Romans Commentary

Ver. 30. — What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith:

What shall we say then? — What is the result of all this discussion? The conclusion from the whole is, that those Gentiles who are called by God, of whom the Apostle had spoken in the 24th verse, who were not following righteousness, but were abandoned to every kind of wickedness, obtained true righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. This is an astonishing instance of mercy. Men who were ‘haters of God,’ and guilty of all abominations, as Paul had shown in the first chapter of this Epistle, were thus made partakers of that righteousness which is commensurate to all the demands of the law.

Ver. 31. — But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained so the law of righteousness.

Whatever objection might be made to the doctrine the Apostle was here inculcating, a clear proof was offered in the case of the Gentiles which he had adduced, of the truth he had advanced and illustrated by the examples of Jacob and Esau, namely, that the purpose of God, according to election, is unchangeable, and that salvation is not of works, but of Him that calleth.

And here was a wonderful instance of Divine sovereignty. The nation of Israel were following after righteousness, yet God, instead of giving it to them, bestowed it on those who were not even looking for it. How different is this from the ways of men! How does the proud heart of the self-righteous legalist revolt at such a view of the Divine conduct! Man’s wisdom cannot endure that God should in this sovereign way bestow His favors. But this is God’s way, and whoever will not submit to it, resists the will of God. Nay, whoever finds fault with it, attempts to dethrone the Almighty, and to undeify God. The whole plan of salvation is so ordered, ‘that no flesh should glory in His presence, but that, according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord,’ 1 Corinthians 1:31.

Ver. 32. — Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law: for they stumbled at that stumbling-stone; The Apostle here asks why the people of Israel did not attain to the righteousness they were seeking. The word ‘wherefore’ has no reference to election, or a supposed objection from it, as some understand. The question is asked to excite more attention to the answer; and the answer is, because they sought it in a way in which it is not to be found. The righteousness that answers the demands of the law, is the righteousness of God, which is received only by faith. The Jews, then, did not attain to it, because they sought it not by faith, but as of works of law. Some commentators lay stress on the phrase, ‘as it were by the works of the law,’ according to our translation, assigning as its meaning, that the Jews did not suppose they kept the law perfectly, but expected to make up for their deficiencies in one respect by abounding in others. But this is not well founded. The Jews sought righteousness ‘as by works of law;’ that is, as if righteousness was to be obtained by doing the works of the law. By the works of the law they could not obtain it, unless they perfectly obeyed the law. To this they could never attain. As, therefore, they would not submit to Christ, who alone has fulfilled the law, they failed in obtaining righteousness. For they stumbled at that stumbling-stone. — That is, they stumbled at Jesus Christ. Instead of choosing Him as the elect, precious foundation-stone, on which to rest their hope, they rejected Him altogether. They looked for a Messiah of a different character, and therefore they rejected the Christ of God. The Apostle thus charges it upon the Jews as their own fault that they did not attain to righteousness.

They mistook the character of that law under which they were placed, by which, according to the testimony of their own Prophets, no man could be justified; and also the character of the Messiah who was promised, and so perverted that law, and rejected Him by whom alone they could be saved.

They thus verified the words of the Apostle, — ’The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.’ Of this Paul exhibits himself as having been an example. In the seventh chapter of this Epistle, he shows how entirely he once mistook the extent of the law; and in the beginning of the chapter before us, that he once made it his boast that he was opposed to Christ as the Messiah.

Ver. 33. — As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling-stone and rock of offense: and whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.

As it is written. — The Apostle here confirms what he had just said concerning the stone of stumbling, by quoting from two places of Scripture, Isaiah 8:14, 28:16. The stumbling, then, of the Jews at Christ, the rock of offense, was predicted by the Prophets It should not, therefore, appear strange to those who lived in the times when it was accomplished. A stumbling-stone and rock of offense. — This language of the Prophet, applied by the Apostle to our Lord Jesus Christ, ought to be particularly observed, — ’Sanctify the Lord of Hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. And He shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offense, to both the houses of Israel.’

As here the Prophet speaks directly of God, and the Apostle applies what he says to Jesus Christ, it is a conclusive proof that Jesus Christ is God, and that He is declared to be so both in the Old Testament and the New.

The designations of a stone, and a rock, are given to Jesus Christ, both presenting the idea that the great work of redemption rests solely on Him.

He is its author, the foundation on which it rests, the center in which all its lines meet, and their origin from which they proceed. He is to that work what the foundation-stone and the rock on which it is erected are to the building, sustaining it, and imparting to it form and stability. In another sense, He is a stone of stumbling, occasioning His rejection by those who, not believing in Him, are cut off from communion with God. Behold, I lay in Zion. — This stone, or rock — this ‘sure foundation’ — is laid by God, according to the Apostle’s reference, Isaiah 28:16, ‘Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation.’ This stone was laid in Zion, the Church of God. It was laid by God Himself.

That it was ‘a sure foundation,’ which could not fail, is evident from all the promises of God concerning the Messiah, of upholding Him as His elect, and ensuring to Him success, dominion, and glory, in His character of Mediator, Isaiah 42:1-8, 49:7-9.

All the promises to the Church of old, of the Messiah as a future Savior, from the declaration made to our first parents in paradise, to the last prediction concerning Him delivered by the Prophet Malachi, demonstrate the impossibility that Christ, the foundation which God has laid, should fail. These promises were often renewed with great solemnity, and confirmed by the oath of God, as in Genesis 22:16-18. And in Psalm 89:3,4, it is said, ‘I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn unto David My servant, thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations.’ Nothing is more abundantly set forth in Scripture as sure and irreversible than this promise and oath to David. The Scriptures expressly speak of it as utterly impossible that the everlasting dominion of the Messiah should fail. ‘In those days, and at that time, I will cause the Branch of Righteousness to grow up unto David, for thus saith the Lord, David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Jacob.’ ‘If ye can break My covenant of the day, and My covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; then may also My covenant be broken with David My servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne,’ Jeremiah 33:15-21. David securely rested on this covenant concerning the future glorious work and kingdom of the Messiah, as all his salvation, and all his desire, and comforted himself that it was an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure.

As being that foundation laid by Himself, which therefore could not fail, God proceeded to save sinners in virtue of the work of the Messiah before He appeared, as if it had been already accomplished. On this stone and rock the saints of old rested, and built their comfort. Abraham saw Christ’s day and rejoiced, and all the others died in the faith of His advent.

What a view does this give of the faithfulness of God, and the truth of the Scriptures; and what an inducement to rely securely upon the Rock of Ages! Its solidity is assured to us by Him whose voice shakes the heavens and the earth — by the revelation of the eternal purpose of God, which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, Ephesians 3:11. Rock of offense. — While the Messiah was indeed the sure foundation which God had laid, He was, notwithstanding, as it was written, rejected by the great body of the Jewish nation. Had they understood the language of their own Scriptures, they would have seen that, instead of receiving their Messiah when He came, the Prophets had declared that they would stumble at the lowliness of His appearance, and generally reject His claims. And whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed. — But they did not all reject Him. Some of them, referred to in verse 24th, who were called of God, acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, sent of God, and were comforted and saved by Him. They were not ashamed to own Him before the unbelieving part of their brethren, and they shall not be put to shame before Him at His second coming. It might be supposed that the followers of the Messiah would be honored in every country; on the contrary, they are hated and held in contempt. But when all other refuges fail, when Christ comes to judge the world, they shall not be ashamed.

A free salvation becomes an offense to men on account of their pride.

They cannot bear the idea of being indebted for it to sovereign grace, which implies that in themselves they are guilty and ruined by sin. They desire to do something, were it ever so little, to merit salvation, at least in part.

Salvation by a crucified Savior was in one way opposed to the pride of the Jews, and in another to that of the Greeks. The Jews expected a mighty conqueror, who should deliver them from a foreign yoke, and render them so powerful as to triumph over all the other nations of the earth; and in order to reconcile with these ideas what the Scriptures said of His humiliation, some among them supposed that there would be two Messiahs. The Greeks expected, in a revelation from heaven, something accordant with the systems of their vain philosophy, which might exalt their false notions of the dignity of man, and enlarge their boasted powers of understanding. All the unconverted reason in the same way. Those among them who call themselves Christians suppose that, not being perfect, they have need of Christ as a Savior to compensate for their deficiencies, and to give weight to their good works. They do not believe that they obey the law perfectly, but suppose that what is wanting will be supplied by Jesus Christ. Thus, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. The doctrine of the cross is, in one way or other, misunderstood by him, and Jesus Christ is a stone of stumbling.

Many, by their forced criticisms, have in various ways perverted the meaning of this chapter. Among their other misrepresentations, they affirm that the Apostle does not speak of individual election to eternal life, but of the national election of the Jews. On the contrary, it is evident that in regard to the Jews he refers to their national rejection. The rejection of the Jewish nation, excepting a small remnant, according to the election of grace, which is again plainly declared in the beginning of the eleventh chapter, is the important subject which the Apostle illustrates by the examples and predictions he refers to, and the reasonings with which he follows them up.

The fact of a remnant of Israel being reserved by God for Himself, while the great body of the nation was abandoned to merited punishment, demonstrates that the election here spoken of is individual and not national. The Prophets everywhere speak of this small remnant chosen by God to display His mercy and goodness. ‘I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid,’ Zephaniah 3:13.

There is nothing which more clearly manifests the natural opposition of the mind of man to the ways of God, than the rooted aversion naturally entertained to the obvious view of the doctrine of the sovereignty of God held forth in this ninth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans.

Self-righteous people, as is not to be wondered at, hold this doctrine in the utmost abhorrence; and many even of those, who are in some measure taught of God to value the great salvation, are reluctant to come to the serious study of this part of His word. Even when they are not able plausibly to pervert it, and when their conscience will not allow them directly to oppose it, with the Pharisees, they say that they do not know what to make of this chapter. But why are they at a loss on this subject?

What is the difficulty which they find here? If it be ‘hard to be understood,’ does this arise from anything but the innate aversion of the mind to its humbling truths? Can anything be more palpably obvious than the meaning of the Apostle? Is there any chapter in the Bible more plain in its grammatical meaning? It is not in this that they find a difficulty. Their great difficulty is, that it is too obvious in its import to be perverted. Their conscience will not allow them to do violence to its language, and their own wisdom will not suffer them to submit to its dictation. Here is the solution of their difficulties. But ought not believers to renounce their own wisdom, and look up to God, in the spirit of him who said, ‘Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth?’

Men may attempt to explain away the example referred to in this chapter, of God’s hardening Pharaoh’s heart. But still the truth remains, that for the very purpose of showing His power and proclaiming His name and sovereignty, God raised him up and hardened his heart. Many will not receive this, and resort to every means they can devise to neutralize or controvert it; but God has testified it, and the Apostle illustrates it by a striking figure. God makes one vessel to honor, and another to dishonor, with the same uncontrolled right as the potter has power over the clay, and out of the same lump he makes one vessel for the noblest purpose, and another for the basest uses. Where is sovereignty, if it is not here?

Could words express it if these words do not express it? Why, then, will men vainly struggle in so unequal a contest? Can they hope to succeed against God? If this doctrine be really declared in this chapter, of what avail will all their forced explanations be to deliver any of the enemies of God? ‘God is greater than man, why dost thou strive against Him? for He giveth not account of any of His matters.’ There are, however, too many, even of the disciples of Christ, who are disposed to explain away the sovereignty of God, and to give a view of our fall in Adam which considerably mitigates the extent of our ruin, and the magnitude of our guilt. The statements contained in this chapter are to such full of clouds and darkness. While they cannot altogether deny the truths it contains, they profess their inability to receive them in their plain and obvious meaning. ‘This doctrine of the sovereignty of God,’ says Dr. Thomson, ‘we believe to be one of the greatest stumbling-blocks in the Gospel to the advocates of universal redemption. They lay down a scheme of Divine love which they have framed only in part from the materials furnished by the Bible, and have otherwise fashioned according to the dictates of their own wisdom, and the sensibilities of their own hearts. And as it is inconsistent with this, so they cannot endure to consider the Supreme Being as communicating His benefits to men, or withholding them, according to the pleasure and counsel of His own will. God has said, ‘I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion, and whom I will I harden.’ But they have settled in their own minds that God must have compassion and mercy upon all, and that He must harden none. And in rebuke of this arrogance, we have only to say, Nay but, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast Thou made me thus?’

The doctrine of the sovereignty of God is derogatory to the pride of man; it lays all his high notions of independence in the dust, and reduces him, when acknowledged, to a sense of his utter helplessness and misery.

Happy, nevertheless, are they who have learned this lesson, for it is one which flesh and blood cannot teach, but only our Father which is in heaven. In the light of this chapter these see themselves as lying entirely in the hand of God, having nothing that distinguishes them from others, but His sovereign will and favor in their election. It is this view of their situation that brings down every high imagination, and levels to the dust every high thought. Here Divine sovereignty reigns in its most awful character; and nothing else, when it is fully acquiesced in, is so much calculated to tranquilize the mind of man, and to bring it into its proper position in relation to God. How many bitter reflections and how many vain regrets would be saved, were the Christian at all times habitually and practically to recognize the sovereignty of the Divine Disposer in all the events which happen in the world!

Whatever difficulties are found in the doctrine of the sovereignty of God, and in the truth that He ordains for His own glory whatever comes to pass, yet this, it is clear, is the doctrine of Scripture from beginning to end.

Every part of it represents God as ordering and directing all events; and without this, and were anything left to depend or be regulated by the will of His creatures, He would cease to be the supreme Ruler. Many things might occur which He greatly desired might never have taken place — an idea altogether incompatible with that which we are taught in His word to form of the almighty Ruler of the universe. If we lose sight of sovereignty, we lose sight of God.