If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
18. If it be possible, etc. Peaceableness and a life so ordered as to render us beloved by all, is no common gift in a Christian. If we desire to attain this, we must not only be endued with perfect uprightness, but also with very courteous and kind manners, which may not only conciliate the just and the good, but produce also a favorable impression...
We may observe here, according to the scheme mentioned in the contents, the apostle's exhortations, I. Concerning our duty to God, We see what is godliness. 1. It is to surrender ourselves to God, and so to lay a good foundation. We must first give our own selves unto the Lord, Co2 8:5. This is here pressed as the spring of all duty and obedience, Rom 12:1, Rom 12:2.
Commenting on Romans 12:1-21
If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably,.... Or be at peace, seek after peace, pursue it, and cultivate it: with all men; with those that we are immediately concerned with, in a natural relation; so husbands should live peaceably with their wives, and wives with their husbands; parents with their children, and children with their parents; masters with their servants...