W. Tyndale, after Luther.
Towards the close of one of my nights of suffering, at half-past four, I asked my kind watcher ... to read me a chapter of the Word of God. He proposed the eighth of the Epistle to the Romans. I assented, but with the request that, to secure the connexion of ideas, he would go back to the sixth, and even to the fifth. We read in succession the four chapters, v., vi., vii., viii., and I thought no more of sleep.... Then we read the ninth, and the remaining passages, to the end, with an interest always equal and sustained; and then the first four, that nothing might be lost. About two hours had passed.... I cannot tell you how I was struck, in thus reading the Epistle as a whole, with the seal of divinity, of truth, of holiness, of love, and of power, which is impressed on every page, on every word. We felt, my young friend and I, ... that we were listening to a voice from heaven.
A. Monod, Adieux, § V., Quelques Mots sur la Lecture de la Bible.
CONTENTS
| PAGE | |
| CHAPTER I. | |
| TIME, PLACE, AND OCCASION | [1] |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| THE WRITER AND HIS READERS | [10] |
| Romans i. 1-7 | |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| GOOD REPORT OF THE ROMAN CHURCH: PAUL NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL | [23] |
| Romans i. 8-17 | |
| CHAPTER IV. | |
| NEED FOR THE GOSPEL: GOD'S ANGER AND MAN'S SIN | [38] |
| Romans i. 18-23 | |
| CHAPTER V. | |
| MAN GIVEN UP TO HIS OWN WAY: THE HEATHEN | [48] |
| Romans i. 24-32 | |
| CHAPTER VI. | |
| HUMAN GUILT UNIVERSAL: HE APPROACHES THE CONSCIENCE OF THE JEW | [56] |
| Romans ii. 1-16 | |
| CHAPTER VII. | |
| JEWISH RESPONSIBILITY AND GUILT | [67] |
| Romans ii. 17-29 | |
| CHAPTER VIII. | |
| JEWISH CLAIMS: NO HOPE IN HUMAN MERIT | [78] |
| Romans iii. 1-20 | |
| CHAPTER IX. | |
| THE ONE WAY OF DIVINE ACCEPTANCE | [90] |
| Romans iii. 21-31 | |
| DETACHED NOTE | [100] |
| CHAPTER X. | |
| ABRAHAM AND DAVID | [103] |
| Romans iv. 1-12 | |
| DETACHED NOTE | [115] |
| CHAPTER XI. | |
| ABRAHAM (ii.) | [117] |
| Romans iv. 13-25 | |
| CHAPTER XII. | |
| PEACE, LOVE, AND JOY FOR THE JUSTIFIED | [128] |
| Romans v. 1-11 | |
| DETACHED NOTES | [140] |
| CHAPTER XIII. | |
| CHRIST AND ADAM | [143] |
| Romans v. 12-21 | |
| CHAPTER XIV. | |
| JUSTIFICATION AND HOLINESS | [156] |
| Romans vi. 1-13 | |
| CHAPTER XV. | |
| JUSTIFICATION AND HOLINESS: ILLUSTRATIONS FROM HUMAN LIFE | [170] |
| Romans vi. 14—vii. 6 | |
| CHAPTER XVI. | |
| THE FUNCTION OF THE LAW IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE | [187] |
| Romans vii. 7-25 | |
| CHAPTER XVII. | |
| THE JUSTIFIED: THEIR LIFE BY THE HOLY SPIRIT | [203] |
| Romans viii. 1-11 | |
| CHAPTER XVIII. | |
| HOLINESS BY THE SPIRIT, AND THE GLORIES THAT SHALL FOLLOW | [218] |
| Romans viii. 12-25 | |
| CHAPTER XIX. | |
| THE SPIRIT OF PRAYER IN THE SAINTS: THEIR PRESENT AND ETERNAL WELFARE IN THE LOVE OF GOD | [231] |
| Romans viii. 26-39 | |
| CHAPTER XX. | |
| THE SORROWFUL PROBLEM: JEWISH UNBELIEF; DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY | [244] |
| Romans ix. 1-33 | |
| DETACHED NOTE | [261] |
| CHAPTER XXI. | |
| JEWISH UNBELIEF AND GENTILE FAITH: PROPHECY | [264] |
| Romans x. 1-21 | |
| CHAPTER XXII. | |
| ISRAEL HOWEVER NOT FORSAKEN | [282] |
| Romans xi. 1-10 | |
| CHAPTER XXIII. | |
| ISRAEL'S FALL OVERRULED, FOR THE WORLD'S BLESSING, AND FOR ISRAEL'S MERCY | [294] |
| Romans xi. 11-24 | |
| CHAPTER XXIV. | |
| THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL DIRECTLY FORETOLD: ALL IS OF AND FOR GOD | [307] |
| Romans xi. 25-36 | |
| CHAPTER XXV. | |
| CHRISTIAN CONDUCT THE ISSUE OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH | [321] |
| Romans xii. 1-8 | |
| CHAPTER XXVI. | |
| CHRISTIAN DUTY: DETAILS OF PERSONAL CONDUCT | [336] |
| Romans xii. 9-21 | |
| CHAPTER XXVII. | |
| CHRISTIAN DUTY; IN CIVIL LIFE AND OTHERWISE: LOVE | [348] |
| Romans xiii. 1-10 | |
| CHAPTER XXVIII. | |
| CHRISTIAN DUTY IN THE LIGHT OF THE LORD'S RETURN AND IN THE POWER OF HIS PRESENCE | [361] |
| Romans xiii. 11-14 | |
| CHAPTER XXIX. | |
| CHRISTIAN DUTY: MUTUAL TENDERNESS AND TOLERANCE: THE SACREDNESS OF EXAMPLE | [374] |
| Romans xiv. 1-23 | |
| CHAPTER XXX. | |
| THE SAME SUBJECT: THE LORD'S EXAMPLE: HIS RELATION TO US ALL | [393] |
| Romans xv. 1-13 | |
| CHAPTER XXXI. | |
| ROMAN CHRISTIANITY: ST PAUL'S COMMISSION: HIS INTENDED ITINERARY: HE ASKS FOR PRAYER | [408] |
| Romans xv. 14-33 | |
| CHAPTER XXXII. | |
| A COMMENDATION: GREETINGS: A WARNING: A DOXOLOGY | [421] |
| Romans xvi. 1-27 | |
CHAPTER I
TIME, PLACE, AND OCCASION
IT is the month of February, in the year of Christ 58.[2] In a room in the house of Gaius, a wealthy Corinthian Christian, Paul the Apostle, having at his side his amanuensis Tertius, addresses himself to write to the converts of the mission at Rome.
The great world meanwhile is rolling on its way. It is the fourth year of Nero; he is Consul the third time, with Valerius Messala for his colleague; Poppæa has lately caught the unworthy Prince in the net of her bad influence. Domitius Corbulo has just resumed the war with Parthia, and prepares to penetrate the highlands of Armenia. Within a few weeks, in the full spring, an Egyptian impostor is about to inflame Jerusalem with his Messianic claim, to lead four thousand fanatics into the desert, and to return to the city with a host of thirty thousand men, only to be totally routed by the legionaries of Felix. For himself, the Apostle is about to close his three months' stay at Corinth; he has heard of plots against his life, and will in prudence decline the more direct route from Cenchrea by sea, striking northward for Philippi, and thence over the Ægæan to Troas. Jerusalem he must visit, if possible before May is over, for he has by him the Greek collections to deliver to the poor converts of Jerusalem. Then, in the vista of his further movements, he sees Rome, and thinks with a certain apprehension yet with longing hope about life and witness there.