Psa 71:16, 19, Isa 42:6, Mat 5:17, Rom 10:3-4, Phili 3:9 | JFB | STEP | 16. in the strength —or, relying on it. thy righteousness —or, faithful performance of promises to the pious ( ).

Psalms 71:16

16. in the strength—or, relying on it.

thy righteousness—or, faithful performance of promises to the pious (Ps 7:17; 31:1).

Psalms 71:19

19. is very high—distinguished (Ps 36:5; Isa 55:9).

Isaiah 42:6

6. in righteousness—rather, "for a righteous purpose" [LOWTH]. (See Isa 42:21). God "set forth" His Son "to be a propitiation (so as) to declare His (God's) righteousness, that God might be just, and (yet) the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Ro 3:25, 26; compare see on Isa 41:2; Isa 45:13; 50:8, 9).

hold . . . hand—compare as to Israel, the type of Messiah, Ho 11:3.

covenant—the medium of the covenant, originally made between God and Abraham (Isa 49:8). "The mediator of a better covenant" (Heb 8:6) than the law (see Isa 49:8; Jer 31:33; 50:5). So the abstract "peace," for peace-maker (Mic 5:5; Eph 2:14).

the people—Israel; as Isa 49:8, compared with Isa 42:6, proves (Lu 2:32).

Matthew 5:17

17. Think not that I am come—that I came.

to destroy the law, or the prophets—that is, "the authority and principles of the Old Testament." (On the phrase, see Mt 7:12; 22:40; Lu 16:16; Ac 13:15). This general way of taking the phrase is much better than understanding "the law" and "the prophets" separately, and inquiring, as many good critics do, in what sense our Lord could be supposed to meditate the subversion of each. To the various classes of His hearers, who might view such supposed abrogation of the law and the prophets with very different feelings, our Lord's announcement would, in effect, be such as this—"Ye who tremble at the word of the Lord, fear not that I am going to sweep the foundation from under your feet: Ye restless and revolutionary spirits, hope not that I am going to head any revolutionary movement: And ye who hypocritically affect great reverence for the law and the prophets, pretend not to find anything in My teaching derogatory to God's living oracles."

I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil—Not to subvert, abrogate, or annul, but to establish the law and the prophets—to unfold them, to embody them in living form, and to enshrine them in the reverence, affection, and character of men, am I come.

Romans 10:3-4

3. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness—that is, for the justification of the guilty (see on Ro 1:17).

and going about—"seeking"

to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God—The apostle views the general rejection of Christ by the nation as one act.

4. For Christ is the end—the object or aim.

of the law for—justifying

righteousness to every one that believeth—that is, contains within Himself all that the law demands for the justification of such as embrace Him, whether Jew or Gentile (Ga 3:24).

Philippians 3:9

9. be found in him—"be found" at His coming again, living spiritually "in Him" as the element of my life. Once lost, I have been "found," and I hope to be perfectly "found" by Him (Lu 15:8).

own righteousness . . . of the law— (Php 3:6; Ro 10:3, 5). "Of," that is, from.

righteousness . . . of God by faith—Greek, "which is from God (resting) upon faith." Paul was transported from legal bondage into Christian freedom at once, and without any gradual transition. Hence, the bands of Pharisaism were loosed instantaneously; and opposition to Pharisaic Judaism took the place of opposition to the Gospel. Thus God's providence fitly prepared him for the work of overthrowing all idea of legal justification. "The righteousness of faith," in Paul's sense, is the righteousness or perfect holiness of Christ appropriated by faith, as the objective ground of confidence for the believer, and also as a new subjective principle of life. Hence it includes the essence of a new disposition, and may easily pass into the idea of sanctification, though the two ideas are originally distinct. It is not any arbitrary act of God, as if he treated as sinless a man persisting in sin, simply because he believes in Christ; but the objective on the part of God corresponds to the subjective on the part of man, namely, faith. The realization of the archetype of holiness through Christ contains the pledge that this shall be realized in all who are one with Him by faith, and are become the organs of His Spirit. Its germ is imparted to them in believing although the fruit of a life perfectly conformed to the Redeemer, can only be gradually developed in this life [NEANDER].