Romans 5:5

καταισχύνει, in this connexion = brings the shame of disappointment; cf. Psalms 21:6; infra Romans 9:33; Philippians 1:20.

ὅτι ἡ�.τ.λ Romans 5:5-10 enlarge upon the strength of the reasons for hope, an a fortiori argument from the love of GOD, as already shown in our call and justification in Christ, to the willingness and ability of that love for the completion of His work. Cf. Romans 8:35; Romans 8:39.

ἡ� = the love which is characteristic of GOD in His eternal nature, and therefore in His relation to man, constituting His true relation to man and making the Incarnation divinely natural; further this love is as it were by the agency of the Holy Spirit, resident in man, and becomes to him the power of moral and spiritual action by which the new character is originated and gradually developed in the processes of life. It is not the mere sentiment of affection, but an influence of the divine activity which creates its own image in its object and vitalises it into a life like its own. A faint reflection of this divine operation is seen in the way in which a father’s or a friend’s love influences character. The fundamental passage is John 17:26; cf. 1 John 4:12 et passim. In S. Paul note particularly 2 Thessalonians 3:5 (Lft’s note) and 2 Corinthians 5:14; Ephesians 3:19; infra Romans 8:35-36.

ἐκκέχυται. Cf. Acts 2:17-18; Acts 2:33.

ἐν ταῖς κ., the love of GOD has flooded our hearts.

διὰ πν. ἁγ. τ. δ. ἡ. Cf. Romans 8:9; Romans 8:11; Romans 8:15. The gift of the Spirit is almost always referred to as a definite act in the past (ἔδωκεν, ἐλάβετε); cf. 1 Corinthians 2:12; 2 Corinthians 1:22; Galatians 3:2; Ephesians 1:13, alibi but n. pres. 1 Thessalonians 4:8 ref. Ezekiel 37:14. Pentecost was the date of the giving of the Spirit to the Church; baptism with the laying on of hands is the date for each individual.

πν. ἁγ. The first mention of the Holy Spirit in this epistle: the truth here indicated is developed in ch. 8.