The Pulpit Commentary — Romans — Section 102

So t.hey l'('_ie<'ted t.he Christ; Pond bis death wns the world's life. '!'hey would not live l,y him: 11nd ." by their fe.ll BIIITI\tion Mme \!nto the Gentiles." Perhnps sooner than ,wuld otbennse he.ve been; perhaps more eflcct.ually. So were they, all unknowing drawing t.he chariot of his kingdom; so, e,cn now, is the " wrath of man" made t~ " praise" him. 3. God's tmth in condemnati'.on of man's.falseness. Might they not say, "If God's holiness shines the more brightly in contrast with my unholiness, if God's purposes a.re more effectually worked out by reason of my perverseness and sin, sh11ll l not therefore be approved rather than condemned? Nay, shall I not even make my lie to e.bound that his truth may abound ? " Such are the jesuitries of every age; such is the utter untruth of the heart of man. But man is a witness against himself; and therefore the apostle almost disdains reply. "Man I if the overruling of evil for good were ground of acquittal, then would all be acquitted; if evil were thereby justified, it might be therefore deliberately wrought I Let the conscience of ee.oh speak out against such utter immorality ; let the acknowledged fact of a fine.I judgment teach the futility of such a plea. The condemnation of the condemne6. is just I" So does he shear away their vain pleas, and the case for their arraignment is complete. It only remains that, for Jew and Gentile, the express testimony of God's Word be adduced, as supplementary of the moral considerations of eh, i. e.nd ii., and all the world will be shown guilty before God. Our Christian privileges, are they used or abnsed by us? Oh, let us take to heart those words," Not every one that sa.ith to me," etc. (Matt. vii. 21-23).-T. F. L. Ven;.. 9-20.-E1,ery mouth stopped. The charge has been made against Gentiles and Jews; it is now forced home, and especially against the self-excusing J ewe, by the unimpeachable verdict of God's own Word. We have here-universal sin and universal guilt. L U!."ITEBSAL SIN. Some of the quotations referred in the first instance more particularly to Gentiles, some to Jews. But the fact that any of them referred to Jews is of itself sufficient for the apostle's purpose, viz. to cut away from under thell' feet the vain hope which they cherished on account of their privileges. And further, 8.5 the apostle urges in ver. 19, all the quotations have a very proper bearing on the Jews, inasmuch as the words of the Law are for those who are under the Law, designed to show them their danger even when speaking expressly of the sin of others. There was tlu.t in them which might so develop itself, and being so developed, it was under the same condemnation. L .A state of sin. (Vera. 10-12; Ps. xiv. 1-3.) (1) The unrighteouEness. "None righteous;" "none that doeth good." There was (a) no discernmg of the will of God (ver. 11); (b) no aspiration after God (ver. 11); (c) an utter deviation from the right way-an utter corruption (ver. 12). Two positives, these latter, corresponding to the two negatives. (2) Its universality. "There exists not," four times repeated ; " no, not one,'' repeated twice. There is forcefully implied here that the germ of the same evil, which wrought itself out so flagrantly in special cases, is in e:very man's heart; ol,,c ((M'i-that is the charge which comes home to each man's heart, and the truth of which each man's conscience attests. 2. .A practice of ur,. (Vers.13-17; Ps. v. 9; c:tl 3; x. 7; Isa. lix. 7, 8.) (1) Speech. (Vere. 13, 14.) (a) Deceit-words of enave beguilement, but an inward ravening for the prey; (b) venom--swift, cutting words, shot like the poison of serpents; (c) wrath-blatant fury and oath£. (2) Deeds. (Vers.15-17.) (a) Violence and bloodshed are their aim; (b) desolation and calamity mark their path; (c) the path of peace they never tread. 3. A sowra of sin. (Ver. 18; Ps. xxxvi.1.) The only effectual, permanent safeguard of morality is religion. Are the bonds not being loosened in our day, even by the apostles of ethics them.eel ves? IL UNIVEBBAL GUILT. 1. A fact of hiatwy-to every one that has eyes to see. But attested, as above shown, by the verdict of the Law itself. 2 . .A fact of consciou,- t'l.e&f-Wl"ou.ght in the individual by the Law. The Law cannot justify; a mirror in which we see ourselves, and in that mirror fallen man sees himself fallen and corrupt. 'l'h.iB the intent for which the Law was given, to bring ue to self-knowledge, that then we might yearn for God's ealvation through Christ. For law and promise are ever lnwrtwin.ed-in Judaism, in Gentilism, in Chrietianity. 'l'he great result then: "every mouth ■topped "-<X>W1Cioua guilt; " all the world brought under the Judgment on. m. l-31.] THE EPJB'l'LE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. 97