to Romans 15:13. One subject is before the Apostle's mind throughout the whole of this section the relations of “the strong” and “the weak” in the Church at Rome. It is connected in a variety of ways, which are felt rather than expressed, with what precedes. Thus it is pervaded by the same sense of... [ Continue Reading ]
τὸν δὲ ἀσθενοῦντα : as Godet points out, the part. as opposed to ἀσθενῆ, denotes one who is for the time feeble, but who may become strong. τῇ πίστει : in respect of faith, _i.e._ in Paul's sense of the word in respect of his saving reliance on Christ and all that it involves: see above. One is weak... [ Continue Reading ]
ὃς μέν : _cf._ Romans 14:5; Romans 9:21. πιστεύει φαγεῖν πάντα : has confidence to eat all things. See Winer, p. 405. Gifford quotes Demosthenes, p. 88: προέσθαι δὲ τὴν προῖκʼ οὐκ ἐπίστευσεν : “he had not confidence, _i.e._, was too cautious, to give up the dowry”. This use of πιστεύειν shows that π... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ ἐσθίων … μὴ ἐξουθενείτω κ. τ. λ. Paul passes no sentence on either party, but warns both of the temptations to which they are exposed. He who eats will be inclined to contempt to sneer at the scruples of the weak as mere prejudice or obscurantism; he who does not eat will be inclined to censorious... [ Continue Reading ]
σὺ τίς εἶ ὁ κρίνων ἀλλότριον οἱκέτην; the sharpness of this rebuke (_cf._ Romans 9:20) shows that Paul, with all his love and consideration for the weak, was alive to the possibility of a tyranny of the weak, and repressed it in its beginnings. It is easy to lapse from scrupulousness about one's own... [ Continue Reading ]
The Apostle passes from the question of food to one of essentially the same kind the religious observance of days. This is generally regarded as quite independent of the other; but Weiss argues from Romans 14:6, where the text which he adopts in common with most editors seems to contrast “him who _o... [ Continue Reading ]
The indifference of the questions at issue, from the religious point of view, is shown by the fact that _both_ parties, by the line of action they choose, have the same end in view _viz._, the interest of the Lord. ὁ φρονῶν τὴν ἡμέραν _cf._ Colossians 3:2. The setting of the mind upon the day implie... [ Continue Reading ]
f. οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἡμῶν ἑαυτῷ ζῇ κ. τ. λ. The truth which has been affirmed in regard to the Christian's use of food, and observance or non-observance of days, is here based on a larger truth of which it is a part. His whole life belongs not to himself, but to his Lord. “No one of us liveth to himself,”... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ … ἵνα : _cf._ 2 Corinthians 2:9. ἔζησεν refers to the resurrection, as is shown by the order of the words, the connection elsewhere in Paul of Lordship with the resurrection (_cf._ Philippians 2:9 ff.), and the aorist tense which describes an act, and not the continued existence of Chr... [ Continue Reading ]
Σὺ δὲ : _thou_, in contrast with the one Lord and Judge of all. In face of our common responsibility to Him, how dare we judge each other? τὸν ἀδελφόν σου : another reason for not judging: it is inconsistent with a recognition of the brotherhood of believers. ἢ καὶ σὺ τί ἐξουθενεῖς κ. τ. λ. Or thou,... [ Continue Reading ]
γέγραπται γάρ : the universal judgment proved from Scripture, Isaiah 45:23. Paul follows the LXX, but very freely. For ζῶ ἐγὼ λέγει κύριος the LXX has κατʼ ἐμαυτοῦ ὀμνύω. The same passage is quoted more freely still in Philippians 2:10 f. to describe the exaltation of Christ. In Isaiah it refers to... [ Continue Reading ]
ἄρα (οὖν): So then conclusion of _this_ aspect of the subject: _cf._ Romans 5:18; Romans 7:25. Every word in this sentence is emphatic: ἕκαστος, περὶ ἑαυτοῦ, λόγον δώσει, τῷ θεῷ. For λόγον in this sense see 1 Peter 4:5; Hebrews 13:17; Matthew 12:36; Acts 19:40.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Apostle now proceeds to argue the question of Christian conduct in things indifferent from another point of view that of the influence which our conduct may have on others, and of the consideration which is due to them. μηκέτι οὖν ἀλλήλους κρίνωμεν : thus much follows from what has been said alr... [ Continue Reading ]
In principle, the Apostle sides with the strong. He has no scruples about meats or drinks or days. ἐν Κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ : it is as a Christian, not as a libertine, that Paul has this conviction; in Christ Jesus he is sure that there is nothing in the world essentially unclean; all things can be consecrate... [ Continue Reading ]
Many expositors here supply something; _e.g._, “You must have respect therefore for his scruples, although you may not share them, for if,” etc. (Sanday and Headlam); but it seems simpler to connect the γὰρ with the leading idea in the writer's mind, Put no stumbling-block before a brother, for, etc... [ Continue Reading ]
μὴ βλασφημείσθω οὖν ὑμῶν τὸ ἀγαθόν. τὸ ἀγαθόν is somewhat in definite. It has been taken (1) as the good common to all Christians the Messianic salvation which will be blasphemed by the non-Christian, when they see the wantonness with which Christians rob each other of it by such conduct as Paul rep... [ Continue Reading ]
Insistence and strife on such matters are inconsistent with Christianity: οὐ γάρ ἐστιν κ. τ. λ. Usually in Paul ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ is transcendent; the kingdom is that which comes with the second advent, and is the inheritance of believers; it is essentially (as it is called in 2 Timothy 4:18) a βα... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐν τούτῳ : “on the principle implied by these virtues” (Sanday and Headlam). One may serve Christ either eating or abstaining, but no one can serve Him whose conduct exhibits indifference to righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. δόκιμος τοῖς ἀνθρώποις : so that there can be no occasion gi... [ Continue Reading ]
ἄρα οὖν : see Romans 14:12. τὰ τῆς εἰρήνης is not materially different from τὴν εἰρήνην : all that belongs to, makes for, peace: we cannot argue from its use here that the word must have exactly the same shade of meaning in Romans 14:17. διώκωμεν : the indicative διώκομεν is very strongly supported,... [ Continue Reading ]
Paul repeats the rule of Romans 14:15. μὴ κατάλυε : the opposite of οἰκοδομεῖν. See Matthew 26:61; Galatians 2:18. τὸ ἔργον τοῦ θεοῦ (1 Corinthians 3:9) what God has wrought, _i.e._, the Christian Church (which is destroyed by such wanton conduct) or the Christian character and standing of an indivi... [ Continue Reading ]
A maxim for the strong. For καλὸν _cf._ Mark 14:6. Abstinence in order that others may not be made to stumble is morally noble. ἐν ᾦ : usually προσκόπτειν takes the Dat [38], Romans 9:32; 1 Peter 2:8. That there were those in the Church at Rome who had scruples as to the use of flesh and wine, see o... [ Continue Reading ]
The true text is σὺ πίστιν ἣν ἔχεις : “the faith that thou hast, have thou to thyself in the sight of God”. The verse is still addressed to the strong. The faith he has is the enlightened faith which enables him to see that all things are clean; such faith does not lose its value though it is not fl... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ δὲ διακρινόμενος ἐὰν φάγῃ κατακέκριται : such, on the other hand, is the unhappy situation of the weak a new motive for charity. For διακριν. _cf._ Romans 4:20; James 1:6; Mark 11:23. The weak Christian cannot be clear in his own mind that it is permissible to do as the strong does; it may be, he... [ Continue Reading ]