Romans · Chapter 8

V. 1. There is therefore now no condemnation-Either for things present or past. Now he comes to deliverance and liberty. The apostle here resumes the thread of his discourse, which was interrupted, Romans 7:7.

Verse 1. There is, therefore, now no condemnation] To do justice to St. Paul’s reasoning, this chapter must be read in the closest connection with the preceding. There we have seen the unavailing struggles of an awakened Jew, who sought pardon and holiness from that law which he was conscious he had broken; and in which he could find no provision for pardon, and no power to sanctify. This conviction having brought him to the very brink of despair, and, being on the point of giving up all hope, he hears of redemption by Jesus Christ, thanks God for the prospect he has of salvation, applies for and receives it; and now magnifies God for the unspeakable gift of which he has been made a partaker.

Those who restrain the word now, so as to indicate by it the Gospel dispensation only, do not take in the whole of the apostles meaning. The apostle has not been dealing in general matters only, but also in those which are particular. He has not been pointing out merely the difference between the two dispensations, the Mosaic and the Christian; but he marks out the state of a penitent under the former, and that of a believer under the latter. The last chapter closed with an account of the deep distress of the penitent; this one opens with an account of his salvation. The now, therefore, in the text, must refer more to the happy transition from darkness to light, from condemnation to pardon, which this believer now enjoys, than to the Christian dispensation taking the place of the Jewish economy.

Who walk not after the flesh, &c.] In this one verse we find the power and virtue of the Gospel scheme; it pardons and sanctifies; the Jewish law could do neither. By faith in our Lord Jesus Christ the penitent, condemned by the law, is pardoned; the carnal man, labouring under the overpowering influence of the sin of his nature, is sanctified. He is first freely justified; he feels no condemnation; he is fully sanctified; he walks not after the FLESH, but after the SPIRIT.

This last clause is wanting in the principal MSS., versions, and fathers. Griesbach has excluded it from the text; and Dr. White says, Certissime delenda; it should most undoubtedly be expunged. Without it, the passage reads thus: There is, therefore, no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus; for the law of the Spirit of life, &c. It is a fairly assumed point, that those who are in Christ Jesus, who believe in his name, have redemption in his blood; are made partakers of his Spirit, and have the mind in them that was in him; will not walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit: therefore the thing itself is included in the being in Christ, whether it be expressed or not: and it was probably to make the thing more obvious, that this explanatory clause was added by some copyist, for it does not appear to have made an original part of the text; and it is most likely that it was inserted here from the fourth verse.

Verse 1. There is, &c. — As a further answer to the objection mentioned Romans 3:31, that the doctrine of justification by faith made void the law, the apostle here proceeds, with great feeling and energy, to display the many powerful motives which that doctrine, as explained in the preceding chapters, suggests, for engaging both the understanding and the affections of believers to a continued pursuit of holiness. The first motive which he mentions is that contained in this verse, that now, under the new dispensation of the covenant of grace, namely, that of the Messiah, there is no condemnation to true believers, who walk as he here describes, although they may not observe the ceremonies of the Mosaic law. “This greatest of all considerations the apostle begins with, after having pathetically described the terror of the awakened sinner arising from his consciousness of guilt, because if mercy were not with God, he could neither be loved nor obeyed by men.” There is therefore now — In respect of all that has been advanced, since things are as has been shown; no condemnation — From God, either for things present or past. He now comes to speak of deliverance and liberty, in opposition to the state of guilt and bondage described in the latter part of the preceding chapter; resuming the thread of his discourse, which was interrupted, Romans 7:7. To them which are in Christ Jesus — Who are united to Christ by a lively faith in him, and in the truths and promises of his gospel, and so are made members of his mystical body. “The phrase, to be in Christ, saith Le Clerc, is often used by Paul for being a Christian; which observation he borrowed from Castalio, who renders it, Christiani facti; [being made Christians;] but if either of them mean only Christians by profession, or by being only members of the Christian Church, this will by no means agree with this place, or any other of like nature; since freedom from condemnation, and other benefits conferred upon us through Christ, will not follow our being Christians in this sense, but only upon a lively faith in Christ, our union to him by the Spirit, and our being so in him, as to become new creatures, according to verse 9: If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his; to 2 Corinthians 5:17, If any man be in Christ he is a new creature; and to Galatians 5:24, They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” — Whitby. Who walk not after the flesh — Who are not governed, as to their dispositions and actions, by those appetites which have their seat in the flesh, or by worldly views and interests, or by the dictates and motions of the natural corruption, which in some degree may yet remain in them: but after the Spirit — Namely, the Spirit of God; that is, who are not only habitually governed by reason and conscience, enlightened and renewed by God’s Spirit, but who follow the drawings, exercise the graces, and bring forth the fruits of that Spirit, Ephesians 5:9; Galatians 5:22, 23: where see the notes.

Verse 1. In Christ Jesus. See on John 15:2. Romans 16:7. Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Griesbach has left the last words out of his Greek testament, under the plea that they are not found in many ancient manuscripts; but the real ground I fear is, a fixed aversion to the godhead of Christ, which implies the divinity of the Holy Spirit, the author of this life of God in the soul of man. It is in the Irish copies, as in Usher; it is in the Spanish copies, as in Montanus; it is in the Swiss copies and versions, and few are more ancient: sed juxta Spiritum. It is in Theophylact, and follows as in the fourth verse; and the want of it is the excision of a limb.

1. Therefore now—With the self-surrender in faith to Christ of verse 24, last chapter, deliverance from sin and law ensue, and with justification the Holy Spirit is given as the inspirer of regenerate life. As said above, the apostle here resumes his description of the gospel freedom from law rule, which he had suspended at Romans 7:6. No condemnation—For justification is acquittal, the opposite of condemnation. In Christ—(See note on Romans 6:2.) After the flesh—After the suggestions of the carnal nature. After the Spirit—After the dictates of the conscience vivified by truth and divine influence.

Ver. 1. Inference from the summary just given of Romans 8:14-25. Now: changed circumstances, involving a change of time: so Romans 6:22; 7:6.

No condemnation: no adverse sentence of God, like that in Romans 3:9.

Those in Christ Jesus: they to whom the personality of Christ is the environment of life and action; a conception ever present to the thought of Paul: see under Romans 6:11; cp. Romans 16:7; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:17. In former days, although Paul’s mind paid allegiance to the Law of God, his hands and feet did the bidding of sin. From this he now draws the unexpected inference that they who are in Christ are no longer condemned by God for their sins. This general inference implies that the foregoing experience is, though doubtless in different degrees, common to all Christians.

V. 2. The law of the Spirit-That is, the gospel. Hath freed me from the law of sin and death-That is, the Mosaic dispensation.

Verse 2. For the law of the Spirit of life] The Gospel of the grace of Christ, which is not only a law or rule of life, but affords that sovereign energy by which guilt is removed from the conscience, the power of sin broken, and its polluting influence removed from the heart. The law was a spirit of death, by which those who were under it were bound down, because of their sin, to condemnation and death. The Gospel proclaims Jesus the Saviour; and what the law bound unto death, IT looses unto life eternal. And thus the apostle says, whether of himself or the man whom he is still personating, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Most people allow that St. Paul is here speaking of his own state; and this state is so totally different from that described in the preceding chapter, that it is absolutely impossible that they should have been the state of the same being, at one and the same time. No creature could possibly be carnal, sold under sin, brought into captivity to the law of sin and death; and at the same time be made free from that law of sin and death, by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus! Until the most palpable absurdities and contradictions can be reconciled, these two opposite states can never exist in the same person at the same time.

Verse 2. For the law of the Spirit of life — That is, the doctrine of divine grace in the gospel, accompanied with the quickening, commanding influence of the Holy Spirit, hath made me free from the law of sin and death — That is, not only from the Mosaic dispensation, which, if relied on for justification, left men under the guilt and power of sin, and condemned them to the second death; but also and especially from the law, or constraining power of sin itself, which is attended with spiritual death, and, if not removed, brings men to death eternal. In other words, “The Spirit of Christ, giving me a new life, is now another law, or rule of my actions, freeing me from the motions and power of sin, to which I was subject while under the [Mosaic] law, and from the death to which that law subjected me; or, the gospel, attended with the Spirit, hath wrought this freedom in me.” So Whitby. The gospel, or covenant of grace, may be fitly termed the law of the Spirit, or a spiritual law; and that not only as it reaches to the spirit of man, but is such a law as gives spiritual life, or is the ministration of the Spirit, and of life, 2 Corinthians 3:6, 8; being accompanied with a divine power, which communicates spiritual life to the soul here, and prepares it for eternal life hereafter. It is observable, that the person who speaks in the foregoing chapter is introduced here as continuing the discourse, and showing the method in which his deliverance from the body of sin and death, mentioned Romans 7:25, was accomplished. And what is affirmed concerning him, is intended of other believers also. Here, therefore, we have a second motive to holiness, namely, that under the new covenant sufficient assistance being given to all who in faith and prayer apply for it, to free them from the law of sin and death, they cannot excuse their sins by pleading the strength of their sinful passions, or the depravity of their nature.

Ver. 2. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is here put in opposition to the law of sin and death. It pertains to the inner man of the heart, the wisdom from above, the law written on the fleshly tables of the heart by the Spirit of the living God; the law of love, constraining us to be spiritually minded, as in ver. 6.

2. Law—The ruling force. (See note on Romans 7:23.) Spirit of life— The Divine Spirit, the inspirer and giver of eternal life. Law… death. (See note on Romans 7:23.)

Ver. 2. Explanation and proof of Romans 8:1.

The Spirit: new and conspicuous feature of Rom. 8. The close argument following implies that the Spirit of life here is the same as the Spirit of God and of Christ in Romans 8:9, 11, 14: and this can be no other than the Holy Spirit in Romans 5:5. He is the Spirit of life: for all life springs from Him.

The law of the Spirit: the Holy Spirit, looked upon as prescribing conduct. This phrase is another mark of Paul’s legal mode of thought: cp. Romans 3:27, “a law of faith.”

The law of sin: the principle of evil looked upon as prescribing action: so Romans 7:23, 25.

Sin and death are partners of one throne, and issue one law: to obey sin, is to walk in a path marked out by death.

Made-free: as in Romans 6:18, 22. The Holy Spirit, by prescribing a new course of action, liberates us from the bondage involved in the former compulsory obedience to the dictates of evil leading to death. Just so a conqueror, by setting up his own laws in a conquered country, makes the former laws invalid. That the country obeys the new law, is a proof of conquest. The presence and guidance of the Spirit have made Paul free from the rule of sin. This is not change of bondage, but freedom from all bondage. For the law of the Spirit is the will of our Maker, and therefore the law of our being. To obey it, is the only true freedom. In Christ Jesus: as in Romans 8:1, giving the point of the argument. If in Christ Paul has been made free from the dominion of sin, there is no condemnation to those in Christ. For their liberation proves that they are forgiven. Cp. Romans 3:24: “redemption in Christ Jesus.” Instead of made me free in the Alex. and Ephraim and Clermont MSS. and some early versions, the Sinai and Vatican MSS. and the Peshito Syriac version read made thee free. This latter reading is given by Tischendorf, in the text of Westcott, and in the margins of Lachmann and Tregelles, who however give the other reading in their texts, as does Westcott in his margin. It should have been noted by the Revisers. But the difference, merely one letter, is unimportant. Either reading may easily be explained as an error. Paul’s references to himself throughout Romans 7:7-25 might prompt a copyist to change thee into me. And the same letters at the end of the foregoing word [hleuqerwse se] would account easily for the opposite change. The difference in meaning is small. Paul supports the general statement in Romans 8:1 by personal experience; in the one case of himself, in the other of his reader, whom as in Romans 2:1 he singles out and appeals to as an individual. The former seems more natural, and this may perhaps outweigh the authority of our two best copies. Notice here a definite experience of inward liberation. Paul remembers the time when, in spite of his better judgment, he did the bidding of sin: he now does the bidding of the Spirit of God, but is free only while following His guidance. He therefore infers that the guidance of the Spirit has made him free. His liberation came through Christ’s death; and he enjoys it to-day by resting on Christ. It is therefore God’s gift, and a proof of His forgiveness. Just so a prisoner, whose doors have been opened by the king’s command, has in his past imprisonment and present freedom a proof of pardon; whereas the freedom of a law-breaker who has never been arrested is no such proof. There are thousands to-day to whom every doubt about their present salvation is banished by a remembrance of their former bondage to sin and fruitless efforts to do right. Since Paul’s liberation took place in Christ, he has a right to infer that all who are in Christ have been set free and are therefore no longer condemned. Thus the Law, by making us conscious of our bondage, not only drives us to Christ, but furnishes, to those who believe, an abiding proof of God’s favour.

This verse is complete proof that Romans 7:14-25 does not describe Paul’s experience while writing. For no man can be at the same time made free from the law of sin and (Romans 7:23) taken captive to the law of sin.

V. 3. For what the law-Of Moses.

Could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh-Incapable of conquering our evil nature. If it could, God needed not to have sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh-We with our sinful flesh were devoted to death. But God sending his own Son, in the likeness of that flesh, though pure from sin, condemned that sin which was in our flesh; gave sentence, that sin should be destroyed, and the believer wholly delivered from it.

Verse 3. For what the law could not do] The law could not pardon; the law could not sanctify; the law could not dispense with its own requisitions; it is the rule of righteousness, and therefore must condemn unrighteousness. This is its unalterable nature. Had there been perfect obedience to its dictates, instead of condemning, it would have applauded and rewarded; but as the flesh, the carnal and rebellious principle, had prevailed, and transgression had taken place, it was rendered weak, inefficient to undo this word of the flesh, and bring the sinner into a state of pardon and acceptance with God.

God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh] Did that which the law could not do; i.e. purchased pardon for the sinner, and brought every believer into the favour of God. And this is effected by the incarnation of Christ: He, in whom dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily, took upon him the likeness of sinful flesh, that is, a human body like ours, but not sinful as ours; and for sin, kai peri amartiav, and as a SACRIFICE FOR SIN, (this is the sense of the word in a multitude of places,) condemned sin in the flesh-condemned that to death and destruction which had condemned us to both.

Condemned sin in the flesh] The design and object of the incarnation and sacrifice of Christ was to condemn sin, to have it executed and destroyed; not to tolerate it as some think, or to render it subservient to the purposes of his grace, as others; but to annihilate its power, guilt, and being in the soul of a believer.

Verses 3, 4. For what the law could not do — To gar adunaton tou nomou, what was impossible to the Mosaic law, whether moral or ceremonial; that is, that freedom from the guilt and power of sin, and from spiritual and eternal death, which it could not minister; in that it was weak through the flesh — Through the depravity and infirmity of our fallen nature, which it was incapable of remedying or conquering. “The law was not weak or defective in itself. Its moral precepts were a perfect rule of duty, and its sanctions were sufficiently powerful to enforce obedience in those who were able to obey. But it was weak through the depravity of men’s nature, which it had neither power to remedy nor to pardon; and so could not destroy sin in men’s flesh. These defects of law are all remedied in the gospel; wherein pardon is promised to encourage the sinner to repent, and the assistance of the Spirit of God is offered, to enable him to believe and obey.” — Macknight. Accordingly it follows, God, — (Supply dunaton epoihse, hath made feasible, or hath done, namely, what the law could not do;) sending his own Son — Idion uion, his proper Son, his Son in a sense in which no creature is or can be his son; in the likeness of sinful flesh — Christ’s flesh was as real as ours, but it was like sinful flesh, in being exposed to pain, misery, and death: and for sin — The expression, peri amartiav, here rendered, for sin, appears, from Hebrews 10:18, to be an elliptical phrase for prosfora peri amartiav, an offering for sin. The Son of God was sent in the likeness, both of sinful flesh, and of a sin-offering. He was like the old sin-offerings in this, that whereas they sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, he, by making a real atonement for sin, sanctifieth to the purifying of the spirit. Condemned sin in the flesh — That is, 1st, Manifested its infinite evil, by enduring extreme sufferings, to render the pardon of it consistent with the justice and holiness of God, and the authority of his law. 2d, Gave sentence that its guilt should be cancelled, its power destroyed, and believers wholly delivered from it. And, 3d, Procured for them that deliverance. The sins of men, being imputed to, or laid on Christ, Isaiah 53:6, by his free consent, (he being our surety,) were condemned and punished in his flesh; and no such remarkable condemnation of sin was ever effected before, or will be again, unless in the condemnation of the finally impenitent to everlasting misery. But the apostle here seems rather to speak of the condemnation of sin, not in the flesh which Christ assumed for us, but in our persons, or in us while we are in the flesh. Now in this sense, it must be acknowledged, it was condemned in some measure under the law, as well as under the gospel; “for under the law there were many pious and holy men; but sin was condemned in their flesh, not by any power inherent in, or derived from, the law: their sanctification came from the grace of the gospel, preached to them in the covenant with Abraham, Galatians 3:8, darkly set forth in the types of the law.” That the righteousness of the law — The holiness it requires, described verse 5-11, might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit — Who are guided in our intentions and affections, words and actions, not by our animal appetites and passions, or by corrupt nature, but by the Word and Spirit of God. Love to God and man is the principal thing enjoined in the moral law, and is accounted by God the fulfilling of that law, Romans 13:10; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8. It must be observed, however, that “the righteousness of the law to be fulfilled in us, through the condemnation of sin in the flesh, and through our not walking according to the flesh, is not perfect obedience to [the moral law, or] any law whatever; [except that of faith and love;] for that is not attainable in the present life: but it is such a degree of faith and holiness, as believers may attain through the influence of the Spirit. And being the righteousness required in the gracious new covenant, made with mankind after the fall, and fully published in the gospel, that covenant, and the gospel in which it is published, are fitly called the law of faith, Romans 3:27; and the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, Romans 8:2; and the law of Christ, Galatians 6:2; and the law of liberty, James 1:25; and the law foretold to go forth out of Zion, Isaiah 2:3; and the law for which the isles, or Gentiles, were to wait, Isaiah 42:4.” — Macknight. From this place Paul describes primarily the state of believers, and that of unbelievers, only to illustrate this.

Ver. 3. God sending his own Son. St. Paul uses here the emphatic pronoun, ton eautou uion, the Son of HIMSELF. Now, as the divinity has no corporeal parts, the expression must be understood in the sense of the Nicene fathers, that Christ is God of God, light of light, being one substance with the Father. This council was composed of three hundred and eighteen persons, comprising all that the church could boast, of age, wisdom, learning, and piety; and unless we adhere to their creed, christianity is utterly superseded by the philosophy of this world. When we could neither by obedience, nor by suffering, regain righteousness and life, Christ by his death has cancelled the indictment against us, that believing on his name we might obtain righteousness and life everlasting.

3. Law could not do—Namely, make the righteousness required to be fulfilled in us, (verse 4.) Physical law, having to do with dead matter, secures its own fulfilment; moral law, having to do with free agents, cannot necessarily secure the obedience of the wilfully wicked. Weak… flesh— Unable to secure its own fulfilment on account of the depraved persistence in disobedience. God—The nominative to condemned. Likeness of sinful flesh—He was the reality of human flesh, like unfallen Adam; he was only the likeness of sinful flesh, like fallen Adam. His own—Emphatic, as Alford remarks; his own, therefore sinless; in contrast to sinful and sin twice named. For—On account of. God sent his Son, both in sinful likeness and on account of sin, in order to bring us to perfect holiness.

Ver. 3.-4. Explanation of the foregoing liberation.

What the Law… through the flesh: comment on the statement following.

The Law: of Moses as always when not otherwise defined.

Weak: powerless to save; because, through our flesh being controlled by a hostile power, we were unable to obey it. Just so a rope is powerless to save a drowning man who has not strength to grasp it; whereas even such might be saved by the living arms of a strong man. If the flesh could do what the mind approves, the Law would be able, by revealing the badness of the rule of sin, to dethrone it, and thus save us. But the flesh cannot drive out its dread inhabitant. Consequently, the Law, which cannot breathe new strength into the flesh, but only knowledge into the mind, is too weak to save us. To save under such circumstances is

the inability of the Law, i.e. something it cannot do.

His own Son: similar phrase in Romans 8:32: see under Romans 1:3.

Flesh of sin: the material of our bodies, in which sin has set up its throne and which in this sense belongs to sin: so “body of sin” in Romans 6:6. Likeness: as in Romans 1:23; 5:14; 6:5. The material of Christ’s body was like that of our bodies which are controlled by sin. This proves that the word sending refers to Christ’s birth.

God sent His own Son, though sinless, clothed in flesh like that in which sin dwells. This implies His existence before His birth as, even then, God’s own Son: cp. <502007> Philippians 2:7; 1 John 4:9. For sin: purpose of the mission of the Son: cp. Galatians 1:4; 1 John 2:2. It had reference to sin. The same words are used in reference to sacrifices in Leviticus 4:3, 14; Hebrews 10:8, 18, 26: but they are so general that we need not infer any such reference here. Condemned sin: proclaimed its doom. Since sin has been represented as a ruler, its doom must be dethronement.

In the flesh: locality of this proclamation.

By sending His own Son in a body like that in which sin had set up its throne, and with special reference to sin, God proclaimed in the midst of the empire of sin that that empire will be overthrown. When we see the king’s son enter the revolted province without opposition, and know that he has come because of the revolt, we are sure that the king is both able and determined to put down the revolt. The presence of the king’s son proclaims the usurper’s coming dethronement.

V. 4. That the righteousness of the law-The holiness it required, described, Romans 8:11.

Might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit-Who are guided in all our thoughts, words, and actions, not by corrupt nature, but by the Spirit of God. From this place St. Paul describes primarily the state of believers, and that of unbelievers only to illustrate this.

Verse 4. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us] That the guilt might be pardoned through the merit of that sacrifice; and that we might be enabled, by the power of his own grace and Spirit, to walk in newness of life; loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbour as ourselves: and thus the righteousness, the spirit, design, and purpose of the law is fulfilled in us, through the strength of the Spirit of Christ, which is here put in opposition to the weakness of the law through the flesh.

It is very likely that the concluding clause of this verse, which is the very same as that found in the common text of the first verse, has been transferred to that verse from this place.

Verses 3, 4. For what the law could not do — To gar adunaton tou nomou, what was impossible to the Mosaic law, whether moral or ceremonial; that is, that freedom from the guilt and power of sin, and from spiritual and eternal death, which it could not minister; in that it was weak through the flesh — Through the depravity and infirmity of our fallen nature, which it was incapable of remedying or conquering. “The law was not weak or defective in itself. Its moral precepts were a perfect rule of duty, and its sanctions were sufficiently powerful to enforce obedience in those who were able to obey. But it was weak through the depravity of men’s nature, which it had neither power to remedy nor to pardon; and so could not destroy sin in men’s flesh. These defects of law are all remedied in the gospel; wherein pardon is promised to encourage the sinner to repent, and the assistance of the Spirit of God is offered, to enable him to believe and obey.” — Macknight. Accordingly it follows, God, — (Supply dunaton epoihse, hath made feasible, or hath done, namely, what the law could not do;) sending his own Son — Idion uion, his proper Son, his Son in a sense in which no creature is or can be his son; in the likeness of sinful flesh — Christ’s flesh was as real as ours, but it was like sinful flesh, in being exposed to pain, misery, and death: and for sin — The expression, peri amartiav, here rendered, for sin, appears, from Hebrews 10:18, to be an elliptical phrase for prosfora peri amartiav, an offering for sin. The Son of God was sent in the likeness, both of sinful flesh, and of a sin-offering. He was like the old sin-offerings in this, that whereas they sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, he, by making a real atonement for sin, sanctifieth to the purifying of the spirit. Condemned sin in the flesh — That is, 1st, Manifested its infinite evil, by enduring extreme sufferings, to render the pardon of it consistent with the justice and holiness of God, and the authority of his law. 2d, Gave sentence that its guilt should be cancelled, its power destroyed, and believers wholly delivered from it. And, 3d, Procured for them that deliverance. The sins of men, being imputed to, or laid on Christ, Isaiah 53:6, by his free consent, (he being our surety,) were condemned and punished in his flesh; and no such remarkable condemnation of sin was ever effected before, or will be again, unless in the condemnation of the finally impenitent to everlasting misery. But the apostle here seems rather to speak of the condemnation of sin, not in the flesh which Christ assumed for us, but in our persons, or in us while we are in the flesh. Now in this sense, it must be acknowledged, it was condemned in some measure under the law, as well as under the gospel; “for under the law there were many pious and holy men; but sin was condemned in their flesh, not by any power inherent in, or derived from, the law: their sanctification came from the grace of the gospel, preached to them in the covenant with Abraham, Galatians 3:8, darkly set forth in the types of the law.” That the righteousness of the law — The holiness it requires, described verse 5-11, might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit — Who are guided in our intentions and affections, words and actions, not by our animal appetites and passions, or by corrupt nature, but by the Word and Spirit of God. Love to God and man is the principal thing enjoined in the moral law, and is accounted by God the fulfilling of that law, Romans 13:10; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8. It must be observed, however, that “the righteousness of the law to be fulfilled in us, through the condemnation of sin in the flesh, and through our not walking according to the flesh, is not perfect obedience to [the moral law, or] any law whatever; [except that of faith and love;] for that is not attainable in the present life: but it is such a degree of faith and holiness, as believers may attain through the influence of the Spirit. And being the righteousness required in the gracious new covenant, made with mankind after the fall, and fully published in the gospel, that covenant, and the gospel in which it is published, are fitly called the law of faith, Romans 3:27; and the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, Romans 8:2; and the law of Christ, Galatians 6:2; and the law of liberty, James 1:25; and the law foretold to go forth out of Zion, Isaiah 2:3; and the law for which the isles, or Gentiles, were to wait, Isaiah 42:4.” — Macknight. From this place Paul describes primarily the state of believers, and that of unbelievers, only to illustrate this.

4. Righteousness of the law—The righteousness required by the law, and which the law cannot condemn. This is not an “imputed righteousness,” nor the simple innocence or freedom from guilt included in justification, but an actual and active personal righteousness, energized by the Spirit, and individually, through grace, our own. Walk… Spirit—(See note on verse 1.) Spirit-guided, justified Christian life is actually and actively holy life.

Ver. 4. Definite moral purpose of the coming of Christ.

The decree of the Law: its various prescriptions of conduct, looked at as one whole: cp. Romans 2:26; 1:32.

Fulfilled: as in Romans 13:8; cp. Romans 2:27. Since the Law was designed to mould our conduct, its purpose is accomplished when it is obeyed.

Fulfilled in us: better than “that we may fulfil.” For every act of obedience is God’s work in us, and gift to us; and is an accomplishment of the divine purpose for which Christ became Man.

Who walk etc.: those in whom, and the condition on which, the Law will be fulfilled.

According to flesh: allowing the indolence or appetites of the body to mark out our path. To do this, is to obey sin which dwells in the flesh. According to Spirit: following the guidance of the Spirit of God. This exposition is clearly implied in Romans 8:9, and in Romans 8:13,

14. God sent His Son to dwell in human flesh in order that the Spirit of God, and no longer the flesh, may direct our steps; and that thus the purpose of the Law may be achieved in us. And, that its purpose is thus accomplished in us, is a proof that we have been set free from the rule of sin, and therefore are no longer condemned.

Paul’s exposition of the purpose and working of the Law is now complete: see Romans 3:19; 5:20; 7:13. To men guilty of actual sin, and held fast by sin, God gave a righteous law. Because it was the will of our Maker, it commended itself to our moral judgment, and evoked efforts after obedience. These efforts failed utterly: and their failure proved that we are powerless to accomplish our own moral purposes, that we are in the grasp of an evil and hostile power. This inevitable result of the gift of such a law to such persons must have been its purpose. We infer therefore that the Law was given in order to reveal our hopeless bondage. Again, believers now actually fulfil the Law which they once vainly tried to obey. This proves that they have been set free from their mighty adversary, and that a mightier has taken up His abode within them. For they have been set free, not from without, but from within. That their deliverer prompts and enables them to fulfil the Law, proves Him to be the Spirit of God. He is God’s gift to them; and His presence is therefore a proof of pardon. Thus in them is attained the life-giving purpose of the ancient Law. For, by revealing the uselessness of their own efforts, it has led them to Christ, and taught them the worth of His salvation: and, by revealing the presence and power of their foe, it also reveals the presence and greater power of the Spirit of God, and thus affords constant proof that their condemnation removed.

That the Holy Spirit, given to those who believe the words of Christ, prompts and enables them to obey the words of Moses and the prophets, is another harmony of the Old and New; and therefore confirms the divine origin of both. Moreover, that Christ came in order that the Law may be fulfilled in us in a life guided by the Spirit, attests the importance and eternal validity of the Law.

That the new life which Christ came to impart is wrought in us by the Spirit of God, is the FIFTH and last FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE of this epistle. We find it in Romans 5:5: it is developed in Romans 8:2-16, 23, 26, 27; 9:1; 14:17; 15:13, 16, 19. It is assumed again and again by Paul throughout his epistles: e.g. 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 12:3, 7; 2 Corinthians 3:8; Galatians 3:14; 4:6; 5:16-18; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30; cp. 1 Peter 1:2; 4:14. The same doctrine is taught in 1 John 3:24; 4:13; and is attributed to Christ in John 7:39; 14:16; Matthew 10:20; Mark 13:11; Luke 11:13; 12:12. We therefore cannot doubt that it was actually taught by Him. Notice also that the universal gift of the Spirit was foretold in Joel 2:28, 29; that Ezekiel (Ezekiel 36:27) announced that He will lead those in whom He dwells to obey the Law; and that Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:33) foretold that God will write His Law in His people’s hearts.

Doctrine 5, Sanctification through the Spirit greatly helps us to exercise the faith required in Doctrine 4, Sanctification through Faith. When God bids us reckon ourselves dead to sin and henceforth living only for Him, we remember our moral weakness and say, How can these things be? But when we learn that henceforth the Spirit of God will dwell within us in order that by His power He may save us from all sin and by His holiness direct towards God our every purpose and effort, our doubt gives place to confident expectation and adoring gratitude. For we are sure that the Spirit is able to accomplish, even in us, God’s purpose of holiness.

V. 5. They that are after the flesh-Who remain under the guidance of corrupt nature.

Mind the things of the flesh-Have their thoughts and affections fixed on such things as gratify corrupt nature; namely, on things visible and temporal; on things of the earth, on pleasure, (of sense or imagination,) praise, or riches.

But they who are after the Spirit-Who are under his guidance. Mind the things of the Spirit-Think of, relish, love things invisible, eternal; the things which the Spirit hath revealed, which he works in us, moves us to, and promises to give us.

Verse 5. For they that are after the flesh] And here is the great distinction between Jews and genuine Christians: the former are after the flesh-are under the power of the carnal, rebellious principle; and consequently mind, pronousin, relish, the things of the flesh-the things which appertain merely to the present life; having no relish for spiritual and eternal things.

But they that are after the Spirit] They who are regenerated, who are born of the Spirit, being redeemed from the influence and law of the carnal mind; these relish the things of the Spirit-they are spiritually minded, and pass through things temporal, so as not to lose the things which are eternal. And this, which in these apostolic times distinguished between the carnal Jew and the spiritual believer in Christ, is the grand mark of distinction between the nominal and the real Christian now. The former is earthly minded, and lives for this world; the latter is spiritually minded, and lives for the world to come.

Verses 5-7. For — Or rather, now; they that are after the flesh — The apostle having, verse 1, described those to whom there is no condemnation, as persons who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, to prevent all mistakes in such an important point, here informs us what he means by walking after the flesh, and after the Spirit. The former, he says, is to mind the things of the flesh; that is, as the word fronew signifies, to esteem, desire, and delight in them; namely, the things that please and gratify our senses and animal appetites and passions, or our corrupt nature, namely, things visible and temporal; the things of the earth, such as pleasure, (of sense or imagination,) the praise of men, or the riches of this world, — to set our thoughts and affections upon them. But they who are after the Spirit — The persons intended by that expression; mind — Think on, relish, love; the things of the Spirit — Things invisible and eternal; the things which the Spirit hath revealed, or which he works in us, moves us to, and promises to give us. For — Or rather, now, as the particle gar should be rendered; to be carnally minded is death. The original expression, to fronhma sarkov, is literally, the minding of the flesh, the preferring and pursuing its interests; is death — A sure mark of spiritual death, and the way to death everlasting. “My whole employment,” said even a heathen, (Socrates,) who yet was not fully assured of a future and everlasting life, “is to persuade the young and old against too much love for the body, for riches, and all other precarious things, of whatsoever nature they be; and against too little regard for the soul, which ought to be the object of their affections.” But to be spiritually minded — Fronhma pneumatov, the minding the Spirit, that is, the setting our thoughts and affections on spiritual things; is life and peace — A sure mark of spiritual life, and the way to life everlasting; and attended with peace, namely, peace with God; opposite to the enmity mentioned in the next verse; and the peace of God, which is the foretaste of life everlasting. In this verse, therefore, the apostle sets before us life and death, blessing and cursing; and thereby furnishes us with a third motive to holiness: all who live after the flesh shall die eternally, but all that live in a holy, spiritual manner shall obtain eternal life. Reader, to which of these art thou in the way? Because, &c. — Here the apostle assigns the reason of the doctrine contained in the foregoing verse; the carnal mind — As above described; is enmity against God — Against his holiness, his justice, his truth, his power and providence, his omniscience, his omnipresence, and indeed against all his attributes, and even against his existence. For the carnal mind would wish that God had not the perfections which he possesses; that he were not present in all places, acquainted with all things; so holy as to hate sin, so just as to be determined to punish it; so mighty as to be able to do it, and so true as certainly to fulfil his threatenings, as well as his promises; and, in fact, that there were no such Being. For it is not subject to the law of God — To the moral law in general; not even to the first and great commandment of it, which indeed comprehends all the commands of the first table, namely, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, &c.; that is, Thou shalt be spiritually minded; shalt set thy affections on God, and things divine and heavenly; a law this, to which those who are carnally minded, and continue so, in the nature of things neither are nor can be subject.

5. Do mind—Think of, care for. Things of the flesh—The gratification of purely earthly and selfish ends.

Ver. 5.-8. Further exposition of the two courses just described, affording abundant reason for the divine purpose just stated.

They that are according to flesh: they whose moral nature is controlled by the needs and desires of the body.

The things of the flesh: objects which the body desires or turns from. These, they mind, i.e. make them objects of thought and effort: same word in Matthew 16:23; Philippians 3:19; Romans 11:20; 12:3, 16; 14:6; 15:5. They whose moral nature is determined by the flesh think about and pursue what the flesh (cp. Romans 6:12) desires. Conversely, they according to the Spirit.

V. 6. For to be carnally minded-That is, to mind the things of the flesh. Is death-The sure mark of spiritual death, and the way to death everlasting.

But to be spiritually minded-That is, to mind the things of the Spirit. Is life-A sure mark of spiritual life, and the way to life everlasting. And attended with peace-The peace of God, which is the foretaste of life everlasting; and peace with God, opposite to the enmity mentioned in the next verse.

Verse 6. For to be carnally minded is death] To live under the influence of the carnal mind is to live in the state of condemnation, and consequently liable to death eternal: whereas, on the contrary, he who is spiritually minded has the life and peace of God in his soul, and is in full prospect of life eternal.

Verses 5-7. For — Or rather, now; they that are after the flesh — The apostle having, verse 1, described those to whom there is no condemnation, as persons who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, to prevent all mistakes in such an important point, here informs us what he means by walking after the flesh, and after the Spirit. The former, he says, is to mind the things of the flesh; that is, as the word fronew signifies, to esteem, desire, and delight in them; namely, the things that please and gratify our senses and animal appetites and passions, or our corrupt nature, namely, things visible and temporal; the things of the earth, such as pleasure, (of sense or imagination,) the praise of men, or the riches of this world, — to set our thoughts and affections upon them. But they who are after the Spirit — The persons intended by that expression; mind — Think on, relish, love; the things of the Spirit — Things invisible and eternal; the things which the Spirit hath revealed, or which he works in us, moves us to, and promises to give us. For — Or rather, now, as the particle gar should be rendered; to be carnally minded is death. The original expression, to fronhma sarkov, is literally, the minding of the flesh, the preferring and pursuing its interests; is death — A sure mark of spiritual death, and the way to death everlasting. “My whole employment,” said even a heathen, (Socrates,) who yet was not fully assured of a future and everlasting life, “is to persuade the young and old against too much love for the body, for riches, and all other precarious things, of whatsoever nature they be; and against too little regard for the soul, which ought to be the object of their affections.” But to be spiritually minded — Fronhma pneumatov, the minding the Spirit, that is, the setting our thoughts and affections on spiritual things; is life and peace — A sure mark of spiritual life, and the way to life everlasting; and attended with peace, namely, peace with God; opposite to the enmity mentioned in the next verse; and the peace of God, which is the foretaste of life everlasting. In this verse, therefore, the apostle sets before us life and death, blessing and cursing; and thereby furnishes us with a third motive to holiness: all who live after the flesh shall die eternally, but all that live in a holy, spiritual manner shall obtain eternal life. Reader, to which of these art thou in the way? Because, &c. — Here the apostle assigns the reason of the doctrine contained in the foregoing verse; the carnal mind — As above described; is enmity against God — Against his holiness, his justice, his truth, his power and providence, his omniscience, his omnipresence, and indeed against all his attributes, and even against his existence. For the carnal mind would wish that God had not the perfections which he possesses; that he were not present in all places, acquainted with all things; so holy as to hate sin, so just as to be determined to punish it; so mighty as to be able to do it, and so true as certainly to fulfil his threatenings, as well as his promises; and, in fact, that there were no such Being. For it is not subject to the law of God — To the moral law in general; not even to the first and great commandment of it, which indeed comprehends all the commands of the first table, namely, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, &c.; that is, Thou shalt be spiritually minded; shalt set thy affections on God, and things divine and heavenly; a law this, to which those who are carnally minded, and continue so, in the nature of things neither are nor can be subject.

6. Death—Spiritual death in itself, eternal death in its results. Life and peace—Spiritual life here, eternal life here and hereafter.

Ver. 6. Contrasted results of following the two paths now before us. The flesh is personified as one whose mind, i.e. purpose and effort, is to kill. In the body of the unsaved, sin erects (Romans 6:12) its throne; and through its needs and desires, these arising from the flesh, the bodily constitution common to all men, rules the whole man. The inevitable result of this rule is death, i.e. (as in Romans 6:21, 23) utter ruin of body and spirit. This inevitable result, Paul here represents as the purpose of the flesh. They whose thought is dominated by their bodily life are working out their own destruction. So Galatians 6:8: “he that sows for his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption.”

Life: as in Romans 6:23.

Peace: as in Romans 1:7. Life and peace are objects at which the Spirit ever aims: for He is (Romans 8:2) the Spirit of Life. God sent His Son into the world in order that we might no longer follow a path leading inevitably to death, but pursue another path leading to life and peace. Similar contrast in Matthew 7:13, 14: “the way leading to destruction… to life.”

V. 7. Enmity against God-His existence, power, and providence.

Verse 7. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God] Because it is a carnal mind, and relishes earthly and sinful things, and lives in opposition to the pure and holy law of God: therefore, it is enmity against God; it is irreconcilable and implacable hatred.

It is not subject to the law of God] It will come under no obedience; for it is sin, and the very principle of rebellion; and therefore it cannot be subject, nor subjected; for it is essential to sin to show itself in rebellion; and when it ceases to rebel, it ceases to be sin.

From this we learn that the design of God in the economy of the Gospel, is not to weaken, curtail, or lay the carnal principle in bonds, but to destroy it. As it is not subject, and cannot be subject, to the law of God, it must be destroyed, else it will continue to rebel against God. It cannot be mended, or rendered less offensive in its nature, even by the operations of God; it is ever sin, and sin is ever enmity; and enmity, wherever it has power, will invariably show itself in acts of hostility and rebellion.

Verses 5-7. For — Or rather, now; they that are after the flesh — The apostle having, verse 1, described those to whom there is no condemnation, as persons who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, to prevent all mistakes in such an important point, here informs us what he means by walking after the flesh, and after the Spirit. The former, he says, is to mind the things of the flesh; that is, as the word fronew signifies, to esteem, desire, and delight in them; namely, the things that please and gratify our senses and animal appetites and passions, or our corrupt nature, namely, things visible and temporal; the things of the earth, such as pleasure, (of sense or imagination,) the praise of men, or the riches of this world, — to set our thoughts and affections upon them. But they who are after the Spirit — The persons intended by that expression; mind — Think on, relish, love; the things of the Spirit — Things invisible and eternal; the things which the Spirit hath revealed, or which he works in us, moves us to, and promises to give us. For — Or rather, now, as the particle gar should be rendered; to be carnally minded is death. The original expression, to fronhma sarkov, is literally, the minding of the flesh, the preferring and pursuing its interests; is death — A sure mark of spiritual death, and the way to death everlasting. “My whole employment,” said even a heathen, (Socrates,) who yet was not fully assured of a future and everlasting life, “is to persuade the young and old against too much love for the body, for riches, and all other precarious things, of whatsoever nature they be; and against too little regard for the soul, which ought to be the object of their affections.” But to be spiritually minded — Fronhma pneumatov, the minding the Spirit, that is, the setting our thoughts and affections on spiritual things; is life and peace — A sure mark of spiritual life, and the way to life everlasting; and attended with peace, namely, peace with God; opposite to the enmity mentioned in the next verse; and the peace of God, which is the foretaste of life everlasting. In this verse, therefore, the apostle sets before us life and death, blessing and cursing; and thereby furnishes us with a third motive to holiness: all who live after the flesh shall die eternally, but all that live in a holy, spiritual manner shall obtain eternal life. Reader, to which of these art thou in the way? Because, &c. — Here the apostle assigns the reason of the doctrine contained in the foregoing verse; the carnal mind — As above described; is enmity against God — Against his holiness, his justice, his truth, his power and providence, his omniscience, his omnipresence, and indeed against all his attributes, and even against his existence. For the carnal mind would wish that God had not the perfections which he possesses; that he were not present in all places, acquainted with all things; so holy as to hate sin, so just as to be determined to punish it; so mighty as to be able to do it, and so true as certainly to fulfil his threatenings, as well as his promises; and, in fact, that there were no such Being. For it is not subject to the law of God — To the moral law in general; not even to the first and great commandment of it, which indeed comprehends all the commands of the first table, namely, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, &c.; that is, Thou shalt be spiritually minded; shalt set thy affections on God, and things divine and heavenly; a law this, to which those who are carnally minded, and continue so, in the nature of things neither are nor can be subject.

Ver. 7. The carnal mind, or wisdom of the flesh, as some of the ancients, and as Erasmus read, is enmity against God; essential evil, and hates the light. It must therefore be put off, cast out, and crucified.

7. Carnal mind—Or, rather, carnal minding; not the faculty of mind, but the course or body of carnal thought. Enmity—The mass of carnal thinking is essential enmity against God. It may claim to revere the greatness and grandeur of the Infinite. But in its carnality it is at opposition against his holy law, even though that law is unseen, (note on Romans 7:9,) and though the opposition is not felt and known by the mind itself; and so it is intrinsic enmity against God. Men may hold a perfect yet unconscious hatred against God. Not subject—For enmity to God cannot be at the same time subjection to God’s law. The two are opposites, and so far as the one exists the other must cease to exist.

Ver. 7. Reason why the mind of the flesh is death, viz. because it is essentially hostility towards God. This strong statement is at once explained.

The Law of God: as in Romans 7:22. This full title reminds us that the Law is supported by divine authority.

To this authority, the flesh does not submit: and this statement is explained and strengthened by another, for neither can it. The bodily constitution common to all men, and in great part to animals, desires objects without considering whether God permits them. Our appetites distinguish pleasant and unpleasant, but not right and wrong. They therefore often prompt us to break the Law: and to do so is to declare war against the King. Consequently the flesh is necessarily hostile to God: to let the body rule, is to do what God forbids. The reason of this is given in Romans 7:23. The flesh is, in the unsaved, ruled by sin. Consequently, to obey the flesh, is to obey its awful lord, sin; and is therefore essential hostility to God. But this animating principle of the flesh is left out of sight here, to remind us that they who, perhaps without thought of sin, follow the guidance of the body are working out the will of one whose only purpose is to fight against God. Such war must, as stated in Romans 8:6, end in death.

V. 8. They who are in the flesh-Under the government of it.

Verse 8. So then] Because this carnal mind is enmity against God, they that are in the flesh-who are under the power of the workings of this carnal mind, (which every soul is that has not received redemption in the blood of the Lamb,)—

Cannot please God.] Because of the rebellious workings of this principle of rebellion and hatred. And, if they cannot please God, they must be displeasing to him; and consequently in the broad road to final perdition.

Verse 8. So then, &c. — The inference to be drawn from the principles just laid down, is, they that are in the flesh — In the sense explained in the preceding verses, and especially Romans 7:5, where see the notes; they who are under the government of the flesh, of their animal appetites and passions, or of their corrupt nature; they who are carnally minded; cannot please God — Namely, while they continue so, or, till they be justified and regenerated. He means, they are not in a state of acceptance with God; nor do their ways, their tempers, words, and works, please him, whatever ceremonial precepts they may observe. An important and alarming declaration this, which it concerns all the professors of Christianity maturely to consider and lay to heart; and particularly those who content themselves with a form of godliness, without the power; with an attendance on outward ordinances, and the use of the external means of grace, and give themselves no concern either about the remission of their past sins, or the renovation of their sinful nature; but remain earthly and sensual in their desires, cares, and pursuits, or carnally minded, which is death.

8. Cannot please God—From this a strange theology has inferred that even an unregenerate man’s complete resignation of sin and unregeneracy, and his effort and act of entire submission to God, though required by God, and encouraged by his promise and pardon, cannot be pleasing to God nor accepted by him! This theology declares that men must be regenerate before they can make the self-surrendering act of faith to God! But in truth that act of faith is the precedent condition in order to regeneration. It is after an unregenerate man by God’s help and grace performs the act of faith that regeneration is bestowed. When it is said that an unregenerate man cannot please God, it means an unregenerate man acting after the flesh, that is, in accordance with the unregenerate nature within him. So a disobedient child cannot be pleasing to his parents, nor a dishonest citizen acceptable to the government, that is, as a disobedient child and as a dishonest citizen. But that means not that the disobedient child, as a free agent, cannot renounce his disobedience, and the dishonest resign his dishonesty, and so both become right and acceptable.

Ver. 8. An additional statement completing the proof of Romans 8:6a. In flesh: as in Romans 7:5. To the unsaved, bodily life not only, as in Romans 8:4, marks out their path but is the moral element in which they are and move. They see and hear only through the eyes and ears of the body, and all they have and are depends on the body. They are therefore at its mercy; at the mercy of that which we have seen to be hostile to God. Such men

cannot please God. They can neither obtain nor retain His favour This does not contradict the important statement in Romans 2:26, 27 For occasional obedience cannot save from punishment for the sins of which (cp. Romans 3:9, 23) all are guilty. Indeed, by raising their moral tone, it rather reveals how far even the best fall short of what God requires. This verse asserts (cp. Ephesians 2:3) the universal moral helplessness of men. For, in order to please God, we need to be rescued from the dominion of our own bodies.

V. 9. In the Spirit-Under his government.

If any man have not the Spirit of Christ-Dwelling and governing in him. He is none of his-He is not a member of Christ; not a Christian; not in a state of salvation. A plain, express declaration, which admits of no exception. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!

Verse 9. But ye are not in the flesh] Ye Christians, who have believed in Christ Jesus as the sin offering which has condemned sin in the flesh; and, having been justified by faith and made partakers of the Holy Spirit, are enabled to walk in newness of life.

If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.] Or seeing that, eiper, the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. The flesh, the sinful principle, dwelt in them before; and its motions were the proofs of its indwelling; but now the Spirit dwells in them; and its testimony in their conscience, and its powerful operations in their hearts, are the proofs of its indwelling. God made man in union with himself, and his heart was his temple. Sin being committed, the temple was defiled, and God abandoned it. Jesus Christ is come by his sacrifice and Spirit to cleanse the temple, and make man again a habitation of God through the Spirit. And when this almighty Spirit again makes the heart his residence, then the soul is delivered from the moral effects of the fall. And that this is absolutely necessary to our present peace and final salvation is proved from this: that if any man have not the Spirit of Christ-the mind that was in him, produced there by the power of the Holy Ghost-he is none of his; he does not belong to the kingdom, flock, or family of God. This is an awful conclusion! Reader, lay it to heart.

Verse 9. But ye — Who are vitally united to Christ, who are in him, by living faith, and new creatures; are not in the flesh — Not in your unpardoned, unrenewed state, not carnally minded; but in the Spirit — Under his government, and spiritually minded, and therefore are accepted of God, and approved of by him; if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you — For wherever he dwells, he reigns, regenerates the soul, and makes it truly holy. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ — Thus residing in him, and governing him, whatever he may pretend; he is none of his — Not a disciple or member of Christ; not a Christian; not in a state of salvation. A plain, express declaration, which admits of no exception. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Ver. 9.-11. After describing in Romans 8:7, 8 “the mind of the flesh,” Paul now turns round suddenly to describe the lot of those who follow the Spirit:

but ye are not in flesh but in Spirit. Your moral environment is not flesh with its needs and desires, but Spirit, viz. the

Spirit of God. If, as I assume: eiper: a condition which Paul takes for granted.

Dwells in you: a blessed contrast to Romans 7:17, 18, 20. If the Spirit of God makes His home in you, then are ye in the Spirit. For His presence in us reveals to us, and lifts us into, a new world.

But if anyone etc.: solemn statement of another possibility. It expounds what is involved in the particle rendered if, as I assume. Evidently the Spirit of God is also

the Spirit of Christ. This implies that the one Spirit is an essential relation to both the Father and the Son. It also implies that the Holy Spirit is the only medium of union with Christ. For Paul here asserts that they only are Christ’s in whom dwells the Spirit of Christ. And this implies that all the justified have the Holy Spirit; as was assumed in Romans 5:5. Yet we do not become Christ’s by receiving the Spirit, but (Romans 3:22) by faith. We are then (Galatians 3:26) sons of God; and, because of this, the Spirit of the Son (Galatians 4:6) is sent into our hearts.

V. 10. Now if Christ be in you-Where the Spirit of Christ is, there is Christ.

The body indeed is dead-Devoted to death.

Because of sin-Heretofore committed.

But the Spirit is life-Already truly alive.

Because of righteousness-Now attained.

From Romans 8:13, St. Paul, having finished what he had begun, Romans 6:1, describes purely the state of believers.

Verse 10. And if Christ be in you, &c.] This is the criterion by which you may judge of the state of grace in which ye stand. If Christ dwell in your hearts by faith, the body is dead because of sin, diJ amartian, in reference to sin; the members of your body no more perform the work of sin than the body of a dead man does the functions of natural life. Or the apostle may mean, that although, because of sin, the life of man is forfeited; and the sentence, dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return, must be fulfilled on every human being, until the judgment of the great day; yet, their souls being quickened by the indwelling Spirit of Christ, which enables them to live a life of righteousness, they receive a full assurance that their bodies, which are now condemned to death because of sin, shall be raised again to a life of immortal glory.

Verses 10, 11. And if Christ be in you — Namely, by his Spirit dwelling in you: where the Spirit of Christ is, there is Christ: the body is dead — To men swma nekron, the body indeed is dead, devoted to death; for our belonging to Christ, or having Christ in us, does not exempt the body from undergoing the sentence of death passed on all mankind; because of sin — Heretofore committed; especially the sin of Adam, by which death entered into the world, and the sinful nature derived from him; but the Spirit is life — The soul is quickened and made alive to God; and shall, after the death of the body, continue living, active, and happy; because of righteousness — Now attained through the second Adam, the Lord our righteousness. But — Rather, and, for the apostle proceeds to speak of a further blessing; as if he had said, If you have Christ in you, not only shall your souls live after the death of the body in felicity and glory, but your bodies also shall rise to share therein; for we have this further joyful hope, that if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus — Our great covenant head; from the dead, dwell in you; he — God the Father; that raised up Christ from the dead — The first-fruits of them that sleep; shall also quicken your mortal bodies — Though corrupted and consumed in the grave; by his Spirit — Or on account of his Spirit; which dwelleth in you — And now communicates divine life to your souls, and creates them anew.

Ver. 10. The body is dead because of sin, conformably to the sentence that man must return to the dust. But the spirit is life because of righteousness. He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. The life of God is opened in the soul. Christ lives in the believer. He is made partaker of the divine nature, and because the Saviour lives he shall live also. The inference is therefore conclusive, that he who quickens the soul by regeneration, will also quicken the body by a glorious resurrection. By this argument the unitarian sophism, that Spirit in this chapter means the amiable temper of Christ, is superseded. The Spirit that dwells in believers is the identical Spirit that quickened the Saviour, and shall raise the dead at the last day.

10. Body is dead… Spirit is life—We agree with Afford that the physical body is here intended. The indwelling Spirit of Christ not only sanctifies, but will quicken our body with a final glorifying life in the better resurrection. (Hebrews 11:35; Philippians 3:11.) The body is, in spite of regeneration, dead in its unreversed destiny of mortality; but the human spirit is still an immortal life, and the power that raises Jesus will gloriously raise all in whom dwells the spirit of Jesus.

Ver. 10. Further description of the happy lot of those in whom the Spirit of God dwells, in contrast to the case just stated.

Christ in you: evidently equivalent to the “Spirit of God dwells in you” in Romans 8:9: see Romans 8:11. For the Spirit of Christ and of God is the Bearer of the presence of Christ and God. Cp. Galatians 2:20, “Christ lives in me.”

The body dead: as being already doomed to the grave, and its actual death being only a question of time.

Because of sin: viz. of Adam: see Romans 5:12.

The spirit: the human spirit, as in Romans 1:9, the highest side of man’s nature, in contrast to the body in which it dwells. This contrast differs from that in Romans 8:4-6, 9, where the “flesh” common to all men is set over against the one “Spirit” of God given to all who believe in Christ.

Life: stronger than “alive.”

Because of righteousness: received by faith: cp. Romans 5:21, “that grace may reign through righteousness for life eternal.” Because of Adam’s sin, the body of those in whom Christ dwells is dead, i.e. a prey of worms and corruption; but, because of the righteousness which is through Christ and through faith, the spirit which animates that mortal body possesses undying life.

Verse 11. But if the Spirit, &c.] This verse confirms the sense given to the preceding. He who here receives the grace and Spirit of Christ, and continues to live under its influence a life of obedience to the Divine will, shall have a resurrection to eternal life; and the resurrection of Christ shall be the pattern after which they shall be raised.

By his Spirit that dwelleth in you.] Instead of dia tou enoikountov autou pneumatov, because of the Spirit of him who dwelleth in you, DEFG, a great many others, with the Vulgate, Itala, and several of the fathers, have dia to enoikoun autou pneuma, which gives almost no variety of meaning. The latter may be neater Greek, but it is not better sense than the preceding.

Verses 10, 11. And if Christ be in you — Namely, by his Spirit dwelling in you: where the Spirit of Christ is, there is Christ: the body is dead — To men swma nekron, the body indeed is dead, devoted to death; for our belonging to Christ, or having Christ in us, does not exempt the body from undergoing the sentence of death passed on all mankind; because of sin — Heretofore committed; especially the sin of Adam, by which death entered into the world, and the sinful nature derived from him; but the Spirit is life — The soul is quickened and made alive to God; and shall, after the death of the body, continue living, active, and happy; because of righteousness — Now attained through the second Adam, the Lord our righteousness. But — Rather, and, for the apostle proceeds to speak of a further blessing; as if he had said, If you have Christ in you, not only shall your souls live after the death of the body in felicity and glory, but your bodies also shall rise to share therein; for we have this further joyful hope, that if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus — Our great covenant head; from the dead, dwell in you; he — God the Father; that raised up Christ from the dead — The first-fruits of them that sleep; shall also quicken your mortal bodies — Though corrupted and consumed in the grave; by his Spirit — Or on account of his Spirit; which dwelleth in you — And now communicates divine life to your souls, and creates them anew.

Ver. 11. Still further description of their happy lot. Even the body will be rescued.

Of Him that raised Jesus: a close parallel to Romans 4:24. Paul remembers that the Spirit who

dwells in all who put faith in Christ is the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus, and therefore a bearer of His infinite power. Notice the emphatic repetition of this important point. That God raised Christ, is a pledge that He will raise us.

Make-alive: as in Romans 4:17.

Your mortal bodies: as in Romans 6:12, but with a different reference, there to the immoral influence of a side of our nature not yet rescued, here to the final rescue even of this lower side of us. Between the readings by means of His Spirit and because of His Spirit, the oldest and best documents are almost equally divided, as are modern editors. The former is found in the Sinai, Alexandrian, and Ephraim MSS., and in four very ancient versions; and was read by Clement of Alexandria, by Hippolytus probably, and by many fathers: the latter is in the Vatican and Clermont MSS., and in the Latin and Peshito Syriac versions; and was read probably by Irenæus and Tertullian, and almost certainly by Origen. Athanasius gives us to understand that in his day the reading by means of His Spirit was found “in all the ancient copies,” but that it was nevertheless disputed.

In cases like this, where the best documents are equally divided, critics usually decide according as one or other reading seems most agreeable to the mind of Paul and at the same time most likely to be altered by a copyist. But here even these internal reasons afford no safe ground for decision. The former reading would teach that the Holy Spirit is the Agent of the resurrection of the body. This is not elsewhere taught in the New Testament; but is in harmony with the nature and work of the Spirit. The other reading teaches that, because the body of the dead was a dwelling-place of the Spirit of God and therefore sacred, God will raise it from the corruption of the grave: a thought in full harmony with the teaching of Paul.

This evenly-balanced evidence, external and internal, leaves the true reading quite uncertain. This uncertainty is reflected in the judgment of the Critical Editors. The reading by means of is given in Tischendorf’s latest edition and in the texts of Westcott and the Revisers: the reading because of, in that of Tregelles, in the 7th edition of Tischendorf, and in the margins of Westcott and the Revisers.

Verse 11 completes the triumph of those rescued from the dominion of sin. Even the bodies in which the Spirit dwelt are sacred, and will be (see Romans 8:23) redeemed from corruption. It is true that lips which have spoken His words will be silent in death, that hands which He moved to works of mercy will moulder into dust. They will die because our father sinned. But the triumph of death will be short. Even the mortal clay which has been the organ of the Spirit will live for ever. For the Hand which raised Christ will raise them.

This verse implies that the risen bodies of the saved will bear a definite relation to the bodies laid in the grave. But that they are by no means identical, is taught plainly in 1 Corinthians 15:43, 44, 50; Philippians 3:21. This warns us not to infer, or to charge Paul with teaching, that our future and present bodies will consist of the same particles. And such collecting of dispersed atoms would be utterly meaningless. But Paul asserts clearly that the victory gained by death will, in the servants of Christ, be triumphantly reversed by the power which raised Christ from the grave and raised Him to heaven.

The new feature in Romans 8:1-11 is the Spirit of God. In Romans 7:14-25, the conflict was between the Law, approved by the mind, and sin dwelling in the body; and the result was disastrous defeat and hopeless captivity. But now the Spirit has taken the field; and, by setting up His own rule, has made Paul free from the rule of sin and the tyranny of his own body. His spirit is already made alive by contact with the Spirit of life: and the liberation of his dying body, already rescued from the control of sin, is only a question of time.

FLESH. The immoral influence attributed by Paul to the body gives to this word in his writings special significance.

Flesh is the soft solid material of living or once-living bodies. So “flesh and bones” in Luke 24:39; “flesh and blood” in Matthew 16:17; John 6:51-56; 1 Corinthians 15:50; Galatians 1:16; Ephesians 6:12; Hebrews 2:14. Since bones and blood are out of sight, the word flesh denotes frequently the entire material of the body. The flesh is the living matter common to all men: the body is the one organized portion of it belonging to each individual and consisting of mutually-essential members. Since all life is robed in flesh, to be alive on earth is to “live in the flesh:” Galatians 2:20; Philippians 1:22,

24. The flesh is contrasted with the mind, the heart, and more frequently with the spirit: Romans 7:25; 2:28; 1:4; Matthew 26:41; 1 Corinthians 5:5; Colossians 2:5. Since a similar bodily material, though in a different outward form, is possessed by animals, the word flesh is also applied to them: 1 Corinthians 15:39; Revelation 19:18; Isaiah 31:3.

Since human and animal life are never found except robed in corresponding flesh, this word denotes frequently, especially in O.T., the entire man and the entire race: so Psalms 56:4Psalm 56:4; 65:2; 78:39; Isaiah 31:3; 40:5; 49:26, etc.; Matthew 16:17; Luke 3:6; Acts 2:17; Romans 3:20; 11:14; Galatians 1:16; 1 Peter 1:24. This use of the word is the more appropriate because the sensations and state of the spirit within are determined, and the power of the spirit is limited, by its material clothing. Where the body is, the man is: what the man does, he does through the body: whatever is done to the body, is done to the man. All that we see of the man, is flesh. We therefore speak of him as flesh. Paul teaches frequently that the body exerts on the spirit an all-important and immoral influence. It has desires and actions: Romans 6:12; 8:13. In it sin dwells and reigns; and to obey its desires is to submit to the rule of sin: Romans 6:12. In our body the emotions of sin were once at work; and there sin promulgates its law and fights against the mind: Romans 7:5, 23. Hence the body of the unsaved is a body of sin; and from the tyranny of this body Paul cries to be set free: Romans 6:6; 7:24. Through the death of Christ, our body of sin is practically dead: Romans 6:6.

This teaching prepares us for the moral significance of the flesh. The influence of the body arises from its needs and desires and dislikes, which ever prompt us to pursue the objects needful for the existence and comfort of the body and to avoid their opposites. Now these needs etc. are common, in different degrees, to all men, and to some extent to animals. We therefore cannot but think of them as inherent to flesh, as “desires of the flesh:” Galatians 5:16, 24. And these desires, found wherever we find a similar material organization, give unity to the idea of flesh. That Paul speaks, e.g. Romans 6:12; 7:5, 23; Galatians 5:16-19, of the body as a dwelling-place of sin and of the desires and works of the flesh as bad, implies that all men are by nature fallen. Through these desires, evil rules all except those whom God has rescued. We cannot distinguish the influence of the flesh from the influence exerted through the flesh by the principle of sin. Hence sin may be looked upon as the animating principle of the flesh. This one spirit of evil in the many bodies of the unsaved gives additional unity to the idea of flesh. And since the influence of the flesh is always in the same direction, we may look upon it as cherishing always the one purpose of death: Romans 8:6. Many of the objects desired or disliked by the flesh can be obtained or avoided only by first obtaining other objects. Frequently all our mental and bodily powers are at work to get that which will preserve or indulge the body: e.g. intelligent efforts to make money, prompted by desire for bodily gratification. Probably all sin has a similar ultimate origin. Hence, in Galatians 5:19, “the works of the flesh” include every kind of sin. Since the body desires objects merely for its own preservation and gratification, the desires of the body are essentially selfish. Consequently, indulgence of them puts us in opposition to our fellows; and “jealousy and strife” are ( 1 Corinthians 3:1-4) constant results of a life according to flesh.

Those in Christ are, by the death of Christ, set free from the rule of the body. To them therefore, crucified with Christ, the body of sin has lost its power: Romans 6:6. They are no longer “in the flesh:” Romans 7:5; 8:9. In other words, they stand now in a new relation to their own bodies. Formerly the body was the world in which they lived. Beyond the range of its vision they saw nothing: upon its life and welfare their happiness depended. But now the Spirit of God dwelling within them has made them citizens of a world independent of the body. They no longer see only through eyes of flesh, or lean upon an arm of flesh. Therefore, although physically (Galatians 2:20) they are still in the flesh, morally they are no longer so.

We have seen the contrast of flesh and spirit. But when the word flesh denotes the one living material common to all men and includes the one animating principle of evil, it requires a nobler contrast. This is found in the one Spirit of God, who dwells in the heart, enlightens the mind, and strengthens the spirit of all believers, who is the one soul of their many souls, and who stands in absolute antagonism to the flesh. So Romans 8:4-13; Galatians 5:16-25. Through the body sin seeks to enslave and corrupt our spirit. The Spirit of God rescues us from this slavery, becomes the soul of our soul, and, acting upon us through our spirit which He enlightens and strengthens, makes our body to be a living temple in which our freed spirit offers ceaseless sacrifice to God.

The immoral influence of the flesh underlies John 3:6; 1 John 2:16. Otherwise it is peculiar to Paul.

We therefore understand the flesh to be that material clothing of the spirit which is common to all men, in which alone the human spirit dwells on earth, which in the unsaved is under the control of sin, and which exerts or tends to exert upon the spirits of all men an influence always opposed to God. The moral use of the word flesh is not so much a new meaning as a result of a deeper view of the nature, position, and influence, of that which the word commonly denotes.

V. 12. We are not debtors to the flesh-We ought not to follow it.

Verse 12. Therefore, brethren, &c.] Dr. Taylor is of opinion that the apostle having spoken separately, both to Jews and Gentiles, concerning holiness and the obligations to it, now addresses himself to both conjointly, and,

I. Draws the general conclusion from all his arguments upon this subject, Romans 8:12.

II. Proves the validity of their claims to eternal life, Romans 8:14-17. III. And as the affair of suffering persecution was a great stumbling block to the Jews, and might very much discourage the Gentiles, he introduces it to the best advantage, Romans 8:17, and advances several arguments to fortify their minds under all trials: as-(1.) That they suffered with Christ;

(2.) In order to be glorified with him in a manner which will infinitely compensate all sufferings, Romans 8:17, 18. (3.) All mankind are under various pressures, longing for a better state, Romans 8:19-22.

(4.) Many of the most eminent Christians are in the same distressed condition, Romans 8:23. (5.) According to the plan of the Gospel, we are to be brought to glory after a course of patience exercised in a variety of trials, Romans 8:24, 25. (6.) The Spirit of God will supply patience to every upright soul under persecution and suffering, Romans 8:26,

27. (7.) All things, even the severest trials, shall work together for their good, Romans 8:28. And this he proves, by giving us a view of the several steps which the wisdom and goodness of God have settled, in order to our complete salvation, Romans 8:29, 30. Thence he passes to the affair of our perseverance; concerning which he concludes, from the whole of his preceding arguments, that as we are brought into a state of pardon by the free grace of God, through the death of Christ, who is now our mediator in heaven; no possible cause, providing we continue to love and serve God, shall be able to pervert our minds, or separate us from his love in Christ Jesus, Romans 8:31-39. Therefore, ara oun is the grand inference from all that he has been arguing in relation to sanctity of life, both to the Gentiles, chap. 6, and to the Jews, chap. 7, and 8, to this verse, where I suppose he begins to address himself to both, in a body, to the end of the chapter.-Taylor, page 317.

Verses 12, 13. Therefore, brethren — As if he had said, Since we have received such benefits, and expect still more and greater, we are debtors — We are under obligations; not to the flesh — Not to our animal appetites and passions; we have formerly given them more than their due, and we owe our natural corruption no service; to live after the flesh — The desires and inclinations of which we ought not to follow; but we are under an indispensable obligation to be more and more holy. Or, as Dr. Doddridge paraphrases the verse, “Since it is certain the gratifications of the flesh can do nothing for us like that which will be done at the resurrection; and since all present enjoyments are mean and worthless when compared with that; here is a most substantial argument for that mortification and sanctity which the gospel requires. And it necessarily follows that we are debtors to the Spirit, which gives us such exalted hopes, and not unto the flesh, that we should live after the dictates, desires, and appetites thereof.” “To be a debtor,” says Dr. Macknight, “is to be under a constraining obligation, Romans 1:14. The apostle’s meaning is, Since men are under the gracious dispensation of the gospel, which furnishes them with the most powerful assistances for correcting the depravity of their nature, and for performing good actions, they are under no necessity, either moral or physical, to gratify the lusts of the flesh, as they would be, if, in their present weakened state, they had no advantages but what they derived from mere law,” the law of Moses, or law of nature. “Further, we are under no obligation to live according to the flesh, as it offers no pleasures of any consequence to counterbalance the misery which God will inflict on all who live according to it.” For if ye — Though professing Christians, and even eminent for a high and distinguishing profession; live after the flesh — Be governed by your animal appetites, and corrupt nature; (see on verses 4-9;) ye shall die — Shall perish by the sentence of a holy and just God, no less than if you were Jews or heathen. But if ye through the Spirit — Through his enlightening, quickening, and sanctifying influences, and the exercise of those graces which by regeneration he has implanted in your souls; do mortify — Resist, subdue, and destroy; Gr. qanatoute, make dead; the deeds of the body — Or of the flesh, termed, Galatians 5:19, the works of the flesh: and including, not only evil actions, but those carnal affections and inclinations, whence all the corrupt deeds arise, wherein the body or flesh is concerned; ye shall live — The life of faith, love, and obedience, more abundantly here, and the life of glory hereafter. Here we have the fourth motive to holiness: the Spirit of God dwelling in believers, to enable them to mortify their corrupt passions and tempers.

Ver. 12. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, but to grace. We are debtors to redeeming love, to live to him who died for us, and rose again.

12. Debtors—We owe not to the flesh obedience to its dictates.

ROMANS

SECTION 24 — THE GUIDANCE OF THE SPIRIT IS

A PROOF OF COMING GLORY CH. 8:12-17

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors-not to the flesh, to live according to flesh. For if ye are living according to flesh, ye will die: but if by the Spirit ye are putting to death the actions of the body ye will live. For, so many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For ye did not receive a spirit of bondage, again for fear; but ye received a Spirit of adoption, in which we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself bears joint-witness with our spirit that we are children of God. But if children, also heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs of Christ; if, as I assume, we suffer together, in order that we may also be glorified together.

By a practical application in Romans 8:12 and a proof in Romans 8:13-17 of the statement in Romans 8:10, 11, Paul will now complete his comparison of a life according to flesh with one according to Spirit. We are bound to the latter because it is a pledge of coming glory.

Ver. 12. Practical inference from Romans 8:10, 11. “If Christ’s presence in us be a proof that our spirit is alive, and if God will raise the bodies of those in whom His Spirit dwells, then are we bound etc.” Debtors: as in Romans 1:14; 13:7, 8; 15:27, and especially Galatians 5:3. Compare the words owe and ought. Not to the flesh: opposite course, to which we are under no obligation whatever. The contrast adds force to the exhortation: cp. Romans 6:17.

To live according to flesh: to mind the things of the flesh, to walk according to flesh, to do the actions of the body, in Romans 8:5, 4, 13. This is the debt which the flesh claims but which we are not bound to pay.

V. 13. The deeds of the flesh-Not only evil actions, but evil desires, tempers, thoughts.

If ye mortify-Kill, destroy these.

Ye shall live-The life of faith more abundantly here, and hereafter the life of glory.

Verse 13. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die] Though mellete apoqnhskein may mean, ye shall afterwards die, and this seems to indicate a temporal death, yet not exclusively of an eternal death; for both, and especially the latter, are necessarily implied.

But if ye through the Spirit] If ye seek that grace and spiritual help which the Gospel of Christ furnishes, resist, and, by resisting, mortify the deeds of the flesh, against which the law gave you no assistance, ye shall live a life of faith, love, and holy obedience here, and a life of glory hereafter.

Verses 12, 13. Therefore, brethren — As if he had said, Since we have received such benefits, and expect still more and greater, we are debtors — We are under obligations; not to the flesh — Not to our animal appetites and passions; we have formerly given them more than their due, and we owe our natural corruption no service; to live after the flesh — The desires and inclinations of which we ought not to follow; but we are under an indispensable obligation to be more and more holy. Or, as Dr. Doddridge paraphrases the verse, “Since it is certain the gratifications of the flesh can do nothing for us like that which will be done at the resurrection; and since all present enjoyments are mean and worthless when compared with that; here is a most substantial argument for that mortification and sanctity which the gospel requires. And it necessarily follows that we are debtors to the Spirit, which gives us such exalted hopes, and not unto the flesh, that we should live after the dictates, desires, and appetites thereof.” “To be a debtor,” says Dr. Macknight, “is to be under a constraining obligation, Romans 1:14. The apostle’s meaning is, Since men are under the gracious dispensation of the gospel, which furnishes them with the most powerful assistances for correcting the depravity of their nature, and for performing good actions, they are under no necessity, either moral or physical, to gratify the lusts of the flesh, as they would be, if, in their present weakened state, they had no advantages but what they derived from mere law,” the law of Moses, or law of nature. “Further, we are under no obligation to live according to the flesh, as it offers no pleasures of any consequence to counterbalance the misery which God will inflict on all who live according to it.” For if ye — Though professing Christians, and even eminent for a high and distinguishing profession; live after the flesh — Be governed by your animal appetites, and corrupt nature; (see on verses 4-9;) ye shall die — Shall perish by the sentence of a holy and just God, no less than if you were Jews or heathen. But if ye through the Spirit — Through his enlightening, quickening, and sanctifying influences, and the exercise of those graces which by regeneration he has implanted in your souls; do mortify — Resist, subdue, and destroy; Gr. qanatoute, make dead; the deeds of the body — Or of the flesh, termed, Galatians 5:19, the works of the flesh: and including, not only evil actions, but those carnal affections and inclinations, whence all the corrupt deeds arise, wherein the body or flesh is concerned; ye shall live — The life of faith, love, and obedience, more abundantly here, and the life of glory hereafter. Here we have the fourth motive to holiness: the Spirit of God dwelling in believers, to enable them to mortify their corrupt passions and tempers.

Ver. 13. If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. No man in his own strength can conquer sin; that is the dream of Juvenal, and other heathens. But if we by incessant prayer call in the aids of grace, we can, like Paul, do all things through Christ who strengthens us, and gives us the victory.

13. Die—The fulness of death that arises from carnality. The body— Analogous to but not identical with the flesh. The very definition of appetites is those desires that spring from the body or physical system. To mortify them is to kill them so far forth as they are enmity to God. The flesh is a depravity not confined to the body, but including the entire tendency to sin.

Ver. 13. Instead of saying what we are bound to do, Paul breaks off the sentence to give a reason why we must not live according to flesh. Similarly, in Romans 5:12; 7:12. The reason given is a summary of Romans 8:6-8.

Ye will die: as in Romans 8:6; 7:24, 13, 9; 6:21, 23. But if by the Spirit etc.: the course we are bound to pursue. It takes the place of the contrast broken off in Romans 8:12.

By the Spirit: by the help of the Holy Spirit: so Galatians 5:5, 16, 18, 25.

Actions: not separate acts, but courses of action: only in Romans 12:4; Colossians 3:9; Matthew 16:27; Luke 23:51; Acts 19:18. For a list, see Colossians 3:5-8.

Actions of the body: such as supply the need, or gratify the desires, of the body, or have this as their ultimate aim.

Body: rather than “flesh:” for the actions were performed by our individual body. They are different in different men.

Are-putting-to-death: a bold personification: a close parallel in Colossians 3:5. Experience proves that our past actions, especially often-repeated actions, are a living power in us to-day, urging us on in the path we trod yesterday. This present power of bygone thoughts, words, actions, we call habit. To destroy it, is to put to death the actions of the body. The present tense implies that the destruction is going on day by day; and therefore implies that the evil influence of their past conduct continues even in the justified. It is gradually destroyed, as it was gradually formed, by single acts. Every act of an opposite kind weakens, and so far tends to kill, the influence of our past life.

We have here Paul’s first reference to a gradual development of the new life: cp. Colossians 3:10. Hitherto he has spoken only of changes which have, or ought to have, already taken place. But the destruction of habits is gradual. Our body is already dead, in the sense that through the death of Christ its subjection to sin, and its rule over us, have ceased. But the actions of the body, i.e. the habits of our former life, still strive to regain for the body which begot them its lost dominion. The increasing weakness of these habits is a measure of spiritual growth. Notice the double contrast. A life according to flesh is the way to death: to put to death the actions of the body is a pledge of life.

Ye-will-live: the eternal life awaiting the servants of Christ. So Romans 5:21; 6:22, 23; 8:6, 10, 11.

V. 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God-In all the ways of righteousness.

They are the sons of God-Here St. Paul enters upon the description of those blessings which he comprises, Romans 8:30, in the word glorified; though, indeed, he does not describe mere glory, but that which is still mingled with the cross. The sum is, through sufferings to glory.

Verse 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit, &c.] No man who has not Divine assistance can either find the way to heaven, or walk in it when found. As Christ, by his sacrificial offering, has opened the kingdom of God to all believers; and, as a mediator, transacts the concerns of their kingdom before the throne; so the Spirit of God is the great agent here below, to enlighten, quicken, strengthen, and guide the true disciples of Christ; and all that are born of this Spirit are led and guided by it; and none can pretend to be the children of God who are not thus guided.

Verses 14-16. For as many as are led, guided and governed, by the Spirit of God — As a Spirit of truth and grace, of wisdom and holiness; they are the sons of God — That is, they stand related to God, not merely as subjects to their king, or servants to their master, but as children to their father; they are unspeakably near and dear to God, being spiritually begotten of him, and partaking of his nature. See on John 1:12. For ye — Who are real Christians; have not — Since you believed on Christ with a living faith; received the spirit of bondage — A servile disposition, produced by the Spirit of God convincing you that you are in a state of guilt and wrath; again — Such as you had formerly, before your conversion; to fear — Condemnation and wrath from God, which you knew you had merited, and therefore to fear him with a servile fear, and death with a fear producing torment. But ye have received the Spirit of adoption — An assurance of your reconciliation with and filial relation to God, through the influence of the Spirit of Christ, Galatians 4:6; producing in you such confidence toward God in approaching him, as dutiful children feel toward a loving father. Whereby — By which Spirit; we — All and every believer; cry — The word, crazomen, denotes a vehement speaking, with desire, confidence, constancy; Abba, Father — The latter word explains the former. By using both the Syro-Chaldaic and Greek words, the apostle seems to point out the joint cry both of the Jewish and Gentile believers; who, in consequence of that assurance of God’s favour, and adoption into his family, with which their minds were filled, since they had received the gospel, felt that disposition of reverence for, confidence in, and grateful love to God, which is here properly termed the Spirit of adoption: that is, the spirit of children. We may observe here, that both the spirit of bondage to fear, or servile spirit, and the Spirit of adoption, or filial spirit, as above explained, are produced by one and the same Spirit of God, manifesting itself in various operations, according to the various circumstances of the persons; first causing them to see and feel themselves to be in bondage to the guilt and power of sin, to the world, to Satan, and obnoxious to the wrath of God; and then assuring them of their deliverance therefrom, and of their reception into the favour and family of God, as his sons and daughters. The Spirit itself — Auto to Pneuma, the self-same Spirit, whereby we cry. Abba, Father; beareth witness — Greek, summarturei tw pneumati hmwn; witnesseth together with our spirit — Or our enlightened and renewed conscience, by his internal and gracious operation, giving us to know and feel with assurance, gratitude, and joy, that we are the children of God — By special adoption and regeneration. For it is by his influence, and his alone, that we can know the things that are freely given to us of God, namely, what they are, their nature and excellence, and that they are ours, 1 Corinthians 2:12. And hence this Spirit is said to be the seal of our sonship, and the earnest of our inheritance in our hearts, 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13, 14; 4:30. Happy they who enjoy this testimony clear and constant! Some, by the testimony spoken of in this verse, understand the extraordinary or miraculous gifts of the Spirit. These undoubtedly were a divine testimony to the mission of Christ, and the truth of the gospel; but certainly (according to our Lord’s own declaration, that many, whom he never acknowledged to be his, would say to him in the day of judgment, that they had prophesied and cast out devils in his name, &c.) they are not a satisfactory proof of the truth of any one’s grace, the reality of his conversion, or of his being a child of God. Accordingly this apostle testifies, 1 Corinthians 13:2, If a man have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and have such miracle-working faith, as to be able to remove mountains, that, with respect to real religion, he is nothing, if he have not love, namely, to God and man.

Ver. 14. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, to walk in the liberty above described, they are, as the fruit demonstrates, the sons of God, liberated from the spirit of bondage, described in chap. 7. They can, in acts of faith, boldly cry, Abba, father, and Imma, mother; words which slaves were not entitled to use. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty, and filial confidence in prayer and preaching.

14. Sons—In a noble and maturer sense than children. Christ is son, but never child (teknon) of God.

Ver. 14.-17. Proof that they “will live.”

By-the-Spirit: expounding same word in Romans 8:13. Led by the Spirit: their thoughts, words, actions, guided by Him. That He prompts and enables us to put to death the actions of the body, proves Him to be the Spirit of God. He leads us by opening our eyes to recognise sin and see its hurtfulness, and by giving us moral strength to conquer it; by revealing the will of God and its excellence, and by giving us power to do it.

Sons of God: further explained in Romans 8:15-17, and made the basis of an important argument.

V. 15. For ye-Who are real Christians.

Have not received the spirit of bondage-The Holy Ghost was not properly a spirit of bondage, even in the time of the Old Testament. Yet there was something of bondage remaining even in those who then had received the Spirit.

Again-As the Jews did before.

We-All and every believer.

Cry-The word denotes a vehement speaking, with desire, confidence, constancy.

Abba, Father-The latter word explains the former. By using both the Syriac and the Greek word, St. Paul seems to point out the joint cry both of the Jewish and Gentile believers.

The spirit of bondage here seems directly to mean, those operations of the Holy Spirit by which the soul, on its first conviction, feels itself in bondage to sin, to the world, to Satan, and obnoxious to the wrath of God. This, therefore, and the Spirit of adoption, are one and the same Spirit, only manifesting itself in various operations, according to the various circumstances of the persons.

Verse 15. Ye have not received the spirit of bondage] All that were under the law were under bondage to its rites and ceremonies; and as, through the prevalence of that corrupt nature with which every human being is polluted, and to remove which the law gave no assistance, they were often transgressing, consequently they had forfeited their lives, and were continually, through fear of death, subject to bondage, Hebrews 2:15. The believers in Christ Jesus were brought from under that law, and from under its condemnation; and, consequently, were freed from its bondage. The Gentiles were also in a state of bondage as well as the Jews, they had also a multitude of burdensome rites and ceremonies, and a multitude of deities to worship; nor could they believe themselves secure of protection while one of their almost endless host of gods, celestial, terrestrial, or infernal, was left unpropitiated.

But ye have received the Spirit of adoption] Ye are brought into the family of God by adoption; and the agent that brought you into this family is the Holy Spirit; and this very Spirit continues to witness to you the grace in which ye stand, by enabling you to call God your Father, with the utmost filial confidence and affection.

The Spirit of adoption] Adoption was an act frequent among the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans; by which a person was taken out of one family and incorporated with another. Persons of property, who had no children of their own, adopted those of another family. The child thus adopted ceased to belong to his own family, and was in every respect bound to the person who had adopted him, as if he were his own child; and in consequence of the death of his adopting father he possessed his estates. If a person after he had adopted a child happened to have children of his own, then the estate was equally divided between the adopted and real children. The Romans had regular forms of law, by which all these matters were settled.-See in Aulus Gellius. Noctes Attic., vol. i. cap. xix. p. 331. Edit Beloe; and the note there.

Whereby we cry, Abba, Father.] The reason why the Syriac and Greek words are here conjoined, may be seen in the note on Mark 14:36, to which the reader is referred. The introduction of the words here shows that the persons in question had the strongest evidence of the excellence of the state in which they stood; they knew that they were thus adopted; and they knew this by the Spirit of God which was given them on their adoption; and let me say, they could know it by no other means. The Father who had adopted them could be seen by no mortal eye; and the transaction being purely of a spiritual nature, and transacted in heaven, can be known only by God’s supernatural testimony of it upon earth. It is a matter of such solemn importance to every Christian soul, that God in his mercy has been pleased not to leave it to conjecture, assumption, or inductive reasoning; but attests it by his own Spirit in the soul of the person whom he adopts through Christ Jesus. It is the grand and most observable case in which the intercourse is kept up between heaven and earth; and the genuine believer in Christ Jesus is not left to the quibbles or casuistry of polemic divines or critics, but receives the thing, and the testimony of it, immediately from God himself. And were not the testimony of the state thus given, no man could possibly have any assurance of his salvation which would beget confidence and love. If to any man his acceptance with God be hypothetical, then his confidence must be so too. His love to God must be hypothetical, his gratitude hypothetical, and his obedience also. IF God had forgiven me my sins, then I should love him, and I should be grateful, and I should testify this gratitude by obedience. But who does not see that these must necessarily depend on the IF in the first case. All this uncertainty, and the perplexities necessarily resulting from it, God has precluded by sending the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, by which we cry, Abba, Father: and thus our adoption into the heavenly family is testified and ascertained to us in the only way in which it can possibly be done, by the direct influence of the Spirit of God. Remove this from Christianity, and it is a dead letter. It has been remarked that slaves were not permitted to use the term Abba, father, or Imma, mother, in accosting their masters and mistresses. The Hebrew canon, relative to this, is extant in the tract Berachoth, fol. 16. 2, amya alw ygwlp aba al אותם ˆyrwq אינ twjpvhw העבדים

tygwlp haabadim vehashshephachoth ein korin otham, lo Abba N, velo Imma N. Men-servants and maid-servants do not call to their master Abba, (father,) N. nor to their mistress Imma, (mother,) N. And from this some suppose that the apostle intimates that being now brought from under the spirit of bondage, in which they durst not call God their Father, they are not only brought into a new state, but have got that language which is peculiar to that state. It is certain that no man who has not redemption in the blood of the cross has any right to call God Father, but merely as he may be considered the Father of the spirits of all flesh. Some have supposed that the apostle, by using the Syriac and Greek words which express Father, shows the union of Jewish and Gentile believers in those devotions which were dictated by a filial spirit. Others have thought that these were the first words which those generally uttered who were made partakers of the Holy Spirit. It is enough to know that it was the language of their sonship, and that it expressed the clear assurance they had of being received into the Divine favour, the affection and gratitude they felt for this extraordinary blessing, and their complete readiness to come under the laws and regulations of the family, and to live in the spirit of obedience.

Verses 14-16. For as many as are led, guided and governed, by the Spirit of God — As a Spirit of truth and grace, of wisdom and holiness; they are the sons of God — That is, they stand related to God, not merely as subjects to their king, or servants to their master, but as children to their father; they are unspeakably near and dear to God, being spiritually begotten of him, and partaking of his nature. See on John 1:12. For ye — Who are real Christians; have not — Since you believed on Christ with a living faith; received the spirit of bondage — A servile disposition, produced by the Spirit of God convincing you that you are in a state of guilt and wrath; again — Such as you had formerly, before your conversion; to fear — Condemnation and wrath from God, which you knew you had merited, and therefore to fear him with a servile fear, and death with a fear producing torment. But ye have received the Spirit of adoption — An assurance of your reconciliation with and filial relation to God, through the influence of the Spirit of Christ, Galatians 4:6; producing in you such confidence toward God in approaching him, as dutiful children feel toward a loving father. Whereby — By which Spirit; we — All and every believer; cry — The word, crazomen, denotes a vehement speaking, with desire, confidence, constancy; Abba, Father — The latter word explains the former. By using both the Syro-Chaldaic and Greek words, the apostle seems to point out the joint cry both of the Jewish and Gentile believers; who, in consequence of that assurance of God’s favour, and adoption into his family, with which their minds were filled, since they had received the gospel, felt that disposition of reverence for, confidence in, and grateful love to God, which is here properly termed the Spirit of adoption: that is, the spirit of children. We may observe here, that both the spirit of bondage to fear, or servile spirit, and the Spirit of adoption, or filial spirit, as above explained, are produced by one and the same Spirit of God, manifesting itself in various operations, according to the various circumstances of the persons; first causing them to see and feel themselves to be in bondage to the guilt and power of sin, to the world, to Satan, and obnoxious to the wrath of God; and then assuring them of their deliverance therefrom, and of their reception into the favour and family of God, as his sons and daughters. The Spirit itself — Auto to Pneuma, the self-same Spirit, whereby we cry. Abba, Father; beareth witness — Greek, summarturei tw pneumati hmwn; witnesseth together with our spirit — Or our enlightened and renewed conscience, by his internal and gracious operation, giving us to know and feel with assurance, gratitude, and joy, that we are the children of God — By special adoption and regeneration. For it is by his influence, and his alone, that we can know the things that are freely given to us of God, namely, what they are, their nature and excellence, and that they are ours, 1 Corinthians 2:12. And hence this Spirit is said to be the seal of our sonship, and the earnest of our inheritance in our hearts, 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13, 14; 4:30. Happy they who enjoy this testimony clear and constant! Some, by the testimony spoken of in this verse, understand the extraordinary or miraculous gifts of the Spirit. These undoubtedly were a divine testimony to the mission of Christ, and the truth of the gospel; but certainly (according to our Lord’s own declaration, that many, whom he never acknowledged to be his, would say to him in the day of judgment, that they had prophesied and cast out devils in his name, &c.) they are not a satisfactory proof of the truth of any one’s grace, the reality of his conversion, or of his being a child of God. Accordingly this apostle testifies, 1 Corinthians 13:2, If a man have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and have such miracle-working faith, as to be able to remove mountains, that, with respect to real religion, he is nothing, if he have not love, namely, to God and man.

Ver. 15. Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; the legal spirit described in the seventh chapter, and in the preseding verses. This assertion coincides with that in 2 Timothy 1:7. “God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind.” It is the Spirit which liberates from bondage, that we may serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness, and be no longer in bondage through fear of death. By the Spirit therefore we understand here the Holy Spirit, the effectuating power of regeneration in the heart. The filial confidence which follows is the fruit of this renovating principle, the love of God which casts out fear. This is the Spirit of adoption, which emboldens us to call God Father, by a reaction of the same Spirit which calls us children, as is repeated in Galatians 4:6.

But by the Spirit of adoption we are to expect elevation, glory, and regal dignity, as is appropriate to the sons of God; the heirs, the joint heirs with Christ, whom the Father hath appointed heir of all things. The conduct of the Cæsars, and the oriental kings, was somewhat similar: the adopted hero was the heir apparent to the throne.

15. Again—After having once been emancipated from it. Spirit of adoption—Being adopted as children into God’s family, God has breathed into us the humble confidence of the child feeling himself at home in his father’s house. Abba, Father—For the Hebrew and for the Greek our apostle furnishes this blessed word in both languages to indicate that both may claim the same divine paternity.

Ver. 15. Proof that they “are sons of God.”

Ye: assuming that the readers are among the persons just described. Did not receive: as usual, the negative side first: cp. 2 Timothy 1:7. A spirit of bondage: such as animates slaves. This does not imply that any spirit of bondage actually exists, but merely denies that we have received such. For the characterizing genitive, compare Romans 1:4; 8:2; 11:8; Galatians 6:1; Isaiah 11:2.

For fear: tendency of the spirit which animates slaves. If God gave us such, He would lead us back again to our former state.

But ye received: solemn repetition, stating the actual case. Adoption: uioqesia: Greek equivalent for a Roman legal process by which one man took another’s son to be his own son. The adopted son took the name and rank of the adopting father, and with certain limitations stood in the same relation to him as a born son. So Aulus Gellius, bk. v. 19: “Into another man’s family, and into the position of children, strangers are received.” This Roman legal term is found in N.T. only here and in Romans 8:23; Romans 9:4; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5; used only by Paul, a Roman citizen. It is specially suitable to describe a change made in accordance with the principles of law.

Spirit of adoption: the Holy Spirit, given to those whom God adopts as sons. [The anarthrous term looks upon Him qualitatively as a Spirit of adoption.]

In whom: under whose influence, we cry. Cp. 1 Corinthians 12:3; Matthew 22:43.

Abba: Aramaic word for Father: so Galatians 4:6; Mark 14:36. Christ spoke frequently to God and of God as Father; and taught us to do the same. Hence the Aramaic word with which He approached God became sacred to His disciples, and passed into the lips even of those who spoke other languages. Similarly, Amen and Hallelujah, Hebrew words. The word Father is a Greek equivalent for the Aramaic word: as if we said, “Amen, so be it.”

With this verse compare Galatians 4:6. By moving us to cry, the Spirit Himself cries in our hearts: for our cry expresses His thought. He moves us to cry by revealing, through the Gospel, the fatherly love of God: Romans 5:5. We recognise that love, and cry, My Father God. By prompting this cry, the Spirit makes Himself known as a Spirit of adoption. The change from ye received to we cry puts Paul Himself among the adopted sons.

V. 16. The same Spirit beareth witness with our spirit-With the spirit of every true believer, by a testimony distinct from that of his own spirit, or the testimony of a good conscience. Happy they who enjoy this clear and constant.

Verse 16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit] auto to pneuma, that same Spirit, the Spirit of adoption; that is, the Spirit who witnesses this adoption; which can be no other than the Holy Ghost himself, and certainly cannot mean any disposition or affection of mind which the adopted person may feel; for such a disposition must arise from a knowledge of this adoption, and the knowledge of this adoption cannot be given by any human or earthly means; it must come from God himself: therefore the auto to pneuma must have reference to that Spirit, by whom alone the knowledge of the adoption is witnessed to the soul of the believer.

With our spirit] In our understanding, the place or recipient of light and information; and the place or faculty to which such information can properly be brought. This is done that we may have the highest possible evidence of the work which God has wrought. As the window is the proper medium to let the light of the sun into our apartments, so the understanding is the proper medium of conveying the Spirit’s influence to the soul. We, therefore, have the utmost evidence of the fact of our adoption which we can possibly have; we have the word and Spirit of God; and the word sealed on our spirit by the Spirit of God. And this is not a momentary influx: if we take care to walk with God, and not grieve the Holy Spirit, we shall have an abiding testimony; and while we continue faithful to our adopting Father, the Spirit that witnesses that adoption will continue to witness it; and hereby we shall know that we are of God by the Spirit which he giveth us.

Verses 14-16. For as many as are led, guided and governed, by the Spirit of God — As a Spirit of truth and grace, of wisdom and holiness; they are the sons of God — That is, they stand related to God, not merely as subjects to their king, or servants to their master, but as children to their father; they are unspeakably near and dear to God, being spiritually begotten of him, and partaking of his nature. See on John 1:12. For ye — Who are real Christians; have not — Since you believed on Christ with a living faith; received the spirit of bondage — A servile disposition, produced by the Spirit of God convincing you that you are in a state of guilt and wrath; again — Such as you had formerly, before your conversion; to fear — Condemnation and wrath from God, which you knew you had merited, and therefore to fear him with a servile fear, and death with a fear producing torment. But ye have received the Spirit of adoption — An assurance of your reconciliation with and filial relation to God, through the influence of the Spirit of Christ, Galatians 4:6; producing in you such confidence toward God in approaching him, as dutiful children feel toward a loving father. Whereby — By which Spirit; we — All and every believer; cry — The word, crazomen, denotes a vehement speaking, with desire, confidence, constancy; Abba, Father — The latter word explains the former. By using both the Syro-Chaldaic and Greek words, the apostle seems to point out the joint cry both of the Jewish and Gentile believers; who, in consequence of that assurance of God’s favour, and adoption into his family, with which their minds were filled, since they had received the gospel, felt that disposition of reverence for, confidence in, and grateful love to God, which is here properly termed the Spirit of adoption: that is, the spirit of children. We may observe here, that both the spirit of bondage to fear, or servile spirit, and the Spirit of adoption, or filial spirit, as above explained, are produced by one and the same Spirit of God, manifesting itself in various operations, according to the various circumstances of the persons; first causing them to see and feel themselves to be in bondage to the guilt and power of sin, to the world, to Satan, and obnoxious to the wrath of God; and then assuring them of their deliverance therefrom, and of their reception into the favour and family of God, as his sons and daughters. The Spirit itself — Auto to Pneuma, the self-same Spirit, whereby we cry. Abba, Father; beareth witness — Greek, summarturei tw pneumati hmwn; witnesseth together with our spirit — Or our enlightened and renewed conscience, by his internal and gracious operation, giving us to know and feel with assurance, gratitude, and joy, that we are the children of God — By special adoption and regeneration. For it is by his influence, and his alone, that we can know the things that are freely given to us of God, namely, what they are, their nature and excellence, and that they are ours, 1 Corinthians 2:12. And hence this Spirit is said to be the seal of our sonship, and the earnest of our inheritance in our hearts, 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13, 14; 4:30. Happy they who enjoy this testimony clear and constant! Some, by the testimony spoken of in this verse, understand the extraordinary or miraculous gifts of the Spirit. These undoubtedly were a divine testimony to the mission of Christ, and the truth of the gospel; but certainly (according to our Lord’s own declaration, that many, whom he never acknowledged to be his, would say to him in the day of judgment, that they had prophesied and cast out devils in his name, &c.) they are not a satisfactory proof of the truth of any one’s grace, the reality of his conversion, or of his being a child of God. Accordingly this apostle testifies, 1 Corinthians 13:2, If a man have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and have such miracle-working faith, as to be able to remove mountains, that, with respect to real religion, he is nothing, if he have not love, namely, to God and man.

Ver. 16. The Spirit itself, or this same Spirit which inspires with confidence to call God, Father, beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. “If the Holy Spirit, as Calvin well observes here, did not bear testimony of God’s paternal love, our tongue would remain silent, for we could not in prayer call him Father, unless we were assured that he really was so.”

The original word, marturia, (says Mr. Wesley) may be rendered either, the witness, or less ambiguously, the testimony, or the record. It is thus rendered in our translation. 1 John 5:11. The testimony now under consideration is given by the Spirit of God to and with our own spirit. He is the person testifying. What he testifies to us is, that we are the children of God. The immediate result of this testimony is the fruit of the Spirit; namely, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness. Without these the testimony itself cannot continue; for it is inevitably destroyed, not only by the commission of any outward sin, or the omission of known duty, but by giving way to any inward corruption; in a word, by whatever grieves the Holy Spirit of God.

Now by the testimony of the Spirit I mean, an inward impression of the soul, whereby the Spirit of God immediately and directly witnesses to my spirit, that I am a child of God; that Christ hath loved me, and given himself for me; that all my sins are blotted out, and I, even I am reconciled to God. Meantime let it be observed, I do not mean hereby, that the Spirit of God testifies this by any outward voice: no, nor always by an inward voice, although he may do this sometimes. Neither do I suppose that he always applies to the heart, though he often may, one or more texts of scripture. But he so works upon the soul by his immediate influence, and by a strong, though inexplicable operation, that the stormy wind and troubled waves subside, and there is a sweet calm. The heart rests as in the arms of Jesus; and the sinner is clearly satisfied that God is reconciled, that all his iniquities are forgiven, and his sins covered. Wesley’s Sermon on the Witness of the Spirit.

The propriety of this exposition is founded in nature. Without assurance of pardon, man cannot be happy. That assurance he cannot infer from his imperfect reformations. But if the Father of mercies in the superabundance of his love is pleased to shine on the soul, the spirit of bondage is superseded, and the joys of remission spring up in its stead. Then the witness of the Spirit is no reflex act whatever; it is God himself shining on the soul, as a reconciled Father, dispersing doubts and fears from the mind. The reflex acts follow, and associate with the witness of our own spirit, that we have wept for sin, implored mercy, and believed on the Saviour, whose love is now shed abroad in the heart.

16. Spirit itself—In its own immediate person. Beareth witness with— Testifies concurrently with. So that there are two witnesses, the divine and the human, testifying to the one fact. Children—The Spirit testifies solely to this one fact, our being children of God. This special testimony cannot be quoted for other facts than our own sonship. If a tasteful lady desire to know whether her manners are becoming and graceful she observes herself and draws her conclusion, and that is the testimony of her own taste and consciousness. If, additionally, another person of critical taste assure her that they are so, then she has the testimony of another mind witnessing with her own that her deportment is right. So the Christian by self-inspection and introspection may infer that he has the grace of God; but, additionally, the Divine Spirit surely is able to speak with a voiceless assurance to his consciousness that he is God’s child. That is, God’s Spirit may testify with and to man’s spirit to man’s sonship.

Ver. 16. Argument of Romans 8:15 in a compact form, showing how it proves the statement in Romans 8:14.

The Spirit itself: A.V. reproducing the Greek neuter, here used. The R.V. reads into Paul’s Greek a correct inference from Romans 8:27; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:13; John 16:13; Matthew 28:19. So to render, is not translation, but exposition. Bears-joint-witness-with: same word in Romans 2:15; 9:1, (cp. Hebrews 2:4,) denoting a confirmation of what another witness has said.

Our spirit cried (Romans 8:15) Abba, Father: and, just as a similar cry from a child is a testimony-though possibly a mistaken one-that he is a son of the man whom he calls Father, so the cry to God of our spirit, the highest part of our being, bears-witness that we are children of God. That this cry was prompted by the Spirit of God, adds His infallible testimony to the testimony of our own spirit, and assures us that our confidence is no delusion. Thus the Spirit Himself confirms the testimony of our spirit. In the order of cause and effect, the witness of God’s Spirit precedes that of our own spirit; for He reveals to us the fatherly love of God, and thus moves us to call Him Father. But, in the order of our thought, our own cry comes first. We are first conscious of our own filial confidence, and then observe that it is wrought in us by the Holy Spirit. The word witness is a favourite in Greek for whatever affords proof. Compare carefully John 5:36; 10:25; Acts 14:3, 17; 15:8; Hebrews 2:4. It is specially used in reference to the Holy Spirit; and is very appropriate here because it is by a voice put into our lips that the Holy Spirit gives proof that we are sons of God.

V. 17. Joint heirs-That we may know it is a great inheritance which God will give us for he hath given a great one to his Son. If we suffer with him-Willingly and cheerfully, for righteousness' sake. This is a new proposition, referring to what follows.

Verse 17. And if children, then heirs] For the legitimate children can alone inherit the estate. This is not an estate to which they succeed in consequence of the death of a former possessor; it is like the promised land, given by God himself, and divided among the children of the family. Heirs of God] It is neither an earthly portion nor a heavenly portion; but GOD himself, who is to be their portion. It is not heaven they are to inherit; it is GOD, who is infinitely greater and more glorious than heaven itself. With such powers has God created the soul of man, that nothing less than himself can be a sufficient and satisfactory portion for the mind of this most astonishing creature.

Joint heirs with Christ] Partaking of the same eternal glory with the glorified human nature of Christ.

If so be that we suffer with him] Observe, says Dr. Taylor, how prudently the apostle advances to the harsh affair of suffering. He does not mention it till he had raised up their thoughts to the highest object of joy and pleasure-the happiness and glory of a joint inheritance with the ever-blessed Son of God.

We are heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him. This, with the additional consideration that we suffer with Christ, or, as he himself suffered, would greatly qualify the transitory afflictions of this world, and dispose them to attend to the other arguments he had to offer.

Verses 17, 18. And if children, then heirs — Those that are really the children of God by adoption and grace, are not only under his peculiar direction, protection, and care, and shall be supplied with all things which God sees will be good for them; not only have they free liberty of access to God, and intercourse with God, as dutiful children have access to, and intercourse with, their father; but they are heirs of God — Heirs of the heavenly inheritance, and by the redemption of their bodies, being made immortal like God, they shall enjoy that inheritance. See note on 1 Peter 1:3. And joint-heirs with Christ — Entering into his joy, Matthew 25:21; sitting down on his throne, Revelation 3:21; partaking of his glory, John 17:22; Philippians 3:21; Colossians 3:4; 1 Corinthians 15:49; and inheriting all things, Revelation 21:7, jointly with him who is heir of all things, Hebrews 1:2. Only it must be observed, he is heir by nature, we by grace. If so be that we suffer with him — Willingly and cheerfully for righteousness’ sake: that is, we shall enjoy these glorious and heavenly blessings, provided we be willing, not only to deny ourselves all prohibited carnal gratifications, and to govern our lives by his precepts, but also to suffer with him whatever reproach, infamy, persecution, and other injuries we may be called to undergo, in conformity to him, for the honour of God, and the testimony of a good conscience; that we may be also glorified together — With him, which we cannot be in any other way than by suffering with him: he was glorified in this way, and so must we be. Here the apostle passes to a new proposition, on which he enlarges in the following verses; opening a source of consolation to the children of God in every age, by drinking at which they may not only refresh themselves under the severest sufferings, but derive new strength to bear them with fortitude. For I reckon, &c. — Here the apostle gives the reason why he now mentions sufferings and glory. When that glory shall be revealed in us, then the sons of God will be revealed also. That the sufferings of this present time — How long continued and great soever they may be; are not worthy to be compared — Or to be set in opposition to, or contrasted with, (as the original expression, axia ta paqhmata prov thn mellousan dozan, evidently implies,) the glory which shall be revealed in us — Which we shall then partake of, and the nature and greatness of which we shall then, and not before, fully understand. For it far exceeds our present most elevated conceptions, and can never be fully known till we see each other wear it. These privileges are a fifth motive to holiness.

17. Heirs—Entitled by graciously divine right to an eternal inheritance. Joint heirs with Christ—Who is our elder brother, (ver. 29.) And as Christ is sure of his inheritance, then, so long as we are joint with him, there can be no failure for us. But in our case there is a condition yet to be completely fulfilled, namely, the following IF. And this if, implying a contingency lasting as long as our probation, must be presupposed in the whole of this passage, (18-39.) The law of inheritance cannot fail; the scheme of advancement (29, 30) cannot be broken, but we may fall out of it by the way. All these progressive stages belong to us not as physical persons, but as characters, and are forfeited by our persons if the character ceases. If so be—On this if hangs our eternity. That—To the divinely established result that. Glorified together—That glorification with Christ arrived at in verse 30; the ultimate to which our heirship looks. (e) Advancing stages to final (collective) glorification of Church and earth, 18-25.

Based upon present joyous expectations and gracious aids, the apostle describes the Christian’s glorious future, first, in the present paragraph, as part of the lower creation, and second, (26-32) as part of the blessed kingdom of God.

Ver. 17. Completion of Paul’s proof that (Romans 8:13) “if by the Spirit ye put to death the actions of the body, ye will live.” If children, also heirs: inheriting their father’s wealth. This last word, Paul expounds in two directions, in reference to God and to Christ. That by adoption God makes us His sons, implies that we shall be enriched by His wealth, that we shall share the infinite inheritance which belongs to Christ as the Son of God. The words heirs and joint-heirs recall Romans 4:13, 14. By adoption we are, not only sons and heirs of God, but brothers of Christ and joint-heirs of His glorious inheritance.

The proof of the assertion in Romans 8:13, “ye will live,” is now complete. In virtue of His relation to the Father, Christ will live for ever: cp. John 5:26; 6:57. Therefore, if we are sharers of His inheritance, we too “shall live” for ever. And if so, as stated in Romans 8:12, our hope of eternal life binds us to follow the guidance of the Spirit. For to Him we owe our confidence that we are children of God. See a similar argument in Ephesians 4:30; also Ephesians 1:13, 14; 2 Corinthians 1:22.

If, as I assume, etc.: condition on which we are heirs together with Christ. All who suffer because they obey God suffer-together with Christ. For their sufferings, like His arise from the world’s hatred to God, and are endured willingly to advance the purposes for which Christ died. Cp. 2 Corinthians 1:5; Colossians 1:24; 2 Timothy 2:12; Mark 10:39. These words remind us, as does Romans 5:3, of the persecutions of the early Christians. But in some measure they are true of all servants of Christ: for His service always involves sacrifice. In order that we may etc.: purpose for which God lays suffering upon us, and a hope which helps us cheerfully to endure it. We gladly accept the cross, that we may wear the crown: so Matthew 5:12; Acts 5:41. Glorified: with the splendour, exciting admiration, with which God will crown His servants: so Romans 8:18, 21, 30; 5:2; 1 Corinthians 15:43; 2 Corinthians 4:17; Colossians 1:27, These words complete the picture of our partnership with Christ. [Notice the group of words beginning with sun-: Romans 6:4, 5, 6, 8; 8:17, 22, 26, 28, 29; Ephesians 2:5, 6; Colossians 2:11-13; 3:1.] We are sharers of His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection. We must share His sufferings; but we share His sonship, and shall share His heritage of glory. The ARGUMENT of Romans 8:12-17, we will now rebuild from the premises assumed. Paul assumes that his readers are day by day trampling upon, and thus destroying, their former habits of sin; and that they confidently call God their Father. Their former bondage proves that this victory is from a Helper higher than themselves. That this Helper is within them, and gives victory over sin, proves Him to be the Spirit of God: cp. Matthew 12:24-29. Again, we look up to God as our Father, lean upon His strong arm, and in His protection find rest amid the uncertainties and storms of life. This was not always so. In days gone by, although we knew that God loved us, His love had no practical effect on our thoughts, emotions, or life: it now fills us (Romans 5:5) with exultant hope and joy. This contrast of past and present proves that God has put a new spirit within us. Moreover, we find by experience that power over sin and filial confidence in God go together. From this we infer that these have one source, i.e. that both are produced by the Spirit of God. And, if He prompts us to call God our Father, we cannot doubt that we are actually His children. If so, our expectation must be measured by the inheritance of the Firstborn Son, whose brethren we are. We therefore infer with certainty that we shall share Christ’s immortal life. And, if so, we have the strongest reason for surrendering ourselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, whose presence in us is the source and confirmation of a hope so glorious. Notice here an argument based upon inward religious experience, To others, such evidence, except so far as it is confirmed by outward conduct, is invalid. But to the man himself it is decisive. For it is matter of direct inward observation. That Paul appeals to it In argument, reveals his confidence that his own experience was shared by his readers. Notice also that his teaching is carefully guarded from perversion. He appeals, not to a mere assurance that we are children of God, but to an assurance accompanied by power over sin. Moreover, the voice of the Spirit within us is but an echo of teaching which we can trace by abundant documentary evidence to the lips of Christ. Thus the testimony of the Spirit is one which we can intelligently weigh and estimate, and for our acceptance of which we can give a reason.

That a life beyond the grave implies resurrection of the body, is assumed in 1 Corinthians 15:18, 19, 29-32; Luke 20:37: see my Corinthians p. 287. Assuming this, the argument in Romans 8:12-17 proves the statement in Romans 8:10, 11 that God will raise even the bodies of His servants. Paul thus completes the contrast of a life according to flesh and according to the Spirit.

In Romans 8:14, 16, they who follow the guidance of the Spirit are called sons and children of God. As created by God in His own image, and therefore sharers of His nature, all men indiscriminately may be so called. But we notice that throughout the N.T. these terms are reserved for the righteous, whose sonship is spoken of as an acquired relation to God: so Galatians 3:26; 4:5; John 1:12; 1 John 3:10; John 8:42,

44. That not all men are sons of God, is implied in Paul’s use of the term adoption: for no Roman adopted his own son. The explanation is that by sin we lost our rights as sons, and can regain them only by the adopting mercy of God. A conspicuous and beautiful exception to the above reservation is found in Luke 15:11, 24: cp. also Acts 17:28, 29. See my New Life in Christ pp. 57-60.

DIVISION III. may from this point be suitably reviewed. In Rom. 6, we have the new life in reference to its aim and purpose, viz. God; in Rom. 7, in reference to the Law, i.e. the principle that God will treat us according to our deserts; in Rom. 8, in reference to its immediate source and motive power, viz. the Spirit of God. In Rom. 6, the new life is deliverance from the rule of sin which tends to death, and subjection to the rule of God which tends to life: in Rom. 8, it is deliverance from the rule of our own flesh which also tends to death, and submission to the guidance of the Holy Spirit who gives life of spirit and body. The difference results from the teaching of Rom. 7. The Law reveals sin as an inward power compelling us, in spite of better desires, to serve sin; and thus proves that in order to live for God we must receive a Spirit stronger than our own spirit, to set us free from the inward rule of sin and to become by His own presence in us the source of a life of which God is the only aim. We are thus prepared to hear (Romans 8:3) that God sent Christ in order that the Holy Spirit may become the guiding principle of our life.

SPIRIT. The word thus rendered denotes breath in Genesis 6:17; 7:15, 22; Job 27:3; Psalms 33:6Psalm 33:6; etc.; cp. 2 Thessalonians 2:8. It is also used, by a familiar association of thought, for wind: Isaiah 40:7; Psalms 18:15Psalm 18:15; Genesis 8:1; Numbers 11:31; Hosea 13:15. This explains John 3:8.

Since breath is an invariable mark of life, which began with our first breath and will end with our last, the word spirit often denotes the principle of life. So Revelation 13:15; 11:11; Luke 8:55; John 19:30; Acts 7:59; James 2:26; Ecclesiastes 12:7. Animals, since they breathe and live, have a spirit: Genesis 7:15, 22; Ecclesiastes 3:19,

21. Since life is a condition of intelligence, power, and activity, the word spirit denotes the seat of knowledge, emotion, purpose, and the source of action: 1 Corinthians 2:11; Mark 2:8; Luke 1:47; Acts 17:16; 19:21; Romans 1:9. The spirit is the unseen and immaterial animating principle which gives to the visible and material flesh animated by it life, intelligence, power, and activity.

We frequently read in O.T. of the Spirit of God, of Jehovah, and in N.T. of the Spirit of God and of Christ, the Holy Spirit. Except in a few places noted above, these terms denote the source of a divine influence acting on man from within, and giving him strength, skill, voice, and wisdom altogether beyond his own natural capacity: Judges 14:6, 19; 15:14; 16:20; Exodus 31:3; Numbers 24:2; 1 Samuel 10:6; 2 Samuel 23:2; Isaiah 11:2, 3. Men thus became the arm, hand, and voice of God. Since this influence always tends to inspire loyalty to God, its source is called in Psalms 51:11Psalm 51:11; Isaiah 63:10, 11, the Spirit of Holiness; and in Romans 5:5; 9:1; 15:16, 19, etc. the Holy Spirit. We find also in 1 Samuel 16:14-23; Judges 9:23, an evil spirit of God, i.e. one who works out in men God’s purpose of anger: cp. 1 Kings 22:21. Throughout the O.T. the Spirit of God is the source of an inward influence from God, a bearer of the presence, and of all the attributes, of God.

In Romans 5:5, the Holy Spirit reveals to men the love of God manifested in the death of Christ; and in Romans 8:15 puts into their lips a new voice. He gives them moral strength to conquer sin, and is their guide in life: Romans 8:13, 14. He makes them to be in heart the people of God, and becomes to them the mainspring of a new life: Romans 2:29; 7:6. He is thus a source of holiness, hope, and joy: Romans 15:16, 13; 14:17. He is called the Spirit of Christ, and is a bearer in us of the presence of Christ; and His presence in us is a pledge of immortal life: Romans 8:10, 11.

In 1 Corinthians 2:11, the Spirit of God is compared to man’s own spirit. This analogy will help us to understand the term before us. Just as the spirit (Luke 8:55) given back to Jairus’ daughter restored to her lifeless form life, consciousness, activity, and development, so the Spirit of God breathed into those who put faith in Christ (Galatians 3:14) gives them a deathless life, makes them conscious of the eternal realities, imparts a new spiritual power and activity, and puts into their lips a new song of praise. And, just as our own spirit is altogether different from, and in essential dignity greater than, our body, yet united to it by an all-pervading and mysterious fellowship, so the Spirit of God is in essential dignity infinitely greater than our spirit, yet pervading it by a still more mysterious fellowship.

Notice the connection between the Spirit and the Gospel and Christ. In the historic Christ, God has made Himself manifest before our eyes. The Gospel is the divine light which bears to our mind the image of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the life which enables our mental eye to see the glorious object, moves our lips to praise, and our bodies to bow in worship. Thus the Spirit gives to us a life, intelligence, and power, which are not human but divine.

The Spirit always acts upon us from the inmost chamber of our being, i.e. with the full consent and approbation of whatever is noblest and best within us; in marked contrast to sin, which never secures our highest approbation, and thus betrays its foreign and inferior and hostile origin. In Romans 8:27, we read that the Spirit intercedes on behalf of saints: see note. This suggests that the Spirit is a person distinct from God, with whom the Spirit intercedes. For without two distinct persons there can be no intercession. This is confirmed by 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, 11; 2 Corinthians 13:13; Matthew 28:19; Revelation 1:4, 5 and still more clearly in John 16:13, 14. See my New Life in Christ pp. 306,

308. If we accept the clear and abundant teaching of the N.T. that the Son of God is a divine person distinct from the Father, the above passages and the whole tenor of O.T. and N.T. will compel us to believe that with the Father and the Son is a Third divine Person, the mysterious and blessed Spirit of God.

The word Spirit is used (e.g. Romans 8:26) to distinguish this divine Person from the Father and the Son, who are also (cp. John 4:24) essentially spirit, because, in virtue of His essential nature as compared with that of the Father and the Son, He comes into immediate contact with our spirit as the inward source of a higher life and as the moving principle of our thoughts, words, and acts. Moreover, the title holy, which belongs in the highest sense to the Father and the Son, is applied with special frequency to this Third divine Person; because conspicuously, in contrast to every other inward influence, God is the one aim of the influence He constantly exerts. Every moment He comes forth from the Father, in order that He may lead us back to Him: and only so far as we are moved by the Spirit is God the one aim of our purposes and efforts. Hence all human holiness is the mind of the Spirit realised in those to whom He is the soul of their soul and the life of their life.

God’s work in man preparatory to justification is not, in the Bible, attributed to the Holy Spirit. Yet we cannot doubt that He is the Agent by whom God leads men (Romans 2:4) to repentance and (John 6:44, 65) to Christ. The explanation probably is that the word Spirit is reserved for this divine Person when acting as spirit, i.e. as a life-giving influence acting upon us from within. On those not justified He acts only from without. The Hand of God is upon them: but His life-giving Breath is not yet within them.

ASSURANCE OF JUSTIFICATION. Paul assumes that his readers know that they are justified. In Romans 5:2, he asserts that they have been brought into God’s favour and stand therein, and look forward with joy to future glory. In Romans 5:9-11, he bases an argument on the fact that they have been justified and reconciled and now exult in God. They have experienced a total change in life: Romans 6:17-23; 7:5, 6. They are, as led by the Spirit of God, sons of God: Romans 8:13. They have already been saved, and are looking forward to a glory compared with which present afflictions are of no account: Romans 8:24, 18. Although many of them are Gentiles, by faith they have obtained righteousness, and have been grafted into the good olive tree: Romans 9:30; 11:17-20. The Holy Spirit, given to them, has made them conscious of God’s love, and taught them to call Him Father: Romans 5:5; 8:15. The Galatian Christians were, amid many imperfections, sons and heirs of God through faith, the Spirit of the Son crying in their hearts “Father:” Galatians 3:26; 4:6. The Ephesian Christians had the forgiveness of their trespasses, had been saved through faith and made alive, brought near to God and built into the rising walls of the living temple: Ephesians 1:7; 2:5, 8, 13, 20. When they believed, they were sealed with the Holy Spirit, a pledge of blessings to come: Ephesians 1:13; 4:30. In his many prayers Paul never asks that his readers’ sins may be forgiven, nor does he hold out to them a promise of forgiveness. He always assumes that they know that they are forgiven. Contrast the addresses recorded in Acts 13:38; 26:18; 2:38, where salvation is offered to the unsaved. Similarly in 1 John 2:12 even the children of the family of God are forgiven. The readers are children of God, in a sense distinguishing them from others: 1 John 3:2, 10. They know that they have passed out of death into life, that they are of God, and that they abide in Christ, because God has given them the Spirit: 1 John 3:14; 5:19; 3:24; 4:13: cp. 1 John 5:13. Similarly 1 Peter 1:3-8.

This teaching suggests that conscious forgiveness was an ordinary experience in the apostolic Churches: it certainly implies that it is a blessing designed by God for every member of the Church.

How was this assurance obtained? Since it is assumed in Romans 5:2-11, we must seek an answer in Paul’s foregoing teaching. Assurance is involved in the nature of justifying faith. For, as we saw in the note under Romans 4:25, this last is an assurance resting upon the promise and power and faithfulness of God that He receives into His favour, in spite of their past sins, all who put faith in Christ. For assurance is matter of immediate consciousness. Consequently, if God receives all who believe, we know that He receives us. Our assurance is derived from and rests upon the promise and character of God, a promise which we have traced by strict historic method to the lips of Him who claimed to be the Son of God and who in proof of this claim was raised from the dead. This firm ground of faith and hope is greatly strengthened by the manifestation, in the death of the Son of God, of the infinite love of God to man. This ground of confidence in God and of assurance of salvation is rational and capable of rational statement. Accordingly, in order to confirm our hope of glory, Paul proves in Romans 5:5-8, by correct human reasoning, from historic fact, how great is God’s love. In other words, the assurance of forgiveness assumed by Paul rests upon the love of God manifested in the death of Him who by resurrection from the dead made good His claim to be the Son of God, this love being apprehended by correct human reasoning. It rests on ground external to us, ground which our best judgment pronounces to be absolutely firm.

Again, Paul teaches in Romans 5:5 that our assurance of God’s love, although resting on well-attested historic fact, is wrought in us by the Holy Spirit; and in Romans 8:15 that the filial cry with which we give utterance to our assurance is the echo of His voice. Similarly, our consciousness of objects around us, while evoked in us by those objects, is conditioned by our life and intelligence. For the inanimate and the irrational are wholly or in great part unconscious of them. Just so, our assurance of future life is evoked in us by facts placed by history before our eyes and by words spoken in our ears, facts and words manifesting the eternal Nature and Purpose of God; and by the Holy Spirit who enables us to understand, and feel the force of the facts and the words. It has thus an historic and logical ground, and a spiritual source. Hence Paul is careful on the one hand to expound the meaning of the facts and the words, and on the other hand to pay homage to the Spirit who through the facts and the words gives us an assurance of future glory.

We can direct for a time our exclusive attention either to the historic and visible ground, or to the spiritual source, of our assurance. When we wish to prove how firm is the foundation on which our hope rests, we go to the cross and the empty grave and the promises. At other times, while resting in peace on this firm ground of hope, we acknowledge that whatever assurance we have of God’s present favour and of future blessedness is wrought in us by the indwelling Spirit. Thus in the Gospel by which God saves us and assures us of salvation we have that mysterious inter-penetration of spirit and form which is co-extensive with life. and especially with human life, as known to us. The spoken and written word is the outward form: the Holy Spirit is the inward and animating principle which pervades the word and gives to it life and power. For He is “the Spirit of the Truth:” John 14:17.

The process of assurance may be thus described. The Gospel proclaims that through the death of Christ God receives into His favour and family all who believe this good news. We have proof (see Diss. i.) that this proclamation is the voice of God. We therefore accept it as true; and venture to believe that God accepts into His favour all who believe it, and therefore ourselves. We thus come consciously into the number of those whose acquittal the Gospel proclaims. In the moment of our faith, God accepts us as righteous, adopts us as sons, and sends forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. The Spirit opens our mind to understand the meaning of the death of Christ, and thus makes known to us God’s love: and this revealed love assures us that the hope evoked by the promises will not deceive us. We now look up to God as our Father; and we find by happy experience that while we do so we have power to conquer our inveterate habits of sin. This victory we accept as further confirmation of the promise of life eternal.

V. 18. For I reckon-This verse gives the reason why he but now mentioned sufferings and glory. When that glory shall be revealed in us, then the sons of God will be revealed also.

Verse 18. For I reckon that the sufferings, &c.] If the glory that is to be revealed be the enjoyment of God himself, (see above,) then the sufferings of this life, which, when compared with eternity, are but as for a moment, are not worthy to be put in competition with this glory which shall be revealed in us. This case is perfectly clear.

Verses 17, 18. And if children, then heirs — Those that are really the children of God by adoption and grace, are not only under his peculiar direction, protection, and care, and shall be supplied with all things which God sees will be good for them; not only have they free liberty of access to God, and intercourse with God, as dutiful children have access to, and intercourse with, their father; but they are heirs of God — Heirs of the heavenly inheritance, and by the redemption of their bodies, being made immortal like God, they shall enjoy that inheritance. See note on 1 Peter 1:3. And joint-heirs with Christ — Entering into his joy, Matthew 25:21; sitting down on his throne, Revelation 3:21; partaking of his glory, John 17:22; Philippians 3:21; Colossians 3:4; 1 Corinthians 15:49; and inheriting all things, Revelation 21:7, jointly with him who is heir of all things, Hebrews 1:2. Only it must be observed, he is heir by nature, we by grace. If so be that we suffer with him — Willingly and cheerfully for righteousness’ sake: that is, we shall enjoy these glorious and heavenly blessings, provided we be willing, not only to deny ourselves all prohibited carnal gratifications, and to govern our lives by his precepts, but also to suffer with him whatever reproach, infamy, persecution, and other injuries we may be called to undergo, in conformity to him, for the honour of God, and the testimony of a good conscience; that we may be also glorified together — With him, which we cannot be in any other way than by suffering with him: he was glorified in this way, and so must we be. Here the apostle passes to a new proposition, on which he enlarges in the following verses; opening a source of consolation to the children of God in every age, by drinking at which they may not only refresh themselves under the severest sufferings, but derive new strength to bear them with fortitude. For I reckon, &c. — Here the apostle gives the reason why he now mentions sufferings and glory. When that glory shall be revealed in us, then the sons of God will be revealed also. That the sufferings of this present time — How long continued and great soever they may be; are not worthy to be compared — Or to be set in opposition to, or contrasted with, (as the original expression, axia ta paqhmata prov thn mellousan dozan, evidently implies,) the glory which shall be revealed in us — Which we shall then partake of, and the nature and greatness of which we shall then, and not before, fully understand. For it far exceeds our present most elevated conceptions, and can never be fully known till we see each other wear it. These privileges are a fifth motive to holiness.

Ver. 18. The glory which shall be revealed in us, when the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Matthew 13:43. The afflictions of the present life have a happy tendency to prepare us for higher glory in the world to come.

18. For—In illustration of the glorification just mentioned. Sufferings— Mentioned as being with Christ in verse 17. Those sufferings are not to be measured with that glorification. In us—A glory that will be made not only to beam from Christ, but to reveal itself within our celestial bodies. (Colossians 3:4; 1 John 3:2.)

ROMANS

SECTION 25 — OUR HOPE IS CONFIRMED BY

THE PRESENT STATE OF NATURE AND OF

OURSELVES CH. 8:18-27

For I reckon that the sufferings of the present season are of no worth in view of the glory which will be revealed for us. For the expectation of the Creation waits for the revelation of the sons of God. For to vanity was the Creation made subject, not willingly, but because of Him who made it subject, in hope that also the Creation itself will be made free from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole Creation groans together and is in travail together until now. And not only they but also ourselves who have the firstfruit of the Spirit, we also groan, ourselves within ourselves waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body. For in hope were we saved. But a hope seen is not hope. For that which one sees, why does he hope for? But if; what we do not see we hope for, with perseverance we wait for it. In the same way also the Spirit helps with our weakness. For what we are to pray for, according to what is needful, we know not. But the Spirit Itself intercedes for us with unspeakable groanings. But He that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, that according to the will of God He intercedes on behalf of saints.

Ver. 18. In Romans 8:17, Paul introduced two new thoughts, “suffer-together” and “glorified-together.” These he now expounds, and thus supports the implied exhortation to suffer with Christ. I reckon: a deliberate calculation, as in Romans 2:3. The present season: as in Romans 3:26.

Revealed: see under Romans 1:17.

Glory revealed: so 1 Peter 4:13; 5:1; cp. Colossians 3:4. The splendour awaiting the sons of God is now hidden from the eyes of themselves and of those around. But Christ will soon appear in splendour; and with His own splendour, before men and angels, He will clothe His brethren. Thus He and they will “be glorified together.” In the light of that glory, present afflictions are of no worth.

For us: purpose of this revelation, viz. to cover us with splendour.

V. 19. For the earnest expectation-The word denotes a lively hope of something drawing near, and a vehement longing after it. Of the creation-Of all visible creatures, believers excepted, who are spoken of apart; each kind, according as it is capable. All these have been sufferers through sin; and to all these (the finally impenitent excepted) shall refreshment redound from the glory of the children of God. Upright heathens are by no means to be excluded from this earnest expectation: nay, perhaps something of it may at some times be found even in the vainest of men; who (although in the hurry of life they mistake vanity for liberty, and partly stifle. partly dissemble, their groans, yet) in their sober, quiet, sleepless, afflicted hours, pour forth many sighs in the ear of God.

Verse 19. For the earnest expectation of the creature] There is considerable difficulty in this and the four following verses: and the difficulty lies chiefly in the meaning of the word h ktisiv, which we translate the creature, and creation. Some think that by it the brute creation is meant; others apply it to the Jewish people; others to the godly; others to the Gentiles; others to the good angels; and others to the fallen spirits, both angelic and human. Dissertations without end have been written on it; and it does not appear that the Christian world are come to any general agreement on the subject. Dr. Lightfoot’s mode of explanation appears to me to be the best, on the whole. “There is,” says he, “a twofold key hanging at this place, which may unlock the whole, and make the sense plain and easy.

1. The first is the phrase, pasa h ktisiv, which we render the whole creation, Romans 8:22, and with which we meet twice elsewhere in the New Testament. Mark 16:15: Preach the Gospel, pash th ktisei, to every creature; and Colossians 1:23: The Gospel was preached, en pash th ktisei, to every creature. Now it is sufficiently apparent what is meant by pasa ktisiv in both these places, viz. all nations, or the heathen world. For that which in St. Mark is, preach the Gospel to every creature, is, in St. Matthew, go and teach, panta ta eqnh, all nations. And this very phrase in this place lays claim to that very interpretation. And the Hebrew twyrbh lk col habberioth, which answers to the Greek pasa h ktisiv, every creature, is applied by the Jews to the Gentiles, and that by way of opposition to Israel.

2. The second key is the word mataiothti, Romans 8:20, which is not unfitly rendered vanity; but then this vanity is improperly applied to the vanishing, dying, changing state of the creation. For mataiothv, vanity, does not so much denote the vanishing condition of the outward state, as it does the inward vanity or emptiness of the mind. So the apostle, speaking of the Gentiles concerning whom he speaks here, tells us emataiwqhsan, They became vain in their imaginations, Romans 1:21; and again, The Gentiles walk en mataiothti, in the vanity of their mind, Ephesians 4:17; so also, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, oti eisi mataioi, that they are vain, 1 Corinthians 3:20. To all which let me add this farther observation, that throughout this whole place the apostle seems to allude to the bondage of the Israelites in Egypt, and their deliverance from it; with a comparison made betwixt the Jewish and the Gentile Church. When God would deliver Israel from his bondage, he challenges him for his Son, and his first-born, Exodus 4:22. And in like manner the Gentiles earnestly expect and wait for such a kind of manifestation of the sons of God, within and among themselves. The Romans, to whom the apostle writes, knew well how many predictions and promises it had pleased God to publish by his prophets, concerning gathering together and adopting sons to himself among the Gentiles; the manifestation of which sons the whole Gentile world with a neck as it were stretched out, as the word apokaradokia implies, (apo, from, and kara, the head, and dokaw, to expect,) doth now wait for.” See the observations at the end of this chapter.

Verse 19. For the earnest expectation, &c. — “This and the following verses,” says Dr. Doddridge, “have been generally, and not without reason, accounted as difficult as any part of this epistle. This difficulty has perhaps been something increased, by rendering ktisiv creation in one clause, and creature in another. To explain it as chiefly referring to the brutal or inanimate creation, is insufferable; since the day of the redemption of our bodies will be attended with the conflagration which will put an end to them. The interpretation, therefore, by which Dr. Whitby and others refer it to the Gentile world, is much preferable to this. But, on the whole, I think it gives a much sublimer and nobler sense, to suppose it a bold prosopopœia, by which, on account of the calamity sin brought and continued on the whole unevangelized world, it is represented as looking out with eager expectation, for such a remedy and relief as the gospel brings; by the prevalence of which human nature would be rescued from vanity and corruption, and inferior creatures from tyranny and abuse. If this be allowed to be the meaning of these three verses, the gradation in the twenty-third will be much more intelligible than on any other scheme that I know.” The paragraph is understood in nearly, if not altogether, the same sense by Locke and Macknight, who advance divers convincing reasons to show that it is the true mode of interpretation; which accordingly is here adopted. The earnest expectation — The word apokaradokia, thus rendered, as Mr. Blackwall observes, signifies the lifting of the head and the stretching of the body, as far as possible, to hear and see something very agreeable, or of great importance. It is therefore fitly used here to denote very great earnestness of desire and expectation; of the creature — That is, of mankind in general, which the word ktisiv, in the language of Paul and of the New Testament, frequently signifies, and especially, says Locke, the Gentile world. See Colossians 1:23; Mark 16:15; compared with Matthew 28:19; waiteth — Apekdecetai, looketh for, as the same word is translated, Philippians 3:20); the manifestation — Apokaluyin, revelation; of the sons of God — That happy time when God shall appear more openly to avow them, and that reproach and distress shall be rolled away, under which they are now disguised and concealed. “Though the Gentiles in particular knew nothing of the revelation of the sons of God, the apostle calls their looking for a resurrection from the dead, a looking for that revelation; because the sons of God are to be revealed, by their being raised with incorruptible and immortal bodies. Further, it is here insinuated that the pious Gentiles comforted themselves under the miseries of life, by that hope of immortality, and of the resurrection, which they entertained. At the fall, God declared his purpose of rendering the malice of the devil, in bringing death on the human species, ineffectual, and therefore gave mankind not only the hope of a future life, but of the resurrection of the body, as the apostle intimates, verse 21. And that hope, preserved in the world by tradition, may have been the foundation of the earnest desire of the Gentiles here taken notice of.” — Macknight. Or rather the passage, as Doddridge observes, is to be considered as a prosopopœia, as is observed on verse 19.

Ver. 19. The earnest expectation of the creature, longing, looking, and waiting with solicitude: ktisewv, is illustrated in Mark 16:15, where the same word occurs. “Preach the gospel to every creature.” The word has the same import in Colossians 1:23. “The gospel — preached to every creature which is under heaven;” that is, in the whole Roman world. It is of the more importance to examine this word, because it determines the sense in which the Roman christians, however revolting to the jews, were foreknown, and called to the glorious liberty of the children of God. Nine out of ten of the ancients interpret this of all nations. The whole gentile world is therefore evidently understood, conformably to all that the holy prophets had spoken of their call to coëqual privileges with the jews in the Messiah’s kingdom. They once knew God in the Noachial covenant, and in the original promise of the woman’s Seed. It is true, the Hope is now lost among the wandering hordes and tribes; yet the Sibyls, wide as the world, retained it in their verses; and their sacred fables, which disguise the glory of their expectation, still retain it.

19. For—In explanation of this inrevealed glory. Earnest expectation— The expressive Greek word implies an eager stretching forward of the head to watch the future. The creature—The created. The Greek word may designate any created thing or being, or the whole creation as one. Hence the term has been a battle-ground for critics, six of whose various opinions are given by Alford as to the present application of the term. Without discussing them in detail we give our own view, which slightly varies from any one of them.

In the present verse Paul applies the word primarily, we think, to himself and his fellow-Christians. He means the creature nature in us, (verse 18,) as part of the creation, yet as human beings, and including essentially all humanity. That the human creature, the creature in humanity, is meant, is clearly evinced by the ascription of personal qualities, as expectation, waiteth willingly. This also consistently continues the subjective style of verses 16, 17, where our personal sufferings are contrasted with our own future glory. So Paul (ver. 13) uses the word the flesh, and the body, as a general term, indeed, yet now considered specially as ours. As creature we (the suffering us of the last verse) look forward to the promised renovation. This subjective sense continues until in verse 22 Paul momentarily takes in the whole creation, and then returns to his fellow-Christians (and himself) exclusively, (verse 23.)

Manifestation—At the final renovation, the sons of God will be made manifest by their renewal in the glorious likeness of Christ, (verse 30.) For this as creature they wait.

Ver. 19. Further account of this glory.

Creation: same word as creature in Romans 8:39; Romans 1:25; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Hebrews 4:13. It denotes both the act of creating and the whole or any part of that which is created: so Romans 1:20; Mark 10:6; 13:19; Colossians 1:15, 23; 1 Peter 2:13: cp. 2 Corinthians 5:17. In each case, the precise meaning is determined by the context. Here, the Creation is distinguished from the sons of God; and therefore does not include them. The words made subject to vanity and groan in Romans 8:20 exclude happy spirits of other worlds. The liberation foretold in Romans 8:21 excludes bad angels and those who finally reject the Gospel: for Paul teaches constantly, e.g. Romans 2:12; Philippians 3:19; 2 Thessalonians 1:9, that their end is destruction. It therefore remains that the Creation here denotes the entire world around us, living and lifeless, man alone excepted; what we call Nature, this looked upon as a work of God. The same word is used in the same sense in Wisdom v. 17; xvi. 24; xix. 6. This interpretation has been adopted, with slight modifications, by a majority of writers of all ages. Revelation: recalling the word revealed in Romans 8:18. The sons of God: recalling Romans 8:14. They are now in disguise; and Christ is hidden from their sight. When He appears, their glory and therefore their true character and position will be made known to themselves, to men, and to angels. For that revelation of their glory, they wait with eager expectation: literally, waiting with outstretched head, as though listening for the footstep of the Revealer. This expectant attitude of Nature is here personified, as a witness to the glory awaiting the sons of God.

V. 20. The creation was made subject to vanity-Abuse, misery, and corruption.

By him who subjected it-Namely, God, Genesis 3:17; 5:29. Adam only made it liable to the sentence which God pronounced; yet not without hope.

Verse 20. For the creature was made subject to vanity] The Gentile world were subject to vanity of mind; but how? not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same. May we not say, it became vain willingly, but was made subject to vanity unwillingly? For, let us recur to the origin of Gentilism, the confusion of languages, by reason of the attempt to build the tower of Babel; and though there are some passages in the gloss of the Targumists upon this matter that are sufficiently ridiculous, yet as to their scope and design they are worthy of notice. “They said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, and let its head reach unto the top of heaven; and let us make a house of worship in the top of it; and let us put a sword in his hand that he may wage war for us against our enemies, before we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” It is an ancient tradition among the Jews, that this tower was built on an idolatrous account. The confusion of tongues, by which true religion was lost in the world, is a proof that the builders of this tower sinned against God in the highest degree. They were inclined to vanity, i.e. idolatry, WILLINGLY; but they were subjected to vanity UNWILLINGLY; for this proceeded from the just indignation and vengeance of God. From this time the world lay under heathenism till the bringing in of the Gospel, upwards of 2000 years after. See Lightfoot.

Verses 20, 21. For the creature was made subject to vanity — Mankind in general, and the whole visible creation, lost their original beauty, glory, and felicity; a sad change passed on man, and his place of abode; the whole face of nature was obscured, and all creatures were subjected to vanity and wretchedness in a variety of forms. “Every thing seems perverted from its intended use: the inanimate creatures are pressed into man’s rebellion; the luminaries of the heaven give him light by which to work wickedness; the fruits of the earth are sacrificed to his luxury, intemperance, and ostentation; its bowels are ransacked for metals, from which arms are forged, for public and private murder and revenge; or to gratify his avarice, and excite him to fraud, oppression, and war. The animal tribes are subject to pain and death through man’s sin, and their sufferings are exceedingly increased by his cruelty, who, instead of a kind master, is become their inhuman butcher and tyrant. So that every thing is in an unnatural state: the good creatures of God appear evil, through man’s abuse of them; and even the enjoyment originally to be found in them is turned into vexation, bitterness, and disappointment, by his idolatrous love of them, and expectation from them.” — Scott. “Vanity,” says Macknight, “denotes mortality or corruption, verse 21, and all the miseries of the present life. These the apostle expresses by vanity, in allusion to Psalms 89:47Psalm 89:47, where the psalmist, speaking of the same subject, says, Why hast thou made all men in vain? The truth is, if we consider the noble faculties with which man is endowed, and compare them with the occupations of the present life, many of which are frivolous in themselves, and in their effects of short duration, we shall be sensible that the character which Solomon has given of them is just: Vanity of vanities! all is vanity. And if so excellent a creature as man was designed for nothing but to employ the few years of this life in these low occupations, and after that to lose his existence, he would really be made in vain.” Not willingly — Mankind are not made mortal and miserable on account of their own offence, or the personal misconduct of those who are most deeply affected with it; but by him who subjected them — Namely, God; who, for the offence of the first man, adjudged them to this state of suffering and vanity, Genesis 3:17- 19; verse 29. In hope, &c. — Nevertheless, they were not by that sentence doomed always to remain subject to that vanity and misery; but a ground of hope is afforded; because, oti, that, the creature itself — Namely, mankind especially; shall be delivered — Eleuqerwqhsetai, shall be set free; from the bondage of corruption — From the state of vanity and misery by which they now abuse themselves, and the inferior creatures, and from the mortality, the dread of which made them subject to bondage all their lives. Into the glorious liberty of the children of God — The glorious freedom which the children of God partly enjoy, and shall enjoy more fully, when all the former things are passed away. It is certain the whole creation would be made inconceivably more happy than it is, if that blessed dispensation by which we are introduced into God’s family, and taught to do our utmost to diffuse good to all around us, were universally to prevail. But the bondage of corruption, being here opposed to the freedom of the glory (as the words eleuqerian thv doxhv literally signify) of the children of God, must especially signify the destruction of the body by death, and the continuation of it in the grave, and of course the freedom of the glory must signify its resurrection and immortality. When this is effected, “Satan, sin, death, misery, and all wicked creatures, will be consigned to hell; and the rest of God’s creation will appear glorious, pure, beautiful, orderly, and happy; in every respect answering the end for which it was formed, and in nothing abused to contrary purposes. See Revelation 20:11-15; 21:1-4. The sufferings of animals, though very many and grievous, yet being unfeared and transient, are doubtless overbalanced by their enjoyments; and to infer an individual resurrection of all or any of them from this passage, is surely one of the wildest reveries which ever entered into the mind of a thinking man. The happy effects produced by the gospel, when extensively successful, even in this present world, may be considered as earnests of the glorious scene of which the apostle speaks: but the general resurrection, and the state which follows, were especially, and indeed exclusively meant, for then only will the children of God be manifested as such, and be separated from all others.” — Scott.

Ver. 20. The creature was made subject to vanity. Mataiothti indicates not only to fade away and return to dust, as the flower of the field, but also to be beguiled by Satan to walk in the vanity of their mind, and become vain in their imagination. Romans 1:21. Ephesians 1:17. Likening the Godhead to gold and silver, to birds, beasts, and creeping things. Not willingly, for man wishes the perfection of his nature, and the blissful hope of immortality. This decay and subjection to vanity is the effect of the sentence passed upon him for sin, and grievously augmented by the common enemy of his salvation.

20. To vanity—To a mortal perishableness in contrast both to Adamic immortality and future glorification.

Not willingly—By the primal sentence, against all its own upward aspirations, (Genesis 3:17-19.) The word willingly implies that it is not the material or the animal creation that is described, but the human in general, though the Christian is the special subject. By reason of him— Said reverentially of God. Man is subjected to vanity under the laws of material nature on account of God’s primeval sentence upon the race for sin. In hope, through a promised renovator, (Genesis 3:15,) of the final renovation.

Ver. 20.-21. These verses justify the hope implied in Romans 8:19. Vanity: producing no worthy result: cp. Romans 1:21. Made-subject to vanity: condemned to useless toil. Nature brings forth thorns and thistles: and, although with these are mingled objects of use and beauty, on all is the doom of decay. So Romans 8:21: the bondage of corruption. This fruitless effort was not Nature’s original destiny, but was a result of man’s sin: Genesis 3:17, 18. It was thus in some sense forced upon Nature. And this Paul expresses, keeping up his personification, by saying that Nature submits to it

not willingly. Because of Him who subjected: in obedience to the decree of Him who said (Genesis 3:18) “thorns and thistles etc.” In hope that: a prospect of deliverance involved in this sad decree. Bondage of corruption: by the necessary decay of its products, Nature is prevented from putting forth its powers, from manifesting its real grandeur, and from attaining its original destiny. All that Nature brings forth is doomed to die. And it is compelled to slay its own offspring. The lightning-flash destroys the stately oak: the winter’s cold kills the songsters of the summer: and animals devour other animals to maintain life. This universal destruction limits the achievements of Nature. Instead of sustained growth, its beauty and strength fade away. The powers of the material Creation are bound in fetters of decay. That this bondage was not Nature’s original destiny, but was laid upon it by God because of man’s sin, suggests to Paul a hope that

Nature itself will be made free, that it will share the freedom awaiting the children of God. This liberation from everything which would hinder their full development belongs to the glory (see Romans 8:17, 18) which will be revealed for them.

V. 21. The creation itself shall be delivered-Destruction is not deliverance: therefore whatsoever is destroyed, or ceases to be, is not delivered at all. Will, then, any part of the creation be destroyed? Into the glorious liberty-The excellent state wherein they were created.

Verse 21. Because the creature] This and the preceding verse should be thus connected: in hope THAT (oti) the creature itself also shall be delivered. The word fqora denotes, very frequently, sinful corruption. So, 2 Peter 1:4: Corruption through lust, thv en epiqumia fqorav. 2 Corinthians 11:3: Lest your minds should be corrupted. 1 Corinthians 15:33: Evil communications corrupt good manners. The sense, therefore, of the apostle in this place seems to be: the Gentile world shall, in time, be delivered from the bondage of their sinful corruption, i.e. the bondage of their lusts and vile affections; and be brought into such a noble liberty as the sons of God enjoy.

Verses 20, 21. For the creature was made subject to vanity — Mankind in general, and the whole visible creation, lost their original beauty, glory, and felicity; a sad change passed on man, and his place of abode; the whole face of nature was obscured, and all creatures were subjected to vanity and wretchedness in a variety of forms. “Every thing seems perverted from its intended use: the inanimate creatures are pressed into man’s rebellion; the luminaries of the heaven give him light by which to work wickedness; the fruits of the earth are sacrificed to his luxury, intemperance, and ostentation; its bowels are ransacked for metals, from which arms are forged, for public and private murder and revenge; or to gratify his avarice, and excite him to fraud, oppression, and war. The animal tribes are subject to pain and death through man’s sin, and their sufferings are exceedingly increased by his cruelty, who, instead of a kind master, is become their inhuman butcher and tyrant. So that every thing is in an unnatural state: the good creatures of God appear evil, through man’s abuse of them; and even the enjoyment originally to be found in them is turned into vexation, bitterness, and disappointment, by his idolatrous love of them, and expectation from them.” — Scott. “Vanity,” says Macknight, “denotes mortality or corruption, verse 21, and all the miseries of the present life. These the apostle expresses by vanity, in allusion to Psalms 89:47Psalm 89:47, where the psalmist, speaking of the same subject, says, Why hast thou made all men in vain? The truth is, if we consider the noble faculties with which man is endowed, and compare them with the occupations of the present life, many of which are frivolous in themselves, and in their effects of short duration, we shall be sensible that the character which Solomon has given of them is just: Vanity of vanities! all is vanity. And if so excellent a creature as man was designed for nothing but to employ the few years of this life in these low occupations, and after that to lose his existence, he would really be made in vain.” Not willingly — Mankind are not made mortal and miserable on account of their own offence, or the personal misconduct of those who are most deeply affected with it; but by him who subjected them — Namely, God; who, for the offence of the first man, adjudged them to this state of suffering and vanity, Genesis 3:17- 19; verse 29. In hope, &c. — Nevertheless, they were not by that sentence doomed always to remain subject to that vanity and misery; but a ground of hope is afforded; because, oti, that, the creature itself — Namely, mankind especially; shall be delivered — Eleuqerwqhsetai, shall be set free; from the bondage of corruption — From the state of vanity and misery by which they now abuse themselves, and the inferior creatures, and from the mortality, the dread of which made them subject to bondage all their lives. Into the glorious liberty of the children of God — The glorious freedom which the children of God partly enjoy, and shall enjoy more fully, when all the former things are passed away. It is certain the whole creation would be made inconceivably more happy than it is, if that blessed dispensation by which we are introduced into God’s family, and taught to do our utmost to diffuse good to all around us, were universally to prevail. But the bondage of corruption, being here opposed to the freedom of the glory (as the words eleuqerian thv doxhv literally signify) of the children of God, must especially signify the destruction of the body by death, and the continuation of it in the grave, and of course the freedom of the glory must signify its resurrection and immortality. When this is effected, “Satan, sin, death, misery, and all wicked creatures, will be consigned to hell; and the rest of God’s creation will appear glorious, pure, beautiful, orderly, and happy; in every respect answering the end for which it was formed, and in nothing abused to contrary purposes. See Revelation 20:11-15; 21:1-4. The sufferings of animals, though very many and grievous, yet being unfeared and transient, are doubtless overbalanced by their enjoyments; and to infer an individual resurrection of all or any of them from this passage, is surely one of the wildest reveries which ever entered into the mind of a thinking man. The happy effects produced by the gospel, when extensively successful, even in this present world, may be considered as earnests of the glorious scene of which the apostle speaks: but the general resurrection, and the state which follows, were especially, and indeed exclusively meant, for then only will the children of God be manifested as such, and be separated from all others.” — Scott.

Ver. 21. The glorious liberty of the children of God, when the Messiah’s seed shall be numerous as the drops of morning dew. Psalm 110. These, being children of the kingdom, are adorned with gifts, and with the inward glory of holiness. From the beginning they have received the Holy Spirit in all his gracious influences, and in the earnests and hope of eternal glory.

21. Because—Or, rather, that. In hope that. The creature itself—Or rather, this same creature, and not merely the successive generations of nature.

Ver. 20.-21. These verses justify the hope implied in Romans 8:19. Vanity: producing no worthy result: cp. Romans 1:21. Made-subject to vanity: condemned to useless toil. Nature brings forth thorns and thistles: and, although with these are mingled objects of use and beauty, on all is the doom of decay. So Romans 8:21: the bondage of corruption. This fruitless effort was not Nature’s original destiny, but was a result of man’s sin: Genesis 3:17, 18. It was thus in some sense forced upon Nature. And this Paul expresses, keeping up his personification, by saying that Nature submits to it

not willingly. Because of Him who subjected: in obedience to the decree of Him who said (Genesis 3:18) “thorns and thistles etc.” In hope that: a prospect of deliverance involved in this sad decree. Bondage of corruption: by the necessary decay of its products, Nature is prevented from putting forth its powers, from manifesting its real grandeur, and from attaining its original destiny. All that Nature brings forth is doomed to die. And it is compelled to slay its own offspring. The lightning-flash destroys the stately oak: the winter’s cold kills the songsters of the summer: and animals devour other animals to maintain life. This universal destruction limits the achievements of Nature. Instead of sustained growth, its beauty and strength fade away. The powers of the material Creation are bound in fetters of decay. That this bondage was not Nature’s original destiny, but was laid upon it by God because of man’s sin, suggests to Paul a hope that

Nature itself will be made free, that it will share the freedom awaiting the children of God. This liberation from everything which would hinder their full development belongs to the glory (see Romans 8:17, 18) which will be revealed for them.

V. 22. For the whole creation groaneth together-With joint groans, as it were with one voice.

And travaileth-Literally, is in the pains of childbirth, to be delivered of the burden of the curse.

Until now-To this very hour; and so on till the time of deliverance.

Verse 22. The whole creation groaneth and travaileth] If it be inquired how the Gentile world groaned and travailed in pain; let them who explain this of the fabric of the material world, tell us how that groans and travails? They must needs own it to be a borrowed and allusive phrase: but in the sense above given, the very literal construction may be admitted.

Verse 22. For we know that the whole creation — Ever since the first apostacy of our nature from God; groaneth — Suffers a variety of miseries; and travaileth — Sunwdinei, literally, is in the pains of childbirth, to be delivered from the burden of the curse; until now — To this very hour, and so on to the time of deliverance. “According to some commentators, the words pasa h ktisiv denote the whole creatures of God, animate and inanimate, which, as they were cursed for the sin of the first man, may, by a beautiful rhetorical figure, be represented as groaning together under that curse, and earnestly wishing to be delivered from it. Such figures indeed are not unusual in Scripture. See Psalms 96:12Psalm 96:12; 98:8. Nevertheless, verse 21, where it is said that the creature itself shall be delivered, &c., into the glorious liberty of the children of God; and the antithesis, verse 23, not only they, but ourselves also, show that the apostle is speaking, not of the brute and inanimate creation but of mankind, and of their earnest desire of immortality. For these reasons, and especially because (Mark 16:15) preach the gospel, pash th ktisei, means, to every human creature, I think the same expression in this verse, and h ktisiv in the preceding verses, signify mankind in general, Jews as well as Gentiles. The same expression, also, Colossians 1:23, signifies every human creature.” — Macknight.

22. For—This is true of us Christians, in a measure, not only as human creatures, but as part of the whole creation, so that 22 and 23 are a more explicit statement of the unity herein of the Christian with the creation. Whole creation—Individual suffering is in unison with universal suffering. All animated nature is groaning. All physical nature is scarred with past convulsions, and puts forth its thorny luxuriance as if groaning under the primeval curse. Travaileth—Its pains are, however, not merely of death, but also of birth. It is as if nature were a mother struggling to bring forth a fresh and new creation. This is, however, the only intimation that the passage contains of any renovation beyond that of the sons of God. It intimates nothing of an immortality or resurrection of beasts. Of such a renovation of the world, not only the Jews, but other oriental nations, cherished an expectation. Nor does geology, as some suppose, exclude the supposition. That science discloses wondrous revolutions and stages through which the earth has passed in past ages. The most wonderful, surpassing in some respects most of the miracles of Scripture, was the introduction of animal life. And geology reveals some great changes as sudden. Of life it may be said that it was a suspension of all previous laws, by the interposition of a new power in the world. When life forms or enters an organism, the ordinary course of chemical affinities is arrested; when that interposition is withdrawn, “the lower law by which the particles of matter seek their natural affinity resumes its reign.” This seems a shadow of the interposition in nature of the still higher Power by which still higher arrangements will be established, which, though miracles to our present order, will be natural to the new state, and natural as accordant with the laws of God’s universe.

Ver. 22. A well-known ground for Paul’s hope that Nature will be made free: for we know etc.

Groans-together and is-in-travail-together: one united cry of sorrow and one great anguish. Every voice in Nature which reminds us of its bondage to corruption, Paul conceives to be a cry of sorrow. The storm which wreaks destruction, and the roar of the hungry lion, tell that the original purpose of the Creator has been perverted, and that Nature is not what He designed it to be.

The whole Creation… until now: a cry universal and unceasing. Since Nature’s disorganization is a result of man’s sin, Paul infers that it will not last for ever, and that the confusion and destruction around, so inconsistent with the character and purpose of the Creator, will give way to order and liberty. In other words, he can account for the present anomalous state of Nature only by supposing it to be temporary, to be preparatory to something more consistent with its original destiny. He therefore speaks of Nature’s agony as travail, as pangs soon and suddenly to cease at the birth of a new earth and heaven. Cp. John 16:21.

Notice that Paul, when speaking of future glory, adopts the thoughts and words of the old prophets: cp. Psalms 98:8Psalm 98:8; Isaiah 55:12, 13. We have here another proof (cp. Romans 1:20) of Paul’s careful contemplation of the material world. For important coincidences, see Acts 14:17; 17:24. The argument also involves the teaching in Romans 5:12-14 that death is a consequence of sin. If the above exposition be correct, Romans 8:19-22 suggest very clearly that the earth beneath our feet, rescued from the curse of sin, will be our eternal home: cp. Acts 3:21; Revelation 21:1. This implies the permanence of matter. Just as the sin of man’s spirit brought a curse on his body, so it brought a curse also upon the greater dwelling-place of the entire race. And, just as the body will some day share the liberation which the spirit already enjoys, so will also the world around. Thus, in the teaching of Paul, are the fortunes of the material world indissolubly joined to those of its chief inhabitant, man.

The above teaching of Paul, it I have correctly understood it, lies open to objection even more serious than that referred to under Romans 5:12: for it implies that even animals die because Adam sinned. This conflicts with assured results of Natural Science. But possibly this apparent discrepancy arises from a deeper truth beyond the ken of Natural Science, viz. that the entire visible universe was designed for man and his moral education, and is therefore subservient to his destiny. This would explain many marks of imperfection in the world around. And it could be apprehended in Paul’s day only in some such form as lies before us in these verses.

V. 23. And even we, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit-That is, the Spirit, who is the first-fruits of our inheritance.

The adoption-Persons who had been privately adopted among the Romans were often brought forth into the forum, and there publicly owned as their sons by those who adopted them. So at the general resurrection, when the body itself is redeemed from death, the sons of God shall be publicly owned by him in the great assembly of men and angels. The redemption of our body-From corruption to glory and immortality.

Verse 23. And not only they, but ourselves also] Neither the Gentiles only, but we Jews also, (however we belong to a nation envious of the heathen,) to whom God hath granted the first fruits of the Spirit; we sigh among ourselves for their sakes, waiting for the adoption; that is, the redemption of our mystical body, whereof the Gentiles make a very great part. Lightfoot’s works. vol. ii. p. 359 and 707.

The scope and design of St. Paul in these verses may be thus summed up:-The apostle shows that the whole creation is in a suffering state, into which it has been brought by the disobedience of one man, Adam; therefore, it was made subject to vanity-pain, sickness, and death; not willingly, for mankind had no part in that transgression which “brought death into the world and all our wo;” but God subjected the whole, purposing to afford them a deliverance and infusing into every heart a hope that a more auspicious era should take place; and it is through the influence of this hope, which every man possesses, that the present ills are so patiently borne, because all are expecting better days. The great deliverer is the Messiah, and the Gospel days the auspicious era which God intended to bring forward. They who believe in Christ with a heart unto righteousness are freed from the bondage of their sinful corruption, and brought into the glorious liberty of the sons of God; and they look forward with joyous expectation, waiting for the general resurrection, when their bodies also shall be redeemed from corruption, and the whole man, body and soul, be adopted into the family of heaven ABOVE, as their souls had been previously adopted into the family of faith BELOW. And although it may be said that the redemption provided by the Gospel can not be an object of hope to those who have never heard of it; yet, as every man has hope, and this hope is inspired by God for this very purpose; that it may be the means of supporting them in the ills of life, and God, in inspiring it, had respect to the glorious state of Christianity, therefore it is this state, in effect, that the whole creation are longing for. So Jesus Christ is said, by the Prophet Haggai, Haggai 2:7, to be the desire of all nations; and yet not one of the nations of the earth had, at that time, heard of him. And thus, as Dr. Whitby has very properly remarked, “desire and expectation are ascribed to creatures, in reference to things they want, and which tend to their advantage; notwithstanding they explicitly know nothing of them.”

Verse 23. And not only they — The unenlightened and unrenewed part of mankind; but we ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit — Because first-fruits signify the best things of their kind, some think that the apostles, and such as possessed the most excellent spiritual gifts, are spoken of in this passage. But as the privileges described verses 24-26 equally belong to all, it seems more probable that the apostle speaks of believers in general, who had the gifts of the Spirit bestowed on them as first-fruits, or as the earnest of those greater virtues and spiritual endowments, which they shall enjoy in heaven. Even we groan within ourselves — Under many remaining imperfections, and a variety of miseries; waiting for the adoption — For the public and open display of our adoption; to wit, the redemption of our body — From dust and death to glory and immortality, when our heavenly Father shall bring us forth before the eyes of the whole world, habited and adorned as becomes his children. Persons who had been privately adopted among the Romans, were often brought forth into the forum, and there publicly owned as the sons of those who had adopted them. So at the general resurrection, when the body itself is redeemed from death, the sons of God shall be publicly owned by him in the great assembly of men and angels. Thus our Lord, Luke 20:26, terms those who shall be accounted worthy to obtain the heavenly world, the children of God, because they are the children of the resurrection; they being hereby manifestly shown to be his children. The apostle therefore had good reason to call the redemption of our body from death, the adoption. Besides, it is that by which the saints are enabled, as the children of God, to inherit the kingdom of their Father.

Ver. 23. The redemption of our body, which shall put the perfect man in full possession of his hope, as described in 1 Corinthians 15:53. The Greek word imports the price of our redemption, as Erasmus notes. Unseen things are all realities.

23. Not only they—Rather, it, referring to the whole creation. Ourselves—What was true of man’s creaturely nature, and even of the whole creation, was true of Paul and his fellow-Christians, with this specialty, that what was in others a waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, was in them something infinitely better, namely, a waiting for the redemption of OUR body.

Ver. 23. Another confirmatory fact. Not only does the whole Creation groan, waiting for liberation, but also ourselves groan, waiting for adoption and redemption.

Firstfruit: same word in Romans 11:16; 16:5; 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23; 16:15; James 1:18; Revelation 14:4. In Deuteronomy 26:2, 10; Numbers 18:12, 13, etc., it denotes first-ripe fruit or grain, of which a part was to be given to God. The Holy Spirit received by Paul and his readers was a firstfruit in a double sense, in reference to the greater number who will afterwards receive the same, as in the passages quoted above, and in reference to the greater blessings in the future of which the present gift of the Spirit is a pledge. The usage of the N.T. favours the former reference here. The truth embodied in the latter reference finds expression in “the earnest of the Spirit” in 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:14, and may possibly be in Paul’s thought here. The words before us remind the readers of their happy lot in being among the first to receive salvation.

We groan: a close parallel in 2 Corinthians 5:2, 4, where again we have the Spirit as an “earnest” of better things. It recalls the groaning of Nature in Romans 8:22.

Ourselves within ourselves: conspicuously asserting the inwardness and the felt intensity of this groaning.

Waiting-for: as in Romans 8:19. Our groaning is a yearning for something to come, prompted not merely by present burden but by the contrast of present and future.

Adoption: the legal ceremony by which a child passed formally into the family of the adopting father. See under Romans 8:15. Virtually we are already sons of God, and already with filial confidence we call Him Father: but we wait for the time when we shall be formally and publicly brought into our Father’s house, clothed in the raiment of sons, and made to sit down beside the Firstborn Son.

Redemption: a setting free on payment of a price, as in Romans 3:24. But there the emphasis was on the price, viz. the blood (Romans 3:25) of Christ: here it is on the liberation, as in Luke 21:28; Ephesians 1:14; 4:30.

Of our body: its rescue from death and the grave. Not only Nature but even the bodies in which the Holy Spirit dwells, making them His temple, are held fast by fetters of decay. But they have been purchased by the death of Christ and therefore will be rescued from the grave. Since the body is an integral part of us, not till it is rescued will our redemption be complete. Therefore, under the burdens of the present life arising from the needs and weakness of the body, knowing that we can enter our full glory only by rescue of our body, our groaning assumes the form of a yearning for its rescue.

V. 24. For we are saved by hope-Our salvation is now only in hope. We do not yet possess this full salvation.

Verse 24. For we are saved by hope] We are supported and are comfortable in the expectation we have of receiving from the hand of our God all the good we need in the troubles and adversities of this life, and of having our bodies raised from corruption and death at the general resurrection.

Hope that is seen is not hope] As hope signifies the expectation of future good, so it necessarily supposes that the object of it is not seen, i.e. not enjoyed; for to see, in Scripture language, sometimes signifies to enjoy, as in Job 7:7: Mine eye shall no more SEE (margin, ENJOY) good. Job 9:25: My days flee away, and SEE no good; i.e. enjoy no prosperity. Psalms 50:23Psalm 50:23: I will SHOW the salvation of God: I will give that man to enjoy my salvation who walks uprightly. Matthew 5:8: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall SEE God; that is, they shall enjoy his favour and blessing. See also John 3:36; Hebrews 12:14, and 1 John 3:2. The hope that is seen, that is, enjoyed, is no longer hope, it is fruition: and a man cannot hope for that which he has in his possession.

Verses 24, 25. For we are saved by hope — That is, our salvation is now only in hope; we do not yet possess the full salvation; but hope that is seen is not hope — Hope here, by a usual metonymy, is put for the object of hope; and in Scripture, to see, often signifies to enjoy, and sometimes to suffer. The meaning here is, the thing hoped for, when actually enjoyed, is no longer the object of hope. But if, or since, we hope for that we see not — That is, which we do not enjoy; then do we — Naturally and usually; with patience wait for it — Especially if the object of our hope be very excellent and necessary for us, attainable by us, and assured to us in this way. Thus, if our hope of the heavenly inheritance, valuable beyond all we can express or conceive, be strong and lively, it will produce in us a patient waiting till God’s time be come to put us in possession of it, and in the mean while will render us willing to bear the intervening troubles contentedly.

24. For—The apostle now shows the reason why, according to the law and plan of our probation, this glorious consummation is placed in the distance beyond this scene of groaning and corruption. We are saved by hope—Our salvation takes place only on condition of our expectation, and hope looks faithfully forward and upward. Such are our probationary requisites, and these in their very nature require distance and an unseen future. (See note on John 16:7-15.) For hope—The hope-object that is seen, by being present and possessed, is not a hope-object, and so precludes the exertion of hope. Why—Or rather, how. Hope, and sight or fruition, are incompatible.

Ver. 24.-25. Explains the contrast between the present hardships and the future glory of the sons of God. Our position is one of hope, not possession.

We were saved: cp. Ephesians 2:5, 8: already rescued from the punishment and the present power of our past sins. This salvation has been described in Romans 6:22. Until the conflict of life is over, and until the body is rescued from the grave, it is incomplete: and therefore in this sense salvation is in Romans 5:9, 10; 13:11 spoken of as still future. In 1 Corinthians 1:18; 2 Corinthians 2:15, it is spoken of as a process now going on. These are three modes of looking at the same deliverance.

In hope, or by hope: our rescue holds before us a prospect of better things to come. Cp. 1 Peter 1:3. Now the very nature of hope involves absence of things hoped for:

a hope seen is not hope. This last statement is sufficiently proved by asking a question:

that which a man sees, why does he hope for? The alternative reading given in R.V. and by Westcott (texts) does not affect the sense. Seen… sees… we see: as in 2 Corinthians 4:18. After showing the incompatibility of hope and sight, Paul states, in Romans 8:25, the believer’s actual attitude.

Perseverance: as in Romans 2:7; 5:4.

We-wait-for it: recalling Romans 8:19, 23, and a dominant thought of Romans 8:18-25. A brave holding up and going forward in spite of hardship and enemies, in prospect of blessing to come, is the normal attitude of men whose position is one, not of possession, but of hope.

Verse 25. But if we hope for that we see not] If we have a well-grounded expectation of our resurrection and final glorification, knowing that such things are necessarily future, and must for a certain time be delayed; then do we patiently wait for them, continue patiently to endure the common ills of life, and whatever tribulations we may be exposed to in consequence of our Christian profession; for we know, FAITHFUL is he who has promised. Hope is a sort of universal blessing, and one of the greatest which God has granted to man. To mankind, in general, life would be intolerable without it; and it is as necessary as faith is even to the followers of God. The ancients have a very instructive and elegant fable concerning it. “Prometheus having made a human body, went up to heaven, and stole some celestial fire to animate it: Jupiter, incensed at the theft, sent down Pandora, with a box full of diseases and plagues of every kind, as an ensnaring present to Prometheus; but he refused to accept it. Epimetheus took and opened it, and instantly all those diseases, &c., by which mankind have been made miserable, flew out, and spread themselves over the whole earth; and only HOPE remained at the bottom of the box.” This fable explains itself, as to its main design. Men find life, with its various and unavoidable ills, only supportable by the hope they have of not only getting safely through them, but of enjoying a state of blessedness in the end. Hope is still at the bottom; and therefore man is encouraged to bear up in all the pressures of life. Take away hope, and then black despair and indescribable wretchedness would be the instant result. Hope stands justly among the highest mercies of God.

Verses 24, 25. For we are saved by hope — That is, our salvation is now only in hope; we do not yet possess the full salvation; but hope that is seen is not hope — Hope here, by a usual metonymy, is put for the object of hope; and in Scripture, to see, often signifies to enjoy, and sometimes to suffer. The meaning here is, the thing hoped for, when actually enjoyed, is no longer the object of hope. But if, or since, we hope for that we see not — That is, which we do not enjoy; then do we — Naturally and usually; with patience wait for it — Especially if the object of our hope be very excellent and necessary for us, attainable by us, and assured to us in this way. Thus, if our hope of the heavenly inheritance, valuable beyond all we can express or conceive, be strong and lively, it will produce in us a patient waiting till God’s time be come to put us in possession of it, and in the mean while will render us willing to bear the intervening troubles contentedly.

25. If… hope… patience—If the distant reward call forth our persistent hope, then patience and perseverance in well doing, and the perfection and fitting of our character for the consummation, ensue.

4. Gracious aids, through the Divinely Foreseen and Accomplished Stages, to the Final Glorification, 26-30.

The emphatic passage is verses 29 and 30, and for it the previous verses prepare. The gracious aids are the helping Spirit, (26,) the concurrence of the Heart-searcher, (27,) and all things in cooperation, (28;) resulting in the final successive stages, (29, 30.)

Ver. 24.-25. Explains the contrast between the present hardships and the future glory of the sons of God. Our position is one of hope, not possession.

We were saved: cp. Ephesians 2:5, 8: already rescued from the punishment and the present power of our past sins. This salvation has been described in Romans 6:22. Until the conflict of life is over, and until the body is rescued from the grave, it is incomplete: and therefore in this sense salvation is in Romans 5:9, 10; 13:11 spoken of as still future. In 1 Corinthians 1:18; 2 Corinthians 2:15, it is spoken of as a process now going on. These are three modes of looking at the same deliverance.

In hope, or by hope: our rescue holds before us a prospect of better things to come. Cp. 1 Peter 1:3. Now the very nature of hope involves absence of things hoped for:

a hope seen is not hope. This last statement is sufficiently proved by asking a question:

that which a man sees, why does he hope for? The alternative reading given in R.V. and by Westcott (texts) does not affect the sense. Seen… sees… we see: as in 2 Corinthians 4:18. After showing the incompatibility of hope and sight, Paul states, in Romans 8:25, the believer’s actual attitude.

Perseverance: as in Romans 2:7; 5:4.

We-wait-for it: recalling Romans 8:19, 23, and a dominant thought of Romans 8:18-25. A brave holding up and going forward in spite of hardship and enemies, in prospect of blessing to come, is the normal attitude of men whose position is one, not of possession, but of hope.

V. 26. Likewise the Spirit-Nay, not only the universe, not only the children of God, but the Spirit of God also himself, as it were, groaneth, while he helpeth our infirmities, or weaknesses. Our understandings are weak, particularly in the things of God our desires are weak; our prayers are weak.

We know not-Many times.

What we should pray for-Much less are we able to pray for it as we ought: but the Spirit maketh intercession for us-In our hearts, even as Christ does in heaven.

With groanings-The matter of which is from ourselves, but the Spirit forms them; and they are frequently inexpressible, even by the faithful themselves.

Verse 26. The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities] The same Spirit, to pneuma, mentioned before as bearing witness with ours that we are the children of God; and consequently it is not a disposition or frame of mind, for the disposition of our mind surely cannot help the infirmities of our minds.

The word sunantilambanetai is very inadequately expressed by helpeth. It is compounded of sun, together, anti, against, and lambanomai, to support or help, and signifies such assistance as is afforded by any two persons to each other, who mutually bear the same load or carry it between them. He who prays, receives help from the Spirit of God; but he who prays not receives no such help. Whatever our strength may be, we must put it forth, even while most implicitly depending on the strength of God himself.

For we know not what we should pray for as we ought] And should therefore be liable to endless mistakes in our prayers, if suitable desires were not excited by the Holy Spirit and power received to bring these desires, by prayer, before the throne of grace.

But the Spirit itself] auto to pneuma, The same Spirit, viz. the Spirit that witnesses of our adoption and sonship, Romans 8:15, 16, makes intercession for us. Surely if the apostle had designed to teach us that he meant our own sense and understanding by the Spirit, he never could have spoken in a manner in which plain common sense was never likely to comprehend his meaning. Besides, how can it be said that our own spirit, our filial disposition, bears witness with our own spirit; that our own spirit helps the infirmities of our own spirit; that our own spirit teaches our own spirit that of which it is ignorant; and that our own spirit maketh intercession for our own spirit, with groanings unutterable? This would have been both incongruous and absurd. We must therefore understand these places of that help and influence which the followers of God receive from the Holy Ghost; and consequently, of the fulfilment of the various promises relative to this point which our Lord made to his disciples, particularly in John 14:16, 17, 26; 15:26, 27; 16:7; and particularly John 16:13, 14: Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth; and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.

Verses 26, 27. Likewise the Spirit, &c. — Besides the hope of future felicity and glory, which our holy profession administers to us for our support and comfort amid all the difficulties of our Christian course, we have moreover this important privilege, that the Holy Spirit of God helpeth our infirmities — The word antilambanetai, here rendered helpeth, literally expresses the action of one who assists another to bear a burden, by taking hold of it on the opposite side, and bearing it with him, as persons do who assist one another in carrying heavy loads. Dr. Doddridge here interprets the clause, the Holy Spirit lendeth us his helping hand under all our burdens or infirmities. The word asqeneiaiv, translated infirmities, signifies weaknesses and diseases, primarily of the body, but it is often transferred to the mind. Our understandings are weak, particularly in the things of God; our faith is weak, our desires and prayers are weak; of which last particular Ambrose interprets this expression here; an interpretation which seems to be confirmed by what follows in the text. For we know not what we should pray for — Of this Paul himself was an example, when he prayed thrice, it seems improperly, to be delivered from the thorn in the flesh, 2 Corinthians 12:8, 9. Much less are we able to pray for any thing which we see needful for us, as we ought — That is, with such sincerity, humility, desire, faith, fervency, importunity, perseverance, as ought to attend all our prayers, at least for spiritual and eternal blessings. But the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us — In our hearts, even as Christ does in heaven, guiding our minds to suitable petitions, and exciting in them correspondent affections, and even inspiring us with that intense ardent of holy desire, which no words can express, but which vent themselves in unutterable groanings, the matter of which is from ourselves; but as they are excited in us by the Holy Spirit, they are therefore here ascribed to its influence. The expression, stenagmoiv alalhtoiv, however, is literally, not unutterable, but unuttered groanings. The apostle having observed, verse 22, that every creature groaneth to be delivered from vanity and corruption; also having told us, verse 23, that they who have the first-fruits of the Spirit groan within themselves, waiting for the redemption of the body; he now assures us, that these secret groanings and vehement desires, especially under the pressure of affliction, proceed from the influence of the Divine Spirit, and therefore are not fruitless. And he that searcheth the hearts — Wherein the Spirit dwells and intercedes; knoweth — Though man cannot utter it; what is the mind — Ti to fronhma, what is the desire, or intention, of the Spirit — Namely, of his Spirit, in thus influencing our minds, all the secret emotions and workings of which he reads and perfectly understands; for he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God — In a manner worthy of him, and acceptable to him.

Ver. 26. The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities — with groanings which cannot be uttered. Whatever we ask according to the will of God, he swells our petitions with the whole power of divinity. James 5:16. When the church incessantly prayed for Peter, heaven laughed at the policy of Herod, and the malice of the jews.

26. Likewise the Spirit—Likewise, that is in addition to all its other gracious offices in verses 11, 16. Our infirmities—True reading, our infirmity; namely, our ignorant infirmity regarding prayer, mentioned in next clause. Should pray for—If we look into recorded heathen prayers we find them offered almost exclusively for earthly goods; for goods which may prove our harm and ruin. The spirit of Christianity teaches us to be unsure as to the desirableness of any particular human advantage we might name; teaching us rather to leave such things to God, and to aspire after the only true and sure good, God himself. Maketh intercession—While Christ maketh intercession for us above, the blessed Spirit frameth our own intercession for us within. His prayer is an inner prayer within our prayer, a silent Divine voice within our voice, the soul of which our prayer is the body. Groanings… uttered—Groanings not articulated, because pregnant with a meaning too deep for man to shape into words.

Ver. 26. Another confirmation. In the same way as Nature groans for deliverance, and as we inwardly groan for adoption and redemption, also the Spirit groans in us and for us and so helps us in our weakness. Helps-with: shares our toil and conflict: same word in Luke 10:40. Our weakness: us who are weak, the abstract for the concrete, as in Romans 2:26, 27. The rest of the verse states the special help which we need and the Spirit gives.

We do not know what we are to pray for so as to pray according as we must needs pray. We are conscious of need; and we groan. But such is the weakness (cp. Romans 6:19) of our spiritual insight that we do not know how to ask so that our prayers may correspond with our real need. But the Spirit, who prompts us (Romans 8:15) to call God our Father, inspires yearnings which words cannot express, and thus helps us by directing our desires to proper objects. These inspired yearnings express the mind of the Holy Spirit, and therefore appeal to God for us. Thus He intercedes for us and in us by moving us to pray. And God will not refuse to satisfy yearnings which the Spirit Itself (as in Romans 8:16) by His own presence puts within us. Since these yearnings are too deep for words, they are described as unspeakable groanings.

V. 27. But he who searcheth the hearts-Wherein the Spirit dwells and intercedes.

Knoweth-Though man cannot utter it.

What is the mind of the Spirit, for he maketh intercession for the saints-Who are near to God.

According to God-According to his will, as is worthy of God, and acceptable to him.

Verse 27. He maketh intercession for the saints] The word entugcanw signifies to apply one’s self to a person in behalf of another; to intercede or negotiate for. Our Lord makes intercession for us, by negotiating and managing, as our friend and agent, all the affairs pertaining to our salvation. And the Spirit of God makes intercession for the saints, not by supplication to God on their behalf, but by directing and qualifying their supplications in a proper manner, by his agency and influence upon their hearts; which, according to the Gospel scheme, is the peculiar work and office of the Holy Spirit. See Taylor.

According to the will of God.] kata qeon, According to the mind, intention, or design of God. And thus the prayers which we offer up, and the desires which subsist in the unutterable groanings, are all such as are pleasing in the sight of God. So that God, whose is the Spirit, and who is acquainted with the mind of the Spirit, knows what he means when he leads the saints to express themselves in words, desires, groans, sighs, or tears: in each God reads the language of the Holy Ghost, and prepares the answer according to the request.

From all this we learn that a fluency in prayer is not essential to praying: a man may pray most powerfully in the estimation of God, who is not able to utter even one word. The unutterable groan is big with meaning, and God understands it, because it contains the language of his own Spirit. Some desires are too mighty to be expressed; there is no language expressive enough to give them proper form and distinct vocal sound: such desires show that they came from God; and as they came from him, so they express what God is disposed to do, and what he has purposed to do. This is a matter of great encouragement to all those who are agonizing to enter in at the strait gate.

Verses 26, 27. Likewise the Spirit, &c. — Besides the hope of future felicity and glory, which our holy profession administers to us for our support and comfort amid all the difficulties of our Christian course, we have moreover this important privilege, that the Holy Spirit of God helpeth our infirmities — The word antilambanetai, here rendered helpeth, literally expresses the action of one who assists another to bear a burden, by taking hold of it on the opposite side, and bearing it with him, as persons do who assist one another in carrying heavy loads. Dr. Doddridge here interprets the clause, the Holy Spirit lendeth us his helping hand under all our burdens or infirmities. The word asqeneiaiv, translated infirmities, signifies weaknesses and diseases, primarily of the body, but it is often transferred to the mind. Our understandings are weak, particularly in the things of God; our faith is weak, our desires and prayers are weak; of which last particular Ambrose interprets this expression here; an interpretation which seems to be confirmed by what follows in the text. For we know not what we should pray for — Of this Paul himself was an example, when he prayed thrice, it seems improperly, to be delivered from the thorn in the flesh, 2 Corinthians 12:8, 9. Much less are we able to pray for any thing which we see needful for us, as we ought — That is, with such sincerity, humility, desire, faith, fervency, importunity, perseverance, as ought to attend all our prayers, at least for spiritual and eternal blessings. But the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us — In our hearts, even as Christ does in heaven, guiding our minds to suitable petitions, and exciting in them correspondent affections, and even inspiring us with that intense ardent of holy desire, which no words can express, but which vent themselves in unutterable groanings, the matter of which is from ourselves; but as they are excited in us by the Holy Spirit, they are therefore here ascribed to its influence. The expression, stenagmoiv alalhtoiv, however, is literally, not unutterable, but unuttered groanings. The apostle having observed, verse 22, that every creature groaneth to be delivered from vanity and corruption; also having told us, verse 23, that they who have the first-fruits of the Spirit groan within themselves, waiting for the redemption of the body; he now assures us, that these secret groanings and vehement desires, especially under the pressure of affliction, proceed from the influence of the Divine Spirit, and therefore are not fruitless. And he that searcheth the hearts — Wherein the Spirit dwells and intercedes; knoweth — Though man cannot utter it; what is the mind — Ti to fronhma, what is the desire, or intention, of the Spirit — Namely, of his Spirit, in thus influencing our minds, all the secret emotions and workings of which he reads and perfectly understands; for he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God — In a manner worthy of him, and acceptable to him.

27. He… hearts—As the Spirit knoweth and sympathizeth with our feeble human minds, so that Spirit is in communication with God, the heart-searcher. Knoweth… the mind—The Spirit inspires our unutterable things; yet God, knowing the mind of the Spirit, knoweth the things unuttered. So is the Spirit a mediator of communion between our spirit and God our father.

Ver. 27. That these groanings are unspeakable, does not lessen their efficacy. For they appeal to one who

searches the hearts (Revelation 2:23; Jeremiah 17:10; 1 Samuel 16:7) and thus hears this silent intercession.

The mind of the Spirit: the aim of the yearnings prompted by the Spirit. Same words, referring to the general guidance of the Spirit, in Romans 8:6. The mind of the Spirit is

that, according to the will of God, He intercedes on behalf of saints: in other words, God, who sees all that takes place in the hearts of men, recognises that our yearnings for final and complete deliverance are prompted by the Holy Spirit, in harmony with the will of God, and are therefore an intercession of the Spirit pleading for men whom God has claimed to be specially His own.

In Romans 5:5, the Holy Spirit given to believers reveals to them the love of God manifested in the death of Christ. In Romans 8:15, 16, He prompts them to cry Abba, Father: and He now moves them to groan for complete deliverance from whatever fetters their full development. The inward cry in Romans 8:15, Paul accepts as a divine testimony that they are children of God: the unspeakable groanings in Romans 8:26, he accepts as an intercession with God on their behalf; an intercession which cannot be ineffectual, and which is therefore a pledge that these yearnings will be satisfied.

That the Spirit intercedes with God for the final rescue and glory of His servants, suggests that He is a person distinct from the Father. The strongly figurative colour of Romans 8:19-27 forbids us to accept this as in itself decisive proof that Paul held the distinct personality of the Spirit. But it is an important confirmation of other passages, e.g. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:13; Matthew 28:19, where the name of the Spirit is placed beside those of the Father and the Son, and of still more definite teaching in John 16:13, 14. REVIEW of Romans 8:18-27. In Romans 5:2, Paul showed that justification through faith gives an exultant hope of glory. While showing this, he could not pass in silence over the hardships which were so conspicuous a part of the lot of the Christians of his day. He asserts that even these hardships indirectly confirm this glorious hope. In Romans 8:13-17, he shows that the Holy Spirit in their hearts, moving them to call God their Father, is Himself a proof that they are children of God and heirs of the glorious heritage of Christ. And again, present hardships, apparently so inconsistent with this blessed relation to Christ, demand consideration. This they receive in Romans 8:18-39.

Paul declares that present hardships are not worthy to be compared with the glory awaiting us. So great is this glory that it will transform even the material universe. An indication of this, Paul finds in the decay which reigns over all things around us, so inconsistent with the original destiny of a good creature of God, a doom inflicted on Nature because of man’s sin. This doom of decay, Paul represents as a groaning for deliverance and accepts as a pledge that deliverance will come. This groaning is shared by us who, as Paul expounded in Romans 8:4-17, have received the Holy Spirit as the animating principle of a new life. It is indeed prompted by the Spirit who makes us conscious of the contrast between our present condition and the glory awaiting us. And if so, these divinely-implanted yearnings plead with God, silently but effectively, for us. They are in harmony with the will of God; and are therefore a pledge of their own fulfilment.

V. 28. And we know-This in general; though we do not always know particularly what to pray for.

That all things-Ease or pain, poverty or riches, and the ten thousand changes of life.

Work together for good-Strongly and sweetly for spiritual and eternal good.

To them that are called according to his purpose-His gracious design of saving a lost world by the death of his Son. This is a new proposition. St. Paul, being about to recapitulate the whole blessing contained in justification, (termed glorification, Romans 8:30,) first goes back to the purpose or decree of God, which is frequently mentioned in holy writ. To explain this (nearly in the words of an eminent writer) a little more at large:-When a man has a work of time and importance before him, he pauses, consults, and contrives; and when he has laid a plan, resolves or decrees to proceed accordingly. Having observed this in ourselves, we are ready to apply it to God also; and he, in condescension to us has applied it to himself.

The works of providence and redemption are vast and stupendous, and therefore we are apt to conceive of God as deliberating and consulting on them, and then decreeing to act according to the counsel of his own will; as if, long before the world was made, he had been concerting measures both as to the making and governing of it, and had then writ down his decrees, which altered not, any more than the laws of the Medes and Persians. Whereas, to take this consulting and decreeing in a literal sense, would be the same absurdity as to ascribe a real human body and human passions to the ever-blessed God.

This is only a popular representation of his infallible knowledge and unchangeable wisdom; that is, he does all things as wisely as a man can possibly do, after the deepest consultation, and as steadily pursues the most proper method as one can do who has laid a scheme beforehand. But then, though the effects be such as would argue consultation and consequent decrees in man, yet what need of a moment's consultation in Him who sees all things at one view?

Nor had God any more occasion to pause and deliberate, and lay down rules for his own conduct from all eternity, than he has now. What! was there any fear of his mistaking afterwards, if he had not beforehand prepared decrees, to direct him what he was to do? Will any man say, he was wiser before the creation than since? or had he then more leisure, that he should take that opportunity to settle his affairs, and make rules (or himself, from which he was never to vary?

He has doubtless the same wisdom and all other perfections at this day which he had from eternity; and is now as capable of making decrees, or rather has no more occasion for them now than formerly: his understanding being always equally clear and bright, his wisdom equally infallible.

Verse 28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God] To understand this verse aright, let us observe: 1. That the persons in whose behalf all things work for good are they who love God, and, consequently, who live in the spirit of obedience. 2. It is not said that all things shall work for good, but that sunergei, they work now in the behalf of him who loveth now, agapwsi; for both verbs are in the present tense. 3. All these things work together; while they are working, God’s providence is working, his Spirit is working, and they are working TOGETHER with him. And whatever troubles, or afflictions, or persecutions may arise, God presses them into their service; and they make a part of the general working, and are caused to contribute to the general good of the person who now loves God, and who is working by faith and love under the influence and operation of the Holy Ghost. They who say sin works for good to them that love God speak blasphemous nonsense. A man who now loves God is not now sinning against God; and the promise belongs only to the present time: and as love is the true incentive to obedience, the man who is entitled to the promise can never, while thus entitled, (loving God,) be found in the commission of sin. But though this be a good general sense for these words, yet the all things mentioned here by the apostle seem more particularly to mean those things mentioned in Romans 8:28-30.

To them who are the called according to his purpose.] Dr. Taylor translates toiv klhtoiv, the invited; and observes that it is a metaphor taken from inviting guests, or making them welcome to a feast. As if he had said: Certainly all things work together for their good; for this reason, because they are called, invited, or made welcome to the blessings of the covenant, (which is ratified in eating of the covenant sacrifice,) according to God’s original purpose first declared to Abraham, Genesis 17:4: Thou shalt be a father of many nations-and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him, Genesis 18:18. Thus this clause is to be understood; and thus it is an argument to prove that all things, how afflictive soever, shall work for our good while we continue to love God. Our being called or invited, according to God’s purpose, proves that all things work for our good, on the supposition that we love God, and not otherwise. For our loving God, or making a due improvement of our calling, is evidently inserted by the apostle to make good his argument. He does not pretend to prove that all things shall concur to the everlasting happiness of all that are called; but only to those of the called who love God. Our calling, thus qualified is the ground of his argument, which he prosecutes and completes in the two next verses. Our calling he takes for granted, as a thing evident and unquestionable among all Christians. But you will say: How is it evident and unquestionable that we are called? I answer: From our being in the visible Church, and professing the faith of the Gospel. For always, in the apostolic writings, all that are in the visible Church, and profess the faith of the Gospel, are numbered among the called or invited; i.e. among the persons who are invited to feast on the covenant sacrifice, and who thus, in reference to themselves, confirm and ratify the covenant. As for what is termed effectual calling, as distinguished from the general invitations of the Gospel, it is a distinction which divines have invented without any warrant from the sacred writings. Our calling, therefore, is considered by the apostle in the nature of a self-evident proposition, which nobody doubts or denies; or which, indeed, no Christian ought to doubt, or can call in question, Taylor’s notes.

Verse 28. And we know — Though we do not always know particularly what to pray for as we ought, yet this we know, that all things — Namely, that occur in the course of divine providence, such as worldly losses or gains, poverty or riches, reproach or commendation, contempt or honour, pain or ease, sickness or health, and the ten thousand changes of life; work together — Strongly and sweetly, in a variety of unthought-of and unexpected ways; for spiritual and eternal good to them — Who, being justified by faith, and having peace with God, and access into a state of favour and acceptance with him, sincerely love him, having beheld what manner of love he hath bestowed upon them, 1 John 3:1; or who have known and believed the love that he hath to them, and therefore love him who hath first loved them. “It is so plain,” says Dr. Doddridge, “from the whole context, that the apostle only speaks of providential events, and it is so evident that the universal expression all is sometimes to be taken in a limited sense, that it must argue, I fear, something worse than weakness to pretend that sin is comprehended in the apostle’s assertion.” This observation is as important as it is just: for sin, which is a real and positive evil, an evil of the worst kind, a moral evil, and an evil which is the source of all other evils, can, in itself considered, in no case whatever work for good. What may and does work for good with respect to it, is the punishment or chastisement of it, repentance for it, and the forgiveness of it. But providential dispensations, such as those just referred to, and especially those that are of an afflictive nature, may, and if received in a spirit of faith, humility, resignation, and patience, and used aright, assuredly will, work for our spiritual and eternal good. For whether they be considered, 1st, As the chastisements of our heavenly Father, by being chastised for our faults we are amended: or, 2d, As trials of our grace; being thus exercised, it is proved to be genuine, and increased. See on chap. 5:4. Or, 3d, As purifying fires, they tend to purge us from our corrupt passions and lusts, as gold and silver are purified from their dross in the fire; and to cause us, who are naturally earthly, sensual, and devilish, to die to the world and sin, and become heavenly, holy, and divine. They tend, therefore, through the grace of God, without which they can do nothing, to increase our holiness and conformity to our living Head; and whatever increases these, must increase our happiness here and hereafter, especially hereafter. To which may be added, that God will as assuredly reward us in a future state for our sufferings in this life, if patiently endured, as for our labours faithfully and perseveringly performed. Hence even Plato, a heathen, could say, “Whether a righteous man be in poverty, sickness, or any other calamity, we must conclude that it will turn to his advantage, either in life or death.”

Observe, reader: these things we, true believers in Christ and his gospel, know, — but on what ground? 1st, On the ground of the divine perfections, particularly God’s infinite wisdom, power, and love, which are all engaged for the good of his people. For as these dispensations do not happen to us by chance, but by the permission or appointment of Him who numbers the hairs of our head, and without whom a sparrow falleth not to the ground, his wisdom cannot but know what is best for us, his love must have our good in view; and what his wisdom sees will be for our good, and his love designs, his power permits or appoints to happen to us. 2d, On the ground of the relations in which he stands to us; not only as our Creator, Preserver, and Redeemer, but as our Friend, Father, and Husband, in Christ Jesus; all which relations lay a solid foundation for our expecting good, and only good at his hand, though sometimes afflictive good. 3d, On the ground of his faithful declarations and promises, particularly this by his inspired apostle. 4th, On that of the nature of things; the providential dispensations which are painful and distressing to us, being evidently calculated to mortify our inordinate attachment to things visible and temporal, to crucify our corrupt inclinations, and raise our thoughts and affections to another and a better state of existence. 5th, On the ground of observation and experience: we have seen trials, troubles, and afflictions of various kinds, to have a good effect upon others, and if we be the true disciples of Jesus, we have proved their salutary influence upon our own souls.

To them who are, oi klhtoi, the called according to his purpose — Or determination, of bestowing the title and privileges of sons on all, whether Jews or Gentiles, who turn to him in true repentance and faith, and obey him sincerely; or, as it is expressed verse 29, are really conformed to the image of his Son; who indeed imitate the faith and obedience which the Son of God showed while he lived on the earth, as a man. This purpose, or determination, God made known to man in his covenant with Abraham. See on verse 30. The words called and elect, or elected, frequently occur in the New Testament, and in some places one of them, as here and 1 Peter 1:2, is put for them both. But in some passages they are distinguished the one from the other, as having different meanings; as where our Lord says, Many are called, but few chosen, or elected; and 2 Peter 1:10, where that apostle exhorts us to make our calling and election sure. The meaning of both expressions is explained 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14, where the Apostle Paul tells the believers at Thessalonica, that God, from the beginning, namely, of his preaching the gospel to them, had chosen them to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto, adds he, he called you by our gospel. By which words we learn, 1st, That they had been called by the gospel, namely, accompanied by divine grace, to believe the truth, and receive the sanctification of the Spirit. 2d, That in consequence of their obeying this call, and thereby making their calling sure, bebaian, firm, a glorious and blessed reality, they were chosen, or elected, namely, to be God’s people, or children; a chosen generation, and a peculiar people, 1 Peter 2:9: and now they had only to make their election sure, by being faithful unto death, in order to their obtaining the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. These, and only these, are the persons who truly love God, and therefore to whom all things work together for good. This is the sixth motive to holiness.

Ver. 28. All things work together for good to them that love God. The apostle notes first, the character — they love God, and are called according to his purposes of grace and glory. Secondly, the case — all the sufferings of the present life, as in ver. 18, operate by the harmony of providence and grace for their good. The cruel persecution that followed the stoning of Stephen gloriously spread the Redeemer’s kingdom; and the bonds of St. Paul introduced the gospel to Cæsar’s household. On this text some incautiously quote Augustine’s careless words, that “sin works for good.” Oh no! When an honest man opportunely fills the station of a murdered man, and so is benefited by his removal, he owes the favour, not to sin, but to the Father of mercies, who takes occasion from human miseries to open his righteousness; while, on the contrary, we find that sin brings forth death.

But when he adds, called according to his purpose, the call of the gentiles, and of individuals, is not because of their love, but in conformity to the designations of his own wisdom and love in Christ Jesus, to make the members like their head, and give to each a full conformity to the image of his Son. In this work, wisdom illuminates the mind, love allures the affections, and grace sanctifies the heart. This calling, says Peter, is to glory and virtue. It is in conformity to His pleasure “who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.” Ephesians 1:11, 12. The apostle says at the same time, we are chosen in Christ that we should be holy, and without blame before him in love: ver. 4. With this St. Peter coincides: “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience, and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:2.

If both those apostles bring holiness before the churches in seven different views — as the image of Christ, as consisting in love, as an exemption from blame, sanctification, obedience, the sprinkling of blood, and his workmanship, to the praise of his glory — is it not better to keep this glory in our eye, than to lose ourselves in supralapsarian doctrines of personal and eternal election and reprobation? We have no line to fathom those depths; we lose our time, we lose ourselves. Rest contented, that God who did no wrong in the first creation, in the whole scale of living beings, will do no wrong to any man in the new creation.

28. All things—Not only does the Spirit work in and for us, but when he works all things else cooperate. As the whole creation groaneth together waiting for the renovation of God’s sons, so the whole co-worketh to that glorious consummation. Love God—And just so far and just so long as they love God. Just so far as their love to God is diminished and sin is committed, just so far is the working of all things lessened and doubtful; and when their love to God ceases, the co-working for good ceases, and they are no longer the called. For it is to the man as a GOD LOVER, not as a blank individual, that these promises are made. The called—(See note on Romans 1:1.) His purpose—Of glorifying in Christ the mortal bodies of all true believers, (verse 21.) But the stages of glorification implied in 19-23, as belonging to believers, the apostle now beautifully traces in their divinely established order, from the foreknowledge of God in the past eternity to the consummation in and for the eternity of the future.

ROMANS

SECTION 26 — IN ALL THINGS WE ARE MORE

THAN CONQUERORS CH. 8:28-39

Moreover, we know that with those that love God all things work together for good, with those that are called according to purpose. Because, us whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He may be firstborn among many brethren. But, whom He foreordained, these He also called: and, whom He called, these He also justified: but, whom He justified, these He also glorified.

What then shall we say to these things? If God be on our side, who is against us? He that did not spare His own Son but on behalf of us all gave Him up, how shall He not also with him give us all things by His grace? Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God that justifies: who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died but rather that was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes on our behalf. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall affliction, or helplessness, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? According as it is written, “On account of Thee we are put to death all the day: we have been reckoned as sheep for slaughter.” Nay, in all these things we more than conquer, through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things coming, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In Romans 8:12-17, the Holy Spirit, by enabling us to conquer sin and call God our Father, gave proof that we are children of God and heirs of the glory of Christ. In Romans 8:18-27, the hope thus inspired was confirmed by our present sufferings; inasmuch as they force us to yearn with a divinely taught yearning, which in some sense even Nature itself shares, for the consummation of our sonship. We shall now learn that these sufferings are working out our good, and are powerless to injure us.

Ver. 28. Another important point in our favour. Not only does the Spirit help us by prompting our groanings, but all things help us. All things work together: harmonious co-operation, under apparent discord. The Vat. and Alex. MSS. read God works all things. But the weight of evidence is against the insertion, the context suggests that things around are here regarded as active rather than passive, and the insertion is easily explained by failure to appreciate Paul’s personification of Nature. For good: to do us good, as in Romans 13:4. Contrast Genesis 42:36: “all these things are against me.”

Those that love God: the normal relation of sons to their father, and of intelligent creatures to God. It is therefore a condition and limitation of this helpful co-operation of Nature: cp. 1 Corinthians 8:3. With them or for them: the dative governed by sun- or the dative of advantage. Probably the former. We work, and all things help us in our work.

Those that are called according to purpose: further description of those who love God. These unexpected words prove, as we shall see, that all things work together with us.

Called: persons who have received a summons; in this case, as we read in Romans 8:30, from God. Same word in Romans 1:1, 6, 7; 1 Corinthians 1:1, 2, 24; Matthew 22:14; Jude 1:1; Revelation 17:14. The Gospel is a divine call summoning men to the service of Christ: 2 Thessalonians 2:14; 1 Corinthians 7:1, 8-22. The apostles had received a special call: Galatians 1:15; Matthew 4:21; 9:9. That the word called is (e.g. 1 Corinthians 1:24) a distinctive title of believers, does not prove or even suggest that they have received a call not given to those who reject the Gospel. For the term is sufficiently accounted for by the infinite importance of the Gospel summons as the instrument of salvation. Paul never forgot that he was a called apostle, remembering the voice which arrested him on the way to Damascus. But doubtless Judas was called to the same office. Of any special call to repentance and faith given to some who hear the Gospel and not to all, and always effectual, we never read in the New Testament. In Matthew 22:3-14, we read of some who were called and yet finally rejected; and in 2 Thessalonians 1:8 of their destruction.

According to purpose: 2 Timothy 1:9; Ephesians 1:11; 3:11. The Gospel corresponds with, and makes known, a purpose of God touching those to whom it is preached. In this purpose lies its real worth. Just so, when a king resolves to honour a man, and carrying out his resolve calls him into his presence, the importance of the royal summons depends on the royal purpose. So the real significance of the Gospel is measured by the divine purpose which prompted it. This purpose is universal: 1 Timothy 2:4. Consequently, all who hear the Gospel are called according to purpose. That God has thought fit that His purpose shall be accomplished only in those who believe and persevere, does not make the purpose less real and important, or less than universal.

On the importance of these last words of Romans 8:28, see under Romans 8:30.

V. 29. Whom he foreknew, he also predestinated conformable to the image of his Son-Here the apostle declares who those are whom he foreknew and predestinated to glory; namely, those who are conformable to the image of his Son. This is the mark of those who are foreknown and will be glorified, 2 Timothy 2:19. Philippians 3:10, 21.

Verse 29. For whom he did foreknow, &c.] “In this and the following verse the apostle shows how our calling is an argument that all things work together to advance our eternal happiness, by showing the several steps which the wisdom and goodness of God have settled, in order to complete our salvation. In order to this he first gives us, in this verse, the foundation and finishing, or the beginning and end, of the scheme of our redemption: For whom God did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. To foreknow, here signifies to design before, or at the first forming of the scheme; to bestow the favour and privilege of being God’s people upon any set of men, Romans 11:2. This is the foundation or first step of our salvation; namely, the purpose and grace of God, which was given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began, 2 Timothy 1:9. Then, he knew or favoured us; for in this sense the word to know is taken in a great variety of places, both in the Old and New Testaments. And as he knew the GENTILES then, when the scheme was laid, and before any part of it was executed, consequently, in reference to the execution of this scheme, he foreknew us. This is the first step of our salvation, and the end or finishing of it is our conformity to the Son of God in eternal glory, Romans 8:17, which includes and supposes our moral conformity to him. When God knew us, at the forming of the Gospel scheme; or, when he intended to bestow on us the privilege of being his people; he then destinated or designed us to be conformed to the image of his Son; and, as he destinated or determined us then to this very high honour and happiness, he pre-destinated, fore-ordained, or pre-determined us to it. Thus we are to understand the foundation and finishing of the scheme of our salvation. The foundation is the foreknowledge, or gracious purpose of God; the finishing is our being joint heirs with Christ. Now, our calling or invitation (see Clarke on “Romans 8:28”) stands in connection with both these. 1. It stands in connection with God’s foreknowledge; and so it is a true and valid calling: for we are called, invited, or chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, who may bestow his blessings upon any people, as may seem good in his sight, 1 Peter 1:2; consequently, we have a good title to the blessings of the Gospel to which we are called or invited. And this was to be proved, that the Jew, to whom the apostle particularly wrote, might see that the Gentiles being now called into the Church of God was not an accidental thing, but a matter which God had determined when he conceived the Gospel scheme. Thus our calling is connected with God’s foreknowledge.

2. It stands also in connection with our being conformed to the image of his Son; for we are invited by the Gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Thessalonians 2:14. And therefore, supposing, what the apostle supposes, that we love God, it is certain, from our being called, that we shall be glorified with the sons of God; and so our calling proves the point, that all things should work together for our good in our present state, because it proves that we are intended for eternal glory; as he shows in the next verse. For we must understand his foreknowing, predestinating, calling, and justifying, in relation to his glorifying; and that none are finally glorified, but those who, according to his purpose, are conformed to the image of his Son.” Taylor. The first-born among many brethren.] That he might be the chief or head of all the redeemed; for HIS human nature is the first fruits of the resurrection from the dead; and He is the first human being that, after having passed through death, was raised to eternal glory. See Dr. Taylor.

Verse 29. For whom he did foreknow — As truly repenting, believing, and obeying the gospel; he also did predestinate, to be conformed to the image of his Son — That is, it was his foreappointment, or predetermination, will, and pleasure, that as Christ was, they should be in this world, 1 John 4:17, namely, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, Hebrews 7:26; that they should have in them the mind that was in him, and should walk as he walked. But the word proorizw, is literally, prius definio, to define, or describe beforehand; and may be understood of God’s foretelling, by the Old Testament prophets, that the disciples of the Messiah, when he came, should resemble him, and of their describing them as persons conformed to him. Thus interpreted, the meaning of the verse will be, Whom he foreknew he also described beforehand, as being conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren — That is, the head and captain of all the adopted children of God, among whom he will for ever shine, distinguished from them all in rays of peculiar glory. Observe, reader, a conformity to Christ’s image in spirit and conduct, is the mark of all those who are foreknown, and will be glorified.

Ver. 29. Whom he did foreknow. The key word to the true sense will be found by asking, what is the antecedent or nominative of whom? Answer, as in ver. 19, the whole gentile world, or every creature, or all nations; for all the families of the earth were fully authorized by covenant and prophecies earnestly to wait for the manifestation or revelation of the sons of God, and for the glorious liberty of his children. For Christ is the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him. These he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, “who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.” Colossians 1:15. Hence follows in divine order of argument, the golden chain of man’s salvation, in calling us to eternal glory by Christ Jesus, that he might be the firstborn, the prince and chief of many brethren.

29. For—To exemplify and expand the purpose just mentioned. In this verse he states the first and last step; in the next the intermediate successive steps. Foreknow—This word in itself signifies always to foreknow simply; nothing else. It never signifies, intrinsically, to predetermine, or to love, or to favour beforehand; but always to foreknow or pre-recognise. Yet this foreknowing may take in a special view or phase of the foreknown object. It may be a favourable or unfavourable phase, and thus the inferential thought is attained of pre-favouring or pre-condemning. But this thought lies not in the foreknowing, but in the aspect, favourable or unfavourable, of the object presented. Here the objects are the human individuals foreknown as meeting the requisite conditions in the successive stages of advancement, and so the individuals meeting the requisitions of the final glorification. If any one individual fails at either stage, he drops from among the so foreknown. And some do drop out at every stage. God calls more than accept the call and become justified; he justifies more than persevere and become glorified. (See note on John 17:2.) The true idea, then, is to foreknow men as meeting the required conditions of that final glorification; namely, who are finally found among those who love God, (verse 28,) who with patience wait for it, (25,) and who steadfastly endure to the end. Predestinate—Destinate beforehand, predetermine. From this it is clear, 1. That foreknowledge and predestination are two very different things. Knowledge belongs to the intellect, determination belongs to the will. Foreknowledge is an attribute belonging to the nature of God, pre-determination is an act produced by the free-will of God. 2. Foreknowledge precedes predestination; for God’s nature is antecedent to God’s acts. Did God act without previous knowledge, he would act, like an idiot, in total ignorance. 3. Predestination, so far from being “without foresight,” is truly founded on foreknowledge. It presupposes that all who are elected or predestinated to glory are foreknown as the proper subjects for it according to God’s eternal purpose. 4. Man’s freedom as a free-agent underlies God’s foreknowledge of him, and God’s foreknowledge underlies God’s determination. God’s knowledge is caused by the future act, not the act caused by the knowledge; just as when we look at a man walking, our seeing and knowing his motion is caused by his moving, not his moving caused by our seeing and knowing. So that, in conclusion from the whole, God predestinates to glory only those whom he sees through time and space will finally meet the conditions requisite for that glorification. Image—Such an image as he presented at the transfiguration on the mount. Firstborn among many brethren—And thus present a row of glorified brothers, all in the same celestial uniform, with the firstborn at their head.

Ver. 29.-30. Facts explaining the purpose just mentioned, and proving the assertion that all things work together for good.

Foreknew: same word in Romans 11:2; Acts 2:23; 26:5; 1 Peter 1:2, 20; 2 Peter 3:17; Wisdom 6:13; 8:8; 18:6: simply, to know beforehand. There is nothing here to suggest any other than this simple meaning. In the everlasting past, we, our circumstances, disposition, and conduct, stood before the mind of God.

Us: added merely to make a complete English sentence. The rendering (R.V.) whom He foreknew may suggest that God foreordained to the image of Christ all whom He foreknew. But Paul merely asserts that those whom God foreordained were then present to His thought. So 1 Peter 1:2. Nor does he say that God foreknew them in any sense other than that in which He foreknew all men. The reason for the insertion of these words will soon appear.

Foreordained or predestined: marked out beforehand, especially in one’s mind: found in N.T. only in Ephesians 1:5, 11; Acts 4:28; 1 Corinthians 2:7. The simpler form ordained (orizw) is found in Romans 1:4; Luke 22:22; Acts 2:23; 10:42; 11:29; 17:26, 31; Hebrews 4:7; and means to mark off some object by drawing a boundary-line around it. A parent who, before his child is old enough for a trade, chooses one for him predestines the boy. He marks out beforehand a path in which he would have him go. This purpose, whether accomplished or not, is predestination.

To be conformed etc.: God’s purpose for the persons here referred to. Image: as in Romans 1:23; 1 Corinthians 11:7; 15:49; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 4:4; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 10:1; Matthew 22:20; Revelation 13:14, 15: any mode in which an object presents itself to us, whether in essential relation to the object or a mere imitation of it. In the eternal past, before the eye of God stood His Son. That glorious image, His essential nature as contemplated by the Father, God resolved to make the pattern to which should be conformed those who in later days should put faith in Christ.

Conformed: sharing the same form, or mode of self-presentation. Same word in Philippians 3:21, cognate words in Philippians 3:10; Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18. God’s eternal purpose was that His created sons should share, in created and finite form, the mode in which the eternal Son ever presents Himself to God: conformed to the image of His Son. The context suggests that Paul refers specially to the glory of Christ. But this involves moral likeness.

That He may be etc.: the ultimate aim of the purpose just mentioned. Firstborn: Colossians 1:15, 18; Hebrews 1:6; Revelation 1:5; Luke 2:7; Hebrews 11:28; 12:23. God resolved to surround His eternal and only-begotten Son by many created sons whom He would not be ashamed to call brethren. These words suggest that the glorification of the sons of God will add glory to the eternal Son. And this is an additional assurance that this purpose will be accomplished.

V. 30. Them he-In due time.

Called-By his gospel and his Spirit.

And whom he called-When obedient to the heavenly calling, Acts 26:19.

He also justified-Forgave and accepted.

And whom he justified-Provided they continued in his goodness, Romans 11:22, he in the end glorified-St. Paul does not affirm, either here or in any other part of his writings, that precisely the same number of men are called, justified, and glorified. He does not deny that a believer may fall away and be cut off between his special calling and his glorification, Romans 11:22. Neither does he deny that many are called who never are justified. He only affirms that this is the method whereby God leads us step by step toward heaven.

He glorified-He speaks as one looking back from the goal, upon the race of faith. Indeed grace, as it is glory begun, is both an earnest and a foretaste of eternal glory.

Verse 30. Whom he did predestinate, &c.] The Gentiles, whom He determined to call into his Church with the Jewish people, He called-He invited by the preaching of the Gospel, to believe on his Son Jesus Christ. It is worthy of note, that all that is spoken here refers to what had already taken place; for the calling, justifying, and glorifying are here represented as having already taken place, as well as the foreknowing and the predestinating. It is therefore reasonable to suppose that the apostle refers to what God had already done among the Jews and Gentiles: though he may also speak of the things that were not as though they were. He also justified] Pardoned the sins of all those who with hearty repentance and true faith turned unto him.

He also glorified.] He has honoured and dignified the Gentiles with the highest privileges, and he has already taken many of them to the kingdom of glory, and many more are on their way thither; and all who love him, and continue faithful unto death, shall inherit that glory eternally. Hence it is added, them he also glorified; for all the honours which he confers on them have respect to and are intended to promote their endless felicity; and though the terms are here used in a more general sense, yet, if we take them more restrictedly, we must consider that in the work of justification sanctification is implied; justification being the foundation and beginning of that work. From all this we learn that none will be glorified who have not been sanctified and justified; that the justified are those who have been called or invited by the Gospel of Christ; that those who have had this calling are they to whom God determined to grant this privilege-they did not choose this salvation first, but God sent it to them when they knew him not-and therefore the salvation of the Gentile world, as well as that of the Jews, comes through the gratuitous mercy of God himself, was the result of infinite designs, and stands on the same ground as the calling, &c., of the Jewish people. The word doxa, which we render glory, and doxazw, to glorify, both mean to render illustrious, eminent, &c., &c., in various parts of the New Testament; and in this sense the verb is used John 11:4; 12:23, 28; 13:31, 32; 14:13; 15:8; 21:19; Acts 3:13; 11:13; in none of which places eternal beatification can be intended. Here it seems to mean that those whom God had called into a state of justification he had rendered illustrious by innumerable gifts, graces, and privileges, in the same manner as he had done to the Israelites of old.

The whole of the preceding discourse will show that every thing here is conditional, as far as it relates to the ultimate salvation of any person professing the Gospel of Christ; for the promises are made to character, and not to persons, as some have most injudiciously affirmed. The apostle insists upon a character all along from the beginning of the chapter. Romans 8:1: There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 8:13: If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die, &c. The absolute necessity of holiness to salvation is the very subject of his discourse; this necessity he positively affirms, and establishes by the most solid arguments. At the very entrance of his argument here, he takes care to settle the connection between our calling and our love and obedience to God, on purpose to prevent that mistake into which so many have fallen, through their great inattention to the scope of his reasoning. Romans 8:28: All things work together for good-To whom? To THEM that LOVE GOD: to them that are the called according to his purpose. To them that love God, because they are called according to his purpose; for those only who love God can reap any benefit by this predestination, vocation, or any other instance of God’s favour. See the observations at the end of this chapter.

Verse 30. Moreover, whom he did predestinate — Or describe beforehand by his holy prophets, as persons who should resemble the Messiah; them, in due time, he also called — By his word and Spirit; and whom he called — When obedient to the heavenly calling, Acts 26:19; he also justified — Accounted righteous, pardoned, and accepted; and whom he justified, provided they continued in his goodness, Romans 11:2; he, in the end, glorified — The apostle does not affirm, either here or in any other part of his writings, that precisely the same number of persons are called, justified, and glorified. He does not deny that a believer may fall away and be cut off, between his special calling and his glorification, Romans 11:22. Neither does he deny that many are called who are never justified. He only affirms that this is the method whereby God leads us, step by step, toward heaven. He glorifies none whom he does not first justify, and indeed also sanctify: and he justifies none who are not first called, and obedient to the call. He glorified — The apostle speaks as one looking back from the goal, upon the race of faith, love, and obedience. Indeed grace, as it is glory begun, is both an earnest and a foretaste of eternal glory.

Ver. 30. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called, by the preaching of the word; and whom he called, them he also justified, as chap. 3. 4., and whom he justified, them he also glorified by inward holiness, changing them from glory into glory, in progressive religion, and by admission to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; and by all the endowment of the rich and hallowed gifts of his Holy Spirit.

30. Called—The apostle does not imply that others were not called; for he knew that “many are called but few chosen.” The disobedient to the call are here left out of the account. They exclude or withdraw themselves, voluntarily and freely, from the favourably foreknown and the predestinated.

Mr. Barnes says, “The predestination secures the calling, and the calling secures the justification.” If the apostle himself had so said, it would have been decisive; but that is precisely what he does not say. All Paul says is, that the calling is the requisite condition before the justification, and the justification before the glorification. He asserts that the latter cannot be without the former. It is the called (or some part of them, for “many are called and few chosen”) alone that are justified; it is the justified alone that are glorified. Whom he called—They being foreknown as complying. Whom he justified—Upon their faith. Them he also glorified—Provided they were justified at the moment when the stage of glorification came. If, though once justified, their justification has ceased, they are then not justified, and so cannot be glorified.

It is not the purpose of the apostle, be it specially noted, to show or declare the surety of any particular individual’s infallibly passing through the stages of this scheme, but to show the indestructible and absolute surety of the scheme itself. (See notes on verses 17 and 28.) It is the fixedness and unfailing surety of the plan of salvation, in order that each one may avail himself of it, that is affirmed; not the surety for the special individual that God’s power is pledged to fasten him into the plan, and to carry him infallibly through. The ark is unconditionally predestined to outride the deluge; but it depends upon our entering and remaining within the ark whether we individually outride the deluge too. All the aids above described are furnished from the Divine side; but man has a selfhood from which he must act, and upon that action it depends whether he finally is included in the saving result.

Mr. Barnes asks, “How would it be a source of consolation to say to them that those whom he predestinated, etc., might fall away and be lost forever?” But, 1. What consolation to tell them that the justified are to be glorified, so long as they are taught never to be sure of their being justified? Preachers of secured perseverance are obliged, in order to prevent in their followers the great presumption of being too sure of final salvation, to cultivate the perpetual doubt of their being Christians at all, and so destroy the full assurance of faith, and upset all the boasted “consolation” of their own doctrine. What consolation to know that Christians will persevere, if I must never know that I am a Christian? 2. To tell the Christian that he may fall away is not of itself consolation, but warning; and warning the Christian needs in the proper place as truly as consolation. And the true place of consolation and of warning is this: fully to know my present acceptance, and equally to fear my future rejection by unfaithfulness. 3. The true consolation from the present passage is its glorious assurance that the plan of salvation is absolutely sure to those who, by persistent faith, intrust themselves to it. We have a sure stronghold to which we can turn. And such is the doctrine of the entire Epistle; sure salvation by faith. But nowhere is it taught that that faith itself is fixed or fastened upon us, or in us. The exercise and continuance of our faith under God’s gracious aids, is our own duty, and our part, as free-agents, in the work of our salvation.

While a large share of the verbs of these two verses express a future as well as a past fact they are uniformly in the past tense, the Greek aorist. (Note on Romans 5:12.) Alford, in his usual ultra-fatalistic style of interpretation, tells us that this is because the whole is completed in the predetermination of God. But why does not Alford explicitly apply the same exegesis to sinned in Romans 5:12, (where see note,) and thus attribute the authorship of sin to God?—a blasphemy which rash thinkers like him are perpetually committing, yet denying. The true view, we think, is, that the apostle’s standpoint in all these uses of the Greek aorist is at the grand consummation of the whole scheme, contemplating it as a series past. (Note on Romans 5:13.)

5. A Paean of Triumph over this Scheme of Human Renovation, 31-39.

Ver. 30. Accomplishment of this purpose already begun.

He also called: by means of the Gospel: 2 Thessalonians 2:14. He also justified: through faith, as in Romans 3:30; 4:5. He also glorified: as in Romans 8:17. So certain to Paul is the glory awaiting the sons of God that he speaks of it as already theirs. So Ephesians 2:6. While he ponders the eternal purpose of God, he forgets distinctions of time, and looks back upon it as actually accomplished. The tense reveals the fulness of his confidence. These words do not imply or suggest that the predestination, call, justification, and glorification are co-extensive. Paul thinks only of his readers, of God’s eternal purpose to make them sharers of the glory of Christ, and of the steps by which He is accomplishing this purpose. All else is irrelevant to the matter in hand, which is not to teach further about the way of salvation, but to give additional proof of the glory awaiting the sons of God. We see now the importance of the words whom He foreknew. If the accomplishment of a man’s purpose depends on the action of another, he is uncertain about it. With us, contingency and certainty cannot go together: with God, they can. For God foreknew from eternity what every man will do. When the world was but a thought in the Creator’s mind, every man in all his circumstances and inward and outward conduct stood before His eye. He saw man in sin, and resolved to save (1 Peter 1:20) through the blood of Christ and through the Gospel all whom He foresaw putting faith in Christ and walking perseveringly in His steps. He also resolved to change them into the moral likeness of Christ and to make them sharers of His eternal glory.

We must carefully avoid the error of supposing that our foreseen faith moved God to predestine us to salvation. He was moved to save us simply by our foreseen misery and His own mercy: 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5. Having resolved to save, He was moved by His infinite wisdom and undeserved favour to select persevering faith as the condition of salvation. And, having chosen this condition, He now uses means to lead men to repentance and faith. So far from our faith being a ground, it is a result, of God’s predestination. But although salvation is altogether a result of God’s eternal purpose, and in no way whatever a result of anything we have done or can do, God nevertheless permits man to resist effectually the influences which lead to salvation. He thus makes the salvation of each individual dependent on his self-surrender to these divine influences. But since this self-surrender or rejection was foreseen, God knew from the beginning the exact result of the death of Christ.

On Paul’s doctrine of Predestination, see further in the note at end of Rom. 9.

Such is God’s purpose. It is complete proof that He (Romans 8:31) is on our side. Now this purpose is earlier than the universe around us, earlier than the social and natural forces which sometimes press so heavily upon us, And even these social and natural forces sprang ultimately from Him who formed for us this eternal purpose of blessing and glory. They therefore cannot frustrate this purpose. Nay, more. God would not, without sufficient motive, permit suffering to fall on those whom from eternity He has resolved to bless. The only explanation of the hardships which now press so heavily on some servants of Christ is that they are the mysterious means by which God is working out His purpose of mercy for them. Thus the purpose which prompted the Gospel call assures us (see Romans 8:28) that all things are working together for our good.

V. 31. What shall we say then to these things-Related in the third, fifth, and eighth chapters? As if he had said, We cannot go, think, or wish anything farther.

If God be for us-Here follow four periods, one general and three particular. Each begins with glorying in the grace of God, which is followed by a question suitable to it, challenging all opponents to all which, I am persuaded, &c., is a general answer. The general period is, If God be for us, who can be against us? The first particular period, relating to the past time, is, He that spared not his own Son, how shall he not freely give us all things? The second, relating to the present, is, It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? The third, relating to the future, is, It is Christ that died-Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Verse 31. What shall we then say to these things?] What conclusion should we draw from the above premises? From all that was already laid down in the preceding chapters, but especially in the preceding verses, from Romans 8:28-30 inclusive. As if he had said: What comfort may we derive from these doctrines? God has called us all to holiness, and to love to him, which is the principle of holiness. We are persecuted and despised, it is true, and we may be more so; but, as God has called us to love him, and all things work together for good to them that love him; and, as his covenant with Abraham, while he was in his Gentile state, shows his gracious purpose towards us Gentiles, whom he has foreknown, who have been objects of his gracious foreknowledge, as well as the Jews, and who have now the fullest proof that we were so, by his sending us the Gospel, and showing us, in it, that if the Israelites were to be a holy priesthood, a royal nation, we are no less favoured, as he has predestinated, from the beginning determined, that we should be conformed to the image of his Son, who is to be the first-born among many brethren, the head and chief of all converted Jews and Gentiles, and, in order to our final salvation, has called, invited us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, has justified those who do believe, and has glorified, highly honoured, and adorned them with innumerable gifts and graces, and, if they continue to possess that faith which worketh by love, will bring them, both body and soul, to his eternal glory, their bodies being made like unto his glorious body:-seeing, therefore, all these things are so, what comfort in our tribulations shall we derive from them?-Why this: If God be for us, who can be against us? He who is infinitely wise has undertaken to direct us: He who is infinitely powerful has undertaken to protect us: He who is infinitely good has undertaken to save us. What cunning, strength, or malice, can prevail against his wisdom, power, and goodness? None. Therefore we are safe who love God; and not only shall sustain no essential damage by the persecutions of ungodly men, but even these things work together for our good.

Verses 31, 32. What shall we then say to these things — Related in the third, fifth, and eighth chapters, or conclude upon this review? Surely we may courageously defy all our enemies, and say, If God — Who hath all power in himself, and all the events of time and eternity under his direction; be for us — Our sure, never-failing, everlasting friend, engaged for our salvation and happiness in time and in eternity: or rather, since God is for us; for “ei here, is not a conditional particle; for that would imply doubting. But it stands for epei, since, and is an affirmation.” As if he had said, Since God has manifested so much love to us as to call us by the gospel to repentance, faith in his Son, and new obedience; to incline and enable us to obey the call, and to justify, adopt, regenerate, and constitute us his children; who can be against us — What real hurt can the world, the devil, or all his instruments, do us by all our sufferings from them? We who were called when we were averse; justified when we were guilty; sanctified when unholy; shall, we have reason to hope, be in due time glorified, though now despised, oppressed, and persecuted. Can any or all our enemies, whether visible or invisible, with any success, oppose our enjoying the inheritance of the children of God, with the other blessings promised to the seed of Abraham? He that spared not his own Son — Greek, idiou uiou, his proper Son; so the expression properly signifies, being much more emphatical than autou, his, or his own: as it is likewise John 5:18, he said also that God was, patera idion, his proper Father. Christ is called God’s proper Son, to distinguish him from others who are sons of God by creation, or by adoption, or by office, (in which sense magistrates are termed God’s sons,) that is, by some temporal dignity. But delivered him up — To ignominy, torture, and death; for us all — For every human creature, 2 Corinthians 5:14; 1 Timothy 2:6; Hebrews 2:9. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things — Which he sees would promote our salvation, or be subservient to our true happiness, in time or in eternity? After having given us a gift of infinite value, because it was necessary for us, and we could not otherwise be redeemed and saved, will he deny us smaller blessings, which, though inferior, are nevertheless closely connected with our redemption and salvation? After having delivered up to extreme sufferings one infinitely near and dear to him, to preserve us from everlasting and unspeakable torment, shall he, is it reasonable to suppose that he will, withhold from us any thing needful for life or godliness; especially any thing, the withholding of which would obstruct the attainment of the end for which God’s Son was so delivered up?

“To man the bleeding cross has promised all:

The bleeding cross has sworn eternal grace;

Who gave his Son, what gift shall he deny?”

“No argument was ever addressed to creatures capable of being persuaded and obliged, equal to this. For while it convinces the understanding, it raises every tender and devout feeling in the heart, and is a continual source both of hope and gratitude.”

31. What… then say—There stands the finished structure of human salvation; what can be said to it? If God—Omitting the italics, (interpolated by the translators,) we have, If God for us, who against us? The apostle stands like a triumphant herald, and challenges the universe for an opponent to meet this divine champion. Before an infinite defender every finite assailant dwindles into nothing, and the Christian stands alone beneath his omnipotent protector.

Verse 31. What then shall we say? what inference shall we draw? as in Romans 3:5; 4:1.

To these things: triumphant reference to Romans 8:29, 30. An answer is implied in the next question. We shall infer that

God is on our side, or acting on our behalf: and this will make needless the question who is against us? For all things and persons are under God’s control, and therefore cannot hinder the accomplishment of His eternal purpose: and this, we have just seen, is to make us sharers of the glory of Christ. The word who suggests that the hardships Paul has in view were in part caused by persons.

V. 32. He that-This period contains four sentences: He spared not his own Son; therefore he will freely give us all things. He delivered him up for us all; therefore, none can lay anything to our charge. Freely-For all that follows justification is a free gift also. All things-Needful or profitable for us.

Verse 32. He that spared not his own Son] And can we, his sincere followers, doubt of the safety of our state, or the certainty of his protection? No: for if he loved us, Gentiles and Jews, so intensely as to deliver up to death his own Son for us all, can he withhold from us any minor blessing? Nay, will he not, on the contrary, freely give us all things? For if he told Abraham, who is the father of the faithful, and representative of us all, and with whom the covenant was made, that, because he had not withheld from him his only son Isaac, but delivered him up to that death which he thought his God had required, in blessing, he would bless him; and in multiplying, he would multiply him; that his seed should possess the gate of his enemies; and that in it all the nations of the earth should be blessed, Genesis 22:16-19; will HE not give us all that was spiritually intended by these promises, whose only begotten Son was not sacrificed in a figure, but really, in order to purchase every blessing that the soul of man can need and that the hand of God can dispense.

Verses 31, 32. What shall we then say to these things — Related in the third, fifth, and eighth chapters, or conclude upon this review? Surely we may courageously defy all our enemies, and say, If God — Who hath all power in himself, and all the events of time and eternity under his direction; be for us — Our sure, never-failing, everlasting friend, engaged for our salvation and happiness in time and in eternity: or rather, since God is for us; for “ei here, is not a conditional particle; for that would imply doubting. But it stands for epei, since, and is an affirmation.” As if he had said, Since God has manifested so much love to us as to call us by the gospel to repentance, faith in his Son, and new obedience; to incline and enable us to obey the call, and to justify, adopt, regenerate, and constitute us his children; who can be against us — What real hurt can the world, the devil, or all his instruments, do us by all our sufferings from them? We who were called when we were averse; justified when we were guilty; sanctified when unholy; shall, we have reason to hope, be in due time glorified, though now despised, oppressed, and persecuted. Can any or all our enemies, whether visible or invisible, with any success, oppose our enjoying the inheritance of the children of God, with the other blessings promised to the seed of Abraham? He that spared not his own Son — Greek, idiou uiou, his proper Son; so the expression properly signifies, being much more emphatical than autou, his, or his own: as it is likewise John 5:18, he said also that God was, patera idion, his proper Father. Christ is called God’s proper Son, to distinguish him from others who are sons of God by creation, or by adoption, or by office, (in which sense magistrates are termed God’s sons,) that is, by some temporal dignity. But delivered him up — To ignominy, torture, and death; for us all — For every human creature, 2 Corinthians 5:14; 1 Timothy 2:6; Hebrews 2:9. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things — Which he sees would promote our salvation, or be subservient to our true happiness, in time or in eternity? After having given us a gift of infinite value, because it was necessary for us, and we could not otherwise be redeemed and saved, will he deny us smaller blessings, which, though inferior, are nevertheless closely connected with our redemption and salvation? After having delivered up to extreme sufferings one infinitely near and dear to him, to preserve us from everlasting and unspeakable torment, shall he, is it reasonable to suppose that he will, withhold from us any thing needful for life or godliness; especially any thing, the withholding of which would obstruct the attainment of the end for which God’s Son was so delivered up?

“To man the bleeding cross has promised all:

The bleeding cross has sworn eternal grace;

Who gave his Son, what gift shall he deny?”

“No argument was ever addressed to creatures capable of being persuaded and obliged, equal to this. For while it convinces the understanding, it raises every tender and devout feeling in the heart, and is a continual source both of hope and gratitude.”

32. That God is upon his side the apostle now brings the strongest of all arguments. Spared not his own Son—The own here is emphatic, like only begotten Son, (John 3:16.) All things—As comprehensive as the all things of verse 28.

Ver. 32. Another question, suggesting a proof, from the costliness of our salvation, how earnestly God is on our side.

He did not spare: so 2 Peter 2:4, 5; 1 Corinthians 7:28: did not shield from suffering.

His own Son: the point of the argument. Cp. Romans 5:10. Gave Him up: to suffering and death: as in Romans 4:25. On behalf of us all: supporting the words on our behalf in Romans 8:31. In the words us all, Paul thinks probably only of himself and his readers; although his words here are true in a wider sense. His question here assumes, and uses as a ground for confident hope, the important teaching in Romans 3:25; 5:6-10.

How shall he not etc.? practical inference from the foregoing words, put into the form of a question. If He has done the one, it is impossible to doubt that He will do the other.

With Him: the gift of Christ to die for us, and all other gifts, here placed in closest connection.

Give-by-His-grace: cognate to the word in Romans 1:11; 5:15, 16; 6:23.

All things: i.e. all things good for us. The undeserved favour of God, which for our sake has already given up to death His own Son, will not hold back from us any good thing. For, compared with that supreme gift, all else is nothing.

V. 33. God's elect-The above-cited author observes, that long before the coming of Christ the heathen world revolted from the true God, and were therefore reprobated, or rejected.

But the nation of the Jews were chosen to be the people of God, and were therefore styled, the children or sons of God, Deuteronomy 14:1; holy people, Deuteronomy 7:6; 14:2; a chosen seed, Deuteronomy 4:37; the elect, Isaiah 41:8, 9; 43:10; the called of God, Isaiah 48:12.

And these titles were given to all the nation of Israel, including both good and bad.

Now the gospel having the most strict connexion with the Books of the Old Testament, where these phrases frequently occur; and our Lord and his apostles being native Jews, and beginning to preach in the land of Israel, the language in which they preached would of course abound with the phrases of the Jewish nation. And hence it is easy to see why such of them as would not receive him were styled reprobated. For they no longer continued to be the people of God; whereas this and those other honourable titles were continued to all such Jews as embraced Christianity. And the same appellations which once belonged to the Jewish nation were now given to the Gentile Christians also together with which they were invested with all the privileges of the chosen people of God; and nothing could cut them off from these but their own wilful apostasy. It does not appear that even good men were ever termed God's elect till above two thousand years from the creation. God's electing or choosing the nation of Israel, and separating them from the other nations, who were sunk in idolatry and all wickedness, gave the first occasion to this sort of language. And as the separating the Christians from the Jews was a like event, no wonder it was expressed in like words and phrases only with this difference, the term elect was of old applied to all the members of the visible church; whereas in the New Testament it is applied only to the members of the invisible.

Verse 33. This and the two following verses contain a string of questions, most appropriately introduced and most powerfully urged, tending to show the safety of the state of those who have believed the Gospel of the grace of God. I shall lay these verses down as they are pointed by the best Greek critics:-

“Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect?-God who justifieth? Who is he that condemneth?-Christ who died? or, rather, who is risen again? He, who is at the right hand of God? He, who maketh intercession for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?-Tribulation? or distress? or persecution? or famine? or nakedness? or peril? or sword?” In all these questions the apostle intimates that if neither GOD nor CHRIST would bring any charge against them who love him, none else could. And as God justifies through Christ who died, consequently no charge can lie against these persons, as God alone could produce any; and He, so far from doing this, has justified them-freely forgiven their trespasses. For the proper meaning and sense of the terms chosen, elect, called, &c., &c., see the discourse prefixed to this epistle; and especially sect. vi. p. 19, &c., and sect. vii. p. 23, &c.

Verses 33, 34. Who shall lay any thing to the charge — Any matter of guilt, which should bring them into condemnation, or shall bring an accusation against God’s elect — That is, against true believers, who have so received Christ (John 1:12) as to have obtained the privilege of becoming God’s children, and who only have the title of God’s elect in the New Testament, God having chosen such, and only such, for his people, instead of the disobedient Jews, whom he rejected for their unbelief. See note on verses 28-30. To explain this a little further, in the words of a writer, quoted here by Mr. Wesley: — “Long before the coming of Christ, the heathen world revolted from the true God, and were therefore reprobated, or rejected. But the nation of the Jews were chosen to be the people of God, and were therefore styled, the children, or sons, of God, a holy people, a chosen seed, the elect, the called of God. And these titles were given to all the nation of Israel, including both good and bad. Now the gospel, having the most strict connection with the books of the Old Testament, where these phrases frequently occur; and our Lord and his apostles being native Jews, and beginning to preach in the land of Israel, the language in which they preached would, of course, abound with the phrases of the Jewish nation. And hence it is easy to see, why such of them as would not receive him were styled reprobated. For they no longer continued to be the people of God: whereas this, and those other honourable titles, were continued to all such Jews as embraced Christianity. And the same appellations which once belonged to the Jewish nation, were now given to the Gentile Christians also, together with which they were invested with all the privileges of the chosen people of God; and nothing could cut them off from these, but their own wilful apostacy. It does not appear that even good men were ever termed God’s elect, till above two thousand years from the creation. God’s electing, or choosing, the nation of Israel, and separating them from the other nations, who were sunk in idolatry and all wickedness, gave the first occasion to this sort of language. And as the separating the Christians from the Jews was a like event, no wonder it was expressed in like words and phrases: only with this difference, the term elect was of old applied to all the members of the visible church, whereas, in the New Testament, it is applied only to the members of the invisible,” to truly spiritual Christians, possessed of the faith working by love. It is God that justifieth — Acquits them from condemnation, and accounts them righteous; and his power and authority are supreme over all creatures: he can and will answer all objections against them, and pronounce them absolved now, and at the day of final judgment. To justify, here, being opposed to laying a charge, or bringing an accusation, against God’s people, must be understood in the forensic sense; for a judicial acquittal from that of which the justified persons were accused, and from all the consequences which would have followed if they had not been acquitted. Who is he that condemneth? — What is his authority or power; he can but be a creature; and surely no creature, man or angel, can frustrate the Creator’s sentence. On what ground can any one accuse or condemn them? Is it on that of their past guilt, or their present remaining depravity? It is Christ that died — Namely, to expiate the former, and to procure for them grace to mortify and destroy the latter. Yea rather, that is risen again — For their justification, now and at the day of judgment; who is even at the right hand of God — Exalted to the highest degree of honour and power, even to the government of the universe; and that for this very end, to protect them against their enemies, deliver them from the guilt and power of their sins, and confer upon them his regenerating, sanctifying Spirit. The apostle seems here to allude to <19B001>Psalm 110:1, where the empire of the Messiah, after his resurrection, is foretold. Christ, who died to save God’s people, and who, since his resurrection, governs the world for their benefit, will neither condemn them himself, when he sitteth in judgment upon them, nor suffer any other to condemn them. Who also maketh intercession for us — By presenting to his Father his obedience and sufferings, whereby, as our surety, he hath made satisfaction for our sins, and by manifesting his desire and will, in his prayers offered for us, that we should be made partakers of all the blessings procured by his sacrifice, and by presenting our prayers sanctified, and rendered acceptable through him. Dr. Doddridge, following Augustine, reads and interprets these clauses interrogatively, thus: Who shall lodge any accusation, &c. Is it God? What! he who himself justifieth? Who is he that condemneth? Is it Christ, whom we know to be appointed as the final Judge? What! doth he condemn, who died to expiate our guilt, and rescue us from condemnation? Yea rather, who is risen again? Shall he undo the purposes of his death and resurrection? He who is now at the right hand of God, where he appears under a quite contrary character, and is also making intercession for us; and therefore, far from accusing us, appears ready to answer all accusations brought against us, and to frustrate all the designs of our enemies? But, as Macknight observes, the common translation, at least of the first clause, is better, as it avoids the impropriety of representing God as an accuser at the tribunal of his Son. Besides, it is fully as emphatical as the other. God having declared his purpose of justifying his believing and obedient people through faith, will any one, after that, presume to bring any accusation against them?

33. Lay… charge—There is one great enemy who is styled preeminently the accuser of the brethren; and he in fact appeared before God himself to bring charge against Job, (Job 1:9,) and he has his human representatives in the world during all ages. And yet the apostle triumphantly proclaims that their charges are no charges at all, and gives his reason. God… justifieth—Hereby the apostle shows how God is for us, (verse 31.) God justifies us at first in pardoning our sins; and whenever the adversary or his agents bring charges against us he ever repeats his justification; or, rather, God’s perpetual holding us righteous in spite of every calumniator is one continuous justifying act. That same justification holds us clear on earth, defends us against the danger of condemnation in the final judgment, and secures our place forever with the righteous.

Ver. 33.-34. The gift of Christ recalls our sins which made needful His death. The doubt thus suggested, Paul meets by reminding his readers that they are God’s chosen (or elect) ones. So Romans 9:11; 11:5, and note under Romans 9:11.

To bring a charge against such, is to dispute the justice of God’s choice. For it is God who justifies. The second question,

Who is he that condemns? supports who shall bring a charge? just as God that justifies supports God’s chosen ones. To bring a charge against believers, is to condemn those whom God has justified and chosen to be His own. Thus God’s decree of justification silences all doubt, even that suggested by memory of our past sin.

Christ who died: recalling the argument in Romans 8:32. But rather: throwing into conspicuous prominence the fact that the crucified was also raised. The words from the dead (R.V.) found in some good MSS. are doubtful and do not add to the sense.

Who is at the right hand of God: following the risen One to His present place of glory: so Colossians 3:1-4.

Intercedes (same word in Romans 8:26, 27) on our behalf: same phrase and thought in Hebrews 7:25. Notice the stately gradation: died… was raised… at the right hand of God… intercedes for us. These great facts are abundant proof that (Romans 8:31) God is on our side and that therefore no one can injure us.

V. 34. Yea rather, that is risen-Our faith should not stop at his death, but be exercised farther on his resurrection, kingdom, second coming. Who maketh intercession for us-Presenting there his obedience, his sufferings, his prayers, and our prayers sanctified through him.

Verse 34. Who is even at the right hand of God] To which he has exalted our human nature, which he took in conjunction with his Divinity; and there he maketh intercession for us-manages all the concerns of his own kingdom in general, and of every member of his Church in particular.

Verses 33, 34. Who shall lay any thing to the charge — Any matter of guilt, which should bring them into condemnation, or shall bring an accusation against God’s elect — That is, against true believers, who have so received Christ (John 1:12) as to have obtained the privilege of becoming God’s children, and who only have the title of God’s elect in the New Testament, God having chosen such, and only such, for his people, instead of the disobedient Jews, whom he rejected for their unbelief. See note on verses 28-30. To explain this a little further, in the words of a writer, quoted here by Mr. Wesley: — “Long before the coming of Christ, the heathen world revolted from the true God, and were therefore reprobated, or rejected. But the nation of the Jews were chosen to be the people of God, and were therefore styled, the children, or sons, of God, a holy people, a chosen seed, the elect, the called of God. And these titles were given to all the nation of Israel, including both good and bad. Now the gospel, having the most strict connection with the books of the Old Testament, where these phrases frequently occur; and our Lord and his apostles being native Jews, and beginning to preach in the land of Israel, the language in which they preached would, of course, abound with the phrases of the Jewish nation. And hence it is easy to see, why such of them as would not receive him were styled reprobated. For they no longer continued to be the people of God: whereas this, and those other honourable titles, were continued to all such Jews as embraced Christianity. And the same appellations which once belonged to the Jewish nation, were now given to the Gentile Christians also, together with which they were invested with all the privileges of the chosen people of God; and nothing could cut them off from these, but their own wilful apostacy. It does not appear that even good men were ever termed God’s elect, till above two thousand years from the creation. God’s electing, or choosing, the nation of Israel, and separating them from the other nations, who were sunk in idolatry and all wickedness, gave the first occasion to this sort of language. And as the separating the Christians from the Jews was a like event, no wonder it was expressed in like words and phrases: only with this difference, the term elect was of old applied to all the members of the visible church, whereas, in the New Testament, it is applied only to the members of the invisible,” to truly spiritual Christians, possessed of the faith working by love. It is God that justifieth — Acquits them from condemnation, and accounts them righteous; and his power and authority are supreme over all creatures: he can and will answer all objections against them, and pronounce them absolved now, and at the day of final judgment. To justify, here, being opposed to laying a charge, or bringing an accusation, against God’s people, must be understood in the forensic sense; for a judicial acquittal from that of which the justified persons were accused, and from all the consequences which would have followed if they had not been acquitted. Who is he that condemneth? — What is his authority or power; he can but be a creature; and surely no creature, man or angel, can frustrate the Creator’s sentence. On what ground can any one accuse or condemn them? Is it on that of their past guilt, or their present remaining depravity? It is Christ that died — Namely, to expiate the former, and to procure for them grace to mortify and destroy the latter. Yea rather, that is risen again — For their justification, now and at the day of judgment; who is even at the right hand of God — Exalted to the highest degree of honour and power, even to the government of the universe; and that for this very end, to protect them against their enemies, deliver them from the guilt and power of their sins, and confer upon them his regenerating, sanctifying Spirit. The apostle seems here to allude to <19B001>Psalm 110:1, where the empire of the Messiah, after his resurrection, is foretold. Christ, who died to save God’s people, and who, since his resurrection, governs the world for their benefit, will neither condemn them himself, when he sitteth in judgment upon them, nor suffer any other to condemn them. Who also maketh intercession for us — By presenting to his Father his obedience and sufferings, whereby, as our surety, he hath made satisfaction for our sins, and by manifesting his desire and will, in his prayers offered for us, that we should be made partakers of all the blessings procured by his sacrifice, and by presenting our prayers sanctified, and rendered acceptable through him. Dr. Doddridge, following Augustine, reads and interprets these clauses interrogatively, thus: Who shall lodge any accusation, &c. Is it God? What! he who himself justifieth? Who is he that condemneth? Is it Christ, whom we know to be appointed as the final Judge? What! doth he condemn, who died to expiate our guilt, and rescue us from condemnation? Yea rather, who is risen again? Shall he undo the purposes of his death and resurrection? He who is now at the right hand of God, where he appears under a quite contrary character, and is also making intercession for us; and therefore, far from accusing us, appears ready to answer all accusations brought against us, and to frustrate all the designs of our enemies? But, as Macknight observes, the common translation, at least of the first clause, is better, as it avoids the impropriety of representing God as an accuser at the tribunal of his Son. Besides, it is fully as emphatical as the other. God having declared his purpose of justifying his believing and obedient people through faith, will any one, after that, presume to bring any accusation against them?

34. Condemneth—The reason why there can be no charge is because there can be no condemnation; and the reason why there can be no condemnation is this most conclusive one, Christ that dieth. The penalty of our sins hath been suffered, and the faithful are unpunishable and uncondemnable. He who hath so suffered claims us as his right. To assert this claim he is risen again, and to give decisive authority to his claim he is even at the right hand of God. The image is drawn from the custom of Oriental kings of seating persons of the highest honour at the right side of the throne. So Solomon seated his mother at his own right hand, (1 Kings 2:19,) so Salome desired to place one of her sons at the right hand and the other at the left of the royal Messiah, (Matthew 20:21,) and so the Psalmist seats the Messiah-Jehovah at the right hand of Jehovah, (<19B001>Psalm 110:1.) Intercession—So in Hebrews 7:25, we learn that He ever liveth to make intercession for us. So also Hebrews 9:24, and 1 John 2:1. What the precise form of this intercession of the ever living Jesus is we know not. Yet it can be no otherwise than an essential perpetuation of his high priestly prayer in John 17. Though, however, his glorified form kneel not, and no voice be uttered, still his presence, with the history and glory of his death about him, is a perpetual memorial of mercy unto God. His blood has a perpetual voice, speaking better things than the blood of Abel.

Ver. 33.-34. The gift of Christ recalls our sins which made needful His death. The doubt thus suggested, Paul meets by reminding his readers that they are God’s chosen (or elect) ones. So Romans 9:11; 11:5, and note under Romans 9:11.

To bring a charge against such, is to dispute the justice of God’s choice. For it is God who justifies. The second question,

Who is he that condemns? supports who shall bring a charge? just as God that justifies supports God’s chosen ones. To bring a charge against believers, is to condemn those whom God has justified and chosen to be His own. Thus God’s decree of justification silences all doubt, even that suggested by memory of our past sin.

Christ who died: recalling the argument in Romans 8:32. But rather: throwing into conspicuous prominence the fact that the crucified was also raised. The words from the dead (R.V.) found in some good MSS. are doubtful and do not add to the sense.

Who is at the right hand of God: following the risen One to His present place of glory: so Colossians 3:1-4.

Intercedes (same word in Romans 8:26, 27) on our behalf: same phrase and thought in Hebrews 7:25. Notice the stately gradation: died… was raised… at the right hand of God… intercedes for us. These great facts are abundant proof that (Romans 8:31) God is on our side and that therefore no one can injure us.

V. 35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ-Toward us? Shall affliction or distress-He proceeds in order, from less troubles to greater: can any of these separate us from his protection in it; and, if he sees good, deliverance from it?

Verse 35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?] I do think that this question has been generally misunderstood. The apostle is referring to the persecutions and tribulations to which genuine Christians were exposed through their attachment to Christ, and the gracious provision God had made for their support and final salvation. As in this provision God had shown his infinite love to them in providing Jesus Christ as their sin-offering, and Jesus Christ had shown his love in suffering death upon the cross for them; so, here, he speaks of the love of the followers of God to that Christ who had first loved them. Therefore the question is not, Who shall separate the love of Christ from us? or prevent Christ from loving us? but, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Who or what shall be able to remove our affection from him? And the questions that immediately follow show that this is the sense of the passage; for the tribulation, distress, &c., which he enumerates, are things by which they might be affected, but by which Christ could not be affected; and, consequently, the question most evidently refers to their love to him who had first loved them, and, while it affords a strong presumption of their perseverance, furnishes a most powerful argument against apostasy. Shall tribulation?] fliyiv, grievous affliction, or distress of any kind; from flibw, to compress, oppress, straiten, &c.; any thing by which a man is rendered miserable.

Or distress?] stenocwria, a word of nearly the same import with the former, but more intense in its signification. It signifies straitness, being hemmed in on every side, without the possibility of getting out or escaping; from stenov, strait or narrow, and cwrov, a place.

Or persecution?] diwgmov, from diwkw, to pursue, press upon, prosecute, signifies such pursuing as an enemy uses in order to overtake the object of his malice, that he may destroy him.

Or famine?] limov, from leipw, to fail; the total want of bread, and all the necessaries of life.

Or nakedness?] gumnothv, being absolutely without clothing; forcibly expressed by the derivation of the word guia mona ecwn, having one’s limbs only, being totally unclothed.

Or peril?] kindunov, a state of extreme and continued danger, perplexing and distressing with grievous forebodings and alarms; derived from kinei tav odunav, it excites anguish; because much evil is felt, and much more feared.

Or sword?] macaira, slaughter; the total destruction of life, and especially beheading, and such like, done by the order of the civil magistrate; for the word is used in this epistle, Romans 13:4, to signify the authority and power which he has of judicially terminating life; i.e. of inflicting capital punishment.

Verses 35-37. Who shall separate us — By saying tiv, who, the apostle personifies the things he is going to mention, namely, affliction, &c.; from the love of Christ — Toward us? By this, some understand the love which we bear to Christ. But to separate us from our own love, seems an unusual expression. Even this, however, may be included thus; — What creature or occasion shall cause us to withdraw our love from him, and consequently cause him, in any degree, to withdraw his love from us? Shall tribulation? or affliction, as qliyiv is generally rendered; or distress? — Stenocwria, perplexity, when we know not which way to turn ourselves. The former word, according to Esthius, signifies sickness and other bodily evils; whereas the latter rather means trouble of mind, arising from doubtful and perplexing straits and difficulties. He proceeds in order from less troubles to greater. Can any of these separate us from his protection in the trial, and (if he sees good) deliverance from it? The sword is here put for a violent death. As none can imagine that Christ would love his faithful servants less for enduring such extremities for his sake, the text must of necessity be intended to express the apostle’s confidence, that his love to his people, illustrated already in so glorious a manner, would engage him to support them under all their trials, by vital communications of divine strength. As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day — That is, every day, continually: we are accounted — By our enemies, by ourselves; as sheep for the slaughter — The Psalm from which this quotation is taken, is thought by some to have been written during the Babylonish captivity, when the Jews suffered great persecution for their religion: but at other times also the Jews were exposed to a variety of evils from their conquerors, on account of their adherence to the worship and service of the true God. See note on Psalms 44:22Psalm 44:22. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors — We are not only no losers, but abundant gainers by all these trials. The original expression, upernikwmen, signifies to obtain a great victory. “The victory which the people of God obtain over their persecutors is of a very singular nature. It consists in their patient bearing of all the evils which their persecutors inflict upon them, and that through the assistance of Christ, and in imitation of his example. For by suffering in this manner, they maintain his cause in spite of all opposition, and confound their persecutors.”

35. Who… separate—The apostle now issues his third challenge to the foes of the redeemed. He has called for the accuser, the condemner, and now he summons the separator, sure that none dare appear. He next challenges an entire catalogue of enemies by name and declares the discomfiture of all. Love of Christ—It is a strange dispute between commentators whether this phrase signifies our love to Christ or Christ’s love to us. We often speak of a person being separated from another’s affection, but whoever heard of a man being separated from his own love to another? Besides, it is God’s and Christ’s maintenance of the cause of the Christian which runs through the entire passage. In the present verse the apostle enumerates a series of earthly or natural foes of the Christian, and in 38 and 39 the supernatural or transcendent.

Nothing, indeed, can separate the believer from Christ; but the man may depart from his faith and cease to be a believer. Nothing can kill the Christian, but he may commit suicide. None can pluck him out of his Father’s hand, but he may leap out of that hand himself. And hence of that one enemy which a man may be to himself the apostle makes no mention in his hostile catalogue. Tribulation—The apostle now enumerates seven enemies which assail the Christian in vain. Not but that these foes can materially harm him, though they can neither accuse nor condemn him as before God. From their corporeal assaults, even the Divine Protector promises no immunity and no deliverance from their earthly power. But they cannot break, they will brighten, rather, and strengthen the golden chain that fastens the justified to Christ.

Ver. 35.-36. Two final and triumphant questions.

The love of Christ: His love to us: cp. Romans 8:37; Galatians 2:20.

Who? as in Romans 8:31.

Who shall separate? put us beyond reach of Christ and thus deprive us of the practical effect of His love. The various hardships of the present life are paraded as powerless captives.

Affliction, helplessness: as in Romans 2:9. At the word sword, Paul breaks off his question to quote Psalms 44:22Psalm 44:22, which reminds us that the death of God’s people by the sword is no new thing. The Psalm refers to men who, though faithful to God, suffered military disaster. Their enemies

reckoned them as sheep ready for slaughter: and the work of death went on all the day. This destruction was a result of loyalty to God: on account of Thee. Although we do not know the facts referred to, we learn that there were men in that day who died because they served God, and were thus forerunners of the Christian martyrs. This is another harmony of the old and new.

V. 36. All the day-That is, every day, continually. We are accounted-By our enemies; by ourselves. Psalms 44:22Psalm 44:22.

Verse 36. As it is written] And these are no more than we may naturally expect from the present constitution of the world, and the positive predictions of the prophet, Psalms 44:22Psalm 44:22, who foresaw that a wicked world would always persecute and oppress the true followers of God.

Verses 35-37. Who shall separate us — By saying tiv, who, the apostle personifies the things he is going to mention, namely, affliction, &c.; from the love of Christ — Toward us? By this, some understand the love which we bear to Christ. But to separate us from our own love, seems an unusual expression. Even this, however, may be included thus; — What creature or occasion shall cause us to withdraw our love from him, and consequently cause him, in any degree, to withdraw his love from us? Shall tribulation? or affliction, as qliyiv is generally rendered; or distress? — Stenocwria, perplexity, when we know not which way to turn ourselves. The former word, according to Esthius, signifies sickness and other bodily evils; whereas the latter rather means trouble of mind, arising from doubtful and perplexing straits and difficulties. He proceeds in order from less troubles to greater. Can any of these separate us from his protection in the trial, and (if he sees good) deliverance from it? The sword is here put for a violent death. As none can imagine that Christ would love his faithful servants less for enduring such extremities for his sake, the text must of necessity be intended to express the apostle’s confidence, that his love to his people, illustrated already in so glorious a manner, would engage him to support them under all their trials, by vital communications of divine strength. As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day — That is, every day, continually: we are accounted — By our enemies, by ourselves; as sheep for the slaughter — The Psalm from which this quotation is taken, is thought by some to have been written during the Babylonish captivity, when the Jews suffered great persecution for their religion: but at other times also the Jews were exposed to a variety of evils from their conquerors, on account of their adherence to the worship and service of the true God. See note on Psalms 44:22Psalm 44:22. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors — We are not only no losers, but abundant gainers by all these trials. The original expression, upernikwmen, signifies to obtain a great victory. “The victory which the people of God obtain over their persecutors is of a very singular nature. It consists in their patient bearing of all the evils which their persecutors inflict upon them, and that through the assistance of Christ, and in imitation of his example. For by suffering in this manner, they maintain his cause in spite of all opposition, and confound their persecutors.”

36. Written—The quotation, from the Septuagint version of Psalms 44:22Psalm 44:22, confirms the fact that these foes may attain a temporal triumph. By so quoting the apostle ranks the suffering Christians of his day with the glorious army of martyrs of the Old Testament Church. Killed all the day—The continued slaughter extends from sunrise to sunset.

Ver. 35.-36. Two final and triumphant questions.

The love of Christ: His love to us: cp. Romans 8:37; Galatians 2:20.

Who? as in Romans 8:31.

Who shall separate? put us beyond reach of Christ and thus deprive us of the practical effect of His love. The various hardships of the present life are paraded as powerless captives.

Affliction, helplessness: as in Romans 2:9. At the word sword, Paul breaks off his question to quote Psalms 44:22Psalm 44:22, which reminds us that the death of God’s people by the sword is no new thing. The Psalm refers to men who, though faithful to God, suffered military disaster. Their enemies

reckoned them as sheep ready for slaughter: and the work of death went on all the day. This destruction was a result of loyalty to God: on account of Thee. Although we do not know the facts referred to, we learn that there were men in that day who died because they served God, and were thus forerunners of the Christian martyrs. This is another harmony of the old and new.

V. 37. We more than conquer-We are not only no losers, but abundant gainers, by all these trials. This period seems to describe the full assurance of hope.

Verse 37. Nay] as the prophet adds in the same place, all this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten thee, nor dealt falsely in thy covenant, Romans 8:17, 18, so all these things may happen unto us; but in all these things we are more than conquerors; WE abide faithful in the new covenant of our God; and HE is faithful who has promised to support and make us more than conquerors; i.e. to give us a complete triumph over sin, and death, and hell, not leaving one enemy unsubdued.

Verses 35-37. Who shall separate us — By saying tiv, who, the apostle personifies the things he is going to mention, namely, affliction, &c.; from the love of Christ — Toward us? By this, some understand the love which we bear to Christ. But to separate us from our own love, seems an unusual expression. Even this, however, may be included thus; — What creature or occasion shall cause us to withdraw our love from him, and consequently cause him, in any degree, to withdraw his love from us? Shall tribulation? or affliction, as qliyiv is generally rendered; or distress? — Stenocwria, perplexity, when we know not which way to turn ourselves. The former word, according to Esthius, signifies sickness and other bodily evils; whereas the latter rather means trouble of mind, arising from doubtful and perplexing straits and difficulties. He proceeds in order from less troubles to greater. Can any of these separate us from his protection in the trial, and (if he sees good) deliverance from it? The sword is here put for a violent death. As none can imagine that Christ would love his faithful servants less for enduring such extremities for his sake, the text must of necessity be intended to express the apostle’s confidence, that his love to his people, illustrated already in so glorious a manner, would engage him to support them under all their trials, by vital communications of divine strength. As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day — That is, every day, continually: we are accounted — By our enemies, by ourselves; as sheep for the slaughter — The Psalm from which this quotation is taken, is thought by some to have been written during the Babylonish captivity, when the Jews suffered great persecution for their religion: but at other times also the Jews were exposed to a variety of evils from their conquerors, on account of their adherence to the worship and service of the true God. See note on Psalms 44:22Psalm 44:22. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors — We are not only no losers, but abundant gainers by all these trials. The original expression, upernikwmen, signifies to obtain a great victory. “The victory which the people of God obtain over their persecutors is of a very singular nature. It consists in their patient bearing of all the evils which their persecutors inflict upon them, and that through the assistance of Christ, and in imitation of his example. For by suffering in this manner, they maintain his cause in spite of all opposition, and confound their persecutors.”

37. More than conquerors—The slaughtered sheep are more than victors; or, rather, superabundantly conquerors. The persecutor can butcher them, but they gloriously defeat their persecutor. Through him— Not even martyrdom is, in itself, a glory and a crown; it is glorious and crowned through Him who gives it all its value.

Ver. 37. We-more-than-conquer: for all things, including our enemies and hardships, are (Romans 8:28) working together with us for good. Through Him that loved us: Christ: see Romans 8:35; 1 Corinthians 15:57: cp. Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:25. The victory is from God, through Christ, and through the death which reveals His love to us,

V. 38. I am persuaded-This is inferred from the thirty-fourth verse, in an admirable order:—

Neither death" shall hurt us; For "Christ is dead:"

"Nor life;" "is risen"

Nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers; nor things

present, nor things to come;" "is at the right hand of God:" "Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature;" "maketh intercession for us."

Neither death-Terrible as it is to natural men; a violent death in particular, Romans 8:36.

Nor life-With all the affliction and distress it can bring, Romans 8:35; or a long, easy life; or all living men.

Nor angels-Whether good (if it were possible they should attempt it) or bad, with all their wisdom and strength.

Nor principalities, nor powers-Not even those of the highest rank, or the most eminent power.

Nor things present-Which may befal us during our pilgrimage; or the whole world, till it passeth away.

Nor things to come-Which may occur either when our time on earth is past, or when time itself is at an end, as the final judgment, the general conflagration, the everlasting fire.

Nor height, nor depth-The former sentence respected the differences of times; this, the differences of places. How many great and various things are contained in these words, we do not, need not, cannot know yet. The height-In St. Paul's sublime style, is put for heaven. The depth-For the great abyss: that is, neither the heights, I will not say of walls, mountains, seas, but, of heaven itself, can move us; nor the abyss itself, the very thought of which might astonish the boldest creature. Nor any creature-Nothing beneath the Almighty; visible enemies he does not even deign to name.

Shall be able-Either by force, Romans 8:35; or by any legal claim, Romans 8:33, &c.

To separate us from the love of God in Christ-Which will surely save, protect, deliver us who believe in, and through, and from, them all.

Verse 38. For I am persuaded] After the blessed experience we have had of support by the grace and Spirit of him that loved us, that neither fear of death, nor hope of life, nor evil angels, nor principalities, nor powers, persecuting us for Christ’s sake; nor the things we endure at present, nor the things to come, whatever tribulation we may be called to suffer in future;

Verses 38, 39. For I am persuaded, &c. — This period describes the full assurance of hope, and the inference is made in admirable order; neither death — Terrible as it is to natural men, a violent death in particular; nor the fear of it, verse 36; nor life — With all the affliction and distress it can bring, verse 35; or a long, easy life, and the love of it; or all living men; nor angels — Whether good (if it were possible they should attempt it) or bad, with all their subtlety and strength: nor principalities, nor powers — Not even those of the highest rank, or of the most eminent power. “Because angels are distinguished from principalities and powers, Beza and some others are of opinion that powers in this passage, as Luke 12:11, signify the persecuting rulers and potentates of the earth, who endeavoured to make the first Christians renounce their faith. But as evil angels, in other passages of Scripture, are called principalities and powers, and as the apostle rises in his description, it is probable that he speaks of these malicious spirits, the inveterate enemies of mankind; and that he calls them principalities and powers, by a metonymy of the office, or power possessed, for the persons possessing it.” — Macknight. Nor things present — Difficult as they are, or such as may befall us during our pilgrimage, or till the world passeth away; nor things to come — Extreme as they may prove; that is, future sufferings, or things which may occur, either when our time on earth is past, or when time itself is at an end, as the final judgment, the general conflagration, the everlasting fire. The apostle does not mention things past, because they have no influence on the mind, unless so far as the like things are either hoped or feared. Nor height, nor depth — The former sentence respected the differences of times; this respects the differences of places. How many, great, and various things are contained in these words, we do not, need not, cannot know yet. The height, in St. Paul’s sublime style, is put for heaven; the depth for the great abyss: that is, neither the heights, I will not say of walls, mountains, waves of the sea, but of heaven itself, can move us; nor the abyss itself, the very thought of which might astonish the boldest creature. Or his meaning may be, Neither the height of prosperity, nor the depth of adversity can move us. Nor any other creature — Above or beneath, in heaven, earth, or hell: nothing beneath the Almighty. In this general clause the apostle includes whatever else could be named, as having any influence to separate believers from the love of God, exercised toward them through Christ: shall be able — Either by force, verse 35, or by any legal claim, verse 33, &c., to separate us from the love of God in Christ — Which will surely save, protect, and deliver us, who believe, and persevere so to do, in and through, and from them all.

Ver. 38, 39. I am persuaded that neither death nor life — Here is the full assurance of faith, a persuasion that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God. John Binchius, in his Latin Mellificium Theologicum, says, there are twenty eight arguments of assurance in this chapter; the love of God, the promises, the witness and first fruits of the Spirit, &c. This is the grace which every christian should seek to attain, “giving diligence to the full assurance of hope to the end.” But while we rejoice, we also weep to see the church torn and divided by understanding St. Paul’s consolations to the saints of Rome in a sense widely different. The efforts of reconciliation have all failed. The Council of Trent had disputations on the subject. The Reformed churches were also divided. In reply to predestinarians it was argued, “that to elect one, and reject another, implied partiality in God; that he was unjust, if he sent men to perdition merely for his own will. It destroyed the natural liberty of man, as the elect cannot finally do evil, nor the reprobate good. They added, that God foreseeing who would, and who would not reject his grace, elected the one, and rejected the other: if otherwise, there was no just ground why God should in the scriptures complain of men, nor why he should exhort sinners to repent.”

In the Augsburgh confession of faith, as subscribed by the Lutheran church, we find the same sentiments as in the council of Trent. “That all men having lost primitive integrity by the fall, became children of wrath; and being under the servitude of sin, neither the jew nor the gentile could free himself from the yoke of Satan. Therefore it pleased God to send his only-begotten Son into the world, that they might embrace the righteousness which is by faith, and receive the adoption of sons.” On the first of the five points, the Augsburgh or Lutheran confession says, chap. 2., “That God was pleased to make a general conditional decree of predestination, under the condition of faith and perseverance; and a special absolute decree of electing those to life, whom he foresaw would believe, and persevere by the aids of grace to the end of their course: and a special absolute decree of condemning those whom he foresaw would remain impenitent, and in their sins.” Dr. Heylin.

In England we have had the like hopeless disputations on the five points of predestination and grace. The Lutheran confession however is made the basis of the thirty nine articles. But having a strong and active body in favour of the Calvinistic confession, our reformers were obliged to admit the seventeenth, or Angustinian article.

But the Calvinists were far from being satisfied with our Lutheran creed. The archbishop, and two others, one dean, and six doctors, assembled at Lambeth, with several more, in the year 1595, and drew up nine brief but strong articles, which were utterly rejected by the council and the convocation.

Art. 1. God from eternity predestinated certain men to life, and certain men to reprobation.

Art. 2. The moving cause of predestination to life, is not a foresight of faith and perseverance in the person predestinated, but only the good will and pleasure of God.

Art. 3. That there is predetermined a certain number of the predestinated, which can neither be augmented nor diminished. — Dr. P. Heylin’s History of the western churches, p. 622.

The other six articles respect justifying faith, and final perseverance. Under these circumstances and disputations, which neither councils nor controversies can compose, is it not wise to leave those unsearchable depths to the final decisions of the deity? Is it not rash, is it not offering violence to all humane feelings, to presume on any absolute decree of preterition? Most assuredly, if St. Paul were now alive, and to read our antinomian books, he would rend his robes, and appeal to his tears, and labours, and prayers for the salvation of Israel, as knowing that “God was able to graft them in again, if they abode not still in unbelief:” Romans 11:23. From those last words it is clear, his soul would have abhorred the Lambeth articles, so judiciously rejected by the convocation. In a word, what good could I get by embracing these notions. If consoled, on the one hand, by the idea of God’s electing love; should I not be tormented, on the other, lest I should not be one of the highly favoured few? Better to say, Sweetly let me trust a God,

God the ever kind and good.

38. Persuaded—Such assurance does Christianity give me that I rest firmly upon it. Neither death, nor life—The two potencies of existence; namely, the two stages of human existence, life and death. These are both mighty powers over human destiny. Personified life is armed with terrible dangers; and death is the very king of terrors. Nor angels, nor principalities—Two potencies of living agents in the supersensible spiritual world. Angels throughout Scripture are the messengers of God, armed often with divine authorities. Principalities are the ranks and orders of beings in the background, never appearing to human view, and but dimly presupposed and rarely alluded to in Scripture. So Paul in Colossians 1:16, speaks very indefinitely of thrones, dominions, principalities, powers; and in Ephesians 1:21, principality, power, might, dominion, and every thing named in this world and that to come. All of which intimates that the New Testament, by a glimpse into the spiritual world, authorizes the belief of a great variety of classifications without giving us any distinct description of their nature. They come but very slightly within the range of the redemptive scheme; and so scarce within the limits of the purpose of Scripture revelation. Nor powers—Perhaps including the grand physical forces of universal nature, known to science, especially to astronomy, in the abstract, but sometimes personified in Scripture as living agencies, and even identified with angels. From the Greek word dunameiv come our dynamics, dynamical. And then we have a sublime conclusion. Not all the forces, even, that move the astronomic worlds could separate the redeemed from Christ. This is a thought which was not fully taken in by the apostle’s mind, yet his words seem pregnant with it, and legitimately express it to us. Nor things present, nor things to come—Two potencies of time; embracing the vicissitudes of the present and the unknown revolutions of the future.

Ver. 38.-39. A confident answer to the question in Romans 8:35. Persuaded: deliberate conviction: same word in Romans 15:14; 2 Timothy 1:5, 12.

Death: put first, because, to the early Christians, ever imminent. Yet life also has its perils.

Principalities: those who among angels hold superior rank, as angel-princes or archangels: as in Ephesians 1:21; 3:10, Colossians 1:16; 2:10, of good angels; and in 1 Corinthians 15:24; Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 2:15, of bad ones. Doubtless they were “the chief princes” of Daniel 10:13, 21; 12:1. It is not easy to decide whether Paul refers to good or bad angels, or angels without thought of moral character. Galatians 1:8 makes even the first supposition possible. But since Paul uses the word for angels good or bad, leaving the context to determine which, he probably refers here simply to angelic power (cp. will be able) of whatever kind. Not even angels are strong enough to tear us from God.

Things present: be they what they may.

Things coming: the uncertain possibilities of the future. Powers: kings, magistrates, etc.

Height: to which we look up with helpless fear.

Depth: the chasm which opens ready to engulf us: cp. Ephesians 3:18. Able to separate us: stronger than will separate in Romans 8:35. Love of God… in Christ Jesus: the love of God to man manifested in the historic human personality of Christ and apprehended by inward contact with our risen Lord. “Neither the hand of death nor the events of a prolonged life, nor angels of ordinary or extraordinary rank, neither the hardships of the present nor the uncertainties of the future, nor powers of any kind, neither exaltation or any exalted being nor deepest abasement, nor anything else which God has made, can put us beyond reach of that love of God which shone upon us in the person and from the cross of Christ and is with us now by vital union with Him.” And, since our enemies cannot separate us from Him, they are powerless to hurt us. We are more than conquerors. That they are permitted by our Father in heaven to approach us, is proof that they are working out for us those purposes of mercy and glory which He formed for us before the world was, and for which He made the world. Thus, to us who love God, underneath apparent discord is profound harmony, a harmony of blessing.

We have in Romans 8:31-39 the first prolonged outburst of Christian emotion. It is evoked by contemplation of the hardships and perils of the present life. As Paul surveys his enemies, numerous and various, passing before him in long procession but unable to injure, he realises the completeness of the victory which God has given. So in all ages the loudest songs of triumph have been sung in the face of the fiercest foes by men who, while the powers of darkness were doing their worst, found themselves more than conquerors. But we have here much more than emotion. Each verse is full of argument: for Paul’s exultation rests on solid objective grounds. He looks, not at himself, but at God and Christ; he remembers the purpose which God formed before the world was, and the price He paid to accomplish it; and from this infers that God is on his side and will withhold from him no good thing. The accusations of enemies and of conscience are silenced by the Gospel in which God proclaims our justification and by Paul’s assured conviction that to save us from punishment Christ died, and now intercedes. Thus the historic facts of Christ’s death and resurrection attest the love of Christ and of God. And from that love no foe, human or superhuman, can tear us.

The relation between this confidence of final victory and Paul’s solemn warning that unless his readers continue in faith they will fall and finally perish, will be discussed under Romans 11:24.

DIVISION III., and with it Paul’s exposition of the Gospel, are now complete. In DIV. I., he proved that all men are exposed to punishment. In DIV. II., he asserted justification through faith, and through the death of Christ; and proved that justification through faith, which overthrows all Jewish boasting, is in harmony with God’s recorded treatment of Abraham, and that justification through the death of Christ gives us a hope of glory based on God’s love, and is a counterpart, and the only conceivable explanation, of the entrance of death through Adam’s sin. DIV. III. is introduced by an objection that the teaching of DIV. II. leads to immorality. This objection, Paul meets, not by guarding or qualifying the doctrine of justification, but by putting beside it the doctrine that God wills us to live, by inward union with Christ, a life like His life of devotion to God. This new life, we obtain by reckoning it to be ours. Paul justifies the gift of it to men condemned by the Law, by showing that in Christ we are set free from the dominion of the Law; and justifies the Law which condemns us by asserting that our own best intelligence approves its judgment. He goes on to say that of this new life the Spirit of God is the guiding principle; and proves that the Spirit within us is a sure pledge of the glory awaiting us. This is not disproved by our afflictions: for our present state is one, not of possession, but of hope. And our hope is confirmed by the state of the natural world around us, and by our divinely-taught yearnings for the accomplishment of the promises. God is on our side: therefore the hardships of life cannot hurt us, but are working out our good. DIVISIONS II. and III. are a logical development of five great doctrines, viz.

(1) that God accepts as righteous all who believe the Gospel, stated in Romans 3:21, 22; (2) by means of the death of the Son of God, in Romans 3:24-26; (3) that God designs us to be, by union with Christ, sharers of the life of Christ, a life devoted to God, in Romans 6:3-10;

(4) that this life becomes ours by the reckoning of faith, in Romans 6:11; (5) through the inward presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit, in Romans 8:2-16. As thus stated, Doct. 1 implies a personal God who pardons sin; Doct. 2 implies that in a unique sense Christ is the Son of God, and Doct. 3 implies His unreserved devotion to God; Doctrines 1 and 4 assert comprehensively salvation through faith; and Doct. 5 assumes an inward consciousness of the presence of the Spirit of God. In other words, we have here Justification through Faith, and through the Death of Christ, Sanctification in Christ, through Faith, and in the Holy Spirit. We have also found abundant proof that each of these doctrines, or doctrine equivalent, was actually taught by Christ. And evidently they were accepted by Paul, and asserted without proof but with perfect confidence, because he believed that they had been previously taught by Christ. If we accept these doctrines, the reasoning in DIVISIONS II. and III. will compel us to accept the teaching of the whole epistle.

Only one subject remains: the bearing of these doctrines on the Old Covenant, and on the condition and prospects of the Jews, its living representatives.

Verse 39. Nor height-of honour, nor depth-of ignominy, nor any other creature, oute tiv ktisiv etera, (nor any other thing whatever,) shall be able to separate us, who love God, from the love of God, which he has vouchsafed to us in Christ Jesus. See Whitby. And for farther observations on the subject of the 29th and 30th verses, see at the end of the chapter.

1. THE confidence expressed by the apostle at the end of this chapter, is as rational as it is bold. On the premises laid down by him, in reference to which he has most logically conducted his whole argument, the conclusion to which he arrives is as natural and forcible as it is legitimate. The permanency of the Christian Church, in all the tribulations it has endured from pagans and papists, is a full proof of the correctness of the apostle’s reasoning. The true followers of Christ can never be forsaken by him. And his Church, which is founded on the rock, can never be shaken down by the tempests of persecution. And what God does for his Church in general, (the collective body of those who believe in the Lord Jesus, love, and obey him,) he does for every individual in that body: no man that trusts in him can be confounded. While the love of God is in his heart, and the work of God in his hand, he may be as fully persuaded as he is of his own being, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other thing whatsoever, shall be able to separate him from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. The reader who has any knowledge of what is great, commanding, and sublime in composition, will not hesitate to add here, with Dr. Taylor: “The conclusion of this chapter is the most elegant and sublime piece of writing I remember ever to have read. It is founded on the grand and solid principles of the Gospel; it breathes the true spirit of Christian magnanimity; raises our minds far above all things created; and shows, in a bright and heavenly view, the greatness of soul and the strong consolation which the Gospel inspires. God grant that it may stand clear before our understandings, and be transcribed into all our hearts! They who despise the Gospel despise all that is great, and happy, and glorious!”

2. The doctrine of the necessity of personal holiness, so clearly and strongly laid down in the former part of this chapter, should be deeply considered by every person professing godliness; and while from the seventh chapter they learn that they have an infected and morally diseased nature, they should learn from the eighth that to destroy the work of the devil was Jesus Christ manifested; and that no soul can be said to be saved by Jesus Christ who is not saved from its sins. What a full proof is it of the fallen state of man, that there should be found persons professing Christianity more fervent in their pleadings for the necessary continuance of indwelling sin, than they are for the mind that was in Christ. The seventh chapter, because there are some expressions which, being misunderstood, seem to favour this doctrine, is read and incessantly quoted: the eighth chapter, though given by the same inspiration, yet because it so strongly shows the necessity of being saved from all sin, is seldom read and scarcely ever quoted!

3. The restoration of the brute creation to a state of happiness has been thought by several to be the doctrine of Romans 8:19-25. In the notes on those verses I have given reasons against this opinion, and have proved that the Gentiles, and not the irrational part of the creation, are the persons of whom the apostle speaks; nor can any consistent interpretation be given of the place, if it be applied to the brute creation. But, although this doctrine is not contained in the above verses, it does not follow that the doctrine itself is not true. Indeed, there are several reasons which render the supposition very probable. 1. The brute creation never sinned against God, nor are they capable of it, and consequently cannot be justly liable to punishment. 2. But the whole brute creation is in a state of suffering, and partake of the common infirmities and privations of life, as well as mankind: they suffer, but who can say that they suffer justly? 3. As they appear to be necessarily involved in the sufferings of sinful man, and yet neither through their fault nor their folly, it is natural to suppose that the Judge of all the earth, who ever does right, will find some means by which these innocent creatures shall be compensated for their sufferings. 4. That they have no compensation here, their afflictions, labours, and death prove; and if they are to have any compensation, they must have it in another state. 5. God, the fountain of all goodness, must have originally designed them for that measure of happiness which is suited to the powers with which he had endowed them; but, since the fall of man, they never had that happiness; and, in their present circumstances, never can. 6. In reference to intelligent beings, God has formed his purposes in reference to their happiness on the ground of their rational natures. He has decreed that they shall be happy if they will, all the means of it being placed within their power; and, if they be ultimately miserable, it is the effect of their own unconstrained choice. Therefore his purpose is fulfilled, either in their happiness or misery; because he has purposed that they shall be happy if they please, and that misery shall be the result of their refusal. 7. But it does not appear that the brute creation are capable of this choice; and it is evident that they are not placed in their present misery through either their choice or their sin; and if no purpose of God can be ultimately frustrated, these creatures must be restored to that state of happiness for which they have been made, and of which they have been deprived through the transgression of man. 8. To say that the enjoyments which they have in this life are a sufficient compensation, is most evidently false; for, had not sin entered into the world, they would have had much greater enjoyments, without pain, excessive labour and toil, and without death, and all those sufferings which arise from its predisposing causes. Nor does it appear that they have much happiness from eating, drinking, and rest, as they have these only in the proportion in which they are necessary to their existence as the slaves of men. Therefore, allowing that they have even gratification and enjoyment in life, they have much less than they would have had had not sin entered into the world; and consequently they have been deprived of the greater portion of the happiness designed for them by their bountiful Creator. 9. It is therefore obvious that the gracious purpose of God has not been fulfilled in them; and that, as they have not lost their happiness through their own fault, both the beneficence and justice of God are bound to make them a reparation. 10. Hence it is reasonable to conclude that, as from the present constitution of things they cannot have the happiness designed for them in this state, they must have it in another.

4. On the subject of the foreknowledge of God, some observations have been made at the conclusion of the notes on the second chapter of Acts. On the subject of the prescience and predestination mentioned here, Romans 8:29, 30, vast volumes have been written, and the Christian world greatly agitated and perplexed. These doctrines of men have very little place in the texts in question. After a long and serious investigation of this business, I am led to conclude that, whether the doctrine of the decrees be true or false, it does not exist in these verses.

No portion of the word of God has been more unhappily misunderstood than several parts of the Epistle to the Romans; because men have applied to individuals what belongs to nations; and referred to eternity transactions which have taken place in time.

We have already seen that one grand aim of the apostle in writing this epistle was: 1. To prove, to both Jews and Gentiles, that they were all under sin, and that neither of them had any claim either on the justice or beneficence of God; yet he, of his own free mercy, had revealed himself to the Jews, and crowned them with innumerable privileges; and, 2. That, as he was no respecter of persons, his mercy was as free to the Gentiles as to them, being equally their God as he was the God of the Jews, and therefore had, by the Gospel, called them to a state of salvation; and to this display of his mercy the two verses in question seem particularly to refer, and show us not what God will do for some selected individuals, but what he has already done for nations.

After having shown that the whole Gentile world was groaning and travailing in pain together, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, he shows that it was, according to the affectionate purpose, proqesin, of God, that the Gentiles should be also called into the glorious liberty of the sons of God-into equal privileges with the Jews. He therefore represents them as objects of God’s gracious foreknowledge. That the word proginwskw, which literally signifies to know, or discern beforehand, and to know so as to determine, signifies also to approve, or love before, to be well affected to, is not only evident from [dy yada in Hebrew, but also from the simple verb ginwskw, in Greek, by which it is translated, and to which the compound verb repeatedly answers, without any extension of meaning by means of the preposition, as its use among the best Greek writers proves: and it is evident that the apostle uses the word in the sense of loving, being graciously affected to, Romans 11:1, 2. I say then, hath God cast away his people, which he FOREKNEW, on proegnw; to whom he has been so long graciously affected? By no means. As, therefore, he had been so long graciously affected towards the Jews, so has he towards the Gentiles. His call of Abraham, and the promises made to him, are the proof of it. The Jews, thus foreknown, were called into a glorious state of salvation, and endowed with privileges the most extraordinary ever bestowed on any people; as their whole history testifies. But is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, Romans 3:29; and to prove this is the main subject of the ninth chapter. Now, as he is the God of the Gentiles, he foreknew, had from the beginning a gracious purpose to them as well as to the Jews; and, being thus graciously disposed towards them, he determined prowrise, from pro, before, and orizw, to bound, define, &c., he defined, circumscribed, and determined the boundaries of this important business from the beginning, that they also should be taken into his Church, and conformed to the image of his Son; and, as Jesus Christ was to be their pattern, it must be by his Gospel that they should be brought into the Church; and consequently, that bringing in could not take place before the revelation of Christ. Having therefore thus foreknown and thus predestinated them ALSO, he called them ALSO by the Gospel; he justified them ALSO on their believing; and he glorified them ALSO, dignified them also with the same privileges, blessings, honours, and Divine gifts: so that they were now what the Jews had been before, the peculiar people of God. The apostle, therefore, speaks here not of what they should be, or of what they might be, but of what they then were-the called, the justified, the highly honoured of God. See Clarke’s note on “Romans 8:30”.

It is strange that so obvious a meaning of the passage should not have been noticed; but the word doxazw, which we render to glorify, and by which we understand eternal beatification, which it is very seldom used to express, being taken in this sense in the passage in question, fixed the meaning of the preceding terms; and thus the whole passage was applied to things eternal, which had reference only to things in time. This seems to me to be the true key of the passage, and the whole scope of the epistle, and especially of the context, which shows that this is the sense in which it should be understood. The passages understood in this way illustrate the infinite mercy and wisdom of God; they show that whatever appearances his providential dealings may assume of partiality towards any particular people, yet he is equally the Father of the spirits of all flesh; hateth nothing that he hath made; is loving to all; that his tender mercies are over all his works; and that he is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come unto the knowledge of the truth and be saved. Hence, whatever he did for the Jews he purposed to do for the Gentiles: if he foreknew, predestinated, called, justified, and glorified the former; he ALSO foreknew, predestinated, called, justified, and glorified the latter; having brought them into the same state of salvation, with a vast extension of blessings and higher degrees of honour. As the Jews forfeited their privileges, and now, instead of being glorified, instead of being highly honoured, and rendered illustrious, they are degraded, brought down, and rendered contemptible; because they have not made a proper use of their election, they are now reprobated; so a similar reverse awaits the Gentiles if they sin after the similitude of their transgression; and it is against this that the apostle so solemnly warns them, Romans 11:20-22: Because of unbelief they (the Jews) were broken off-thou (the Gentiles) standest by faith. If God spared not the NATURAL BRANCHES, take heed lest he also spare not THEE. Behold the goodness and severity of God! on them which FELL severity; but toward THEE goodness, IF THOU CONTINUE in his goodness; otherwise THOU ALSO shalt be CUT OFF.

5. This is also a lesson of solemn instruction to Christians in general: God has called them into a glorious state of salvation, and has furnished them with every requisite help to enable them to work out that salvation with fear and trembling. As it is an awful thing to receive the grace of God in vain, (whether that grace imply the common benefits of the Gospel, or those especial blessings received by believing souls,) so every person professing godliness should be jealous over himself lest he should trifle with matters of eternal moment; for, should he even neglect so great a salvation, his escape would be impossible. Hebrews 2:3; and if so, to what severe punishment must they be exposed who despise and reject it? ROMANS

Verses 38, 39. For I am persuaded, &c. — This period describes the full assurance of hope, and the inference is made in admirable order; neither death — Terrible as it is to natural men, a violent death in particular; nor the fear of it, verse 36; nor life — With all the affliction and distress it can bring, verse 35; or a long, easy life, and the love of it; or all living men; nor angels — Whether good (if it were possible they should attempt it) or bad, with all their subtlety and strength: nor principalities, nor powers — Not even those of the highest rank, or of the most eminent power. “Because angels are distinguished from principalities and powers, Beza and some others are of opinion that powers in this passage, as Luke 12:11, signify the persecuting rulers and potentates of the earth, who endeavoured to make the first Christians renounce their faith. But as evil angels, in other passages of Scripture, are called principalities and powers, and as the apostle rises in his description, it is probable that he speaks of these malicious spirits, the inveterate enemies of mankind; and that he calls them principalities and powers, by a metonymy of the office, or power possessed, for the persons possessing it.” — Macknight. Nor things present — Difficult as they are, or such as may befall us during our pilgrimage, or till the world passeth away; nor things to come — Extreme as they may prove; that is, future sufferings, or things which may occur, either when our time on earth is past, or when time itself is at an end, as the final judgment, the general conflagration, the everlasting fire. The apostle does not mention things past, because they have no influence on the mind, unless so far as the like things are either hoped or feared. Nor height, nor depth — The former sentence respected the differences of times; this respects the differences of places. How many, great, and various things are contained in these words, we do not, need not, cannot know yet. The height, in St. Paul’s sublime style, is put for heaven; the depth for the great abyss: that is, neither the heights, I will not say of walls, mountains, waves of the sea, but of heaven itself, can move us; nor the abyss itself, the very thought of which might astonish the boldest creature. Or his meaning may be, Neither the height of prosperity, nor the depth of adversity can move us. Nor any other creature — Above or beneath, in heaven, earth, or hell: nothing beneath the Almighty. In this general clause the apostle includes whatever else could be named, as having any influence to separate believers from the love of God, exercised toward them through Christ: shall be able — Either by force, verse 35, or by any legal claim, verse 33, &c., to separate us from the love of God in Christ — Which will surely save, protect, and deliver us, who believe, and persevere so to do, in and through, and from them all.

Ver. 38, 39. I am persuaded that neither death nor life — Here is the full assurance of faith, a persuasion that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God. John Binchius, in his Latin Mellificium Theologicum, says, there are twenty eight arguments of assurance in this chapter; the love of God, the promises, the witness and first fruits of the Spirit, &c. This is the grace which every christian should seek to attain, “giving diligence to the full assurance of hope to the end.” But while we rejoice, we also weep to see the church torn and divided by understanding St. Paul’s consolations to the saints of Rome in a sense widely different. The efforts of reconciliation have all failed. The Council of Trent had disputations on the subject. The Reformed churches were also divided. In reply to predestinarians it was argued, “that to elect one, and reject another, implied partiality in God; that he was unjust, if he sent men to perdition merely for his own will. It destroyed the natural liberty of man, as the elect cannot finally do evil, nor the reprobate good. They added, that God foreseeing who would, and who would not reject his grace, elected the one, and rejected the other: if otherwise, there was no just ground why God should in the scriptures complain of men, nor why he should exhort sinners to repent.”

In the Augsburgh confession of faith, as subscribed by the Lutheran church, we find the same sentiments as in the council of Trent. “That all men having lost primitive integrity by the fall, became children of wrath; and being under the servitude of sin, neither the jew nor the gentile could free himself from the yoke of Satan. Therefore it pleased God to send his only-begotten Son into the world, that they might embrace the righteousness which is by faith, and receive the adoption of sons.” On the first of the five points, the Augsburgh or Lutheran confession says, chap. 2., “That God was pleased to make a general conditional decree of predestination, under the condition of faith and perseverance; and a special absolute decree of electing those to life, whom he foresaw would believe, and persevere by the aids of grace to the end of their course: and a special absolute decree of condemning those whom he foresaw would remain impenitent, and in their sins.” Dr. Heylin.

In England we have had the like hopeless disputations on the five points of predestination and grace. The Lutheran confession however is made the basis of the thirty nine articles. But having a strong and active body in favour of the Calvinistic confession, our reformers were obliged to admit the seventeenth, or Angustinian article.

But the Calvinists were far from being satisfied with our Lutheran creed. The archbishop, and two others, one dean, and six doctors, assembled at Lambeth, with several more, in the year 1595, and drew up nine brief but strong articles, which were utterly rejected by the council and the convocation.

Art. 1. God from eternity predestinated certain men to life, and certain men to reprobation.

Art. 2. The moving cause of predestination to life, is not a foresight of faith and perseverance in the person predestinated, but only the good will and pleasure of God.

Art. 3. That there is predetermined a certain number of the predestinated, which can neither be augmented nor diminished. — Dr. P. Heylin’s History of the western churches, p. 622.

The other six articles respect justifying faith, and final perseverance. Under these circumstances and disputations, which neither councils nor controversies can compose, is it not wise to leave those unsearchable depths to the final decisions of the deity? Is it not rash, is it not offering violence to all humane feelings, to presume on any absolute decree of preterition? Most assuredly, if St. Paul were now alive, and to read our antinomian books, he would rend his robes, and appeal to his tears, and labours, and prayers for the salvation of Israel, as knowing that “God was able to graft them in again, if they abode not still in unbelief:” Romans 11:23. From those last words it is clear, his soul would have abhorred the Lambeth articles, so judiciously rejected by the convocation. In a word, what good could I get by embracing these notions. If consoled, on the one hand, by the idea of God’s electing love; should I not be tormented, on the other, lest I should not be one of the highly favoured few? Better to say, Sweetly let me trust a God,

God the ever kind and good.

39. Nor height, nor depth—Two antithetic potencies of space. The interpretation of heights and depths as equivalent to heaven and hell is scarce commensurate with the apostle’s conception. He designates the opposite extremes of immensity. Height indicates the sublimity of loftiness or grandeur; depth the sublimity of darkness, obscurity, and terror. Both personified suggest limitless power for unknown destruction. Any other creature—Any other nature or being, save God and the man himself. Only these two (neither of whom are named in the list) can work the terrible separation. The former never will; the dread alternative rests solely in the power of the latter. (See notes on John 17:27, 28.) So closes the Argument of the apostle, (to be supplemented by the Defence,) winding off and up into a final Anthem. And so we may say that the entire book, as an Argument, is a book of grand climaxes. Over and over again it begins in gloom, struggles through trials, and ends in triumph. Its topic is human ruin and renovation, beginning with the awful first three chapters, and closing with this grand eighth. Then, Abraham begins in Gentilism, and ends in justification. The antithesis of Adam and Christ finishes with abounding grace and eternal life. The struggling convictof chapter seventh finishes in emancipation and glory; and even the coming Defence, starting with the downfall of Israel, ends with a cheering hope of his restoration. (Note on Romans 14:23.)

Ver. 38.-39. A confident answer to the question in Romans 8:35. Persuaded: deliberate conviction: same word in Romans 15:14; 2 Timothy 1:5, 12.

Death: put first, because, to the early Christians, ever imminent. Yet life also has its perils.

Principalities: those who among angels hold superior rank, as angel-princes or archangels: as in Ephesians 1:21; 3:10, Colossians 1:16; 2:10, of good angels; and in 1 Corinthians 15:24; Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 2:15, of bad ones. Doubtless they were “the chief princes” of Daniel 10:13, 21; 12:1. It is not easy to decide whether Paul refers to good or bad angels, or angels without thought of moral character. Galatians 1:8 makes even the first supposition possible. But since Paul uses the word for angels good or bad, leaving the context to determine which, he probably refers here simply to angelic power (cp. will be able) of whatever kind. Not even angels are strong enough to tear us from God.

Things present: be they what they may.

Things coming: the uncertain possibilities of the future. Powers: kings, magistrates, etc.

Height: to which we look up with helpless fear.

Depth: the chasm which opens ready to engulf us: cp. Ephesians 3:18. Able to separate us: stronger than will separate in Romans 8:35. Love of God… in Christ Jesus: the love of God to man manifested in the historic human personality of Christ and apprehended by inward contact with our risen Lord. “Neither the hand of death nor the events of a prolonged life, nor angels of ordinary or extraordinary rank, neither the hardships of the present nor the uncertainties of the future, nor powers of any kind, neither exaltation or any exalted being nor deepest abasement, nor anything else which God has made, can put us beyond reach of that love of God which shone upon us in the person and from the cross of Christ and is with us now by vital union with Him.” And, since our enemies cannot separate us from Him, they are powerless to hurt us. We are more than conquerors. That they are permitted by our Father in heaven to approach us, is proof that they are working out for us those purposes of mercy and glory which He formed for us before the world was, and for which He made the world. Thus, to us who love God, underneath apparent discord is profound harmony, a harmony of blessing.

We have in Romans 8:31-39 the first prolonged outburst of Christian emotion. It is evoked by contemplation of the hardships and perils of the present life. As Paul surveys his enemies, numerous and various, passing before him in long procession but unable to injure, he realises the completeness of the victory which God has given. So in all ages the loudest songs of triumph have been sung in the face of the fiercest foes by men who, while the powers of darkness were doing their worst, found themselves more than conquerors. But we have here much more than emotion. Each verse is full of argument: for Paul’s exultation rests on solid objective grounds. He looks, not at himself, but at God and Christ; he remembers the purpose which God formed before the world was, and the price He paid to accomplish it; and from this infers that God is on his side and will withhold from him no good thing. The accusations of enemies and of conscience are silenced by the Gospel in which God proclaims our justification and by Paul’s assured conviction that to save us from punishment Christ died, and now intercedes. Thus the historic facts of Christ’s death and resurrection attest the love of Christ and of God. And from that love no foe, human or superhuman, can tear us.

The relation between this confidence of final victory and Paul’s solemn warning that unless his readers continue in faith they will fall and finally perish, will be discussed under Romans 11:24.

DIVISION III., and with it Paul’s exposition of the Gospel, are now complete. In DIV. I., he proved that all men are exposed to punishment. In DIV. II., he asserted justification through faith, and through the death of Christ; and proved that justification through faith, which overthrows all Jewish boasting, is in harmony with God’s recorded treatment of Abraham, and that justification through the death of Christ gives us a hope of glory based on God’s love, and is a counterpart, and the only conceivable explanation, of the entrance of death through Adam’s sin. DIV. III. is introduced by an objection that the teaching of DIV. II. leads to immorality. This objection, Paul meets, not by guarding or qualifying the doctrine of justification, but by putting beside it the doctrine that God wills us to live, by inward union with Christ, a life like His life of devotion to God. This new life, we obtain by reckoning it to be ours. Paul justifies the gift of it to men condemned by the Law, by showing that in Christ we are set free from the dominion of the Law; and justifies the Law which condemns us by asserting that our own best intelligence approves its judgment. He goes on to say that of this new life the Spirit of God is the guiding principle; and proves that the Spirit within us is a sure pledge of the glory awaiting us. This is not disproved by our afflictions: for our present state is one, not of possession, but of hope. And our hope is confirmed by the state of the natural world around us, and by our divinely-taught yearnings for the accomplishment of the promises. God is on our side: therefore the hardships of life cannot hurt us, but are working out our good. DIVISIONS II. and III. are a logical development of five great doctrines, viz.

(1) that God accepts as righteous all who believe the Gospel, stated in Romans 3:21, 22; (2) by means of the death of the Son of God, in Romans 3:24-26; (3) that God designs us to be, by union with Christ, sharers of the life of Christ, a life devoted to God, in Romans 6:3-10;

(4) that this life becomes ours by the reckoning of faith, in Romans 6:11; (5) through the inward presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit, in Romans 8:2-16. As thus stated, Doct. 1 implies a personal God who pardons sin; Doct. 2 implies that in a unique sense Christ is the Son of God, and Doct. 3 implies His unreserved devotion to God; Doctrines 1 and 4 assert comprehensively salvation through faith; and Doct. 5 assumes an inward consciousness of the presence of the Spirit of God. In other words, we have here Justification through Faith, and through the Death of Christ, Sanctification in Christ, through Faith, and in the Holy Spirit. We have also found abundant proof that each of these doctrines, or doctrine equivalent, was actually taught by Christ. And evidently they were accepted by Paul, and asserted without proof but with perfect confidence, because he believed that they had been previously taught by Christ. If we accept these doctrines, the reasoning in DIVISIONS II. and III. will compel us to accept the teaching of the whole epistle.

Only one subject remains: the bearing of these doctrines on the Old Covenant, and on the condition and prospects of the Jews, its living representatives.