MacArthur NT Commentary

[Paul Daunno]

I’ve been wanting to get the MacArthur NT Commentary set for some time and the 30% off sale seems like the perfect time to get it. The screen capture on the product page is okay but would like to see a little more detail before deciding. Is there someone who would provide a sample of a short passage so I could take a closer look?

[MattChristianOT]

I’ve been wanting to get the MacArthur NT Commentary set for some time and the 30% off sale seems like the perfect time to get it. The screen capture on the product page is okay but would like to see a little more detail before deciding. Is there someone who would provide a sample of a short passage so I could take a closer look?

It really depends on what you are looking for. Do you want something pastoral or sort of technical or in between?

 

For Pastoral John Macarthur should fit the bill (yet there are other cheaper options- I am NOT a fan of John M. myself)

For Semi Technical- Look into the New American Commentary- Fairly conservative in most regards and just technical enough to cover some details of translation and linguistics

I would say invest in Anchor or NAC personally.

[dandennison]

TO GLORIFY GOD’S INCOMPREHENSIBILITY

 

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. (11:33–36)

 

[Romans 9–16, p. 135]

 

 

Paul bursts out with a marvelous doxology, in which he rejoices that God’s temporarily setting Israel aside glorifies His incomprehensibility. The full wonder of God’s gracious omnipotence is wholly beyond human understanding. It staggers even the most mature Christian mind, including the mind of the apostle himself.

Having completed his argument and affirmed God’s sovereignty, integrity, and generosity, Paul has nothing more to add but a paean of praise for the depth of the riches of God’s wisdom and knowledge. Further description and explanation are completely beyond the realm of human expression and comprehension. Like a mountain climber who has reached the summit of Mt. Everest, the apostle can only stand awestruck at God’s beauty and majesty. Unable to further explain an infinite and holy God to finite and sinful men, he can only acknowledge that God’s judgments are unsearchable and His ways are unfathomable!

Unfathomable translates anexichniastos, which literally refers to footprints that are untrackable, such as those of an animal that a hunter is unable to follow. It is the exact idea expressed by the psalmist in declaring of God: “Thy way was in the sea, and Thy paths in the mighty waters, and Thy footprints may not be known” (Ps. 77:19). Only God’s own “Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God” (1 Cor. 2:10).

Scripture is God’s divine revelation of Himself and of His will, and He has not given it to mock and confuse men but to enlighten them and bring them to Himself. The Lord has made certain that any person who genuinely seeks Him can know enough of His truth to be saved. Although “a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Cor. 2:14), God nevertheless gives the gracious assurance that “you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13).

Believers who faithfully study God’s Word can learn and have a certain understanding of His truth—all that is necessary “for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness,” in order for us to “be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17). Our gracious God gives us more than all the truth we need to know Him, trust Him, and serve Him. But no matter how diligently we may have studied His Word, we must confess with David that “such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it” (Ps. 139:6).

As his praise ascends in this doxology, Paul presents three rhetorical questions which serve to exalt God, the answer to each of which is obvious and the same. The first two questions, quoted from the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament), are: For who has known the mind of  [Romans 9–16, p. 136] the Lord, or who became His counselor? (cf. Isa. 40:13). The very asking shows both questions to have but one answer: No one. Men can ponder the mind of the Lord, but only the Lord Himself can know it. Among men, “in abundance of counselors there is victory,” or safety (Prov. 11:14), but God’s only counselor is Himself.

It is not the countless unrevealed things about God of which Paul is speaking, but the depths of the things which we do know through His self-revelation. Yet even these partially knowable truths conceal elements that are far beyond our comprehension (cf. Deut. 29:29).

Paul’s third question is also taken from the Old Testament. Quoting Job, he asks, Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? (cf. Job 41:11). Because no one was before God and none can give to God what has not first been received from  Him, the answer here must also be: No one. God is sovereign, self-sufficient, and free from any obligation except those He places on Himself. He owes the Jew nothing and the Gentile nothing.

We stand in awe before our gracious Lord and rejoice that from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. With the twentyfour elders, who “will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne,” we proclaim, “Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created” (Rev. 4:10–11; cf. 1 Cor. 15:24–28).

To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

That is the inspired apostle’s culminating comment on the first eleven chapters of this magnificent epistle. After traversing all the great realities of salvation, Paul ends with an ascription of glory to his Lord. This simple doxology draws a clear line between the doctrinal section and the final five chapters on Christian duty.

 

[Romans 9–16, p. 137]