a new life or a new kind of life That he cals newness of life or a new life or a new kind of life here which consisteth in other gates manners than they formerly used while they were yet unregenerate and without Christ Note that this word walk is frequently in Scripture taken as a word of morality by which is Metaphorically signified the life and conversation of a Man and his manner of living who practiseth or exerciseth act after act or deed after deed taking thereby as it were step after step one step after another And it is a word of an indifferent signification taken sometimes in a good sence as here sometimes in a bad as John 12.35 c. Because we should not only rise to a new life but also continue therein the Apostle had rather say even so we also should walk in newness of life than even so also we should rise to a new life For walking presupposeth rising but rising doth not inferre walking Ver. 5. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death we shall be also in the likeness of his Resurrection The Apostle prevents or answers a tacâ—te Objection here For whereas he said ver 4 Therefore we are buried with him by Baptism into death that like as Christ was raised from the dead to the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life A man may object and say whereas thou sayest Paul That we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised from the dead even so we also should walk in newness of life thou inferrest more from the premises than the premises will allow thee for though thou maist infer from these premises viz. we are buried with him by baptism into death that we are therefore so buried that we may not live unto sin yet thou canst not infer from thence that we are therefore buried with him in baptism into death that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life To this objection I say the Apostle here answers or this objection the Apostle here prevents saying for if we are planted together in the likeness of his death we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection q. d. For I may infer from those words viz. We are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father we should also walk in newness of life as well as that That we should not live unto sin For one of those do infer the other so that if we shall not live unto sin we shall live unto newness of life If we have been planted together with him in the likeness of his death c. q. d. If we have been planted in the waters of baptism like as Christ was planted in the earth at his burial so that we be thereby truly and actually dead to sin as Christ was dead to this natural life We shall truly actually and undoubtedly spring up to a new life as Christ did at his resurrection to a life of glory Observe that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 him or with him that is with Christ is to be here understood which is expressed both in the Syriac and Arabique Translations Observe also that what the Apostle meant by being buried ver 4. He meaneth by being Planted here But changeth the word buried into a more emphatical word planted the more to set out the efficacy of baptism which here he speaks of And in both these words he alludes to the burial of Christ when he was laid in the Sepulchre As Christ therefore when he was laid in the Sepulchre under the ground was said to be buried so were they said to be buried who were in baptism so dipped as that they were under the waters But because Christ was not to continue under the earth when he was buried Christ may better be said to be planted in the earth than buried For things which are buried in the earth may never rise up again But things which are planted or sown in the earth do naturally rise and spring up again after their Plantation And for this reason doth Saint Paul liken the bodies of men which are to have a resurrection when they are buried to grain which is sown or planted in the earth which is not quickned except it die 1 Cor. 5.36 And for this reason doth our Saviour himself in allusion to his death and burial and rising again liken himself to a Corn of wheat which falleth into the ground and dieth John 12.24 As Christ therefore when he was laid into the ground being he was to rise again might better be said to be planted than to be buried So they which were baptised being that they were dipped into the waters and therewith covered but not there to lie but to be lifted out or rise out of the waters again with which they were covered may be said to be Sown or Planted in those waters better than buried Especially when they are so dipped or covered with the waters of baptism as that by the Grace of God the inward operation of his Spirit going along with the outward work of the Sacrament they are therein mortified to sin For such as are mortified in baptism to sin will rise from the death of sin or from sin to which they are dead to a new life viz. a life of righteousness As they rise out of the waters again in which they are as it were buried or planted which are baptised And as Christ rose out of the earth in which he was planted or buried Together Supple with him that is like to him that is like to Christ Note that the Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with is here a note of Similitude as I said before In the likeness of his death That is so that we die as he died we to sin as he to this natural life As the Grain which is sowed or planted in the earth is not quickned except it dieth 1 Cor. 15.36 So they which are planted in the waters of baptism do not rise or spring up to a new life or life of righteousness except they first die to sin But if they first dy to sin then they do undoubtedly rise and spring up to a new life or life of righteousness as the corn or grain riseth sprouteth and springeth up and as they which are buried in the waters rise out of them again We shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection The words with their Supplement for they are defective had been better rendred thus We truly shall also spring up together with him in the likeness of his resurrection The sence of which words is this We truly shall also spring up as he did we to a new life of righteousness as he sprang up to a life of glory and so be like to him in
Jesus Christ our Lord This he saith because it is by the merits of Jesus Christ and his efficacy that we are brought from the death of sin to the life of God The Apostle as you see makes an exhortatory conclusion here by which he applieth to his present purpose what he said of the death and life of Christ Ver. 12. Let not sin reign therefore in your mortall Body He speaks of sin here as of a Mistress a Lady or Queen by a Prosopopoeia Sin is then said to reign in us when she stirs up naughty motions in us sutable to our own corruptness and we follow them and obey them as commands by consenting to them and putting them in execution This corollary or conclusion which the Apostle here useth may be gathered either in particular from the foregoing verse or in general from what he hath said from the third verse hitherto In your mâ—rtal Body i. e. The Body is to be taken here by a Synechdoche for the whole man for sin where she reigneth reigneth not only in the body but also in the soul and her works are not wrought only in the body but also in the powers and faculâ—ies of the soul for her works are not only Adultery Fornication Vncleanness Lasciviousness and the like but also Emulation Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Gal. 5. ver 19 20. The sence therefore of these words Let not sin reign in your mortal body is this Let not sin reign in you while you are in this mortal life He saith Let not sin reign in your body using a Synechdoche here because the effects of sin are most seen in the body and he adds the Epithite Mortal to admonish us of the evil which sin brings for it was sin which made our bodâ—es mortal and subject to death which had it not been for sin had not died As also to put us in mind of our mortality here that we might not defer the seeking of that immortality which shall be hereafter as also to put us upon the watch because lust which War against the soul are prone to rise in our bodies while we are here in this mortal life clothed with these mortal bodies of ours That ye should obey it in the lusts thereof i. e. Note that the word Thereof is to be referred not to the word sin but to the word body as will easily appear by the Greek where the word Sin and the word Body are of divers Genders Sin of the Foeminine and Body of the Neuter The same lusts are called the lusts of sin and the lusts of the body And they are called the lusts of sin because sin stirs them up or because they proceed from sin as from the first mover And the lusts of the body because they are stirred up and received in the body To obey sin in her lusts or in the lusts of the body is all one with obeying sin or obeying the lusts of sin As it is all one to obey a King in his commands or to obey a King or to obey a Kings commands By lusts understand here motions to evil as to Adultery Murder Theft Drunkeness and the like proceeding from sin while she tempts us to these and the like evils These we are said to obey when we assent to them and readily fulfill them Ver. 13. Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness q. d Neither yield ye the members of your bodies to be as instruments of sin for her to work unrighteousness or wickedness thereby He speaks of Sin as of a Person or Lady by a Prosopopoeia Your members By the members are here meant the members of the body which are ordained as instruments of the body to work or act by And by a Synechdoche the faculties or vertues of the soul too which are as the instruments by which the soul performeth her operations Sin will if she can make use of all the instruments of man for her work and will be ready to command them and call for them all to serve her if we will be ready to obey and yield them up to her Service He expresseth the members of the body here because he mentioned the body before ver 12. But as the body was taken there by a Synechdoche for the soul also yea for the whole man so must the members of the body be taken here as I said by a Senechdoche for the faculties of the soul too that is for the Instruments of the whole man Of unrighteousness Vnrighteousness is to be taken here generally as cap. 1.18 for all or any manner of wickedness or wicked actions The Genitive case therefore of unrighteousness is Genitivus effecti Vnto sin i. e. Unto sin as to your Queen or Mistress for her to dispose of them Yield yourselves unto God To wit as obedient Servants or Subjects to be ruled and commanded by him and him only As those that are alive from the dead i. e. As behoveth or becometh those which are alive from the dead It was God which raised us from death to life it behoveth therefore and becometh us being that we are quickened by him to live to him For therefore did he quicken us that henceforth we should not live to ourselves or sin but to him that quickeneth us See 2 Cor. 5.15 As alive from the dead By the dead are here meant such as are dead in sin And what these are and how these differ from those which are dead to sin See Notes ver 2. By the living or those which are alive are here meant such as live the life of righteousness that is such as are enabled by God to work righteousness and walk uprightly And your Members What is meant by our Members I said a little before Of Righteousness Righteousness is to be taken here for all manner of holiness or good and holy actions and it is of equal latitude with unrighteousness mentioned a little before to which it is opposed This Genitive of Righteousness is Genitivus Effecti as the former Genitive of Vnrighteousness was Vnto God To wit as to your King to whom ye must yield obdience in all things what he calls for Ver. 14. For sin shall not have dominion over you i. e. For sin though she hath had dominion over you heretofore when ye were not as yet under grace and drew you by her power to give the consent of your wills to her motions and with the members of your body to fulfil her lusts so that ye yielded not your selves and your members as Instruments unto God yet now she shall not have such dominion over you Then sin is said to have dominion over us when she can by her power and strong motions and lusts draw us to consent to those her motions and with our members and faculties to fulfil those her lusts so that we yield our selves to her and not to God He speaks of sin as of a Queen or Lady or Mistress by a Prosopopaeia The Apostle having exhorted those
over us but shall be destroyed at the last by the power of Christ at the General Resurrection when we shall be so raised to life as that we shall die no more Note that the Apostle useth a Prosopopaeia here when he saith that Sin hath reigned and that grace reigneth and speaketh of them as of Queens By Jesus Christ our Lord Supple who hath merited this for us by his obedience and will work it for us by his power CHAP. VI. 1. WHat shall we say then shall we continue in sin that grace may abound 1. But now because I said That when sin abounded Grace did much more abound Shall we therefore continue in sin that Grace may abound 2. God forbid how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein 2. God forbid For with what face shall we Christians which profess our selves to be dead unto sin Or how shall we which are dead to sin indeed as we are if we answer our profession live any longer in sin 3. Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death 3. Know ye not that so many of us as have by baptism entred our selves into the number of Christ Jesus his Disciples were in our baptism baptized into the likeness of Christs death and that by being so baptized we did promise and profess that we would die unto sin 4. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life 4. Now for this end were we baptized into the likeness of the death of Christ and did by that profess and promise that we would die unto sin which was figured to us by the death of Christ That we might thereby profess and signifie that like as Christ when he was buried was raised from the dead by the power of God the Father even so we also which was signified by our rising out of the waters when we were dipped over head and ears would rise from the death of sin to a new and more pure kind of life 5. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection 5. For if we like a grain of Corn that is planted in the earth have been planted in the waters of Bâ—ptism when we were baptized as Christ was planted in the earth when he was buried in the Grave so that like as the grain of corn that dies in the ground we be also dead to sin as Christ also was dead to this bodily life Then we like corn which springs up out of the ground after it is dead shall rise as Christ also did out of the grave and as we our selves did out of the waters of Baptism and spring up to a new and spiritual life 6. Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin 6. Knowing this that we died to sin that sin might be destroyed so that that from henceforth we should not serve sin 7. For he that is dead is freed from sin 7. For as a servant or a slave when he dieth is freed from the servitude and service of his Master So that his Master now hath no power over him Even so he that is dead to sin is freed from sin so that sin hath no power over him to make him her Servant and to serve her 8 Now if we be dead with Christ we believe that we shall also live with him 8. And now that we may go on if we be dead to sin as Christ was dead to this natural or bodily life we believe and are perswaded that we shall not remain in this estate but that we shall also live the life of righteousness as He liveth now the life of glory 9. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more death hath no more dominion over him 9. For least any one should think it strange that Christ which was once dead should be so revived and raised up from the dead again as that he should be still alive we know that Christ being raised from the dead nor died nor shall die any more and that death hath no more dominion over him 10. For in that he died he died unto sin once but in that he liveth he liveth unto God 10. For in that he died he died but once and that for this end that he might take away sin But that he is revived and liveth he liveth and shall live for ever for this end that God may be honoured and glorified by that his life 11. Likewise reckon ye also your selves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 11. Now then that Christ whom ye ought to imitate is alive who was once dead reckon ye your selves to be dead indeed unto sin But alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12. Let not sin reign therefore in your mortall body that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof 12. Let not sin reign therefore in your mortal bodies that ye should obey her in her lust and temptations Though she stirs up lusts and Temptations in you 13. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin but yield your selves unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God 13. Neither yield ye your members unto sin as Instruments for her to work unrighteousness by them But yield ye yourselves unto God as it becometh and behoveth those to do which are raised from the death of sin and yield ye your members unto him to be Instruments by which he may work righteousness in you 14. For sin shall not have dominon over you for ye are not under the law but under grace 14. For let no faint hearted Christian say nay but I cannot but obey sin when she stirs up her lusts in me and tempteth me to naughtiness for sin shall not have dominion over you as she hath had heretofore to make you do what she pleaseth for ye are now not under the Law which commanded you to do that which is good and forbad you to do that which is evil but gave you little or no power towards the doing of them But ye are under the Gospel the Gospel of Grace which as it commands that which is good and forbids that which is evil so it gives power to perform that which she commands for the Gospel is the power of God to salvation 15. What then shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace God forbid 15. But now because the Law as she commands but gives little or no power to fulfill her commands So she is severe in punishing every the least transgression which is committed against her precepts And because
the Gospel as it commands and giveth power to fulfil her commands so is it ready to pardon sin and iniquities Some when they hear me say that ye are not under the Law but under grace are ready to take from hence encouragement and liberty to sin But what if I said ye are not under the Law but under Grace shall we therefore take liberty to sin God forbid 16. Know ye not that to whom ye yield your selves servants to obey his servants ye are to whom ye obey whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness 16. Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey his Servants ye are to whom ye obey whether ye yield your selves servants to sin to obey her and so become the Servants of sin which brings men unto death or whether ye yield your selves unto the Gospel which is the doctrine of obedience to obey her and so become the Servants of the Gospel which brings to righteousness or justification 17. But God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you 17. But God be thanked that though ye were sometimes the servants of sin yet ye have now obeyed the Gospel that form of doctrine which was delivered to you 18. Being then made free from sin ye became the servants of righteousness 18. Being therefore made free from sin and her service ye are become the servants of the Gospel which teacheth and commandeth righteousness 19. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness 19. I speak in speaking as I do of sin and of the Gospel under Metaphors taken and used amongst vulgar men as a vulgar man which is not acquainted with divine matters and that because of the weakness of your understanding being ye are not yet able to apprehend and bear the high and deep things of God Wherefore as while ye were the servants of sin ye yielded your members to sin as servants to work her work to wit iniquity Even so now being that ye are the servants of the Gospel which teacheth righteousness yield ye your members as servants to the Gospel to do her work to wit holiness 20. For when ye were the servants of sin ye were free from righteousness 20. For when ye were servants to sin ye were as men free from the Gospel which teacheth and commandeth righteousness and so carried your selves and did no work at all for her As therefore when ye were the servants of sin ye were as men free from the Gospel and so carried your selves and did no work for her So being that ye are now the servants of the Gospel be ye as men free from sin and so carry your selves and do no work for her 21. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed for the end of those things is death 21. But what fruit had ye then when ye were the servants of sin in those things whereof ye are now ashamed for the end of those things which ye did while ye were servants to sin is everlasting death 22. But now being made free from sin and become servants to God ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life 22. But now being that ye are made free from sin and become the servants of the Gospel and so by consequence the Saints of God who is the Author of the Gospel ye have your fruit even holiness and the end of your doings will be everlasting life 23. For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 23. For the wages which sin giveth to her servants which do her work is everlasting death but the gift which God bestoweth upon his servants which do his work is eternal life which he bestoweth upon them for Jesus Christ our Lords sake CHAP. VI. Ver. 1. What shall we say then In the twentieth verse of the former chapter the Apostle said that where sin abounded grace did much more abound Lest any therefore should think that he might continue in sin for this end that grace might abound And because Christians were defamed with the tenancy of such an opinion as appeareth Chap. 3. v. 8. The Apostle sheweth here the detestation even of such a thought as this is that Christians might continue in Sin that the grace of God might abound and that it is against the very Profession of Christianity Shall we continue in Sin c. i e. Shall we continue in our old course of sinning by adding Sin to Sin Note that the Apostle speaks here of such who had lived in Sin before their conversion to Christianity That grace may abound That is that the grace and favour of God may abound in pardoning our Sins or that God may have the more abundant occasion to shew his grace and favour to sinners Ver. 2. God forbid These words are words of abhorring and detesting as Chap. 3.4.6.31 How shall we that are dead unto Sin live any longer therein The Apostle calls those dead to Sin which are dead in respect of Sin That is which have renounced and cast off the Service of sin and the obedience which they were wont to yield to her and as the dead have no commerce with the living have no commerce with Sin as they were wont to have Or rather as Servants which are now dead are freed from their Masters by death so that their Masters have no command over them neither do they serve them So are they which are dead to Sin so freed from sin as that she hath no power to command them nor do they obey or serve her All which profess Christianity are dead to Sin by profession and by promise for in their very entrance and admission into the Church of Christ they promise and profess that they will renounce sin with her lusts And they which are Christians as well in truth as in profession are dead to sin not in promise and profession only But in truth and reality too for they are so mortified to sin as that they obey her not neither have they their wonted commerce with her If therefore we be dead to sin if it be but by promise and profession only how can we with any face live any longer to sin or in the obedience and service of sin But if we are dead to sin not only in promise and profession but also in truth and in reality too how can we possibly live to sin or in the service and obedience of sin while we are dead to her Thus are Christians two manner of ways said to be dead to sin First by promise and profession Secondly in truth and in reality And being any of these wayes dead to sin they cannot
live any longer therein For if they be dead to sin but in promise and profession only they cannot to wit with any face live to sin For who can with any face live to that which he hath promised and professed he hath nothing to do with and which he hath renounced And if they be dead to sin not in promise and profession only but in truth and reality also How can they possibly live to sin For it implieth a contradiction to be truly and really dead and yet to live to the same thing to wit at the same time When therefore Christians may be said to be dead to sin these two manner of wayes I conceive that the Apostle argues here in this part of the Chapter from both these wayes that is from the promise and profession which they make in their entrance and admission into the Church of Christ that they renounce sin and will die unto it which he prosecutes in the third and fourth verses And from that that if they be true Christians they are dead to sin in truth and reality which he prosecutes in the verses following We that are dead to sin We may take notice here of the difference of these two Phrases to wit to be dead to sin which is the Phrase the Apostle here useth And to be dead in sin which is a Phrase the Apostle useth Eph. 2. ver 1.5 c. he is said to be dead to sin which obeyeth not sin nor followeth the lusts thereof He is said to be dead in sin which is so under sins dominion as that he can get no more out of it in a manner than a dead man can get out of the Grave Therein The Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which may be rendred Thereto Ver. 3. Know ye not that as many of us as are baptised into Christ Jesus are baptised into his death i. e. Know ye not that so many of us as by baptism have entred our selves into the number of Christ Jesus his disciples and have by the Susception of baptism obliged our selves to follow him and his doctrine that we I say did by that our baptism and the susception thereof and the ceremonies therein used profess and promise that we would renounce sin and die to her which death was typified as it were and figured in the death of Christ and the death of Christ figured in our baptism that is in plainer and shâ—rter terms have not as many of us as have been baptized professed and promised by or in our baptism that we would renounce sin and die or become dead unto her As Christ once died to this naturall life Note that whereas the Apostle said ver 2. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein he doth here illustrate and shew the truth of that his saying First by shewing that we Christians are dead to sin in promise and profession at the least And this he doth in this verse And Secondly by shewing that we are therefore dead to sin not that we should live again to her but that we should live a new life to wit a life to righteousness and this he doth in the next verse As were baptized into Jesus Christ To be baptized into Jesus Christ is by the susception of Baptisme or by the promise therein made to subject ourselves to Christ and to acknowledge him to be our Master whom we will readily follow and whose Gospel and Doctrine we will readily embrace and whose commands we will receive and keep without dispute See Acts 19.5 1 Cor. 1.14 The Baptism by which we are baptized into Jesus Christ is not different from that Baptism by which we are baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost yea we are baptized into Jesus Christ by being baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and while we subject ourselvs to them we subject ourselves to Jesus Christ for they are all one their commands one their doctrine one Were baptized into his death i. e. Were baptized into the similitude and likeness of his death for so the Apostle seems to explicate and express himself ver 5. And by consequence into a death to Sin which was typified both by the ceremony of being dipped over head and ears in baptisme as also by Christs Death They were baptized into the similitude of Christs death which were dippâ—d over head and ears in the waters at their Baptism for by being dipped over head and ears in the waters at their Baptisme they were as it were buried in the waters which burial represented the burial of Christ in the bowels of the earth and by consequence Châ—â—sts death This burial in the waters at their Baptism as it did figure and represent Christs death So it did figure and represent the death of those which were baptized unto Sin which the Apostle here intimates and we are to take notice of And as it did figure and represent the death of those which were baptized unto sin so it was a kind of profession that they did renounce sin and would dy thereunto Where note that at this Baptism the party to be baptized did by word of mouth promise and profess that he would renounce sin And what he did promise and profess by word of mouth he did promise and profess by the ceremonies to which he submitted himself in baptism For whether he were sprinkled with water or whether he were dipped over head and ears he did by those ceremonies and either of them promise â—nd profess that he had or would renounce sin and have nothing to do with the foul pollutions of her unclean motions and lusts For by being sprinkled with water he shewed that he had or would cleanse himself and as it were wash himself from sin And by being dipped over head and ears and so by being as it were buried in the water he shewed that he would die or was dead to sin for none but dead men use to be buried Into his death i. e. Into the similitude or likeness of the death of Christ which death of Christ was a figure or representation of our death to sin And by being baptized into that we did profess that we would renounce sin and die to her Note therefore that the death of Christ was not only a cause of our death unto sin But was also a figure and certain Typical representation thereof For it signified or figured our death to sin And did Typically and Figuratively teach us what we should do that is that we should die to sin as Christ died to this mortall life And this is evident by certain passages of the former part of this Chapter And not only the death of Christ but his Resurrection and his Ascention into heaven did figure and typically set forth what we should do who have been baptized into Christ For as Christ was raised from the dead so should we rise to a new
his resurrection Note therefore that the first words of this verse in the Original are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Supple 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The latter words which are the words we have now in hand are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which words are defective and must be made up out of the first words thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The whole verse supplied and made up runs thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which we interpret thus For if we have been planted together with him in the likeness or to the likeness of his death truly we shall also spring up with him in the likeness or to the likeness of his resurrection Where note that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is twice here used but in different significations for in the first place it signifieth planted with In the second place it signifieth springing up with Of the signification of the word as it is used in the first place I presume there will be no doubt But some perhaps may doubt of the signification which is given to it in the second place Know therefore that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth as well to spring up with as to be planted with for Saint Luke useth the participle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this sence Luke 8.7 where we read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is And other fell among thorns and the thorns springing up with it choked it But some may Object and say that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a word of a Passive form but I have given it a Neuter or Middle signification I answer such words though they are of a Passive form yet may they be of a Neuter and Middle signification as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chap. 2. ver 5. and the Participle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luke 8.7 is of a Passive form but not of a Passive but Middle signification Note that in these words We shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection there is a tacite allusion to the lifting up or rising up of those out of the waters which were dipped over head and ears and so buried as it were or as he here sayes planted therein at their baptism by which as Christs rising from the dead was figured so our rising from the death of sin to a new course of life was represented and professed Ver 6. Knowing that our old man is crucified with him The Apostle prevents an Objection here for whereas he said verse 5. That if we be planted together with Christ in the likeness of his death we shall spring up with him in the likeness of his resurrection A man might object and say Paul thou speakest here thou knowest not what for do you know what you say when you say that If ye be planted with Christ in the likeness of his dâ—ath ye shall spring up with him in the likeness of his resurrection This Objection I say the Apostle here prevents when he saith Knowing that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed c. q d. And when I say If we are planted together with him in the likeness of his death we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection I know well enough what I say for I know that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed c. Knowing this that our old man is crucified i. e. Knowing this that our former kind of life is mortified or left Or rather Knowing that our old nature or custom of living is abolished He spoke of this which he calls here Our old man as of a Person by a Prosopopoeia If we should look to the order or series of speech the Apostles speech is somewhat incongruous for he should rather have said here We are crucified to the old man than have said Our old man is crucified For he said verse 5. If we have been planted together in the likeness of his death And in the seventh verse he saith He that is dead is freed from sin And verse 8. If we be dead with Christ c. to which these words should be conform But as I have observed the Apostle looks more to the sence than to the form or manner of his speech as he doth Chap. 7.4 and in many other places For which reason it may be it is that he saith of himself Though I be rude in speech yet not in knowledg 2 Cor. 11.6 Our old man is crucified He alludes here to the death by which Christ dyed and therefore saith is crucified whereas otherwise he would have said is mortified or the like It is by Baptism that our old man is said here to be crucified or mortified which is when the party Baptized is so disposed as he ought to be and when God accompani th the outward work of baptism with the inward opperation of his Spirit and grace With him i. e. With Christ that is like as Christ was crucified The preposition with is used here also as a Note of Similitude That the body of sin might be destroyed By the Body of sin may be meant those many sins in which unregenerate men were wont to live before their Regeneration by Baptism as covetousness drunkenness fornication c. which he may call a Body as a Flock a People a City an Army a Legion is called a Body of which body every particular sin is a member See Coloss 3.5 That henceforth we should not serve sin i. e. That we should from this time forward serve sin no more nor be any more at sins beck or command or that Sin should not any more have such power over us as to make us her slaves and Servants to do what she would have us to do as she had before He speaks of sin here as of a Queen Lady or Mistress He is said to serve sin which obeys the motions and lusts of sin which are as it were her commands that is who when sin stirreth up any motion in him to evill presently gives his ascent to it and puts it in execution Ver. 7. For he that is dead is freed from sin For he that is dead to sin is freed from her so that she hath no power over him He speaks not here of a natural death but as he did before of a morall or spirituall death to wit a death to sin And when he saith that he that is dead is freed from sin he alludes to a Servant or a Slave which by his death is freed from the Law or bonds of his Master so that his Master hath now no power over him For such is the condition of the dead as that they are civily subject to no humane power at all Note here that for a man to be dead to sin is the same in the Apostles phrase as for sin or the old man to be crucified in him And the Apostle useth them promiscuously He proveth here that the Old man is crucified in us that we should not
serve sin and he proves it by an Allegoricall argument drawn from the Servants of Men who are freed by death from their Masters Service And from that that they which are free from the Service of men do not as though they were their Servants still yield them any further Service Ver. 8. Now if we be dead with Christ we believe that we shall also live with him I said ver 6. that the Apostle prevented an Objection there and so he undertook to declare that he knew well enough what he said when he said If we have been planted together with him in the likeness of his death we shall also in the likeness of his Resurrection ver 5. But hitherto he hath declared only that he knew that they which were Planted together with Christ in the likeness of his death that is that they which were crucified or dead to sin with Christ were therefore so planted or so dead that they should serve sin no more He hath not as yet declared that he knew that they which were so planted and so dead should rise or spring up to a new life for it is not enough to shew that a man doth good to shew that he abstains from evil I said moreover that the Apostle spoke somewhat incongruously if we did look not to the sence but to the manner of his Speaking in the sixt verse Therefore the Apostle doth here correct as it were what he said there when he saith But if we be dead with Christ we believe that we shall also live with him And also makes that out to the ful which he undertook 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. But if we be dead with Christ we believe that we shall also live with him q. d. But that I may correct my speech and speak more congruously and bring up that to the full which I undertook If we be dead with Christ we believe that we shall also live with him If we be dead with Christ i. e. If we be dead to sin as Christ was dead to this natural life The preposition With is a note of similitude here also We believe that we shall also live with him i. e. We believe or are perswaded that we shall also live the life of grace to God or to Righteousness as Christ now liveth a life of Glory to the glory of God With him i. e. As he doth Ver. 9. Knowing this that Christ being raised from the dead c. Whereas the Apostle said in the former verse If we be dead with Christ we believe that we shall also live with him that is that we shall live the life of grace and of righteousness as he liveth the life of Glory Some man may say but how canst thou say Paul that we shall live with Christ For art thou sure that Christ is now alive That thou canst not be for though Christ was raised from the dead yet he may be now dead again for many which were raised from the dead dyed again after they were raised This doubt or this objection the Apostle here prevents saying Knowing this that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more c. q d. I say we shall also live with him for we know this that Christ is now alive For Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more death hath no more dominion over him Knowing this that Christ being raised from c. This he might know being informed thereof by the Spirit of God which knoweth all things and cannot lie but Christ appeared to Paul alive after a glorious manner 1 Cor. 15 8. By which he might certainly know that Christ was now living Death hath no more dominion over him i. e. Death neither hath nor shall have any more dominion over him A Syllepsis as before He speaks of death as of a Person by a Prosopopoeia Death had dominion over Christ after a certain manner when it severed his Soul from his Body upon the Cross and brought him down to the grave But Christ soon cast off this dominion of death and hath so far conquered death as that death shall never have any power of him again Nay death never had had any dominion over him at all had not he himself willingly for mans redemption submitted himself thereto V. 10. He died unto sin i. e. He died to or for this end that he migh abolish and destroy sin in us The word Sin is of the Dative Case and therefore to die to sin is as much as Mori propter peccatum vel ad peccatum in nobis mortificandum abolendum i. e. To die for sin or to die that he might mortifie and abolish sin in us For this efficacy or vertue hath Lamed with a Dative Case with the Hebrews whose Idiotismes Paul often useth Note that Christ and we are both said to die to sin but not both after one and the same manner for we are said to die to sin because we cease to yield to the motions of sin which are in us and after this manner Christ is not said to die to sin for there is no sin in Christ nor did he ever yield to any such motions thereby to be said to have ceased from yielding to the motions of sin but Christ is said to die to sin because he died to put away sin and abolish that sin which is in us and after this manner we cannot be said to die to sin for none can put away sin or abolish sin by his death but he that is both without sin himself and is a Person infinite Once i. e. Once and but once For such was the worth and value of Christs death as that he needed not to die more than once for the abolishing of sin Heb. 9. ver 25 26. But in that he liveth i. e. But in that he is raised again from death to life He liveth unto God i. e. He liveth and that an immortal life to the glory of God who hath exalted him to that life and is thereby glorified in that he hath so exalted him He liveth i. e. He liveth an immortal life Synechdoche Integri Vnto God i. e. Unto Gods glory Ver. 11. Likewise reckon ye also your selves to be dead indeed unto sin q. d. Being therefore ye hear that Christ was dead but is raised from the dead and being raised liveth and shall live for ever And being that Christ by his death and resurrection and life is a Type and Figure to teach us what we should do and should be Now as Christ was dead but was raised again and liveth a life immortal So likewise reckon ye your selves to be dead indeed unto sin but yet alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord and so alive as always to continue in that life To be dead indeed unto sin What it is to be dead unto sin See verse 2. Alive unto God To live or to be alive unto God is so to live as that we please God and observe and do his will Through
enemy to God For he is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can he be so long as he is such and doth so 8. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God 8. So then I grant you that say nay but we cannot but walk after our sensual or carnal appetite and affections I grant you I say that they which are carnal cannot please God nor can they do otherwise then walk after their sensual or carnal appetite and affections 9 But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his 9. But ye are not carnal but Spiritual in that the Spirit of God by which ye are Regenerate dwelleth in you for if any man hath not the spirit of Regeneration which Christ hath purchased for us he is none of Christs 10. And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness 10. And now being that the spirit of Regeneration which Christ hath purchased is in you your body indeed is subject to death and shall one day die by reason of original sin or the sin of Adam which was derived to you But yet your souls shall live and never see death by reason of that Spirit of Regeneration which is also called the Spirit of Righteousness with which ye are endued 11. But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you 11. But yet that you may know that your bodies shall not so die as their bodies do which are Carnal being that the Spirit of Regeneration is in you God the Father who raised up Jesus from the dead shall after death quicken and enliven your mortal bodies with an everlasting life by reason of that Spirit of his which dwelleth in you 12 Therefore brethren we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh 12. Therefore Brethren being it is so we ought not if we have any love at all to our selves to be servants to our sensual or carnal appetite or affections to follow their motions But we ought to be servants to the Spirit that Spirit of Regeneration which is in us and to follow her inclinations 13. For if ye live after the flâ—sh ye shalt die but if ye through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live 13. For if we live after our sensual and carnal appetite and affections and follow them we shall die eternally But if we through the power which we have by the Spirit of Regeneration which is in us do mortifie and destroy the deeds to which our sensual and carnal Appetite which is in our body tempt us to we shall live an everlasting life 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God 14. For as many as are lead by the Spirit of Regeneration which God hath given us and follow her motions so many are the Sons of God and by consequence heirs of life everlasting 15. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but ye have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father 15. I say so many are the sons of God for they which have received the Spirit of Regeneration have not received a servile spirit whereby they should like slaves and servants fear and be afraid to approach and come neer to God such a spirit as we Jews had at the giving of the Law in Mount Sinai But we have received a filial and Son-like spirit whereby we are bold to approach to God and to speak confidently to him and to call him as Sons Abba Father 16. The spirit it self beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God 16. The spirit â—t self by begetting in us a filial affection and Son like disposition towards God beareth witness to our souls that we are the children of God 17. And if children then heirs heirs of God and joynt-heirs with Christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together 17. And if we are the children of God then are we heirs even the heirs of God and coheirs with Christ of everlasting Glory And this inheritance of everlasting Glory shall we inherit with Christ if that we suffer as Christ did And indeed let us suffer as Christ did that we may be also glorified together with Christ 18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us 18. For that now I may arm you against sufferings I have weighed as it were in a ballance our sufferings on the one side and our rewards on the other and have cast up as it were the sum of both of them and I reckon or conclude that the sufferings of this present life are so small in comparison of the reward as that they are not worthy to be compared with the Glory that shall be openly given and bestowed upon us hereafter who suffer for Christ sake 19. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God 19. I say that shall be openly given and bestowed upon us hereafter and I speak of it as a thing which shall most certainly be For the Creature whose expectation shall not be frustrate doth with earnest expectation wait for the manifestation of this Glory in the Sons of God 20. For the creature was made subject to vanity not willingly but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope 20. I say that it doth with earnest expectation wait for this for the Creature when it was made subject to vanity was not made subject thereunto willingly but only in obedience to God who would and did subject the same to vanity with hope notwithstanding in the creature that it should one day be delivered from that vanity 21. Because the creature it self also shall be delivered from the bondage of curruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God 21. I say with hope notwithstanding in the creature that it should be one day delivered from that vanity for which is the ground of this its hope the irrational creature it self also as well as man shall be delivered from this bondage of corruption and vanity when the glorious liberty of the Sons of God whereby they shall be totally freed from their miseries and be estated in glory shall appear 22. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travelleth in pain together untill now 22. For we know that the whole company of the Creatures from the time that man fell untill now groan and travil as it were a woman which is in pain and would fain be delivered desiring to be
That they cannot please God for that vâ—z That they walk after the Flesh or that viz. That they cannot but walk after the Flesh by putting the Consequent for the Antecedent This phrase therefore viz. They cannot please God is the same for sence with that viz. Who walk after the Flesh And it is occasioned from a tacite objection arising from the first verse though the Corollary or Conclusion which the Apostle draws here is drawn from that which went immediately before Ver. 9 But ye are not in the Flesh i. e. But ye which are in Christ Jesus ye I say are not carnall that ye should say yea but we cannot but walk after the Flesh But in the Spirit i. e. But ye are spiritual so that ye may renounce the Flesh and walk after the Spirit If so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you i. e. Being that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you to wit by those gifts and graces which he hath given you The conjunction If is not dubitantis but affirmantis not a note of doubting but of affirming and for this reason doth he affirm without doubting that the Spirit of God dwelleth in them because he takes them to be such as were truly in Christ Jesus ver 1. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his This seemeth to to be an Argument to proue that these Romans had the Spirit of Christ in them upon this supposition that they were in Christ Jesus for saith he If any one hath not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his but if he be his that is if he be Christs as ye are he hath the spirit of Christ in him He that hath not the Spirit of Christ is not Christs that is is not in Christ as a living member in the body or as a fruitfull or living branch in the vine and therefore shall be cast out or cut off at length The Spirit of Christ That which he called The Spirit of God immediately before he calleth the Spirit of Christ here because it is given and conferred of God through the merits of Christ who also himself is true God He is none of his i. e. None of his true and living members Or true and living branches Ver. 10. And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of Righteousness i. e. And if the Spirit of Christ be in you your body indeed is mortall and shall die by reason of the sin of Adam But your soul shall live and never see death because of the Spirit of God and of Christ that is because of the Spirit of Righteousness which dwelleth in it The Apostle doth here shew the blessed fruit which they shall enjoy which have the Spirit of God and of Christ viz. That they shall not come into condemnation as he is said ver 1. And he doth withall answer an Objection which might arise from those words ver 6. To be spiritually minded is life For being that the Apostle said there That to be spiritually minded is life a man might object and say but how is it life to be spiritually minded when as they that have the Spirit of God and of Christ and so are spiritually minded die as well as they which are in the Flesh and so are carnally minded To this the Apostle answereth here that they that have the Spirit of God and of Christ and so are spiritually minded die indeed the death of the body as they do which cre carnally minded and that because of Original sin or the sin of Adam but they do not die the death of the soul as the carnal minded men do because of that Spirit of God and of Christ which dwelleth in them If Christ be in you c. By Christ is here to be understood the Spirit of Christ as he called it ver 10. and that per Metonymiam efficientis And the Apostle would rather say Christ here than the Spirit of Christ to avoid confusion of termes for soon after by the Spirit he means the Soul of man The body is dead That is the Body indeed is subject to death and shall one day die He saith the body is dead because it is not only such as may die but such as tendeth continually to death and shall at length certainly die Because of sin By sin here understand the sin of Adam or Original sin for death entred into the world by Adam 's sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned through him Chap. 5.12 And in Adam all die saith the Apostle again 1 Cor. 15.22 But the Spirit is life i. e. But the Soul shall live and never see death The Spirit By the Spirit understand here the Soul that better part of man which is a Spirit Is life That is liveth and shall live for ever The Apostle when he saith Is life for liveth useth a Metonymie of the Adjunct Because of righteousness i e. Because of the Spirit of God and of Christ which is in it By Righteousness is here to be understood The Spirit of life as he called it ver 2. and which he called the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ ver 9. And which he called Christ in a few words before and this Spirit he calleth Righteousness Per Metonymiam Effecti because it inclines to Righteousness and worketh Righteousness in us That Soul which is endued with the Spirit of God or with the Spirit of Righteousness call it which you please while it is in this life so soon as it is parted from the body is carried into the presence of Christ there to enjoy him who is life and to live after its manner Ver. 11. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you i. e. But yet if the Spirit of God dwelleth in you q. d. But though the bâ—dy is dead because of sin yet if the Spirit of God dwelleth in you c. He meaneth by this spirit that which he called righteousness ver 10. and the Spirit of Christ vers 9. and the Spirit of life ver 2. By him which raised up Jesus from the dead he meaneth God whom he describes by this Act because he is to say That he will quicken your mortal bodies Of which that That God raised up Jesus from the dead was a pattern and a pledge and shewed that God was able yea and willing to do it He that raised up Christ from the dead That is God Shall also quicken your mortal bodies That is Shall also raise up your mortal bodies after death at the last Day as he raised up Christ from death when he had been dead By his spirit that dwelleth in you That is because of his spirit or by reason of his spirit which dwelleth in you By reason of his spirit are our bodies become Temples of the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. chap 6.19 And therefore our bodies shall be
happy as they To Emulation Emulation is a grief of mind whereby we grieve for the good of another not because that good is in him but because that good which we see in him is not in us Envy is a grief of mind for the good of another as well as Emulation But here is the difference Envy is joyned with a desire and endeavour to diminish that good which is in an other upon a perswasion that our excellency is thereby obscured But Emulation is not joyned with a desire to diminish his good but with a desire to make our selves as good as he Them which are my flesh i. e. Them which are my Kins-men according to the flesh as he speaks Chap. 9.3 They are said to be the same flesh who are made or who spring from the same flesh by a Metonymie He means the Jews here which were all of the same flesh with him to wit The flesh of Abraham Isaac and Jacob And might save some of them i. e. And might bring some of them at least to Salvation by the Gospel which I preach which is the power of God unto Salvation Cap 1.16 Ver. 15. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world i. e For if the casting away of the Jews be an occasion of the reconciling of the Gentiles unto God The casting away of them i. e The rejecting of the Jews for their unbelief Be the reconciling of the wâ—rlâ— i. e. Be an occasion of the reconciling the world to God Metonymia Of the world i. e. Of the Gentiles See ver 12. What shall tâ—e receiving of them Supple To the savour of God Be Supple To the world or to the Gentiles But life from the dead i. e. But yet a further cause of a spiritual life to righteousness from death in sin or from among those which are dead in sins His meaning is that by this means more Gentiles would be brought to the faith then now are brought By Life is here meant a Spiritual life led by the Faith of God per Synechdochen generis And that is put again for the cause of such a life per Mytonymiam effecti And by the dead are meant such as are dead in sins And this life so taken is to be understood here as a life coming to the Gentiles by the receiving of the Jews to favour For this verse is the very same for sence with the Twelfth verse And prevents the like objection as that doth and yields the like argument or proof to shew that the Jews stumbled not that they should fall as that also doth wherefore between this and the former verse we may understand these or the like words Neither need ye fear that if the Jews should be brought to salvation ye Gentiles would be cast off again q. d. Neither need ye fear that if the Jews should be brought to Salvation the Gentiles will be cast off again for if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world c. Ver. 16. For if the first fruit be holy the lump is also holy q. d. For seeing that the Patriarchs Abraham Isaac and Jacob which were as it were the first fruits and the Root of the people or Nation of the Jews were holy the people or Nation of the Jews which spring of them shall also be esteemed holy This is to be referred to the first part of the first verse viz. I say then hath God cast away his people God forbid Or which some account the same to the first part of the eleventh verse viz. I say then have they stumbled that they shovld fall God forbid And it may â—ave its immediate reference to the fourteenth verse also As if the Apostle would also shew by this that what he â—here said of magnifying his office as he was the Apostle of the Gentiles for this end that he might provoke the Jews to emulation and save some of them was not a groundless conceit as though there was no hope of bringing the Jewes to Salvation But that what he did in this he did upon good ground being that the whole people of the Jews were holy as their fore-fathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob were holy and therefore might in all probabilities be saved Such is the Apostles skill and artifice that while he brings a proof to prove a thing which is further off he will by the same proof often prove the thing that went immediately before also The Apostle Supposeth here that the Patriarchs or forefathers of the Jews viz Abraham Isaac and Jacob c. were holy and from thence gathereth or concludeth that if they were holy the whole people or Natâ—ion of the Jâ—ws where holy also and this his conclusion he proveth or illustrateth rather by two similitudes or comparisons The first from the first fruits with which the lump doth agree in nature The other from the root and the branches of a Tree which naturally follow the condition one of the other If the first fruit be holy By the first fruit is here Metaphorically understood the Patriarchs Abraham Isaac and Jacob c. which were the fore-fathers of the Jews and the holiness here spoken of is not the holiness of Regeneration or the holiness which consists in the conformity of our actions with the Law of God but that holiness whereby God hath separated the fathers of the Jews and by vertue of his promise to them Gâ—n 17.17 Their seed also after them throughout all generations from the common ranke of men to be a God to them So as not utterly to forsake them at any time and to leave them without all means of Salvation which is a blessing peculiar to them above all the Nations of the world For though God doth afford mâ—ans of Salvation to other people also yet this proceeds not from the promise of God to them or to their Ancestors as it doth to the Jâ—ws neither have they any thing to the contrary but that God will and may forsake them utterly if they should be disobedient to him as the Jews have been But yet he wâ—ll never leave the whole nation of the Jews without the meaâ—s of Salvation neither will he but save them if â—hey imbrace the means foâ— thâ—ir unbelief shall not make the faith of God without effect Chap. 3.3 See Cap. 15. ver 8 9. Note that Holiness signifieth a Separation of some things from others or some persons from others by way of Eminâ—ncy And so the Jâ—ws and their forefathers may be called holy here because God had separated them from all other People by a peculiar blessing the blessing which I have spoken of The first fruit The Apostle aâ— some say alludes here to the sheaf of the first fruits Lev. 23. ver 9 10 14. where the Lord speaks thus to the poeple of Israel When ye come into the Land which I give unto you and shall reap the harvest thereof then shall ye bring a sheaf of the first fruits of yâ—ur
Sublim sence According to the Literal or Historical sence they are to be understood of such Nations as descended from Abraham by carnall Propagation And many Nations descended from him that way as the Israelites Ishmalites Edomites Amalekites c. According to the Mystical or Sublim sence they are to be taken of such as did imitate the faith of Abraham and were like to him in that And in this sence Abraham was called a Father of many Nations because he was set out by God as a President or Example to them that they might be moved to believe God and so be justified by their faith as Abraham believed God and was justified by his faith And many Nations have become Children of Abraham this way If you ask now in which sence these words are to be understood here I say in the Mystical or Sublime sence Before him whom he believed i. e. In sight of him whom he believed By him whom he believed is meant God as appeareth by the next words whom He to wit Abraham believed when He to wit God promised to give him a Son in his old age and to multiply his seed as the Stars of Heaven These words before him whom he believed are to be referred to those Who is the Father of us all q. d. Who is the Father of us all before him or in the sight of him whom he believed And these words Before God or in the Sight of God use to shew the truth or reality of a thing as Gen 6.11 Eccles 2 26. Luke 1 6 c. The Apostle therefore to shew that Abraham was the Father of us all not in word but in deed Not in the Opinion of Men but in the Judgement and Constitution and Approbation of God saith not only that he was the Father of us all in the Mystical and Sublime sence before mentioned but also adds Before him whom he believed even God Even God who quick'neth the Dead i. e. Even God who raiseth up those to life which were dead And oalleth those things which be not as though they were The words in the Original are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which may be rendred thus And who calleth those things which be not as things which be And the sence is thus Which giveth a being to those things which be not as he hath done to those things which be that is Which maketh those things which yet be not to be To call is taken here for To make after the Hebrew manner of Speech So it is said Cap. 9.25 I will call them my People which were not my People and Her Beloved which was not my beloved for I will make them my people which were not my people and her beloved which was not my Beloved To call as it signifieth To make seemeth to be spoken if not only yet principally of God And that to shew the Greatness of his power who by his word can produce what he pleaseth as he did Genes 1. To call therefore things which are not as things which are is as if he should call things that are not and say unto them O ye things which are not come out of your nothing and be ye something as things which are and they should obey Man calls only things which are as a Master his Servant to come to him But God calls even things which are not and they come at his call Note that some understand these words That quickneth the dead and calleth the things which are not as those that be in relation to the carnal seed or to the children of Abraham according to the flesh of which the Apostle speaks in the following part of this chapter And then these words must be understood of Gods enabling Abraham to beget and Sarah to conceive when in respect of Generation Abraham and in respect of Conception Sarah were now as dead being that they were both decreped and unfit by nature the one to beget the other to conceive and bear Children By the Dead in this Sence we must understand such as are unfit for Generation and Conception by a Metaphor And by making such alive is meant giving power to such to beget and conceive with child respectively by the like Metaphor And by things which are not are meant not things which are absolutely without a being but things which are without a certain kind of being as Abraham without the natural power of begetting and Sarah without the natural power of conceiving seed But others understand these words That quickneth the dead and calleth the things which be not as those that be as spoken in relation to the Spiritual seed of Abraham such as be Abrahams children by faith And then the meaning of this which quickneth the dead is this which quickneth those which were dead in trespasses and sins by bringing them to a lively faith See for this Ephes 2.1 And the meaning of those words And calleth those things which be not as those that be is this and making those believe which did not believe before Now if it be asked which of these two sences are to be preferred before which I conceive the Later before the former The sence which interprets these words of the Spiritual seed before the sense which interprets those words of the Carnal seed For whereas the Apostle said of Abraham That he is the Father of us all before him whom he believed even God signifying thereby that Abraham was the Spiritual Father of us All not in word but in deed not in the opinion of Men but in the Judgement and Approbation and Constitution of God He goes on to to prove that Abraham was such a Father And because to the being of such a Father two things are requisite First that Abraham should be himself a man of a sound and a strong faith Secondly that there should be other men like him in his faith He sheweth both these in this latter part of the Chapter For he sheweth that Abraham was strong in faith vers 18 19 20 c. And he shews That God raiseth up daily faithful men out of such as were not so in the words which we have in hand V. 18. Who against hope believed in hope This is spoken of Abraham whom he made mention of ver 16. It is a great Trajection or Hyperbaton to refer this to the Sixteenth verse I conceive it therefore not amiss for the better Coherence of the Text to understand here these or the like words between this and the former verse viz. That he may raise up seed unto Abraham q. d. Who is the Father of us all before him whom he believed even God who quickneth the dead and calleth those things which be not as though they were that he may thereby raise up seed to Abraham who against hope believed in hope that he might become the Father of many Nations c. The Coherence of the Text by this supplement is smooth and who knows not that in the Scripture greater supplements than this
any man of years was justified without saith Nor ever any man was justified without the merits of Christ And that whosoever is justified now under the Gospel by faith must have an Explicit and particular faith of Jesus Christ yet before the Gospel a General faith was sufficient to justification For as the Gospel was but rudely drawn to them which lived before Christ So was the faith required of them but rude as I may say and general and such as if they did believe the general promises of God made to them and relie upon them and live or resolve to live as those that did expect the performance of those promises their faith should for Christs sake which was to come be counted to them for Righteousness Ver. 23. Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was counted to him c. Now this that the faith or belief of Abraham was imputed or counted rather to him for Righteousness was written indeed for Abraham's sake Gen. 15.6 But it was not written for Abraham's sake alone that it was imputed or counted to him for Righteousness but for our sakes also c. That which is written Gen. 15.6 That Abraham believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for Righteousness was written for Abraham's sake that Abraham might be praised and had in repute amongst men for this his faith and accounted by them worthy to be the Father of many Nations But yet it was not written for his sake alone or for this end only that he might be praised and had in repute among men and accounted by them worthy to be the Father of many Nations But it was written for our sakes also to assure us that if we believe the Gospel as firmly as Abraham believed what God promised him we shall be justified by our faith as Abraham was by his Ver. 24. But for us also i. e. But for our sakes also To whom it shall be imputed i. e. To whom that that we believe shall be imputed or counted for Righteousness If we believe on him i. e. If we rely on him and trust on him for the performance of his promises made to us Whom he means by Him he sheweth in the next words If we truly believe the promises of God we cannot but trust in God and rely on him for performance of those his promises Wherefore as I have observed before by reason of the near connexion of these two one with the other To rely on God and trust in him or believe in him is often put Per Metonymiam Consequentis for to believe him and his promises Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead By this Periphrasis he meaneth God for God is said to have raised up Jesus having loosed the pains of death Acts 2.24 He describeth God here by this That he raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead because it containeth a notable Argument to induce us to believe in God as Saint Peter teacheth 1 Pet. 1.21 And because this that he raised up Christ from the dead is as it were a Compendium of our faith For he that believeth this believeth that Jesus is the Christ and that he is the Saviour of the world who dyed and rose again for our Salvation and that he shall be our Judge at the last day Acts 17.31 c. Again he describeth God by this That he raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead in this place because he would allude to that which Abraham believed here who though he saw both his own Body now dead and the deadness of Sarah's Womb v. 19. yet he believed that God could raise them both from that death or deadness Ver. 25. Who was delivered To wit to death Jesus Christ was delivered to death by God the Father Rom. 8.32 The Apostle had rather say who was delivered to wit to death than who dyed because the Expiation of our sins did depend upon the good pleasure of God who would this way be appeased for the sins of Man For our offences i. e. For the Expiation and taking away of our sins Metonymia Objecti And rose again To wit from the dead For our Justification i. e. For the Remission of our sins This is as if he should have said who both dyed through the appointment of God and rose again for our justification or for the remission of our sins The Apostle therefore expresseth one and the same thing here by two several phrases the like to which he did Chap. 3. verse 30. Christ dyed that he might as a Surety for us pay the debt which was due from us for our sins to wit death and so deliver us from those our sins hence Christ is said to redeem us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us Gal. 3.13 But yet the death of Christ and his undergoing the Curse of the Law for us would have availed us nothing if that Christ had alwayes lyen under death and alwayes lyen under the Curse of the Law as being overcome and conquered and kept Captive thereby For to be detained alwayes a Prisoner in that Prison from whence there is no coming forth before the payment of the uttermost farthing Mat. 5.26 is to be always under execution and to evacuate and null the Plea of the full payment of our debt for which our Surety stood engaged for us Therefore it was necessary that Christ that he might redeem us fully and pay our full debt should not only dye for us but also rise again and upon this ground doth our Apostle rightly conclude that if Christ be not raised our faith is vain we are yet in our sins 1 Cor. 15.17 And hence it is that he saith Rom 8.34 It is Christ that dyed yea rather that is risen again And not only for this reason may Christ be said to rise again for our justification but also for that That he when he arose from the dead he arose that he might ascend into Heaven there to appear in the presence of God for us Heb. 9.24 Where he is at the right hand of God and maketh intercession for us Rom. 8.38 CHAP. V. 1. THerefore being justified by saith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ 1. I have shewed you hitherto that we are not justified by works but by faith And now that I have shewed you that we are justified by faith let me shew you how many and great benefits do accrue to us by this justification Therefore being justified by faith the wrath of God is appeased towards us and God is at peace with us for our Lord Jesus Christs sake 2. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoyce in hope of the glory of God 2. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace and favour of Justification wherein we stand And we have hope of the glory of God to wit that we shall one day enjoy it and be
weight of glory far surpassing death and the miseries of death which followed upon Adams sin and the Sins which we our selves have of our selves committed This is that which the Apostle speaks in gross in this verse and now goeth about to divide and lay out in particulars in the two following verses Ver. 16. And not as it was by one that Sinned so was the gift The Conjunction And is a note of Resumption ot repetition here and the sâ—nce of the words which are Ellipticall is this q. d. And not I say as is the offence which was by one that sinned to wit Adam so is the gift Supple which is by one Jesus Christ but this much exceeds that Note that whereas it is here read By one that sinned and in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to be understood in the Greek from the former verses and so must the word offence in the English So that the words in the Greek which are Ellipticall must be made up thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the English thus And not as the offence which was by one that sinned This is a Repetition of that which the Apostle said v. 15. to wit of that Not as the offence so is also the free gift which the Apostle here resumes or repeats that he may explain or lay out by particulars or parts that which he said there in general and in gross to wit that If through the offence of one many be dead much more the Grace of God and the gift of Grace which is by one man Jesus Christ hath abounded unto many The judgment was by one to condemnation i. e. The Judgment or Sentence of God passed upon all men to their condemnation by reason of one sin or one offence That is God by his just Judgment or Sentence which he passed upon all men which were born of Adam did condemn them all to death by reason of that one only sin which they drew from him By one i. e. By one offence or by reason of one only offence That by one he meaneth here not one Person but one Offence is plain because he opposeth it to many offences This offence is that which is commonly called Original sin as I said before and it is said to be one because though it be in every particular man yet it is but one sin in every one and of one nature in all To condemnation He speaks here of that general condemnation which passed upon all mankind by reason of that one Original sin which they drew from Adam not of the particular condemnation of particular Persons for their Actuall sins But the free gift is of many offences to justification But the free gift Supple by which we are absolved from our sins or have them pardoned is not only of that one sin or offence but of many offences yea so many as they which believe are or were guilty of that they may thereby be justified 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The free gift is put here by a Metaphorical Synechdoche to signifie the free and gracious pardon of sins or the gracious sentence of Absolution pronounced as it were in open Court by which we are out of meer Grace absolved from sins For the Apostle speaks here in allusion to a Court of Justice where the Judgment or Sentence passeth upon some offenders according to their demerits And a pardon of grace or a gracious sentence of absolution from the offences with which they were charged upon others above their deserts The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Apostle useth in this verse signifieth a Judgment or Sentence given upon men accused according to their true desert and the merit of their cause but because the Sentence which passed upon those which are inserted into Christ by faith is not such a Sentence but a Sentence in respect of them of grace and of the favour of God through Christ the Apostle when he speaks of the Sentence which shall or doth pass upon them calls it not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which word sounds grace and favour Of many c. This Particle Of is a Preposition for the Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we may render De which signifies the matter of this gift or pardon or absolution Vnto Justification i. e. That as many as God bestowed this free gift upon may be justified The word justification is to be taken here in a passive sence Ver. 17. For if by one mans offence death reigned This is to be referred to those words of the sixteenth verse Not as it was by one that sinned so is the gift As a second Reason to shew the truth of that proposition or assertion But though there be a second Reason to prove that proposition or assertion yet may this Particle For be taken here for Moreover as it seemeth sometimes to be taken and so the current of the Text may be the smoother If by one mans offence i. e. If by the offence caused by that one man Adam and which came by him upon all his Children Whereas it is read vulgarly in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. which is rendred here If by one mans offence death reigned c Some Greek Copies read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which may be rendred as it is in the Margin of our Bibles If by one offence death reigned which I conceive by the scope of the place and by looking upon the latter part of this verse to be the best reading Death reigned i. e. Death shewed her power upon all which were condemned to die by reason of the offence of that one man by slaying them By one i. e. By one man to wit Adam It was Adam's eating the forbidden Fruit which brought that which is here called the offence upon himself and by Propagation from him upon his Children too For by the offence is here meant that which he calleth sin ver 12. that is Original sin which is in every natural Child of Adam and which is the cause of death in all the Chilern of Adam Much more they which receive abundance of Grace and of the gift of Righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ i. e. After a far more bountiful and glorious manner shall they which are delivered and justified from the many sins of which they are guilty reign like Kings in a life of glory by one Jesus Christ Much more These words shew that the life which they that are justified by grace from their many sins which are pardoned to them through Christ do receive doth far exceed in its kind that death which came upon the Children of Adam by his sin in its kind Abundance of Grace and of the gift of Righteousness q. d. Abundance of Grace that is of the gift of Righteousness What he meaneth by Grace he explains by those words The gift of Righteousness wherefore And is to be taken
long as it standeth in force and is not abrogated Surely you do For the case between them which were under the law and the law it self is as the case which is between a woman and her husband 2. For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth but if the husband be dead she is loosed from the law of the husband 2. Now then as the woman which hath an husband is bound by the Law to her husband to cleave to him and to take him onely for her husband so long as he liveth but if her husband be dead she is free from the Law by which she was bound to her husband to have him only and may now lawfully be married to another man So the man whâ—ch is under the Law of Moses is bound to that Law so that he cannot free himself from the obligation thereof and betake himself to any other praescript of Religion so long as that Law which is as it were an husband to him liveth and is in force but if the Law which is as his husband be dead and out of force he may betake hâ—mself to another praescript of Religion without offence 3. So then if while her husband liveth she be married to another man she shall be called an Adulteresse 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 3. So then as if while her husband liveth the wife be married to another man she is an adulteresse But if her husband be dead she is free from the Law that bound her to that her husband onely and she is now no adulteresse though she be married to another man Even so a man which is under the Law as a wife under her husband if while the Law liveth and is in force he betakes himself to another manner of Religion is a kind of adulteress and may suffer punishment for so doing But if the Law be dead and out of force he is now free from the Law and is no adulteress though he betake himself and is married to another praescript of Religion 4. Wherefore my Brethren ye also are becom dead to the law by the body of Christ that ye should be married to another even to him who is raised from the dead that we shovld bring forth fruit unto God 4. Wherefore Brethren that ye may not be accounted as spiritual whores or adulteresses by being married to another husband because ye were once under the Law of Moses and married as it were to that as to an husband The Law is become dead being mortified by the body of Christ upon the Crosse that ye should be lawfully married to another even to Christ the Author and Subject of the Gospel which is a prescript of Religion different from that of the Law who though he was dead yet is raised from the dead again that we should bring forth good works as Children to him who though he was Man yet was God also 5. For when ye were in the flesh the motions of sins which were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death 5. And this that we should bring forth good works as children to him is but just and aequal for when we were under the law in a carnal and fleshly condition the motions of sin which were occasioned by the law did work so in our members as that they brought forth evil works as children unto the law as the law is the ministration of death 6. But now we are delivered from the law that being dead wherein we were held that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter 6. But now we are delivered from the Law the Law being dead under which we were held that we should serve God and his Christ in that new kind of life which the Gospel worketh and not live in that old course of sin which was occasioned by the lavv 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 7. But because I said we were delivered from the Law and that we should not live in that old course of sin which was by the law what shall we conclude from thence Shall we conclude from thence that the law is a genuine cause of sin God forbid Nay to confute that I had not known sin at least so vvell as novv I do but by the lavv For I had not knovvn sin to have been sin in the invvard motions and desires thereof though they broke not out into outvvard act except the lavv had said as it saith in the tenth Commandment thou shalt not covet 8. But sin taking occasion by the Commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence For without the Law sin was dead 8. But yet Sin taking occasion by that Commandment of the law viz. Thou shalt not covet vvrought in me all manner of lust and concupiscence for before the law entred sin lay as it vvere a sleep yea and vvas dead in comparison of vvhat she vvas after the Lavv came in 9. For I was alive without the law once but when the commandment came sin revived and I died 9. For that I might here feign such a Person as had lived both before the law and under the law and put on such a Person the better to teach what I am about to teach I lived an innocent life once before the law was given by Moses in comparison of what I lived afterwards But when the law was given by Moses and that commandment of the law viz. Thou shalt not covet came to my knowledge sin shewed her strength and power by stirring up all manner of lusts in me and I died to innocency so that I was not so innocent and unblamable now as I was before 10. And the commandment which was ordained to life I found to be unto death 10. And that commandment viz. Thou shalt not covet which was given and ordained of God as a means to bring men to an holy and righteous life and which rewarded them with life that kept it I found by experience to be an occasion to bring me to death the death to innocency first and after that to death everlasting 11. For sin taking occasion by the commandment deceived me and by it slew me 11 For sin taking occasion by that commandment allured me with the baits of pleasure and honour and profit and the like which she pretended to me to follow her motions contrary to the Commandment and so I following her she deceived me and by it slew me by depriving me of that innocency which otherwise I should have retained and making me guilty of eternal death 12. Wherefore the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good 12. Wherefore notwithstanding what I
Law is inforce and not abrogated they do despise the Law and betake themselves to some new form of religion and are married as it were to that they become Spirituall whores and adulteresses She shall be called an Adulteress i. e. She shall be an Adulteress and may justly be caled an Adulteress and suffer punishment as an Adulteress The Hebrews use the words To be called oftentimes for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To be as Isaiah 1.26 Thou shalt be called the City of Righteosness for Thou shalt be a City of Righteousness And Isaiah 9.6 His name shall be called wonderful c. For He shall be wonderful She is free from that Law i. e. She is free from that power or dominion which her husband had over her by that Law to wit the Law of Marriage or she is free from the bond by which she was bound to her husband by that Law See ver 2. Ver. 4. Wherefore my Brethren q. d. Wherefore my Brethren Supple that ye may not be accounted as spiritual whores or adulteresses by being married to another husband because ye were once under the Law and married as it were to that as to an husband c. Note that the Apostle speaks here peculiarly to the Jews as I observed ver 1. Ye also are become dead to the Law q. d. Ye also are become dead to the Law as well as the Gentiles are thereto dead This particle Also speaks that some other were dead to the Law as well as the Jews and they are the Gentiles And indeed the Gentiles were dead to the Law yea rather they were never alive to it or the Law to them I speak as the Apostle here doth of the Law of Moses or of the Law as it was given by Moses for they were never alive to the Law nor the Law to them to whom the Law was never given Now the Law of Moses was never given to the Gentiles by Moses for it is written Psal 147.19 He shewed his Word unto Jacob his Statutes and his Judgements unto Israel He hath not dealt so with any Nation and as for his judgements they have not known them The Law that was given by Moses was given to those which God brought out of the Land of Egypt out of the house of bondage Exod. 20.2 And by those the Israelites are only meant And Hear O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord and thou shalt love the Lord with all thine heart c. saith he Deut. 6. ver 4. By the Law is here meant the whole Law of Moses which was abrogated or expired by the death of Christ and thereby ceased to be in force as our Ap stle sheweth here in this verse Note here that this phrase ye are become dead to the law is the same with that The Law is become dead to you For these kinds of figurative phrases are Reciprâ—cal So our Old man is crucified is the same with this We are crucified to the old man so for us to be dead to sin is the same with for sin to be dead to us c. Note also that by order of speech the Apostle should rather have said The Law is become dead to you than to have said ye are become dead to the Law But being the sence is the same he had rather say as he doth than offend the Jews which were zealous of the Law by saying The Law is dead to you which nevertheless he saith covertly ver 6. By the body of Christ By the body of Christ crucified That is by the death of Christ which he suffered in his body upon the Cross As the Apostle saith here We are become dead to the Law by the body of Christ So he saith Ephes 2.15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity where both his body and his flâ—sh must be understood as crucified on the Cross That ye should be married to another even to him that is raised from the dead i. e. That not only ye may but also that ye should be lawfully married to another even Christ The Church is the Spouse of Christ 2 Cor. 10.2 Ephes 5.29 In ordinary marriages if the husband be dead the wife is so at liberty as that she may marry again if she will or not marry if she please and if she be pleased to marry she may marry whom she will But in the marriage between a man and the Law if the Law be dead the man is inded freed from the Law but yet he is not left at liberty to marry or not to marry but he must marry And yet he must not marry whom he will but he must marry Christ so that in this similitude as it is commonly there is some dissimilitude not to be urged If we are married to Christ then must we be under his rule and dominion and willingly submit ourselves to be governed by him and his word as the wife doth to the husband Even to him who is raised from the dead By him that is raised from the dead is meant Christ And well doth he describe Christ by this here because he mentioned Christs death immediately before when he said Ye also are become dead to the Law by the body of Christ For if he had not shewed that Christ who was dead had been raised again from the dead he might have left a doubt how any could be married to Christ when he was dead being that the Law of Marriage is void by the death of the husband ver 2. He describes him also by this to teach us that we should imitate Christ in his Resurrection that is as Christ was raised from the dead so we should rise to a new kind of life But being that many more besides Christ were raised from the dead as he which revived at the touch of Elisha's bones 2 Kings 13.21 and the Shunamites child 2 Kings 4.25 and Lazarus John 11.43 The widdow of Naims son Luke 7.15 and many of the Saints whose bodies arose Matth. 27.52 How can this that he was raised from the dead be the proper Character of Christ Answ Though many were raised from the dead yet where they not so raised from the dead as not to die again as Christ was raised For it is conceived by some that there was none of all those that were raised from the dead but died again except only Christ Jesus yet if we grant that some were so raised as that they died not again as many conceive of those who were raised at our Saviours Resurrection Matth. 27.52 yet was there a difference between their resurrection and the Resurrection of Christ For Christ was raised by his own power John 2.19 but they were raised up by the power of another even of Christ That we should bring forth fruit unto God The end of marriage is the procreation of children which are called in Scripture The fruit of the womb Psal 127.3 And are the fruit of the marriage-bed The Apostle therefore continueth his Allegory of marriage or
means the abrogation or expiration thereof but he speaks of the Law as of an Husband by an Allegory therefore saith rather That being dead wherein we were held than That being abrogated or expired wherein we were held Wherein we were held The particle In in Wherein is to be taken here for under So is the Greek preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the word in the Greek here interpreted under Matth. 7.6 In those words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which our Translatours render under their feet That we should serve i. e. That being now married unto Christ and so strengthned by his Grace in the inward man we should serve Christ or we should serve God We should serve Supple God or serve Christ. The Apostle seemeth here to leave his Allegory of an Husband and Wife and Children and to speak more plainly and literally than he did before For whereas he saith here That we should serve he said in the same sence before That we should bring forth fruit ver 4. In newness By newness understand here Newness of life or a new kind or course of life rather by an Hebraism a kind or course of life different from that which we led before while we were under the Law and in the flesh In newness therefore is by a new life Before they led a sinful and ungodly life Now he would have them to lead a Righteous and a Godly life Of Spirit i e. Which the Spirit that is which the Gospel worketh or is able to work under which ye are brought For the Spirit is opposed here to the letter that is to the Law and what is more usually opposed to the Law than the Gospel So is it opposed and so is the word taken 2 Cor. 3.6 The Gospel is called the Spirit because of the Spirit of God which goeth along with it wherby man is brought to believe the Gospel and is renewed and strengthened to walk according to the Gospel by reason of which Spirit accompanying it it is also called the power of God unto salvation Chap. 1.16 To serve God therefore in newness of Spirit is to serve God by a new course of life such a course of life as the Gospel doth not only require of us but enable us also to lead For they which are under the Gospel are both required and enabled by the Gospel to lead a new life And not in the oldness of the letter i. e. And not with our old manner of living or with our old course of life which we led while we were under the Law and which was occasioned by the Law This the Apostle adds and speaks with a kind of Sarcasm because many Jews were so addicted to the Law as that they would hardly here of the abrogation or expiration of the Law as though that life which they lead under the Law before they were engrafted into Christ or had received his Gospel or his Grace was a life pleasing unto God And not in the oldness Oldness is to be taken here by an Hebraism for our old course and manner of living which was a course of life led in sin occasioned by the Law In is to be taken here for With after the Hebrew manner Of the Letter The letter is to be taken here for the Law of Moses that is for the Law as it was given by Moses and as it is precisely considered without the grace of the Gospel as it was taken Chap. 6 14 c. He calls the Law as it was given by Moses and as it is precisely considered without grace the Letter because it was described by Letters that is because it was written or given in writing and because it was in a manner but as a bare Letter or bare writing only which had no more or little more power to make a man good than by telling him what was good and commanding him to do it And being the Law was but a bare letter and did in a manner tell a man only what was good and command him to do it it did by Accident when he was bad make him worse for except a Carnal man hath grace given him to keep the commandments he runs contrary to the commandments and grows the worse by being commanded When therefore the Apostle saith And not in the oldness of the Letter we must not understand the words so as if he meant only thereby their old course of life led under the Letter that is under the Law But we must also understand them so as that he meant thereby that that course of life was occasioned at least in part by the Letter that is by the Law while they were under it as will appear by the Objection following and by the eighth verse So that these Genitives of the Spirit and of the Letter may be taken for Genitivi Efficientis Ver. 7. What shall we say then i. e. What shall we conclude then from that which we said viz. From that The Law is dead by the body of Christ And from that that we called Our former oldness The oldness of the Letter Is the Law sin q. d. Shall we conclude that the Law is a true and Genuine cause of sin Sin is to be taken here by a Metonymie for the cause of sin and the Law is to be taken here as it was taken Chap. 6.14 and Chap. 7. ver 1. 4. And as it signifieth the same with the Letter ver 6. God forbid By these words as he did before the Apostle detesteth and putteth from himself the thought of such a thing or such a conclusion as this is that the Law is a true and genuine cause of sin Nay I had not known sin i. e. Nay so far is the Law from being a true and genuine cause of sin as that I had not known sin at least so well as now I do c. But by the Law i e. But by the Law which was given in writing by Moses which did forbid sin If the written Law did forbid Sin and make it at least more known to be Sin than otherwise it would be by forbidding it surely the Law was not the genuine cause of Sin nor did it prompt or move thereunto For I had not known Lust Supple to be a Sin That is For I had not known that the inward lust and inward desire onely of that which is evil though it did not break out into any outward Act was Sin at least so well as now I do Thou shalt not covet This is the tenth Commandment of the Decalogue the Apostle omits here the object which is mentioned by Moses in that commandment viz. Thy neighbours house thy neighbours wife c. for brevities sake But though in that commandment at large there is no other object named but that which is the object of the Sixth and that which is the object of the seventh Commandment yet the object of this Commandment seems to me to be as large as the object of all the other nine
For how else should Sin take occasion by this Commandment to work in him all manner of concupiscence Ver. 8. But Sin taking occasion by the Commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence i. e. But yet though the Law is not sin and that I had not known sin but by the Law sin which dwelleth in me ver 20 taking occasion by that Commandment Thou shalt not covet wrought in me all manner of concupiscence that is all manner of lusts which at length broke out into open sins How sin taking occasion by the commandment wrought all manner of Concupiscence in the man whom Paul personates is diversly set out by diverse men Some say that sin took occasion by that to wit the tenth Commandment to work all manner of concupiscence in that man because there was no penalty annexed to that commandment as there was to others And Magna est peeccandi illecebra impunitatis spes as the Orator speaks the hope of going unpunished is a great allurement to sin Other say that sin took occasion by the tenth Commandment to work all manner of concupiscence in him because that Commandment bound a man most strictly from sin and the more a man is restrained and kept in by a Law the more sin stirs him up to break that Law Quod non licet acrius urget That which is forbidden doth the more stir up a man to do it And Quicquid licet minus desideratur Ergo è contrario quicquid non licet fomentum accipit desiderii saith Hier. tom 1. ep 151. 1. That which we may lawfully do we less desire to do therefore on the contrary whatsoever is forbidden proves as fuel to our lust Other say that sin taking occasion by the Commandment wrought in him all manner of Concupiscence because when the Commandment was given to him written in fair Letters he thought that it was enough for him to know it and neglected the more the keeping of it see Chapter 2.13 We may joyn all these together in this matter and say that they whom Saint Paul personates here some by one some by another of these ways took occasion by the Law to sin and perhaps it will not be amisse to mention here the Rebellion stubbornness and stiff neckedness of the Jews which were under under the Law and whom Saint Paul here Personates for they were a stiff necked people Deut. 9.6.9.7 I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck Behold while I am yet alive with you this day ye have been rebellious against the Lord and how much more after my death saith Moses to them Deut. 31.27 Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears ye do alwayes resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did so do ye who received the Law by disposition of Angels and have not kept it saith Saint Stephen to the Jews Acts. 7. ver 51 52 53. Wrought in me all manner of concupiscence i. e. Wrought in me all manner of lust and evil desires as lust to whoredome lust to adultery lust to luxurie lust to Drunkenness lust to Envy c. Which being reteined in the breast with delight grew at length so strong as that they broke out into outward Acts. For without the Law sin was dead i. e. For before the Law was given by Moses sin was in a manner dead and not so active nor vivacious in me as she was after the giving of the Law He speaks of sin as of one that had life by a Prosopopoeia Sin is said to live when shâ— stirs up lusts and motions to evill in us and the more and greater her life is the more and greater lusts she stirreth up in us Sin was not absolutely dead before the Law came for she stirred up lusts to evil even then but she was not so vigorous and so vivacious in stirring up lusts in carnal men before the Law came as she was afterwards So then she was said to be dead before the Law Comparatè that is in comparison of what she was when the law was given though she lived even before the Law Ver. 9. For I was alive without the Law once i. e. For I was alive to innocency once to wit when I was without the Law or before the Law was given Supple incomparison of what I was when the Law came Note that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I was alive must be interpreted here of an innâ—cent life or a life to innocency and so must carry a moral signification And must be so understood not as though he or rather he whom he personates did live then an absolute innocent life but that he lived a life which was innocent in comparison of that life which he lived after the Law came But when the Commandment came sin revived and I died But when the Law and commandment was given by Moses sin got life and lived strongly and vigorously in me and I died to innocency daily growing every day worse and worse Sin revived The word which is rendred here Revived is in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is compounded of the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vivo to live and note that this preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though it doth for the most part change the signification of the word before which it is prefixea in composition yet it doth not always so but it is sometimes redundant as in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies the same as the simple 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 solvo to loose sometime it augments the signification as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 clamo to cry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exclamâ— to cry aloud See Hen. Steph. Thesaur vocab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to this we may say that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth here simply to live or else to live a strong and vigorous life But yet when the Apostle said of sin in the former verse that she was dead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be taken here as it is most usually taken for revived for what is the passage from death to life but a reviving And I died To wit daily to Innocency This dying is opposed to that living which he said he lived in the former part of the verse Note here that it is not unusual with the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he himself speaketh 1. Cor. 4.6 that is in a figure to transfer that to himself which hath been acted by other persons you may see Examples thereof 1 Cor. 6.12 And 1 Cor. 10. ver 23 29 30 And 1 Corinth 13.2 And Galat. 2.18 Now therefore under correction I conceive that the Apostle doth here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also and speak that in his own person which was acted in the persons of others that is that the Apostle personates here the people of Israel both whâ—ch lived b fore the Law and which lived under the Law which was given
thought worthy of the honour of a glorious and happy resurrection at the last Day because they were Temples of the Holy Ghost in this life The spirit is called the Earnest to wit of our resurrection 2 Cor. 5.5 That which he saith here in this verse is a Comfort against that which he said ver 10. viz. The body is dead because of sin And an Explication of that which he said ver 6. To be spiritually minded is life Though death seize upon the bodies of the faithful and regenerate yet it shall not alwayes keep their bodies under her power as death Eternal shall the bodies of those which are carnally minded For at the last Day Christ shall raise up their bodies to a life of glory of which the spirit of God and of Christ which is in them is a sure pledge and earnest Ver. 12. Therefore Brethren we are debtors not to the Flesh to live after the Flesh Supple But to the spirit to live after the spirit Note that these words But to the spirit to live after the spirit are here to be understood and the Apostle leaves them to us to understand out of those opposite words viz. Not to the Flesh to live after the Flesh He takes Flesh here for our sensual or carnal appetite or affections And the spirit which he here leaveth to be understood must we take for that spirit which he called the spirit of life and the spirit of God and of Christ and righteousness a little before of both which he speaks as of Persons yea Mistresses by a Prosopopoeia That which the Apostle here gathers he gathers especially from the sixth verse To be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace as will appear by what he saith ver 13. where he doth repeat as it were and amplifie what he there said The Apostle in this Corrollary or Conclusion doth dehort the Romans from following the Flesh and exhort them to follow the spirit and sheweth them that they ought so to do And this he doth so often as occasion serves that Novices in Christianity may not take to themselves a liberty to sin and that those which are enemies to Christianity might not have any cause to asperse Christians with so foul a thing as this is viz. That they taught or held that they might walk securely after the Flesh We are debtors not to the Flesh to live after the Flesh Supple but to the spirit to live after the spirit q. d. We ought in wisdom and in love to our selves not to live after the Flesh but to live after the spirit The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rendred here Debtors is not to be taken here for Debtors in the strict sence of the words but more loosely for such as are any way bound whether in gratitude or in wisdom or in love to themselves to do any thing so that they which ought or whom it behoveth to do any thing upon any account may be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Debtors in the Apostles sence here The verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cometh hath such a kind of signification with it and Euripides useth the Foeminine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the same manner But note that though I say that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not to be taken here in the strict sence of the word I say it not because we are not bound in the strictest sence to forsake the Flesh and follow the spirit but because that that is all which can be gathered from what Saint Paul hath here said Wherefore what Saint Paul saith here is as if he should say Wherefore being that to be carnally minded is death and to be spiritually minded is life and peace If ye be wise and have any love to your own selves ye ought not to live after the Flesh but after the spirit To live after the Flesh To live after the Flesh is to live after the will of the Flesh that is to embrace and follow the motions of the Flesh that is of our sensual or carnal appetite and affections Ver. 13. Ye shall die Supple Eternally Note the Enallage of the Person here how he changeth the first into the second Person If ye through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body i. e. If ye through the spirit that is in you and which doth enable you to mortifie the deeds of the body I say if ye through that spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body according to that that the spirit shall enable you thereunto Do mortifie the deeds of the body By the deeds of the body are not here to be understood all those actions which are exercised by the body for Chap. 6. ver 13. He would have us to yield our members as instruments of Righteousness unto God but such deeds are to be understood by the deeds of the body here which he calls the works of the flesh Galat. chap. 5. ver 19. We are then said to mortifie the deeds of the body by the spirit when by the help of the spirit and the power thereof we do not consent to but resist the evil motions of the body or of the flesh that is of our carnal affections when they incite us to evil deeds which the more we resist the more shall we find their strength to die in us and the less power shall they have over us Ye shall live i. e. Ye shall live a life happy and eternal and that not only in your souls which shall never die but also in your bodies which though they die yet shall be raised up to an immortal life at the last Day Ver. 14. For as many as are led by the spirit of God they are the sons of God The Apostle proveth here what he said ver 13. viz. That if they through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body they shall live For they which through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body are such as are led by the spirit of God and they which are led by the spirit of God they are the sons of God by Adoption and they which are the sons of God by doption are the Heirs of God ver 17. Heirs to the inheritance of Eternal life As many as are led by the spirit of God i e. As many as follow the leading of the spirit of God This is the same spirit which he spoke of before ver 2. He speaks of this spirit as of a Person by a Prosopopoeia And men are said to be led by the spirit of God when they follow the motions and inclinations thereof As many as are led by the spirit of God do give no consent to the motions of the flesh but they resist them and walk another way for the motions and inclinations of the Flesh and of the Spirit are contrary one to the other As many therefore as are led by the spirit of God so
so high as that it doth set a man on work to do those things which God by his new covenant with him requires of him as the case requires and as opportunity serves so that he must be ready at all times in the preparation of his heart to confess with his mouth the Lord Jesus and not only that but to do every good work also and this is that which the Apostle intimates here willing that we should know that Justifying faith is not a dead barren or fruitless faith but an operative faith which will bring forth good works as opportunity offers it self Wherefore by that which he saith of confession with the mouth understand all good works besides as well as that But he seemeth to make mention of this only not to exclude other good works but because the time in which he wrote this might be a time of persecution with the Romans or such as that they might fear a persecution at which time confession of Christ w th the mouth will be most requisite or because he said ver 8. The word is nigh thee even in thy mouth Therefore he may particularly mention the confession of Christ with the mouth And for the same reason also he may say and shalt believe in thy heart expressing those words in thine heart here because he said before and in thine heart verse 8. And shalt believe with the heart i. e. And shalt heartily believe That God hath raised him from the dead That we may be justified it is not only required that we should believe of Jesus that God hath raised him from the dead but we must believe also that he was made man and crucified for us and that he was the Son of God and the Redeemer of the world c. And many things must we believe also concerning the Father and the Holy Ghost Therefore by that that God hath raised up Jesus from the dead we must by a Synechdoche or Syllepsis understand all the misteries of faith and also all that God requireth of us by his new covenant with us to be done and believed by us But the Apostle may in this place make mention only of this that God raised up Jesus from the dead because he mentioned the bringing up of Christ from the dead ver 7. Or because the resurrection of Christ from the dead did praesuppose most other articles of our faith or because that Article was alwayes most difficult to be believed Thou shalt be saved To wit from thy sins Ver. 10. Vnto Righteousness i. e. Unto Justification that is that he may be justified or so that he is justified thereby And with the mouth confession is made unto salvation i. e. And to be alway ready prepared to confess Christ with the mouth And when the case shall require then to confess him actually is that which brings Salvation Thus I understand this confession of the preparation of the heart to confess Christ with the mouth as I did that ver 9. And note here that the Apostle doth not make this confession with their mouth as a thing plainly and really disjoyned from faith But that which followeth naturally and immediately from it as the heat from the fire Therefore in the proof of what he saith here which proof he produceth ver 11. He mentioneth only Belief And saith For the scripture saith whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed which would not reach to confession of Christ with the mouth were it not that that were an Effect of faith naturally and immediately flowing from it and so one in a manner with it Ver. 11. For the scripture saith To wit Isaiah Cap. 28. ver 16. Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed i. e. Whosoever believeth on Christ shall truely be justified See what we said of this phrase and words Chap. 9. ver 33. Ver. 12. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek Supple In that which concerneth Faith and Salvation This the Apostle inferreth out of the former verse but not out of the word whosoever which we read there for that word is not read in the forenamed place of the prophet Isaiah but out of the Indefinite generality of the Sentence it self recited out of the said prophet by which none is excluded from salvation or Justification whether he be Jew or Gentile if he do but believe The Greek i. e. The Gentile See Rom. 1.16 For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him It is very congruous to reason that he which is Lord of all will be the same to all be they of what Nation or Stock they will who believe in him And that he will not accept of one and reject the other Especially when he is so rich in mercy as that he hath mercy for thousands yea mercy enough for all Is rich unto all i. e. Is abundant in grace and mercy to all The Apostle often useth Riches for abundance and the riches here spoken of are riches of grace or riches of mercy as Ephes 1.7 That call upon him See verse 13. Ver. 13. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord To call upon the name of the Lord is by an hebrew Periphrasis or Metonymy to call upon the Lord. And to call upon the Lord here is to beseech the Lord and to pray him that he would save him or deliver him from his sins but yet to pray in faith Whosoever Whether he be Jew or Gentile Shall be saved To wit from his sins This which the Apostle here saith is taken out of the Prophet Joel Joel 2.32 And it is there spoken in the literal sence of such Jews as should call upon the name of the Lord for deliverance when they were oppressed by the Assyrians But in the mysticall sence it is to be understood of all such as should pray unto the Lord for deliverance from sins in faith For the miseries and calamities of the Jews under the Assyrians was a Type of our miseries and calamities under Sin and their deliverance from the Assyrians a Type of our deliverance from sin Ver. 14. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed c. The Apostle proves from what he said in the former verse viz From that That whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord and the Gentile as well as the Jew shall be saved That which the Apostle handleth Chap. 9. ver 24 25 26. to wit that God hath called the Gentiles and did intend to call them and send Ministers to them he proveth here as it were by Steps and degrees And he proves it for this end that the Jews should not think that what he preached concerning the Gentiles was from his own head but that God spake as much heretofore even by his Prophets of old The Apostle said out of the Prophet Joel in the former verse that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved That is that whosoever
was to be preached to the Gentiles For it was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you say Paul and Barnabas to the Jews But seeing yee put it from you and judge your selves unworthy of everlasting life lo we turn unto the Gentiles Acts 13.46 And Luke 24. ver 46 47. Our Saviour thus speaketh Thus saith he it is written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and so rise from the dead the third day And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all Nations beginning marke it at Hierusalem Their sound i. e. The voice or preaching of the Apostles whereby they preach the Gospel Went out into all the earth i. e. Is gone out into all the earth among the Gentiles And their words unto the â—nd of the world This is a Repetition of the former sentence but with an Hyperbole Ver. 19. But I say did not Israel know q. d. But that I may return to speak of the calling of the Gentiles did not the Jewes know that God would call the Gentiles and take them into favour Did not Israel i. e. Did not the Jews c. Israel is put here by a Metonymy for the Jewes which are the Children of Israel who was Jacob. Did not Israel know Supple that God would call the Gentiles and take them into favour q. d. Yes he did know it both by what Moses and by what Isaiah wrote First Moses saith He saith first Moses saith because he speaks of Isaiah afterwards who was after Moses Moses saith Viz. Deut. 32.21 of which the People of Israel cannot be ignorant if they heed it I will provoke you to jealousie by them that are not a people i. e. I will make so much of the Gentiles which are not my people and so highly favour them with the choicest of my favours as that I will make you which are my people jealous of my love Jealousie is a sickness or illness of mind in a man proceeding from that that another injoyeth that which he desireth By them that are no people i. e. By them which are not my people or by them which I took not to be my people as I took you O ye children of Jacob. By these he means the Gentiles And by a foolish People I will anger you i. e. And I will do such things for the Gentiles and be so gratious towards them as that it shall anger you to see them so highly favoured by me as I will favour them and make you envious towards them A foolish Nation by this he meaneth the Gentiles who may be called a foolish nation or a foolish people as for other things so especially for that that they worshipped Idols and for this in particular are they branded for folly Isaiah chap. 45.20 and Isaiah chap. 44. v 9 10 11 18 19 c. This testimony is as I said taken out of Deuteronomy 32 21. Where the Lord threatneth the Israelites that if they did provoke him to jealousie by their Sins he would provoke them to jealousie by his love to the Gentiles And the Jews the children of Israel did mightily provoke him by their sins when he sent his only Son to them and they would have none of him but hated him persecuted him and crucified him So far were they from believing in him V. 20. But Isaiah is very bold i. e. But Isaiah is very bold no way fearing the anger of the Jews And saith To wit in the person of God I was found of them that sought mee not i. e. I was found of them as the Object of their worship and faith and as a merciful God in remitting their sins that sought me not in times past That sought me not Supple in times past By these he meaneth the Gentiles who in times past were ignorant of the true God and his way of worship I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me This is a Repetition of the former sentence I was made manifâ—st To wit as the true God and justifier of them that believe in me This which Isaiah is here said to say is taken out of Isaiah 65 1. And in the first sence it is spoken of Cyrus and the Nations which were under him who lit upon the will of the Lord in destroying the Babylonians and freeing the Jews which were under their Captivity when they sought it not and were made prosperous by the Lord and rewarded for this their doings But in the second and sublime sence it is a prophesie of the Gentiles under the Gospel coming to the Lord and finding him worthy of worship and to be believed in his word and receiving justification at his hands where as in former times they knew not the true God nor enquired after him but lived securely in their sins And in this Cyrus and the Nations which warred under him were by what they did a Type of the Gentiles under the Gospel in what they did Where note that though Cyrus was a type of Christ redeeming man from sin in that he delivered the Jews out of the Babylonish Captivity yet he and the Nations which warred under him might be a type of the Gentiles getting dominion over sin in that they vanquished and overcame their Enemies And these words may be understood of either or both of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though they be diversly interpreted in their divers applications of which see what I said in my preface to my Exposition on the prophesie of Isaiah But to Israel he saith i. e. But to the Jews the Children of Israel he saith by way of prophesie concerning them themselves in the person of the Lord. All the day long have I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gain-saying People i. e. I have for a long time together without ceasing preached unto you by the preachers of my word the Gospel of peace and remission of sins and have been ready to receive you to mercy but ye have not hearkned to my word but have been disobedient to it and spoke against it That which the Apostle alledgeth here is taken out of Isaiah chap. 65.2 This is spoken in the first sence of the Jews which were Captive in Babylon to whom the Lord sent his servants the Prophets to reclaim them and bring them to repentance promising them Redemption out of their Captivity but they would not hear Which Jews were a Type of the Jews in Christ and the Apostles time to whom Remission of sins was preached through Christ but they would not hearken but were disobedient to the word and strove against it These words therefore though they were in the first sence spoken of the Jews which were Captive in Babylon yet in the second sence they are spoken of those Jews which lived in the time of our Saviour and his Apostles I have stretched out my hands i. e. I have been ready to receive you in the arms of my mercy He speaks of God as
will say that this is no good news to you For if they should be provoked thereby and should regain Gods love ye Gentiles which were received into Gods love by reason of the fall of the Jews should be cast out again if the Jews were again received But fear not this for if the fall and diminution of the Jews was the occasion that the Gentiles were enriched by faith and justification and other spiritual blessings How much more will their recovery and their nation being full be the cause of such blessings 13. For I speak to you Gentiles in as much as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles I magnifie mine office 13. But that you may not believe that the Jews stumbled that they should fall without hope of ever rising again I tell you Gentiles in as much as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles That I do labour abundantly in the ministration of my office by preaching the Gospel to you 14. If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh and might save of them 14. And I do it for this end that if by any means I can I may provoke the Jews which are my kinsmen according to the flesh to emulation that is to imitate the believing Gentiles in their faith that so I might bring some of them to salvation 15. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead 15. And think not that if I should bring some of them to salvation that this would be a means to cast you off again For if the casting away of the Jews was an occasion of that that God reconciled the Gentiles to himself What would Gods receiving the Jews to favour again be but a cause or means of bringing more Gentiles yet to the life of grace which are as yet dead in their sins 16. For if the first fruit be holy the lump is also holy and if the root be holy so are the branches 16. Again being that Abraham and Isaac and Jacob which were the first of the Nation of the Jews were holy it is credible that all their Posterity is holy too so holy as not to be utterly deprived of the means of salvation and holiness For Abraham and Isaac and Jacob were as it were the first fruits and the Nations of the Jews are as it were the lump they were also as it were the Root and Bulk and the Nation of the Jews were as it were the branches of the Olive-tree Now if the first-fruit be holy the lump is also holy and if the Root and Bulk be holy so also are the branches 17. And if some of the branches be broken off and thou being a wilde olive tree wert graffed in amongst them and with them partakâ—st of the root and fatness of the olive tree 17 But now if some of the branches be broken off of this tree and thou O Gentile which wast as a branch or cion of the wild Olive-tree art graffed into this Olive-tree among those branches which yet hold their own and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the Olive-tree that is of all the rich promises which were made to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and their seed 18. Boast not against the branches but if thou boast thou bearest not the root but the root thee 18. Boast not against the branches that is boast not against the Jews which are the children of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob But if thou boastest remember this that thou bearest not the Root but the Root thee that is remember this that Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and their seed partake not of thy blessings but thou partakest of theirs and this may somewhat allay thy boasting 19. Thou wilt say then the branches were broken off that I might be graffed in 19. But thou wilt say nevertheless in a kind of pride The branches were broken off that I might be graffed in that is the Jews were cast out of the Church of God that thou maist be taken in in their room 20. Well because of unbelief they were broken off and thou standest by faith Be not high minded but fear 20. Well be it so because of unbelief they were broken off from the Oâ—â—ve-tree that is for their infidelity they were cast out of the Church and thou because of thy faith art grafted into that ree that is art received as a member into the Church of God and so standest be not therefore high-minded and puffed up against the Jew because of thy high calling for that may make thee lose thy faith by which thou standest but fear least God should cast thee off again that so thou maist hold thy faith the faster 21. For if God spared not the natural branches take heed lest he also spare not thee 21. Fear I say for if God spared not the Jews which were as it were the natural branches take heed lest he also spare not thee 22. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God on them which fell severity but towards thee goodness if thou continue in his goodness otherwise thou also shalt be cut off 22. That therefore thou maist not boast against the branches that is against the Jews and that thou maist stand fast in the faith which thou hast embraced behold and look on the one side on the goodness and mercy on the otherside on the severty of God On the Jews which fell and were cast out of the Church of God severity but towards thee whom God recieved in their room goodness and mercy which goodness and mercy thou shalt still partake of if thou continuest in the faith which is also an effect of Gods goodness and mercy otherwise thou also shalt be cast of as the Jews were 23. And they also if they bide not still in unbelief shall be graffed in for God is able to graffe them in again 23. And they also even the Jews themselvs which are cast off if they abide not still in unbelief shall be graffed in again into the sweet Olive tree that is they shall be received again as members into the Church of God For God is able to bring them in again 24. For if thou wert cut out of the olive-tree which is wild by nature and went graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree how much more shall these which be the natural branches be graffed into their own olive-tree 24. For if thou wert cut out of the Olive tree which is wilde by nature and wert graffed contrary to nature into the good Olive-tree how much more easily shall these which be the natural branches be graffed in again into their own Olive tree that is if thou which art taken out of on idolatrous people whose Ancestours alwayes served stocks and stons and wast contrary to thy education and to the Religion of thy Predecessours inserted into the Church of God and made a member thereof How much more easily