Reference: Romans, Epistle To The
Easton
(3.) This epistle was probably written at Corinth. Phoebe (Ro 16:1) of Cenchrea conveyed it to Rome, and Gaius of Corinth entertained the apostle at the time of his writing it (Ro 16:23; 1Co 1:14), and Erastus was chamberlain of the city, i.e., of Corinth (2Ti 4:20).
(4.) The precise time at which it was written is not mentioned in the epistle, but it was obviously written when the apostle was about to "go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints", i.e., at the close of his second visit to Greece, during the winter preceding his last visit to that city (Ro 15:25; comp. Ac 19:21; 20:2-3,16; 1Co 16:1-4), early in A.D. 58.
(5.) It is highly probable that Christianity was planted in Rome by some of those who had been at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Ac 2:10). At this time the Jews were very numerous in Rome, and their synagogues were probably resorted to by Romans also, who in this way became acquainted with the great facts regarding Jesus as these were reported among the Jews. Thus a church composed of both Jews and Gentiles was formed at Rome. Many of the brethren went out to meet Paul on his approach to Rome. There are evidences that Christians were then in Rome in considerable numbers, and had probably more than one place of meeting (Ro 16:14-15).
(6.) The object of the apostle in writing to this church was to explain to them the great doctrines of the gospel. His epistle was a "word in season." Himself deeply impressed with a sense of the value of the doctrines of salvation, he opens up in a clear and connected form the whole system of the gospel in its relation both to Jew and Gentile. This epistle is peculiar in this, that it is a systematic exposition of the gospel of universal application. The subject is here treated argumentatively, and is a plea for Gentiles addressed to Jews. In the Epistle to the Galatians, the same subject is discussed, but there the apostle pleads his own authority, because the church in Galatia had been founded by him.
(7.) After the introduction (1:1-15), the apostle presents in it divers aspects and relations the doctrine of justification by faith (1:16-11:36) on the ground of the imputed righteousness of Christ. He shows that salvation is all of grace, and only of grace. This main section of his letter is followed by various practical exhortations (12:1-15:13), which are followed by a conclusion containing personal explanations and salutations, which contain the names of twenty-four Christians at Rome, a benediction, and a doxology (RO 15:14-ch. 16).
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Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Lybia about Cyrene, and the Roman strangers, both Jews and proselytes,
And when these things were accomplished, Paul was disposed by the Spirit, passing through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there I must see Rome.
And going through those parts, and exhorting them with many words, he went into Greece; and when he had staid there three months, and a conspiracy was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to sail to Syria, he determined to return through Macedonia.
For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, that it might not be necessary for him to spend a long time in Asia; for he hastened, if it was possible for him, to be at Jerusalem at the day of Pentecost.
But now I am going to Jerusalem to serve the saints.
AND I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a minister of the church in Cenchrea,
Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers with them. Salute Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints with them.
Gaius my entertainer, and the entertainer of all the church, salutes you. Erastus the treasurer of the city and Quartus the brother salute you.
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins,
Erastus remained at Corinth, and Trophimus I left sick at Miletus.
Hastings
ROMANS, EPISTLE TO THE
1. Time, occasion, and character.
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Judge not, that you be not judged;
And as they looked steadily to heaven while he went, behold, two men stood by them in white clothing; and they said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking at heaven? This Jesus taken up from you to heaven shall so come in the manner in which you have seen him go to heaven.
Then it seemed good to the apostles and elders, with all the assembly [the church], to send delegates from themselves to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers,
They, therefore, being dismissed went to Antioch, and assembling the multitude delivered the epistle.
She following Paul and us, cried, saying, These men are servants of the Most High God, who declare to us the way of salvation; and this she did for many days. And Paul being grieved turned around and said to the spirit, I command you, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her. And it came out of her in that hour. read more. And her masters seeing that the hope of their gain was gone, seizing Paul and Silas dragged them to the market, to the rulers, and bringing them before the prefects said, These men, being Jews, greatly trouble the city,
and having inflicted many blows on them cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely;
And finding a certain Jew by the name of Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy, and his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome, he went to them,
and having spent some time there he went away, passing in order through the country of Galatia and Phrygia, confirming all the disciples. AND a certain Jew by the name of Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus, being powerful in the Scriptures. read more. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit spoke and taught correctly the doctrines concerning Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John; and this man began to speak boldly in the synagogue, and Priscilla and Aquila hearing him took him and taught him more accurately the way. And he wishing to go into Achaia, the brothers sent him, and wrote to the disciples to receive him. And when he came he helped those much who had believed through the grace; for he argued powerfully against the Jews, publicly showing by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.
And when these things were accomplished, Paul was disposed by the Spirit, passing through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there I must see Rome.
And when these things were accomplished, Paul was disposed by the Spirit, passing through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there I must see Rome.
And when these things were accomplished, Paul was disposed by the Spirit, passing through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there I must see Rome.
And when these things were accomplished, Paul was disposed by the Spirit, passing through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there I must see Rome. And sending two that served him into Macedonia, Timothy and Erastus, he continued a time in Asia.
And sending two that served him into Macedonia, Timothy and Erastus, he continued a time in Asia.
And sending two that served him into Macedonia, Timothy and Erastus, he continued a time in Asia. And there was at that time no small tumult about the way [of the Lord]. read more. For a certain Demetrius by name, a silversmith, who made silver temples of Diana, and afforded his artisans no small gain, assembling them together and laborers of like employments, said, Men, you know that our prosperity is derived from this employment, and you see and hear, that not only at Ephesus, but in almost all Asia, this Paul has led away a great multitude by persuasion, saying that things which are made by hands are not gods. And not only this work of ours is in danger of coming into contempt, but even the temple of the great goddess Diana of being set at nought, and her majesty also which all Asia and the world worships, of being destroyed. And hearing this they were full of wrath, and cried, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians! And the whole city was full of confusion; and they rushed with one accord to the theatre, taking Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, fellow travellers of Paul. And Paul wishing to go in to the people, the disciples did not permit him; and some of the rulers of Asia also, who were friendly to him, sending to him, besought him not to expose himself in the theatre. Some therefore cried one thing, and some another; for the assembly was confused, and the greater part knew not for what reason they had come together. And they advanced Alexander from the multitude, the Jews putting him forward; and Alexander motioning with his hand, wished to defend himself before the people. But knowing that he was a Jew, there was one voice from all, for about two hours, crying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. And the clerk having stilled the multitude, said, Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great Diana, and of the Jove descended [image]? These things therefore being indisputable, it is best to be quiet, and do nothing rashly. For you have brought these men here, who are neither temple-robbers nor blasphemers of your goddess. If, therefore, Demetrius and the artisans with him have a charge against any, court days are held, and there are pro-consuls; let them accuse one another. And if you desire any thing of other matters, let it be determined in a lawful assembly. For we are in danger of being called to account for the tumult of to-day, there being no cause by which we can excuse this concourse.
and when he had staid there three months, and a conspiracy was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to sail to Syria, he determined to return through Macedonia.
and when he had staid there three months, and a conspiracy was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to sail to Syria, he determined to return through Macedonia.
and when he had staid there three months, and a conspiracy was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to sail to Syria, he determined to return through Macedonia. And there followed him to Asia, Sopater the son of Pyrrhus of Berea, and of those of Thessalonica, Aristarchus and Secundus, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and those of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus;
PAUL, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart to the gospel of God,??2 which he promised by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures,??3 concerning his Son born of the posterity of David as to the flesh,
declared to be the Son of God in power as to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead,??esus Christ our Lord,??5 through whom we have received grace and an apostleship for the obedience of the faith in all nations in behalf of his name,
among whom are you also the called of Jesus Christ,??7 to all who are at Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
First, indeed, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, how incessantly I make mention of you, always in my prayers read more. asking if by any means I may now at some time have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come to you. For I greatly desire to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, that you may be strengthened, that is, that I may be comforted in you by the mutual faith both of you and me. But I wish you not to be ignorant, brothers, that I often purposed to come to you, and was hindered hitherto, that I might have some fruit also among you, as among the other gentiles. I am a debtor both to the Greeks and the Barbarians, both to the wise and the ignorant; so that as far as depends upon me I am ready also to preach the gospel to those at Rome.
so that as far as depends upon me I am ready also to preach the gospel to those at Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel; for it is the power of God to salvation to every one that believes, the Jew first and also the Greek. read more. For God's righteousness is revealed in it by faith in the faith [the gospel]; as it is written; The righteous shall live by faith. FOR the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all impiety and wickedness of men who hold the truth in wickedness, because what can be known of God is manifest among them; for God has manifested [himself] to them. For his invisible [attributes] are clearly seen from the creation of the world, being perceived by the things which are made, even his eternal power and deity, so that they have no defense, because having known God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful, but became vain in their reasonings and their ignorant mind was darkened. Saying that they were wise they became foolish, and changed the glory of the imperishable God into the likeness of the image of perishable man, and of birds, and quadrupeds, and reptiles. Wherefore God also gave them up with the desires of their hearts to impurity, to disgrace their bodies among themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creation more than the Creator, who is blessed forever, amen. Therefore God gave them up to infamous affections; for their females changed a natural enjoyment for that which is against nature, and in like manner also the males, leaving the natural enjoyment of the female, became the subjects of inordinate desires for each other, males with males committing indecency, and receiving in return the recompense of their error which was fit. And as they did not choose to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do things which are not proper, being filled with all wickedness, malice, covetousness, vice, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil dispositions, whisperers, evil speakers, haters of God, injurious, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, unintelligent, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, unmerciful, who knowing the ordinance of God, that those who do such things deserve death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in those who do them.
Wherefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are that judge, for in that in which you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge do the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who do such things. read more. But do you think this, O man, who judge those doing such things and do the same, that you shall escape the judgment of God? or do you despise the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to a change of mind? But according to your hardness and unchanged heart you treasure up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and of a revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each according to his works; to those who by patience in good works seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are contentions and disobey the truth, and obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath. Affliction and distress [shall be] on every soul of man that does evil, both the Jew first and the Greek; and glory and honor and peace to every one that does good, both the Jew first and the Greek. For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without the law shall perish without the law, and as many as have sinned with the law shall be judged by the law,??13 for not the hearers of the law are righteous with God, but the doers of the law shall be justified;
for when the nations which have not the law perform by nature [the commandments] of the law, these who have not the law are a law to themselves, and they show the work of the law written in their minds, their consciences testifying with them, and their judgments mutually acusing or defending one another;??16 in the day when God shall judge the secret [doings] of men according to my gospel through Jesus Christ.
But [what] if you are called a Jew and rest on the law, and boast of God, and know his will, and approve of things which are excellent, being instructed by the law, read more. and believe yourself to be a guide of the blind, a light of those in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law; you that teach another, do you not teach yourself? You that preach not to steal, do you steal? You that command not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You that abhor idols, do you commit sacrilege? You who boast of the law, by the transgression of the law do you dishonor God?
What then is the preeminence of the Jew? or what the profit of circumcision? Much in every way. For first, indeed, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. read more. For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief destroy the faith of God? By no means; but let God be true, and every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mayest be justified in thy sayings and overcome when thou art judged. But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who inflicts wrath? I speak as a man;??6 by no means;??ince [if he was] how shall God judge the world?
For if the truth of God abounded by my falsehood to his glory, why am I also yet judged as a sinner? And as we are falsely accused and as some declare that we say, [do we say] Let us do evil that good may come? Whose judgment is just. read more. What defense then have we? None at all; for we before asserted that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin, as it is written, There is none righteous not one, there is none that understands, there is none that seeks God; all have turned aside, they have together become unprofitable; there is no one that does good, there is not even one; their throat is an opened tomb, with their tongues they practise deceit, the poison of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. But we know that whatever the law says, it says to those having the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world become guilty before God. Wherefore by the works of the law there shall no flesh be justified is his sight, for by the law there is an acknowledgment of sin. BUT now God's righteousness has been made manifest without the law, being testified to by the law and the prophets, but God's righteousness is through the faith of Jesus Christ, in all and upon all that believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth [to be] a propitiator through faith in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing by of the errors committed previously in the forbearance of God, to show his righteousness at the present time, that he may be righteous and justify him that is of faith. Where then is the boasting [of the Jew]? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No; but by the law of faith. We conclude then that a man is justified by faith without the works of the law. Is God [a God] of the Jews alone? and not also of the gentiles? Yes, also of the gentiles, since there is one God who will justify the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through the [same] faith. Do we then abrogate the law by the faith? By no means; but we establish the law.
who was delivered up for our sins and raised for our justification.
ARE you ignorant, brothers, for I speak to them who understand law, that the law has authority over a man as long as he lives? For a woman under a husband is bound by law to a living husband; but if the husband has died she is released from the law of the husband. read more. Therefore while the husband lives, she shall be called an adulteress if she is married to another man; but if the husband has died, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress if married to another man. So, my brothers, you have also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you should be married to another, to him that was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful affections operated through the law in our members to bear fruit to death; but now we are released from the law by which we were held having died, that we should serve [God] in newness of spirit, not in the old age of a writing. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? By no means. On the contrary I knew not sin except through the law; for I had not known inordinate desire, unless the law had said, You shall not desire inordinately. But Sin having taken occasion through the commandment wrought in me every inordinate desire; for without the law sin was dead. And I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died, and the commandment which was for life was found to be for death. For sin having taken occasion through the commandment deceived me, and through it killed me. The law therefore is holy, and the commandment holy and righteous and good. Did then that which is good become death to me? By no means, but sin; that sin might be made manifest, producing death to me through that which is good, that sin might become exceedingly sinful through the commandment. For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I do this I approve not; for I do not what I wish, but what I hate, this I do. But if what I wish not this I do, I consent to the law that it is good; and now I no longer do it, but the sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, there dwells no good. For to wish is present with me, but to do the good is not; for the good which I wish I do not, but the evil which I wish not this I do. But if what I wish not this I do, I no longer do it, but sin which dwells in me. I find therefore the law, that when I wish to do good evil is present with me; for I consent to the law of God as to my inward man, [my soul], but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and making me captive to the law of sin which is in my members. Miserable man that I am; who will deliver me from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord; therefore I myself with the mind serve the law of God, and with the flesh the law of sin.
THERE is no condemnation therefore to those in Christ Jesus; for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and death. read more. For what the law could not do because it was weak through the flesh, God having sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned the sin in the flesh, that the righteous ordinance of the law may be performed by us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. For they who are according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh, but they who are according to the spirit the things of the spirit; for the minding of the flesh is death, but the minding of the Spirit is life and peace. Because the minding of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God; for it can not be. And they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. And if any man has not the spirit of Christ he is not his. But if Christ is in you, the body is dead on account of sin, but the spirit is life on account of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he that raised Christ from the dead shall make alive your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwells in you. Therefore, brothers, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh.
Therefore, brothers, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die; but if by the spirit you kill the deeds of the body, you shall live. read more. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are sons of God. For you received not the spirit of servitude again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption, by which we cry; Abba, Father. The Spirit itself is a co-witness with our spirits that we are children of God. And if children, [we are] also heirs, heirs indeed of God and co-heirs with Christ, if we suffer with him that we may also be glorified with him. For I think that the sufferings of the present time are of no account in comparison with the glory to be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation waits for the revelation of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to a perishable condition, not willingly, but by him that subjected it, in hope that the same creation will be delivered from the servitude of destruction and [brought] into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. For we know that all the creation groans and is in pain till now; and not only it, but we ourselves also who have the first fruit of the Spirit, even ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For we are saved by hope; but a hope that is seen is not a hope; for why does one hope for what he sees? but if we hope for what we see not, we wait for it with patience. And in like manner also the Spirit helps our weakness. For we know not what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings unutterable; and he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because it makes intercession with God for the saints. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to [his] purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also predestinated to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he may be a first-born among many brothers; and whom he predestinated them he also called; and whom he called them he also justified; and whom he justified them he also glorified. What shall we say then to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
What shall we say then to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who spared not his Son, but gave him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things? read more. Who will bring a charge against God's elect? It is God that justifies; who is he that condemns? Is it Christ who died, and still more, who has also been raised, and who is on the right hand of God, and who makes intercession for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall affliction or distress, persecution or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day; we are accounted as sheep for slaughter. But in all these things we more than conquer, through him who loved us.
I SPEAK the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing me witness with the Holy Spirit, that I have great grief and continual pain in my heart; read more. for I have wished that I was myself accursed from Christ for my brothers, my kindred according to the flesh, who are Israelites, whose are the adoption and the glory, and the covenants and the giving of the law, and the service, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ, according to the flesh. He who is over all is God blessed forever, amen. Not that the word of God has failed of being accomplished. For all are not Israel who are of Israel; neither, because they are a posterity of Abraham, are they all children; but in Isaac shall your posterity be called; that is, the children of the flesh are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are accounted the posterity. For this was the word of promise; According to this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this, but Rebecca also being with child by one, by our father Isaac??11 for the children not yet being born, nor having done any thing good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might continue, not of works but of him that calls,??12 it was said to her that the older shall serve the younger;
as it is written; Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? By no means. read more. For he says to Moses, I will be merciful to him to whom I may be merciful, and I will compassionate him whom I may compassionate. Therefore, it is not of him that wills nor of him that runs, but of God that exercises mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, For this same cause I raised you up, to show my power in you, and that my name may be declared in all the earth. He therefore has mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardens. You will say to me then, Why then does he yet find fault? for who has resisted his will? Yes indeed, O man, who are you that reply against God? Shall the work say to him that made it, Why did you make me thus? or has not the potter a right, in respect to the clay, to make of the same mass one vessel to honor and another to dishonor?
What shall we say then? That nations who did not pursue righteousness attained a righteousness, but the righteousness which is by faith;
But in respect to Israel he says, All the day I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contradicting people.
But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became a partaker of the root and excellence of the olive, boast not against the branches; but if you boast, you bear not the root, but the root you. read more. You will say then, The branches were broken off that I might be grafted in. Well; they were broken off by unbelief, and you stand by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear; for if God spared not the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. See then the goodness and severity of God; towards those that fell, severity, but towards you, the goodness of God, if you continue in goodness, for otherwise you also will be cut off. And they, if they continue not in unbelief, will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again. For if you have been cut from an olive wild by nature, and grafted contrary to nature into a good olive, how much more shall they according to nature be grafted into their own olive. For I wish you not to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery; that you may not be wise in your own conceit. For hardness in part has come upon Israel, till the fullness of the gentiles shall come in, and so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, A deliverer shall come from Zion, he shall turn away impiety from Jacob. And this is the promise to them from me, when I take away their sins. As to the gospel, they are enemies on your account, but as to the election, they are beloved on account of the fathers; for the gifts and calling of God are without a change of mind. For as you once disobeyed God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience, so also they now have disobeyed that they may obtain mercy by your mercy. For God has concluded all in disobedience that he may have mercy on all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how inscrutable are his judgments, and his ways can not be explored! For who knew the mind of the Lord? or who was his counsellor? or who first gave to him, and it shall be repaid him? For of him and through him, and in him are all things; to him be glory forever; amen.
RECEIVE the weak in faith, not to doubtful reasonings.
but he that doubts is condemned if he eats, because it is not of faith; and every thing which is not of faith is sin.
And again, Isaiah says, There shall be a root of Jesse and he shall stand up to rule nations, in him shall nations hope. And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. read more. And I am persuaded, my brothers, even I myself, concerning you, that you are full of kindness, filled with all knowledge, and able to admonish one another; but I have written more boldly to you in part, to refresh your minds on account of the grace given me by God that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the nations, administering as a priest the gospel of God, that the offering of the nations may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. I have therefore cause of boasting in Christ Jesus in respect to things relating to God; for I dare not to speak of what Christ has not performed by me for the obedience of the nations, by word and work, by the power of miracles and prodigies, by the power of the Spirit, so that from Jerusalem and around as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. And I have been anxious so to preach where Christ was not named, that I might not build on another's foundation; but as it is written, They shall see to whom nothing was told concerning him, and they who have not heard shall understand. Wherefore I was also much hindered from coming to you;
Wherefore I was also much hindered from coming to you; but now having no longer a place in these regions, and having a desire to come to you for many years, read more. should I go to Spain I will come to you; for I hope, going by, to see you, and to be sent forward by you there, when first I am in part filled with you. But now I am going to Jerusalem to serve the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor of the saints at Jerusalem. They have been pleased indeed, and their debtors they are; for if the nations have participated in their spiritual things, they ought also to serve them in things pertaining to the flesh. Having therefore performed this, and sealed to them this service, I will go by you to Spain; and I know that when I come to you I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. But I exhort you by the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in prayers to God for me,
But I exhort you by the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from those that obey not in Judea, and that my service which is for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,
that I may be delivered from those that obey not in Judea, and that my service which is for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and be refreshed together with you. read more. And may the God of peace be with you all; amen.
and [salute] the assembly at their house. Salute Epenetus my beloved, who is the first fruit of Asia to Christ.
And to him that is able to confirm you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery not revealed in ancient times, but made manifest now by the scriptures of the prophets, by the command of the eternal God, for the obedience of the faith among all nations, read more. to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to him be the glory forever; amen.
Morish
This may justly be called the fundamental epistle of Christian doctrine. Its value and importance are seen in that its doctrine lays in the soul a moral foundation by the presentation of God in qualities or attributes which the state of things existing in the world appears to call in question. Thus God is justified in the eyes of the believer, and this being the case, the purposes of His love are made known to him.
In looking at all that is around us in the world, everything appears to be out of order: the presence and domination of sin, a broken law, and the corrupt and violent will in man, all call in question the righteousness of God; while the scattering of God's people Israel raises the question of His faithfulness to His promises.
Now in Christ all this finds its full and complete answer. The Son of God, by whom all were created, has Himself come in the likeness of sinful flesh, and, by offering Himself a sacrifice for sin, has completely vindicated God's righteousness, while revealing His love. At the same time the man, or order of man, that has sinned against God has been judicially removed by His death from before the eye of God, so that God can present Himself to man in grace.
The moral perfection of the offerer of necessity brought in resurrection, in which all the pleasure of God's grace in regard to man is set forth in righteousness; and Christ risen is the deliverer who is to come forth from Zion to turn away ungodliness from Jacob. Thus God's faithfulness to His covenant is established in Zion. God is proved to be faithful and righteous: we have here the first elements of the knowledge of God.
But it way be desirable to open up the epistle a little in detail. After the introduction, in which the fact may be noticed that the glad tidings are said to be concerning God's Son, a picture is given us of the moral condition of man in the world, whether heathen, philosopher, or Jew. In the heathen we see the unchecked development of sin (Rom. 1). In the philosopher the fact that light in itself does not control evil (Rom. 2); and in the Jew that law is proved to be powerless to bring about subjection to God, or to secure righteousness for man. The conclusion is that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God
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AFTER the tumult was allayed, Paul calling the disciples and embracing them departed to go into Macedonia. And going through those parts, and exhorting them with many words, he went into Greece; read more. and when he had staid there three months, and a conspiracy was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to sail to Syria, he determined to return through Macedonia.
Smith
Romans, Epistle to the.
1. The date of this epistle is fixed at the time of the visit recorded in Acts 20:3 during the winter and spring following the apostle's long residence at Ephesus A.D. 58. On this visit he remained in Greece three months.
2. The place of writing was Corinth.
3. The occasion which prompted it,,and the circumstances attending its writing, were as follows:--St. Paul had long purposed visiting Rome, and still retained this purpose, wishing also to extend his journey to Spain. Etom. 1:9-13; 15:22-29. For the time, however, he was prevented from carrying out his design, as he was bound for Jerusalem with the alms of the Gentile Christians, and meanwhile he addressed this letter to the Romans, to supply the lack of his personal teaching. Phoebe, a deaconess of the neighboring church of Cenchreae, was on the point of starting for Rome, ch.
and probably conveyed the letter. The body of the epistle was written at the apostle's dictation by Tertius, ch.
but perhaps we may infer, from the abruptness of the final doxology, that it was added by the apostle himself.
4. The origin of the Roman church is involved in obscurity. If it had been founded by St. Peter according to a later tradition, the absence of any allusion to him both in this epistle and in the letters written by St. Paul from Rome would admit of no explanation. It is equally clear that no other apostle was like founder. The statement in the Clementines --that the first tidings of the gospel reached Rome during the lifetime of our Lord is evidently a fiction for the purposes of the romance. On the other hand, it is clear that the foundation of this church dates very far back. It may be that some of these Romans, "both Jews and proselytes," present. On the day of Pentecost
carried back the earliest tidings of the new doctrine; or the gospel may have first reached the imperial city through those who were scattered abroad to escape the persecution which followed on the death of Stephen.
At first we may suppose that the gospel had preached there in a confused and imperfect form, scarcely more than a phase of Judaism, as in the case of Apollos at Corinth,
or the disciples at Ephesus.
As time advanced and better-instructed teachers arrived the clouds would gradually clear away, fill at length the presence of the great apostle himself at Rome dispersed the mists of Judaism which still hung about the Roman church.
5. A question next arises as to the composition of the Roman church at the time when St. Paul wrote. It is more probable that St. Paul addressed a mixed church of Jews and Gentiles, the latter perhaps being the more numerous. These Gentile converts, however, were not for the most part native Romans. Strange as the: paradox appears, nothing is more certain than that the church of Rome was at this time a Greek and not a Latin church. All the literature of the early Roman church was written in the Greek tongue.
6. The heterogeneous composition of this church explains the general character of the Epistle to the Romans. In an assemblage so various we should expect to find, not the exclusive predominance of a single form of error, but the coincidence of different and opposing forms. It was: therefore the business of the Christian teacher to reconcile the opposing difficulties and to hold out a meeting-point in the gospel. This is exactly what St. Paul does in the Epistle to the Romans.
7. In describing the purport of this epistle we may start from St. Paul's own words, which, standing at the beginning of the doctrinal portion, may be taken as giving a summary of the contents. ch.
Accordingly the epistle has been described as comprising "the religious philosophy of the world's history "The atonement of Christ is the centre of religious history. The epistle, from its general character, lends itself more readily to an analysis than is often the case with St. Paul's epistles. While this epistle contains the fullest and most systematic exposition of the apostle's teaching, it is at the same time a very striking expression of his character. Nowhere do his earnest and affectionate nature and his tact and delicacy in handling unwelcome topics appear more strongly than when he is dealing with the rejection of his fellow country men the Jews. Internal evidence is so strongly in favor of the genuineness of the Epistle to the Romans that it has never been seriously questioned.
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Being scattered abroad, therefore, they went everywhere preaching the good news of the word;
This man was instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit spoke and taught correctly the doctrines concerning Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John;
And when Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, passing through the higher portions of the country, came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples; and he said to them, Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? And they said to him, We have not heard that there is a Holy Spirit. read more. And he said to them, With what then were you baptized? And they said, With John's baptism.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel; for it is the power of God to salvation to every one that believes, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God's righteousness is revealed in it by faith in the faith [the gospel]; as it is written; The righteous shall live by faith.
AND I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a minister of the church in Cenchrea, that you receive her in the Lord worthily of the saints, and assist her in any thing in which she may have need of you; for she has been an assistant of many, and of myself also.