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THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE

ROMANS.

I. 1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

Paul; once a persecutor, now a faithful servant of Jesus Christ;. called, by his immediate voice from heaven, to be an Apostle; set apart, both in the eternal counsel of God and by his special command and appointment, to preach unto the Gentiles the Gospel of God, which is the glad tidings of salvation;

I. 2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)

(Which Gospel is not of any new device or creation, but is the same, which hath been anciently promised aforetimes by the prophets, which have been since the world began, and consigned by them in the sacred monuments of Holy Scripture ;)

I. 3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;

Concerning his Only and Eternal Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who, taking upon him our nature, was miraculously conceived by the Holy Ghost and took flesh of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was of the seed of David and derived from him according to the flesh; I. 4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of Holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: And mightily declared and proved to be the Son of God, by that omnipotent power, which he shewed in raising himself from the dead; which power of his, is confirmed and sealed unto the hearts of all his faithful, by the Holy Spirit of God:

I. 5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:

By whose mere grace and mercy we have received this honour, and immediate calling to our Apostleship; that we should carry this blessed message of the Gospel for him to all nations, to the end that they might yield the obedience of their faith unto it and be holily conformed thereunto:

I. 6 Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ.

Among which nations, ye, Romans, especially, are partakers of Jesus Christ, by your effectual calling, which he hath wrought in you.

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I. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you ways in my prayers.

For God is my witness, whom I do sincerely serve, in this holy labour of preaching the Gospel of his Son Christ, that I do not fail, upon all occasions, to make mention of you in my prayers.

I. 11, 12 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; That is, that

I may be comforted together with you, by the mutual faith both of you and me.

For I long to see you; that I may personally impart unto you some holy and divine counsel, to the end ye may be established and confirmed in the faith, which ye have received; Although, not only to give comfort unto you, but to receive comfort from you also, by the present interview of our mutual faith; which shall administer much cause of joy, both to you and me.

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I. 13 That I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. That I might reap some spiritual fruit among you, as I have done among other Gentiles; in seeing the happy success of my preaching the Gospel to you, and glorifying God the more in your full conversion and salvation.

I. 14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.

Neither are ye beholden to me for this desire, as if it were an arbitrary favour: it is a duty, that I owe to all nations, both learned and unlearned, both wise and simple, to preach unto them the Gospel of Peace.

I. 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.

For, howsoever ye Romans carry the reputation of great, and learned, and wise; and, contrarily, the Gospel hath no shew but of simplicity: yet I am not ashamed to profess myself the publisher of this plain and homely doctrine of the Gospel; neither, indeed, need I, for how mean soever it seems to carnal eyes, yet it is the mighty and powerful means, whereby God works the salvation of every believer, whether Jew (for unto Jews it was first to be preached) or Gentile.

I. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

For that gracious acceptation of God, whereby he accounteth us as righteous in his sight, through the merits of his Son, is revealed to us, in and by this Gospel of his; and the sense and assurance thereof groweth in us according to the increase of our faith: which faith of ours gives us a spiritual life in him; according to that of the prophet Habakkuk, The just shall and doth ever live by his faith,

I. 18, 19 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

Neither is there any other way of Justification or Life, but by this Faith for, as for the works of men, they are altogether sinful, and such as lie open to the judgments of God; since, both by his word and by sensible experience, the wrath of God is declared and denounced against that universal ungodliness and unrighteousness, which is in men; who suppress the light of that law of

God, which is written in nature itself; and, though they cannot but know what they ought to do and leave undone, yet they smother this truth in themselves and give way to their own wickedness in which case, it is not for man to plead ignorance; for God hath, in the very principles of nature, engrafted in man's heart a certain knowledge, both that he is, and that he is just and holy and powerful; and hath thereby plainly convinced man of these general truths concerning himself.

I. 20, 21 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became cain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

For those blessed attributes of God, which are not to be discerned by the sense of man, namely his Eternal Power, his Infinite Goodness, Wisdom, Justice, Mercy, and the Truth of his Deity, are, ever since the world was created, so clearly seen and made known by the visible and mighty work of his creation and government of all things, as that those, which will not hereupon acknowledge them, are left without all excuse: Because that, when, by these means, they knew so much of God, as these natural principles would reach unto, they did not accordingly glorify God, after the proportion of that light, which they received; neither were thankful to him, who was the Author and Giver of all those good things they enjoyed, but gave way to their own vain imaginations and misconceits concerning him, and suffered their foolish hearts to be overwhelmed with the darkness of ignorance and error.

I. 22, 23 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

Professing themselves to be learned and wise in these worldly and natural things, they became very fools in respect of spiritual and heavenly matters; And, instead of those spiritual apprehensions which they should have had of the invisible God, and that glory which they should have ascribed to him as an Immortal and Infinite Spirit, they framed to themselves images of him, like to a corruptible and mortal man, or like to birds and fourfooted beasts and creeping things.

I. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

Wherefore, God, on the other side, in a just punishment of their gross idolatry, as plaguing one sin with another, gave them over to their own unclean lusts; wherewith they were transported into such unnatural beastliness, as that they dishonoured and abused their own bodies between themselves:

I. 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator,

Those, who, instead of acknowledging that truth which God revealed to them in his mighty and glorious works, worshipped him and conceived of him according to the lying fancies of their own brain, and served and bowed down to those base creatures, giving more adoration to them than to the Creator. See verse 24.

I. 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature :

For even their very women, whose sex might seem to import modesty, became so shameless, as that, leaving the natural use of fulfilling their lusts, they gave themselves over to that beastliness, which is against nature:

I. 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the` woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

And likewise also the men &c. men with men working those acts of filthiness, which nature itself abhorreth; and, through the just judgment of God, in this punishment of one sin with another, received such recompence of their idolatries and spiritual fornications, as they had well deserved.

I. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.

And, as they regarded not to acknowledge and set before their eyes that God, whom they did or might know; so God found it most just, to suffer them, being willingly blinded by their own lewd desires, to run so far into the mis-judgment of their minds, as to make no difference of actions, and to call good evil and evil good, and thereupon to fall into these foul and abominable enormities.

I. 32 Not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Not only do commit these sins themselves, but give countenance and encouragement to those that do them; and so become, more than actors, patrons and abettors of evil.

II. 1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

There are, I know, divers of you so far from being patrons of sin, that ye are ready to pass severe censures and judgments upon other men for those very sins, whereof themselves are secretly guilty; but, O man, whosoever thou art, that judgest another for any offence, know, that thou makest thyself utterly inexcu sable, and passest therein sentence against thyself: thine own mouth hath condemned thee, in the person of another.

II. 2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.

It is not a verbal profession of thine innocence, or any secret eva

sion of witty excuse, that can serve the turn: we know assuredly, whatsoever men may pretend, that the judgment of God is according to the truth of men's actions, and estates; and, therefore, that he will surely punish the doers of wickedness, what colour soever is set upon them and their condition.

II. 4, 5 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

Or, dost thou make an ill use of the rich mercy and patient longsuffering of God, as if he noted not, or regarded not, or would not punish thy misdoings; not considering that his forbearance, all this while, was for thy good, that hereupon thou mightest be moved to repentance? But thou, contrarily, takest occasion, by this means, to harden thyself so much more in thy sins, and becomest obstinately impenitent; and hereby dost aggravate thine own judgment, and addest every day something to that heap of God's wrath and vengeance, which is laid up for thee, and shall be fearfully executed upon thee in that day, which he hath set for the just revelation and infliction thereof.

II. 11 For there is no respect of persons with God.

For God regardeth not the person of any man, for these outward things; not accepting of any man the more, for his parentage, or country, or wealth, or honour; nor disrespecting any, on the contrary, for meanness of birth, or poverty, or personal infirmity.

II. 12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;

For as many as have sinned, without the knowledge of a written law, shall receive notwithstanding a just judgment for their sin, as being therein convinced by a law of nature; and as many as have sinned, against the written Law of God, shall, according to that Law, receive judgment for their sins:

II. 13, 14, 15 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves : Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another ;)

(For it is the full and perfect obedience to that Law, which shall present a man just before God: it is not a formal profession or an outward hearing of the Law, that can do it. Do this and live, is

the voice of the Law; not, Hear this and live. For, when the Gentiles, which have not the written Law of God given unto them, do, by the light of nature, those moral actions, which are contained in the Law written, these, having not that written Law, yet have in their own breast those rules of equity, which are a law to themselves: Which give good testimony that they have an