final object was to make good works the very element of our life, the domain in which our action should move. That this should be the nature of our walk is implied in our being His handiwork, made anew by Him in Christ; that the good works which form the Divine aim of our life shall be realised is implied in their being designed and made ready for us in God’s decree ; and that they are of God's orig- inating, and not of our own action and merit, is implied in the fact that we had ourselves to be made a new creation in Christ with a view to them.
Vv. 11-22. The second half of this chapter makes a ag στ by itself. Its subject is the case of those Gentile be- lievers whom Paul has immediately in view—their heathen past and their Christ- ian present. They are reminded of what they once were—outside Christ, outside the special privilege of Israel, without hope, and without God; and of what they have come to be by the power of Christ's death—placed on an equality with the chosen people, brought nigh to the Father, made part of the house-
10o—I2,
201
λεγόμενοι " ἀκροβυστία ὑπὸ τὴς "λεγομένης " περιτομῆς 7 ἐν σαρκὶ z Mott. x.2;
Auss iii.
° χειροποιήτου, 12. ὅτι ἦτε TO καιρῷ ' ἐκείνῳ “xwpis χριστοῦ “ἀπηλ- 2; 1 Cor.
Thess. ii. 4 al. 22, 23; Acts vii. 8, x. 45, xi. 2; Exod. iv. 26. 11, 24 only; Isa. ii, 18, of idols.
a Paul only, exc. Acts xi. 3; Gen. xvii. 11, etc
d Rom. iii. 21 al.
Vill. 5; 2 b Paul only, exc. John vii. c Mark xiv. 58; Acts vii. 48, xvii. 24; Heb. ix. e Ch. iv. 18; Col. i. 21 only; Ps. Ixviii. 8.
1Rec. before τω καιρ. insert ev with D°EKLP, Vss., Fathers; om. RABD!FG,
Chr.-comm., Epiph., Cyr., Lat. Fathers.
hold of God and the living temple of the Lord.
Ver. 11. Διὸ μνημονεύετε ὅτι ὑμεῖς ποτὲ: Wherefore remember that aforetime ye. The order of the TR, ὑμεῖς ποτέ, is supported by such authorities as Ὁ (with οἱ before ποτέ), Syr.-Harcl., etc. Some authorities place the ποτέ after the ἔθνη (Syr.-P., Boh.). But ποτὲ ὑμεῖς is the order of the best and oldest MSS. (N*ABD*), the Vulg., etc., and is adopted by most (LTTrWHRY). As διὸ indi- cates, what follows is a personal, ethical application of what has been said ; and the application is drawn not from the im- mediately preceding sentence, but from the contents of the prior paragraph as a whole. The great things done for them by God’s grace should incline them to think of the past from which they have been delivered. The remembrance of that past will make them more thankful for their present privilege, and more care- ful to walk in the good works which God has in view for them. The sentence is interrupted by descriptive clauses, but is taken up again in the next verse; where a second ὅτι and the words τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ are introduced, resuming the ὅτι and the woré of ver. 11. There isnoneed, therefore, to supply either ὄντες or ἦτε at this point. τὰ ἔθνη ἐν σαρκί: Gentiles in the flesh. The article is given to the ἔθνη; the class to which the readers belong being in view (Win.-Moult., pp. 132, 217). It is not repeated before the σαρκί, as the ἐν σαρκί makes one idea with the τὰ ἔθνη (Win.-Moult., p. 169). The term σάρξ also is to be taken literally, not as referring to the former unregenerate life, but (as the subsequent sentences show) in the sense of the flesh to which civcumcision is applicable. They are reminded that they belonged to the class of the Gentiles, their bodies proclaiming their heathen character.—oi λεγόμενοι ἀκροβυστία: whoarecalled Uncircumcision. A further definition of what they were as ἔθνη; sug- gestive of the low regard in which they were held as members of that class. The name Uncircumcision !—a name of con- tempt, was flung at them. The term