Bible Commentary

Benson Commentary Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 8:1 . There is, &c. — As a further answer to the objection mentioned Romans 3:31 , that the doctrine of justification by faith made void the law, the apostle here proceeds, with great feeling and energy, to display the many powerful motives which that doctrine, as explained in the preceding chapters, suggests, for engaging both the understanding and the affections of believers to a continued pursuit of holiness. The first motive which he mentions is that contained in this verse, that now, under the new dispensation of the covenant of grace, namely, that of the Messiah, there is no condemnation to true believers, who walk as he here describes, although they may not observe the ceremonies of the Mosaic law. “This greatest of all considerations the apostle begins with, after having pathetically described the terror of the awakened sinner arising from his consciousness of guilt, because if mercy were not with God, he could neither be loved nor obeyed by men.” There is therefore now — In respect of all that has been advanced, since things are as has been shown; no condemnation — From God, either for things present or past. He now comes to speak of deliverance and liberty, in opposition to the state of guilt and bondage described in the latter part of the preceding chapter; resuming the thread of his discourse, which was interrupted, Romans 7:7 . To them which are in Christ Jesus — Who are united to Christ by a lively faith in him, and in the truths and promises of his gospel, and so are made members of his mystical body. “The phrase, to be in Christ, saith Le Clerc, is often used by Paul for being a Christian; which observation he borrowed from Castalio, who renders it, Christiani facti; [being made Christians;] but if either of them mean only Christians by profession, or by being only members of the Christian Church, this will by no means agree with this place, or any other of like nature; since freedom from condemnation, and other benefits conferred upon us through Christ, will not follow our being Christians in this sense, but only upon a lively faith in Christ, our union to him by the Spirit, and our being so in him, as to become new creatures, according to Romans 8:9 : If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his; to 2 Corinthians 5:17 , If any man be in Christ he is a new creature; and to Galatians 5:24 , They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” — Whitby. Who walk not after the flesh — Who are not governed, as to their dispositions and actions, by those appetites which have their seat in the flesh, or by worldly views and interests, or by the dictates and motions of the natural corruption, which in some degree may yet remain in them: but after the Spirit — Namely, the Spirit of God; that is, who are not only habitually governed by reason and conscience, enlightened and renewed by God’s Spirit, but who follow the drawings, exercise the graces, and bring forth the fruits of that Spirit, Ephesians 5:9 ; Galatians 5:22-23 : where see the notes. Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2 . For the law of the Spirit of life — That is, the doctrine of divine grace in the gospel, accompanied with the quickening, commanding influence of the Holy Spirit, hath made me free from the law of sin and death — That is, not only from the Mosaic dispensation, which, if relied on for justification, left men under the guilt and power of sin, and condemned them to the second death; but also and especially from the law, or constraining power of sin itself, which is attended with spiritual death, and, if not removed, brings men to death eternal. In other words, “The Spirit of Christ, giving me a new life, is now another law, or rule of my actions, freeing me from the motions and power of sin, to which I was subject while under the [Mosaic] law, and from the death to which that law subjected me; or, the gospel, attended with the Spirit, hath wrought this freedom in me.” So Whitby. The gospel, or covenant of grace, may be fitly termed the law of the Spirit, or a spiritual law; and that not only as it reaches to the spirit of man, but is such a law as gives spiritual life, or is the ministration of the Spirit, and of life, 2 Corinthians 3:6 ; 2 Corinthians 3:8 ; being accompanied with a divine power, which communicates spiritual life to the soul here, and prepares it for eternal life hereafter. It is observable, that the person who speaks in the foregoing chapter is introduced here as continuing the discourse, and showing the method in which his deliverance from the body of sin and death, mentioned Romans 7:25 , was accomplished. And what is affirmed concerning him, is intended of other believers also. Here, therefore, we have a second motive to holiness, namely, that under the new covenant sufficient assistance being given to all who in faith and prayer apply for it, to free them from the law of sin and death, they cannot excuse their sins by pleading the strength of their sinful passions, or the depravity of their nature. Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: Romans 8:3-4 . For what the law could not do — ?? ??? ???????? ??? ????? , what was impossible to the Mosaic law, whether moral or ceremonial; that is, that freedom from the guilt and power of sin, and from spiritual and eternal death, which it could not minister; in that it was weak through the flesh — Through the depravity and infirmity of our fallen nature, which it was incapable of remedying or conquering. “The law was not weak or defective in itself. Its moral precepts were a perfect rule of duty, and its sanctions were sufficiently powerful to enforce obedience in those who were able to obey. But it was weak through the depravity of men’s nature, which it had neither power to remedy nor to pardon; and so could not destroy sin in men’s flesh. These defects of law are all remedied in the gospel; wherein pardon is promised to encourage the sinner to repent, and the assistance of the Spirit of God is offered, to enable him to believe and obey.” — Macknight. Accordingly it follows, God, — (Supply ??????? ??????? , hath made feasible, or hath done, namely, what the law could not do;) sending his own Son — ????? ???? , his proper Son, his Son in a sense in which no creature is or can be his son; in the likeness of sinful flesh — Christ’s flesh was as real as ours, but it was like sinful flesh, in being exposed to pain, misery, and death: and for sin — The expression, ???? ???????? , here rendered, for sin, appears, from Hebrews 10:18 , to be an elliptical phrase for ???????? ???? ???????? , an offering for sin. The Son of God was sent in the likeness, both of sinful flesh, and of a sin-offering. He was like the old sin-offerings in this, that whereas they sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, he, by making a real atonement for sin, sanctifieth to the purifying of the spirit. Condemned sin in the flesh — That Isaiah , 1 st, Manifested its infinite evil, by enduring extreme sufferings, to render the pardon of it consistent with the justice and holiness of God, and the authority of his law. 2d, Gave sentence that its guilt should be cancelled, its power destroyed, and believers wholly delivered from it. And, 3d, Procured for them that deliverance. The sins of men, being imputed to, or laid on Christ, Isaiah 53:6 , by his free consent, (he being our surety,) were condemned and punished in his flesh; and no such remarkable condemnation of sin was ever effected before, or will be again, unless in the condemnation of the finally impenitent to everlasting misery. But the apostle here seems rather to speak of the condemnation of sin, not in the flesh which Christ assumed for us, but in our persons, or in us while we are in the flesh. Now in this sense, it must be acknowledged, it was condemned in some measure under the law, as well as under the gospel; “for under the law there were many pious and holy men; but sin was condemned in their flesh, not by any power inherent in, or derived from, the law: their sanctification came from the grace of the gospel, preached to them in the covenant with Abraham, Galatians 3:8 , darkly set forth in the types of the law.” That the righteousness of the law — The holiness it requires, described Romans 8:5-11 , might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit — Who are guided in our intentions and affections, words and actions, not by our animal appetites and passions, or by corrupt nature, but by the Word and Spirit of God. Love to God and man is the principal thing enjoined in the moral law, and is accounted by God the fulfilling of that law, Romans 13:10 ; Galatians 5:14 ; James 2:8 . It must be observed, however, that “the righteousness of the law to be fulfilled in us, through the condemnation of sin in the flesh, and through our not walking according to the flesh, is not perfect obedience to [the moral law, or] any law whatever; [except that of faith and love;] for that is not attainable in the present life: but it is such a degree of faith and holiness, as believers may attain through the influence of the Spirit. And being the righteousness required in the gracious new covenant, made with mankind after the fall, and fully published in the gospel, that covenant, and the gospel in which it is published, are fitly called the law of faith, Romans 3:27 ; and the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, Romans 8:2 ; and the law of Christ, Galatians 6:2 ; and the law of liberty, James 1:25 ; and the law foretold to go forth out of Zion, Isaiah 2:3 ; and the law for which the isles, or Gentiles, were to wait, Isaiah 42:4 .” — Macknight. From this place Paul describes primarily the state of believers, and that of unbelievers, only to illustrate this. Romans 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. Romans 8:5-7 . For — Or rather, now; they that are after the flesh — The apostle having, Romans 8:1 , described those to whom there is no condemnation, as persons who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, to prevent all mistakes in such an important point, here informs us what he means by walking after the flesh, and after the Spirit. The former, he says, is to mind the things of the flesh; that is, as the word ?????? signifies, to esteem, desire, and delight in them; namely, the things that please and gratify our senses and animal appetites and passions, or our corrupt nature, namely, things visible and temporal; the things of the earth, such as pleasure, (of sense or imagination,) the praise of men, or the riches of this world, — to set our thoughts and affections upon them. But they who are after the Spirit — The persons intended by that expression; mind — Think on, relish, love; the things of the Spirit — Things invisible and eternal; the things which the Spirit hath revealed, or which he works in us, moves us to, and promises to give us. For — Or rather, now, as the particle ??? should be rendered; to be carnally minded is death. The original expression, ?? ??????? ?????? , is literally, the minding of the flesh, the preferring and pursuing its interests; is death — A sure mark of spiritual death, and the way to death everlasting. “My whole employment,” said even a heathen, (Socrates,) who yet was not fully assured of a future and everlasting life, “is to persuade the young and old against too much love for the body, for riches, and all other precarious things, of whatsoever nature they be; and against too little regard for the soul, which ought to be the object of their affections.” But to be spiritually minded — ??????? ????????? , the minding the Spirit, that is, the setting our thoughts and affections on spiritual things; is life and peace — A sure mark of spiritual life, and the way to life everlasting; and attended with peace, namely, peace with God; opposite to the enmity mentioned in the next verse; and the peace of God, which is the foretaste of life everlasting. In this verse, therefore, the apostle sets before us life and death, blessing and cursing; and thereby furnishes us with a third motive to holiness: all who live after the flesh shall die eternally, but all that live in a holy, spiritual manner shall obtain eternal life. Reader, to which of these art thou in the way? Because, &c. — Here the apostle assigns the reason of the doctrine contained in the foregoing verse; the carnal mind — As above described; is enmity against God — Against his holiness, his justice, his truth, his power and providence, his omniscience, his omnipresence, and indeed against all his attributes, and even against his existence. For the carnal mind would wish that God had not the perfections which he possesses; that he were not present in all places, acquainted with all things; so holy as to hate sin, so just as to be determined to punish it; so mighty as to be able to do it, and so true as certainly to fulfil his threatenings, as well as his promises; and, in fact, that there were no such Being. For it is not subject to the law of God — To the moral law in general; not even to the first and great commandment of it, which indeed comprehends all the commands of the first table, namely, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, &c. that is, Thou shalt be spiritually minded; shalt set thy affections on God, and things divine and heavenly; a law this, to which those who are carnally minded, and continue so, in the nature of things neither are nor can be subject. Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Romans 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Romans 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:8 . So then, &c. — The inference to be drawn from the principles just laid down, is, they that are in the flesh — In the sense explained in the preceding verses, and especially Romans 7:5 , where see the notes; they who are under the government of the flesh, of their animal appetites and passions, or of their corrupt nature; they who are carnally minded; cannot please God — Namely, while they continue so, or, till they be justified and regenerated. He means, they are not in a state of acceptance with God; nor do their ways, their tempers, words, and works, please him, whatever ceremonial precepts they may observe. An important and alarming declaration this, which it concerns all the professors of Christianity maturely to consider and lay to heart; and particularly those who content themselves with a form of godliness, without the power; with an attendance on outward ordinances, and the use of the external means of grace, and give themselves no concern either about the remission of their past sins, or the renovation of their sinful nature; but remain earthly and sensual in their desires, cares, and pursuits, or carnally minded, which is death. Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Romans 8:9 . But ye — Who are vitally united to Christ, who are in him, by living faith, and new creatures; are not in the flesh — Not in your unpardoned, unrenewed state, not carnally minded; but in the Spirit — Under his government, and spiritually minded, and therefore are accepted of God, and approved of by him; if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you — For wherever he dwells, he reigns, regenerates the soul, and makes it truly holy. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ — Thus residing in him, and governing him, whatever he may pretend; he is none of his — Not a disciple or member of Christ; not a Christian; not in a state of salvation. A plain, express declaration, which admits of no exception. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Romans 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Romans 8:10-11 . And if Christ be in you — Namely, by his Spirit dwelling in you: where the Spirit of Christ is, there is Christ: the body is dead — ?? ??? ???? ?????? , the body indeed is dead, devoted to death; for our belonging to Christ, or having Christ in us, does not exempt the body from undergoing the sentence of death passed on all mankind; because of sin — Heretofore committed; especially the sin of Adam, by which death entered into the world, and the sinful nature derived from him; but the Spirit is life — The soul is quickened and made alive to God; and shall, after the death of the body, continue living, active, and happy; because of righteousness — Now attained through the second Adam, the Lord our righteousness. But — Rather, and, for the apostle proceeds to speak of a further blessing; as if he had said, If you have Christ in you, not only shall your souls live after the death of the body in felicity and glory, but your bodies also shall rise to share therein; for we have this further joyful hope, that if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus — Our great covenant head; from the dead, dwell in you; he — God the Father; that raised up Christ from the dead — The first-fruits of them that sleep; shall also quicken your mortal bodies — Though corrupted and consumed in the grave; by his Spirit — Or on account of his Spirit; which dwelleth in you — And now communicates divine life to your souls, and creates them anew. Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Romans 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. Romans 8:12-13 . Therefore, brethren — As if he had said, Since we have received such benefits, and expect still more and greater, we are debtors — We are under obligations; not to the flesh — Not to our animal appetites and passions; we have formerly given them more than their due, and we owe our natural corruption no service; to live after the flesh — The desires and inclinations of which we ought not to follow; but we are under an indispensable obligation to be more and more holy. Or, as Dr. Doddridge paraphrases the verse, “Since it is certain the gratifications of the flesh can do nothing for us like that which will be done at the resurrection; and since all present enjoyments are mean and worthless when compared with that; here is a most substantial argument for that mortification and sanctity which the gospel requires. And it necessarily follows that we are debtors to the Spirit, which gives us such exalted hopes, and not unto the flesh, that we should live after the dictates, desires, and appetites thereof.” “To be a debtor,” says Dr. Macknight, “is to be under a constraining obligation, Romans 1:14 . The apostle’s meaning is, Since men are under the gracious dispensation of the gospel, which furnishes them with the most powerful assistances for correcting the depravity of their nature, and for performing good actions, they are under no necessity, either moral or physical, to gratify the lusts of the flesh, as they would be, if, in their present weakened state, they had no advantages but what they derived from mere law,” the law of Moses, or law of nature. “Further, we are under no obligation to live according to the flesh, as it offers no pleasures of any consequence to counterbalance the misery which God will inflict on all who live according to it.” For if ye — Though professing Christians, and even eminent for a high and distinguishing profession; live after the flesh — Be governed by your animal appetites, and corrupt nature; (see on Romans 8:4-9 ;) ye shall die — Shall perish by the sentence of a holy and just God, no less than if you were Jews or heathen. But if ye through the Spirit — Through his enlightening, quickening, and sanctifying influences, and the exercise of those graces which by regeneration he has implanted in your souls; do mortify — Resist, subdue, and destroy; Gr. ????????? , make dead; the deeds of the body — Or of the flesh, termed, Galatians 5:19 , the works of the flesh: and including, not only evil actions, but those carnal affections and inclinations, whence all the corrupt deeds arise, wherein the body or flesh is concerned; ye shall live — The life of faith, love, and obedience, more abundantly here, and the life of glory hereafter. Here we have the fourth motive to holiness: the Spirit of God dwelling in believers, to enable them to mortify their corrupt passions and tempers. Romans 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Romans 8:14-16 . For as many as are led, guided and governed, by the Spirit of God — As a Spirit of truth and grace, of wisdom and holiness; they are the sons of God — That is, they stand related to God, not merely as subjects to their king, or servants to their master, but as children to their father; they are unspeakably near and dear to God, being spiritually begotten of him, and partaking of his nature. See on John 1:12 . For ye — Who are real Christians; have not — Since you believed on Christ with a living faith; received the spirit of bondage — A servile disposition, produced by the Spirit of God convincing you that you are in a state of guilt and wrath; again — Such as you had formerly, before your conversion; to fear — Condemnation and wrath from God, which you knew you had merited, and therefore to fear him with a servile fear, and death with a fear producing torment. But ye have received the Spirit of adoption — An assurance of your reconciliation with and filial relation to God, through the influence of the Spirit of Christ, Galatians 4:6 ; producing in you such confidence toward God in approaching him, as dutiful children feel toward a loving father. Whereby — By which Spirit; we — All and every believer; cry — The word, ???????? , denotes a vehement speaking, with desire, confidence, constancy; Abba, Father — The latter word explains the former. By using both the Syro-Chaldaic and Greek words, the apostle seems to point out the joint cry both of the Jewish and Gentile believers; who, in consequence of that assurance of God’s favour, and adoption into his family, with which their minds were filled, since they had received the gospel, felt that disposition of reverence for, confidence in, and grateful love to God, which is here properly termed the Spirit of adoption: that is, the spirit of children. We may observe here, that both the spirit of bondage to fear, or servile spirit, and the Spirit of adoption, or filial spirit, as above explained, are produced by one and the same Spirit of God, manifesting itself in various operations, according to the various circumstances of the persons; first causing them to see and feel themselves to be in bondage to the guilt and power of sin, to the world, to Satan, and obnoxious to the wrath of God; and then assuring them of their deliverance therefrom, and of their reception into the favour and family of God, as his sons and daughters. The Spirit itself — ???? ?? ?????? , the self-same Spirit, whereby we cry. Abba, Father; beareth witness — Greek, ??????????? ?? ???????? ???? ; witnesseth together with our spirit — Or our enlightened and renewed conscience, by his internal and gracious operation, giving us to know and feel with assurance, gratitude, and joy, that we are the children of God — By special adoption and regeneration. For it is by his influence, and his alone, that we can know the things that are freely given to us of God, namely, what they are, their nature and excellence, and that they are ours, 1 Corinthians 2:12 . And hence this Spirit is said to be the seal of our sonship, and the earnest of our inheritance in our hearts, 2 Corinthians 1:22 ; Ephesians 1:13-14 ; Ephesians 4:30 . Happy they who enjoy this testimony clear and constant! Some, by the testimony spoken of in this verse, understand the extraordinary or miraculous gifts of the Spirit. These undoubtedly were a divine testimony to the mission of Christ, and the truth of the gospel; but certainly (according to our Lord’s own declaration, that many, whom he never acknowledged to be his, would say to him in the day of judgment, that they had prophesied and cast out devils in his name, &c.) they are not a satisfactory proof of the truth of any one’s grace, the reality of his conversion, or of his being a child of God. Accordingly this apostle testifies, 1 Corinthians 13:2 , If a man have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and have such miracle-working faith, as to be able to remove mountains, that, with respect to real religion, he is nothing, if he have not love, namely, to God and man. Romans 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: Romans 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him , that we may be also glorified together. Romans 8:17-18 . And if children, then heirs — Those that are really the children of God by adoption and grace, are not only under his peculiar direction, protection, and care, and shall be supplied with all things which God sees will be good for them; not only have they free liberty of access to God, and intercourse with God, as dutiful children have access to, and intercourse with, their father; but they are heirs of God — Heirs of the heavenly inheritance, and by the redemption of their bodies, being made immortal like God, they shall enjoy that inheritance. See note on 1 Peter 1:3 . And joint-heirs with Christ — Entering into his joy, Matthew 25:21 ; sitting down on his throne, Revelation 3:21 ; partaking of his glory, John 17:22 ; Php 3:21 ; Colossians 3:4 ; 1 Corinthians 15:49 ; and inheriting all things, Revelation 21:7 , jointly with him who is heir of all things, Hebrews 1:2 . Only it must be observed, he is heir by nature, we by grace. If so be that we suffer with him — Willingly and cheerfully for righteousness’ sake: that is, we shall enjoy these glorious and heavenly blessings, provided we be willing, not only to deny ourselves all prohibited carnal gratifications, and to govern our lives by his precepts, but also to suffer with him whatever reproach, infamy, persecution, and other injuries we may be called to undergo, in conformity to him, for the honour of God, and the testimony of a good conscience; that we may be also glorified together — With him, which we cannot be in any other way than by suffering with him: he was glorified in this way, and so must we be. Here the apostle passes to a new proposition, on which he enlarges in the following verses; opening a source of consolation to the children of God in every age, by drinking at which they may not only refresh themselves under the severest sufferings, but derive new strength to bear them with fortitude. For I reckon, &c. — Here the apostle gives the reason why he now mentions sufferings and glory. When that glory shall be revealed in us, then the sons of God will be revealed also. That the sufferings of this present time — How long continued and great soever they may be; are not worthy to be compared — Or to be set in opposition to, or contrasted with, (as the original expression, ???? ?? ???????? ???? ??? ????????? ????? , evidently implies,) the glory which shall be revealed in us — Which we shall then partake of, and the nature and greatness of which we shall then, and not before, fully understand. For it far exceeds our present most elevated conceptions, and can never be fully known till we see each other wear it. These privileges are a fifth motive to holiness. Romans 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. Romans 8:19 . For the earnest expectation, &c. — “This and the following verses,” says Dr. Doddridge, “have been generally, and not without reason, accounted as difficult as any part of this epistle. This difficulty has perhaps been something increased, by rendering ?????? creation in one clause, and creature in another. To explain it as chiefly referring to the brutal or inanimate creation, is insufferable; since the day of the redemption of our bodies will be attended with the conflagration which will put an end to them. The interpretation, therefore, by which Dr. Whitby and others refer it to the Gentile world, is much preferable to this. But, on the whole, I think it gives a much sublimer and nobler sense, to suppose it a bold prosopopœia, by which, on account of the calamity sin brought and continued on the whole unevangelized world, it is represented as looking out with eager expectation, for such a remedy and relief as the gospel brings; by the prevalence of which human nature would be rescued from vanity and corruption, and inferior creatures from tyranny and abuse. If this be allowed to be the meaning of these three verses, the gradation in the twenty-third will be much more intelligible than on any other scheme that I know.” The paragraph is understood in nearly, if not altogether, the same sense by Locke and Macknight, who advance divers convincing reasons to show that it is the true mode of interpretation; which accordingly is here adopted. The earnest expectation — The word ???????????? , thus rendered, as Mr. Blackwall observes, signifies the lifting of the head and the stretching of the body, as far as possible, to hear and see something very agreeable, or of great importance. It is therefore fitly used here to denote very great earnestness of desire and expectation; of the creature — That is, of mankind in general, which the word ?????? , in the language of Paul and of the New Testament, frequently signifies, and especially, says Locke, the Gentile world. See Colossians 1:23 ; Mark 16:15 ; compared with Matthew 28:19 ; waiteth — ??????????? , looketh for, as the same word is translated, Php 3:20 ); the manifestation — ?????????? , revelation; of the sons of God — That happy time when God shall appear more openly to avow them, and that reproach and distress shall be rolled away, under which they are now disguised and concealed. “Though the Gentiles in particular knew nothing of the revelation of the sons of God, the apostle calls their looking for a resurrection from the dead, a looking for that revelation; because the sons of God are to be revealed, by their being raised with incorruptible and immortal bodies. Further, it is here insinuated that the pious Gentiles comforted themselves under the miseries of life, by that hope of immortality, and of the resurrection, which they entertained. At the fall, God declared his purpose of rendering the malice of the devil, in bringing death on the human species, ineffectual, and therefore gave mankind not only the hope of a future life, but of the resurrection of the body, as the apostle intimates, Romans 8:21 . And that hope, preserved in the world by tradition, may have been the foundation of the earnest desire of the Gentiles here taken notice of.” — Macknight. Or rather the passage, as Doddridge observes, is to be considered as a prosopopœia, as is observed on Romans 8:19 . Romans 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Romans 8:20-21 . For the creature was made subject to vanity — Mankind in general, and the whole visible creation, lost their original beauty, glory, and felicity; a sad change passed on man, and his place of abode; the whole face of nature was obscured, and all creatures were subjected to vanity and wretchedness in a variety of forms. “Every thing seems perverted from its intended use: the inanimate creatures