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.So Wordsworth: The Jewsare justified out of (ejk) the faith which their father Abraham had, andwhich they are supposed to have in him The Gentiles must enter that doorand pass through it in order to be justified. Compare Ephesians 2:17.31.Make void (katargou~men).Rev., make of none effect.See on ch.3:3. CHAPTER 41.What shall we say? (ti ejrou~men).See ch.4:1; 6:1; 7:7; 8:31; 9:14, 30.The phrase anticipates an objection or proposes an inference.It is used byPaul only, and by him only in this Epistle and in its argumentativeportions.It is not found in the last five chapters, which are hortatory.Our Father.The best texts read propa>tora forefather.Hath found.Westcott and Hort omit.Then the reading would be whatshall we say of Abraham, etc.Found signifies, attained by his own effortsapart from grace.As pertaining to the flesh (katarka).Construe with found.Thequestion is, Was Abraham justified by anything which pertained to theflesh? Some construe with Abraham: our father humanly speaking.2.For.Supply, Abraham found nothing according to the flesh; for, if hedid.he has something to boast of.By works (ejx e]rgwn).Lit., out of works.In speaking of the relation ofworks to justification, Paul never uses dia> by or through, but ejk out of;works being regarded by the Jew as the meritorious source of salvation.3.The Scripture (hJ grafhsqh eijv dikaiosu>nhn).Forthe phrase logi>zesqai eijv to reckon unto, compare ch.2:26; 9:8, whereeijv is rendered for.The verb is also used with wJv as.So ch.8:36; 1Corinthians 4:1.So in Sept., eijv, Psalm 56:31; Isaiah 29:17; 32:15; 40:17:wJv.Genesis 31:15; Job 41:20; Psalm 43:22; Isaiah 5:28; 29:16.Thephrases ejlogi>sqh eijv and ejl.wJv are thus shown to be substantiallyequivalent.See further on ver.5.4.The reward (oJ misqow| believe in thegospel.The kindred noun pi>stiv faith, occurs in this combination.ThusGalatians 3:26, though some join in Christ Jesus with sons.See alsoEphesians 1:15; Colossians 1:4; 1 Timothy 3:13; 2 Timothy 3:15; Romans3:25.This preposition indicates the sphere in which faith moves, ratherthan the object to which it is directed, though instances occur in theSeptuagint where it plainly indicates the direction of faith, Psalm 77:22;Jeremiah 12:6.6.With the preposition ejpi> upon, on to, unto. a.With the accusative, Romans 4:5; Acts 9:42; 11:17; 16:31; 22:19.The preposition carries the idea of mental direction with a view toresting upon, which latter idea is conveyed by the samepreposition.b.With the dative, 1 Timothy 1:16; Luke 24:25; compare Romans9:33; 10:11; 1 Peter 2:6.The dative expresses absolutesuperposition.Christ as the object of faith, is the basis on whichfaith rests.7.With the preposition eijv into, Matthew 18:6; John 2:11; Acts 19:4;Romans 10:14; Galatians 2:16; Philippians 1:29, etc.The prepositionconveys the idea of the absolute transference of trust from one s self toanother.Literally the phrase means to believe into.See on John 1:12; 2:23;9:35; 12:44.Is counted for righteousness (logi>zetai eijv dikaiosu>nhn).Rev., isreckoned.See on ver.3.The preposition eijv has the force of as, not thetelic meaning with a view to, or in order that he may be (righteous); norstrictly, in the place of righteousness.Faith is not a substitute forrighteousness, since righteousness is involved in faith.When a man isreckoned righteous through faith, it is not a legal fiction.He is not indeed aperfect man, but God does not reckon something which has no realexistence.Faith is the germ of righteousness, of life in God.Godrecognizes no true life apart from holiness, and he that believeth on theSon hath life. He is not merely regarded in the law s eye as living.Godaccepts the germ, not in place of the fruit, but as containing the fruit. Abraham believed God.No soul comes into such a relation of trustwithout having God s investment upon it; and whatever there may be inGod s righteousness love, truth, sacrifice will be rightfully imputedor counted to be in it, because, being united to Him, it will have themcoming over derivatively from Him (Bushnell).The idea of logicalsequence is inherent in logi>zetai is reckoned the sequence of characterupon faith.Where there is faith there is, logically, righteousness, and therighteousness is from faith unto faith (ch.1:17).Nevertheless, in thehighest development of the righteousness of faith, it will remain true thatthe man is justified, not by the works of righteousness, which are the fruit of faith, but by the faith which, in making him a partaker of the life andrighteousness of God, generates and inspires the works.Observe that the believer s own faith is reckoned as righteousness. In nopassage in Paul s writings or in other parts of the New Testament, wherethe phrase to reckon for or the verb to reckon alone is used, is there adeclaration that anything belonging to one person is imputed, accounted,or reckoned to another, or a formal statement that Christ s righteousness isimputed to believers (President Dwight, Notes on Meyer ).6
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