There were those who were good, whose balance was on the right side; there were those who were bad, whose balance was on the debit side; there were those who were in between, who, by doing one more good work, could become good. He demands perfect and entire obedience, if life is to come of it. What, then, is its voice? It was meant to make sin exceeding sinful. Let us take the objections and the answering scripture texts one by one. And the ceremonies shadowed forth Christ as fulfilling the righteousness, and bearing the curse of the law. But we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. The way of the law was not easy. Thereby is identification with His death. The promise is the same to all, who call on the name of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, as God manifest in the flesh. There are two things that might make insuperable difficulty: the one is the obstacle of sin in the nature to practical holiness; the other is the provocation and condemnation of the law. Alas! Sufficient then for pacifying minds, and for rendering certain our salvation, is the word of the gospel; in which we are not commanded to earn righteousness by works, but to embrace it, when offered gratuitously, by faith. First of all, the groundwork of it is laid in the first four verses, the last of them leading into every-day walk. Hence, therefore, it was in no way limited to any particular nation, such as those that had already been under the law and government of God. But if you and I are as he was, "poor sinners, and nothing at all," we may, with firm and resolute grip, lay hold upon the other line, "But Jesus Christ is my all in all." They also had a moral problem: they have not submitted to the righteousness of God. () in Romans 10:8, as afterwards . You, up there in the gallery, however guilty you may have been, or however moral you may have been, it matters not, if your one hope is in what Christ has done, you shall never turn round on your dying bed, and cry, "I made a mistake in trusting Christ." If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here: We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. To whom, then, did the law address itself? Now, if it was righteous in God (and who will gainsay it?) This existential pain is deepened and furthered by the divisions between Paul and his own people as he simultaneously argues his claims for inclusion of the Gentiles within God's salvific plan. (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. He shows that, on the responsible ground of being His nation, they were wholly ruined. In our concern to understand what the apostle is saying about righteousness, justification, and the like we ought not to overlook his tremendous concentration on God." (Morris) i. Although there is undoubtedly that profoundness which must accompany every revelation of God, and especially in connection with Christ as now manifested, still we have God adapting Himself to the very first wants of a renewed soul nay, even to the wretchedness of souls without God, without any real knowledge either of themselves or of Him. I. Paul here professes his good affection to the Jews, with the reason of it (Romans 10:1; Romans 10:2), where he gives them a good wish, and a good witness. But there is more than this in Romans 4:1-25 He takes up a third feature of Abraham's case; that is, the connection of the promise with resurrection. 15:18-24). Moses' utterance was single and by itself. The way of justification and salvation has in it no such depths or knots as may discourage us, no insuperable difficulties attending it but, as was foretold, it is a high-way, Isaiah 35:8. The Scripture; so some copies, and the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic version read, "what saith the Scripture?" The words, which we preach, are added, that no one might have the suspicion that Paul differed from Moses; for he testifies, that in the ministration of the gospel there was complete consent between him and Moses; inasmuch as even Moses placed our felicity in nothing else but in the gratuitous promise of divine favor. Nor is there only the manifest call of the Gentiles in this, but with no less clearness there is the rejection, at any rate for a time, of proud Israel. The word is nigh thee - This is still a use of the language of Moses. Now, what Paul declared of the Jew then is still true today. But this does not content the apostle, or rather the Spirit of God; for he goes on to point out that Isaiah "is very bold" in a similar way; that is, there is no concealing the truth of the matter. No one had ever witnessed to him. The causes of their unbelief, and these are two:-- (1.) That same energy of the Holy Ghost which had displayed itself in Jesus, when He walked in holiness here below, was demonstrated in resurrection; and not merely in His own rising from the dead, but in raising such at any time no doubt, though most signally and triumphantly displayed in His own resurrection. Their sound has gone out to all the earth: This quotation from Psalm 19:4 proves that the word of the gospel went forth and Israel heard it. This is the essential point. (9-13) How Gods righteousness is gained by faith. It was the Son of God not merely as dealing with the powers of the earth, Jehovah's King on the holy hill of Zion, but after a far deeper manner. how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! Were it merely Romans 3:1-31 there could not be full peace with God as there is. The design of the law was to lead people to Christ. From verse 14 there is an advance. No Gentile would do it who had not ceased worshipping the emperor as Kurios. To prove this point Paul quotes two passages. May you experience the joys of His power, of His presence, of His glory, as God day by day showers you with His goodness and with His love. You may now believe in Christ and live eternally. It was already among them by the preaching of the apostles, and was a subject of conversation and of thought. If God has made you feel yourself a sinner, then Christ is such a Savior as you need and you may have him at once: the only difficulty lies in the way being so easy that you can hardly think it can be so. To make his point Paul uses two Old Testament quotations. No trembling sinner doubts but that by the breaking of the law we are condemned: be you equally sure of it, that by not believing you are condemned. Now, Paul declares, or rather the gospel speaking for itself declares, this word of life by faith in the risen Christ to be near us, that is, to be accessible to us. And there (for such was the point) it was the complete condemnation of this evil thing, the nature in its present state, so as, nevertheless, to set the believer as before God's judgment free from itself as well as its consequences. It is our duty that we must not, it is our privilege that we shall not, be ashamed of our faith in Christ. You need not "bring up Christ again from the dead," for the Lord has risen indeed. Glad tidings of good things, but not all who hear obey. When people say we need something other than Gods word, they deny what Paul wrote (compare 2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Jews built on a false foundation, and refused to come to Christ for free salvation by faith, and numbers in every age do the same in various ways. He believed God and His word, with special approval on God's part; and his faith was counted as righteousness (ver. It is close to you; it is as close as your mouth. "The word is near you. Hence it is essentially founded on the gift not only of a Saviour who would interpose, in the mercy of God, to bear our sins, but of One who is already revealed, and the work done and accepted, and this known in the fact that God Himself has interposed to raise Him from among the dead a bright and momentous thing to press on souls, as indeed we find the apostles insisting on it throughout the Acts. If you want your faith increased, study the Word of God. II. There is no need to bring Christ down to find out what God wants. No; clear, straight, cutting like a sharp razor, he puts before us the single sentence, "He that doeth those things shall live by them.". This were indeed to deny the value of His death, and of that newness of life we have in Him risen, and a return to bondage of the worst description. All through this section Paul has been driving home the personal responsibility of the Jews. If I had a sense of sin as deep as that of lost souls in hell, I could hope that I should be saved." The Word of God is essential for the development of faith within my heart. It is the product of many graces, evinces a great deal of self-denial, love to Christ, contempt of the world, a mighty courage and resolution. Though the whole might have been announced in one continuous sentence, yet a question is interposed for the sake of exciting attention: and his object at the same time was to show how great is the difference between the righteousness of the law and that of the gospel; for the one, showing itself at a distance, restrains all men from coming nigh; but the other, offering itself at hand, kindly invites us to a fruition of itself, Nigh thee is the word. to deal with the whole posterity of Adam as involved in death because of one, their common father, who could deny the consistency of one man's saving? The second plea is not that the rejection of Israel is only partial, however extensive, but that it is also temporary, and not definitive. THE DESTRUCTION OF EXCUSES ( Romans 10:14-21 ), 10:14-21 How are they to call on him on whom they have not believed? How can they call on him in whom they have not believed? The best of them are but filthy rags: stow them all away in the coal-hole, and look to the merits of your Lord for salvation. "Oh, come over here and sit on Grandpa's lap. For the truth is that God has in Christ condemned sin, and this for sin definitely; so that He has nothing more to do in condemnation of that root of evil. And this is said to be unto salvation, because it is the performance of the condition of that promise, Matthew 10:32. Yes, God has chosen and elected and predestined. Consequently the call of God, and not the birth simply makes the real difference. we know how this was in Israel, how it might be, and has been, in Christendom. There seems to be more than a tinge of implied rebuke against the self-righteousness of the Jews who have rejected Christ Jesus and the gospel. Because they were sons of Abraham. Who bring glad tidings of good things!. i. "Doubts," he said, "what do you mean? Not all will accept the message, but Christians must proclaim it nevertheless. yet, that is might be the more effectual to drive people to Christ and to make the covenant of grace welcome, it had a very great mixture of the strictness and terror of the covenant of works. Clear, then, as possible it must be to every man among us who will think, that if the only way of salvation by the works of the law is by the keeping of the law in its entirety, then that road is closed against us, and the sooner we have done with it the better; for then we shall turn our thoughts in the right direction, and travel on the way which the Lord in great mercy has prepared for us. It is true God gave them that law for which they were so zealous; but they might have known that, by the appearance of the promised Messiah, an end was put to it. 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