Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 8:18
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time [are] not worthy [to] be [compared] with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
18. For, &c.] St Paul here follows out the last previous thought, and especially the last word; the prospect of glorification with Christ after suffering with Him. He dilates on its immensity and bliss, and never quite leaves the subject through the rest of the chapter.
I reckon ] A favourite word with St Paul. There is the finest justness in the use of this word of calculation here, where the subject so full of rapture stands in profound contrast to all mere calculation. And this force is intensified to the utmost when we think who it is that speaks thus; what was meant in Paul’s case by “the sufferings of this present time.”
time ] The Gr. word is same as Rom 3:26, where see note. The choice of word is most significant: the longest life of trial is but a soon-passing occasion, compared with the eternal Future. See 2Co 4:17; 1Pe 1:6.
revealed ] “When His glory shall be revealed;” “at the revealing of Jesus Christ;” ( 1Pe 1:7 ; 1Pe 4:13; 1Pe 5:1. See too Col 3:3.)
in us ] Lit., and better, unto us, upon us; q. d., “to be revealed as ours and laid as a crown, or robe, upon us.” With this verse on his lips Calvin died, in extreme suffering, and unable to finish the quotation.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For I reckon – I think; I judge. This verse commences a new division of the subject, which is continued to Rom 8:25. Its design is to show the power of the gospel in sustaining the soul in trials; a very important; and material part of the scheme. This had been partially noticed before Rom 5:3-5, but its full power to support the soul in the prospect of a glorious immortality had not been fully discussed. This topic seems here to have been suggested by what is said of adoption. The mind of the apostle instantly adverted to the effects or benefits of that adoption; and one of the most material of those benefits was the sustaining grace which the gospel imparted in the midst of afflictions. It should be borne in mind that the early Christians were comparatively few and feeble, and exposed to many trials, and that this topic would be often, therefore, introduced into the discussions about their privileges and condition.
The sufferings – The afflictions; the persecutions, sicknesses, etc. The expression evidently includes not only the special trials of Christians at that time, but all that believers are ever called to endure.
Of this present time – Probably the apostle had particular reference to the various calamities then endured. But the expression is equally applicable to afflictions of all times and in all places.
Are not worthy to be compared – Are nothing in comparison; the one is far more than an equivalent. in compensation for the other.
With the glory – The happiness; the honor in heaven.
Which shall be revealed in us – That shall be disclosed to us; or of which we shall be the partakers in heaven. The usual representation of heaven is that of glory, splendor, magnificence, or light; compare Rev 21:10, Rev 21:23-24; Rev 22:5. By this, therefore, Christians maybe sustained. Their sufferings may seem great; but they should remember that they are nothing in comparison with future glory. They are nothing in degree. For these are light compared with that eternal weight of glory which they shall work out. 2Co 4:17. They are nothing in duration. For these sufferings are but for a moment; but the glory shall be eternal. These will soon pass away; but that glory shall never become dim or diminished; it will increase and expand forever and ever.
In us – Unto us eis hemas.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rom 8:18
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory.
A sublime comparison
Men exaggerate the importance of what is close at hand, and diminish the value of what lies in the far future. Prudence teaches men to free themselves from this tendency. And religion summons men to take into their calculation the distant but not uncertain prospect.
I. The sufferings of the present may be severe. Every human being has many pains, troubles, anxieties, to bear. And every Christian has his own especial sufferings. Nothing is gained by concealing these facts. Let every reasonable being count the cost of following Christ.
II. The glory of the future is revealed. We need no revelation to make us sensible of the pressure of present pains. But experience and reason fail to make us know the glory which is to be. This is declared to us by inspiration, viz., that when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we shall appear with Him in glory. That glory consists in the knowledge, favour, and fellowship of the Redeemer.
III. The estimate and calculation is that the glory of the future outweighs the sufferings of the present.
1. This was the personal conviction of the apostle himself. He was a reasonable man, and he reckoned, etc. He acted upon his persuasion, and throughout his life accepted hardships, braved dangers, endured persecution, animated by the blessed hope of victory and of glory.
2. This has been the principle which has underlain the endurances which have always characterised the Christian life. Who would willingly endure the self-denial and the oppression, the insult, the privation and the martyrdom, except for the sake of the approval of the Divine Master, whose victory and whose throne it is promised that all His faithful followers shall share? (Clerical World.)
The present and the future
I. The apostles estimate.
1. Of this world. A scene of–
(1) Vanity.
(2) Bondage.
(3) Suffering.
2. Of the world to come.
(1) Glory.
(2) Liberty.
(3) Happiness.
II. The effects of this estimate.
1. Hope.
2. Patience.
3. Earnest desire. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Present suffering and future glory
I. Gods suffering sons. Sonship does not exempt from sufferings–sometimes it even causes them–as when we are called to suffer on account of religion, especially in times of persecution. But we need not look for some great thing to bring the text into conformity with daily experience. No sufferings are small that have power to affect the mind. The strife of tongues, the petty persecutions of home, the long continuance of some chronic disease, the anxiety connected with our occupation, may be doing for us what greater trials did for the martyrs. We may be sufferers in the intensity of emotion, even when the instruments of suffering may not be the prison and the stake. The gospel, then, does not imply immunity from suffering. And this fact teaches that suffering to the believer is–
1. Good and not evil–like medicine, which may be nauseous to the taste but healing in its effects.
2. Best when least deserved. I could have borne it had I merited it, is the worlds word. Gods Word says, If the will of God be so, it is better to suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing. To do wrong is a greater evil than to suffer wrong.
3. Confined to this present time.
II. The comparison with future glory. I reckon–as if it were a calm and deliberate mental process. If we allow our feelings to predominate we shall allow our experience of pain to prevail over the revelations of faith. The glory is yet future–it is not yet felt–whilst the suffering is felt. We need to bring into the comparison, in order to feel alleviation, those vast objects in the presence of which all temporal sorrow dwindles.
We might compare, e.g., our own sufferings–
1. With the far severer sufferings of many of our fellow-Christians who are as dear to God as we are.
2. With our deserts and our deep sense of the evil of sin.
3. With our mercies and alleviations, and be ashamed to think of our ingratitude in permitting one sorrow to blind us to a thousand joys.
4. With the bitter sufferings which our Lord endured, and think of the double honour which is given us on behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him but to suffer for His sake.
5. But the apostle brings before us the glory that shall be revealed in us, as if he would compare the poor accommodation of the roadside inn where the traveller passes the night, with the enduring blessedness of the home. One day in heaven will repay all the sufferings of earth. (P. Strutt.)
Present sufferings and future glory
I. Counterbalancing temporal things with eternal, is the way to clear our mistakes, or prevent the delusions of the flesh. The apostle observeth this method here and elsewhere (2Co 4:17-18). This may be done in four ways. Comparing–
1. Temporal good things with eternal good things, that we may draw off our hearts from the one to the other, and so check the delights of sense (Heb 10:34; Psa 16:11; Joh 5:44).
2. Temporal bad things with eternal bad things; so to defeat the terrors of sense. All the sufferings of the world are but the scratch of a pin to that tribulation that abideth for every soul that doth evil (Luk 12:4-5).
3. Temporal good for eternal evil (Heb 11:25).
4. Temporal bad things, with eternal good things (2Co 4:17).
(1) Our sufferings come from men, but our glory from God; now as the agent is, so is the effect; man afflicts as a finite creature, but God rewards as an infinite being; man showeth himself in his wrath, and God in His love (Isa 51:12).
(2) Our sufferings are earthly, but our glory is heavenly, As the place, is, so is the estate; here both the good and evil is partial, but there both are complete. Here we have the earnest, there the whole bargain; here a taste, there a full feast.
(3) Our sufferings are but short, but our glory eternal (1Pe 1:6; 1Pe 5:10).
(4) As they are short, so they are light (2Co 4:17).
(5) The sufferings are in our mortal bodies, but the glory is both in soul and body.
(6) Sufferings do mostly deprive us of those things which are without a man; but this is a glory which shall be revealed in us.
(7) Our sufferings dishonour us in the sight of the world, but this glory maketh us amiable in the sight of God.
(8) The order is to be considered. As to the wicked, God will turn their glory into shame; so as to the godly, He will turn their shame into glory (Joh 16:20).
II. The comparison, though it be rightly weighed, wilt have no efficacy unless we have faith, or a deep sense of the world to come. It is easy to show how much eternal things exceed temporal; but this taketh no hold of the heart, till there be a firm belief of the glory reserved for Gods people (Heb 11:1; 2Pe 1:9).
III. This faith must be often exercised by serious meditations. For the greatest truths work not, if we do not think of them. Faith showeth us a truth, but consideration is the means to improve it (Luk 14:28-30).
IV. There is, besides, need of the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Sense is too strong for reason without faith; and faith cannot do its office without the Spirit. (T. Manton, D.D.)
Suffering and glory to be revealed in the good
First, of the subject or antecedent: The sufferings of this present time. By sufferings here we are to understand the sufferings of the servants of God more especially. First, to look upon it in the first reference, of the time in order to suffering; and so, I say, there is this in it, that the present time it is a time of affliction. Where we must first of all explain what is here meant by this present time. First, the state of this world it is expressed by the time or season, . And so, indeed, it is. It is a time of great opportunity, which God does afford unto us. Those that will be saved hereafter, they must be sanctified now. And therefore accordingly does it concern us to mind this time, and to be sure to be good husbands of it; not to strive or squander it away we care not how, but to have a special regard hereunto. That is the first term of emphasis, the time, or season. The second is, that it is called the present time, which is to be taken in an exclusive sense, as that which shall not be hereafter. It is present, and it is present but for a while. It has a disparagement of transitoriness upon it. The second is of suffering in order to the time. And so there is this in it, that affliction it is only for a season. The suffering of this present time, that is, as much as this moment any suffering; this suffering, which is but of short continuance. Thus we shall find the Scripture to express it (2Co 4:17; Heb 10:37; 1Pe 1:6; 1Pe 5:10). These and the like are the expressions whereby the shortness of affliction is set forth unto us. This it serves, first, to put a difference betwixt the children of God and other men. As for wicked and ungodly persons, their sufferings are not only for time present, but as well for time to come, and for that especially. Therefore, secondly, it should keep up their hearts from fainting and sinking under them. The second is the predicate, or consequent, in these words, Are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. Wherein we have the state of Gods people in the world to come set forth under a threefold notion or description. First, from the nature of it; and secondly, from the order of it; and thirdly, from the degree of it. First, here is a description of the future state of the children of God, from the nature of it; and that is of glory to be revealed in them. First, for the matter of it, it is glory. He does not only say it is rest, as He does in another place (2Th 1:7). Heaven it does not only consist in the removal of former evils, but in the addition of further comforts. And mark here what this comfort is, for the condition and quality of it, while it is expressed by glory; wherein the Spirit of God seems to labour to satisfy us and to uphold us against the scorn and reproach of affliction. If here now it shall be further demanded what this glory we now speak of is, and wherein it consists. First, in the glorious qualifications which both soul and body together shall be endued withal. The body raised up to the excellencies and perfections of a spirit–a spiritual body–and the soul endued with a great measure of knowledge in all particulars. Secondly, in the glorious company and society which we shall there partake of. Thirdly, in the glorious actions and performances which we shall then be employed in: in sitting upon thrones, judging the world, even angels themselves. And finally, in an universal freedom from whatsoever might cause any annoyance. Secondly, we may here take notice of the dispensation, as it is said to be such as shall be revealed in us. While it is said that it shall be revealed, there are two things implied in this expression. First, its present secrecy. It shall be revealed; therefore as yet it is hid, and so it is. That glory which a Christian shall one day partake of in heaven it is for the present concealed (1Jn 3:2). The second is the future discovery, or manifestation, which is here expressed. It is the discovery of it only which is future and has yet to come. It is already in being, so far forth as it is prepared for us, as the Scripture assures us. This glory, which for the present is hid, it shall hereafter be revealed both to the children of God and other men. First, it shall be revealed to Gods children for their comfort and greater reward. God will now at last make them amends for all their long expectations and dependencies upon Him. Secondly, to wicked men it shall be revealed also for their shame and confusion. There is one word more which is here considerable of us, and that is the subject of this glory–ourselves. It is not only to us, but in us. Glory may be revealed to a man, which himself has no interest in. But the glory of heaven it is such as shall be revealed in us, that is, we shall partake of this glory. This it holds a proportion to our capacity and reception of grace. Look as the children of God. The second is taken from the order of it, or method in which it is dispensed, and that is, in succession to affliction. Gods children, in regard of that state which happens unto them, have their best still at last. And this it goes before that, Look as it was with Christ Himself, even so it is also with the members of Christ. For Christ Himself–we know how it was with Him–He suffered before He reigned. The harvest is after the seed-time. This is matter of great encouragement and consolation to all true believers in the saddest condition that befalls them. It may be that for the present they may lie under very grievous afflictions. Well, but here is that which may satisfy them: that there is the greater comfort behind, that waits upon them. The third is the measure or degree of it; and that is, glory transcendent to affliction. Present suffering is incomparable to future happiness. First, to show you that it is so. There must needs be an infinite excellency and transcendency of glory above suffering upon this account. First, the reason and argument which God uses and takes from glory to persuade His children to suffering. That can by no means be an argument which is not itself a truth; at least such an argument as the God of truth shall vouchsafe to use. Indeed Satan he many times offers those things for encouragements which have no substance or reality in them. But the Lord He does not do so. He will make good every argument which He presses for the doing of any duty. Secondly, as this may be cleared from Gods own arguments and reasonings, so also from the saints apprehensions and improvements of those arguments. Thirdly, this may be also evinced unto us, even from the principles of superstition itself. We may see what future glory is, in regard of present sufferings, from the voluntary sufferings which many people lay upon themselves. Fourthly, the first-fruits of the Spirit, and the beginnings of glory here in this present life, these are an evidence hereof unto us. Now, further, secondly, we are to consider wherein this disparity and eminency and transcendency does mainly consist, which we may take notice of according to these following explications of it. First, in weight; secondly, in number; and thirdly, in duration. Now the second is the apostles judgment, or determination about it, in this word, I reckon, or make account. The word in the Greek signifies properly to reason, or cast up accounts. And so it is a metaphor either taken from logic or from arithmetic. If we take it from logic, so it is a drawing of the conclusion from the premises; if we take it from arithmetic, so it is by casting up the account to find out the true total sum. First, take it from logic; I reckon, that is, I conclude; so we find the word used in other places, as in Rom 3:28 : Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith, etc. It is the same word which is here in the text. And so there is this in it, that a good Christian has the best and perfectest reason. And therefore let all proud wits stoop and veil to this. But, secondly, it may be a metaphor taken from arithmetic; I reckon, that is, I make account. That the receipts do exceed the expenses; the present suffering it comes short of the future glory by infinite degrees. That a Christian is the best accountant. Especially he is so in this point of religion, as to the preferring of glory to suffering. St. Paul had a very great advantage of many others in this particular. First, he had skill; he had a wit and understanding for this purpose. Every one has not the art of arithmetic, especially of this spiritual arithmetic. Secondly, he had experience. He had the trial of both estates, and so was best able to judge of both (2Co 11:23; 2Co 12:4). Thirdly, he had the advantage also of practice. The expedite casting up of accounts it is a matter of use, and the facility is contracted by custom. Now St. Paul he had this also, he was used hereunto, and he had done it often again and again. As a man that will be sure of an account, he goes over it the second time, and the third, and if it still proves the same, then he determines it and sets it down for certain. (Thomas Horton, D.D.)
Present sufferings and future glory
In Heb 11:25-26, there is a similar course of reasoning. See how he loads the scales. On the worlds side, pleasures and treasures; on Christs side, reproaches and afflictions. But with the former he throws in for a season; with the latter he casts in with the people of God; and in a moment the world kicks the beam.
I. The principle which guided the apostle to his conclusion is to bring eternity into every calculation, and to judge of everything as it affects our eternity. Everything has in it an eternity of consequence. There is not a pain, nor a pleasure, a word, nor a thought, which, either directly or indirectly, does not reach out for ever and ever. Now, to an immortal being, the rule and standard of measurement must be eternity. Ask the man on the eve to depart, and be with Christ, what he thinks of the affairs of this present life? and he will answer in the spirit of my text.
II. The exact point of the comparison as it stood in the apostles mind. It would have been quite natural to have spoken of the glory that should be shown to us, as of the object which we are all reaching to in heaven; but it was a far higher range of thought when it dwelt on the glory that should be shown in heaven in us. For what is that glory which is to make heaven? Unquestionably the same to which David looked (Psa 17:15). Perfect reflection of the brightness of God in our person–of the judgment of God in our intellect–of the love of God in our affections–of the will of God in our motives–of the unity of God in the harmony of our whole being. Everything is glorious as it respects or admits Deity. Now every suffering here, of body or of mind, has reference to, and affects that reflection of glory. We Christians are passing through the processes which are essential to our final condition; the school-time, which is preparatory to maturity, or, the furnace, melting the material, making it capable of receiving the impression of its influence. And, if we once admit that, then we hold a chain of reasoning which justifies, nay, reproves, nay, rejoices in every sorrow; and establishes a proportion between the degree of the sufferings, and the degree of the glory. The height of the glory depends upon the attainment of the grace; and the attainment of the grace is according to the elevation of the faith; and the degree of the faith is in proportion to its exercise; and the exercise lays among afflictions. And surely the thought of consummation ought to be sufficient to swallow up all the pain of this present world. What, if the body groans, being burdened, when it is all but for a moment, and eternity will be spent in rapturous ministrations. (J. Vaughan, M.A.)
The important calculation
I. There can be no comparison between the sufferings of the present time, and the consummated glory of the heavenly world, in respect of nature. Without some resemblance of nature, comparison cannot be instituted at all. We may compare the sun with the moon, or with a star, or even with the flame of a candle; because, however much smaller, these are all luminous objects. But we cannot very well compare the sun to a tree or to a reptile, because of the dissimilarity of nature. So, also, we may institute a comparison, however remote, between the ocean and a lake, or river, or fountain, because water is essential in all; but there cannot well be a comparison between the ocean and a quadruped or a flower. So, as there is no sameness of nature in sufferings and glory, they cannot be compared, unless to point out their dissimilarity be comparison.
II. There can be no comparison between present sufferings and future glory, in respect of attendant circumstances.
1. One of the circumstances frequently attendant on the sufferings of this life is solitude.
2. It is another circumstance attendant on suffering, that we cannot always see the good which is designed.
3. It may be mentioned as a further circumstance attendant on suffering, that the causes of grief are seldom single. It has grown into a proverb–Misfortunes come in troops!
4. Let us now reflect, that in the time of that glory which shall be revealed in us, this array of sorrow will be for ever passed away! Instead of neglect and solitude, will be the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; the innumerable company of angels–the general assembly and church of the first-born–the spirits of just men made perfect; and more than all, the beatific vision of the immortal God! Instead of the doubt and obscurity of this mortal state, will be the bright result of things; the visible demonstration how these light and momentary afflictions work out a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Instead of the thousand forms of human woe which crowd the span of life with diversified sorrow, there will be consummated happiness; every form of pleasure which holy and exalted souls can take in.
III. It is an unworthy comparison between the sufferings of the present life and the glory of the life to come, in reference to degree. It is a fact in the constitution of mans present being, that he cannot endure suffering of any kind beyond a given limit. If pushed beyond that limit, suffering relieves itself. Swooning, and even death itself comes in, to the relief of those whose burden of woe is too great to be borne! Nor should it be forgotten, that in our present being we can no more bear the excess of joy than that of grief. But in the glory which shall be revealed in us, the powers of man shall be, beyond all our present conception, exalted and enlarged.
IV. There can be no comparison between the sufferings of the present life and the consummated glory of the heavenly world, in respect of duration. Time may be compared with time, and one finite thing with another thing which is finite; but time cannot be compared with eternity, a thing which is finite with one that is infinite. The sufferings of this present time will have an end. Were every hour of every day crowded with agony, we know the last hour will soon arrive, and the sorrows of earth be no more! But the glory to be revealed in us has no end! The crown of life never fades: the fountains of pure delight never cease to flow. After this illustration of the apostles doctrine, we are justified in using it to the following purposes–
1. As a most urgent reason, why we should take care that in all our sorrows we suffer as Christians.
2. The apostles doctrine is certainly a lesson of patience and submission, under those afflictions it may please Almighty God to permit to come upon us.
3. It will not be possible to give full credit to the apostles doctrine, and to lay it seriously to heart, without feeling it a call to live in a constant reference to other and brighter worlds. (J. Bromley.)
Present sufferings contrasted with future glory
1. It is a saying as ancient as the oldest book in the Bible that man is born to trouble. And Christians, while they are exposed to various afflictions common to man, have trials, often pungent and severe, peculiar to themselves. But Christians have, also, consolations peculiar to themselves, and proportioned to their sorrows.
2. In the text the apostle represents himself as having instituted a comparison between the sufferings of this present time, and the glory that shall be revealed, with his eye on their respective magnitudes; with the result that the sufferings are not worthy to be regarded, in comparison with the glory.
3. There are two circumstances which confirm and commend the apostles authority on this subject–
(1) The large experience he had received of present afflictions (2Co 11:1-33.). We are accustomed to attach weight to the opinions of those who have had much experience in the things of which they speak. Yet, with his enlarged experience, Paul declares that the present sufferings of Christians are not worthy to be compared with their future glory. What are our sufferings in comparison with his? If, then, those greater afflictions, much more our smaller trials, vanish in such a contrast.
(2) The apostle has been distinguished, perhaps above all other men, by an anticipated experience of the glory of the future state (2Co 12:1-4). And, looking at both worlds with this connected and enlarged experience, he pronounces the judgment stated in the text.
4. Observe, also, the force of the glory that shall be revealed. The same emphatic expression is used by Peter, in apparent allusion to the words before us (1Pe 4:1). A small and dim reflection of that glory is all that is at present conveyed by Divine revelation; like the glimmering of those distant suns that irradiate infinite space; an infantine perception proportioned to our infantine faculties. It is a glory that must be revealed; that can be discerned only by its own splendour. In looking at the comparison, therefore, we must take into consideration the disadvantages arising from the one side being matter of experience and clearly discernible, while the other side is matter of faith, and placed beyond the power of human conception. The things that are temporal are seen; the sufferings are present: but the things that are eternal are not seen; the glory is to be revealed.
5. There are, however, certain alleviating circumstances connected with our present sufferings, which render them unworthy to sustain a comparison with that contrasted glory which is free from all deductions.
I. They seldom proceed from the highest source of suffering, and hence they are never sufferings of the severest nature. The sufferings of a good man cannot arise from the horrors of a guilty conscience that sees nothing in futurity but an angry God and eternal woe! We can measure our strength in the contemplation of temporal calamities, but not in the prospect of eternal ruin. The Christian, whatever his sufferings, may have peace in his conscience, and their edge is effectually taken off in his experience. They are thus rendered very imperfect. But the future glory is of a nature to fill the soul, to satisfy its highest conceptions, its largest capacities of good.
II. They are subject to interruptions and intervals of repose. The storms of adversity do not prevail through the whole period of the most afflicted life; they are relieved by intervals of calm and sunshine (Psa 125:1-5.). It is because our sufferings are thus interrupted that they become the more conspicuous. Health, for example, is the ordinary state of our being; sickness is an interruption of that state; hence we dwell on a few days or even hours of pain, while we let years of ease and vigour pass unnoticed. But in the heavenly world there is no suspension of good, no intrusion of distress. There will prevail an unbroken continuity of bliss. Who, then, would compare the occasional sufferings of this present time with the enjoyment of undisturbed felicity?
III. They are attended by many alleviating circumstances. None touch us at once in all points and put an end to every enjoyment. God attempers His chastisements to our weakness; and, in general, so mingles goodness with severity, as even, amidst our sorrows, to call forth our thanksgivings. If our health and ease is impaired we are often attended by kind friends, and we have all the assistance which the physicians art can afford, and, for the support of our hearts, the rich promises of Scripture, and the influences of the Divine Comforter. But in the future state of glory there is no admixture of suffering; it is a state of pure fruition; a scene of unimpaired beatitude. With the perfect nature of that glory, the very imperfect nature of our present sufferings, as modified by many alleviating circumstances, renders them not worthy to be compared.
IV. Even when we may be reduced to the greatest possible distress, still we retain hope, which operates with a resisting force against the assaults of adversity. And what a source of joy does this principle open to the Christian! (verse 24; Heb 11:1). But in the happiness of heaven there exists no disturbing fear to correspond with the hope that allays the sufferings of time. Once admitted to that bright world, we shall look back on the sufferings of this present time, as on the faint recollection of a vision of the night: they will only serve to enhance our beatitude, to swell our song of praise!
V. Present sufferings are proportioned to our present powers of enduring; but the glories of the future world, to another state of faculties, a very different order of capacities. At the resurrection there will take place a great, an inconceivable enlargement of our energies in mind and body, our capacities of action and enjoyment (1Co 15:1-58.). The body will be raised in power, like that of angels who excel in strength. The eye will be strengthened to behold those beams of Divine effulgence which, were they to be manifested to us now, would blind us with their blaze. The ear will be fitted to receive, the voice to respond, those eternal hallelujah! Every cloud will be dispelled from the mind, every imperfection of its powers removed. What are our limited sufferings, proportioned as they are to our present limited powers, placed in comparison with that ineffable glory, to which powers of a different order are adapted?
VI. And note the immeasurable disparity between the duration of temporal afflictions and the duration of celestial glory. If they extended through the whole period of life, and that period were protracted to antediluvian longevity, still they would be lost in less than a moment, in comparison with eternal glories: weighed against that exceeding weight, these light afflictions would appear as the almost invisible motes of the sunbeam. Conclusion:
1. Let Christians derive support and encouragement under their various afflictions. When we are ready to be cast down by some pressing burden, let us balance it against an eternal weight of glory.
2. Let others, who may not as yet have turned their attention to eternal realities, be prevailed upon no longer to neglect the great salvation. Who would hesitate between a few years of doubtful enjoyment, invaded by sufferings common to man, and inconceivable happiness prolonged and progressive through infinite duration? (Robert Hall, M.A.)
Present suffering and future glory in contrast
1. Present time may mean the sufferings of any one at any time, or of any one during his whole life, or of all persons during their life; or, still again, of all persons consolidated in their experience of one person.
2. Glory is splendour, magnificence. Then, as according to the text, suffering is not to be compared with the glory. They must be placed in contrast, as to their–
I. Origin–the one from sin, the other from God.
II. Nature. All suffering is mixed; glory is unmixed.
III. Realisation. Suffering comprehensible; glory incomprehensible.
IV. Duration. Suffering ends; glory never–it is everlasting. To be like Christ; to be with Christ; to be equal heirs with Christ–this is glory. And yet we cannot travel to the end of such infinite glory. Is there not enough in this view of our text to inspire the Christian with zeal and devotion, and to send the sinner weeping to the Cross? (D. Thomas, D.D.)
Present sufferings not to be compared with future glory
I. What are the sufferings here intended.
1. Those of this present time in the present disordered and fallen state of things. While man was a stranger to sin, he was also a stranger to suffering. But when sin found an entrance it made an opening for suffering. How various are the kinds and degrees of suffering, and how many are the quarters from whence it arises! What faculty of mind, what sense or member of body, what possession, connection, or enjoyment in life, may not become a source of sorrow? We may suffer through fires, inundations, earthquakes, famines, pestilences, inclement seasons. And what is more dreadful than any of them, we may see fields of battle covered with the dead, and resounding with the groans of the dying. Behold the widow, orphan, prisoner, slave. We may return and consider all the oppressions done under the sun (Ecc 4:1-2), all introduced by sin, that pregnant womb.
2. Now, even in these general sufferings the people of God have more or less their share. But, besides these, they have sufferings peculiar to themselves. They mourn in Zion, sorrow for sins, their own or those of others: they deny themselves, and take up their cross, crucify the flesh, are reproached for the name of Christ, and, in various ways, are made partakers of Christs sufferings.
3. But the apostle spoke more particularly of the Church in that age, when the sufferings of its members were peculiarly aggravated (2Co 4:8; 1Co 4:9-13; 2Co 6:4-5; Rom 8:35; Heb 10:32-34; Heb 11:36-38).
II. What is the glory to be revealed. This cannot be at present fully comprehended (1Jn 3:2). It implies, however–
1. A perfect state of soul, gloriously enlightened (1Co 13:12), glorious in holiness (1Jn 3:2; Rev 22:4), in happiness (Rev 21:3-6; Rev 22:1-5), in authority, power, and dominion (Luk 22:28-30; Jam 1:12; Rev 1:6; Rev 3:21).
2. A perfect and glorious state of body (Php 3:21; 1Co 15:20; 1Co 15:43; 1Co 15:49; 1Co 15:51; Eph 1:19-20; Col 3:4; 1Jn 3:2). This is justly termed the manifestation of the sons of God(verse 19), and the adoption (verses 23, 29).
3. The being placed in a world of glory, which will far exceed this world.
4. The being admitted into glorious society, even that of patriarchs and prophets, evangelists and apostles, saints and angels.
5. The having free, constant, uninterrupted communion with the Father of glory through the Lord of glory, and by the glorious Spirit.
III. How it appears that the sufferings are not to be compared to the glory. Compare–
1. The subjects of the suffering and of the glory. Our powers of body and mind are limited. Any great weight of affliction soon crushes the frail body, and causes it to seek repose in death. The narrow capacity of the mind, likewise, cannot admit at once a very large measure of trouble of any kind; one sorrow is wont to displace another.
2. But the glory to be revealed in us will be the glory of an angel. Our vessels will then be wonderfully enlarged, and rendered capable of containing a large measure of felicity and glory.
3. Their nature and design.
(1) The sufferings are not designed to be a proper punishment of sin. God only corrects that He may reform and amend.
(2) The glory, however, will be a reward proper for an infinite Being to bestow on those whom He acknowledges to be His children (chap. 9:23; Heb 11:16).
4. The degree of the one and the other. The sufferings of the present time, however great, are not without any mixture of consolation. But the glory to be revealed will be pure glory and felicity, unmixed with the least alloy of sorrow.
5. The constancy of the one and the other. The sufferings of the present life are seldom, if ever, incessant, but the glory will be incessant, without change, unless for the better.
6. Their duration. The sufferings of the present time are the sufferings of a creature of a day (1Co 7:29-31). But the glory is that of an immortal being; a being that can die no more either in soul or body.
IV. In whom this glory will be revealed; or who have a right to expect it?
1. Not in mankind in general, though all be redeemed with the blood of Christ. For a man may frustrate the grace of God (Gal 2:21).
2. Not in all that profess Christianity. For a man may profess to know God, and by works deny Him.
3. Not in all that are outwardly unblameable. For a man may have a name to live and be dead.
4. But in all that so believe the gospel as to find it the power of God unto salvation. (J. Benson.)
The higher heroism–suffering and glory
There was an ancient sect who held that the highest virtue was to triumph over pain. The Stoics aimed high; but the road they took was paved with crushed desires, with petrified affections, and strewn with the ashes of distinguished loves. But Christianity does not save us by rendering us incapable of sorrow, but through sorrow, it leads us into the joy of God. Note–
I. The reckoning.
1. It is a reckoning, not a full realisation. The apostle does not say, I know, for he had not drained the cup of earthly sorrow, and had but tasted the cup of heavenly joy. But neither does he say, I think or conjecture, for although he knew not the whole, he knew a good deal of both. What he does say lies between the two. I reckon is the language of faith, which accepts its present as the sure ground of a larger experience.
2. It is a reckoning about present suffering. It was then a time of persecution; but the truth of our text is not to be confined to such a time. Are we not apt to exaggerate the sufferings of a time of open persecution, as compared with calmer times? Do we not pass people every day who are suffering more for the sake of principle than ever martyr did? Their death is no less a martyrdom because it is a slow death. The Christian suffers both as a man and a Christian. He does not escape through faith the common lot. And besides, the spiritual nature has sufferings peculiar to itself. It begins in suffering. We have to pass Sinai, and see the terrors of the Lord. There is the struggle of conscience, with sin and unbelief, and the pangs of the new birth. Sanctification is but the deepening and broadening of our conversion, and it is carried on through suffering. The higher a nature rises, it increases in tenderness and sympathy, and while it has to maintain a conflict with evil, the heart must be the home of many great griefs.
3. It is a reckoning about present suffering in connection with future glory. The mere mention of the two cannot but suggest that the former is unworthy of comparison with the latter. The magnanimity of Paul prevents him from dragging his afflictions into comparison with the glory of God. The memory of past hardships is all but swallowed up in the enthusiasm of hope; and in this he follows his Master, who, for the joy set before Him, endured the Cross, despising the shame.
II. The ground of the reckoning.
1. The grace of God in the heart, since it so reveals God to the soul, so brings down heaven to earth, that the possessor of it can say that his sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in him.
2. This grace is the root both of the sufferings and the glory. If the two things were really opposed, then some comparison might be made; but this is not the case. Suffering is the first-fruit of grace, glory the last. The one is the fruit of grace in time, the other its fruit in eternity. To have the grace of God in the heart is to have a principle of life there that must come into bitterest conflict with evil. Jesus Christ must needs suffer to enter into His glory. As He was, so are we in this world. We have to fill up that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ. Dwelling in the believer Christ has still to meet the temptations of the devil and the contradictions of sinners.
3. The suffering leads to the glory. Suffering is in no sense the purchase of the glory. The sufferings of Christ have both paid the penalty of all sin, and purchased all blessing; and it would not accord with justice that we should have to pay the same penalty over again in our suffering. Certainly, if present suffering could purchase future glory, it would be a great bargain. Willingly might we undertake a pilgrimage to any shrine–gladly might we give our bosom to the knife, if the gates of Paradise would thereby open to us. But, although our suffering is in no sense the foundation or price of the glory, the one, nevertheless, leads to the other–is a condition of, or contribution to the other, as is stated in the preceding verse. The suffering, then, is not to be compared with the glory, as if the one were a deduction from the other; for the one enhances the other. As the light of the precious stone is brought out by cutting; as the veins of the marble are revealed by polishing; as the storms that fight with the young tree rock it into sturdier strength; so the Christian life is strengthened and beautified by suffering. Conclusion: Should any one standing on the threshold of the Christian life hesitate in view of its sufferings; or having put his hand to the plough, be disposed to look back; let him know that he is not fit for the kingdom of heaven. Those difficulties before which he pauses as great obstacles to his setting out on the way to glory are the very way itself. Who can show us a way to glory of any kind that is not paved with suffering? Is the glory the soldier seeks to be had with ease? Is the prize of fortune the merchant seeks to be had with folded arms? Are the ends on which the student is bent achieved by laying his head on a soft pillow and dreaming of them? One is apt to say there is no royal road to the glory of God; but that would be a great mistake. Suffering is the royal road, for by it the King passed into His glory. (F. Ferguson.)
Future glory an encouragement under present sufferings
When the sailor encounters heavy weather, one thought cheers him–the ship may roll and pitch in the angry sea, the cold spray may drench him, his work may be hard and perilous, but he can look towards the shore; far away over the vessels bow, far away across the tumbling waves is the shore, the haven where he would be, and for the sake of this, by remembering this, he can bear his present troubles, though the waves of the sea rage horribly It was this feeling of hope which carried the great heroes and discoverers of old through all their trials. When Columbus set forth to discover the new world he could bear the hardships and dangers in his way because he looked towards the shore; and at last, when he beheld the broken sea-weed floating past his ship, and the birds wheeling round him, he knew that his purpose was gained, and that the land which he sought to win lay before him. So I bid you to do; when the waves of affliction swell and roll towards you, when strong under-currents of temptation catch you and sweep you along, when you are weary and faint with buffeting the tide of sin, and sorrow, and frailty, look to the shore, look past the sins and the sorrow, past the noise of the whirlpool of life, past the high tide of accumulated trial, and the low water-mark of despondency and despair–look to the shore, there is peace there, there are flowers there, there is rest there remaining for the people of God. (H. J. W. Buxton, M.A.)
How the apostle lifts himself above the sufferings of tim
e:–
1. Little souls, superficial minds, reckon it as wisdom to argue away the mass of sufferings, or at least to belittle them, to conceal the dark shadows with rosy veils, and to place opposite a longer account of pleasures. But the truth is found in the plaints which are known by all, and which Job expressed (Job 7:1-3). Our apostle likewise gives full expression to the truth. In the phrases, earnest expectation (verse 19), and from the bondage of corruption (verse 21), he expresses the magnitude of the afflictions, and in the oft-repeated creature, whole creation (verse 22), is expressed its extent, its generality, which knows of no exception.
2. Neither does he treat the origin superficially. It was not so from the beginning, neither was there necessity that it should be so, not willingly (verse 20). The creature was made subject to vanity. It is not a blind, puzzling game of chance concerning which it would be best not to investigate; but the apostle knows and speaks boldly that this woe has a reasonable, just, and Divine cause, by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope, i.e., on account of human sin, because the holy God desired to mark sin with the unmistakable mark of misery and enmity to God.
3. But the apostle likewise knows that from the beginning–i.e., in the will of God–this is no unchangeable and eternal relation or condition (in hope, verse 20). Glory, which excludes every woe, is the certain destiny of the Christian, so that the sorrowful condition of the present world appears to him as a prophecy of this destiny. (Compare the for in verse 19). Adoption (verse 23), has undoubtedly and completely taken place (verse 19, manifestation of the sons of God). Enjoyment of that which is promised in the testament, afterward the revealed and distributed inheritance (verse 17). Separation from every temporal fetter, also of the mortal body; hence glorious freedom (verse 21, and redemption of the body, verse 23), is the destiny of those who belong to Christ (in us, verse 18, is explained by verse 14); in which destiny all creation shall share (verse 22). This clear aim in view, guaranteed by the possession of the first fruits of the Spirit (verse 23), causes the present sufferings to be only of momentary consequence (verse 18); the Christian longs for heaven (verse 23), and this homesickness is termed the blessedness of hope (verse 24). (Prof. Cosack.)
The prospect of future glory
1. This was the reckoning of one who could not mistake–for the text is not merely the opinion of the apostle, but as the declaration of God Himself, for the eternal comfort of His Church.
2. And this leads us to remember how very little is said in Scripture of the glories of the world to come. It seems solemnly determined by our Master that His Church shall walk by faith, not by sight (2Co 12:4). Those who die come not back again. Doubtless they sometimes wish it (Luk 16:27-30), but it is a vain wish. He tells us, instead, much about the sufferings and trials which await us in this life. There is a great deal said about a cross: much tribulation, the need of purity of heart, and self-denial. These are not the things by which the world induces us to love and serve it. The world keeps pain in the background, and talks of pleasure. Christ keeps pleasure in the background, and talks of pain. And it is not hard to guess why. It is because the world has so little pleasure to offer as a bribe, that it had need to talk much about it; whereas the Lord of glory has so huge an amount of blessedness in store for those who love Him that if He were to reveal the greatness thereof faith would be swallowed up in present certainty and hope in present enjoyment.
3. And yet the solemn silence of Scripture concerning heaven is now and then all but broken. The lips are sometimes opened, as it were, to speak; and, though closed again immediately, enough has escaped to fill the soul with wonder and to make the spirit attentive. The apostle in the text does not describe heaven; but he tells us that something wonderful might be told. Something of the same kind is found in 2Co 4:17-18, and 1Co 2:9. We may think as we will, and what we will; and we shall still be far, far behind! To see patriarchs, prophets, apostles, the early Churches, will be much, to be sure; yet will it be as nothing compared to what shall be! So again (and oh, the unspeakably higher privilege!)–so again, the beholding of the face of the Son of Man. Or again, to be shown the providences which watched over our lives; to recognise the hand of Love in every blow which overtook us, every disappointment which afflicted us; yea, to be restored, and that eternally, to everything we had ever loved and lost–these things and more, told over ten thousand times, convey but a feeble picture, a faint image of the blessedness of Heaven! To conclude. The use of these declarations is clearly this–to reconcile good men to present sorrow. There is a bright prospect beyond. (Dean Burgon.)
Confident expectation of a perfect kingdom of God
I know the obstacles, but I know as well the power behind! I do not see success as yet, but I know that it is coming. So I do not see the cathedral as yet, when I go into the confused quarry-yard and see there the half-wrought stones, the clumsy blocks that are by and by to be decorated capitals. But when at last they are finished in form and brought together, the mighty building rises in the air, an ever-during psalm in rock. I do not see the picture yet, when I look upon the palette with its blotches and stains and lumps of colour. By and by, when the skilful brush of the painter has distributed those colours, I see the radiant beauty of the Madonna, the pathos of the Magdalene; I see the beauty of the landscape spread out upon the canvas, with meadow and hill and winding stream, and the splendours of the sunset crowning the whole. I do not see yet the perfect kingdom of God upon earth, but I see the colours which are to blend in it. I see the already half-chiselled rock out of which it shall be wrought; and I am not going to despond now, when so much already has been accomplished. (R. S. Storrs.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 18. For I reckon that the sufferings, &c.] If the glory that is to be revealed be the enjoyment of God himself, (see above,) then the sufferings of this life, which, when compared with eternity, are but as for a moment, are not worthy to be put in competition with this glory which shall be revealed in us. This case is perfectly clear.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For I reckon; i.e. I make account, I certainly conclude: see Rom 3:28. The word is borrowed either from arithmeticians, who by casting their accounts do find the true and total sum; or from logicians, who by considering the premises do draw the conclusion.
Not worthy to be compared; the word properly signifieth that part of the balance which goeth down: q.d. If the sufferings of this life be weighed with the glory to come, they will be light in comparison. These words, to be compared, are supplied in our translation to make up the sense.
Revealed in us; it is revealed to us, and it shall be revealed in us. This text is a confutation of the popish doctrine of merit and human satisfaction.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. For I reckon that the sufferingsof this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glorywhich shall be revealed in usthat is, “True, we mustsuffer with Christ, if we would partake of His glory; but what ofthat? For if such sufferings are set over against the coming glory,they sink into insignificance.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For I reckon, that the sufferings of this present time,…. By “this present time” may be meant, the then present age, in which the apostle lived; which was an age in which the people of God suffered much, as was foretold by Christ, and which was necessary for the confirmation of the Gospel; for grace and strength answerable to their trials were given them; and the power of God was visibly to be seen in the supporting of them; though this was not the only suffering age: wherefore by the present time may be understood, the present time of life here on earth; which is a time of suffering, and which cannot well be otherwise, considering the world in which we are, and the nature of it, the state and condition of our souls, and the constitution of our bodies, and the many enemies we have about us; but then this present time of life is the only suffering time to the saints, for no sooner are they removed from hence, but they are in heaven, where neither wicked men nor devils can reach them, where their souls are freed from sin and unbelief, from doubts and fears, and everything that is distressing; and after the resurrection there will be no more diseases nor death in their bodies; and this present time is but a short time, a little while, and all sufferings will be at an end; wherefore they
are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. The future happiness of the saints is expressed by glory, of which the glory of this world is but a faint resemblance; a glory which is already given to Christ, and he is entered into the possession of; it is already, but as yet it is unseen, but will be “revealed” hereafter, when Christ himself shall appear in it; and it will not only be revealed to the saints, as the glory of Christ, as Mediator; and it will not only be visible upon them, upon their bodies, which will be made like to the glorious body of Christ; but it will be revealed in them, and greatly lie in the perfection of knowledge and holiness in their souls: now between the sufferings of the saints in the present state of things and their future happiness, is no comparison, either with respect to quality or quantity. Their afflictions are “light” in comparison of the due desert of sin, the sufferings of Christ, and the torments of the damaged in hell, and when under divine supports; but glory is heavy, it is a “weight of glory”. The sufferings of the saints are but for a time, but their glory is eternal; nor is there any comparison to be made between them by way of merit, for there is no manner of proportion between the one and the other, nor can the one have any causal influence upon the other. This is the judgment of things the apostle made, “I reckon” or “I think” which is said, not as his bare opinion, or as in the least doubting the truth of what he said; but having deliberately weighed things in his mind, and reasoned upon them, came to this conclusion, that so it must be. The allusion is either to logicians, who having settled the premises draw the conclusion; or to arithmeticians, who, having cast up the account, give the sum total. Though, after all, the “glory” here spoken of may mean the glorious Gospel of Christ, which was more and more to be revealed in the Gentile world, “in” or “by us” the apostles, in comparison of which all their sufferings were as nothing.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
To us-ward ( ). We shall be included in the radiance of the coming glory which will put in the shadow the present sufferings. Precisely the same idiom here with (aorist passive infinitive of ) occurs in Ga 3:23 with , which see.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
I reckon [] . See on 1Pe 5:12. It implies reasoning. “I judge after calculation made” (Godet). Compare Rom 3:28; 2Co 11:5; Phi 3:13.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For I reckon,” (logizomai gar) “For I reckon, calculate, or conclude,” based on the revelation of the Spirit of God to him, Act 26:18, and with an eye to the future.
2) “That the sufferings of this present time,” (hoti ta pathemata tou nun kairou) “That the sufferings of the present and continuing era or period,” experienced and to be experienced by believers, especially members of his church, Mat 5:11-12; Joh 15:20; 2Co 4:17-18; 2Ti 2:11-12.
3) “Are not worthy to be compared with the glory,” (ouk aksia pros ten mellousan doksan) “are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory or glory certain to come,” 2Co 11:1-2, the glory to be revealed in him in the first resurrection, rapture of the saints, and to be glorified in and thru all saints, 1Co 2:9-10; 2Th 1:10.
4) “Which shall be revealed in us,” (apokaluphthenai eis hemas) “which shall be revealed or disclosed in us,” the church us, Eph 3:21; when he comes to be joined to his bride, Rev 19:5-9.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
18. I indeed judge, (258) etc. Though they take not altogether an unsuitable view who understand this as a kind of modification; yet I prefer to regard it in the light of an encouragement, for the purpose of anticipating an objection, according to this import, — “It ought not indeed to be grievous to us, if we must pass through various afflictions into celestial glory, since these, when compared with the greatness of that glory, are of the least moment.” He has mentioned future for eternal glory, intimating that the afflictions of the world are such as pass away quickly.
It is hence evident how ill understood has this passage been by the Schoolmen; for they have drawn from it their frivolous distinction between congruity and condignity. The Apostle indeed compares not the worthiness of the one with that of the other, but only lightens the heaviness of the cross by a comparison with the greatness of glory, in order to confirm the minds of the faithful in patience.
(258) The particle γὰρ cannot be causal here. It has its primary meaning truly, indeed, or verily, though it has commonly its secondary meaning for, because, therefore. The context is our guide; when there is nothing previously said, for which a reason is given, then it has only an affirmative sense: or as some think, it is to be viewed as a particle of transition, or as signifying an addition, and may be rendered besides, further, moreover, perhaps this latter meaning would be suitable here. In the preceded verse the Apostle says, for the encouragement of Christians, that their conformity to Christ in suffering would terminate in conformity to him in glory: and then, as an additional consideration, he states his full conviction, that present sufferings are as nothing to the glory which they would have to enjoy. The connection can hardly be otherwise seen, except indeed we consider something understood, as, “Not only so;” and then it may be rendered for, as giving a reason for the qualifying negative. An ellipsis of this kind is not without examples in Greek authors, as well as in the New Testament. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Rom. 8:18
Is life worth living?Question much asked by present-day philosophers. What is real answer? Prayer Book says Yes: We thank Thee for our creation. Does Bible say so? Our passage gives answer Yes or Nodepends upon belief in future life as revealed in Scripture.
Apart from future life, no, for large majority of human beings. In most lives painful sensations predominate over pleasant. Many sufferings. Atheist poet, who knew much of world, says:
Cast up the cares thy life has seen,
Cast up the years from sorrow free,
And know, whatever thou hast been,
Twere something better not to be.
If Bible revelation be true, yes. Life is not pain, but school; not happiness, but preparation for happiness; not glory, but way to glory, if lived with Christ.
Universal ruleglory of any kind slowly, painfully gained: manhood, success, fame, conquest, even redemption of man.
We can understand men doubting the future life; we cannot understand their telling us that we shall be happier if we do not anticipate it. Without it we sail in unpiloted ship on shoreless ocean, over seas on which sun never shines. With it we look up and onward in spirit of our text. Thank God.Dr. Springett.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Rom. 8:18
Suffering Christians have the true prosperity.Prosperity is to be measured by the amount of peace. It is a better treasure than either gold or silver. What trouble there is to get wealth, and when gotten what trouble for fear we lose the hoarded treasure! Peace is the true wealthsoul wealth, heart wealth. It is a treasure which makes happy. Call not that man happy and prosperous who with the increase of wealth has the increase of care and sorrow. Call that man happy and prosperous whose soul is kept in perfect peace amid the storms and hurricanes of time. Sweet home of refreshment and delight is the strong tower of perfect peace. Great peace have they that love and keep Gods law. Prosperity is to be measured by the amount of true happiness. Do we call that man prosperous who sits a miserable wretch amid his treasures and asks for what can never be given, the neglected prosperity of former days? Do we call that man prosperous whose head aches with the oppressive weight of a crown and whose soul is troubled and fever-stricken with the fierce light that beats upon a throne? We call that man prosperous who enjoys as much happiness as is given to mortals here below. That man is prosperous who can sing in a cell, while that man is not prosperous who weeps on a throne. The question has been sceptically asked, Happinesswhat is it? A word. Where found? Our reply would be that the truest happiness to be found in this world, the most solid good, is to be obtained while walking in the pathway of duty and of godliness, for religions ways are indeed ways of pleasantness and her paths are peace. Let us look round upon modern society, and we shall find that its most prosperous and happiest members are those who wisely and joyously keep Gods commandments. Prosperity is to be considered in relation to the end. The psalmist was troubled, like other people, at the prosperity of the wicked. It was to him a perplexing problem. How is it consistent with the moral government of Him who is said to reign in righteousness? Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency; for the righteous are plagued and chastened, while the ungodly prosper in the world, and increase in riches. He saw no way out of the bewildering maze until he went into the sanctuary of God, and understood their end. At the last, the dreadful last, desolation seized upon them as its lawful prey. They are utterly consumed with terrors. Come not my soul into the secrets of their dying horrors. Prosperous is the man who can sing, My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever Paul looked forward, and saw a bright light piercing the dark cloud of sorrow. The sufferings of the present are great. The sufferings of the persecuted how great we can scarcely understand, and yet they are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed. Amid the shame of the present look onward to the revealing glory. Bring down the light of heaven to cheer the murkiness of earth. Let the eternal sunlight scatter the thick mists of time.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Text
Rom. 8:18-25. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward. Rom. 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. Rom. 8:20 For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope Rom. 8:21 that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. Rom. 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Rom. 8:23 And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. Rom. 8:24 For in hope were we saved: but hope that is seen is not hope: for who hopeth for that which he seeth? 25 But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
REALIZING ROMANS, Rom. 8:18-25
350.
Paul knew something about suffering. Read 2Co. 11:1-33. List some of his sufferings.
351.
The glory will be beyond compare. Do you think many believe this?
180.
What must we endure if we are to be glorified with Christ?
352.
The sufferings of this present time are compared with the total lack of any tangible evidence of Gods glory in the lives of many people. As a result, they become bitter and cynical. Why?
353.
How could expectation wait? cf. Rom. 8:19.
354.
What creation is referred to in Rom. 8:19?
355.
Are not the sons of God now known? Explain: The revealing of the sons of God.
356.
Is the creation of Rom. 8:20 the same as in Rom. 8:19?
357.
Define the word vanity as here used.
358.
Is Rom. 8:20 saying that the inanimate creation of God such as the vegetation is hoping and yearning for a deliverance? If so, explain.
359.
Is the liberty of the glory of the children of God the same as the revealing of the sons of God? Now all of this might seem too hard for you, but it is not. It was written for you and me by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle. Do not depend on others. Find out for yourself. Read the verses againand again.
360.
Could it be that the creation is man, even as Jesus used the word when he said, Preach the gospel to the whole creation? In that case, how does that relate it to Rom. 8:23?
361.
If our adoption is the redemption of our bodies (not our souls), this must have reference to a different redemption than we ordinarily consider. What is it?
362.
In hope were we saved, and by hope we are saved full many a time. What hope is here referred to? Be specific here.
363.
One day hope will be turned into reality. What part does patience play here?
Paraphrase
Rom. 8:18-25. However, the thoughts of suffering with Christ need not terrify you. For I reckon, that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with that glorious resurrection which is about to be revealed to the whole universe, in the persons of us the heirs thereof.
Rom. 8:19 What a blessing a resurrection to immortality is, may be understood by this, That the earnest desire of mankind hath ever been to obtain that glorious endless life in the body, by which the sons of God shall be made known.
Rom. 8:20 Nor is their expectation without foundation; for mankind were subjected to misery and death, nor by their own act, but by God, who, for the disobedience of the first man, hath subjected all his offspring to these evils:
Rom. 8:21 In the resolution that, on account of the obedience of the second man, even the heathens themselves shall be set free from the bondage of the grave, and those who believe be brought into the full possession of the happiness which belongs to the children of God.
Rom. 8:22 Besides, we know that every human creature hath groaned together under the miseries of life, and hath undergone together sharp pain, like that of child-bearing, till now, on account of their uncertainty with respect to a future state.
Rom. 8:23 And not only do they groan under these evils, but ourselves also, who are the sons of God by faith in Christ, and who have the chief gifts of the Spirit as the earnest of eternal life, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, while we wait for that great event by which our sonship will be constituted and manifested, (Rom. 8:19.), namely, the deliverance of our body from corruption, by raising it glorious and immortal.
Rom. 8:24 The redemption of the body is not bestowed at present; for we are saved only in hope, that our faith and patience may be exercised. Now hope which hath obtained its object, is no longer hope; for what a man possesses, how also can he hope for it?
Rom. 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not possess, we wait with patience for it, and so display our faith in the promises of God.
Summary
But the sufferings we are to undergo are not worthy to be named with the future glory which awaits us. So great is that glory that even creation, or as much of it as was affected by the fall, is waiting for and anxiously expecting the day when the children of God shall realize it. Creation was, by the curse, subjected to frailty much in the same way as man, and, like him, awaits deliverance from it. Under this curse, creation groans together and is in pain till now, and not only creation, but we too who have the earnest of the Spirit groan with it, while waiting for the deliverance of our bodies from the grave. In hope of this deliverance we were saved, and we are cherishing that hope still. Although we have not yet attained what we hope for, we are waiting in confidence that we shall attain it.
Comment
3.
Encouragement to Endure Suffering. Rom. 8:18-39
The concluding words of Paul in Rom. 8:17 suggest the topic for this section.
a. The first encouragement is found in the realization that as trying as may seem the tribulations we are now undergoing, as much as we sometimes make of our ills and heartaches, that it is not even reasonable to think of comparing them with the glories of the world to come. If we attempted a comparison in order to ascertain whether the glories of heaven would recompense our sojourn amid this vale of tears, the glories to come would so far outweigh the sufferings of this present time that there would really be no comparison. Paul ought to know for we believe he caught a glimpse of those things when he departed from his body and returned again (cp. 2Co. 12:1-6.). Rom. 8:18
(1) Concerning the event and the time of the event spoken of in Rom. 8:19 : The greatness of this event can be appreciated when we realize that the very creation itself is waiting expectantly for the revealing of the sons of God. There are many and detailed remarks upon the meaning of the term creation. We take it to mean all that which was affected by Adams sin, both animate and inanimate. The creation is personified in this passage and is pictured as a man earnestly waiting out the time until the sons of God will be revealed. What is the meaning of revealing of the sons of God? We know because of the context that it refers to the same time and event as the glory which shall be revealed spoken of in Rom. 8:18. The sons of God are spoken of as being concealed and awaiting a time when they shall be revealed, and truly they are. There are literally thousands upon thousands who have departed this life and are thus concealed to us and the world. Those sons of God who are upon the earth are not now revealed in glory. The humble estate of the minority will in the resurrection day be changed to the proud state of the majority. Rom. 8:19
(2) The questions might be asked, Why is the creation waiting in expectancy for the resurrection day? For what does it wait? The whole creation waits to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. (Rom. 8:21). The creation did not come under this bondage of its own will (for it has no will), but was subjected to frailty and corruption through the sovereign will of him who subjected it, even God (Rom. 8:20). But he did not thus place it in bondage with no hope of release, for even at the time of the curses pronounced upon earth (Gen. 3:17 b), God was looking forward to his great plan for mans redemption, and the consequent resurrection of his children, and the deliverance of the creation from its frailties (Gen. 3:15). Rom. 8:20-21
(3) Again, speaking figuratively, Paul portrays both the animate and the inanimate creation as groaning and travailing in pain as a woman with child, looking to that time when a new life will be brought forth, The thought of a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness (2Pe. 3:13) is herein suggested. The thought of a purified, renovated heaven and earth is at least intimated. It is not our purpose to discuss it pro or con; let it suffice to say that this thought is not unreasonable. Rom. 8:22
181.
What is the subject of Rom. 8:18-39?
182.
What is the first encouragement given?
183.
What is the meaning of creation in Rom. 8:19?
184.
To what event does revealing of the sons of God refer?
185.
What can creation expect to receive in the resurrection day?
(4) Speaking of the expectation of the creation reminds the writer of the expectant longings of his own spirit, yes, the desire of every child of God: And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. Even though we have the earnest payment on heaven with us, the Holy Spirit, we yet groan while waiting within this earthly tabernacle. Our groanings take the form of desires to be rid of this body of flesh which is subject to much suffering and temptation and to be adopted into that glorified family. This act of adoption into that new world will simply be the deliverance of our bodies from the grave on the resurrection day. Rom. 8:23
(5) We find the closely associated truth that all this revelation of the future glory was comprehended in our salvation. When we were converted we considered this fact; the hope spoken of was before us when we accepted Christ. This is true, but we must ever keep before us the true nature of hope. Hope is only hope when it is directed toward something as yet unseen. If the object of hope is seen then hope gives place to realization. We must not, as Christians, grow discouraged because we do not immediately possess heaven. But if we really have our hope set on our goal (firmly established because of the great and glorious reasons for hoping), then we can with patience and confidence wait for the fulfillment of our fondest hopes. Rom. 8:24-25
186.
How is the creation in bondage today?
187.
Discuss briefly Rom. 8:22.
188.
What is the adoption spoken of in Rom. 8:23?
189.
Explain Rom. 8:24-25 and tell what lesson is taught.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(18) Revealed in us.Upon usi.e., reaching to us, and illumining and transfiguring us. The Coming of Christ is always thus conceived of as a visible manifestation of glory in those who take part in it.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(18-25) The mention of suffering and of glory recalls the Apostle to a sense of his own positionwhat he had to go through, and what was the hope that he had to animate and encourage him. A vivid impression of the stormy life of the Apostle at this period is given by Act. 19:23-41; 2Co. 6:4-5; 2Co. 11:23-28. But he counted it as nothing (Php. 3:8) as compared with his triumphant out-look into the future. Here, then, there follows a statement of the nature of the Christians hope viewed, not only as it affects the individual, but also in its cosmical aspect.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(e) Advancing stages to final (collective) glorification of Church and earth , Rom 8:18-25 .
Based upon present joyous expectations and gracious aids, the apostle describes the Christian’s glorious future, first, in the present paragraph, as part of the lower creation, and second, (26-32) as part of the blessed kingdom of God.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
18. For In illustration of the glorification just mentioned.
Sufferings Mentioned as being with Christ in Rom 8:17. Those sufferings are not to be measured with that glorification.
In us A glory that will be made not only to beam from Christ, but to reveal itself within our celestial bodies. (Col 3:4; 1Jn 3:2.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed towards us.’
Paul now gives the assurance that no matter how great the sufferings of this present time they are not ‘worthy to be compared’ with the glory which is to be revealed towards us. ‘Our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory’ (2Co 4:17). This is why our minds must be set on things above (Col 3:1-3), in order that we might not be discouraged by what happens to us on earth as we await the glory that is to be revealed to us. That indeed is what should take up our whole thoughts and determine how we live. As Jesus Himself said, ‘do not lay up your treasures on earth — lay up your treasures in heaven —for where your treasure is there will your heart be also’ (Mat 6:19 ff.).
‘The sufferings of this present time.’ This is a theme of the remainder of this chapter, and Rom 8:35 makes quite clear that all sufferings of His people are included, not just persecution (e.g. famine). But having said that, both Jesus and the New Testament writers make clear that we must not be taken by surprise by persecution, for it is a part of the battle for the salvation of God’s elect.
‘The glory which is to be revealed towards us.’ Something of that glory is brought home to us in Rev 21:22-23; Rev 22:5 where, because of the outshining of the glory of Father and Son, then openly revealed to His people in ‘the New Jerusalem’, no further light will be needed in the City of God. Believers will then view His unabated glory. But included within the glory which is to be revealed towards us is the first glimpse of that glory when we will experience the glory of His appearing (e.g. Mat 24:30; 2Th 1:7; 2Th 1:10), in which we are to have our part ( 1Th 4:16-17 ; 1Co 15:52-54; with Php 3:21). Paul probably has both in mind, the one moving into the other. Our trek-leader is leading us to glory (Heb 2:10), and it will be revealed when we behold Him in His glory. But that glory will then be experienced for all eternity.
However, as the verse speaks of ‘glory towards us’, there is clearly here also a recognition of the glory which will be bestowed on us, tying in with the idea of the ‘revealing of the Sons of God’ in Rom 8:19 (Rom 8:17; 2Co 4:17; Eph 5:27; Php 3:21; Col 1:27; Col 3:4; 2Th 2:14), and with our final glorification (Rom 8:30).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Whole Of Creation Is Groaning In Expectation Of Its Redemption. And God’s People Also Groan With It, As Does The Spirit Of God Himself On Our Behalf (8:18-27).
In spite of the division necessarily made this passage very much connects up with the previous one and it is only the change in subject matter which causes us to make the division, for Rom 8:18 takes up Rom 8:17. Paul has just been speaking of the fact that we who are sons of God will also share in His sufferings. Now we learn that the whole of creation is also undergoing anguish (is groaning) as it waits for ‘the revealing of the sons of God’. Thus prior to the final summary in Rom 8:31-39 the portrayal of redemption described from chapters 1 to 8 ends with a glance into the future when the whole of creation will be transformed and the people of God will experience full salvation as they are made like to His image.
The passage presents this in a remarkable way as it portrays salvation history in terms of groaning, for not only does it see the whole creation as groaning in hope of deliverance, and all God’s people as groaning as they await the redemption of their bodies, but it also portrays God Himself as groaning through His Spirit as He fulfils His role in our salvation. Thus this present age is summarised as one of groaning prior to our deliverance into ‘the liberty of the glory of the children of God. It is a time of suffering and tribulation. That is why Paul will go on to emphasise the certainty of the fulfilment of God’s plan of salvation and give the guarantee that amidst the groaning God will uphold his children (Rom 8:31-39).
This passage is in fact of vital import in Paul’s outlining of God’s plan of salvation. It helps to bridge the gap between justification and glorification. The Question can be put, Why in view of man’s redemption does he have to suffer and endure, and be allowed to be a prey to ‘sin and death’? The answer lies here. It is a part of the fulfilment of God’s purpose from creation to consummation. As Adam sinned and brought sin into the world (Rom 5:12-14), so did his sin bring corruption to God’s creation. Thus not only has man to be delivered, but the whole of creation is to share in that deliverance. And in the process of this redeemed man must play his part. Indeed we can parallel Rom 7:14 to Rom 8:4 with this passage, the one depicting man groaning in his bondage to sin (‘O wretched man that I am’ – Rom 7:24), the other depicting the whole creation as groaning in its wretchedness, subject to the curse. Both are a necessary part in God’s answer to the problem of sin.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Comfort in the Manifold Afflictions of this Life.
The sighing of creation:
v. 18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
v. 19. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
v. 20. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope.
v. 21. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
v. 22. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. In v. 18 the apostle briefly states the topic of the second part of this chapter: For I consider; he gives it as an expression of his strongest assurance, not as an uncertain opinion or the dubious result of conjecture. Not worthy are the sufferings of the present time, that pertain to this life only and come to an end with the close of this world-period, in comparison with the glory which is to be revealed to us. All the distress, all the afflictions, all the persecutions, all the sorrow that comes upon the Christians for the sake of Jesus, is a matter of but a moment’s duration, as time is reckoned before God, and in addition is so outweighed by the glory which the saints are to inherit that it cannot properly come into consideration. “Behold how he turns his back to the world and fixes his face toward the future revelation, just as though he nowhere on earth saw misfortune or woe, on the contrary, nothing but joy. Truly, even if we are in bad straits, he says, what is our suffering in comparison with the ineffable joy and glory which shall be revealed in us? It is not worthy to be compared or to be called a suffering.”
Having thus stated the leading thought of this entire section, Paul now emphasizes the greatness of the glory which shall be revealed in us by describing the coming deliverance of the creation in general, which, with all its blessings, is immeasurably greater than all the suffering of the present state could be. The earnest expectation, the watching with outstretched head, the eager, anxious longing of creation, of the sum total of organic and inorganic created matter, especially the brute creatures, awaits patiently, expectantly, the revelation of the children of God. In this world the sons of God usually do not appear to advantage in the eyes of the world, they are not manifested: it does not appear openly what a great and glorious thing it is to be a child of God, what wonderful blessings the Lord has provided for them that love Him. But the time will come when they shall be manifested, when the glory of heaven shall be revealed to them and be made their own in the sight of all men. And for that day the entire brute creation, all nature, is eagerly waiting. For now creation, this sum total of God’s creatures about us, which we commonly call nature, is subjected to vanity, not willingly, but because of Him that subjected it, because God in His wisdom willed it. As the universe and all the visible objects about us came into existence out of the hand of God, it had the power of life in itself. But with the fall of man and the subsequent curse came the subjection of nature to the vanity, the unprofitableness, the uselessness of man’s sinful desires and intentions. As Luther says, sun, moon, and stars, heaven and earth, the grain that we eat, the water or wine that we drink, oxen, cows, sheep, and everything that men use, is lamenting and crying over the fact of its subjection to vanity, to the service of sin in the hands of man. But God, in including creation in general in His curse upon sin, at the same time had a future change of this lamentable condition in mind, according to which the suffering creation may hope for a deliverance from this condition of unwilling subjection; for creation itself, all nature about us, will be set free from the bondage of corruption, the slavery that has resulted from the corruption due to sin, to the glorious liberty of the children of God, to the freedom from the vanity and corruption of sin and its consequences. The Day of Judgment will bring deliverance to the brute creation, to all organic and inorganic matter, from the tyranny of man that uses the creatures of God for purposes of vanity and sin. When heaven and earth shall pass away, when the earth and the works therein shall be burned up, 2Pe 3:10, that will mean the end of unwilling slavery throughout the world. And as the believers will then look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, 2Pe 3:13, so all the substances of the old earth, having thrown off the tyranny of sin, will enjoy that freedom for which the Lord created them in the beginning. In the mean time we know that the entire creation is groaning with us believers and feeling the most vehement pains to the present time. And in this way the entire creation is suffering and waiting, as Luther says; and for what? “For the glorious liberty of the children of God, when she will not only be set free from her service, that she will no more serve any scoundrel, but shall also be free, and much more beautiful than she is now, and serve only the children of God, no longer be captive under the devil, as she is now captive.”
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Rom 8:18. Revealed St. Paul speaks of this glory here as what needs to be revealed, to give us a right conception of it. It is impossible to have a clear and full comprehension of it, till we taste it.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rom 8:18 . ] I reckon , as in Rom 3:28 ; 2Co 11:5 ; Phi 3:13 . In the singular we are not to discover a turn given to the argument, as if the apostle found it necessary to justify himself on account of the condition . (Hofmann). Just as little here as in the case of in Rom 8:38 . He simply delivers his judgment, which, however, he might have expressed with equal propriety in a form inclusive of others, as subsequently he has written (Rom 8:22 ). Such changing of the person is accidental and without any special design, especially as here he does not say ., or , or otherwise give himself prominence. A certain litotes , however, lies (not indeed in the singular, but) in the use of itself, which really contains an and a .
] not of equal importance, not of corresponding weight; they are unimportant . On , in comparison with, in relation to , comp. Plat. Gorg . p. 471 E: , Protag. p. 356 A; Winer, p. 378 [E. T. 505]. On itself, however, in the sense: non operae pretium est , see Khner, ad Xen. Anab . vi. 5. 13. Comp. Dem. 300 ult. ; Polyb. iv. 20. 2. On the subject-matter , see especially 2Co 4:17 .
] of the present time-period . The marks off from the whole (see on Mat 12:32 ) the period then current , which was to end with the approaching Parousia (assumed as near in Rom 13:11-12 , 1Th 4:17 , 1Co 7:29 , and in the entire N. T.), and was thus the time of the crisis.
. . .] (see on Rom 8:13 ) is, as in Gal 3:23 , prefixed with emphasis, correlative with the foregoing . Comp. 1Co 12:22 ; Plat. Rep . p. 572 B: . See Stallbaum in loc .
.] Namely, at the Parousia, when the which is now hidden (in heaven, comp. Col 3:3 f.; 1Pe 1:4 ) is to be revealed.
] on us , so that we are those, upon whom (reaching unto them) the takes place. Comp. Act 28:6 . The comes to us, therefore, from without (with Christ descending from heaven; comp. Col 3:4 ; Phi 3:21 ; Tit 2:13 ); but is not conceived as having already begun inwardly and then becoming apparent outwardly (in opposition to Lipsius, Rechtfert . p. 206).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Rom 8:18-31 . Grounds of encouragement for the . .
Namely, (1) The future glory shall far outweigh the present sufferings, Rom 8:18-25 . (2) The Holy Ghost supports us, Rom 8:26-27 . (3) Generally, all things must serve for good to those who love God, Rom 8:28-31 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
II. Life in the Spirit in connection with nature as the Resurrection-life, and the Spirit as security of glory
Rom 8:18-39
A. The present and subjective certainty of future glory, or the glorification of the body and of nature by the spirit (Rom 8:18-27)
18For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared [insignificant in comparison] with the glory which shall be revealed in us [ ].49 19For the earnest [patient] expectation of the creature [creation]50 waiteth [is waiting] for the manifestation [revelation] of the sons of God. 20For the creature [creation] was made subject51 to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same [who subjected it,]52 in hope; [,]53 21Because [That] the creature [creation] itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty [freedom of the glory] of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groaneth [together] and travaileth in pain together until now. 23And not only they [so],54 but [but even we] ourselves also [omit also], which [though we] have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves55 groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption,56 to wit, [omit to wit,] the redemption of our body. 24For we are [were] saved by [in]57 hope: but [now] hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet [still]58 hope for? 25But if we hope for that we see not, then 26do we with patience wait for it [with patience we wait for it]. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities [weakness]:59 for we know not what we should pray for60 as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession [intercedeth] 27for us [omit for us]61 with groanings which cannot be uttered. And [But] he that [who] searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession [pleadeth] for the saints according to the will of God.
B. The future and objective certainty of glory (Rom 8:28-37)
28And we know that all things62 work together for good to them that [those who] love God, to them [those] who are the called according to his purpose. 29For whom he did foreknow [foreknew], he also did predestinate [predestinated] to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among30many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate [predestinated], them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified,them he also glorified. 31What shall we then [What then shall we] say to these32things? If God be [is] for us, who can be [is] against us? He that [Who] spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not withhim also freely give us all things? 33Who shall lay any thing to the charge of34Gods elect? It is God that justifieth. [!]63 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ [or, Christ is Jesus]64 that died, yea rather,65 that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress,or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36As it is written,
For thy sake we are killed all the day long;
We are [were] accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that [who] loved66 us.
C. The unity of the subjective and objective certainty of future glory in the already attained glorious life of love, the Spirit of glory (Rom 8:38-39)
38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, [omit nor powers,]67 nor things present, nor things to come, [insert norpowers.] 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature [created thing],68 shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Summary.The witness of Divine adoption, imparted by the Holy Spirit to believers, comprises at the same time, according to Rom 8:17, the security that they will be heirs of future glory. Then, too, the physical bodywhich, in their spiritual life in this world, they mistrust, because of its enervation through sin, which they must strictly control by walking in the Spirit, but in which, even here, according to Rom 8:11, a germ of its glorification into the psychico-physical existence is formedshall be transformed into the glory of the Spirit; and all nature, at present made partaker of corruption, yet groaning and travailing to be spiritualized, shall share in the glory also, as the transformed, illuminated, and appropriated organ of the kingdom of spirits. Rom 8:17 serves as a foundation for the section which now follows, as it terminates the previous section as a final inference.
A. The present and subjective certainty of future glory.
Believers, from their present and subjective sense of life, are certain of future glory; accordingly, all the sufferings of the present time are to them as birth-pangs for future glory. This holds good, first, in respect to the pressure toward development, and the longing and patient waiting of nature in its present state; and this pressure toward development corresponds with that of Gods kingdom. It holds good, secondly, in regard to the birth-pangs of Gods kingdom, as manifested, first, in the groanings, longings, and hopes of believers, and in the unutterable groanings of the Spirit, who intercedes for them. Although believers have the Spirit of adoption, it is because they have it that they still groan for its consummation (2Co 5:1). Their principial salvation is not their finished salvation; but the latter is testified by their hope and confirmed by their patience. But the Spirit proves himself in their hearts by unutterable groanings, as a vital pressure, which harmonizes in this life with the sense of the future exercise of Gods authority, and points to the future objective certainty of glory as founded in the will of God; Rom 8:18 (17)27.
B. The future and objective certainty of glory.
The love for God by believers is the experience of Gods love for them. But therein lies the security of an omnipotent power for its completiona power which nothing can oppose, but to which every thing must serve. The certainty of the decisive is the centre and climax of the life, from which the groundwork, as well as the future of life, is glorified. It points backward to Gods purpose, and forward to its consummation. The periods between the pre-temporal, eternal purpose of God, and its future, eternal consummation, are the periods of the order of salvation (Rom 8:29). That this way of salvation leads through suffering to glory, according to the image of Christs life, is secured by the omnipotent decision with which God is for (Rom 8:31) His childrena decision which is secured by the gift of Christ for them, by their justification, their reconciliation, redemption, and exaltation in Christ; in a word, by the love of Christ. This love leads them in triumph through all the temptations of the world, because it is the expression of Christs own conquest of the world (Rom 8:28-37).
C. The unity of the subjective and objective certainty of future glory in the glorious life of love already attained.
Life in the love of Christ is exalted above all the powers of the world (Rom 8:38-39).Kindred sections: John 17.; 1 Corinthians 15., and others.
Tholuck: This inheritance will far outweigh all suffering, and must be awaited with steadfast hope (Rom 8:18-27). But as far as we are concerned, we can suffer no more injury; the consciousness of Gods love in Christ rests upon so impregnable a foundation, that nothing in the whole universe can separate him from it (Rom 8:28-39).Meyer finds, in Rom 8:18-31, grounds of encouragement for the , . To wit: 1. The future glory will far outweigh the present suffering (Rom 8:18-25). 2. The Holy Spirit supports us (Rom 8:26-27). 3. Every thing must work together for good to them that love God (Rom 8:28-31). Undoubtedly these things are grounds of encouragement; yet the Apostle evidently designs to encourage by a copious and conclusive didactic exposition of the certainty of the Christians hope of future glory, in face of the great apparent contradictions of this hopean exposition which, in itself, has great value.
[Alford (Rom 8:18-30): The Apostle treats of the complete and glorious triumph of Gods elect, through sufferings and by hope, and the blessed renovation of all things in and by their glorification. (Rom 8:31-39): The Christian has no reason to fear, but all reason to hope; for nothing can separate him from Gods love in Christ.Hodge, making the theme of the chapter the security of the believer, finds, in Rom 8:18-28, a proof of this from the fact that they are sustained by hope, and aided by the Spirit, under all their trials; so that every thing eventually works together, for their good. In Rom 8:29-30, another proof founded on the decree or purpose of God. In Rom 8:31-39, yet another, founded on His infinite and unchanging love.R.]
First Paragraph, Rom 8:18-27
Rom 8:18. For I reckon, &c. [ , … connects this verse with Rom 8:17, introducing a reason why the present sufferings should not discourage (De Wette, Philippi). Calvin: Neque vero molestum nobis debet, si ad clestem gloriam per varias afflictiones procedenoum est, quandoquidem, &c. Stuart prefers to join it to glorified with Him; we shall be glorified with Christ, for all the sufferings and sorrows of the present state are only temporary. The connection seems to be with the whole thought which precedes. The verb is thus expanded by Alford: I myself am one who have embraced this course, being convinced that. It is used as in Rom 3:28; see p. 136.R.] Now by his view of the magnitude of future glory, as well as by his conviction of its certainty, he estimates the proportionate insignificance of the sufferings (certainly great when considered in themselves alone) of the present time, since they, as birth-throes, are the preliminary conditions of future glory.
Insignificant, , not of weight; a stronger expression for . They are not synonymous.69 The is the final, decisive time of development, with which the will terminate.
In comparison with the glory which shall be revealed [ . On after , in the sense of in relation to, in comparison with, see Tholuck, Philippi in loco.R.] is antecedent, with emphasis. [To this Alford objects]. That glory is ever approaching, and therefore ever near at hand, though Paul does not regard its presence near in the sense of Meyer, and others.In us [see Textual Note1]. The does not mean, as the Vulgate and Beza have it, in nobis [so E. V.]; it is connected with the . If it is imparted through the inward life of believers and through nature, it nevertheless comes from the future and from above, as much as from within outwardly, and it is a Divine secret from eternity in timetherefore .
Rom 8:19. For the patient expectation [. On . comp. Php 1:20. The verb means, literally, to expect with uplifted head; then, to expect. The noun, strengthened by , refers to an expectation, which is constant and persistent until the time arrives. The idea of anxiety (Luther) is not prominent. (So Tholuck, Philippi, De Wette, Meyer.) See below also. Tholuck remarks, that the strengthening of the attributive notion into a substantive makes a double prosopopia, not only the creature, but the expectation of the creature waits.R.] The introduces the first proof of his statement from the course of the whole . It may be asked, Shall the future glory be shown in its grandeur (Chrysostom [Hodge, Alford], and most expositors), its certainty (Fritzsche, Meyer), its nearness (Reiche), or its futurity (Philippi)? Tholuck, in its grandeur and certainty.70 If both must combine in one idea, then it is the truth or the reality of the glory, as such. The elements of its grandeur, as of its certainty, are united in the fact that the developing pain of the external , as of the inward life of believersindeed, the groaning of the Divine spiritual life itselflabors for it and points toward it; that it will consist in the removal of all vanity and corruption in the whole natural sphere of mankind.
Of the creation, . The great question is, What is the ? Lexically, the word may mean the act of creation, as well as what is created, the creation;71 but actually, the question here can only be the creation in the broader or more limited sense. Tholuck: in the passive sense can mean the same as , the single creature; Rom 8:39; Heb 4:13. , Book of Wis 2:6; Wis 16:24; Heb 9:11; or even , Book of Wis 19:6; , Jdt 16:17, the created world. But in that case, as also with (Joh 12:19), it is metonymically confined to the human world (Col 1:23; Mar 16:15; and also with the Rabbis, , &c.), or to irrational nature, exempting man.
The explanations are divided into different groups:
1. The natural and spiritual world. The universe. Origen: Man as subject to corruption; souls of the stars. Theodoret: also the angels. Theodore of Mopsvestia, Olshausen: The whole of the universe. Kllner, Koppe, Rosenmller(tota rerum universitas).
2. Inanimate creation. (Chrysostom, Theophylact, Calvin, Beza, Fritzsche: mundi machina.)
3. Animate creation. a. Humanity (Augustine, Turretine,72 &c.; Baumgarten-Crusius: still unbelieving men); b. unconverted heathen (Locke, Light-foot, and others). Rabbinical usage of language: the heathen: ; c. the Jewish people, because the Jews were called Gods creation (Cramer, and others); d. the Gentile Christians, because the proselytes were called new creatures (Clericus, Nsselt); e. Jewish Christians (Gockel; for the same reason as under c.); f. Christians in general ( , Socinians and Arminians).Evidently there is no reference, on one hand, to the mathematical or astronomical character of the heavenly bodies, nor, on the other, to the real rational or spiritual world, but to a creature-life, which can groan and earnestly expect.
4. Inanimate and animate nature, in contradistinction from humanity73 (Irenus, Grotius, Calovius, Neander, Meyer, De Wette) [Hodge, Alford].[Schubert: Even in the things of the bodily world about us there is a life-element which, like that statue of Memnon, unconsciously sounds in accord when touched by the ray from on high.P. S.] But the distinction from mankind must be confined to the distinction from the spiritual life of renewed mankind; for sinful mankind is utterly dependent upon nature, and even believers have their natural side (2Co 5:1 ff.). Nor can the universe, in its merely natural side, be altogether meant, since the Holy Scriptures distinguish a region of glory from the region of humanity in this life.
5. Tholuck: The material world surrounding man. The Scriptures very plainly distinguish between an earthly natural world related to mankind, and a region of glory. (See the ascension; 1 Corinthians 15; Heb 9:11, &c.) The former alone is subject to vanity, and hence it alone can be intended. But there is no ground for making divisions in reference to this human natural world. The Apostle assumes, rather, that this creature-sphere is in a state of collective, painful striving for development, which expresses itself as sensation only proportionately to the sensational power of life, and hence is more definitely expressed, appears more frequently, and reaches its climax in living creatures and in the natural longing which mankind feels (2Co 5:1). The real personification of nature in man is the final ground for the poetical personification of nature.
[6. The whole creation, rational as well as irrational, not yet redeemed, but needing and capable of redemption, here opposed to the new creation in Christ and in the regenerate. The children of God appear, on the one side, as the first-fruits of the new creation, and the remaining creatures, on the other, as consciously or unconsciously longing after the same redemption and renewal. This explanation seems to be the most correct one. It most satisfactorily accounts for the expressions: expectation, waiting, groaning, not willingly (Rom 8:20), and the whole creation (Rom 8:22). The whole creation, then, looks forward to redemption; all natural birth, to the new birth. As all that is created proceeded from God, so it all, consciously or unconsciously, strives after Him as its final end. What shows itself in nature as a dim impulse, in the natural man, among the heathen, and yet more among the Jews, under the influence of the law, comes to distinct consciousness and manifests itself in that loud cry after deliverance (Rom 7:24), which Christ alone can satisfy; and then voices itself in happy gratitude for the actual redemption. Olshausen aptly says: Paul contrasts Christ, and the new creation called forth by Him, to all the old creation, together with the unregenerate men, as the flower of this creation. The whole of this old creation has one life in itself, and this is yearning for redemption from the bonds which hold it, and hinder its glorification; this one yearning has forms different only according to the different degrees of life, and is naturally purer and stronger in unregenerate men than in plants and animals; in them, the creation has, as it were, its mouth, by which it can give vent to its collective feeling. Yet the most of these men know not what the yearning and seeking in them properly mean; they understand not the language of the Spirit in them; nay, they suppress it often, though it is, meanwhile, audible in their heart; and what they do not understand themselves, God understands, who listens even to prayers not understood. But however decided the contrast between the old and new creation, yet they may not be considered as separated thoroughly. Rather, as the new man, in all distinctness from the old, still is in the old, so is the new creation (Christ, and the new life proceeding from Him) in the old world. The old creation, therefore, is like an impregnate mother (comp. Rom 8:23), that bears a new world in her womba life which is not herself, neither springs from her, but which, by the overmastering power that dwells in it, draws her life, with which it is connected, on and on into itself, and changes it into its nature, so that the birth (the completion of the new world) is the mothers death (the sinking of the old).P. S.]
[This last view seems to be that of Dr. Lange himself. It is ably defended by Forbes, pp. 310330. The limitation to creation, as capable of redemption, implies that only so much of creation as is linked with the fall of man, and subject to the curse, should be included. Thus it differs from 1. Col 1:20, however, gives a hint as to the extent of this connection with man. The context renders such a limitation necessary. On the other hand, it differs from 4, in including man in his fallen condition. The reasons for excluding humanity have been given above. It will appear that, against this view, they are of comparatively little weight. Certainly the burden of proof rests with those who adopt 4; for man is the head of the creation, to which they apply ; not merely as the final and crowning work of the repeated creative agency which brought it into being, but as the occasion of its present groaning condition. Besides, man, viewed on one side of his nature, is a part of this material and animal creation. It seems arbitrary to sunder him from it in this case. At all events, we may admit that his material body involuntarily shares in this expectation, to which his unregenerate soul responds with an indefinite longing. In this view the degradation of sin is fearfully manifest. Nature waits, but the natural man is indifferent or hostile. The very body which, in his blindness, he deems the source of sin, waits for glorification, while his soul uses its power over it to stifle the inarticulate desire. On the whole subject, see Usteri, Stud, und Krit., 1832, pp. 835 ff., Tholuck, Meyer in loco, Delitzsch, Bibl. Psych., pp. 57 ff. and pp. 476 ff. (a most profound and eloquent sermon on Rom 8:18-23). Comp. Doctr. Notes, and Dr. Lange, Das Land der Herrlichkeit.R.]
For the earnest expectation of the creature. As the means, strictly, to expect with raised head, it is very proper to regard the (intense expectation), and the (Php 1:20) (intense longing, waiting for satisfaction), as an allusion to the conduct of irrational creatures in reference to the future transformation of the sphere of nature.
Is waiting [. Here, also, the preposition implies the continuance of the waiting until the time arrives.R.] Even the poor creatures, whose heads are bowed toward the ground, now seized by a higher impulse, by a supernatural anticipation and longing, seem to stretch out their heads and look forth spiritually for a spiritual object of their existence, which is now burdened by the law of corruption.74 Certainly this representation has the form of a poetical personification; but it cannot, on this account, be made equivalent, as Meyer holds (p. 255), to the usual prosopopias in the Old Testament, although these declare, in a measure, the sympathy between the natural and human world. Meyer would exclude from the idea not only the angelic and demoniac kingdom, but also Christian and unchristian mankind. But how, then, would Paul have understood the groaning of the creature, without human sympathy?
The revelation of the sons (children) of God []. The children of God in the pregnant sense of His sons. The creature waits for its manifestation; that is, for the coming of its to full appearance (1Jn 3:2) with the coming of Christ (Mat 25:31), which will be the appearing of the of the great God (Tit 2:13); therefore the absolute itself,75 the fulfilment of all the typical prophecies of natureand not only as complete restoration, but also as perfect development.
Rom 8:20. For the creation was made subject [ . Dr. Lange takes the verb as middle. It is the historical aorist, at the fall of man. See below. Comp. Gen 3:17-18.R.]. God was the one who subjected (so say most expositors)[This is evident from the curse, if the reference be to the time of the fall.R.];not Adam (Knachtb., Capellus); nor man (Chrysostom, Schneckenburger); nor the devil (Hammond).
To vanity. . The Septuagint, instead of , , . The word does not occur in the profane Greek; it means the superficial, intangible, and therefore deceptive appearance; the perishable and doomed to destruction having the show of reality. Earlier expositors (Tertullian, Bucer, and others) have referred the word to the = idols, understanding it as the deification of the creature. Yet the question here is a condition of the creature to which God has subjected it. Further on it is designated as . Therefore Fritzsches definition, perversitas (Adams sin), is totally untenable. But what do we understand by subject to ? Explanations:
1. An original disposition of creation; the arrangement of the corruption of the creature. (Grotius, Krehl, De Wette. Theodoret holds that the original arrangement was made with a view to the fall.)
2. A result of the fall of man. (The Hebrew theology, Berechith Rabba, many Christian theologians: eumenius, Calvin, Meyer, and others). No. 1 is opposed by the , &c. [by , , which presupposes a different previous condition, and by the historical fact (Gen 1:31); Meyer.R.]; and No. 2 by the originality of the arrangement between a first created and a second spiritual stage of the cosmos (1Co 15:47-48).
3. We must therefore hold, that Paul refers to the obscurity and disturbance of the first natural stage in the development of our cosmos produced by the fall.76 As, in redemption, the restoration occurred simultaneously with the furtherance of the normal development, so death entered, at the fall, as a deterioration of the original metamorphoses, into the corruption of transitoriness. Tholuck approaches this explanation by this remark: As the Rabbinical theology expresses the thought that man, born sinless, would have passed into a better condition by a kiss of the Highest, so, in all probability, has Paul regarded that of which he speaks in 1Co 15:52 as the destination of the first man. Yet Tholuck seems, in reality, to adhere to De Wettes view.
Not willingly. The cannot mean merely the natural necessity peculiar to the creature-world; it applies rather to an opposition of ideal nature, in its ideal pressure toward development, to the decrees of death and of the curse of their real developing progress (Genesis 3; 2Co 5:1 ff.). Bucer: Contra quam fert ingenium eorum, a natura enim omnes res a corruptione abhorrent.
[But by reason of him who hath subjected it, . Dr. Lange renders: the creature-world subjected itself to vanity, not willingly, but on account of Him who subjected it, in hope. The force of with the accusative is on account of; but the E. V. is correct, indicating a moving causei. e., the will of God.R.] This unwillingness is expressed, according to what follows, in the groaning of the whole creation. The translation: it was made subject (, passive), by reason of Him who hath subjected the same, is opposed to the logical conception. [The simplest grammatical as well as logical interpretation accepts the verb as passive, with a reference to God as Him who subjected the same. (So Meyer, Tholuck, Hodge, De Wette, Alford, and most commentators.)R.] Moreover, the reference of the to man, to Adam,77 does not remove this logical difficulty, since, in that case, the would have to relate to another subject than the . We therefore find ourselves driven, with Fritzsche, to the middle construction of . Thereby we gain the idea, that even the disharmony which nature had suffered has become, in turn, a kind of order, since nature has been found in the service of corruption by virtue of its elasticity, relative dependence, plasticity, and pliability, and its absolute dependence upon God; and pious nature is all the dearer to God because it is subjected in hope. [So Hodge, accepting the middle sense: the creature submitted to the yoke of bondage in hope of ultimate deliverance.R.]
[In hope, . Not precisely in a state of, which would be expressed by , but resting on hope (De Wette: auf Hoffnung hin).R.] This means not merely, hope was left to it (Tholuck), but it is also a motive of positive hope in suffering nature. Just as the fallen human world shall be led in its beyond its primitive paradisaical glory, so shall nature come through this humiliation to a richer elevation, namely, as the transformed organism of the glorified Christ and His joint-heirs. The must be joined with , not with . . (Vulgate, Luther, and others). [The question of connection is a difficult one. Of the two views here mentioned, Dr. Lange rightly prefers the former, since the latter would attribute the hope to the one subjecting, not the one subjected
(Alford). Ewald, making all that precedes in this verse parenthetical, joins in hope with Rom 8:19, and thus finds a reason for the emphatic repetition of in Rom 8:21. See Textual Note78, where the view of Forbes is given. It seems to give greater clearness to the passage as a whole.R.]
Rom 8:21. That the creation itself also [ . See Textual Note5. The current of exegesis sets strongly in favor of the view which connects with , in the sense of that. Alford, who, in his commentary, defends because, is one of the authors of a revision which adopts that. Meyer suggests that the purport of the hope must be given, in order to prove the expectation of the as directed precisely toward the manifestation of the sons of God. Alford indeed objects, that this subjective signification of the clause would attribute to the yearnings of creation, intelligence and rationalityconsciousness of itself and of God; but the same objection might be urged against the reference of to inanimate creation, in Rom 8:19-20; Rom 8:22, as well as here. If the figurative idea of longing be admitted at all, it may be carried out to this extent with equal propriety. The repetition may be readily accounted for, either by considering Rom 8:20 parenthetical, or by regarding as emphatic.R.] This explains the hope of the creature-world introduced in the preceding verse. With Chrysostom, Theophylact, and others, we regard the as a higher degree, itself also, and not merely as an expression of equality, also it. Meyer says, that the context says nothing of gradation. But the gradation lies essentially in the fact that the creature-world constitutes a humiliation in opposition to spiritual life, especially for contemplating the old world.
Shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption []. We do not hold (with Tholuck, Meyer, and others) that is the genitive of apposition. For the question is, in the first place, concerning a bondage under vanity; so that the creature, even in its deliverance, will remain in a state of the in relation to the children of God himself. The is not altogether the same as , but its manifestation in the process of finite life in sickness, death, the pangs of death, and corruption; while the , as such, is veiled in the semblance of a blooming, incorruptible life. [There seems to be no good reason for objecting to the view of Tholuck, Meyer, Philippi, and others, that the bondage, which results from the vanity, and is borne not willingly (Rom 8:20), consists in corruption. This preserves the proper distinctions. The corruption is the consequence of the vanity; the unwilling subjection to a condition which is under vanity, and results in corruption, is well termed bondage.R.] The alteration of the expression into an adjective, corruptible bondage (Kllner), is as unwarranted as the translation of the by glorious liberty (Luther [E. V.]).
[Into the freedom of the glory of the children of God, . The construction is pregnant. (So Meyer: Aecht Griechische Prgnanz. See Winer, p. 577.) We may supply: , or , shall be brought or introduced into, &c. The freedom is to consist in, or at least to result from a share in, the glory of the children of God. Hence the hendiadys of the E. V. (glorious liberty) is totally incorrect. It makes the most prominent idea of the whole clause a mere attributive. Besides, were the meaning that expressed by the E. V., we should find this form: . . .R.] The can mean only the sharing in the liberty of Gods children by the organic appropriation on their part, and by the equality with the children of God produced by means of the transformation; but it cannot mean an independent state of liberty beside them. Their freedom will consist in its helping to constitute the glory, the spiritualized splendor of the manifestation of Gods children. As Christ is the manifestation of Gods glory because He is illuminated throughout by God, and the sons of God are the glory of Christ as lights from His light, so will nature be the glory of Gods sons as humanized and deified nature. Yet we would not therefore take the as the genitive of apposition, since the glory proceeds outwardly from within, and since it is here promised to nature as recompense, so to speak, in opposition to the corruption. It shall therefore share, in its way, in the glory belonging to Gods children. But why is not the , incorruption, mentioned (1Co 15:45), in opposition to the , corruption? Because the idea of corruption has been preceded by that of vanity. The real glory of the manifestation in which its inward incorruption shall hereafter be externally revealed, is contrasted with the deceptive, transitory glory of the manifestation in which the creature-world in this life appears subject to vanity. The elevation of the children of God themselves from the condition of corruption to the condition of glorification, constitutes the centre of the deliverance into this state of glory; but the creature is drawn upward in this elevation, in conformity with its dynamical dependence on the centre, and its organic connection with it.79
Rom 8:22. For we know that the whole creation [ ]. The Apostle furnishes, in Rom 8:22, for we know, the proof of the declaration in Rom 8:21. Since he has proved the proposition of Rom 8:19 by Rom 8:20, and of Rom 8:20 by Rom 8:21, Meyer, without ground, goes back with this for to Rom 8:20 : ; De Wette [Philippi], to Rom 8:19. [If Rom 8:21 be taken as stating the purport of the hope, then Meyers view is the most tenable one. Philippi finds here a more general affirmation of the existence of the patient expectation, as an admitted truth.R.]
Tholuck asks, Whence does the Apostle have this we know? and he opposes the view that it is an assumption of the universal human consciousness (according to most expositors), or rather, that the Apostle seems (according to Bucer, Brenz) to speak from the Jewish-Christian hope which rested on the prophets, as, even in Rom 2:2; Rom 3:19; Rom 7:14; Rom 8:28, the is understood best as the Christian consciousness.80 We must not subject the Apostle to the modern sense of nature. But we can still less reduce the Apostles knowledge to that of the prophets. The modern sense of nature, in its sound elements, is a fruit of apostolical Christianity; and as the harmony between spirit and nature has been essentially consummated in Christ, so, too, has the knowledge of the language (that is, the spiritual meaning) of nature been consummated in Hima knowledge which was reproduced in the apostles as a fountain, and ready for enlargement. This knowledge is, indeed, universally human chiefly in elect souls alone, under the condition of Divine illumination.
Groaneth together and travaileth in pain together [ ]. The in and has been referred, by eumenius, Calvin, and others, to the children of God; Kllner, and others, have viewed it as a mere strengthening of the simple word. Tholuck and Meyer explain it, in harmony with Theodore of Mopsvestia, as a collective disposition of the creature. The latter: , . Estius: genitus et dolor communis inter se partium creatur. On the linguistic tenableness of this explanation, by accepting the presumed organization of nature in single parts, see Meyer, against Fritzsche. It is, indeed, against the reference of the to the groaning of Christians that this groaning is introduced further on as something special.
Reiche holds that refers to the eschatological expectation of the Jews, the , dolores messi; against which Meyer properly observes, that those dolores messi are special sufferings which were to precede the appearance of the Messiah; but the travailing of nature had taken place from the beginning, since Gen 3:17. Yet Tholuck remarks, with propriety, that the Apostle must have been acquainted with that term of Rabbinical theology. Likewise the developing suffering of nature will ascend toward the end to a decisive crisis (see the eschatological words of Jesus). But the dolores messi comprise also ethical conflicts. Therefore this continuous travailing of the worlds development is related to the dolores messi, as the preparation is to the fulfilment, or as the judgment of the world, immanent in the history of the world, is related to the final catastrophe. The denotes the birth-pangs of a woman in labor. The figure is happily chosen, not only because it announces a new birth and new form of the earth, but because it reflects in travailing Eve the fate of the travailing earth, and vice vers. Tholuck: By pain, it will wrest the new out of the old; perhaps has reference to bringing forth (comp. Jer 4:31), but better, as Luther explains the , Rom 8:26, the groaning, earnest expectation, which is intensified by the being in travail which follows. Yet the groaning also indicates the painful announcement of positive sufferings, which subsequently arise from the groaning of Christians for redemption ( , 2Co 5:4).
[Until now, . Any reference to the future is forbidden by the use of , which refers to experience (Alford). While it is not necessary to insist upon an important distinction between and (see p. 181), it would seem best to consider that the idea of duration81 is the prominent one here. If any point of time is emphasized, it must be that of the beginning of the groaning, when the curse of wearying labor and travail came upon man, and through him the curse upon nature.R.]
Rom 8:23. And not only so, but even we ourselves [ , . See Textual Notes82 and7. The reading of the Vaticanusis followed here.] Meyers mode of stating the connection with the preceding verse is utterly incorrect: Climax of the previous proof that the in Rom 8:21 is correct in the , . Even we Christians would, indeed, do nothing less than unite in that groaning. The principal thought is, not the deliverance of the , Rom 8:20-21, but the future glory of the children of God, Rom 8:18. The first proof therefor is the groaning of nature; the second, which now follows, is the groaning of spiritual life. Therefore Christians do not unite in anywise in the groaning of creation, but vice vers: the groaning of creation joins in the groaning of Christians. Consequently, we must not translate: But also we (Christians) on our part, &c., but: even we Christians ourselvesnamely, we who are most intimately concerned. The expression brings out prominently the truth that these same Christians, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, are also saved by hope, though at heart they must still groan and earnestly expect. Thus , in Rom 7:25, means: I, one and the same man, can be so different; with the mind I can serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Tholuck: The difference between the readings seems to have arisen rather from purposes of perspicuity or style. Augustine, Chrysostom, and others, hold that the connectionin which the subject is Christians in generalis decidedly against the odd limitation of the to the apostles (Origen, Ambrose, Melanchthon, and Grotius. Reiche, and others: the Apostle Paul alone. Others: Paul, with the other apostles). The former expositors maintain that the second consists, in a more intense degree, of the apostles.83 But the addition is rather occasioned by the contrast presented: saved, and yet groaning (the inward life of Christians shines).
Though we have the first-fruits of the Spirit [. The participle may be taken as simply defining the subject: we ourselves, those who have (Luther, Calvin, Beza, Hodge); or be rendered: though we have, despite this privilege. The latter is more forcible; the former sense would require the article (Tholuck, Philippi, Meyer, Alford). in itself occasions no difficulty; it means first-fruits, with the implied idea of a future harvest. Comp., however, Rom 11:16.R.] The . is differently interpreted.
1. The genitive is partitive, having this sense: the apostles (they alone, according to Origen, ?cumenius, Melanchthon, and Grotius), and the Christians of the apostolic period, have the first foretaste of a spiritual endowment, which, when complete, will extend to all future Christians (De Wette, Kllner, Olshausen, Meyer). But by this division the Apostle would not only have adjudged to later Christians the full harvest of the Spirit, which is contrary to the real fact, but he would also have obscured rather than strengthened his argument by a superfluous remark. For it is a fact, which will ever remain perfectly the same from the time of the apostles to the end of the world, that the life of Christians in the Spirit is related to their physical perfection and glorification, as the firstlings are to the harvest. But the following division has just as little force.
2. Our present reception of the Spirit is only preliminary, in contrast with the future complete outpouring in the kingdom of heaven (Chrysostom, and others; also Huther, Calvin, Beza, Tholuck, Philippi [Hodge, Alford, Stuart]). Apart from the fact that this view is not altogether apostolical, it adds nothing to the matter in question, and removes the point of view: the inference of the future from the present .
3. Therefore the genitive of apposition.84 The Holy Spirit is himself the gift of the first-fruits, if the completion of Christian life is regarded as the harvest (Bengel, Winer, Rckert, and others). The Spirit is the earnest, , of the future perfection (2Co 1:22; 2Co 5:5; Gal 6:8). Eph 1:14; Eph 4:30; and 1Pe 4:14, , are of special importance. Meyers only objection to this explanation is, that the Apostles expression would have been misunderstood, since the would have to be understood as a part of a similar whole. But the sheaves offered as first-fruits are not merely the first portions of the first sheaves collectively; they are the precious tokens and sure pledges of the full harvest, to which they constitute, if we may so speak, a harmonious antithesis. But the must be regarded as commensurate with the spiritual life; yet not as a new and higher outpouring of the Spirit, but as the perfect epiphany of the operation of the Spirit. Tholuck admits, at least, that this third explanation is also admissible with the second. On the singular explanations of Fritzsche and Schneckenburger, see Meyer.
Even we ourselves groan within ourselves [ . We, although we have the first-fruits, are far from being complete; despite this, we groan within ourselves. The inward, profound nature of the feeling is thus emphasized.R.] Groaning is the expression of the longing which feels that it is delayed in its course toward its object; expression of the inclination contending immediately with its obstacles.
Waiting for the adoption [. Wait for, await, wait to the end of (Alford). The adoption is already ours (Rom 8:15) as an internal relation, but the outward condition does not yet correspond (Meyer). Alford paraphrases: awaiting the fulness of our adoption.R.]. The object of the longing is the , which believers wait for in perfect patience. This is here identified with the redemption of our body. It is the perfect outward manifestation of the inward ; it is the souls inheritance of the glorified life which is attained on the perfect deliverance of the body from the bondage of the first state of nature, and from subjection to death and corruption; see 2Co 5:4. The Apostles addition of the redemption of our body, proves that he does not mean merely the entire , but this viewed specifically as complete.
[The redemption of our body, . Epexegetical clause.] is explained by Erasmus, Luther, and others (also Lutz, Bibl. Dogm.), as redemption from the body; but this is totally foreign to the connection, and also to the matter itself. [Were this the meaning, there would probably be some qualifying term added, as Php 3:21 (Meyer).R.] Tholuck explains the redemption of the body as applying to its materiality; this is also the object of the earnest expectation of the . Perhaps this is from Origen and Rothe; see, on the contrary, 1 Corinthians 15. Tholucks quotation from Augustine is better (De doctr. christ.): Quod nonnulli dicunt, malle se omnino esse sine corpore, omnino falluntur, non enim corpus suum sed corruptiones et pondus oderunt; Php 3:21; 1 Cor. xv; The most untenable view is: deliverance from the morally injurious influence of the body by death (Carpzov, and others). [It is so natural to refer this phrase to the glorification of the body at the coming of Christ, that it is unnecessary to state arguments in favor of this reference (comp. Php 3:21; 2Co 5:2 ff.; 1Co 15:42 ff.). The redemption is not complete until the body is redeemed. Any other view is not accordant with the grand current of thought in this chapter. The fact that even here, where the longing of Christians is described, so much stress should be laid on the redemption of the body, the material part of our complex nature, confirms the view of , which takes it as including material existences. In fact, since even we ourselves are represented as waiting for an event, which shall redeem that part of our nature most akin to the creation (in the restricted sense of Meyer, and others), it would appear that the subject here is not necessarily in antithesis to creation, but rather a part of it; subjected in hope, like the whole creation, but also as having the first-fruits of the Spirit, saved in hope (Rom 8:24).R.]
Rom 8:24. For we were saved. (.) Delivered, and participating in salvation. The dative , in hope, does not describe the means, but the mode of the deliverance. [So Bengel, and many others. Comp. Winer, p. 203. The phrase is emphatically placed. Luther is excellent: we are indeed saved, yet in hope.R.] Even if we were to admit that the Apostle understood faith to be the hope here mentioned (Chrysostom, De Wette, and others)which, as Meyer correctly observes, is controverted by Pauls definite distinction between faith and hope,85the admission of the dative of instrument would be too strong. But even if we accept the dative as denoting modality, it does not denote that to which the is to be regarded as confined (Meyer), but the condition: in hope of. Therefore the must be here explained conformably to the conception of the in Rom 8:23, not as being the principial attainment of salvation in the Spiritwhich is already complete therebut as being the perfect attainment of salvation in glory. This has become the portion of Christians, but in such a way that their faith is supplemented by their hope. They have the inward in the witness of the Spirit; but the of in the pledge of the Spirit.
Now hope that is seen is not hope [ ]. Tholuck: the second is concrete, the object of hope. [This usage is common in emphatic phrases in all languages (Philippi). Comp. Col 1:5; 1Ti 1:1; Heb 6:18, where is objective.R.] Luther: The word hope is used in two ways. In one case it means great courage, which remains firm in all temptations; in the other, the finite salvation which hope shall get; here it may mean both. Seeing means, here, the acquired presence of the object, which can be grasped with the hands; however, the beholding also may momentarily afford heavenly satisfaction; see 1 Cor. xiii.; 2Co 5:7.
For what a man seeth [ ]. Thus the hope of believers proves that they are to expect a state of completion, but that they must wait for it perseveringly.
Why doth he still hope for? [ ; See Textual Note86. Adopting as well established, it seems best to take it as = etiam (Meyer). Why does he still hope, when there is no more ground for it? Comp. Hartung, Partikellehre, i. p. 137, on this use of . Bengel: cum visione non est spe opus.R.]
Rom 8:25. But if we hope for that, &c. Hope is no vain dreaming; it is proved as religious confidence in the ethical labor of patience. The denotes perseverance amid obstacles; therefore always, also passiveness, or patience and steadfastness. But the connection here authorizes the predominance of the former idea. And though complete salvation comes from the future and from above, patience in this life must coperate with its futuretherefore: to persevere.87 Grotius; Spes ista non infructuosa est in nobis, sed egregiam virtutem operatur, malorum fortem tolerantiam.
Rom 8:26. Likewise the Spirit also [ k . Likewise () introduces, as contemporaneous with the waiting (Rom 8:23), the divine assistance of the Holy Spirit (Tholuck).R.] De Wette and Meyer explain: The Holy Spirit. The latter commentator appeals to Rom 8:16; Rom 8:23. But, in Rom 8:23, the new spiritual life is spoken of,88 which certainly consists in the fellowship of the human spirit with the Holy Spirit, but is, nevertheless, not the Holy Spirit itself. To say of the Holy Spirit in himself that He groansindeed, that He gives vent to groanings which are unutterable by Himis altogether inadmissible. Neither can we, with Nsselt, substitute the gospel; nor, with Morus, the Christian disposition; nor, with Kllner, the Christian element of life. According to the opposition of and in 1Co 14:14, it is the new basis of life, which constitutes to the conscious daily life an opposition of the life which, though apparently unconscious, is really the higher consciousness itself, the heavenly sense of the awakened soul. As, in the unconverted state, the influences of the unconscious basis of the soul invade the conscious daily life with demoniacal temptation, so vice vers, does the unconscious spiritual life of the converted man come as a guardian spirit to the help of the daily life. Therefore the groaning of the spirit itself (see Rom 8:15) corresponds with the groaning of the consciousness in its natural feeling. [This position of Dr. Lange is not in accordance with the view of the best modern commentators. Tholuck, De Wette, Ewald, Stuart, Hodge, Philippi, Meyer, Alford, Wordsworth, Jowett, as well as the older commentators in general, all refer it to the objective, Holy Spirit. Olshausen, however, adopts the subjective sense. The proof must be very strong which will warrant us in referring it to any thing other than the Holy Spirit itself; for the Apostle uses , as he has done in Rom 8:23; Rom 8:16, &c., where the Holy Spirit is meant. The only reason urged against such a meaning here is, that the groaning, &c., cannot be predicated of Him. But we have no right to depart from the obvious meaning, because, in the next clause, that is predicated which, we fancy, cannot be predicated of the Holy Spirit. The predicate in this clause cannot, with strict propriety, be referred to any spirit save the Holy Spirit. That Dr. Langes view weakens the thought, is also evident.R.]
Helpeth our weakness [ . See Textual Note89. On the verb, comp. Luk 10:40, where Martha asks that Mary be bidden to help heri. e., take hold of in connection with. It requires a weakening of its force to make this applicable to the new spiritual life. The subjective side has been brought out in Rom 8:23-25. Hence a reference to the Holy Spirit accords with the progress of thought.R.] Meyer urges, with Beza, the in : ad nos laborantes refertur. At all events, it would refer to only the conscious side of our effort. But it is clear, from the further definition, that is the only correct reading. Tholuck understands this as referring to occasions of invading faintness. But the Apostle speaks of a permanent relation of our weakness in this life, which certainly becomes more prominent in special temptations. This is the incongruity between the new principle and the old psychical and carnal life.
[The singular must be accepted as the true reading. It then refers to a state of weakness, already described (Rom 8:23). The dative, as in Luk 10:40, denotes not the burden which the. Spirit helps us bear (so Hodge, and many others), but that which it helps. (Alford: helps our weaknessus who are weak, to bear the burden of Rom 8:23. Meyer: Er legt mit Hand an mit unserer Schwachheit .) It should not be limited to weakness in prayer (Bengel), but is the general weakness in our waiting for final redemption.R.]
For we know not what we should pray for as we ought [ . belongs to the whole clause. introduces an illustration of our weakness, and how it is helped. The aorist , which we accept as the correct reading, is more usual than the future, but either is grammatically admissible. See Winer, p. 280.R.] Tholuck holds that this not knowing refers to special states of obscure faith, and has a twofold meaning: ignorance of the object toward which prayer should be directed, and the language in which we should pray. But the supposition of special states is incorrect; otherwise the expression would be: we often do not know. But the language can by no means be under consideration, neither can a mere ignorance of the object be meant. Therefore De Wette and Meyer explain thus: we do not know what, under existing circumstances, it is necessary to pray for. We refer the as well to the heavenly clearness of the object of redemption as to the subjective purity, definiteness, and energy of desire corresponding to it.90 The conscious, verbal prayer is related to the spirit of prayer, as the fallible dictate of conscience is to the infallible conscience.
But the Spirit itself intercedeth [ . On the omission of (Rec.), which Meyer finds in the verb itself, see Textual Note91. The verb occurs only here. The simple verb means, to meet; then, compounded with , to approach in order to make supplication (Act 25:24, ); the seems to show that the supplication is in favor of the persons in question. Dr. Lange rejects this, in order to avoid a reference to the Holy Spirit. brings into prominence the Intercessor, who knows our wants (Tholuck, Alford).R.] Since the must be read without the addition of the Recepta, we refer the to our want in not knowing what to pray for, as it is proper for us, and in harmony with our destiny. Tholuck regards the as merely a higher degree, as in ; Meyer [so Philippi] sees here a , according to the analogy of , &c.
With groanings which cannot be uttered []. Analogous to 1Co 14:14; against which Tholuck remarks, that there the subject in question is the human . Meyer even declares that those explanations are rationalistic which do not interpret the to be the Holy Spirit (Reiche: the Christian, sense; Kllner: the Spirit obtained in Christ). Chrysostoms calling it the , and Theodorets not understanding by the expression the of the Spirit, are declared to be an arbitrary alteration. Meyer does not accede to the opinion of Augustine, and most commentators, that the sense is, that man himself, stirred up by the Holy Ghost, utters groanings. It is rather the Holy Spirit himself; but certainly He needs the human organ for His groanings. He claims that the analogy, that demons speak and cry out of men, is adapted to this view. The analogy of demoniacal possession! Besides, Meyer, in his exposition of the , prefers the interpretation of most expositors, unutterable, to the opposite rendering, unuttered, dumb (Grotius, Fritzsche, and others), because it denotes greater intensity. But we get from this the result, that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God in His glory, not only groans, but also cannot utter His groans.
[Notwithstanding this attempt at a reductio ad absurdum, the view must still be held, that the Holy Spirit is here represented as interceding. To avoid this conclusion, Dr. Lange must first weaken the subject into the human spirit, and then the force of in the verb. It is far better to accept the obvious sense, and then explain it in a way which escapes the extreme conclusions of Meyer. The Holy Spirit is here spoken of as dwelling in us; in this indwelling He makes the intercession. This view presents no absurdity; it rather accepts the prominent thought of the previous part of the chapter (Rom 8:9; Rom 8:11; Rom 8:14; Rom 8:16), and implies not only that, by this indwelling, we are taught to pray what would otherwise be unutterable (Calvin, Beza), but that the Holy Ghost himself pleads in our prayers, raising us to higher and holier desires than we can express in words, which can only find utterance in sighings and aspirations (Alford). So Hodge, Stuart, De Wette, and most commentators.R.]
On the threefold view of (not utterable, not spoken, not speaking), see Tholuck.92
Rom 8:27. But he who searcheth the hearts [ . is slightly adversative: These groanings are unutterable, but He, &c. The describes God according to the Old Testament phraseology (1Sa 16:7; Psa 7:10; Pro 15:11), as omniscient.R.] In 1Co 2:10 it is said of the Holy Spirit that He searcheth all things; here, according to the just cited reference of the groaning Spirit to the Holy Spirit, this very Holy Spirit would be an object of the searching God. [This objection is of little weight, since the object of the all-searching God is the mind of the Spirit, hidden (even to us) in the unutterable sighings, &c.R.]
The mind of the Spirit. His ; see Rom 8:6. His purely divine and ideal striving, but here as clear thought, denoting the excogitated sense of that language of groans. [If the reference to the Holy Spirit be accepted, then the sense not even excogitated by us is included.R.]
Because he pleadeth for the saints [. .. .How can the human spirit, even when possessed by the Holy Spirit, be said to plead for the saints?R.] The explanation of by for [because], according to most expositors (De Wette, Philippi, &c.), is opposed by Meyer (in accordance with Grotius, Fritzsche, Tholuck, and others), who urges instead of it, that. A very idle thought: God knows the mind of the Holy Spirit, that He intercedes for the saints in a way well-pleasing to God. The is perfectly plain in itself, even if not taken in the pregnant sense (with Calvin and Ruckert).93 He knows well that He, as the searcher of hearts (Psa 139:1) and as hearer, is conscious of the thought and pure purpose of these holy groans. Wherefore? Because it is well-pleasing to God.
[According to the will of God () is the correct paraphrase of the E. V.R.] Not, according to Deity (Origen); nor before God, nor with God (Reiche, Fritzsche); nor by God, by virtue of God (Tholuck.How can we hold that the Holy Ghost should intercede because of Gods impulse?), but according to God, in harmony with the Divine will (Meyer).94 The Divine impulse is, indeed, indirectly implied here; but then it follows again, that the groaning Spirit cannot be identical with the Holy Spirit. [Not with the Holy Spirit as without us, but as within us.R.]
Second Paragraph, Rom 8:28-37
Rom 8:28. And we know [ . Meyer, Philippi, and others, take as introducing a general ground after the more special ones in Rom 8:26-27. Alford finds it slightly adversative, the antithesis being found in Rom 8:22. The former is preferable. , Christian consciousness.R.] The subjective assurance of the future consummation reaches its climax in the fact that believers are lovers of God. But in this form it indicates the objective certainty, which is its lowest foundation. However, instead of the most direct inference, that those who love God are previously beloved by Him, and are established on Gods love (an inference controlling this whole section; see Rom 8:29; Rom 8:31-32; Rom 8:35; Rom 8:39), the Apostle applies this inference to the condition of Christians in this world. The whole world seems to contradict their hope of future glory. All things visible, especially the hatred of the hostile world, seem to oppose and gainsay their faith. And yet this fearful appearance can have no force, since all things are subject to the omnipotent and wise administration of God, on whose loving counsel their confidence is established. Still more, if all things are subject to Gods supreme authority, and this authority is exhibited in the development of His loving counsel, they know, with the full certainty of faith, that all things work together for their good. This follows, first, from the decree, plan, and order of salvation (Rom 8:28-30). It follows, second, from Gods arrangement, act, and facts of salvation (Rom 8:31-34). It follows, third, from the experience proved in the Old Testament, that the Lords companions in salvation and the covenant are His companions in suffering, as His companions in conflict; but as His companions in suffering, they are also His companions in victory, for whose glorification all surmounted obstacles are transformed into means of advancement (Rom 8:35-37). The conclusion (Rom 8:38-39) expresses so strongly the subjective, and also the objective certainty of the future completion, that we believe it necessary to make it prominent as a special paragraph.
That all things, ; not merely all events (Meyer), or all afflictions (Tholuck) [Calvin, Hodge, Stuart]; for, besides events (Rom 8:35), all the powers of the world are mentioned (Rom 8:38-39).Work together, .95 The beautiful and correct term, serve for the good of, must nevertheless follow the more specific definition. For the principal factor of the completion of Christians is the central one: Christ over them and in them, the love of Christ or the Spirit of glory, the free and dominant impulse of their new life. With this first and central factor there now coperates the second and peripherical onethat course of all things and all destinies about them which is placed under Gods authority and Christs power, and constitutes their guidance to glorification.
For good, . Strictly, for good. The article is wanting, for the Apostle has in mind the antithesis: not for evil, injurious, and destructive working; and because every thing shall be useful to them, and promotive, in a special way, of their good. For the good is, the promotion of life. Every good thing of this kind relates, indeed, to the realization of their eternal salvation, but it is not directly this itself (Reiche). [Bengel: In bonum ad glorificationem usque.R.]
Those who love God [. Alford: A stronger designation than any yet used for believers. Comp. 1Co 2:9; Eph 6:24; Jam 1:12.R.] The Apostle defines this expression more specifically with reference to its purpose, by the addition:
To those who are the called according to his purpose [ ]. Yet the addition is not designed to furnish a definition for the explanation of the name, those who love God (Meyer); nor did the Apostle wish thereby to qualify the preceding clause (Rckert), but to represent more clearly the foundation of the life of those who love God, &c. (Tholuck, Fritzsche, Philippi, and others). The intention or purpose of God is the rock of their salvation, and the same purpose directs all things. The love of believers for God is therefore not the ground of their confidence, but the sign and security that they were first loved by God. But the Apostle uses for this another expression, which indicates as well the evidence as the firmness of the love which has gone out for them. The evidence of their salvation lies in the fact that they are called by God to salvation (in the operative with which the gospel has pervaded their hearts). This evidence refers to the firmness of their salvation in the purpose of God; the genuine of true Christians depends upon the , and testifies of it. See Doctr. Notes.96
Rom 8:29-30. In the following grand and glorious exposition, the Apostle represents Gods purpose as being unfolded and realized in its single elements. It is developed as the ante-mundane and eternal foundation of the historical order of salvation in the two parts, foreknowing and predestinating, with reference to the eternal limit, the glory. It is then historically realized in the saving acts of the calling and the justifying. It is finally completed in the glorifying of believers. The foreknowing proceeds, in truth, from eternity to eternity; the predestinating passes from eternity over into time; and finally, the glorifying passes from time over into post-temporal eternity, while in the calling and justifying the two eternities are linked together, and reveal eternity in time.
For whom he foreknew, he also predestinated [ , ]. The twice-repeated comes under the treatment before the examination of the single elements. Tholuck: According to a later view of Meyer, the expresses only precedence before the call; but it is against the analogy of in Rom 11:2; 1Pe 1:20; and of in 1Co 2:7; Eph 1:5; Eph 1:11. It is certainly clear that the Apostle will here establish the eternal end, the , upon an eternal beginning ().
First element: Whom he foreknew. Tholuck says, that has been explained in four different ways, and in such a manner that each of the accepted meanings has its predestinarian as well as its anti-predestinarian advocates. These four definitions are: 1. To know beforehand; 2. To acknowledge beforehand, approbare; 3. To select, or choose beforehand; 4. To determine beforehand, decernere, prdestinare.
The knowing beforehand was understood by the Greek and Arminian expositors in an anti-predestinarian sense as the foresight of faith; and by the Lutheran exegetical writers as the foresight of perseverance in the bestowed faith. Meyer: Foreknowledge of those destined for salvation. A knowing of the predestinated beforehand, as, according to Tholuck, was accepted by Augustine in later life, and by Zwingli, is very tautological.97 But this view passes over, in reality, into a second: approbavit; and we then have Tholucks arrangement, by which eight antithesesfour predestinarian and four anti-predestinarianmust be limited, yet not carried out. The approbavit is, indeed, defended in both an Augustinian and an Arminian sense. But, in the former, it coincides with the third view, elegit (Calvin, and others). But if the decernere is also understood in a predestinarian sense, to determine concerning a person, it is only a stronger expression for the elegit in the predestinarian sense. With respect to further treatment of this point, we must refer to the well-known commentaries.
If we turn away from the verbal explanation, there are really but two constructions of this passage, the predestinarian and the anti-predestinarian; in addition to these, there comes at most only the germ, or intimation of the possibility, of a third. The predestinarian explanation of the word by to acknowledge, approbare (Beza, and others), or by decernere, to determine (Luther: ordained, not foreseen), is linguistically untenable; but it is linguistically tenable when explained by to elect beforehand, to choose (Calvin, Rckert, De Wette);98 and now means predestination as a doctrinal truth, now as a temporary Pauline view, and now, in the most universal sense possible, the general election for salvation (De Wette, and others).
The anti-predestinarian interpretation of the expression is also varied: the seeing or knowing beforehand of those who are worthy through faith, of those endowed with faith, &c.; and again, in the sense of loving or approbans beforehand (Grotius, and others).
As far as a third exposition is concerned, the observation has been made that Gods foreknowledge is a loving knowledge (see Tholuck, p. 449), or a creative knowledge, a being placed in the idea of Christ (Neander, Apost. Zeitalter, p. 822).99 Yet Neanders explanation does not go to the bottom of the matter. It is this: Those whom God, in His eternal view, has known as belonging to Him, through Christ, have been predestinated thereto by Him. We are, indeed, in want of a term which definitely expresses the truth that the loving or fixing knowledge is an absolutely original one, which determines the idea of the one to be perceived, but does not predetermine it.100 Meyers reminder, that , in the classical sense, never means any thing but foreknowledge, has no weight here, where we have to do with an in the centre of the Christian doctrine of salvation. [See Meyers note.] The one collective Hebrew term for knowing, loving, being present at, and begetting (Gen 4:1), is only a modification of the theocratic thought that God calls by name those who do not yet exist, as if He would be, and in order that He may be, their God (Jer 31:3; Psa 132:9; Psa 148:6). To call by name (Isa 43:1), to grave upon the hands (Isa 49:16), and similar expressions, denote figuratively the unity of that knowing and loving which fix in idea the subject in its peculiarity (certainly in Christ), in order that, in consequence of the idea, they may be called into existence. The distinction of prescience and predestination in the first foundation of the world, is connected with a defective comprehension of the peculiar character of personal life. (See the Doctr. Notes.)
Second element: He also predestinated. The presupposes Gods first determination of man,101 which establishes his individuality in relation to other individualities, and to Christ, the centre. Here the question is the predetermination of the historical destiny of the individual, the establishment of the historical guidance to salvation, just as all kindred definitions, together with in Act 4:28; 1Co 2:7; Eph 1:5-11; in Rom 1:1; Gal 1:15; and in Act 10:42; Act 17:26 (where we have also), are determined by the fundamental thought of the , which is the limitation and condition in time and space, that are identical with the destiny in its relation to salvation, the object of mana relation which reaches its climax in the (Act 13:48). Therefore the Apostle also adds here the destination to conformity to the image of Gods Son, undoubtedly with reference to the definite conformity of the historical way of lifethrough sufferings to glory (Rom 6:4 ff.; 2Ti 2:11; Heb 2:9-11), and to historical confirmation and completion (Php 2:5-11, and elsewhere).
[To be conformed to the image of his Son, . The word is followed by the genitive here; by the dative, Php 3:21. Hence Stuart thinks it is to be taken as a substantive in this case; but Alford remarks that it is like (Rom 6:5), in being followed by either. Comp. Khner, ii. p. 172. It is the accusative of the predicate; see Winer, p. 214.R.] Evidently, we have to deal here with a specifically new ordination on Gods part, though it is in harmony with the previous one. The meaning of comes into consideration in order to explain more definitely the (to which we need not supply an , because the predestination involves a predescription). Tholuck: The term means frequently, but not invariably, the phase of the human form, as well as the form in general, and even the (see Plato, Phd., pp. 103, 104). Aristotle distinguishes , the inward forming power; , the phenomenal form; and , its concrete reality, &c., and , from the conformity of appearance or situation.
The further definition, conformably to the image, or conformity of the image, which is still stronger, brings the idea of the phenomenal form still more strongly into the light. Therefore Theodoret, Augustine, Fritzsche, and Meyer, would confine the expression merely to a share in the glorified corporealness of Christ (Php 3:21), or to the (Rom 8:10). Meyer and De Wette maintain, contrary to Calvin, Grotius, Calovius, and others, that fellowship of suffering is here remote; against which view Tholuck observes, that the object is expressed by the subsequent . Tholuck, p. 450, says, in speaking of , that the grand thought of Christ, as the prototype of all humanity, elevated through sufferings to the and to the , occurs in the Scriptures in interchangeable forms; Joh 12:26; Joh 17:22-24; Rom 8:17 (Eph 4:13); 2Ti 2:12; 1Jn 3:3; Rev 3:21. He also says, on p. Rom 451: Since mention was made of the sufferings of Christians, many expositors (Calvin, and others) have been led, by reference to Heb 2:10, to suppose a conformity to the glory to be obtained through sufferings; but, as Cocceius remarks, this declaration of gradation is justified neither by the expression, nor by the Apostles purpose. These two statements do not harmonize well. But the predestination of the suffering life, and of the end to be attained, is here a collective idea. The end is historical confirmation (the Lamb that was slain, Rev 5:12; these are they which came out of great tribulation, Rev 7:14), and the way thither is nothing else than the following of Christ crucified (comp. Heb 2:10-11). A sundering of the two elements thus destroys the specific character of the determination. As doubts in regard to the apparent conformation of believers with Christ himself have been raised into prominence, and attempts have been made to solve them, they will disappear of themselves, if we adhere closely to the idea of the (see Tholuck, p. 451; Chrysostom: , , &c.).
[The word occurs only here and in Php 3:21, where the reference is to the body of Christ. (The cognate verb is found in Php 3:10, in connection with the death of Christ.) The view which restricts the meaning to the glorified corporealness of Christ (Meyer, De Wette), seems scarcely in keeping with the context. Doubtless this is included. We may then choose between the reference to that entire form, of glorification in body and sanctification in spirit, of which Christ is the perfect pattern, and all His people shall be partakers (Alford; so Philippi); or may extend it also to the present partaking in sufferings and moral character like His (Stuart, Hodge, Webster and Wilkinson, following Calvin, &c.). There seems to be no objection to this wide reference; in fact, the immediate context rather favors it, but the latter idea (moral character) has perhaps gained too great prominence, in the effort to justify thereby the fact of predestination, as predestination to holiness. The thought of sufferings is not so remote, as, besides being the keynote of the section (Rom 8:18), it is implied in Rom 8:28, and recurs in Rom 8:31, to be the prominent thought throughout the rest of the chapter.R.]
That he might be the first-born among many brethren. The is, at all events, a clause not merely of result, but of purpose. [The reference in the aorists to the past decree of redemption requires us to take this clause as telic.R.] According to De Wette, the principal thought is, that He, the first-born, might be among many brethren; according to Meyer, that He might be the first-born among many brethren. Tholuck: The chief thought is, the share of the in the possession of the First-born. The (Col 1:15-17) implies not merely the element of time and rank (Tholuck), but also that of causal priority; and this element cannot be wanting in the present passage.102 The expression therefore denotes, according to the prominence given to His conformity with believers, also his elevation above them; but it is an elevation which is in harmony with inward uniformity, a true fraternization.
We do not think it advisable to lay stress on either the many brethren or on the first-born. The real aim, after all, is Christ (for him, Col 1:16), but Christ as the first-born (not merely the of God) among many brethren; therefore the people of His kingdom, a choir of brethren, are to be with Christ, and all around Him. [The end of the foreknowing and predestining is the glorification of Christ in us, His people. The ideas become as inseparable as the glorified brethren themselves are.R.]
Rom 8:30. Them he also called [ ]. The , like the , is without suffix, since the idea, prepared by the Old Testament , is generally known and elucidated; in addition to this, there is a still greater New Testament fundamental conception. The sense is this: called to the community of Christ as to the communion of salvation, to the Supper of the Lord, to life, &c. But as election comprises a twofold idea, a historical (Joh 6:70) and a mystical or transcendental one, so does also comprise a twofold conception (Mat 22:14). Evidently, we have here to deal with the idea of an inward ; that is, a become inward from a merely external one. Meyer denies that this relates to the inward operations of grace, but holds that the effects of the call result from the relation of preaching to the existing qualification of men. But such an effect is hardly conceivable without the operation of grace. Tholuck opposes any distinction between a vocatio externa and interna, between a vocatio inefficax and efficax. The idea may have been represented one-sidedly by predestinarian theologians; but the fact of the distinction is continually corroborated in every village church where the gospel is preached. We gain no clearer view by the remark, that the spirit of Plato is contained in the Platonic writings, for thousands have not found the Platonic spirit in them. This remark applies only to such spiritualists as, on the one hand, place the dead word without the spirit, or, on the other, the spirit without the word. We may enlarge by saying, that if the stands midway between and the , the specific idea necessarily becomes apparent. The is that effect of Gods word completed in the gospel, which is divided into illumination and awakening. It is prepared by the effect of the : Laboriousness and burdensomeness (Mat 11:28); it unites with these, and, by conversion through penitence and by believing confidence, prepares the for saving faith.103 But, of course, if the question is concerning the , the also comprises the , and even the beginnings of the .In that case, also the idea of the between and results in the most definite way (see chap. iii.).
[Them he also justified, . See the exhaustive notes of Dr. Schaff, pp. 130 ff., 138 ff.R.]
And whom he justified, them he also glorified [ , ]. The exegetical writers begin here to wonder at the aorist, while their surprise ought to have begun at least with the . For, at the time when the Apostle wrote these words, only a very few of the whole future body of believers were really called. Therefore the aorist cannot stand here for the future (according to Vorstius and Glass), nor for the present (according to Kllner), nor in the sense of taking care of (according to Flatt). Meyer holds that the Apostle here describes the actually certain future glorification as so necessary and certain, that it is the same as if it had already taken place.104 Tholuck regards the aorist here as the prophetic preterite. [So Stuart.]
We will now consider more particularly the antithesis which Meyer calls special attention tothat Grotius, and others, have regarded the act of as having only happened in the purpose of God,105 but that Chrysostom, and others, on the contrary, have referred the to the gift of grace in this world. The Apostles starting-point is evidently his present time, the fellowship of the and of the in which he stands. This is even literally established, in a certain relation, by the expression, . For means not merely to invest one with at the end of time, but to lead gradually by the (1Pe 4:14) to glory. The whole guidance of believers is in the biblical sense. This had therefore already begun for the companions of the Apostle, and, in his believing confidence, it was just as good as completed (see Rom 8:38-39).106 But if the Apostle had merely wished to describe this standpoint of the Christians of that daythat is, merely the standpoint of experiencehe would have had to commence with the , and return from the to , and finally to . But he has changed the statement of his experience of that period into a doctrinal statement for all time, in order to exhibit the of God in its full splendor. His sorites has then chiefly a historical meaning. Many had already completely passed over this stationed way; for example, Stephen, and James the Elder. In the same manner this way had, and will always have, to many, a distinguishing meaning; that is, it applies to the secure developing progress of the elect in a special sense. It has, finally, for all: a. a methodological meaning; that is, they experience here the final consequence of Gods saving acts in the ordo salutis; b. the meaning of evangelical promise. If they stand in the circle of the and , they can be certain, retrospectively, of their election and foreordination (historical determination), and prospectively certain of their guidance to glory. Paul assumes throughout the ethical facts and conditions that correspond to these acts of God; but he does not name them here, because the connection requires that the superiority of the Divine ground of salvation to human weakness should alone be glorified107 (see Doctr. Notes).
Rom 8:31. What then shall we say to these things? [ ; On , comp. Rom 3:5; Rom 4:1; Rom 6:1; Rom 7:7; Rom 9:14, where it introduces a false conclusion; here, and Rom 9:30, a correct one; De Wette.R.] Tholuck: is used here, contrary to the Apostles custom, in a conclusion which has not a doubtful character. But the apparently doubtful element lies in the conclusion which might be drawn, that the Christian can have no opposition. He has, indeed, says Paul, no veritable opposition; all the opposition that he really has, only helps him. What follows from the fact that God has so securely established our salvation through all its stages?108 The conclusion is this:
If God is for us, who is against us? [ , ;] (Psa 91:1-7). Every thing which is against us, in an earthly sense, must, in a heavenly sense, promote our welfare through Gods sovereignty. [How God is for us, has been set forth; the question therefore implies, not doubt, but joyous certainty. Hence the E. V. is not strong enough.R.] This confidence of the Apostle, in opposition to the hostile forces of the world, assumes a bold and almost challenging tone. Tholuck: There begins with this expression a series of victorious questions and triumphant answers, in reference to which Erasmus exclaims: Quid unquam Cicero dixit grandiloquentius? Just such a triumphant acclamation is found in 1Co 15:54.
[Philippi: In fact, as Rom 8:19-23 may be called a sacred elegy, so we may term Rom 8:31-39 a sacred ode; that is as tender and fervent as this is bold and exalted in matter and in manner; that, an amplification of we do groan, being burdened (2Co 5:4); this, a commentary on ‘this is the victory that overcometh the world’ (1Jn 5:4). Augustine, De doctr. christi, iv. 20, cites Rom 8:31 as an example of the grande dicendi genus, quod non tam verborum ornatibus cerutum est, quam violentum animi affectibus.Satis enim est ei propter quod agitur, ut verba congruentia, non oris eligantur industria, sed pectores sequantur ardorem. Nam si aurato gemmatoque ferro vir fortis armetur, intentissimus pugn, agit quidem illis armis quod agit, non quia pretiosa, sed quia arma sunt.R.]
Rom 8:32. He who spared not his own Son [ . Meyer, and others, take this as an interrogative answer to the preceding question. It does indeed answer it, but is, at the same time, an advance (see below). The enclitic has the force of even, quippe qui, but Alford is not justified in saying that this takes one act as a notable example out of all; for this is the crowning proof of love, including all the others, and hence establishing the main clause: how shall he not, &c.R.] After the Apostle has described negatively, in Rom 8:31, the elevation of Gods children above the hostile world, he portrays it positively in Rom 8:32. The logical construction is as follows: God, who has already established our ; is for us, with the whole energy of His purpose. a. He is for us in person as our protector, and therefore no person and no thing can be against us; b. He is for us to such a degree that He gave His Son109 for us. involves here two ideas: He did not save Him (Bengel: paterno suo amori quasi vim adhibuit), and, He did not spare Him.
But delivered him up for us all [ . On the verb, comp. Rom 4:25. On the preposition , in behalf of, comp. Rom 5:6.R.]. Deliverance to death for us, for our redemption.110 The notion which would explain Joh 3:16 as a deliverance to finiteness (mentioned by Tholuck on p. 455), belongs rather to the philosophy of Schelling in his early period, than to the christological standpoint.
[Freely give us all things? ; A question a majori ad minus (Meyer). Philippi and Meyer join with , not with . It is perhaps more grammatical, but the thought is still the same: that with Christ, and because of Christ, all else shall come.R.] . Tholuck: Every thing which we need. This is against Brenz, who explains thus: All the blessings comprised in Christ. But why not simply, every thing, in harmony with Rom 8:17 and 1Co 3:22? For, after all, we need every thing, and the blessings comprised in Christ are the whole universe. Therefore the is not merely based on the idea of the .
Rom 8:33-35. Two lines of the certainty of salvation have been drawn from the one fundamental idea of the ; that is, of the assurance of salvation. There is, first, the line of the certainty of individual, inward, and personal salvation (Rom 8:28; Rom 8:30); the causa principalis: grace. Then we have, second, the line of historical salvation, which corresponds with the first line as the causa mediatrix. This latter appears as the almighty gift of salvation, in opposition to the contradiction of the world. As the Apostle looks at the fearful appearance of this contradiction, he now presents throughout the negative character of the historical salvation. That is, he develops the thought placed at the outsetthat nothing can be against us, because God is for us; so very much for us, that He delivered even His Son for us. But the Apostle then brings out the fact, though more indirectly, that God will, with Him, also freely give us all things. Thus there is, first of all, the exalted mediation of salvation. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect?
Different constructions of the following three verses (Rom 8:33-35):
a. Rom 8:33-34 are antitheses which must be read as question and answer, according to our translation. [So E. V.] (See Luther, Castalio, Beza, Calvin, Fritzsche, Philippi [Stuart, Hodge), and others.)
b. The three answers also stand in the form of questions, thus: Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect? Will God, who justifieth, do it? Who is He that condemneth? Will Christ, who died for us, do it? (This is the view of Augustine, Ambrose, Koppe, Reiche, Olshausen, De Wette [Alford, Webster and Wilkinson, Jowett], and others.)
c. An altered form of presenting the antitheses: 1. Who shall lay any thing to the charge? Answer: It is God that justifieth; who, therefore, is He that condemneth? 2. Answer: It is Christ that died, &c., who also maketh intercession for us; who, therefore, shall separate us from the love of Christ? This construction of the antithesis, which was laid down by Origen, Chrysostom, and Theodoret, has been neglected by nearly all recent expositors, but is urgently recommended by Meyer. [Wordsworth follows it in his text, but is impressively silent on the subject in his notes. See Meyer, not only in defence of his own view, but for a resum of other opinions.R.]
Tholuck very properly remarks, in opposition to this third combination of sentences, as follows: It can be le, satisfactory of all; for, if we adopt it, that rhetorical conformity of the sentences is lost which is apparent in the other constructions, &c. But this construction not merely obliterates the grand simplicity of the antitheses, but also obscures their real order. The question, Who shall lay any thing to the charge? remains totally unanswered. But, on the contrary, the question, Who is He that condemneth? would receive two answers: first, the expression, it is God that justifieth, and afterward, it is Christ that died, &c. In addition to this, the clear thoughts, justification, in Rom 8:33, the atonement, in Rom 8:34, and holiness or glorification, in Rom 8:35-37, would be totally confused.
The second construction appears to be favored by the fact, that the third question, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? seems, in turn, to be answered by a rhetorical question (tribulation, or distress, &c.?). But the third question is continued through Rom 8:35-36, and the answer to it follows in a positive declaration in Rom 8:37.
Thus elegance of both form and matter pronounces in favor of the antithesis of three questions and three answers. If it be objected, that the answers would be still strengthened by the form of rhetorical questions, we might reply, that they would indeed be strengthened even to overstraining and obscurity. For there are, indeed, accusers and condemners enough against believers, which is plain from what follows: tribulation, distress, persecution, &c. But the principal thing is, that they stand as accusers against the justifying God himself, and as condemners of the future Judge of the world, Christ the Messiah, who is the Saviour of believers; and therefore, that their charge and condemnation are not only impotent, but must even advance the glory of believers, just as tribulation, distress, persecution, &c., are not only unable to separate them from the love of Christ, but must establish them in His love as decided victors. But Paul could hardly have expressed, even in the form of a rhetorical question, the thought that God could be the accuser of believers, and Christ could be their condemner, even if we consider the question apart from the fact that he would thereby have destroyed the antithesis: if God be for us, who can be against us? Meyer remarks, against the former construction, that and would be essentially correlative. This is altogether incorrect. The removes the charge of condemnation; the atonement made by Christ abolishes the condemnation itself. That Paul did not write to correspond with the , is not only unimportant, but is based upon the supposition that there could be many accusers, but that there could be only one condemner at the tribunal. Meyer holds that, by the first construction, Christ must have been represented as Judge, in harmony with the in Rom 8:34. But apart from the consideration that Christ opposes all the worldly condemnations of men pronounced on unbelievers, by interceding for them at Gods right hand, we hold that the reading (the Sinaiticus favors the same), which seems to have been early given up from a misconception, serves as a satisfactory explanation. As, therefore, the first sentence is: God is the justifier, the second is this: Christ the Messiah, the expected Judge of the world, is . The article before is given with the adjective designations.111 Tholuck has declined to decide concerning the punctuation.
[The pointing adopted in the E. V. has been so fully defended by Dr. Lange, that the following remarks will suffice in addition. (1) Even the most rhetorical style would scarcely indulge in seventeen successive questions, without an answer, as view b. would maintain. (2) View c. disturbs the flow of the passage, without adding to this force. (3) The grand thought of the certainty of salvation seems to be even more fully established by accepting three questions and three answers following each in turn, while there is no reasonable objection to the correspondence thus claimed between each question and its answer.R.]
Rom 8:33. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect? [ ; The verb is usually followed by the dative, only here with . The article is omitted with , giving prominence to the attribute of the persons (Meyer). That it refers to the persons under discussion throughout, is obvious.R.] The idea of the theocratically resting on the Old Testament , corresponds with that of the ; but in the concrete name of the , it denotes the deepest establishment of the whole character of believers in the of God (see Doctr. Notes).
It is God that justifieth! [ ! The expression is more energetic than ; comp. Mat 10:20 (Philippi). The , occurring immediately after , has a rhetorical emphasis (Meyer).R.] According to Tholuck, the question really is the intercessor in opposition to the charge, and, on the other hand, the in opposition to the . But this would not correspond with the connection. As the authorized accusers, the law and the conscience, are silenced in the , which God himself executes, we must here have in mind principally the weakness of the unauthorized accusers, at whose head stands Satan, (Origen), who opposes Christians not only in heathen adversaries (Photius, Theophylact, Grotius), but also in Jewish adversaries. The has evidently here also a forensic meaning. Tholuck: Luther excellently says, in harmony with the sense, God is here.
Rom 8:34. Who is he that condemneth? The declares, that in an authorized form there can only be one, the Messiah, but it is just He who is their propitiator and intercessor.
It is Christ, &c. [, …] The Apostle expresses complete deliverance from condemnation in four essential elements of Christs redeeming work. In the two elements of His death and resurrection there is comprised full deliverance from the real guilt of condemnation (see Rom 4:25); and in His sitting at the right hand of God, and in His intercession, there is comprised His protection against the unauthorized accusers from without, and the condemnatory results of the injury of the new life from within.Meyer: ,112 a higher degree of importance: immo adeo. The has a somewhat festive sound.
Rom 8:35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [ ;] The reading is but weakly supported. Meyer, with Tholuck, De Wette, Philippi, and others, properly says in favor of the construction , that it is the genitive subjective; and, therefore, that it denotes Christs love toward His followers (see Rom 8:37; Rom 8:39). But when he says that this forbids the interpretation of others who understand it to be love for Christ (Origen, Kllner [see Forbes, p. 332, on this view], and others), his remark is only correct in form; for, in reality, confidence in love on Christs part for His children cannot be separated from love for Him (see Rom 8:28).113 The afflictions which now follow are personified by [instead of , which we might expect].
But how is the possibility of this separation to be regarded? Meyer: A possible sundering of men from the influx of Christs love by intervening hindrances. De Wette: The joyous sense of being beloved by Christ. Philippi: Afflictions can seem to us to be an indication of Divine wrath, and thus mislead us into unbelief in Divine love. Tholuck: The firmness of the consciousness of this Divine relation of love. The sense of the question is this: Can an affliction lead us to fall from the operation and experience of Christs love? By answering in the negative, there is assumed not merely the Divine purpose of grace according to the predestinarian view, and also not merely the purity and perseverance of faith according to the Arminian view, but the connection between the two, the new bond which is secured by the recognition of tribulation, distress, &c., as powers overcome by Christ, and made serviceable to His love itself.
Shall tribulation, &c. [, …] The forms of affliction are in harmony with the relations of Christians at that time, and especially of the Apostle; there is the apparently fearful number seven, but the seventh leads to the triumphant conclusion in martyrdom. First of all, believers are pressed into anxiety by the world. [On and , see ii. 9, p. 99, the former external, the latter internal.R.] Then there comes persecution itself, which drives them out to famine and nakedness; the end is peril, the danger of death, and sword, death itself.
Rom 8:36. As it is written [ . is the usual quotation-mark.] Psa 44:22, according to the Septuagint.114 This Psalm contains a description of the sufferings which Gods people had to suffer for the Lords sake, and is therefore correctly regarded by Paul as a typical and prophetical prelude to the sufferings of the New-Testament people of God for Gods sake. De Wette does not regard the passage as a prophecy (Tholuck),115 but thinks that Paul probably cites it as prophecy. But even Tholucks expression, a real parallel to the conflicts of Gods ancient people, is by no means sufficient for the idea of typical prophecy, for the type is much more than a parallel.
Rom 8:37. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors [ , .. . Some connect this with Rom 8:35, and hence Rom 8:36 has been made parenthetical; but there is no necessity for this, since the course of thought is unbroken, and this verse is antithetical to both Rom 8:35-36.R.] That is, far beyond the necessary measure (). Recollection of prayers for persecutors (Stephen), hymns of praise in prison (Paul and Silas), and the joyous spirit of the martyrs.
Through him who loved us [ . See Textual Note116.] Meyer refers the aorist to the distinguished act of love which Christ has performed by the offering of His own life. Though this reference is undoubtedly correct, there is something inadequate in the translation, loved. The aorist does not merely affirm that they believed, but that they became believers (see Joh 10:42); and thus the act of our Lords only revelation of love also involves here the continuation of that relation: who has proved and bestowed His love.Through him. The reading (Semler, Koppe: propter) is a smoother exegetical interpretation.117 Chrysostom, Theodoret, Bengel, and Fritzsche, refer the expression to God: but on account of Rom 8:39, Rckert, De Wette, Tholuck, Meyer, and Philippi, on the contrary, refer it to Christ. This latter view is favored by the relation of the present passage to in Rom 8:35, as the aorist serves as an intimation of the historical fact of redemption. The expression, through Him that loved us, denotes not only Christs assistance in general, but the power of His victory. As His death is principially our death, and His resurrection is our resurrection, so is His victory also our victory through faith (1Jn 5:4). But the power of this victory is divided into the subjective principle of victory in the heart of believers, and the objective victorious principle of Christs rule at the right hand of God. Nevertheless, the Apostle does not say, through Him who hath conquered for us, because Christs love shall be manifested as the permanent motive of the free and ethical loving life of Christians in their faith.
Third Paragraph, Rom 8:38-39
Tholuck: , as Chrysostom says, embraces the whole worldwho can rob him of his consciousness of the love of God? But he has here passed beyond the consciousness of opposition which he had uttered in Rom 8:33-35. He rather proclaims here the absolute subjection of all the powers of the world to the consciousness, or rather conscious being, of Gods love in Christ.
The Apostle declares the immovableness of his confidence, first of all by the decided , I am persuaded. He follows this up by portraying the powers of the world in great antitheses, which not only describe the victorious career of the individual Apostle through the world and through time, but, in prophetic sublimity, comprise the whole victorious career of Gods people until the end of the world.
Tholuck distinguishes the antitheses thus: 1. Human events (death and life); 2. Superhuman spheres (angels, principalities; afterwards ); 3. Time (things present, things to come), in which he thinks that the belonging here, according to A. B. C., &c., disturbs the sense; 4. Space (height and depth). The more general form of this description in relation to the oppositions represented above, appears especially in the fact that here the question is evidently not merely concerning threatening or hostile powers, but also such as can exert a seductive, misleading, and relaxing influence. Accordingly, we have not merely to regard an objective influence of these forces, but also the possibility of the subjective misconstruction of their operations.
[Neither death, nor life, , ]. If we look closely at the possibilities above referred to, we shall see that, first of all, with death there is connected the fear of death and the darkness of the kingdom of death; and, with life, that there is connected the charm of life and the love of life, or even the apparent distance from the Lord (Heb 2:14; Joh 16:33; 2Co 5:5-6). On death and life, see Rom 14:8. Grotius: metus mortis, spes vit, which Meyer objects to; but his objection to Koppes interpretation, which is as follows, is more appropriate: quidquid est in rerum natura: aut vivat, aut vita careat.
Nor angels, nor principalities, , . See Textual Note118, and below.] As far as the second category is concerned, the Apostle could not think that Gods angels should desire to separate him from the love of Christ, but, according to Colossians 2 :, the Gnostic Jews soon opposed a morbid adoration of angels to a pure and full resignation to Christ as their head; and even Pharisaic Jewish Christians would have been quite capable of adulterating the pure gospel, according to Gal 1:8, by an appeal to angelic revelation. But it is well known how the subsequent worship of angels really led to an obscuring of the sun of Christs love.
The threat of the powers of the Gentile world then takes its place beside the Jewish angelic visions. It is plain enough that the named with the cannot again mean angelic powers (Meyer). The Apostle had to deal more and more with the powers of the Gentile world (2Ti 4:17). The are interpreted by Chrysostom, Theophylact, Beza, Meyer, and others, as good angels, because the evil angels are never called without some qualifying expression. Meyer opposes the objection of Reiche, and others, that good angels could not make such an attempt to separate Christians from God, by saying that Paul, in Gal 1:8, did not believe this possibility, but only presented it hypothetically. According to Clement of Alexandria, Grotius [Stuart], and others, the denote evil angels; but according to Bucer, Bengel [Hodge], and others, good and evil angels. Melanchthon has interpreted the as human tyrants, because he correctly saw that they, being placed beside , could not themselves be angels.
[The difficulty in deciding the meaning of the word arises from the fact that it is used in the New Testament in all the senses given above. The prevailing reference is undoubtedly to superhuman creatures (Eph 3:10; Eph 6:12; Col 1:16; Col 2:10; Col 2:15). It seems more natural to take (in its separate position) as earthly powers, especially as that meaning here gives an anti-climax. The disposition to insert immediately after, shows that a classification of angels was assumed here (comp. Eph 1:21; Col 1:16). Whether we should understand good angels, or bad, or both, is more difficult to determine. To take angels as referring to the former, and principalities to the latter, gives an abrupt antithesis; to refer both to good angels, leaves evil spirits out of view in this extended catalogue, unless we find them named in ; to refer both words to both classes (Bengel, Hodge), is perhaps least objectionable, yet with this view the absence of any attribute is remarkable. Still, we infer from other passages that both good and bad angels were classified somewhat in this manner, denoting a superior order. Comp. Langes Comm., Colossians, i. 16, p. 22.R.]
The , which Melanchthon interprets as the warlike hosts of tyrants, do not belong here, and therefore still less in the category of angels. They belong in the third category: Nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers [, ,119 ]. (See 1Co 3:22.) The present time was so grievous to Paul and the believers of his period, that they earnestly longed for the second coming of our Lord (1 Thess.); but even the future had a gloomy aspect, for our Lords coming was to be preceded by the apostasy, and by the appearance of Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2 :). But with this appearance there were to come just these gloomy, seductive, and Satanic forces ( ). We thereby hold that Tholucks objection, that the 120 would here disturb the sense in a threefold way, is removed (p. 463). The one objection, that it would disturb the bipartite rhythm, is removed by Meyers observation, that the Apostle first arranges by couples, and then combines the three parts twice more. According to Tholuck, the would be first introduced, and then removed. Meyer urges that . does not mean things present, but things standing beforethose which are about to enter. Thus things present are distinguished from things to come. De Wette opposes to Glcklers interpretation of as miracles, that of powers.
Fourth category: [Nor height, nor depth, , .] The Apostle looks down from the height of an inspired sense of life, many times elevated to heaven (2Co 12:2), which could well have become to him a temptation (2Co 12:7), into the depth of the demoniacal kingdom, with which he had to fight a spiritual conflict with his contemporaries (Eph 6:12), as well as into the depth of the realm of the dead in which he had, at all events, to pass through a painful unclothing (2Co 5:4); but he saw in the future altogether new forms of the world arise, whose strangeness and splendor, by their attractiveness, could be regarded as dissipating his view from Christ, the centre.
Tholuck: , . Explanations: Heaven and hell (Theodoret, and others; Bengel, Baumgarten-Crusius); heaven and earth (Theophylact, Fritzsche); happiness and unhappiness (Koppe); honor and shame (Grotius); lofty and lowly (Olearius); higher and lower evil spirits (Origen). Sapientia hreticorum et communes ulgi furores (Melanchthon). [The generic idea here is that of space. If a more specific definition is required, heaven and hell is the simplest explanation, though this cannot be insisted on as the precise meaning.R.]
Nor any other created thing. In connection with the great antithesis of height and depth, the can hardly mean merely any thing else created (Meyer), or a creature in general (Luther, Tholuck).
Shall be able love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The love of God in Christ, or Christ himself, is now perceived by believers as the all-prevailing principle, and is therefore spiritually appropriated by them (Eph. i.).The absolute is for them also in the ethical sense. It is the completed revelation of the love of God in Christ, overcoming the world and bringing it into their service, by which believers are embraced, and which they in turn have embraced (Rom 5:8).
[Alford: Gods love to us in Christ; to us, as we are in Christ; to us, manifested in and by Christ. Stuart thus sums up: This is indeed an anchor sure and steadfast, entering into that within the vail;a blessed, cheering, glorious hope, which only the gospel and atoning blood can inspire.On the parallelism between chaps. Romans 5 : and Romans 8 :, see Forbes, pp. 333 ff.R.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
First paragraph, Rom 8:18-27
A. The groaning of the creature121 (Rom 8:18-22).
1. The Scriptures ascribe to the whole universe, even to the heavenly regions, the necessity of the renewal of created being by transformation (Psa 102:26-28; Isa 51:6; Rev 21:5); but they distinguish between the regions of glory, which are renewed, and the present form of the world, which must be renewed by passing through corruption and the destruction of the world (2 Peter 3:10, 23). The throne of God, the ascension of Christ. Even astronomy recognizes this great contrast between the regions of prevalent growth and of prevalent completed existence in the nature of light (see my work, Das Land der Herrlichkeit, pp. 42 ff.). But also in reference to the sphere of humanity, which does not embrace merely the earth (also Sheol), we must distinguish between the pure condition of nature in its antithesis to perfection (1Co 15:47 ff.), and the obscurity which nature has experienced in consequence of sin; see the present passage. According to the nature of the , his whole sphere stood in need of developmentin need of a metamorphosis (2Co 5:1 ff.; 1Co 15:50); but this development has become abnormal through sin; and the metamorphosis has, by a metastasis, become death in the pregnant sense, , corruption. But from this correspondence of nature with the human world in the state of fall and decay, there also follows an expectation of their correspondence in the delivering restoration which will be also the completion of the normal development.
2. The Holy Scriptures everywhere render prominent the coherence and correspondence between the spiritual and natural world. There must be a heaven, because there are heavenly objectsbecause there is a Godbecause there are angels and saints. There must be a hell, because there are devils. Thus Paradise corresponded with Adam in his state of innocence; the cursed ground, with fallen man; the Promised Land, as the type of the future Paradise, with the typical people of God; a darkening and desolation of the land with every religious and moral decline of the people (Deu 28:15 ff.; Isa 24:17; Joel 2 :; Zep 1:14, &c.), and with every spiritual period of salvation an exaltation of nature (Deu 28:8 ff.; Psalms 72 :; Isa 25:6 ff.; Isaiah 35 :; Hos 2:21, &c.); and thus the sun was darkened at the death of Christ, and the renewal of the earth was announced by the earthquake at His death. Now this parallelism extends in a more intense degree through the New Testament period, both as to the overthrow of the old form of the world, and the sufferings preceding it (Luk 16:25; 2Pe 3:10; Rev 16:1 ff.), and as to the renewal succeeding it (Isa 11:6; Revelation 20-22).
3. It corresponds to the connection of the impersonal creature-world with the personal life of man, that the former participates in the anxious expectation of believing humanity for perfection. As nature in space aspired beyond itself, in so far as it received the impress of mans nature, so also does it aspire, even in time, beyond itself, in so far as it shares with man his progress toward the change or transformation into the super-terrestrial and glorified form. The waiting of the creature for that perfection, as with erect head, just as it is with the human outlook, may be called prosopopia; the fundamental thought itself, namely, its suffering, its sense of the impulse toward developmentan impulse confined and disturbed by the abnormal conditionis a real relation, an actual course of conduct. We do not include herein the normal forms of death in the brute world. The fundamental idea of this appearance of death is no selfish struggle for existence, but the idea of sacrificing love. The weaker beast, which becomes a prey to the stronger, cannot and should not voluntarily offer itself upon the altar of life, even though it be only a beast; but when the beast in a torpid state pays to the stronger, as though in a dream, its tribute for the joy of its existence, there is reflected the voluntary deliverance to death in a higher region. The most apparent phenomena of the sufferings of the creature, next to the innumerable sufferings of human nature in subjection to diseases, wars, battles, pestilences, are the sufferings of the brute world as they appear to be immersed in the fate of the human world, and are represented in the noblest form in the sacrifice of the brute, and in the grossest form in the pangs of the brute. Yet not only over the brute world, but also over the whole realm of vegetable life, there has extended, with the morbid tendency of the human centre of the world, a morbid development of the most subordinate forms, such as we find in parasites and dwarfs, together with the rapid increase of the common and lowest forms above the more noble, and, in fact, an increase of degenerations of all kinds. But the apostolical, as well as the modern Christian and humane apprehension of nature, extends still beyond the perception of the real groaning of brutes and the degeneration of vegetable life. The sense of the most profound life perceives a groaning of the creature in the most general sense, first, as a longing, developing impulse of the creature-world toward perfection and to the second higher form of existence, and secondly, as a painful suffering under the law of an abnormal and more intense corruptibleness, and thirdly, as a mournful concert, a harmony of all the keynotes of the in its homesickness for a new paradise. These keynotes were heard by the prophets (see No. 2, above); Christ has definitely characterized them in His eschatological discourse (Mat 25:29, and the parallels in Mark and Luke); and Paul sketches them here in brief outline, while the Book of Revelation speaks of them in great figures. Through all the periods of the Church there extends a profound sense of this earnest connection between the moral and physical decline of the human world, and we notice its recho in the voices of the poets (Shakespeare, for example), down to the Romanticists of recent date (Fr. von Schlegel, Bettina). But in the department of the most recent literature, in which the sense of this anxious expectation and sadness is blunted, there has arisen on the side of the degenerating extreme a fantastical and gloomy view of the battle for existence, and it would not be surprising if even this materialism should, in turn, degenerate into dualism. Moreover, the expectation of the l catasrophe refers back to the catasrophes underlying the creation of the world, and whose reflection in the Deluge is still proved by our recollection of the most remote antiquity.
4. The Apostle has described the in 1Co 15:54 as . Peter speaks of an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away (Rom 1:4). Here the means, on the one hand, the deliverance of the body, and, on the other, the freedom of Gods children. The body, therefore, in its new form, shall be exempted from the natural necessity of physical life; for, as the real body, it has put off, at death, the old bodily form with its sinful propensities. In this life it has become, in many ways, a source of temptation and hindrance to the inward life; but in its higher form it shall become the perfect outward expression of the inward life. To be wholly adapted to the spirit, and therefore not only exempt from the corruption, but also the constraint of nature, and to be wholly an organ, an expression, and an image of the spiritthese are the individual characteristics of the glorification in which nature also shall participate, since it is rendered free to share in the freedom of the glory of Gods children. In general, the conception of real ideality is the object to which they shall be raised; that is, an ideality in which its idea shall not only be delivered from all deformity, but shall even be elevated above the symbolism of the beautiful splendor in which poetry involuntarily becomes prophecy, into the real nature of the beautiful appearance. We shall find an analogue to the representation of the new form of things, if we compare the present form of the earth and of the creature-world with the rough forms of the earth and the gross forms of the creature, which, according to the testimony of paleontology, have preceded the present form of our cosmos (see my Land der Herrlichkeit; Vermischte Schriften, vol. ii.).
5. The different eschatologies of antiquity here come in for consideration. As for the relation of the Persian to the Jewish eschatology, it seems, after all, demonstrable that the originality of the theocratic eschatology is reflected in Parsism (Vendidad, Bundehesh), just as the Christian eschatology is reflected in the old German Edda. On the development of the Old Testament eschatology, see Tholuck, note on p. 422; Psalms 72.; Isa 11:6; Isa 25:8; Isa. 45:66; Hos 2:21 ff.; Amo 9:13; Zephaniah, &c.; and on the Jewish-Rabbinical eschatology, see Tholuck again, p. 423. It is noteworthy that Rabbinical Judaism has even assimilated itself to heathendom, in that its expectation has become chiefly retrospective, like the longing of the heathen for the golden age (that is, an expectation of the grotesque restoration of sensuous glory), while the Old Testament anticipation of Israel, the people of the future, has been consummated in the eschatology of the New Testament. On the eschatology of the New Testament, we must refer to biblical and dogmatic theology (see Commentary on Matthew, pp. 418434; 1 Corinthians 15.; 2 Peter, pp. 46 ff.). For remarks on ecclesiastical eschatology, especially on Luthers discourses concerning the future form of the world; on the question de duratione brutorum; on the distortion of the end of the world into the gross representation of an utter destruction of the world by the Lutheran doctrinal writers of the seventeenth century; and on the restriction of the Apostles entire description to mere human relations, &c., see Tholuck, pp. 425428.It is a beautiful idea of Theodore of Mopsvestia, that things visible and invisible constitute a , for the comprehension of which (consisting, as it does, of all created things together), in one pledge of love, man (consisting, as he does, of both worlds) was created; that, after his fall, the higher spirits alienated themselves from him; but at the prospect of his restoration, they dedicated themselves to his service, and now rejoice in his restoration, &c. This idea is more in place in the passage relating to the original founding of the new world in the absolute atonement (Col 2:20), than in the present passage, relating to the glorification of the present world.We can avoid all fanciful ideas in regard to the question de duratione brutorum, and apply Christian principles only, by treating it in brief allusions:
(1) The morbid sundering of types analogous to the formation of human heathendom. The opposite must therefore be a return of nature to collective fundamental types.
(2) The morbid increase of individuals, analogous to the extravagant generation of the human proletarian. The opposite is the preponderance of constant existence over an excited growth.
(3) The rise of a preponderance, of the most subordinate forms, of parasites, of forms doomed to decay. The opposite is the dynamical dominion of pure forms, the negation of parasites.
(4) The reflexive formation of the morbid form of death in original, ideal forms.
(5) The absolute connection of the creature thus idealized with man, and its appropriation by man.
Here, as well as to the following paragraph, belong Psalms 72.; Isa. 45:66; John Walthers hymn, It makes one heartily rejoice; G. Arnoulds hymn, O Breaker of all bonds; Schillers poem, Oh, from this valleys depths; and expressions of Fr. von Schlegel, Bettina, and others, on the anxious expectation of nature.
6. The most prominent views on eschatology may be distinguished thus: (1) The Gnostic-dualistic view, with which we must also unite the recent theosophic views in general; (2) The Positivist, which holds to an absolute catastrophe without interpositions; (3) The Rationalistic, which does not get beyond the notion of a gradual idyllic improvement of nature and humanity; (4) The christologico-dynamical, which defines eschatology from the centre (which operates as a principle), of the death, the resurrection, and the glorification of Christ. This is also essentially the patristic view. To modern philosophical unbelief the beginning of the world, as well as its end, is sunk in mist and night, because to it the centre of the worldthe historical Christis sunk in mist and night.
The christological and dynamical view stands in particular need, at the present time, of a vigorous development. It appears everywhere throughout the Scriptures, and is strongly expressed in Eph 1:19, and also in Php 3:21. Tholuck: It is noteworthy that in Php 3:21 the same , which here expresses subjection to matter, denotes the operation of Divine power through which matter shall be glorified.
B. The groaning of believers themselves (Rom 8:23-25).
1. The Apostle speaks of a twofold testimony of the language of groans, which is further divided into a threefold one. The creature groans in its painful struggle for perfection; the life of believers groans. But as believers groan in their consciousness and conscious sense of life, so also does the spirit, in its ethical struggle, groan in the ground of its life.
2. The groaning is related to tears, as labor is to rest. Tears relieve the passive resignation of the soul to Gods counsel amid its conflict with the hindrances of life; the groaner labors in his recourse to Gods act in heaven against the power of hindrances. Tears flow from this opposition, since they come from God; the groaner protests against the opposition by appealing to God. Both are twin children of the , which now proves itself as patience and now as steadfastness. Compare the history of the groans and tears of Christ. On the great power and importance which tears and groans have as signals of the most extreme distress of the invisible world in conflict with the visible, and of the higher in conflict with the lower, compare the evidences of the Holy Scriptures by the aid of a concordance. Herder: The smoke from the burning forest does not rise so high heavenward as does the burdened mans groan (see Jam 5:9).
3. The idea of the denotes not merely the first beginningharvest, for exampleand not only the most excellent, but also the pledge and representation of the future totality which is assured in the successful beginning. But so is Gods Spirit the pledge of glory. See the Exeg. Note.
4. Without a comprehension (which is often very defective) of the relation between the principial Christian life and the same life in its broadest completionwhich is suggested even by the development of every grain of wheatit must appear a wonderful thing that the believer already possesses adoption, according to Rom 8:16, and that, according to Rom 8:23, he first expects the adoption with groaning; that he has righteousness, and yet must strive after righteousness (2Ti 4:8); that he is truly delivered and saved, and yet is only delivered and saved in hope. The grand and mysterious elaboration of this development renders its comprehension more difficult, and therefore many speak of an ideal possession, and the like. The principial possession is, indeed, also an ideal one, in so far as the idea of perfection is, contained in the principle, and always appears more grand from it, but the realization of the idea is only begun in it; it perfectly exists as a foundation in the germ. On the variety of such antitheses as , , and , see Tholuck, p. 436. Theodoret has even perverted the antithesis into that of and ; the Socinians distinguished tenere fide and frui, Tholuck speaks, with De Wette, of a partial definition of the idea of ; and Luther translated thus: We patiently wait for the adoption, and expect, &c. The Codd. D. F. G., in surprise at the expectation of the adoption, leave out the .
5. No grander and more glorious thing can be said of the original state of the human body, than that its full deliverance (from sinfulness, misery, death, decay, and perishableness) shall be its transformation to the glorious freedom of the children of God. That the resurrection of the flesh is also declared with the glorification of the body, comp. my Vermischte Schriften, vol. ii. pp. 232 ff.
C. The groaning of the Spirit imparted to believers (Rom 8:26-27).
1. On the contradictions arising from the identification of the groaning spirit with the Holy Spirit itself, comp. the Exeg. Notes. We are led here to the antithesis which the Apostle brings out in 1Co 14:15. It is the Christian, religious-ethical formation of an antithesis, whose physical foundation is the twofold form of consciousness originally peculiar to the present human life.122 Compare, on this point, Deutsche Zeitschrift fr christliche Wissenschaft, &c., 1851, p. 242.
2. According to Tholucks view (p. 438), when the believer is in the greatest distress, he knows least of all how to find a verbal expression of his prayer. But, according to the Psalms, necessity teaches how to pray; the greatest distress becomes prophetical when recourse is had to God. But it is just in the calmest states that the believer needs most of all the interceding Spirit. Indeed, distress gives to prayer a strong expression of human feeling, and in so far Tholucks view is applicable to the prayer of distress in a more special sense. The intercession of the Spirit denotes the more direct access which Gods children, in their inmost heart, have gained to the Father through Christ, according to Joh 16:26. For the real Advocate with the Father is Christ (1Jn 2:1); the Holy Spirit, as such, is the present Comforter of believers, in opposition to the world (Joh 14:16).123
3. The real nature of true prayer is the union of the human and divine Spirit, prompted by Gods Spirit. Hence the prophetical confidence of the Amen. This union, according to which God is not only the author and finisher, but also the disposer of prayer, is represented most of all in the mystical adoration of a spirit absorbed in communion with God. On this point, see the expression of Jelaleddin, in Tholuck, p. 443.
4. On the groaning of the creature, see Bucers beautiful expression, in Tholuck, p. 440.
Second Paragraph, Rom 8:28-37
A. The certainty of salvation in the saving purpose of Divine grace, as the causa primaria (efficiens) of salvation (Rom 8:28-30).
1. The certainty of salvation is divided into two lines, one of inward and individual life, and the other of external relations. Both have three starting-points in common: a. The causa primaria, the purpose of God (Rom 8:29); b. The causa meritoria, the gift of His Son (Rom 8:32); c. The causa apprehendens, or organica, faith in its development into the life of love (Rom 8:28). Believers are here called those who love God, because, in their love for God, the reflection of Gods love has become manifested in them. The progress of the expectation and joyfulness of personal life toward the dark and concealed ground of life, as to the absolute and spiritually clear personality, which is one with love itself, is not the ground, but the sign and evidence that our personal life has been appointed and called into being by Gods eternal counsel of love and grace. In our love for God there is revealed His love for us, and in our personality there shines the reflection of His personality. But with this there appears the dynamical central line of lifethat of the Divine determinations of the persons allied to Godto which the whole succession and course of things is made subservient.
2. The divine denotes the eternal relation of God to the course of the world called into being by Him, but also called to free self-development under His authority; just as is the case with the two terms and . All these definitions denote Gods eternal thought and plan of the world; but they denote it in different relations. The designates the central point of the Divine purpose, its anticipating love, the ideal perception and contemplation of the personal kingdom. Beside it there stands, on the one hand, the , Gods going to himself for counsel, the look of His intelligence at the necessities of the free development of the world; and, on the other hand, there stands the , as the establishment of His government over the beginning, the middle, and the ultimate object of His institution of love. The settles the children of salvation; the perceives the conditions of salvation; and the determines the stages of salvation. But that this is not the decree of fate, but rather qualified and communicated according to the stages of the free spiritual kingdom, is plain from the very term used to describe Christians: that they are called according to the purposecalled, not compelled. Tholuck: . The is not the temporal before, as in , which Beza and Pareus hold, but as the prefix in . Yet they are not merely nude, called according to a Divine decree, but according to one whose stages to the ultimate object of the are laid down. But the idea of the appears here in a narrower sense as a definition of Gods children, characterized by penitence and faith, baptism and confession; the more general idea, on the contrary, appears in Rom 8:28.
3. All things and events must be subordinate and subservient to, and promotive of, the highest purposes of Godthe realization of His kingdom of love, and therefore the salvation of His elect. Augustine: Deus est adeo bonus, quod nihil mali esse permitteret, nisi adeo esset potens, ut ex quolibet malo possit elicere aliquod bonum (Tholuck, p. 444).
4. And we know (Rom 8:28). We know not what we should pray for as we ought; but God knows the meaning of the groaning of our spirit, and we know, too, that all things work together for good to them that love God. This knowledge is not merely a direct confidence of the spirit, but is based upon the most certain argument: a. In our love for God, His love for us appears; b. But God reigns omnipotently, and disposes all things according to the counsel of His love; c. Consequently, all things must become providences of the loving God.
5. We hold that the passage in Rom 8:29-30 contains the whole Divine plan of salvation, from the first foundation to the ultimate object, and we have repeatedly treated it from this point of view (see my Positive Dogmatik, p. 956). We remark first of all, exegetically, that the passage in Eph 1:4-14 is an explanatory parallel to the present passage. As the foreknowing here precedes the predestinating, so there the choosing (Rom 8:4) precedes the predestinating (Rom 8:5); from which it follows that both the foreknowing and the electing mean essentially the same thingan act preceding the predestination. To or in the present passage there corresponds in that passage , accepting, &c., in Rom 8:6, which the Apostle resumes in Rom 8:11, and specially elaborates. To the justifying here, there then corresponds there the following: in whom we have redemption, &c, in Rom 8:7. But finally, the glorifying here is reflected in the wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom, &c. But Paul also there refers all these individual parts to the good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself (in Rom 8:9). So that it plainly follows there that the predestinating relates specifically to the purpose, while the purpose appears to be qualified by the , counsel, as this latter is qualified by the good pleasure. But we learn, in reference to the first act, the choosing in the Epistle to the Ephesians, that election took place in Christ before the foundation of the world (see John 17.), just as we learn that the glorifying or guidance of believers to glory will be identical with being led to the praise of his glory, according to the idea that the beholding of the glory of God will constitute the glory of believers, and that the former will be revealed in the latter (1Jn 3:2).We may further observe, that a real difference exists between election and foreordination, or predestination, and that the cannot possibly mean foreknowledge, in Gods idea, of subjects already present (for whence would they have come into Gods idea?), but that it can only mean the loving and creative sight, in Gods intuitive vision, of human personalities for a preliminary ideal existence. The doctrine of predestination of Augustine, of the Middle Ages, and of the Reformers, could not reach this idea of election intellectually (Christian faith has always reached it in spirit), because the distinction between the idea of the individual personality of man and the idea of the specimen of every kind had not yet been definitely attained. It is now clear that such a foreknowing of God in relation to all human individuals must be accepted, because man is an individual thought of God; and that the same must hold good of electing, in so far as each individual is distinct in his solitary separation from all other individuals, and has a solitary call (see Rev 2:17). But it follows from this that the foreknowing of the elect, when it has become manifest, must be accepted in the most emphatic sense, analogously to the fact that Abraham is, in Gods typical kingdom, the elect , and that Christ is the elect in Gods real kingdom in the absolute sense, so that all His followers are chosen together with Him as organic members, according to their organic relations (Ephesians 1.). From both propositions it follows, further, that election does not constitute an infinite opposition between such as are ordained to salvation and such as are ordained to condemnation, but an infinite difference of destinations for glory; which difference, however, can be the basis of an actual opposition (see Mat 25:24), and therefore is also combined with this. As the foreknowing expresses the collective foundation, the godlike spiritual nature of the elect as the product and object of Divine love, there is comprised in the electing not only their election from the mass of the world, but also the distinguishing feature of their and characters. In addition to the earlier perversions of this doctrine of the eternal foundation of personal essencea doctrine of the highest importance to our timeswe may add the recent assertion of Hofmann (Schriftbeweis, vol. i. p. 227), that the relates not merely to individuals, but to the entire body, and, accordingly, to individuals as members of the body. The Apostle says four times, and three times. After the ideal determinations of personalities themselves, there can now follow the predestination of their in time and space, their whole lot (including the previously determined permission and control of the fall). For the foundation of the world corresponds to the history of the world. But the fate of each individual is designed to mature him, under gratia prveniens, for conversion, and when this object is reached, it is his turn; he is (Act 13:48). From this it now follows that the calling, in a special sense, first makes its appearance with the theocratical and evangelical revelation and its preaching of salvation. Those in whom the outward call of God has become an inward one, are called in the specific sense; yet the typical call first becomes perfectly real in the New Testament. As the life-sphere of election is the spiritual kingdom, and the life-sphere of foreordination is the history of the world, so is the Church the life-sphere of the call. But if godly sorrow leadeth to salvation, and germinating faith to saving faith, the justifying will be realized. This becomes decided by the Spirit of adoption, which spirit, however, now begins to operate also as , and in reciprocal action with it even the whole historical experience of Gods children becomes a , a guidance to glory. On the modes of this guidance, which have been but little developed doctrinally, see my Positive Dogmatik, p. 1064.
As far as the five divine saving acts are concerned, five human elements must correspond with them, according to the sphere of love and freedom. According to the christological idea, the Divine acts and human elements should come together in five points of union, somewhat as follows:
Election.
Ordination.
Call (as awakening and illumination).
Justification.
Glorification.
Religious Foundation.
Destiny.
Conversion.
Faith.
Holiness.
Determination to salvation.
Pilgrimage, or striving.
Life of Prayer.
Peace, Adoption.
Godly life of Love.
If we reduce the five elements to three: foundation, execution, end (, , ), the two elements of executioncall and justificationdenote the incipient and decided new birth (from water and the Spirit). The denotes regeneration in the sense of completion (Mat 19:28). The sum of all the Divine operations taken together is grace; the sum of all the human elements is the growing freedom of Gods children; and the sum of all points of union is eternal life.
It is only from the standpoint of the call and of justification that man can look retrospectively at his ordination and election in the light of Gods love, and prospectively at his object, the . But if, on the other hand, he would infer his own justification from his assumed election, this would be a standpoint of self-deception, and he would make his own justification out of the fragmentary work of holiness, and this would become self-torment or self-righteousness. The believing sinking into the image and righteousness of Christ, is a sinking into the fountain of eternal life, which then sinks thereby, as though unobserved, into the heart.124
B. The certainty of salvation in its historical gift and establishment in Christ, in opposition to historical contradiction in persecutions (Rom 8:31-37).
1. The thesis of the perfect historical securities of the salvation of Christians. Rom 8:31 says: If God be for us, all the hindrances and restrictions to our salvation are nullified as such. Nothing can harm us. Rom 8:32 : Since God did not spare His own Son for us, He has given us already every thing in principle, in order to give it to us in His own time in reality; all the aids for our salvation are given to us; every thing contributes to our good.
2. The Apostle represents, in four distinct elements, the complete security of our perfect salvation in Christ. His death removes our deserved condemnation. His resurrection raises us above the sense of condemnation into the confidence and spiritual life of adoption. His sitting at the right hand of God protects us against all condemning powers, and is the pledge of our acquittal at the judgment. His intercession abolishes the last remains of condemnation in our life, and secures us against relapse. On the dissensus between the Reformed and Lutheran theology in reference to Christs sitting at the right hand of God, see Tholuck, p. 458. Tholuck decides in favor of the view that the right hand of God is ubique, and the sitting at the right hand of God indicates the Saviours entrance into, absolute freedom from all restraint. But if we will not regard the absolute freedom from all restraint in a purely negative sense, we are driven with this freedom itself to the positiveness of an absolute situation and standpoint in glory. On the views relating to the intercessio, see Tholuck, p. 459. According to Tholuck, the intercessio must be strictly regarded only with reference to Heb 7:25; Heb 9:24; 1Jn 2:1; according to Meyer, it is vocalis et oralis. But it may be asked, Is it analytical, or synthetical? The glorified Christ, in His eternal purpose of love, is himself, as the personal and complete Word, the personified intercession. He appears in the presence of the Father for us (Heb 9:24). For statements relating to this subject, see Tholuck, p. 461.
C. Conclusion.
1. The Apostle has enumerated seven oppositions that can operate against us as temptations to relapse. There are seven, from the beginning of labor to rest. He here enumerates the forces which can oppose us in our fellowship of love with the Lord; these are ten in number. But this is the number of the finished course of the world. By height we might have in mind the , in the sense of 2Co 10:5; and by depth, Rev 2:24. Yet both terms are essentially the same, and we prefer the explanation given in the Exeg. Notes.
2. The assumption that different classes of angels are spoken of in this passage, has resulted in various changes of the text. Also in Eph 1:21, the Apostle has chosen expressions which comprise as well present powers of the world as future spiritual powers. The same holds good in reference to Col 1:16. Paul has given no ground for a definite hierarchy of angels; neither has Peter done so in 1Pe 3:22. On Tholucks discussion concerning angelic classes, see pp. 461 ff.
3. There is a special need, in our day, of bringing forward the absolutely dynamical view of the world in opposition to a groundless and illimitable atomistic one. But the vital way to bring about this view, is the experience and developed perception of the absolute operation of the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
4. Thus chap. 8. advances from the certainty of freedom from condemnation, in Rom 8:1, to the certainty of eternal salvation, in Rom 8:39.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Rom 8:18-23. The groaning of the creature. 1. What are we to understand by creature here? 2. Why does it groan? 3. For what does it groan? (Rom 8:18-23.)The magnitude of the future glory of Gods children. 1. It makes us forget all the sufferings of this present time; 2. It satisfies not only our expectation, but also the anxious expectation of the whole creation (Rom 8:18-23).Why are the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared to the future glory? 1. Because our sufferings, however great, come to an end with this present time; 2. The glory, on the contrary, will continue forever (Rom 8:18).Comparison of the sufferings of this present time with the glory which shall be revealed in us: 1. The former bring pain, cares, and tears; 2. The latter brings eternal health, peace, and joy (Rom 8:18).The revelation of Gods children is a revelation of their life (concealed with Christ in God) of courageous faith, fervent love, and calm hope; Col 3:3 (Rom 8:19).The creature in the service of corruption (Rom 8:21).The creature transformed to glory (Rom 8:21).Believers in the possession of not only the first-fruits of the Spirit (faith, knowledge, love, patience, chastity, &c.), but also in the possession of Gods full adoption, since the body also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption (Rom 8:23).
Luther: God will not only make the earth, but also heaven, more beautiful. This present time is His working garb; afterward He will put on an Easter coat and a Pentecostal robe (Rom 8:18-23).
Starke: Wonder and rejoice, ye cross-bearers, for your heavy and wearisome sufferings are only a drop compared with the boundless sea of joys, and as a grain of sand in the balance against hundreds of thousands of pounds (2Co 4:17). Non sunt condign passiones hujus sculi ad prteritam culpam, qu remittitur; ad prsentem consolationis gratiam qu immittitur; ad futuram gloriam qu promittitur; Bernh., De Convers. ad cleric, c. 30 (Rom 8:18). The creature will not be utterly annihilated, but renewed, and placed in a more glorious state (Rom 8:21).Hedinger: Woe to those who revile, torment, and abuse Gods creatures! (Rom 8:19.)
Spener: What would not a soldier suffer, if he knew that he should become a General? But here is a glory succeeding suffering, beside which all the glory of the greatest emperors and kings is only a shadow (Rom 8:18).Roos: The sufferings of this present time are infinitely small compared with this infinite weight of glory (Rom 8:18).The glory is contrasted with the corruption, and freedom with bondage. That which is glorious will last eternally; and that which is free may indeed be used and enjoyed by others, but is not in a state of bondage or slavery (Rom 8:20-21).What is spiritual, will become completely spiritual, and, consequently, will be revealed in great glory. Paul calls this state of glory the state of adoption, because Gods children will then completely show their honor in themselves, fully enjoy their Fathers lovein a word, will be heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ (Rom 8:22-23).
Gerlach: As the mother in travail delivers the living child, as it were, from death, so does nature, groaning under the power of death, struggle to bring forth from itself a new and incorruptible creation. Not you alone, but what is much lower than you are, and without reason and conscience, shall share with you your blessings. The creation will be free from the bondage of corruption; that is, it will no more be corruptible, but will keep pace with the glorification of your body. For as it became corruptible when you did, so will it again follow you when you become immortal. As a nurse who fostered a kings son will herself enjoy his possessions as soon as he attains his fathers throne, so will it be with creation. Do you see how man everywhere goes ahead, and every thing happens for his sake? Do you see how the Apostle comforts the struggling one, and points him to the unutterable love of God? But he does not merely comfort; he also shows the certainty of what he says. For if the creature which was created for your sake has hope, how much more do you have hope for whose sake the creature shall enjoy all these blessings! Thus, when the son appears in his glory, shall men clothe their servants in more glorious robes to the honor of the son; Chrysostom (Rom 8:18-23).
Lisco: The magnitude and universality of the future perfection (Rom 8:18-23).All the sufferings of this present time, both physical and spiritual, which we must endure on the way to our future glorification, bear no comparison to this perfection. The proof of this is, that the creature, the whole creation, both irrational creation and every thing which is still outside of fellowship with Christ, is anxiously waiting for the revelation of the still concealed glory of Gods children, the truly new-born; in which glorification the whole creation will participate, for it is universal and great. The ground of this anxious expectation of the whole creation is partially owing to the subjection of the latter to vanity, and in part to the hope that it shall be delivered from that state which is subject to vanity, and shall participate in the glorious freedom of Gods children (Rom 8:18-21).
Heubner: Temporal sufferings are a differential of the future glory which shall be revealed; that is, they are so infinitely small that they have no value compared with the future glory (Silberschlag, Dreieinigkeit, vol. iv. p. 138).The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us: 1. In respect to duration; 2. Quantity; and 3. Quality.The sufferings are a mote, the glory is a hundred-weight; the former are but a drop, the latter a sea (Rom 8:18).Paul designs to show: 1. The certainty of this future in opposition to doubters, as in 2Pe 3:4, who say that all things continue as they were; he answers, by saying: No; nature does not remain unchangeable; nature itself has a tendency to transformation and completion; 2. The magnitude of salvation, for it is the object and limit of the whole creation; it must therefore be exceedingly abundant.Revelation of the children of God. What will then be revealed? 1. The inmost and deepest nature of their hearts; 2. The distinguished grace of God toward them, which is the glorious destination to which God elevates them. To whom will the revelation be made? To themselves, to the angels, to the believing children of God, to the world, and to all devils (Rom 8:19).The vanity to which the creature is subject is manifested specifically as follows: 1. The creation has lost its original charm, its beauty, its durableness, and its uniformity; 2. It has become corrupted by much that is injurious or useless; 3. It is now given over to abuse (Rom 8:20-21).How is the self-anxiety of nature to be regarded? We must suppose nature to have a consciousness, a feeling, and that it would say: What must I suffer! how must I be abused! Supposing particular objects to speak, the sun would say: How must I shine upon the wicked works of men! how am I compelled to see every thing! The earth: What must I bear! what blood must I absorb! The gardens and fields: How are we wasted in excess! Gold and silver: How are we perverted into idols! Beasts: How are we tormented and abused! If the Almighty were to open the mouths of many beasts of burden, how would the irrational brutes complain against rational man! (Rom 8:22.)The Christian is lhomme de dsir (St. Martin), a man of longings.
Besser: The martyrdom of the creature is twofold, and its coronation will also be twofold: 1. It suffers death, under whose pains the elephant groans and the worm writhes; 2. It suffers violence and injustice from the ungrateful and malicious; and it suffers involuntarily, for it is subject to these through Gods authority (Rom 8:19). The glory of Gods children is freedomfreedom from sin and deathfreedom from the tyranny of the devil and the world (Rom 8:21).The Apostle says: We are waiting for the adoption. It is the mystery of Christianity, that we wait for what we already have, or that we are and at the same time are not what we shall be. We are righteous and sinful; we are holy and impure; we are kings and slaves; we are free and bond; we are living and dead; we are saved and condemned;we are all the former, apart from ourselves, in Christ; we are all of the latter in ourselves, apart from Christ (Rom 8:23).
Rom 8:24-28. The salvation of Christians in the present life is a salvation: 1. In hope; 2. In patience; 3. In prayer (Rom 8:24-28).The one Christian hope in distinction from the many worldly hopes. 1. It has a good groundChrist, on whom we can build; 2. A certain objecteternal salvation (Rom 8:24).What a man seeth he cannot hope for; if we therefore hope, the object of our hope must be invisible (Rom 8:24-25).Christian patience: 1. In what does it consist? 2. In whom is it found? (Rom 8:25).Intercession for us by the Spirit of God. 1. How does it take place? 2. With what results? (Rom 8:26-27).It is only when we perceive our infirmities that Gods Spirit intercedes for us with unutterable groans (Rom 8:26).A glance at the inmost life of prayer of Gods saints. We here perceive: 1. Our great weakness; 2. The comforting intercession by the Spirit of God; 3. Gods friendly hearkening to our prayer (Rom 8:26-28).Praise God for His compassion shown in the Spirits helping us in our infirmities (Rom 8:26).The unutterable groanings of the Spirit (Rom 8:26).God knoweth the heart (Rom 8:27).Are we also saints? Does Gods Spirit also intercede for us? Can we also hope that our prayer will be answered? (Rom 8:26-27).Under what circumstances do we, too, know that all things work together for our good? 1. When we love God; 2. When we are conscious of our call (Rom 8:28).The Christian view of human destiny (Rom 8:28).How many men are still very far from knowing that all things must work together for good to them that love God! 1. Proof that such is the case; 2. Statement of the grounds of this phenomenon.
Starke: Impatience in distress arises from want of hope; 2Ki 6:29; 2Ki 6:31 (Rom 8:25).Spener: We do not know what would always be useful to us, and, if left completely to our own choice, would often pray for things which might be injurious, rather than useful. We also do not understand how prayer should be best formed, and in such a way as most likely to be heard, especially in seasons when necessity is great, and the heart is perplexed; but the Spirit intercedes for us in the best way, with unutterable groanings (Rom 8:26).We, in whom there are such groans, often do not ourselves understand what we pray for, for the anxiety of the heart is so great that it can express nothing more than a sorrowful but confident desire for the grace of God; but the remaining prayer is shaped by the Holy Spirit, and brought before Gods throne (Rom 8:27).Roos: Here (Rom 8:27) the Holy Spirit intercedes for us as a wise father intercedes for his child, who does not know how to address a great nobleman as he should, when he puts into his mouth refined language and a fitting compliment.
Bengel: In this purpose of God lie concealed the very first roots of the justification and glorification of believers (Rom 8:28).
Gerlach: The personality of man is no passing show, and does not pass away into universal life; but it only lives truly a life of the spirit when the personal Spirit of God is the soul of its lifewhen God is in itwhen the Spirit of the eternal fellowship of the Father and of the Son, of God and of His creation, is in it (Rom 8:26). By this means the prayer of the believing Christian first receives a strong and sure ground that the Spirit prays out of him; and by this means it becomes clear how such great petitions as the first three of the Lords Prayer are placed by the Lord in the mouth of the weakest believer (Rom 8:27).It is God who worketh all in all for our salvation (Php 2:13); therefore all things, His creatures who live, move, and have their being in Him, coperate for the same end; not with Him, or beyond Him, but in Him and through Him. Even all the evil that takes place on the earth coperates for good; for the will of the creature, which tears itself asunder from its Creator, is evil, and the evil continues to exist in this will; but the evil that results as the work of this will is, in so far as it interferes with Gods order of the world, Gods own work, is overruled by Him for good. If a child or friend of ours is struck by lightning, or killed by a murderer, it is Gods work in both cases, so far as the matter concerns us; even Gods own retributive judgments, which requite the evil deed with evil, become a blessing to him who learns to love Him under the blows of His rod, so that then His penal justice is no more revealed therein, but purifying love and grace (Rom 8:28).
Lisco: Patience waits; it is established on hope, which is the direction of the spirit toward a future good. Hope is established on faith, which is the grasping of the promise that holds out the blessing; this promise, which is contained in Gods word, is the ground of faith; Gods word is therefore the ground of all (Rom 8:25).
Heubner: Hope is advanced faith (Rom 8:24).To hope, and to act in hope, are the strength of the soul (Rom 8:25).The heart of the Christian is a sanctuary, a dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:26).Divine omniscience has a very comforting side. God knows the inmost faithfulness of the Christians heart. The true Christian desires to be searched, and to have his heart seen; the false Christian fears this (Rom 8:27).Deus nihil mali sinit accidere, ex quo non aliquid boni possit et velit elicere;
Augustine (Rom 8:28).
Rom 8:29-39. Summary of the Christian order of salvation. 1. Election; 2. Ordination; 3. Call; 4. Justification; 5. Glorification (Rom 8:29-30).The Only-begotten of the Father is at the same time the first-born among many brethren (Rom 8:29).Let us never forget that we should be brethren of our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 8:29).The call, justification, and glorification correspond to the threefold office of Christ (Rom 8:29-30).Why do we, as Christians, not need to fear? 1. Because God, who delivered His only Son for us, and with Him will also freely give us all things, is for us; 2. Because Christ is here, who has finished His work for us; 3. Because we ourselves, for the sake of Him who hath loved us, are able to endure every danger, and to allow nothing to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:31-39).If God be for us, who can be against us? Or, Gods protection bids defiance to our enemies (in times of war) (Rom 8:31).If God be for us, who can be against us? 1. Ask whether God is for us; 2. Look at the enemies (Rom 8:31).The gracious gift of Gods Son (Rom 8:32).Four believing and joyous questions of the Apostle, with the same number of answers evincing certainty of triumph (Rom 8:31-39).
Starke: The precious chain of the blessings of salvation, which far excels all golden chains and jewels (1Jn 3:1-2) (Rom 8:30).Even the smallest child of God can defy the whole world; therefore, what a great privilege all the children of God have! O man, be converted, and this day become a child of God! (Rom 8:31.)Though the whole world condemn you, and cry out against you: Crucify him! crucify him! away with him! smile at it; for if God justifies you, nothing can condemn you (Rom 8:33).Hoc habet proprium ecclesia: dum persecutionem patitur, floret; dum opprimitur, crescit; dum contemnitur, proficit; dum lditur, vincit; dum arguitur, intelligit; tune stat, cum superari videtur; Hilarius, 1. 8, De Trinit. (Rom 8:37).Strong heroic faith, which will allow nothing to separate from the love of God in Christ. Oh, Almighty God, arm us with the same sense, in order that we may remain true to death! 2Ti 4:8 (Rom 8:39).Lange: What will it help you, poor man, if you have many great, rich, and mighty men in the world, and even a partial judge at the judgment? If God and your own conscience be against you, how soon will the table be turned against you? Job 9:4 (Rom 8:31).Osiander: Even though Satan should make a row against our sins before Gods judgment-seat, he will not be able to accomplish any thing, but will be compelled to pack off to hellish fire with his charge (Rom 8:33).
Spener: It is the order of Divine beneficence that foreknowledge and foreordination take place in eternity, but the call, justification, and glorification occur in time (Rom 8:30).He who has not hesitated to give the greatest blessing, will also not be sparing of smaller ones (Rom 8:32).
Roos: Many would be against us, but they are nothing against God (Rom 8:32).Paul had previously spoken (Rom 8:32-34) of judicial charges, but now he speaks of hostile powers that would violently snatch us away, and separate us from the love of Christ, which he afterward calls the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:35-39).
Gerlach: The Apostle has now, in spirit, reached the top of the mount of glorification, and looks back once more at the transitory hindrances, and the victory of believers, in the midst of their unfinished conflicts. That which here disturbs the peace of believers, and threatens to deprive them of their comfort, is of a twofold character: it is inward and outward. Inwardly it is sin, outwardly it is tribulation; in part it is the necessity of life in general, and in part it is the temptations specially appointed for the Christian (Rom 8:31-39).
Lisco: The blessed certainty of the grace of their God strengthens believers to conquer all temptations and embarrassments (Rom 8:31-34).As Abrahams love of God strengthened him for the greatest and sorest sacrifice, so is the greatest expression of Gods love for us the gift of His Son; it is an act of love which infinitely exceeds all else that God has done for us as Creator, Preserver, and Ruler (Rom 8:32).With the strongly established conviction of Gods grace toward us Christians, temporal sufferings, still less than those temptations (Rom 8:33-34), cannot lead us astray in our certainty of salvation and glorification (Rom 8:35-39).
Heubner: Christ is the true and real Ideal of human virtue, to whom we should be conformed, and to whom we are appointed as Christians to be conformed. The higher we think of Christ, the higher must we think of ourselves (Rom 8:29).The Christian is a brother of Jesus Christ (Rom 8:29).Faith, says Luther, puts such courage into a man, that he can say, Though all devils should pounce upon me, and all kings, emperors, heaven, and earth, were against me, I nevertheless know that I shall be sustained. He who has faith is in the Lord, and although he dies immediately, he must live again (Rom 8:31).Compare also Paul Gerhards excellent hymn, If God be for me, I tread on all against me (Rom 8:31).The power of the Christian reaches further than his trials; his strength will never be wholly exhausted. And this strength is called love through Him who hath loved us; He, whose love raises us above all sufferings, strengthens us (1Co 15:57; 2Co 2:14; 1Jn 4:4; 1Jn 5:4).
Besser: The triumph of faith (Rom 8:31-39).
The Pericope for the 4th Sunday after Trinity, Rom 8:18-23.
Heubner: How the Christian regards the evils and imperfections of this worldthe future rejuvenation of the earth.The history of the earth. 1. What was the earth? A scene of Gods glory. 2. What has it become? A scene of sin and death. 3. What shall it become? Renewed, glorified, and a part of heaven. 4. Who will live on it? Mat 5:5.The comfort which the gospel gives the suffering Christian.Appuhn: The connection of the creation with man: 1. The creature has fallen with man; 2. It serves him against its will; 3. It bears his image in itself: as men contend and fight together, so is it among the lower orders of creation; 4. It anxiously expects deliverance with man.Genzken: The token of future glory: 1. The anxious expectation of the creature; 2. The expectation of believers.Kapff: The deliverance of the groaning creature: 1. In nature; 2. In humanity in general; 3. In believers.Ranke: The hope which Christians have of their future glory: 1. What is implied in this hope; 2. Its connection with the life of the Christian; 3. Its blessings.
The New Rhenish Pericopes: 1. Rom 8:24-30, for New- Years Day. Deichert: The great privilege of Gods children, to be able constantly to hope for the best. 1. It is only Gods children who know what is best; 2. It is only they who hope for it in a proper way; 3. Their hope rests upon the strongest grounds.
2. Rom 8:31-39, for the 13th Sunday after Trinity. Deichert: The blessedness of Gods child, who lies in His bosom in full faith of eternal love. 1. Such a child of God has every thing which can truly benefit him; 2. He is no more afraid that any thing can harm him; 3. He continues unseparated from eternal love.
On Rom 8:28. Schleiermacher: On improving occasions of public calamity. 1. They appeal to us to know ourselves; 2. They greatly benefit us by making us better acquainted with God himself. (Delivered in Halle soon after the French occupation.)
Lange: Christians, as Gods children, are heirs of future glory. 1. The right of inheritance established on the New Testament; 2. Anxious waiting for the decision; 3. Its eternal institution; 4. The opponents of the right of inheritance; 5. Its assurance; 6. The infinite value of the inheritance.The anxious expectation of the creature, as contrasted with man without this expectation in our day, is the same picture on a large scale which Balaams ass presents on a small one. The Spirit in nature in opposition to the worldly-mindedness of skeptical natural philosophy.Unspirituality in the garb of pretended natural philosophy, judged by its declarations: 1. Nature was not called into being by the Spirit of the Lord; 2. It does not testify to the dominion of the Spirit; 3. It does not strive for the revelation of the glory of the Spirit.The true meaning of the groans: 1. Of the creature; 2. Of believers; 3. Of the Divine Spirit in their new life.How does the case stand in reference to the battle of your life? 1. If God is not for you, every thing is against you, though every thing seems to be for you. 2. If God be for you, nothing is against you, though every thing seems to be against you. Nothing can harm us, for nothing can separate us.Our fortress of rock: Gods love in Jesus Christ our Lord.
[Burkitt: How will Gods adopted children be made manifest? 1. In their persons; 2. In their actions; 3. In their condition.The Holy Spirit intercedes for us: 1. By assisting us in duty; 2. By quickening our affections; 3. By enlarging our desires; 4. By setting us to groaning after the Lord.Groaning denotes the strength and ardency of desire, which, through its fervency, puts the soul to pain and to a holy impatience till it is heard. If we want words, let us not want groans; Lord, let Thy Spirit help us to groan out a prayer when we want ability to utter it; for silent groans, proceeding from Thy Spirit, shall be heard in Thine ears when the loudest cries shall not be heard without it.
[Henry: Though the soul be the principal part of man, yet the Lord has declared himself for the body also, and has provided for it a great deal of honor and happiness. The future adoption of Gods children is: 1. The adoption manifested before the world, angels, and men. Their honor is now clouded, but God will then publicly own all His children. The deed of adoption is now written, signed, and sealed; then it will be recognized, proclaimed, and published. 2. It is the adoption perfected and completed. The children of God have bodies as well as souls, and the adoption is not perfect until those bodies are brought into the glorious liberty promised the children of God.Difference between faith and hope: 1. Faith has regard to the promise; hope, the thing promised. 2. Faith is the evidence of things not seen; hope is the expectation of them. 3. Faith is the mother; hope is the daughter.Scott: All that we owe to the flesh is a holy revenge for the injuries already done, and the hindrances continually given us; and instead of rendering our state doubtful, by living after it in any degree, we should, by the Spirit, continually endeavor more and more to mortify it, and repress all its actions.Sin has filled the world with suffering, yea, with unspeakable disorder and misery; all creatures seem to proclaim mans fatal apostasy, and to recommend the inestimably precious salvation of Christ. But the gospel opens a brighter prospect; a glorious crisis approaches, of which all things seem in anxious expectation.Clarke: Fluency in prayer is not essential to praying; a man may pray most powerfully in the estimation of God, who is not able to utter even one word. The unutterable groan is big with meaning, and God understands it, because it contains the language of His own Spirit. Some desires are too mighty to be expressed; there is no language expressive enough to give them proper form and distinct vocal sound. Such desires show that they came from God; and as they came from Him, so they express what God is disposed to do, and what He has purposed to do (Rom 8:27).
[Hodge: Observe, 1. As there is a dreadful pressure of sin and misery on the whole creation, we should not regard the world as our home; 2. It is a characteristic of genuine piety to have exalted conceptions of future blessedness, and earnest longings after it; 3. The reason why all things work together for the good of Gods children is, that all things are under His control; 4. The plan of redemption, while it leaves no room for despondency, affords no pretence for assumption; 5. As there is a beautiful harmony and necessary connection between the several doctrines of grace, so must there be a like harmony in the character of the Christian.The gospel is: 1. Wonderful; 2. Glorious; 3. Secure.Barnes: Reasons why we are continued here in this state of vanity: 1. Christians are subjected to this state to do good to others; 2. Their remaining here shows the power of the gospel in overcoming sin, and in thus furnishing living evidence to the world of the power and excellence of that gospel; 3. It furnishes occasion for interesting exhibitions of character, and for increasing and progressive excellence; 4. It is a proper training for heaven.Reasons why Christians do not know what to pray for: 1. They do not know what would be really best for them; 2. They do not know what God might be willing to grant them; 3. They are, to a great extent, ignorant of the character of God, the reason of His dealings, the principles of His government, and their own actual wants; 4. They are often in real and deep perplexity; and, if left alone, would neither be able to bear their own trials, nor know what to ask at the hand of God.J. F. H.]
[Homiletical Literature on the Whole .The homiletical literature on this chapter is very voluminous; we select the following, as being most important.Bishop Cowper, Heaven Opened, &c., Works, 11 (1619); E. Philips, Certaine Godly Sermons, 243; Edw. Elton, Triumph of a True Christian Described (Three Excellent and Pious Treatises, 1653); H. Binning, The Sinners Sanctuary, &c.; being Forty-eight Sermons on the 8th Chapter of Romans, Works, 1, 257; T. Jacomb, Sermons Preached on the Whole 8th Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans (only the sermons on the first four verses have been published, 1672); T. Horton, Forty-six Sermons upon the Whole 8th Chapter of the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Romans (1674); T. Manton, Forty-seven Sermons, Works, 2; J. Mestrezat, Sermons sur la 8e chap. de lEpitre aux Romains (1702); T. Bryson, A Comprehensive View of the Real Christians Character, Privileges, and Obligations (1794); A. Short, The Witness of the Spirit with our spirit, Illustrated from the 8th Chapter of St. Pauls Epistle to the Romans (Bampton Lectures, 1846); O. Winslow, No Condemnation in Christ Jesus, as unfolded in the 8th Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans (new ed., 1857).Homiletical Literature on the Carnal Mind and Mans Enmity to God.C. Simeon, Works, 15, 195; Bishop Stillingfleet, Serm., 3, 294; B. Ibbot, Disc., 1, 365; J. Evans, Disc., 1, 93; J. Drysdale, Serm., 1, 213; R. Graves, Works, 4, 159; The Carnal and the Spiritual, Village Preacher, 1, 181; C. Simeon, Works, 15, 199; G. T. Noel, Serm., 2, 452; S. Charnock, Works, 9, 175; Archbishop Leighton, Serm., Works, 3, 195; J. Jamieson, Serm. (4) on the Heart, 2, 263, 381, 439, 465; G. Burder, Village Serm., 5; J. Venn, Serm., 3, 56; T. Dwight, Theology, 4, 441; C. Scholl, Serm., 158; E. Cooper, Pract. Serm., 5, 17; T. Chalmers, Works, 9, 66; H. Caulfield, Irish Pulpit, 2, 263; J. Cooper, Serm., 28; C. Simeon, Works, 15, 202; E. Blencowe, Plain Sermons, 2, 362; J. Fenn, Serm., 52.
[Homiletical Literature on Life after the Spirit (Rom 8:13-14), and on the Spirit of Bondage and Adoption.S. Clarke, Serm., 8, 23; Bishop Hall, Serm., Works, 5, 527; T. Jacomb, Morning Exerc., 3, 585; R. South, Serm., 5, 293, 326; T. Wilson, Serm., 1, 389; L. Atterbury, S. Clapham, Serm., selected, 2, 173; M. Hole, On the Church Cat., 1, 55; N. Carter, Serm., 155; I. Pearse, Serm., 219; D. Waterland, Serm., Works, 9, 325; R. Robinson, Village Serm., 267; T. Belshum, Disc., 1, 72; T. Biddulph, Plain Serm., 3, 168; H. Draper, On the Collects, 2, 275; C. Simeon, Works, 15, 270; Bishop Heber, Parish Serm., 1, 443; S. F. Surtees, Serm.; T. Knowles, Disc., 3, 267; A. W. Hare, Serm., 1, 77; W. G. G. Cookesley, Serm., 2, 254; C. Neat, Disc., 223; A. B. Evans, Serm., 230; H. E. Manning, Serm., 4, 27; A. Watson, Serm. (1843), 134; N. Meeres, Serm., 329; Bishop Wilberforce, Serm., 39; W. Howorth, Serm., 32; Bishop J. Jackson, Witness of the Spirit, 145; I. Williams, Serm., 2, 145; C. J. Vaughan, Serm. (1847), 77; C. Bullen, Serm., 43; H. Alford, Serm., 3, 309; J. J. Blunt, Plain Serm., 56; W. Gresley, Parochial Serm., 365; C. E. Kennaway, Serm. at Brighton, 1, 222; Bishop W. Nicholson, On the Apostles Creed, 99; J. Cameron, Opera, 536; J. Wallis, Serm., 153; E. Beeston, Serm., 375; J. Evans, Disc., 1, 350; J. Wesley, Serm., Works, 5, 98; B. Beddome, Short Disc., 8, 151; S. E. Pierce, Essay, &c., 149; C. Simeon, Works, 15, 276; J. H. Stewart, Serm., 189; G. T. Noel, Serm., 2, 471; W. Muir, On the Holy Spirit, 144; T. Ainger, Parochial Serm., 134; C. Neat, Disc., 239.
[Homiletical Literature on the Witness of the Spirit.J. Donne, Works, 2, 42; I. Watts, Evang. Disc., Works, 2, 292, 302; P. Doddridge, Serm., 2, 378; 3, 1; Archbishop J. Sharp, Works, 5, 1; W. Stephens, Serm., 1, 287; Bishop Sherlock, Disc., Works, 1, 153; Archbishop Secker, Serm., 7, 221; T. Randolph, The Witness of the Spirit (1768); A View, &c., 2, 223; J. Wesley, Serm., Works, 5, 111; J. Dickinson, Sermons and Tracts; W. Hey, Tracis, 487; C. Simeon, Works, 15, 283; W. L. Bowles, Paulus, &c., 103; Bishop Philpotts, Orig. Fam. Serm., 2, 237; E. Cooper, Pract. Serm., 7, 380; C. W. Le Bas, Serm., 3, 89; S. Clarke, Serm., 2, 73; Forty Sermons, 205; J. Penn, Serm., 2, 125.Homiletical Literature on the Groaning and Travail of Creation.N. Homes, Resurrection Revealed, Raised above Doubts; C. E. Kennaway, Serm. at Brighton, 2, 34; J. H. Gurney, Serm., 173; J. H. B. Mountain, Serm., 95; A. Leger, Nouveaux Serm., 2, 168; H. Grove, Posth. Works, 2, 109; J. Wesley, Serm., Works, 6, 241; R. Balmer, Lect., 2, 507; H. Stowell, Serm. (1845); J. Cumming, Voices of the Night, 131; J. C. Dannhawerus, Crit. Sac. Theo., 2, 503; E. W. Goulburn, Bampton Lect., 269; A. Horneck, Serm. (1677); A. Townson, Disc., 224; F. H. Hutton, Serm., 306; W. Vickers, Serm., 233; J. Slade, Plain Serm., 7, 76; H. Hughes, Serm., 107; W. Cadman, Bloomsbury Lect., 10, 31; W. Fenner, Works, 1, 295; T. Boston, Works, 9, 263, 286; W. Cruden, Serm.; J. Martin, Remains; J. Garbett, Serm., 2, 187; Bishop Wilberforce, Serm. on Sev. Occ., 1; W. Richardson, Serm., 2, 146; T. Arnold, Serm., 1, 139; C. Marriott, Serm., 1, 179; R. Montgomery, God and Man, 311; E. B. Pusey, Serm., 2, 304.J. F. H.]
Footnotes:
[49]Rom 8:2.[The weighty MSS., . B. F. G., and some fathers, read ; but this might readily be repeated from the preceding syllable, -. A. C. D. K. L., most versions, give , now generally adopted. There is slight authority for . Freed me, is literal, and to be preferred to hath made me free, set me free. It refers to a definite past act (aorist).
[50]Rom 8:4.[The E. V. uses righteousness, very indefinitely, to translate several words of kindred meaning. Here it is obviously incorrect, as means, literally, a righteous decree, ordinance, statute, act (see pp. 74, 184); and in this case refers to the summing up of all the requirements of the law, as fulfilled by Christ. Lange: Gerechtsein, requirement, is not strictly exact, but is adopted by Alford, Amer. Bible Union. Version of five English clergymen: righteous demand. See Exeg. Notes.
[51]Rom 8:4.[According to, is the phrase which now best expresses the meaning of , though after (German, nach) is literal. It is becoming unusual in this sense.
[52]Rom 8:6.[The E. V., with its usual fondness for hendiadys, has departed from a literal rendering in Rom 8:6-7, at the expense of both accuracy and force.
[53]Rom 8:6.[Is not subject (E. V.), is correct, but the above emendation brings out the middle force of .
[54]Rom 8:8.[So then, is a gloss, rather than a translation. It is a difficult matter to reproduce all the delicate shades of antithetical force expressed by the frequently recurring . Some alterations in the verses immediately succeeding have been made with this in view.
[55]Rom 8:9.[Have is conditional, but hath is preferable, as intimating more decidedly that the state of things really exists. For the same reason, dwelleth is preferable to dwell, in Rom 8:11.
[56]Rom 8:11.[The better supported reading is ; the article is inserted in some MSS., as also before . There is also the usual number of variations, so common when these words occur in the text.
[57]Rom 8:11.[Will, to express the simple future in the third person. The E. V. seems to prefer shall in such cases, and, indeed, some still defend it. The usage of the present time is undoubtedly against it.
[58]Rom 8:11.[Here two readings present themselves, supported by authorities of equal weight. The genitive: is found in Rec., . A. C., many versions and fathers, as is adopted by Lachmann, De Wette, Krehl. The accusative: , is supported by B. D. E. F. K. L., many cursives and fathers, by Griesbach, Scholz, Fritzsche, Mill, Bengel, Tischendorf (in later editions), Meyer (who cites Lachmann also in its favor), Tholuck, Rckert, Alford, Wordsworth, Tregelles, Lange. It will be seen that a majority of critical editors adopt the latter reading. The reasons which have determined this decision seem to be, that two such readings could not have existed without one being a premeditated corruption. The question then arises, Which reading would best serve a polemic purpose, and hence be most likely to have been the corrupted one? That question is answered by the controversy between the Macedonians and Orthodox (latter part of the fourth century) respecting the Divinity of the Holy Spirit. The Macedonians charged the Orthodox with an alteration of the text into the genitive. The genitive can only mean, by means of His Spirit, &c.; while the accusative may include that idea of agency in connection with the thought, on account of His Spirit, &c. It is plain that the Macedonians had less motive to alter the text than the Orthodox. Alford thinks the variation dates back of this controversy, and is not due to either of the then disputant parties; but the same reason would hold good at a previous point of theological discussion. Lange well remarks, that, in any case, the raising act of God is distinguished in this verse from the working of the Spirit. Hodge sums up the internal evidence in favor of the common reading; but all his remarks only prove that the other is a more unusual reading, and hence likely to have been altered. It is better to follow the current of criticism, and adopt the accusative.
[59]Rom 8:13.[The simple dative is best rendered, by the Spirit. Through should be reserved as a translation of .
[60]Rom 8:13.[D. E. F. G., many fathers, have ; but is supported by . A. B. C. K. L., and nearly all modem editors. The former was probably a correction, arising out of a misunderstanding of the passage.
[61]Rom 8:14.[Rec., K. L., have ; . A. C. D., ; B. F. G., . The last reading is adopted by Lachmann, Tischendorf, Meyer, Alford, Wordsworth, Tregelles. It is supported by the majority of the fathers, and the variations are more readily accounted for on the supposition that it is the original reading; , if once passed over, would be inserted at the beginning or end (Meyer).
[62]Rom 8:15.[The aorist refers to a definite past time; hence, did not receive, received.
[63]Rom 8:16.[See Exeg. Notes.
[64]Rom 8:17.[With him, is as proper here as in the preceding clause. See Exeg. Notes.R.]
[65][It seems doubtful whether Dr. Lange means the Holy Spirit here; but as he certainly insists that the Holy Spirit is the agent producing this life, it is better to indicate it by printing this word with a capital letter.R.]
[66][Alford thus heads the section: Although the flesh is still subject to the law of sin, the Christian, serving not the flesh, but walking according to the Spirit, shall not come into condemnation, but to glory with Christ. Hodge, making the theme of the Apostle the security of believers, gives the first verse a wide reference, both present and future, and considers the whole chapter a series of proofs of this proposition.R.]
[67][Dr. John Brown renders , moreover, or would connect it with the thanksgiving in Rom 8:25. He refers this verse to sanctification, and Rom 8:1 to justification; hence would avoid making the former the ground of the latter.R.]
[68][The absence of the article is not decisive against this connection, though it favors more the connection with . Still, the parallelism strongly supports that view which joins it with the verb.R.]
[69][Law is here to be taken in the wide sense as = norm, principle, ruling power (comp. Rom 3:27; Rom 7:21-23).P. S.]
[70][Dr. Hodge, following Witsius, takes the law of the spirit of life as = the gospel. His objections to the other views arise mainly from a too exclusive reference of Rom 8:1 to the forensic idea of justification. It certainly confuses anew the meaning of the word law, to adopt this interpretation. Even should it mean gospel, it must mean the gospel in its life-giving aspect, as wrought by the Spirit; or Paul would not have chosen such terms. If in Christ Jesus be joined with freed, then the reference to the objective ground of justification is implied in the statement of our subjective possession of it in Christ Jesus. (See Lange, above.) Agreeing with Calvin, in the main, we interpret: The power of the life-giving Spirit delivered me in Christ Jesus (in virtue of union to Him the fulfiller of the law and the deliverer from the law) from the law of sin and death.R.]
[71][Alford paraphrases: all claim of sin on him is at an endhe is acquitted; but, as he admits, we are on higher ground now.R.]
[72][The simplest explanation is that of Meyer and Philippi: God condemned sin in the flesha thing which was impossible on the side of the law. This takes it as nominative absolute, passing judgment in advance on what God did, so as to give prominence to the inability of the law, as well as a reason why God did it. On the grammatical objections to taking it as accusative absolute, see Meyer. may be either active, = , or passive, = what was impossible. Tholuck urges the genitive in favor of the former, while Meyer contends that usage supports the latter.R.]
[73][Wordsworth finds in our phrase an argument against the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.R.]
[74][This interpretation, adopted by Hodge and Stuart, is rejected by every German commentator of note, even by Philippi and Alford. The passages in the New Testament (Heb 10:6; Heb 10:8; Heb 10:18; Heb 13:11; Gal 1:4) which seem to favor it, all contain a distinct reference to sacrifices, independently of . In Gal 1:4 (see in loco p. 13), the gave himself introduces the same thought. The wider meaning, of course, implies such an expiation; but it is not brought prominently forward in this expression. (Philippi: um die Snde shnend zu tilgend; to which Meyer unnecessarily objects, since his own view includes this.)R.]
[75][See Philippis view below. Hodge is decided in his preference for this interpretation, regarding all others as arbitrary, and contrary to the context.R.]
[76][So Alford, Schaff. Stuart makes this antithesis with Rom 8:1 : There is now no for Christians; but there is a of their carnal appetites and desires. This he justifies by finding here a paranomasial use of words; but this mode of interpretation is of doubtful propriety.R.]
[77][So Wordsworth, Webster and Wilkinson, Forbes. This view is, indeed, open to the charge of indefiniteness; but as the clause sets forth both what the law could not do, and what God did do in sending Jesus Christ, there can be little objection to a wide manning here, provided Rom 8:4 be applied definitely to the work of sanctification. Dr. Lange himself in the next paragraph reaches the same point.R.]
[78][Wordsworth: Sin had tyrannized over us in our flesh, as the seat of its empire; and by our flesh, as its instrument and weapon. But God used our flesh as an instrument for our deliverance, and for the condemnation of sin, and for the establishment of his own empire in us.R.]
[79][This seems doubtful. It is true that this is a condition of the final fulfilment, a condition which implies the Divine Spiritual power as its cause; but this is not the idea which is prominent here. The method is now introduced, so as to point out, in what follows, the difference between the workings of the law of the Spirit of life, and the law of sin and death, which find their corresponding expressions in the phrases: according to the Spirit, according to the flesh.R.]
[80][It were better to say that it is the same idea under a different aspect. In Rom 8:4, with reference to the outward life; here, with reference to the actual state.R.]
[81][In 4th ed., Meyer agrees with Tholuck, taking this second as explicative, according to classical usage. So Rckert, Stuart, Hodge. (De Wette, Alford, follow the view attributed to Meyer above.) The contrast, already indicated in Rom 8:4, is continued here.R.]
[82][ (Lange: Gesinnung; Bengel: sentiment, in the French) means the disposition, which manifests itself in the (Rom 8:5). The E. V. is therefore correct in thought, though not in form.R.]
[83][Meyer, who, as usual, limits death to eternal death, must define life in the same way. Life is the direct antithesis to death; but a subjective characteristic is added, as Bengel suggests, to prepare the way for the following description of enmity.R.]
[84][It is easy to construct this inference: The mind of the flesh = death; because the mind of the flesh = enmity against God: therefore, enmity against God = death.R.]
[85][For fuller discussions, see Tholuck, Meyer, and De Wette in loco.R.]
[86][Accepting . as implanted righteousness, we paraphrase as follows: But if Christ be in you, (though) your body indeed is dead (having in it the seeds of death, and about to die) on account of sin (whose effects are not yet totally removed), but your spirit (permeated by the Holy Spirit) is life (already and to be yet more truly so) on account of righteousness (implanted in you by the Holy Spirit, in virtue of your union to Christ).R.]
[87][As Alford suggests: non solum de ultima resurrectione, would be more correct. For a very full discussion, both of the textual variations and the exegetical opinions, see Meyer in loco. He defends the exclusive reference to the resurrection of the body.R.]
[88][Stuart follows Winer, p. 306, in governing the genitive by (so Fritzsche). This is harsh, and most commentators take the genitive as that of design or result, according to a very common usage.R.]
[89][The most comprehensive idea of death seems to be demanded by the context. Granting that the antithesis is (Rom 8:10), the present and spiritual reference is still required. Rom 8:6 forms the best guide to the meaning of the terms here (so Tholuck).R.]
[90][The New Testament uses the word generally in malam partem; and so here, whether in a more or less restricted sense. It does not refer to the definite acts so strictly as , but includes the general conduct, &c. (Philippi).R.]
[91][Dr. Lange does not seem to determine definitely in favor of either view. But his objection here is based on the assumption that our spirit is = self-consciousness. Is there not in Christians, during this time of witness-bearing, such a division still remaining, as to justify the interpretation which accepts a twofold witness? The witness is to the man as self-conscious, needing such testimony and borne both by the Holy Spirit, and the renewed nature, over against the remaining sinful nature. With our view of Rom 8:15, it is necessary that a new witness of this kind be introduced here. Philippi accepts the twofold witnessing here, claiming, however, that the other sense is possible only in case the reference in Rom 8:15 be to a filial spirit.R.]
[92][On the witness of the Spirit, see Doctr. Note13, and the works referred to in the list of Homiletical Literature on this section.R.]
[93][In Galatians, polemic necessity occasions a fuller and somewhat modified statement of this idea; see Langes Comm. in loco.R.]
[94][The Jewish law gave a double portion to the eldest son; the Roman law made all children (adopted ones also) equal. (So the Attic law.) The point of this controversy about the reference to Jewish or Roman law of inheritance, is, that the former presents believers as heritors, sharing through the grace of Christ, the chief Heir, the latter, in in virtue of their sonship. Philippi calls the latter profane, far-fetched, incongruous. Meyer and Tholuck think it appropriate in an Epistle to the Romans, and say that the only legal basis for the illustration is the Roman law. On the other hand, the genitive , where the dative might properly be used, may be urged in favor of the other view. In any case, the right of the adopted children is through the mediation of Christ. The context points to fellowship with him, so that heirship in him is an appropriate thought. Schmoller (Galatians, p. 98) deems the whole controversy pedanticR.]
[95][In Col 1:24, such sufferings are termed the afflictions of Christ; so intimate is the fellowship of Christ and his body, the Church. See also Heb 2:10.R.]
[96]Rom 8:18.[It is difficult to render literally. In us (E. V.) implies that we are the subjects of the revelation, and this is the main thought. Alford renders: with regard to us; Lange: auf und an uns.
[97]Rom 8:19.[ occurs four times in Rom 8:19-22, with the same meaning. In Rom 8:22 it is best to render it creation, and in the other cases it should conform. Lange: die Kreatrliche Welt, Kreatur-Welt. On the various limitations of meaning, see Exeg. Notes.
[98]Rom 8:20.[Lange renders , unterwarf sich, adopting the middle sense; but as this sense is doubtful, the English text has not been altered.
[99]Rom 8:20.[In hope is not to be joined with what immediately precedes, hence a comma must be inserted. Griesbach and Knapp make . . . parenthetical, but without sufficient reason. Amer. Bible Union also makes a parenthetical clause: but by reason of him who made it subject; yet this only seems to add confusion. See the next note.
[100]
Rom 8:20.[Lange puts a full stop after hope. Meyer, and many others, a comma, connecting the next verse: that the creation, &c. (the purport of the hope). Forbes gives the parallelism thus:
19.a.
b. ,
20. ,
,
21.a.
b. .
19.a. For the earnest expectation of the creation
b. Is waiting for the revelation of the sons of God,
20.For the creation was made subject to vanity,
Not willingly, but by reason of Him who subjected it,
21.a. In hope, that the creature itself shall also be delivered from the bondage of corruption,
b. Into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
This makes the whole of Rom 8:20, except in hope, parenthetical, and connects Rom 8:21 with that phrase, as giving the purport of the hope. On this last view, Forbes does not insist, however. In hope is thus made to refer to both lines of the parenthesis, yet with a main reference to , is waiting. The two lines of Rom 8:19 find their parallels in Rom 8:21, while a. a. refer to the expectation or hope that animates creation; b. b. to the final consummation to which it points. At the beginning of Rom 8:21, Lange reads denn, Alford, because, but Tholuck, Phillippi, Meyer, Amer. Bible Union, Noyes, five Anglican clergymen, &c., favor that, introducing the purport of the hope.
[101]Rom 8:23.[So, or this should be supplied; the meaning is: Not only it this so. The E. V. is therefore inexact. The latest revisions adopt so.
[102]Rom 8:23.[There is considerable variation in the text here, not affecting the sense, however. B. reads ; adopted by Tischendorf, Meyer, Lange, Tregelles. The Rec. inserts after the second ; . A. C, Lachmann, Alford before it, so Tregelles, in brackets; while D. F. G., Fritzsche insert the same after the first . The original reading was probably that of B.; being inserted as an explanatory gloss, hence the variation in position (Meyer). As is repeated, it is better to render even we ourselves in both cases.
[103]Rom 8:23.[D. F. G. omit , which is strongly attested, however. The omission may have arisen from the thought that the word meant something already possessed, and hence was inappropriate here.
[104]Rom 8:24[The dative, , is not instrumental. Now is the better rendering of the logical , which follows.
[105]Rom 8:24.[ . A. C. K. L., read (Rec., Meyer, Wordsworth, Lange); B. D. F. omit (Lachmann, Alford. Tregelles). The latter reading gives the sense: Why doth he hope (at all)? the former, which is preferable: Why doth he still hope for? = etiam.
[106]Rom 8:26.[Instead of . (Rec., K. L.), which was probably a marginal gloss, . A. B. C. D., most cursives, versions, and fathers, read ; adopted by most editors.
[107]Rom 8:26.[ . A. B. C., Lachmann, Alford, Wordsworth, Tregelles, read (aorist); D. K. L., Griesbach, Tischendorf, . Both are grammatical, either may have been original; but the former is slightly better attested.
[108]Rom 8:26.[ (Rec. 3. C. K. L.) is omitted by Lachmann, Tischendorf, Meyer, Alford, Wordsworth, Lange, Tregelles, on the authority of 1. A. B. D. F. G. Probably added for closer definition.
[109]Rom 8:28.[. A. B. insert (as subject) after . It is omitted in C. D. F. K. L., and rejected by most editors. The seeming necessity of some such subject led to its insertion, which was rendered easier by the presence of (immediately before). Lachmann, who retains it, inserts before , on insufficient authority.
[110]Rom 8:33.[In Rom 8:33-35, Lange adopts the punctuation followed in the E. V., except in this trifling particular. Very many, however, place an interrogation point after each clause. (See Alford, who incorrectly quotes Meyer as favoring this view.) Tischendorf and Meyer place a colon after , and also after (Rom 8:34). Tregelles a comma after the former, a colon after the latter. The relation of the clauses, which involves the punctuation, is discussed in the Exeg. Notes.
[111]Rom 8:34.[After , . A. C. F. L. insert (adopted by Lange). It is omitted in B. D. ., by Tischendorf, Meyer, Alford, Tregelles, and most editors. Hence the rendering of Lange (bracketed in the text) is doubly doubtful: first, on account of the dubious reading; second, as a somewhat forced exegesis. See Exeg. Notes.
[112]Rom 8:34.[ (Rec.) is supported by D. F. K. L.; is omitted in . A. B. C. (by Lachmann, Tregelles, bracketted by Alford), but, as Meyer suggests, was easily overlooked between and .
[113]Rom 8:37.[Instead of the well-supported , D. E. F. G., and many Latin fathers, read: ; objectionable on both critical and exegetical grounds.
[114]Rom 8:38.[The order in . A. B. C. D. F. is , , ; adopted by Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Meyer, Alford, Tregelles, and critical editors generally. The Recepta puts first (K. L., some versions). This may readily be accounted for; is associated with or in Eph 1:21; 1Co 15:24; 1Pe 3:22, hence the seeming necessity for a closer connection here. In Col 2:15, is omitted, but in all the passages cited, is found; hence we find it as a variation here, but very slightly attested.
[115]Rom 8:39[ cannot, of course, mean creation here.R.]
[116]On the controversy between the Protestant and Catholic theologians in regard to the meritum condigni, as connected with this passage, see Tholuck, p. 421. [Comp. Philippi on both meritum condigni and meritum congrui. Also Calvin. As Dr. Hodge remarks, the idea of merit is altogether foreign to the context.R.]
[117][The primary reference seems to be to its greatness; but a secondary reference to its certainty and futurity would necessarily be implied in the patient expectation.R.]
[118][The English word creation has precisely the same twofold sense; but it always has a general reference when used in the passive sense. undoubtedly has a more special reference in many cases, but it would seem that the more general signification preceded the more special one, and hence that the limitation of meaning must always be derived from the context.R.]
[119][This is the view adopted and defended at some length by Professor Stuart in an Excursus on this verse. Notwithstanding his able argument, the interpretation is entirely too restricted to meet with general acceptance. An instinct of immortality is assumed, and pressed as the main thought. Comp. Hodge, in opposition to Stuarts viewR.]
[120][The reasons for excluding man are: 1. Believers are distinguished here from the (Rom 8:23). 2. Such an expectation does not exist in mankind as a whole. 3. Rom 8:20 represents the subjection to vanity as unwilling, which is not true of man. 4. Rom 8:21 implies that deliverance shall take place, and we have no evidence that this is true of humanity as a whole. If Rom 8:21 gives the purport of the hope (Rom 8:20), then this reason is of little weight.R.]
[121][Comp. the analogous Old Testament expressions: Deu 32:1; Job 12:7; Job 12:9; Psa 19:2; Psa 68:17; Psa 98:8; Isa 1:2; Isa 14:8; Isa 55:12; Isa 65:17; Eze 31:15; Hab 2:11. Also Revelation 21; 2Pe 3:13; Act 3:21.R.]
[122][The reference to this event is undoubted. It is a new expression of the deep-seated consciousness of fellowship with Christ, which leads the Apostle to call this the revelation of the sons of God, not of the Son of God. It should be remarked, that our Lord calls it the coming of the Son of Man. The event is throughout regarded in a strictly soteriological aspect.R.]
[123][The difference between 2 and 3 is slight. Both point to an actual curse at the fall; the latter only adds the thought, that the previous condition was not, after all, the final one, thus preparing the way for an explanation of not willingly. Both should, it seems, include the thought that the glorification to ensue will transcend both the original state and that which could be attained by a normal development.R.]
[124][The objection to this reference is well stated by Alford: (1) The verb implies a conscious act of intentional subjugation. (2) The accusative (indicating the moving, rather than the efficient cause) is in keeping with the Apostles reverence; thus removing the supreme will of God to a wider distance from corruption and vanity. Meyer suggests that the absence of any explanatory cause presupposes a well-known subject; God had subjected it. Jowett makes Christ the subject: on account of whose special work the creature was made subject to vanity. This is novel, so, much so, that it seems far-fetched.R.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
DISCOURSE: 1873
PRESENT TROUBLES AND FUTURE GLORY
Rom 8:18. I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
AN expectation of ultimate advantage is that, which gives activity to men in every situation of life. But, while it operates with full force in things relating to this world, its influence is scarcely felt by the generality of mankind in relation to things spiritual and eternal. Hence they are easily drawn aside from the path of duty by the allurements of time and sense, or driven from it by the terrors of persecution: whereas, if they would duly estimate the pleasures or pains of this present life, and weigh them in a balance against the glory and felicity of the world to come, they would be stimulated to patience and diligence in well-doing, since they could not but see with the Apostle, that the one were not worthy to be named in comparison of the other.
That we may judge of the Apostles estimate, I will endeavour to set before you the trials of the saint in this life, and the glory that awaits him in the life to come.
I.
Distinctly
The trials of a saint in this life are great
[Man is born to trouble, and every man must expect his share of it in this world: but the saints have a greater portion of it than others.
In common with, others, they are called to endure pain of body, distress of mind, loss of friends, embarrassment of circumstances, and every other evil incident to this mortal state.
But besides all this, they have many trials peculiar to themselves. From within, they are often bowed down under a sense of guilt, or under their indwelling corruptions: they are sometimes harassed with temptations, which, as fiery darts, wound and inflame their inmost souls: and sometimes they are overwhelmed with the hidings of their Fathers face, and ready to sink in utter despair. How grievous these sensations are, no words can adequately express. They are also not a little tried from without. The contempt, the hatred, the persecutions they endure, are often grievous to be borne; and would shake their fidelity, if they were not upheld and strengthened by their God.
Let this accumulated load be weighed as in a balance, and it will be found exceeding heavy, insomuch that, if in this life only they had hope, the saints would be of all men in the most pitiable condition.]
But the glory that awaits him is also great
[There is a glory that shall be revealed to us, and a glory that shall be revealed in us: both of these are included in the words before us [Note: .]; and, taken together, they comprise all the glory and felicity of heaven.
The very place to which we shall be admitted, is described by all the powers of language, in order to convey to us some faint idea of its beauty [Note: Rev 21:10-23.]. There we shall behold all the angelic hosts with the spirits of just men made perfect (how bright and blessed an assembly must that be!) yea, we shall see the Lamb of God, that very Jesus who was crucified for us, seated on his throne; and we shall behold the Father also face to face: we shall see him as he is, in all the brightness of his glory.
Together with this, we ourselves shall be fully changed into the image of our God: we shall resemble him both in body and soul, as far as finite creatures can resemble the infinite Jehovah. We shall also participate the blessedness of the Deity: and every vessel, according to its capacity, shall be filled with joy.
But it is in vain to estimate what is so infinitely above our comprehension; for we know not yet what we shall be. Even our present privileges surpass all that the carnal eye; or ear, or heart, has ever seen, or heard, or conceived [Note: 2Co 2:9.]; much more therefore must the happiness of heaven infinitely exceed all that language can express, or imagination conceive.]
Such being the two states of suffering and of glory as viewed distinctly, let us now bring them under our review,
II.
In a way of comparison
[Sufferings, of whatever kind, are painful to flesh and blood; but when estimated according to the word of God, they are light, mixed, and momentary. How light are they in comparison of what thay might be or of what we deserve or of what Jesus endured for us or of what myriads of our fellow-creatures are now enduring in hell! Besides, amidst them all, we have innumerable mercies for which to be thankful and, if they were continued throughout our whole lives, they would be short as the twinkling of an eye, in comparison of the state to which we are hastening
But the glory that awaits us is exceeding great, even a weight as great as the soul with its most enlarged powers is able to support It is also unmixed with any alloy of sin, or sorrow and its duration will be eternal, even co-existent with the soul itself
What comparison then is there between them? So infinitely does the glory exceed all the sufferings that we can endure in this life, that if we add hyperbole to hyperbole, and strain all the powers of language and of thought, to express the difference [Note: See 2Co 4:17. in the Greek.], we never can do justice to the subject, or declare a thousandth part of that which really exists. The Apostles estimate was formed as the result of a minute and accurate computation [Note: .]; and therefore the accuracy of it is past a doubt. In fact, the Apostle does not institute a comparison between them (for they will not admit of any comparison); but he says that the sufferings are not worthy [Note: .] (not worthy of any consideration, no, not of a thought), when the glory that shall follow them is kept in view.]
Improvement
We may learn from hence,
1.
How to judge of Gods dispensations
[To those who look no farther than to the present life, the ways of God appear unequal: since the godly are oppressed, and the wicked triumph. But let eternity be taken into the account, and all the seeming inequalities will vanish: the godly will be recompensed for their sufferings; and the wicked will receive the due reward of their impieties. The Judge of all the earth will not only do right, but will manifest the equity of all his dispensations.]
2.
How to comfort the afflicted mind
[When persons are complaining that their trials are exceeding heavy, and that they are ready to faint because of them, we should lead them to view their sufferings in a way of comparison, or in a way of contrast. We should compare the good they lose or the evil they sustain, with the good and evil that are beyond the grave: or we should contrast the good to be enjoyed in a life of sin, with the evil which sin will hereafter bring upon us; or the evil to be sustained in this life, with the good with which it shall hereafter be compensated. In either of these methods [Note: The Scriptures point out these distinctly: they compare present with future good, Heb 11:16 and present evil with future, Luk 12:5. So also they contrast present good with future evil, Ecc 11:9 and present evil with future good, Heb 10:34. And the effect of both these methods in composing the mind is intimated in 2Co 4:18.] we may, with Gods help, put an end to their murmuring; and make them willing to bear their present afflictions in expectation of the benefit that will result from them.]
3.
How to regulate our own conduct
[Are we under trials? we should view our sufferings as ordered by God himself in number, weight, and duration, and consider them as means appointed by him for the perfecting of his work within us. Then, whatever our trials be, we shall not give way to an undue depression of mind; but shall commit ourselves to God in silent resignation, and wait for our recompence in the eternal world.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (19) For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. (20) For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, (21) Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (22) For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (23) And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (24) For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? (25) But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. (26) Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (27) And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (28) And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (29) For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (30) Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Under this part of the Chapter, we have a vast fulness of subject, which, if prosecuted through all its different bearings, would of itself form a volume. I must study shortness for the Poor Man’s Commentary, while omitting nothing that is important to dwell upon.
The Apostle begins this passage with stating his views of the disproportioned estimate, between the sufferings of the present life to the Church and to all the members of it, how great or numerous soever they might be, and the glory which is to follow. And this is so plain and obvious as to require no enlargement. For, as the present time-state of the Church, compared to eternity is no more than a grain of sand to the earth: So, the sorrows of such a state can bear no greater proportion than a drop of rain to the ocean. There is a vast beauty in the expression, the glory which shall be revealed in us: meaning Christ. The Son of God in our nature glorified in his saints. In him, and through him, the in-dwelling of God in his threefold character of Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, will be the glory revealed. Our utmost conceptions can go but a very little way in this subject. The Lord Jesus hath graciously opened to us the blessed contemplation, in what he said to his Father. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one, Joh 17:22 . And what a glory the Lord hath indeed already given his regenerate? What a glory is it to contemplate the union of Christ and his Church, from one eternity to another! Reader! have you ever studied the glory of the Church, what it was before all worlds in Christ? What it was during the time-state of Jesus appearing on earth in the Church’s union with Christ? What it is now in heaven, in being represented there by Christ? And what heart shall conceive, what it will be, in the glory, as Paul here speaks, which shall be revealed in us from Christ; in his dwelling in his Church, and his Church in him to all eternity! I in them (said the Lord) and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me, Joh 17:23 .
Concerning the creature here spoken of, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, being made subject to vanity, under the bondage of corruption, and groaning and travailing together in pain until now; various have been the opinions of various persons, but all entangled with difficulty in the apprehension. Some have referred it to angels, some to the brute creation, some to the world of intelligent creatures partaking in the common event of the fall. But the Holy Ghost hath not been pleased to throw a light upon it sufficient to determine with any certainty. But it is a sweet consolation, be it what it may, the promise that follows, that this creature shall ultimately be delivered, from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. So the Holy Ghost hath said by the Apostle in another scripture. All things shall be finally gathered in Christ, Eph 1:10 .
But I pass by many other considerations, to call the Reader’s attention to what is said in those verses, concerning the love, and grace, and mercy of God the Holy Ghost. The Apostle saith, that the Spirit helpeth our infirmities, for we are ignorant how to pray; but He maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered: and that He who searcheth the hearts, knoweth the mind of the Spirit, and maketh intercession for the saints, according to the will of God. Here is a vast depth of Scripture here, as it relates to the Person, Godhead, and Ministry, of the Holy Ghost. But I must not indulge myself in entering into the whole particularly. A few observations only shall I offer.
And first, Here are the infirmities of God’s children considered, which rendereth the help of the Holy Ghost so truly blessed. They know not the extent of their own fallen nature. They are ignorant of the power of Satan. When they would pray, they are too often faint, and unable. And, though a throne of grace is open before them; yet they want words, and they want faith to come as they ought, to the mercy-seat, to seek mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Secondly. Here is the Holy Ghost very blessedly set forth in his sweet office-character, namely, the helper of our infirmities in prayer. Thus the Lord the Spirit was promised, Zec 12:10 , And thus he is found to his people, Joh 15:26-27 .
But thirdly. It is very blessed to have a right apprehension how God the Holy Ghost helpeth the Lord’s people in prayer; that when they are ignorant what to pray for, how to plead, and with what words to come before the Lord; God the Spirit puts the cry into their heart, and a spirit of wrestling in their souls, that they may plead like wrestling Jacob, and come off like prevailing Israel. This scripture shews. When we know not what we should pray for as we ought, (which we never can know but by his teaching,) the Spirit maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Not that the Holy Ghost groans, but he gives a fervency of prayer in the souls of his people, which can only express itself in groans, not in words. Not that the Holy Ghost makes intercession for them, (for this is the sole office of Jesus the High Priest,) but with them. The Spirit pleads with them, and not with God. He indites their prayers. He teacheth how to pray, and what to pray for. And what He teacheth them to ask upon earth, is in exact correspondence to what Jesus their Great High Priest is interceding for them in Heaven. The prayer taught by God the Holy Ghost in their hearts, is like an echo to the intercession of Jesus before the throne. And this receiveth another blessed testimony, because it is not only in perfect unison to the intercession of Christ and the inditing of the Holy Spirit; but it is in exact uniformity to the will of God, He who searcheth the heart of the poor petitioner knoweth the mind and will of God. So that all is harmonious, the Father, Son, and Spirit, in the precious work and grace; and all concur in those blessed purposes of salvation.
In the verse which speaks of the highly privileged lovers of God, who are the called according to God’s purpose; we can only stay to notice, that it comprehends all the blessings of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. All things work together for good. God himself in his threefold character of Persons, and in all his Covenant offices, and relations: the Father in his everlasting love and purpose: the Son in his fullness, suitableness, and all-sufficiency: and the Holy Ghost in his operations, graces, and influences: all minister to this end, in every department of nature, providence, grace, and glory. And, the call implies the freedom of it, the fullness of it, the unmerited, unexpected, unlooked for, mercifulness of it: and all referred into the divine purpose, not human deservings; not man’s merit, but God’s mercy.
Neither doth the cause of those distinguishing blessings which is related in the verses which follow, strike the mind with less conviction of God’s sovereignty and favor; namely, Jehovah’s foreknowledge, fore-appointment, and eternal design of the Church to those mercies; that the glorious Head, and his highly favored members, might have a conformity. everything is here shewn to have been arranged and ordained in one continued train of order, that all should be to Christ, and from Christ, and for Christ; and all leading from the original and eternal design, through all the gradations of being predestinated to the being called, and from being called to the being justified, and from the being justified to the being glorified. Reader! ponder well these precious things, and call to mind the Apostle’s advice, 2Pe 1:10-11 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Ver. 18. Are not worthy to be, &c. ] Heaven will pay for all; hold out therefore, faith and patience. When Saul had the kingdom, some despised him, but he held his peace, though a man afterwards froward enough. What is a drop of vinegar put into an ocean of wine? What is it for one to have a rainy day, who is going to take possession of a kingdom? Pericula non respicit martyr, coronas respicit, saith Basil A Dutch martyr feeling the flame to come to his beard, Ah, said he, what a small pain is this to be compared to the glory to come! Luther said he would not take all the world for one leaf of the Bible. What then would he take for the glory that it revealeth? St Paul useth a word here that signifieth (upon a good account justly cast up, and the matter well weighed) to conclude, resolve, and determine, asRom 3:28Rom 3:28 ; Rom 6:11 , . The globe of the earth is, as mathematicians compute, 21,000 miles in compass, and above: yet compared to the greatness of the starry sky, it is but as a centre or little prick to the circle, to which it beareth no proportion; much less do our afflictions to heaven’s happiness.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
18. ] For (= this suffering with Him in order to being glorified with Him is no casting away of toil and self-denial, seeing that) I reckon (implying, ‘I myself am one who have embraced this course, being convinced’) that the sufferings of this present period (of trial and sorrow, contrasted with the period of triumph following the of Christ) are insignificant ( = , no gen. or verb understood. and are found in the sense of ‘ worthy (or unworthy) to be compared with ’ in the classics: so Hom. . . 234, , and Plato, Protag. (Wetst.), , and again 😉 in comparison with the glory which is to be revealed ( . put first, as in reff., but apparently not, as De W., for the sake of emphasis. Thol. cites Demosth., p. 486. 10, , in which there is no emphasis, as neither in ref. 1 Cor.
. , at the of Christ. On the sentiment, see 2Co 4:17 ) with regard to us (not merely , as spectators, but , as the subjects of the revelation; the E. V. is not far wrong, ‘ in us ,’ taking the in a pregnant sense as ., Luk 4:44 [but it must not be understood as meaning within us , in our hearts]). Bernard amplifies this de Convers. ad Cleric. c. xxi. 37 (30), vol. i. p. 494, ‘non sunt condign passiones hujus temporis ad prteritam culpam qu remittitur, non ad prsentem consolationis gratiam qu immittitur, non ad futuram gloriam qu promittitur nobis.’
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rom 8:18 . The passage extending from this verse to Rom 8:27 is described by Lipsius as a “threefold testimony to the future transfiguration which awaits suffering believers”. In Rom 8:19-22 there is the first testimony the sighing of creation; in Rom 8:23-25 the second, the yearning hope of Christians themselves, related as it is to the possession of the first fruits of the Spirit; and in Rom 8:26 f. the third, the intercession of the Spirit which helps us in our prayers, and lends words to our longing. . . . is a favourite word with Paul: the instance most like this is the one in Rom 3:28 . It does not suggest a more or less dubious result of calculation; rather by litotes does it express the strongest assurance. The insignificance of present suffering compared with future glory was a fixed idea with the Apostle, 2Co 4:17 f. For see Winer, 505 (d). With cf. in Gal 3:23 . . The unusual order emphasises the futurity, = toward and upon us. The glory comes from without, to transfigure them. It is revealed at the (1Co 1:7 , 2Th 1:7 , 1Pe 1:7 ; 1Pe 1:13 ; 1Pe 4:13 ), the glorious second coming, of Christ, and is indeed His glory of which they are made partakers.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rom 8:18-25
18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Rom 8:18 “consider” This is literally “add it up.” This is a present middle indicative. Paul continues to consider the implications of Christian suffering. This was an accounting term for arriving at a carefully researched conclusion. This is a recurrent theme in Romans (see note at Rom 2:3). Believers must live in the light of the spiritual truths they understand.
“the sufferings” We get some idea of the sufferings involved in serving Christ from 1Co 4:9-12; 2Co 4:7-12; 2Co 6:4-10; 2Co 11:24-27; Heb 11:35-38.
“of this present time” The Jews believed that the history of the world was divided into two ages, the current evil age and the age of righteousness to come (cf. Mat 12:32; Mar 10:30). The OT expected the coming Messiah to set up this new age of righteousness. However, the two comings of Christ, one as Savior (incarnation) and the second as Lord (Second Coming), caused the overlapping of these two ages. Believers live in the tension between “already” and “not yet” of the Kingdom of God. See Special Topic: This Age and the Age to Come at Rom 12:2.
“worthy. . .glory” Both of these terms are related to the OT concept of weight-heavy was valuable. “Worthy” was from a commercial term that meant “to weigh as much as.” The Hebrew term “glory” was also from a root “to be heavy,” in the sense of being valuable, like gold. See full note at Rom 3:23.
The term “glory” in Paul’s writings had an eschatological orientation (cf. 2Co 4:16-18). It referred to the splendor and power of the returning glorified exalted Christ (cf. Col 3:4). See SPECIAL TOPIC: GLORY (DOXA) at Rom 3:23.
“that is to be revealed to us” This passive (deponent) voice referred to the agency of God or the Spirit (cf. Rom 8:20). Believers live in this life by faith not sight (cf. Rom 8:24; 1Co 2:9; 1Co 13:12; 2Co 5:7; Heb 11:1).
The word is used several times in Romans by Paul and emphasizes that truth is from God, not a discovery of humans.
1. the verb
a. Rom 1:17 – the righteousness of God has been revealed (present passive indicative)
b. Rom 1:18 – the wrath of God has been revealed (present passive indicative)
c. Rom 8:18 – the coming glory to be revealed (aorist passive infinitive)
2. the noun
a. Rom 2:5 – in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God
b. Rom 8:19 – creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God
c. Rom 16:25 – according to the revelation of the mystery
Rom 8:19 “the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly” The physical creation is personified as a person with an outstretched neck searching the horizon. Creation was negatively affected when Adam and Eve rebelled (cf. Gen 3:17-19). All creation will ultimately be redeemed (except for rebellious angels, unbelieving humans, and their prepared place of isolation, cf. Bruce Corley and Curtis Vaughan, Romans, p. 95, footnote 46).
The verb “waits eagerly” (present middle [deponent] indicative) appears three times in this context.
1. Rom 8:19 – creation waits eagerly for the new age
2. Rom 8:23 – believers wait eagerly for new bodies
3. Rom 8:25 – believers wait eagerly in hope of the new age
Paul uses this same verb in a similar sense in 1Co 1:7; Gal 5:5; Php 3:20. The Second Coming is not a fearful event for believers, but a family reunion!
SPECIAL TOPIC: NATURAL RESOURCES
“for the revealing” This term meant “to pull back the curtain” so as to disclose or inform. It is also the title of the last book of the New Testament, “the Apocalypse.” The Second Coming is often referred to as a revelation or coming (cf. 1Co 1:7-8; 1 Peter 17,13).
“the sons of God” This was a common familial metaphor used to describe Christians (cf. Rom 8:14; Rom 8:16). It speaks of God as Father and Jesus as His unique son (cf. Joh 1:18; Joh 3:16; Joh 3:18; Heb 1:2; Heb 3:6; Heb 5:8; Heb 7:28; 1Jn 4:9).
In the OT Israel was God’s son (cf. Hos 11:1), but also the King was God’s son (cf. 2 Samuel 7). This concept was first mentioned in the NT in Mat 5:9 (also cf. Joh 1:12; 2Co 6:18; Gal 3:26; 1Jn 3:1; 1Jn 3:10; Rev 21:7).
Rom 8:20
NASB, NKJV,
NRSV”for the creation was subjected to futility”
TEV”For creation was condemned to become worthless”
NJB”It was not for any fault on the part of creation that it was made unable to attain its purpose”
This could be translated “vanity.” It is used in several senses in the Septuagint-meaningless, worthless, useless, false gods (idols), and emptiness. All creation became useless for God’s intended purpose (cf. Gen 3:17-19; Isa 24:3-8), but one day God will remove the curse of the Fall (cf. Rev 22:3). This is not the world that God intended it to be!
“but because of Him who subjected it, in hope” The verb is aorist passive and apparently refers to God (cf. NASB, NKJV, TEV). He subjected physical creation to futility
1. because of human rebellion
2. as an attempt to turn mankind to Himself (cf. Deuteronomy 27-29)
This purposeful futility will only be for a period of time (cf. Rom 11:11-32). Redeemed humanity has a promised physical future (body and world).
God foreknew Adam’s rebellion. He allowed it to occur and chose to work with a fallen mankind in a fallen world. This is not the world that God intended it to be. This is not the world it will one day be (cf. 2Pe 3:10; Rev 21:1-3). See notes on “hope” at Rom 5:2.
Rom 8:21 “creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption” Nature will be a part of eternity (cf. Isa 11:6-10). Heaven is coming back to a recreated earth (cf. Mat 5:18; Mat 24:35; 2Pe 3:10; Rev 21:1). The future may well be a return to Eden’s bliss; fellowship between God and mankind, individual to individual, mankind to animals, and mankind to the earth! The Bible begins with God, mankind, and the animals (i.e., Isa 11:6-9) in fellowship and harmony in a garden setting (cf. Genesis 1-2) and the Bible ends in a similar way (cf. Revelation 21-22).
“corruption” See Special Topic at Rom 1:23.
“into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” In Rom 8:14 believers are called “the sons of God,” in Rom 8:16 “the children of God,” and inv. 17 “heirs of God.” In Rom 8:18 the eschatological glory of God is revealed to believers. Now in 19 creation waits for the revealing of the sons of God because it will share their eschatological glory (cf. Rom 8:21). This restoration of creation, and especially humans, will allow the original purpose of creation to be fulfilled-God and humanity (made in His image) in intimate fellowship.
Rom 8:22 “the whole creation groans” This is another of Paul’s syn compounds, “groan together with.” He must have coined many of them. Possibly he was alluding to Jer 12:4; Jer 12:11 (cf. Deuteronomy 27-29), where the land of Israel mourns because of the desolation caused by human sin.
Notice that “groaning” is mentioned three times in this context.
1. creation groans (present active indicative) for the coming of the new age, Rom 8:22 (cf. Rom 8:19-21)
2. believers groan for their full and complete salvation (i.e., a new body, cf. 2Co 5:2; 2Co 5:4), Rom 8:23
3. the Spirit who gives Himself as the first fruit of the new age also groans (prays for, present active indicative) believers, Rom 8:26
“suffers the pains of childbirth” In Jewish circles this concept was often called “the birth pains of the new age” (cf. Mar 13:8). The dawn of the new day of righteousness will not be without problems. The moral and spiritual conditions of this fallen planet will become worse and worse (cf. Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21; 2Th 2:1-12; and also note the seven seals, trumpets, and bowls of Revelation 5-18). However, the pains of childbirth are pains of hope and joy in the coming birth, so too, the new age!
Rom 8:23 “we ourselves. . .we ourselves. . .ourselves” The pronouns are emphatic and repeated.
“the first fruits of the Spirit” This term (aparch) is theologically analogous to “the seal of the Spirit” in 2Co 1:22; and “the pledge of the Spirit” in 2Co 5:5; and Eph 1:14.
The first fruits in the OT were a promise of the harvest to come. They symbolized God’s ownership of all the harvest (i.e., Deu 26:1-11). The Spirit is the first fruits of the new age, as Jesus was the first fruits of the resurrection (cf. 1Co 15:20). Believers, as God’s children, even now experience something of the joys of heaven by means of the Holy Spirit who dwells with them and in them. This is the “already” but “not yet” tension of the overlapping of the two Jewish ages. Believers are citizens of heaven and dwellers on earth!
“we ourselves, groan within ourselves” This seems to refer to the dialectic tension between “the already” and “the not yet” of the overlapping of the two Jewish ages (see Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart, How To Read the Bible For All Its Worth, pp. 145-148). The Kingdom of God is present but not consummated. Believers have resurrection life, yet they are still going to die physically (cf. 2Co 5:2-4). We are saved from sin but we still struggle with sin (Romans 7; Eph 6:10-18).
“waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons” Adoption is Paul’s favorite familial metaphor for salvation (cf. Rom 8:15). Believers’ salvation is a process that starts with an initial decision of repentance and faith and develops into a growing Christlikeness. Believers will not be fully saved until Resurrection Day (cf. Rom 8:30 and 1Jn 3:2).
The term “adoption” is omitted in some Greek manuscripts (cf. MSS P46, D, F, G, and some Old Latin versions. However, it is included in , A, B, C, some Old Latin, the Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and Armenian versions. The UBS4 rates its inclusion as “A”(certain).
“the redemption of our body” This term means “to buy back.” This concept was used in the OT to describe someone being set free from slavery by a relative (go’el). It came to be used metaphorically for God’s deliverance of fallen mankind from the slavery of sin. The price paid was the sinless life of the incarnate Son. See Special Topic at Rom 3:24.
Christianity, like Judaism (cf. Job 14:14-15; Job 19:25-26; Dan 12:2), asserts that believers will have a physical (though not necessarily humanoid, cf. 1Co 15:35-49) body in eternity. Believers’ spiritual bodies will be perfectly prepared for life in the new age, life in intimate fellowship with God.
Rom 8:24 “in hope we have been saved” This is an aorist passive indicative. As Rom 8:23 refers to our future salvation, Rom 8:24 refers to our past salvation through the agency of the Spirit. The NT used several verb tenses to describe salvation (see Special Topic at Rom 10:4).
1. aorist, Act 15:11 (Rom 8:24; 2Ti 1:9; Tit 3:5; and Rom 13:11 combine the aorist with a future orientation)
2. perfect, Eph 2:5; Eph 2:8
3. present, 1Co 1:18; 1Co 15:2; 2Co 2:15; 1Pe 3:21; 1Pe 4:18
4. future (in verb tense or contextual inference), Rom 5:9-10; Rom 10:9; 1Co 3:15; Php 1:28; 1Th 5:8-9; Heb 1:14; Heb 9:28.
Therefore, salvation begins with an initial faith decision and issues in a process of lifestyle faith that will one day be consummated in sight (cf. 1Jn 3:2).
Rom 8:25 “hope” See Special Topic below.
SPECIAL TOPIC: HOPE
“with perseverance” This term hupomon was also used in Rom 5:3; Rom 15:4-5. Believers’ salvation is in the process of maturity and will one day be consummated. Perseverance (cf. Rev 2:8; Rev 2:11; Rev 2:17; Rev 2:26; Rev 3:5; Rev 3:12; Rev 3:21; Rev 21:7) is the needed biblical balance to the overemphasis on “initial salvation.” Most biblical truths (i.e., Eastern Literature, see Special Topic at Rom 3:27) are expressed in dialectical, tension-filled pairs.
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE NEED TO PERSEVERE
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
reckon. See Rom 4:4.
sufferings. Greek. pathema. See Rom 7:5.
this present time. Literally the now time or season (Greek. kairos).
with. App-104.
revealed. App-106.
in = unto or with regard to. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
18.] For (= this suffering with Him in order to being glorified with Him is no casting away of toil and self-denial, seeing that) I reckon (implying, I myself am one who have embraced this course, being convinced) that the sufferings of this present period (of trial and sorrow, contrasted with the period of triumph following the of Christ) are insignificant ( = ,-no gen. or verb understood. and are found in the sense of worthy (or unworthy) to be compared with in the classics: so Hom. . . 234, , and Plato, Protag. (Wetst.), , and again 😉 in comparison with the glory which is to be revealed (. put first, as in reff., but apparently not, as De W., for the sake of emphasis. Thol. cites Demosth., p. 486. 10, , in which there is no emphasis, as neither in ref. 1 Cor.
., at the of Christ. On the sentiment, see 2Co 4:17) with regard to us (not merely , as spectators, but , as the subjects of the revelation; the E. V. is not far wrong, in us, taking the in a pregnant sense as ., Luk 4:44 [but it must not be understood as meaning within us, in our hearts]). Bernard amplifies this-de Convers. ad Cleric. c. xxi. 37 (30), vol. i. p. 494,-non sunt condign passiones hujus temporis ad prteritam culpam qu remittitur, non ad prsentem consolationis gratiam qu immittitur, non ad futuram gloriam qu promittitur nobis.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 8:18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Paul made the sufferings of this present time into a matter of simple arithmetic and careful reckoning. He added them all up, and saw what the total was, he seemed to be about to state a proportion sum, but he gave it up, and said that the sufferings were not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed. Did they stand as one to a thousand? No, else they had been worthy to be compared. Did they stand as one to ten thousand, or one to a million, or one to a million of millions? If so, they would still have been worthy to be compared; but Paul saw that there was no proportion whatever between them. The sufferings seemed to be but as a single drop, and the glory to be as a boundless ocean.
Not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
That glory is not yet fully revealed; it is revealed to us, but not yet in us. What, then, shall we do in the meantime? Why, wait with patience, and bear our appointed burden until the time comes for us to be relieved of it; wait, however, with hope, wait, too, as we must, quietly enduring the pains and pangs which precede so glorious a birth. In this respect, we are not alone, as the apostle goes on to say,
Rom 8:19-22. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
We live in a world that is under a curse, a world that was made subject to bondage through human sin. What means this cold? What mean these fogs? What mean the general mourning and sighing of the air all through the winter? What mean the disturbances, and convulsions, and catastrophes that we hear about on all hands? It is the creation groaning, travailing, waiting, waiting till there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, because the former things shall have passed away.
Rom 8:23. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Our soul has been delivered from the curse. The redemption of the soul is complete, but not yet that of the body. That must suffer pain and weariness, and even descend into the tomb, but its day of manifestation shall surely come. At the appearing of our Lord from heaven, then shall the body itself be delivered, and the whole creation shall also be delivered, so we wait in a travailing condition; and we may well be content to wait, for these pangs within us and around all signify the glorious birth for which we may wait in hope.
Rom 8:24-25. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
This is our attitude and our condition now, waiting for the glory which is to be revealed in us, and accepting the sorrow which is appointed to us as an introduction to the joy which is to come to us mysteriously, through it but while we are waiting, we are not without present comfort.
Rom 8:26. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
You must, I am sure, as children of God, often have felt that Spirit within you groaning in prayer what you could not express. How often have you risen from your knees feeling the utter inadequacy of words to express the desires of your heart! And you have felt that you had larger desires than you have been able to interpret. There have been mighty pangs within you telling of the presence of this wrestling spirit.
Rom 8:27. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit,
When you do not know your own mind, God knows the mind of the Spirit, and that is the very essence of prayer. He knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit,
Rom 8:27. Because he maketh intercession for (or, in) the saints according to the will of God.
Whatever the spirit of God prompts us to pray for, is according to the mind of God, for it is not possible that the Holy Spirit should ever be otherwise than in perfect accord with the Divine Father. The eternal degrees, if we could read them, would convey to us the same truth as the impulses of the Spirit in our heart. And this is the true exploration of prayer, that what God intends to do, his spirit leads his people to ask him to do; and thus there is no conflict between the eternal predestination of God and the earnest entreaties of his people. They are, in fact, the outcome of that very predestination.
Rom 8:28-30. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
These great truths must never be separated. Any one of these things befog true of us, it is most certain that the rest are also true. Now, my dear brother, you cannot read Gods foreknowledge, neither can you enter into the secrets of predestination; but you can tell whether you are called, or not; you can know whether you are justified by faith, or not; and if you get hold of those links, you have got a grip of that endless chain which is firmly fastened to the granite rock of eternity past, and which is also fastened to the rock of the glorious eternity which is yet to be revealed.
Rom 8:31-33. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect? It is God that justifieth.
For so we think it ought to be read. That is another question. Can God lay anything to our charge after having justified us? Will he contradict himself?
Rom 8:34. Who is he that condemneth?
There is only One who can, for there is only one Judge, and that Judge is Jesus. So, the apostle puts it again in the form of a question, shall he condemn us?
Rom 8:34. It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Shall he condemn us? It is altogether impossible.
Rom 8:35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ?
What a long list of ills! They seem to make up a Jeremiahs roll of sorrow. Can they separate us from the love of Christ? They have all been tried; have they ever succeeded?
Rom 8:36. As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
But did they succeed in separating saints from the love of Christ even in the days of martyrdom?
Rom 8:37-39. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Rom 8:18. , for) The reason assigned,[94] why he just now made mention of suffering, and of glorification.- , of the present time) The cross [laid on the children of God], in the New Testament is greater than it formerly was, but it is of short continuance. , a short time; the present and future are opposed to each other.-, to be compared with) that is, if they be compared together.- , with respect to [towards] us; comp. 2Co 5:2.
[94] Aetiologia. See Appendix.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 8:18
Rom 8:18
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time-[This is not merely a supposition or opinion, but the conclusion drawn from comparing things present and things to come, that the former are of no weight or worth in comparison.]
are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward.-Paul suffered much as a follower of Christ, but he says it was too insignificant to be compared with the glory to be revealed to us-ward. For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory. (2Co 4:17). In that eternal state all who have been adopted into the family of God will share with Christ his eternal glory.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Hoping for the Completed Redemption
Rom 8:18-30
Creation groans for freedom from the serpents trail. Like a captive maiden she sighs to be delivered from the curse which sin has brought upon her. The saints groan for the resurrection of the body and their full admission into the complete enjoyment of redemption. The Spirit also groans for the speedy accomplishment of Gods purposes-the salvation of the lost, the unity of the Church, and the advent of the Fathers kingdom. His yearnings express themselves through the prayers of the saints.
Sorrowful soul, take comfort from Rom 8:28! All things are working; there is no stagnation. They are working together, like the cogs of two wheels revolving in different directions. They are all working for good. The only condition is love on our part. Those who love God are loved by God, and all winds blow from the quarter of Gods love. And that love is a sure sign and token that they have been called; and if called, they may be sure that they are on the moving stairway which is bearing them up and on through successive stages to glory.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Another Good Reckoning
I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward.Rom 8:18.
1. The Bible never speaks despondingly about the future. If it has a becoming sense of the magnitude of the task of life, that is only the reverence of a great artist, nerving himself to accomplish some far-reaching design. The struggle and the stress are prophecies that the final consummation will be something greater than heart has conceived. Apostles and prophets alike, quickened by the spirit of inspiration, look across the ages to the last result, and never hesitate to declare that that result will amply compensate for all the toil and suffering. I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward.
2. I reckon, says the Apostle, as if he had deliberately weighed the one against the other, and had come to this conclusion, I reckon that the sufferings of this present conflict are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in and upon us. In the groans of Nature, the groans of Humanity, the groans of the Spirit of God within us, he detects tones which prove them to be groans of travail, of the birth-pangs which precede and foretell the advent of a new, purer, happier life; and he declares that, when this wondrous birth of time arrives, all groaning and pain shall be forgotten in the joy of the new better man, the new better humanity, that has come into the world. And, finally, rising into a dithyrambic fervour, he sings of the Divine fatherly Love which is ever at work for our redemption, as a Love from which nothing can separate usneither tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution, neither famine nor nakedness, peril nor sword, in the present age, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor any other and new creation into which we may pass in the ages to come.
The Apostle does not say, I know, for this might imply that he had fully experienced or realized both the sufferings and the glory. At the time of which he speaks he had not done this. He had not drained to the bottom the cup of earthly sorrow, and he had but tasted the cup of heavenly joy. But neither does he say, I think or conjecture that the suffering is not worthy to be weighed with the glory; for this would imply less than he had realized. Although he knew not the whole, he knew a great deal of the suffering, and not a little of the glory too. If I know would have been too strong, I think would have been too weak. I reckon is the language of faith, which is partly knowledge and partly anticipation; which accepts its present experience: which neither stands still upon the earth, content with the bare facts of life or husk of things, nor stares vaguely into heaven in mere passive expectation; but it is a pilgrimage between earth and heaven. Faith is the journey of the soul between the realized and the unrealized. It is ever leaving the actual behind and reaching forth to the idealnever satisfied until it finds in the ideal the Eternal Seal.1 [Note: F. Ferguson.]
3. It is a mathematical sum. I reckon, he says. And it must be admitted that no man that ever lived was more capable of working out this sum than this Apostle. On the one hand, he has given us, in the eleventh chapter of his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, a sketch of his own sufferings, such as, perhaps, the experience of no other mortal man could match. On the other hand, he had held personal converse with the Lord Jesus Christ; he is able to tell of the abundance of his revelations; already he had been caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Who, then, was so fit as St. Paulin the wonderful contrast of his unparalleled lifeto put the two together, and to decide the contrast?
In sufferings, who has come up to the Apostle? In revelations of the things which God has prepared for them that love Him, who has been equally honoured? When he wrote of the sufferings of this present time, he was not reclining on the couch of luxury and imagining the lot of the afflicted. He was in and surrounded by those very sufferings. In perils from his own countrymen, and in perils from false brethren, he was working with his own hands for his daily bread in the wealthy and dissolute Corinth. He bore about with him that thorn in the flesh, which, however difficult it may be for us to assign its nature, we know was the messenger of Satan to buffet him: which, with all his zeal, all the wonders and signs of an Apostle wrought by him, rendered his bodily presence weak, and his speech contemptible. Day by day he entered deeper than other men into that inward conflict between the good which he would do but could not, and the evil which he would not do but did. Of a character wonderfully susceptible and habitually introspective, he had, besides, his spiritual faculties penetrated and intensified by the abiding and indwelling Spirit of God, given him for his apostolic work. Mighty was He that wrought in himweak and frail the earthen vessel by which that energy must be sustained. We hear him speak of bearing about death, of daily dying; we hear him crying out, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Truly, in sufferings, without and within, but One ever surpassed himthat Divine Master whom he followed, and of whom he says in his fervour that he fills up that which is lacking of His sufferings for the sake of the Church which is His body.1 [Note: Henry Alford.]
I think mans great capacity for pain
Proves his immortal birthright. I am sure
No merely human mind could bear the strain
Of some tremendous sorrows we endure.
Arts most ingenious breastworks fail at length,
Beat by the mighty billows of the sea;
Only the God-formed shores possess the strength
To stand before their onslaughts, and not flee.
The structure that we build with careful toil,
The tempest lays in ruins in an hour;
While some grand tree that springs forth from the soil
Is bended but not broken by its power.
Unless our souls had root in soil divine
We could not bear earths overwhelming strife.
The fiercest pain that racks this heart of mine
Convinces me of everlasting life.
I
The Sufferings of this Present Time
There is perhaps no argument so frequently used against Christianity at the present day, or with such force, as the argument that the pain and misery of the world are irreconcilable with a God who is both good and powerful. Never was there an age so sensitive to pain as our own, and never an age therefore that found it so hard to reconcile the existence of pain with the love of God. Professor Huxley used to declare that his reason for rejecting the Christian creed was simply that he could not find in Nature the God of infinite love of which the New Testament speaks. The difficulties of miracles and the science of Genesis were nothing in comparison with the impassable gulf between the anthropomorphism, however refined, of theology and the passionless impersonality of the Unknown and Unknowable which science shows in nature. If other difficulties have slain the faith of thousands, the fact of pain has slain the faith of tens of thousands.
i. The Fact of Pain
St. Paul admits, he insists on, the pain, the waste, the imperfection, the bondage to vanity and corruption, to be found both in Nature and in Man. He depicts them in even darker colours than the materialist or the sceptic. And yet he aids us to bear the burden which seems intolerable. For he does not charge the evil that is in the world to any defect either in the power or in the goodness of the Maker of the world. He charges it, rather to the self-will, the depravity, of man; as indeed we ourselves do when in our common talk we say, The world would be a very good world if only men were good enough to live in it. Like Schopenhauer, he says, The world is what men have made it, and hence the world is itself the judgment of the world.
Are we offended at the cruelties of society? St. Paul knows them fully. Filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, whisperers, back-biters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unmerciful. Are we perplexed because Christ has added to the worlds pain, and in the name of His Cross blood has been shed in torrents? If we suffer with him. Do we suppose that the physical agony of the brute creation is a modern discovery? We know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. As it has been said, Here we have, as nowhere else in the Bible, perhaps nowhere else in ancient literature, a man who feels the pain of creation. And this man, one of the worlds greatest intellects, who knew the whole worlds anguish, nevertheless declares throughout the whole Epistle that God is love. It is something at least to know that he knew all the facts.
Overmastering painthe most deadly and tragical element in lifealas! pain has its own way with all of us; it breaks in, a rude visitant, upon the fairy garden where the child wanders in a dream, no less surely than it rules upon the field of battle, or sends the immortal war-god whimpering to his father; and innocence, no more than philosophy, can protect us from this sting.1 [Note: R. L. Stevenson, Childs Play.]
1. St. Paul had abundant personal experience of suffering. He was a Jew outside the pale of Jews. He was a pariah among pariahs. The very Jews would not associate with him. He was hated of all men for Christs names sake. And, if in all the ranks of this hated subdivision of a sect there was one man who could be sensible of the scorn which was poured upon him, that man was the writer of these words. Born of the very bluest blood of Judaisma Jew among Jewseducated as a conservative and a high churchman, with that bitter scorn of dissenters from his faith which then as now was the special mark of orthodox high breeding, he had come to be a dissenter among dissenters; not only a Christian but an advocate of opinions which among Christians themselves were unpopular and proscribed. I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. And there was not only moral but also physical torture. Wherever the ecclesiastical courts of his countrymen had jurisdiction, he received the stripes of a heretic. Wherever the civil courts of the Roman government took cognizance of him, he was beaten with the lictors rods as a disturber of the peace. There was death in front; there was ignominy and torture on either hand; there was that terrible mingling of moral humiliation with physical pain which to a sensitive nature like St. Pauls is a thousand times worse than the agony of dying.1 [Note: Edwin Hatch.]
2. In all times men have been born to sorrow. The history of our race is a history of pain. Nor is it certain that, as history has gone on, the pain has lessened. We hear from time to time of the alleviations of suffering which have marked the advance of civilization. We live in an age in which the effort to alleviate suffering forms a distinct feature in the organization of society. We cannot look at the photograph of contemporary life which is contained in a daily newspaper without seeing that benevolent institutions and social improvements occupy a large place in the thoughts and efforts of civilized mankind. But, for all that, the doubt remains whether the sum total of human misery has not increased. It would almost seem as though the onward march of civilization slays its thousands and maims its ten thousands. It is almost inevitable that it should be so. The whole machinery of society is so constructed as to make the difference between rich and poor wider as civilization increases. Wealth tends to accumulate in fewer hands. There is consequently not only a multiplication of the number of the poor, but a deepening of their poverty. The fact is so serious, and is becoming so prominent, that many of those who contemplate social phenomena from a scientific point of view regard it with undisguised alarm. Nor is its significance lessened by the fact that the newest of all philosophies is a philosophy of pessimism, a philosophy which is based on the conviction that we are going from bad to worse.
3. But we must not exaggerate the amount of suffering in the world. We cannot be blind to its existence; it meets us in every direction, and it seems startling to be told by science that it is inseparably bound up in the existence of the lowest forms of life. Yet this is one of those vivid statements that seem to mean much more than they really do. If it means that some portion of pain is the lot of every living thing, that is quite true. But If it conveys the notion that the pain predominates over pleasure, that is utterly falsethat is a libel on Gods creation, whose tender mercies are over all his works. The generalization of Herbert Spencer is at once far truer and far more extended, and his conclusion is that the supreme law under which every creature is placed is what amounts to a law of love. Pleasures, he says, attend a creature, an organism, when it does what is good for it, what will promote its growth, develop its organization, increase the sum total of its happiness; and pains attend it when it is moving along hurtful lines, when it is spending its energy too quickly, when it is diminishing the sum of its enjoyment, which pains are only the precursors of greater pains if it will persist in going along that hurtful path. Thus all pains are only like little pricks which push off and deter a creature from harm, whilst all pleasures are like gentle incentives and loving encouragements for it to persevere in the way that will bring it the largest measure of delight.
Ye know not why God hath joined the horse-fly unto the horse,
Nor why the generous steed is yoked with the poisonous fly:
Lest the steed should sink into ease and lose his fervour of nerve
God hath appointed him this: a lustful and venomous bride.
Never supine lie they, the steeds of our folk, to the sting,
Praying for deadness of nerve, their wounds the shame of the sun;
They strive, but they strive for this: the fulness of passionate nerve;
They pant, but they pant for this: the speed that outstrips the pain.
Sons of the dust, ye have stung: there is darkness upon my soul.
Sons of the dust, ye have stung: yea, stung to the roots of my heart.
But I have said in my breast: the birth succeeds to the pang,
And sons of the dust, behold, your malice becomes my Song of Solomon 1 [Note: Padraic Colum, Arab Songs.]
4. The great point to notice is that there are other facts in life which must be taken into account as well as sorrow. Professor Huxley spoke of the Passionless Impersonality which was all that he could find in nature. Had he never seen a mother? Is motherhood passionless? Motherhood is as much a part of the universe and a creation of its Creator as pain. That is what we have to recognizethis world is a problem, a mystery, not a simplicity. It is not that life is full of suffering and suffering only, and that this is the worst of all possible worlds. There would be no problem thenthat would be simple enough. The mystery is that there is both justice and injustice, both pain and joy, both agony and love. There is the storm that hurries with fire and ruin over sea and land, and the pessimist says, God is cruel. But there are flowers by the wayside to contradict him. We have to account for the whole of the facts. How can we reconcile them? What shall we say? Shall we say that God is working out a glory in comparison with which the sorrows of this present are not worthy to be compared? Or shall we say that He is an Infinite Indifference who lighted by chance on the sweetness of human friendship and the rich cornfields and the splendours of the day and the night? Surely love is the easier solution, for these things are too great to be the creation of chance.
God loves and cares for the meanest creatures more tenderly, more gently, than the sweetest mother ever cared for her firstborn son. His arrangements for the happiness of everything that He has made are so large, so delicate, so considerate, so thoughtful, in a word so fatherly, that anything we know of earthly care and tenderness is only hard and unfeeling by its side. His love for the lowest zoophyte has led Him to do far more to promote its happiness than we have ever thought of doing for the one we love best.1 [Note: W. D. Ground.]
A pessimistic novel of our day closes with the sentence, The President of the Immortals had finished his sport with Tess. But if the creed of the novel be true, we do not know that the sport is finished. If God has tortured us here, in all likelihood He will torture us hereafter. This may be the first of an endless series of torture chambers of increasing agony and woe. And the awful possibilities of disaster that loom before the imagination are horrible beyond description. But, as a matter of fact, we are not afraid. Why? Because we know that the joy of life is greater than the pain. Why not be honest? There is nothing here that makes impossible the faith that God is loveno sorrow that is too bitter for atoning.1 [Note: E. A. French.]
ii. The Reason for Pain
1. There are two great reasons for the presence of suffering in the world and in human lives.
(1) At the root of this mystery of suffering lies the mystery of sacrifice. St. Paul lays down for us its principles: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Notice that word thereforeas a consequence of all that has gone before, the deep, and almost abstruse, argument about the relationship of God to man. Here is its result. Gods love, Gods power of sanctification, Gods redemption of man, issues in a living sacrifice of man to God; a giving up, a crucifying, of self and many cherished plans and hopes.
It is our reasonable service, the only tribute that a being with thought and understanding can make to the All-loving and All-merciful Father. Do not let us mistake the meaning of these words. They do not mean merely that we must give up wickedness, however much we love it; we must overcome the temptation to do wrong whenever it assails us. That, of course, is true, for these things are poison to the soul. But a man cannot live by merely avoiding poison. Sacrifice is a deeper thing than that. It penetrates into the inmost being, and demands self. It bids us give up things lawful because they are not always things expedient. Just as the man who is eager about his business life has to forgo ease and comfort, and often amusement, absolutely innocent things in themselves, but dangerous where misplaced, so we have to overcome by taking up our cross and following Him. If the innocent pleasure is misplaced, the cry of nature after it must be stifled, for they who seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness must learn the science of placing all things where God would have them. This effort means sacrificehow hard the sacrifice is none can know till they begin to learn by experience. It is that plucking out of the offending eye, that cutting off of the offending hand, which our Lord in vivid imagery speaks of as the principle by which the whole body is saved from destruction.
Not merely the St. Peters and St. Pauls whose lives are high and wonderful beyond anything we see in our own, but plain, simple-minded men and women like ourselves, those who have learned, perhaps, to love the world and its plans and gains as well as we have, God has called over and over again to their true, highest self by the voices of disappointment and pain. In one sense it is the recorded opinion of shrewd, observant men. Some years ago one who was a notoriously shrewd judge of character said that in his experience he found mens characters spoiled by prosperity and unspoiled by reverses. He mentioned one who had risen to high honour as a signal instance, I think he said the only instance he could recall, of a man absolutely unspoiled by success. That was the testimony of one who did not profess to speak of it from the point of view of spiritual discipline, but as an obvious fact of everyday experience. How infinitely more striking when we place side by side with that remark the plain, simple story of a poor woman lying in an East-End Hospital, suffering the agonies of one of the most painful diseases that baffle human skill. In her last moments she said to the clergyman who stood by her bedside: I am so happy; I never knew what real happiness was until this last fortnight. The story of the Man of Sorrows had illuminated the dark mystery of pain, and revealed its meaning.1 [Note: E. J. Purchase.]
William Archer, reviewing a book by Robert Louis Stevenson, declared that Stevensons philosophy would break down with sickness. Yet at the very time Stevenson was a great sufferer and forbidden to speak for days, even for weeks. Afterwards he wrote to his critic, I see a universe I suppose eternally different from yoursa solemn, a terrible, but a very joyous and noble universe, where suffering is not wantonly inflicted, though it falls with dispassionate impartiality, but where it may be and generally is nobly borne, where, above all, any brave man may make out a life which shall be happy for himself, and, by being so, beneficent to those about him.
I wait, in His good time to see
That as my mother dealt with me
So with His children dealeth He.
I bow myself beneath His hand:
That pain itself was wisely planned
I feel and partly understand.
The joy that comes in sorrows guise,
The sweet pains of self-sacrifice,
I would not have them otherwise.1 [Note: Whittier.]
(2) The second reason for the presence of pain is that there are some things that are better than pleasure, things that enter into a far higher realm; and, in order to bring these nobler matters into existence, in order to provide for them a sphere in which they can grow and develop, it is in accordance with the most tender love to inflict a certain amount of pain. God has a great design, a design as wide as the universe, filling all time, a design to compass which He began to work untold millions of ages ago. Slowly He has laid the ascending courses; every organism has somehow entered into it, been a necessary part of it. This design was to provide a scaffolding on which man could stand, could be trained and educated, until in the fulness of the time he should be prepared for the Christ, could then behold His glory, be overcome by His beauty, and be changed into His likeness. And this end God saw to be so Divine that He felt justified, in order to attain it, in asking everything to suffer somewhat, taking care to make each one an abundant compensation. He is like some great contriver of earth, who has a large design needing many workers, and who takes care to be a generous master, paying liberally for every service that is rendered.
And now my grief I see
Was but that ancient shadow part of me,
Not yet attuned to good,
Still blind and senseless in its warring mood,
I turn from it and climb
To the heroic spirit of the prime,
The light that well foreknew
All the dark ways that it must journey through.
Yet seeing still a gain,
A distant glory oer the hills of pain,
Through all that chaos wild
A breath as gentle as a little child,
Through earth transformed, divine,
The Christ-soul of the universe to shine.2 [Note: A. E., The Divine Vision.]
2. These two reasonssacrifice and disciplineare summed up in the Apostles word glory. And we are led to consider what is involved in the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward. But before doing so we might notice that the gain of suffering is not all kept for the life that is to come. We can believe that the suffering of men is working out such a glory because even in this earthly life sorrow and pain work out a glory that is worth the price. Take, for example, Dante, the Italian man of sorrows. Denied the woman he loved, driven an exile from his native land, sentenced to be burned alive, left alone, astonished amid the agony of lifeyet but for this he had never written his poem. As Carlyle has said, had Dante not suffered, Florence would have had another prosperous Lord Mayor, and the ten dumb centuries continued voiceless. Give him the choice of his happiness! He knew not, more than we do, what was really happy, what was really miserable. The song was worth the price.
The world is full of beauty and joy; full, too, of suffering and pain. Suffer we must, each one of us. What shall we gain by it? Shall we suffer so that, when the pain has swept by, it leaves us nothing but the spirit of rebellion, the angry feeling of helpless despair? Or shall we suffer so that even our darkest moments are times of victory, so that out of the pain and anguish come Gods beautiful gifts that can turn sorrow into joy? That is the question we have to ask ourselves. Shall it be triumph or despair? Often enough we shall have to choose suffering, deliberately choose it, as the escape from defeat and despair. When sin has laid its defiling touch upon us, and there lie before us the two waysthe way of easy acquiescence in evil as inevitable, and the nobler, harder way of godly sorrowwe dare not hesitate; and this is but the picture of what God calls us to in the school of brave endurance where we are being trained, where the way of ease is the way of danger, and the pathway of the Cross the road to victory.1 [Note: E. J. Purchase.]
And methought that beauty and terror are only one, not two;
And the world has room for love, and death, and thunder, and dew;
And all the sinews of hell slumber in summer air;
And the face of God is a rock, but the face of the rock is fair.
Beneficent streams of tears flow at the finger of pain;
And out of the cloud that smites, beneficent rivers of rain.2 [Note: R. L. Stevenson, Songs of Travel.]
II
The Glory that is to be Revealed
The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward. Just like the mist that in the early morning hangs dark, damp, and depressing round the earth, but in the evening has been lifted into the blue sky, and is irradiated with a dazzling light, so the present sorrow will be even beautiful when the glory has been revealed. If the glory cannot come without the pain, it is not unloving to inflict the pain. This is, it is true, only a practical solution of the problem. But the Bible meets only our practical needs. It does not tell us why pain is the way to gloryit tells us only that God is love. It is not strange that the suffering should now seem very great. For
Here alone
Is given thee to suffer for Gods sake.
In other worlds we shall more perfectly
Serve Him and love Him, praise Him, work for Him,
Grow nearer and nearer Him with all delight;
But then we shall not any more be called
To suffer, which is our appointment here.
Let us take heed in time
That God may now be glorified in us;
And while we suffer, let us set our souls
To suffer perfectly; since this alone
The suffering which is this worlds special grace
May here be perfected and left behind.
What a wonderful and illuminating thought it is when once we practically apply it! For where is the burden of the mystery of life if we not only hope for an immortality in which all the ravelled skeins of time will be pulled straight, but know that all the enravelment of this life, all its strange blending of evil with good, of sorrow with joy, of loss with gain, is intended to exercise us in discrimination, in manliness, in moral capacity and fervour and breadth; intended, therefore, for a discipline by which we shall be educated and made meet for the glory of a future life in which, redeemed from every bond of imperfection, every taint of corruption, we shall rise into an untrammelled freedom, a growing perfection, an eternal usefulness which shall also be an eternal joy? If this be verily so, if we are at last to learn once for all that our wills are ours that we may make them Gods, and so may ever see our will done both in heaven and on earth, may not we conclude, with the Apostle, I deliberately reckon, I am fully persuaded, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in and upon us?1 [Note: S. Cox.]
i. The Glory
1. We might have expected joy to be placed over against suffering. It is glory, the perfection of our beingthe blessedness of God. And what is glory? It is a vague word to many of us. But this passage may serve to clear it up. Glory is the manifestation of excellence. Applied to God, as in the phrase so common in Scripture, the glory of God, it means the manifestation of what God is, whether in power, or in wisdom, or in goodness, or in all of these together. Applied to men, to Christian men, in the sense here designed, it means the manifestation hereafter of what they are, not in themselvesfor that could only be the exhibition of weakness, faultiness, and sinfulnessbut in their relation to God as His children, to Christ as His redeemed, to the Holy Spirit as His dwelling-place and His temple.
2. We cannot in our present state say much about this glory. Our words are apt to darken rather than brighten the simple statement of the text. Now we see through a glass, darkly, and It doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we are not, therefore, forbidden to think and speak of the future. If it is right to set our affection on heavenly things, it cannot be wrong to set our thoughts upon them too.
(1) We think of the glory of saved men as different from that of angels. The one is the brightness of robes never stained with sin; the other the brightness of those who have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. The one is the glory of those who have been born to wealth; the other that of those who from poverty have been made rich. The one is born in a palace; the other is taken from a pit, and, by the grace of God, led up to empire. It is the glory of a complete triumph over sin.
(2) Then there is the glory of the Judgment Dayof standing at the right hand of God, of being acknowledged as His own before heaven and earth and hell, of God Himself being glorified, and His way fully justified in our redemption. Who would compare the slanders of the wicked with such a recognition? Who would speak of the disgrace of the cross in view of such an honour?
(3) Involved in all this, and indeed but the figure or shadow of it, is the glory that literally shall be revealed in us. The glory of perfect conformity to Christ. The unfathomable blessedness of being altogether one with Godpartaking of His strength and beauty, His freedom and eternity; enjoying at once the highest liberty and obeying the highest law; being heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.
How sparing the Holy Ghost is in the description of future glory! How chaste, if I may so speak, is He in depicting the future triumphs of the saints! It is well known by accurate observers of human nature that there is no one thing that would sooner wear out the frame and mind of man than exquisite enjoyment; and God, in mercy to our frail nature, has been sparing as to future scenes. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now, says Jesus to His disciples. So our God has many joys, much glory, much enjoyment for us; but we cannot bear it now; and so He puts it off until we attain to the maturity of manhood, and then the eternal weight of glory shall be revealed in us (or, as in the original, towards us, which, of course, means for our benefit). Sufferings are depressing, but glory hereafter will be exalting. Sufferings are disheartening, but glory will be exhilarating. Sufferings darken and sadden the countenance, but glory hereafter will brighten it. What is that glory, people of God? Do you believe it? Just as certainly as that the Man of Sorrows is now on a throne of joyas certainly as that He who was crowned with the crown of thorns is now in the glory of His Fatherso all the children of God shall, like Him, be crowned. As He has entered into His rest, where death has no more dominion over Him, so shall all the people of God for ever!for He is the Head, and they are the members. Where the Head is, there shall also His members be.1 [Note: J. Gregg.]
Be comforted, be comforted,
Ye tempest-tossed and worn,
Who wait amid the shadows
For hopes celestial morn!
The valley hath its burden,
Its vision, and its song,
And strains of joy are wafted
From heavens immortal throng.
He makes my windows agates,
That I may dimly see
The glories that await me,
The joys prepared for me.
Oh, were the full effulgence
To break upon my sight,
My spirit were too eager
To take its upward flight!
Through mists of tears the bulwarks
Of Zions City rise;
I greet its pearly portals,
Its jasper meets mine eyes;
A mystic glory lightens it,
It shines upon my road,
And through my agate windows
My heart exults in God!
ii. The Greatness of the Glory
1. We have seen how great were the sufferings of this Apostle. Yet the mere mention of the sufferings and the glory together suggests that the former is unworthy of comparison with the latter. The magnanimity of St. Paul prevents him from dragging his afflictions into comparison with the glory of God. It is the mark of a great soul in every sphere of life to suffer quietly in the way of truth, and make no parade or comparison of its sufferings with the glory of the end for which it suffers. The thought that in any degree he had paid for the glory would be an offence. He does not strike a balance with mercenary spirit between what he gives and what he receives. If he makes any comparison at all, it is to show that his sufferings are part of the glorythat his wounds are his brightest ornaments; as the sears on the body of Jesus become shining tokens to all eternity of a love and valour that cast away self, and triumphed over death. The Apostle cares not to compare the prospect before him with the dark and rugged way that leads to it. The memory of past hardships is all but swallowed up in the enthusiasm of hope; and in this he follows his Master, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame.
Do you feel you suffer more than others? Then remember that you can estimate better than others how great the glory will be. For the glory will be greater than the sufferings. Others measure the city of gold with the measure of a man, you with the measure of an angel. Remember that, whatever you have lost, you have gained a clearer vision of the glory that shall be. And through your sorrows you may also know God better. For sorrow is a revelation of God. Dr. Dale lost a little child, and years after, writing to comfort a friend, he said, I learnt what God must feel at the loss of His children. A lady once told me of the experience which led her to Christ. Her husband was very unkind to her and her life was very hard. But she had a little boy whom she dearly loved. One day he had committed some childish fault, and she felt it her duty to punish him for the first time in his life. It was agony to her to do it. And it suddenly flashed into her mind that she who had always thought God hard had misunderstood Him, that it must be infinitely greater pain to God to send her pain than for her to bear it. And, looking up through the sorrows that revealed the heart of God, she gave herself up to the love that dares to wound so deeply because it so truly loves.1 [Note: E. A. French.]
2. How is it that the glory is so manifestly greater than the pain?
(1) Because the sufferings are necessarily physical, or, if mental, they have a physical side. The glory revealed in us is character, spiritual excellence, likeness to God. It is easy to see, then, that any amount of pain and loss that may come to us in the few short years of this mortal life cannot for a moment compare with a moral greatness that has been by that means acquired, a moral greatness which will continue for ever.
(2) Because suffering affects only our happiness, but the glory secures our holiness. The work which God undertakes for us is the most sublime that can be conceived. That task is to make men anew after the likeness of God; and if God is the most glorious Being in the universe, then obviously to make a man like Him must be a work the like of which cannot elsewhere be found.
(3) Because the suffering is for a time and the glory is for ever. There is something in goodness that is so intrinsically noble that, even if it continued but for this life, if men were only brightly coloured bubbles on the sea of time, yet to produce one great and good man would be worth any toil, and all true artists would say so; but when those splendours of righteous character are but feeble prophecies of a glory that our little faculties cannot conceive, which glory is to continue for ever, why, then, those toils receive a still nobler recompense.
There is another passage similar to this in its course of reasoning. It is the account of Moses in the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The writer is describing Moses making his choice between the world and Christ. Now see how he loads the scales. On the worlds side, pleasures and treasures; on Christs side, reproaches and afflictions. Surely the world is best! But now mark how he re-adjusts the balance. With the worlds pleasures and treasures he throws in for a season; with the reproaches and afflictions he casts in with the people of God; and in a moment the world kicks the beamchoosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.
Im wearin awa, John,
Like snaw wreaths in thaw, John,
Im wearin awa
To the land o the leal.
Theres nae sorrow there, John,
Theres neither cauld nor care, John,
The day is aye fair
In the land o the leal.
Our bonnie bairns there, John,
She was baith gude and fair, John,
And, oh! we grudgd her sair
To the land o the leal.
But sorrows sel wears past, John,
And joys a-comin fast, John,
The joy thats aye to last
In the land o the leal.
Sae dears that joy was bought, John,
Sae free the battle fought, John,
That sinfu man eer brought
To the land o the leal.
Oh! dry your glistning ee, John,
My saul langs to be free, John,
And angels beckon me
To the land o the leal.
Oh, haud ye leal and true, John,
Your day its wearin thro, John,
And Ill welcome you
To the land o the leal.
Now fare ye weel, my ain John,
This warlds cares are vain, John,
Well meet, and well be fain
In the land o the leal.1 [Note: Lady Nairne.]
3. This power of a great hope may become the power of a great temptation. This dream of a glory to be revealed has played a baneful as well as a beneficial part in the history of Christianity. As long as we ourselves do not feel the misery of life, but only contemplate it from outside, there is nothing easier than to sit with folded hands, looking away from the wretchedness at our feet to the sunlit cloudland of the future. It has been the temptation of many men, and even of many good men, in all ages. It is this that underlies the tendency to monasticism, which fills so large a place in Christian history, and which is not wholly absent from us now. There were monks who felt as keenly as any of us could feel the misery and wickedness which surrounded them, and who painted, in more glowing colours than any one before or since has painted, the glory of the Jerusalem that is to come, and yet who made no single effort to lessen the misery or to bring the glory nearer. There are men among us still who, though not monks, but entangled in the network of common life, take the misery that they find there as an inevitable element of it, and wait in unmoving acquiescence, if not in placid self-satisfaction, until God sends some change. But this, so far from being hope, is rather its paralysis; for hope that does nothing is not hope, but an idle dream.
On the other hand, the power of a great hope may become the power of a great motive. There are few among us whose lives have not an element of sadness. For all of us the consolations of the future are still needed. But, if they come to us at all, they should come as a motive power; they should help to shape our character. It was so with St. Paul. His conception of the glory which should be revealed was not, as we have seen, so much a complete change in external circumstances as a change of the spirit and the inner life. It was a change of character and a change of power. It was the final victory of the spirit over the flesh. It involved the obligation to work towards it by new efforts after spiritual life. This is never lost sight of: We are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Again, after speaking of the earthly and the heavenly tabernacle, and of mortality being swallowed up in life, his inference is, Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. And again, St. John, after speaking of the same hope of immortality, adds, Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. That is a lesson which we may all take home. The life after the Spirit, the communion with God, the realization in our own characters of the character of Christ, which are the elements of the glory of the life to come, must have their beginnings in this present life below. In the struggle which this involves we may be content to live, for in the hope which it brings we may be glad to die.
Hope evermore and believe, O man, for een as thy thought
So are the things that thou seest; een as thy hope and belief.
Cowardly art thou and timid? they rise to provoke thee against them.
Hast thou courage? enough, see them exulting to yield.
Yea, the rough rock, the dull earth, the wild seas furying waters,
(Violent sayst thou and hard, mighty thou thinkst to destroy),
All with ineffable longing are waiting their Invader,
All, with one varying voice, call to him, Come and subdue;
Still for their Conqueror call, and but for the joy of being conquered,
(Rapture they will not forego) dare to resist and rebel;
Still, when resisting and raging, in soft undervoice say unto him,
Fear not, retire not, O man; hope evermore and believe.
Go from the east to the west, as the sun and the stars direct thee,
Go with the girdle of man, go and encompass the earth.
Not for the gain of the gold; for the getting, the hoarding, the having,
But for the joy of the deed; but for the Duty to do.
Go with the spiritual life, the higher volition and action,
With the great girdle of God, go and encompass the earth.
Go; say not in thy heart, And what then were it accomplished,
Were the wild impulse allayed, what were the use or the good!
Go, when the instinct is stilled, and when the deed is accomplished,
What thou hast done and shalt do, shall be declared to thee then.
Go with the sun and the stars, and yet evermore in thy spirit
Say to thyself: It is good: yet is there better than it.
This that I see is not all, and this that I do is but little;
Nevertheless it is good, though there is better than it.1 [Note: Clough.]
Another Good Reckoning
Literature
Alford (H.), Quebec Chapel Sermons, iii. 374.
Cox (S.), The House and its Builders, 110.
Ferguson (F.), Sermons, 37.
French (E. A.), Gods Message through Modern Doubt, 28.
Gregg (J.), The Life of Faith, 218.
Hatch (E.), Memorials, 123.
Hickey (F. P.), Short Sermons, 2nd Ser., 130.
Maurice (F. D.), Sermons preached in Country Churches, 342.
Perinchief (O.), in American Pulpit of the Day, 3rd Ser., 294.
Price (A. C), Fifty Sermons, vi. 161.
Purchase (E. J.), The Pathway of the Tempted, 93.
Scott (M.), Harmony of the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, 160.
Vaughan (J.), Sermons (Brighton Pulpit), iii. No. 407.
Vaughan (J. S.), Earth to Heaven, 115.
Wace (H.), in Sermons for the People, v. 130.
Christian World Pulpit, xiii. 316 (Ground); lvi. 369 (Campbell); lxxiv. 346 (Marshall).
Church Pulpit Year Book, iii. (1906), 155.
Churchmans Pulpit; Fourth Sunday after Trinity, x. 190 (French), 192 (Cutting).
Clergymans Magazine, 3rd Ser., xiii. 155 (Proctor).
Contemporary Pulpit, 1st Ser., vi. 48 (Maurice).
Fuente: The Great Texts of the Bible
I reckon: Mat 5:11, Mat 5:12, Act 20:24, 2Co 4:17, 2Co 4:18, Heb 11:25, Heb 11:26, Heb 11:35, 1Pe 1:6, 1Pe 1:7
the glory: Col 3:4, 2Th 1:7-12, 2Th 2:14, 1Pe 1:13, 1Pe 4:13, 1Pe 5:1, 1Jo 3:2
Reciprocal: Pro 3:15 – all Mar 10:21 – take Rom 2:7 – glory Rom 5:2 – the glory Rom 6:11 – reckon Rom 8:30 – he justified 1Co 13:12 – face 2Co 1:7 – as ye 2Co 4:10 – bearing Phi 3:8 – I count Phi 4:19 – glory Col 1:27 – the hope 2Ti 1:8 – be thou Jam 1:2 – count
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE MINISTRY OF SUFFERING
The sufferings of this present time.
Rom 8:18
The mention of the necessity of suffering, going along with the love and the affliction that we have in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ, in order that we may be partakers of His glory, sets the Apostle Paul very busy upon comparing the smallness of any sufferings that we may be called upon to undergo in this world with the far more exceeding weight of glory in the world to come.
But I want to engage your thoughts upon what a very striking instance this is of the way in which every single thing that can be done, every motive by which the human mind can possibly be influenced for good, is ever employed in Holy Scripture for the express purpose of bringing the souls of men nearer to God. Fear, love, self-interest, desire after that which is good, everything that can be rightly and legitimately used, is employed in the endeavour to call the soul of man to higher things.
I. The ministry of suffering.So with sorrow and the suffering of various kinds, which the Apostle calls the sufferings of the present time, there is a mystery about it all, and most of our questionings about the matter must of necessity remain unanswered until that day when the darkness of earth gives place to the light of heaven. But nothing can be plainer than those words in the Epistle to the Hebrews, in that very remarkable passage where we are reminded that we are the sons of God. We call to mind that the souls of the sons of God are in the hand of God, and there can no torment touch them. We are also reminded not to regard Gods chastening lightly, not to faint when we are reproved by Him, for whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. The wisest and most loving earthly father may not always chasten wisely, but whatever chastening our Heavenly Father may see fit to send us is sure to be done wisely and lovingly, and will be, whether we judge it so or not, for our profit and our good. Every trial and every trouble that comes into the life of a believer carries with it some hidden gift from God. Here there are lessonsand the older the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ grows the more he discovers itwhich can only be learned in the school of adversity, and there are blessings which can never be offered at all unless we are ready to pay the price of pain.
II. There is quite a common misconception with regard to prayer in this matter.We may ask earnestly and with importunity that the trial and the suffering may pass, indeed we often do so, but it must always be done reverently, leaving it to God to decide what is best. There is no better example of prayer of this kind to be found than that special prayer in the Prayer Book that we use in the office of the Communion for the Sick. If it be Thy gracious willthat is the one basis on which all supplication must rest, for if God has a loving purpose and a mysterious design for our good in whatever shape He may choose to send it, we cannot afford to lose it. God never yet sent a trial to any child of man without sending at the same time strength to endure it. In the sufferings of this present time relief is not always given by the lifting up of the weight of sorrow or pain, but by the granting of God-given strength for patient and victorious endurance.
Rev. T. H. S. Polehampton.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
THE MYSTERY OF SUFFERING
To the question, Why is all this evil, this sin and suffering, in the world? the truest wisdom will be that which answers, We cannot tell. Some partial hint of an answer we may guess; but to solve the riddle is impossible. Yet our duty is clear; our marching orders, as the great Duke of Wellington once styled Christian duty, are unmistakable. Resist the evil temptation: help is ever nigh for those who trust their Leader and call for His help. It is because we fail to realise the certainty of the promised help that too often we succumb.
I. What of the sufferings?Here our position is a very simple one. We cannot, indeed, bring the sufferings to an end. These will doubtless cover the earth while earth shall last; but we can battle with them, and seek, each one of us, to lessen the sum total of human suffering. Be our endeavour done in His Name, Who suffered past imagining for us, we become in a sense fellow-workers with Him. The thought for His sake must be the animating idea throughout, and the caution that we must serve God with our understanding as well as with our heart must guide us to shape the work rightly.
II. Think how multifold human suffering is, and therefore how correspondingly varied must be the attempts to cope with it.Hunger and bodily disease and pain, the helplessness of childhood, the infirmities of old age, exist in our sight, and we can all do a little, however little, to lessen the sum total. There are noble lives in the world, men and women, whose every thought is how to lessen the load of suffering. Yet there are sufferings worse than bodily pain. There is remorse for wrong done long ago, unrepented of, but unforgotten. Yet here how precious is the help that may be brought, when one who has tasted how gracious the Lord is can bid the remorse turn to repentance, can point above the mists and the clouds to the pure light shining above. These are very obvious cases; but take one less obvious. Think of the suffering arising from isolation, from the absence of kind words and looks of love, perhaps isolation further embittered by harshness or positive unkindness. How far in such a case will the mere kind word, sincerely bestowed, avail. It costs very little; perhaps many a giver of such could not give anything which costs more; yet many a mere kind speech, spoken by one who had nothing else to give, has stilled bitter pain, and, if done for Christs sake, will win the blessing promised to the giver of the cup of cold water. Still, when one ponders on the appalling mass of human suffering, the prospect seems to stun the mind; yet there is but one counsel for all: Do what you can, do all you can, do it for Christ and in His sight. May God help us all to realise these as our marching orders at all times.
III. Sooner or later, the worst sufferings of body or mind come to an end, the worst agonies which rack the body, the bitterest pains which torture the mind. For the servant of God, for all who, whether sooner or later, have come to know Him Whom they have believed, what matters the pain then? It is no mere cessation of the pain, no mere resumption of a sort of normal condition; it is the change to a glory, compared with which the old sufferings, aye, and the old joys, however noble and however inspiring, are of no worth. The candlelight is barely visible in the strong sunlight. In the light of the future glory how dim earths sorrows and earths joys alike!
Rev. Dr. Sinker.
Illustration
We ask, as men for many ages have asked, why such a state of things exists. Why does God permit it to be? Some people speak as though believers in a Supreme, All-ruling Providence must be unduly pressed, as though by a logical dilemma, when it is askedDoes God permit evil, or does it exist independently of His will? If the former, there is a defect in His goodness; if the latter, in His omnipotence. They forget that logic only has force when the disputant is able to command the whole field. We are seeking to reduce a law of the Infinite God within the area of finite human thought.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
:18
Rom 8:18. Following Christ includes suffering persecutions with him if need be. Such sufferings are nothing in comparison with the glorious reward to be received.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 8:18. For. This connects the verse with the whole thought culminating in Rom 8:17 (see above), and not with glorified alone.
I reckon. No doubtful calculation is implied; comp. chap. Rom 3:28. Alford paraphrases: I myself am one who have embraced this course, being convinced that.
Insignificant in comparison with. This paraphrase gives the correct sense; not worthy is more literal, but objectionable as suggesting the idea of merit, which is foreign to the course of thought.
The glory which shall be revealed. At the end of the present time, when full redemption comes with the coming of the Lord.
In us. In us and upon us, or, to usward, as the phrase is rendered in Eph 1:19. Of this glory Christians are the subjects, the possessors, and the centre also, for Rom 8:19-23 represent the creation as sharing in it.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. The nature and property of the saints present sufferings; they are short and momentary; The sufferings of this present time. If sharp, they shall yet be short; though great, they cannot be long; for their afflictions cannot last longer than their lives; the one shall end when the other ends.
Oh blessed condition of the righteous! your afflictions are only for this present time, the grave will set you beyond the reach of trouble.
Ah, wretched condition of the wicked! your sufferings are not only for this present time, but for eternal ages; your worm will never die, your fire never be quenched, but you shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.
Observe, 2. The nature and property of the saints future glory: ‘Tis hidden, ’tis a glory that shall be revealed.
Learn hence, That the glory which God has prepared for his suffering saints and children, is an hidden glory; it is hidden from the eye of the world, and lies altogether out of their sight and view; and it is in a great measure hidden from the saints themselves; it is now the object of their faith, but ere long it shall be the object of their sight.
Observe, 3. The vast disproportion between the Christian’s present suffering and his future glory and happiness; the one is not worthy to be compared with the other: The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed.
Learn hence, That the weight of the saint’s cross is not comparable with the glory of their crown; the happiness of their future glorified state doth infinitely outweigh the misery of their present afflicted state, they are not to be named in the same day.
Observe, 4. The apostle’s judgment or determination about this matter: I reckon, I have cast up the matter, as if the apostle had said, and have had my share of sufferings; but I make light of them, they are not worth speaking of, compared with the glory I shall receive as the reward of my sufferings.
Learn hence, That such of the saints of God as have been exercised and tried with the heaviest sufferings, make lightest of them, having the highest account of heaven’s glory: I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory, &c.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Nineteenth Passage (Rom 8:18-30). Completion of the Plan of Salvation, notwithstanding the Miseries of our present Condition.
In speaking of the full victory gained by the Spirit of Christ over the last remains of condemnation, Paul seemed to assume that the work had already reached its goal, and that nothing remained but to pass into glory. But in the words: If so be we suffer with Him, he had already given it to be understood that there remained to the children of God a career of suffering to be gone through in communion with Christ, and that the era of glory would only open to them after this painful interval. These two thoughts: the present state of suffering, and the certain glory in which it is to issue, are the theme of the following passage. This piece, as it appears to me, is one of those, the tenor of which has been most misunderstood even in the latest commentaries. It has been regarded as a series of consolatory themes, presented by the apostle to suffering believers. They are the following three, according to Meyer: 1. The preponderance of future glory over present sufferings (Rom 8:18-25); 2. the aid of the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:26-27); 3. the working together of all things for the good of those who love God (Rom 8:28-30). M. Reuss says on reaching Rom 8:28 : After hope (Rom 8:18-25) and the Spirit (Rom 8:26-27), the apostle mentions yet a third fact which is of a nature to support us, namely, that everything contributes to the good of them that love God. A little further on he adds: To this end Paul recapitulates the series of acts whereby God interposes in the salvation of the individual. A third fact…, to this end! Such expressions hardly suit our apostle’s style; and when one is obliged to have recourse to them, it simply proves that he has not grasped the course of his thoughts. The same is the case with the division recently offered by Holsten, who here finds the hope of the Christian founded: 1. on the state of creation; 2. on the groaning of believers; 3. on the groaning of the Spirit; 4. on the consciousness of believers that their very sufferings must turn to their good. How can one imagine that he has understood St. Paul, when he lacerates his thoughts in this fashion?
The following passage develops two ideas: the world’s state of misery in its present condition, a state demonstrated by the groaning of the whole creation, by that of believers themselves, and finally by that of the Holy Spirit; then in contrast, the certainty, notwithstanding all, of the perfect accomplishment of the glorious plan eternally conceived by God for our glory. The transition from the first idea to the second is found in the , but we know, of Rom 8:28, where the adversative particle , but, expressly establishes the contrast between the second idea and the first.
And first of all, the general theme, Rom 8:18, enunciating the two ideas to be developed: 1. The sufferings of the present time (the , to suffer with, Rom 8:17), and 2. The glory yet to be revealed in us (the , being glorified together with, Rom 8:17).
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
18. For I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is about to be revealed in us. He means the glorification of soul, mind and body, about which I have written. Such is the grandeur that the sufferings of this life go into eclipse as we contemplate the glory liable to reach us any moment. What a wonderful mitigation of all worldly woes and sorrows! Yet the masses of Christendom are about as destitute of it as the heathens. Oh, how we need armies of heralds to proclaim this inspiring truth!
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Rom 8:18-27. The Birth-Pangs of Immortality.
Rom 8:18. These present sufferings are light beyond comparison, in view of the glory awaiting us at the coming revelation. The destined glory is hidden under a fleshly veil (see Rom 8:10, Php 3:21, Col 3:3 f.; also 1Jn 3:2).
Rom 8:19; Rom 8:22. With this mystery all creation is pregnant, in strained expectancy awaiting the revelation of the sons of God, sighing and groaning in travail-pains.
Rom 8:23. Though sons of God, having the Spirit as a first-fruit of our estate, we await a further adoption, viz. the redemption of our body (cf. 2Co 1:22, Eph 1:14; Eph 4:30).
Rom 8:20 f. From no will of its own, the creation has been blighted and baulkedwith hope, however, that it will be delivered from its bondage to decay, to share the liberty and shine in the glory of Gods children. This apocalypse brings the world of Nature, as Rom 5:12-21 brought the world of History, into the scope of Christs redemption.
Rom 8:24 f. We are far from seeing this emancipation (cf. Heb 2:8); but hope forecasts the not-seen and sustains endurance.
Rom 8:26 f. Meanwhile our weakness is helped through prayer prompted by the indwelling Spirit.In like fashion moreover: for the Spirits speechless sighings are in concert with the sighings of our hearts and of creation around us (Rom 8:22 f.). Paul and his readers discern a Mind beneath their own consciousness (cf. Rom 8:16), prompting inexpressible heavenward longings. God interprets the Spirits pleadings on the saints behalf, for He is their source. True prayer is the mystic utterance, Divinely prompted, of the soul of man and nature.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
SECTION 25 OUR HOPE IS CONFIRMED BY THE PRESENT STATE OF NATURE AND OF OURSELVES
CH. 8:18-27
For I reckon that the sufferings of the present season are of no worth in view of the glory which will be revealed for us. For the expectation of the Creation waits for the revelation of the sons of God. For to vanity was the Creation made subject, not willingly, but because of Him who made it subject, in hope that also the Creation itself will be made free from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole Creation groans together and is in travail together until now.
And not only they but also ourselves who have the firstfruit of the Spirit, we also groan, ourselves within ourselves waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body. For in hope were we saved. But a hope seen is not hope. For that which one sees, why does he hope for? But if; what we do not see we hope for, with perseverance we wait for it.
In the same way also the Spirit helps with our weakness. For what we are to pray for, according to what is needful, we know not. But the Spirit Itself intercedes for us with unspeakable groanings. But He that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, that according to the will of God He intercedes on behalf of saints.
Rom 8:18. In Rom 8:17, Paul introduced two new thoughts, suffer-together and glorified-together. These he now expounds, and thus supports the implied exhortation to suffer with Christ.
I reckon: a deliberate calculation, as in Rom 2:3.
The present season: as in Rom 3:26.
Revealed: see under Rom 1:17.
Glory revealed: so 1Pe 4:13; 1Pe 5:1; cp. Col 3:4. The splendour awaiting the sons of God is now hidden from the eyes of themselves and of those around. But Christ will soon appear in splendour; and with His own splendour, before men and angels, He will clothe His brethren. Thus He and they will be glorified together. In the light of that glory, present afflictions are of no worth.
For us: purpose of this revelation, viz. to cover us with splendour.
Rom 8:19. Further account of this glory.
Creation: same word as creature in Rom 8:39; Rom 1:25; 2Co 5:17; Heb 4:13. It denotes both the act of creating and the whole or any part of that which is created: so Rom 1:20; Mar 10:6; Mar 13:19; Col 1:15; Col 1:23; 1Pe 2:13 : cp. 2Co 5:17. In each case, the precise meaning is determined by the context. Here, the Creation is distinguished from the sons of God; and therefore does not include them. The words made subject to vanity and groan in Rom 8:20 exclude happy spirits of other worlds. The liberation foretold in Rom 8:21 excludes bad angels and those who finally reject the Gospel: for Paul teaches constantly, e.g.
Rom 2:12; Php 3:19; 2Th 1:9, that their end is destruction. It therefore remains that the Creation here denotes the entire world around us, living and lifeless, man alone excepted; what we call Nature, this looked upon as a work of God. The same word is used in the same sense in Wis 5:17; Wis 16:24; Wis 19:6. This interpretation has been adopted, with slight modifications, by a majority of writers of all ages.
Revelation: recalling the word revealed in Rom 8:18.
The sons of God: recalling Rom 8:14. They are now in disguise; and Christ is hidden from their sight. When He appears, their glory and therefore their true character and position will be made known to themselves, to men, and to angels. For that revelation of their glory, they wait with eager expectation: literally, waiting with outstretched head, as though listening for the footstep of the Revealer. This expectant attitude of Nature is here personified, as a witness to the glory awaiting the sons of God.
Rom 8:20-21. These verses justify the hope implied in Rom 8:19.
Vanity: producing no worthy result: cp. Rom 1:21.
Made-subject to vanity: condemned to useless toil. Nature brings forth thorns and thistles: and, although with these are mingled objects of use and beauty, on all is the doom of decay. So Rom 8:21 : the bondage of corruption. This fruitless effort was not Natures original destiny, but was a result of mans sin: Gen 3:17-18. It was thus in some sense forced upon Nature. And this Paul expresses, keeping up his personification, by saying that Nature submits to it not willingly. Because of Him who subjected: in obedience to the decree of Him who said (Gen 3:18) thorns and thistles etc.
In hope that: a prospect of deliverance involved in this sad decree.
Bondage of corruption: by the necessary decay of its products, Nature is prevented from putting forth its powers, from manifesting its real grandeur, and from attaining its original destiny. All that Nature brings forth is doomed to die. And it is compelled to slay its own offspring. The lightning-flash destroys the stately oak: the winters cold kills the songsters of the summer: and animals devour other animals to maintain life. This universal destruction limits the achievements of Nature. Instead of sustained growth, its beauty and strength fade away. The powers of the material Creation are bound in fetters of decay. That this bondage was not Natures original destiny, but was laid upon it by God because of mans sin, suggests to Paul a hope that Nature itself will be made free, that it will share the freedom awaiting the children of God. This liberation from everything which would hinder their full development belongs to the glory (see Rom 8:17-18) which will be revealed for them.
Rom 8:22. A well-known ground for Pauls hope that Nature will be made free: for we know etc.
Groans-together and is-in-travail-together: one united cry of sorrow and one great anguish. Every voice in Nature which reminds us of its bondage to corruption, Paul conceives to be a cry of sorrow. The storm which wreaks destruction, and the roar of the hungry lion, tell that the original purpose of the Creator has been perverted, and that Nature is not what He designed it to be.
The whole Creation until now: a cry universal and unceasing. Since Natures disorganization is a result of mans sin, Paul infers that it will not last for ever, and that the confusion and destruction around, so inconsistent with the character and purpose of the Creator, will give way to order and liberty. In other words, he can account for the present anomalous state of Nature only by supposing it to be temporary, to be preparatory to something more consistent with its original destiny. He therefore speaks of Natures agony as travail, as pangs soon and suddenly to cease at the birth of a new earth and heaven. Cp. Joh 16:21.
Notice that Paul, when speaking of future glory, adopts the thoughts and words of the old prophets: cp. Psa 98:8; Isa 55:12-13.
We have here another proof (cp. Rom 1:20) of Pauls careful contemplation of the material world. For important coincidences, see Act 14:17; Act 17:24. The argument also involves the teaching in Rom 5:12-14 that death is a consequence of sin.
If the above exposition be correct, Rom 8:19-22 suggest very clearly that the earth beneath our feet, rescued from the curse of sin, will be our eternal home: cp. Act 3:21; Rev 21:1. This implies the permanence of matter. Just as the sin of mans spirit brought a curse on his body, so it brought a curse also upon the greater dwelling-place of the entire race. And, just as the body will some day share the liberation which the spirit already enjoys, so will also the world around. Thus, in the teaching of Paul, are the fortunes of the material world indissolubly joined to those of its chief inhabitant, man.
The above teaching of Paul, it I have correctly understood it, lies open to objection even more serious than that referred to under Rom 5:12 : for it implies that even animals die because Adam sinned. This conflicts with assured results of Natural Science. But possibly this apparent discrepancy arises from a deeper truth beyond the ken of Natural Science, viz. that the entire visible universe was designed for man and his moral education, and is therefore subservient to his destiny. This would explain many marks of imperfection in the world around. And it could be apprehended in Pauls day only in some such form as lies before us in these verses.
Rom 8:23. Another confirmatory fact. Not only does the whole Creation groan, waiting for liberation, but also ourselves groan, waiting for adoption and redemption.
Firstfruit: same word in Rom 11:16; Rom 16:5; 1Co 15:20; 1Co 15:23; 1Co 16:15; Jas 1:18; Rev 14:4. In Deu 26:2; Deu 26:10; Num 18:12-13, etc., it denotes first-ripe fruit or grain, of which a part was to be given to God.
The Holy Spirit received by Paul and his readers was a firstfruit in a double sense, in reference to the greater number who will afterwards receive the same, as in the passages quoted above, and in reference to the greater blessings in the future of which the present gift of the Spirit is a pledge. The usage of the N.T. favours the former reference here. The truth embodied in the latter reference finds expression in the earnest of the Spirit in 2Co 1:22; Eph 1:14, and may possibly be in Pauls thought here. The words before us remind the readers of their happy lot in being among the first to receive salvation.
We groan: a close parallel in 2Co 5:2; 2Co 5:4, where again we have the Spirit as an earnest of better things. It recalls the groaning of Nature in Rom 8:22.
Ourselves within ourselves: conspicuously asserting the inwardness and the felt intensity of this groaning.
Waiting-for: as in Rom 8:19. Our groaning is a yearning for something to come, prompted not merely by present burden but by the contrast of present and future.
Adoption: the legal ceremony by which a child passed formally into the family of the adopting father. See under Rom 8:15. Virtually we are already sons of God, and already with filial confidence we call Him Father: but we wait for the time when we shall be formally and publicly brought into our Fathers house, clothed in the raiment of sons, and made to sit down beside the Firstborn Son.
Redemption: a setting free on payment of a price, as in Rom 3:24. But there the emphasis was on the price, viz. the blood (Rom 3:25) of Christ: here it is on the liberation, as in Luk 21:28; Eph 1:14; Eph 4:30.
Of our body: its rescue from death and the grave. Not only Nature but even the bodies in which the Holy Spirit dwells, making them His temple, are held fast by fetters of decay. But they have been purchased by the death of Christ and therefore will be rescued from the grave. Since the body is an integral part of us, not till it is rescued will our redemption be complete. Therefore, under the burdens of the present life arising from the needs and weakness of the body, knowing that we can enter our full glory only by rescue of our body, our groaning assumes the form of a yearning for its rescue.
Rom 8:24-25. Explains the contrast between the present hardships and the future glory of the sons of God. Our position is one of hope, not possession.
We were saved: cp. Eph 2:5; Eph 2:8 : already rescued from the punishment and the present power of our past sins. This salvation has been described in Rom 6:22. Until the conflict of life is over, and until the body is rescued from the grave, it is incomplete: and therefore in this sense salvation is in Rom 5:9-10; Rom 13:11 spoken of as still future. In 1Co 1:18; 2Co 2:15, it is spoken of as a process now going on. These are three modes of looking at the same deliverance.
In hope, or by hope: our rescue holds before us a prospect of better things to come. Cp. 1Pe 1:3. Now the very nature of hope involves absence of things hoped for: a hope seen is not hope. This last statement is sufficiently proved by asking a question: that which a man sees, why does he hope for? The alternative reading given in R.V. and by Westcott (texts) does not affect the sense.
Seen sees we see: as in 2Co 4:18. After showing the incompatibility of hope and sight, Paul states, in Rom 8:25, the believers actual attitude.
Perseverance: as in Rom 2:7; Rom 5:4.
We-wait-for it: recalling Rom 8:19; Rom 8:23, and a dominant thought of Rom 8:18-25. A brave holding up and going forward in spite of hardship and enemies, in prospect of blessing to come, is the normal attitude of men whose position is one, not of possession, but of hope.
Rom 8:26. Another confirmation. In the same way as Nature groans for deliverance, and as we inwardly groan for adoption and redemption, also the Spirit groans in us and for us and so helps us in our weakness.
Helps-with: shares our toil and conflict: same word in Luk 10:40.
Our weakness: us who are weak, the abstract for the concrete, as in Rom 2:26-27. The rest of the verse states the special help which we need and the Spirit gives.
We do not know what we are to pray for so as to pray according as we must needs pray. We are conscious of need; and we groan. But such is the weakness (cp. Rom 6:19) of our spiritual insight that we do not know how to ask so that our prayers may correspond with our real need.
But the Spirit, who prompts us (Rom 8:15) to call God our Father, inspires yearnings which words cannot express, and thus helps us by directing our desires to proper objects. These inspired yearnings express the mind of the Holy Spirit, and therefore appeal to God for us. Thus He intercedes for us and in us by moving us to pray. And God will not refuse to satisfy yearnings which the Spirit Itself (as in Rom 8:16) by His own presence puts within us. Since these yearnings are too deep for words, they are described as unspeakable groanings.
Rom 8:27. That these groanings are unspeakable, does not lessen their efficacy. For they appeal to one who searches the hearts (Rev 2:23; Jer 17:10; 1Sa 16:7) and thus hears this silent intercession.
The mind of the Spirit: the aim of the yearnings prompted by the Spirit. Same words, referring to the general guidance of the Spirit, in Rom 8:6. The mind of the Spirit is that, according to the will of God, He intercedes on behalf of saints: in other words, God, who sees all that takes place in the hearts of men, recognises that our yearnings for final and complete deliverance are prompted by the Holy Spirit, in harmony with the will of God, and are therefore an intercession of the Spirit pleading for men whom God has claimed to be specially His own.
In Rom 5:5, the Holy Spirit given to believers reveals to them the love of God manifested in the death of Christ. In Rom 8:15-16, He prompts them to cry Abba, Father: and He now moves them to groan for complete deliverance from whatever fetters their full development. The inward cry in Rom 8:15, Paul accepts as a divine testimony that they are children of God: the unspeakable groanings in Rom 8:26, he accepts as an intercession with God on their behalf; an intercession which cannot be ineffectual, and which is therefore a pledge that these yearnings will be satisfied.
That the Spirit intercedes with God for the final rescue and glory of His servants, suggests that He is a person distinct from the Father. The strongly figurative colour of Rom 8:19-27 forbids us to accept this as in itself decisive proof that Paul held the distinct personality of the Spirit. But it is an important confirmation of other passages, e.g. 1Co 12:4-6; 2Co 13:13; Mat 28:19, where the name of the Spirit is placed beside those of the Father and the Son, and of still more definite teaching in Joh 16:13-14.
REVIEW of Rom 8:18-27. In Rom 5:2, Paul showed that justification through faith gives an exultant hope of glory. While showing this, he could not pass in silence over the hardships which were so conspicuous a part of the lot of the Christians of his day. He asserts that even these hardships indirectly confirm this glorious hope. In Rom 8:13-17, he shows that the Holy Spirit in their hearts, moving them to call God their Father, is Himself a proof that they are children of God and heirs of the glorious heritage of Christ. And again, present hardships, apparently so inconsistent with this blessed relation to Christ, demand consideration. This they receive in Rom 8:18-39.
Paul declares that present hardships are not worthy to be compared with the glory awaiting us. So great is this glory that it will transform even the material universe. An indication of this, Paul finds in the decay which reigns over all things around us, so inconsistent with the original destiny of a good creature of God, a doom inflicted on Nature because of mans sin. This doom of decay, Paul represents as a groaning for deliverance and accepts as a pledge that deliverance will come. This groaning is shared by us who, as Paul expounded in Rom 8:4-17, have received the Holy Spirit as the animating principle of a new life. It is indeed prompted by the Spirit who makes us conscious of the contrast between our present condition and the glory awaiting us. And if so, these divinely-implanted yearnings plead with God, silently but effectively, for us. They are in harmony with the will of God; and are therefore a pledge of their own fulfilment.
Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament
8:18 {20} For I {t} reckon that the sufferings of this present time [are] not worthy [to be compared] with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
(20) Thirdly, that this glory which we look for surpasses a thousand times the misery of our afflictions.
(t) All being well considered, I gather.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. Our present sufferings and future glory 8:18-25
Paul proceeded to expound on the thought that he introduced at the end of Rom 8:17. This passage gives a very wide perspective of God’s great plan of redemption, which is the heart of Paul’s theology. [Note: See Don N. Howell Jr., "The Center of Pauline Theology," Bibliotheca Sacra 151:601 (January-March 1994):50-70.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
In the light of eternity we should view the cost of suffering with Jesus Christ now as insignificant in view of the glory that lies ahead for us (cf. 2Co 4:17). Paul again used a word, pathemata, which means sufferings for any reason and in any form because we are His sons. By glory Paul meant the glory that we will experience at our glorification (Rom 8:17). Our glorification is the third and final aspect of our salvation in which God will deliver us from the presence of sin forever. The Greek preposition eis can mean either "to" (NASB) or "in" (NIV) and probably includes both ideas here in view of the vastness of this glory.