The Pulpit Commentary — Romans — Section 99

nnd dio upon the oroBB. It we.e no deeire to depreciate hume.n natnre that caured God to give "hie only begotten Son, that whoeoever believeth on him 11hould not perish, but hove everlasting life." Ah no I When we speak of the depravity of human nature, of the fnll of man, of universe.I guilt and sinfulness, some persons would char"e us with taldng low viewe of hume.n nature. They are Bible views, at any rate; and the cross of Jesus shows ue the.t, if God looke upon human nature as fallen, he dr,es not loDk upon it with contempt. No I He looks upon it with infinite compassion. He looks npon it with redeeming love. He looks upon it, helpless, sinful, fallen; and as he ]r,c,ks, he stretches down the hand of mercy to save, to save for ever! On the porch of an old house in England is this inscription cut in stone, "De:;r;tram Cl.ldenti p;rr¾Jo" (" I stretch out my right hand to him that is falling"). That is just what God does. He stretchee out the strong he.nd of mercy, and not only to him that is falling, but to him the.t is fallen. He does not exclude the proflige.te, or there would have been no place in the kingdom of heaven for St. Augustine or John Newton. He does not offer salvation only to his friends, or where would the Apostle Paul have been? There is no difference. "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." How, then, is this, the.t the guilty sinner is an object of Divine mercy? He is guilty, and yet God not merely pardons, but justifies him, declares him just. "Being justified freely by hi.3 grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (ver. 24). It is on account of what Jesus did and suffered that the sinner is accepted in God's sight. This is to be remembered, that Jesus not only bore our punishment (which one human being might do for another), but he bore our gui1t. "The Lord bath laid on him the iniquity of us all." It is thus that the sinner is looked upon as jnstified in God's sight. Thus God's righteousness is shown: "That he might be just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (ver. 26) . .And hence there is no difference. It i:! no merit in man, no penances, no good works of his own, that obtain his justification, his aalvation. It is free grace. It is the righteousness that is in Jesus Christ. What large-hearted charity, what universe.I brotherhood of Christians, this large view of God's universal mercy ought to teach us I "The same Lord over e.11 is rich unto e.11 that call upon him." How this view of the universal mercy, the universal love of God, should break down all narrow views of creed and party and class ! The day is long in coming, but surely, under the influence of this Christian gospel, it will come at last- "When man to man, the world o'er, She.11 brithers be for a' that." Yet it is to be observed that there is a grw.l differe:na in man's treatment of thia universal offer of mercy. Some accept the mesa&ge. The goodne.ss of God leads them to repentance. The love of Christ melts their hearts. Some reject this m~ae. They put it away from them. They neglect it. They are too much occupied with other things-with pleasure, money-making, and the like. Now, this difference in the Wll.Y ln which men receive the offer of salvation will make a vast difference in their condition throughout eternity. How could it be otherwise? If Christ died to save those who take him as their Saviour, it must be a sad but stern reality that those who do not believe on him must perish. There is no difference in the universal guilt. There is no difference in God's universal offer of bis mercy. But there is a difference in man's treatment of this offer. And there will be an awful difference throughout eternity. -0.H. I. Vere. 27-31 (with Jas. ii. 24).-Faith and works. One of the most fruitful sources of disoussion and strife among Christians has· been the selection of particular p&.SS&,,<>'88 of Scripture 11nd building doctrines upon them, without at all considering what other pe.ssages of Scripture ml\y h11ve to say on the same subject. Truth is many-sided. 'fwo views, which o.ppelU' contrndictory, may both be right. 'l'here may be an element of truth in both; 11nd they may both be different sides of the same truth. The state- ments of Po.ul and James on the subject of justification are an instance of this. They appear at first sight contmdictory, but they o.re in reality two sides of the same great truth. This great truth is justification by J1JSus Ohrist. One side of this truth is found in the words of St. Pl\ul, " A man is justified by- faith without the deeds of the La.w" (vor. 28); that is to say, faith in Jesus Christ is 1ufficient to justify a man in 94c THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. [on. nr. 1-81,