PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans
Hodge, Charles, 1797–1878 · 193,921 words · 491 reading sections
218 ROMANS 9: 1—5.
should this be. In the Old Testament that symbolical manifestation of the divine presence which filled the tabernacle and rested over the ark, is called the glory of the Lord. Ex. 40 : 34, " A cloud covered the tent of the congregation; and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle;" Ex. '■21 : 43. Lev. 16 : 2. 1 Kin…
592 wordsSECTION 302ROMANS 9: 1—5. 219
terpretation of this important passage which can, with the least regard to the rules of construction, be maintained. Paul evidently declares that Christ, who he had just said was, as to his human nature, descended from the Israelites, is, in another respect, the supreme God, or God over all, and blessed for ever. That …
577 wordsSECTION 303DOCTRINES.
1. The Holy Ghost is ever present with the souls of the people of God. He enlightens the judgment and guides the conscience, so that the true and humble Christian often has an assurance of his sincerity and of the correctness of what he says or does, above what the powers of nature can bestow, v. 1. 2. There is no lim…
315 wordsSECTION 304REMARKS.
1. Whatever we say or do, should be said or done as in Christ, i. e. in a Christian manner, v. 1. 2. If we can view, unmoved, the perishing condition of our fellow men, or are unwilling to make sacrifices for their benefit, we are very different from Paul, and from Him who wept over Jerusalem, and died for our good up…
176 wordsSECTION 305ROMANS 9: 6—24. 221
ever, how profound should be our reverence, how unreserved our obe- dience, and how entire and joyful our confidence ! v. 5. 6. These five verses, the introduction to the three following chapters, teach us a lesson which we have before had occasion to notice. Fidelity- does not require that we should make the truth as…
110 wordsSECTION 306CHAP. 9 : 6—24.
^Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are. not all Israel which are of Israel : ^neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children : but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. ^That is. They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God : but the childr…
405 wordsSECTION 307ANALYSIS.
The apostle now approaches the subject which he had in view, the rejection of the Jews and the calling of the Gentiles. That God had s2…
26 wordsSECTION 308222 ROMANS 9: 6—24.
determined to cast off his ancient covenant people, as such, and to extend the call of the gospel indiscriminately to all men, is the point which the apostle is about to establish. He does this by showing, in the first place, that God is perfectly free thus to act, vs. 6 — 24, and, in the second, that he had declared i…
579 wordsSECTION 309COMMENTARY.
(6) It has already been remarked (ch. 3 : 3) that it was a common opinion among the Jews that the promises of God being made to Abra- ham and to his seed, all connected with him as his natural descendants, and sealed as such by the rite of circumcision, would certainly inherit the blessings of the Messiah's reign. It w…
567 wordsSECTION 310224 ROMANS 9 : 6—24.
of the verse is the same. ' Not all the children of Abraham were made the heirs of his blessings, but Isaac was selected by the sovereign will of God to be the recipient of the promise.' (8) That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God. The simplest view of this verse would seem…
602 wordsSECTION 311ROMANS 9 : 6—24. 225
(9) For this is the word of promise, M this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. This verse is evidently designed to show the propriety, and to explain the force of the phrase children of the promise, Isaac was so called because God said, At this time I will come, &c. This is not only a prediction and promise …
582 wordsSECTION 312226 ROMANS 9: 6—24.
itself, as 1 Thess. 1:4, " Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God." In this sense the clause means, 'The purpose of God in refer- ence to election, or in relation to this choice.' This view of the passage is perfectly consistent with the context. The choice was made prior to birth, in order that the true natur…
601 wordsSECTION 313ROMANS 9: 6—24. 227
him on various occasions. This is the real spirit of the passage. This prophecy, as is the case with all similar predictions, had various stages of fulfilment. The relation between the two brothers during life ; the loss of the birth-right blessing and promises on the part of Esau; the temporary subjugation of his desc…
584 wordsSECTION 314228 ROMANS 9: 6—24.
be shown to militate against either an express declaration of Scripture, or an obvious fact in providence, is fairly answered. (15) For God saith to Moses, I will have viercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. The connexion and argument are obvious. ' It is not unjust…
586 wordsSECTION 315ROMANS 9: 6—24. 229
his bar, he pardons one and not another, as seems good in his sight. He, therefore, who is pardoned cannot say it was because I was better than others ; while he who is condemned must acknowledge that he receives nothing more than the just recompense of his sins. In order to establish his doctrine of the divine soverei…
567 wordsSECTION 316230 ROMANS 9: 6—24.
mercy on whom he will, and he punishes whom he will.' Nor is it entirely destitute of philological support. In Job 39 : 16, it is said of the ostrich, " She treateth hardly her young." But, on the other hand, it is liable to serious objections. 1. It is certain that it is a very unusual sense of the word, and opposed t…
585 wordsSECTION 317ROMANS 9 : 6—24. 231
permitting Pharaoh to harden his own heart, as the result is often ex- pressly referred to Pharaoh himself, Exod. 8 : 15, 32, &c. 4. But there seems to be more expressed by the language of the text than mere permission, because it is evidently a punitive act that is here intended, and because this view does not suit t…
591 wordsSECTION 318ROMANS 9: 6—24.
is under obligation to extend his grace to all. Whereas he is under obligation to none. All are sinners, and have forfeited every claim to his mercy ; it is, therefore, perfectl)'^ competent to God to spare one and not another; to make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour. He, as their sovereign Creator, has …
625 wordsSECTION 319ROMANS 9: 6—24. 233
known his true character. On the other hand, the salvation of the right- eous is designed to display the riches of his grace. Both in the punish- ment of the one class, and the salvation of the other, most important and benevolent ends were to be answered. And since for these ends it was necessary that some should be p…
551 wordsSECTION 320234 ROMANS 9 : 6—24.
vessel is used not unfrequently in reference to men, Acts 9:15. 1 Pet. 3 : 7. Vessels of wrath, i. e. vessels which deserve wrath, or which are to be objects of wrath ; as vessels of mercy are those which are to be the objects of mercy ; or these phrases may mean vessels destined to wrath and destined to mercy, corresp…
581 wordsSECTION 321ROMANS 9: 6—24. 235
beforehand and to predestine are very nearly related ideas, the word is also used in this latter sense. Eph. 2: 10, "Which God had before ordained that we should walk in them." This meaning- is commonly adopted here, "Which God had foreordained unto glory;' see the pa- rallel passage in Acts 13: 48, "As many as were or…
284 wordsSECTION 322DOCTRINES.
1. No external circumstance, no descent from pious parents, no con- nexion with the true church, can secure admission for men into the king- dom of Christ, vs. 6 — 12. 2. Paul teaches clearly the doctrine of the personal election of men to eternal life, an election founded not on works, but on the good pleasure of God…
222 wordsSECTION 323236 ROMANS 9 : 6—24.
character of the objections to the apostle's doctrine shows that such was the nature of the choice. The election here spoken of is a choice of individuals^ and not of communities. This appears, 1. Because it is a choice to eternal life. 2. From the cases of Isaac and Ishmael, and Jacob and Esau, between whom, as indiv…
579 wordsSECTION 324ROMANS 9: 6—24. 237
not inconsistent with human responsibility, because God does not make men wicked. Though, as their Creator, he has a right to dispose of wicked men as he pleases, he only of the same corrupt mass chooses one to honour, and the other to dishonour, vs. 14 — 23. 4. Scripture must ever be consistent with itself. The rejec…
402 wordsSECTION 325REMARKS.
1. If descent from Abraham, participation in all the privileges of the theocracy, the true and only church, failed to secure for the Jews the favour of God, how foolish the expectation of those who rely on outward ordinances and church relations as the ground of their acceptance! vs. 6—13. 2. The doctrine of the sover…
115 wordsSECTION 326238 ROMANS 9 : 25—33.
have been selected as the objects in which God will display " the riches of his glory." 3. Confidence and peace, under all circumstances, be- cause the purpose of God does not change ; whom he has predestinated, them he also calls, justifies, and glorifies. 4. Diligence in the discharge of all duty, to make our calling…
502 wordsSECTION 327CHAP. 9: 25—33.
2^ As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people which were not iny people and her beloved, which was not beloved, ^s^^d it shall…
29 wordsSECTION 328ROMANS 9 : 25—33, 239
come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they he called the children of the living God. ^''Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the chil- dren of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved : ^^for he will finish the work, and cu…
194 wordsSECTION 329ANALYSIS.
The conclusion at which the apostle had arrived in the preceding sec- tion was, that God was at liberty to select the objects of his mercy, in- discriminately, from among the Gentiles and Jews. This conclusion he now confirms by the declarations of the Old Testament, according to which it is clear, 1. That those were t…
183 wordsSECTION 330COMMENTARY.
(25) The first part of the general conclusion, contained in the 24th verse, is, that the Gentiles are eligible to the blessings of Christ's king- dom. This the apostle confirms by two passages from the prophecies of Hosea, which express the general sentiment that those who, under the old economy, were not regarded as t…
154 wordsSECTION 331240 ROMANS 9 : 25—33.
tribes ; whereas Paul refers it to the Gentiles, as is also done by Peter, 1 Pet. 2:10. This difficulty is sometimes gotten over by giving a dif- ferent view of the apostle's object in the citation, and making it refer to the restoration of the Jews. But this interpretation is obviously at va- riance with the context. …
576 wordsSECTION 332ROMANS 9: 25—33. 241
Most of the Jews should be cut off.' The passage in Isaiah, therefore, IS strictly applicable to the apostle's object. (29) The second passage quoted by the ' apostle is from Isa. 1: 9, Except the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, been made like unto Gomorrah, The object of this quotation is the …
572 wordsSECTION 333242 ROMANS 9 : 25—33.
tatned, &c. The inference is, that what to all human probability was the most unlikely to occur, has actually taken place. The Gentiles, sunk in carelessness and sin, have attained the favour of God, while the Jews, to whom religion was a business, have utterly failed. Why is this 1 The reason is given in v. 32 ; it wa…
558 wordsSECTION 334ROMANS 9: 25—33. 243
of justification proposed by God, which was alone suitable for sinners, and persisted in trusting to their own imperfect works. The force of the word rendered as it were, may be explained by paraphrasing the clause thus, ' as though they supposed it could be obtained by the works of the law ;' (see 2 Cor. 3:5.2:7,)' Th…
564 wordsSECTION 335244 ROMANS 9 : 25—33.
see 1 Pet. 2 : 6. Matt. 21 : 42. Acts 4:11; compare also Ps. 118 : 22. 1 Cor. 3 : 11. Eph. 2 : 20, and other passages, in which Christ is spoken of as the foundation or corner-stone of his church. The same interpre- tation of the passage was given by the ancient Jews. The other passage, Isa. 8 : 14, is of much the sam…
323 wordsSECTION 336DOCTRINES.
1. Exclusion from the pale of any visible church does not of itself imply that men are without the reach of divine mercy, vs. 25, 26. 2. As the world has hitherto existed, only a small portion of the nomi- nal members of the church, or of the professors of the true religion, has been the real people of God, vs. 27, 28…
231 wordsSECTION 337ROMANS 9 : 25—33. 245
perished, is to be referred to their own unbelief. In like manner, every sinner must look into his own heart and conduct for the ground of his condemnation, and never to any secret purpose of God, v. 32. 5. Christ crucified has ever been either foolishness or an offence to unrenewed men. Hence, right views of the Savi…
88 wordsSECTION 338REMARKS.
1. The consideration that God has extended to us, who were not his people, all the privileges and blessings of his children, should be a con- stant subject of gratitude, vs. 25, 26. 2. If only a remnant of the Jewish church, God's own people, were saved, how careful and solicitous should all professors of religion be,…
241 wordsSECTION 339CONTENTS.
The object of this chapter, as of the preceding and of the one which follows, is to set forth the truth in reference to the rejection of the Jews as the peculiar people of God, and the extension to all nations of the offers of salvation. The first verses are again, as those at the beginning of ch. 9, introductory and c…
82 wordsSECTION 340246 ROMANS 10: 1—10.
of the terms of salvation, designed to show that they were as accessible to the Gentiles as the Jews, vs. 5 — 10. The plan of salvation being adapted to all, and God being the God of all, the gospel should be preached to all, vs. 11 — 17. The truth here taught (the calling of the Gentiles, &c.) was predicted clearly in…
67 wordsSECTION 341CHAP. 10: 1—10.
^Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. ^Por I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. ^For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righ…
212 wordsSECTION 342ANALYSIS.
With his usual tenderness the apostle assures his brethren of his soli- citude for their welfare, and of his proper appreciation of their character, vs. 1, 2. The difficulty was, that they would not submit to the plan of salvation proposed in the gospel, and, therefore, they rejected the Saviour. This was the true grou…
160 wordsSECTION 343COMMENTARY.
(1) Brethren, my hearfs desire, and prayer to God for Israel is. that they might be saved. As the truth which Paul was to reiterate in the ears of the Jew was, of all others, to them the most offensive, he endeavours to allay their enmity, first, by assuring them of his affection…
53 wordsSECTION 344ROMANS 10: 1—10. 247
and, secondly, by avoiding all exaggeration in the statement of their case. He had no pleasure in contemplating the evils which impended over them, his earnest desire and prayer was that they might he saved ; literally to salvation, as expressing the end or object towards which his wishes and prayers tend ; see ch. 6 :…
542 wordsSECTION 345248 ROMANS 10: 1—10.
and their persisting in confiding in their own merits and advantages as the ground of their acceptance with God. (4) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. The general import of the passage is sufficiently obvious, but its exact sense is not so easy to determine, on account of …
587 wordsSECTION 346ROMANS 10: 1—10. 249
is that to which the law leads, or he has abolished the law, so that every one that believes may be justified. (5) For Moses descriheth the righteousness which is of the law. That is, concerning the righteousness which is of the law, Moses thus writes. In the last clause of the preceding verse it was clearly intimated…
576 wordsSECTION 347250 ROMANS 10: 1—10.
sense, to denote a happy existence. 'He shall be happy, and happy in God. He shall have that life which consists in intercourse with him who is our life.' (6, 7) But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise. Say not, &c. On the import of the phrase *' the righteousness which is of faith," see the prec…
599 wordsSECTION 348ROMANS 10: 1—10. 251
Saviour has been provided, and we are now only required to believe,' &c The whole passage is evidently rhetorical and ornate. The simple and obvious design is, as stated above, to declare that the gospel method of salvation demanded nothing but faith and confession. (8) But what saith it ? The, word is nigh thee, even…
597 wordsSECTION 349252 ROMANS 10: 1—10.
fess also before my Father which is in heaven." Luke 12: 8. 1 John 4: 15, "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the son of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God." The second requisite is faith. The truth to be believed is, that God hath raised Christ from the dead. That is, we must believe that by the resurrection o…
361 wordsSECTION 350DOCTRINES.
1. Zeal, to be either acceptable to God or useful to men, must not only be right as to its ultimate, but also as to its 'immediate objects. It must not only be about God, but about the things which are well ]»leasing in his sight. The Pharisees, and other early Jewish persecutors of Chris- tians, really thought they we…
188 wordsSECTION 351ROMANS 10: 1—10. 253
4. The first and immediate duty of the sinner is to submit to the right- eousness of God ; to renounce all dependence on his own merit, and cor- dially to embrace the offers of reconciliation proposed in the gospel, V. 3. 5. Unbelief, or the refusal to submit to God's plan of salvation, is the immediate ground of the …
439 wordsSECTION 352REMARKS.
1. If we really desire the salvation of men, we shall pray for it, v. 1. 2. No practical mistake is more common or more dangerous than to suppose that all zeal about God and religion is necessarily a godly zeal. Some of the very worst forms of human character have been exhibited by men zealous for God and his service …
78 wordsSECTION 353254 ROMANS 10: 11—21.
knowledge, i.e. directed towards proper objects. Its true character is easily ascertained by noticing its effects, whether it produces self-right- eousness or humility, censoriousness or charity ; whether it leads to self- denial or to self-gratulation and praise ; and whether it manifests itself in prayer and effort, …
285 wordsSECTION 354CHAP. 10: 11—21.
*^For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. ^^For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek : for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. ^^por whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. **How then shall they call on him in whom they hav…
230 wordsSECTION 355ROMANS 10: 11—21. 255
asked not after me. ^igut to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.…
24 wordsSECTION 356ANALYSIS.
The object of the apostle, in the preceding comparison and contrast of the two methods of justification, Avas to show that the gospel method was from its nature adapted to all men ; and that, if suited to all, it should be preached to all. In v. 11 the quotation from the Old Testa- ment proves two points. 1. That faith…
196 wordsSECTION 357COMMENTARY.
(11) For the Scripture saith, Whosoever helieveth on him shall not be ashamed. This passage is cited in support of the doctrine just taught, that faith alone was necessary to salvation. There are clearly two points established by the quotation ; the first is, the universal applicability of this method of salvation ; wh…
312 wordsSECTION 358256 ROMANS 10: 11—21.
Saviour is ready and able to save all. In favour of this latter, vi^hich is perhaps the most common view of the passage, it may be urged that Christ is the person referred to in the preceding verse; and, secondly, that he is so commonly called Lord in the New Testament. But, on the other hand, the Lord in the next vers…
597 wordsSECTION 359ROMANS 10: 11—21. 257
trine, with one accord, of all the holy men who spake of old, as the Spi- rit gave them utterance. This being the case, how utterly preposterous and wicked the attempt to confine the offers of salvation to the Jewish people, or to question the necessity of the extension of the gospel through the whole world. Thus natur…
569 wordsSECTION 360258 ROMANS 10: 11—21.
to see its connexion with the apostle's object. It may be considered as virtually a parenthesis. ' The gospel must be and has been widely pro- claimed, though indeed all have not obeyed it, as had been predicted by Isaiah ; when he exclaimed, Lord, who hath believed our report]' The word rendered report is that which i…
578 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical edition (1851). Text from OCR of an original Internet Archive scan; OCR may contain recognition errors.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.