Page images
PDF
EPUB

TEXT.

33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumbling-stone, and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

X. 1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

4 For Christ is the end of the law, for righteousness, to every one that believeth.

5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doth these things shall live by them.

6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above :)

PARAPHRASE.

not to attain it by faith; but as if it were to be obtained by the works of the law. A crucified Messiah was a stumbling33 block to them; and at that they stumbled, As it is written,

"Behold, I lay in Sion a stumbling-block, and a rock of offence and whosoever believeth in him, shall not be X. 1 ashamed." Brethren, my hearty desire and prayer to 2 God for Israel is, that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they are zealous, and as they think for God and his law; but their zeal is not guided by true knowledge: 3 For they, being ignorant of the righteousness that is of God, viz. That righteousness which he graciously bestows and accepts of; and going about to establish a righteousness of their own, which they seek for in their own performances; have not brought themselves to submit to the law of the Gospel, wherein the righteousness of God, i. e. righteousness by faith, 4 is offered. For the end of the law was to bring men to Christ, that, by believing in him, every one that did so 5 might be justified by faith; For Moses describeth the righte ousness, that was to be had by the law, thus: "That the man which doth the things required in the law shall have 6 life thereby." But the righteousness, which is of faith, speaketh after this manner: "Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven?" that is, to bring down the Messiah from thence, whom we expect personally here on earth

32 fSee 1 Cor. i. 23.

NOTES.

2 & This their zeal for God, see described, Acts xxi. 27-31, and xxii. 3. 4 h See Gal. iii. 24.

TEXT.

7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt

PARAPHRASE.

7 to deliver us? "Or who shall descend into the deep?" i. e. to bring up Christ again from the dead, to be our Saviour. You mistake the deliverance you expect by the Messiah: there needs not the fetching him from the other world, to be present 8 with you: The deliverance by him is a deliverance from sin, that you may be made righteous by faith in him, and that speaks thus: "The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart;" that is, the word of faith, or the doctrine of the 9 Gospel, which we preach i, viz. "If thou shalt confess with "thy mouth," i. e. openly own Jesus the Lord, i. e. Jesus to be the

NOTES.

8 St. Paul had told them, ver. 4, that the end of the law was to bring them to life, by faith in Christ, that they might be justified, and so be saved. To convince them of this, he brings three verses out of the book of the law itself, declaring that the way to life was by hearkening to that word, which was ready in the mouth and in their heart, and that, therefore, they had no reason to reject Jesus the Christ, because he died and was now removed into heaven, and was remote from them; their very law proposed life to them, by something nigh them, that might lead them to their deliverer: by words and doctrines, that might be always at hand, in their mouths and in their hearts, and so lead them to Christ, i. e. to that faith in him, which the apostle preached to them: I submit to the attentive reader, whether this be not the meaning of this place. 9 The expectation of the Jews was, that the Messiah, who was promised them, was to be their deliverer, and so far were they in the right. But that, which they expected to be delivered from, at his appearing, was the power and dominion of strangers. When our Saviour came, their reckoning was up; and the miracles which Jesus did concurred to persuade them that it was he: but his obscure birth, and mean appearance, suited not with that power and splendour, they had fancied to themselves, he should come in. This, with his denouncing to them the ruin of their temple and state at hand, set the rulers against him, and held the body of the Jews in suspense till his crucifixion, and that gave a full turn of their minds from him. They had figured him a mighty prince, at the head of their nation, setting them free from all foreign power, and themselves at ease, and happy under his glorious reign. But when at the passover the whole people were witnesses of his death, they gave up all thought of deliverance by him. He was gone, they saw him no more, and it was past doubt a dead man could not be the Messiah, or deliverer, even of those who believed him. It is against these prejudices, that what St. Paul says, in this and the three preceding verses, seems directed, wherein he teaches them, that there was no need to fetch the Messiah out of heaven, or out of the grave, and bring him personally among them. For the deliverance he was to work for them, the salvation by him was salvation from sin, and condemnation for that: and that was to be had

TEXT.

believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

11 For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

PARAPHRASE.

Messiah, thy Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead', otherwise he cannot be be10 lieved to be the Messiah, thou shalt be saved. It was not for nothing that Moses, in the place above cited, mentioned both heart and mouth; there is use of both in the case. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the 11 mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, "Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed:" 12 shall not repent his having believed, and owning it. The Scripture saith, Whosoever, for in this case there is no distinction of Jew and Gentile. For it is he, the same who is Lord of them all, and is abundantly bountiful to all that call 13 upon him. For whosoever shall call " upon his name shall

NOTES.

by barely believing and owning him to be the Messiah, their King, and that he was raised from the dead; by this they would be saved, without his personal presence amongst them.

"Raised him from the dead." The doctrine of the Lord Jesus being raised from the dead is certainly one of the most fundamental articles of the Christian religion; but yet there seems another reason why St. Paul here annexes salvation to the belief of it, which may be found ver. 7, where he teaches that it was not necessary for their salvation that they should have Christ out of his grave personally present amongst them; and here he gives them the reason, because if they did but own him for their Lord, and believe that he was raised, that sufficed, they should be saved.

10 m Believing, and an open avowed profession of the Gospel, are required by our Saviour, Mark xvi. 16.

13 n Whosoever hath with care looked into St. Paul's writings must own him to be a close reasoner, that argues to the point; and therefore if, in the three preceding verses, he requires an open profession of the Gospel, I cannot but think that "all that call upon him," ver. 12, signifies all that are open, professed Christians; and if this be the meaning "of calling upon him," ver. 12, it is plain it must be the meaning " of calling upon his name," ver. 13; a phrase not very remote from "naming his name," which is used by St. Paul for professing Christianity, 2 Tim. ii. 19. If the meaning of the prophet Joel, from whom these words are taken, be urged, I shall only say that it will be an ill rule for interpreting St. Paul, to tie up his use of any text he brings out of the Old Testament, to that which is taken to be the meaning of it there. We need go no farther

TEXT.

14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

16 But they have not all obeyed the Gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

PARAPHRASE.

14 be saved. But how shall they call upon him on whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear with15 out a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad 16 tidings of good things!" But though there be messengers sent from God to preach the Gospel, yet it is not to be expected that all should receive and obey it P. For Isaiah hath foretold that they should not, saying, "Lord, who hath

NOTES.

for an example than the 6th, 7th, and 8th verses of this chapter, which I desire any one to read as they stand, Deut. xxx. 11-14, and see whether St. Paul uses them here in the same sense.

15 St. Paul is careful every where to keep himself, as well as possibly he can, in the minds and fair esteem of his brethren the Jews: may not therefore this, with the two foregoing verses, be understood as an apology to them for professing himself an apostle of the Gentiles, as he does by the tenour of this epistle, and in the next chapter, in words at length, ver. 13? In this chapter, ver. 12, he had showed that both Jews and Greeks, or Gentiles, were to be saved only by receiving the Gospel of Christ; and if so, it was necessary that somebody should be sent to teach it them, and therefore the Jews had no reason to be angry with any that was sent on that employment. 16 "But they have not all obeyed." This seems an objection of the Jews to what St. Paul had said, which he answers in this and the following verse. The objection and answer seem to stand thus: You tell us that you are sent from God to preach the Gospel; if it be so, how comes it that all that have heard have not received and obeyed; and since, according to what you would insinuate, the messengers of good tidings (which is the import of evangelion, in Greek, and Gospel, in English) were so welcome to them? To this he answers out of Isaiah, that the messengers sent from God were not believed by all. But from those words of Isaiah he draws an inference to confirm the argument he was upon, viz. that salvation cometh by hearing and believing the word of God. He had laid it down, ver. 8, that it was by their having a wisews, "the word of faith,” nigh them, or present with them, and not by the bodily presence of their deliverer amongst them that they were to be saved. This phua, "word," he tells them, ver. 17, is by preaching brought to be actually present with them and the Gentiles; so that it was their own fault if they believed it not to salvation.

TEXT.

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. 19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.

20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. 21 But to Israel he saith, All day long have I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

PARAPHRASE.

17 believed our report ?" That which we may learn from thence is, that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing from the word of God, i. e. the revelation of the Gospel in the writings of the sacred Scriptures, communicated by those whom God sends as preachers thereof, to those who are ignorant of it; and there is no need that Christ should be brought down from heaven to be personally with you, to be your Saviour. 18 It is enough that both Jews and Gentiles have heard of him, by messengers, whose voice is gone out into the whole earth, and words unto the ends of the world, far beyond the bounds of Judea.

19 But I ask, Did not Israel know this, that the Gentiles were to be taken in, and made the people of God? First Moses tells it them from God, who says, "I will provoke you to jealousy by them who are no people; and by a foolish nation 20 I will anger you. But Isaiah declares it yet much plainer in

these words: "I was found of them that sought me not; I 21 was made manifest to them that asked not after me." And to Israel, to show their refusal, he saith: "All day long have I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people."

NOTE.

19 "Did not Israel know?" In this and the next verses St. Paul seems to suppose a reasoning of the Jews to this purpose, viz. that they did not deserve to be cast off, because they did not know that the Gentiles were to be admitted, and so might be excused, if they did not embrace a religion wherein they were to mix with the Gentiles; and to this he answers in the following verses.

« PreviousContinue »