Romans 4:25

Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Who was delivered for our offences, [ dia (G1223) ta (G3588) paraptoomata (G3900) heemoon (G2257)] - 'on account of our offences;' that is, in order to expiate them by His blood,

And was raised again for our justification, [ dia (G1223) teen (G3588) dikaioosin (G1347) heemoon (G2257)] - 'on account of,' 'for the sake of our justification;' that is, 'in order to our being justified.' Since the resurrection of Christ was the divine assurance that He had "put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" - but for which men could never have been brought to credit it-our justification is fitly made to rest on that glorious divine act.

Remarks:

(1) The doctrine of justification by works, as it generates self-exaltation, is contrary to the first principles of all true Religion (see the notes at Romans 3:21; Remark 5, at the close of that section.

(2) The way of a sinner's justification has been the same in all time, and the testimony of the Old Testament on this subject is one with that of the New (see the notes at Romans 3:21, Remark 1).

(3) Faith and works, in the matter of justification, are opposite and irreconcileable, even as grace and debt (see the note at Romans 11:6). If God "justifies the ungodly," works cannot be, in any sense or to any degree, the ground of justification. For the same reason, the first requisite, in order to justification, must be (under the conviction that we are "ungodly") to despair of it by works; and the next, to "believe in Him that justifieth the ungodly" - that hath a justifying righteousness to bestow, and is ready to bestow it, upon these who deserve none, and to embrace it accordingly.

(4) The sacraments of the Church were never intended, and are not adapted, to confer grace, or the blessings of salvation, upon men. Their proper use is to set a divine seal upon a state already existing, and so they presuppose, and do not create it. As circumcision merely "sealed" Abraham's already existing acceptance with God, so is it with the sacraments of the New Testament.

(5) As Abraham is "the heir of the world" - all nations being through his Seed Christ Jesus "blessed in him" - so the transmission of the true Religion, and all the salvation which the world will ever experience, shall yet be traced back with wonder, gratitude, and joy, to that morning dawn when "the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, beige he dwelt in Charran" (Acts 7:2).

(6) Nothing gives more glory to God than simple faith in His word, especially when all things seem to render the fulfillment of it hopeless.

(7) All the Scripture examples of faith were recorded on purpose to beget and encourage the like faith in every succeeding age (see Romans 15:4).

(8) Justification, in this argument, cannot be taken-as Romanists and other errorists insist-to mean a change upon men's character; for besides that this is to confound it with Sanctification, which has its appropriate place in this Epistle, the whole argument of the present chapter-and nearly all its more important clauses, expressions, and words-would in that ease be unsuitable, and fitted only to mislead. Beyond all doubt it means exclusively a change upon men's state or relation to God; or, in scientific language, it is an objective, not a subjective change-a change from guilt and condemnation to acquittal and acceptance. And the best evidence that this is the key to the whole argument is, that it opens all the wards of the many-chambered lock through which we are introduced to the riches of this Epistle.

Romans 5:1 ; Romans 6:1 ; Romans 7:1 ; Romans 8:1 -The Fruits of Justification in Privilege and in Life