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 limit to the sacrifice which one man may make for the benefit of others, except that which his duty to God imposes, v. 3.
3. Paul does not teach that we should be willing to be damned for the glory of God. 1. His very language implies that such a wish would be improper. For in the ardour of his disinterested affection he does not himself entertain or express the wish, but merely says, in effect, that were it proper or possible, he would be willing to perish for the sake of his brethren. 2. If it is wrong to do evil that good may come, how can it be right to wish to he evil that good may comel 3. There seems to be a contradiction involved in the very terms of the wish. Can one love God so much as to wish to hate him % Can he be so good as to desire to be bad ? We must be willing to give up houses and lands, parents and brethren, and our life also, for Christ and his kingdom ; but we are never required to give up holiness for his sake, for this would be a con- tradiction.
4. It is, in itself, a great blessing to belong to the external people of God, and to enjoy all the privileges consequent on this relation, v. 4.
5. Jesus Christ is at once man and God over all, blessed for ever. Paul asserts this doctrine in language too plain to be misunderstood, v. 5.