Romans 8:1-4
VV. 1-4 describe the restoration of _holiness_ by the Holy Spirit; and Romans 8:5-11 show how from this destruction of _sin_ there follows that of _death._ Thus are destroyed the two last enemies of salvation.... [ Continue Reading ]
VV. 1-4 describe the restoration of _holiness_ by the Holy Spirit; and Romans 8:5-11 show how from this destruction of _sin_ there follows that of _death._ Thus are destroyed the two last enemies of salvation.... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and of death._ ” The word _now_ has here its temporal, and not its logical sense, as Philippi would have it (to be in keeping with the... [ Continue Reading ]
THIRD SECTION (8:1-39). THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE JUSTIFIED BELIEVER. At the close of the preceding section, the apostle had contrasted the _oldness of letter_, a term by which he denotes the state of the sincere Jew under the law, with the _newness of Spirit_, by which he understands the s... [ Continue Reading ]
SEVENTEENTH PASSAGE (8:1-11). THE VICTORY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OVER SIN AND DEATH.... [ Continue Reading ]
It is strange that Paul should speak of the _law of the Spirit._ Are these two expressions not contradictory? We shall not understand the phrase unless we bear in mind what has been said (Romans 3:27; Romans 7:21, etc.) of the general sense which the word _law_ often takes in Paul's writings: a cont... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh God sending His own Son in the likeness of a flesh of sin, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness prescribed by the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit._ ” Th... [ Continue Reading ]
The relation we have just indicated between Romans 8:3-4 forbids us to give here to δικαίωμα, _what the law lays down as just_, the meaning of: _sentence of absolution_, which some, and Philippi most recently, have given to it. The matter in question here is not _guilt_ to be removed; and to say tha... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _For they that are after the flesh aspire after the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit aspire after the things of the Spirit. For the aspiration of the flesh is death; but the aspiration of the Spirit is life and peace._ ” To understand the _for_ which connects this verse wit... [ Continue Reading ]
VV. 6 explains (γάρ, _for_) the moral necessity with which this motion constantly proceeds, from the inward moral state to aspiration, and from aspiration to action. There is on both sides, as it were, a fated end to be reached, which acts at a distance on the will by an attraction like that which i... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Because the aspiration of the flesh is enmity against God: for it doth not submit itself to the law of God, neither indeed can it. And they that are in the flesh cannot please God._ ” The flesh tends to death (Romans 8:6); for it is in its essence _hatred of God._ The conjunction διότι, literally... [ Continue Reading ]
On the other hand, God is no more the friend of the flesh than the flesh is of Him. The δέ has been understood in all sorts of ways, from Meyer, who understands it in the sense of _now then_, to Calvin and Flatt, who give it the sense of _therefore (ergo)!_ It is a simple adversative: _and on the ot... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _But as for you, ye are not under the dominion of the flesh, but under that of the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwell in you. But if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His._ ” In thus apostrophizing his readers directly, the apostle wishes to bring them to examine themselv... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Now if Christ be in you, the body is indeed dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness._ ” As the apostle had substituted _the Spirit of Christ_ for the Spirit _of God_, he now substitutes for the Spirit of Christ His person: _Now if Christ be in you._ “Where the Spirit... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Now, if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because of His Spirit that dwelleth in you._ ” The δέ, _now_, denotes the progress of the life which, after penetrating the spirit, takes... [ Continue Reading ]
VV. 12 AND 13 form the transition from the preceding passage to this. The life of the Spirit is not realized in the believer without his concurrence merely from the fact that the Spirit has once been communicated to him. There is needed on man's part a persevering decision, an active docility in giv... [ Continue Reading ]
EIGHTEENTH PASSAGE (ROMANS 8:12-17). FREED FROM SIN AND DEATH, THE CHRISTIAN BECOMES SON AND HEIR. Victory over sin and death once decided by the reign of the Holy Spirit, condemnation is not only taken away, it is replaced by the benediction which is given to us in all its degrees: in the present,... [ Continue Reading ]
In this way the regenerate man himself would go on to death. So the flesh will reward us for our fidelity in discharging our debt to it. Μέλλετε : “there is nothing for you but to die; such is the only future which awaits you.” Now was the time to resume the sentence which had been begun: “Ye are un... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _For all they who are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received a spirit of bondage to fall back into fear; but ye have received a Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry: Abba, Father!_ ” ῞Οσοι, literally: “ _as many as there are of them who are led...they are_ ”...T... [ Continue Reading ]
The ancients were much perplexed to explain this expression: _Ye have not received a spirit of bondage._ It seemed to them to imply the idea, that a servile spirit had been given to the readers previously by God Himself. Hence the explanation of Chrysostom, who applied the spirit of bondage to the _... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _The Spirit itself beareth witness to our spirit, that we are children of God. Now if children, then heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified with Him._ ” The asyndeton form (the absence of a connecting particle) between Romans 8:15... [ Continue Reading ]
The apostle has proved the fact of our being sons or children, first by the filial fecling produced in us by the Spirit, and then by the direct witness of the Spirit Himself. He can now conclude his argument; for even in expressing the most exalted sentiments, his exposition always assumes a logical... [ Continue Reading ]
NINETEENTH PASSAGE (ROMANS 8:18-30). COMPLETION OF THE PLAN OF SALVATION, NOTWITHSTANDING THE MISERIES OF OUR PRESENT CONDITION. In speaking of the full victory gained by the Spirit of Christ over the last remains of condemnation, Paul seemed to assume that the work had already reached its goal, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_ On the passage Romans 8:18-22_. In following the exposition of the work of salvation, the apostle touches a domain, that, namely, of _nature_, where he comes into contact with the labors of science. Is there harmony or variance between his teaching and the results of scientific study? There is a f... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us._ ” The term λογίζομαι, _I reckon_, here signifies: “I judge after calculation made.” The expressions which follow imply, indeed, the idea of a calculation. The adjecti... [ Continue Reading ]
VV. 19 begins the development of this general state of misery and waiting in which the church still participates, and which was denoted by the term: _the sufferings of this present time_ (Romans 8:18). VV. 19. “ _For the earnest expectation of the creation longeth for the manifestation of the sons... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _For the creation was made subject to vanity, not voluntarily, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth... [ Continue Reading ]
The conujnction ὅτι (_that_, or _because_) may be made directly dependent on the words _in hope:_ “in hope _that._ ” Romans 8:21 would then state wherein the hope itself consists. But we may also take it in the sense of _because_, and find in Romans 8:21 the _reason_ of the hope: “I say: with hope,... [ Continue Reading ]
The hope expressed in Romans 8:21 is _justified_ in Romans 8:22. By the word _we know_, Paul appeals, not as Ewald supposes, to an old book that has been lost, but to a book always open to those who have eyes to read it, nature itself, the daily sight of which proclaims loudly enough all the apostle... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _And not only only so, but we also,which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, we ourselves also groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption_, _the redemption of our body._ ” The connection between this passage and the preceding one is obvious at a glance; it is found in the idea of _groaning.... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _For we have been saved in hope; but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why would he yet hope for? Now if we hope for that we see not, then do we with perseverance wait for it._ ” VER. 24 uses one of the three constituent elements of the Christian life, namely _hope_ (1 Corinthia... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse is not, as Meyer thinks, a deduction fitted to close the first reason of encouragement. In this case an οὖν, _therefore_, would have been necessary rather than δέ, _now_, or _but._ The meaning _but_ (Osterv., Oltram.) well suits the contrast between the ideas of _hoping_ (Romans 8:25) and... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _And likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity;for we know not what we should ask in order to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession with groanings which cannot be uttered. But He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the aspiration of the Spirit, because He maketh in... [ Continue Reading ]
The δέ, _but_, contrasts the knowledge of God, which thoroughly understands the object of this groaning, with the ignorance of the heart from which it proceeds. God is often called in the O. T. the καρδιογνώστης, the _searcher of hearts._ As to the blessing to which the aspiration of the Spirit goes... [ Continue Reading ]
_ On predestination as taught Romans 8:28-30_. Wherein consists the divine predestination undoubtedly taught by the apostle in this passage? Does it in his view exclude the free will of man, or, on the contrary, does it imply it? Two reasons seem to us to decide the question in favor of the second a... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _But we know that all things work together_, _for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to the design formed beforehand._ ” We have shown how mistaken those expositors are who take the δέ as a simple particle of transition: _then_, and say: third or fourth ground of enco... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be a first-born among many brethren._ ” The _for_ bears on the principal idea of Romans 8:28: All things must turn to the good of them that are called according to God's eternal plan. Why so... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified._ ” Here are the successive acts whereby the eternal decree is executed in time. They stand, as it were, between the eternity in which this decree is... [ Continue Reading ]
_ VV._ 31 and 32 contain a question of an entirely general character; Romans 8:33-37 enumerate the different kinds of adversaries; Romans 8:38-39 are as it were the shout of victory on the battle-field now abandoned by the enemy. VV. 31, 32. “ _What shall we then say to these things? If God be for... [ Continue Reading ]
TWENTIETH PASSAGE (8:31-39). HYMN OF THE ASSURANCE OF SALVATION. This passage is a conclusion. The _then_ of Romans 8:31 indicates this. This conclusion is directly connected with the previous teaching on predestination (Romans 8:28-30); but as this passage only sums up all that the apostle had expo... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth._ ” Paul is not ignorant how many accusers every believer has: conscience, the law, Satan, the accuser of the elect, the persons we have offended or scandalized by our faults: all so many voices rising against us. Did... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ Jesus that died, yea rather_, _that is risen again_, _who is also_, _at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us._ ” The form τίς ὁ κατακρίνων, literally, _who_ will be _the condemning one?_ supposes only one judge possible, while the form... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. But in all these things we are more than conqueror... [ Continue Reading ]
The apostle here quotes the sorrowful lament put by a psalmist in the mouth of the faithful under the old covenant, during a time of cruel oppression, Psalms 44:22. The quotation follows the LXX. _All the day:_ every hour of the day (Meyer). Any hour is serviceable for dragging them to slaughter. _F... [ Continue Reading ]
Paul expresses his certainty that none of these efforts will avail to tear the believer from the encircling arms of Christ's love. There is in this love a power which will overcome all the weaknesses of despondency, all the sinkings of doubt, all the fears of the flesh, all the horrors of execution.... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels_, _nor principalities_, _nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers_, _nor height, nor depth, nor any other creation, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord._ ” The challenge which... [ Continue Reading ]