F. ELECTION (Cch. 8, 9 11) It is almost needless to say that the Election spoken of in ch. 8 &c. is variously explained. A large and important school of Theology (the Arminian) interprets it as a _personal_election, but _contingent_upon foreseen faith and perseverance. Another school [58] interpret... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 8:1-13. Security of the justified. The mind of the Spirit, not the mind of the flesh, is their characteristic 1. _therefore_ To what does "_therefore_" refer? To the discussion of the inner conflict just previous? Or to something remoter in the argument? The text is sometimes so printed as to... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the law_, &c. What is this law? We take it to be a _phrase by way of paradox_, meaning the institute, or procedure, of the Gospel of Grace. Cp. "the law of faith," Romans 3:27. It is the Divine Rule of _Justification_, (which alone, as the whole previous reasoning shews, removes "all condemnati... [ Continue Reading ]
_what the law could not do_ Lit. THE IMPOSSIBLE OF THE LAW. What was this? The answer lies in Romans 8:4. The Law could not procure the "fulfilment" of its own "legal claim;" could not make its subjects "live after the Spirit." This was beyond its power, as it was never within its scope: it had to p... [ Continue Reading ]
_that the righteousness of the law_, &c. Here is the (for us) Final Cause of the Atonement. Both as a satisfaction of the Law as regards God, and as the manifestation and pledge of Divine Love as regards man, it was to give man peace with God (see on ch. Romans 5:1, &c.), and so to bring his will in... [ Continue Reading ]
_they that are_ This "_being_after the flesh" is the state of which "_walking_after the flesh" is the exhibition and proof. St Paul here, and in a measure to the close of Romans 8:11, expands and illustrates the difference between the past and present state of the Christian. _after the flesh_ i.e.... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_ The reference of this "for" is not clear at first sight. Probably the sequence of thought is that the difference of carnal and spiritual preferences is profoundly real; _for_the former involves death, the latter, life and peace. And it is implied that the respective persons cannot possibly the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Because_ The _reason_of the radical difference of the two "minds" is now further shewn by a description of the essential condition of the "mind of the flesh." _the carnal mind_ Lit. THE MIND OF THE FLESH; the same phrase in Gr. as that rendered "to be carnally minded," Romans 8:6. _enmity_ Cp. ch... [ Continue Reading ]
_So then_ Lit. BUT; and perhaps better thus. The _opposition_is to the _idea implied_by the _previous clauses_of a condition which _can_love and submit. _in the flesh_ Of course in the _moral_sense of "the flesh," and as being not merely beset by it, but characterized and determined by it. Practica... [ Continue Reading ]
_But_, &c. After this dark foil, in the picture of the fleshly state, St Paul now gives (what is his main aim all the while) the opposite picture; that of the spiritual, regenerate, state. _ye_ Who are "in Christ Jesus;" "Jesus Christ's called ones." (Romans 1:6) _in the Spirit_ See long note on Rom... [ Continue Reading ]
_If Christ be in you_ Observe the immediate transition from "the Spirit of Christ" to "Christ." See again Ephesians 3:16, for a deeply suggestive parallel. See too each of the Seven Epistles (Revelation 2:3) for the identification (in a certain sense) of the Voice of Christ and the Voice of the Spir... [ Continue Reading ]
_But_ Here the fact of the death-state of the body is _met_and _qualified_by the prospect of life for it also. _the Spirit of him that raised_, &c. i.e. of the Father; so described here because of the following statement. See Romans 6:4, and cp. Hebrews 13:20. Here again the indwelling of the Spiri... [ Continue Reading ]
_debtors_ An emphatic word in the verse. Q. d., "We _are debtors_to the Giver of the Spirit; to the flesh we indeed _owe nothing_, for its result is death." The first part of this statement is unexpressed, but obviously in point.... [ Continue Reading ]
_ye shall die_ Lit. YE ARE ABOUT TO DIE; on the way to die. The phrase indicates a sure effect from the given cause. _through the Spirit_ The Holy Spirit; see next verse, and note above on Romans 8:4. _mortify_ PUT TO DEATH; an antithesis to the "death" just mentioned as the result of sin. The ver... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_ This word points back to "_through the Spirit_" in Romans 8:13. That brief reference to the Divine Helper of the soul suggests and brings in the marvellous passage now following, down to Romans 8:27, in which the Holy Spirit's work is the primary subject throughout. _as many as are led_, &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
Security of the Justified: the Holy Spirit's aid given to them: Eternal Glory prepared for them: the Divine purpose leads them thither... [ Continue Reading ]
_have not received_ Better, DID NOT RECEIVE; a reference to definite past bestowal. See on ch. Romans 5:5, last note. _the spirit of bondage_ OF SLAVERY. The verse practically means "Ye received the Holy Spirit not as a Spirit of (connected with) slavery, but as a Spirit of (connected with) adoptio... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Spirit itself_, &c. The "Spirit of Adoption" is here seen, as it were, at His mysterious work, teaching us to "cry Abba, Father." He "witnesses" with a witness which _concurs_with a witness borne by our own "spirit," our own consciousness of will and affection. On this "secret of the Lord" (Psa... [ Continue Reading ]
_and if children_, &c. Here St Paul reasons onward from the primary fact, witnessed to by the Spirit, of the Christian's sonship. He has in view now, more than ever yet in the Epistle, the hope of eternal Glory, when in the fullest sense the saints shall possess the Kingdom of God. This possession h... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_, &c. St Paul here follows out the last previous thought, and especially the last word; the prospect of _glorification_with Christ after suffering with Him. He dilates on its immensity and bliss, and never quite leaves the subject through the rest of the chapter. _I reckon_ A favourite word wi... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the earnest expectation_, &c. The connexion of thought is: "A glory is to be revealed for us, the children of God; and so real and momentous is that glory, and its revelation, that it is intently expected by -the creature." " "_The manifestation of the sons of God:_" more lit., and better, (as... [ Continue Reading ]
_was made subject_ Apparently, at the Fall. Not that there was no animal suffering and death previously. God pronounced His creation "good;" but this "goodness" may mean only _goodness in respect to its then work and purpose;_and this may have included death and suffering, as in fact it seems to hav... [ Continue Reading ]
_because_ Better than "_that_," as in some translations. St Paul justifies the "hope," by stating the fact in which it will be realized. _itself also_ As well as the children of God; though in other modes from theirs. _the bondage of corruption_ "Corruption" here (as in 1Co 15:42; 1 Corinthians 15... [ Continue Reading ]
_we know_ By observation of the pain and disturbance everywhere in the material world. _travaileth in pain_ A powerful and expressive word, indicating both great present distress and the _definite result_which is to close it. _together_ This word is to be taken with both "groaneth" and "travaileth... [ Continue Reading ]
_not only they_ The word "_they_" (inserted by our Translators) perhaps indicates that they understood the passage of conscious individual beings; the world of _man_. (See long note on Romans 8:19.) _the firstfruits_ Same word as Romans 11:16; Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 15:20. The idea is not that ... [ Continue Reading ]
_For we are saved_ Lit., and better, WE WERE SAVED; at the time of our deliverance from darkness into light. _by hope_ "_Hope_" has the article in the Gr. If our English Version is retained, the meaning will be that our conversion was effected, in one sense, by the discovery of "the hope laid up in... [ Continue Reading ]
_But if we hope_, &c. The emphasis here is double; (_a_) on the fact that we do _hope_for a given thing; i.e. look for it with a reason for so doing; (_b_) on the fact that it is (by its nature as an object of hope) _out of sight_. Of this general statement, the particular case is the Hope of Glory;... [ Continue Reading ]
_Likewise also_ Probably the reference of these words is to the thought just previous; the _help_given to the anxious and weary Christian by a clear view of the ground and object of his Hope. Q. d., "as this view of hope calms and cheers you, _so too_calm and strength come from a yet higher source f... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that searcheth the hearts_ Certainly here, the Father. But it is the more noteworthy that the same words are used of the Son, Revelation 2:23. "_The hearts_" here are human hearts. In them the Father sees, below the surface of "ignorance what to pray for as they ought," the sacred longings which... [ Continue Reading ]
_And we knew_, &c. Here appears a fresh assurance of safety. We have seen (1) the certainty of the son-ship of the believer; (2) the fact that his sorrows are only the prelude of glory; (3) the Divine assistance afforded him by the Holy Spirit, especially in prayer. Now, before the final appeal, we... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_ The word introduces a fuller account of the "Call according to Purpose." _he did foreknow_ Same word as Romans 11:2; 1 Peter 1:20 (E. V. "foreordained"). The noun occurs Acts 2:23; 1 Peter 1:2. Comparing this passage with 2 Tim. quoted above, it is clear that the foreknowing is of persons, not... [ Continue Reading ]
_them he also called_ See above, on Romans 8:28, last note but one. In this chain of past tenses, the whole process is viewed as in its eternal completeness. We _look back_, as it were, from the view-point of glory. _justified_ See on Romans 2:13. The links in this golden chain are strictly consecu... [ Continue Reading ]
_What shall we then say_, &c. St Paul now applies the whole previous facts and reasons to the final proof of the Safety of the children of God. He seems to refer not only to the former part of this chapter, but to the whole previous argument of the Epistle; for there, rather than in ch. 8, we find t... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that spared not_ From all the humiliation and anguish involved in His incarnation and passion. For comment, see Psalms 22:1; Isaiah 53:6; Isaiah 53:10; Matthew 26:38-39. _his own Son_ The word "_own_" is of course emphatic, marking the infinite difference, as to the Divine Generation, between th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who shall lay any thing to the charge_ The Gr. word is technical and legal. The legal ideas of accusation, condemnation, acquittal, which have been so prominent through the Epistle, here reappear, in a final statement of the certainty of the Divine Acquittal of those who are in Christ. No doubt the... [ Continue Reading ]
_condemneth_ Or perhaps (by a change of Gr. accent) SHALL CONDEMN (at the Great Day). _It is Christ_ Here again, IS IT CHRIST, &c.? should be read. Observe the level on which "God" and "Christ" are set in the language of this great passage. The One is as truly the Supreme Judge as the Other. _that... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who shall separate us_ He speaks in view of these amazing proofs of the grace and truth of the Father and the Son. "_Who_," not "_what;_" although the following words are of things, not persons. This is in harmony with the intense and vivid tone of the whole passage. Cp. John 10:28-29; "_no one_sha... [ Continue Reading ]
_As it is written_ In Psalms 44 (LXX. 43):22. The Gr. is verbatim from the LXX. The quotation refers specially to the last previous word, "_sword_." By thus quoting the Psalm of the O. T. confessors and martyrs as divinely meant also for N. T. saints, St Paul indicates (as so often) the continuity o... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nay_ Lit., and perhaps better, BUT: q. d., "Such are indeed our sufferings; _but_in all these things &c." _we are more than conquerors_ "Wir überwinden weit;" Luther. If this glorious utterance (a single word in the Gr.) must be analyzed, we may explain it as saying that through these sufferings t... [ Continue Reading ]
_I am persuaded_ Same word as Romans 14:14, Rom 15:14; 2 Timothy 1:5; 2 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 6:9. The word implies firm assurance on good grounds. Here, of course, this amounts (unless the passage is to end with an anticlimax) to the utmost certainty of expectation. _death_ Through which we "depar... [ Continue Reading ]
_height depth_ Vastness of intervening space. The Lord who loved us is "above all Heavens" as to His bodily presence: but His love reaches thence to our "depth" below, and holds us fast. _any other creature_ A phrase meant to be absolutely inclusive of everything except the Uncreated One. And it is... [ Continue Reading ]