Ver. 8. Your faith is spoken of] See Romans 16:26, and Juvenal, Tacitus, and other profane writers, who bitterly exagitate the doctrines and practices of those Roman Christians. Now that must needs be good that such men speak evil of: and as Jerome writeth to Austin, Quod signum maioris gloriae est, Omnes haeretici me detestantur: the heretics hate me; and that is no small grace to me.

Ver. 9. Whom I serve in my spirit] That is, with all the faculties of my soul concentred and co-united.

Ver. 10. I might have a prosperous journey] This he prayed, and this he had by such a way as he little dreamed of. Little thought Paul, that when he was bound at Jerusalem, and posted from one prison to another, that God was now sending him to Rome; yet he sent him, and very safe with a great convoy. God goes often another way to work for our good than we could imagine.

Ver. 11. That I may impart] There is no envy in spiritual things, because they may be divided in solidum; one may have as much as another, and all alike. Scientiarum (sic et gratiavum) ea vis est naturae et quo plus doceas, et alteri de tuo largiare, eo ditior ac doctior fias, saith Bodina. Such is the nature and property of sciences and graces, that the more you communicate them, the more you increase them.

Ver. 12. That I may be comforted] Or, exhorted, Ad communem exhortationem percipiendam, saith Beza out of Bucer, and others. The meanest of Christ’s members may contribute somewhat to the edifying even of an apostle, 2 John 12. That favourite of Christ would be furthered and quickened by the graces of a woman. Now when such grandees in grace have benefit by communion of saints, how much more may they whose measures are less! The very angels know not so much but they would know more, Ephesians 3:10 1Pe 1:12.

Ver. 13. But was let hitherto] Either by Satan, 1 Thessalonians 2:18; or by the Holy Spirit otherwise disposing of him, as Acts 19:6,7; or by some intervenient but important occasion, as Romans 15:20,21.

Ver. 14. I am debtor] Because intrusted with talents for that purpose, 1 Corinthians 9:16. [See Trapp on “1Co 9:16”] It might more truly be said of Paul than it was of Cato, that he did— toti natum se credere mundo, believe himself born for a common good (Lucan); or, than it was said to Bucer by his physicians, Non sibi se, sed multorun utilitati esse natum, that he was born for the benefit of many. (Melch. Adam.)

Ver. 15. So as much] Quicquid in me situm est, promptum est. A notable expression.

Ver. 16. For I am not ashamed] As men are apt to be; whence that fatherly charge, 2 Timothy 1:8. Do ye think (said John Frith, martyr, to the archbishop’s men that would have let him go) that I am afraid to declare mine opinion unto the bishops of England in a manifest truth? If you should both leave me here, and go tell the bishops that you had lost Frith, I would surely follow as fast after as I might, and bring them news that I had found and brought Frith again. For it is the power, &c.] Eternal life is potentially in the word preached, as the harvest is potentially in the seed.

Ver. 17. The just shall live by faith] Habakkuk 2:4, that is, they shall enjoy themselves by their faith, in greatest disasters or dangers, when others are at their wits’ ends. That is the prophet’s sense; and the apostle not unfitly applieth it to prove justification by faith alone, for if a man live by faith he is just by faith.

Ver. 18. Who hold the truth] Hold the light of their conscience (which is as a prophet from God) prisoner. The natural man, that he may sin the more securely, imprisons the truth which he acknowled geth, and lays hold on all the principles in his head that might any way disturb his course in sin, locking them up in restraint. Hence it appears that no man is righteous in himself, or by his own righteousness, which was the το κρινομενον. Those of the p hilosophers that knew most, as Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, &c., are belied if they were not vicious in their practice, et de virtute locuti, Clunem agitant. (Juvenal.) Plato had the knowledge of one God; but dared not say so publicly. It is neither easy (saith he) to find out the Creator of all, nor safe to communicate the knowledge of him to the common people. So Seneca wrote a book (now lost) against superstitions; but saith Austin, Libertas affuit scribenti, non viventi: colebat quod reprehendebat, agebat quod arguebat, quod culpabat adorabat: He lived not after his own writings, but worshipped what he reproved; he did what he decried, he bowed before that he blamed; saying (as Domitius Calderinus when he went to mass) Eamus ad eommunem errorem, Let us go to that which we cannot but condemn for a common error. (Bucholcer.)

Ver. 19. Because that which may] Heathens might know God the Creator, per species creaturarum (as they speak), either in way of negation, or causality, or eminence: not so God tile Redeemer.

Ver. 20. Are clearly seen] Pervidentur. As in a mirror, or as on a theatre. Ut solem in aquis, sic Deum in operibus contemplamur. God (saith one) is best seen in his works, as the sun in the west. Saeculum est speculum, quo Deum intueamur.

Ver. 21. Neither were thankful] How then shall we answer to God our hateful unthankfulness, which is (saith one) “a monster in nature, a solecism in manners, a paradox in divinity, a parching wind to dam up the fountain of divine favours.” Woe be to our Solifugae that abuse gospel light; these put not light “under a bushel” (as the poor Paynims did) but under a dunghill; Gravis est lux conscientiae, Heavy is the light of conscience, saith Seneca; but heavier is the light of the gospel, gravior est lux Evangelii, say we. A heavy account will they give that abuse the light of nature; but much heavier they that “receive the grace of God in vain.” But became vain in their imaginations] Gr. διαλογισμοις, in their reasonings, disputations, discourses u pon serious deliberation. They stood not to their own principles (as, that there is one God only, that this God is to be worshipped, &c.), but were atheists by night that worshipped the sun, and atheists by day that worshipped the moon, as Cyril saith wittily.

Ver. 22. Professing themselves to be wise] Aristotle, nature’s chief secretary, writeth many things most absurdly concerning God; as, that he is a living creature, that he worketh not freely, but by a kind of servile necessity; and that therefore he deserveth no praise or thanks from men for his many benefits, since he doth but what he must needs do. These are Aristotle’s absurd assertions. And yet at Stuckard in Germany was found a doctor of divinity that preached to the people, that the Church might be sufficiently well taught and governed by Aristotle’s ethics, though we had no Bible. And the Collen divines set forth a book, concerning Aristotle’s salvation, and called him Christ’s forerunner in naturals, as John Baptist had been in supernaturals. But what saith St Paul, 1 Corinthians 2:14 “The natural man receiveth not,” &c. Gr. ψυχικος, the souly man, that doth excolere animam, improve of the mind, such as Aristotle, Cicero, &c., who the wiser they were, the vainer they were, and the further from God and his kingdom; their learning hung in their light, and served but to light them into utter darkness. Quanto doctiores tanto nequiores, ut Syri venales apud Ciceronem. Athenaeus brings Plato bewailing his fond love to a filthy harlot.

Ver. 23. Made like to corruptible man] God made man in his own image; and man (to be even with him, as it were) will needs make God after his image. And four-footed beasts] God therefore justly gave them up to sodomy, which did abase them below the beasts; that there might be an analogy between the sin and the punishment. This is called a “meet recompence,” Romans 1:27. They dishonoured God, they dishonoured therefore themselves. They would not know nor honour him, they shall not therefore know nor spare one another, &c.; so severely will God punish the contempt of and rebellion against the light. And creeping things] In Lapland the people worship that all day for a god, whatsoever they see first in the morning, be it a bird or worm.

Ver. 24. Gave them up to uncleanness] Aristotle confesseth the disability of moral knowledge to rectify the intemperance of nature; and made it good in his practice; for he used a common strumpet to satisfy his lust. Socrates is said to have had his catamite inter Socraticos, &c. (Juvenal.) A boy kept for unnatural purposes. ŒD

Ver. 25. Who changed] They tare out their natural principles and turned atheists, as Diagoras, who yet was an atheist more with his tongue than with his heart; for having cried down a deity in a famous oration, he yet suffered himself to be deified by the people for his eloquence. Qua ornari ab eo Diabolus quaerebat, as Austin writeth to a learned but lewd person of his times. See my Common Place of Atheism. Epicurus verbis reliquit Deos re sustulit, saith Cicero (De Nat. Deor.).

Ver. 26. Into that which is against nature] So against nature, that children (natures end) and posterity is utterly lost by it. Paul seems to point here at Messalina (that shame of her sex), the wife of Claudius the emperor.

Ver. 27. Leaving the natural] As at this day in the Levant, sodomy is held no sin. The Turkish pashas have many wives, but more catamites, which are their serious loves. (Blount’s Voyage.) Burned in their lust] Gr. εξεκαυσθησαν, “were scalded. ” Some men put off all manhood, become dogs, worse than dogs. Hence Deuteronomy 23:18 “The price of a dog,” that is, of a sodomite, as Junius and Deodatus expound it. A boy kept for unnatural purposes. ŒD

Ver. 28. To a reprobate mind] Or, an injudicious mind; or, a mind rejected, disallowed, abhorred of God; or a mind that none hath cause to glory in, but rather to be much ashamed of.

Ver. 29. With all unrighteousness] The mother of all the ensuing misrule. Wickedness] The Syrian saith, “bitterness.” See Jeremiah 2:19. The word πονηρια may be rendered troublesomeness, as the devil is called ο πονηρος, the troublesome one, the molester of God’s people; restless in himself and disquieting others. Envy, murder] Three such alliterations are found in this black beadroll. The apostle seems delighted with them, as was likewise the prophet Isaiah. Of which noble two, I may well say as one doth of Demosthenes and Cicero, Demosthenes Ciceroni praeripuit ne esset primus orator, Cicero Demostheni, ne solus. Malignity] Or, morosity, crossness, ill conditions; or an evil disposition, that taketh everything the worst way; whereas a better disposition would make a better exposition, and take things by the right handle. Whisperers] These are worse than backbiters, because they work underground, like as the wind that creeps in the chinks and crevices in a wall, or the cracks in a window, prove commonly more dangerous than a storm that meets a man in the face upon the champaign. A vento percolato, et ab inimico reconciliato libera nos. πορνεια, πονηρια. φθονου, φονου. ασυνετους, ασυνθετους. κακοηθεια, κακια. A list of persons to be specially prayed for ŒD

Ver. 30. Haters of God] And so God-murderers, 1 John 3:15. [See Trapp on “1Jo 3:15”]

Ver. 31. Implacable] That will not hear of a truce, much less of a peace. Nihil se libentius facere dictitabat Caesar, quam supplicibus ignoscere. (Caesar. Comment.) And surely, as any one is more manly, he is more merciful, as David, 2 Samuel 1:12. And, on the contrary, the basest natures are most vindictive; neither will they ever be heartily reconciled. Their reconciliations are vulpinae amicitiae, fox-like friendships.

Ver. 32. Have pleasure] Or they patronize, applaud, and approve, συνευδοκουσι this is set last, as worst of all; it comprehends all kinds of consent. (Theop.) To hold the bag is as bad as to fill it. The law of God requires not only our observation but our preservation, to caus e others to keep it, as well as ourselves; and to rebuke, at least by a cast of our countenance (as God doth, Psalms 80:16), those that violate it. There is little difference, faveasne sceleri, an illud facias, whether thou commit sin or consent to it.

---

← Acts 28 · Contents · Romans 2 →