1._Assisting. _He has repeated the instructions of embassy with which the ministers of the gospel have been furnished by God. After they have faithfully communicated these instructions, they must also use their endeavor, that they may be carried into effect, (572) in order that their labor may not b... [ Continue Reading ]
2._For he saith, In an acceptable time. _He quotes a prediction of Isaiah, exceedingly appropriate to the exhortation of which he speaks. It is without doubt of the kingdom of Christ that he there speaks, (576) as is manifest from the context. The Father, then, appointing his Son a leader, for the p... [ Continue Reading ]
3._Giving no offense _We have already on several occasions remarked, that Paul sometimes commends the ministry of the gospel generally, and at other times his own integrity. (581) In the present instance, then, he speaks of himself, and sets before us in his own person a living picture of a good and... [ Continue Reading ]
4._In much patience. _The whole of the enumeration that follows is intended to show, that all the tests by which the Lord is accustomed to try his servants were to be found in Paul, and that there was no kind of test to which he had not been subjected, in order that the faithfulness of his ministry... [ Continue Reading ]
5._In tumults _In proportion to the calmness and gentleness of Paul’s disposition was there the greater excellence displayed in his standing undaunted in the face of _tumults; _and he takes praise to himself on this account — that while he regarded tumults with abhorrence, he nevertheless encountere... [ Continue Reading ]
_Knowledge _may be taken in two senses — either as meaning doctrine itself, or skill in acting properly and _knowingly. _The latter appears to me the more likely, as he immediately adds — _the word of truth _The _Spirit _is taken by _metonymy, _to denote spiritual graces. Frivolous, however, is the... [ Continue Reading ]
7._By the armor of righteousness _By_righteousness _you must understand — rectitude of conscience, and holiness of life. He employs the metaphor of _armor, _because all that serve God require to fight, inasmuch as the devil is always on the alert, to molest them. Now they must be completely armed, b... [ Continue Reading ]
8._By honor and dishonor _This is no slight test for subjecting a man to trial, for to a man of a noble spirit nothing is more unpleasant, than to incur disgrace. Hence we may observe in all histories, that there have been few men of heroism that have not fallen back, on being irritated by insults.... [ Continue Reading ]
11_Our mouth is opened. _As the _opening of the mouth _is a sign of boldness, (602) if you are inclined to connect this with what goes before, the meaning will be this, — “I have ample ground of glorying, and an upright conscience _opens my mouth. _Your entertaining unfavorable views of us, is not o... [ Continue Reading ]
12._Ye are not straitened in us _That is, “It is owing to your own fault that you are not able to share in this feeling of cheerfulness, which I entertain towards you. My _mouth is opened, _so that I deal familiarly with you, my very heart would willingly pour itself forth, (605) but you shut up you... [ Continue Reading ]
13._Now the same requital _He softens his reproof by addressing them kindly as his sons, and also by this exhortation, by which he intimates that he still entertains good hopes of them. By the _same requital _he means — mutual duty, for there is a mutual return of duty between a father and his sons.... [ Continue Reading ]
14._Be not yoked _As if regaining his authority, he now reproves them more freely, because they associated with unbelievers, as partakers with them in outward idolatry. For he has exhorted them to show themselves docile to him as to a father: he now, in accordance with the rights that belong to him,... [ Continue Reading ]
15._What concord has Christ with Belial? _As to the etymology of the word _Belial, _even the Hebrews themselves are not agreed (612) The meaning, however, is not doubtful. (613) For Moses takes a word or thought of _Belial _(614) to mean a wicked and base thought, (615) and in various instances (616... [ Continue Reading ]
16._What agreement hath the temple of God with idols? _Hitherto he has in general terms prohibited believers from associating with the wicked. He now lets them know what was the chief reason, why he had prohibited them from such an association — because they had ceased to reckon the profession of id... [ Continue Reading ]
17._Wherefore come out from the midst of them. _This exhortation is taken from Isaiah 52:11, where the Prophet, when foretelling the deliverance, at length addresses the priests in these terms. For he makes use of a circumlocution to describe the priests, when he says, _Ye that bear the vessels of t... [ Continue Reading ]
18._I will be a Father unto you. _This promise does not occur in one passage merely, but is repeated in various instances. Paul has added it with this view, that a recognition of the great honor to which God has exalted us, might be a motive to stir us up to a more ardent desire for holiness. For wh... [ Continue Reading ]