The Pulpit Commentary — Romans — Section 157

T,, di~,,lxy the particular prohibition was to listen to the tempter, and to eubetitut.e lnmrnn will for the Divine. Therein m1s contained the germ of the worst vlcee. To ,Tcsu~ was assignoo the more difficult task of remaining holy amid a world of evll, and the sli!!hte~t de'"°iation from rectitude had marred hie perfect offering, Our sin is die- ol:>e,_'licnce. and we are righteous in proportion as we obey the dictates or God from the be.art. Di~obe.l.ience, as Adam found, does not enlarge, but restricts our liberty. Not kuowled!!e, but obedience, s..-i-res the souL Il. THE 001-"TBAST FUETREI\ SHOWN IN THE EFFEOTB WBOUGIIT DY EACH. The npostlc assumes the truth of the story in Genesis. He proves the universality of sin hy a reference t-0 the fact that all have died, showing that even the ancients prior to 1.foses must have tranS!!ressed some Jaw, and so incurred the penalty for disobedience. The principle of heredity confirms the truth of the doctrine that our progenitors have transmitted a Titiated nature t-0 their descendants. Jesus, the second Adam, is the Head or a new race, to whom he imparts a new ,birth, with its issue sanctification. By the m<Xiil of his flawless obedience, and by the grace which flows into us from that spring of obedience, the curse is removed from believers, and righteousness is imputed and imparted. III. THE COMPARISON OF THE :t,."'Ul,{])ERS INFLUENCED. Thie passage should enlarge our estimate of the kingdom of the saved. In each case it is "the many" who are affected. The obedience of Christ is sufficient as a meritorious cause to justify the whole world, though only those who " receive the Word" are consciously gladdened and sanctified the.reby. No man is condemned on account of Adam's transgression; it is his O'Wll disobedience t.o the written or innate law which determines his sentence. The millions -who have died in infancy are redeemed by Christ; multitudes in the Jewish and heathen world were saved by virtue of his atonement, though not explicitly revealed to them, and the Apostle John saw in heaven a number beyond the arithmetic of earth to calcnlate.-S. R. A. Vers. 1-11.-TJ.e stau if the justifie,d. We saw in last chapter how Abraham was JUStified by faith alone, and how his case really covers olll"B, The promise of blessing througe a seed. which Abraham believed so implicitly, has been fulfilled in Christ. We accordingly believe in the faithful Promiser who raised up Jesus from the dead, 11Dd we regard his death and resurrection as being a deliverance to death for our offences, and a deliverance from death for our justification. Faith enables us to draw the assnrance of our justification from the resurrection or our Saviour. But now we pass under the guidance of the apostle to the consideration of the delightful state into which the justified come. And here we notice- L THE .A.SS'D'B.ANCE THAT WE ABE THE OBJEOTS OF THE DIVINE LOVE. (Vere. 1-5.) By nature and by reason of our sin we are the objects of God's righteous wrath; but when we are enabled t.o believe in a Saviour who died for us and rose again we find ourselve11 passing out of the condemned condition into an assurance of God'; love. And the apostle here gives us the stages in the blessed process. 1. We pass into a state of peace with God,. We prefer the indicative (lxoµu,) adopted in the Authorized Version to the subjunctive (tx"'µ.,,) adopted by the Revised Version after W eetcott and Hort. For the state of peace is not some uncertainty into which we may come, but it is a et.ate which results from justification if it has really taken pla.ce. ,ve cease from war, we are no longer enemies, we have entered into a state of peace. The believer as he calmly meditates on the atoning work of Jesus Christ, sees that he Las bt,en Jed' thereby out of the storm into the calm, out of war into peace. Enmity is over and peace ie proclaimed. 2. We realize that (Jhrist conducts us into a ,tanding in grace. By hie gracioue mediation we pass into a new relation to God ; we realize that we are justified, as believers, from all things from which we could not be justified hy the Law of Mosee. We can now stand before God, and realize our pardon and acceptance in the Beloved. 3. We are cnauled to rejoice in hope of God's heavenly 9lory. For the justified condition into which we have come through Christ is intended tu reach through the present life and issue in the glory of the life to come. It ia no men: temporary frame of mind, but a permanent Htate, into which our Saviour he.a Lrou"ht us. 4. We are enabled to profit by life's tribulations. So much is thi~ the cai;e "'that we are enabled to congratulaw our11elvcH upon (1t1iux~µ,81i) our tribulatioue; ou. v.1-21,] THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMAN8. 158