seat of Christ, and by his judgment we must “I live, "saith the Lord, by myself I have sworn, that "to me every knee shall bend, and every

11. abide. For it hath been (a) written,

"tongue shall confess, and acknowledge obedience 12. "to God." So then, each of us shall give 13. account of himself to God. Let us then no longer judge each other respecting particular distinctions; but rather judge this, not to place a stumbling-block or object of offence to a brother Christian, so to regulate our conduct and conversation, that we put no obstacle in the way of another, neither do anything that may 14. unnecessarily give him offence (b). I know, one may say, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, by the faith which I have in Jesus Christ, that nothing, no species of food, is common, unlawful, in itself, except to him who esteems anything to be common, and unlawful; to him such food 15. is common, unlawful. But, whatever be thine own persuasion, if by thy food a Christian brother is made uneasy, thou no longer walkest according to love; if thou continue to do anything, however innocent in thine own estimation, and thereby knowingly give offence to another, thou transgressest the law of Christian charity. Do not thou, by thy food, destroy the faith of him for whom

Christ died. Let not therefore your good, that 16. which you may think right, be so done, as to be reproached, be to any one an occasion of scandal. For the kingdom of God, the constitution of true 17. religion, is not food and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the consolations of the holy spirit. For who in these things is a servant 18. to Christ, he is acceptable to God, and approved to men. Let us therefore pursue the works of 19. peace, and the means of edification, of Christian improvement, towards each other. Do not for 20. the sake of any particular food destroy the work of God, unsettle the faith of a fellow Christian. All things indeed are pure, though all kinds of food are in themselves clean and lawful; but yet they are evil, unclean and sinful, to the man who eateth through offence, in such a manner as to cause offence. It is good not to eat flesh, nor 21. to drink wine, nor do anything by which thy Christian brother stumbleth, or is scandalised, or is weak, scrupulous. Hast thou faith superior 22. to such scruples? Have it to thyself before God, enjoy thy superiority with thankfulness. Happy is he who judgeth not himself to be bound by any superstitious discriminations (a) in matters wherein he trieth himself, and which he esteems a test of his Christian faith. But he who maketh distinc- 23.

(a) This sense of the word xgwvwv is adopted from v. 4 and 5.

tion of meats, if he eat what he believes to be unlawful, he is condemned, is guilty, because he eateth not by faith, not according to his belief of what is right; and everything which is not done through faith, which is contrary to a man's conCH. XV. science, is sin (a). But we who are strong, superior to prejudices and scruples, ought to bear the weakness of those who are not strong, and 2. ought not merely to please ourselves. Let each of us rather study to please his neighbour for the promotion of that which is good towards edifica 3. tion, his advancement in Christian faith. For

4.

Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, "the rebukes of those who rebuke thee, God, "have fallen upon me (b), Christ." For whatever things were fore-written in the scriptures, were fore-written for our instruction, that through the patience recommended in the scriptures, and through the consolation of the scriptures, we might have the hope of God's blessing to support 5. us under all trials. And may the God of patience and consolation grant to you all to think the same thing, to hold the faith in unity of

(a) Here are sometimes inserted the concluding verses of C. 16. But they appear to me to be ill suited to this place, and unnecessarily to interrupt the course of the Apostle's reasoning, which is continued in the following chapter.

(b) Ps. lxix. 9.

spirit, towards each other, according to that mutual love prescribed to us by Jesus Christ; that 6. in one mind, with one mouth, ye may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive kindly each other, as Christ 7. also hath received you, to the promotion of the glory of God. And I say that Jesus Christ 8. hath been made a minister of circumcision, sent to the Jews, for the establishment of the veracity of God, to confirm the promises of the fathers, made to the patriarchs. But, I say, that the 9. Gentiles for his mercy (a) glorify God; as it is written; "for this, for thy mercy's sake, I will "confess to thee, and acknowledge thy goodness, among the Gentiles, and I will hymn to thy And again, the scripture saith,

66

66

"Re- 10.

name." joice, ye Gentiles, together with his, God's, 'people." And again, “Praise the Lord, all 11.

ye nations, and celebrate him, all ye peoples." And again, Isaiah saith, "There shall be the 12. "root of Jesse; and who ariseth to rule over "the nations, in him shall the nations hope." And the God of hope fill you with all joy 13. peace in believing, in maintaining the faith, that ye may abound in the hope of everlasting

and

may

(α) ύπερ ελεος is opposed to ύπερ αληθειας in the verse preceding; for Christ was sent first to the Jews according to the promise of God; but the Gentiles were admitted into the covenant through mere mercy.

life, in power, through the co-operation, of the 14. holy spirit. But notwithstanding what I have said of differences among you, or of Christian duties, yet I am persuaded, my Christian brethren, even I myself, who thus admonish you, that yourselves also are abounding in goodness, filled with all Christian knowledge, able also to admonish 15. each other. But I have with the more boldness written to you, brethren, Gentile converts, from my part (a), agreeably to the portion and office appointed me by Christ in his church, as reminding you of what you already know (b), through 16. the grace given to me by God, that I should be,

(a) ano μrgus. The signification here given is confirmed (α) απο μερες. by Mat. xxiv. 51, Joh. xiii. 8, Rom. xii. 3, 1 Cor. xii. 27, 1 Cor. xiii. 8, &c., Col. i. 12, Heb. ii. 4, 1 Pet. iv. 16, Rev. xxi. 8. Sometimes it is written x μsges, and sometimes ɛ μgɛ, and a corresponding sense attaches to the words μερις, μερίθω, μερισμος. Chrys. seems to admit this interpretation in his commentary on 1 Cor. xii. 27— de εςι το εκ μερες; το γε εις ὑμᾶς ἡκον—6 that which appertains to you;" or "what respects your portion of the universal church." So in Eschylus, we find ay μgos, Ag. 292, for "the office, or duty of a messenger." deyizs megn, δημιοργίας μερη, "appointed portions of work."-Plato, Alcib. 2. ao peças, "from their condition.”—Thucyd. in Pericles' Funeral Oration. εν τω των εναντιών μέρει τεταχθαι, “ on the side of the enemies.”—Demosth., &c. &c. Homer uses μoga in a similar signification—επι γας τοι έκαςω μοιξαν έθηκαν Αθανατοι θνητοισιν.—Od. Τ. 592.

(b) So 2 Pet. i. 12.

66