y the Holy Spirit. It
implies filial confidence in God, a glorious inheritance, divine
assistance, inviolable security (viii.).

C. The problem raised by the fate of the Jews: ix.-xi.

a. Their rejection from their privileged position a sad contrast to
their high destiny; the entire justice of God in forming a new Israel
of Jews and Gentiles alike (ix.).

b. The cause of their rejection was that they sought to be justified in
their own way and not in God's way, and this in spite of Christian
opportunities and prophetic warnings (x.).

c. Consolations which qualify the severity of their fate. Their
unbelief is only partial and temporary, and God's purpose is to restore
all. Doxology (xi.).

(2) PRACTICAL.--The Christian sacrifice, and the duties of a Christian
(xii.). Church and State, the law of love, the approaching judgment
(xiii.).

Toleration for weak and eccentric Christians; vegetarians, observers of
private holy days and total abstainers, not to be disturbed; we must do
nothing that makes a brother stumble. Christ pleased not Himself; He
was both a minister of the circumcision and the hope of the Gentiles
(xiv. 1-xv. 13).

Personal conclusion (xv. 14-xvi. 27).

[1] The Calvinistic doctrine of predestination, as taught in the
writings of Calvin and in the Presbyterian Westminster Confession, is a
complete perversion of St. Paul's teaching. Calvin teaches a
predestination to heaven or hell; St. Paul here speaks of an
appointment to certain duties on earth. The Calvinists asserted that
some men "cannot be saved;" St. Paul teaches that God so acted "in
order that He might have mercy upon all" (xi. 32).

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CHAPTER XIV

THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS--THE
EPISTLE OF PAUL TO PHILEMON

THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS

[Sidenote: The Author.]

There is no good reason for doubting that this beautiful Epistle is the
work of St. Paul. It is full of Pauline thought, and is well attested
by external evidence. It is apparently quoted in the very ancient work
known as the Epistle of Barnabas, and Justin Martyr quotes the title of
Christ "the firstborn of all creation" (Col. i. 15). It is included in
Marcion's canon and in the _Muratorian Fragment_, as well as in the Old
Latin and Peshitta Syriac versions. The notion that it is only a weak
reflection of Ephesians seems incredible, for neither of the two
Epistles is appreciably inferior to the o