PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Romans
James Barmby [1822-1897] · 439,030 words · 478 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Romans — Section 241
yon." Oh, let. us hasten to him who is the Source of the new life, the Giver of the living Bpirit!-T. F. L. Vert!. 12-17.-The adoption in (Jhnst. Is our desi:-e, is our vocation, life? Then we are bound in honour, bound by the necessity of the case, to li've, not after the flesh, but &fter t.he Spirit, But are we even…
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bas _mnde us beire In him I And bis appropr!ation of the heritage is our pledge. His l\fo 10 the world: the Father, the Father's g1fte; yea, even the cross. His rii;,m and ascended life: "the Firetfruits of them that slept;" "whither the Forerunner is for us entered" (1 Oor. xv. 20; Heb. vi, 20). See John xvii., where …
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, ers. 26. 27.-He1p,'ng 011r 1°nfi.rm1°fy. In the previous verses the twofol1l "groaning" bas been set forth-of nature 11S subjected to vanity, and of redeemed man BB still sharing the heritage of vanity in himself and in his relation to the world around. "We hope t,,r t-hat we see not-: " and this hope, though it b…
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'groaning in ourselves for "the adoption, to wit, the redomption of our brYly;" and there is a gron.ning, in and with ours, of God's Spirit likewise, for thP, doin,,. away of all contradictions such as now are, and the nshering in of th/3 day of Gr,d, the perfect, day. Hore, then, is the law of B spiritual instinct,…
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xxiv. 35). ~- Jmfiji«l. The virtual inst!\tement in e.ccordl\llce with the purposo, Cillling them, he justifies them. There is a Name which destroys all guilt, and acquits for ever, and upon them this Name is nl\Dled. They are" in Obrist Jesus," and "there is therefore now no condemnation," From darkness into light; fr…
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direction, do we not also need active help? for we are n11t only fa.Uible, but frail. (1) 'l'he gro.ce of life shall be given. All the power of love which constitutes our spiritoa.l life shall be supplied by him. Hie Spirit is within us; we a.re led by himself to him- self. (2) The gro.ce of conquest also. All power, e…
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expiRtion, and the effectiveness of the finished sRcrifice. IC Raised for [i.e. becauso of] our ju~tificat.ion" (eh. iv. 26). (3) The eXRltation, as the resurrection completed la the c,,mplet-ing of the guarantee that we are accepted in him. And he is our Fdre- nmner. (4) 'l'he intercession, as the work of the exalted …
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tlone I eo Paul himself (2 Oor. xii.) in danger of being "eult.ed above mea,rure." Great depression or o.bo.eement ho.e likewise its perils: rebellion, or deepa.ir. 4. Thi~;s p'T'es~nl end thing, to oome. Boding fears often worse than actual fightings. So we may "die e. thoueo.nd dee.the in fearing one." 6. Any othttr …
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dictates 0f God. The most rigid code could. not produce holiness. But to love Obrist, t<> learn of him, to walk in him, is to c-nt up sin at the roots. Christ is not onlr, I\ Pattern of obedience, but a Power to his associates, enabling them to become hke him, "fulfilling all righteousness." The husk of the Law being s…
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auf!icient to show the terrible possili_!ity of ~i~g altogether fleshly, ch{)l)!!ling evil dehb~rately n~ good. As ~en long 1mmll1'e<1; ~ pnson may lo~ all desire for liberty, deeming the hght of day pamful and fellowship irksome, so does 1t kill all the rati0nal lon~ings and stifle the highest faculties of the soul…
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and body can never be beautiful to contemplate. God writes in dreadful ohnmoter bis opinion of sin. 2. It 'kad-$ to tM mortvux,tion of totYmg de.~ires. Ae the Messinh drove out from his Fatl,er's house the thieves and law-breakem who polluted the sanctuary, so ha ~ot enter the temple of the soul without vindicating it…
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the hee.rtiness and fidelity with which he snrrenders himself to the guidance of the Spirit. He acknowledges tha.t "it is not in ma.n that walketh to direct his steps." II. THE ROAD TRAVELLED UNDER THE GUIDANCE 011' THE SPIRIT. It is a heaven- war<l journey; the. afl'ectio1;1s ar~ "set on t?-in~s a.hove," It begins …
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fignration the t>oul of Christ in its intensity tinged with splendour the very skirts of his garments. rt. THE 'll°H0LE CREATION Ill INTRRESTED IN THIS UNVEILING. With uplifted and outstretched head does the" creature" wait to decry the long-desired event. Genesis t<!lls us of the ground cursed for man's sake. Man …
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glory, nod is "the present enjoyment of future good." Christian hope is not a mirage that mocks the heart, but is surely grounded on the work of Christ, who has revealed the character of God and his far-reaching purpose of love. Many e. man depending on high expectations hBB found them baseless; the legacy is absent, t…
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is. "'I\e ltX>k through eyes of flesh, and our vision is limited. We dislike a burden and all ~nffering. Like Paul, we have "thrice besought the Lord" to remove what ls de.signed for beneficial discipline. Like sufferers under the surgeon's knife, we long for pre8ent e&.c"<e rather than the removal of the real oouse of…
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our anguish. "A man epareth hiaown IOD. that serveth him" all needless toil but the grandest service mny entail the severeet labour. "Though he were a &m, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect he [)P.,carne the Author of eternal salvn.tion." ' II. Tm: ARGUMENT WHIOH TIIIB TRU…
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to intercept the love of Christ are reltemted and prolonged. The words that follow e.re not empty terms, not visions of the night, but stern foes, combatants to be encountered by day. II. THE OONFIDE}."T BEPLY. The apostle answers his own query, Look at the particular things enumerated, and then appreciate the apostol…
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neceeer.ry power. On the other he.nd, the Spirit takes Christ's life, applies it, and produces the emancipation through it. '£he grace of God is seen in "senciin" his own Son," that is, "the Bon of himself;" and he made his advent "in the likenes; of sinful flesh," that is, he came not as an appariUon, but in a real bo…
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be<:-au~e C1f righteouimess. But the ju~t.ified and AAnctified spirit within man le not g..1in~ to be perpetually chained t-0 a dying body. The Spirit of God, who has effected the vital change within, is t.he Spirit who raised up Jesus from the dend. 'l'lrnt re,urrection of our Lord is the pledge of our bodily resurrec…
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adopting lovo ie realized within. He co.n give the famlly Rpirit a.A well as the legal eto.nding oe eons. Sonship among men, and especially adoptioo, may be destitute of tho becoming spirit, The children may despise their parents or their foster-paren te, and treat them inconsiderately. But in God-given sonsh1p_ there …
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"Through long days did Anguish, And sad nights did Pain, Forge my shield, Endurance, Bright &Iid free from et.a.in I "Doubt, in misty caverns, 'Mid dark horrors sought, fTill my peerless jewel, Faifl,,, to me she brought. • S<YrTow that I wearied Should remain so long, Wreathed my starry glory The bright cro…
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"And thus, while yelll'!I nre fleeting, Though our joys o.re with them gone, In thy changeless love rejoicing We shall journey co.lmly on ; Till at lDBt, e.11 sorrow over, Eaoh our ta.le of grace sbo.11 tell, In the heovenly chorus joining: 'Lord, thou hnst done all tbings well!"' (Of. Randolph's • Changed CI'O…
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Ill. THE BELmVEB's SUPREME PEBBUABJON. (Vere. 88, 89.) In these verses the apostle exhausts the category and declares hie per~uasion thai not one of the things or persons embraced shall be able to separate the believer from the Divine love. Let 118 glance at them in order. 1. Death shall be no separating power. Bo fa…
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cry/"' follomng (<-f. l Oor. xii. S), which, of und(lr the like strong emotion, "Yet now, lle>l'l?t'8, ronld not be on oath, if thou wilt forgive t1,eir sin-; and if not, Veni. 2. 8.-The.t I have great hee.vineas blot me, I puy thee, out of the book whioh ud oontinU&l eorrow in my heart. He doe11 thou hast written" (E…
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coven1Lnt. 'H l\a;.-p,la le obviously the di- distinguisl,es him as the Ktp,0< from 0,,,,; vinely nppointed ceremonio.l worship, the Bnd that the pa.esages iu wh icb 0,~. haR typic,il s1gnifico.noe of which is explained at !ieen euppo11~ by some to apply to him (a~ longth in the Epistle to the ffobrewe, where m 2 Th…
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u Goo blE1..<!>ed for ever.'' The positiye not Ill I■raal who are of IffB■h n■lth■r, 'l'l'llllOne for ~taining the ancient interpreta- beoau■e they ara the eaad of Abraham, a.re tions may be stated as follows: (1) Not they all ohlldren : but, In IIIUO ahall thJ one of the Greek or other Fathers. or Rny ■eed be oalla…
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pe.trle.roh (lf bb1), but e.lao of the so.me the purport of the che.pter e.s e.nnQuncerl. e.t wedded wife ; e.nif yet one was chosen and its beginning, it is evident that the eubject the other rejeoted,, and this even before of indimdual predestination does not really birth : so thnt, e.e the selection was not <l ne oo…
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,.., ~~ .. ipovµ£P. And indignl\ntly rejcctl'<l hy ti<~n ?f Phl\1"11.0h, wne duo to tho dotor- ,u~ -ylPOl'N>, followed by reasons agginst the DllDf\tion of God thnt it should be eo in mferenoo. ROO?rdn.nce with his own rightooue purp~eo, which oannot b.e c1tlled in question by mlln. ,ers. U-16.-What shllll we say t…
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m11dl! thoo eo, or etill keop thee ~o: 11nd In our own filth dJ:Jp our c'!ear judgmP,DtB, this, not that thou mayest nccompliHh thine make ne own will, but subeerve mine, end the.t my Adore oar errors, laugh at ua while W4 power to work out my own purposes of strnt mercy or of judgment may be the more To our confus…
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fl""'8Ilt t.o the DivineBide ofit. His answer, 6b..rn• and /Jo.S11.Etr6a,, of. Me.tt. l, 19); but m ve~ 20, 21. is 11imply to the effect that yet he me.y "find fault" with justice. It ia Goo has the l\bsolute right M well M power here a.pin evident th11,t it is not individuals, to deal with bis own orestion BB he pl…
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.r,,l,rr.,',>.11av); of the "vessels of mercy" it "Ltn,e and me?"ey are both contained in tb'l ls said tho.t God " afore prepared" them full meaning of the intellBive form of the unto glory. Predestination to se.lve.tion is Hebrew word." Posey on 'Hosea'); and oerte.inly o. doctrine of St. Paul, but he no- afterwards a…
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abroad t'llrovgh Pont._., Ga~ Cappadoet'<r, the proy hasteth," as in margin of the Revieod .A11ia. and Bithyr1ia. The plaoo, then, where Version); the latter nemo having boon pre- they ~liould be called the ~ons of tlui living viously written on agree.troll (Isa. viii. 1), Goo 1s wheresocver they should believe in T…
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vintage is done (Isa., xxiv. 18); ancl fourthly, Exposition, be translated law, Mt IM Daw. the a.ssooia.tion with this remnant, not only Fo: t~ey ~umbled at the stone of stumbling; of the " ou leasts of Israel " gathered from aa 1t 18 wntten, Behold, I lay in Zion a stone o.11 lancls, but also of a multitude of Gentile…
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HOMILETICS. Ver. 6.-The true lsratl. Since one great aim of the apostle in this Epistle is to combat the ne~ of religion wh!ch rega.rds th? exte~a.l 118 of mllin interest and impor- tance, be finds it necessary to disabuse of their prejudice and error those Israelites who not only prided themselves upon their descent …
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Vere. 82, 83.-The roclc of offence. In one point of view it would senn all but incredible that the highest display of Divine wisdom and goodness should bt recra.rded, by those for whose benefit it was provided, with indifference a.ad even hostilitt But in order to understand how this should be, it is necessary to be…
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for their encouragement and inspiration. Yet they crucified their King, and hardened t-heir hearts against God's messages of mercy. Great privileges make our guilt t.\Jo great.er if we reject Christ. 2. He thinks of the world's obligation to them. The ,Te~dsh y,eople have been the benefactors of the whole world. They h…
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III. GENTILES AS WELL AB JEWS W:ERE INCLUDED IN THE PB011[I3E, The apostle not only argues by inference, but also from God's specific statements. "As he saith also in Hosea, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved" (ver. 25). 'l'he Jews were too much mclmed to limit …
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s ~trange thini! that Jesns, the &viour of men, should at l\ll be set before us in this w:1~. Bnt the truth is, the great object. is to cause us to consider wh11t our own atti- tude i~ toward Christ, Have I accepted Jesus as my Saviour, or am I hesitating to oommit myself t-0 him? Am I clinging to him as my Rock of saf…
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it so. And if you te.ke the doctrine of blood out of the Bible, how much of it have you loft? Wae it not the shedding of blood that was the feature of Abel's RaCrifice which, because it foreshadowed the need of e.n atonement for Bin, was preferred to that of Cain, in which there we.s no recognition of guilt or unwort…
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\('11', 1-5.-The ho"°"'" of Ismel, These ve!'lles open up to ue tho grent problem discussed in the three following chapters, "the rejection of the elect people" (Goo.et). God had chosen his people; he now repudiates them. And ns the apostle in t-he prenous chapter has been transported into an ecstasy of exultation i…
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Vere. 6-13,-The freedom of God's election. They had been eo highly privileged, and were yet cast out. Oh, what a fall wae there I But bad God's promise come to ne.ught? Ne.y, verily. For, as the history or their ancestry showed, the purpo,erl working out of God's plane for the salvation of the world-for which alone Isr…
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I. Me>sEs. Next to the Christ., perhaps none has played so c011eplcuoue a part in t.l1e history c>f the world's 81\lVl\tion as Mose..q,, Prepared from his birth for the greBt work l'f his life: trace his history with this in view. Called forth at last to step into the arena: and, when the antagonism was past, set fo…
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pute it to tho uee for which the former portion wae first intended : are we in a position to eay, "Why?" God knows beet I 'l'he race of mankind is dealt with by God according to hie own wiedom, and there are vessels of mercy unto glory, and vessels of wrath unto destruction. Egypt was a vessel of wrath, while I!ll'a…
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uf rie:bt.. But as to an objective rightrousness, e. being right with God, this was not in all their thoughts. They regarded God as not much troubling himself with huumn oondact, 11,Ild sin itself as rat.her a defect, an ignorance, than something for which ma.n is gravely ~ulpe.ble. So, in this sense, it was emphat …
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II. 'fmi: ffilJHEST RELIGIOUS PRIVILEOES WILL NOT PROFIT UNLESS USED ABJt;HT. Jn spite of thoil· advantages, the Jews were found wanting, B1\d, like unfruitful br;inches, were broken off. Before the exile they fell into idolatry, and BOUght to nullify their glory by equalling the abominations of the heathen. Could a st…
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Ver. 33.-Either an offeme or a refuge. An offence is caused by some obstacle upon the road, something that trips np the feet or bars our progress, or some stone pillar that overthrows the unwary charioteer in his course. The apostle combines two passages from _Isaiah to prove that the rejection or Christ by the Jews…
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Vors.1-5,-0hrislian patriotism, We saw in last chapter how a "Paradil!e" may ree.lly be experimentally "rege.ined," e.nd how Christian experience culminates in a triumphe.nt o.ssure.nce, ~~t t~e e.postle could n?t conternp!ate. this as a mere persona.I matter. Ho could not reJoice m personal ea.lvat10n and be ind1ffere…
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hist,,ry 1md notro with satisfaction how his nation had been e.cknowledged and honoured in ro~nooti,m with God's revelation of himself. The Jewish genius we.s in the sphore of religion. H_e ~tudied also the gre3t capacities of his countrymen, and it was his d,1 wnr1ght connct1on that if they were once won to Christ,…
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patrio~io enough for this.. In ?ther words, Pa~l was ready to forego his own heaven if by domg eo he could brmg his brethren to it. How many Christiane have risen to such o. patriotism? Self-sacrifice for their country may have been faced-but self- eacrifice only for a time. Glory beyond the shadows makes compensation …
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ll('R~,,n Mnctified. God's elect-ing low thus moves along lines where thero ls the likelihood that the poor, crippled, crushed souls mll lel\rn to trust God who is mighty to save, It is h,mier for a rich man, for exl\mple, tl) trust God. than it is for a poor man ; hence 0---..i has "~hosen the poor in this w,?rhi, …
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approbation, whether it respects the state of • pereon, the /r<1lfflte of his mind or the nature of _his ac_tions. Hence, vile pro:es~ore a.re compared to the alloy or &oee fre-- quently ml.Xed with metal, which on tnal 1e found to be baee or deficient in quality. therefore reprobate silver shall men call them, becawie…
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Vers. 13-33,- Vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy. We have already seen that God's hatred of Esau was after a millennium of patience. This fact of God's long-suffer- ing with Esau's seed carries the light we need into the difficult section now before us. It is a specious objection that the Divine will is resistless, …
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about the elect remnant, the apostle proceeds to point :>ut that faith in the one case and the lack of it in the other, made e.11 the difference. The Jews for the most part stumbled at the idea of a crucified Messiah. They would not trust him, but bUBied themselves a.bout building np their own righteousness. Self-right…
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or r11rpn.•e, wbicb is the e'l'ident ru('nnillg of intends it to bo, in connection with othors, thc- word in 1 Tim. i. 5 and 1 Pet. i. 9. 1'his suoh as Deut. xxvii. 26, cited with it in )ast ~,•ems best to suit the line of thought Gal. iii. 10, "Cursed is every one that con- 1n this pl6<'e. The Jews evinced ignorane…
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ihie view of the apostle's meaning, it is to 14; Pe. cvii. 26), may have s11g-g-l"!W'A tho be observed that the passage occurs, not in wo~rl; but B~. Paul here evidently me,ane the earlier books of Moses but in Deutero- by 1t the regions or the dead ima~ned as 0 nomy, which appears ne 'an appendix to subterranean, e…
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from the dead to be ta.bn M me!lning belief Joel in which 1ras does ooour, so as to of this one article of the Creed &lone; it iutimate that the" calling on the Name of C1Lrriee with it belief in the gospel generally, the Lord," spoken of by Joel, implies the the dootrine of the Resurrection being here, 88 t1lsewhe…
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(vers. lG, 17) that, according to the eame ' of hearing, and hsaring by the Word of God prophet, such uni verenl preaching, and con- (~f,µa:ro, e,ov, God's own Word, oommitted sequent hearing, doee not involve universal to, end spoken by, preachera duly sent). But hearlcening; thus showing, in view of the I say, D…
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HOMILETICS. , er. 1.-Solicitude and supplieatwn for the salva,tion of sinners. Paul was himself a Jew, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. His first ministry was to Israelites, and, when upon his missionary tours, he made it his :first business to address the frequenttirs of the synagogues. By his training and by his associat…
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And the apostle's sympathy WBB excited on their behalf all the more because he under- stood their case ao well. I. ZEALOUS BELIGIOUBNEBB HAY BE HIBDffiEOTED BY IGNORANCE. The apostle does not charge the Jews with neglecting, far lees with despising, religion. In their own way they were very religioua, and many of them…
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and what i~ it~ messa~ to men? 1. It is a meSSAge which gently repro&cl1es those who complain of the difficulty of understanding and realizing the will of God. How especiBlly does this apply to Christianity I We hnve not to soar to heaven, or to plunge into the abyss; for Christ, the Son of God, h88 condescended to …
888 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.