an^ upon do not here express different ideas, any more than those ren- dered by and through, in v. SO. The repetition expresses intensity. ' This righteousness is revealed or comes unto all, even all, absolutely all, vv^ithout distinction of name or nation.' The only limitation is the exer- cise of faith. It is unto all believers. We have here the second attribute of the righteousness revealed in the gospel, mentioned in this verse, viz. its universal applicability. It is not to be restricted to any one class of men, but is as well suited to the Gentile as the Jew, to the bond as the free, to the wise as the unwise, to the poor as the rich. The reasbn why this righteousness is thus suited to all men is, that there is no differ- ence in their moral state or relation to God.
(23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. These clauses express very nearly associated ideas. The former presents more prominently the moral character of men ; the latter its consequences. They are sinners, and have, therefore, forfeited the divine favour. Here again the fact that men are sinners is given as a conclusive reason why justification can only be by faith. The word rendered glory hdiS been very variously explained. It may signify approbation, as in John 13 : 43, *' they love the approbation of men better than the approbation of God ;" so Grotius. Or it may be taken for the reward which God bestows, so often called in Scripture glory ,• see ch. 2:7. As the word rendered come short is often used in reference to those who lose a race, the clause may be explained as an allusion to that game. The glory of God is the goal or the prize for which men contend, and which all have failed to win.
(24) Being justijied freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, The apostle continues his exhibition of the method of salvation by using the participle ' being justified,' instead of the verb ' we are justified,' agreeably to a mode of construction not unusual in Greek, though much more frequent in the Hebrew. He says we are justified freely by his grace, that is, in a manner which is entirely gratuitous. We have not the slightest degree of merit to oflTer as the ground of our acceptance. This is the third characteristic of the method of justification which is by the righteousness of God. Though it is so entirely gratu- itous as regards the sinner, yet it is in a way perfectly consistent with the justice of God. It is founded on " the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," that is, of which he is the author.
The word translated redemption has two senses in the New Testament. 1. It means properly ' a deliverance effected by the payment of a ran- som.' This is its primary etymological meaning. 2. It means deliver- ance simply, without any reference to the means of its accomplishment, whether by power or wisdom. Luke 21 : 28, "the day of redemption (i.e. of deliverance) draweth nigh;" Heb. 11: 35, and perhaps Rom. 8 : 23 ; compare Isa. 50 : 2, " is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem?" &c. &c. When applied to the work of Christ, as eflfecting our deliverance from the punishment of sin, it is always taken in its pro- per sense, deliverance effected by *he payment of a ransom. This is evi-
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