PRACTICAL PART. MAN'S GRATITUDE FOR FREE SALVATION. The theme of this part of the Epistle is given in chap. Romans 12:1: The believer saved by Christ through faith is to present himself a thank-offering to God; all Christian duty is praise for deliverance. For convenience we may divide this portio... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 13:1. LET EVERY SOUL; every human being, but with reference to the life of the ‘soul,' rather than of the ‘spirit,' the former being the common life of the subject of a state. SUBMIT HIMSELF. This rendering suggests that the obedience is of a voluntary and rational character, not a servile... [ Continue Reading ]
3. _The Christian's Duty to Rulers_. This exhortation has seemed to many out of place, since in Romans 13:8 the precepts resume their general character, and the connection with what precedes is not obvious. Some have found this connection in the persecuting character of the state; others discover an... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 13:2. SO THAT (as a result of the principle just stated) HE WHO RESISTETH (or, ‘setteth himself against') THE AUTHORITY, that particular existing authority, to which he should submit himself. (There is a play upon the words in the Greek which cannot be reproduced in English. WITH-STANDETH,... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 13:3. FOR RULERS (lit, ‘the rulers,' as a class), etc. Some connect this with Romans 13:1, as an additional reason for obedience, namely, the salutary design of government; others find here the ground for the last clause of Romans 13:2. The former accords better with the fuller statements of... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 13:4. FOR HE IS GOD'S MINISTER TO THEE FOR GOOD. This is a purpose for which civil government was ordained of God (the word ‘God's' is in emphatic position). By the fulfilment of this purpose the relative excellence of forms of government may be determined. It is an empirical test, and does n... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 13:5. WHEREFORE YE MUST NEEDS, etc. In accordance with what has been stated (‘wherefore'), the necessity of obedience rests, not only on grounds of prudence, BECAUSE OF THE WRATH, but on moral grounds, BUT ALSO FOR CONSCIENCE' SAKE; obedience is a religious duty.... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 13:6. FOR, FOR THIS CAUSE YE PAY TRIBUTE ALSO. This clause is indicative, not imperative (though the form in the Greek admits of either sense). The fact of tribute paying was universal, and ‘for' seems to introduce a reason for this fact, rather than a motive for an exhortation. The connectio... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 13:7. RENDER TO ALL THEIR DUES. The weight of evidence is against the word ‘therefore,' which would readily be inserted, since we have here an inferential exhortation. Some connect this verse with the next section, in view of its general statements; but it is a summing up of what precedes, an... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 13:8. OWE NO MAN ANYTHING. On the connection of thought, see above. The clause is undoubtedly imperative, and the meaning is very wide, including all possible obligations to every human being, and not to be limited to a caution against pecuniary indebtedness. SAVE TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER. This... [ Continue Reading ]
4. _General Exhortation to Love_, _and to a Christian Walk._ The more general exhortation of Romans 13:8 seems to have been suggested by the thought of obligation which underlies Romans 13:7: fulfil all obligations; but the universal one, which can never be fully discharged, is that of love to one a... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 13:9. FOR THIS, etc. Four out of the five commandments in the second table of the law are cited: The received text inserts the ninth commandment also, but on insufficient authority. The seventh commandment here precedes the sixth, as elsewhere in the New Testament (Mark 10:19, received text;... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 13:10. LOVE WORKETH NO ILL TO HIS NEIGHBOR, lit, ‘the neighbor.' Alford: ‘All the commandments of the law above cited are _negative:_ the formal fulfilment of them is therefore attained, by _working no ill_ to one's neighbor. What greater things love works he does not now say.' Paul's further... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 13:11. AND THIS. It is not necessary to supply anything; the sense is: and ye should the rather do this, _i.e.,_ Move one another' (Romans 13:8), as afterwards expanded. KNOWING THE SEASON; since ye know the season. What this means is then explained: THAT IT IS ALREADY TIME, etc. We prefer... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 13:12. THE NIGHT IS FAR SPENT, etc. The figure here must be interpreted in accordance with the view taken of ‘salvation _'_ (Romans 13:11). ‘The night' is primarily the period up to the Advent, the approach of which is indicated: THE DAY IS AT HAND. Of course there are other applications; ‘th... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 13:13. LET US WALK SEEMLY, AS IN THE DAY. Both ‘honestly' (E. V.) and ‘decently' (E. V. margin) are too limited, the reference being to decorum, such as befits the day when conduct is open to observation. NOT IN RIOTING AND DRUNKENNESS. The former refers to nocturnal revels, and was probabl... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 13:14. BUT PUT YE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Comp. marginal references. In Galatians 3:27 the putting on of Christ is represented as a finished fact (in principle), but here the exhortation is to a continuous duty. In both cases vital fellowship is meant, but each step in the growing conformit... [ Continue Reading ]