The Pulpit Commentary — Romans — Section 305

HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vere. 1--4.-Israel's strength and weakness. The apostle returns a,,"ain t.o the tender solicitude for the spiritual welfare of Israel which he had already expressed in the beginning of the ninth chapter. He was no blind biiot. He could recognize the good qualities even of those from whom he differed. He knew how far Israel had departed from the truth of God, and yet he is quick to perceive that, even amid their errors and sine, there is- much that is commendable in their character. What an e=ple for every Christian, and especially in these days, when ecclesiastical. divisions are so numerous and so sharply defined, to recognize what is good even in those from whom we differ most widely I I. ZEAL WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE. 1. Israe"es zeal wa., an elemmt of strength. "I bear them record that they have a zeal of God" (ver. 2). The apostle does them the justice of recognizing their zeal for God. Here he could speak with sympathy, the sympathy of persona.I experience. He knew how, before bis conversion to Christianity, he himself he.d been influenced by the same sincere, though mistaken, desire for God's glory. "I am verily a man which a.m a Jew, bom in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia., yet brought up in this oity at the feet of Gamaliel, a..'ld taught according to the perfect manner of the Law of the fathers, e.nd we.s zealous t->ward God, as ye 1111 are this day " (Acts i:xii. 3). Here is the same sympathetic recognition of Jewish zeal This que.lity, when rightly applied, was their strength. It well fitted them to be the bearers of God's message, and the ohannel of his blessings, to the world. A people without zee.l will never accomplish anything permanent or great. 2. Zeal withoot knowledge was their weakness. They had a zeal of God, "but not according to knowledge." Zeal is not necessarily e.n unmixed blessing. Yet there are me.ny who commend earnest- ness, utterly irrespeotive of the motives from which it proceeds, the methods it adopts, or the ends it hos in view. On this principle the doctrines held or the character exhibited are of small importance, provided only there is earnestness e.nd zeal. Moham- medanism and the Inquisition would therefore bo both laudable, because they exhibited zeal. Zeal without knowledge may become the opened floodgate for a torrent of evil. Zeal in religion may lead to any excesses if it is not restrained e.nd tempered by the wisdom whioh God's Word imparts. II. WonKB WITHOUT l'AITB. "For they being ignorant of God's righteowmess, nnti goi.Di a.bout to lllltQblliih their own rightooUSlless, havci not submitted thelllSelvea uutc 3M THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. [ou. x.1-21,