Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
And walk in love - Let every act of life be dictated by love to God and man.
As Christ - hath loved us - Laying down your lives for your brethren if necessary; counting nothing too difficult to be done in order to promote their eternal salvation.
Hath given himself for us - Christ hath died in our stead, and become thereby a sacrifice for our sins.
An offering - · An oblation, an eucharistic offering; the same as minchah , Leviticus 2:1, etc., which is explained to be an offering made unto the Lord, of fine flour, with oil and frankincense. It means, any offering by which gratitude was expressed for temporal blessings received from the bounty of God.
A sacrifice - · A sin-offering, a victim for sin; the same as zebach , which almost universally means that sacrificial act in which the blood of an animal was poured out as an atonement for sin. These terms may be justly considered as including every kind of sacrifice, offering, and oblation made to God on any account; and both these terms are with propriety used here, because the apostle' s design was to represent the sufficiency of the offering made by Christ for the sin of the world. And the passage strongly intimates, that as man is bound to be grateful to God for the good things of this life, so he should testify that gratitude by suitable offerings; but having sinned against God, he has forfeited all earthly blessings as well as those that come from heaven; and that Jesus Christ gave himself ̔ ̔ , in our stead and on our account, as the gratitude-offering, , which we owed to our Maker, and, without which a continuance of temporal blessings could not be expected; and also as a sacrifice for sin, , without which we could never approach God, and without which we must be punished with an everlasting destruction from the presence of God and the glory of his power. Thus we find that even our temporal blessings come from and by Jesus Christ, as well as all our spiritual and eternal mercies.
For a sweet-smelling savor - · The same as is expressed in Genesis 8:21; Leviticus 1:9; Leviticus 3:16 : reiach nichoach laihovah , "a sweet savor unto the Lord;" i.e. an offering of his own prescription, and one with which he was well pleased; and by accepting of which he showed that he accepted the person who offered it. The sweet-smelling savor refers to the burnt-offerings, the fumes of which ascended from the fire in the act of burning; and as such odors are grateful to man, God represents himself as pleased with them, when offered by an upright worshipper according to his own appointment.
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Genesis 8:21
Leviticus 1:9
Leviticus 7:38
Matthew 26:26
Romans 4:25
Philippians 4:18
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