love towards us is so abounding that it fills our hearts; and being thus spread through every part of
them, it not only mitigates sorrow in adversities, but also, like a sweet seasoning, it renders
tribulations to be loved by us.^157
He says further, that the Spirit is given, that is, bestowed through the gratuitous goodness of
God, and not conferred for our merits; according to what Augustine has well observed, who, though
he is mistaken in his view of the love of God, gives this explanation, — that we courageously bear
adversities, and are thus confirmed in our hope, because we, having been regenerated by the Spirit,
do love God. It is indeed a pious sentiment, but not what Paul means: for love is not to be taken
here in an active but a passive sense. And certain it is, that no other thing is taught by Paul than
that the true fountain of all love is, when the faithful are convinced that they are loved by God, and
that they are not slightly touched with this conviction, but have their souls thoroughly imbued with
it.
Romans 5:6-9
- Christus enim, quum adhuc essemus
infirmi secundum rationem Temporis, pro impiis
mortuus est: - For when we were yet without strength, in
due time Christ died for the ungodly. - Vix sane pro justo quis moriatur; nam pro
bono forsan aliquis etiam mori audeat. - For scarcely for a righteous man will one
die; yet peradventure for a good man some would
even dare to die. - Confimat autem erga nos charitatem Deus
quod peccatores quum Adhuc essemus, Christus
pro nobis mortuus est: - But God commendeth his love toward us,
in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us. - Multo igitur magis, justificati nunc per
sanguinem ejus, servabimur per ipsum ab ira. - Much more then, being now justified by
his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through
him.
6.For Christ, etc. I ventured not in my version to allow myself so much liberty as to give this
rendering, “In the time in which we were weak;” and yet I prefer this sense. An argument begins
(^157) “The love of God” in this passage may mean either the love of which God is the object — love to God, or the love which
he possesses — God’s love to us: the usus loquendi would admit either of these meanings; and hence commentators have differed
on the point. The expression, , in Luke 12:42, John 5:42, and in other places, means “love to God;” , in 1
John 4:9, signifies clearly the love of God to us. The meaning then can alone be ascertained by the context and by the wording
of the sentence. It stands connected with Christian graces, patience and hope; and this favors the first view, that it is love to God
produced within by the Spirit. Then the verb, — is poured out or poured forth, seems more suitable to the idea of love
being communicated as a gift, or as a holy feeling within. It is further what prevents hope from being disappointed; it is some
good or enjoyment that now strengthens and satisfies hope; and to love God who first loved us is to realize in a measure what
hope expects; and when it is said that it is diffused by the Spirit, we are reminded of what Paul says in (Galatians 5:22, that
“love” is one of the fruits of the Spirit. But it may, on the other hand, be alleged, that the verse stands connected with what
follows, as the next verse begins with “for,” and that the subsequent context most clearly refers to the love of God to us; and
this evidently decides the question.
The first view, our love to God, has been adopted by Augustine, Mede, Doddridge, Scott, and Stuart; and the other, God’s
love to us, by Chrysostom, Beza, Pareus, Grotius, Hodge, and Chalmers, and also by Schleusner who gives this paraphrase,
“Amor Dei abunde nobis declaratus est — the love of God is abundantly declared to us.” — Ed.