to that only Saviour, in whom Paul found peace and power, and who still summons to himself all those who labour and are heavy-laden, that they may find rest unto their souls. on particulars of no importance, and abundant interweaving of Old Testament quotations in the body of the discourse. Undoubtedly, the Christian spirit, which dwelt in the apostle, kept him from the extremes into which, by the nature of his education, he might otherwise have been betrayed, but still it is impossible not to perceive certain traces of its influence.' THE EPISTLE OF PAUL ΤΟ THE ROMANS. CHAPTER I. 1 PAUL, a servant of Jesus Christ, a called apostle, separated to the gospel of God, 2 which he promised before, by his prophets, in the holy scriptures, 3 concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who, according to the flesh, was born of the seed of David, but, according to the spirit of holiness, was powerfully declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead, 5 by whom we have received grace and apostleship for the obedience of faith, on account of his name, among all nations; 6 among whom are ye also, the called of Jesus Christ to all the beloved of God, the called saints, who are in Rome, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. A LL true Christians are termed by the Apostle John, sons of God, and Christ called his disciples, not servants, but friends.b Paul, however, without any inconsistency, here designates himself a servant of Jesus Christ: because he wishes, in his opening salutation, a 1 John, iii. 2; see also Gal. | have thought, that the apostle iv. 7. assumed his second name in honour of his distinguished convert. But it is far more natural simply to suppose, with Origen, that, according to the custom of his time, he had another name, as a Roman citizen. to impress the Roman Christians with the feeling, that he is addressing them, not merely as a private believer, but as one who had taken office under Christ to perform special service for him in the evangelization of mankind. Still further to recommend himself to their notice, and to engage their respectful attention to his instructions, he distinctly alludes to his marvellous vocation to the apostleship, reminding them, that, though not one of the original apostles, he had yet been specially called to his ministry, both outwardly, by Christ himself, and inwardly, (for the word, according to Paul's use of it, seems to comprehend both callings,) by the motions of Christ's Spirit. He then informs them, in plain terms, of the particular reason of his calling, or, as he varies the expression, of his separation from his fellow-men. It was to the Gospel of God. It was in order that he might publish, as extensively as possible, that Gospel, or glad message of salvation, which God had sent through Jesus Christ to the whole human race. And, in doing this, Paul was not to be regarded as the preacher of new, strange, and unheard-of doctrines. There is, in the minds of most men, a very strong, and a very natural feeling against innovators. Anxious, therefore, to prevent God's gospel from being damaged by such an objection, he declared that, so far from being new, it was as old as revelation itself. God had, in ancient times, promised it; prophet after prophete had predicted its advent; d See Acts, xxvi. 17, 18. • Paul says before Agrippa, that, in preaching the gospel, he had said none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come. Acts, xxvi. 22. the Holy Scriptures, which were in the hands of those to whom he was writing, contained those successive announcements. God's Gospel, therefore, was not a novelty, not a mere invention of a few enthusiastic men. Pious and reflecting Jews had, for centuries, been expecting and longing for its arrival; and even Gentiles, as we learn from the testimony of Tacitus and Suetonius, were not ignorant of its approach. This ancient promise of God was concerning his Son, Jesus Christ, the Lord of Christians. Jesus Christ was the subject of the Gospel. The apostle proceeds to declare, in warm and energetic language, who this Jesus Christ really was. According to the flesh, or, in other words, with respect to that human nature, with all its weaknesses and infirmities, which he had in common with all the sons of Adam, he was a descendant of the royal line of David. Even this was, of itself, a high honour. But, in fact, this was only the lowest view of his person. In Paul's eyes, he was far more than a son of the great Jewish monarch. Knowing him (to borrow his own expression) no more after the flesh, he rapidly passes on to the contemplation of his loftier dignity, as God's Son f It appears that, in the apostle's day, the expectations of the Jews respecting the Messiah had become known to many of the heathen. Pluribus persuasio inerat, antiquis sacerdotum literis contineri, eo ipso tempore fore, ut valesceret Oriens, profectique Judæa rerum potirentur. (Many were persuaded that, according to the ancient writings of the priests, the East would, at that very time, acquire power, and the Jews obtain the dominion of According to the spirit of holiness, or, in other words, with respect to that divine nature, which he had in common with God just as truly as he had human nature in common with man, he was, emphatically, the Son of God. The apostle evidently, by the expressions, the flesh and the spirit of holiness, wishes to contrast, as strikingly as he can, whatever in Christ was human with whatever in Christ was divine. This divinity of the Saviour was, in Paul's apprehension, powerfully declared by the resurrection from the dead. Now this requires explanation: for it is certain, that the resurrection of a man from the dead does not necessarily prove that he is divine. We must understand Paul to use the word resurrection in a pregnant sense, and to mean Christ's resurrection and its consequences. And, if we remember the various manifestations of power and glory, which had been given to the church, and especially to Paul himself, by the risen Redeemer, as the direct results of his resurrection, we cannot be surprised that he should think the resurrection from the dead, taken in this large and inclusive meaning, a powerful declaration and a satisfactory proof of Jesus Christ's divinity. Through this divine Saviour, then, he, as well as his brother apostles, had received from God grace and apostleship. Though, in using the word grace, which of course would comprehend all God's mercy to him, and especially the signal mercy of his wonderful conversion, he probably had in his mind a particular reference to that great act of grace by which he was put into the ministry, he yet adds the more definite h 1 Tim. i. 11-14. |