are to be conceived as two Queen-Regents to one of which every Man and Woman in the World is a Subject and all their Limbs Senses and Faculties of their Bodies and Souls are made Servants to do their Work Now the Work which Uncleanness or Iniquity enjoyns is Iniquity the Work which Righteousness enjoyns is Holiness Therefore says the Apostle with great accuracy as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity the Queen or Tyrant rather unto iniquity the Work or rather Drudgery of Uncleanness and Iniquity even so now yield your members servants to righteousness the Queen-Regent in and of your Souls unto holiness the Work of Righteousness This is all I can observe in the difference of to and unto For when ye were the servants of sin Verse 20 ye were free from or free to righteousness That is Righteousness had no command over you What fruit had ye then of those things whereof ye are now ashamed Verse 21 The Apostle now having as it were done with the Description of their Relations of Servants and Mistresses Queen and Subject Services and Works he concludes the Chapter and the whole Discourse with an Account of the Wages paid by each Mistress each Queen to their several Servants What fruit had ye then of these things whereof ye are now ashamed for the end of these things is death That is of those things or services which ye performed or perpetrated to that tyrant sin But now being made free from sin Verse 22 and become the servants of righteousness ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life For the wages of sin is death Verse 23 but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. In this Verse the Apostle makes a manifest distinction betwixt the reward of Sin and the reward of Righteousness and Holiness The reward of Sin is in the nature of a due Debt as a Soldier 's Wages are a due Debt Death Temporal Spiritual and Eternal are the bitter Fruit and due Merit of Sin but Eternal Life though it be due to Saints by promise yet not by any desert of theirs it is the free gracious gift of God he gave us a Saviour to redeem us he gave us the Doctrine of the Gospel Faith and Repentance are the gifts of God and every Grace in us is not only gratum faciens but gratis data that which makes us acceptable but freely given us through Jesus Christ our Lord. And now having gone through the Chapter I think fit to re-capitulate a little and make a few Reflections upon what hath been said and so come to the main Chapter And now that we have seen the Doctrine of Universal Holiness so recommended unto us by our very Profession of being Christians that by our Baptism and necessary conformity to Christ in his Death and Burial and Resurection we are perfectly obliged to become dead to every Sin and alive to every Holy Action and Opportunity of bringing Glory to God when we are exhorted to reckon our selves dead unto Sin and alive unto God when we are charged that Sin must not reign in our mortal Body and assured that it shall not for this very reason because we are not under the Law but under Grace and at last told in plain terms that if it be eventually otherwise with us that if we do obey Sin we are the Servants of Sin and that unto Death besides all the rest that follows wherein we are particularly directed not only how to imploy our Minds and Affections but every Member of our Bodies in the Service of God being again and again said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 made Freemen from Sin and entered intirely into the Service of Righteousness If I say after all this it may be truly said of the same persons that they are sold under Sin and carnal persons that they do in a general way things that they hate which Slaves indeed do and cannot do otherwise that they cannot find the way or obtain so much of themselves after all the change of state which they have past under as to perform that which is good I despair of understanding the meaning of any words that I shall ever hereafter meet with But yet I do not doubt to make it appear to any unprejudiced Reader in explaining the next Chapter that these Expressions are not spoken of the same Persons that are spoken to in this fixth Chapter which I here dismiss ROMANS Chap. VII KNow ye not Brethren for I speak to them that know the law how that the law hath dominion over a man so long as he liveth or so long as he liveth that is the Law liveth Verse 1 or as Dr. Hammond saith the Law of Man hath power or force as long as he liveth For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband Verse 2 so long as he liveth but if the husband be dead she is loosed from the law of her husband So then if while her husband liveth she be married to another man Verse 3 she shall be called an adulteress but if her husband be dead she is free from that law so that she is no adulteress though she be married to another man In these three Verses you have the common Case stated betwixt an Husband and Wife to which the Apostle by and by by way of similitude doth accommodate the State and and Case of every true converted Christian the Wife is to keep herself intirely for her husband so long as he liveth but if her Husband be dead she is free to marry whom she pleaseth Wherefore my brethren ye also are become dead to the law That is Verse 4 the Law is become dead to you by the Body of Christ So saith Dr. Hammond upon the place at the first Verse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 You are put to death to the Law must be interpreted as a figurative Speech the Law is put to death to you The Soul of every Christian is the Wife the Law was her first Husband Christ is the second Husband While the Law was alive it had the power over the Soul as over a Wife but the Law being put to death that is in its Condemning Power by the Suffering of Christ and the Satisfaction that he made to it by enduring the Penalty of it for every Believer every Man is free from the Power of the Law that chuseth to betake himself to Christ as an Husband and to take him for his Lord and Saviour The Verse at large is thus Wherefore my brethren ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ Verse 4 that ye should be married to another even to him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit unto God The Apostle would not say the Law is dead to you for that had been an invidious Expression amongst the Jews at Rome to say that the Law was dead and therefore he
doing good Actions therefore the other part of the Antithesis must speak of doing ill Actions by bringing forth Fruit unto Death for Contrariorum Contrariae sunt Rationes Again Verse 8. Sin taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence 't is one thing to work it and another to discover it so it follows for without the law sin is dead that is or seems to be dead as to energy not as to discovery or being made to appear or becoming alive in its guilt only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But let this 8th Verse and the 9th and 10th following be taken in this sence For making the guilt of sin to revive Yet what shall we say to the 11th Verse For sin taking occasion by the commandment deceived me First this Phrase taking occasion by the commandment Arrepta occasione inflammandi per legen vetantem concupiscentiam Vatablus in Pol. Versu 8vo Multi interpretes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exponunt occasionem putantque idem dici quod vulgari proverbio intimur in Vetitum Grotius in Pol. So that this taking occasion by the Commandment is by these Interpreters understood of taking an advantage towards new Commissions 2. Again Deceived me How can sin that is indwelling sin or sinful Inclinations be said to deceive but as it had a kind of malicious Design by a Prosopopaeia here to draw the sinning person farther into actual Commissions by which also it slew him not only by charging the Guilts that had past for that is the work of the Law to kill that way by way of charge and not the work of sin or sinful Inclination called Concupiscence sin doth not charge home sin upon the Conscience but Concupiscence here called sin promotes further Commisions seduxit me i. e. in suas partes me dolose traxit ab errare me fecit longius me abduxit a via justitiae ad peccandum me pellexit c. Menochius Estius Beza in Pol. But methinks the 13 Verse plainly makes it appear that sin takes a great advantage towards strengthening and promoting itself in the Sinner or sinful Person by the Law according to the Prosipopaea wherein the Apostle makes sin an Agent and as it were a Person Was that then which is good that is the Law made death to me God forbid But sin that it might appear sin and shew itself in its Colours working death in me by that which is good that sin itself by the commandment might become out of measure sinful I would fain know what tolerable sence can be made of these words but that they must afford a plain proof of what I have been contending for 'T is true 't is sence to say that sin by the Commandment appears to be sin because it is forbidden by the Commandment and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 John 3.4 Every sin is a transgression of the law And it is sence to say that sin brings us to death by that which is good that is the Law forbidding it but how will this plain honest sence bear all the heighth and heat and smartness of the Apostle's arguing in this Verse But sin that it might appear sin working death in me by that which is good that sin by the commandment might become out of measure sinful Sin appears to be sin by the Commandment but how doth it appear out of measure sinful How doth this But come in But sin that it might appear sin namely for this Reason for that it works death in me by that which is good I say how doth this But come in 'T will not bear a Discretive to say only that the Law threatens with Death a Man that doth such and such things and he sinning or transgressing falls under this penalty this is no wonder at all How doth sin appear out of measure sinful by this How doth sin shew such extraordinary Venome in this That it lays a Man under the penalty of the plain Law But now if sin that is indwelling-indwelling-sin or Concupiscence hath such a mischevious devilish nature in it that it doth not only lay us under the penalty of Death but will therefore sin because sin is forbidden and will therefore break the Law because it forbids sin and take its very rise and occasion to all manner of Wickedness and work in us all manner of Concupiscence from that which is holy just and good this shews sin and that by the Commandment to be a thing out of measure sinful this sets forth sin in its true Colours and shews it to be sin indeed a thing that cannot be decyphered by any worse Name than it hath already Sin that it might appear sin c. and out of measure sinful FINIS BOOKS Printed for John Salusbury at the Rising Sun in Cornhil THE Harmony of the Divine Attributes in the Contrivance and Accomplishment of Man's Redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ c. By William Bates D. D. The Changeableness of this World with respect to Nations Families and particular Persons With a practical Application thereof to the various Conditions of this Mortal Life By Timothy Rogers M. A. A Mirror for Atheists being some Passages of the Life and Death of the Right Honourable John Earl of Rochester written by his own Direction on his Death-bed By Gilbert Burnet Lord Bishop of Sarum An End of Doctrinal Controversies which have lately troubled the Churches By Richard Baxter The Certainty of the Worlds of Spirits fully evinced by unquestionable Histories of Apparitions and Witchcrafts Voices c. proving the Immortality of Souls By Richard Baxter The Protestant Religion truly stated and justified By the late Reverend Mr. Richard Baxter prepared some time before his Death Whereunto is added some Account of the learned Author By Mr. Daniel William and Mr. Matthew Sylvester The Christian's Converse with God or the Insufficiency of Humane Friendship and the Improvements of Solitude in Converse with God with some of the Author's Breathings after him By Richard Baxter Recommended to the Reader 's serious Thoughts when at the House of Mourning and in Retirement By Mr. Matthew Sylvester The Mourner's Memorial in two Sermons on the Death of the truly pious Mrs. Susanna Soame With some account of her Life and Death By Timothy Wright and Robert Fleming The whole Works of Isaac Ambrose Fol.
2d Chapter must be meant the Moral Law and this was all they could ever be alive or become dead to 'T is true the Jews might be said to become dead to the Ceremonial Law too by the Body of Christ crucified But this was as nothing to the Romans or mecr Gentiles To leave then this Argument from the persons to whom he wrote being Gentiles and to speak only to the nature of the thing in Rom. 7.5 It is said For when we were in the flesh the motions of sins which were by the law did work c. What motions of sins can we suppose to be wrought by the Ceremonial or Judicial Law more than as they commanded Duties but gave no strength to perform which is the cause why the Moral Law wrought the same Effect Doth there appear any peculiar reason for this Effect from either of these Laws which is not found in the Moral Law Or if there do how doth this affect the Romans that were never under them Again Verse 7. What shall we say then is the law sin God forbid nay I had not known sin but by the law for I had not known lust except the law had said Thou shalt not covet What Law saith this Why it is the Tenth Commandment of the Moral Law Therefore it is the Moral Law that is the first Husband spoken of Again Verse 8. But sin taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence For without the law sin is dead Can all this be colourably said of the Ceremonial Law and not rather of the Moral Law As it forbids all Sin and commands all Duty and gives neither Strength nor Pardon Whereas the Ceremonial Law doth not command so much and yet gives some intimations of Pardon by the Sacrifices which it enjoys Verse 12. Wherefore the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good I question whether this can be Scripturally and Theologically spoken of the Ceremonial Law which in a Sence is said not to be good Ezek. 20.25 Wherefore I gave them statutes that were not good and judgments whereby they should not live Dedi eis praecepta non bona id est Praecepta Ceremonialia saith Pole in Loc. Verse 14. For we know that the law is spiritual This is truly said of the Moral Law but it said of the Ceremonial Law that it was a carnal commandment Heb. 7.16 and Heb. 9 10. It is called carnal ordinances Rites or Ceremonies Again Verse 9. of Rom. 7. For I was alive without the law once Let us suppose for the present that the Apostle speaks properly in his own Name When was ever the Apostle alive without the Ceremonial or Moral Law who was bred up at the strictest rate under them both as a Pharisee The meaning therefore is he was alive without the Law that is before the Law came with its pressing Convictions and what shall we imagine that these Convictions were What That the Ceremonial Law came with its Convictions That he had neglected so many Washings and Sacrifices c. Who ever understood it so Is it not rather understood by all that the Moral Law came in upon his Conscience as a spiritual and Holy Law and the very Transcript of the Holiness of God and charged him with that as Sin which he never understood to be Sin before as he instanceth in Lust and Coveting and so made him appear guilty before the Holy God so as he could never hope to be accepted with God without Pardon and a Saviour And what other Law could this be which should be said to come thus but the Moral Law That which was ordained to be Life to Adam he found to be Death to him being once indeed and so often broken by his first Parents and by himself So by all these Texts out of the chief Chapter which I have in the foregoing Discourse been explaining I apprehend it is evident That the Apostle speaks chiefly if not only of the Moral Law Therefore the Moral Law was their Husband which 〈…〉 sake and to be married to another even Christ in order to Justification 〈…〉 we and all Men in the World for there is par ratio a like and 〈…〉 us If any shall doubt of the Evidence here given I queâ—â—â—â—◠〈…〉 by those several other places where the Apostle mannages the 〈…〉 the Subject of Justification by Faith A Second APPENDIX ANother of my worthy Friends to whom I communicated my Manuscript for his judgment of it questioned whether it could be made to appear that the Law did so much as accidentally enrage Lust and occasion greater sinning in those that seek to be justified by the Law and was inclined to think that the Law did only aggravate the guilt of any Sin and so wound the Conscience and that this should be all the meaning of those words When the commandment came sin revived and I died and the commandment which was ordained to life I found to be unto death Rom. 7.9 10. But I am still of opinion that there is and must needs be a farther sence in the words and that when a Man seeks to be justified by the Law which is a Distemper very incident to Humane Nature under divers shapes and forms and the most subtile and unaccountable Disease of Mankind the Law instead of justifying which it can by no means effect doth not only aggravate Sin and kill a Man as a Ministration of Condemnation but doth though accidentally yet certainly work in us all manner of Concupiscence and doth bring forth new Fruit unto Death as well as discover the old for which I think there are several very considerable Proofs in this seventh Chapter to the Romans and I shall take them as they lye in order Verse 5. When we were in the flesh the motions of sin which were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death When we were in the flesh that is in a state of Unregeneracy and so under the Law had not betaken ourselves to Christ for an Husband the motions of sin did work This methinks cannot be understood of Past-sins that we were then convinced of them by the Law but they are Motions or Inclinations towards sinning so the Expression is continued they did work in ordine ad to bring forth fruit unto death That is towards new Commissions and these Motions of Sin are said to be by the Law How can this be interpreted of laying on guilt or charging us with guilt for Sins already committed So accordingly the Antithesis in the next Verse seems to carry it Verse 6. But now we are delivered from the law that did thus produce and not only discover Sin that being dead wherein we were held that is the Law that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter or as it is in Verse 4. That we should bring forth fruit unto God This part of the Antithesis speaks clearly of