done, whether (it be) good or bad.
In what precedes Paul had been speaking of himself. It was his own sufferings, hopes, and efforts which the occasion called upon him to exhibit. In all this, however, he spoke as a Christian, and therefore in the name of other Christians. In this verse he expressly comprehends others, and all others. ‘I strive to be acceptable to the Lord for we must all (I as well as all believers, and even all men) must, etc.’ As Christ is to decide upon our eternal destiny, it is of infinite moment that we should be acceptable, or well-pleasing, in his sight. We must all appear, fanerwqh~nai, This means either nothing more than a judicial
appearance, as when any one is said to appear in court before a judge; or, as Bengel explains it, manifestos fieri cum occultis nostris, ‘we must all stand revealed in our true character before the judgment-seat of Christ.’
<460405>
1 Corinthians 4:5; <510304>
Colossians 3:4. As there can be no disguise, no deception before an omniscient judge, Paul was assiduous in his efforts to be prepared to stand the scrutiny of an all-seeing eye. The judgment-seat of Christ; bh~ma, literally, step, then a raised platform, or seat; most
frequently used of the elevated seat on which the Roman magistrates sat to administer justice, an object of reverence and fear to all the people. As Christ is to be the judge, as all men are to appear before him, as the secrets of the heart are to be the grounds of judgment, it is obvious that the sacred writers believed Christ to be a divine person, for nothing less than
omniscience could qualify any one for the office here ascribed to our Lord.
That every one may receive, komi>zw, which in the active form means; to take up, in the middle, as here, to take for one’s self, properly to take or receive what is one’s due, or what on some ground one is entitled to.
<402527>
Matthew 25:27; <510325>
Colossians 3:25; <610213>
2 Peter 2:13. The punishment which men are to receive will be what they have earned, and therefore what is in justice due to them. The reward of the righteous, although a matter of grace and not of justice, yet being, agreeably to the tenor of the covenant of grace, according to their works, it is of the nature of a reward.
The pay of a faithful soldier is a matter of debt, titles and estates are matters of favor. There is no inconsistency, therefore, in the Scriptures denying all merit to believers, and yet teaching that they shall be rewarded according to their works. We are said to receive the things done in the body, because the matter is conceived of, or is here represented as an investment.
Our acts are treasures laid up for the future, whether treasures of wrath, or treasures in heaven; and these (komizo>meqa) we receive back. The word ta< dia< tou~ sw>matov may mean things (done) through or by the body.
Then bodily acts are taken for acts of all kinds. Compare <450813>
Romans 8:13.
Or the dia> may be taken as in v. 7, (according to one interpretation of that verse,) as indicating the attending circumstance — with the body, i.e. while clothed with the body. This is the sense expressed in our version, which renders the clause “things (done) in the body,” although dia> of course does not mean in.
According to that he hath done, pro<v a{ e]praxen indicating the rule according to which the retributions of the final judgments are to be
administered. Both with regard to the wicked and the righteous, there is to be a great distinction in the recompense, which different members of each class are to receive. Some will be beaten with few stripes and some with many. It will be more tolerable in that day for Tyre and Sidon than for those who reject the gospel; and on the other hand, those believers who suffer most, will love most and be most blessed. Whether good or evil, i.e.
whether he did good or evil. Each shall receive according to his deeds whether good or bad. It is from such passages as this that some American theologians have inferred that the only benefit which the believer receives from Christ is the forgiveness of sin, and that being pardoned he is dealt with according to the principles of justice. Others, especially in Germany, have drawn from the same source the conclusion that the doctrine of Paul
is that the merit of Christ cleanses only from the sins committed before conversion. If a Jew or (Gentile became a Christian his sins were blotted out, and then he was rewarded or punished, saved or lost, according to his works. The merit of Christ availed nothing for the pardon of sin after conversion. And this again is very much the ancient doctrine that there is no forgiveness for post-baptismal sins. The benefits of Christ’s work, according to many of the ancients, are conveyed to the soul in baptism, but if once forfeited by sin can never be reapplied. This gloomy doctrine, which belonged to the transition period which preceded the full
development of the theology of the Papal church, has been revived by the inchoate Romanists of the present day. But according to the Scriptures and the doctrine of all Protestant churches, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin, whether committed before or after baptism or conversion. It is a fountain to which we may daily come for cleansing. He is a priest who ever lives to make intercession for us, and who ever presents before God the merit of his sacrifice as a perpetual offering, typified by the morning and evening sacrifice under the law. According to the anti-scriptural views mentioned above, when a man first comes to Christ his sins are forgiven, and he then commences anew under the covenant of works, and stands in the same relation to God that Adam did before the fall. The condition of salvation is to him as it was to our first parent, “Do this and live.” Christ henceforth profits him nothing. But according to the apostle we are not under the law, but under grace.
<450614>
Romans 6:14. On the ground of the one offering of Christ, by which those who believe are forever sanctified, (i.e. atoned for,) God does not impute to the penitent believer his sins unto condemnation. He is not judged by the law or treated according to its principles, for then no man could be saved. But he is treated as one for all whose sins, past, present, and future, an infinite satisfaction has been made, and who has a perpetual claim to that satisfaction so long as he is united to Christ by faith and the indwelling of his Spirit. Hence the Scriptures are filled with exhortations not merely to the unconverted, to Jews and Pagans, but to baptized Christians, to repent of sin and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; that is, to exercise trust in the merit of his sacrifice and the prevalence of his intercession for the pardon of their daily and manifold transgressions and short comings. The sacrifice of Christ avails for the sins committed from the foundation of the world to the final consummation. It affords a
permanent and all-sufficient reason why God can be just and yet justify the ungodly.
PAUL’S DEFENSE OF HIMSELF AGAINST THE CHARGE OF SELF-COMMENDATION. VS. 11-21.
He declares that he acted under a solemn sense of his responsibility to God, v. 11. This was not said with the view of commending himself; but rather to afford them the means of vindicating his character, v. 12. Whether his way of speaking of himself was extravagant or moderate, sane or insane, his motive in doing as he did was a sincere regard to the glory of God and the good of his church, v. 13. For the love of Christ constrained him to live, not for himself, but for him who died for him and rose again, vs. 14, 15. Acting under the control of this elevated principle, he was raised above the influence of external things. He did not judge of men by their external condition. He was a new creature in virtue of his union with Christ, vs. 16, 17. This great change which he had experienced was not self-wrought; it was of God, who is the author of the whole scheme of redemption. He is reconciled unto the world through Jesus Christ, and he has commissioned his ministers to proclaim this great truth to all men, vs.
18, 19. Therefore, the apostle, as an ambassador of God, exhorted men to accept of this offer of reconciliation, for which the most abundant
provision had been made, in that God had made Christ to be sin for us, in order that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, vs. 20, 21.
11. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are