Romans 10

Romans 10:1

The apostle shews, that God hath offered pardon and salvation on the same equitable, gracious, and easy terms to all; though Israel, by a bigotted attachment to their own law, rejected it. Rom. X. 1—13.

ROMANS X. 1.

YOU see, my brethren, to what this discourse xxii. of mine tends, in which I have been rep- Rom. resenting faith in Christ, as the only method x. 1 to prevent our shame and ruin, without the exception of any, whether Jews or Gentiles, who should reject him. I know how unkind and unjust an interpretation may be put on such an assertion, though thus supported by the sacred oracles themselves; and therefore I think it proper to renew the assurances I before gave, that the most affectionate desire of my heart, in the accomplishment of which I should find the greatest complacency, and [my] supplication, which I am with daily importunity repeating before God concerning Israel, is for its present and eternal salvation and happiness; which I wish as

sincerely as my own. For I am ready to testify, from what I well know of them by my own observation and experience, that they have a very ardent zeal for God; but I lament that it is a zeal not regulated according to knowledge, or directed into a right channel, in consequence of which it leads them into the most fatal mistakes

and excesses. For they being ignorant of the righteousness of God, of the purity of his nature, the extent of his law, and the method which in consequence thereof he hath established for the justification of a sinner; and seeking with great diligence to establish and shoar up, as it were, by the most insufficient props, the ruinous edifice of their own righteousness, by the observation of the precepts or expiations of their law,ᵃ have not submitted with due humility to

ROMANS X. 1.

B R E T H R E N, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

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

For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted them-

ᵃ Observations of the precepts or expiations of their law.] Many writers, and especially the late Dr. Sherlock, in his book of the knowledge of Christ, have been

ignorant of the only way to obtain righteousness,

the righteousness of God exhibited in his Son, nor placed their own attempts of obedience in a due subordination to that.

This is the most fatal error that can be imagined; for how insensible soever Israel in general may be of it, it is on the whole most certain, that Christ [is] the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth, that is, it is the great scope and design of the law to bring men to believe in Christ for righteousness and life, and its ceremonial and moral precepts and constitutions most harmoniously centre in this. For Moses most exactly describeth the only way of righteousness which is attainable by the law, [when he saith] again and again, (Lev. xviii. 5, compared with Deut. xxvii. 26,) the man who doth them shall live in and by them; that is, the man who perfectly observes these precepts in every particular, and in every punctilio, he, and he alone, if such a person there be, may claim life and salvation by them. Now this is a way of justification, which, when the law has once been broken, becomes absolutely impossible to the transgressor. But the righteousness which is by faith, speaketh a very different language, and may be considered as expressing itself thus, (if I may be allowed to borrow the words of the great Jewish legislator, when representing the plainness and perspicuity of his law; Deut. xxx. 11—14,) “Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven, that

much mistaken in the representation they have made of the Pharisaical righteousness, as if it consisted merely in substituting ceremonial observances instead of moral duties. The Pharisees certainly inculcated the external duties of morality, how much soever they might themselves fail in observing them, or rest merely in outward acts; but they trusted in legal expiations to procure the pardon of those evils which might happen; and the composition of these, if I may be allowed the expression, constituted the righteousness which they went about [to establish, or prop up, decrepit as it was.

b The end of the law.] The scope of it, s Elsner shews on this place, that [signifies; he paraphrases the words, no one can [il] the law, till he believe in

Christ. But that, how true soever, (compare chap. viii. 2—4,) seems not the chief view of the apostle here.

c The man that doth them, shall live by them.] The Sinai covenant made no express provision for the pardon of any sin deliberately and wickedly committed against it; and so was indeed a covenant of works: though the dispensation of Moses contained some farther intimation of the covenant of grace, which was made with Abraham, and was quite a distinct thing from the law. And the apostle builds so much on these thoughts here, and elsewhere, that it will be of importance to render them familiar to the mind, and to trace the evidence and illustration of them in the Mosaic writings.

which may be obtained by Jew and Greek through faith in Christ.

is, as I may in this view accommodate the passage, to conduct Christ down with him [from thence,] to teach and instruct us, or to atone for our offences: or, Who shall descend into the deep abyss, that is, to bring Christ again from his abode among the dead, in the bowels of the earth.” No; blessed be God, Christ hath already descended from heaven to bring down the gospel, and he hath in a triumphant manner arisen from the dead to set an everlasting seal to its Divine authority; so that there is no more room to puzzle ourselves about difficulties, or to wish for a power of doing what to human skill or strength is impossible. But what saith he afterwards? even these words, so remarkably applicable to the subject before us, “The word is nigh to thee, [even] in thy mouth, and in thine heart; easy to be understood, easy to be remembered; and if thine heart be rightly disposed, easy to be practised too.” And that is eminently the case with relation to the word of Christian faith which we preach: For God hath given a very plain and intelligible revelation in his gospel; and the substance of it is this, That if thou dost courageously confess with thy mouth, that Jesus is the Lord, and at the same time believe in thy heart, with a vital and influential faith, that God hath raised him from the dead, in proof of his Divine mission; thou shalt assuredly be saved, whoever thou art, and how heinous and aggravated soever thy past sins may have been. For it is with the heart that a man believeth to righteousness, or so as to obtain justification, nor can any thing but a cordial assent secure that; and with the mouth confession is made to salvation, and that public profession of Christianity is maintained, without which a secret conviction of its truth would only condemn. Let therefore the heart and the tongue do their respective parts on this occasion, and your salvation and happiness will be secure; though your obedience to the law of God may have been very defective, and you could have no claim to reward, or forgiveness from thence. For the scripture in reference to Christ, as in the forecasted text, (Isa. xxviii. 16,) saith, “Every one that believeth in him shall

Reflections on the clear knowledge we have in the gospel.

not be in danger of being ashamed, and put to confusion in any imaginable circumstance :” Every one without distinction, for, you see, there is no difference between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord of all, the Creator, Governor, Preserver, and Benefactor of the whole human species, displays his riches, and magnifies his bounty, to all that call upon him, imparting to them all the same blessings of his providence and grace. For whosoever shall invoke the name of the Lord shall be saved,⁴ as the prophet Joel testifies, (Joel ii. 32.) when he had been speaking of those great events which have in part been so wonderfully accomplished in the effusion of the Spirit, and shall be farther fulfilled in those scenes of Providence which are shortly to open on the Jewish nation.

IMPROVEMENT.

LET our hearts, after the example of St. Paul here before us, verse be overflowing with love and compassion to our brethren; and ¹ let us be earnestly interceding with God for their salvation. Where we see a zeal for God, let us pay all due regard to it, and ² compassionate that ignorance which may sometimes be mingled with it; especially if it affect so important an article as that of our becoming righteous before God by a better righteousness ³ than our own. Let us pray that God would teach us, and would enable us, according to our respective situations, in a proper manner to teach others, that Christ is indeed the end of the law, ⁴ of all the laws which God ever gave to fallen man, for righteousness; all were intended to convince men of their need of coming to him, that righteousness and life may be obtained.

Great reason have we to adore the Divine goodness, and to congratulate ourselves, and one another, upon our great happiness in this respect, that God hath given us a revelation, so obvious and intelligible in all the grand points of it. We have indeed no necessity, no temptation to say, Who shall go up into ⁶,⁷ heaven? or, Who shall descend into the deep? or, Who, like the industrious, but bewildered, sages of antiquity, shall cross the seas, to bring that knowledge from distant countries, which is wanting in our own? The word is nigh to us: It is indeed in ⁸ our mouth: O that it may be in our heart too. We know a

⁴ Invoke the name of the Lord, &c.] Bishop apostle’s argument is quite inconclusive. Pearson argues at large from hence, that Pearson on the Creed, p. 149. if Christ be not here called Jehovah, the

The gospel then is to be preached to the Gentiles ;

descending, a risen Redeemer. He still visits us in his gospel, xxii. still preaches in our assemblies, and stretches out a gentle and versus compassionate hand, to lead us in the way to happiness. May 9, 10 our profession of faith in him be cordial ; and then it will be open and courageous, whatever sacrifices we may be called to make. Believing on him, we shall not be ashamed ; calling on his name, we shall be saved ; though we can meet with nothing 5 but despair from a dispensation, that saith, The man who perfectly doth these precepts, shall live by them.

Romans 10:14

The apostle pursues the view given in the last section, and shews, that the gospel had been diffused widely through the world ; though according to other prophecies, which he here mentions from Moses, and Isaiah, the Jews had rejected it, while the Gentiles embraced it. Rom. X. 14, to the end.

ROMANS X. 14.

FROM the promise of salvation to them xxiii. that shall call on the name of the Lord, I Rom. have just been inferring, (ver. 12,13,) that there x. 14 is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, as to the possibility of obtaining salvation from God. And from hence, we may farther infer what is very sufficient to justify me and my brethren, in preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, though we are the objects of so much reproach and persecution on that account. Let us therefore attend to the inference. For how shall they call on him on whom they have not believed, as worthy to be invoked with Divine honours and adoration ? and how shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard ? and how shall they hear of him without a preacher to carry these important tidings which the light of nature could never be able to discover ?

And, as for the ministers of the gospel, how should they preach, except they be sent expressly for that purpose ? For, as we were originally Jews, our own prejudices on this head were so strong, that we should never have thought of carrying the gospel to the Gentiles, if God had not particularly charged us to do it. But blessed be God, that the charge has been given, and the embassy sent ; and most welcome should it be to all that receive it, as it

or aith is by hearing, and hearing y t e wor .

is written and described in that lively prophecy,ᵃ (Isa. lii. 7, 8,) “O how beautiful are the eet, the very footsteps, of those who bring the ood tidings of peace, who bring the good tidings of those various good things which God hath now been pleased to bestow on his church. It is pleasant to see and hear the messengers, pleasant to view the very tract of ground over which they have passed, on the mountains which surround Jerusalem.”ᵇ

But alas, all have not obeyed the gospel, glorious as its tidings are, nor given it that cordial reception which its happy contents might well have demanded. And they who are well acquainted with the oracles of the Old Testament, and study them impartially, will not be surprised at it. For Isaiah saith, in that very context, which contains so many illustrious testimonies to the cause in which we are engaged, (Isa. liii. 1,) “Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed, and made bare?” Faith indeed [cometh] by hearing, and hearing in the case now before us by the word, the express command of God, to make the declaration.ᶜ It is therefore our duty to deliver the message, wheresoever we come, whether to Jews or Gentiles, in humble hope, that some will believe; though we have so much reason to fear that many will reject it.

This is our duty, but a duty which we cannot perform without some discouragements;

ᵃ In that lively prophecy.] Most commentators think, that the liiᵈ chapter of Isaiah is to be explained as a prophecy of the return of the Jews from Babylon, and that the text here quoted refers to the joyful welcome that should be given to the messengers who brought the first tidings of Cyrus’s decree for their dismissal. And if it were so, the apostle might very justly infer from thence the superior joy with which the messengers of the gospel should be received. But, I think, a great deal may be said to shew it probable, that the context in question has in its original sense a farther reference. Compare Isa. li. 4—6. But not judging it necessary, in the paraphrase, to build upon it as an argument, I shall not by any means discuss the matter here.

ᵇ The very footsteps.] L’Enfant thinks the eet are ut for the arrival. Com-

pare Gen. xxv. 30, in the original. But I think the turn given in the paraphrase, illustrates it much better. Bos observes, that in Sophocles, the hands and feet of those who come upon a kind design, are represented as beautiful to those who received benefit by their arrival.

ᶜ Faith indeed [cometh.] Mr. L’Enfant would transpose the 16ᵗʰ and 17ᵗʰ verses; and it is certain, as any one may easily perceive, that the connection of all from the 15ᵗʰ to the 18ᵗʰ, would in that view be clearer; but as no copies warrant it, I think it is by no means to be presumed upon. I have therefore translated ἀχα, which is often a sort of an expletive, by the word indeed, which throws this verse into some kind of connection with the next, and if referred to ἀλλὰ there, will I hope be thought agreeable enough to the Greek idiom.

yet I may confidently say, it hath in the main been practised; and I may appeal to what you at Rome knew of the matter, in consequence of your correspondence with all parts of the empire. Have they not heard of the gospel all abroad, so that I may take up the words of David, (Psal. xix. 4,) when describing the course of the celestial luminaries, and apply them to the zeal, and in some measure to the success, with which the missionaries of this holy religion have exerted themselves, assisted by the blessed Spirit of God, and animated by the hope of that glorious immortality to which they have taught others to aspire. Of them may I say, that “verily their voice is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world:” many distant nations have already heard these glad tidings which God will at length render universal. (Col. i. 6, 23.) But I may farther say, Hath not Israel known, or had an opportunity not only of knowing that the gospel should be preached, but that it should be carried to the Gentiles too? For first, Moses saith, in that celebrated song of his, which the children in all generations were to learn, (Deut. xxxii. 21,) “I will raise your jealousy by [those who were] not a nation, [and] your anger with a foolish people;” which may well be understood as ultimately referring to this great scheme. And Isaiah hath the boldness to say, in a context, where so many things evidently refer to the gospel, (Isa. lxv. 1, 2,) “I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest to them that inquired not for me, nor discovered any concern to be informed of my nature, or my will;” Whereas, invidious as he knew it would be to a nation so impatient of rebuke, with relation to Israel he saith, in the very next verse, “All the day long have I stretched out mine hands, in the most importunate and affectionate addresses, to a disobedient and gain-saying people, who are continually objecting and cavilling; whom no persuasion can win to regard their own happiness, so as to be willing to admit the evidence of truth, and the counsels

Reflections on the preaching and spreading of the gospel.

of wisdom.” It appears then on the whole, that since the prophets so plainly foretold that the Gentiles should be called and the Jews rejected, it is no way unbecoming my character, as a messenger from God, and a friend to the Jewish nation, to assert the same, and to act upon it.

IMPROVEMENT.

BLESSED be God for the preaching of the gospel, so absolutely necessary to that faith without which we can have no well grounded hope of salvation. Blessed be God therefore for the mission of his ministers, and for his abundant goodness, in sending them to us sinners of the Gentiles. Let us give them a respectful and attentive hearing, and say, How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that preach salvation, that publish peace! And let us take great care, that we do not only speak respectfully of their doctrine, but that we comply with the purposes of their embassy.

It is matter of continual joy to reflect, not only that God hath afforded to all men such means of attaining Divine knowledge, by the intimations of it which he hath given in the constitutions of the heavenly bodies, and in the whole frame of visible nature; but also, that he hath sent the express messages of grace to so many millions, in the extensive publication of his gospel. Let us rejoice in the spread it hath already had, and let us earnestly and daily pray, that the voice of those Divine messengers, that proclaim it, may go forth unto all the earth, and their words reach in a literal sense to the remotest ends of our habitable world. Let us pray, that wherever the word of God hath a free course, it may be more abundantly glorified; and that its ministers may not have so much reason to say, Who hath believed our report? and to complain of stretching out their hands all the day long to a disobedient and gainsaying people. Exert, O Lord, thine almighty arm, make it bare in the sight of all the nations. Shed abroad thy saving influences on the hearts of multitudes, that they may believe, and turn unto the Lord! May the great Saviour of his Israel be found of those that seek him not, and by the surprising condescensions of his grace, may he manifest himself to those that do not inquire after him. And may his ancient people not only be provoked to anger, but awakened to emulation too; and put in their claim for those blessings which God has by his Son vouchsafed to offer to all the Gentiles.

▼ OL. 4.

Yet God hath not utterly forsaken his people Israel;