Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Romans
Book: Romans
Chapter: 10
Overview:
The
Apostle's
Earnest desire for the
Salvation of the Jews.
(1-4) The difference between the
Righteousness of the
Law, and
the
Righteousness of
Faith.
(5-11) The
Gentiles stand
On a level
with the Jews, in
Justification and
Salvation.
(12-17) The Jews
might know this from Old
Testament prophecies.
(18-21)
1-4 The Jews built
On a false foundation, and refused to come
to
Christ for free
Salvation By Faith, and
Numbers in every
Age
do the same in various ways. The strictness of the
Law showed
men their need of
Salvation By Grace, through
Faith. And the
ceremonies shadowed forth
Christ as fulfilling the
Righteousness, and bearing the
Curse of the
Law.
So that even
under the
Law, all who were justified before
God, obtained that
blessing
By Faith, whereby they were made partakers of the
perfect
Righteousness of the promised
Redeemer. The
Law is not
destroyed, nor the intention of the Lawgiver disappointed; but
full satisfaction being made
By the
Death of
Christ for our
Breach of the
Law, the
End is gained. That is,
Christ has
fulfilled the whole
Law, therefore whoever believeth in him, is
counted just before
God, as much as though he had fulfilled the
whole
Law himself. Sinners never could go
On in vain fancies of
their own
Righteousness, if they knew the
Justice of God as a
Governor, or his
Righteousness as a
Saviour.
5-11 The self-condemned sinner need not perplex himself how
this
Righteousness may be found. When we speak of looking upon
Christ, and receiving, and feeding upon him, it is not
Christ in
Heaven, nor
Christ in the
Deep, that we mean; but
Christ in the
promise,
Christ offered in the
Word.
Justification By Faith in
Christ is a
Plain doctrine. It is brought before the mind and
Heart of every one, thus leaving him without excuse for
unbelief. If a
Man confessed
Faith in
Jesus, as the
Lord and
Saviour of lost sinners, and really believed in his
Heart that
God had raised him from the dead, thus showing that he had
accepted the
Atonement, he should be saved
By the
Righteousness
of
Christ, imputed to him through
Faith. But
No Faith is
justifying which is not powerful in sanctifying the
Heart, and
regulating all its affections
By the
Love of
Christ. We must
devote and give up to
God our souls and our bodies: our souls in
believing with the
Heart, and our bodies in confessing with the
mouth. The believer shall never have cause to repent his
confident trust in the
Lord Jesus. Of such
Faith No sinner shall
be ashamed before
God; and he ought to
Glory in it before men.
12-17 There is not one
God to the Jews, more kind, and another
to the
Gentiles, who is less kind; the
Lord is a
Father to all
men. The promise is the same to all, who
Call On the name of the
Lord Jesus as the
Son of God, as
God manifest in the
Flesh. All
believers thus
Call upon the
Lord Jesus, and none else will do
So humbly or sincerely. But how should any
Call On the
Lord
Jesus, the Divine
Saviour, who had not heard of him? And what is
the
Life of a
Christian but a
Life of
Prayer? It shows that we
feel our dependence
On him, and are ready to give up ourselves
to him, and have a believing expectation of our all from him. It
was necessary that the
Gospel should be preached to the
Gentiles. Somebody must show them what they are to believe. How
welcome the
Gospel ought to be to those to whom it was preached!
The
Gospel is given, not only to be known and believed, but to
be obeyed. It is not a system of notions, but a rule of
practice. The beginning, progress, and strength of
Faith is
By
hearing. But it is only hearing the
Word, as the
Word of God
that will strengthen
Faith.
18-21 Did not the Jews know that the
Gentiles were to be called
in? They might have known it from
Moses and
Isaiah.
Isaiah
speaks plainly of the
Grace and favour of
God, as going before
in the receiving of the
Gentiles. Was not this our own case? Did
not
God begin in
Love, and make himself known to us when we did
not ask after him? The patience of
God towards provoking sinners
is wonderful. The time of
God's patience is called a
Day,
Light
as
Day, and fit for work and business; but limited as a
Day, and
there is a night at the
End of it.
God's patience makes
Man's
disobedience worse, and renders that the more sinful. We may
wonder at the
Mercy of
God, that his
Goodness is not overcome
By
Man's badness; we may wonder at the wickedness of
Man, that his
badness is not overcome
By God's
Goodness. And it is a matter of
joy to think that
God has sent the message of
Grace to
So many
millions,
By the wide spread of his
Gospel.