Romans 1:16-17 - For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ,....

Today's is rather a long post, mostly of John Gill's commentary.

I started out just reviewing my memorization of these two key verses in Romans.

It struck me I should really study what is Old John Gill's interpretation of Paul's and the Holy Spirit's teaching herein. I wish Blogger would have pasted in my highlights, but you do get to see some of my underlines.

I parsed Gill so the impact of his comments is more easily read.

Note in the verse and commentary it is not just any gospel, but the true gospel of Christ, that Paul is not ashamed of.

In other scripture verses we read:

2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive anotherspirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

Gal 1:6  I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

Gal 1:7  Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

It's amazing how Gill's opening comment applies so much to today's preaching.....

Read below, I highlighted in italics.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

Rom 1:16  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.

Rom 1:17  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed

from faith to faith:

as it is written,

The just shall live by faith.

Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ,.... 

The reason why he was so ready and willing to preach it, even where he ran the greatest risk of his character and life, was, because it was "the Gospel of Christ" he preached, and he was not ashamed of it. 

This supposes that some were, though the apostle was not, ashamed of the Gospel; 

as all such are who hide and conceal it, 

who have abilities to preach it, and do not: 

or who preach, but not the Gospel; 

or who preach the Gospel only in part, 

who own that in private, they will not preach in public, and use ambiguous words, of doubtful signification, to cover themselves; 

who blend the Gospel with their own inventions, 

seek to please men, and live upon popular applause, regard their own interest, and not Christ's, and cannot bear the reproach of his Gospel. 

It expresses, that the apostle was not ashamed of it; that is, to preach it, which he did fully and faithfully, plainly and consistently, openly and publicly, and boldly, in the face of all opposition: 

and it designs more than is expressed, as that he had the utmost value for it, and esteemed it his highest honour that he was employed in preaching it: his reasons for this were, because it was "the Gospel of Christ"; which Christ himself preached, which he had learnt by revelation from him, and of which he was the sum and substance: and because

it is the power of God; not essentially, but declaratively; 

as the power of God is seen in making men ministers of it, 

in the doctrines held forth in it, 

in the manner in which it was spread in the world, 

in the opposition it met with, 

in the continuance and increase of it notwithstanding the power and cunning of men, 

and in the shortness of time, in which so much good was done by it in the several parts of the world: 

it is the power of God organically or instrumentally; as it is a means made use of by God in quickening dead sinners, enlightening blind eyes, unstopping deaf ears, softening hard hearts, and making of enemies friends; to which add, the manner in which all this is done, suddenly, secretly, effectually, and by love, and not force: the extent of this power is,

unto salvation; the Gospel is a declaration and revelation of salvation by Christ, and is a means of directing and encouraging souls to lay hold upon it. The persons to whom it is so, are in general,

everyone that believeth: this does not suppose that faith gives the Gospel its virtue and efficacy; but is only descriptive of the persons to whom the Gospel, attended with the power and grace of God, is eventually efficacious: and particularly it was so,

to the Jew first; who as they had formerly the advantage of the Gentiles, much every way, through the peculiar privileges which were conferred on them; so the Gospel was first preached to them by Christ and his disciples; and even when it was ordered to be carried into the Gentile world, it was to begin with them, and became effectual for the salvation of many of them:

and also to the Greek; to the Gentile; for after the Jews had rejected it, as many being called by it as Jehovah thought fit, at that time, it was preached to the Gentiles with great success; which was the mystery hid from ages and generations past, but now made manifest.

Romans 1:17

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed,.... By "the righteousness of God", is not meant the essential righteousness of God, 

the rectitude of his nature, his righteousness in fulfilling his promises, and his punitive justice, which though revealed in the Gospel, yet not peculiar to it; 

nor the righteousness by which Christ himself is righteous, either as God, or as Mediator; 

but that righteousness which he wrought out by obeying the precepts, and bearing the penalty of the law in the room of his people, and by which they are justified in the sight of God: 

and this is called "the righteousness of God", in opposition to the righteousness of men: 

and because it justifies men in the sight of God; and because of the concern which Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit, have in it. 

Jehovah the Father sent his Son to work it out, and being wrought out, he approves and accepts of it, and imputes it to his elect: 

Jehovah the Son is the author of it by his obedience and death; and Jehovah the Spirit discovers it to sinners, works faith in them to lay hold upon it, and pronounces the sentence of justification by it in their consciences. 

Now this is said to be "revealed" in the Gospel, that is, it is taught in the Gospel; 

that is the word of righteousness, the ministration of it; it is manifested in and by the Gospel. 

This righteousness is not known by the light of nature, nor by the law of Moses; 

it was hid under the shadows of the ceremonial law, and is brought to light only by the Gospel; it is hid from every natural man, even from the most wise and prudent, and from God's elect themselves before conversion, and is only made known to believers, to whom it is revealed:

from faith to faith; that is, as say some, from the faith of God to the faith of men; from the faith of preachers to the faith of hearers; from the faith of the Old to the faith of the New Testament saints; 

or rather from one degree of faith to another; for faith, as it grows and increases, has clearer sights of this righteousness, as held forth in the Gospel. 

For the proof of this, a passage of Scripture is cited,

as it is written, Hab 2:4;

"Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith."  Habakkuk 2:4

the just shall live by faith: "a just", or righteous man is, 

not everyone who thinks himself, 

or is thought by others to be so; 

nor are any so by their obedience to the law of works;

but he is one that is made righteous by the righteousness of Christ imputed to him, which is before said to be revealed in the Gospel.

The life which this man lives, and "shall live", 

does not design a natural or corporeal life, and a continuance of that, for such die a natural death, as other men; 

nor an eternal life, for though they shall so live, yet not by faith; 

but a spiritual life, a life of justification on Christ, of holiness from him, of communion with him, and of peace and joy; which spiritual life shall be continued, and never be lost.

The manner in which the just lives, is "by faith". 

In the prophet Habakkuk, the words are, "the just shall live" באמונתו, "by his faith" Hab 2:4); which the Septuagint render, "by my faith": and the apostle only reads, "by faith", omitting the affix, as well known, and easy to be supplied: for faith, when given by God, and exercised by the believer, is his own, and by it he lives; not upon it, but by it upon Christ the object of it; from whom, in a way of believing, he derives his spiritual life, and all the comforts of it.

Habakkuk 2:4

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him,.... This and the following clause describe two sorts of persons differently affected to the Messiah, and the promise of his coming. 

Here it points at such as were "incredulous", as the Vulgate Latin version renders it; that disbelieved his coming, and mocked and scoffed at the promise of it; as well as those that did not believe in him when he came, though he had all the characteristics of the Messiah; and damnation was the certain consequence of their unbelief. The proud and haughty Scribes and Pharisees are here plainly described, whose minds were elated with themselves; whose hearts were like bubbles, blown up, full of wind; whose souls swelled with pride and vanity, and a high conceit of themselves; of their merit and worth; of their holiness and works of righteousness; and treated those they thought below them in these things with the utmost disdain and contempt; and trusted in themselves, and to their own righteousness, to the great neglect of the true Messiah and his righteousness (g). 

The word for "lifted up" has in it the signification of a hill, mountain, fortress, or tower; see Isa 32:14 as Aben Ezra observes. So R. Moses Kimchi interprets the passage,

"he whose soul is not right in him places himself in a fortress or tower, to set himself on high there from the enemy, and does not return to God, nor seek deliverance of him; but the righteous has no need to place himself on high in a fortress, for he shall live by his faith.''

Ophel was part of the hill of Zion, on which the temple was built; and Cocceius thinks there is a reference in the words to Mount Moriah, on which the temple stood: and in this sense the words aptly agree with the pharisaical Jews, who boasted of their temple, and gloried in it, and trusted in the service and sacrifices of it; and betook themselves to the observance of rites and ceremonies, and the traditions of their elders, and to their moral works of righteousness, for their justification and salvation, as their tower of safety, and place of defence; 

neglecting the Messiah, the Rock of salvation, the Rock of Israel, the munition of rocks, the strong hold and tower, where only safety and salvation are. The apostle, following the Greek version, renders the word in Heb 10:38, "if any man draw back", &c. 

and De Dieu (h) observes, that the word in the Arabic language signifies to neglect or withdraw the mind from a person or thing; and may be fitly applied to the same persons who neglected Christ, and the great salvation by him; hid their faces from him; would not look at him, nor converse with him, nor attend his ministry, nor suffer others to do it; they withdrew from his apostles and ministers, and the Christian churches, and persecuted them both in Judea and in the Gentile world; 

and many of the Jews that did make a profession, and joined themselves to Christian churches, after a time separated from them; being sensual, and not having the Spirit, went out from among them, not being truly of them, and forsook the assembling of themselves together with them; and to these the apostle applies the words in the aforementioned place. 

Now of every such person it may be said, "his soul is not upright in him"; either "in himself", as the Vulgate Latin version, and so Kimchi; 

he is not a just man, not truly upright and righteous, though he may think he is, and may be thought so by others; 

yet he is not in the sight of God; 

his heart is not sincere; he has not the truth of grace in him; a right spirit is not created and renewed in him; he never was convinced by the Spirit of God of sin and righteousness, 

or he would not be thus elated with himself: 

his soul is not upright towards God; he seeks himself, and his own applause, in all he does, and not the honour and glory of God, and the magnifying of his grace and goodness; 

he has no right notions of the righteousness of God, and of his holy law; nor of Christ, his person, and offices; nor indeed of himself. Or "his soul is not right in him" (i); that is, in Christ, who was to come, nor when he was come; that is, he is not rightly, sincerely, and heartily affected to him; he has no true knowledge of him, real desire unto him, hearty affection for him, 

or faith in him, or regard unto him, his Gospel and his ordinances; all which was most clearly true of the carnal Jews, and is of all self-righteous persons. 

The apostle, in Heb 10:38 seems to understand it of the soul of God, that that, or he, was not affected to, and pleased with, persons of such a character and complexion; see Luk 14:11.

But the just shall live by faith; the "just" man is the reverse of the former; 

he is one that believed in the coming of Christ, 

and believed in him when come; 

who has no overweening opinion of himself, and of his own righteousness; 

nor does he trust in it for his justification before God, and acceptance with him; 

but in the righteousness of Christ imputed to him, 

from whence he is denominated a just man: and such an one "shall live", 

not merely a corporeal life, for righteous men die as well as others; 

nor an eternal life, though such shall live this life, and have it now in some sense, for this life is enjoyed not by faith, but by sight; 

but a spiritual life, begun in regeneration, and maintained by the Spirit and grace of God; 

such live a life of justification on Christ, of sanctification from him, and of communion with him; 

they live cheerfully, comfortably, and delightfully, a life of peace, joy, and comfort; 

which is greatly the sense of the word here, as in Psa 22:26 and this is "by his faith"; 

his own faith, and not another's; which though for its kind is the same in all, alike precious faith, yet as to its actings is peculiar to one, and is not another's: 

or by the faith of God; that is, by that faith which is the gift of God, and of his operation, and has him for its object; such live by faith upon a promising God, and so live comfortably: 

or by the faith of Christ, promised to come in the preceding verse Hab 2:3; 

by that faith, of which he is the object, author, and finisher: 

just men live not upon their faith, but by it on Christ, as crucified for them, as the bread of life, and as the Lord their righteousness; and so have joy and peace in believing. 

There is a different accentuation of this clause. Some put the stop after "just", and read the words, "the just, by his faith shall live"; that is, he who is a just man, in an evangelical sense, he shall live by his faith, in the sense before explained; not that he is a just man that lives righteously and unblamably before men; but who lives a life of faith on Christ, and whose hope of eternal life is not founded upon his holy life and conversation, but upon the righteousness of Christ, which he by faith lives upon; for neither eternal life, nor the hope of it, are to be ascribed to faith in itself, but to the object of it. 

But the most correct Hebrew copies unite, by the accent "merca", the words "by his faith", to the "just man"; and so they are to be read, "the just by his faith, he shall live"; 

that is, the man who is just, not by the works of the law, but by faith in the righteousness of Christ, or through the righteousness of Christ received by faith; for it is not faith itself, or the act of believing, that is a man's justifying righteousness, or is imputed to him for righteousness, or denominates him righteous, but the righteousness of Christ he lays hold on by faith; and such a man shall live both spiritually and eternally. 

And this manner of accenting the words is approved of by Wasmuth (k), and by Reinbeck(l). Burkius, a late annotator thinks, it might be safest to repeat the word that is controverted, and read it thus, "the just in" or "by his faith": "in" or "by his faith he shall live"; which takes in both senses, and either of which rightly explained may be admitted. 

Junius, with whom Van Till agrees, is of opinion that respect is had to the example of Abraham, of whom we read Gen 15:6 and "he believed in the Lord", and "he counted it to him for righteousness"; not his faith, but the object of it, or what he believed, the promised seed. And so the ancient Jews compare this faith with Abraham's; for, mentioning the text in Gen 15:6, say they (m),

"this is the faith by which the Israelites inherit, of which the Scripture says, "and the just by his faith shall live".''

And they have also a saying (n), that the law, and all the precepts of it, delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai, are reduced by Habakkuk to one, namely this,

"the just by his faith shall live"; 

which is true, if rightly understood; for the righteousness of Christ, the just man becomes so by, and which by faith he lives upon, is answerable to the whole law. 

The apostle produces this passage three times to prove that the righteousness of Christ revealed in the Gospel is to faith; that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God; that the just man shall live, and not die; shall not draw back to perdition, but believe to the saving of the soul, Rom 1:17 which shows that it belongs to Gospel times and things. The Targum of the whole is,

"behold, the wicked say all these things "shall not be", but the righteous shall remain in their truth.''

Kimchi interprets the former part of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar his son; and the latter part of the Israelites carried into captivity with Zedekiah; but very wrongly.

(g) So Kimchi and Ben Melech observe the word has the signification of haughtiness of heart, and of pride; and Jarchi of impudence; and the Arabic word "muthaphilin", in Schindler, is rendered "despisers". (h) So according to Castel is "neglixit", Act. vi. 1. "substraxit se", Judg. xx. 36. and so it is used in the Alcoran, Surat. Joseph. ver. 13. and in the Arabic version of Psal. xxviii. 1. Matt. xxiii. 23. Heb. xii. 5. (i) לא ישרה נפשו בו "non recta (est) anima ejus in eo", Montanus, Calvin, Drusius, Burkius. (k) Vindiciae Hebr. par. 2. c. p. 322. (l) De Accent. Hebr. p. 488, 489. So Boston. Tract. Stigmologic. p. 33, 34.(m) Shemot Rabba, sect. 23. fol. 107. 3. (n) T. Bab. Maccot, fol. 24. 1.