Doctrines.

1. The evangelical doctrine of justification by faith, is the doctrine of the Old, no less than of the New Testament, v. 21.

2. Justification is pronouncing one to be just, and treating him accordingly, on the ground that the demands of the law have been satisfied concerning him, vs. 24, 25, 26.

3. The ground of justification is not our own merit, nor faith, nor evangelical obedience; not the work of Christ in us, but his work for us, i. e. his obedience unto death, v. 25.

4. An act may be perfectly gratuitous as it regards its object, and at the same time proceed on the ground of a complete satisfaction to the demands of the law. Thus justification is gratuitous, not because those demands are unsatisfied, but because it is granted to those who have no personal ground of recommendation, vs. 24, 26.

5. God is the ultimate end of all his own acts. To declare his glory is the highest and best end which he can propose for himself or his creatures, v. 25.

6. The atonement does not consist in a display to others of the divine justice; this is one of its designs and results, but it is such a display only by being a satisfaction to the justice of God. It is not a symbol or illustration, but a satisfaction, v. 26.

7. All true doctrine tends to humble men and to exalt God; and all true religion is characterized by humility and reverence, v. 27.

8. God is a universal Father, and all men are brethren, vs. 29, 30.

9. The law of God is immutable. Its precepts are always binding, and its penalty must be inflicted either on the sinner or his substitute. When, however, it is said that the penalty of the law is inflicted on the Redeemer, as the sinner's substitute, or, in the language of scripture, that " he was made a curse for us," it cannot be imagined that he suffered the same kind of evils (as remorse, &c.) which the sinner would have suffered. The law threatens no specific kind of evil as its penalty. The term death in scripture designates any or all the evils inflicted. in punishment of sin. And the penalty, or curse of the law (in the language of the bible), is any evil judicially inflicted in

satisfaction of the demands of justice. To say that Christ suffered, therefore, to satisfy the law; to declare the righteousness of God, or that he might be just in justifying him that believes in Jesus; that he bore the penalty of the law, are all equivalent expressions, v. 31.

Remarks.

1. As the cardinal doctrine of the bible is justification by faith, so the turning point in the soul's history, the saving act, is the reception of Jesus Christ as the propitiation for our sins, v. 25.

2. All modes of preaching must he erroneous, which do not lead sinners to feel that the great thing to be done, and done first, is to receive the Lord Jesus Christ, and to turn unto God through him. And all religious experience must be defective, which does not embrace distinctly a sense of the justice of our condemnation, and a conviction of the sufficiency of the work of Christ, and an exclusive reliance upon it as such, v. 25.

3. As God proposes his own glory as the end of all that he does, so ought we to have that glory as the constant and commanding object of pursuit, v. 25.

4. The doctrine of atonement produces in us its proper effect, when it leads us to see and feel that God is just; that he is infinitely gracious; that we are deprived of all ground of boasting; that the way of salvation, which is open for us, us, is open for all men; and that the motives to all duty, instead of being weakened, are enforced and multiplied, vs. 25-31.

5. In the gospel all is harmonious; justice and mercy, as it regards God; freedom from the law, and the strongest obligations to obedience, as it regards men, v. 25, 31.

CHAPTER IV.

Contents.

THE object of this chapter is to confirm the doctrine of justification by faith. It is divided into two parts. The first, from v. 1 to 17 inclusive, contains the argumentative portion. The second, v. 18 to 25, is an illustration of the faith of Abraham.

CHAP. 4: 1–17.

Analysis.

PAUL, from the 21st verse of the preceding chapter, had been setting forth the gospel method of salvation. That this is the true method he now proves, 1. From the fact that Abraham was justified by faith, vs. 1-5. That this was really the case he shows, first, because otherwise Abraham would have had ground of boasting, even in the sight of God, v. 2; second, because the scriptures expressly declare that he was justified by faith, v. 8.

Verses 4, 5, are designed to show that being justified by faith, is tantamount with being justified gratuitously, and, therefore, all those passages which speak of the gratuitous forgiveness of sins, may be fairly cited in favour of the doctrine of justification by faith.

2. On this principle he adduces Ps. 32: 1, 2, as his second argument, for there David speaks, not of rewarding the righteous as such, or for their righteousness, but of the free acceptance of the unworthy, vs. 6-8.

3. The third argument is designed to show that circumcision is not a necessary condition of justification, from the fact that Abraham was justified before he was circumcised; and, therefore, is the head and father of all believers, whether circumcised or not, vs. 9-12.

4. The fourth argument is from the nature of the covenant made with Abraham, in which the promise was made on the condition of faith, and not of legal obedience, vs. 13, 14. 5. And the fifth, from the nature of the law, vs. 15-17.

Commentary.

(1) What shall we then say that Abraham, our father as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? The connexion of this verse with the preceding train of reasoning is obvious. Paul had taught that we are justified by faith; as well in confirmation of this doctrine, as to anticipate an objection from the Jew, he refers to the case of Abraham. How was it then with Abraham? How did he obtain justification?'

The words rendered as pertaining to the flesh, may be more

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properly rendered as to, or through the flesh. And instead of being connected with the word father, they should stand at the end of the verse, what hath Abraham our father found through the flesh?' Such is their position in the original; and although the sense is good, which is afforded by connecting them as in our version, yet the Greek will hardly admit of it.

The word flesh in this connexion is variously explained. It is rendered by some* naturally, by himself; and to the same amount by Grotius, by his own powers. This, however, is, confessedly, a very unusual signification of the term. Others again suppose that the reference is to circumcision; 'through the flesh," is then equivalent to circumcision which is in the flesh.' But there is no ground for this specific reference in the context. Paul often uses the word flesh in a general way for every thing external, relating to ceremonies, legal observances, &c.; see Gal. 6:12,"As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh;" Gal. 3:3," Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh;" Phil. 3: 3, 4, where Paul says he 'has no confidence in the flesh,' and adds, " If any other man thinketh he hath whereof to glory in the flesh, I more.' ." He then enumerates his Hebrew descent, his being a Pharisee, his blameless legal righteousness, as all included in this comprehensive expression. By the term, in this instance, is to be understood all the advantages of Abraham, and all his works, as the context shows. The point of the apostle's question is, 'Has Abraham obtained justification or the favour of God by the flesh?' To this a negative answer is supposed, for which the next verse assigns the reason, For if Abraham was justified by works, &c.' The phrase by works, therefore, is substituted for through the flesh, as being, in this case, perfectly equivalent to it.

(2) For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. The apostle's mode of reasoning is so concise as often to leave some of the steps of his argument to be supplied, which, however, are almost always sufficiently obvious from the context. As just remarked, a negative answer is to be supposed to the question in the first

* Quid dicemus Abraham patrem nostrum invenisse secundum carnem ? quidam interpretes quaeri putant quid secundum carnem adeptus sit Abraham. Quae expositio si placeat, tantundem valebit secundum carnem, ac naturaliter, vel ex seipso. Probabile tamen est epítheti loco Patri conjungi.-CALVIN.

verse. Abraham has not attained the favour of God through the flesh. The force of for at the beginning of this verse is then obvious, as introducing the reason for this answer. The passage itself is very concise, and the latter clause admits of different interpretations. If Abraham was justified by works, he might indeed assert his claim to the confidence and favour of his fellow-men, but he could not have any ground of boasting before God.' This view, however, introduces an idea entirely foreign from the passage, and makes the conclusion the very opposite of that to which the premises would lead. For if justified by works, he would have ground of boasting before God. The interpretation quoted in the margin from Calvin,* is altogether the most satisfactory and simple. If Abraham was justified by works he hath whereof to glory; but he hath not whereof to glory before God, and, therefore, he was not justified by works;' which is the conclusion which Paul intended to establish, and which he immediately confirms by the testimony of the scriptures. The argument thus far is founded on the assumption, that no man can appear thus confidently before God, and boasted of having done all that was required of him. If the doctrine of justification by works involves, as Paul shows it does, this claim to perfect obedience, it must be false. And that Abraham was not thus justified, he proves from the sacred record.

(3) For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. The connexion of this verse with the preceding is this. Paul had just said Abraham had no ground of boasting with God; For what saith the scripture? Does it refer the ground of Abraham's justification to his works? By no means. It declares he was justified by faith; which Paul immediately shows is equivalent to saying that he was justified gratuitously. The passage quoted by the apostle, is Gen. 15: 6, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him (i. e. imputed to him) for righteousness." This is an important passage, as the phrase "to impute faith for righteousness," occurs repeatedly in Paul's writings. The primary meaning of the word here rendered to count to, or

Si enim Abraham. Epicherema est, id est imperfecta ratiotinatio, quae in hanc formam colligi debet, Si Abraham operibus justificatus est, potest suo merito gloriari: sed non habet unde glorietur apud Deum: ergo non ex operibus justificatus est.-CALVIN.