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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Romans IV].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>R O M A N S.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. IV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The great gospel doctrine of justification by faith without the works
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of the law was so very contrary to the notions the Jews had learnt from
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those that sat in Moses' chair, that it would hardly go down with them;
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and therefore the apostle insists very largely upon it, and labours
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much in the confirmation and illustration of it. He had before proved
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it by reason and argument, now in this chapter he proves it by example,
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which in some places serves for confirmation as well as illustration.
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The example he pitches upon is that of Abraham, whom he chooses to
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mention because the Jews gloried much in their relation to Abraham, put
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it in the first rank of their external privileges that they were
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Abraham's seed, and truly they had Abraham for their father. Therefore
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this instance was likely to be more taking and convincing to the Jews
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than any other. His argument stands thus: "All that are saved are
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justified in the same way as Abraham was; but Abraham was justified by
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faith, and not by works; therefore all that are saved are so
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justified;" for it would easily be acknowledged that Abraham was the
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father of the faithful. Now this is an argument, not only <I>à
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pari</I>--from an equal case, as they say, but <I>à
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fortiori</I>--from a stronger case. If Abraham, a man so famous for
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works, so eminent in holiness and obedience, was nevertheless justified
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by faith only, and not by those works, how much less can any other,
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especially any of those that spring from him, and come so far short of
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him in works, set up for a justification by their own works? And it
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proves likewise, <I>ex abundanti</I>--the more abundantly, as some
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observe, that we are not justified, no not by those good works which
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flow from faith, as the matter of our righteousness; for such were
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Abraham's works, and are we better than he? The whole chapter is taken
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up with his discourse upon this instance, and there is this in it,
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which hath a particular reference to the close of the foregoing
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chapter, where he has asserted that, in the business of justification,
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Jews and Gentiles stand upon the same level. Now in this chapter, with
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a great deal of cogency of argument,
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I. He proves that Abraham was justified not by works, but by faith,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:1-8">ver. 1-8</A>.
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II. He observes when and why he was so justified,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:9-17">ver. 9-17</A>.
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III. He describes and commends that faith of his,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:17-22">ver. 17-22</A>.
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IV. He applies all this to us,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:22-25">ver. 22-25</A>.
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And, if he had now been in the school of Tyrannus, he could not have
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disputed more argumentatively.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ro4_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ro4_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ro4_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ro4_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ro4_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ro4_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ro4_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ro4_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Case of Abraham.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 58.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining
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to the flesh, hath found?
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2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath <I>whereof</I> to
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glory; but not before God.
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3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it
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was counted unto him for righteousness.
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4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace,
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but of debt.
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5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that
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justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
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6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man,
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unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
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7 <I>Saying,</I> Blessed <I>are</I> they whose iniquities are forgiven,
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and whose sins are covered.
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8 Blessed <I>is</I> the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here the apostle proves that Abraham was justified not by works, but by
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faith. Those that of all men contended most vigorously for a share in
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righteousness by the privileges they enjoyed, and the works they
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performed, were the Jews, and therefore he appeals to the case of
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Abraham their father, and puts his own name to the relation, being a
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Hebrew of the Hebrews: <I>Abraham our father.</I> Now surely his
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prerogative must needs be as great as theirs who claim it as his seed
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according to the flesh. Now <I>what has he found?</I> All the world is
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seeking; but, while the most are wearying themselves for very vanity,
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none can be truly reckoned to have found, but those who are justified
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before God; and thus Abraham, like a wise merchant, seeking goodly
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pearls, found this one pearl of great price. What has he found,
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<B><I>kata sarka</I></B>--<I>as pertaining to the flesh,</I> that is,
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by circumcision and his external privileges and performances? These the
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apostle calls <I>flesh,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+3:3">Phil. iii. 3</A>.
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Now what did he get by these? Was he justified by them? Was it the
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merit of his works that recommended him to God's acceptance? No, by no
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means, which he proves by several arguments.</P>
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<P>
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I. If he had been justified by works, room would have been left for
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boasting, which must for ever be excluded. If so, <I>he hath whereof to
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glory</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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which is not to be allowed. "But," might the Jews say, "was not his
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name made great
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+12:2">Gen. xii. 2</A>),
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and then might not he glory?" Yes, but not before God; he might deserve
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well of men, but he could never merit of God. Paul himself had
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<I>whereof to glory before men,</I> and we have him sometimes glorying
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in it, yet with humility; but nothing to glory in before God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+4:4,Php+3:8,9">1 Cor. iv. 4; Phil. iii. 8, 9</A>.
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So Abraham. Observe, He takes it for granted that man must not pretend
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to glory in any thing before God; no, not Abraham, as great and as good
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a man as he was; and therefore he fetches an argument from it: it would
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be absurd for him <I>that glorieth to glory in any but the
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Lord.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. It is expressly said that Abraham's faith was counted to him for
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righteousness. <I>What saith the scripture?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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In all controversies in religion this must be our question, <I>What
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saith the scripture?</I> It is not what this great man, and the other
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good man, say, but What saith the scripture? Ask counsel at this Abel,
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and so end the matter,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+2:18">2 Sam. ii. 18</A>.
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<I>To the law, and to the testimony</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+8:20">Isa. viii. 20</A>),
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thither is the last appeal. Now the scripture saith that <I>Abraham
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believed, and this was counted to him for righteousness</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+15:6">Gen. xv. 6</A>);
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therefore he had not whereof to glory before God, it being purely of
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free grace that it was so imputed, and having not in itself any of the
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formal nature of a righteousness, further than as God himself was
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graciously pleased so to count it to him. It is mentioned in Genesis,
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upon occasion of a very signal and remarkable act of faith concerning
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the promised seed, and is the more observable in that it followed upon
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a grievous conflict he had had with unbelief; his faith was now a
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victorious faith, newly returned from the battle. It is not the perfect
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faith that is required to justification (there may be acceptable faith
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where there are remainders of unbelief), but the prevailing faith, the
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faith that has the upper hand of unbelief.</P>
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<P>
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III. If he had been justified by faith, the reward would have been
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<I>of debt, and not of grace,</I> which is not to be imagined. This is
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his argument
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:4,5"><I>v.</I> 4, 5</A>):
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Abraham's reward was God himself; so he had told him but just before
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+15:1">Gen. xv. 1</A>),
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<I>I am thy exceeding great reward.</I> Now, if Abraham had merited
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this by the perfection of his obedience, it had not been an act of
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grace in God, but Abraham might have demanded it with as much
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confidence as ever any labourer in the vineyard demanded the penny he
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had earned. But this cannot be; it is impossible for man, much more
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guilty man, to make God a debtor to him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:35">Rom. xi. 35</A>.
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No, God will have free grace to have all the glory, grace for grace's
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sake,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+1:16">John i. 16</A>.
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And therefore <I>to him that worketh not</I>--that can pretend to no
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such merit, nor show any worth or value in his work, which may answer
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such a reward, but disclaiming any such pretension casts himself wholly
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upon the free grace of God in Christ, by a lively, active, obedient
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faith--to such a one <I>faith is counted for righteousness,</I> is
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accepted of God as the qualification required in all those that shall
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be pardoned and saved. <I>Him that justifieth the ungodly,</I> that is,
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him that was before ungodly. His former ungodliness was no bar to his
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justification upon his believing: <B><I>ton asebe</I></B>--<I>that
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ungodly one,</I> that is, Abraham, who, before his conversion, it
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should seem, was carried down the stream of the Chaldean idolatry,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+24:2">Josh. xxiv. 2</A>.
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No room therefore is left for despair; though God clears not the
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impenitent guilty, yet through Christ he justifies the ungodly.</P>
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<P>
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IV. He further illustrates this by a passage out of the Psalms, where
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David speaks of the remission of sins, the prime branch of
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justification, as constituting the happiness and blessedness of a man,
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pronouncing blessed, not the man who has no sin, or none which deserved
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death (for then, while man is so sinful, and God so righteous, where
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would be the blessed man?) but <I>the man to whom the Lord imputeth not
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sin,</I> who though he cannot plead, Not guilty, pleads the act of
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indemnity, and his plea is allowed. It is quoted from
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+32:1,2">Ps. xxxii. 1, 2</A>,
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where observe,
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1. The nature of forgiveness. It is the remission of a debt or a crime;
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it is the covering of sin, as a filthy thing, as the nakedness and
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shame of the soul. God is said <I>to cast sin behind his back, to hide
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his face from it,</I> which, and the like expressions, imply that the
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ground of our blessedness is not our innocency, or our not having
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sinned (a thing is, and is filthy, though covered; justification does
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not make the sin not to have been, or not to have been sin), but God's
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not laying it to our charge, as it follows here: it is God's <I>not
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imputing sin</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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which makes it wholly a gracious act of God, not dealing with us in
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strict justice as we have deserved, not entering into judgment, not
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marking iniquities, all which being purely acts of grace, the
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acceptance and the reward cannot be expected as debts; and therefore
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Paul infers
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>)
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that it is the imputing of righteousness without works.
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2. The blessedness of it: <I>Blessed are they.</I> When it is said,
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<I>Blessed are the undefiled in the way, blessed is the man that
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walketh not in the counsel of the wicked,</I> &c., the design is to
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show the characters of those that are blessed; but when it is said,
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<I>Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven,</I> the design is
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to show what that blessedness is, and what the ground and foundation of
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it. Pardoned people are the only blessed people. The sentiments of the
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world are, Those are happy that have a clear estate, and are out of
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debt to man; but the sentence of the word is, Those are happy that have
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their debts to God discharged. O how much therefore is it our interest
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to make it sure to ourselves that our sins are pardoned! For this is
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the foundation of all other benefits. So and so I will do for them; for
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I will be merciful,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+8:12">Heb. viii. 12</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Ro4_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ro4_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ro4_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ro4_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ro4_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ro4_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ro4_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ro4_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ro4_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ro4_17a"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Case of Abraham.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 58.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>9 <I>Cometh</I> this blessedness then upon the circumcision <I>only,</I>
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or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was
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reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.
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10 How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in
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uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
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11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the
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righteousness of the faith which <I>he had yet</I> being
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uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that
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believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might
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be imputed unto them also:
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12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the
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circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith
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of our father Abraham, which <I>he had</I> being <I>yet</I> uncircumcised.
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13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world,
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<I>was</I> not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but
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through the righteousness of faith.
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14 For if they which are of the law <I>be</I> heirs, faith is made
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void, and the promise made of none effect:
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15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, <I>there
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is</I> no transgression.
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16 Therefore <I>it is</I> of faith, that <I>it might be</I> by grace; to
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the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that
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only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith
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of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
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17a (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many
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nations,)
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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St. Paul observes in this paragraph when and why Abraham was thus
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justified; for he has several things to remark upon that. It was before
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he was circumcised, and before the giving of the law; and there was a
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reason for both.</P>
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<P>
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I. It was before he was circumcised,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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His faith was counted to him for righteousness while he was in
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uncircumcision. It was imputed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+15:6">Gen. xv. 6</A>,
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and he was not circumcised till
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+17:1-27"><I>ch.</I> xvii.</A>.
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Abraham is expressly said to be justified by faith <I>fourteen
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years,</I> some say <I>twenty-five years, before he was
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circumcised.</I> Now this the apostle takes notice of in answer to the
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question
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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<I>Cometh this blessedness then on the circumcision only, or on the
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uncircumcision also?</I> Abraham was pardoned and accepted in
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uncircumcision, a circumstance which, as it might silence the fears of
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the poor uncircumcised Gentiles, so it might lower the pride and
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conceitedness of the Jews, who gloried in their circumcision, as if
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they had the monopoly of all happiness. Here are two reasons why
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Abraham was justified by faith in uncircumcision:--</P>
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|
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<P>
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1. That circumcision might be <I>a seal of the righteousness of
|
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faith,</I>
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|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
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The tenour of the covenants must first be settled before the seal can
|
|
be annexed. Sealing supposes a previous bargain, which is confirmed and
|
|
ratified by that ceremony. After Abraham's justification by faith had
|
|
continued several years only a grant by parole, for the confirmation of
|
|
Abraham's faith God was pleased to appoint a sealing ordinance, and
|
|
Abraham received it; though it was a bloody ordinance, yet he submitted
|
|
to it, and even received it as a special favour, <I>the sign of
|
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circumcision,</I> &c. Now we may hence observe,
|
|
|
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(1.) The nature of sacraments in general: they are signs and
|
|
seals--signs to represent and instruct, seals to ratify and confirm.
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|
They are signs of absolute grace and favour; they are seals of the
|
|
conditional promises; nay, they are mutual seals: God does in the
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|
sacraments seal to us to be to us a God, and we do therein seal to him
|
|
to be to him a people.
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|
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(2.) The nature of circumcision in particular: it was the initiating
|
|
sacrament of the Old Testament; and it is here said to be,
|
|
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[1.] <I>A sign</I>--a sign of that original corruption which we are all
|
|
born with, and which is cut off by spiritual circumcision,--a
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commemorating sign of God's covenant with Abraham,--a distinguishing
|
|
sign between Jews and Gentiles,--a sign of admission into the visible
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|
church,--a sign prefiguring baptism, which comes in the room of
|
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circumcision, now under the gospel, when (the blood of Christ being
|
|
shed) all bloody ordinances are abolished; it was <I>an outward and
|
|
sensible sign of an inward and spiritual grace signified thereby.</I>
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|
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[2.] <I>A seal of the righteousness of the faith.</I> In general, it
|
|
was a seal of the covenant of grace, particularly of justification by
|
|
faith--the covenant of grace, called <I>the righteousness which is of
|
|
faith</I>
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|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+10:6"><I>ch.</I> x. 6</A>),
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and it refers to an Old-Testament promise,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+30:12">Deut. xxx. 12</A>.
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Now if infants were then capable of receiving a seal of the covenant of
|
|
grace, which proves that they then were within the verge of that
|
|
covenant, how they come to be now cast out of the covenant and
|
|
incapable of the seal, and by what severe sentence they were thus
|
|
rejected and incapacitated, those are concerned to make out that not
|
|
only reject, but nullify and reproach, the baptism of the seed of
|
|
believers.</P>
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<P>
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2. <I>That he might be the father of all those that believe.</I> Not
|
|
but that there were those that were justified by faith before Abraham;
|
|
but of Abraham first it is particularly observed, and in him commenced
|
|
a much clearer and fuller dispensation of the covenant of grace than
|
|
any that had been before extant; and there he is called <I>the father
|
|
of all that believe,</I> because he was so eminent a believer, and so
|
|
eminently justified by faith, as Jabal was the father of shepherds and
|
|
Jubal of musicians,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+4:20,21">Gen. iv. 20, 21</A>.
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|
<I>The father of all those that believe;</I> that is, a standing
|
|
<I>pattern of faith,</I> as parents are examples to their children; and
|
|
a standing precedent of justification by faith, as the liberties,
|
|
privileges, honours, and estates, of the fathers descend to their
|
|
children. Abraham was the father of believers, because to him
|
|
particularly the <I>magna charta</I> was renewed.
|
|
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|
(1.) The father of believing Gentiles, <I>though they be not
|
|
circumcised.</I> Zaccheus, a publican, if he believe, is reckoned a son
|
|
of Abraham,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:9">Luke xix. 9</A>.
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Abraham being himself uncircumcised when he was justified by faith,
|
|
uncircumcision can never be a bar. Thus were the doubts and fears of
|
|
the poor Gentiles anticipated and no room left to question but that
|
|
righteousness might be imputed to them also,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+3:11,Ga+5:6">Col. iii. 11; Gal. v. 6</A>.
|
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|
(2.) The father of believing Jews, not merely as circumcised, and of
|
|
the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, but because believers,
|
|
because they <I>are not of the circumcision only</I> (that is, are not
|
|
only circumcised), <I>but walk in the steps of that faith</I>--have not
|
|
only the sign, but the thing signified--not only are of Abraham's
|
|
family, but follow the example of Abraham's faith. See here who are the
|
|
genuine children and lawful successors of those that were the church's
|
|
fathers: not those that sit in their chairs, and bear their names, but
|
|
those that tread in their steps; this is the line of succession, which
|
|
holds, notwithstanding interruptions. It seems, then, those were most
|
|
loud and forward to call Abraham father that had least title to the
|
|
honours and privileges of his children. Thus those have most reason to
|
|
call Christ Father, not that bear his name in being Christians in
|
|
profession, but that tread in his steps.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
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|
II. It was before the giving of the law,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:13-16"><I>v.</I> 13-16</A>.
|
|
|
|
The former observation is levelled against those that confined
|
|
justification to the circumcision, this against those that expected it
|
|
by the law; now the promise was made to Abraham long before the law.
|
|
Compare
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+3:17,18">Gal. iii. 17, 18</A>.
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|
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Now observe,</P>
|
|
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|
<P>
|
|
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|
1. What that promise was--<I>that he should be the heir of the
|
|
world,</I> that is, of the land of Canaan, the choicest spot of ground
|
|
in the world,--or the father of many nations of the world, who sprang
|
|
from him, besides the Israelites,--or the heir of the comforts of the
|
|
life which now is. The meek are said to <I>inherit the earth,</I> and
|
|
the world is theirs. Though Abraham had so little of the world in
|
|
possession, yet he was heir of it all. Or, rather, it points at Christ,
|
|
the seed here mentioned; compare
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+3:16">Gal. iii. 16</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>To thy seed, which is Christ.</I> Now Christ is the heir of the
|
|
world, the ends of the earth are his possession, and it is in him that
|
|
Abraham was so. And it refers to that promise
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+12:3">Gen. xii. 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. How it was made to him: <I>Not through the law, but through the
|
|
righteousness of faith. Not through the law,</I> for that was not yet
|
|
given: but it was upon that believing which was counted to him for
|
|
righteousness; it was upon his trusting God, in his leaving his own
|
|
country when God commanded him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+11:8">Heb. xi. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now, being by faith, it could not be by the law, which he proves by the
|
|
opposition there is between them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:14,15"><I>v.</I> 14, 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>If those who are of the law be heirs;</I> that is, those, and those
|
|
only, and they by virtue of the law (the Jews did, and still do, boast
|
|
that they are the rightful heirs of the world, because to them the law
|
|
was given), then <I>faith is made void;</I> for, if it were requisite
|
|
to an interest in the promise that there should be a perfect
|
|
performance of the whole law, then the promise can never take its
|
|
effect, nor is it to any purpose for us to depend upon it, since the
|
|
way to life by perfect obedience to the law, and spotless sinless
|
|
innocency, is wholly blocked up, and the law in itself opens no other
|
|
way. This he proves,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>The law worketh wrath</I>--wrath in us to God; it irritates and
|
|
provokes that carnal mind which is enmity to God, as the damming up of
|
|
a stream makes it swell--wrath in God against us. It works this, that
|
|
is, it discovers it, or our breach of the law works it. Now it is
|
|
certain that we can never expect the inheritance by a law that worketh
|
|
wrath. How the law works wrath he shows very concisely in the latter
|
|
part of the verse: <I>Where no law is there is no transgression,</I> an
|
|
acknowledged maxim, which implies, Where there is a law there is
|
|
transgression and that transgression is provoking, and so the law
|
|
worketh wrath.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Why the promise was made to him by faith; for three reasons,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) <I>That it might be by grace,</I> that grace might have the honour
|
|
of it; <I>by grace, and not by the law; by grace, and not of debt, nor
|
|
of merit;</I> that <I>Grace, grace,</I> might be cried to every stone,
|
|
especially to the top-stone, in this building. Faith hath particular
|
|
reference to grace granting, as grace hath reference to faith
|
|
receiving. <I>By grace,</I> and therefore <I>through faith,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:8">Eph. ii. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
For God will have every crown thrown at the feet of grace, free grace,
|
|
and every song in heaven sung to that tune, <I>Not unto us, O Lord, not
|
|
unto us, but unto thy name be the praise.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) <I>That the promise might be sure.</I> The first covenant, being a
|
|
covenant of works, was not sure: but, through man's failure, the
|
|
benefits designed by it were cut off; and therefore, the more
|
|
effectually to ascertain and ensure the conveyance of the new covenant,
|
|
there is another way found out, <I>not by works</I> (were it so, the
|
|
promise would not be sure, because of the continual frailty and
|
|
infirmity of the flesh), <I>but by faith,</I> which receives all from
|
|
Christ, and acts in a continual dependence upon him, as the great
|
|
trustee of our salvation, and in whose keeping it is safe. The covenant
|
|
is therefore sure, because it is so well ordered in all things,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+23:5">2 Sam. xxiii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) <I>That it might be sure to all the seed.</I> If it had been <I>by
|
|
the law,</I> it had been limited to the Jews, <I>to whom pertained the
|
|
glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+9:4"><I>ch.</I> ix. 4</A>);
|
|
|
|
but therefore it was by faith that Gentiles as well as Jews might
|
|
become interested in it, the spiritual as well as the natural seed of
|
|
faithful Abraham. God would contrive the promise in such a way as
|
|
might make it most extensive, to comprehend all true believers, that
|
|
circumcision and uncircumcision might break no squares; and for this
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>)
|
|
|
|
he refers us to
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+17:5">Gen. xvii. 5</A>,
|
|
|
|
where the reason of the change of his name from <I>Abram--a high
|
|
father, to Abraham--the high father of a multitude,</I> is thus
|
|
rendered: <I>For a father of many nations have I made thee;</I> that
|
|
is, all believers, both before and since the coming of Christ in the
|
|
flesh, should take Abraham for their pattern, and call him
|
|
<I>father.</I> The Jews say Abraham was the father of all proselytes to
|
|
the Jewish religion. <I>Behold, he is the father of all the world,
|
|
which are gathered under the wings of the Divine
|
|
Majesty.</I>--Maimonides.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ro4_17b"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ro4_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ro4_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ro4_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ro4_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ro4_22"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Case of Abraham.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 58.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>17b -- Before him whom he believed, <I>even</I> God, who
|
|
quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they
|
|
were.
|
|
18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the
|
|
father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So
|
|
shall thy seed be.
|
|
19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body
|
|
now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the
|
|
deadness of Sara's womb:
|
|
20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but
|
|
was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
|
|
21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was
|
|
able also to perform.
|
|
22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Having observed when Abraham was justified by faith, and why, for the
|
|
honour of Abraham and for example to us who call him father, the
|
|
apostle here describes and commends the faith of Abraham, where
|
|
observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Whom he believed: <I>God who quickeneth.</I> It is God himself that
|
|
faith fastens upon: <I>other foundation can no man lay.</I> Now observe
|
|
what in God Abraham's faith had an eye to--to that, certainly, which would
|
|
be most likely to confirm his faith concerning the things promised:--
|
|
|
|
1. <I>God who quickeneth the dead.</I> It was promised that he should
|
|
be <I>the father of many nations,</I> when he and his wife were now as
|
|
good as dead
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+11:11,12">Heb. xi. 11, 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
and therefore he looks upon God as a God that could breathe life into
|
|
dry bones. He that quickeneth the dead can do any thing, can give a
|
|
child to Abraham when he is old, can bring the Gentiles, who are
|
|
<I>dead in trespasses and sins,</I> to a divine and spiritual life,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:1">Eph. ii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Compare
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+1:19,20">Eph. i. 19, 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. <I>Who calleth things which are not as though they were;</I> that
|
|
is, creates all things by the word of his power, as in the beginning,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:3,2Co+4:6">Gen. i. 3; 2 Cor. iv. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
The justification and salvation of sinners, the espousing of the
|
|
Gentiles that had not been a people, were a gracious calling of things
|
|
which are not as though they were, giving being to things that were
|
|
not. This expresses the sovereignty of God and his absolute power and
|
|
dominion, a mighty stay to faith when all other props sink and totter.
|
|
It is the holy wisdom and policy of faith to fasten particularly on
|
|
that in God which is accommodated to the difficulties wherewith it is
|
|
to wrestle, and will most effectually answer the objections. It is
|
|
faith indeed to build upon the all-sufficiency of God for the
|
|
accomplishment of that which is impossible to anything but that
|
|
all-sufficiency. Thus Abraham became <I>the father of many nations
|
|
before him whom he believed,</I> that is, in the eye and account of
|
|
God; or <I>like him whom he believed;</I> as God was a common Father,
|
|
so was Abraham. It is by faith in God that we become accepted of him,
|
|
and conformable to him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. How he believed. He here greatly magnifies the strength of
|
|
Abraham's faith, in several expressions.
|
|
|
|
1. <I>Against hope, he believed in hope,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
There was a hope against him, a natural hope. All the arguments of
|
|
sense, and reason, and experience, which in such cases usually beget
|
|
and support hope, were against him; no second causes smiled upon him,
|
|
nor in the least favoured his hope. But, against all those inducements
|
|
to the contrary, he believed; for he had a hope for him: <I>He believed
|
|
in hope,</I> which arose, as his faith did, from the consideration of
|
|
God's all-sufficiency. <I>That he might become the father of many
|
|
nations.</I> Therefore God, by his almighty grace, enabled him thus to
|
|
believe against hope, that he might pass for a pattern of great and
|
|
strong faith to all generations. It was fit that he who was to be the
|
|
father of the faithful should have something more than ordinary in his
|
|
faith--that in him faith should be set in its highest elevation, and so
|
|
the endeavours of all succeeding believers be directed, raised, and
|
|
quickened. Or this is mentioned as the matter of the promise that he
|
|
believed; and he refers to
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+15:5">Gen. xv. 5</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>So shall thy seed be,</I> as the stars of heaven, so innumerable, so
|
|
illustrious. This was that which he believed, when it was counted to
|
|
him for righteousness,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
And it is observable that this particular instance of his faith was
|
|
<I>against hope,</I> against the surmises and suggestions of his
|
|
unbelief. He had just before been concluding hardly that he should go
|
|
childless, that one born in his house was his heir
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:2,3"><I>v.</I> 2, 3</A>);
|
|
|
|
and this unbelief was a foil to his faith, and bespeaks it a believing
|
|
against hope.
|
|
|
|
2. <I>Being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe, His own body was now dead--become utterly unlikely to beget a
|
|
child, though the new life and vigour that God gave him continued after
|
|
Sarah was dead, witness his children by Keturah. When God intends some
|
|
special blessing, some child of promise, for his people, he commonly
|
|
puts a sentence of death upon the blessing itself, and upon all the
|
|
ways that lead to it. Joseph must be enslaved and imprisoned before he
|
|
be advanced. But Abraham did not consider this, <B><I>ou
|
|
katenoese</I></B>--<I>he did not dwell in his thoughts upon it.</I> He
|
|
said indeed, <I>Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years
|
|
old?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+17:17">Gen. xvii. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
But that was the language of his admiration and his desire to be
|
|
further satisfied, not of his doubting and distrust; his faith passed
|
|
by that consideration, and thought of nothing but the faithfulness of
|
|
the promise, with the contemplation whereof he was swallowed up, and
|
|
this kept up his faith. <I>Being not weak in faith, he considered
|
|
not.</I> It is mere weakness of faith that makes a man lie poring upon
|
|
the difficulties and seeming impossibilities that lie in the way of a
|
|
promise. Though it may seem to be the wisdom and policy of carnal
|
|
reason, yet it is the weakness of faith, to look into the bottom of all
|
|
the difficulties that arise against the promise.
|
|
|
|
3. <I>He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief</I>
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|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
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|
|
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and he therefore staggered not because he considered not the frowns and
|
|
discouragements of second causes; <B><I>ou diekrithe</I></B>--<I>he
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|
disputed not;</I> he did not hold any self-consultation about it, did
|
|
not take time to consider whether he should close with it or no, did
|
|
not hesitate nor stumble at it, but by a resolute and peremptory act of
|
|
his soul, with a holy boldness, ventured all upon the promise. He took
|
|
it not for a point that would admit of argument or debate, but
|
|
presently determined it as a ruled case, did not at all hang in
|
|
suspense about it: he <I>staggered not through unbelief.</I> Unbelief
|
|
is at the bottom of all our staggerings at God's promises. It is not
|
|
the promise that fails, but our faith that fails when we stagger.
|
|
|
|
4. He <I>was strong in faith, giving glory to God,</I>
|
|
<B><I>enedynamothe</I></B>--<I>he was strengthened</I> in faith, his
|
|
faith <I>got ground by exercise--crescit eundo.</I> Though weak faith
|
|
shall not be rejected, the bruised reed not broken, the smoking flax
|
|
not quenched, yet strong faith shall be commended and honoured. The
|
|
strength of his faith appeared in the victory it won over his fears.
|
|
And hereby he gave glory to God; for, as unbelief dishonours God by
|
|
making him a liar
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:10">
|
|
1 John v. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
so faith honours God by setting to its seal that he is true,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+3:33">John iii. 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
Abraham's faith gave God the glory of his wisdom, power, holiness,
|
|
goodness, and especially of his faithfulness, resting upon the word
|
|
that he had spoken. Among men we say, "He that trusts another, gives
|
|
him credit, and honours him by taking his word;" thus Abraham gave
|
|
glory to God by trusting him. We never hear our Lord Jesus commending
|
|
any thing so much as great faith
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+8:10,15:28">Matt. viii. 10 and xv. 28</A>):
|
|
|
|
therefore God gives honour to faith, great faith, because faith, great
|
|
faith, gives honour to God.
|
|
|
|
5. He was <I>fully persuaded that what God had promised he was able to
|
|
perform,</I> <B><I>plerophoretheis</I></B>--<I>was carried on with the
|
|
greatest confidence</I> and assurance; it is a metaphor taken from
|
|
ships that come into the harbour with full sail. Abraham saw the
|
|
storms of doubts, and fears, and temptations likely to rise against the
|
|
promise, upon which many a one would have shrunk back, and lain by for
|
|
fairer days, and waited a smiling gale of sense and reason. But
|
|
Abraham, having taken God for his pilot, and the promise for his card
|
|
and compass, resolves to weather his point, and like a bold adventurer
|
|
sets up all his sails, breaks through all the difficulties, regards
|
|
neither winds nor clouds, but trusts to the strength of his bottom and
|
|
the wisdom and faithfulness of his pilot, and bravely makes to the
|
|
harbour, and comes home an unspeakable gainer. Such was his full
|
|
persuasion, and it was built on the omnipotence of God: <I>He was
|
|
able.</I> Our waverings rise mainly from our distrust of the divine
|
|
power; and therefore to fix us it is requisite we believe not only that
|
|
he is faithful, but that he is able, that hath promised. <I>And
|
|
therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
Because with such a confidence he ventured his all in the divine
|
|
promise, God graciously accepted him, and not only answered, but
|
|
out-did, his expectation. This way of glorifying God by a firm reliance
|
|
on his bare promise was so very agreeable to God's design, and so very
|
|
conducive to his honour, that he graciously accepted it as a
|
|
righteousness, and justified him, though there was not that in the
|
|
thing itself which could merit such an acceptance. This shows why faith
|
|
is chosen to be the prime condition of our justification, because it is
|
|
a grace that of all others gives glory to God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ro4_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ro4_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ro4_25"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Case of Abraham.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 58.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was
|
|
imputed to him;
|
|
24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe
|
|
on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
|
|
25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for
|
|
our justification.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In the close of the chapter, he applies all to us; and, having
|
|
abundantly proved that Abraham was justified by faith, he here
|
|
concludes that his justification was to be the pattern or sampler of
|
|
ours: <I>It was not written for his sake alone.</I> It was not intended
|
|
only for an historical commendation of Abraham, or a relation of
|
|
something peculiar to him (as some antipædobaptists will needs
|
|
understand that circumcision was a <I>seal of the righteousness of the
|
|
faith,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>,
|
|
|
|
only to Abraham himself, and no other); no, the scripture did not
|
|
intend hereby to describe some singular way of justification that
|
|
belonged to Abraham as his prerogative. The accounts we have of the
|
|
Old-Testament saints were not intended for histories only, barely to
|
|
inform and divert us, but for precedents to direct us, for ensamples
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+10:11">1 Cor. x. 11</A>)
|
|
|
|
for <I>our learning,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+15:4"><I>ch.</I> xv. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
And this particularly concerning Abraham was written <I>for us
|
|
also,</I> to assure us what that righteousness is which God requireth
|
|
and accepteth to our salvation,--for us also, that are man and vile,
|
|
that come so far short of Abraham in privileges and performances, us
|
|
Gentiles as well as the Jews, for the blessing of Abraham comes upon
|
|
the Gentiles through Christ,--for us on whom the ends of the world are
|
|
come, as well as for the patriarchs; for the grace of God is the same
|
|
yesterday, to-day, and for ever. His application of it is but short.
|
|
Only we may observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Our common privilege; it shall be imputed to us, that is,
|
|
righteousness shall. The gospel way of justification is by an imputed
|
|
righteousness, <B><I>mellei logizesthai</I></B>--<I>it shall be
|
|
imputed;</I> he uses a future verb, to signify the continuation of this
|
|
mercy in the church, that as it is the same now so it will be while God
|
|
has a church in the world, and there are any of the children of men to
|
|
be justified; for there is a fountain opened that is inexhaustible.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Our common duty, the condition of this privilege, and that is
|
|
believing. The proper object of this believing is a divine revelation.
|
|
The revelation to Abraham was concerning a Christ to come; the
|
|
revelation to us is concerning a Christ already come, which difference
|
|
in the revelation does not alter the case. Abraham believed the power
|
|
of God in raising up an Isaac from the dead womb of Sarah; we are to
|
|
believe the same power exerted in a higher instance, the resurrection
|
|
of Christ from the dead. The resurrection of Isaac was in a figure
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+11:19">Heb. xi. 19</A>);
|
|
|
|
the resurrection of Christ was real. Now we are to believe on him that
|
|
raised up Christ; not only believe his power, that he could do it, but
|
|
depend upon his grace in raising up Christ as our surety; so he
|
|
explains it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>,
|
|
|
|
where we have a brief account of the meaning of Christ's death and
|
|
resurrection, which are the two main hinges on which the door of
|
|
salvation turns.
|
|
|
|
1. He was <I>delivered for our offences.</I> God the Father delivered
|
|
him, he delivered up himself as a sacrifice for sin. He died indeed as
|
|
a malefactor, because he died for sin; but it was not his own sin, but
|
|
the sins of the people. He died to make atonement for our sins, to
|
|
expiate our guilt, to satisfy divine justice.
|
|
|
|
2. He was <I>raised again for our justification,</I> for the perfecting
|
|
and completing of our justification. By the merit of his death he paid
|
|
our debt, in his resurrection he took out our acquittance. When he was
|
|
buried he lay a prisoner in execution for our debt, which as a surety
|
|
he had undertaken to pay; on the third day an angel was sent to roll
|
|
away the stone, and so to discharge the prisoner, which was the
|
|
greatest assurance possible that divine justice was satisfied, the debt
|
|
paid, or else he would never have released the prisoner: and therefore
|
|
the apostle puts a special emphasis on Christ's resurrection; it is
|
|
Christ that died, <I>yea, rather that has risen again,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:34"><I>ch.</I> viii. 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
So that upon the whole matter it is very evident that we are not
|
|
justified by the merit of our own works, but by a fiducial obediential
|
|
dependence upon Jesus Christ and his righteousness, as the condition on
|
|
our part of our right to impunity and salvation, which was the truth
|
|
that Paul in this and the foregoing chapter had been fixing as the
|
|
great spring and foundation of all our comfort.</P>
|
|
|
|
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