The Pulpit Commentary — Romans — Section 382

The will of God may be traoed in his works and ways, in oreatton and providenoe ; but Jesus Christ. in the Scriptl11'88 is to us the fullest revelation grantod of the mind of fu-.d, a.nd by etudying hin:i ie the conscionoo quickened, the reason enlightenod, the !Ufection l!l\nctified. Christianity thus works from within out\Vl\rd, It does not try to transfigure appearances by gilding the apples of the tree, or appending fruit to its boughs, bu_t it transforms the sap, and lets the new life produce its appropriate harvest. The renewing of the judgment implies a restoration of man to a primitive condition from which he has fallen. The lineaments of God iu huma.n nature whioh had grown dull, almost obliterat.ed by the wear and tear of a godless existence, are made vivid again. Like the whit.ewash removed from the walls of an ancient edifico, and no longer allowed to conceal the glorious frescoes or carving beneath, so the chamber of the heart is renorated by the reception of the Spirit of Christ, and the defilements nnd deceptions give place to the pristine conception of man in the likeness of God, retouched, remodelled by him who maketh all things new. The blood-stained cross is the measure of devotion to the will of God and of self-sacrifice for the common good. The risen Christ is the ide.al of the future to which Christian hopes turn and to which conformity is lonngly sought. III. TsE COMl'LETER THE TRANSFORMATION, THE MORE SURELY 18 THE WILL OF Goo DISCEID,""ED, Al<"'D THE MORE INTENSELY IS IT PRIZED, It is the universal law condensed into a proverb that "experience teaches." Not all at once can the ear distinguish sounds, or the eye form a.nd colours. Not immediately does the reason discriminate between logical and illogical arguments and procedures, nor the taste discover and apply its canons of judgment. Practice and discipline are required. And it were absurd t,o expect that in the regenerated man the old habits of liking and behaviour conld be thrown off by one effort like a worn-out garment. The man rescued from drowning slowly comes to himself, a.nd gradually does the eye of the saved believer learn to recognize in every place the presence of his Lord, and his ear to at all times catch the faintest whisper of his voice. The early converts made sad blunders in their celebration of Christian ordinances, in their governance of the gifts with which they were endowed, and in their application of Divine morality to the questions of the day. But they were in the school of Christ, and made steady progress, And every advance in k:aowledge and life has confirmed our appreciation of the will of God as being good, and worthy of the utmost maturity of ethical manhood. The Saviour's prayer is the verdict of the saintliest lives, the last word of Christian judgment: "Thy will, not mine, be done." AB an encouragement it may be noted that our standard of duty ever rise!! as we understand better the mind of God and approximate to its requirements. And we must not be disappointed if to ourselves we seem as far off e.s ever from the ideal development. This is only as, in climbing to some mountain summit, the top appears more distant because progress reveals more accurately the total height.-S. R. A. Ver. 3.-~ proper estimate of sdf. The fount of knowledge and utterance is the .. grace" of God. The apostle claims to be heard as one who; has received a message, not excocitated a thought, which it is his business to deliver and enforce. This is ever the prophet's function. to announce the mind of God, and he needs continual "grace" to be faithful to the truth, not to hide nor to alter nor to add. L IT :IS NOT SELF-DEPRECIATION wmcH IS HERE COMMANDED. Aristotle's dictum of right action is that virtuous behaviour lies in a mean between two extremes. And whi.lst not a sufficient account, this often serves as a ready criterion. Proper humility is not to be confounded with mock modesty and diffidence on the one hand, nor on the other hand with arrogance and pride. He acts injuriously to himself who, comparing himself with others, despisee what he is and can do, because higher and larger gifts have been bestowed on bis fellows. Such self-despising is ingratitude to God, and casts a slur on the Divine equity. We dare not make light of any post he enables us to fill or of the simplest service he permits UB to render. He who has dignified huma~ity, first by creating it" in his own i~age after his likene~s," and then by the incarnation of his beloved Soo, may expect ID every man a certam reasonable degree of ijelf-respect. And the apostle im~lies t~~t there is ~.'!ay in which each" ought to trunk" of himself, ought to honour his pos1t10n and ab1ht1eH. Shall the lark refus? to trill forth melody in hiB upward flight because he cannot pour forth the lu~c1ou1 on, Xll, 1-21.] THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. 381