Romans 1 - Introduction
ΠΑΥΛΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΟΥ Η ΠΡΟΣ ΡΩΜΑΙΟΥΣ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΑΥΛΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΟΥ Η ΠΡΟΣ ΡΩΜΑΙΟΥΣ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ... [ Continue Reading ]
Paul's description of himself. δοῦλος Ἰ. Χ. The use of the same expression in James, Jude, 2 Pet., shows how universal in the Church was the sense of being under an obligation to Christ which could never be discharged. It is this sense of obligation which makes the δουλεία, here referred to, perfect... [ Continue Reading ]
The usual salutation of the Apostle is expanded, as is natural in writing to persons whom he has not seen, into a description both of himself and of his Gospel. Both, so to speak, need a fuller introduction than if he had been writing to a Church he had himself founded. The central idea of the passa... [ Continue Reading ]
ὃ προεπηγγείλατο. The Gospel is not in principle a new thing, a sub-version of the true religion as it has hitherto been known to the people of God. On the contrary, God promised it before, through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. It is the fulfilment of hopes which God Himself inspired. διὰ τῶν... [ Continue Reading ]
f. περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ : the subject of the Gospel of God is His Son. For the same conception, see 2 Corinthians 1:19 : ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ γὰρ υἱὸς Χ. Ἰ. ὁ ἐν ὑμῖν διʼ ἡμῶν κηρυχθείς. Taken by itself, “the Son of God” is, in the first instance, a title rather than a name. It goes back to Psalms 2:7; the per... [ Continue Reading ]
Through Christ Paul received χάριν κ. ἀποστολήν. The plural, ἐλάβομεν, may mean no more than the singular, or may proceed from the latent consciousness that the writer is not the only person entitled to say this; it is not expressly meant to include others. χάρις, grace, is common to all Christians;... [ Continue Reading ]
The Romans, as well as others, are included among the Gentiles, and described as Jesus Christ's called. They belong to Him, because they have heard and obeyed the Gospel. “Calling” in Paul always includes obedience as well as hearing. It is effectual calling, the κλητοὶ being those who have accepted... [ Continue Reading ]
The salutation proper. It is addressed to _all_ who are in Rome, etc., to include Christians of Jewish as well as Gentile origin. They are ἀγαπητοὶ θεοῦ, God's beloved, because they have had experience of His redeeming love in Jesus Christ; and they are κλητοὶ ἅγιοι, saints, in virtue of His calling... [ Continue Reading ]
πρῶτον μέν. Nothing can take precedence of thanksgiving, when Paul thinks of the Romans, or indeed of any Christian Church in normal health. πρῶτον μὲν suggests that something is to follow, but what it is we are not told; Paul's mind unconsciously leaves the track on which it started, at least so fa... [ Continue Reading ]
f. μάρτυς γάρ μού ἐστιν ὁ θεός (Philippians 1:8): at a distance the Apostle cannot directly prove his love, but he appeals to God, who hears his ceaseless prayers for the Romans, as a witness of it. λατρεύω in the LXX is always used of religious service worship, whether of the true God or of idols.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἵνα τι μεταδῶ χάρισμα πνευματικόν. The χαρ. πν. may be understood by reference to 1 Cor. chaps. 12 14 or Rom. chap. 12. No doubt, in substance, Paul imparts his spiritual gift through this epistle: what he wished to do for the Romans was to further their comprehension of the purpose of God in Jesus... [ Continue Reading ]
τοῦτο δὲ ἐστιν : an explanatory correction. Paul disclaims being in a position in which all the giving must be on his side. When he is among them (ἐν ὑμῖν) his desire is that he may be cheered and strengthened with them (the subject of συνπαρακληθῆναι must be ἐμὲ in the first instance, though wideni... [ Continue Reading ]
οὐ θέλω δὲ ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν : a phrase of constant recurrence in Paul, and always with ἀδελφοί (1Th 4:13, 1 Corinthians 10:1; 1 Corinthians 12:1; 2 Corinthians 1:8). Some emphasis is laid by it on the idea that his desire or purpose to visit them was no passing whim. It was grounded in his vocation as A... [ Continue Reading ]
f. These verses are naturally taken as an expansion of the thought contained in the preceding. Paul's desire to win fruit at Rome, as among the rest of the Gentiles, arises out of the obligation (for so he feels it) to preach the Gospel to all men without distinction of language or culture. If it de... [ Continue Reading ]
f. δύναμις γὰρ θεοῦ ἐστιν : for it is a power of God. It does no injustice to render “a Divine power”. The conception of the Gospel as a force pervades the epistles to the Corinthians; its proof, so to speak, is dynamical, not logical. It is demonstrated, not by argument, but by what it does; and, l... [ Continue Reading ]
f. The revelation of the righteousness of God (Romans 1:17) is needed in view of the revelation of His wrath, from which only δικ. θεοῦ (whether it be His justifying sentence or the righteousness which He bestows on man) can deliver. ὀργὴ in the N.T. is usually eschatological, but in 1 Thessalonians... [ Continue Reading ]
ff. εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἀναπολογήτους would naturally express purpose: to make men inexcusable is one, though not the only or the ultimate, intention of God in giving this revelation. But the διότι almost forces us to take the εἰς τὸ as expressing result: so that they are inexcusable, because, etc.... [ Continue Reading ]
οἵτινες μετήλλαξαν κ. τ. λ.: being as they were persons who exchanged the truth of God for the lie. “The truth of God” (_cf._ Romans 1:23, “the glory of God”) is the same thing as God in His truth, or the true God as He had actually revealed Himself to man. τὸ ψεῦδος, abstract for concrete, is the i... [ Continue Reading ]
f. With the second παρέδωκεν the Apostle proceeds to a further stage in this judicial abandonment of men, which is at the same time a revelation of the wrath of God from heaven against them. It issues not merely like the first in sensuality, but in sensuality which perverts nature as well as disrega... [ Continue Reading ]
ff. In Romans 1:28-30 we have the third and last παρέδωκεν expanded. As they did not think fit, after trial made (ἐδοκίμασαν), to keep God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a mind which cannot stand trial (ἀδόκιμον). The one thing answers to the other. Virtually, they pronounced the true God ἀ... [ Continue Reading ]