Romans 1

Notes

Ver. 1. I, Paul, who was formerly a bitter enemy of Christianity, and a furious persecutor of its professors, being now graciously honoured to be an obedient and devoted servant of Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of sinful men; converted by his wonderful grace; and by his immediate authority, since his exaltation to heaven, appointed one of his distinguished messengers for founding his gospel church, particularly among the Gentiles; and, in consequence of God's choice of me in his divine wisdom, separated and furnished by him ;—and by my own voluntary act devoted to publish his intimations of his mind and will concerning the free, the rich, and eternal salvation of Jews and Gentiles through Christ.

2. (Which gracious tidings and offers of mercy and deliverance, though but lately published, in all the light, grace, and glory thereof, are no new contrivance of men, but are wholly of God, who, in former ages, gave manifold hints of them by his inspired prophets, and in his holy and sanctifying oracles; and promised that they should be more fully and plainly revealed in due time.

3. And which especially reveal, hold forth, and offer to men, Jesus Christ, his eternal and only begotten Son, and our only anointed Saviour, and Lord of our faith, worship, and obedience, who, with respect to his human nature or fleshly descent, is, according to the promises, sprung from David, the renowned favourite of God and king of Israel.

4. And as to his divine, absolutely spiritual, and infinitely holy nature, is constantly avowed, openly proclaimed, and convincingly demonstrated, to be the only begotten Son of God, by the resurrection of his dead body through his. own power, and the power of the Holy Ghost, to a glorious state of immortality.

5. Through whose merits and intercession, and by whose free gift, I and others have been graciously enriched with special communications of divine favour, saving graces, and ministerial gifts, and honoured with an apostolic office, that, through our labours, multitudes of all nations, Gentiles as well as Jews, might be made obediently to give up their understandings, consciences, and wills to the authority of God, in believing on and receiving his Son, and spiritually and holily obeying his commandments, that hereby all his perfections might be glorified to the highest in their eternal salvation.

6. Among which highly favoured multitude, ye, who dwell in the chief city of the Gentile world, have, by the grace and power of Christ, been called even to the knowledge, faith, and fellowship of the gospel.)

7. To you therefore, as objects of my particular care, as the apostle of the Gentiles, and as manifested, by the effects of the gospel upon you, to be objects of God's special love, and not only reputed to be, but by your divine calling rendered holy in your qualities, tempers, and conversation, I, in an earnest and affectionate manner, wish, and authoritatively declare, that the riches of divine grace shall abound, and be delightfully manifested, in your receiving freely and extensively all manner of peace, prosperity, and blessings, from God, as our living God and father, as the original spring and designer of them; and from the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only Mediator, who secured them by his blood, and conveys them by his Spirit.

8. As what I hear of the work of God among you is great matter of gladness to my soul, though a stranger to you, I cannot forbear offering up the most hearty praises and thanksgivings on your behalf to your and my gracious God, through Jesus Christ as our only Mediator, that your ready reception of the gospel, and your remarkable faith in Christ, manifested by the good fruits of it, notwithstanding the manifold temptations and great opposition you meet with, are spoken of with religious wonder and joy, and with high commendations, among all the churches in the Roman empire.

9. And I can solemnly appeal to that all-seeing and heart-searching God, whom I serve, not in mere outward appearance, or with bodily labours, but, as renewed by his grace, sincerely, affectionately, faithfully, and with full bent of my heart, in publishing, maintaining, recommending, and enforcing the glorious gospel of salvation, of which his Son is the subject and author—that, in my stated and occasional addresses to him, in a particular manner, I plead that may ye be more and more abundantly filled with all the gifts and graces of his Spirit.

10. And I often entreat that, if it be for his own glory and your spiritual advantage, he would by his providence remove all hindrances out of the way, and give me a safe and favourable opportunity of coming to and personally conversing with you;

11. That, by his blessing upon my instructions, some of you may be furnished with ministerial gifts, and all of you confirmed in the doctrines of the gospel and in your most holy faith, in opposition to all the temptations which you meet with from Satan, seducers, or persecutors;

12. That you and I may rejoice together in the love of God manifested toward us, and in affectionately expressing our mutual love to each other; and may be delightfully satisfied in comparing our spiritual experiences, which manifest the same faith wrought by God in both you and me.—

13. Now, my dear brethren in Christ, think not these words are mere compliment, or only expressive of a present blaze of affection; for I have long and often seriously intended and endeavoured to visit you, in order that among you, as well as among other Gentiles, I might be useful in the conversion and edification of many souls; but I have been hitherto hindered by opposition, hardships, or necessary services in other places.

14. For, having freely received my apostolic office and qualifications for it, I look on myself obliged, in point of duty and gratitude, to improve them, as the Lord shall enable me, for the spiritual advantage of my fellow-sinners of mankind, Jews or Gentiles, polite or rude, learned or unlearned, sagacious or stupid.

15. And gladly would I hazard my reputation, ease, or even my life, to preach to you at Rome the blessed tidings of salvation through Jesus Christ, in the face of all possible opposition, contempt, and danger, as I have already done at Antioch, Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, and Corinth.

16. For however great men or others may contemn and set themselves against the gospel, on account of the debasement of its author and principal subject, and of the meanness of such as profess it; or of the artless dress or sublimity of its doctrines, and their contrariety to their own lusts and prejudices; and however they may reproach and ridicule me for espousing and publishing it, I account it my highest honour to avow, preach, and defend it as an illustrious scheme, in which the glory of all the divine perfections is brightly displayed; and which God, by spiritual application of it to men's hearts, renders powerful for their conversion and eternal salvation, be of what nation or rank they will.

17. For in it the transcendently excellent obedience and sufferings of the Son of God in our nature, which God appointed, provided, approves, accepts, gladly for sinful men, for their full and complete justification to eternal life, is clearly revealed. exhibited, and offered, on the ground of God's faithful testimony, to be received by a living active faith, whether weak or strong, or among Jews or Gentiles. And thus, as the prophet Habakkuk hinted, men become righteous, and live for ever, not by their own good works, but by believing in and receiving Christ.—

18. And indeed it is impossible for either Jews or Gentiles to obtain pardon or justification by any other method; for, to begin with the Gentiles, though God has not favoured them with his inspired oracles, he has, in the awful events of his providence, and by the inward convictions of their consciences, warned them that his just and holy nature determines him to punish all their iniquity, whether immediately against himself or against their fellow-creatures; especially as they wickedly and unrighteously stifle, confine, and suppress whatever notions of right and wrong they have, and will not act according to them.

19, 20. For by the light of reason in their souls, and the works of creation and providence thereby discerned, God has given them such plain manifestations of his infinite perfections, absolute eternity, almighty power, supreme dominion, unbounded wisdom, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth, as renders their contempt of him, and rebellion against him, altogether inexcusable.

21, 22. For when they could not but have some discernment of his being and attributes, they neither conceived of him, nor worshipped him answerably thereto, nor were thankful for the knowledge which they had, or the benefits which they received, but indulged their own groundless and pernicious fancies concerning his nature and the worship due to him, till, through the depravity of their wills and affections, their inconsiderate minds became infatuated with ignorance and error; so that they, and especially their Greek philosophers, amidst the highest pretences to uncommon learning and wisdom, became really stupid and senseless in everything pertaining to God and his service.

23. And under the influence of this wilful blindness and depravity of their minds, they debased his honour, in ascribing godhead to the most mutable, perishing, and contemptible creatures, and in representing him by such creatures, as if he had been of the same corporeal and contemptible form.

24-27. To punish their thus setting up false objects of worship, and representing him in so unjust, false, and shameless a manner, and regarding and worshipping the basest of creatures more than himself, God, their infinitely glorious and blessed Creator, Preserver, and Governor, in his righteous judgment, withdrew his abused light and restraints, left them to themselves, and gave them up to their own vicious inclinations, which hurried them, both men and women, into such shocking, lustful, disgraceful, and unnatural abuse of their bodies, as cannot be thought of or mentioned without shame and horror.

28. And because, out of mere enmity against God, they refused to retain, cultivate, or improve what just notions of him they had, or to search after the knowledge of or fellowship with him, he, in righteous judgment, delivered them up as persons disapproved and rejected, to their own careless, undiscerning, and disaffected mind, till, under its darkening and malignant influence, they committed the most unnatural, injurious, dishonourable, and detestable enormities.

29. Inwardly filled with the most wicked and abominable inclinations, they abounded in every sinful practice; they abandoned themselves to every form of uncleanness, fornication, adultery, incest, and unnatural lust: to a base and devilish malignity of temper, doing mischief for mischief's sake; to an eager and insatiable desire after earthly enjoyments; and, together with an inclination to, and doing of, injuries out of mere malice, they no less abandoned themselves to an envious grudging and repining at the welfare or prosperity of others; to an unjust, wilful, illegal, malicious, or wanton destroying of men's lives; to strifes, contentions, and quarrellings; to overreach, defraud, and impose on their neighbours by subtle contrivances and falsehoods; to a habitual practice and custom of doing evil to all around them; and to defame others by sly and artful methods, or under pretences of pity and friendship;

30. Or openly to slander them behind their backs, or while they could not vindicate themselves, —They were also stated and open enemies to the authority, justice, holiness, laws, and government of God, as contrary to their beloved vices; and revilers of men, or outrageous, insolent, or vexatious in their words and deeds towards them. Puffed up with a conceit of their own attainments and enjoyments, they vainly pretended to more than they really had. Not contented with common methods of sinning, they industriously contrived new forms of wickedness; and behaved perversely, disrespectfully, and undutifully to their parents, paying no regard to their authority, counsels, warnings, or commands.

31. Amidst all their skill in doing evil, they behaved like persons destitute of common sense, reason, or conscience, in everything religious or moral. They were so perfidious that no promises, contracts, oaths, or engagements, to God or men, could hold them; they had quite defaced or extirpated the common sentiments of humanity towards their fellow-creatures, parents or children. If once offended, they could never be reconciled on the most reasonable terms. And instead of pitying and relieving the miserable, they delighted in cruelty and oppression.

32. And what exceedingly aggravates their complicated and atrocious wickedness, is, that though the light of nature, their own consciences, and the dictates of their philosophers, teach them that such vices expose them to the just disfavour of God, they not only continue and abound in the practice thereof, but even encourage, abet, and delight in such as dare to be as wicked as themselves.

Ver. 1. Separated. Selected and appointed, Ac. 13.2; Ga. 1. 15. Separated from Judaism as taught by the Pharisees; from his dearest kindred, who now held him an apostate; from the world, with all its pleasures, hopes, and honours; and set apart to the propagation of 'the truth as it is in Jesus.' C.

Ver. 4. The Spirit of holiness, Not the Holy Spirit, but the Divine Spirit; or, in other words, the divine nature of our Lord, which is here placed in contrast to 'the flesh.' In his human nature he was Son of David; in his divine nature he was Son of God; and he was shown—proved to be 'the Son of God with power,' by the fact that he rose from the dead. He laid down his life and took it again, and thereby manifested his divinity. P.

Ver. 5. 'We have received.' Paul speaks of himself only, as in 1 Th. 2. 17, 18, using the plural—a practice not uncommon with writers.—For obedience, &c. 'In order to produce, or bring about, obedience to the faith among all nations.' This was the grand object of his apostolic calling and mission. P.

Ver. 17. Righteousness of God. The word here translated 'righteousness' is the same as in ch. 3. 21, 22; 4. 3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 5. 17; 10. 3, 4, 5, 6, &c., and may be translated either 'justice' or 'righteousness.' When the subject relates to administration of the law, it must be translated 'justice ;' when it implies obedience to the law, 'righteousness.' The phrase 'righteousness of God' forms the key to Paul's epistles—indeed to the whole gospel. Wherefore, the following definitions are selected, as presenting a brief review of the minds of several distinguished expositors, ancient and modern:—'God's attribute of justice' (Origen). 'The divine clemency' (Chrysostom). 'The justice or rectitude of the divine nature—a system of morality—a pure scheme of morality, truly of God' (Campbell). 'A righteousness belonging to faith, and not that conveyed and received by faith. Because God has enjoined faith as the righteousness he will count to sinners, and will accept and reward it as righteousness' (Macknight). 'God's method of justification' (Newcome). 'God's method of constituting men righteous, though in fact they are criminal, and obnoxious to punishment' (R. Watson), 'Not the essential righteousness of God's nature, but the manner of becoming righteous which God has appointed and exhibited in the gospel—the method which God has contrived and proposed for becoming righteous, by believing his testimony, and casting ourselves on his mercy' (Doddridge), Now, it is of the highest importance that every Christian should be aware of the insufficiency of these several definitions, but especially of the two latter, because they constitute the staple of a large amount of popular theology, and the doctrine which they would eventually overturn is that by which, as Luther truly declared, the church of God must either stand or fall. And surely it will be admitted that if such arbitrary modes of definition were followed out with other words and phrases, the Scriptures would be deprived of all certain meaning. For if 'the righteousness of God' do not mean simply his 'righteousness,' but merely 'a manner or method in which he renders believers righteous,' then the love, the mercy, the grace, the truth, the justice of God, do not mean those very attributes as essential to God, but so many methods or manners of their exercise. In fact, such arbitrary definition outrages the first principle of all interpretation, which ever must be, to search out the meaning of words or phrases, not in the judgment of the expositor, but in the use and wont of the author. Accordingly the phrase 'righteousness of God,' if thus sought, by comparing Ro. 1.17 with 5. 19, will be found to mean—' the obedience of one,' by which 'many are made righteous;' that righteousness or obedience to the law, taken in its requirements and penalty, which has been yielded to it by our Lord Jesus Christ. This is indeed 'the righteousness of God,' for it has been provided of God (He. 5. 10; Job 33. 24; Mat. 20. 28), and, from first to last, has been effected by his Son, who is 'the mighty God, the Father of eternity' (Haldane)—' God manifest in the flesh,' who being, as the incarnate Word (Jn. 1. 1,14), 'made under the law' (Ga. 4.4), 'became obedient unto death' (Phi. 2. 8)—death, the penalty of a broken law, inclusive ; and thus 'brought in an everlasting righteousness' (Da. 9. 24), which is 'unto all (as a gift, Ro. 3. 22; 5.17), and upon all (as a garment {Is. 61. 10) who believe' in his name for justification of life. C.

Ver. 23. The apostle justly represents idolatry as the root of all abominable immoralities; indeed the heathen deities ever have been at once the examples and patrons of licentiousness. See ver. 28. C.

Ver. 28. A reprobate mind. A mind judicially condemned to — be given up to itself, and, consequently, blinded by its own imaginations, and hardened by its own habits. C.

Ver. 30. Inventors of evil things. Such as the 'inventors' of the orgies of Bacchus, the horrors of the arena, the mysteries of Ceres, in ancient times; with the debasing cruelties of the cockpit, the abominations of the theatre, the ruinous fascinations of the gaming-table, and such like, among the moderns. C.

Ver. 31. Without understanding. He does not deny them high intellectual cultivation and acquirement, for that they possessed, as their arts, sciences, and literature will witness; but he pronounces them 'stupid' concerning God, the knowledge of whom is the only genuine wisdom. C. Reflections.—What a great, a full, a suitable Saviour is God in our nature! For the only begotten Son of God is clearly manifested in our promised, our risen Redeemer. And blessings of grace and glory proceed from him equally as from his Father. How ancient, how excellent, is that gospel which exhibits him and his fulness to us sinful men! While he is its author and subject, its great design is to bring both Jews and Gentiles everywhere to faith in and obedience to him. Therein his grace, as our hope, is revealed and bestowed, and thereby men are led to Jesus Christ. And marvellous is their honour, and great their happiness, who share its saving effects. It is delightful and edifying to hear of the remarkable grace and holiness of others, and for Christians to communicate their spiritual experiences one to another. Inexpressible is the honour to be divinely called, qualified, diligent, and successful ministers of Christ. And indispensable is their obligation to a faithful, bold, and laborious preaching of the gospel. Nor ought any opposition or contempt from men to render them ashamed of their work. God's existence and perfections are manifestly marked in his works all around and in us. And inexcusable then is our rebellion against him, or stifling the natural intimations which he has given us of himself. But, alas! what monsters men become when left to themselves, and abandoned to their own hearts' lusts! There is nothing too absurd for them to intend, or too idolatrous, brutish, unnatural, or shocking for them to practise. And diabolical is their temper who can take pleasure in wickedness for itself.—Great is the mercy to have the wickedness of our heart restrained, and especially to have it subdued by God's grace. And surely it is impossible for men to whom such wickedness is natural to be justified by their own works, or by anything less than a living and active faith in Jesus Christ.