Romans 1:16
Romans 1:15
Ver. 15. So, as much as in me is, I am ready,....
This explains what he was a debtor to one and another for, namely,
to preach the Gospel; expresses the readiness of his
mind to that work, whatever difficulties lay in his way; and declares what a
willing mind he had to preach it also to the Romans, as elsewhere:
to you that are at Rome also; the metropolis of the
Roman empire, a very public place, the seat of Satan, and where was the heat of
persecution.
Romans 1:16
Ver. 16. For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ,....
The reason why he was so ready and willing to preach it, even where he ran the
greatest risk of his character and life, was, because it was "the Gospel of
Christ" he preached, and he was not ashamed of it. This supposes that some were,
though the apostle was not, ashamed of the Gospel; as all such are who hide and
conceal it, who have abilities to preach it, and do not: or who preach, but not
the Gospel; or who preach the Gospel only in part, who own that in private, they
will not preach in public, and use ambiguous words, of doubtful signification,
to cover themselves; who blend the Gospel with their own inventions, seek to
please men, and live upon popular applause, regard their own interest, and not
Christ's, and cannot bear the reproach of his Gospel. It expresses, that the
apostle was not ashamed of it; that is, to preach it, which he did fully and
faithfully, plainly and consistently, openly and publicly, and boldly, in the
face of all opposition: and it designs more than is expressed, as that he had
the utmost value for it, and esteemed it his highest honour that he was employed
in preaching it: his reasons for this were, because it was "the Gospel of
Christ"; which Christ himself preached, which he had learnt by revelation from
him, and of which he was the sum and substance: and because
it is the power of God; not essentially, but
declaratively; as the power of God is seen in making men ministers of it, in the
doctrines held forth in it, in the manner in which it was spread in the world,
in the opposition it met with, in the continuance and increase of it
notwithstanding the power and cunning of men, and in the shortness of time, in
which so much good was done by it in the several parts of the world: it is the
power of God organically or instrumentally; as it is a means made use of by God
in quickening dead sinners, enlightening blind eyes, unstopping deaf ears,
softening hard hearts, and making of enemies friends; to which add, the manner
in which all this is done, suddenly, secretly, effectually, and by love, and not
force: the extent of this power is,
unto salvation; the Gospel is a declaration and
revelation of salvation by Christ, and is a means of directing and encouraging
souls to lay hold upon it. The persons to whom it is so, are in general,
everyone that believeth: this does not suppose that
faith gives the Gospel its virtue and efficacy; but is only descriptive of the
persons to whom the Gospel, attended with the power and grace of God, is
eventually efficacious: and particularly it was so,
to the Jew first; who as they had formerly the
advantage of the Gentiles, much every way, through the peculiar privileges which
were conferred on them; so the Gospel was first preached to them by Christ and
his disciples; and even when it was ordered to be carried into the Gentile
world, it was to begin with them, and became effectual for the salvation of many
of them:
and also to the Greek; to the Gentile; for after the
Jews had rejected it, as many being called by it as Jehovah thought fit, at that
time, it was preached to the Gentiles with great success; which was the mystery
hid from ages and generations past, but now made manifest.
Romans 1:17
Ver. 17. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed,....
By "the righteousness of God", is not meant the essential righteousness of God,
the rectitude of his nature, his righteousness in fulfilling his promises, and
his punitive justice, which though revealed in the Gospel, yet not peculiar to
it; nor the righteousness by which Christ himself is righteous, either as God,
or as Mediator; but that righteousness which he wrought out by obeying the
precepts, and bearing the penalty of the law in the room of his people, and by
which they are justified in the sight of God: and this is called "the
righteousness of God", in opposition to the righteousness of men: and because it
justifies men in the sight of God; and because of the concern which Jehovah,
Father, Son, and Spirit, have in it. Jehovah the Father sent his Son to work it
out, and being wrought out, he approves and accepts of it, and imputes it to his
elect: Jehovah the Son is the author of it by his obedience and death; and
Jehovah the Spirit discovers it to sinners, works faith in them to lay hold upon
it, and pronounces the sentence of justification by it in their consciences. Now
this is said to be "revealed" in the Gospel, that is, it is taught in the
Gospel; that is the word of righteousness, the ministration of it; it is
manifested in and by the Gospel. This righteousness is not known by the light of
nature, nor by the law of Moses; it was hid under the shadows of the ceremonial
law, and is brought to light only by the Gospel; it is hid from every natural
man, even from the most wise and prudent, and from God's elect themselves before
conversion, and is only made known to believers, to whom it is revealed:
from faith to faith; that is, as say some, from the
faith of God to the faith of men; from the faith of preachers to the faith of
hearers; from the faith of the Old to the faith of the New Testament saints; or
rather from one degree of faith to another; for faith, as it grows and
increases, has clearer sights of this righteousness, as held forth in the
Gospel. For the proof of this, a passage of Scripture is cited,
as it is written, Hab 2:4;
the just shall live by faith: "a just", or righteous
man is, not everyone who thinks himself, or is thought by others to be so; nor
are any so by their obedience to the law of works; but he is one that is made
righteous by the righteousness of Christ imputed to him, which is before said to
be revealed in the Gospel. The life which this man lives, and "shall live", does
not design a natural or corporeal life, and a continuance of that, for such die
a natural death, as other men; nor an eternal life, for though they shall so
live, yet not by faith; but a spiritual life, a life of justification on Christ,
of holiness from him, of communion with him, and of peace and joy; which
spiritual life shall be continued, and never be lost. The manner in which the
just lives, is "by faith". In the prophet Habakkuk, the words are, "the just
shall live" wtnwmab, "by his faith" (Hab 2:4);
which the Septuagint render, "by my faith": and the apostle only reads, "by
faith", omitting the affix, as well known, and easy to be supplied: for faith,
when given by God, and exercised by the believer, is his own, and by it he
lives; not upon it, but by it upon Christ the object of it; from whom, in a way
of believing, he derives his spiritual life, and all the comforts of it.
Romans 1:18
Ver. 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven,....
The apostle having hinted at the doctrine of justification by faith in the
righteousness of Christ; and which he designed more largely to insist upon in
this epistle, and to prove that there can be no justification of a sinner in the
sight of God by the deeds of the law, in order to set this matter in a clear
light, from hence, to the end of the chapter, and in the following ones,
represents the sad estate and condition of the Gentiles with the law of nature,
and of the Jews with the law of Moses; by which it most clearly appears, that
neither of them could be justified by their obedience to the respective laws
under which they were, but that they both stood in need of the righteousness of
God. By "the wrath of God" is meant the displicency and indignation of God at
sin and sinners; his punitive justice, and awful vengeance; the judgments which
he executes in this world; and that everlasting displeasure of his, and wrath to
come in another world, which all through sin are deserving of, some are
appointed to, God's elect are delivered from, through Christ's sustaining it, in
their room and stead, and which comes and abides on all impenitent and
unbelieving persons. This is said to be "revealed", where? not in the Gospel, in
which the righteousness of God is revealed; unless the Gospel be taken for the
books of the four Evangelists, or for the Gospel dispensation, or for that part
of the ministry of a Gospel preacher, which represents the wrath of God as the
desert of sin, the dreadfulness of it, and the way to escape it; for the Gospel,
strictly taken, is grace, good news, glad tidings, and not wrath and damnation;
though indeed in Christ's sufferings for the sins of his people, which the
Gospel gives us an account of, there is a great display of the wrath of God, and
of his indignation against sin: but this wrath of God is revealed in the law, it
is known by the light of nature, and to be perceived in the law of Moses, and
may be observed in the Scriptures, where are many instances and examples of
divine wrath and displeasure; as in the total destruction of the old world by a
world wide flood, the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, turning Lot's wife into a
pillar of salt, the plagues of Egypt, and the several instances mentioned in
this chapter. This wrath is said to be God's wrath "from heaven", by the awful
blackness which covers the heavens, the storms and tempests raised in them, and
by pouring down water or fire in a surprising manner, on the inhabitants of the
world; or "from heaven", that is, openly, manifestly, in the sight of all; or
from God who is in heaven, and not from second causes; and more especially it
will be revealed from heaven, when Christ shall descend from thence at the day
of judgment: the subject matter or object of it,
against, or "upon" which it is revealed, are,
all ungodliness, and unrighteousness of men; that is,
all ungodly and unrighteous men; or all men who are guilty of ungodliness, the
breach of the first table of the law, which respects the worship of God, and of
unrighteousness, the breach of the second table of the law, which regards our
neighbours' good: and these persons are further described as such,
who hold the truth in unrighteousness: meaning either
such who know the Gospel, which is "the truth", and do not profess it openly,
but hold and imprison it in their minds, which is a great piece of
unrighteousness; or if they do profess it, do not live up to it in their lives:
or rather the Gentile philosophers are designed, who are spoken of in the
following verse; See Gill on "Ro 1:22"; who had some knowledge of the truth of
the divine Being, and his perfections, and of the difference between moral good
and evil; but did not like to retain it themselves, nor communicate all they
knew to others, nor did they live according to that knowledge which they had.
Romans 1:19
Ver. 19. Because that which may be known of God,....
There are some things which could not be known of God by the light of nature; as
a trinity of persons in the Godhead; the knowledge of God in Christ as Mediator;
the God-man and Mediator Jesus Christ; his incarnation, sufferings, death, and
resurrection; the will of God to save sinners by a crucified Jesus; the several
peculiar doctrines of the Gospel, particularly the resurrection of the dead, and
the manner of worshipping of God with acceptance: but then there are some things
which may be known of God, without a revelation. Adam had a perfect knowledge of
him; and his sons, though fallen, even the very Heathens have some notion of
him, as that there is a God; and by the light of nature it might be known that
there is but one God, who is glorious, full of majesty, and possessed of all
perfections, as that he is all powerful, wise, good and righteous: and this
is manifest in them, or "to them"; by the light that
is given them: it is light by which that which may be known of God is manifest;
and this is the light of nature, which every man has that comes into the world;
and this is internal, it is in him, in his mind and conscience, and is
communicated to him by God, and that by infusion or inspiration; see Job 32:8;
for God hath showed [it] unto them; what may be known
of him by that light; and which is assisted and may be improved by a
consideration of the works of creation and Providence.
Romans 1:20
Ver. 20. For the invisible things of him,.... Not the
angels, the invisible inhabitants of heaven: nor the unseen glories of another
world; nor the decrees of God; nor the persons in the Godhead; but the
perfections of God, or his "properties", as the Arabic version reads it; and
which are explained by "his eternal power and Godhead": these,
from the creation of the world are clearly seen; this
is no new discovery, but what men have had, and might, by the light of nature,
have enjoyed ever since the world was created; these
being understood, in an intellectual way, by the
discursive faculty of the understanding,
by the things that are made; the various works of
creation; all which proclaim the being, unity, and perfections of God their
Creator,
so that they are without excuse; the very Heathens,
who have only the light of nature, and are destitute of a revelation, have no
colour or pretext for their idolatrous practices, and vicious lives; nor have
they, nor will they have anything to object to God's righteous judgment against
them, or why they should not be condemned.
Romans 1:21
Ver. 21. Because that when they knew God,.... Though
they had such a knowledge of the being and perfections of God, yet
they glorified him not as God. They neither thought
nor spoke honourably of him; nor did they ascribe those perfections to him,
which belonged to him; they did not adhere to him as the one and only God, nor
honour him as the Creator of all things out of nothing, and as the sole Governor
of the universe; they did not glorify him by the internal exercise of fear of
him, love to him, or trust in him, nor by any external worship suitable to his
nature, and their own notions of him, Seneca is an instance of this, of whom
Austin {f} says,
"that he worshipped what he found fault with, did what he reproved, and adored
that which he blamed.''
Neither were thankful; neither for the knowledge of
things they had, which they ascribed to themselves; nor for their mercies, which
they imputed to second causes:
but became vain in their imaginations; the vanity or
their minds was the spring and source of their evil conduct; which may design
the wickedness of their hearts, and the imaginations thereof, which were evil,
and that continually; the pride of their natures the carnality and weakness of
their reasonings, and the whole system of their vain philosophy; and hence they
ran into polytheism, or the worshipping of many gods:
and their foolish heart was darkened; where they
thought their great wisdom lay: darkness is natural to the hearts and
understandings of all men, which is increased by personal iniquity; Satan is
concerned in improving it, and God sometimes gives up the hearts of persons to
judicial blindness, which was the case of these men.
{f} De Civitate Dei, l. 6. c. 10.
Romans 1:22
Ver. 22. Professing themselves to be wise,.... The
learned men among the Gentiles first called themselves sofoi,
"Sophi", wise men: and afterwards, to cover their wretched pride and vanity,
filosofoi, "Philosophers", lovers of wisdom; but
notwithstanding all their arrogance, their large pretensions to wisdom, and
boast of it
they became fools; they appeared to be so; they
showed themselves to be such in those very things they prided themselves with
the knowledge of: as, for instance, Socrates, after he had asserted the unity of
God, and is said to die a martyr for the truth; yet one of the last actions of
his life was sacrificing a cock to Aesculapius, at least he desired his friend
Crito to do it.
Romans 1:23
Ver. 23. And changed the glory of the incorruptible God,....
God is incorruptible and immortal in his nature, and so is opposed to all
corruptible creatures and things: he has a glory which is essential to him, and
a manifestative one in the creatures, and which is relative, and of right
belongs to him: his absolute essential glory cannot be changed, cannot be taken
away from him, nor given to another; but his relative glory may be said to be
changed, when another is worshipped in his stead, and called by his name. So
Philo the Jew {g} speaks of
"some, who, leaving the true God, make to themselves false ones, and impose the
name of the eternal and incorruptible upon created and corruptible beings.''
Into an image made like to corruptible man; which was
worshipped in different forms by the several nations of the world:
and to birds; as the dove by the Samaritans, the
hawk, the ibis, and others by the Egyptians:
and fourfooted beasts; as the ox, and other
creatures:
and creeping things; such as beetles, serpents, and
others, by the same.
{g} De Vita Mosis, l. 3. p. 678, 679.
Romans 1:24
Ver. 24. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness,....
Not by putting any into them, but by leaving them to the pollution of their
nature; by withdrawing his providential restraints from them, and by giving them
up to judicial hardness:
through the lusts of their own hearts. The heart of
man is the source of all wickedness; the lusts that dwell there are many, and
these tend to uncleanness of one sort or another: by it here is meant
particularly bodily uncleanness, since it is said they were given up
to dishonour their own bodies between themselves;
either alone, or with others; so that as they changed the glory of God, and
dishonoured him, he left them to dishonour themselves by doing these things
which were reproachful and scandalous to human nature.
Romans 1:25
Ver. 25. Who changed the truth of God into a lie,....
Not the truth of the Gospel, which they were unacquainted with; but that which
might be known of God as true, and was known of them by the light of nature; or
the true God himself, whom they "changed into a lie"; by ascribing to false
deities, which were lying vanities, those things which were known of God; and by
worshipping them instead of him: for they
worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator;
or "above him" or "against him", in opposition to him, or "besides him", others
along with him; or neglecting him, and not worshipping him at all; which is
aggravated in that what they worshipped was a creature, either of their own, or
of God's making, and whom they neglected was the Creator of them:
who is blessed for ever, Amen; is blessed in himself,
and the fountain of all blessedness to his creatures; which is so glaring a
truth, that everyone ought to say and set his "Amen" to it.
Romans 1:26
Ver. 26. For this cause God gave them up unto vile
affections,.... Because of their idolatrous practices, God left them to
very dishonourable actions, sodomitical ones, both among the men and women:
for even the women did change the natural use into that
which is against nature; either by prostituting themselves to, and
complying with the "sodomitical" embraces of men, in a way that is against
nature {h}; or by making use of such ways and methods with themselves, or other
women, to gratify their lusts, which were never designed by nature for such an
use: of these vicious women, and their practices, Seneca {i} speaks, when he
says,
"libidine veto nec maribus quidem cedunt, pati natae; Dii illas Deoeque, male
perdant; adeo perversum commentae, genus impudicitiae, viros ineunt:''
also Clemens Alexandrinus {k} has respect to such, saying,
"gunaikev andrizontai para fusin, gamou men ai te kai
gamousai gunaikev.'
and such there were among the Jews, whom they call wzb wz
twllwomx
Myvn {l}, and whom the priests were forbidden to
marry.
{h} Vid. R. Sol Jarchi in Gen. xxiv. 16. {i} Epist. 95. {k} Paedagog. l. 3. p.
226. {l} T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 65. 2. Piske Tosaph. ib. artic. 266. Yevamot, fol.
76. 1. & Piske Tosaph. ib. art. 141. Maimonides in Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect.
4. & Hilchot Issure Bia, c. 21. sect. 8, 9.
Romans 1:27
Ver. 27. And likewise also the men leaving the natural use
of the women,.... The very sin of "sodomy" is here designed, so called
from Sodom, the place where we first hear of it,
Ge 19:5, the men of
which place, because they
burned in their lust one towards another, as these
Gentiles are said to do, God rained upon them fire and brimstone from heaven: an
exceeding great sin this is, contrary to nature, dishonourable to human nature,
and scandalous to a people and nation among whom it prevails, as it did very
much in the Gentile world, and among their greatest philosophers; even those
that were most noted for moral virtue are charged with it, as Socrates, Plato,
Zeno, and others {m}: it is a sin which generally prevails where idolatry and
infidelity do, as among the Pagans of old, and among the Papists and Mahometans
now; and never was it so rife in this nation as since the schemes of deism and
infidelity have found such a reception among us. Thus God, because men dishonour
him with their evil principles and practices, leaves them to reproach their own
nature, and dishonour their own bodies:
men with men working that which is unseemly; and of
which nothing like it is to be observed in the brutal world:
receiving in themselves the recompence of their error, which
was meet: God punishes sin with sin; for as the Jews say {n}, as
"one commandment draws on another, so one transgression draws on another; for
the reward of the commandment is the commandment, hrybe
hrybe rkvw and the reward of transgression is transgression.''
{m} A. Gellius Noct. Attic. l. 2. c. 18. Laert. Vit. Philosoph. l. 2. in Vit.
Socrat. & l. 3. in Vit. Platon. {n} Pirke Abot, c. 4. sect. 2.
Romans 1:28
Ver. 28. And even as they did not like,.... This
accounts for the justness of the divine procedure in leaving them to commit such
scandalous iniquities; that since they had some knowledge of God by the light of
nature, and yet did not care
to retain God in [their] knowledge; or to own and
acknowledge him as God, to worship and glorify him as such; but took every
method to erase this knowledge out of their minds, and keep it from others:
God gave them over to a reprobate mind; a vain empty
mind, worthless, good for nothing devoid of all true knowledge and judgment;
incapable of approving what is truly good, or of disapproving that which is
evil; a mind that has lost all conscience of things, and is disapproved of by
God, and all good men:
to do those things which are not convenient; which
are neither agreeably to the light of nature, nor convenient to, or becoming the
honour of human nature; things which the brutes themselves, who are destitute of
reason, do not do.
Romans 1:29
Ver. 29. Being filled with all unrighteousness,....
From hence, to the end of the chapter, follows a large and black list and
catalogue of the sad characters of the Gentiles, and of the best men they had
among them; for the apostle is all along speaking, not of the common people, but
of their wise professors, and moral instructors; than which there never was a
more wicked set of men that ever lived upon the face of the earth; who under the
guise of morality were guilty of the greatest pride and covetousness, and of the
most filthy debaucheries imaginable: they were "filled with all
unrighteousness". This word includes in it all manner of sin and wickedness in
general; fitly expresses the condition of fallen men, destitute of a
righteousness; designs every violation of the law respecting our neighbour; and
is opposed to that vain conceit of righteousness which these men had: particular
branches of it follow; as,
fornication; which sometimes includes adultery and an
unchastity; simple fornication was not reckoned a sin among the Gentiles:
wickedness; or mischief, which intends not so much
the internal wickedness of the heart, as that particular vice, by which a man is
inclined and studies to do hurt, to others, as Satan does:
covetousness; this may intend every insatiable lust,
and particularly the sin which goes by this name, and is the root of all evil,
and was a reigning sin among the Gentiles. Seneca, the famous moralist, was
notoriously guilty of this vice, being one of the greatest usurers that ever
lived:
maliciousness; the word denotes either the iniquity
of nature in which men are conceived and born; or that desire of revenge in men,
for which some are very notorious:
envy; at the superior knowledge and learning, wealth
and riches, happiness, and outward prosperity of others:
murder: which sometimes arose from envy, wherefore
they are put together. There is an elegant "paranomasia" in the Greek text:
debate; strife about words more than things, and more
for vain glory, and a desire of victory, than for truth:
deceit; through their empty notions of philosophy;
hence "philosophy and vain deceit" go together, Col 2:8; making large
pretences to morality, when they were the vilest of creatures:
malignity; moroseness; having no courteousness nor
affability in them, guilty of very ill manners; as particularly they were who
were of the sect of the Cynics. Now they are said to be "filled with", and "full
of", these things; not filled by God, but by Satan and themselves; and it
denotes the aboundings of wickedness in them, and which was insatiable. The
apostle goes on to describe them, as
whisperers; who made mischief among friends, by
privately suggesting, and secretly insinuating things into the mind of one to
the prejudice of another.
Romans 1:30
Ver. 30. Backbiters,.... Who more publicly defamed
the characters of their neighbours, and hurt their good name, credit and
reputation, though behind their backs:
haters of God; some read it, "hated of God"; as all
workers of iniquity are; but rather this expresses their sin, that they were
deniers of the being and providence of God, and showed themselves to be enemies
to him by their evil works:
despiteful; both by opprobrious words, and injurious
actions:
proud; of their natural knowledge, learning,
eloquence and vain philosophy:
boasters: of their parts, abilities, wisdom and
works; all which they attributed to themselves, and to the sharpness of their
wit, their sagacity and industry:
inventors of evil things; of evil schemes of morality
and philosophy, and of evil practices, as well as principles:
disobedient to parents; which was acting contrary to
the light of nature.
Romans 1:31
Ver. 31. Without understanding,.... Of God, of his
nature and worship, of things divine and even moral, being given up to a
reprobate mind:
covenant breakers; had no regard to private or public
contracts:
without natural affection; to their parents,
children, relations and friends:
implacable; when once offended there was no
reconciling of them:
unmerciful; had no pity and compassion to persons in
distress.
Romans 1:32
Ver. 32. Who knowing the judgment of God,.... Either
of the law of God, the law and light of nature, by which they might in some
measure know the difference between good and evil, and what was right and wrong;
or the judiciary sentence of God against sin:
that they which commit such things are worthy of death;
at least of corporeal death:
not only do the same, but have pleasure in those that do
them; all which greatly aggravated their wickedness, since they sinned
against light and knowledge, with approbation and good liking of their own sins,
and took pleasure in the sins of others. The Jews have a saying {p},
"that no man is suspected of a thing but he has done it; and if he has not done
the whole of it, he has done part of it, and if he has not done part of it, he
has thought in his heart to do it, and if he has not thought in his heart to do
it, xmvw wvev Myrxa har, "he has seen others do it,
and has rejoiced".''
And if such a man is a wicked man, how much more wicked are such who commit sin
themselves, and delight in the sins of others? now from this whole account we
see the insufficiency of the light of nature to guide persons in the way of
salvation; what need there was of a divine revelation; and how impossible it is
that such men should ever be justified before God, by any works of seeming
righteousness done by them; which the apostle had in view, in giving this
account of the depraved nature and conduct of the Gentiles, and of those among
them who professed to be, and were the wisest and most knowing of them.
{p} T. Bab. Moed Katon, fol. 18. 2.