that is wholly addicted to and commanded by the lusts or desires of their flesh I take it to be all one with that Expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they that are after the flesh only there may be this little difference that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies the state and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies conversation as walking after the flesh or according to the motions and dictates of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Piscator and Beza say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so then or therefore but others sav 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is never taken for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and then it must be translated Now they that are in the flesh cannot please God and therefore the righteousness of the Law is not fulfilled in them This I take to be the most genuine Interpretation And this Verse is confessed to be the Conclusion of the whole Argumentation of the Verses foregoing But ye are not in the flesh but in the spirit if so be the spirit of God dwell in you Now the Apostle hath done with the Argumentation beginning from the first Verse which Argumentation I take to be directed against the state of the Man under convictions in the seventh Chapter And so speaks to his converted Romans Ye are not in the flesh but in the spirit with this caution If so be that the spirit of God dwell in you For every Man that hath received the Gospel sincerely and betaken himself to Christ and his Righteousness from the Condemnations and accidental Irritations of the Law hath the Spirit of God dwelling in him for the Gospel is the Ministration of the Spirit which the Law is not Gal. 3.2 This only would I learn of you Received ye the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Verse 9 This Expression you see is doubled and therefore needs the greater consideration and serious reflection of every Man upon himself to know his state by I cannot here stay to make discovery how a Man may come to know whether he hath the Spirit of God and of Christ which is much or all one and it is the less necessary for me to do it because the Apostle himself in several Verses following makes the discovery himself by several high and glorious effects of the Spirit 's inhabitation And if Christ be in you that is by his Spirit the body is dead because of sin Verse 10 but the spirit is life because of righteousness I fancy or apprehend this to be the meaning of these dark Expressions for which I shall seriously consult Expositors Dr. Hammond Pole and Marlorate and give any thing that I find in them which I think considerable But I presume first here to give my own thoughts for which I beg the Reader 's pardon If Christ be in you by his Spirit the body is dead because of sin that is your Flesh and Body by which you were heretofore strongly impelled and as it were forced on to the commission of all sorts of sin is dead * Piscator 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quod ad peccâ—tion scuratione peccati ne scilicet possit amplius nos impellere ad petulanter peccandum as to sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because of sin propter or secundum where I imagine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to have the force of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And this I am sure is less straining than to use 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Piscator and Beza do and our English Translators in the eighth Verse So then they c. Tho' Pole tells us from another Author Tolet that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as I take it is never so used But to make good this Exposition see how the sence seems to force it If Christ be in you the body is dead because of or as to sin That is the Flesh in its Lusts is mortified I am sure this is true Divinity But the spirit is life in the abstract or alive in the concrete that it may answer to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dead in the Antithesis in the words that is Whereas when you were without the Spirit of Christ the Flesh and the Body was alive and regnant and the Law of the Members warred against the Law of the Mind or Spirit and had the better of it and brought you into captivity to the Law of Sin which Law of Sin was in the Members in the Flesh and Body Now this Body this rampant Flesh unbridled Lust which had cast off the Bridle of the Spirit and the Law of the Mind and Conscience which ought to have ruled the Flesh this Body is dead not simply but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Body is dead in the matter of Sin so that you need not obey Sin in the lustings of the Body though the Body hath its desires still of eating and drinking c. yet it hath not those strong impetuous irregular desires that it had but is dead in a great measure because of Sin or as to Sin But the * Significat spiritum hominis tum ob Antithesin Corporis Spiritus tum extollat v. seq Animam five rationalem partem gratia Christi renovatam Estius ex Oecumen Cass spirit is life or greatly alive because of righteousness or as to the matter of Righteousness Now the Law of the Mind prevails over the Law of the Members you are alive to God and Righteousness and Holiness But if the spirit of him that is God the Father that raised up Christ from the dead Verse 11 dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your morted bâ—dies by his spirit that dwelleth in you Here I confess I have a peculiar Notion which I have been hammering at these thirty Years but I will assure thee Reader that it is honest and will lead thee into no dangerous Errour and therefore consider it 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 That is in your mortal Body in which the Apostle forbids that Sin should reign Rom. 6.12 I say this mortal Body shall not only be dead as to the matter of Sin which is affirmed in the 10th Verse and is a great attainment by the Spirit of Christ's dwelling in us The World is well altered with such a Man that whereas his Flesh did rule and lead him captive to the Law of Sin now this Flesh and this mortal Body of his should be dead as to the matter of Sin this I say is a great attainment and a blessed alteration from his former state But this is not all no the chiefest thing is yet behind
the Flesh shall not only not be a clog to the Spirit but it shall be a meet-help it shall not only be dead as to Sin but it shall be quickned up into the Service of the Spirit the Flesh of the Saints in their mortal Body before they have died and past through the Grave shall be brought by the indwelling of the Spirit to an usefulness in the Service of God * Piscator in Polc Certurn est hic non agi de Resurrectione Corporâ—m Calvin Non de ultima Resurrectione hic loquitur sed de continua Spiritus Operatione qua Reliquias Carnis paulatim mortificans Coelestem Vitam in whis instaurat ibid. He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal body while it is mortal it may die and must die By the spirit that dwelleth in you which I take to be an Expression signifying our present State here after Conversion and not a Glorified Estate in Heaven for though the Saints in Heaven shall not be void of the Spirit of God there as we may conceive yet I take it this Phrase by his spirit which dwelleth in you signifies the State of this Life and that whilst we live here and have the Spirit of God and of Christ dwelling in us Our mortal Bodies which are yet only wortalia and not Mortua 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall be quickned into the service of our Spirit which was the design of God in his Creating Man before thâ— rebellion of the Flesh happened and our Spirits led by the Spirit of God So then we shall Eat and Drink to the Glory of God we shall Marry in the Lord 1 Cor. 7.39 Servants shall serve their Master as serving the Lord Christ Col. 3.24 And so I might instance in all the particular actions relating to the Body and the Animal Life If they are Musical they will not endure wanton Songs their very Musick shall be Innocent which is now so much devoted to the Devil to Bacchus and Veaus and Mars the Heathen Deities Therefore brethren we are debtors Verse 12 Now the Apostle comes to make some Application or practical Reflections upon this mysterious and sinewy Discourse we are debtors You see we are all obliged and that greatly we are not our own Men all Men are Debrors engaged one way or another Verse 13 But what are we Christians Debtors to not to the flesh to live after the flesh For if ye live after the flesh ye shall dye but if ye through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live The Spirit of God and of Christ dwells in every Saint and we are to make use of the Assistances of the Spirit dwelling in us to mortifie the Deeds and Affections of the Body so far as the Body was engaged in Sin and captivated â—o the Law of Sin Gal. 5.24 They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts and therefore no Doubt also in his deeds Col. 3.9 For as many as are led by the spirit of God Verse 14 they are the sous of God The Apostle still grows in his Sence as the Rule is in Oratory Cresâ—at Oratio The Apostle had before affirmed that if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his and then he tells us That where the Spirit of Christ is the Body is dead because of Sin or as to the matter of Sin and the Spirit is alive as to the matter of Righteousness and that the very mortal Body shall be quickened as I take it in this Life to the Service of the Spirit that is of our natural Spirit and Conscience not excluding but highly including the Spirit of God And now that we shall find our whole selves Debtors or owing ourselves not to the flesh any longer than it must be to the Spirit and in this 14 Verse That we are led by the Spirit go ten under the conduct of it that we are safe indeed unless we wickedly depart from such a Guide And now he takes one step further that by that time we are come thus far we are gotten under a Spirit of Adoption And here I take it the Apostle hath much done with the Discourse of Holiness and Sanctification as brought about by the Gospel and so proceeds to other priviledges which a Saint enjoys and arrives at which I am willing to prosecute to the end of this Chapter for it is a rich Mine and a most luscious Discourse The Lord grant that I may beable to proceed in it more than Notionally and Speculatively that I may have the true enjoyment of these Discourses by being able to apply every thing to my own Soul for my comfort and elevation of Heart in the wayes of God as having a particular Interest and Concern in these Mysteries But before I go any further on in the following Verses I must endeavour to perform my Promise of giving what I find in Hammend Pole and Marlorat considerable and different from my apprehensions here signified upon the 10 and 11 Verses But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if so be the Spirit of God dwell in you Verse 9 Now if any man have not the Spirit of God he is none of his Paraphrase But ye Christians under the Gospel if ye have any of that Spiritual Divine Temper Dr. Hammond upon the 9 Ver. hath these words which Christ came to infuse by his Doctrine and Example are thereby engaged to all manner of sincere inward Purity to mortify the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts and if you do not so you live not according to the Gospel and if not so ye may know that you are not Christians Christ will not own you for his however ye have received the Faith and are admitted into the Number And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life Verse 10 because of righteousness Paraphrase But if ye be Christians indeed translated and raised above the pretensions of the Jew to the purity of the Gospel of Christ and your Lives be answerable thereto then though being Sinners the punishment of Sin that is Death befall you and so your bodies dye and return to Dust which is the punishment of Sin yet your Souls shall live for ever an happy and a blessed Life as the reward of your return to Christ in the sincerity of a new and righteous Life to which the Evangelical Justification belongs But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you Verse 11 he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by the spirit that dwelleth in you Paraphrase And then even for your dead Bodies they shall not finally perish neither they shall be sure to be raised again for the Spirit of God by which ye are to be guided and led is that Divine Omnipotent Spirit that
raised Christ's dead body out of the Grave and if ye be guided by that animated and quickned by that live a pious and holy life there is no doubt but God will raise your mortal Bodies out of the Graves also by the power of the same Spirit that raised Christ's As for Pole's Synopsis I have read over all that he saith upon these Verses and you see what I have gotten out of him from Piscator Calvin Estius and others towards my sence and as he hath all the sences of divers Authors so in it you have this of Dr. Hammond Now for Marlorat I find the same Quotation out of Calvin that Pole hath upon these words Vivificabit Mortalia Corpora vestra He shall also quicken your mortal Bodies Mortalia Corpora vocat quiequid adbuc restat in nobis Morti obuoxium ut mos est illi usitatus crassiorem nostri partem hoc nomine appellare ut jam saepe dictum est Vnde colligimus non de ultima Resurrectione quae momento fiet haberi Sermonem sed de continua Spiritus operatione qua reliquias Carnis paulatim mortificans coelestem Vitam in nobis instaurat In English thus St. Paul calls that our mortal Bodies whatsoever yet remains in us liable to death as it is an usual Custom with him to call our grosser part by that name as I have often already said Whence we gather that he doth not here speak of the last Resurrection which shall be done in a moment by the Spirit of Christ and of God but of the continual Operation of the Spirit in us whereby mortifying by little and little the relicks and remainders of the Flesh he doth renew and establish an heavenly Life in us And so I have done with the 10 11 12 13 Verses For as many as are led by the spirit of God they are the sons of God Verse 14 I am now past the discourse of Sanctification by Faith as brought about by Gospel-Principles and impossible to be effected by the Law or attained unto by a legal Spirit or frame of Heart and I come to some other high Priviledges which a Man Sanctified attains unto The first is he is led by the spirit of God and so secondly is one of the Sons of God I shall hasten now with as much brevity as I can to the end of this Chapter And such a one is not only a Son but is in a very fair way to understand and to have the boldness of a Son in the presence of God For ye have not received a spirit of bondage again to fear Verse 15 This Expression seems to have an eye and respect to the Old-Testament Dispensation we in the Dispensation of the Gospel have not received the Spirit of Bondage again as they did under the Law who though they were truly and really under the Covenant of Grace yet their Dispensation looked much like Law and accordingly their Spirits were low and legal and they were more like Servants than Sons as you have it professedly and at large discoursed in Gal. 4.1 2 3. to the end of the 7th Verse Verse 15 And Gal. 3.22 23 24. Ye have received the spirit of adoption by which we cry Abba Father Ye Romans have received the Spirit by which same Spirit we Christians of all Nations cry Abba Father for the Saints drink all into one Spirit according to that Article of our Creed the Communion of Saints The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirits Verse 16 That we are the Children of God There are two Spirits spoken of in one Verse the Spirit itself that is the Spirit of God bâ—areth witness with our Spirits that is with our Consciences being enlightned by the Spirit of God and renewed thereby and restored to its empire over the Flesh by which renovation we are made the Children of God that we are the Children of God First we must be the Children of God and then the Spirit of God can and will bear witness to this Truth that so it is unless our Consciences can bear this Testimony the Spirit will not cannot bear such a Testimony because it is a Spirit of Truth And if children Verse 17 then heirs See how the Priviledge rises all Children among Men are not Heirs but all God's Children are Heirs heirs of God and joynt-heirs or Co-heirs with Christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together See what little reason we have to be asraid of Suffering if we suffer for a good Cause and with a good Conscience Phil. 1.29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him but to suffer for his name It is an additional Gift to that of Faith to suffer for the Name of Christ to bear the Cross is the way to the Crown but we are apt to have dastardly and cowardly Thoughts and Spirits St. Paul was quite of another mind as he shews in the next Verse For I reckon Verse 18 that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us This is the third Priviledge that a Sanctified Man hath viz. Courage in the midst of all sorts of suffering for Christ and that upon this account namely the inconceiveable Glory which he is to receive which will be so great when it comes that the whole groaning World waits with earnest expectation to see the blessed Time when the Saints shall receive this Glory and what Comfort should the Saints themselves then take in the Expectation of it and what Patience should they excercise in the mean time For the earnest expectation of the creature Verse 19 waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God this with the 20 21 22 I shall not meddle with as containing no doubt a great Mystery which good and learned Men are divided about and which I confess I do not understand but thus much is evident that there is a wonderfull Glory to come for the Saints and that this life is a suffering life but so ordered for the Saints that they have great cause of Patience nay Joy and Glorying in all their Tribulations seeing the whole suffering and groaning World is contented under their sufferings meerly with the Expectation they have and Participation that they shall have of the Saints Glory for it is said Verse 21. That the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God This is a groaning time There are three sorts of Groans 1st That of the whole Creation 2dly That of the Saints Verse 23. 3dly The Spirit of God also maketh Intercession for us with Groanings which cannot be uttered The First sort of Groans I have passed over with a Confession of my Ignorance only that we see the sad effects of sin in which the brute Creatures suffer The Second sort of Groans we may and ought to understand And
death would be a death unto righteousness unto which you were raised and this death must never be So it follows For in that he died Verse 10 he died unto sin once The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 semel duntaxat only once or once for all he dieth no more but in that he liveth or whatsoever he liveth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he liveth unto God his whole life is consecrated to God and so must yours be and you are no further Christians than you thus do So it follows Likewise reckon ye also your selves to be dead indeed unto sin Verse 11 but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. I know no difficulty in the words but that they may easily be understood by what hath been spoken before only I observe in the words Likewise reckon your selves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the great thing that we have to do is to keep the account clear to consider what is the consequence of our Christian Profession if we be wise and pertinent and serious therein we must count it our indispensible Duty to shew a true conformity to the Death Burial and Resurrection of Christ by our being as crucified dead and buried to all sin and alive unto God in all that we live I shall only give a parallel place both for matter and form unto the tenth Verse with this difference that one place speaks of our Saviour the other of St. Paul but each express a Crucifixion Death and Resurrection or living unto God and so pass to the twelfth Verse In the tenth Verse of this Chapter it is thus expressed in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The parallel place is Gal. 2.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am crucified with Christ yet I live no longer I but Christ liveth in me and the life that I now live or what I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God The other is Christ died to sin once but now what he liveth he liveth unto God Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body Verse 12 The Apostle having hitherto shewn doctrinally the absurdity of that Question in the first Verse Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound from our professed state of Death to Sin declared in Baptism and from our necessary conformity to Christ comes in this Verse as partly in the eleventh to make the Application by way of Exhortation Likewise reckon ye also yourselves And here let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body Here I take the word body not to be the same with the word body in the sixth Verse Our old man was crucified with Christ that the body of sin might be destroyed for there body is called the body of sin but in this Verse sin and body are distinguished one from the other as two different things and separable one from the other whereas in that phrase the body of sin sin cannot be separated from the body for take away sin from the body of sin and there will be no body left for the body of sin is made up of sin in all its variety but we may at least in conception separate sin from our mortal body for the same body in Adam that after he had sinned became mortal was actually without sin before he had sinned therefore it may at least be conceived without sin whereas the body of sin cannot be conceived without sin But this Criticism will more visibly appear if you observe the words of the Text in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which is being exactly interpreted to be read thus Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that you should obey sin it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the lusts of the body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An English Reader cannot make the distinction which is very apparent in the Greek For he is apt to take it thus Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that you should obey it that is sin in the lusts thereof that is in the lusts of sin but it is not so but quite otherwise in the Greek in the lusts thereof that is of the body I shall endeavour to explain the matter thus for it is not a meer Nicety but the Observation or Criticism carries a great deal of useful sence in it We are all of us here in this World in a mortal body Whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell God knoweth saith St. Poul 2 Cor. 12.2 I say we are all in a mortal body and this body of ours hath several appetites or designs as eating and drinking c. these designs are called lustings or lusts according to the old English Now the Apostle's advice is that sin reign not in our mortal bodies In the body of sin which is to be destroyed and crucified with Christ there is nothing else but sin reigning sin this therefore must be destroyed but it is no duty but a great sin for us to destroy and kill our mortal body we must nourish it and cherish it in a moderate way only we must have a care that sin reign not in these mortal bodies so as to obey sin in gratifying to excess the innocent lustings or desires of our body The thirteenth Verse illustrates and strengthens this sence that I have given of the twelfth Neither yield ye your members that is the limbs of your mortal body Verse 13 your hands and feet your eyes and ears and tongue Instruments Margin Arms or Weapons of unrighteousness unto sin In this Verse are two Captains Kings Generals or Masters God and Sin You must not yield your members or limbs as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin If by the members here were meant the members of the body of sin it were no good sence to say yield not your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin for how can it be that the members of the body should not yield to the use and service of the body which is only unrighteousness in the body of sin But by our members here is understood the limbs and members of our natural or mortal body Now I shall recite the whole Verse Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin Verse 13 do not obey sin in gratifying the desires of the body but yield your selves unto God as those that are alive from the dead that is from death in sin and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God Use your bodies and every limb and faculty of them to the glory of God whose you are and whom you ought to glorifie with your bodies and spirits which are his For sin shall not have dominion over you Above Verse twelve Verse 14 he had exhorted and cautioned them that sin might not have dominion over them Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body Here he either promises or at least foretells them that it shall not reign for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
seems to turn his Speech into a figurative Expression as I have noted above out of Doctor Hammond and chuseth rather to say Ye are become dead to the Law by the Body of Christ crucified for else there would have been no similitude in this Case for the Matter to which the Apostle doth assimulate the Case of every true Christian was to that of a Wife who was once bound to an Husband but by the death of her Husband became free to be married to another the word ye therefore answers to the Wife therefore when he says ye are dead to the Law the meaning is the Law is dead to you for else he would not speak of the death of the Husband but of the death of the Wife And accordingly the Apostle continues the Allegory in the next two Verses For when we were in the flesh Verse 5 the motions of sin which were by the law did work in our members to bring ferth fruit unto death But now we are delivered from the law Verse 6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We are cancelled to the Law signifieth saith Dr. Hammond the Law is cancelled to us that being dead wherein we were held that is the Law which was our first Husband being dead wherein we were held or to which we were obliged as a Wife to a Husband during his life that we should serve in newness of spirit that is according to a free ingenious Gospel-Principle of Love and not in the oldness of the Letter that is according to the severity and rigour of the Law written in Tables of Stone which was our old and first Husband So that in this Antapodosis or Reddition which is here made by way of Similitude to the Case of an Husband and Wife I take it we have these several Propositions clearly expressed or strongly inferrible 1. The Law is a Man's first Husband 2. The Law is every Man's Husband that is his Soul's Husband till he betake himself to Christ by Faith for there is no middle State every Man is either under the Law or under Grace 3. The Law is a rigid and severe Husband 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verse 6. Wherein we were held Gal. 3.23 24. Before Faith came we were kept under the Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Law had set a guard upon us shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed shut up as it were in Prison in Salva Custodia Verse 24. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ and a severe Schoolmaster 4. That whilst we are under the Law and before we betake ourselves to Christ by Faith we can do nothing but Sin Verse 5. For when we were in the flesh the motions of sin which were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death Whilst we are under the Law we are in the Flesh wholly carnal and then the motions of Sin did work and nothing but they and did bring forth Fruit unto Death This is the Issue of our Wedlock whilst we sinners have no other Husband but only the Law 5. That the Law was in very good earnest since killed as to the condemning power of it for all Mankind by the Body of Christ crucified 6. That every Man in the World where the Gospel is preached is declared to be free from the condemnation of the Law upon condition that he betake himself to Christ as an Husband and a Lord. And this I take to be the greatest thing in the Gospel 7. That till a Man repent and believe this Gospel and be joyned to the Lord Christ as one Spirit with him he can never bring forth fruit unto God Verse 4. Wherefore my brethren ye also are become dead to the law or rather the Law is dead to you by the body of Christ that ye should be married to another even to him that is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit unto God This is the Fruit of the New Wedlock and without this change of State there can be no such Fruit. All these severally I take to be included in the Apostle's Similitude and so I come to the seventh Verse wherein the Apostle answers a terrible Objection which seems to arise rationally against what he had said What shall we say then Verse 7 is the law sin God forbid The Objection rises naturally thus You have said above That when we were in the Flesh the Motions of Sin which were by the Law did so work as to bring forth Fruit unto Death and that we need to be delivered from the Law even by the death of it as an Husband that so we may serve God with a new Spirit and bring forth Fruit to God Why what a strange kind of thing do you make the Law to be Quod efficit tale est magis tale That which is the cause of any thing and brings it forth into being is much more such a thing as that is which is produced and effected by it What shall we say then is the Law Sin or a sinful thing or the direct cause of Sin This Question or Objection the Apostle answers with an abhorrence Verse 7 God forbid and then gives a very substantial reason for it 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 So that it is as much as if the Apostle had said 't is true if this bringing forth Fruit unto Death had been the natural and kindly Effect of the Law as a Cause it would be so it could no be freed from this aspersion of being a very sinful thing nay Sin itself in the abstract If innocent Man and the Law meeting together the natural product of the Law should be Sin the Law would indeed deserve the name of sinful and of sin but it is not the univocal natural kindly Product of the Law upon a Man but the accidental Effect of the Law upon a Sinner But sin taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence The Law is so far from deserving the name of sin or sinful saith the Apostle that I had not known sin but by the law for I had not known lust except the law had said Thou shalt not covet The natural Effect of the Law is first to forbid Sin and to command all that is holy just and good and in the next place to discover Sin to convince and condemn the sinner which is quite contrary to the promoting encouraging and producing Sin Well then having removed Sin far enough away from being the natural Effect of the Law he comes to shew how the Law did occasionally and accidentally produce Sin But sin taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence Verse 8 for without the law sin was dead or is dead there is neither of them no Verb substantive in the Original And here I think it a very fit occasion to set
Sufferings and teacheth us not only to call them but account them light it teacheth us to live by Faith and Hope it teacheth us lastly fully to acquiesce in the holy Will good Will and Favour of God as unconquerable and invulnerable and makes us to tryumph in God and in our Lord Jesus as inseparable from his Love by all that can befal us here and so makes us the glory of Christ here by bearing and doing all for him which must needs end in being glorified with him in the Heavens The Words which I thought fit to transcribe out of Dr. Hammond's Commentary upon this Subject you may find at the Letter d on the seventh Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans I had not known sin Dr. Hammond Rom. 7.7 It is an ordinary figure saith the Doctor to speak of other Men in the first Person but most frequently in blaming or noting any fault in others for then by the putting it in this disguise fastning it on one's own person it is more likely to be well taken by them to whom it belongs So saith St. Chrysostom of this Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when he mentions things that are any way grievous or likely to be ill taken he doth it in his own person And St. Hierem on Daniel Peccata populi enumerat Persona sua quod Apostolum in Epistola ad Romanoâ— facere legimus Confessing the Sins of the People be doth it in his own person which we read practiced by the Apostle in the Epistle to the Romans that is most probably in this place Thus the same Apostle 1 Cor. 6.12 All things are lawful to me but all things are not expedient that is those things which are by you look'd on as indifferent if they be yielded to may be very hurtful in you And 1 Cor. 13.2 If I have all Faith and have not Charity that is if you want Charity to your other Gifts So Gal. 2.18 If what I have destroyed I build the same again I make myself a transgressor that is whosever doth so or whensoever ye do so it must needs be a fault in you Thus Rom. 3.7 If the truth of God hath more abounded by my lie unto his glory why am I also judged as a sinner Which words are certainly the personating of an impious Objector which speaks or disputes thus not of the Apostle himself And the same Scheme or Fashion of Speech or Writing is very frequent among all Authors Secondly By the severals affirmed in this Chapter which cannot belong to St. Paul it appears that St. Paul did not speak these things of himself For that Paul was at the writing of this a reformed regenerate person there is no doubt but if we compare the severals which are here mentioned with the parts of a regenerate Man's Character given by the same Apostle in other places we shall find them quite contrary Here in the eighth Verse he saith That sin had wrought in him all manner of concupiscence whereas of the regenerate Man it is affirmed Gal. 5.24 they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Here in the ninth Verse it is said sin revived and I died whereas of the regenerate Man it is said Chap. 6.2 How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein Here in the fourteenth Verse it is said I am carnal whereas of the regenerate Man it is affirmed Chap. 8.1 that he walketh not after the flesh but after the spirit Here again in that fourteenth Verse 't is said I am sold under sin whereas of the regenerate 't is affirmed Chap. 6.18 that be becomes free from sin and becomes the se vant of righteousness Here Verse 20. Sin dwelleth in me and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 accomplisheth worketh that which I will not like not with my mind and conscience And so 't is said Ver. 23 24. That the law of the members carries him into captivity to the law of sin and who shall deliver him from this body of death And so that he is under the power of the law of sin and death that he obeys the law of sin Ver. 25. Whereas Chap. 8.2 of the regenerate 't is affirmed That the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made him free from the law of sin and death Nothing can be more contrary and irreconcilable to a regenerate state in these so many particulars than what is here affirmed of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I he person here represented And indeed unless sinning against Conscience be the only way of alleviating and not aggravating sin it is impossible that the doing that ill he would not the not doing the good he would Ver. 19 20. can be deemed a fit Ingredient in the Character of a regenerate Man 'T is certain this was in the Person of Meâ—ea made by the Heathens the highest pitch of Villany to see and like that which was good and to do the direct contrary and therefore cannot in any reason be thought to be the Apostle's description of a regenerate Man a good Christian I add much less of himself And now methinks these Lines that I have quoted and transcribed out of Dr. Hammond are so grave learn'd and wise that I look upon what I have written as trifliâ—g in comparison with them which in two or three Pages contain in a manner the substance of all that I have written Yet I am not utterly discouraged from making it publick because that may please and convince one that may not have the same influence on another And what I have written I hope I have done in the fear of God and with true zeal for the good of Souls and there is certainly an Use of various ways of Expressing and Arguing for the Information of various Capacities I come now therefore to my promised Work of going through the several Verses of the eighth Chapter for that in that Chapter what follows in several Verses is a mighty confirmation of what hath been delivered and a great improvement of the Discourse by several gradations shewing how the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus sers a Man still more and more at liberty from the Law of Sin and Death and leads him up to his high places as Habakkuk's phrase is Hab. 3.9 The Lord God is my strength and be will make my feet like hind's feet and he will make me to walk upon my high places Proverbs 15.24 The way of life is above to the wise to deliver from hell beneath And indeed till a Man be enlightned in the Gospel and lifted up by the Spirit of God as it were to walk over other Mens heads he is as nothing in the World 1 Cor. 2.19 The spiritual man judgeth all things yet he himself is judged of no man For they that are after the flesh Rom. 8.5 do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit The Apostle
conclude that not only all these things mentioned but all other things whatsoever do work together for good to them that love God The whole Creation groans for their Deliverance they Groan within themselves for their glorious State and the Spirit helps them in their Groanings and to further Groanings in Prayer beyond all Words and Expressions even to meanings which God knows and God alone and they shall all be answered in full Returns not a Sigh or a Groan lost sent out from them that love God from them that are effectually called according to his purpose For I question not but all things are done according to purpose which lies hid as I may humbly say in the breast of God According to the purpose of Eternal Ages as the Phrase is Eph. 3.11 Which he made or purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Then it follows as it were occasionally from this Expression called according to his purpose Ver. 29. For whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son Verse 29 that he might be the first-born amongst many brethren Moreover whom he did predestinate them he also called and whem he called Verse 30 them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified The Purpose of God is so strongly made that it goes thorough and thorough with the whole train of Successive glorious Effects and this demonstrates a Wonderful Co-operation for good to those that love God to those that are called according to his Purpose Onely I must here honestly offer my Apprehensions in this most profound-Matter for I would deal honestly with all the World and especially with the Church of God And my chief Observation upon this Golden Chain as it is well called is this That the first Link of the Chain which is fastened to the Mercy-seat and all the World can never loose it thence is fore-knowledge whom he did fore-know which I humbly conceive is meant of God's fore-sight * Quos praescivit nempe tales per ductum Gratiae suae consensum liberae Voluntatis futuros bene victuros vel Gratiae oblatae assensuros vel credituros in fide perseveraturos Sic exponunt Chrysost Theodoret. Hieronymus c. Pole in loc The English is this Whom he did fore-know viz. that they would be such through the conduct of Grace and the consent of their own Free-will as would live well assent to Grace offered would believe and persevere in Faith what Men would do placed under such and such circumstances and thereupon did predestinate call justifie and glorifie in his eternal and irrefragable Purpose And so I dismiss the great Subject of these two Verses only I shall remark upon the 29th Verse Whom he did fore-know he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son that he might be the first-born amongst many brethren That though Men have a true liberty of will in their choice of and adhering unto Christ yet God did not leave the whole issue and success of things to the liberty of Men but fore-seeing what Men would do purposed and decreed to do more for them infinitely than they could themselves do in carrying on the work of Grace in them so that Christ should not be an Head without a Body and a First-born without Brethren but the First-born amongst many Brethren And this fore-knowledge of God what Men would do in believing and returning to God is as easie for us to conceive of as it is how God should foresee that Adam would certainly fall when it was in his power to have stood and yet this certain fore-knowledge of God must be allowed in a matter perfectly free for ought that we know or else the purpose of sending Christ as a Saviour which was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 could never have been made by the All-wise Jehovah What shall we say then Verse 31 if God be for us who can be against us As much as to say The whole matter of our salvation is a certain well-laid inexpugnable thing if we are but once brought over to God if we are once well convinced of sin by the Law and see our need of Christ if Christ become precious to us and our only deliverer if we are by him freed from the Curse and Condemnation of the Law and have the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus setting us free from the Law of Sin and Death if we have the impossible thing of the Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wrought in us that is if we are enabled to walk after the Spirit and no longer after the Flesh if we have been taught to mortifie the Deeds of the Body and so come to be led by the Spirit to call God Father by a Spirit of Adoption are content to suffer with Christ to long for his presence and groan after it we need not question but all things shall work together for our good we shall find ourselves effectually called and therefore elected Make your calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 We have no other way to know our Election but by our Calling and then and not till then can we take comfort in the Doctrine of Election namely when we may have ground to hope that the golden Chain hath fastened upon us and if so what can harm us if God be for us who can be against us unless they can be too hard for God Now from hence the Apostle runs on with a clear and triumphant Argumentation Verse 32. He that spared not his own Son Verse 32 but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things This is the clearest Argument in the World we have no reason to doubt of the good will of God for our final salvation and therefore present happiness for he that gives us the greatest gift he could give will never deny us the small matters of the World if they be good for us This Argument is like that of our Saviour's He that gave us Life will give us Food he that gave us Body will give us Rayment a majori ad minus Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect It is God that justifies Verse 33 And if we be interested in election by effectual calling who shall lay any thing to our charge in judgment when he that is to be our judge and whose approbation alone justifies will justifie us Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died and so took off our condemnation Verse 34 by suffering the penalty of out sin and he that died is not dead yea rather that is risen again who is ever at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us The Spirit in us and for us here on Earth and Christ for us in Heaven What abundant Consolation is here He that died for us on Earth to free us from Death and Hell is ascended to Heaven and there maketh intercession for us
2d Chapter must be meant the Moral Law and this was all they could ever be alive or become dead to 'T is true the Jews might be said to become dead to the Ceremonial Law too by the Body of Christ crucified But this was as nothing to the Romans or mecr Gentiles To leave then this Argument from the persons to whom he wrote being Gentiles and to speak only to the nature of the thing in Rom. 7.5 It is said For when we were in the flesh the motions of sins which were by the law did work c. What motions of sins can we suppose to be wrought by the Ceremonial or Judicial Law more than as they commanded Duties but gave no strength to perform which is the cause why the Moral Law wrought the same Effect Doth there appear any peculiar reason for this Effect from either of these Laws which is not found in the Moral Law Or if there do how doth this affect the Romans that were never under them Again Verse 7. What shall we say then is the law sin God forbid nay I had not known sin but by the law for I had not known lust except the law had said Thou shalt not covet What Law saith this Why it is the Tenth Commandment of the Moral Law Therefore it is the Moral Law that is the first Husband spoken of Again Verse 8. But sin taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence For without the law sin is dead Can all this be colourably said of the Ceremonial Law and not rather of the Moral Law As it forbids all Sin and commands all Duty and gives neither Strength nor Pardon Whereas the Ceremonial Law doth not command so much and yet gives some intimations of Pardon by the Sacrifices which it enjoys Verse 12. Wherefore the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good I question whether this can be Scripturally and Theologically spoken of the Ceremonial Law which in a Sence is said not to be good Ezek. 20.25 Wherefore I gave them statutes that were not good and judgments whereby they should not live Dedi eis praecepta non bona id est Praecepta Ceremonialia saith Pole in Loc. Verse 14. For we know that the law is spiritual This is truly said of the Moral Law but it said of the Ceremonial Law that it was a carnal commandment Heb. 7.16 and Heb. 9 10. It is called carnal ordinances Rites or Ceremonies Again Verse 9. of Rom. 7. For I was alive without the law once Let us suppose for the present that the Apostle speaks properly in his own Name When was ever the Apostle alive without the Ceremonial or Moral Law who was bred up at the strictest rate under them both as a Pharisee The meaning therefore is he was alive without the Law that is before the Law came with its pressing Convictions and what shall we imagine that these Convictions were What That the Ceremonial Law came with its Convictions That he had neglected so many Washings and Sacrifices c. Who ever understood it so Is it not rather understood by all that the Moral Law came in upon his Conscience as a spiritual and Holy Law and the very Transcript of the Holiness of God and charged him with that as Sin which he never understood to be Sin before as he instanceth in Lust and Coveting and so made him appear guilty before the Holy God so as he could never hope to be accepted with God without Pardon and a Saviour And what other Law could this be which should be said to come thus but the Moral Law That which was ordained to be Life to Adam he found to be Death to him being once indeed and so often broken by his first Parents and by himself So by all these Texts out of the chief Chapter which I have in the foregoing Discourse been explaining I apprehend it is evident That the Apostle speaks chiefly if not only of the Moral Law Therefore the Moral Law was their Husband which 〈…〉 sake and to be married to another even Christ in order to Justification 〈…〉 we and all Men in the World for there is par ratio a like and 〈…〉 us If any shall doubt of the Evidence here given I queâ—â—â—â—◠〈…〉 by those several other places where the Apostle mannages the 〈…〉 the Subject of Justification by Faith A Second APPENDIX ANother of my worthy Friends to whom I communicated my Manuscript for his judgment of it questioned whether it could be made to appear that the Law did so much as accidentally enrage Lust and occasion greater sinning in those that seek to be justified by the Law and was inclined to think that the Law did only aggravate the guilt of any Sin and so wound the Conscience and that this should be all the meaning of those words When the commandment came sin revived and I died and the commandment which was ordained to life I found to be unto death Rom. 7.9 10. But I am still of opinion that there is and must needs be a farther sence in the words and that when a Man seeks to be justified by the Law which is a Distemper very incident to Humane Nature under divers shapes and forms and the most subtile and unaccountable Disease of Mankind the Law instead of justifying which it can by no means effect doth not only aggravate Sin and kill a Man as a Ministration of Condemnation but doth though accidentally yet certainly work in us all manner of Concupiscence and doth bring forth new Fruit unto Death as well as discover the old for which I think there are several very considerable Proofs in this seventh Chapter to the Romans and I shall take them as they lye in order Verse 5. When we were in the flesh the motions of sin which were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death When we were in the flesh that is in a state of Unregeneracy and so under the Law had not betaken ourselves to Christ for an Husband the motions of sin did work This methinks cannot be understood of Past-sins that we were then convinced of them by the Law but they are Motions or Inclinations towards sinning so the Expression is continued they did work in ordine ad to bring forth fruit unto death That is towards new Commissions and these Motions of Sin are said to be by the Law How can this be interpreted of laying on guilt or charging us with guilt for Sins already committed So accordingly the Antithesis in the next Verse seems to carry it Verse 6. But now we are delivered from the law that did thus produce and not only discover Sin that being dead wherein we were held that is the Law that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter or as it is in Verse 4. That we should bring forth fruit unto God This part of the Antithesis speaks clearly of