_Therefore being justified_ In the way shown in the preceding chapter, we receive many blessed privileges and advantages in consequence thereof. Here, to comfort the believers at Rome, and elsewhere, under the sufferings which the profession of the gospel brought upon them, the apostle proceeds to e... [ Continue Reading ]
_By whom also we have access_ Greek, την προσαγωγην, _admittance, entrance_, or _introduction._ The word, as Raphelius has shown from the heathen historian, Herodotus, is often used as a sacerdotal phrase, and signifies, “being with great solemnity introduced as into the more immediate presence of a... [ Continue Reading ]
_And not only so_ Not only do we possess the four fore- mentioned inestimable blessings; _but we glory in tribulations also_ Which we are so far from esteeming a mark of God's displeasure, that we receive them as tokens of his fatherly love, whereby we may be enabled to do him more singular honour,... [ Continue Reading ]
_And hope_ Such hope as is the fruit of faith, patience, and experience, namely, the full assurance of hope; _maketh not ashamed_ Does not shame and confound us with disappointment, but we shall certainly obtain the good things hoped for; yea, we know it cannot shame or disappoint us, because we hav... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_ How can we now doubt of God's love, since _when we were without strength_ Either to think, will, or do any thing good; were utterly incapable of making any atonement for our transgressions, or of delivering ourselves from the depth of guilt and misery into which we were plunged; _in due time_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Much more then_ Since, therefore, it hath pleased the blessed God to give us such an unexampled display of his love as this, how high may our expectations rise, and how confidently may we conclude, that _much more, being now justified by his blood_ Shed for us: that is, by his death, which is the m... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore_ This refers to all the preceding discourse, from which the apostle infers what follows: he does not therefore make a digression, but returns to speak again of sin and righteousness; as if he had said, “We may from these premises infer, that the benefit which we believers receive from Chr... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nevertheless_ Though the law was not yet given by Moses, yet sin was in the world, and was imputed, as appears by this, that _death_, which is the punishment of sin, was in the world at that time, and _reigned_ Brought all under its power, _from Adam to Moses_ As Romans 5:21, and Romans 6:12, _even... [ Continue Reading ]
_But not as the offence_, &c. The apostle now describes the difference between Adam and Christ, and that much more directly and expressly than the agreement between them. Now, the fall and the free gift differ, 1st, In amplitude, Romans 5:15; Romans 2 d, He, from whom sin came, and He from whom the... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_, &c. Here he shows the difference in respect of the consequence of those acts, or the different nature of the effects, that death came from one, life from the other; as if he had said, Moreover, there is another important article, in which the grace of the gospel exceeds the seeming severity w... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore_, &c. Here the apostle compares Christ and Adam together again, as he began to do Romans 5:12, with which this verse seems to be connected, (all the intermediate verses coming in as a parenthesis,) and he makes the comparison full in both members; which there, by reason of intervening mat... [ Continue Reading ]