Rom. xiv. 7 — 9. None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live there- fore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
TO exercise Christian forbearance is no small attain- ment. There is continual need of it in the Christian
world : there are many things of an indifferent na- ture, which we are at liberty either to do or forbear; but all do not see their Christian liberty with equal clearness : hence the weak are apt to judge the strong, and the strong to despise the weak. Thus the Jews and Gentiles at Rome disputed respecting the use of certain meats, and the observance of certain days. The Apostle shews, that, though the two parties dif- fered in their conduct, they were equally accepted of God. He grounds his assertion on the idea that both of them acted from a conscientious desire to please and honour God.
I. The extent of Christian obedience —
If we were to judge from the practice of mankind, we should think that very little was required of us ; but we must judge by the unerring standard of God's word. Both the Law and the Gospel require the obedience of the heart, and in this the Christian labours to approve himself to God —
1. He renounces self —
[Self is the idol of the unregenerate world ; they study only to please and exalt self in every part of their life ; they have no higher view in courting or shunning death. But the Christian sees the sinfulness of thus idolizing self. He therefore endeavours to suppress its workings, and mortify its desires ; he determines never to make the indulgence of self his chief aim.]
2. He devotes himself to the Lord —
[He studies to do his will, and gain his approbation : he seeks to glorify his name in every action of life : he considers that he is the Lord's property, both by creation and redemp- tion : he strives therefore to honour him with every faculty of body and soul.]
This is not a mere theory, but a living picture of Christianity —
[The Apostle lays down an universal rule to this effecta : he himself conformed to it in an eminent degree h: every true Christian, according to his measure, conforms to it ; " none of us," &c]
Such obedience, however, will not spring from any but evangelical principles —
a 1 Cor. x. 81. b Phil. i. 20.