The solemn acceptance of a mercy so great--an acceptance as joyful as it is solemn, since the Amen is one rising out of thankful hearts--redounds to the glory of God. This is the final cause of redemption, and however it may be lost sight of in theologies which make man their centre, it is always magnified in the New Testament. The Apostle rejoices that his ministry and that of his friends (δι' ἡμῶν) contributes to this glory; and the whole connexion of thought in the passage throws a light on a great Bible word. God's glory is identified here with the recognition and appropriation by men of His goodness and faithfulness in Jesus Christ. He is glorified when it dawns on human souls that He has spoken good concerning them beyond their utmost imaginings, and when that good is seen to be indubitably safe and sure in His Son. The Amen in which such souls welcome His mercy is the equivalent of the Old Testament word, "Salvation is of the Lord." It is expanded in an apostolic doxology: "Of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things: to Him be glory for ever." FOOTNOTES: [7] For χάριν, (benefit) א^C, B, L, P, have χαράν (joy.) Though Westcott and Hort put this in the text, and χάριν in the margin, most scholars are agreed that χάριν is the Apostle's word, and χαράν a slip or a correction. [8] Mention may be made here of another interpretation of ver. 17, modifications of which recur from Chrysostom to Hofmann. In substance it is this: "The things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh (_i.e._, with the stubborn consistency of a proud man, who disposes as well as proposes), that with _me_ (ἐμοί emphatic: _me_, as if _I_ were God, always to do what I would like to do) the Yes should be yes, and the No, no--_i.e._, every promise inviolably kept?" This is grammatically quite good, but contextually impossible. [9] According to Schmiedel, in the words δι' ἡμῶν ... δι' ἐμοῦ καὶ Σιλουανοῦ καὶ Τιμοθέου we ought to discover an emphatic reference, by way of contrast, to Judaising opponents of Paul in Corinth. These are said to have brought _another_ Jesus (xi. 4), who was _notì_ God's ἴδιος υἱὸς in Paul's sense (Rom. viii. 32), and in whom there _was_ Yea and Nay--namely, the confirmation of the promises to the Jews or those who became Jews to receive them, and the refusal of the promises to the Gentiles as such. It needs a keen scent to discover this, and as the Corinthians read without a commentator it would probably be thrown away upon them. IV _CHRISTIAN MYSTERIES_ "Now He that stablisheth us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God; who also sealed us, and gave _us_ the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts."--2 COR. i. 21, 22 (R.V.).