“ _Let every soul submit itself unto the higher powers; for there is no power but of God_, _and the powers that be are ordained of God._ ” Why does the apostle say: _every soul_, instead of every man, or rather every believer? Is he alluding to the fact that submission ought to proceed from the inmo... [ Continue Reading ]
TWENTY-SIXTH PASSAGE (13:1-10). THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVER AS A MEMBER OF THE STATE. Meyer and many others find no connection whatever between the subject treated in this chapter and that of the foregoing. “A new subject,” says this author, “placed here without relation to what precedes.” It must be c... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Whosoever, therefore, rebelleth against the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; now, they that resist shall receive to themselves a judgment._ ” This verse exhibits the guilt, and, as a consequence, the inevitable punishment of revolt. The term ἀντιτασσόμενος is the counterpart of ὑποτάσσεσθα... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.Now wouldest thou not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise from the same; for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for it is not in vain that he bea... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Wherefore ye must needs be subject_, _not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience' sake._ ” If the state were only armed with means of punishing, it would be enough to regard it with fear; but it is the representative of God to assert justice among men; and hence it is from a principle... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _For it is for this cause also that ye pay tribute; for they are God's ministers for this very thing, attending thereto continually. Render to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor._ ” There is a usage universally practised, and whos... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Owe no man anything, save to love one another; for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law._ ” The expression _anything_ and _no man_ clearly indicate a transition to the private sphere. Most commentators think that Paul here returns to the duty of love; Meyer, for example, says at the begi... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _For this: Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal_, _thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, namely_, _Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfill... [ Continue Reading ]
The _asyndeton_ between these two verses arises from the vividness with which the author perceives their logical relation: “No, _certainly!_ love cannot do wrong”...It has been asked why the apostle speaks here only of the evil which love does not do, and not of the good which it does. “The good to... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _And this, knowing the season, that now it is high time for you to awake out of sleep; for now is salvation nearer to us than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the instruments of light._ ” The somewhat a... [ Continue Reading ]
TWENTY-SEVENTH PASSAGE (13:11-14). THE EXPECTATION OF CHRIST'S COMING AGAIN A MOTIVE TO CHRISTIAN SANCTIFICATION. This passage is the counterpart of that with which the apostle had begun his moral teaching, Romans 12:1-2. There he had laid down the principle: a living consecration of the body to God... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Let us walk becomingly, as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and passion; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and be not preoccupied with the flesh to excite its lusts._ ” The words ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ signify: “as is done in full day;” but no... [ Continue Reading ]