Acts 17:31

He hath appointed a day - He has fixed the time in which he will judge the world, though he has not revealed this time to man.

By that man whom he hath ordained - He has also appointed the judge, by whom the inhabitants of the earth are to be tried.

Whereof he hath given assurance - ΠιϚιν παρασχων πασιν, Having given to all this indubitable proof, that Jesus Christ shall judge the world, by raising him from the dead. The sense of the argument is this: "Jesus Christ, whom we preach as the Savior of men, has repeatedly told his followers that he would judge the world; and has described to us, at large, the whole of the proceedings of that awful time, Matthew 25:31, etc.; John 5:25. Though he was put to death by the Jews, and thus he became a victim for sin, yet God raised him from the dead. By raising him from the dead, God has set his seal to the doctrines he has taught: one of these doctrines is, that he shall judge the world; his resurrection, established by the most incontrovertible evidence, is therefore a proof, an incontestable proof, that he shall judge the world, according to his own declaration."

Because he hath appointed a day - This is given as a reason why God commands people to repent. They must be judged; and if they are not penitent and pardoned, they must be condemned. See the notes on Romans 2:16.

Judge the world - The whole world - Jews and Gentiles.

In righteousness - According to the principles of strict justice.

Whom he hath ordained - Or whom he has constituted or appointed as judge. See the Acts 10:42 notes; John 5:25 notes.

Hath given assurance - Has afforded evidence of this. That evidence consists:

(1) In the fact that Jesus declared that he would judge the nations John 5:25-26; Matthew 25; and,

(2) God confirmed the truth of his declarations by raising him from the dead, or gave his sanction to what the Lord Jesus had said, for God would nor work a miracle in favor of an impostor.

17:31 He hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world - How fitly does he speak this, in their supreme court of justice?By the man - So he speaks, suiting himself to the capacity of his hearers. Whereof he hath given assurance to all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead - God raising Jesus demonstrated hereby, that he was to be the glorious Judge of all. We are by no means to imagine that this was all which the apostle intended to have said, but the indolence of some of his hearers and the petulancy of others cut him short.