INTRODUCTION TO ROMANS 4 The apostle having, in the preceding Chapter s, proved that there is no justification before God by the works of the law, partly from the depraved state and condition that all men are in by nature, both Jews and Gentiles; and partly from the nature of the law itself, which... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT SHALL WE SAY THEN,.... The apostle having proved that there is no justification by the works of the law; to make this appear more clear and evident to the Jews, he instances in the greatest person of their nation, and for whom they had the greatest value and esteem, ABRAHAM, OUR FATHER; who wa... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR IF ABRAHAM WERE JUSTIFIED BY WORKS,.... That Abraham was not, and could not be justified by works, is clear from hence, that if this was his case, HE HATH WHEREOF TO GLORY; which will be allowed him before men, on account of his pious life and conversation: BUT NOT BEFORE GOD; who saw all the... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WHAT SAITH THE SCRIPTURE?.... This answers to דכתיב מאי, "what is that which is written" c? or what does the Scripture say? which is a way of speaking used by the Jews, when anything is proposed, which seems contrary to Scripture, as here justification by works does. A testimony from Scripture... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW TO HIM THAT WORKETH,.... The apostle illustrates the former case by two sorts of persons in this and the next verse, who have different things accounted to them, and in a different manner. The one is represented as working, the other not. By the worker is meant, not one that works from, and upon... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT TO HIM THAT WORKETH NOT,.... Not that the believer does not work at all, but not from such principles, and with such views as the other; he does not work in order to obtain life and salvation; he does not seek for justification by his doings: BUT BELIEVETH ON HIM THAT JUSTIFIETH THE UNGODLY: or... [ Continue Reading ]
EVEN AS DAVID ALSO DESCRIBETH THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE MAN,.... the apostle having instanced in Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, cites some passages from David, king of Israel, a person of great note and esteem among the Jews, in favour of the doctrine he is establishing; who in a very proper... [ Continue Reading ]
SAYING, BLESSED ARE THEY,.... These words are cited from Psalms 32:1, and contain the proof of the happiness of justified persons. In this citation the singular number is changed into the plural, to take in all sorts of men, Jews and Gentiles, and very agreeably to the sense of the original; for th... [ Continue Reading ]
BLESSED IS THE MAN TO WHOM THE LORD WILL NOT IMPUTE SIN. As he does not to those whom he justifies in Christ, and by his righteousness; for the sins of such he has imputed to his Son, as their surety; and he has bore them, took them away, having made full satisfaction for them; so that these persons... [ Continue Reading ]
[COMETH] THIS BLESSEDNESS THEN UPON THE CIRCUMCISION [ONLY]?.... That is, upon the circumcised Jews; are they the only persons that partake of this happiness? the word "only" is rightly supplied, and is in the Claromontane exemplar used by Beza, and in the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions: OR UP... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW WAS IT THEN RECKONED?.... The Arabic version adds, "and when"; and the Ethiopic version reads it, "when was Abraham justified?" expressing the sense, not the words of the original text, with which agree the following questions: WHEN HE WAS IN CIRCUMCISION, OR IN UNCIRCUMCISION? that is, was he... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE RECEIVED THE SIGN OF CIRCUMCISION,.... Or "the sign circumcision", as the Syriac version reads it, and so the Alexandrian copy, and two of Stephens's; that is, Abraham received at the hands of God, the commandment of circumcision, which was a "sign" or token of the covenant; not of grace, but... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE FATHER OF CIRCUMCISION,.... So the Jews call Abraham ראש הנימולים l, "the head of those that are circumcised"; and ראש למולים m, "the head to them that are circumcised"; but the apostle here says, he is a father TO THEM WHO ARE NOT OF THE CIRCUMCISION ONLY; not to the Jews only, in a spirit... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE PROMISE THAT HE SHOULD BE HEIR OF THE WORLD,.... This promise is thought by some to refer to that of his being "the father of many nations", Genesis 17:4; by whom the Gentiles are particularly meant, who are sometimes called "the world", and "the whole world", or the elect of God, the believ... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR IF THEY WHICH ARE OF THE LAW BE HEIRS,.... That is, if the Jews who are under the law, and are seeking for righteousness and life by the works of it, should, on the account of their obedience to it, be heirs of the grace of life and of glory, FAITH IS MADE VOID; for if the right to the inherita... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE THE LAW WORKETH WRATH,.... Not the wrath of man, though that is sometimes stirred up through the prohibitions of the law, to which the carnal mind of man is enmity, but the wrath of God the law is so far from justifying sinners, that it curses and condemns them; and when it comes into the he... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE IT IS OF FAITH THAT IT MIGHT BE BY GRACE,.... Meaning either the promise of being heir of the world, or the inheritance itself, or adoption which gives heirship, or remission of Sin, or the blessing of justification, either and all of these are of faith; not as the cause or condition of th... [ Continue Reading ]
AS IT IS WRITTEN I HAVE MADE THEE A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS,.... The passage referred to, is in Genesis 17:4; which proves him to be a father not of the Jews only, since they cannot be called "many nations", but of the Gentiles also; and which must be understood in a spiritual sense, for Abraham was... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO AGAINST HOPE BELIEVED IN HOPE,.... Abraham believed the promise of God, THAT HE MIGHT BECOME THE FATHER OF MANY NATIONS, being assisted by a supernatural aid: "in hope"; of the fulfilment of it by the grace and power of God: "against hope": against all visible, rational grounds of hope; Sarah's... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BEING NOT WEAK IN FAITH,.... Abraham was not weak in the exercise of his faith, on the promise of God; nor was his faith weakened about the accomplishment of it, neither by the length of time after the promise was made, nor by the seeming insuperable difficulties of nature which attended it; for... [ Continue Reading ]
HE STAGGERED NOT AT THE PROMISE OF GOD,.... There is no reason to stagger at, or hesitate about any of the promises of God, since they are made by him that cannot lie; his faithfulness is engaged to perform them; with him all things are possible; every promise is in Christ, yea and amen, and never d... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BEING FULLY PERSUADED,.... He had not only faith, a strong faith, but full assurance of faith: THAT WHAT HE [GOD] HAD PROMISED; though it was so long ago, and there were so many difficulties in the way; HE WAS ABLE, being the Lord God Almighty, TO PERFORM; so his faith rested upon the power o... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEREFORE IT WAS IMPUTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Not because his faith was strong, and he had a full assurance of it, but because it was right, resting on the promise of God, and relying upon his power and faithfulness to perform it; for though the righteousness of faith is not imputed to any... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW IT WAS NOT WRITTEN FOR HIS SAKE ALONE,.... This was not left on the sacred records, Genesis 15:6, THAT IT WAS IMPUTED TO HIM; purely on his account, merely for his sake, as an encomium of his faith, and an honourable testimony to it, and for the encouragement of it; though this was doing him a... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT FOR US ALSO, TO WHOM IT SHALL BE IMPUTED,.... What was written in the books of the Old Testament, was not written merely on account of them who are the subjects thereof, but for the use, learning, instruction and profit of saints under the New Testament dispensation; and particularly this concer... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO WAS DELIVERED FOR OUR OFFENCES,.... Christ was delivered into the hands of men, and into the hands of justice, and unto death; and he was delivered by men, by Judas, to the chief priests, and by them to Pilate, and by Pilate to the Jews and Roman soldiers to be put to death; and he was also deli... [ Continue Reading ]