Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost practise the same thing. [The apostle, it will be remembered, is proving the universal insufficiency of human righteousness, that he may sh... [ Continue Reading ]
And we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against them that practice such things.... [ Continue Reading ]
And reckonest thou this, O man, who judgest them that practise such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? [The argument may be paraphrased thus: Yielding to the force of argument, that like sin deserves like condemnation, even you, though most unwillingly, condemn y... [ Continue Reading ]
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?... [ Continue Reading ]
but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;... [ Continue Reading ]
who will render to every man according to his works [The apostle here touches upon a second error which is still common among men. It is, as Cook says, that "vague and undefined hope of impunity which they do not acknowledge even to themselves." God's present economy, which sends rain upon the just... [ Continue Reading ]
to them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life :... [ Continue Reading ]
but unto them that are factious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, shall be wrath and indignation [to those who, by steadfastly leading a life of work (which, as Olshausen observes, no man can do, according to Paul, save by faith in Christ), seek for glory (and the future state is on... [ Continue Reading ]
tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that worketh evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek;... [ Continue Reading ]
but glory and honor and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek :... [ Continue Reading ]
for there is no respect of persons with God. [Paul here reiterates the two phases of God's judgment which he has just described. He does this to emphasize their universality--that they are upon every man, regardless of race. The punishment shall come upon Jew and Gentile alike; but the Jew, because... [ Continue Reading ]
For as many as have sinned without the law [Gentiles] _shall also perish without the law_ [i. e., without being judged by the expressed terms of the law]: _and as many as have sinned under the law_ [the Jews] _shall be judged by the law_ [i. e., his conduct shall be weighed by the terms of it, and h... [ Continue Reading ]
for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified [Of course, the Jew had a great advantage over the Gentile in that he possessed the law--Paul himself concedes this (Romans 3:1-2); but this mere possession of the law, and this privilege of hearing and k... [ Continue Reading ]
(for when Gentiles that have not the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are the law unto themselves;... [ Continue Reading ]
in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness therewith, and their thoughts one with another accusing or else excusing them) [The meaning here may be quickly grasped in the following paraphrase: Jews and Gentiles are alike sinners, yet each had a cha... [ Continue Reading ]
in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ. [This verse relates to the thought interrupted by the parenthesis; i. e., the thought of Romans 2:13. Not hearers, but doers, shall be justified in the judgment-day, that day when God shall judge the secrets... [ Continue Reading ]
But if thou bearest the name of a Jew, and restest upon the law, and gloriest in God,... [ Continue Reading ]
and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,... [ Continue Reading ]
and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them that are in darkness,... [ Continue Reading ]
a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having in the law the form of knowledge of the truth;... [ Continue Reading ]
thou therefore that teacheth another, teachest thou not thyself? [But if doers, and not hearers, are not justified, why do you put your confidence in mere hearing, and such things as are analogous to it? Since only the doers of the law are justified, why do you vainly trust that you will be acceptab... [ Continue Reading ]
thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou rob temples?... [ Continue Reading ]
thou who gloriest in the law, through thy transgression of the law dishonorest thou god? [These questions bring out the flagrant inconsistencies between Jewish preaching and practice. Teaching others not to steal, the Jew, though probably not often guilty of technical theft, was continually practica... [ Continue Reading ]
For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, even as it is written. [Isaiah 52:5; Ezekiel 36:20-23. By their conduct the Jews had fulfilled the words of Isaiah and the meaning of Ezekiel. The Gentiles, judging by the principle that a god may be known by his worshipers, had, b... [ Continue Reading ]
For circumcision indeed profiteth, if thou be a doer of the law: but if thou be a transgressor of the law, thy circumcision is become uncircumcision.... [ Continue Reading ]
If therefore the uncircumcision keep the ordinances of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be reckoned for circumcision? [In verse 25 the apostle takes up the case of the Jew; in verse 26 that of the Gentile. By circumcision the former entered into a covenant with God, and part of the terms of his... [ Continue Reading ]
and shall not the uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who with the letter and circumcision art a transgressor of the law? [The Gentile, remaining as he was by nature, uncircumcised, if he fulfilled the law, shall, in his turn, judge the Jew, who was so ready to judge... [ Continue Reading ]
For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh :... [ Continue Reading ]
but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. [He is not a Jew in God's sight (though he is, of course, such in the sight of the world) who is simply one without; i. e., by being properly born of J... [ Continue Reading ]