defects of these writings, they who believe that the apostle wrote under the guidance of inspiration, cannot, as it appears to us, consistently with such belief, entertain a doubt that his language and style are the most suitable that could possibly be employed, to accomplish all the purposes that were intended by the divine Spirit under whose influence he wrote; and this consideration, surely, should suffice to protect them from irreverent cavil, at least on the part of those who profess to believe in the inspiration of Holy Writ. Some of these purposes have been revealed to us; we are assured that "all Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness;" and no reasonable person will deny, that St. Paul's writings are well adapted to effect those ends; but there may have been other purposes also contemplated by the divine Spirit, of which we are not competent to judge; particularly, the difficulties which attend the interpretation of some parts of Scripture, may have been intended as tests, to try the characters of those who have been blessed with the privilege of receiving such instruction, as they manifestly afford occasion for the exercise either of virtuous diligence, in studying those sacred records, or of vicious neglect, in disregarding them (on this point see Butler's Analogy, part ii., chap. 6). One thing, however, is certain concerning the epistles of St. Paul: they were not designed to serve as models of fine writing; the apostle himself avows, more than once, that he came not with excellency of speech; and the very defects of his style, compared with the divine perfection of his doctrines and precepts, furnish a convincing proof that he was indebted for the latter, not to the schools of philosophers or of rhetoricians, but to the direct teaching of the Holy Ghost. But though not formed in the schools of the rhetoricians, his style is far from being deficient in that native eloquence which an ardent love of truth and holiness seldom fails to impart to the mind wherein it abides; in the argumentative parts of his writings, indeed, he studies brevity to a remarkable degree; not unfrequently propounding his argument in the form of an enthymeme, and this seems to be the chief cause of the obscurity with which his reasoning is sometimes chargeable; but, in sketching the great outlines of Christian duty, in commending the beauty of holiness to our admiration, and, above all, in expatiating upon the unsearchable riches of redeeming love, his style is always pleasing, often very eloquent, and not rarely rises to the truly sublime; and, to be more justly appreciated, and more generally admired, only requires to be more judiciously studied, and more thoroughly understood. COMMENTARY ON ST. PAUL'S EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. CHAP. I. 1 PAUL, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the Gospel of God; It was the custom among the Romans to prefix to their letters a short address or salutation, in which the writer inscribed, first his own name, and in most cases his title, if he held any office, and then the name and title of the party addressed, with a kind wish for his welfare (see Acts xxiii. 26). In his salutation to the Christians at Rome, contained in the first and seventh verses, St. Paul somewhat amplifies this established form; the titles most dear to him were, servant and apostle of Jesus Christ; the designation which he considered the most honourable to his brethren at Rome was, that they were beloved of God, and called to a holy life; and the highest wish he could form for their welfare, that they might continue to experience the grace of God and its attendant peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. This ad dress is interrupted by a long parenthesis, extending from the second to the sixth verse, a remarkable departure from ordinary usage, occasioned, probably, by his earnest desire to fix the attention of his brethren on the import of the message he was commissioned to publish, and on the source from whence his authority was derived. He intimates that the Gospel was no newly-devised system, but the plain fulfilment of a long series of divine pro 2 (That Gospel which He formerly promised, speaking by his prophets in the holy scrip tures, 3 That Gospel which tells of mises which pervade the Scriptures of the Old Testament; the first of these promises was, in fact, coeval with the Fall; the Lord Jesus Christ, begotten by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary, who was of the family of David, derived from her his human nature, and was the seed of the woman (Genesis iii. 15) who should repair the ruin caused by Adam's sin-the deliverer that was to arise from the stock of David (Is. xi. 1, 10; xi. 7; Jer. xxiii. 5; Matt. xxii. 42; John vii. 42; Acts xiii. 23), and, as the apostle proceeds to say, was proved to be truly divine, first, by the power which enabled him to control the course of nature, and to perform innumerable miraculous and glorious works for the good of men; secondly, by the unction of the Holy Ghost, whereby he was sanctified from the womb, and at his baptism more solemnly and visibly inaugurated to his public ministry, and proclaimed to be the Son of God, the divine virtue shining forth in most sensible effects of wise and gracious discourse, and a holy and blameless life; and thirdly, by breaking the bonds of death and rising from the prison of the grave; others, indeed, were raised from the dead, but death soon re-asserted his dominion over themthey all felt again his fatal stroke. Christ B his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh; 4 And was proved to be the Son of God-by mighty power-by the spirit of holinessby his resurrection from the dead_ alone rose from the dead and gained an everlasting triumph over the king of terrors; and as in his death he assured us of his humanity, so by his resurrection he demonstrated his divinity. By this Jesus, very God in essence and very man by assumption, was Paul stopped in his career of persecution; through him he obtained divine grace, and was invested with authority by the Holy Ghost, to publish the Gospel, not only to the Jews, but to every nation of the earth, that they might believe, and believing, obey the heavenly call. Verse 1.-" Separated;" set apart by the imposition of hands: consecrated to the office of publishing the Gospel (Acts xiii. 2, 3; xxvi. 16–18; Gal. i. 15; ii. 8, 9). Verse 2.-"That Gospel which He formerly promised." "God," says Jeremy Taylor, "who is infinitely patient in his justice, was not at all patient in his mercy; he forbears to strike and punish us, but he would not forbear to provide cure for us and remedy. For as if God could not stay from redeeming us, He promised the Redeemer to Adam in the beginning of the world's sin, and Christ was the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world; and the covenant of the Gospel, although it was not made with man, yet it was from the beginning performed by God as to his part, as to the ministration of pardon : the seed of the woman was set up against the dragon as soon as ever the tempter had won his first battle; and although God laid his hand, and drew a veil of types and secrecy before the manifestation of his mercies, yet he did the work of redemption, and saved us by the covenant of faith, and the righteousness of believing, and the mercies of repentance, the graces of pardon, and the blood of the slain Lamb, even from the fall of Adam to this very day, and will do till Christ's second coming. 5 Through whom we have received grace and apostleship, to call forth in all nations the obedience of faith, for the glory of his name; 6 Among which nations are ye also called of Jesus Christ;) 7 To all that be in Rome, Adam fell by his folly, and did not perform the covenant of one little work-a work of a single abstinence; but he was restored by faith in the Seed of the woman, and of this righteousness Noah was a preacher. God had mercy on all mankind before Christ's manifestation even beyond the mercies of their covenant, and they were saved as we are by the Seed of the woman,' by 'God incarnate,' by 'the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world;' not by works, for we all failed of them, that is, not by an exact obedience, but by faith working by love; by sincere, hearty endeavours, and believing God, and relying on His infinite mercy, revealed in part, and now fully manifest by the great instrument and means of that mercy, Jesus Christ" (Gen. iii. 15; xxii. 18; xlix. 10; Deut. xviii. 15; xxxii. 43; Ps. xlv.; 1. ; lxxii.; Isaiah xi.; xii.; and from xl. to end; Jer. xxxi. 31; Ezek. xxxiv. 22, &c.; xxxvii. 21; Dan. vii. 13, 14; ix. 24, &c.; Hag. ii. 6, &c.; Mal. iii. 1; iv. 2; Luke xxiv. 27; John i. 45; Acts x. 43; xxvi. 22, &c.). Verse 3.- "Born of the seed of David according to the flesh;" that is, as regards his human nature, which he assumed in the womb of the Virgin Mary, who was descended from David (Luke i. 32; Acts ii. 30; Ps. cxxxii. 11). Verse 4-Enumerates the proofs of the divine nature of our Lord. See Acts ii. 22, 24; x. 38-40; Isai. xi.; xlii.; and Ixi.; Luke iv. 16-21; vii. 16-23; John ii. 18, 19; x. 17, 18; also introductory note above. Verse 5.-"The obedience of faith;" that is, obedience to God's will founded upon faith in his word; faith working by love, which is the only sure foundation of obedience (chap. xvi. 26; 1 Thess. i. 3; 2 Thess. i. 11, 12; Acts xxvi. 18). |