The Pulpit Commentary — Romans — Section 75

form C1f r<'ligion insteRd of foe r<'~lity. PRul shows them the ueelessnoss of this. The fr>nn t$ fl,<(ft1l along ,rith the reality. But without the reality the form is utterly me- le,<.•. "For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the Law: but if thou be II breo.ker of the Lnw, thy circumcision is m11de uocircumcision" (ver. 25). It is j'ast as if he snid t.o II rrofessing Christian," Your profession of religion is right, is ueof.ul, if you show the spirit 11nd obey the teachings of Christianity; but if your life is in opr,osition to that spirit and t-e&ehing, then your Christianity is no better than heathenism. ' " Faith withC1ut works is dead." 3. Religion is not to be regulated by the opinions of mim. "Whose praise is not of men" (ver. 29). The religion which our Saviour found among the Jews in his time was very much a worship of human opinion. Their leaders taught for commandments the traditions of men. The Pharisees and scribes gave their alms and B&i.d their prayers to be seen of men. Their object was to have praise of men. And Christ tells us" they have their reward." Such a religion reaches its end in this life. It has no aim, and it certainly will have but poor results, in the life that is to come. It has always been an injury to true religion when it has been influenced too much by the opinions of men. It was so in the history of the Jewish religion, when the kings of Israel corrupted. it by their desire of imitating heathen nations. It was so in the earlv Christian Church. The more the Church came under the control of the state, under the control of human authorities, the more worldly it became, the further it departed from the simplicity and spirituality of apostolic times. Thank God for the clear-headed, Christian-hearted men, who in all ages have resisted the intrusion of human authority and human opinion in matters of religion. Such men were the Waldenses in Italy, the Reformers in Germany and England, France and Spain, and the brave Covenanters of Scotland. It is a great principle, worth dying for, worth !iring for too, that religion is not to be regulated by the opinions of men. Human influence, human authority, human rank, are of little account in this matter. This is trne as regards the Church of Christ, and it is true also as regards the indi,idnal II. W RAT TRUE BELIGION m. 1. Beligwn. ia a matter of the Mf1l1't and spirit. ,. He is a Jew, who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter" (ver. 29). Religion, therefore, is a personal matter. The outward form is useless without the internal reality. We want inflXllrd Christians-Christie.us in heart, Christiane in spirit. All other Christians are useless, and worse than useless. They are deceiving others, and perhaps they are deceiving themselves. We want Christians whose everyday life is a song of praise, who meditate on God's Law day and night, who walk not in the company of evil-doers, who sit not in the seat of the scornful, and who commune with God in silent but earnest prayer. As I stepped one day into the office of a leading man of business in New York, I noticed over hie desk a portrait of a citizen who, as he afterwards told me, had been a dear friend of hie own. Beneath the portrait were words so beautiful that I got the owner's permission to copy them: "Whose face was a thanksgiving for his past life, and a love-letter to all man- kind." It is Christians like that we want, who carry in their heart and on their face love and gratitude to God, and also love to men. Christians like that would soon transform the Church. Christians like that would soon transform the world. "Pure religion and undefiled. before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction. and to keep himself unspotted from the world." 2. Religion i.8 t<; 'be regulated by the r,ommandments of God. There is no true religion where there is not obedience to the Law of God. "Thou that makest thy boast of the Law, through breaking the Law dishonourest thou God?" (ver. 23). Whether in doctrine, or worship, or practice, God's Word iB to be our guide, and to please God is to be our aim. " Whose praise iB not of men, but of -~d" (ver. 29). w_ e are too _much. infl.u~nced, even !n matt.ere of religion, by the op!Dlons of men. While our religion 1B to influence us m our dealings with our fellow-men, and while we are to influence them so far as we can by the power of true religion, we are not to permit men to dictate to our conscience, or to regulate our doctrines or our worship. That is a Il;1atter between God and o~r ow!l soul£. Whether men will praise UB or whether they will blame us, matters very little, 1f we are aerving God a~ hie Word and our ow_n conscienc~ direct. l<'~om all ~he clash _nnd conflict of human opinion, let 111 turn for light and gwdance to him who 1e the Light of~ world. on. II, 1-29.] THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMA::-f~. e9