Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 13:38
Be it known unto you therefore, men [and] brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
38. the forgiveness of sins ] Just as Jesus in His lifetime on earth declared that His miracles were only signs that “the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins,” so the Apostles preach concerning the Resurrection. Cp. Act 10:43, the conclusion of St Peter’s speech in the house of Cornelius.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Be it known … – Paul, having proved his resurrection, and shown that he was the Messiah, now states the benefits that were to be derived from his death.
Through this man – See the notes on Luk 24:47.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Act 13:38-39
Be it known unto you that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him all that believe are justified.
The gospel message
I. The blessings which the text exhibits–forgiveness and justification.
1. Forgiveness implies offence, and have not we transgressed the law of God, which is holy, just, and good? Divine forgiveness is a blessing of the highest worth. Whom the Lord pardons He pardons freely and completely. Hence He is represented as passing by transgression, not imputing iniquity, blotting out sin, casting it behind His back, sinking it in the depths of the sea, and remembering it no more.
2. But this leads to the other blessing–justification, an act of Gods free grace, whereby He pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone. It is not a work wrought in, but an act passed upon us. It is also an act of God–It is God that justifieth: and His act, not merely as a gracious Sovereign conferring a favour, but as a righteous Governor and Judge doing that which is every way equitable. The blessing includes not only the pardon of sins, but the acceptance of our persons. It is not only exemption from punishment, but restoration to favour; not only release from danger, but admittance into a state of high honour and real safety.
II. The extent to which they reach. The forgiveness of sins means all sins; justified from all things, i.e., from every charge which from any quarter can possibly be brought against us. Their atrocity shall not hinder any more than their number. Hence this clause, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. Moses justified from some sins. Sin offerings were appointed to expiate smaller offences; but these did not avail in cases of more flagrant crimes; the sentence of the law against such offences was death, and no exemption was allowed. Nor could the legal sacrifices ever take away guilt from the conscience, except as the penitent offender, through them, had a believing reliance on the promised Redeemer. But the justification which the gospel sets forth extends to all classes of transgressions.
III. The medium through which these blessings are conferred. Through this Man, and by Him.
1. By Him these blessings were proclaimed. He preached the gospel with His own lips: He forgave the sins of many. He commissioned His apostles to announce the same things. And He has instituted the gospel ministry, whose grand object is the publication of what He Himself and His apostles published.
2. Through Him they are also procured. As it regards forgiveness, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. As it regards justification, As by one mans disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous. He is, made of God unto us, wisdom and righteousness. But all this implies the substitution of Christ. He suffered not only for our good, but in our place. He who knew no sin was made sin, a sin offering, for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
IV. The persons by whom these blessings are enjoyed. All that believe. On the doctrine of forgiveness this is the language, of Scripture; Through His name, whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins. On that of justification it is equally clear, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. And what is believing? It is not an inward feeling which cannot be accounted for. It is not a presumptuous persuasion, which a man acquires he knows not how, that his state is certainly safe. It is giving credit to the truth of Gods Word; a resting of the soul on that which He hath graciously revealed, so as to fall in heartily with the method of salvation made known in the Scriptures. As to the influence of faith in the justification of a sinner, it is evident faith does not effect it–It is God that justifieth. Faith does not procure it–It is Christ that died. But faith receives it. But mark the expression–By Him all that believe are justified; whether young or old, rich or poor, learned or illiterate, etc. Conclusion: From this subject learn–
1. The encouragement which springs from the love of Christ!
2. How just is the condemnation of impenitent transgressors!
3. How free is the salvation of the righteous! It is not of works, lest any man should boast.
4. What a motive to gratitude and obedience! (T. Kidd.)
Through this Man
I. The way of a sinners forgiveness–Through this Man. And notice–
1. There is no other way.
2. There is no need of any other way. This Man satisfied all the requirements of God and man.
3. God will accept no other way. There is none other name given under heaven whereby men must be saved.
II. The nature of the way of mans forgiveness.
1. It is rational–consistent with justice, with mercy, with weak men, and a great God.
2. It is gracious; free from cost, easily attained, a blessed gift only to be accepted, an offer of love.
3. It is complete. It makes a man holy as well as safe. It fits for heaven as well as separates from earth.
4. It is full. There is no distinction or separation of classes or sorts: all are admitted to partake of its provisions. There is no sin it will not cover, no hardness it will not overcome.
5. It is absolute. There is no revocation or withdrawal. It was a transaction made once for all between Father and Son. (Homilist.)
The true aim of preaching
Pauls mode of preaching, as illustrated by this chapter, was first of all to appeal to the understanding with a clear exposition of truth, and then to impress that truth upon the emotions with earnest exhortations. This is an excellent model for revivalists. They must not give exhortation without doctrine, for if so, they will be like men who burn powder but have omitted the shot. At the same time let such of our brethren as are passionately fond of mere doctrine, but having little of the marrow of Divine mercy or the milk of human kindness stand rebuked by the example of the apostle. He knew well that even truth itself must be powerless unless applied. We cannot expect that men will make an application of the truth to themselves. Let us now notice–
I. Pauls subject, the subject of subjects–the great master doctrine of the Christian ministry. The forgiveness of sins is a topic interesting to everyone in proportion as he feels the guilt of sin. To those good people who fold their arms and say, I have done no wrong either to God or man, I have nothing to say. You need no physician, for you are not sick.
1. The Christian minister tells men the exclusive method by which God will pardon sin. Through this Man. The Lord Jesus has a monopoly of mercy. Into the one silver pipe of the atoning sacrifice God has made to flow the full current of pardoning grace. If you will not go to that, you may be tempted by the mirage, you may think that you can drink to the full, but you shall die disappointed. God will forgive sin, because the sin which He forgives has been already atoned for by the sufferings of His dear Son. You know the story of the young Roman who was condemned to die. But his elder brother who had often been to the front in the battles of the Republic, came and showed his many scars, and said, I cannot ask life for my brother on account of anything that he has done for the Republic; he deserves to die, I know, but I set my scars before you as the price of his life, and I ask you whether you will not spare him for his brothers sake. Sinner, this is what Christ does for you.
2. It is our business also to preach to you the instrument through which you may obtain this pardon. All that thou hast to do is to come to Him as thou art, and trust in Him where thou art. Cling to the Cross, thou shipwrecked sinner, and thou shalt never go down while clinging to that. You will be saved, not by repentings and tears, not by wailings or workings, or prayings. When thy soul saith by faith what Christ said in fact–It is finished, thou art saved, and thou mayest go thy way rejoicing.
3. We are also enjoined to preach about the character of this forgiveness of sin.
(1) When God pardons a mans sins, He pardons them all, never half leaving the rest in His book. Luther tells us of the devil, in a dream, bringing before him the long roll of his sins, and when he recited them, Luther said–Now write at the bottom, The blood of Jesus Christ, Gods Son, cleanseth us from all sin.
(2) It is a full pardon and it is a free pardon likewise. God never pardons any sinner from any other motive than His own pure grace. It cost the Saviour much; but it costs us nothing.
(3) It is irreversible. Whom God pardons He never condemns. Let Him once say, I absolve thee, and none can lay anything to our charge.
(4) Present pardon. It is a notion still current that you cannot know you are forgiven till you come to die. If you reckoned a clear profit of ten thousand pounds upon some speculation, and somebody said to you, Its all foolery! the proof would be unanswerable if you had received the amount. So the Christian can say, Being justified by faith we have peace with God.
II. The congregation which Paul addressed. Never mind the Jews and Gentiles. The verse is quite as applicable here as it was there. Unto you. My friend, it is no small privilege to be where this message can yet be heard. Tens of thousands have gone the way of all flesh, unpardoned. What would they give to have another opportunity? I said that this was a privilege; but it is a privilege which some of you have despised. Those who heard Paul had never heard it before. Many of you have heard it from your youth up. All the exhortations in the world are to you as if they were spoken to an iron column or a brazen wall! Why will ye die? When you die we shall have to think, Ah, that man is lost, and yet unto him was preached the forgiveness of sins! Well, notwithstanding that you have neglected the privilege, it is still preached unto you. Fain would I point with my finger to some of you, and say, Well, now, we really do mean you personally.
III. What became of them.
1. Some of them raved at a very great rate, until Paul shook off the dust of his feet against them, and went his way. But there was another class (Act 13:48). Here was his comfort–there were some upon whom there had been a blessed work, and those some believed. Now, you need not ask the question whether you are Gods elect. If you are Gods chosen ones, you will know it by your trusting in Jesus. But if thou believest not, thou art in the gall of bitterness and the bonds of iniquity. May eternal mercy bring thee out of that state at once. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Preaching the forgiveness of sins
I. An alarming fact in mans moral condition implied. Sin is–
1. Human.
2. Personal.
II. A Divine method of pardon declared.
1. Forgiveness.
2. Justification.
III. This blessing offered on easy and honourable terms. Not by purchase, doing, meriting, but by believing–
1. In Gods love.
2. In Christs readiness and power to save.
3. In Gods truth that He will save all who believe.
IV. This method and offer of salvation constituted by God a standing proclamation in His Church for the world. (J. Ross.)
The forgiveness of sins
1. Not the forgiveness of crimes. There may be sin where there is no crime. Crimes are social, between man and man, between man and human law. Crime can be measured, weighed, and punished. But who knows sin? Only God. I can forgive a crime, but I have no jurisdiction in the province of sin. If I have done you wrong and am sorry for it you can on the spot say, There is an end of it; but after that I must have some plain talk with God. After I have apologised I have still a grievous discontent with myself. How to get clear of that? and whilst I am debating this serious question a sweet voice says to me, Be it known unto you, etc. That is the word which a self-convicted, sin-burdened soul most eagerly delights to hear. But he must have felt the bitterness and guiltiness of sin before he can feel the need of such a gospel. When his heart is in a right state then the Cross becomes heaven to him, and the gospel the cry of God seeking His lost child.
2. In making this statement I lay all who are not yet forgiven under a tremendous responsibility. A man cannot hear a gospel sermon and be the same after as before. You are on one side of a great swollen river and want to cross it to get home. I come and say, Be it known unto you that I have found a bridge. The fact of my telling you so alters the complexion of the whole case. You must prove me a liar before you can get back to your former state of negative responsibility. You are bound to say, Where? I am bound to tell you where; and if, after having pointed out the bridge, you will not go home those on the other side have a right to condemn you. Brethren, you are on one side and truth on the other. An infinite distance lies between; but Paul says it is bridged by Christ. You are bound to accept or disprove the statement. If not to die. You are suffering from a great plague. I come and say, Be it known unto you, I have found a balm which has never failed. Your state of responsibility is changed from that moment. Prove me false, or accept the remedy, or die. We are dying, and Jesus is set forth as the forgiveness of sins. No man, therefore, can hear that statement, and be the same after it as before.
3. How little is this word forgiveness understood, however we may assume we understand it. We sometimes ignorantly say, Why does not God forgive all men, and make an end of sin? He cannot. You cannot. We must be willing to be forgiven. I may say, if you have wronged me, Sir, I forgive you, and you may contemptuously refuse to be forgiven. But if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive, etc. Did He forgive the Pharisee? How could He? The Pharisee confessed nothing. Whom did He forgive? The poor self-accusing creature who cried, God be merciful to me a sinner. So it is with us.
4. When God forgives, what happens? He forgets. I will remember no more. Where there is no forgetting there is no forgiving. What does God do with our sins when He has forgiven them? He casts them behind Him. Where is that? He puts them away as far as the East is from the West. How far is that?
5. Here, then, is forgiveness. God is waiting I am authorised to say. Are you ready? But I do not understand. Sir, your understanding will damn you, if you use it so. Do you feel your need? Then believe. The apostle distinctly says there is only one way–through faith in Christ. If there were but one door to this hall, and the guide said, This is the door, what folly to seek elsewhere or try to climb up to the windows. To take his word simply is to save time and promote comfort. But Paul is only one man–then I call the innumerable multitude who have believed his word and been forgiven to corroborate him. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Full and free pardon
I. Through this man. Such a man as there never was nor will be–God manifest in the flesh, the brightness of His Fathers glory, and the express image of His person. In consequence of this union He becomes the proper object of our faith, and therefore the proper object of our preaching. If Jesus Christ were but a mere man, we could not have preached pardon through Him. What merit could there be in the actions or sufferings of a mere man? For, when he had done all, he would only have done what was commanded him. Gold in bullion is valuable, but it is not the circulating medium of the country, and, before it can become so, it must be melted down and stamped with the kings arms and image. Now, if Christ had been the best of mere men, His actions and sufferings would have been mere gold in the bullion, not the circulating medium. But when I consider the Divine nature in union with the human, then I see that they are stamped with the kings arms and image, and thus they become the circulating medium of salvation, and they will pay every mans debts on this side hell.
II. We point you to this Man on the Cross, and you there see Him bearing our sins in His own body on the tree. There is infinite merit in the sacrifice of this Godman. Prophets looked at Him on the Cross, and they saw and proclaimed pardon through Him, and the sole song of heavens joy is, He has redeemed us to God by His blood. We cannot tell why Jesus Christ did suffer and die, except on the ground of atonement. He could not suffer and die on His own account. The soul that sinneth it shall die; but, as Jesus Christ never had sinned, therefore He had no right to die. On the contrary, by the letter of the law, he had a right to live. Do this and thou shalt live. Rationally, we can give no account except this: He died, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. When you look at the Cross, and see the infinite value of the sacrifice, you need not wonder that we preach through this Man the forgiveness of sins.
III. This is just the very blessing we want. Look at the poor man condemned to be hanged. A messenger might be sent to say, His majesty has graciously taken your ease into consideration, and I have brought you a purse with a thousand sovereigns. The poor man would say, What good can they do me? I must be hanged tomorrow. Well, but I have another message; he has considered your case, and sent you the title deeds to an estate of 50,000 a year. What will that do for me? I may be hanged to morrow. Stop; I have another proposition to make; I have brought you his coronation robe, the richest robe that ever covered a monarch. The man bursts into tears; he says, Do you intend to mock me? What a creature I shall appear when I ascend the scaffold with the coronation robe! But what, no news–none at all? I have another word; his majesty has taken your case into consideration, and sent you a pardon, signed and sealed by the great seal of the king. Here, I have brought you a pardon–what do you say to that? The poor man looks at him and says that he doubts it is too good news to be true. Then he leaps and praises. But the messenger says, I have not done; I have got you the pardon, and here is the purse of gold, the title deeds, and the robe into the bargain! So we preach pardon through the blood of the Lamb, and more than simple pardon. Not merely is the displeasure of God removed, but His favour enjoyed. Not merely is the pardoned sinner made a subject, but a child, brought to the kings palace, and made an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ.
IV. And how must we obtain it? Whosoever believeth. Where a sinner believes the testimony of God, that he is a guilty sinner, sees the evil of his sin, the danger of his state, and feels a deep abhorrence of himself, a deep hatred to sin, and breathes out his soul in prayer–I do not say that he shall obtain remission of sins, but that is a preparatory operation that must take place, more or less, in all our souls. Remission of sins is not attached to believing Gods record concerning Himself, but the eye turns itself out of itself, out of its own sins, out of its own weakness, and fixes itself upon the Lord Jesus Christ, in the dignity of His person, the virtue of His sacrificed the prevalence of His mediatorial office, this riches of His love. And then, when it looks to Jesus, there is in Christ everything that the guilty sinner wants. Here is the pardon presented, but he can bring no price. What, then, can he do? Why, he can open his hands and receive the blood-bought, freely-offered pardon for all his transgressions.
V. There is no other system in the world that, at the same time that it brings pardon to the sinner, brings the highest glory to God. Here is pardon, the fullest and the freest. Even in the Mosaic economy there were some sins for which there was no propitiatory sacrifice, and consequently those who lived under that economy could not be justified from all things. But the soul that believeth on Jesus Christ is justified from all things. And then it brings the highest glory to God, for He is glorified in the very exhibition of pardon to a ruined world. Some may say that to look for mere pardon and acceptance is a narrow and selfish principle; that we should look to a higher object, viz., the glory of God. Well, when I am pardoned, God is glorified, the plan of salvation, the merits of Christ, the goodness and holiness of God are glorified. When our Lord was a babe in the manger, angels sang, Glory to God in the highest. I think we can sing it better now that He is a prince on the throne. We cannot glorify God without loving Him, and how can we love Him without being pardoned? Having much forgiven, we love much; and when we love much, we shall glorify God. We glorify God when we prize Him. When the sinner obtains pardon, he says, I will praise thee, though Thou wast angry with me. God is glorified by our devotedness. We glorify God with our bodies and our spirits, which are His. (W. Dawson.)
Justification by faith
Consider–
I. That mankind are naturally, and without Christ, in a state of guilt and condemnation. This proposition is here implied; it is that upon which the whole statement of the apostle proceeds; for it would be idle to talk of forgiveness of sins, and to press it on the acceptance of those who are not sinners. God made man holy. To holy man he gave a holy law, which partook of the nature of a covenant. The language of it was, Do it, and thou shalt live; but in the day that thou transgresseth, thou shalt die. The first man, the federal head of the whole human race, did transgress, and by transgression forfeited, for himself and for our race, the blessing of obedience, the blessing of the covenant, and incurred the penalty of the law–that is, he forfeited the right to life, and he incurred the punishment of death. From him we all derive a nature which–like his after his apostasy–was alienated from God, and inclined to evil The effect of this is that, when temptations occur, we all act again the part which he acted before us. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The wrath of God abideth on them.
II. That proof this natural, condition men cannot extricate themselves. Ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. This undoubtedly includes a reference to the sacrifices and other ritual observances of the law. But we are sinners of the Gentiles, and are in no danger of relying on Jewish ceremonies. It is necessary, however, that we be convinced that we cannot be justified by the works of the moral law. To show you this you have only to look at what kind of obedience it is that the law requires when it says, Do this, and thou shalt live. In order to your justification by law, the law requires an obedience perfect–
1. In its principles and motives. The law of God is spiritual, and will not be content with an external obedience. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, etc. This law of God is so spiritual that it charges an idle thought as actual wickedness, a licentious desire as adultery, anger of heart as murder. Now, will any man stand the scrutiny of such a law as this?
2. In its practice and performance. On the one hand there are some who appeal to what they think the very tolerable, or even commendable regularity, of their outward conduct, and they ask whether they may not claim to be justified. Our last observation met their inquiry. But there are others who allow they have done that which they ought not to have done, but appeal to the supposed goodness of their hearts. We meant well. We have failed in the performance, but will not God take the will for the deed? Now, the second observation is meant to correct that. The law will not take the will for the deed, or the deed for the will. Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. There must be actual and perfect performance in order to sustain the plea on the ground of your own works to life eternal. It is not enough to say that you thoroughly approve of the law; you may approve of it, and yet transgress it. It is not enough to say that you really desire to fulfil the law; the law makes justification depend not on desiring to keep the law, but on actually keeping it. It is not enough to say you have really used your strenuous endeavours to keep the law of God. The question is not whether you have been endeavouring, but whether you have performed it to the letter. Now how is it possible that any of us should stand on that ground before God?
3. In its extent, In all things. It is not enough, therefore, to show that you have kept some of Gods precepts. It is very possible that you may have continued in those parts of the law regulating your intercourse with the world, and yet have been extremely faulty in reference to those parts which relate to your feelings and conduct towards God. Now can you meet God on such ground as that?
4. In its duration. Think again of the passage already cited. Cursed is he that continueth not from the first moment at which personal responsibility commences to the latest period of his life in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them. Oh! how inconceivably vain are all self-righteous hopes!
III. That what the law thus fails of accomplishing, through no defects of its own (for it is in every respect perfect and good), but through the perversity and weakness of human nature, the gospel offers freely to impart.
1. Forgiveness of sins, that is, the remission of the penalty due to the commission of guilt.
(1) This is not the alteration or diminution in the slightest degree of that intense abhorrence of sin which God must ever feel. He does not come to the conclusion, upon a view of all the particulars, that because the law has been severe the sinner is to be excused. It is part of the imperfection of human laws that such things as these sometimes occur, but which never can occur in reference to the perfect law of an infinitely wise and righteous lawgiver, who makes no mistakes, who has no errors to correct.
(2) But though there is no change in Gods views of sin when He pardons it, there is great and almost infinite change in its consequences in His dealings with the sinner. When sin is pardoned, that curse is entirely taken away, and the blessedness of righteousness comes in.
2. The same transaction, substantially, is called justification. To be justified is to be accounted righteous, and to be treated as righteous. And the pardoned man, being thus at the same time accounted righteous, becomes entitled to blessings of unspeakable value. He has peace, is adopted into the family of God, is entitled to the inheritance of children.
IV. That for this great and unspeakable blessing provided for us in the gospel we are altogether indebted meritoriously to the Lord Jesus Christ. Through this Man and by Him. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us for the purpose of saving us. You owe your pardon, justification, and all subsequent blessings–
1. To this Mans holy and spotless life. The perfect purity of our Saviour was essential to His becoming an accepted sacrifice for the sins of men. According to the law none but a lamb without blemish could be accepted.
2. To this Mans death on the Cross. Not all the condescension implied in His assuming our nature, not all the sublimity of His doctrines, could have availed to the salvation of men.
3. To this Mans resurrection from the dead. He was delivered for our offences, but raised again for our justification. Hence to the apostles Jesus and the resurrection was the great point to which they bare testimony. Not that His resurrection was the meritorious consideration on which God extended pardon, but that the resurrection bore a satisfactory attestation to the death which did atone. For if there had been no real death, there could not be a real resurrection.
4. To this Mans ascension and to His mediatorial administration of all the affairs of His spiritual kingdom. He has ascended on high; He has led captivity captive; He has received gifts for men, etc. The dispensation of those blessings which He procured for our race is entrusted to His own hands; out of His fulness it is that we receive the grace of penitence and faith, and that seals the pardon by the Spirit of adoption.
V. That, in order to the personal appropriation of the blessings thus procured by Christ, faith is required as the appointed instrument. By Him all that believe are justified. No unbeliever is justified. Let us learn from this that the forgiveness of sin is not a very rare and extraordinary thing. Some objectors say that the enjoyment rather belongs to persons of eminent attainments in religion, or that it is the recompense for some eminent sacrifice for Christ and conscience. But the text says that all who believe are justified. And this is in accordance with St. Johns testimony: I write unto you little children, because your sins are forgiven you, for His names sake. So that even the weakest believer has the forgiveness of sins. What, then, is that believing to which such important consequences are attached?
1. It is not merely education, the faith which results from our having the privilege of being born in a Christian land. It is not the historical faith merely which results from the exercise of our judgment upon Divine revelation, its evidence, and its contents. The heart must be brought to bear on the truth thus apprehended, the will must embrace it, and the affections must be called forth and exercised by it. It is a believing with the heart that is unto righteousness. There may be the evil heart of unbelief where there is not the smallest approach to theoretical and speculative infidelity.
2. And then, to come a little nearer still, it is not merely that going out after God in penitential desire, and with that measure of hope and anticipation which belongs to the true penitent. A man effectually convinced of sin cannot but go out after Christ in penitential desire, for he perceives that without Christ he is undone. This faith implies the actual laying hold upon Christ by the power of the Eternal Spirit with believing, trust, and reliance.
3. Do you wish to get a clearer and more distinct view of it? I tell you how it is to be done; you must make the experiment; you will never understand it till you practise it. In the exercise of penitent and self-renouncing and self-despairing feelings turn your eye to Christ; look on Him that you may be saved. Look off from everything else; look off from yourself, from every other pretended saviour; look to Jesus; and while you are thus looking, the aid of the Holy Spirit will be imparted to you, and you will perform that special and distinct act of faith which is trusting on Christ, which is believing with the heart unto righteousness; and while you are performing, when you thus perform it, you will understand it better. (Jabez Bunting, D. D.)
Forgiveness is free for all who believe
I recollect in Martin Luthers life that he saw, in one of the Romish churches, a picture of the Pope, and the cardinals, and bishops, and priests, and monks, and friars, all on board a ship. They were all safe, every one of them. As for the laity, poor wretches, they were struggling in the sea, and many of them drowning. Only those were saved to whom the good men in the ship were so kind as to hand out a rope or a plank. That is not our Lords teaching; His blood is shed for many, and not for the few. He is not the Christ of a caste, or a class, but the Christ of all conditions of men. His blood is shed for many sinners, that their sins may be remitted. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Salvation is through Christ only
I recollect a story told of William Dawson, whom our Wesleyan friends used to call Billy Dawson, one of the best preachers that ever entered a pulpit. He once gave out as his text, Through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. When he had given out his text he dropped down to the bottom of the pulpit, so that nothing could be seen of him, only there was a voice heard saying, Not the man in the pulpit–he is out of sight–but the Man in the book. The Man described in the book is the Man through whom is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. I put myself and you and everybody else out of sight, and I preach to you the remission of sins through Jesus only. I would sing with the children, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Shut your eyes to all things but the Cross. Jesus died, and rose again, and went to heaven, and all your hope must go with Him! Come, my hearer, take Jesus by a distinct act of faith this morning! May God the Holy Ghost constrain thee to do so, and then thou mayest go on thy way rejoicing! So be it in the name of Jesus. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Gods forgiveness
A Christian worker says: We were asked one day to call and see a poor woman who was very ill. We found her worn and faint, in a state of extreme discomfort and poverty. In the room were screaming children, whose mother was loudly bidding them Be still, or shed beat them, so that at first it seemed doubtful whether the invalid would be able to listen to anything. Its all there, said the poor woman, laying her hand on her chest, and dont leave me night nor day. I cant get rid of the burden! Our efforts to arrange the pillow and straighten the rags meant for bed clothes did not afford any relief. No, my dear, its not that, its not that. Its all my sins as Ive done ever since I was a child: they come up before me, and lie there so heavy. They tell me I must die; but I cant. Now, listen, and I will tell you of a man who felt just as you did, only perhaps worse. He was so bad that he could not keep from roaring day and night. He could not lie still as you can; and he said, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. When I kept silence my bones waxed old, through my roaring all the day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me. Oh, broke in the woman, thats like me; and what did he do? I acknowledged my sin unto Thee. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and on explaining what this was, the poor woman started up in bed, took hold of my arm, and, with an eagerness beyond description, asked, What did the Lord say? What did God say to him? And Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin; for this shall everyone pray unto Thee. No more need be told. The woman acknowledged her sins, and Davids God spake forgiveness to her heart through Jesus Christ. From that day the burden was gone, and the praise that rose from that sick bed continuous.
Justification by faith
Luther sought rest for his troubled breast in self-denial and retirement as a monk, but did not find it. In 1500 he started as a delegate for Rome, hoping to find relief from his burden there. As he came in sight of the city he fell on his knees, exclaiming, Holy Rome! I salute thee. He was disappointed and shocked at the wickedness which he found there. The people said to him, if there is a hell, Rome is built over it. At last he turned to ascend Pilates staircase, thronged by the superstitious crowd, upon his knees. He toiled from step to step, repeating his prayers at everyone, till a voice of thunder seemed to cry within him, The just shall live by faith. Instantly he rose, saw the folly of his hopes of relief through works of merit. A new life followed his new light. Seven years after he nailed his theses to the door of the Wittenberg church, and inaugurated the Reformation. (Christian Age.)
From which ye could not be Justified by the law of Moses.—
The superiority of the gospel to the law
The law cannot save, for by the deeds of the law no flesh is justified; but the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The law is all righteousness–the gospel all grace. The law can only justify the just; the gospel justifies the sinner. The law is a royal chariot that will convey the perfect man to heaven, but it is a Juggernaut car which crushes the rebel under its wheels. The law can only declare a man just; the gospel makes him just. The law demands obedience, but it never helps men to obey; the gospel effectually helps those who cannot help themselves. The law cries out, Do this and live; the gospel, in gentler tones, says, Believe and live. The law has a prison in which to punish; the gospel has a reformatory in which to save. The law is a taskmaster sternly commanding; the gospel is a philanthropist generously helping and inspiring. The law can only show the sins; the gospel, with an almighty fling, casts them into the depths of the sea. The law can say, If Thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, who shall stand? The gospel gives the grand reply, There is forgiveness with Thee. The law can say, Sin hath abounded; the gospel, Grace hath much more abounded. The law has not saved one soul; the gospel has saved its myriads. Thank God that where the law fails the gospel triumphs. (J. Ossian Davies.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 38. Be it known unto you, therefore] This is the legitimate conclusion: seeing the word of God is true, and he has promised an endless succession to the seed of David; seeing David and all his family have failed in reference to the political kingdom, a spiritual kingdom and a spiritual succession must be intended, that the sure covenant and all its blessings may be continued. Again: seeing the person by whom this is to be done is to see no corruption; – seeing David has died, and has seen (fallen under the power of) corruption; – seeing Jesus the Christ has wrought all the miracles which the prophets said he should work;-seeing he has suffered all the indignities which your prophets said he must suffer; – seeing after his death he has most incontestably risen again from the dead, and has not fallen under the power of corruption,-then he must be the very person in whom all the predictions are fulfilled, and the person through whom all the blessings of the covenant must come.
Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins] See the notes on Ac 5:30; Ac 5:31. Remission of sins, the removal of the power, guilt, and pollution of sin comes alone through this man, whom ye crucified, and who is risen from the dead.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Men and brethren; the usual compellation given in these cases.
This man; having spoken concerning Christs resurrection, which only can be meant of him in his human nature, here, according unto that nature, the apostle calls him man.
The forgiveness of sins; as in Act 10:43. This forgiveness of sins is that which the apostle so much would recommend to all to seek after, and magnify Christ for, it heing only through him; and he could not be overcome by death, who could deliver us from sin.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
38-41. the forgiveness of sinsthefirst necessity of the sinner, and so the first experienced blessingof the Gospel.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren,…. The apostle having discoursed concerning the incarnation of Christ, his death and resurrection, proceeds to take notice of some particular benefits and blessings of grace arising from thence, which are published and made known to the sons of men in the everlasting Gospel, as were now to the Jews by Paul and Barnabas; such as forgiveness of sins through the blood of Christ, and justification by his righteousness; the former of them is mentioned in this verse, the latter in the next:
that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; forgiveness of sins, which is sometimes expressed by a non-imputation of them, a non-remembrance of them, a covering and putting them away, and a blotting them out, is an act of free grace and mercy, and yet is through the blood of Christ; through that believers have it; Christ is exalted as a Prince and a Saviour to give it, having by his blood procured it; and this is a principal doctrine of the Gospel, which is published in his name, and which the light of nature and law of Moses know nothing of, and cannot ascertain; the prophets bear testimony to this truth, that everyone that believes in Christ shall receive the remission of sins, of all his sins. That there is a God is known by the light of nature, and that sin is an offence unto him; but by it is not known in what way offended Deity is appeased; nor does it, nor can it assure any that God will forgive sin on any account whatever; not on account of mercy in him, nor on account of good works, or of repentance in them; God, as the God of nature, does not forgive sin, but as the God of grace: and though the law of Moses declares what is good, and gives knowledge of evil, yet admits not of repentance as a satisfaction for sin committed; nor does it represent God as merciful, but as just, and so accuses, condemns, and kills: the doctrine of forgiveness is a pure doctrine of the Gospel; and when it is preached aright, it is preached through Christ, not through the works of the law, not through repentance, nor through faith, nor through the absolute mercy of God, but through Christ, through the blood of Christ, which was shed to obtain it in a way consistent with the justice of God; and through his hands it is given. When Christ is called a “man”, it must not be thought that he is a mere man; he is God as well as man; had he been a mere man, forgiveness of sin could not have been by his blood, or through his name, or for his sake; it is because he is God, truly and properly God, that there is a virtue in his blood to take away sin, and cleanse from it; see 1Jo 1:7 Besides, the word “man” is not in the original text, it is only “through this is preached to you”; that is, through this glorious and divine person, who, though he died as man, and was buried, yet saw no corruption, and is now raised from the dead, and is at the right hand of God. Some copies read , because of this, or for this reason; seeing he is raised from the dead, therefore the doctrine of the remission of sins is preached; for if he had died, and had not risen again, there could have been no pardon by his blood, nor justification by his righteousness; see Ro 4:25.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Through this man ( ). This very man whom the Jews had crucified and whom God had raised from the dead. Remission of sins ( ) is proclaimed () to you. This is the keynote of Paul’s message as it had been that of Peter at Pentecost (Acts 2:38; Acts 5:31; Acts 10:43). Cf. 26:18. This glorious message Paul now presses home in his exhortation.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1 ) “Be it known unto you therefore,” (gnoston oun esto humin) “Let it therefore be recognized (known) to you all,” to all of you, as a grand and glorious result or consequence of His being the Messiah, Redeemer, or Deliverer, Luk 1:68-79; Luk 2:29-32; Luk 2:38.
2) “Men and brethren,” (andres adelphoi) “Brethren as responsible men,” or brethren-, men of my own flesh, Jews, for whom He prayed, for whose salvation He also yearned, Rom 9:1-3; Rom 10:1-4.
3) “That through this man,” (hoti dia toutou) “That thru the person of this man,” thru Jesus Christ, the resurrected, ascended, interceding Son of God, who presides as High Priest now in heaven, Luk 19:10; Act 10:43; Heb 7:25; 1Jn 2:1-2.
4) “Is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:(humin aphesis hamartion katagelletai) “Is announced, proclaimed, or preached, to you all the forgiveness or pardon of sins,” thru faith in His name, Joh 1:8-9; Isa 53:11; Act 4:12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
38. Therefore, be it known unto you. After that he hath declared the mean whereby salvation is purchased through Christ, he doth now intreat of his office and power. And this is the principal point, to know what good things we have by the coming of Christ, and what we are to hope for at his hands. And although Luke setteth down in a word that Paul preached of the benefits of Christ, yet there is no cause why any man should doubt but that so great matters were handled weightily, and only according as their dignity did require. By this word, Be it known unto you, Paul meaneth that nothing should hinder them from knowing such an excellent and plain matter, save only sloth; and that, therefore, it was an absurd thing that those benefits of God should be hidden from the faithful which were offered by Christ. For he was sent with the shrill preaching of the gospel, which our faith ought to hear, that it may enter into the sure possession of his good things; for we must know what he is, that we may enjoy him truly. Forgiveness of sins is set first, whereby God doth reconcile us unto himself. That which God will have preached to all his people doth he show to be necessary for all men; for Paul speaketh not to one or two, but to all the Jews which were at Antioch.
Therefore, we must first mark that we be all enemies to God through sin, (Col 2:13.) Whereupon it followeth that we are all excluded from the kingdom of God, and are given over to eternal death, until God receive us to favor by the free forgiveness of sins. We must also note this, that God doth pardon to us our sins, and that he is reconciled through the Mediator, because like as without him there is no satisfaction, so neither is there any pardon or forgiveness of guiltiness. These be principles of our faith which are not learned in the schools of the philosophers, that all mankind is condemned and drowned in sin, that there is in us no righteousness which is able to reconcile us to God; that the only hope of salvation resteth in his mercy, whilst that he doth freely forgive us; and that those remain under the guilt which fly not unto Christ, and seek not forgiveness (823) in his death.
And from all things. He doth secretly prevent that which might seem contrary to the former doctrine. For look how many ceremonies of the law there were, so many exercises were there to obtain remission of sins. Therefore, the Jews might readily object, If he alone do reconcile God to us, our sins being done away, to what end serve so many washings and sacrifices, which we have hitherto used according to the prescript of the law? Therefore, lest the ceremonies of the law hinder the Jews, Paul teacheth that Christ doth that which they were not able to do. Not that Paul spake so briefly and compendiously, (for he did not hope that the Jews would at the first come unto Christ, casting from them suddenly the affiance which they had in the righteousness of the law;) but it was sufficient for Luke briefly to collect (824) the sum of those things which he then taught in just and due order. His meaning is, that the Mediator took away that let from the Jews wherein they did stick. The ceremonial law ought indeed to have been a schoolmaster to lead them by the hand unto Christ; all rites commanded by God were helps to help and further their faith; but as men use preposterously to corrupt the holy ordinances of God, they stop the way before themselves by their ceremonies, and they shut the gate of faith, that they could not come to Christ. They thought they had righteousness in sacrifices; that by washings was gotten true cleanness; that God was pleased with them so soon as they had ended their external pomp: in sum, forsaking the body, they laid hold upon vain shadows. God did indeed appoint no unprofitable or vain thing in the law; wherefore ceremonies were sure and undoubted testimonies of remission of sins. For God did not lie in these words, Let the sinner do sacrifice, and his iniquity shall be purged. But as Christ was the end of the law, and the heavenly pattern of the tabernacle, so the force and effect of all ceremonies did depend upon him; whereby it is proved that they were vain shadows, when he was set aside, (Heb 8:5.) Now we see Paul’s drift and purpose; to wit, that he meant to draw away the Jews from the false and perverse confidence which they reposed in the law; lest being puffed up, they should think that they had no need of Christ’s help, or lest they should seek only external felicity in him.
Be justified in the law. This place doth plainly show what the word justified doth import in all other places where it is used; to wit, to be delivered and acquitted. There was mention made of remission of sins; Paul affirmeth that there is no other way whereby we can obtain the same but the grace of Christ. Lest any man should object that there be remedies to be found in the law, he answereth that there was in them no force. Therefore the sense is plain, that they cannot be justified from sin in the law, because the rites of the law were neither just nor lawful prices to remove guiltiness; they were nothing worth of themselves to deserve righteousness, neither were they sufficient recompenses to appease God. Certainly, it cannot be denied (but wickedly) that that justification annexed to remission of sins is, as it were, the means and way to obtain the same. For what else doth Paul go about but to confirm that saying, that our sins are forgiven us through the benefit of Christ, by answering contrary objections? And he proveth it, because neither satisfactions, neither all the rites of the law, call justify us from sin. Therefore he is justified by Christ, who is freely loosed from the guilt and judgment of eternal death to which he was subject. This is the righteousness of faith, whilst that God counteth us just, by not imputing our sins.
This only propriety of the word is sufficient to refute the cavils of the Papists, who hold that we are not justified by pardon or by free accepting, but by habit and infused righteousness. Therefore, let us not suffer them to rend in pieces unworthily and wickedly this text of Paul, when he saith that they are justified from all things, that we may be assured of remission of sins. And now we must know that the law of Moses is set against Christ, as the principal mean to obtain righteousness, if there had been any besides Christ. Paul disputeth, indeed, of ceremonies; but we must note that there was nothing omitted in them which might serve to purge sins and to appease God. Yet there was not one of all the ceremonies of the law which did not make man guilty, as a new handwriting; as Paul teacheth, Col 2:14. What then? Assuredly God meant to testify that men are justified by the death of his Son alone, because he made him sin for us who did [knew] no sin, that we might have righteousness in him, (2Co 5:21.) Whereupon it followeth that whatsoever satisfactions are invented by men, they tend to rob Christ of his honor. In the law and in Christ signify as much as by the law and by Christ, according to the Hebrew phrase.
From all things. By this member is refuted the wicked invention of the Papists, who teach that only original sin and actual sins committed before baptism are clearly and freely forgiven by Christ, and that others are redeemed by satisfactions. But Paul saith plainly that we are justified from sins by Christ throughout the whole course of our life. For we must remember that the ceremonies [rites] of the law were committed to the Jews, that as well the profit as the use thereof might flourish daily in the Church; that is, that the Jews might indeed understand that their sacrifices and washings were not continually reiterated in vain. If the truth and substance of them be found in Christ, it followeth that there is no other satisfaction or sacrifice to put away sins but his death; otherwise there should be no analogy or proportion between this and the old figures. The Papists call us back unto repentance and the keys, as if the ceremonies of the law were not exercises to think upon repentance, and as if the power of the keys were not annexed unto them. But the faith of the godly was holpen by such helps, that they might fly unto the grace of the Mediator alone. Therefore, let this remain sure and certain that the righteousness which we have in Christ is not for one day or a moment, but it is everlasting, as the sacrifice of his death doth daily reconcile us to God.
(823) “ Expiationem… peccati,” expiation of sin.
(824) “ Perstringere,” glance at.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(38) Men and brethren.Better, brethren, simply.
Is preached . . .The force of the Greek tense emphasises the fact that the forgiveness was, at that very moment, in the act of being proclaimed or preached.
Forgiveness of sins.This forms the key-note of St. Pauls preaching (here and in Act. 26:18), as it had done of St. Peters (Act. 2:38; Act. 5:31; Act. 10:43), as it had done before of that of the Baptist (Mar. 1:4; Luk. 3:3), and of our Lord Himself (Mat. 9:2; Mat. 9:6; Luk. 7:47; Luk. 24:47). It was the ever-recurring burden of the glad tidings which were preached alike by all.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. The general conclusion; salvation by faith in Jesus , Act 13:38-41 .
With a fresh vocative, men and brethren, Paul now gathers up the summary conclusion. This mission of joy must be accepted as the only deliverance from ultimate ruin. The ruin is not part of the message proper, but is the result from which the message would rescue.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
38. Through this man For, perfect man as Jesus is, it is through his great name the salvation must come.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Be it known to you therefore, men, brethren, that through this man is proclaimed to you remission of sins, and by him every one who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.”
‘Be it known to you therefore.’ As a result of what he has declared about Jesus certain things necessarily follow and should be heeded. We must remember here that the full content of his speech would have been a lot more and that some of his points would have been applied in more depth.
‘Men. brethren.’ All are included, whether Jew, proselyte or God-fearer.
‘Through this man is proclaimed to you remission (forgiveness) of sins.’ Through Jesus forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed. Why? Because as the innocent One He suffered cursing by being hung on a tree. Because He suffered for sins not His own. And because He was then vindicated and raised again from the dead demonstrating that those sins had been dealt with for ever. Because He was the living embodiment of the suffering Servant in Isaiah 53, Who was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities..
And it should be noted what this forgiveness involves. It is not speaking of being ‘let off’ It is speaking of having the sin ‘remitted’, ‘sent away’, ‘removed’, put behind God’s back. The forgiven person is made as though they had never sinned.
‘And by him every one who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.’ And the result of full forgiveness is that the forgiven one who believes is ‘justified’, is ‘legally pronounced righteous’, being free from the guilt of all their sin. They stand there as though they had not sinned. The law of Moses could not do this. The law of Moses could only declare a person ‘justified’ where there had been complete obedience. But none stood before God completely obedient, therefore none could be justified by the Law.
It is pedantic nonsense to argue about whether someone could be ‘partly justified’ by the Law, with the remainder being made up by forgiveness. Partial justification is no justification at all. That is to treat sin as a thing. But it is not the sin that is being judged, it is the man. It is not the action that is being either justified or declared guilty but the man. Either the man is wholly a sinner or he is wholly not a sinner. It is not possible to be half and half. The question is not whether some particular action can be justified but whether each man stands there justified, cleared on all counts. And the answer in all cases is that if the standard is the law he is wholly guilty. The law shrieks out again and again, ‘you are the lawbreaker, you are guilty, guilty, guilty’. Thus by the works of the law shall no man be found guiltless, for by the law is the knowledge of sin (Gal 3:10). He who has offended on one point is guilty of all (Jas 2:10).
And how is this justification and forgiveness achieved? Through His cross. We have nothing to do, He has done all. What then is necessary to our salvation? The answer is faith. Not as a work that we must do but as a response which will come from our hearts through the working of the Holy Spirit within us as we learn what He has done for us. No man there chose whether he would believe. Some believed and responded because they were prepared ground. They were open to Paul’s words, and to the Holy Spirit at work in their hearts. And as they heard response welled up within them. Others rejected because the ground was hard, or weed-ridden. They rejected the working of the Spirit. Yet in the end each responded as he would. They could not blame God.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Paul’s Message – Part 3. He Calls For a Genuine Response To God’s Offer of Mercy (13:38-41).
The conclusion of the sermon:
v. 38. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins;
v. 39: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses.
v. 40. Beware therefore lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets,
v. 41. Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.
v. 42. And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.
v. 43. Now, when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.
Since the facts adduced by Paul proved the Messiahship of Jesus, he could now continue his discourse by offering to his hearers the benefit of Christ’s mediation before God. He wants it clearly understood by all that through Christ, through the power and completeness of His redemption, forgiveness of sins is announced to them, not as a prize to be earned or merited, but as a gift to be accepted. Paul literally declares: And from all that they could not receive absolution and righteousness from in the Law of Moses, in this every one that believes is justified. Far from yielding to the Law any ability to justify, as some commentators have believed, Paul rather denies that there is such a thing as justification by the Law. He appeals to the experience of his hearers. In spite of all their efforts to fulfill the Law, they must have had the feeling that all such attempts were hopelessly inadequate. The harder they tried to live up to every demand of the Law, the more. they must feel the condemnation, not the justification, of the Law. All the more necessary, then, it was for them to turn to Christ, in whom every one that believes is justified. His words imply that the justification, the righteousness of Jesus, is present before all men, but that only such as accept its blessings by faith actually join the ranks of those that are justified before God. To impress these last points upon his audience, Paul adds a final word of warning. They should beware lest the saying in the book of the prophets find its application with them, Hab 1:5: See, you shameless people, and wonder, and perish, for a work I do in your days, a work which you will not believe, even if someone explain it to you. That is the punishment which strikes such as despise the message of the Gospel and harden their hearts against its glories. They see, but do not understand; they wonder, but do not believe; they become the prey of spiritual and, finally, of eternal death. The great work of redemption through the merits of Christ, done before their very eyes, they will not, and therefore finally they cannot believe, no matter how often it is pictured to them. This warning is fully in order today. Every one that hears and reads the Word of the Gospel should be sure to make the application to himself and accept the comfort of the forgiveness of sins earned by Christ, lest he receive the mercy of God in vain. The discourse of Paul made a deep impression, even though no immediate emotional reaction occurred. As he and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, those that were present earnestly begged them to repeat all these words, to proclaim the Gospel-message to them again on one of the days between the Sabbath, that is, on Monday and Thursday, when services were also held in the synagogue. And when the services of the morning had been closed an& the assembly dismissed, many of the Jews, the descendants of Abraham, as well as pious proselytes, such Gentiles as had accepted the Jewish doctrine and by circumcision become proselytes of the covenant, followed Paul and Barnabas, and the missionaries took the opportunity to talk to them and to exhort them to hold firmly to the grace of God. When people have once shown an interest in the message of the Gospel, they must be encouraged again and again to put their trust in, and cling firmly to, the grace of God. The power of the Spirit in the message will do the rest.
Act 13:38-39 . ] through this one , i.e. through His being announced to you .
] and that from all things, from which ( = , see on Act 13:2 ) ye were unable to be justified in the law of Moses, every one who believes in this One is justified .
] is pregnant: justified and accordingly freed (in respect of the bond of guilt) from all things . Rom 6:7 ; Sir 26:29 ; Test. XII. patr. p. 540.
and the emphatic represent the as causally grounded , not in the law, but in Christ. But the proposition that one becomes justified in Christ by means of faith from all things ( i.e. from all sins; comp. before ), from which one cannot obtain justification in the law, is not meant to affirm that already in the law there is given a partial attainment of justification and the remainder is attained in Christ (Schwegler, nachapost. Zeitalt. II. p. 96 f.; admitted also by Zeller, p. 299), which would be un-Pauline and contrary to the whole of the N.T. On the contrary, Paul, when laying down that proposition in itself entirely correct, leaves the circumstance, that man finds in the law justification from no kind of sins, still entirely out of account, with great prudence not adopting at once an antinomistic attitude, but reserving the particulars of the doctrine of justification in its relation to the law for eventually further Christian instruction. The proposition is of a general, theoretic nature; it is only the major proposition of the doctrine of justification (from all things from which a man is not justified in the law , he is justified in Christ by faith); the minor proposition (but in the law a man can be justified from nothing ) and the conclusion (therefore only in Christ can all justification be obtained) are still kept back and reserved for further development. Therefore the shift of Neander, I. p. 145, is entirely unnecessary, who (comp. also Schneckenburger, p. 131, and Lekebusch, p. 334) very arbitrarily assumes that is designed to denote only the completeness of the removal of guilt, and that, properly speaking, Paul has had it in view to refer the relative to the whole idea of , but by a kind of logical attraction has referred it to .
We may add that the view (Wolf and others, following the Vulgate), according to which is taken as an independent proposition (as it is also by Lachmann, who has erased , after A C* ), is also admissible, although less in keeping with the flow of the discourse, which connects the negative element ( .) and the positive correlative to it ( ) with one another; therefore is the simple and, not: and indeed. But it is contrary to the construction to attach to the preceding; so Luther, also Bornemann, who, however, with D, inserts after . Lastly, that neither, with Luther, is to be connected with , nor, with Morus, is . to be taken as a proposition by itself, is evident from the close reciprocal relation of and .
On the idea of , the essence of which here already, by , most definitely emerges as the Pauline justitia fidei, see on Rom 1:17 .
Act 13:38-41 . From the previously proved resurrection of Jesus, there follows ( ), what is now solemnly announced ( . . .) and does not appear as a mere “passing hint” (Baur) of the Pauline doctrine of justification that precisely through Him , who was thus so uniquely attested by God to be the promised Messiah, the Messianic forgiveness and justification are offered (Act 13:38-39 ); and from this again follows ( , Act 13:40 ) with equal naturalness, as the earnest conclusion of the speech, the warning against despising this benefit.
Observe that Paul does not enter on the point, that the causa meritoria of forgiveness and justification lay in the death on the cross , or how it was so; this belonged to a further instruction afterwards; at this time, on the first intimation which he made to those who were still unbelievers, it might have been offensive and prejudicial. But with his wisdom and prudence, according to the connection in which the resurrection of the Lord stands with His atoning death (Rom 4:25 ), he has neither prejudiced the truth nor (against Schneckenburger and Baur) exhibited an un-Pauline (an alleged Petrine) reference of justification to the resurrection of Jesus.
DISCOURSE: 1779 Act 13:38-41. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.
NO one can read the New Testament with attention, without seeing that there is one point to which all the discourses of the Apostles tend, namely, the exhibition of Christ as the Saviour of the world. In Him all the lines meet, as in their common centre. The discourses of St. Paul embraced the whole circle of divine truth; yet he justly says, that he determined to know nothing among his converts but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. In the chapter before us is contained his address to the Jews in a synagogue at Antioch. He begins with a subject ever gratifying to a Jewish ear, a rehearsal of the distinguished mercies vouchsafed to that nation from the time of their departure out of Egypt to the time of David, from whose seed they all acknowledged that their Messiah should spring. He then declares, that that Messiah was come, even Jesus, in whom the prophecies had been literally fulfilled, both in the peculiar manner of his death, and in his resurrection from the dead. He then comes to apply the subject to their hearts and consciences, combining all the tenderness of a brother with all the fidelity of an Apostle. In opening to you that part which we have just read, we shall notice,
I.
The declaration made
It had been said by our Lord after his resurrection, that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations [Note: Luk 24:47.]. And here St. Paul, executing his commission, declares that this way of salvation was,
1.
Divinely appointed
[There is no doubt or hesitation to be seen in his mode of expressing this truth: on the contrary, he speaks with most assured confidence; Be it known to you, brethren, that through this man is the forgiveness of sins: Be it known, that his death was a propitiation for sin,that by that sacrifice, Divine justice has been satisfied,that through it God is reconciled to a guilty world,and that he has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation, and sent us on purpose to preach to you the forgiveness of your sins in his name [Note: 2Co 5:18-19.]. These are truths of infinite importance to every child of man: and we declare them without even a shadow of doubt upon our own minds; and desire that they may be embraced by you with the fullest assurance of your minds, and the liveliest gratitude of your souls [Note: 1Ti 1:15.].
Beloved brethren, we announce the same glorious truths to you. Who amongst you is not a sinner before God? Who does not need such a Saviour? Who has not reason to leap for joy at having such a method of forgiveness proposed to him? Know ye then, that to you is the word of this salvation sent [Note: ver. 26.]; and we, as Gods ambassadors, pray you in Christs stead, Be ye reconciled to God [Note: 2Co 5:20.].]
2.
Universally effectual
[There is no distinction now made between Jews and Gentiles: the word is no longer confined to one age or country; it is gone forth unto the ends of the world. Nor is there now any distinction of sins, as far as relates to the forgiveness of them through the blood of Christ. Under the law, there were many sins for which no sacrifice whatever could be accepted. The adulterer and the murderer, for instance, were left without any means of pardon provided for them by the law: nor was any presumptuous sin to be reckoned among those for which sacrifices were appointed [Note: Num 15:30. with ver. 39. of the text.]. But under the Gospel there is no exception whatever: All manner of sin shall be forgiven unto men, provided they repent of it, and believe in Jesus Christ for the remission of it: and, if the sin against the Holy Ghost be excepted, it is not because the blood of Christ would not cleanse from that, as well as from every other, but because the man who has committed it must have arrived at such a degree of blindness and obduracy, that he never will repent of his iniquity, nor ever look to Christ with sincerity of heart for the remission of it. We confidently declare, that sins even of a scarlet or crimson dye shall be forgiven [Note: Isa 1:18. Psa 51:7.]; yea, we declare that every sin we have ever committed is actually forgiven, the very instant we truly believe in Christ: even the little children in Christ may glory in this, as a truth on which they may most confidently rely, that on their believing in Christ, they not only shall be, but actually, as our text expresses it, are justified from all things [Note: Col 2:13. 1Jn 2:12.].]
To impress this blessed truth the more deeply on your minds, let us consider,
II.
The admonition with which it is enforced
Glorious as this salvation is, it is too generally despised If we be found among the number of his despisers, woe be to us Chapter 41
Prayer
Almighty God, we are spared by thy mercy, and to thy mercy we now come as to a river that is full of water; for thy compassions fail not: to thy love there is no end. Thou dost give unto us bread every day, and every day thou dost draw for us water from the well. Thou art round about us as the light that is everywhere like a healing breath from Heaven, renewing our youth and making our life strong. Thou dost set in the clouds lights of hope, yea, thou dost make the storm supply a rainbow, that we may be reminded of thy goodness and thine oath, and that we may be established in faith that cannot decline. We have seen thee in all the way of our life, and thy touch has been a touch of kindness. Thy presence has been unto us as a daily redemption; thy breath has been a blessing, and all thy care has been assured by the measure of thine almightiness. Thou art as a shepherd amongst us, as a father, as a nurse, as a hen that gathereth her brood under her wings, yea, by many and strange and beautiful figures hast thou revealed thyself unto us, all showing thee to be full of tenderness and solicitude and love, anxious for our life and for our happiness, as if we were the only creatures in thy great creation.
Thou dost come to us night and day; thou hast made the sun to give us day and the moon to rule over our night, and thou hast brought us through all the blackness and through all the mystery of night into returning morning, which has rekindled hope, and with new strength hast thou called us to new duties. We love to think of thee; the thought of God makes us more Divine. We are lifted up when we think of God making all and ruling all, and of his tender mercies being over all his works. Then do we escape the littleness of our selfhood and rise into the largeness and the liberty of thine immeasurable being. Save us from the distress of those who see themselves alone. Help us to see God. Looking upon God, we shall be affrighted indeed, but when thou dost speak unto us from the flaming bush, thou wilt quiet our fear and thou wilt cause us to enjoy a new and tender hope. Enable us to regard all life as under thy rule. Save us from the imagination that we can do anything of our own wit or strength that is good, stable, and worthy. Teach us that in God alone is there strength, in Christ only is there peace, and in the Holy Spirit of God alone is there regeneration and wisdom and holiness. Deliver us from all the terror of unbelief, from all the crime of disbelief. May we rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him, and give up unto him our heart’s desire, to be accomplished by his omnipotence.
We now put ourselves into thine hands they are well kept whom thou dost keep. We give up keeping ourselves any more; we would be cared for, watched, led, guided, and in all things directed and established by the Lord of Hosts. Thou dost stoop far to stoop to us; we ask thee now in Christ’s name and at Christ’s cross to renew thy condescension and lift us up, even us, from the deep pit of our folly and crime. We look upon the world, and our heart is sad. How great must be the grief of thy spirit! We are impatient because of the triumphs of vice we call them triumphs, not knowing that they are the utterest and completest failures. Yet our piety exclaims, “Lord, how long?” We would see thee reigning over human hearts; we would see the heavens gather blackness as of a great storm, yet all the clouds should prove themselves to be laden, not with tempests, but with blessings, so that there may be a great baptism of the earth, even the baptism of the Holy Ghost, refreshing, fertilizing, and blessing the whole human family.
Yet if thou canst wait, why should we be impatient? Our impatience comes out of our littleness: with less ignorance, we should have less fear. Teach us that thou are doing all things right and well; that we cannot see the whole circuit of thy movement or understand the entire purpose thou hast in view. We are of yesterday, and know nothing; we are struggling, praying, triumphing, and failing today in one little hurried tumult, and to-morrow we are laid in the grave. Pardon our blasphemy in asking thee to move more quickly in the reclamation of thy prodigals and in the establishment of thy Holy Kingdom. Thou knowest our littleness, the meanness to which we have brought ourselves by long-continued sin; and it is this which makes itself felt as a stain and a taint even in our prayers. God be merciful unto us, and therein show still more the fulness of his pardoning grace.
We bless thee for this Whittide memory, this Pentecostal recollection, when thou didst come in sounds from heaven, with fire from the upper altar, with baptism from the secret sanctuary. Renew the baptism of fire to-day teach us that religion is enthusiasm, or it is not religion show us that if piety be not passion, it is what thou canst not accept. Oh, reveal unto us the true nature of thy kingdom; show us that it moves men to great ecstasies and solemn raptures, and fills them with ineffable joys, and that if it make them not burn, as did the bush near Horeb, and yet not be consumed, they know not the true nature of thy kingdom and service. We are dull, we are slow, the fire is not in our hearts; we use great words and dwarf them into small meanings; we do not rise to the passion of utter, joyous, self-crucifixion; we say Christ’s name, but hell trembles not at our poor utterance. To-day, then, on this Pentecostal festival, this time of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, we ask that we may enter into new moods, into higher feelings, into nobler conceptions of thy truth and thy demands, and from this day we would live more nobly, constantly, tenderly, usefully, in the house of our blessed Father, God.
Thou wilt surely come and make all things thine own. We know this, and it is our deepest joy. Thou wilt make all things new the lame shall leap as a hart, the blind shall see, the leper shall no more be found in city or wilderness, graves shall be depopulated, death shall be dismissed, and time shall be no more. Oh, sweet, tender word promise of music and light and rest. It is the word of the Lord, and it abideth; may it be realized quickly. Oh, that thou wouldst put on the breastplate that never was smitten, and take the sword that never was turned back, and that thou wouldst go forth, thou Prince of Kingdoms, and Lord of Mighties and Dominions, and conquer all things for thyself. Behold, this we say whilst the blood of the Cross falls upon us, the eternal revelation of the eternal love. Amen.
The Forgiveness of Sins
Act 13:38
HOW can it be true that through Jesus Christ is preached the forgiveness of sins, when, as a matter of fact, the forgiveness of sins is an Old Testament doctrine? If nothing had been known about forgiveness until the appearance of Jesus Christ, he would have been justly entitled to identify his name with the doctrine; but seeing that it is historically earlier than his birth, how is it that the act of forgiveness is now inseparably associated with his priesthood?
The solution of the apparent difficulty turns wholly upon the right principle of interpretation, which I can conceive to be that the Old Testament: Jewish or Pagan written or unwritten is as full of Christ as the New; that, in fact, the Old Testament is an anonymous book until Christ attaches his signature to it. “Search the Scriptures, for they are they which testify of me.” In my opinion we not only lose nothing, we gain much by tracing the best elements and aspirations of every paganism to a Divine source and treating them as an Old Testament full of types and shadows, yearnings and symbols, which find their meaning and their abrogation in the truth and love of Jesus Christ. Hence the wise missionary (Paul at Athens, for example) has ever found it best fully to acknowledge all that is good in heathenism and to carry it forward to its highest meaning. The application of this principle to the Old Testament of Judaism puts an end to the historical difficulty respecting the forgiveness of sins, by showing that what was once anonymous has been at length identified as the anticipatory action of Christ the more clearly so because nowhere in the New Testament is the basis of forgiveness changed; it is still, as ever, a basis of mediation, sacrifice, priesthood.
But there is another difficulty less easy of solution by the mere intellect, the difficulty that the sinner should be forgiven for the sake of Christ and not for his own sake. It is clearly for Christ’s sake that sin is forgiven; thus: “Forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” This difficulty has expressed itself in various sophisms, some of them obviously puerile, some of them disingenuous, but most of them likely to arrest and captivate the popular mind. For example: If sin is a debt, why should Christ have paid it? If Christ has paid it, why should men be called upon, in suffering and sorrow here, and in perdition hereafter, to pay it over again? How could Christ’s Cross pay debts that were not contracted; that is to say, pay in advance the debts of men who were not born and who would not be born until many centuries after the transaction? Puerile and uncandid as these questions, and the group to which they belong, undoubtedly are, perhaps they only imperfectly express the agony of many honest minds in wrestling with this stupendous difficulty of forgiveness for the sake of another. In offering some suggestions upon this difficulty, let us, if possible, lay hold of some principles that will carry with them all outposts and casualties, otherwise we shall be fretted by merely formal variations of one and the same difficulty. Let the question stand thus: Why should a man be divinely forgiven not for his own sake but for Christ’s? And let that inquiry support itself by the further question, If one man can forgive another without the intervention of a third party, why cannot the Almighty do the same thing as between himself and the sinner?
These questions, simple as they seem, touch nearly every point of the whole argument of this book; it might be permitted for that reason to refer the inquirer to all that has gone before, but we will summarize for him that he may the more easily come to a right conclusion. First of all, he must say distinctly where he learned that word “forgive,” which he now uses without apparently suspecting his claim to it. He evidently thinks that he coined the word, that he fixed its proper meaning and scope, and that therefore it is his own property. This is exactly what is utterly denied. We hold as Christian teachers, that forgiveness is an idea which never occurred to the uninspired mind; that it is a revelation; and that to the man who exercises it may be said, “Flesh and blood hath not revealed that unto thee, but the Father who is in heaven.” Even if it could be shown that men who never heard of Christ forgave one another, we should require to know precisely what they meant by forgiveness. Was it a compromise? Was it a purchase? Was it a snare? Was it a fear? Possibly if we knew the exact answer, it might be found that the so-called forgiveness was itself an offence against morals, and needed itself to be forgiven. Where, then, did the inquirer learn the word “forgiveness,” and now that he has learned it, does he know its vital and complete meaning? That resentment is natural or spontaneous is known to every man; but that forgiveness is natural has never yet been proved: something else has, however, been proved which makes this argument invincible, and that is, that to forgive from the heart has never been done even by the best men without the influence of the most forcible considerations that can move the human will. Resentment comes easily; forgiveness has to be explained. inculcated, and commended by the most pathetic reasons. In a sense, easily-apprehended forgiveness is unnatural, that is to say, it does not spontaneously occur to the mind; and even when it is suggested it is instantly encountered by a resentment which the sufferer vindicates as reasonable and just. You may see, then, that even as between man and man, when forgiveness is really exercised, it may explain itself by the very words “for the sake of ;” and the offended man may be entitled to say, “This offence ought to be punished; it is cruel; it is horrible; and justice itself demands vengeance; but ,” and then may be added reasons which if not immoral must be sublime with the sublimity of the Gospel itself. Was there not a creditor who having two debtors who had nothing to pay frankly forgave them both? There was, but where? In the conception of Christ, and yet the fact has been feloniously appropriated as quite a common human idea! Thus men do steal the stars, and show them as fires of their own kindling.
Having thus demanded of the inquirer where he learned the word “forgiveness,” we must in the next place call upon him for a distinct explanation of its meaning. Is it something done in himself, or merely something done for another? Does it arise from moral indifference, a temper so easy as to let moral distinctions pass without criticism? Is it an act affected by time, as, for example, by decline of mere memory, the resentment being determined by the vividness or incertitude of the recollection? Does he make forgiveness turn in any sense or degree upon mere time, saying, “It is yet too soon to forgive; I may forgive in a year or two, but not now that the wound is so new”? If so, it may not be magnanimity that is rising, it may be only recollection that is fading. But with God there is no change of memory; there is no succession called time; he lives in a perpetual present; if he forgives, he forgives when the wound is new; he receives no alleviation from the lapse of days; whilst the dagger is yet in the wound he proclaims the conditions and opportunities of pardon. Not only so, when we have forgiven our enemies they have still to be forgiven by God; this must be so, if we consider that we can do no more than forgive offences or crimes (and even these under limited conditions), we cannot enter the inner region of spiritual transgression. We forgive the blow, but we cannot forgive the motive which dealt it; as between two men the offence and the release may have been completed, but there remains a farther settlement in which the offended party may have no voice: that settlement may be social; as, for example, in the case of felony, the man who has been robbed may forgive the thief, but society takes the case from individual judgment, and determines it by an impartial and general law; and even society can only kill the body, and after that it has no more that it can do; the offender has still to answer the law of which other laws were but broken and ill-assorted parts. So, in view of these considerations, it would appear that forgiveness is not the easy, simple, superficial act that long familiarity with its name would seem to suggest. It is an agony. It is a cross. It is a shedding of blood!
If the inquirer has been proceeding upon the idea that forgiveness is merely a courteous answer to a personal apology, there need be no wonder as to his embarrassment on reading an account of what is required to secure the Divine pardon of human sin. But it is his conception or definition that is at fault, and not the New Testament law. It would indeed be only modest on the part of the inquirer to say, that seeing God requires such and such conditions before he can pardon the sinner, it is evident that the whole question of sin is larger than man is able fully to comprehend, having relationships and effects which transcend the circle of human intelligence. But if the inquirer is yet unprepared for this admission, we must bind him to a severe scrutiny of the things which he does suppose himself to know. Unfortunately he already knows the word “forgive,” and it is hard for him to believe that it is one of the words which have been revealed plucked for him from the tree of life but in the face of this misfortune we must ply him with this question: Why should there be such an act as the forgiveness of offence as between man and man, and of sin as between God and man? Take the former branch of the inquiry first. Why should man forgive man? Will you thereby gain the man? But is any man worth gaining who can offend, annoy, and injure another? If you say, First punish the man and then forgive him, you must remember that if the punishment is just, he has by the very fact of its endurance so far paid off his obligation; if the punishment was not sufficient to cover the whole ground of the offence, that is your blame, not his, for you yourself, without any interference on his part, fixed the measure of the punishment, and finally, if by the endurance of punishment a man can honourably though painfully discharge his obligations, why should you torment him with a needless charity (a form, indeed, of malignity), for whose exercise you may be tempted to glorify yourself, when the man was able and willing to meet you upon independent terms? If he did so meet you, there would be no act of forgiveness; it would be simply the case of a man paying his debts to the uttermost farthing. But there is another question deeper still, which the inquirer is bound to consider: Is it possible for forgiveness to be a one-sided act? This is an answer to the suggestion that God should forgive the sinner without terms and without mediation. If it turn out that the most magnanimous man cannot by any act of his own complete all that is meant by forgiveness, that fact may change the scope of the whole argument. He may have the disposition to forgive; he-may declare his willingness to forgive; he may go so far as actually to say that he has forgiven; and yet nothing farther than a one-sided act has taken place. There must be a corresponding movement on the other side, or nothing effectual can be done. And this is exactly what God requires. He proclaims himself a God delighting in forgiveness and mercy, but beyond that he cannot go; but if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness; the penitent thief he will save; the impenitent thief damns himself. If a man sins against you and expresses sorrow, you can forgive and restore the offender; but if he deny his offence, or glory in it, any forgiveness you may exercise can be one-sided only, and may even tend towards self-demoralization and social disorder. Thus God represents himself as jealous, severe, by no means pardoning the guilty, or allowing the sinner to go free; and this rigour is the security and defence of the universe. Even God, then, cannot forgive without confession on the part of man; and whether a sinner can confess without Christ is a question which the inquirer should deeply consider.
Let us include that question in one still larger: Is forgiveness possible? If by forgiveness we are to understand that a thing once done can be undone, then we are confronted with something like a miracle, and we are entitled to ask, Is it possible? Let us grant that a thing done may be treated as if it had never been done; that it may be relegated to oblivion and silence by a determination of the will on both sides; but something more than this is meant by forgiveness, or if it mean this only, we may well say of the Atonement, Why was this waste made? The Christian idea of forgiveness includes cleansing, purification, justification, the utter destruction of the sin or sins to which it is extended; it means birth, sonship, inheritance. “How can these things be?” We nowhere find the solution of a miracle in the miracle itself; we look beyond, we look above: so we must do in this case; intellectually, as we understand the term, this thing viz., the obliteration of moral history is impossible; but in many things we have to take our idea of possibility not from ourselves but from God, saying, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” So we return to the point from which there is no escape, the doctrine that all vital truth is revealed to the mind of man, and consequently that we walk by faith and not by sight.
Now as to the difficulty supposed to inhere in the words “for Christ’s sake.” If man can forgive man, why cannot God forgive the sinner, without the intervention of a third person? But it has already been pointed out that man cannot forgive man in the sense implied in the objection, and therefore the inquiry based upon it loses its application and point. Man can forgive offences, he cannot forgive the sin which they represent; herein the old inquiry is for ever pertinent, Who can forgive sins but God only? But it is not enough to destroy the validity of the objection; we must, if possible, get at the positive truth, and I believe you will find it in the direction of the suggestion, perhaps in the suggestion itself, that there is no forgiveness between man and man except in Christ or for Christ’s sake; overlooking there may be, and palliation, and acceptance of apologies, but it can only be in Christ that deep, true, cordial, everlasting forgiveness can transpire between man and man. It is far from certain, however, that the name of Christ may be present in the consciousness of the man who exercises this forgiveness; he may not be able to give a name or a definition to the motive by which he is impelled; and yet not the less certainly may he be acting in the Christly spirit. We do not always know what we do or why we do it, but Christ himself will surprise us with unexpected and gracious interpretations when he “comes in his glory.” The righteous will be told to their amazement that they have ministered to Christ in ministering to the least of his brethren; and to them also will be revealed the fact that in making their most strenuous advances in the direction of cordial and absolute forgiveness, they were moving in his strength, and more or less unconsciously accepting and honouring his inspiration. So true is it that our consciousness has actually to be interpreted to itself, and that Christ will reveal his presence and power in the least suspected circumstances. Now in so far as the doctrine is true that the exercise of forgiveness, whether between man and man, or God and the sinner, is really and necessarily, however imperfectly recognized in the former case, something done for the sake of Christ, it would seem to follow that the basis of true forgiveness is not a matter for metaphysical investigation and debate, but is revealed to us, and therefore is ours not as a mere spoil won by force of intellect, but a holy and gracious truth which we hold in childlike and grateful faith. This is the only satisfactory answer we can return to the difficulty supposed to be found in the necessary presence of Christ in the act of forgiveness as between God and the sinner; an answer which may be thus summed up: (1) Forgiveness is not the easy and simple act which it is supposed to be; (2) analogies founded upon human forgiveness are incomplete, because they relate only to offences and not to spiritual corruption; (3) forgiveness itself is not the spontaneous outgrowth of human feeling, it comes from Divine inspiration; (4) human forgiveness, in the sense in which it approaches Divine pardon, is really, though perhaps unconsciously, done in Christ’s name or for Christ’s sake; and (5) forgiveness is not a question within the province of intellectual speculation; it is revealed to us as a possibility; the questions upon which its possibility is founded are also revealed to us; and those conditions are, primarily, the priesthood of Christ, and secondarily, the penitent and utterly unreserved confession of sin by the transgressor.
38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
Ver. 38. Be it known unto you therefore ] q.d. It is a shame for any not to take knowledge of this which is so fundamental. Of other things a man may be ignorant without danger of damnation; but not of this. This is a principal piece of Quicunque vult.
38 .] Paul speaks here of justification only in its lowest sense, as negative, and synonymous with remission of sins; he does not unfold here that higher sense of , the accounting righteous , which those who have from God are . It is the first office of the Spirit by which he spoke, , before He : therefore he dwells on the , merely just giving a glimpse of the great doctrine of justification, of which he had such wonderful things to write and to say.
Act 13:38 . : “incipit adhortatio qu orationem claudit,” Blass. .: the keynote of St. Paul’s preaching, cf. Act 26:18 , as it had been of St. Peter’s, Act 2:38 , Act 5:31 , Act 10:43 ; and as it had been of the preaching of the Baptist, and of our Lord Himself. , i.e. , Christ through Him Who died, and was risen again the phrase is characteristically Pauline, cf. Act 10:43 .
Acts
THE FIRST PREACHING IN ASIA MINOR
Act 13:26 – Act 13:39 The extended report of Paul’s sermon in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia marks it, in accordance with Luke’s method, as the first of a series. It was so because, though the composition of the audience was identical with that of those in the synagogues of Cyprus, this was the beginning of the special work of the tour, the preaching in the cities of Asia Minor. The part of the address contained in the passage falls into three sections,-the condensed narrative of the Gospel facts Act 13:26 – Act 13:31, the proof that the resurrection was prophesied Act 13:32 – Act 13:37, and the pungent personal application Act 13:38 – Act 13:52.
I. The substance of the narrative coincides, as it could not but do, with Peter’s sermons, but yet with differences, partly due to the different audience, partly to Paul’s idiosyncrasy.
His audience comprised the two familiar classes of Jews and Gentile proselytes, and he seeks to win the ears of both. His heart goes out in his address to them all as ‘brethren,’ and in his classing himself and Barnabas among them as receivers of the message which he has to proclaim. What skill, if it were not something much more sacred, even humility and warm love, lies in that ‘to us is the word of this salvation sent’! He will not stand above them as if he had any other possession of his message than they might have. He, too, has received it, and what he is about to say is not his word, but God’s message to them and him. That is the way to preach.
Notice, too, how skilfully he introduces the narrative of the rejection of Jesus as the reason why the message has now come to them his hearers away in Antioch. It is ‘sent forth’ ‘to us,’ Asiatic Jews, for the people in the sacred city would not have it. Paul does not prick his hearers’ consciences, as Peter did, by charging home the guilt of the rejection of Jesus on them. They had no share in that initial crime. There is a faint purpose of dissociating himself and his hearers from the people of Jerusalem, to whom the Dispersion were accustomed to look up, in the designation, ‘they that dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers.’ Thus far the Antioch Jews had had hands clean from that crime; they had now to choose whether they would mix themselves up with it.
We may further note that Paul says nothing about Christ’s life of gentle goodness, His miracles or teaching, but concentrates attention on His death and resurrection. From the beginning of his ministry these were the main elements of his ‘Gospel’ 1Co 15:3 – 1Co 15:4. The full significance of that death is not declared here. Probably it was reserved for subsequent instruction. But it and the Resurrection, which interpreted it, are set in the forefront, as they should always be. The main point insisted on is that the men of Jerusalem were fulfilling prophecy in slaying Jesus. With tragic deafness, they knew not the voices of the prophets, clear and unanimous as they were, though they heard them every Sabbath of their lives, and yet they fulfilled them. A prophet’s words had just been read in the synagogue; Paul’s words might set some hearer asking whether a veil had been over his heart while his ears had heard the sound of the word.
The Resurrection is established by the only evidence for a historical fact, the testimony of competent eyewitnesses. Their competence is established by their familiar companionship with Jesus during His whole career; their opportunities for testing the reality of the fact, by the ‘many days’ of His appearances.
Paul does not put forward his own testimony to the Resurrection, though we know, from 1Co 15:8 , that he regarded Christ’s appearance to him as being equally valid evidence with that afforded by the other appearances; but he distinguishes between the work of the Apostles, as ‘witnesses unto the people’-that is, the Jews of Palestine-and that of Barnabas and himself. They had to bear the message to the regions beyond. The Apostles and he had the same work, but different spheres.
II. The second part turns with more personal address to his hearers.
The second Psalm, from which Paul’s first quotation is made, is prophetic of Christ, inasmuch as it represents in vivid lyrical language the vain rebellion of earthly rulers against Messiah, and Jehovah’s establishing Him and His kingdom by a steadfast decree. Peter quoted its picture of the rebels, as fulfilled in the coalition of Herod, Pilate, and the Jewish rulers against Christ. The Messianic reference of the Psalm, then, was already seen; and we may not be going too far if we assume that Jesus Himself had included it among things written in the Psalms ‘concerning Himself,’ which He had explained to the disciples after the Resurrection. It depicts Jehovah speaking to Messiah, after the futile attempts of the rebels: ‘This day have I begotten Thee.’ That day is a definite point in time. The Resurrection was a birth from the dead; so Paul, in Col 1:18 , calls Jesus ‘the first begotten from the dead.’ Rom 1:4 ,’declared to be the Son of God . . . by the resurrection from the dead,’ is the best commentary on Paul’s words here.
The second and third quotations must apparently be combined, for the second does not specifically refer to resurrection, but it promises to ‘you,’ that is to those who obey the call to partake in the Messianic blessings, a share in the ‘sure’ and enduring ‘mercies of David’; and the third quotation shows that not ‘to see corruption’ was one of these ‘mercies.’ That implies that the speaker in the Psalm was, in Paul’s view, David, and that his words were his believing answer to a divine promise. But David was dead. Had the ‘sure mercy’ proved, then, a broken reed? Not so: for Jesus, who is Messiah, and is God’s ‘Holy One’ in a deeper sense than David was, has not seen corruption. The Psalmist’s hopes are fulfilled in Him, and through Him, in all who will ‘eat’ that their ‘souls may live,’
III. But Paul’s yearning for his brethren’s salvation is not content with proclaiming the fact of Christ’s resurrection, nor with pointing to it as fulfilling prophecy; he gathers all up into a loving, urgent offer of salvation for every believing soul, and solemn warning to despisers.
‘In Him’ points, thought but incidentally and slightly, to the great truth of incorporation with Jesus, of which Paul had afterwards so much to write. The justifying in Christ is complete and absolute. And the sole sufficient condition of receiving it is faith. But the greater the glory of the light the darker the shadow which it casts. The broad offer of complete salvation has ever to be accompanied with the plain warning of the dread issue of rejecting it. Just because it is so free and full, and to be had on such terms, the warning has to be rung into deaf ears, ‘Beware therefore !’ Hope and fear are legitimately appealed to by the Christian evangelist. They are like the two wings which may lift the soul to soar to its safe shelter in the Rock of Ages.
known. Greek. gnostos. See note on Act 1:19.
through. Greek. dia. App-104. Act 13:1.
forgiveness = remission. Greek. aphesis. See note on Act 2:38; Act 5:31.
sins. Greek. hamartia. App-128.
38.] Paul speaks here of justification only in its lowest sense, as negative, and synonymous with remission of sins; he does not unfold here that higher sense of , the accounting righteous, which those who have from God are . It is the first office of the Spirit by which he spoke, , before He : therefore he dwells on the , merely just giving a glimpse of the great doctrine of justification, of which he had such wonderful things to write and to say.
Act 13:38. , through) Construed with , forgiveness.-, is announced) by our instrumentality. The correlative is belief, in the foil. ver.
Jews Reject, Gentiles Accept, the Gospel
Act 13:38-52
The doctrine of justification by faith, so closely associated with the work of Paul, is here stated for the first time. In Jesus there is forgiveness. For those who trust in Him past sins are absolutely put away, never to be named again, never to be brought up at any future judgment day. Our record is as clear as the sand which has been swept smooth by the ocean waves. We are not only forgiven, but justified. We are treated as though we had never sinned, and are justified from all things. It is a present fact. You may not feel justified or forgiven, but if you are trusting in Jesus, you are at this moment as certainly and as fully justified as have been the saints in heaven.
Pride, as well as jealousy of the Gentiles who were crowding into the fold, stirred the Jews to antagonism, but they could not eradicate the seed which had been so profusely scattered. Large numbers believed, and as they experienced salvation in Christ, they discovered that they were in line with an eternal purpose. This is the meaning of ordained in Act 13:48. If with such slight opportunities, the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit, Act 13:52, should we not possess the same experience?
sins
Sin. (See Scofield “Rom 3:23”).
it: Act 2:14, Act 4:10, Act 28:28, Eze 36:32, Dan 3:18
that: Act 2:38, Act 5:31, Act 10:43, Psa 32:1, Psa 130:4, Psa 130:7, Jer 31:34, Dan 9:24, Mic 7:18-20, Zec 13:1, Luk 24:47, Joh 1:29, 2Co 5:18-21, Eph 1:7, Eph 4:32, Col 1:14, Heb 8:6, Heb 8:12, Heb 8:13, Heb 9:9-14, Heb 9:22, Heb 10:4-18, 1Jo 2:1, 1Jo 2:2, 1Jo 2:12
Reciprocal: Exo 34:7 – forgiving Lev 25:9 – of the jubilee to sound Deu 30:14 – very 2Sa 12:13 – thou Zec 6:12 – behold Mat 1:21 – for Mat 6:12 – forgive Mat 9:2 – be Mat 27:22 – What Luk 1:77 – the Luk 7:42 – he Luk 14:17 – his Joh 20:23 – General Joh 20:31 – through Act 1:16 – Men Act 3:23 – that every Act 9:18 – and was Act 13:32 – we Act 16:31 – Believe Act 20:21 – faith Act 26:18 – that they Rom 3:25 – remission Rom 3:26 – that he Rom 3:28 – General Rom 4:5 – But to Rom 5:1 – being Rom 5:16 – but the free Rom 10:4 – Christ Rom 10:8 – the word of faith 1Co 15:17 – ye are Gal 2:16 – that Gal 3:24 – the law Col 1:28 – Whom Col 2:13 – having 2Ti 3:15 – which
THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS
Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.
Act 13:38
This was St. Pauls first public utterance since his conversion. He was the Barnabas of the Synagogue, and, as the custom of the Synagogue was, he was asked to speak, and up he got, and the Holy Ghost was upon him, and he poured out this most significant speech.
I. No agnosticism permissible.Be it known unto you. That is, about this matter there is to be no agnosticism whatever. It is to be known unto you. You must know this, that the Holy One being dead saw no corruption, that He was raised from the dead, and that through Him is preached the forgiveness of sins. That is the matter about which you and I must have no doubt whatever. There is no agnosticism permissible on this point.
II. The forgiveness of sin; not forgiveness of crime.It is the forgiveness of sin that is preached in Christs Name. It is not forgiveness of crime. A great many make a mistake here. Crime can be appraised, and the punishment due to it meted out. Sin may be committed without crime, but crime can never be committed without sin. For instance, I can forgive a crime, but I have no power whatever to forgive sin, in myself. A man has committed a crime. It is expiated. For six months, say, he has been in prison. The doors are open, he is free because he has expiated his crime. If he has expiated his crime, society is bound to forgive him. But what about God? And then comes this Gospel, Through this Man is preached unto you forgiveness of sins. He may say, I can never forget that I did it, the consciousness of my guilt still remains. And it is to such an one that the Gospel comes home. Forgiveness of sins is through Jesus Christ complete. Our religion is not a metaphysical argument or archological study. It is a Gospelgood news. To those who feel that they cannot forgive themselves, He comes as the Saviour Christ. We are forgiven of God.
III. Forgiveness must be with the consent of both parties.So many make the mistake here that it is quite necessary to emphasise it. For instance, many think, and not a few say: Why cannot God forgive us all, and make an end? If God is all-good and all-powerful, let Him forgive us all, at once, and let there be an end of the business. God cantyou cantI cant, for forgiveness means the consent of both parties. Both must hate sin. It is a moral impossibility that forgiveness can come only on one side. God hates sin, and you must, for forgiveness. Then comes in, you see, the Gospel of sin and its forgiveness. If we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive us; faithful, because He has so promised; just, because the Lord laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
IV. When God forgives sin, He forgets.Without forgetting there can be no real forgiveness. We say, Well, of course, I forgive you, but you know I can never forget; it is not possible. But the forgetfulness I speak of here is forgetfulness of the heart, not of the intelligence. The essence of God is love. God is love, and therefore, God being love, with Him forgiveness is forgetfulness. The Bible expression for this is, as you know, that God puts sin behind His back. How far is that? Where is that? As far as the east is from the west. How far is that? You cannot measure it; it means utter, complete, entire. I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. You may say to me, It is impossible that I can conceive such a thing. Yes, I admit, I cannot understand it, and you cannot; but we are not saved by understanding, we are saved by love.
Be it known unto you. If there were any other way we should know it; there is no other way whatever. This is the preaching which we declare unto you, that through this Man is preached unto you all remission of sin.
Rev. A. H. Stanton.
8
Act 13:38. This man, was said to emphasize that Christ and not David–the new law and not the old–is the only means by which one must obtain forgiveness of sins.
Third Division of the SermonPaul declares to the Congregation of the Synagogue at Antioch the Doctrine of Justification by Faith in Jesus, 38, 39Solemn Warning against Rejection of Messiah, 40, 41.
Act 13:38. Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. Paul having now shown that in Jesus the Crucified and Risen One all the great prophecies concerning Messiah were fully accomplished, solemnly declares to his listeners that the Messianic blessings of forgiveness and justification can alone proceed from Him, and will only be shared by those who receive Him as their Lord. Thus at the close of the Antioch sermon the Gentile apostle gives us the first rough outline of that great doctrine of Justification by Faiththe doctrine which in after years, guided by the Holy Spirit, Paul laid open in all its marvellous fulness when he wrote to the Church of Rome his great epistle which tells of the mysteries of the Cross of Christ.
The apostle having proved his point, that Jesus was the true, the promised and expected Messias, by his resurrection from the dead, he now applies it to his auditory; and tells them, That by the meritorious satisfaction and prevailing intercession of this Jesus, remission of sins is to be obtained, and deliverance from the wrath of God, from which the law of Moses could not, with all its ceremonial washings and sacrifices, cleanse and free them.
Here note, The impossibility of our being justified by the law, and the certainty of our justification by faith in Christ: By him, all that believe are justified.
Where observe, The procurer of our justification, Christ; the qualification of the subjects justified by him, Them that believe; and the extent and measure of our justification, (not from some, but from all things,) By him all that believe are justified from all things.
Next the apostle exhorts his hearers to take heed, lest by their obstinate rejecting and refusing this way of salvation now preached to them, they bring such a remarkable destruction upon themselves now, as God threatened to bring upon their forefathers of old. The sense is, “If ye reject this Jesus, and the way to life and salvation by him, ye shall be destroyed by the Romans, as your ancestors were by the Chaldeans.” Sin is as odious to God at one time as another, and in one people as another: particularly the sin of obstinate infidelity and unbelief, is a God-provoking and a wrath-procuring sin: Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish.
Act 13:38-39. Be it known unto you, therefore Be persuaded of this as a most certain and momentous truth, a truth infinitely consolatory; that through this man This seed of David, and Son of God; is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins The free, full, and assured pardon of all your offences, be they ever so great, and ever so aggravated. And by him By his mediation, by his sacrifice and intercession; all that believe Greek, , every one that believeth; namely, in him as the Messiah promised of old, the Saviour of the world, able and willing to save to the uttermost all that come unto God through him; every one that relies entirely on him for salvation, present and eternal, and receives him in all his offices and characters, (of which see the note on Joh 1:12,) every one whose faith in him, and in the declarations and promises of his gospel, worketh by love, Gal 5:6; is justified from all things Has the actual forgiveness of all his sins, and is accounted righteous by and before God at the very time of his believing. Observe, from all things, not only from the guilt of smaller miscarriages, but even of those things which are in the highest degree criminal; and from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses By the whole or any part thereof, moral or ceremonial. Not only ye cannot now, but ye never could: for that law afforded no expiation for presumptuous sins, so that the offender should be exempted from temporal punishment, but he was to die without mercy under two or three witnesses, that is, if two or three witnesses attested his guilt; nor could the sacrifices of it remove the guilt of such sins, or indeed of any sin, before God, make an atonement to his justice, or procure the sinners reconciliation with him. See Heb 10:1-12. The Mosaic law appointed sin-offerings to expiate smaller offences, so far as the offender who offered them should be free from all further prosecution on account of them. But this very view of them shows how absolutely necessary to the being of society it was, that they should not be admitted in cases of murder, adultery, &c. These crimes, therefore, were made capital; nor was the dying criminal, however penitent, allowed to offer them, which would have been quite inconsistent with the temporal pardon connected with them. But the expiatory sacrifice of Christ takes away the guilt of all sin,
with respect to the penitent that believe aright on him; and though it by no means affects the manner in which offenders may stand in human courts, (which the Mosaic sacrifices did,) it delivers from the condemnation of God in the invisible world; with respect to which, those of the Mosaic law could have no efficacy at all, except so far as penitent offenders, considering these sacrifices as typifying that of Christ, were brought, through them, to have a believing dependance on him and his sacrifice.
38, 39. Having now established, by brief, but unanswerable arguments, the Messiahship of Jesus, Paul proceeds to offer the audience the benefit of his mediation. (38) “Be it known to you, therefore, brethren, that through this man is preached to you the remission of sins; (39) and in him every one who believes is justified from all from which you could not be justified in the law of Moses.” The expression en touto, in him, not by him as rendered in the common version, indicates that the parties to be justified must be in Christ, that is, in subjection to his authority; as the expression en to uomo, in the law, applies to those who were under the law, and not to uncircumcised Gentiles who were not under it. The benefits of the Jewish law extended only to those who were born in, or properly initiated into the body of people to whom the law was given; and just so, the remission of sins is preached only to those who shall be in Christ by being properly initiated into his body.
By the antithesis here instituted between the law and the gospel, Paul assumes that there was no remission of sins enjoyed by those under the law. For he asserts that there were some things “from which they could not be justified in the law of Moses;” and in the expression “justified from all from which you could not be justified in the law,” the true supplement after all is sins, taken from the preceding clause. He announces that remission of sins is preached through Jesus, and from these he assumes that under the law there was no justification. This point, indeed, would need no argument, even if the context did not settle it; for certainly, if there was any thing from which under the law could not be justified, it was sin; and, on the other hand, in Christ we are justified from nothing but sin. The assumption is not, that justification can not be procured by works of law, for this is equally true under Christ; but that those under the law of Moses did not obtain remission of sins at all.
Paul argues this assumption at length, in the ninth and tenth chapters of Hebrews. The only provisions in the law at all connected with remission of sins were its sacrifices; and he asserts of them, “It is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.” It can not be rightly assumed that he contemplates these sacrifices as considered apart from their typical meaning; for he makes no such distinction. He takes them just as he finds them, with all that belongs to them when offered in good faith, and makes the assertion that it is not possible for them to take away sins. In the preceding verses of the same chapter he presents a specific argument based upon this broad assertion: “The law, having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of those things, can never, by those sacrifices which they offer year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect.” He proves this proposition, and shows the particular in which they were still imperfect, by adding, “For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because the worshipers, once cleansed, would have no more conscience of sins.” If a man had once obtained remission of particular sins, he would, of course, as is here argued, no longer offer sacrifices for those sins, seeing that his conscience would no longer annoy him in reference to them. But it is a fact, he argues further, that “In those sacrifices there is a remembrance of sins made every year.” The sins of the year, for which offerings had been made daily, were remembered again on the annual day of atonement, and new sacrifices offered for them declaring to the worshiper that they were still remembered against him. As this continued, annually, throughout the life of the pious Jew, it left him in the same condition at the day of his death, and he was gathered to his fathers with his sins still unforgiven.
The same truth is taught in the very terms of the new covenant. In stating the points of dissimilarity between it and the old covenant made at Mount Sinai, the Lord says, “I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more;” implying that under the old covenant this blessing was not enjoyed.
We can not dismiss this topic without paying some attention to the question which forces itself upon us, What did the saints, under the old covenant, enjoy in reference to forgiveness, and what is the meaning of the promise so often attached to sin offerings, “The priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him?” If we had nothing but this promise to guide us, we could but conclude that the party was, at the time, really forgiven; but with Paul’s comments upon it before us, we are compelled to avoid this conclusion, and seek some other explanation of the words. There can not be less than a promise of pardon in the words quoted; and as it can not be a promise fulfilled at the time, it must be a promise reserved to some future period for fulfillment.
That the promise of pardon made to Jews and patriarch was reserved for fulfillment to the death of Christ, Paul affirms in these words: “On this account he is the mediator of the new covenant, that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they who were called” (that is, the ancient elect) “might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” Here the reception of the “promise of eternal inheritance,” by those who were under the first covenant, is made to depend upon the redemption of their transgressions. This redemption was not effected till the death of Christ; therefore, till his death their transgressions remained unforgiven. Though they had the promise of pardon, and rejoiced in the full assurance that it would yet be granted, they were compelled to regard it as blessing of the future and not of the present. Their enjoyment, as compared with that of the saints under the new covenant, was as that of one who has from God a promise of pardon, compared with him who has it already in possession. Their happiness, like ours, depended upon their faith in God’s word.
13:38 {15} Be it known unto you therefore, men [and] brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
(15) Christ was sent to give them free remission of sins who were condemned by the Law.
Paul ended his historical review with an exhortation and appeal to his readers (cf. Act 13:15). He now addressed his two types of hearers collectively as "men brethren" (Act 13:38, Gr. andres adelphoi). When it comes to responding to the gospel, all people, Jews and Gentiles, are on the same level. Through Jesus, Paul asserted, everyone who believes (the only condition) has forgiveness of sins (cf. Act 2:38; Act 10:43) and justification (God’s judicial declaration of righteousness, cf. Deu 25:1). Justification could not come through the Mosaic Law, he reminded his hearers. This is the only reference in Acts to justification by faith in Jesus.
"What we have in the application of Paul’s message (despite its cumbersome expression in its précis form) are his distinctive themes of ’forgiveness of sins,’ ’justification,’ and ’faith,’ which resound in this first address ascribed to him in Acts just as they do throughout his extant letters." [Note: Longenecker, p. 427.]
Paul later developed the truth of justification and forgiveness apart from the Mosaic Law in his epistle to the Galatians. He probably wrote Galatians to the same people he spoke to here shortly after he completed this first missionary journey. Later he set forth these themes more fully in his epistle to the Romans. These verses summarize the arguments of Galatians and Romans in one sentence.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DANGER OF DESPISING THE GOSPEL SALVATION
[All the prophets prophesied respecting it with more or less clearness [Note: Act 10:43.]: but all had reason to complain, Who hath believed our report [Note: Isa 53:1.]? In the days of the Apostles the same complaint was made [Note: Rom 10:16.]: and it may but too justly be repeated by us at this day. If this be doubted, let any man tell us, where has the offence of the cross ceased? Where is not the faithful exhibition of a crucified Saviour derided as enthusiasm? and in what place are not the followers of Christ gazed upon as signs and wonders? But it is not the infidel only or the scoffer that despises Christ: for every man is guilty of despising him, who complies not with the invitations of his Gospel, and withholds from him the affections of his heart. O let us examine ourselves carefully on this head, and see whether the warning in our text may not justly be applied to us ]
[The Jews of old despised both the mercies and the judgments of their God: and the Prophet Habakkuk, expostulating with them, declared, that God would inflict on them such judgments by the hands of the Chaldeans, as they would not credit, however strongly his determination should be announced [Note: Hab 1:5.]. St. Paul declares, that similar judgments awaited the Jews of his day; and warns them against bringing on themselves such heavy calamities [Note: St. Paul quotes the Septuagint translation, which differs a little, but not materially, from the original Hebrew.]. But what are the calamities inflicted by the Chaldeans or Romans in comparison of those which await unbelievers in the eternal world? We declare to men, that God has wrought the most stupendous work of mercy in the redemption of the world by his dear Son, and that he will consign over to everlasting misery all who reject his Gospel: but men will not believe either the one or the other of these things: they will not so believe his promises as to seek an interest in them; nor will they so believe his threatenings as to endeavour to escape them. But as the judgments denounced against the Jews in former ages have come upon them, so will the judgments denounced against us. Methinks it were sufficient to hear God so strongly assert this, as he does in many places [Note: Mar 16:16. Joh 3:36.]: but God condescends to appeal to us, and to make us judges in our own cause: What shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of Christ? How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? He that despised Moses law died without mercy: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God? Can we hear such appeals, and not see the need of attending to the admonition in the test? O let us beware, how we reject or slight the salvation now offered us. Let us beware lust we bring upon ourselves that wrath and fiery indignation which await the adversaries of the Lord Jesus: and what I say unto one, I say unto all, Beware.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)