly practised the established worship, as Socrates, Plato, and Cicero, and strenuously taught conformity to all the rites of this absurd and impure superstition. This brand of folly is thus fixed upon them all; nor is it at all relieved by alleging that many among them had a better secret doctrine, although they were to be blamed for not giving the public the benefit of it. For not to urge that if this were so, it did not effect the general state of society of which St. Paul speaks, — the number of those initiated into the mysteries in which only this secret and better doctrine is supposed to have been preserved, being both few, and they bound to secrecy; it may indeed be doubted, whether for many ages at least, the mysteries themselves revealed any such degree of truth as was of the least practical value. Whatever they might be in the commencement, they would partake of the common deterioration; and this is certain, that those initiated into their secrets did not stand forth as superior to others in any virtue. They are never alluded to in the New Testament as relieving, in any degree, the dark and corrupt state of the Gentile world.

V. 23. And changed-With the utmost folly. Here are three degrees of ungodliness and of punishment: the first is described, Romans 1:21-24; the second, Romans 1:25-27; the third, in Romans 1:28, and following verses. The punishment in each case is expressed by God gave them up. If a man will not worship God as God, he is so left to himself that he throws away his very manhood.

Reptiles-Or creeping things; as beetles, and various kinds of serpents.

Verse 23. They changed the glory, &c.] The finest representation of their deities was in the human figure; and on such representative figures the sculptors spent all their skill; hence the HERCULES of Farnese, the VENUS of Medicis, and the APOLLO of Belvidere. And when they had formed their gods according to the human shape, they endowed them with human passions; and as they clothed them with attributes of extraordinary strength, beauty, wisdom, &c., not having the true principles of morality, they represented them as slaves to the most disorderly and disgraceful passions; excelling in irregularities the most profligate of men, as possessing unlimited powers of sensual gratification.

And to birds] As the eagle of Jupiter among the Romans, and the ibis and hawk among the Egyptians; which were all sacred animals. Four-footed beasts] As the apis or white ox among the Egyptians; from which the idolatrous Israelites took their golden calf. The goat, the monkey, and the dog, were also sacred animals among the same people. Creeping things.] Such as the crocodile and scarabeus, or beetle, among the Egyptians.

Verses 21-23. “Because that when they knew God — The writings of Plato, Xenophon, Plutarch, Cicero, and other philosophers, which still remain, together with the quotations made by Just. Martyr and Clem. Alexandrinus from those which are lost, prove that the learned heathen, though ignorant of the way of salvation, were not entirely unacquainted with the unity and spirituality of God, and had pretty just notions of his perfections, of the creation and government of the world, and of the duties which men owe to God and to one another. Their sin, therefore, in worshipping idols, and in concealing the true God from the vulgar, did not proceed so much from ignorance as from corruption of heart.” They glorified him not as God — Did not esteem him, pay homage to him, or worship and serve him in a manner worthy of him, and consistent with those apprehensions they had, or might have had, of him; neither were thankful — Grateful for his benefits. As the true God was not the object of the popular religion, no public thanksgivings were offered to him in any heathen country; and with respect to the private conduct of individuals, though there are still extant hymns in honour of the heathen gods, written by Orpheus, Homer, Pindar, and Horace, who were themselves philosophers as well as poets, we have never heard of any psalm or hymn composed by any heathen poet or philosopher in honour of the true God. It is observable, that thankfulness to God for his mercies, is here represented as a principal branch of religion, and undoubtedly no principle can be nobler, nor can any have a greater or more extensive influence. But became vain in their imaginations — Absurd, stupid, and ridiculous in their reasonings, concerning God’s nature and worship; entangling themselves with a thousand unprofitable subtleties, which only tended to alienate their minds more and more from every truly religious sentiment and disposition. And their foolish, asunetov, their undiscerning, unintelligent, imprudent heart was darkened — Instead of being enlightened by these sophistries, it was more and more involved in ignorance and error, and rendered impenetrable to the simplicity of the most important truths. What a terrible instance have we of this in the writings of Lucretius! What vain reasonings, yet how dark a heart, amid pompous professions of wisdom! Professing themselves to be wise — Greek, faskontev einai sofoi, saying that they were wise; “cum se dicerent, aut se dici sinerent sapientes:” when they called, or suffered themselves to be called, wise men. — Grotius. It evidently refers to their assuming the philosophic character, and to the pride they took in the title of wise men, or lovers of wisdom. They became fools — Degrading, in the lowest and most infamous manner, the reason which they so arrogantly pretended to improve, and almost to engross. Thus the apostle finely ridicules that ostentation of wisdom which the Greek philosophers made, by taking to themselves the name of wise men. And his irony was the more pungent, in that it was put into a writing addressed to the Romans, who were great admirers of the Greeks. And changed, &c. — As if he had said, As their folly and wickedness were evident in a variety of other vices, in which these heathen philosophers joined with the vulgar, so particularly in the early and almost universal prevalence of idolatry among them; for they changed the glory — The unutterable glory, of the incorruptible and immortal God — (the word afqartov means both) all the majestic splendours, in which he shines forth through earth and heaven, into an image, made by their own hands, like to corruptible and mortal man — Which, how elegantly soever it might be formed, was an abominable and insufferable degradation of the infinitely perfect and eternal Godhead, had their folly proceeded no further. But, not content with this, they set up as emblems of Deity and objects of worship, brute creatures and their images: birds, four-footed beasts, and creeping things — Even such vile reptiles as beetles, and various kinds of serpents, which creep on the dust. The learned Egyptians in particular, as is well known, worshipped dogs, snakes, nay, and even vegetables. We may observe here, 1st, That the word corruptible, applied to man, signifies not only his being liable to dissolution, but to moral pollution; and the term incorruptible, applied to God, signifies that he is not liable to either. 2d, “The great evil of the heathen idolatry consisted in their setting up the images of men and beasts in their temples as representations of the Deity, by which the vulgar were led to believe that God was of the same form, nature, and qualities with the animals represented by these images. And the persons who thus changed the glory of God were not the common people among the Greeks, but the legislators, magistrates, priests, and philosophers; for they were the persons who framed the public religion in all the heathen countries; who established it by their laws, and recommended it by their example.” — Macknight.

Ver. 23. And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image like to corruptible man. Of the origin of idolatry we have spoken, on Genesis 11:28; and of the satires levelled against idols, on Isaiah 40:19. 41:6. 44:10. But on Babel as the first grand seat of idol worship, Dr. Lightfoot translates a passage from the targum of Jonathan, and of Jerusalem, which throws some light on the assertions of Paul. Genesis 11:4. “They said, go to, [agite, let us proceed] let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may reach to heaven, and let us make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the face of the whole earth.” The targums read, Go to, let us build a city and a tower, and let its head reach to heaven, and let us make a house of worship on the top of it, [where our god or idol shall be enthroned] and let us put a sword into his hand, that he may wage war for us against our enemies, before we are scattered abroad on the face of the whole earth. To this paraphrase the doctor adds the words of rabbi Nathan; that they were all intent on idolatry, and therefore the jews had constantly believed that the generation which built Babel had no part in the world to come. This passage developes an important opinion, that Babylon was the first seat of idol worship.

23. Changed—What unspeakable fools these self-conceited wise ones were is here unfolded. The glory of the incorruptible God they transformed into the basest shapes of man, birds, quadrupeds, and reptiles. Man—In Athens the most exquisite art was applied in shaping statues of human form into representatives of gods. Birds—In Egypt the ibis. Four-footed beasts—Dogs, cats, wolves, oxen, and crocodiles. Creeping things—The serpent worship is one of the most marvellous and most widely diffused of idolatries. Wherever these apostates from God discerned or imagined the nature-power manifesting itself peculiarly, as in some animals, there they bestowed their strange and degrading worship. At first it was perhaps the nature power conceived to inhere in the animal which they worshipped; but, sooner or later, not only the animal, but even the lifeless image, was worshipped as the very god.

Ver. 22.-23. Proof that their heart was without understanding, and darkened.

Professing to be wise: a ludicrous contrast to their folly and their worship of animals instead of God.

Glory: admiration evoked by grandeur real or apparent, and expressing itself in words or actions. In this subjective sense, it is used in Romans 4:20; 11:36; 15:7; 16:27: cp. John 5:41, 44; John 12:43. In classical Greek, the word denotes an opinion, the impression an object makes on the mind of a beholder. But in the Greek Bible it denotes frequently the objective quality which evokes admiration, i.e. manifested grandeur.

The glory of God denotes here and Romans 6:4; 9:23; Titus 2:13; Revelation 18:1; 21:11, 23 the manifested grandeur of God, so calculated to evoke His creatures’ admiration. In Romans 15:7; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Philippians 1:11, the same phrase denotes admiration for God evoked by His manifested grandeur. Cp. “glory of the Lord” in Luke 2:9; 2 Corinthians 3:18. Men glorify God when they receive Him as an object of their admiration, and when, by words or acts, they make Him known to others to be the object of their admiration. See also under Romans 3:23; 5:2.

To such depth of folly fell the men to whom Paul refers that they put aside the splendour of God, incapable of decay, and put in place of it an image of men and animals doomed to decay. The contrast between

incorruptible (see under Romans 2:7) and corruptible puts their folly in clearest light.

Image: a concrete imitation.

Likeness: the generic quality in which one image is like another: cp. Romans 5:14; 6:5; 8:3; <502007> Philippians 2:7. With this abstract quality of an image of a perishing man is contrasted the outshining grandeur of the immortal God.

And of birds and quadrupeds and creeping things: further marks of their folly. The objects of their worship pass before us in slow procession, and increase our wonder at the folly of those who turn from God to worship imitations of these brute creatures. We see the principle of veneration so deeply seated in them that they must worship something: and so foolish are they that these images are fairer in their eyes than the Creator of the universe.

The facts of idolatry here asserted lie before us in the writings and relics of antiquity. Statues of men were worshipped by the Greeks: and the mummies of birds and reptiles, from the temples of Egypt, fill our museums. And, when Paul wrote, scarcely a serious voice had been raised in heathendom against this folly.

The clearness of the reasoning of the Greeks about other matters makes more conspicuous their failure in this all-important matter. That they saw not their folly, reveals their blindness.

Romans 1:21-23 prove that the heathen are without excuse for their idolatry: Romans 1:20 asserts that in order to leave them without excuse God manifested Himself to them in nature. In other words, the only possible result of this manifestation was its designed result. But this was not its ultimate aim. Nature, like the Law, (see Galatians 3:24,) was a guardian slave to lead men to Christ.

Verse 23. And changed the glory, &c. — God is here called incorruptible in contrast with, and in implied contempt of the deities of the heathen. All matter changes and decays, but God is THE SAME; all spirits depend upon him “who only hath immortality,” who only hath it in himself, who is the fountain of it to others, and can restrain the stream of life when he pleases, and annihilate the highest and most powerful being he has created. But the deities of the heathen were not even spiritual substances, These invisible deities were imaginary; and therefore the apostle, in another place says, “An idol is nothing in the world;” they were truly corruptible things, as men, beasts, insects, or corruptible images of these corruptible things. The glory of the incorruptible God is a lofty expression. It must be equal to this vast attribute of incorruptibility itself. How many other great and boundless perfections are implied in this self-existence, this having life in himself, and being the fountain of it to every thing beside that lives throughout the universe, surpasses all human conception; but it is evident that all conceivable natural and moral perfection must be involved in it. Hence he was revealed from the first ages to the patriarchs of all nations, as eternal, all-sufficient, almighty, omnipresent, immutable, infinite in knowledge and in holiness, goodness and justice, infinitely perfect. These constituted those GLORIES in which he at one time stood revealed to the whole Gentile world; and which they darkened and voluntarily hid from themselves by their idolatry. Thus they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man; the sense of which is, not as Macknight and others take it, that they misrepresented the perfections of God by variously devised images, making the evil of heathen idolatry to consist in setting up images of men and beasts in their temples, as representations of the Deity. For the fact is, not that God was misrepresented, but displaced and neglected; so that he was not in any sense, as the apostle above says, “worshipped as God.” The single verb must here be taken as its compound in verse 25: Who changed, exchanged, the truth of God, en, with a lie, gave up one for the other; and so here they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God with images of men and beasts, took the one for the other, renounced the true God, and surrendered their trust and affections, by the most degrading infatuation that ever befell the human race, wholly to idols. There is a great difference between the Apostle Paul and many of his commentators and other writers. They choose to throw a somewhat softer shade over the idolatries of the heathen, and, by taking their images to be, in various ways, representatives of the Divinity himself, hold up their idolatrous systems rather as embodying the worship of the true God under mistaken forms, than as something wholly distinct from it. The apostle, however, does not take this view; nor do any of the writers of the Old and New Testament. They uniformly consider idolatry as the renunciation of the true God, and as the transfer of all honour and trust from him to OTHER objects. Whether in the first rise of idolatry, God and his operations might not be symbolized, and the grand evil be brought in under this pretence, it is scarcely worth while to inquire. For many ages the Gentile idolatry had remained in the state in which it was found by St. Paul, and he regards it as an entire renunciation of the true God. Nor does he sanction any distinction between the worship of the thing represented by the image, and the image itself, as many of those do who incline to palliate at least the “more elegant” idolatries of antiquity. The distinction is indeed futile; for although the image, before consecration, might be treated as common matter, yet after that ceremony the god or sacred being whom it was made to represent, was supposed to take possession of it, to be actually present with it, and mysteriously to identify it with himself; so that the regards of the worshipper went no higher than the image thus deified, so far at least as the mass of the people were concerned. We may add to this, that a great part of pagan idolatry was not even so refined as this; since many objects were considered as sacred in themselves, and as having power over the fortunes of men, for which no reason at all could be given by referring them to any distinct invisible demon; and the assumed sacredness rested on no better or more distinct ground than the power ascribed to charms and incantations. And creeping things. — The crocodile and scarabœus in Egypt, and serpents almost everywhere. The worship of the serpent is a curious fact and has given rise to much elaborate investigation, both as to the extent and character of the practice, and the reason on which it might be founded. Nothing very satisfactory, as to the latter, has been elicited, beyond the general conclusion that it is a species of devil worship; and under this form probably the grand deceiver of the nations succeeded to transfer Divine honour to himself, and thus to revel in the degradation of mankind.

V. 24. Wherefore-One punishment of sin is from the very nature of it, as Romans 1:27; another, as here, is from vindictive justice. Uncleanness-Ungodliness and uncleanness are frequently joined, 1 Thessalonians 4:5 as are the knowledge of God and purity. God gave them up-By withdrawing his restraining grace.

Verse 24. God-gave them up, &c.] They had filled up the measure of their iniquities, and God, by permitting them to plunge into all manner of irregularities, thus, by one species of sin, inflicted punishment on another. Dishonour their own bodies] Probably alluding here to what is more openly expressed, Romans 1:26, 27.

Between themselves] en eautoiv, Of themselves, of their own free accord; none inciting, none impelling.

Verses 24, 25. Wherefore God gave them up — As a punishment of this most unreasonable and scandalous idolatry, God withdrew his restraining grace from them as he did from the antediluvians, Genesis 6:3; the consequence of which was, that their lusts excited them to commit every sort of uncleanness. The truth is, a contempt of religion is the source of all wickedness. And ungodliness and uncleanness particularly are frequently united, 1 Thessalonians 4:5, as are the knowledge of God and purity. Observe, reader, one punishment of sin is from the very nature of it, as verse 27; another, as here, is from vindictive justice. Who changed the truth of God — Those true conceptions which they had of him by nature; into a lie — False opinions of him, and the worship of idols. And they represented his true essence, his incorruptible and immortal nature, by images of men and brute creatures, which are fitly called a lie, as being most false representations of the Deity, who does not resemble them in any respect whatever. Hence idols are called lying vanities, Psalms 31:6Psalm 31:6. And every image of an idol is termed a teacher of lies, Habakkuk 2:18. And worshipped and served the creature — And not only God’s creatures, but their own creatures, the images which their own hands had made. The former expression, esebasqhsan, signifies inward veneration, reverence, esteem, and such like qualities felt in the mind. The latter word, egatreusan, denotes the paying outward worship and service to beings thought to be gods. The heathen gave both to their idols, reverencing and respecting them inwardly, and performing various acts of outward worship to them, in token thereof. More than the Creator, who is blessed for ever — Who is eternally glorious, and to whom alone all honour and praise everlastingly belong. Amen — It is an undoubted truth, and to him let it be ascribed accordingly.

Ver. 24. God also gave them up — to the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies, as they had dishonoured his divinity. Every species of sin against the mind, as well as sins against the body, followed. “Backbiters, haters of God, covenant-breakers.” Boëthius, in his consolations of philosophy, and all their poets and historians confirm the words of Paul. All the letters of modern missionaries join in describing the gloomy portrait of this chapter.

24. God also gave them up—The Divine Spirit, which loves to draw to itself the willing and susceptible human spirit, being thus abandoned, substituted, rejected, and repelled with insult, withdraws Himself and leaves the apostate to himself. To uncleanness—The spiritual in the man, unrefreshed and uninvigorated by the Divine Spirit, becomes faint and inert, and the animal reigns alone in power. Dishonour their own bodies—The animal grows in lust and exerts its utmost power in sensuality, ascertaining by shameful experiment the full extent to which debasement in man can go. Dishonour their own bodies—By unnatural and beastly practices they not only subject their bodies to what all pure minds hold to be infamy, but by effeminacy and vile diseases, the result of their abuse, they contract a permanent debasement to their persons.

Ver. 24. Divinely-ordained result and punishment of their idolatry. Gave-up: handed over into the power of another; as in Romans 4:25; 6:17; 8:32.

To uncleanness: same word in Romans 6:19; Ephesians 4:19: the enemy into whose hands God gave them up. It is further specified as a defilement characterised by having

their bodies dishonoured among themselves, i.e. one with another. Still further details in Romans 1:26, 27. Notice that sin is here represented as an enemy against whom the sinner is unable to protect himself: so Romans 7:23. Surrender to this awful foe is the divinely-inflicted penalty of turning from God to idols. This surrender took place in the desires (see under Romans 6:12) of their hearts. They longed for things around, often for bad things: and, full of desires they could not control, they were given up to shameful mutual pollution. In this surrender to their enemies the victims acquiesced: Ephesians 4:19. Fortunately the surrender was not necessarily final. Many of Paul’s readers had once been given up to similar sins: but in the land of bondage they had cried for deliverance, and their cry had been heard: so 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. We shall find that this verse is the centre, and contains the kernel, of the whole section.

Verse 24. God also gave them up to uncleanness. — To give up is more than simply to permit, as some render it. It implies a withdrawal of slighted means of instruction, and of the influences of the Holy Spirit, provoked to depart from men by their determined wickedness. By not renewing his revelations among them, as in the earliest ages; by raising up no prophets accredited from him with the power of working miracles; and “suffering them,” with little interposition, “to walk in their own ways,” — this awful judicial “giving up” of the heathen was marked. Still the light was not extinguished. God “left not himself without witness” among them, and by improving the knowledge they had they might have been led back to God. Farther, they were given up to uncleanness, The connection of uncleanness with idolatry, from the earliest ages, is a striking fact, and it holds good in all places; and in many of the forms of the most ancient idolatry lewdness was an essential part of the religious rites. The fact seems to be, that though the origin of idolatry is involved in much obscurity; (and many writers have attempted to render it as respectable as possible;) that it sprang wholly from sensuality, and was from the first a wicked contrivance to bring religion over to the side of vice; and that, the restraint once broken down, it soon took the form of the most abominable pollutions. Hence idolatry, with reference to its demoralizing effect, is called, by God himself, “that abominable thing which I hate.” From a people so sensualized God withdrew his Spirit, and so gave them up that their sin might be their punishment. As to the shocking immoralities charged upon them by St. Paul, it is enough to say that in every particular his testimony is confirmed by their own historians, poets, and satirists; and the character of modern idolatry abundantly confirms this account of the ancient. The charges lay as well against their most illustrious princes, statesmen, warriors, and philosophers, as the meanest of the common people; and indeed the former exceeded the latter in every species of the most abominable impurities. It is enough to refer to the confirmation of St. Paul’s charges, without staining the page by the quotations at length.

V. 25. Who changed the truth-The true worship of God. Into a lie-False, abominable idolatries.

And worshipped-Inwardly.

And served-Outwardly.

Verse 25. Changed the truth of God into a lie] In the place of the true worship of God, they established idolatry. In various places of Scripture idols are termed lies. Isaiah 44:20; Jeremiah 10:14; 13:25. The true God was known among the primitive inhabitants of the earth, those who first became idolaters literally changed the truth of God into a lie: they did know the true God, but they put idols in his place.

Verses 24, 25. Wherefore God gave them up — As a punishment of this most unreasonable and scandalous idolatry, God withdrew his restraining grace from them as he did from the antediluvians, Genesis 6:3; the consequence of which was, that their lusts excited them to commit every sort of uncleanness. The truth is, a contempt of religion is the source of all wickedness. And ungodliness and uncleanness particularly are frequently united, 1 Thessalonians 4:5, as are the knowledge of God and purity. Observe, reader, one punishment of sin is from the very nature of it, as verse 27; another, as here, is from vindictive justice. Who changed the truth of God — Those true conceptions which they had of him by nature; into a lie — False opinions of him, and the worship of idols. And they represented his true essence, his incorruptible and immortal nature, by images of men and brute creatures, which are fitly called a lie, as being most false representations of the Deity, who does not resemble them in any respect whatever. Hence idols are called lying vanities, Psalms 31:6Psalm 31:6. And every image of an idol is termed a teacher of lies, Habakkuk 2:18. And worshipped and served the creature — And not only God’s creatures, but their own creatures, the images which their own hands had made. The former expression, esebasqhsan, signifies inward veneration, reverence, esteem, and such like qualities felt in the mind. The latter word, egatreusan, denotes the paying outward worship and service to beings thought to be gods. The heathen gave both to their idols, reverencing and respecting them inwardly, and performing various acts of outward worship to them, in token thereof. More than the Creator, who is blessed for ever — Who is eternally glorious, and to whom alone all honour and praise everlastingly belong. Amen — It is an undoubted truth, and to him let it be ascribed accordingly.

25. Changed—The apostle again refers to the primal cause of their deep plunges in unnatural animalism, their apostasy from God. They first dishonoured their Maker and then debased themselves. Truth of God… lie—So the Hebrew writers called an idol preeminently a lie, as basely falsifying the glorious truth of the Divine nature. The creature—The created object, whether deified animal or inanimate substance shaped into an idol. More than—Rather than, instead of. Blessed—A doxology asserting the Divine over all created nature.

26, 27. The apostle, holding the intensity of depravation in the sexual direction to be both the most signal instance of man’s depth of wickedness, and, as in a manner, both the accompaniment and cause of every other wickedness, recurs to and expatiates over it with a fascinated abhorrence.

Ver. 25. Another indignant delineation, parallel to that in Romans 1:21-23, of the sin of idolatry so terribly punished.

The truth (see under Romans 2:18) of God: “His eternal power and divinity,” viewed as a reality correctly set forth in Nature. The lie: outward form without any corresponding reality. Notice the awful contrast: the truth of God… the Lie. The heathen exchanged their divinely-given knowledge of the supreme reality for the unreality and error and deception of idolatry.

Revered: stronger than “glorified” in Romans 1:21. They made imitations of animals an object of their lowly adoration. And served: as in Romans 1:9. It suggests the ritual of idolatry. It is evident that they worshipped the creature only, and Him that created not at all. But Paul uses the milder words rather than in order to make their folly the more evident by comparing the objects chosen and refused. To bless, is to speak good to, or of, a person; the meaning in each case being determined by the relation of the persons concerned. God blesses us by declaring the good He will do us: and His word conveys the good to us. We bless God by declaring how good He is: Luke 1:64; 2:28. God is blessed: to endless ages an unceasing song will proclaim His goodness.

Amen: a Hebrew word denoting certainly, and adopted into N.T. Greek. It is translated verily (A.V. and R.V.) in John 3:3,5,11, etc. At the end of a prayer, it expresses desire for an answer. Cp. Jeremiah 11:5; 28:6 where its meaning is explained, Numbers 5:22; Deuteronomy 27:15; also 2 Corinthians 1:20; Revelation 3:14. Paul has been describing the folly of the heathen, and watching their worship and its degrading and perishing objects. Weary with the sight, he lifts his eyes to heaven. To the eye of faith appears the eternal throne, surrounded by a host of happy and intelligent worshippers. From afar, their hallelujahs fall upon his ear: and he knows that those songs will rise for ever, literally to the ages, the successive periods of the future. The glorious vision reveals to him the madness of the idolaters around. From Him whom angels worship, they turn to their own perishing imitations of perishing men and animals. Paul cannot repress a tribute of honour to the dishonoured Creator. While he listens to the anthem, which he knows will be eternal, he joins the chorus, and cries Amen. Cp. Romans 9:5; 11:36; 16:27; Revelation 5:14.

Notice various phrases describing man’s conception of God. That which is known of God describes Him as apprehended by men. The invisible things of Him: because, though placed by God within reach of the piercing glance of man’s mind, the nature of God is beyond the range of his eye.

The glory of God: as calculated to evoke man’s admiration, in contrast to the contemptible forms of heathen worship.

The truth of God: a conception corresponding with reality, in contrast to the unreality of everything belonging to idolatry.

Verse 25. The truth of God into a lie. — Alhqeia tou Qeou is here used for Qeov alhqinov, the true God, and yeudov, a lie, equivalent to rqv, for an idol, as in Jeremiah 13:25. This was the wretched exchange they made, the true God for a false one, that is, no God at all; one to whom it was false to ascribe existence under that character, and all whose pretences to aid and bless must therefore be necessarily vanity and lies. A similar, though not so gross an exchange, do they make who forget God, and trust wholly for help and felicity in earthly things.

And worshipped and served, &c. — Worship relates to the verbal offering of praise and petitions, accompanied with reverential postures; service includes sacrifices, oblations, and ceremonies.

More than the Creator. — This is another proof that the apostle did not consider these idolaters as worshipping and serving the Creator in and by the creature, though imperfectly and erroneously; for whether we take the words para ton ktisanta as signifying more than the Creator, or to the prejudice of the Creator, he is excluded from his rightful honour in the degree in which idolatry prevailed. The worship of idols took the place of the worship of God.

Who is blessed for ever. — This is the manner of the pious Jews, who could not allude to any dishonour done to God without taking occasion from it to proclaim his praises with renewed ardour, and to declare him blessed, that is, worthy of the sole blessing, homage, worship, love, and service of his creatures, for ever.

V. 26. Therefore God gave them up to vile affections-To which the heathen Romans were then abandoned to the last degree; and none more than the emperors themselves.

Verse 26. For this cause God gave them up, &c.] Their system of idolatry necessarily produced all kinds of impurity. How could it be otherwise, when the highest objects of their worship were adulterers, fornicators, and prostitutes of the most infamous kind, such as Jupiter, Apollo, Mars, Venus, &c.? Of the abominable evils with which the apostle charges the Gentiles in this and the following verse I could produce a multitude of proofs from their own writings; but it is needless to make the subject plainer than the apostle has left it.

Verses 26, 27. For this cause — To punish them for their inexcusable neglect, or contempt rather, of the ever-blessed God; and for all their idolatries and impieties; God gave them up unto vile affections — Abandoned them to the most infamous passions, to which the heathen Romans were enslaved to the last degree, and none more than the emperors themselves. For even their women — From whom the strictest modesty might reasonably be expected; did change the natural use of their bodies into that which is against nature — Prostituting and abusing them in the most abominable manner. Likewise also the men burned in their lust one toward another — “How just the apostle’s reflections are, and how pertinently he has placed this most abominable abuse of human nature at the head of the vices into which the heathen world were fallen, will be seen, if we observe that Cicero, the greatest philosopher in Rome, a little before the gospel was preached, in his book concerning the nature of the gods, (where may be found a thousand idle sentiments upon that subject,) introduces, without any mark of disapprobation, Cotta, a man of the first rank and genius, freely and familiarly owning, to other Romans of the same quality, this worse than beastly vice, as practised by himself; and quoting the authority of ancient philosophers in vindication of it. See lib. 1. sec. 28. Nay, and do we not even find the most elegant and correct, both of the Greek and Latin poets, avowing this vice, and even celebrating the objects of their abominable affection? Indeed, it is well known that this most detestable vice was long and generally practised, by all sorts of men, philosophers and others. Whence we may conclude that the apostle has done justice to the Gentile world in the other instances of their corruption.” — Dodd. Receiving in themselves that recompense of their error — Their idolatry; which was meet — Being punished with that unnatural lust, which was as horrible a dishonour to their bodies as their idolatry was to God, and with various bodily infirmities, disorders, and sufferings consequent on such abominable practices, rendering their lives most miserable on earth, and bringing them to an untimely grave, and an eternal hell. The reader will observe, “the apostle is not speaking simply of the Greeks committing the uncleanness which he mentions, but of their lawgivers authorizing these vices by their public institutions of religion, by their avowed doctrine, and by their own practice. With respect to fornication, the heathen actually made it a part of the worship of their deities. At Corinth, for example, as Strabo informs us, lib. 8. p. 581, there was a temple of Venus, where more than a thousand courtesans (the gift of pious persons of both sexes) prostituted themselves in honour of the goddess; and that thus the city was crowded, and became wealthy. In the court of the temple of Venus, at Cnidus, there were tents placed under the trees for the same lewd purposes. Lucian., Dial. Amores. With respect to sodomy, it is not so commonly known that it was practised by the heathen as a part of their religious worship; yet, in the history which is given of Josiah’s endeavours to destroy idolatry, there is direct evidence of it, 2 Kings 23:7. That the Greek philosophers of the greatest reputation were guilty not only of fornication, but even of sodomy, is affirmed by ancient authors of good reputation. With the latter crime, Tertullian and Nazianzen have charged Socrates himself, in passages of their writings quoted by Estius. The same charge Athenæus, a heathen writer, hath brought against him, Deipnosophist, lib. 13.; not to speak of Lucian, who, in many passages of his writings, hath directly accused him of that vice. When, therefore, the statesmen, the philosophers, and the priests, notwithstanding they enjoyed the light of nature, improved by science, thus avowedly addicted themselves to the most abominable uncleannesses; nay, when the gods whom they worshipped were supposed by them to be guilty of the same enormities; when their temples were brothels, their pictures invitations to sin, their sacred groves places of prostitution, and their sacrifices a horrid mixture of superstition and cruelty; there was certainly the greatest need of the gospel revelation, to make mankind sensible of their brutality, and to bring them to a more holy practice. That some, professing Christianity, are guilty of the crimes of which we have been speaking, is true. But it is equally true, that their religion does not, like the religion of the heathen, encourage them in their crimes; but deters them, by denouncing, in the most direct terms, the heaviest wrath of God against all who are guilty of them. Besides, the gospel, by its divine light, hath led the nations to correct their civil laws; so that in every Christian country these enormities are prohibited, and when discovered are punished with the greatest severity. The gospel, therefore, hath made us far more knowing, and, I may add, more virtuous, than the most enlightened and most polished of the heathen nations were formerly.” — Macknight.

Ver. 26. For this cause God gave them up to vile affections. In their feasts they launched the reins, and degraded themselves, as Herodotus confesses, to the uttermost immodesty. Their practices are still the same in the festivals of fire-worship. See on Genesis 11:28. On this subject, I read Mr. Horner’s original letter twice, part of which he wrote in Latin for the sake of modesty.

Ver. 26.-27. Further exposition of the assertion in Romans 1:24. Notice the stately repetition:

because of this, God gave them up to passions of dishonour. Females… males: terms applicable to animals. They were unworthy to be called women and men. The degradation of their females, among whom modesty lingers last, is put first, as the surest mark of national disgrace. That these pictures are true, the pages of ancient writers afford decisive and sad proof. The impurity of the Greeks was a great feature of their national life: and it seems to have been, in Paul’s day, equalled at Rome. And receiving etc.: a comment on the foregoing, explaining God gave them up and indicating the main argument of the section. In themselves: in their own bodies dishonoured by themselves. The recompense: the self-inflicted shame which is, by God’s just appointment, the necessary result of turning from God to idols. In other words, the personal degradation which inevitably accompanies idolatry is God’s condemnation and punishment of it, and a revelation (Romans 1:18) of His anger against idolaters.

V. 27. Receiving the just recompense of their error-Their idolatry being punished with that unnatural lust, which was as horrible a dishonour to the body, as their idolatry was to God.

Verse 27. Receiving in themselves that recompense, &c.] Both the women and men, by their unnatural prostitutions, enervated their bodies, so that barrenness prevailed, and those disorders which are necessarily attendant on prostitution and sodomitical practices.

Verses 26, 27. For this cause — To punish them for their inexcusable neglect, or contempt rather, of the ever-blessed God; and for all their idolatries and impieties; God gave them up unto vile affections — Abandoned them to the most infamous passions, to which the heathen Romans were enslaved to the last degree, and none more than the emperors themselves. For even their women — From whom the strictest modesty might reasonably be expected; did change the natural use of their bodies into that which is against nature — Prostituting and abusing them in the most abominable manner. Likewise also the men burned in their lust one toward another — “How just the apostle’s reflections are, and how pertinently he has placed this most abominable abuse of human nature at the head of the vices into which the heathen world were fallen, will be seen, if we observe that Cicero, the greatest philosopher in Rome, a little before the gospel was preached, in his book concerning the nature of the gods, (where may be found a thousand idle sentiments upon that subject,) introduces, without any mark of disapprobation, Cotta, a man of the first rank and genius, freely and familiarly owning, to other Romans of the same quality, this worse than beastly vice, as practised by himself; and quoting the authority of ancient philosophers in vindication of it. See lib. 1. sec. 28. Nay, and do we not even find the most elegant and correct, both of the Greek and Latin poets, avowing this vice, and even celebrating the objects of their abominable affection? Indeed, it is well known that this most detestable vice was long and generally practised, by all sorts of men, philosophers and others. Whence we may conclude that the apostle has done justice to the Gentile world in the other instances of their corruption.” — Dodd. Receiving in themselves that recompense of their error — Their idolatry; which was meet — Being punished with that unnatural lust, which was as horrible a dishonour to their bodies as their idolatry was to God, and with various bodily infirmities, disorders, and sufferings consequent on such abominable practices, rendering their lives most miserable on earth, and bringing them to an untimely grave, and an eternal hell. The reader will observe, “the apostle is not speaking simply of the Greeks committing the uncleanness which he mentions, but of their lawgivers authorizing these vices by their public institutions of religion, by their avowed doctrine, and by their own practice. With respect to fornication, the heathen actually made it a part of the worship of their deities. At Corinth, for example, as Strabo informs us, lib. 8. p. 581, there was a temple of Venus, where more than a thousand courtesans (the gift of pious persons of both sexes) prostituted themselves in honour of the goddess; and that thus the city was crowded, and became wealthy. In the court of the temple of Venus, at Cnidus, there were tents placed under the trees for the same lewd purposes. Lucian., Dial. Amores. With respect to sodomy, it is not so commonly known that it was practised by the heathen as a part of their religious worship; yet, in the history which is given of Josiah’s endeavours to destroy idolatry, there is direct evidence of it, 2 Kings 23:7. That the Greek philosophers of the greatest reputation were guilty not only of fornication, but even of sodomy, is affirmed by ancient authors of good reputation. With the latter crime, Tertullian and Nazianzen have charged Socrates himself, in passages of their writings quoted by Estius. The same charge Athenæus, a heathen writer, hath brought against him, Deipnosophist, lib. 13.; not to speak of Lucian, who, in many passages of his writings, hath directly accused him of that vice. When, therefore, the statesmen, the philosophers, and the priests, notwithstanding they enjoyed the light of nature, improved by science, thus avowedly addicted themselves to the most abominable uncleannesses; nay, when the gods whom they worshipped were supposed by them to be guilty of the same enormities; when their temples were brothels, their pictures invitations to sin, their sacred groves places of prostitution, and their sacrifices a horrid mixture of superstition and cruelty; there was certainly the greatest need of the gospel revelation, to make mankind sensible of their brutality, and to bring them to a more holy practice. That some, professing Christianity, are guilty of the crimes of which we have been speaking, is true. But it is equally true, that their religion does not, like the religion of the heathen, encourage them in their crimes; but deters them, by denouncing, in the most direct terms, the heaviest wrath of God against all who are guilty of them. Besides, the gospel, by its divine light, hath led the nations to correct their civil laws; so that in every Christian country these enormities are prohibited, and when discovered are punished with the greatest severity. The gospel, therefore, hath made us far more knowing, and, I may add, more virtuous, than the most enlightened and most polished of the heathen nations were formerly.” — Macknight.

Ver. 26.-27. Further exposition of the assertion in Romans 1:24. Notice the stately repetition:

because of this, God gave them up to passions of dishonour. Females… males: terms applicable to animals. They were unworthy to be called women and men. The degradation of their females, among whom modesty lingers last, is put first, as the surest mark of national disgrace. That these pictures are true, the pages of ancient writers afford decisive and sad proof. The impurity of the Greeks was a great feature of their national life: and it seems to have been, in Paul’s day, equalled at Rome. And receiving etc.: a comment on the foregoing, explaining God gave them up and indicating the main argument of the section. In themselves: in their own bodies dishonoured by themselves. The recompense: the self-inflicted shame which is, by God’s just appointment, the necessary result of turning from God to idols. In other words, the personal degradation which inevitably accompanies idolatry is God’s condemnation and punishment of it, and a revelation (Romans 1:18) of His anger against idolaters.

Verse 27. That recompense of their error. — If planhv, error, refers to idolatry generally, then the sense is, that it was fitly punished by these awful consequences upon the morals of society; so that it has proved the heaviest conceivable curse to all nations addicted to it. The kingdom given up to the basest idolatries was Egypt; and it has been for ages, in the language of prophecy, “the basest of kingdoms;” and other instances of national retribution as striking may be marked upon the page of history. Planhv may, however, be taken more strictly for the guilt of the previously mentioned immoralities, and especially those in which there was the strongest deviation from the proper bounds and course of nature; and the recompense which was meet were those terrible and peculiar diseases by which God has been pleased to signalize his vengeance against such crimes in all ages.

V. 28. God gave them up to an undiscerning mind-Treated of, Romans 1:32.

To do things not expedient-Even the vilest abominations, treated of verses Romans 1:29-31.

Verse 28. They did not like to retain God] It would, perhaps, be more literal to translate ouk edokimasan, THEY DID NOT SEARCH to retain God in their knowledge. They did not examine the evidences before them (Romans 1:19, 20) of his being and attributes; therefore God gave them over to a REPROBATE mind, eiv adokimon noun, to an UNSEARCHING or undiscerning mind; for it is the same word in both places. They did not reflect on the proofs they had of the Divine nature, and God abandoned them to the operations of a mind incapable of reflection. How men of such powers and learning, as many of the Greek and Roman philosophers and poets really were, could reason so inconsecutively concerning things moral and Divine is truly astonishing. But here we see the hand of a just and avenging God; they abused their powers, and God deprived them of the right use of these powers.

Verses 28-31. And as they did not like — ouk edokimasan, they did not approve, to retain God in their knowledge — Or rather, as ecein en epignwsei more properly signifies, to retain him with acknowledgment. For it is proved above that they were not wholly without the knowledge of God in the world: but they did not acknowledge him as they ought; did not use or improve the knowledge they had of him to the purposes for which it had been vouch-safed. Or, as Dr. Macknight interprets it, They “did not approve of holding God as the object of the people’s acknowledgment and worship, but approved of the worship of false gods and of images, as more proper for the vulgar; and on that account substituted idolatry in place of the pure, spiritual worship of the one true God, and established it by law.” Therefore God gave them over to a reprobate mind — adokimon noun, an undiscerning, or injudicious mind; a mind not perceiving or approving what is good, either in principle or practice; a mind void of all proper knowledge and relish of what is excellent, treated of verse 32. Men of this stamp are said, Ephesians 4:19, to be aphlghkotev, without feeling. To do things not convenient — Even the vilest abominations, treated of verses 29-31. Being filled with all unrighteousness — Or injustice. This stands in the first place, unmercifulness in the last. Fornication includes here every species of uncleanness; wickedness — ponhria, a word which implies a disposition to injure others by craft. Hence the devil is called o ponhrov, the wicked one, by way of eminence; covetousness — Pleonexia, an inordinate desire to have more than God sees proper for us, which, the apostle says, is idolatry, Colossians 3:5; maliciousness — kakia, a disposition to injure others from ill-will to them, or which delights in hurting another, even without any advantage to one’s self; full of envy — Grieving at another’s welfare, or rejoicing at his hurt; debate — Eridov, strife, contention, quarrelling; deceit — Or guile, fraud; malignity — Kakohqeiav, a bad disposition, or evil habit; a disposition, according to Aristotle, to take every thing in the worst sense; but, according to Estius, the word denotes asperity of manners, rudeness; whisperers — Such as secretly defame others; backbiters — Katalalouv, revilers, such as openly speak against others in their absence; haters of God — Especially considered as holy and just, as a lawgiver and judge; persons under the power of that carnal mind which is enmity against him; enemies in their minds, says the apostle, by wicked works; deniers of his providence, or accusers of his justice in their adversities; despiteful — Ubristav, violent, or overbearing in their behaviour to each other; or persons who commit injuries with violence, or who oppress others by force; proud — Persons who value themselves above their just worth; or who are elated on account of their fortune, or station, or office, or endowments, natural or acquired; boasters — Alazonav, persons who assume to themselves the reputation of qualities which they do not possess; inventors of evil things — Of new pleasures, new ways of gain, new arts of hurting, particularly in war; disobedient to parents — Either natural or political, not willingly subject to lawful authority; a sin here ranked with the greatest crimes. Without understanding — Who act like men void of reason; covenant-breakers — False to their promises, oaths, and engagements. It is well known, the Romans, as a nation, from the very beginning of their commonwealth, never made any scruple of vacating altogether the most solemn engagement, if they did not like it, though made by their supreme magistrate, in the name of the whole people. They only gave up the general who had made it, and then supposed themselves to be at full liberty! Without natural affection — The custom of exposing their own new-born children to perish by cold, hunger, or wild beasts, which so generally prevailed in the heathen world, particularly among the Greeks and Romans, was an amazing instance of this; as is also that of killing their aged and helpless parents, now common among the American heathen. Implacable — Persons who, being once offended, will never be reconciled. The original word aspondouv, from spondh, a libation, “is used to signify irreconcilable, because, when the heathen made their solemn covenants, by which they bound themselves to lay aside their enmities, they ratified them by a sacrifice, on which they poured a libation, after drinking a part of it themselves.” Unmerciful — Unfeeling, unforgiving, or pursuing their schemes of cruelty and revenge, whenever they got any new opportunity of doing it.

Ver. 28. God gave them over to a reprobate mind. Professor Ostervald in his lectures to students in theology says, “If I were to preach on the first chapter of the epistle to the Romans, I would not expound the crimes there censured, but dwell on the awful state of men so abandoned to crime. Satan works in the children of disobedience till like the swine of the Gadarenes, they perish in the lake.”

Ver. 28.-32. Other immoral consequences of idolatry.

According as: God’s conduct to them corresponding with theirs to Him. They did not approve: they weighed the matter in their mind, and deliberately resolved not to make God an object of their thought. Notice, a third time,

God gave them up. The repetition lays solemn emphasis on their punishment.

Disapproved mind: a mind tested and found worthless. They put to the test the question of giving God a place in their mind, and rejected it: and God gave them up to a mind weighed in the balances and found wanting. To do the things not fitting: God’s purpose in giving them up to a disapproved mind. He resolved that forgetfulness of Himself should be followed by sin, and thus made this sequence, as stated in Romans 1:27, inevitable. It became inevitable by the withdrawal of those divine influences which alone can save men from sin.

Filled with all unrighteousness: state of heart from which spring all kinds of sin.

Wickedness: that which injures others. Satan is “the wicked one:” 1 John 2:13.

Coveteousness: desire for more than our share.

An evil-disposition: that which prompts men to look at everything in a bad light, and to turn everything to a bad use.

Hateful-to-God: or hating God. The former accords with Greek use, and gives a good sense. It is a comment on what goes before.

Wanton: those who do what they like, without considering whether they trample under foot the rights, the property, or the lives, of others: such was once Paul: 2 Timothy 1:13.

Men who, knowing etc.: recalling Romans 1:21, and emphasising a chief thought of this section. The Greeks and Romans knew that the general principles of morality had a superhuman source; and that to sin against these was to resist a higher power. See under Romans 2:15. Are pleased with etc.: last and darkest count in this catalogue of sins. Many commit sin, carried away by selfishness or passion, who condemn it in others. To take pleasure in the sin of one’s neighbour, shows a love of sin, not for some further gain, but for its own sake.

Abundant literature of the ancient world attests the truth of the above picture of those among whom Paul lived.

REVIEW. The argument in Romans 1:16, 17 implies that all men are, apart from the Gospel, exposed to the anger of God. As a first step in proof of this, Paul asserts, in Romans 1:18, that God is angry with all sin because all sin is resistance to revealed truth. Of this assertion, the remainder of § 4 is explanation and proof. To prove that God is angry with all sin, Paul adduces three facts: 1. That, by means of His works, the Gentiles know something about God; 2. That, instead of giving Him honour and thanks, they bowed down to images; 3. That they are guilty of shameful immorality.

From Fact 1, Paul infers that God made Himself known to the Gentiles in order to leave them without excuse for ungodliness and ingratitude. This inference, we will further examine. We learn from their writings that Plato, Cicero, and others knew something about God, and that in His works they read His name and nature. Therefore, by creating these works, God made Himself known to them. And, since whatever God does He does with design, we inferred under Romans 1:20 that God created the material universe in order through it to reveal Himself to men; and that He did so, not to satisfy curiosity, but with a further moral purpose. We ask now, For whom did God form this moral purpose? For the philosophers only? Did He write His name in letters which only they could understand? God reveals Himself, not to the wise and great, but to those of every degree of culture who sincerely seek Him: Matthew 11:25. If He revealed Himself to Plato, He must have done so to thousands of others in all positions of life. We therefore infer that God created the material universe in order that it might be a revelation of Himself to the whole human race, and that this revelation was within reach of all who honestly sought the truth; and that the nature of God thus revealed was in some measure known to all who did not shut their eyes to it. To this knowledge of God, Paul appeals in Acts 14:17; 17:24: see also Psalms 19:2Psalm 19:2; Wisdom 13:1-9. The last quotation and the work quoted are of great value as a record of Jewish thought before the appearance of Christ. In Romans 1:20 Paul asserts that the moral purpose of God’s revelation of Himself in Nature was to leave men without excuse for ungodliness; and, in Romans 3:19, that with the same purpose the Law was given to Israel. This purpose was to some extent attained. For in the best Gentile writings there breathes a consciousness of God. That God revealed Himself in Nature in order to take away excuse for ungodliness and ingratitude, indicates that He will punish such forgetfulness of Himself; and is therefore a revelation of His anger (Romans 1:18) against all ungodliness.

Fact 2 is introduced, in Romans 1:21-23, as a description of the actual conduct which God made inexcusable by this revelation of Himself. In the ritual of heathenism, Paul shows the inexplicable folly of idolaters. He does not appeal to their folly as a proof of God’s anger against them-for of this He has more convincing proof-but only as an aggravation of the sin of forgetting God. But so great is the folly of idolatry that we can account for it only as punitive blindness. So Paul explains, quoting O.T., the folly of Israel: Romans 11:8-10. It is therefore a mark of God’s anger and of coming punishment.

Similarly, Fact 3, the deep shame of the heathen, can be accounted for only on the supposition that God in His anger gave them up to a hostile and immoral power. Thus in each of these facts, taken by itself, we have proof of God’s anger against the persons referred to.

But this is not all. In the words God gave them up Paul solemnly and repeatedly asserts that Fact 3 is a result of Fact 2 taken in connection with Fact 1; i.e. that the deep shame of the heathen is a divinely-ordained result of their idolatry. If this be so, the proof afforded by the facts taken singly is immensely increased by their connection: and the immorality of the heathen becomes an unquestionable and fearful proof of the anger of God against those who forget Him.

Of this solemn and repeated assertion, Paul gives no proof. To his readers, proof that idolatry fostered inchastity was needless. And I venture to suggest that he singled out this one sin as in a special sense a manifestation of divine anger because these unnatural crimes were almost universal, and yet were universally known to be wrong. Of each of these statements, we have proof in the literature of his day. Indeed, occasional attempts to excuse current practices, betray a secret misgiving. Now, if the mass of the heathen in Paul’s day were guilty of a sin from which nature recoils, this sin was, by its universality and its universal self-condemnation, a special mark of the anger of God. Its universality implies a wide-spread cause: and the cause is not far to seek. Put together these facts: a universal manifestation of God, designed to leave men without excuse for ungodliness; a universal turning from God to the inexplicable folly of idolatry; a universal sin which all condemn. Each of these is a mark of God’s anger against sin. But they are inseparable: where we find one we find the others. Their inseparable connection cannot be accidental. We therefore infer, as Paul here asserts, that the universal rejection of the universal revelation, and the universal shame, are cause and effect. And, just as from the connection of cause and effect in the material world we infer the existence of an intelligent Creator, so from this moral cause and effect we now infer that God is the moral Governor of the universe and is determined to punish those who refuse Him homage.

If the above exposition be correct, the solemn and repeated words God gave them up are Paul’s own explanation of the statement in Romans 1:18, God’s anger is revealed. By making known His own greatness and power, and by giving up to folly and shame those who forget Him, God reveals plainly, to all who have eyes to see, His anger against ungodliness and unrighteousness. Since this revelation comes from the Maker and Ruler of the world, it may be said to be from heaven. After mentioning one sin which was so remarkable a proof of God’s anger, Paul mentions others as a further result, and therefore a further proof, of the same. The above argument disproves the teaching of the Epicureans, that anger is inconsistent with deity, and that the gods care not for man’s conduct. See Acts 17:18 and Cicero On the Nature of the Gods bk. i. 17. The opposite of this, Paul has proved; not so much by formal argument, as by pointing to a chain of moral sequences involving punishment already being inflicted on the ungodly.

Notice the intense reality of this section. There is no artificial order: but there is that higher order in which living thought finds its own correct expression. The writer turns again and again from the sin to the shame and from the shame to the sin. Before his searching and continued gaze, the sin becomes more sinful and the shame more deeply shameful.

This epistle was probably written from Corinth: see Introd. iv. And nowhere did the shamelessness of idolatry parade itself more openly than at Corinth. The argument is therefore a mark of genuineness. The chief DOCTRINAL RESULTS of this section are:—

1. Paul’s view of Natural Theology. With him, God’s revelation of Himself in Nature holds a place in the moral training of the Gentiles analogous to that of the Law in the training of Israel. A remarkable coincidence in the only two recorded addresses of Paul to heathens, Acts 14:15; 17:24; each of which begins by appealing to the creation of the world. To the Jews, he begins by quoting the Old Testament. In each case, he appeals to an earlier revelation given to prepare a way for the Gospel; and thus seeks to call forth that consciousness of guilt without which the need of the Gospel is not felt. The revelation in Nature would probably bear its chief fruit in those Gentiles who heard the Gospel. While listening to it, they would condemn themselves, not for rejecting Christ, of whom they had never heard, but for disregarding a revelation which had been before their eyes from childhood. And, just as the Law retains its value even for those who have accepted the Gospel, so the worth of the revelation in Nature remains to those who behold the glory of God in the face of Christ. That God reveals Himself in Nature, raises Natural Science to a sacred study, and gives to it its noblest aim.

2. We learn that, by the just judgment of God, godlessness, folly, and shame go together. Happily these do not exist in the same forms, or to the same extent, with us as with these old heathens. But the principle remains. Are not they guilty of incredible folly who prefer to direct their highest thought and effort to the perishing objects around, rather than to those which will never pass away? And is not this folly chargeable to all who forget God? Again, just in proportion as the image of God fades from our view do we fall into thoughts, motives, and practices, which for very shame we must hide from our fellows. Human nature is the same. The principles here asserted attest themselves before our eyes and in our hearts. The inevitable connection of godlessness, folly, and sin proclaims in words we cannot misunderstand that God is angry with those who forget Him. Even Socrates, in Xenophon’s Memoirs bk. iv. 4. 24, says that the fact that certain sins produce their own punishment proves that the law which forbids them is from God.

3. The real nature of sin. It is not a mere act, but an adverse power against which, unaided by God, man is powerless. It has allies in our own hearts. The deep shame of the heathen is with Paul fully accounted for by the fact that God gave them up to sin. Of this, all else is a necessary result: man’s own moral strength to resist even gross sin is not reckoned for a moment. Hence Paul’s indignation is called forth, not by their lust and wickedness, but by their dishonour to God. Of this, their lust is but the punishment. We shall therefore no longer look with Pharisaic wonder on cases of deep depravity. The enormities of crime are explained. We see in them the fearful nature and power of sin, and God’s anger against forgetfulness of Himself. We shall be slow to condemn, quick to pity. In the depravity of others we shall see what ourselves would become if the strong hand of our God were withdrawn. And, in the presence of foes so tremendous, we shall not venture away from our ark of safety.

Verse 28. As they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. — After all the attempts to improve this translation, it stands as an instance of forcible and truly English rendering, not to be mended. They did not like to retain the true knowledge of God by remembering what had been handed down respecting him from their fathers, and by teaching it to their children, and by public services and institutions endeavoring to preserve it. They neglected this because they had no liking to the subject, or, in other words, were averse to a truth so holy and reproving to their vices. Thus the infidelity and ignorance of men are again traced to the heart, its true source in all ages. Macknight renders, “And as they did not approve of holding God with acknowledgment,” that is, as he explains, the statesmen and philosophers did not approve of God being the object of the people’s acknowledgment; and preferred therefore to foster the popular idolatry. By this narrow interpretation was influenced by his unfounded notion, that St. Paul is speaking in this chapter, chiefly of the pagan legislators and philosophers. This is certainly contradicted, as above observed, both by the apostle’s argument and the internal evidence. It is of the mass of the Gentiles that he speaks; and of that mass it may most truly be said, that they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, or those great and hallowing thoughts, arising out of the true knowledge of God, could not have so entirely faded away. Noble as this subject of knowledge is, it is easily retained by all who delight in it; and the loss of it proves the disaffection of the heart toward it.

Gave them over to a reprobate mind. — The giving up here partly expresses the non-interposition of God to prevent the natural consequence of their love of error, which must be still more entangled and deepened error, and consequently sin; for religious errors, being embraced because they are favourable to vice, the vicious effects mature with their growth; and partly the judicial withdrawment of direct means of instruction and correction. Thus they were left to a reprobate, a bad, mind; for adokimov is used of counterfeit silver, and land which yields nothing but thorns. It is not the intellectual so much as the moral quality of the mind that is here spoken of, as what follows sufficiently shows. There is no warrant therefore to render it “an unsearching, injudicious mind;” and much less to look in this passage for any countenance to Calvinistic reprobation. Not convenient. — Things unsuitable to human nature, and which violate it: a meiosis.

V. 29. Filled with all injustice-This stands in the first place; unmercifulness, in the last.

Fornication-Includes here every species of uncleanness. Maliciousness-The Greek word properly implies a temper which delights in hurting another, even without any advantage to itself.

Verse 29. Being filled with all unrighteousness] adikia, every vice contrary to justice and righteousness. Fornication] porneia, all commerce between the sexes out of the bounds of lawful marriage. Some of the best MSS. omit this reading; and others have akaqarsia, uncleanness.

Wickedness] ponhria, malignity, that which is oppressive to its possessor and to its object; from ponov, labour, toil, &c. Covetousness] pleonexia, from pleion, more, and exw, I will have; the intense love or lust of gain; the determination to be rich; the principle of a dissatisfied and discontented soul.

Maliciousness] kakia, malice, ill-will; what is radically and essentially vicious.

Full of envy] fqonou, from fqinw, to wither, decay, consume, pine away, &c.; “pain felt and malignity conceived at the sight of excellence or happiness in another.” A fine personification of this vice is found in OVID METAM. lib. ii. ver. 768-781, which I shall here insert, with Mr. Addison’s elegant and nervous translation.

————————Videt intus edentem

Vipereas carnes, vitiorum alimenta suorum Invidiam: visaque oculos avertit. At illa Surgit humo pigra: semesarumque relinquit Corpora serpentum, passuque incedit inerti. Utgue deam vidit formaque armisque decoram, Ingemuit: vultumque ima ad suspiria duxit. Pallor in ORE sedet: macies in CORPORE toto: Nusquam recta acies: livent rubigine dentes: Pectora felle virent: lingua est suffusa veneno. Risus abest, nisi quem visi movere dolores: Nec fruitur somno, vigilacibus excita curis: Sed videt ingratos, intabescitque videndo Successus hominum; carpitgue et carpitur una; Suppliciumque suum est.

——A poisonous morsel in her teeth she chewed, And gorged the flesh of vipers for her food. Minerva loathing, turned away her eye. The hideous monster, rising heavily,

Came stalking forward with a sullen pace, And left her mangled offals on the place. Soon as she saw the goddess gay and bright, She fetched a groan at such a cheerful sight. Livid and meagre were her looks, her eye In foul distorted glances turned awry; A hoard of gall her inward parts possessed, And spread a greenness o’er her canker’d breast; Her teeth were brown with rust, and from her tongue In dangling drops the stringy poison hung. She never smiles but when the wretched weep; Nor lulls her malice with a moment’s sleep: Restless in spite while watchful to destroy, She pines and sickens at another’s joy; Foe to herself, distressing and distressed, She bears her own tormentor in her breast. Murder] fonou, taking away the life of another by any means; mortal hatred; for he that hates his brother in his heart is a murderer. Debate] eridov, contention, discord, &c. Of this vile passion the Greeks made a goddess.

Deceit] dolou, lying, falsity, prevarication, imposition, &c.; from delw, to take with a bait.

Malignity] kakohqeiav, from kakov, evil, and hqov, a custom; bad customs, founded in corrupt sentiment, producing evil habits, supported by general usage. It is generally interpreted, a malignity of mind, which leads its possessor to put the worst construction on every action; ascribing to the best deeds the worst motives.

Whisperers] yiquristov, secret detractors; those who, under pretended secrecy, carry about accusations against their neighbours, whether true or false; blasting their reputation by clandestine tittle-tattle. This word should be joined to the succeeding verse.

The whispering is well expressed by the Greek word yiquristav, psithuristas.

Verses 28-31. And as they did not like — ouk edokimasan, they did not approve, to retain God in their knowledge — Or rather, as ecein en epignwsei more properly signifies, to retain him with acknowledgment. For it is proved above that they were not wholly without the knowledge of God in the world: but they did not acknowledge him as they ought; did not use or improve the knowledge they had of him to the purposes for which it had been vouch-safed. Or, as Dr. Macknight interprets it, They “did not approve of holding God as the object of the people’s acknowledgment and worship, but approved of the worship of false gods and of images, as more proper for the vulgar; and on that account substituted idolatry in place of the pure, spiritual worship of the one true God, and established it by law.” Therefore God gave them over to a reprobate mind — adokimon noun, an undiscerning, or injudicious mind; a mind not perceiving or approving what is good, either in principle or practice; a mind void of all proper knowledge and relish of what is excellent, treated of verse 32. Men of this stamp are said, Ephesians 4:19, to be aphlghkotev, without feeling. To do things not convenient — Even the vilest abominations, treated of verses 29-31. Being filled with all unrighteousness — Or injustice. This stands in the first place, unmercifulness in the last. Fornication includes here every species of uncleanness; wickedness — ponhria, a word which implies a disposition to injure others by craft. Hence the devil is called o ponhrov, the wicked one, by way of eminence; covetousness — Pleonexia, an inordinate desire to have more than God sees proper for us, which, the apostle says, is idolatry, Colossians 3:5; maliciousness — kakia, a disposition to injure others from ill-will to them, or which delights in hurting another, even without any advantage to one’s self; full of envy — Grieving at another’s welfare, or rejoicing at his hurt; debate — Eridov, strife, contention, quarrelling; deceit — Or guile, fraud; malignity — Kakohqeiav, a bad disposition, or evil habit; a disposition, according to Aristotle, to take every thing in the worst sense; but, according to Estius, the word denotes asperity of manners, rudeness; whisperers — Such as secretly defame others; backbiters — Katalalouv, revilers, such as openly speak against others in their absence; haters of God — Especially considered as holy and just, as a lawgiver and judge; persons under the power of that carnal mind which is enmity against him; enemies in their minds, says the apostle, by wicked works; deniers of his providence, or accusers of his justice in their adversities; despiteful — Ubristav, violent, or overbearing in their behaviour to each other; or persons who commit injuries with violence, or who oppress others by force; proud — Persons who value themselves above their just worth; or who are elated on account of their fortune, or station, or office, or endowments, natural or acquired; boasters — Alazonav, persons who assume to themselves the reputation of qualities which they do not possess; inventors of evil things — Of new pleasures, new ways of gain, new arts of hurting, particularly in war; disobedient to parents — Either natural or political, not willingly subject to lawful authority; a sin here ranked with the greatest crimes. Without understanding — Who act like men void of reason; covenant-breakers — False to their promises, oaths, and engagements. It is well known, the Romans, as a nation, from the very beginning of their commonwealth, never made any scruple of vacating altogether the most solemn engagement, if they did not like it, though made by their supreme magistrate, in the name of the whole people. They only gave up the general who had made it, and then supposed themselves to be at full liberty! Without natural affection — The custom of exposing their own new-born children to perish by cold, hunger, or wild beasts, which so generally prevailed in the heathen world, particularly among the Greeks and Romans, was an amazing instance of this; as is also that of killing their aged and helpless parents, now common among the American heathen. Implacable — Persons who, being once offended, will never be reconciled. The original word aspondouv, from spondh, a libation, “is used to signify irreconcilable, because, when the heathen made their solemn covenants, by which they bound themselves to lay aside their enmities, they ratified them by a sacrifice, on which they poured a libation, after drinking a part of it themselves.” Unmerciful — Unfeeling, unforgiving, or pursuing their schemes of cruelty and revenge, whenever they got any new opportunity of doing it.

Ver. 29-31. Being filled with all unrighteousness. The vices censured here are twenty two in number. If righteousness be a compendium of every virtue, the opposite is the aggregate of every vice.

1. Fornication, scortatione, whoredom of every species. This is put first, as violating the first law of society, and because it was the reigning sin of the heathen world. “The end of those things is death:” Romans 6:23. Philosophy has now gained the ascendency over revelation; we scarcely hang a culprit, except for murder, nor even for that, except the evidence be unimpeachable; and a price is set on adultery. But if justice be not administered conformably to the ancient law of nature and of nations, the question is whether the injured will not be driven to seek redress from their own arm. I cannot bring my mind to approve of that humanity which is at full issue with the operations of ancient justice.

2. Wickedness, just the reverse of openness, candour, sincerity.

3. Covetousness, the root of all evil, defiling all we touch with a shade of fraud: it grows and strengthens with years.

4. Maliciousness, ever disposed to injure our neighbour.

5. Full of envy, a worm which so preys on a man’s own vitals, that while fretful at the prosperity of another, he cannot enjoy the blessings which heaven confers.

6. Murder, the result of envy, malice, and revenge. Blood is not often shed, but mental murders are without number. Matthew 5:22.

7. Debate, noisy, contentious, disturbing peace and order, with complaints the very reverse of a meek and quiet spirit.

8. Deceit, insidious designs to ruin our neighbour under the mask of friendship. All swindling and unfair dealing in trade. The opposite disposition to that of a little child. Matthew 18:3.

9. Malignity, kakohqeia, essential evil in the heart, ever perverse, and operative in all the habitudes of life.

10. Whisperers, cowards in crime behind the curtains. They shoot arrows with three edges, which wound the shooter, the hearer, and the absent person.

11. Backbiters, liars, false accusers, a shade bolder in sin than whisperers.

12. Haters of God, a consequence of hating our brother. Despisers of his word and worship, who would, if in their power, join the rebel angels to displace the Eternal from his throne.

13. Despiteful, injurious to others.

14. Proud, exalting themselves.

15. Boasters, men full of themselves, vainglorious.

16. Inventors of evil things, scheming to be wicked, and make others so too. The apostle may allude to the gentile mythology which records awful things concerning pagan rites and festivals. Our novel writers stand impeached here; and some of our comedies are censured even by lord Kaimes.

17. Disobedient to parents, a sin too prevalent, though everywhere condemned in scripture.

18. Without understanding, to know the nature, and foresee the consequences of crime.

19. Covenant-breakers. Asunqetouv, men who will abide by no covenant longer than it is their interest, or their humour; a consequence of hating God, who sends a curse on the guilty, and a blessing on the man who hath sworn to his own hurt, and keepeth his word. Psalms 15:4Psalm 15:4.

20. Without natural affection, even to the wife of their bosom, and the children of their own bowels.

21. Implacable in revenge, delighting in cruelty and injustice.

22. Unmerciful, without compassion, inflexible in resisting the claims of mercy.

29. Filled with all unrighteousness—When the sensual vices prevail the cruel and bloody vices are sure to accompany. When the laws of modesty are triumphantly set at naught, and men and women, glorying in shame, invent extravagant modes of sensuality, every other law, human and divine, is broken with the same triumphant license. Hence the apostle, after having fully pictured the sexual demoralization, proceeds to represent the moral anarchy that succeeds, in a list, with little recognisable order, of the vices of a heathenized community. Fornication—Omitted by best authorities, it is amply included in the previous verses. Debate—Strife. Whisperers— Secret slanderers.

Ver. 28.-32. Other immoral consequences of idolatry.

According as: God’s conduct to them corresponding with theirs to Him. They did not approve: they weighed the matter in their mind, and deliberately resolved not to make God an object of their thought. Notice, a third time,

God gave them up. The repetition lays solemn emphasis on their punishment.

Disapproved mind: a mind tested and found worthless. They put to the test the question of giving God a place in their mind, and rejected it: and God gave them up to a mind weighed in the balances and found wanting. To do the things not fitting: God’s purpose in giving them up to a disapproved mind. He resolved that forgetfulness of Himself should be followed by sin, and thus made this sequence, as stated in Romans 1:27, inevitable. It became inevitable by the withdrawal of those divine influences which alone can save men from sin.

Filled with all unrighteousness: state of heart from which spring all kinds of sin.

Wickedness: that which injures others. Satan is “the wicked one:” 1 John 2:13.

Coveteousness: desire for more than our share.

An evil-disposition: that which prompts men to look at everything in a bad light, and to turn everything to a bad use.

Hateful-to-God: or hating God. The former accords with Greek use, and gives a good sense. It is a comment on what goes before.

Wanton: those who do what they like, without considering whether they trample under foot the rights, the property, or the lives, of others: such was once Paul: 2 Timothy 1:13.

Men who, knowing etc.: recalling Romans 1:21, and emphasising a chief thought of this section. The Greeks and Romans knew that the general principles of morality had a superhuman source; and that to sin against these was to resist a higher power. See under Romans 2:15. Are pleased with etc.: last and darkest count in this catalogue of sins. Many commit sin, carried away by selfishness or passion, who condemn it in others. To take pleasure in the sin of one’s neighbour, shows a love of sin, not for some further gain, but for its own sake.

Abundant literature of the ancient world attests the truth of the above picture of those among whom Paul lived.

REVIEW. The argument in Romans 1:16, 17 implies that all men are, apart from the Gospel, exposed to the anger of God. As a first step in proof of this, Paul asserts, in Romans 1:18, that God is angry with all sin because all sin is resistance to revealed truth. Of this assertion, the remainder of § 4 is explanation and proof. To prove that God is angry with all sin, Paul adduces three facts: 1. That, by means of His works, the Gentiles know something about God; 2. That, instead of giving Him honour and thanks, they bowed down to images; 3. That they are guilty of shameful immorality.

From Fact 1, Paul infers that God made Himself known to the Gentiles in order to leave them without excuse for ungodliness and ingratitude. This inference, we will further examine. We learn from their writings that Plato, Cicero, and others knew something about God, and that in His works they read His name and nature. Therefore, by creating these works, God made Himself known to them. And, since whatever God does He does with design, we inferred under Romans 1:20 that God created the material universe in order through it to reveal Himself to men; and that He did so, not to satisfy curiosity, but with a further moral purpose. We ask now, For whom did God form this moral purpose? For the philosophers only? Did He write His name in letters which only they could understand? God reveals Himself, not to the wise and great, but to those of every degree of culture who sincerely seek Him: Matthew 11:25. If He revealed Himself to Plato, He must have done so to thousands of others in all positions of life. We therefore infer that God created the material universe in order that it might be a revelation of Himself to the whole human race, and that this revelation was within reach of all who honestly sought the truth; and that the nature of God thus revealed was in some measure known to all who did not shut their eyes to it. To this knowledge of God, Paul appeals in Acts 14:17; 17:24: see also Psalms 19:2Psalm 19:2; Wisdom 13:1-9. The last quotation and the work quoted are of great value as a record of Jewish thought before the appearance of Christ. In Romans 1:20 Paul asserts that the moral purpose of God’s revelation of Himself in Nature was to leave men without excuse for ungodliness; and, in Romans 3:19, that with the same purpose the Law was given to Israel. This purpose was to some extent attained. For in the best Gentile writings there breathes a consciousness of God. That God revealed Himself in Nature in order to take away excuse for ungodliness and ingratitude, indicates that He will punish such forgetfulness of Himself; and is therefore a revelation of His anger (Romans 1:18) against all ungodliness.

Fact 2 is introduced, in Romans 1:21-23, as a description of the actual conduct which God made inexcusable by this revelation of Himself. In the ritual of heathenism, Paul shows the inexplicable folly of idolaters. He does not appeal to their folly as a proof of God’s anger against them-for of this He has more convincing proof-but only as an aggravation of the sin of forgetting God. But so great is the folly of idolatry that we can account for it only as punitive blindness. So Paul explains, quoting O.T., the folly of Israel: Romans 11:8-10. It is therefore a mark of God’s anger and of coming punishment.

Similarly, Fact 3, the deep shame of the heathen, can be accounted for only on the supposition that God in His anger gave them up to a hostile and immoral power. Thus in each of these facts, taken by itself, we have proof of God’s anger against the persons referred to.

But this is not all. In the words God gave them up Paul solemnly and repeatedly asserts that Fact 3 is a result of Fact 2 taken in connection with Fact 1; i.e. that the deep shame of the heathen is a divinely-ordained result of their idolatry. If this be so, the proof afforded by the facts taken singly is immensely increased by their connection: and the immorality of the heathen becomes an unquestionable and fearful proof of the anger of God against those who forget Him.

Of this solemn and repeated assertion, Paul gives no proof. To his readers, proof that idolatry fostered inchastity was needless. And I venture to suggest that he singled out this one sin as in a special sense a manifestation of divine anger because these unnatural crimes were almost universal, and yet were universally known to be wrong. Of each of these statements, we have proof in the literature of his day. Indeed, occasional attempts to excuse current practices, betray a secret misgiving. Now, if the mass of the heathen in Paul’s day were guilty of a sin from which nature recoils, this sin was, by its universality and its universal self-condemnation, a special mark of the anger of God. Its universality implies a wide-spread cause: and the cause is not far to seek. Put together these facts: a universal manifestation of God, designed to leave men without excuse for ungodliness; a universal turning from God to the inexplicable folly of idolatry; a universal sin which all condemn. Each of these is a mark of God’s anger against sin. But they are inseparable: where we find one we find the others. Their inseparable connection cannot be accidental. We therefore infer, as Paul here asserts, that the universal rejection of the universal revelation, and the universal shame, are cause and effect. And, just as from the connection of cause and effect in the material world we infer the existence of an intelligent Creator, so from this moral cause and effect we now infer that God is the moral Governor of the universe and is determined to punish those who refuse Him homage.

If the above exposition be correct, the solemn and repeated words God gave them up are Paul’s own explanation of the statement in Romans 1:18, God’s anger is revealed. By making known His own greatness and power, and by giving up to folly and shame those who forget Him, God reveals plainly, to all who have eyes to see, His anger against ungodliness and unrighteousness. Since this revelation comes from the Maker and Ruler of the world, it may be said to be from heaven. After mentioning one sin which was so remarkable a proof of God’s anger, Paul mentions others as a further result, and therefore a further proof, of the same. The above argument disproves the teaching of the Epicureans, that anger is inconsistent with deity, and that the gods care not for man’s conduct. See Acts 17:18 and Cicero On the Nature of the Gods bk. i. 17. The opposite of this, Paul has proved; not so much by formal argument, as by pointing to a chain of moral sequences involving punishment already being inflicted on the ungodly.

Notice the intense reality of this section. There is no artificial order: but there is that higher order in which living thought finds its own correct expression. The writer turns again and again from the sin to the shame and from the shame to the sin. Before his searching and continued gaze, the sin becomes more sinful and the shame more deeply shameful.

This epistle was probably written from Corinth: see Introd. iv. And nowhere did the shamelessness of idolatry parade itself more openly than at Corinth. The argument is therefore a mark of genuineness. The chief DOCTRINAL RESULTS of this section are:—

1. Paul’s view of Natural Theology. With him, God’s revelation of Himself in Nature holds a place in the moral training of the Gentiles analogous to that of the Law in the training of Israel. A remarkable coincidence in the only two recorded addresses of Paul to heathens, Acts 14:15; 17:24; each of which begins by appealing to the creation of the world. To the Jews, he begins by quoting the Old Testament. In each case, he appeals to an earlier revelation given to prepare a way for the Gospel; and thus seeks to call forth that consciousness of guilt without which the need of the Gospel is not felt. The revelation in Nature would probably bear its chief fruit in those Gentiles who heard the Gospel. While listening to it, they would condemn themselves, not for rejecting Christ, of whom they had never heard, but for disregarding a revelation which had been before their eyes from childhood. And, just as the Law retains its value even for those who have accepted the Gospel, so the worth of the revelation in Nature remains to those who behold the glory of God in the face of Christ. That God reveals Himself in Nature, raises Natural Science to a sacred study, and gives to it its noblest aim.

2. We learn that, by the just judgment of God, godlessness, folly, and shame go together. Happily these do not exist in the same forms, or to the same extent, with us as with these old heathens. But the principle remains. Are not they guilty of incredible folly who prefer to direct their highest thought and effort to the perishing objects around, rather than to those which will never pass away? And is not this folly chargeable to all who forget God? Again, just in proportion as the image of God fades from our view do we fall into thoughts, motives, and practices, which for very shame we must hide from our fellows. Human nature is the same. The principles here asserted attest themselves before our eyes and in our hearts. The inevitable connection of godlessness, folly, and sin proclaims in words we cannot misunderstand that God is angry with those who forget Him. Even Socrates, in Xenophon’s Memoirs bk. iv. 4. 24, says that the fact that certain sins produce their own punishment proves that the law which forbids them is from God.

3. The real nature of sin. It is not a mere act, but an adverse power against which, unaided by God, man is powerless. It has allies in our own hearts. The deep shame of the heathen is with Paul fully accounted for by the fact that God gave them up to sin. Of this, all else is a necessary result: man’s own moral strength to resist even gross sin is not reckoned for a moment. Hence Paul’s indignation is called forth, not by their lust and wickedness, but by their dishonour to God. Of this, their lust is but the punishment. We shall therefore no longer look with Pharisaic wonder on cases of deep depravity. The enormities of crime are explained. We see in them the fearful nature and power of sin, and God’s anger against forgetfulness of Himself. We shall be slow to condemn, quick to pity. In the depravity of others we shall see what ourselves would become if the strong hand of our God were withdrawn. And, in the presence of foes so tremendous, we shall not venture away from our ark of safety.

Verses 29-31. Being filled with all unrighteousness, &c. — Filled, not slightly or occasionally affected. Unrighteousness is here injustice: fornication, porneia, every species of uncleanness: wickedness, ponhria appears to signify mischievous craft and subtlety, the kind of wickedness for which the devil is eminent, and hence called o wonhrov, “the wicked one:” covetousness, the excessive desire to have, either to spend or to hoard, and the gratification of the passion by appropriating the goods of others to their own use: maliciousness, kakia, an implacable and revengeful habit of mind: full, mestouv, another strong word to show how completely these evils had possession of their hearts, and how mature and rife they were in society: debate, eridov, strife: deceit, dolou, craft: malignity, maliciousness before mentioned, and kakohqeiav, more properly signifies putting the worst construction upon any thing, and so being the more readily excited to acts of violence and revenge: whisperers, secret insinuators of calumny: backbiters, those who openly calumniate when the injured party is absent: haters of God, Koppe and others render “hated by God,” which sense the word admits; but this is scarcely a description of character; whereas in proportion as men become vicious, their hatred of God and true religion becomes conspicuous, they are hated for their very purity: despiteful, ubristav, insolent in words and deeds: proud, treating with haughty contempt all those supposed to be beneath them: boasters, arrogating to themselves and their country the most honourable qualities, and ascribing their good fortune to their own merits: inventors of evil things, of new sins or modes of sinning, especially of unlawful pleasures, so that by some of their sensualists rewards were offered for the discovery of a new pleasure: disobedient to parents, to which there would be, from the mere force of natural instinct, many exceptions; but in every age, and among every people so corrupt in morals, this must have been the effect to a frightful extent: without understanding, asunetoi, a word which has cost interpreters some trouble, because deficiency of understanding cannot be well reckoned among the vices; but there is no need to run into strained meanings of the word, since, in its obvious signification, it is sufficiently expressive of the intention of the apostle. — A want of understanding, that is, of discernment and prudence, is one of the uniform and most marked effects of an entire abandonment to vicious habits; the judgment becomes inattentive to the nature and consequences of things, darkened and perverted on all moral subjects, so that “darkness is put for light and light for darkness, good for evil and evil for good:” this is not a misfortune, but an awfully vicious state of mind, and characteristic therefore of the moral state of these enormous offenders. Covenant-breakers: without natural affection, where we may suppose he alludes to the exposure of infants, the frequent brutal treatment of near relations whom they were bound to cherish, and the neglect of parents in their old age: implacable, aspondov is one who refuses to join in those libations which were the tokens of peace and friendship; hence it signifies one who will enter into no agreement, who refuses to lay aside his quarrels, but maintains perpetual enmity with those who have offended him: unmerciful, remorseless, without pity; which was sufficiently proved by the sanguinary character of their wars, their slaughter of human beings for sport in their forums, and the reckless barbarities they inflicted upon their slaves.

V. 30. Whisperers-Such as secretly defame others. Backbiters-Such as speak against others behind their back. Haters of God-That is, rebels against him, deniers of his providence, or accusers of his justice in their adversities; yea, having an inward heart-enmity to his justice and holiness.

Inventors of evil things-Of new pleasures, new ways of gain, new arts of hurting, particularly in war.

Verse 30. Backbiters] katalalouv, from kata, against, and lalew, I speak; those who speak against others; false accusers, slanderers. Haters of God] qeostugeiv, atheists, contemners of sacred things, maligners of providence, scorners, &c. All profligate deists are of this class; and it seems to be the finishing part of a diabolic character. Despiteful] uJbristav, from ubrizw, to treat with injurious insolence; stormy, boisterous; abusing both the characters and persons of those over whom they can have any power.

Proud] uJperhfanouv, from uper, above or over, and fainw, I show or shine. They who are continually exalting themselves and depressing others; magnifying themselves at the expense of their neighbours; and wishing all men to receive their sayings as oracles.

Boasters] alazonav, from lazomai, to assume; self-assuming, vain-glorious, and arrogant men.

Inventors of evil things] efeuretav kakwn. Those who have invented destructive customs, rites, fashions, &c.; such as the different religious ceremonies among the Greeks and Romans-the orgies of Bacchus, the mysteries of Ceres, the lupercalia, feasts of the Bona Dea, &c., &c. Multitudes of which evil things, destructive and abominable ceremonies, are to be found in every part of the heathen worship.

Disobedient to parents] Though filial affection was certainly more recommended and cultivated than many other virtues, yet there are many instances on record of the grossest violation of this great branch of the law of nature.

Verses 28-31. And as they did not like — ouk edokimasan, they did not approve, to retain God in their knowledge — Or rather, as ecein en epignwsei more properly signifies, to retain him with acknowledgment. For it is proved above that they were not wholly without the knowledge of God in the world: but they did not acknowledge him as they ought; did not use or improve the knowledge they had of him to the purposes for which it had been vouch-safed. Or, as Dr. Macknight interprets it, They “did not approve of holding God as the object of the people’s acknowledgment and worship, but approved of the worship of false gods and of images, as more proper for the vulgar; and on that account substituted idolatry in place of the pure, spiritual worship of the one true God, and established it by law.” Therefore God gave them over to a reprobate mind — adokimon noun, an undiscerning, or injudicious mind; a mind not perceiving or approving what is good, either in principle or practice; a mind void of all proper knowledge and relish of what is excellent, treated of verse 32. Men of this stamp are said, Ephesians 4:19, to be aphlghkotev, without feeling. To do things not convenient — Even the vilest abominations, treated of verses 29-31. Being filled with all unrighteousness — Or injustice. This stands in the first place, unmercifulness in the last. Fornication includes here every species of uncleanness; wickedness — ponhria, a word which implies a disposition to injure others by craft. Hence the devil is called o ponhrov, the wicked one, by way of eminence; covetousness — Pleonexia, an inordinate desire to have more than God sees proper for us, which, the apostle says, is idolatry, Colossians 3:5; maliciousness — kakia, a disposition to injure others from ill-will to them, or which delights in hurting another, even without any advantage to one’s self; full of envy — Grieving at another’s welfare, or rejoicing at his hurt; debate — Eridov, strife, contention, quarrelling; deceit — Or guile, fraud; malignity — Kakohqeiav, a bad disposition, or evil habit; a disposition, according to Aristotle, to take every thing in the worst sense; but, according to Estius, the word denotes asperity of manners, rudeness; whisperers — Such as secretly defame others; backbiters — Katalalouv, revilers, such as openly speak against others in their absence; haters of God — Especially considered as holy and just, as a lawgiver and judge; persons under the power of that carnal mind which is enmity against him; enemies in their minds, says the apostle, by wicked works; deniers of his providence, or accusers of his justice in their adversities; despiteful — Ubristav, violent, or overbearing in their behaviour to each other; or persons who commit injuries with violence, or who oppress others by force; proud — Persons who value themselves above their just worth; or who are elated on account of their fortune, or station, or office, or endowments, natural or acquired; boasters — Alazonav, persons who assume to themselves the reputation of qualities which they do not possess; inventors of evil things — Of new pleasures, new ways of gain, new arts of hurting, particularly in war; disobedient to parents — Either natural or political, not willingly subject to lawful authority; a sin here ranked with the greatest crimes. Without understanding — Who act like men void of reason; covenant-breakers — False to their promises, oaths, and engagements. It is well known, the Romans, as a nation, from the very beginning of their commonwealth, never made any scruple of vacating altogether the most solemn engagement, if they did not like it, though made by their supreme magistrate, in the name of the whole people. They only gave up the general who had made it, and then supposed themselves to be at full liberty! Without natural affection — The custom of exposing their own new-born children to perish by cold, hunger, or wild beasts, which so generally prevailed in the heathen world, particularly among the Greeks and Romans, was an amazing instance of this; as is also that of killing their aged and helpless parents, now common among the American heathen. Implacable — Persons who, being once offended, will never be reconciled. The original word aspondouv, from spondh, a libation, “is used to signify irreconcilable, because, when the heathen made their solemn covenants, by which they bound themselves to lay aside their enmities, they ratified them by a sacrifice, on which they poured a libation, after drinking a part of it themselves.” Unmerciful — Unfeeling, unforgiving, or pursuing their schemes of cruelty and revenge, whenever they got any new opportunity of doing it.

Ver. 29-31. Being filled with all unrighteousness. The vices censured here are twenty two in number. If righteousness be a compendium of every virtue, the opposite is the aggregate of every vice.

1. Fornication, scortatione, whoredom of every species. This is put first, as violating the first law of society, and because it was the reigning sin of the heathen world. “The end of those things is death:” Romans 6:23. Philosophy has now gained the ascendency over revelation; we scarcely hang a culprit, except for murder, nor even for that, except the evidence be unimpeachable; and a price is set on adultery. But if justice be not administered conformably to the ancient law of nature and of nations, the question is whether the injured will not be driven to seek redress from their own arm. I cannot bring my mind to approve of that humanity which is at full issue with the operations of ancient justice.

2. Wickedness, just the reverse of openness, candour, sincerity.

3. Covetousness, the root of all evil, defiling all we touch with a shade of fraud: it grows and strengthens with years.

4. Maliciousness, ever disposed to injure our neighbour.

5. Full of envy, a worm which so preys on a man’s own vitals, that while fretful at the prosperity of another, he cannot enjoy the blessings which heaven confers.

6. Murder, the result of envy, malice, and revenge. Blood is not often shed, but mental murders are without number. Matthew 5:22.

7. Debate, noisy, contentious, disturbing peace and order, with complaints the very reverse of a meek and quiet spirit.

8. Deceit, insidious designs to ruin our neighbour under the mask of friendship. All swindling and unfair dealing in trade. The opposite disposition to that of a little child. Matthew 18:3.

9. Malignity, kakohqeia, essential evil in the heart, ever perverse, and operative in all the habitudes of life.

10. Whisperers, cowards in crime behind the curtains. They shoot arrows with three edges, which wound the shooter, the hearer, and the absent person.

11. Backbiters, liars, false accusers, a shade bolder in sin than whisperers.

12. Haters of God, a consequence of hating our brother. Despisers of his word and worship, who would, if in their power, join the rebel angels to displace the Eternal from his throne.

13. Despiteful, injurious to others.

14. Proud, exalting themselves.

15. Boasters, men full of themselves, vainglorious.

16. Inventors of evil things, scheming to be wicked, and make others so too. The apostle may allude to the gentile mythology which records awful things concerning pagan rites and festivals. Our novel writers stand impeached here; and some of our comedies are censured even by lord Kaimes.

17. Disobedient to parents, a sin too prevalent, though everywhere condemned in scripture.

18. Without understanding, to know the nature, and foresee the consequences of crime.

19. Covenant-breakers. Asunqetouv, men who will abide by no covenant longer than it is their interest, or their humour; a consequence of hating God, who sends a curse on the guilty, and a blessing on the man who hath sworn to his own hurt, and keepeth his word. Psalms 15:4Psalm 15:4.

20. Without natural affection, even to the wife of their bosom, and the children of their own bowels.

21. Implacable in revenge, delighting in cruelty and injustice.

22. Unmerciful, without compassion, inflexible in resisting the claims of mercy.

30. Backbiters—Open slanderers. Haters of God—Railers against religion and the Divine Being. Inventors of evil things—Not only doers of wrong, but fertile in inventing new forms of wickedness.

Ver. 28.-32. Other immoral consequences of idolatry.

According as: God’s conduct to them corresponding with theirs to Him. They did not approve: they weighed the matter in their mind, and deliberately resolved not to make God an object of their thought. Notice, a third time,

God gave them up. The repetition lays solemn emphasis on their punishment.

Disapproved mind: a mind tested and found worthless. They put to the test the question of giving God a place in their mind, and rejected it: and God gave them up to a mind weighed in the balances and found wanting. To do the things not fitting: God’s purpose in giving them up to a disapproved mind. He resolved that forgetfulness of Himself should be followed by sin, and thus made this sequence, as stated in Romans 1:27, inevitable. It became inevitable by the withdrawal of those divine influences which alone can save men from sin.

Filled with all unrighteousness: state of heart from which spring all kinds of sin.

Wickedness: that which injures others. Satan is “the wicked one:” 1 John 2:13.

Coveteousness: desire for more than our share.

An evil-disposition: that which prompts men to look at everything in a bad light, and to turn everything to a bad use.

Hateful-to-God: or hating God. The former accords with Greek use, and gives a good sense. It is a comment on what goes before.

Wanton: those who do what they like, without considering whether they trample under foot the rights, the property, or the lives, of others: such was once Paul: 2 Timothy 1:13.

Men who, knowing etc.: recalling Romans 1:21, and emphasising a chief thought of this section. The Greeks and Romans knew that the general principles of morality had a superhuman source; and that to sin against these was to resist a higher power. See under Romans 2:15. Are pleased with etc.: last and darkest count in this catalogue of sins. Many commit sin, carried away by selfishness or passion, who condemn it in others. To take pleasure in the sin of one’s neighbour, shows a love of sin, not for some further gain, but for its own sake.

Abundant literature of the ancient world attests the truth of the above picture of those among whom Paul lived.

REVIEW. The argument in Romans 1:16, 17 implies that all men are, apart from the Gospel, exposed to the anger of God. As a first step in proof of this, Paul asserts, in Romans 1:18, that God is angry with all sin because all sin is resistance to revealed truth. Of this assertion, the remainder of § 4 is explanation and proof. To prove that God is angry with all sin, Paul adduces three facts: 1. That, by means of His works, the Gentiles know something about God; 2. That, instead of giving Him honour and thanks, they bowed down to images; 3. That they are guilty of shameful immorality.

From Fact 1, Paul infers that God made Himself known to the Gentiles in order to leave them without excuse for ungodliness and ingratitude. This inference, we will further examine. We learn from their writings that Plato, Cicero, and others knew something about God, and that in His works they read His name and nature. Therefore, by creating these works, God made Himself known to them. And, since whatever God does He does with design, we inferred under Romans 1:20 that God created the material universe in order through it to reveal Himself to men; and that He did so, not to satisfy curiosity, but with a further moral purpose. We ask now, For whom did God form this moral purpose? For the philosophers only? Did He write His name in letters which only they could understand? God reveals Himself, not to the wise and great, but to those of every degree of culture who sincerely seek Him: Matthew 11:25. If He revealed Himself to Plato, He must have done so to thousands of others in all positions of life. We therefore infer that God created the material universe in order that it might be a revelation of Himself to the whole human race, and that this revelation was within reach of all who honestly sought the truth; and that the nature of God thus revealed was in some measure known to all who did not shut their eyes to it. To this knowledge of God, Paul appeals in Acts 14:17; 17:24: see also Psalms 19:2Psalm 19:2; Wisdom 13:1-9. The last quotation and the work quoted are of great value as a record of Jewish thought before the appearance of Christ. In Romans 1:20 Paul asserts that the moral purpose of God’s revelation of Himself in Nature was to leave men without excuse for ungodliness; and, in Romans 3:19, that with the same purpose the Law was given to Israel. This purpose was to some extent attained. For in the best Gentile writings there breathes a consciousness of God. That God revealed Himself in Nature in order to take away excuse for ungodliness and ingratitude, indicates that He will punish such forgetfulness of Himself; and is therefore a revelation of His anger (Romans 1:18) against all ungodliness.

Fact 2 is introduced, in Romans 1:21-23, as a description of the actual conduct which God made inexcusable by this revelation of Himself. In the ritual of heathenism, Paul shows the inexplicable folly of idolaters. He does not appeal to their folly as a proof of God’s anger against them-for of this He has more convincing proof-but only as an aggravation of the sin of forgetting God. But so great is the folly of idolatry that we can account for it only as punitive blindness. So Paul explains, quoting O.T., the folly of Israel: Romans 11:8-10. It is therefore a mark of God’s anger and of coming punishment.

Similarly, Fact 3, the deep shame of the heathen, can be accounted for only on the supposition that God in His anger gave them up to a hostile and immoral power. Thus in each of these facts, taken by itself, we have proof of God’s anger against the persons referred to.

But this is not all. In the words God gave them up Paul solemnly and repeatedly asserts that Fact 3 is a result of Fact 2 taken in connection with Fact 1; i.e. that the deep shame of the heathen is a divinely-ordained result of their idolatry. If this be so, the proof afforded by the facts taken singly is immensely increased by their connection: and the immorality of the heathen becomes an unquestionable and fearful proof of the anger of God against those who forget Him.

Of this solemn and repeated assertion, Paul gives no proof. To his readers, proof that idolatry fostered inchastity was needless. And I venture to suggest that he singled out this one sin as in a special sense a manifestation of divine anger because these unnatural crimes were almost universal, and yet were universally known to be wrong. Of each of these statements, we have proof in the literature of his day. Indeed, occasional attempts to excuse current practices, betray a secret misgiving. Now, if the mass of the heathen in Paul’s day were guilty of a sin from which nature recoils, this sin was, by its universality and its universal self-condemnation, a special mark of the anger of God. Its universality implies a wide-spread cause: and the cause is not far to seek. Put together these facts: a universal manifestation of God, designed to leave men without excuse for ungodliness; a universal turning from God to the inexplicable folly of idolatry; a universal sin which all condemn. Each of these is a mark of God’s anger against sin. But they are inseparable: where we find one we find the others. Their inseparable connection cannot be accidental. We therefore infer, as Paul here asserts, that the universal rejection of the universal revelation, and the universal shame, are cause and effect. And, just as from the connection of cause and effect in the material world we infer the existence of an intelligent Creator, so from this moral cause and effect we now infer that God is the moral Governor of the universe and is determined to punish those who refuse Him homage.

If the above exposition be correct, the solemn and repeated words God gave them up are Paul’s own explanation of the statement in Romans 1:18, God’s anger is revealed. By making known His own greatness and power, and by giving up to folly and shame those who forget Him, God reveals plainly, to all who have eyes to see, His anger against ungodliness and unrighteousness. Since this revelation comes from the Maker and Ruler of the world, it may be said to be from heaven. After mentioning one sin which was so remarkable a proof of God’s anger, Paul mentions others as a further result, and therefore a further proof, of the same. The above argument disproves the teaching of the Epicureans, that anger is inconsistent with deity, and that the gods care not for man’s conduct. See Acts 17:18 and Cicero On the Nature of the Gods bk. i. 17. The opposite of this, Paul has proved; not so much by formal argument, as by pointing to a chain of moral sequences involving punishment already being inflicted on the ungodly.

Notice the intense reality of this section. There is no artificial order: but there is that higher order in which living thought finds its own correct expression. The writer turns again and again from the sin to the shame and from the shame to the sin. Before his searching and continued gaze, the sin becomes more sinful and the shame more deeply shameful.

This epistle was probably written from Corinth: see Introd. iv. And nowhere did the shamelessness of idolatry parade itself more openly than at Corinth. The argument is therefore a mark of genuineness. The chief DOCTRINAL RESULTS of this section are:—

1. Paul’s view of Natural Theology. With him, God’s revelation of Himself in Nature holds a place in the moral training of the Gentiles analogous to that of the Law in the training of Israel. A remarkable coincidence in the only two recorded addresses of Paul to heathens, Acts 14:15; 17:24; each of which begins by appealing to the creation of the world. To the Jews, he begins by quoting the Old Testament. In each case, he appeals to an earlier revelation given to prepare a way for the Gospel; and thus seeks to call forth that consciousness of guilt without which the need of the Gospel is not felt. The revelation in Nature would probably bear its chief fruit in those Gentiles who heard the Gospel. While listening to it, they would condemn themselves, not for rejecting Christ, of whom they had never heard, but for disregarding a revelation which had been before their eyes from childhood. And, just as the Law retains its value even for those who have accepted the Gospel, so the worth of the revelation in Nature remains to those who behold the glory of God in the face of Christ. That God reveals Himself in Nature, raises Natural Science to a sacred study, and gives to it its noblest aim.

2. We learn that, by the just judgment of God, godlessness, folly, and shame go together. Happily these do not exist in the same forms, or to the same extent, with us as with these old heathens. But the principle remains. Are not they guilty of incredible folly who prefer to direct their highest thought and effort to the perishing objects around, rather than to those which will never pass away? And is not this folly chargeable to all who forget God? Again, just in proportion as the image of God fades from our view do we fall into thoughts, motives, and practices, which for very shame we must hide from our fellows. Human nature is the same. The principles here asserted attest themselves before our eyes and in our hearts. The inevitable connection of godlessness, folly, and sin proclaims in words we cannot misunderstand that God is angry with those who forget Him. Even Socrates, in Xenophon’s Memoirs bk. iv. 4. 24, says that the fact that certain sins produce their own punishment proves that the law which forbids them is from God.

3. The real nature of sin. It is not a mere act, but an adverse power against which, unaided by God, man is powerless. It has allies in our own hearts. The deep shame of the heathen is with Paul fully accounted for by the fact that God gave them up to sin. Of this, all else is a necessary result: man’s own moral strength to resist even gross sin is not reckoned for a moment. Hence Paul’s indignation is called forth, not by their lust and wickedness, but by their dishonour to God. Of this, their lust is but the punishment. We shall therefore no longer look with Pharisaic wonder on cases of deep depravity. The enormities of crime are explained. We see in them the fearful nature and power of sin, and God’s anger against forgetfulness of Himself. We shall be slow to condemn, quick to pity. In the depravity of others we shall see what ourselves would become if the strong hand of our God were withdrawn. And, in the presence of foes so tremendous, we shall not venture away from our ark of safety.

Verses 29-31. Being filled with all unrighteousness, &c. — Filled, not slightly or occasionally affected. Unrighteousness is here injustice: fornication, porneia, every species of uncleanness: wickedness, ponhria appears to signify mischievous craft and subtlety, the kind of wickedness for which the devil is eminent, and hence called o wonhrov, “the wicked one:” covetousness, the excessive desire to have, either to spend or to hoard, and the gratification of the passion by appropriating the goods of others to their own use: maliciousness, kakia, an implacable and revengeful habit of mind: full, mestouv, another strong word to show how completely these evils had possession of their hearts, and how mature and rife they were in society: debate, eridov, strife: deceit, dolou, craft: malignity, maliciousness before mentioned, and kakohqeiav, more properly signifies putting the worst construction upon any thing, and so being the more readily excited to acts of violence and revenge: whisperers, secret insinuators of calumny: backbiters, those who openly calumniate when the injured party is absent: haters of God, Koppe and others render “hated by God,” which sense the word admits; but this is scarcely a description of character; whereas in proportion as men become vicious, their hatred of God and true religion becomes conspicuous, they are hated for their very purity: despiteful, ubristav, insolent in words and deeds: proud, treating with haughty contempt all those supposed to be beneath them: boasters, arrogating to themselves and their country the most honourable qualities, and ascribing their good fortune to their own merits: inventors of evil things, of new sins or modes of sinning, especially of unlawful pleasures, so that by some of their sensualists rewards were offered for the discovery of a new pleasure: disobedient to parents, to which there would be, from the mere force of natural instinct, many exceptions; but in every age, and among every people so corrupt in morals, this must have been the effect to a frightful extent: without understanding, asunetoi, a word which has cost interpreters some trouble, because deficiency of understanding cannot be well reckoned among the vices; but there is no need to run into strained meanings of the word, since, in its obvious signification, it is sufficiently expressive of the intention of the apostle. — A want of understanding, that is, of discernment and prudence, is one of the uniform and most marked effects of an entire abandonment to vicious habits; the judgment becomes inattentive to the nature and consequences of things, darkened and perverted on all moral subjects, so that “darkness is put for light and light for darkness, good for evil and evil for good:” this is not a misfortune, but an awfully vicious state of mind, and characteristic therefore of the moral state of these enormous offenders. Covenant-breakers: without natural affection, where we may suppose he alludes to the exposure of infants, the frequent brutal treatment of near relations whom they were bound to cherish, and the neglect of parents in their old age: implacable, aspondov is one who refuses to join in those libations which were the tokens of peace and friendship; hence it signifies one who will enter into no agreement, who refuses to lay aside his quarrels, but maintains perpetual enmity with those who have offended him: unmerciful, remorseless, without pity; which was sufficiently proved by the sanguinary character of their wars, their slaughter of human beings for sport in their forums, and the reckless barbarities they inflicted upon their slaves.

V. 31. Covenant-breakers-It is well known, the Romans, as a nation, from the very beginning of their commonwealth, never made any scruple of vacating altogether the most solemn engagement, if they did not like it, though made by their supreme magistrate, in the name of the whole people. They only gave up the general who had made it, and then supposed themselves to be at full liberty.

Without natural affection-The custom of exposing their own new-born children to perish by cold, hunger, or wild beasts, which so generally prevailed in the heathen world, particularly among the Greeks and Romans, was an amazing instance of this; as is also that of killing their aged and helpless parents, now common among the American heathens.

Verse 31. Without understanding] asunetouv, from a, negative, and sunetov, knowing; persons incapable of comprehending what was spoken; destitute of capacity for spiritual things.

Covenant-breakers] asunqetouv, from a, negative, and suntiqhmui, to make an agreement; persons who could be bound by no oath, because, properly speaking, they had no God to witness or avenge their misconduct. As every covenant, or agreement, is made as in the presence of God, so he that opposes the being and doctrine of God is incapable of being bound by any covenant; he can give no pledge for his conduct.

Without natural affection] astorgouv; without that attachment which nature teaches the young of all animals to have to their mothers, and the mothers to have for their young. The heathens, in general, have made no scruple to expose the children they did not think proper to bring up, and to despatch their parents when they were grown old or past labour. Implacable] aspondouv, from a, negative; and spondh, A LIBATION. It was customary among all nations to pour out wine as a libation to their gods, when making a treaty. This was done to appease the angry gods, and reconcile them to the contracting parties. The word here shows a deadly enmity; the highest pitch of an unforgiving spirit; in a word, persons who would not make reconciliation either to God or man.

Unmerciful] anelehmonav; those who were incapable, through the deep-rooted wickedness of their own nature, of showing mercy to an enemy when brought under their power, or doing any thing for the necessitous, from the principle of benevolence or commiseration.

Verses 28-31. And as they did not like — ouk edokimasan, they did not approve, to retain God in their knowledge — Or rather, as ecein en epignwsei more properly signifies, to retain him with acknowledgment. For it is proved above that they were not wholly without the knowledge of God in the world: but they did not acknowledge him as they ought; did not use or improve the knowledge they had of him to the purposes for which it had been vouch-safed. Or, as Dr. Macknight interprets it, They “did not approve of holding God as the object of the people’s acknowledgment and worship, but approved of the worship of false gods and of images, as more proper for the vulgar; and on that account substituted idolatry in place of the pure, spiritual worship of the one true God, and established it by law.” Therefore God gave them over to a reprobate mind — adokimon noun, an undiscerning, or injudicious mind; a mind not perceiving or approving what is good, either in principle or practice; a mind void of all proper knowledge and relish of what is excellent, treated of verse 32. Men of this stamp are said, Ephesians 4:19, to be aphlghkotev, without feeling. To do things not convenient — Even the vilest abominations, treated of verses 29-31. Being filled with all unrighteousness — Or injustice. This stands in the first place, unmercifulness in the last. Fornication includes here every species of uncleanness; wickedness — ponhria, a word which implies a disposition to injure others by craft. Hence the devil is called o ponhrov, the wicked one, by way of eminence; covetousness — Pleonexia, an inordinate desire to have more than God sees proper for us, which, the apostle says, is idolatry, Colossians 3:5; maliciousness — kakia, a disposition to injure others from ill-will to them, or which delights in hurting another, even without any advantage to one’s self; full of envy — Grieving at another’s welfare, or rejoicing at his hurt; debate — Eridov, strife, contention, quarrelling; deceit — Or guile, fraud; malignity — Kakohqeiav, a bad disposition, or evil habit; a disposition, according to Aristotle, to take every thing in the worst sense; but, according to Estius, the word denotes asperity of manners, rudeness; whisperers — Such as secretly defame others; backbiters — Katalalouv, revilers, such as openly speak against others in their absence; haters of God — Especially considered as holy and just, as a lawgiver and judge; persons under the power of that carnal mind which is enmity against him; enemies in their minds, says the apostle, by wicked works; deniers of his providence, or accusers of his justice in their adversities; despiteful — Ubristav, violent, or overbearing in their behaviour to each other; or persons who commit injuries with violence, or who oppress others by force; proud — Persons who value themselves above their just worth; or who are elated on account of their fortune, or station, or office, or endowments, natural or acquired; boasters — Alazonav, persons who assume to themselves the reputation of qualities which they do not possess; inventors of evil things — Of new pleasures, new ways of gain, new arts of hurting, particularly in war; disobedient to parents — Either natural or political, not willingly subject to lawful authority; a sin here ranked with the greatest crimes. Without understanding — Who act like men void of reason; covenant-breakers — False to their promises, oaths, and engagements. It is well known, the Romans, as a nation, from the very beginning of their commonwealth, never made any scruple of vacating altogether the most solemn engagement, if they did not like it, though made by their supreme magistrate, in the name of the whole people. They only gave up the general who had made it, and then supposed themselves to be at full liberty! Without natural affection — The custom of exposing their own new-born children to perish by cold, hunger, or wild beasts, which so generally prevailed in the heathen world, particularly among the Greeks and Romans, was an amazing instance of this; as is also that of killing their aged and helpless parents, now common among the American heathen. Implacable — Persons who, being once offended, will never be reconciled. The original word aspondouv, from spondh, a libation, “is used to signify irreconcilable, because, when the heathen made their solemn covenants, by which they bound themselves to lay aside their enmities, they ratified them by a sacrifice, on which they poured a libation, after drinking a part of it themselves.” Unmerciful — Unfeeling, unforgiving, or pursuing their schemes of cruelty and revenge, whenever they got any new opportunity of doing it.

Ver. 29-31. Being filled with all unrighteousness. The vices censured here are twenty two in number. If righteousness be a compendium of every virtue, the opposite is the aggregate of every vice.

1. Fornication, scortatione, whoredom of every species. This is put first, as violating the first law of society, and because it was the reigning sin of the heathen world. “The end of those things is death:” Romans 6:23. Philosophy has now gained the ascendency over revelation; we scarcely hang a culprit, except for murder, nor even for that, except the evidence be unimpeachable; and a price is set on adultery. But if justice be not administered conformably to the ancient law of nature and of nations, the question is whether the injured will not be driven to seek redress from their own arm. I cannot bring my mind to approve of that humanity which is at full issue with the operations of ancient justice.

2. Wickedness, just the reverse of openness, candour, sincerity.

3. Covetousness, the root of all evil, defiling all we touch with a shade of fraud: it grows and strengthens with years.

4. Maliciousness, ever disposed to injure our neighbour.

5. Full of envy, a worm which so preys on a man’s own vitals, that while fretful at the prosperity of another, he cannot enjoy the blessings which heaven confers.

6. Murder, the result of envy, malice, and revenge. Blood is not often shed, but mental murders are without number. Matthew 5:22.

7. Debate, noisy, contentious, disturbing peace and order, with complaints the very reverse of a meek and quiet spirit.

8. Deceit, insidious designs to ruin our neighbour under the mask of friendship. All swindling and unfair dealing in trade. The opposite disposition to that of a little child. Matthew 18:3.

9. Malignity, kakohqeia, essential evil in the heart, ever perverse, and operative in all the habitudes of life.

10. Whisperers, cowards in crime behind the curtains. They shoot arrows with three edges, which wound the shooter, the hearer, and the absent person.

11. Backbiters, liars, false accusers, a shade bolder in sin than whisperers.

12. Haters of God, a consequence of hating our brother. Despisers of his word and worship, who would, if in their power, join the rebel angels to displace the Eternal from his throne.

13. Despiteful, injurious to others.

14. Proud, exalting themselves.

15. Boasters, men full of themselves, vainglorious.

16. Inventors of evil things, scheming to be wicked, and make others so too. The apostle may allude to the gentile mythology which records awful things concerning pagan rites and festivals. Our novel writers stand impeached here; and some of our comedies are censured even by lord Kaimes.

17. Disobedient to parents, a sin too prevalent, though everywhere condemned in scripture.

18. Without understanding, to know the nature, and foresee the consequences of crime.

19. Covenant-breakers. Asunqetouv, men who will abide by no covenant longer than it is their interest, or their humour; a consequence of hating God, who sends a curse on the guilty, and a blessing on the man who hath sworn to his own hurt, and keepeth his word. Psalms 15:4Psalm 15:4.

20. Without natural affection, even to the wife of their bosom, and the children of their own bowels.

21. Implacable in revenge, delighting in cruelty and injustice.

22. Unmerciful, without compassion, inflexible in resisting the claims of mercy.

31. Without understanding—Without common sense, because without moral sense. Without natural affection—Some professed Christians have imagined that Christian love to our neighbour requires us not to love our own family more than any other persons. This would require us to be without natural affection. As we would not require another man to love his family as little as he loves every body else, so others cannot make such requirement of us.

Ver. 28.-32. Other immoral consequences of idolatry.

According as: God’s conduct to them corresponding with theirs to Him. They did not approve: they weighed the matter in their mind, and deliberately resolved not to make God an object of their thought. Notice, a third time,

God gave them up. The repetition lays solemn emphasis on their punishment.

Disapproved mind: a mind tested and found worthless. They put to the test the question of giving God a place in their mind, and rejected it: and God gave them up to a mind weighed in the balances and found wanting. To do the things not fitting: God’s purpose in giving them up to a disapproved mind. He resolved that forgetfulness of Himself should be followed by sin, and thus made this sequence, as stated in Romans 1:27, inevitable. It became inevitable by the withdrawal of those divine influences which alone can save men from sin.

Filled with all unrighteousness: state of heart from which spring all kinds of sin.

Wickedness: that which injures others. Satan is “the wicked one:” 1 John 2:13.

Coveteousness: desire for more than our share.

An evil-disposition: that which prompts men to look at everything in a bad light, and to turn everything to a bad use.

Hateful-to-God: or hating God. The former accords with Greek use, and gives a good sense. It is a comment on what goes before.

Wanton: those who do what they like, without considering whether they trample under foot the rights, the property, or the lives, of others: such was once Paul: 2 Timothy 1:13.

Men who, knowing etc.: recalling Romans 1:21, and emphasising a chief thought of this section. The Greeks and Romans knew that the general principles of morality had a superhuman source; and that to sin against these was to resist a higher power. See under Romans 2:15. Are pleased with etc.: last and darkest count in this catalogue of sins. Many commit sin, carried away by selfishness or passion, who condemn it in others. To take pleasure in the sin of one’s neighbour, shows a love of sin, not for some further gain, but for its own sake.

Abundant literature of the ancient world attests the truth of the above picture of those among whom Paul lived.

REVIEW. The argument in Romans 1:16, 17 implies that all men are, apart from the Gospel, exposed to the anger of God. As a first step in proof of this, Paul asserts, in Romans 1:18, that God is angry with all sin because all sin is resistance to revealed truth. Of this assertion, the remainder of § 4 is explanation and proof. To prove that God is angry with all sin, Paul adduces three facts: 1. That, by means of His works, the Gentiles know something about God; 2. That, instead of giving Him honour and thanks, they bowed down to images; 3. That they are guilty of shameful immorality.

From Fact 1, Paul infers that God made Himself known to the Gentiles in order to leave them without excuse for ungodliness and ingratitude. This inference, we will further examine. We learn from their writings that Plato, Cicero, and others knew something about God, and that in His works they read His name and nature. Therefore, by creating these works, God made Himself known to them. And, since whatever God does He does with design, we inferred under Romans 1:20 that God created the material universe in order through it to reveal Himself to men; and that He did so, not to satisfy curiosity, but with a further moral purpose. We ask now, For whom did God form this moral purpose? For the philosophers only? Did He write His name in letters which only they could understand? God reveals Himself, not to the wise and great, but to those of every degree of culture who sincerely seek Him: Matthew 11:25. If He revealed Himself to Plato, He must have done so to thousands of others in all positions of life. We therefore infer that God created the material universe in order that it might be a revelation of Himself to the whole human race, and that this revelation was within reach of all who honestly sought the truth; and that the nature of God thus revealed was in some measure known to all who did not shut their eyes to it. To this knowledge of God, Paul appeals in Acts 14:17; 17:24: see also Psalms 19:2Psalm 19:2; Wisdom 13:1-9. The last quotation and the work quoted are of great value as a record of Jewish thought before the appearance of Christ. In Romans 1:20 Paul asserts that the moral purpose of God’s revelation of Himself in Nature was to leave men without excuse for ungodliness; and, in Romans 3:19, that with the same purpose the Law was given to Israel. This purpose was to some extent attained. For in the best Gentile writings there breathes a consciousness of God. That God revealed Himself in Nature in order to take away excuse for ungodliness and ingratitude, indicates that He will punish such forgetfulness of Himself; and is therefore a revelation of His anger (Romans 1:18) against all ungodliness.

Fact 2 is introduced, in Romans 1:21-23, as a description of the actual conduct which God made inexcusable by this revelation of Himself. In the ritual of heathenism, Paul shows the inexplicable folly of idolaters. He does not appeal to their folly as a proof of God’s anger against them-for of this He has more convincing proof-but only as an aggravation of the sin of forgetting God. But so great is the folly of idolatry that we can account for it only as punitive blindness. So Paul explains, quoting O.T., the folly of Israel: Romans 11:8-10. It is therefore a mark of God’s anger and of coming punishment.

Similarly, Fact 3, the deep shame of the heathen, can be accounted for only on the supposition that God in His anger gave them up to a hostile and immoral power. Thus in each of these facts, taken by itself, we have proof of God’s anger against the persons referred to.

But this is not all. In the words God gave them up Paul solemnly and repeatedly asserts that Fact 3 is a result of Fact 2 taken in connection with Fact 1; i.e. that the deep shame of the heathen is a divinely-ordained result of their idolatry. If this be so, the proof afforded by the facts taken singly is immensely increased by their connection: and the immorality of the heathen becomes an unquestionable and fearful proof of the anger of God against those who forget Him.

Of this solemn and repeated assertion, Paul gives no proof. To his readers, proof that idolatry fostered inchastity was needless. And I venture to suggest that he singled out this one sin as in a special sense a manifestation of divine anger because these unnatural crimes were almost universal, and yet were universally known to be wrong. Of each of these statements, we have proof in the literature of his day. Indeed, occasional attempts to excuse current practices, betray a secret misgiving. Now, if the mass of the heathen in Paul’s day were guilty of a sin from which nature recoils, this sin was, by its universality and its universal self-condemnation, a special mark of the anger of God. Its universality implies a wide-spread cause: and the cause is not far to seek. Put together these facts: a universal manifestation of God, designed to leave men without excuse for ungodliness; a universal turning from God to the inexplicable folly of idolatry; a universal sin which all condemn. Each of these is a mark of God’s anger against sin. But they are inseparable: where we find one we find the others. Their inseparable connection cannot be accidental. We therefore infer, as Paul here asserts, that the universal rejection of the universal revelation, and the universal shame, are cause and effect. And, just as from the connection of cause and effect in the material world we infer the existence of an intelligent Creator, so from this moral cause and effect we now infer that God is the moral Governor of the universe and is determined to punish those who refuse Him homage.

If the above exposition be correct, the solemn and repeated words God gave them up are Paul’s own explanation of the statement in Romans 1:18, God’s anger is revealed. By making known His own greatness and power, and by giving up to folly and shame those who forget Him, God reveals plainly, to all who have eyes to see, His anger against ungodliness and unrighteousness. Since this revelation comes from the Maker and Ruler of the world, it may be said to be from heaven. After mentioning one sin which was so remarkable a proof of God’s anger, Paul mentions others as a further result, and therefore a further proof, of the same. The above argument disproves the teaching of the Epicureans, that anger is inconsistent with deity, and that the gods care not for man’s conduct. See Acts 17:18 and Cicero On the Nature of the Gods bk. i. 17. The opposite of this, Paul has proved; not so much by formal argument, as by pointing to a chain of moral sequences involving punishment already being inflicted on the ungodly.

Notice the intense reality of this section. There is no artificial order: but there is that higher order in which living thought finds its own correct expression. The writer turns again and again from the sin to the shame and from the shame to the sin. Before his searching and continued gaze, the sin becomes more sinful and the shame more deeply shameful.

This epistle was probably written from Corinth: see Introd. iv. And nowhere did the shamelessness of idolatry parade itself more openly than at Corinth. The argument is therefore a mark of genuineness. The chief DOCTRINAL RESULTS of this section are:—

1. Paul’s view of Natural Theology. With him, God’s revelation of Himself in Nature holds a place in the moral training of the Gentiles analogous to that of the Law in the training of Israel. A remarkable coincidence in the only two recorded addresses of Paul to heathens, Acts 14:15; 17:24; each of which begins by appealing to the creation of the world. To the Jews, he begins by quoting the Old Testament. In each case, he appeals to an earlier revelation given to prepare a way for the Gospel; and thus seeks to call forth that consciousness of guilt without which the need of the Gospel is not felt. The revelation in Nature would probably bear its chief fruit in those Gentiles who heard the Gospel. While listening to it, they would condemn themselves, not for rejecting Christ, of whom they had never heard, but for disregarding a revelation which had been before their eyes from childhood. And, just as the Law retains its value even for those who have accepted the Gospel, so the worth of the revelation in Nature remains to those who behold the glory of God in the face of Christ. That God reveals Himself in Nature, raises Natural Science to a sacred study, and gives to it its noblest aim.

2. We learn that, by the just judgment of God, godlessness, folly, and shame go together. Happily these do not exist in the same forms, or to the same extent, with us as with these old heathens. But the principle remains. Are not they guilty of incredible folly who prefer to direct their highest thought and effort to the perishing objects around, rather than to those which will never pass away? And is not this folly chargeable to all who forget God? Again, just in proportion as the image of God fades from our view do we fall into thoughts, motives, and practices, which for very shame we must hide from our fellows. Human nature is the same. The principles here asserted attest themselves before our eyes and in our hearts. The inevitable connection of godlessness, folly, and sin proclaims in words we cannot misunderstand that God is angry with those who forget Him. Even Socrates, in Xenophon’s Memoirs bk. iv. 4. 24, says that the fact that certain sins produce their own punishment proves that the law which forbids them is from God.

3. The real nature of sin. It is not a mere act, but an adverse power against which, unaided by God, man is powerless. It has allies in our own hearts. The deep shame of the heathen is with Paul fully accounted for by the fact that God gave them up to sin. Of this, all else is a necessary result: man’s own moral strength to resist even gross sin is not reckoned for a moment. Hence Paul’s indignation is called forth, not by their lust and wickedness, but by their dishonour to God. Of this, their lust is but the punishment. We shall therefore no longer look with Pharisaic wonder on cases of deep depravity. The enormities of crime are explained. We see in them the fearful nature and power of sin, and God’s anger against forgetfulness of Himself. We shall be slow to condemn, quick to pity. In the depravity of others we shall see what ourselves would become if the strong hand of our God were withdrawn. And, in the presence of foes so tremendous, we shall not venture away from our ark of safety.

Verses 29-31. Being filled with all unrighteousness, &c. — Filled, not slightly or occasionally affected. Unrighteousness is here injustice: fornication, porneia, every species of uncleanness: wickedness, ponhria appears to signify mischievous craft and subtlety, the kind of wickedness for which the devil is eminent, and hence called o wonhrov, “the wicked one:” covetousness, the excessive desire to have, either to spend or to hoard, and the gratification of the passion by appropriating the goods of others to their own use: maliciousness, kakia, an implacable and revengeful habit of mind: full, mestouv, another strong word to show how completely these evils had possession of their hearts, and how mature and rife they were in society: debate, eridov, strife: deceit, dolou, craft: malignity, maliciousness before mentioned, and kakohqeiav, more properly signifies putting the worst construction upon any thing, and so being the more readily excited to acts of violence and revenge: whisperers, secret insinuators of calumny: backbiters, those who openly calumniate when the injured party is absent: haters of God, Koppe and others render “hated by God,” which sense the word admits; but this is scarcely a description of character; whereas in proportion as men become vicious, their hatred of God and true religion becomes conspicuous, they are hated for their very purity: despiteful, ubristav, insolent in words and deeds: proud, treating with haughty contempt all those supposed to be beneath them: boasters, arrogating to themselves and their country the most honourable qualities, and ascribing their good fortune to their own merits: inventors of evil things, of new sins or modes of sinning, especially of unlawful pleasures, so that by some of their sensualists rewards were offered for the discovery of a new pleasure: disobedient to parents, to which there would be, from the mere force of natural instinct, many exceptions; but in every age, and among every people so corrupt in morals, this must have been the effect to a frightful extent: without understanding, asunetoi, a word which has cost interpreters some trouble, because deficiency of understanding cannot be well reckoned among the vices; but there is no need to run into strained meanings of the word, since, in its obvious signification, it is sufficiently expressive of the intention of the apostle. — A want of understanding, that is, of discernment and prudence, is one of the uniform and most marked effects of an entire abandonment to vicious habits; the judgment becomes inattentive to the nature and consequences of things, darkened and perverted on all moral subjects, so that “darkness is put for light and light for darkness, good for evil and evil for good:” this is not a misfortune, but an awfully vicious state of mind, and characteristic therefore of the moral state of these enormous offenders. Covenant-breakers: without natural affection, where we may suppose he alludes to the exposure of infants, the frequent brutal treatment of near relations whom they were bound to cherish, and the neglect of parents in their old age: implacable, aspondov is one who refuses to join in those libations which were the tokens of peace and friendship; hence it signifies one who will enter into no agreement, who refuses to lay aside his quarrels, but maintains perpetual enmity with those who have offended him: unmerciful, remorseless, without pity; which was sufficiently proved by the sanguinary character of their wars, their slaughter of human beings for sport in their forums, and the reckless barbarities they inflicted upon their slaves.

V. 32. Not only do the same, but have pleasure in those that practise them-This is the highest degree of wickedness. A man may be hurried by his passions to do the thing he hates; but he that has pleasure in those that do evil, loves wickedness for wickedness' sake. And hereby he encourages them in sin, and heaps the guilt of others upon his own head.

Verse 32. Who, knowing the judgment of God] dikaiwma, the grand rule of right which God has revealed to every man, the knowledge of which he has, less or more, given to every nation of the world, relative to honouring parents, taking care of their own offspring, keeping their engagements, &c., &c. In the worst states of heathenism this great principle has been acknowledged; but, through the prevalence of corruption in the heart, this law, though acknowledged, was not obeyed; and the corruption increased so that those were highest in repute who had cast off all restraints of this kind; so that they even delighted in them; suneudokousi, highly applauded, and gladly associated with those transgressors: which argues the very highest pitch of moral depravity.

1. THE preceding chapter gives us one of the finest views of the Gospel of Christ, to be met with any where. It is God’s method of saving a lost world, in a way which that world could never have imagined: there is nothing human in it; it is all truly and gloriously Divine; essentially necessary to the salvation of man, and fully adequate to the purposes of its institution. Though it is an extension of the old covenant, yet it is almost wholly dissimilar; being as different from that as the person is from the picture which represents it, and as the substance is from the shadow projected by it. It is a scheme as worthy of God as it is necessary for man; hence there are no excluding clauses in it-it is for the Jew and for the Greek; for the wise and for the unwise; for all the nations of the universe, and for all the individuals of those nations. He blasphemes God who holds the contrary.

2. As God never does any thing that is not fitting, suitable, and necessary to be done, he has not made an unnecessary display of his mercy and goodness in the incarnation and death of his Son-all this was necessary, else it had not been done. But how does the necessity appear? In the deep-rooted and widely extended corruption and profligacy of the nations of the earth. Of these the apostle gives a most affecting and distressing picture. 1. Almost every trace of original righteousness had been obliterated. 2. The proofs of God’s eternal power and providence, so manifest in the creation and preservation of the universe, were wholly disregarded. 3. A vain philosophy, without right, principle, or end, was substituted for those Divine truths which had been discovered originally to man. 4. Their hearts were contaminated with every vice which could blind the understanding, pervert the judgment, corrupt the will, and debase the affections and passions. 5. This was proved in the most unequivocal manner, by a profligacy of conduct which had debased them far, far below the beasts that perish; and the apostle here gives a list of their crimes, every article of which can be incontrovertibly proved from their own history and their own writers: crimes which, even bad as the world is now, would shock common decency to describe. See the whole of the second, third, sixth, and ninth Satires of Juvenal.

3. So completely lost were the heathens to a knowledge of the influence of God on the souls and the necessity of that influence, that they asserted, in the most positive manner, that man was the author of his own virtue and wisdom. Cicero, Nat. Deor., lib. iii. c. 36, declares it a general opinion that, although mankind received from the gods the outward conveniencies of life-virtutem autem nemo unquam acceptam Deo retulit-“virtue none ever thought they received from the Deity.” And again:-“This is the persuasion of all, that fortune is to be had from the gods; wisdom from ourselves.” And again:-“Whoever thanked the gods for his being a good man? Men pray to Jupiter, not that he would make them just, temperate, and wise; but rich and prosperous.”

JUVENAL, on this point, speaks thus:—

Monstro, quod ipse tibi possis dare: Semita certe

Tranquillæ per virtutem patet unica vitæ.

Sat. x. v. 363.

The path to peace is virtue; which, I show,

Thyself may fully on thyself bestow.

In the same stain, HORACE, EPIST. lib. i. E. xviii. v. penult. Hæc satis est orare Jovem, qui donat et aufert:

Det vitam det opes: æquum mi animum ipse parabo.

To Jove for life and wealth I pray,

These Jove may give or take away;

But, for a firm and tranquil mind,

That blessing for myself I find.

Thus, they became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened; and professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. See Madan’s Juvenal, vol. ii. p. 53.

4. By all this we see what the world was, and what it would have continued to be had not God sent a Divine revelation of his will, and established a public ministry to proclaim and enforce it. Were man left to the power and influence of his fallen nature he would be, in all places of his dispersion on the earth, what the apostle describes in the 29th, 30th, and 31st verses of this chapter. {Romans 1:29-31}

Reader, magnify God, who has called thee from such deep darkness, to the marvellous light of the glorious Gospel of his Son; and walk as a child of the light and of the day, in whom there shall be no cause of stumbling. ROMANS

Verse 32. Who, knowing the judgment — Dikaiwma, the righteousness, or righteous judgment, or appointment; of God — And because God’s law is founded in righteousness, and is the rule thereof to us, the word is often used in Scripture to denote an ordinance, statute, or particular law, Numbers 27:11; 31:21; and in the plural, the appointments, or institutions of God moral, or ceremonial, Luke 1:6; Romans 2:26; Hebrews 9:1; even those which were purely ceremonial, Hebrews 9:10. Here the word signifies the law of God written on men’s hearts, called by philosophers the law of nature, and by civilians, the law of nations. For the Greeks could know no other law of God, being destitute of revelation; that they which commit such things are worthy of death — God hath written on the hearts of men not only his law, but the sanction of his law. For the fear of punishment is inseparable from the consciousness of guilt. Further, that the heathen knew that the persons guilty of the crimes mentioned here by the apostle merited death, is evident from the laws which they enacted for punishing such persons with death. Not only do the same — Allow themselves in the practice of these sins; but have pleasure in them that do them — Approve, encourage, and patronise them in others, and even take pleasure in their committing them. This is the highest degree of wickedness. A man may be hurried by his passions to do the thing he generally hates. But he that has pleasure in those that do evil, loves wickedness for wickedness’ sake; and thereby he encourages them in sin, and heaps the guilt of others upon his own head. In this stricture, Dr. Macknight thinks “the apostle glances at the Greek legislators, priests, and philosophers, who, by their institutions, example, and presence, encouraged the people in the practice of many of the debaucheries here mentioned, especially in the celebration of the festivals of their gods.”

Ver. 32. Who knowing the judgment of God. This is directed to men of superior minds, to the students of nature, learned in the law, and judges in courts.

32. Knowing the judgment of God—There are two knowledges ascribed by the apostle to the heathen as ennobling man’s nature, yet aggravating his guilt. One is the knowledge of God’s existence, and the other the knowledge of a just retribution. The knowledge and the wicked conduct go hand in hand. Yet man awakes to this consciousness distinctly after the guilt is incurred, and after his becoming inextricably involved in the meshes of destruction. Without a divine aid there is no hope for a single individual. Worthy of death—The capital punishment under the divine government. Have pleasure—They not only deliberately follow every temptation to sin themselves, but they delight in seeing others committing equal sin. So that they love sin not only for the pleasure it yields, but also for the very sake of its being sin. Total depravity (if the phrase must be used) is not true in the sense that man is as bad a being as possibly can be, a total black; for a mortal race so bad would naturally destroy each other, and so could not long exist. But it does mean that man is totally destitute of that love to God which his Spirit only can inspire, and totally unable to attain salvation without that Spirit through the grace of Christ. Yet this does not deny to man’s nature a conscience, aesthetical faculties, nor a susceptibility to the impressions of truth and to the influences of the Divine Spirit. Indeed, man’s soul is adapted for these influences, so that there is a truth in saying that “man is a religious being,” and even a truth, to be carefully guarded, in Tertullian’s maxim that “The human soul is naturally Christian.” Man sins and rejects the Gospel and the Spirit against his own nature. Christianity is the true complement to humanity. And just because man possesses these qualities his apostasies become guilty. Without them he might be, like brutes, or like created immutable fiends, incapable of responsibility. A possibility of becoming good, in some part of the individual being, is requisite in order to an accountability for being bad.

Ver. 28.-32. Other immoral consequences of idolatry.

According as: God’s conduct to them corresponding with theirs to Him. They did not approve: they weighed the matter in their mind, and deliberately resolved not to make God an object of their thought. Notice, a third time,

God gave them up. The repetition lays solemn emphasis on their punishment.

Disapproved mind: a mind tested and found worthless. They put to the test the question of giving God a place in their mind, and rejected it: and God gave them up to a mind weighed in the balances and found wanting. To do the things not fitting: God’s purpose in giving them up to a disapproved mind. He resolved that forgetfulness of Himself should be followed by sin, and thus made this sequence, as stated in Romans 1:27, inevitable. It became inevitable by the withdrawal of those divine influences which alone can save men from sin.

Filled with all unrighteousness: state of heart from which spring all kinds of sin.

Wickedness: that which injures others. Satan is “the wicked one:” 1 John 2:13.

Coveteousness: desire for more than our share.

An evil-disposition: that which prompts men to look at everything in a bad light, and to turn everything to a bad use.

Hateful-to-God: or hating God. The former accords with Greek use, and gives a good sense. It is a comment on what goes before.

Wanton: those who do what they like, without considering whether they trample under foot the rights, the property, or the lives, of others: such was once Paul: 2 Timothy 1:13.

Men who, knowing etc.: recalling Romans 1:21, and emphasising a chief thought of this section. The Greeks and Romans knew that the general principles of morality had a superhuman source; and that to sin against these was to resist a higher power. See under Romans 2:15. Are pleased with etc.: last and darkest count in this catalogue of sins. Many commit sin, carried away by selfishness or passion, who condemn it in others. To take pleasure in the sin of one’s neighbour, shows a love of sin, not for some further gain, but for its own sake.

Abundant literature of the ancient world attests the truth of the above picture of those among whom Paul lived.

REVIEW. The argument in Romans 1:16, 17 implies that all men are, apart from the Gospel, exposed to the anger of God. As a first step in proof of this, Paul asserts, in Romans 1:18, that God is angry with all sin because all sin is resistance to revealed truth. Of this assertion, the remainder of § 4 is explanation and proof. To prove that God is angry with all sin, Paul adduces three facts: 1. That, by means of His works, the Gentiles know something about God; 2. That, instead of giving Him honour and thanks, they bowed down to images; 3. That they are guilty of shameful immorality.

From Fact 1, Paul infers that God made Himself known to the Gentiles in order to leave them without excuse for ungodliness and ingratitude. This inference, we will further examine. We learn from their writings that Plato, Cicero, and others knew something about God, and that in His works they read His name and nature. Therefore, by creating these works, God made Himself known to them. And, since whatever God does He does with design, we inferred under Romans 1:20 that God created the material universe in order through it to reveal Himself to men; and that He did so, not to satisfy curiosity, but with a further moral purpose. We ask now, For whom did God form this moral purpose? For the philosophers only? Did He write His name in letters which only they could understand? God reveals Himself, not to the wise and great, but to those of every degree of culture who sincerely seek Him: Matthew 11:25. If He revealed Himself to Plato, He must have done so to thousands of others in all positions of life. We therefore infer that God created the material universe in order that it might be a revelation of Himself to the whole human race, and that this revelation was within reach of all who honestly sought the truth; and that the nature of God thus revealed was in some measure known to all who did not shut their eyes to it. To this knowledge of God, Paul appeals in Acts 14:17; 17:24: see also Psalms 19:2Psalm 19:2; Wisdom 13:1-9. The last quotation and the work quoted are of great value as a record of Jewish thought before the appearance of Christ. In Romans 1:20 Paul asserts that the moral purpose of God’s revelation of Himself in Nature was to leave men without excuse for ungodliness; and, in Romans 3:19, that with the same purpose the Law was given to Israel. This purpose was to some extent attained. For in the best Gentile writings there breathes a consciousness of God. That God revealed Himself in Nature in order to take away excuse for ungodliness and ingratitude, indicates that He will punish such forgetfulness of Himself; and is therefore a revelation of His anger (Romans 1:18) against all ungodliness.

Fact 2 is introduced, in Romans 1:21-23, as a description of the actual conduct which God made inexcusable by this revelation of Himself. In the ritual of heathenism, Paul shows the inexplicable folly of idolaters. He does not appeal to their folly as a proof of God’s anger against them-for of this He has more convincing proof-but only as an aggravation of the sin of forgetting God. But so great is the folly of idolatry that we can account for it only as punitive blindness. So Paul explains, quoting O.T., the folly of Israel: Romans 11:8-10. It is therefore a mark of God’s anger and of coming punishment.

Similarly, Fact 3, the deep shame of the heathen, can be accounted for only on the supposition that God in His anger gave them up to a hostile and immoral power. Thus in each of these facts, taken by itself, we have proof of God’s anger against the persons referred to.

But this is not all. In the words God gave them up Paul solemnly and repeatedly asserts that Fact 3 is a result of Fact 2 taken in connection with Fact 1; i.e. that the deep shame of the heathen is a divinely-ordained result of their idolatry. If this be so, the proof afforded by the facts taken singly is immensely increased by their connection: and the immorality of the heathen becomes an unquestionable and fearful proof of the anger of God against those who forget Him.

Of this solemn and repeated assertion, Paul gives no proof. To his readers, proof that idolatry fostered inchastity was needless. And I venture to suggest that he singled out this one sin as in a special sense a manifestation of divine anger because these unnatural crimes were almost universal, and yet were universally known to be wrong. Of each of these statements, we have proof in the literature of his day. Indeed, occasional attempts to excuse current practices, betray a secret misgiving. Now, if the mass of the heathen in Paul’s day were guilty of a sin from which nature recoils, this sin was, by its universality and its universal self-condemnation, a special mark of the anger of God. Its universality implies a wide-spread cause: and the cause is not far to seek. Put together these facts: a universal manifestation of God, designed to leave men without excuse for ungodliness; a universal turning from God to the inexplicable folly of idolatry; a universal sin which all condemn. Each of these is a mark of God’s anger against sin. But they are inseparable: where we find one we find the others. Their inseparable connection cannot be accidental. We therefore infer, as Paul here asserts, that the universal rejection of the universal revelation, and the universal shame, are cause and effect. And, just as from the connection of cause and effect in the material world we infer the existence of an intelligent Creator, so from this moral cause and effect we now infer that God is the moral Governor of the universe and is determined to punish those who refuse Him homage.

If the above exposition be correct, the solemn and repeated words God gave them up are Paul’s own explanation of the statement in Romans 1:18, God’s anger is revealed. By making known His own greatness and power, and by giving up to folly and shame those who forget Him, God reveals plainly, to all who have eyes to see, His anger against ungodliness and unrighteousness. Since this revelation comes from the Maker and Ruler of the world, it may be said to be from heaven. After mentioning one sin which was so remarkable a proof of God’s anger, Paul mentions others as a further result, and therefore a further proof, of the same. The above argument disproves the teaching of the Epicureans, that anger is inconsistent with deity, and that the gods care not for man’s conduct. See Acts 17:18 and Cicero On the Nature of the Gods bk. i. 17. The opposite of this, Paul has proved; not so much by formal argument, as by pointing to a chain of moral sequences involving punishment already being inflicted on the ungodly.

Notice the intense reality of this section. There is no artificial order: but there is that higher order in which living thought finds its own correct expression. The writer turns again and again from the sin to the shame and from the shame to the sin. Before his searching and continued gaze, the sin becomes more sinful and the shame more deeply shameful.

This epistle was probably written from Corinth: see Introd. iv. And nowhere did the shamelessness of idolatry parade itself more openly than at Corinth. The argument is therefore a mark of genuineness. The chief DOCTRINAL RESULTS of this section are:—

1. Paul’s view of Natural Theology. With him, God’s revelation of Himself in Nature holds a place in the moral training of the Gentiles analogous to that of the Law in the training of Israel. A remarkable coincidence in the only two recorded addresses of Paul to heathens, Acts 14:15; 17:24; each of which begins by appealing to the creation of the world. To the Jews, he begins by quoting the Old Testament. In each case, he appeals to an earlier revelation given to prepare a way for the Gospel; and thus seeks to call forth that consciousness of guilt without which the need of the Gospel is not felt. The revelation in Nature would probably bear its chief fruit in those Gentiles who heard the Gospel. While listening to it, they would condemn themselves, not for rejecting Christ, of whom they had never heard, but for disregarding a revelation which had been before their eyes from childhood. And, just as the Law retains its value even for those who have accepted the Gospel, so the worth of the revelation in Nature remains to those who behold the glory of God in the face of Christ. That God reveals Himself in Nature, raises Natural Science to a sacred study, and gives to it its noblest aim.

2. We learn that, by the just judgment of God, godlessness, folly, and shame go together. Happily these do not exist in the same forms, or to the same extent, with us as with these old heathens. But the principle remains. Are not they guilty of incredible folly who prefer to direct their highest thought and effort to the perishing objects around, rather than to those which will never pass away? And is not this folly chargeable to all who forget God? Again, just in proportion as the image of God fades from our view do we fall into thoughts, motives, and practices, which for very shame we must hide from our fellows. Human nature is the same. The principles here asserted attest themselves before our eyes and in our hearts. The inevitable connection of godlessness, folly, and sin proclaims in words we cannot misunderstand that God is angry with those who forget Him. Even Socrates, in Xenophon’s Memoirs bk. iv. 4. 24, says that the fact that certain sins produce their own punishment proves that the law which forbids them is from God.

3. The real nature of sin. It is not a mere act, but an adverse power against which, unaided by God, man is powerless. It has allies in our own hearts. The deep shame of the heathen is with Paul fully accounted for by the fact that God gave them up to sin. Of this, all else is a necessary result: man’s own moral strength to resist even gross sin is not reckoned for a moment. Hence Paul’s indignation is called forth, not by their lust and wickedness, but by their dishonour to God. Of this, their lust is but the punishment. We shall therefore no longer look with Pharisaic wonder on cases of deep depravity. The enormities of crime are explained. We see in them the fearful nature and power of sin, and God’s anger against forgetfulness of Himself. We shall be slow to condemn, quick to pity. In the depravity of others we shall see what ourselves would become if the strong hand of our God were withdrawn. And, in the presence of foes so tremendous, we shall not venture away from our ark of safety.

Verse 32. The judgment of God. — God’s judicial decision as contained in his law. — This law was never entirely obliterated among them; and therefore they are said to know the judgment, to dikaiwma, of God, which doomed to death all committing such things. Nevertheless, in defiance of the threat, they not only practised them, but took delight in them that did so; each being recommended to the other by the very excess of his vices, so that not only was there no effort made to stay this downward course of corruption, but it was encouraged by the example and influence of all ranks.

The question which arises out of this description of the corrupt state of the Gentiles, is, For what purpose is it introduced? It could not be to give information to the Roman Christians themselves, who lived in the midst of all the abominations referred to, and were too well acquainted with the manner of their city; nor was the design to give information to future times, by a historical record of the manners of the age. The apostle does not write historically; and he knew well that in both Greek and Roman authors all these evils had been dwelt upon too fully and too frequently for the memory of them to be lost. This view of the pagan world is a part of his great argument. He lays it down that the Gospel is a Divine provision for man’s salvation; that every sinful man needs it, because “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness of men;” and that the whole Gentile world needed it, because they were all actually offenders, (of which the state of morals among them was a universal proof,) and as such worthy of death. This is the connection of this black catalogue of pagan immoralities with his argument. But it may be said, that the actual vices of the age when the apostle lived, an age confessedly of great degeneracy, could only prove the need of the people of that day of this saving institution; which is too narrow a ground on which to build an argument in favour of the universal necessity of the Gospel. Certainly the apostle must be allowed to assume, that forgetting God, and setting up idolatries and superstitions, are crimes everywhere, and in all ages, and such as produce overt acts of immorality. And this is indisputable; so that the argument of the apostle as to the actual guilt and judicial danger of the Gentile world cannot be impaired by alleging that he only looked at the state of society in his own day. That is doubtless true; but he refers to it only as an obvious and mature manifestation of the effect of the departure of mankind from God. The same idolatries are traceable, by veritable history, up at least to near the time of Abraham, to the nations of Canaan, Egypt, Chaldea, &c. They mingle themselves with the highest antiquity, and exhibit themselves in similar immoralities, though varying in degree as to the grossest of them, in different ages. And if we contemplate the subsequent history of idolatry, wherever this rejection of the knowledge of the true God, and the introduction of false worship, has prevailed, — and it has prevailed UNIVERSALLY except where it has been displaced by the Gospel, — there it has originated nothing but vice, mental and sensual; and therefore it has placed all men everywhere under wrath, the dikaiwma, or sentence, of God, of which the apostle speaks; and thus the argument as a universal one is established. The Greeks and Romans were under condemnation for these vices; these vices both comprehended and sprung from the sin of rejecting the knowledge of God, and the truths necessarily connected with it: but the Gentiles of every age, and everywhere, were proved, by the universal prevalence of idolatry, to have departed from God in like manner; they had therefore placed themselves under the polluting influence of the same errors, exhibited the same general character of vice, were in the same condemnation, objects of the same “revealed wrath of God;” and to them therefore the Gospel was both absolutely necessary as a dispensation of grace and mercy, and worthy of all acceptation from its evidence, suitableness, and glorious sufficiency.