Rom 16:17, Eph 5:6, Heb 13:9 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 17. Now I beseech you . One great object of this epistle had been to promote peace between the Jewish and Gentile converts. So much did this subject press upon the mind of the apostle, that he seems unwilling to leave it. Re returns to it again and again; and even after the epistle is apparently concluded, he returns to it, to give them a new charge on the subject. Mark them . Observe attentively, cautiously, and faithfully, ( ) be on your guard against them. Ascertain who are the real causes of the divisions that spring up, and avoid them. Which cause . Who make. Probably he refers here to Jewish teachers, or those who insisted strenuously on the observance of the rites of Moses, and who setup a claim for greater purity and orthodoxy than those possessed who received the Gentile converts as Christian brethren. The Jews were perpetually thus recalling the Christian converts to the law of Moses; insisting on the observance of those rites; troubling the churches, and producing dissensions and strifes, . Divisions . Dissensions; parties; factions, . The very attempt to form such parties was evil, no matter what the pretence. They who attempt to form parties in the churches are commonly actuated by some evil or ambitious design. And offences . Scandals; or that give occasion for others to fall into sin. These two things are different. The first means parties; the other denotes such a course of life as would head others into sin. The Jew would form parties, on the pretence of superior holiness; the Gentiles, or some bold Gentile convert, might deride the scrupulous feelings of the Jew, and might thus lead him into sin in regard to what his conscience really forbade. See . These persons on both sides were to be avoided, and they were to refuse to follow them, and to cultivate the spirit of unity and peace. Contrary to the doctrine . To the teaching which you have received in this epistle and elsewhere; the teaching that these divisions should cease; that the Jewish ceremonies are not binding; that all should lay aside their causes of former difference, and be united in one family. See Romans chapters 14 and 15. And avoid them . Give them no countenance or approbation. Do not follow them. Comp. . That is, avoid them as teachers ; do not follow them. It does not mean that they were to be treated harshly; but that they were to be avoided in their instructions . They were to disregard all that they could say tending to produce alienation and strife; and resolve to cultivate the spirit of peace and union. This would be an admirable rule if always followed. Let men make peace their prime object; resolve to love all who are Christians, and it will be an infallible gauge by which to measure the arguments of those who seek to promote alienations and contentions. (w) "and offenses" (x) "avoid them"

Romans 16:17

Verse 17. Now I beseech you. One great object of this epistle had been to promote peace between the Jewish and Gentile converts. So much did this subject press upon the mind of the apostle, that he seems unwilling to leave it. Re returns to it again and again; and even after the epistle is apparently concluded, he returns to it, to give them a new charge on the subject.

Mark them. Observe attentively, cautiously, and faithfully, (Php 3:17) be on your guard against them. Ascertain who are the real causes of the divisions that spring up, and avoid them.

Which cause. Who make. Probably he refers here to Jewish teachers, or those who insisted strenuously on the observance of the rites of Moses, and who setup a claim for greater purity and orthodoxy than those possessed who received the Gentile converts as Christian brethren. The Jews were perpetually thus recalling the Christian converts to the law of Moses; insisting on the observance of those rites; troubling the churches, and producing dissensions and strifes, Gal 3:1, 5:1-8, Acts 15:1,24.

Divisions. Dissensions; parties; factions, 1Cor 3:3, Gal 5:20. The very attempt to form such parties was evil, no matter what the pretence. They who attempt to form parties in the churches are commonly actuated by some evil or ambitious design.

And offences. Scandals; or that give occasion for others to fall into sin. These two things are different. The first means parties; the other denotes such a course of life as would head others into sin. The Jew would form parties, on the pretence of superior holiness; the Gentiles, or some bold Gentile convert, might deride the scrupulous feelings of the Jew, and might thus lead him into sin in regard to what his conscience really forbade. See Rom 14:15. These persons on both sides were to be avoided, and they were to refuse to follow them, and to cultivate the spirit of unity and peace.

Contrary to the doctrine. To the teaching which you have received in this epistle and elsewhere; the teaching that these divisions should cease; that the Jewish ceremonies are not binding; that all should lay aside their causes of former difference, and be united in one family. See Romans chapters 14 and 15.

And avoid them. Give them no countenance or approbation. Do not follow them. Comp. 1Timm 6:3,4,6, 2Jn 1:10, Gal 1:8,9. That is, avoid them as teachers; do not follow them. It does not mean that they were to be treated harshly; but that they were to be avoided in their instructions. They were to disregard all that they could say tending to produce alienation and strife; and resolve to cultivate the spirit of peace and union. This would be an admirable rule if always followed. Let men make peace their prime object; resolve to love all who are Christians, and it will be an infallible gauge by which to measure the arguments of those who seek to promote alienations and contentions.

(w) "and offenses" 1Timm 6:3-5 (x) "avoid them" Mt 18:17, 1Cor 5:11, 2Thes 3:6,14

Ephesians 5:6

Verse 6. Let no man deceive you. Let no one, by artful plans, persuade you that there will be no danger from practising these vices. We may suppose that they would be under strong temptations to mingle in the gay and festive scenes where these vices were not frowned on, or where they were practised; or that they might be tempted to commit them by some of the plausible arguments which were then used for theft indulgence. Many of their friends may have been in these circles; and they would endeavour to convince them that such were the customs which had been long practised, and that there could be no harm still in theft indulgence. Not a few philosophers endeavoured, as is well known, to defend some of these practices, and even practised them themselves. Rom 1:1 and following. It required, therefore, all the authority of an apostle to convince them, that however plausible were the arguments in defence of them, they certainly exposed those who practised them to the wrath of God.

For because of these things cometh the wrath of God. Rom 1:18; Rom 2:8; Rom 2:9.

Upon the children of disobedience. Mt 1:1; Rom 2:8.

Hebrews 13:9

Verse 9. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. That is, they should have settled and fixed points of belief, and not yield to every new opinion which was started. The apostle does not exhort them to adhere to an opinion merely because they had before held it, or because it was an old opinion, nor does he forbid their following the leadings of truth, though they might be required to abandon what they had before held; but he cautions them against that vacillating spirit, and that easy credulity, which would lead them to yield to any novelty, and to embrace an opinion because it was new or strange. Probably the principal reference here is to the Judaizing teachers, and to their various doctrines about their ceremonial observances and traditions. But the exhortation is applicable to Christians at all times. A religious opinion, once embraced on what was regarded a good evidence, or in which we have been trained, should not be abandoned for slight causes. Truth, indeed, should always be followed, but it should be only after careful inquiry.

For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace. This is the proper foundation of adherence to the truth. The heart should be established with the love of God, with pure religion, and then we shall love the truth, and leave it in the right manner. If it is the head merely which is convinced, the consequence is bigotry, pride, narrow-mindedness. If the belief of the truth has its seat in the heart; it will be accompanied with charity, kindness, good-will to all men. In such a belief of the truth it is a good thing to have the heart established. It will produce

(1.) firmness and stability of character;

(2.) charity and kindness to others;

(3.) consolation and support in trials and temptations. When a man is thrown into trials and temptations, he ought to have some settled principles on which he can rely; some fixed points of belief that will sustain his soul.

Not with meters. The meaning is, that it is better to have the heart established with grace, or with the principles of pure religion, than with the most accurate knowledge of the rules of distinguishing the clean from the unclean among the various articles of food. Many such rules were found in the law of Moses, and many more had been added by the refinements of Jewish rulers and by tradition. To distinguish and remember all these required no small amount of knowledge, and the Jewish teachers, doubtless, prided themselves much on it. Paul says that it would be much better to have the principles of grace in the heart than all this knowledge; to have the mind settled on the great truths of religion than to be able to make the most accurate and learned distinctions in this matter. The same remark may be made about a great many other points besides the Jewish distinctions respecting meats. The principle is, that it is better to have the heart established in the grace of God, than to have the most accurate knowledge of the distinctions which are made on useless or unimportant subjects of religion. This observation would extend to many of the shibboleths of party; to many of the metaphysical distinctions in a hair-splitting theology; to many of the points of controversy which divide the Christian world.

Which have not profited, etc, Which have been of no real benefit to their souls. 1Cor 8:8.