Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God to salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first… By affirming this the apostle lays down the fundamental doctrine which he intends to establish against the legalistic pretensions of the Jews. Here are no less than five cardinal terms, keywords, which suggest a five-fold antithesis between Christianity and Judaism. The gospel is — I. "THE POWER of God" — a hint as to the weakness of the law in reference to salvation. This contrast is brought out fully and clearly in chap. Romans 8:2-4, God Himself is powerless to save anyone righteously except through the gracious provisions of the gospel of His Son, whom He accordingly "set forth to be a propitiation," etc. (Romans 3:25). II. "The power of GOD." He who wins souls in the presentation of the gospel is wielding a power not human, but Divine; and the resulting justification before God is based, not on the righteousness of man, but "the righteousness of God." Here we have another antithesis of the apostle's great theme, which is fully presented in Romans 10:3 and Philippians 3:7-9. The Jews, "being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God." It is only on the ground of merit that law can justify. If, then, a man could merit his acceptance with God, his justification would not be due to the gracious "power of God," but would rest upon his own inherent goodness. III. The "power of God UNTO SALVATION." This the law could not accomplish in that it was weak through the flesh, But as regards the very opposite result, condemnation and death, it has, indeed, tremendous power (Romans 7:9, 10; 2 Corinthians 3:6, 7). Thus the only hope for man is to pass from under a legal system, which can only justify the sinless, to a dispensation of grace which is clothed with Divine power to "justify the ungodly." IV. "The power of God unto salvation to EVERYONE who believes." But the Jew, supposing that he had kept the law sufficiently to stand before God in the strength of his own righteousness, very naturally limited the favour of God to legalistic worshippers, and looked upon all others as inevitably doomed to death without mercy. Now the argument of the Epistle, in dispelling this double delusion, enables us to discern the broad contrast between the universality of grace and the exclusiveness of legalism (Romans 3:21-23). We are again and again reminded that this blessedness cometh not upon the circumcision only, but upon the uncircumcision also; that "the same God over all is rich unto all who call upon Him," and that, consequently, "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." V. "The power of God unto salvation to everyone who BELIEVES." The contrast between the gospel and the law is the significant antithesis of faith and works so extensively developed in this Epistle. The dictum of the law is, "Do this and thou shalt live." The maxim of the gospel is, "The just shall live by faith." Doing is the ground of legal justification. Believing is the condition of gracious justification. The radical opposition between these, together with the inapplicability of the former to man as a sinful being, undergoes thorough discussion, especially in chaps. 3 and 4. (Prof. I. B. Grubbs.) Parallel Verses KJV: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. |
    |