King James Version
Romans 3
31 verses with commentary
God's Faithfulness
What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?</strong> Paul anticipates the logical objection to his prior arguments (2:25-29). If circumcision is merely external and Jewish identity confers no immunity from judgment, what was the point? The Greek <em>perisson</em> (περισσόν, "advantage") and <em>opheleia</em> (ὠφέλεια, "profit") are commercial terms—what retur...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
III.
(1-8) Continuing the subject, but with a long digression in Romans 3:3 *et seq.* The Apostle asks, What is the real value of these apparent advantages? He is about to answer the question fully, as he does later in Romans 9:4-5; but after stating the first point, he goes off upon a difficulty raised by this, and does not return to complete what he had begun. This, again, is characteristic of h...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14-15. a tempestuous--**"typhonic"
**wind--**that is, like a typhon or tornado, causing a whirling of the clouds, owing to the meeting of opposite currents of air.
**called Euroclydon--**The true reading appears to be Euro-aquilo, or east-northeast, which answers all the effects here ascribed to it.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
Chapter Outline
Objections answered.(1-8)
All mankind are sinners.(9-18)
Both Jews and Gentiles cannot be justified by their own deeds.(19-20)
It is owing to the free grace of God, through faith in the righteousness of Christ, yet the law is not done away.(21-31)
**Verses 1-8**
The law could not save in or from sins, yet it gave the Jews advantages for obtaining...
Read full commentary →Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.</strong> Paul's emphatic answer: <em>poly kata panta tropon</em> (πολὺ κατὰ πάντα τρόπον, "much in every way"). The primary advantage—<em>proton</em> (πρῶτον, "first" or "chiefly")—is that Israel was entrusted with <em>ta logia tou theou</em> (τὰ λόγια τοῦ θεοῦ, "the oracles of God"), referring to the entire...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Chiefly.**—In the first place; “secondly,” &c., was to follow, but does not, as the Apostle is drawn away to other topics (see above).
**Unto them were committed.**—This is paraphrastic. “Oracle” is the object, and not the subject, of the sentence. “They were entrusted with.”
**Oracles.**—A good translation; the Scriptures of the Old Testament as containing a revelation of God.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14-15. a tempestuous--**"typhonic"
**wind--**that is, like a typhon or tornado, causing a whirling of the clouds, owing to the meeting of opposite currents of air.
**called Euroclydon--**The true reading appears to be Euro-aquilo, or east-northeast, which answers all the effects here ascribed to it.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
Chapter Outline
Objections answered.(1-8)
All mankind are sinners.(9-18)
Both Jews and Gentiles cannot be justified by their own deeds.(19-20)
It is owing to the free grace of God, through faith in the righteousness of Christ, yet the law is not done away.(21-31)
**Verses 1-8**
The law could not save in or from sins, yet it gave the Jews advantages for obtaining...
Read full commentary →For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?</strong> Paul confronts a second objection: if <em>tines</em> (τινες, "some"—a rhetorical understatement; most rejected Jesus) proved unfaithful, does this nullify <em>tēn pistin tou theou</em> (τὴν πίστιν τοῦ θεοῦ, "the faithfulness of God")? Note: <em>pistis</em> (πίστις) here means "faithfulness...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) For what if.-What (follows) if, &c. Or we may take the first two words by themselves, and throw the next two clauses together. How stands the case? If some rejected the faith, shall their rejection make void or defeat the faithfulness of God?
The Apostle considers an objection that might be brought against his argument that the divine revelation vouchsafed to them was a special privilege of th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16-17. under--**the lee of.
**a certain--**"small"
**island ... Clauda--**southwest of Crete, now called Gonzo; about twenty-three miles to leeward.
**we had much work to come by--**that is, to hoist up and secure.
**the boat--**now become necessary. But why was this difficult? Independently of the gale, raging at the time, the boat had been towed between twenty and thirty miles after th...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
Chapter Outline
Objections answered.(1-8)
All mankind are sinners.(9-18)
Both Jews and Gentiles cannot be justified by their own deeds.(19-20)
It is owing to the free grace of God, through faith in the righteousness of Christ, yet the law is not done away.(21-31)
**Verses 1-8**
The law could not save in or from sins, yet it gave the Jews advantages for obtaining...
Read full commentary →God forbid : yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar.</strong> <em>Mē genoito</em> (μὴ γένοιτο, "God forbid/may it never be") is Paul's strongest negation—appearing ten times in Romans alone. God's truthfulness is axiomatic; human mendacity is universal. Paul quotes Psalm 51:4 (LXX 50:6), David's confession after his sin with Bathsheba: <strong>That thou mightest be justified in thy sayi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) Impossible! Rather let God be seen to be true though all mankind should be proved false, even as the Psalmist looked upon his own sin as serving to enhance the triumph of God’s justice. Speaking of that justice for the moment as if it could be arraigned before the bar of a still higher tribunal, he asserts its absolute and complete acquittal.
**That thou mightest be justified.**—Strictly, *in ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16-17. under--**the lee of.
**a certain--**"small"
**island ... Clauda--**southwest of Crete, now called Gonzo; about twenty-three miles to leeward.
**we had much work to come by--**that is, to hoist up and secure.
**the boat--**now become necessary. But why was this difficult? Independently of the gale, raging at the time, the boat had been towed between twenty and thirty miles after th...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
Chapter Outline
Objections answered.(1-8)
All mankind are sinners.(9-18)
Both Jews and Gentiles cannot be justified by their own deeds.(19-20)
It is owing to the free grace of God, through faith in the righteousness of Christ, yet the law is not done away.(21-31)
**Verses 1-8**
The law could not save in or from sins, yet it gave the Jews advantages for obtaining...
Read full commentary →But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance?</strong> A third objection: if human sin highlights (<em>synistēsin</em>, συνίστησιν, "commends/demonstrates") divine righteousness by contrast, is God unjust (<em>adikos</em>, ἄδικος) to punish us? Paul adds <em>kata anthrōpon legō</em> (κατὰ ἄνθρωπον λέγω, "I speak as ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **But** **if** **our unrighteousness.**—A new and profound question suggests itself to the mind of the Apostle, and his keen intellect will not let it go: “If the sin (here the unbelief) of man only tends to vindicate (commends or establishes) the righteousness of God, why should that sin be punished?” The mere raising of such a question requires an apology; it is only as a man might speak abo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
Chapter Outline
Objections answered.(1-8)
All mankind are sinners.(9-18)
Both Jews and Gentiles cannot be justified by their own deeds.(19-20)
It is owing to the free grace of God, through faith in the righteousness of Christ, yet the law is not done away.(21-31)
**Verses 1-8**
The law could not save in or from sins, yet it gave the Jews advantages for obtaining...
Read full commentary →God forbid : for then how shall God judge the world?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?</strong> Another emphatic <em>mē genoito</em> (μὴ γένοιτο). Paul's reductio ad absurdum: if the previous objection held, God could not judge <em>ton kosmon</em> (τὸν κόσμον, "the world"). The verb <em>krinei</em> (κρινεῖ, "shall judge") is future tense, assuming the reality of final judgment—an axiom shared by Paul and his Jewish interloc...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **For then how shall God judge the world?**—St. Paul considers it a sufficient answer merely to propound this question. He and those to whom he was writing all *assumed* that there must be a future judgment.
The way in which Bishop Butler deals with the argument from necessity is very similar to this, substituting only present for future judgment. “It is fact that God does govern even brute cr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19-20. cast out with our own hands--**passengers and crew together.
**the tackling of the ship--**whatever they could do without that carried weight. This further effort to lighten the ship seems to show that it was now in a leaking condition, as will presently appear more evident.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
Chapter Outline
Objections answered.(1-8)
All mankind are sinners.(9-18)
Both Jews and Gentiles cannot be justified by their own deeds.(19-20)
It is owing to the free grace of God, through faith in the righteousness of Christ, yet the law is not done away.(21-31)
**Verses 1-8**
The law could not save in or from sins, yet it gave the Jews advantages for obtaining...
Read full commentary →For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?</strong> Paul restates the objection in first person for rhetorical effect. If <em>hē alētheia tou theou</em> (ἡ ἀλήθεια τοῦ θεοῦ, "the truth of God") increased (<em>eperisseusen</em>, ἐπερίσσευσεν, "abounded") through <em>tō emō pseu smat i</em> (τῷ ἐμῷ ψεύσματι, "my lie") to Hi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **The truth of God.**—In the first instance His veracity as involved in His threats and promises, and then those other attributes, especially justice, that are intimately connected with this. “Truth” is leaning towards its moral sense. (See Note on Romans 2:8.)
**My lie.**—The Apostle puts his supposed case in the first person. “Lie,” suggested as an antithesis to the word “truth,” just used, ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19-20. cast out with our own hands--**passengers and crew together.
**the tackling of the ship--**whatever they could do without that carried weight. This further effort to lighten the ship seems to show that it was now in a leaking condition, as will presently appear more evident.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
Chapter Outline
Objections answered.(1-8)
All mankind are sinners.(9-18)
Both Jews and Gentiles cannot be justified by their own deeds.(19-20)
It is owing to the free grace of God, through faith in the righteousness of Christ, yet the law is not done away.(21-31)
**Verses 1-8**
The law could not save in or from sins, yet it gave the Jews advantages for obtaining...
Read full commentary →And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.</strong> Paul exposes the slander: critics charged that his gospel logically entails <em>poiēsōmen ta kaka hina elthē ta agatha</em> (ποιήσωμεν τὰ κακὰ ἵνα ἔλθῃ τὰ ἀγαθά, "let us do evil that good may come"). This is the reductio ad absurdum of the ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **And not rather.**—*And *(*why should we*)* not *(*say*)*, as some persons slanderously affirm that we say, Let us do evil that good may come.* Some such phrase as “Why should we say” must be supplied; “why” from the previous clause, “say” from that which follows. Or “(Why should we) not (do evil), as some persons slanderously affirm that we say, Let us do evil,” &c. The latter, perhaps, is b...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21-26. But after long abstinence--**(See on Ac 27:33). "The hardships which the crew endured during a gale of such continuance, and their exhaustion from laboring at the pumps and hunger, may be imagined, but are not described" [Smith].
**Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened to me, &c.--**not meaning to reflect on them for the past, but to claim t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
Chapter Outline
Objections answered.(1-8)
All mankind are sinners.(9-18)
Both Jews and Gentiles cannot be justified by their own deeds.(19-20)
It is owing to the free grace of God, through faith in the righteousness of Christ, yet the law is not done away.(21-31)
**Verses 1-8**
The law could not save in or from sins, yet it gave the Jews advantages for obtaining...
Read full commentary →No One is Righteous
What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; proved: Gr. charged
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin.</strong> Paul pivots from objections to his thesis. <em>Ti oun</em> (Τί οὖν, "What then?") introduces his conclusion. Are Jews <em>proechometha</em> (προεχόμεθα, "better/superior")? <em>Ou pantōs</em> (Οὐ πάντως, "not at all/by no means")—despite the advantage...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9-20) Once more the argument returns to the main track, and at last the Apostle asserts distinctly and categorically what he had already proved indirectly, that the Jew is every whit as bad as the Gentile.
(9) **Are we better than they?**—“Can we claim a preference?” The form of the Greek verb is peculiar. It seems upon the whole best to take it as middle for active, which would be apparently une...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21-26. But after long abstinence--**(See on Ac 27:33). "The hardships which the crew endured during a gale of such continuance, and their exhaustion from laboring at the pumps and hunger, may be imagined, but are not described" [Smith].
**Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened to me, &c.--**not meaning to reflect on them for the past, but to claim t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
Here again is shown that all mankind are under the guilt of sin, as a burden; and under the government and dominion of sin, as enslaved to it, to work wickedness. This is made plain by several passages of Scripture from the Old Testament, which describe the corrupt and depraved state of all men, till grace restrain or change them. Great as our advantages are, these texts descri...
Read full commentary →As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.</strong> Paul begins his devastating <em>catena</em> (chain) of Old Testament quotations (vv. 10-18), drawing primarily from the Psalms and Isaiah. <em>Kathos gegraptai</em> (καθὼς γέγραπται, "as it is written") anchors the argument in Scripture's authority. <em>Ouk estin dikaios oude heis</em> (οὐκ ἔστιν δίκαιος οὐδὲ εἷς, "there is n...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21-26. But after long abstinence--**(See on Ac 27:33). "The hardships which the crew endured during a gale of such continuance, and their exhaustion from laboring at the pumps and hunger, may be imagined, but are not described" [Smith].
**Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened to me, &c.--**not meaning to reflect on them for the past, but to claim t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
Here again is shown that all mankind are under the guilt of sin, as a burden; and under the government and dominion of sin, as enslaved to it, to work wickedness. This is made plain by several passages of Scripture from the Old Testament, which describe the corrupt and depraved state of all men, till grace restrain or change them. Great as our advantages are, these texts descri...
Read full commentary →There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.</strong> Continuing the catena from Psalm 14:2. <em>Ouk estin ho syniōn</em> (οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ συνίων, "there is none who understands")—intellectual corruption. <em>Ouk estin ho ekzētōn ton theon</em> (οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ ἐκζητῶν τὸν θεόν, "there is none who seeks God")—volitional rebellion.<br><br>Human depravity is both noetic (a...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21-26. But after long abstinence--**(See on Ac 27:33). "The hardships which the crew endured during a gale of such continuance, and their exhaustion from laboring at the pumps and hunger, may be imagined, but are not described" [Smith].
**Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened to me, &c.--**not meaning to reflect on them for the past, but to claim t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
Here again is shown that all mankind are under the guilt of sin, as a burden; and under the government and dominion of sin, as enslaved to it, to work wickedness. This is made plain by several passages of Scripture from the Old Testament, which describe the corrupt and depraved state of all men, till grace restrain or change them. Great as our advantages are, these texts descri...
Read full commentary →They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one .
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.</strong> The catena continues (Psalm 14:3). <em>Pantes exeklinan</em> (πάντες ἐξέκλιναν, "all turned aside")—universal apostasy. <em>Hama ēchreiōthēsan</em> (ἅμα ἠχρειώθησαν, "together became worthless")—depicting humanity as <em>achreios</em> (ἀχρεῖος), "unprofitable/useles...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **They are together become unprofitable.**—Here the adjective is used to express a state of moral corruption and depravity. “Together” means “altogether;” “the whole mass of mankind, with one consent, has fallen to ruin.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21-26. But after long abstinence--**(See on Ac 27:33). "The hardships which the crew endured during a gale of such continuance, and their exhaustion from laboring at the pumps and hunger, may be imagined, but are not described" [Smith].
**Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened to me, &c.--**not meaning to reflect on them for the past, but to claim t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
Here again is shown that all mankind are under the guilt of sin, as a burden; and under the government and dominion of sin, as enslaved to it, to work wickedness. This is made plain by several passages of Scripture from the Old Testament, which describe the corrupt and depraved state of all men, till grace restrain or change them. Great as our advantages are, these texts descri...
Read full commentary →Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips.</strong> Paul shifts from general indictment to specific sins, beginning with speech (vv. 13-14). From Psalm 5:9 and 140:3, the imagery is grotesque. <em>Taphos aneōgmenos ho larynx autōn</em> (τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος ὁ λάρυγξ αὐτῶν, "their throat is an opened grave")—what emerges ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Their throat is an open sepulchre**—*i.e.,* their speech is at once corrupt and corrupting. It is compared to a “yawning grave”—not merely to a pit into which a man may fall, but to a sort of pestiferous chasm yawning and ravening, as it were, after its prey.
**They have used deceit.**—Strictly, *they were deceiving;* a continued action brought up to the present time.
**Under their lips.**—...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21-26. But after long abstinence--**(See on Ac 27:33). "The hardships which the crew endured during a gale of such continuance, and their exhaustion from laboring at the pumps and hunger, may be imagined, but are not described" [Smith].
**Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened to me, &c.--**not meaning to reflect on them for the past, but to claim t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
Here again is shown that all mankind are under the guilt of sin, as a burden; and under the government and dominion of sin, as enslaved to it, to work wickedness. This is made plain by several passages of Scripture from the Old Testament, which describe the corrupt and depraved state of all men, till grace restrain or change them. Great as our advantages are, these texts descri...
Read full commentary →Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.</strong> From Psalm 10:7, Paul continues the indictment of speech. <em>Hōn to stoma aras kai pikrias gemei</em> (ὧν τὸ στόμα ἀρᾶς καὶ πικρίας γέμει, "whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness"). <em>Ara</em> (ἀρά) is cursing—invoking harm on others. <em>Pikria</em> (πικρία) is bitterness—the rancid, poisonous disposition that underlies cur...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Bitterness.**—Malignity; from the notion that venom was contained in the gall. (Comp. Acts 8:23.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27-29. when the fourteenth night was come--**from the time they left Fair Havens.
**as we were driven--**drifting
**up and down in Adria--**the Adriatic, that sea which lies between Greece and Italy.
**about midnight the shipmen deemed--**no doubt from the peculiar sound of the breakers.
**that they drew near some country--**"that some land was approaching them." This nautical language g...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
Here again is shown that all mankind are under the guilt of sin, as a burden; and under the government and dominion of sin, as enslaved to it, to work wickedness. This is made plain by several passages of Scripture from the Old Testament, which describe the corrupt and depraved state of all men, till grace restrain or change them. Great as our advantages are, these texts descri...
Read full commentary →Their feet are swift to shed blood:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Their feet are swift to shed blood.</strong> Paul shifts from sins of speech to sins of violence (vv. 15-17), quoting Isaiah 59:7-8. <em>Oxeis hoi podes autōn ekchsai haima</em> (ὀξεῖς οἱ πόδες αὐτῶν ἐκχέαι αἷμα, "swift are their feet to shed blood"). <em>Oxys</em> (ὀξύς) means "sharp/swift"—depicting eager readiness to violence, not mere capacity.<br><br>Humanity doesn't reluctantly resor...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27-29. when the fourteenth night was come--**from the time they left Fair Havens.
**as we were driven--**drifting
**up and down in Adria--**the Adriatic, that sea which lies between Greece and Italy.
**about midnight the shipmen deemed--**no doubt from the peculiar sound of the breakers.
**that they drew near some country--**"that some land was approaching them." This nautical language g...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
Here again is shown that all mankind are under the guilt of sin, as a burden; and under the government and dominion of sin, as enslaved to it, to work wickedness. This is made plain by several passages of Scripture from the Old Testament, which describe the corrupt and depraved state of all men, till grace restrain or change them. Great as our advantages are, these texts descri...
Read full commentary →Destruction and misery are in their ways:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Destruction and misery are in their ways.</strong> Continuing from Isaiah 59:7, <em>syntrimma kai talaipōria en tais hodois autōn</em> (σύντριμμα καὶ ταλαιπωρία ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν, "destruction and misery in their ways"). <em>Syntrimma</em> (σύντριμμα) is breaking, crushing, ruin. <em>Talaipōria</em> (ταλαιπωρία) is wretchedness, calamity, distress.<br><br>Human "ways"—our paths, lifestyl...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27-29. when the fourteenth night was come--**from the time they left Fair Havens.
**as we were driven--**drifting
**up and down in Adria--**the Adriatic, that sea which lies between Greece and Italy.
**about midnight the shipmen deemed--**no doubt from the peculiar sound of the breakers.
**that they drew near some country--**"that some land was approaching them." This nautical language g...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
Here again is shown that all mankind are under the guilt of sin, as a burden; and under the government and dominion of sin, as enslaved to it, to work wickedness. This is made plain by several passages of Scripture from the Old Testament, which describe the corrupt and depraved state of all men, till grace restrain or change them. Great as our advantages are, these texts descri...
Read full commentary →And the way of peace have they not known:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the way of peace have they not known.</strong> From Isaiah 59:8, <em>kai hodon eirēnēs ouk egnōsan</em> (καὶ ὁδὸν εἰρήνης οὐκ ἔγνωσαν, "and the way of peace they have not known"). <em>Eirēnē</em> (εἰρήνη, translating Hebrew <em>shalom</em>) encompasses wholeness, harmony, right relationships—with God, others, creation, and self.<br><br>Fallen humanity doesn't know—<em>ginōskō</em> (γιν...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**30. as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship--**under cover of night.
**when they had let down the boat ... as though they would ... cast anchors out of the foreship--**"bow"--rather, "carry out" anchors, to hold the ship fore as well as aft. "This could have been of no advantage in the circumstances, and as the pretext could not deceive a seaman, we must infer that the officers of th...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
Here again is shown that all mankind are under the guilt of sin, as a burden; and under the government and dominion of sin, as enslaved to it, to work wickedness. This is made plain by several passages of Scripture from the Old Testament, which describe the corrupt and depraved state of all men, till grace restrain or change them. Great as our advantages are, these texts descri...
Read full commentary →There is no fear of God before their eyes.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>There is no fear of God before their eyes.</strong> Paul concludes the catena with Psalm 36:1. <em>Ouk estin phobos theou apenanti tōn ophthalmōn autōn</em> (οὐκ ἔστιν φόβος θεοῦ ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν, "there is no fear of God before their eyes"). <em>Phobos theou</em> (φόβος θεοῦ, "fear of God") is the foundation of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10), covenant faithfulness, and all virtue.<br><...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) The fear of God, which is properly a subjective feeling, is here projected, as it were, and regarded as an external rule of life.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**31. Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers--**the only parties now to be trusted, and whose own safety was now at stake.
**except ye abide in the ship ye cannot be saved--**The soldiers and passengers could not be expected to possess the necessary seamanship in so very critical a case. The flight of the crew, therefore, might well be regarded as certain destruction to all who remained....
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
Here again is shown that all mankind are under the guilt of sin, as a burden; and under the government and dominion of sin, as enslaved to it, to work wickedness. This is made plain by several passages of Scripture from the Old Testament, which describe the corrupt and depraved state of all men, till grace restrain or change them. Great as our advantages are, these texts descri...
Read full commentary →Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. guilty: or, subject to the judgment of God
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.</strong> Paul applies the catena (vv. 10-18). <em>Ta nomō</em> (τὰ νομῷ, "in the law")—the Old Testament Scriptures just quoted—speaks to <em>tois en tō nomō</em> (τοῖς ἐν τῷ νόμῳ, "those under the law"), i.e., Jews.<br>...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) In order to bring home this testimony of Scripture more directly to the Jews, and to prevent any subterfuge by which they might attempt to shift the reference from themselves on to the Gentiles, the Apostle calls attention to the fact that the Law—*i.e.,* the Old Testament, from which he has been quoting—speaks especially to those to whom it was given.
**Saith . . . saith.**—Different words a...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**32. Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat--**already lowered.
**and let her fall off--**let the boat drift away.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-20**
It is in vain to seek for justification by the works of the law. All must plead guilty. Guilty before God, is a dreadful word; but no man can be justified by a law which condemns him for breaking it. The corruption in our nature, will for ever stop any justification by our own works.
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.</strong> Paul's devastating conclusion: <em>ex ergōn nomou ou dikaiōthēsetai pasa sarx enōpion autou</em> (ἐξ ἔργων νόμου οὐ δικαιωθήσεται πᾶσα σὰρξ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, "by works of law no flesh will be justified before him"). <em>Erga nomou</em> (ἔργα νόμου, "works of law")...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **Therefore.**—Rather, *because.* All mankind alike owe the penalty for their sins. *Because* not even the Law can protect its votaries. It has no power to justify. *All* it can do is to expose in its true colours the sinfulness of sin.
The proposition is thrown into a general form: not by the works of the (Jewish) Law, but by “works of law”—*i.e.,* by any works done in obedience to any law. ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**33-37. while day was coming on--**"until it should be day"; that is, in the interval between the cutting off of the boat and the approach of day, which all were "anxiously looking for" (Ac 27:29).
**Paul--**now looked up to by all the passengers as the man to direct them.
**besought them all to take meat--**"partake of a meal."
**saying, This is the fourteenth day ye have tarried--**"waite...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-20**
It is in vain to seek for justification by the works of the law. All must plead guilty. Guilty before God, is a dreadful word; but no man can be justified by a law which condemns him for breaking it. The corruption in our nature, will for ever stop any justification by our own works.
Righteousness Through Faith in Christ
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.</strong> The great turning point: <em>Nyni de</em> (Νυνὶ δέ, "But now")—the eschatological now of gospel revelation. <em>Dikaiosynē theou</em> (δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ, "righteousness of God") is either God's own righteousness or the righteousness He provides—probably both. <em>Chōris nomou...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21-26) This then introduces the solemn enunciation, repeated more fully from Romans 1:16-17, of the great subject of the Epistle, the declaration of that new scheme by which, through Christ, God had removed the guilt which the Law (whether Jewish or any other) could not remove.
(21-22) Such was the condition of the world up to the coming of Christ. But now, in contrast with the previous state of ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**33-37. while day was coming on--**"until it should be day"; that is, in the interval between the cutting off of the boat and the approach of day, which all were "anxiously looking for" (Ac 27:29).
**Paul--**now looked up to by all the passengers as the man to direct them.
**besought them all to take meat--**"partake of a meal."
**saying, This is the fourteenth day ye have tarried--**"waite...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 21-26**
Must guilty man remain under wrath? Is the wound for ever incurable? No; blessed be God, there is another way laid open for us. This is the righteousness of God; righteousness of his ordaining, and providing, and accepting. It is by that faith which has Jesus Christ for its object; an anointed Saviour, so Jesus Christ signifies. Justifying faith respects Christ as a Saviour, i...
Read full commentary →Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.</strong> Paul specifies: <em>dikaiosynē de theou dia pisteōs Iēsou Christou</em> (δικαιοσύνη δὲ θεοῦ διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, "righteousness of God through faith of/in Jesus Christ"). The genitive <em>pisteōs Iēsou Christou</em> is debated—Christ's faithful...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) A further definition of the nature of the righteousness so given to the Christian by God; it is a righteousness that has its root in faith, and is coextensive with faith, being present in every believer.
**By faith of Jesus Christ**—*i.e., by faith which has Christ for its object,* “faith *in* Christ.” “Faith” in St. Paul’s writings implies an intense attachment and devotion. It has an intell...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**33-37. while day was coming on--**"until it should be day"; that is, in the interval between the cutting off of the boat and the approach of day, which all were "anxiously looking for" (Ac 27:29).
**Paul--**now looked up to by all the passengers as the man to direct them.
**besought them all to take meat--**"partake of a meal."
**saying, This is the fourteenth day ye have tarried--**"waite...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 21-26**
Must guilty man remain under wrath? Is the wound for ever incurable? No; blessed be God, there is another way laid open for us. This is the righteousness of God; righteousness of his ordaining, and providing, and accepting. It is by that faith which has Jesus Christ for its object; an anointed Saviour, so Jesus Christ signifies. Justifying faith respects Christ as a Saviour, i...
Read full commentary →For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.</strong> The most famous verse in Paul's theodicy: <em>pantes gar hēmarton kai hysterountai tēs doxēs tou theou</em> (πάντες γὰρ ἥμαρτον καὶ ὑστεροῦνται τῆς δόξης τοῦ θεοῦ, "for all sinned and fall short of the glory of God"). <em>Hamartanō</em> (ἁμαρτάνω, "to sin")—aorist tense, likely referring to Adam's sin in which all sinned (5:...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **All have sinned and come short.**—Strictly, *all sinned;* the Apostle looking back upon an act done in past time under the old legal dispensation, without immediate reference to the present: he then goes on to say that the result of that act (as distinct from the act itself) continues on into the present. The result is that mankind, in a body, as he now sees them, and before they come withi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**33-37. while day was coming on--**"until it should be day"; that is, in the interval between the cutting off of the boat and the approach of day, which all were "anxiously looking for" (Ac 27:29).
**Paul--**now looked up to by all the passengers as the man to direct them.
**besought them all to take meat--**"partake of a meal."
**saying, This is the fourteenth day ye have tarried--**"waite...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 21-26**
Must guilty man remain under wrath? Is the wound for ever incurable? No; blessed be God, there is another way laid open for us. This is the righteousness of God; righteousness of his ordaining, and providing, and accepting. It is by that faith which has Jesus Christ for its object; an anointed Saviour, so Jesus Christ signifies. Justifying faith respects Christ as a Saviour, i...
Read full commentary →Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.</strong> The gospel in miniature: <em>dikaiou menoi dōrean tē autou chariti</em> (δικαιούμενοι δωρεὰν τῇ αὐτοῦ χάριτι, "being justified freely by his grace"). <em>Dikaioō</em> (δικαιόω, "justify")—forensic declaration of righteousness. <em>Dōrean</em> (δωρεὰν, "freely/as a gift")—grace, not wages. <em>Chari...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(24) **Being justified.**—We should more naturally say, “but now *are* justified.” The construction in the Greek is peculiar, and may be accounted for in one of two ways. Either the phrase “being justified” may be taken as corresponding to “all them that believe” in Romans 3:22, the change of case being an irregularity suggested by the form of the sentence immediately preceding; or the constructio...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**33-37. while day was coming on--**"until it should be day"; that is, in the interval between the cutting off of the boat and the approach of day, which all were "anxiously looking for" (Ac 27:29).
**Paul--**now looked up to by all the passengers as the man to direct them.
**besought them all to take meat--**"partake of a meal."
**saying, This is the fourteenth day ye have tarried--**"waite...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 21-26**
Must guilty man remain under wrath? Is the wound for ever incurable? No; blessed be God, there is another way laid open for us. This is the righteousness of God; righteousness of his ordaining, and providing, and accepting. It is by that faith which has Jesus Christ for its object; an anointed Saviour, so Jesus Christ signifies. Justifying faith respects Christ as a Saviour, i...
Read full commentary →Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; set forth: or, foreordained remission: or, passing over
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.</strong> The theological heart of Romans: <em>hon proetheto ho theos hilastērion</em> (ὃν προέθετο ὁ θεός ἱλαστήριον, "whom God set forth as a propitiation"). <em>Hilastērion</em> (ἱλαστήριον)—the mercy seat where sac...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25, 26) The death of Christ had a twofold object or final cause:—(1) It was to be, like the sacrifices of the old covenant, an offering propitiatory to God, and actualised in the believer through faith. (2) It was to demonstrate the righteousness of God by showing that sin would entail punishment, though it might not be punished in the person of the sinner. The apparent absence of any adequate re...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**38-40. when they had eaten enough, &c.--**With fresh strength after the meal, they make a third and last effort to lighten the ship, not only by pumping, as before, but by throwing the whole cargo of wheat into the sea (see on Ac 27:6).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 21-26**
Must guilty man remain under wrath? Is the wound for ever incurable? No; blessed be God, there is another way laid open for us. This is the righteousness of God; righteousness of his ordaining, and providing, and accepting. It is by that faith which has Jesus Christ for its object; an anointed Saviour, so Jesus Christ signifies. Justifying faith respects Christ as a Saviour, i...
Read full commentary →To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.</strong> Paul restates for emphasis: <em>pros tēn endeixin tēs dikaiosynēs autou en tō nyn kairō</em> (πρὸς τὴν ἔνδειξιν τῆς δικαιοσύνης αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ νῦν καιρῷ, "for the demonstration of his righteousness in the present time"). The cross vindicates God's righteousness...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(26) **To declare.**—The second object of the death of Christ was to remove the misconceptions that might be caused by the apparent condoning of sins committed in times anterior to the Christian revelation. A special word is used to indicate that these sins were not wiped away and dismissed altogether, but rather “passed over” or “overlooked.” This was due to the forbearance of God, who, as it wer...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**38-40. when they had eaten enough, &c.--**With fresh strength after the meal, they make a third and last effort to lighten the ship, not only by pumping, as before, but by throwing the whole cargo of wheat into the sea (see on Ac 27:6).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 21-26**
Must guilty man remain under wrath? Is the wound for ever incurable? No; blessed be God, there is another way laid open for us. This is the righteousness of God; righteousness of his ordaining, and providing, and accepting. It is by that faith which has Jesus Christ for its object; an anointed Saviour, so Jesus Christ signifies. Justifying faith respects Christ as a Saviour, i...
Read full commentary →Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.</strong> Paul draws out implications: <em>Pou oun hē kauchēsis</em> (Ποῦ οὖν ἡ καύχησις, "Where then is boasting?"). <em>Exekleisthē</em> (ἐξεκλείσθη, "It is excluded")—aorist passive: boasting has been shut out decisively. By what <em>nomos</em> (νόμος, "law/principle")? <em>Tōn ergōn</em> (τῶν ἔρ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(27-31) A review of the consequences of this process of justification. How does it affect the pretensions of the Jew? It shuts them out by laying stress no longer on works, which were the proper fulfilment of the first law as it stood, but upon faith. Faith is the true medium of justification. And faith belongs as much to Gentile as to Jew. For faith is the appointed means by which all mankind wil...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**38-40. when they had eaten enough, &c.--**With fresh strength after the meal, they make a third and last effort to lighten the ship, not only by pumping, as before, but by throwing the whole cargo of wheat into the sea (see on Ac 27:6).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 27-31**
God will have the great work of the justification and salvation of sinners carried on from first to last, so as to shut out boasting. Now, if we were saved by our own works, boasting would not be excluded. But the way of justification by faith for ever shuts out boasting. Yet believers are not left to be lawless; faith is a law, it is a working grace, wherever it is in truth. ...
Read full commentary →Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.</strong> Paul's definitive summary: <em>logizometha oun pistei dikaiousthai anthrōpon chōris ergōn nomou</em> (λογιζόμεθα οὖν πίστει δικαιοῦσθαι ἄνθρωπον χωρὶς ἔργων νόμου, "we reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law"). <em>Logizometha</em> (λογιζόμεθα, "we reckon/conclude...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(28) **Therefore. . . .**—There is a remarkable division of some of the best authorities in this verse between “therefore” and “for.” The weight of authority seems somewhat in favour of “for,” which also makes the best sense. That boasting is excluded is much rather the consequence than the cause of the principle that man is justified by faith. This principle the Apostle regards as sufficiently pr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**41. falling into a place where two seas met--**Smith thinks this refers to the channel, not more than one hundred yards broad, which separates the small island of Salmone from Malta, forming a communication between the sea inside the bay and that outside.
**the fore part stuck fast, and remained immovable--**"The rocks of Malta disintegrate into extremely minute particles of sand and clay, whi...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 27-31**
God will have the great work of the justification and salvation of sinners carried on from first to last, so as to shut out boasting. Now, if we were saved by our own works, boasting would not be excluded. But the way of justification by faith for ever shuts out boasting. Yet believers are not left to be lawless; faith is a law, it is a working grace, wherever it is in truth. ...
Read full commentary →Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also.</strong> Paul anticipates an objection: if justification is by faith apart from Torah, doesn't this make God exclusively the God of Gentiles who never had Torah? <em>Ē Ioudaiōn ho theos monon</em> (Ἢ Ἰουδαίων ὁ θεὸς μόνον, "Or is God the God of Jews only?"). <em>Ouchi kai ethnōn</em> (οὐχὶ καὶ ἐθνῶν,...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(29) **Is he not also.**—Insert “or.” “Or are we to suppose that God *is the God of* (literally, *belongs to*) the Jews only?”—taking up the point in the last verse, that any man, simply *quâ* man, and without regard to distinction of race, was capable of justification.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**42-44. the soldiers' counsel was to hill the prisoners, lest any ... should escape--**Roman cruelty, which made the keepers answerable for their prisoners with their own lives, is here reflected in this cruel proposal.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 27-31**
God will have the great work of the justification and salvation of sinners carried on from first to last, so as to shut out boasting. Now, if we were saved by our own works, boasting would not be excluded. But the way of justification by faith for ever shuts out boasting. Yet believers are not left to be lawless; faith is a law, it is a working grace, wherever it is in truth. ...
Read full commentary →Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.</strong> Paul grounds v. 29 in monotheism: <em>eiper heis ho theos</em> (εἴπερ εἷς ὁ θεός, "since indeed God is one"). This one God <em>hos dikaiōsei</em> (ὃς δικαιώσει, "will justify")—future tense, emphasizing eschatological certainty. He justifies <em>peritomēn ek pisteōs</em> (περιτομ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(30) **Seeing it is . . .**—With a slight change of reading, *if at least; if, as we are sure is the case.*
The argument is strictly logical. If there is to be any distinction between Jew and Gentile, this can only be upon the assumption either that there are more gods than one by whom they will be justified, or that they will be justified by some different law, in some different way. But neither ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**42-44. the soldiers' counsel was to hill the prisoners, lest any ... should escape--**Roman cruelty, which made the keepers answerable for their prisoners with their own lives, is here reflected in this cruel proposal.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 27-31**
God will have the great work of the justification and salvation of sinners carried on from first to last, so as to shut out boasting. Now, if we were saved by our own works, boasting would not be excluded. But the way of justification by faith for ever shuts out boasting. Yet believers are not left to be lawless; faith is a law, it is a working grace, wherever it is in truth. ...
Read full commentary →Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid : yea, we establish the law.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.</strong> Paul addresses a final objection: does justification by faith nullify (<em>katargoumen</em>, καταργοῦμεν, "make void/abolish") the law? <em>Mē genoito</em> (μὴ γένοιτο, "God forbid/may it never be!")—Paul's emphatic rejection. Rather, <em>nomon histanomen</em> (νόμον ἱστάνομεν, "we establish the law...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(31) **Do we then make void the law.**—In opposition to many commentators it seems right to take this as an isolated statement to be worked out afterwards (Romans 6:1 *et seq.*) more fully. It cannot, without straining, be connected directly with what follows. The Apostle deals with two objections to his theory of justification by faith: (1) that there ought to be a different rule for the Jew and ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**42-44. the soldiers' counsel was to hill the prisoners, lest any ... should escape--**Roman cruelty, which made the keepers answerable for their prisoners with their own lives, is here reflected in this cruel proposal.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 27-31**
God will have the great work of the justification and salvation of sinners carried on from first to last, so as to shut out boasting. Now, if we were saved by our own works, boasting would not be excluded. But the way of justification by faith for ever shuts out boasting. Yet believers are not left to be lawless; faith is a law, it is a working grace, wherever it is in truth. ...
Read full commentary →