There is no epistle in which the apostle places his apostleship on more
positive and formal ground than in this; for at Rome he had no claim in
virtue of his labours. He had never seen the Romans. He was none the less
their apostle; for he was that of the Gentiles. He was a debtor to the
Gentiles. He writes to them because he had received a mission from the Lord
Himself towards all the Gentiles. They were in his allotted sphere of
service as being Gentiles. It was his office to present them as an offering
sanctified by the Holy Ghost (chap. 15:16). This was his commission. God
was mighty in Peter towards the Jews; the mission of Paul was to the
Gentiles. It was to him this mission was entrusted. The twelve moreover
acknowledged it. If God has ordained that Paul should accomplish his
mission in direct connection with heaven and outside the secular influence
of the capital, and if Rome was to be a persecutor of the gospel, that city
was not the less Gentile on this account. It belonged to Paul with
reference to the gospel. According to the Holy Ghost Peter addresses the
Jews in the exercise of his apostleship; Paul, the Gentiles.
This was the administrative order according to God; let us now come to the
substance of his position. Paul was the servant of Christ-that was his
character, his life. But others were, more or less, that. He was more than
that. He was an apostle by the call of the Lord, a "called apostle"; and
not only that, and laborious as occasion presented itself, he was nothing
but that in life here below. He was set apart for the glad tidings of God.
These two last characters are very definitely warranted by the revelation
of the Lord to Paul on the way to Damascus-his call, and his mission to the
Gentiles on that occasion; and by setting apart by the Holy Ghost at
Antioch, when he went forth to fulfil his mission.
He calls the gospel to which he was set apart, the gospel or glad tidings
"of God": the Holy Ghost presents it in its source. It is not that which
man ought to be for God, nor yet the means merely by which man can approach
Him on His throne. It is the thoughts of God, and His acts, we may add,
towards man-His thoughts in goodness, the revelation of Him in Christ His
Son. He approaches man according to that which He is and that which He
wills in grace. God comes to him; it is the gospel of God. This is the true
aspect: the gospel is never rightly understood until it is to us the gospel
of God, the activity and revelation of His nature, and of His will in grace
towards man.
Having pointed out the source, the Author of the gospel, the One whom it
thus reveals in His grace, the apostle presents the connection between this
gospel and the dealings of God which historically preceded it-its
promulgation here below, and at the same time its own proper object; that
is to say, its subject properly so called, and the place held with regard
to it by that which preceded it (the order of things which those to whom
they belonged sought to maintain as a substantive and independent system by
rejecting the gospel). He here introduces that which preceded, not as a
subject of controversy, but in its true character, to enforce the testimony
of the gospel (anticipating objections, which are thus solved beforehand).
To the Gentile it was the revelation of the truth, and of God, in grace; to
the Jew it was indeed that, while also putting everything that regarded him
in its right place. The connection of the Old Testament with the gospel is
this: the gospel of God had been announced beforehand by His prophets in
holy writings. Observe here, that in these holy scriptures the gospel of
God was not come, nor was it then addressed to men: but promised or
announced beforehand, as to be sent. The assembly was not even announced:
the gospel was announced, but as being yet to come.
Moreover, the subject of this gospel is, first of all, the Son of God. He
has accomplished a work: but it is Himself who is the true subject of the
gospel. Now He is presented in a twofold aspect: 1st, the object of the
promises, Son of David according to the flesh; 2nd, the Son of God in
power, who, in the midst of sin, walked by the Spirit in divine and
absolute holiness (resurrection being the illustrious and victorious proof
of who He was, walking in this character). That is to say, resurrection is
a public manifestation of that power by which He walked in absolute
holiness during His life-a manifestation that He is the Son of God in
power. He is clearly shewn forth as Son of God in power by this means Here
it was no question of promise, but of power, of Him who could enter into
conflict with the death in which man lay, and overcome it completely; and
that, in connection with the holiness which bore testimony during His life
to the power of that Spirit by which He walked, and in which He guarded
Himself from being touched by sin. It was in the same power by which He was
holy in life absolutely that He was raised from the dead.
In the ways of God on the earth He was the object and the fulfilment of the
promises. With regard to the condition of man under sin and death, He was
completely conqueror of all that stood in His way, whether living or in
resurrection. It was the Son of God who was there, made known by
resurrection according to the power that was in Him, a power that displayed
itself according to the Spirit by the holiness in which He lived. [see note #5]
What marvellous grace to see the whole power of evil-that dreadful door of
death which closed upon the sinful life of man, leaving him to the
inevitable judgment that he deserved-broken, destroyed, by Him, who was
willing to enter into the gloomy chamber it shut in, and take upon Himself
all the weakness of man in death, and thus completely and absolutely
deliver him whose penalty He had borne in submitting to death! This victory
over death, this deliverance of man from its dominion, by the power of the
Son of God become man, when He had undergone it, and that as a sacrifice
for sin, is the only ground of hope for mortal and sinful man. It sets
aside all that sin and death have to say. It destroys, for him who has a
portion in Christ, the seal of judgment upon sin, which is in death; and a
new man, a new life, begins for him who had been held under it, outside the
whole scene, the whole effect of his former misery-a life founded on all
the value of that which the Son of God had there accomplished.
In fine, we have, as the subject of the gospel, the Son of God, made of the
seed of David after the flesh; and, in the bosom of humanity and of death,
declared to be the Son of God in power by resurrection, [see note #6]
Jesus Christ our Lord. The gospel was the gospel of God Himself; but it is
by Jesus Christ the Lord that the apostle received his mission. He was the
head of the work, and sent forth the labourers into the harvest which they
were to reap in the world. The object of his mission, and its extent, was
the obedience of faith (not obedience to the law) among an nations,
establishing the authority and the value of the name of Christ. It was this
name which should prevail and be acknowledged.
The apostle's mission was not only his service; the being trusted with it
was at the same time the personal grace and favour of Him whose testimony
he bore. I am not speaking of salvation, although in Paul's case the two
things were identified-a fact that gave a remarkable colour and energy to
his mission; but there was grace and favour in the commission itself, and
it is important to remember it. It gives character to the mission and to
its execution. An angel performs a providential mission; a Moses details a
law in the spirit of the law; a Jonah, a John the Baptist, preaches
repentance, withdraws from the grace that appeared to falsify his
threatenings against the wicked Gentiles, or in the wilderness lays the axe
to the root of the unfruitful trees in God's garden. But by Jesus, Paul,
the bearer of the glad tidings of God, receives grace and apostleship. He
carries, by grace and as grace, the message of grace to men wherever they
may be, the grace which comes in all the largeness of the rights of God
over men, and in Himself as sovereign, and in which He exercises His
rights. Among these Gentiles, the believing Romans also were the called of
Jesus Christ.
Paul therefore addresses all the believers in that great city. They were
beloved of God, and saints by calling. [see note #7]
He wishes them (as in all his epistles) grace and peace from God the
Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, on whose part he delivered his
message. The perfect grace of God by Christ, the perfect peace of man, and
that with God; it was this which he brought in the gospel and in his heart.
These are the true conditions of God's relationship with man, and that of
man with God, by the gospel-the ground on which Christianity places man.
When an individual is addressed, another consideration comes in, namely,
that of his own weaknesses and infirmities: therefore "mercy" is added to
the wish of the sacred writers in the case of individuals. (See the
Epistles to Timothy and Titus, and the Second Epistle of John.) [see note #8]
If the love of God is in the heart, if He has His place there, it is before
God that one is occupied with the objects of grace; and then, the work of
God in them, the grace that has been displayed is the first thing that
comes into the mind, whether in love or in thankfulness. The faith of the
Romans ascends in thanksgivings from the heart of the apostle, whom the
report of it had reached.
<61452F:14>He then expresses his desire to see them, a desire that often
occupied his mind. Here he brings out his apostolic relationship towards
them, with all the tenderness and all the delicacy that belong to the grace
and the love which had formed this relationship and which constituted its
strength. He is apostle by right to all the Gentiles, even although he may
not have seen them; but in heart he is their servant; and with the most
true and ardent brotherly love, flowing from the grace that had made him
apostle, he desires to see them, that he might impart to them some
spiritual gift, which his apostleship put him in a position to communicate.
What he had in his heart in this was, that he might enjoy the faith which
was common to him and to them-faith strengthened by these gifts-for their
mutual comfort. Often he had purposed coming, that he might have some fruit
in this part also of the field which God had committed to him; but he had
been hindered until now.
He then declares himself a debtor to all the Gentiles, and ready, as far as
in him lay, to preach the gospel to those of Rome also. The way in which
the apostle claims the whole field of the Gentiles as his own, and in which
he was prevented by God from going to Rome until he arrived there at the
end of his career (and then only as a prisoner), is worthy of all
attention.
However it might be, he was ready, and that because of the value of the
gospel-a point which leads him to state both the value and the character of
this gospel. For, he says, he was not ashamed of it. It was the power of
God to salvation. Observe here the way in which the apostle presents
everything as coming from God. It is the gospel of God, the power of God to
salvation, the righteousness of God, and even the wrath of God, and that
from heaven-a different thing from earthly chastisement. This is the key to
everything. The apostle lays stress upon it, putting it forward from the
commencement of the epistle; for man ever inclines to have confidence in
himself, to boast of himself, to seek for some merit-some righteousness, in
himself, to Judaise, to be occupied with himself, as though he could do
something. It was the apostle's joy to put his God forward.
Thus, in the gospel, God intervened, accomplishing a salvation which was
entirely His own work-a salvation of which He was the source and power, and
which He Himself had wrought. Man came into it by faith: it was the
believer who shared it, but to have part in it by faith was exactly the way
to share it without adding anything whatsoever to it, and to leave it
wholly the salvation of God. God be praised that it is so, whether for
righteousness or for power, or for the whole result; for thus it is
perfect, divine. God has come in, in His almighty power and in His love, to
deliver the wretched, according to His own might. The gospel is the
expression of this: one believes it and one shares it.
But there is an especial reason why it is the power of God in salvation.
Man had departed from God by sin. Righteousness alone could bring him back
into the presence of God, and make him such that he could be there in
peace. A sinner, he had no righteousness, but quite the contrary; and if
man were to come before God as a sinner, judgment necessarily awaits him:
righteousness would be displayed in this way. But, in the gospel, God
reveals a positive righteousness on His part. If man has none, God has a
righteousness which belongs to Him, which is His own, perfect like Himself,
according to His own heart. Such a righteousness as this is revealed in the
gospel. Human righteousness there was none: a righteousness of God is
revealed. It is all-perfect in itself, divine and complete. To be revealed,
it must be so. The gospel proclaims it to us.
The principle on which it is announced is faith, because it exists, and it
is divine. If man wrought at it, or performed a part of it, or if his heart
had any share in carrying it out, it would not be the righteousness of God;
but it is entirely and absolutely His. We believe in the gospel that
reveals it. But if it is the believer who participates in it, every one who
has faith has part in it. This righteousness is on the principle of faith.
It is revealed, and consequently to faith, wherever that faith exists.
This is the force of the expression which is translated "from faith to
faith"-on the principle of faith unto faith. Now the importance of this
principle is evident here. It admits every believing Gentile on the same
footing as the Jew, who has no other right of entrance than he. They both
have faith: the gospel recognises no other means of participating in it.
The righteousness is that of God; the Jew is nothing more in it than the
Gentile. As it is written, "The just shall live by faith." The scriptures
of the Jews testified to the truth of the apostle's principle.
This is what the gospel announced on God's part to man. The primary subject
was the Person of Christ, son of David according to flesh (accomplishment
of promise); and the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of
holiness. But the righteousness of God (not of man) was revealed in it.
This is the grand theme of all that follows. The apostle had indeed reason
not to be ashamed of it, despised as it was by men.
But this doctrine was confirmed by another consideration, and was based on
the great truth contained in it. God, in presenting Himself, could not look
at things according to the partial communications adapted to the ignorance
of men, and to the temporary dispensations by which He governed them. Wrath
was not merely His intervention in government, as by the Assyrian or
Babylonish captivity. It was "wrath from heaven." The essential opposition
of His nature to evil, and penal rejection of it wherever it was found, was
manifested. Now God manifested Himself in the gospel. Thus divine wrath
does not break forth indeed (for grace proclaimed the righteousness of God
in salvation for sinners who should believe) but it is revealed (not
exactly in the gospel-that is the revelation of righteousness; but it is
revealed) from heaven against ungodliness-all that does not respect the
presence of God-against all that does not comport with the presence of God,
and against all unrighteousness or iniquity in those who possessed the
truth but still dishonoured God; that is to say, against all men, Gentile
or otherwise, and particularly the Jews who had the knowledge of God
according to the law; and, again (for the principle is universal, and flows
from that which God is, when He reveals Himself), against every one who
professes Christianity, when he walks in the evil that God hates.
This wrath, divine wrath, according to God's nature as in heaven, against
man as a sinner, made God's righteousness necessary. Man was now to meet
God fully revealed as He is. This shewed him wholly a sinner, but paved the
way in grace for a far more excellent place and standing-one based on the
righteousness of God. The gospel reveals the righteousness: its
opportuneness and necessity are demonstrated by the state of sin in which
all men are, and by occasion of which wrath was revealed from heaven. Man
was not merely to be governed by God, and find governmental wrath, but to
appear before God. How could we stand there? The answer is the revelation
of God's righteousness by the gospel. Hence, too, even in speaking of
resurrection Christ is declared to be the Son of God according to the
Spirit of holiness. God has to be met such as He is. The revelation of God
Himself in His holy nature went necessarily farther than mere Jews. It was
against the thing sin, wherever it was, wherever it met sin, to make good
what God is. It is a glorious truth; and how blessed that thus divine
righteousness in sovereign grace should be revealed! And, God being love,
we can say that it could not be otherwise; but how glorious to have God
thus revealed!
The thesis of the epistle then is in verse 17, that which proved its need
in verse 18. From verse 19 to the end of verse 20 in chapter 3, the
condition of men, Jews and Gentiles, to whom this truth applies, is given
in detail, in order to shew in what way this wrath was deserved, and all
were shut up in sin (v. 19 and 21 of this chapter giving the leading
principles of the evil as regards the Gentiles). From verse 21 to 31 of
chapter 3, the answer in grace by the righteousness of God, through the
blood of Christ, is briefly but powerfully declared. For we first get the
answer by Christ's blood to the old state, and then the introduction, by
death and life through Christ, into the new.
The apostle begins with the Gentiles-"all ungodliness" of men. I say the
Gentiles (it is evident that if a Jew falls into it, this guilt attaches to
him; but the condition described, as far as chapter 2:17, is that of
Gentiles); afterwards that of the Jews, to chapter 3:20.
Chapter 1:18 is the thesis of the whole argument from verse 19 to chapter
3:20, this part of the epistle shewing the ground of that wrath.
The Gentiles are without excuse on two accounts. First, that which may be
known of God has been manifested by creation-His power and His Godhead.
This proof has existed since the creation of the world. Secondly, that,
having the knowledge of God as Noah had it, they had not glorified Him as
God, but in the vanity of their imaginations, reasoning upon their own
thoughts on this subject and the ideas it produced in their own minds, they
became fools while professing themselves to be wise, and fell into
idolatry, and that of the grossest kind. Now God has judged this. If they
would not retain a just thought of the glory of God, they should not even
retain a just idea of the natural honour of man. They should dishonour
themselves as they had dishonoured God. It is the exact description, in a
few strong and energetic words, of the whole pagan mythology. They had not
discernment, moral taste, to retain God in their knowledge: God gave them
up to a spirit void of discernment, to boast themselves in depraved tastes,
in things unbecoming nature itself. The natural conscience knew that God
judged such things to be worthy of death according to the just exigencies
of His nature. Nevertheless they not only did them, but they took pleasure
in those who did them, when their own lusts did not carry them away. And
this left no excuse for those who judged the evil (and there were such),
for they committed it while judging it. Man then by judging condemned
himself doubly: for by judging he shewed that he knew it to be evil, and
yet he did it. But the judgment of God is according to truth against those
who commit such things: they who acquired credit by judging them should not
escape it.
