mh_parser/vol_split/45 - Romans/Chapter 7.xml

<div2 id="Rom.viii" n="viii" next="Rom.ix" prev="Rom.vii" progress="34.61%" title="Chapter VII">
<h2 id="Rom.viii-p0.1">R O M A N S.</h2>
<h3 id="Rom.viii-p0.2">CHAP. VII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Rom.viii-p1">We may observe in this chapter, I. Our freedom
from the law further urged as an argument to press upon us
sanctification, <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.1-Rom.7.6" parsed="|Rom|7|1|7|6" passage="Ro 7:1-6">ver. 1-6</scripRef>.
II. The excellency and usefulness of the law asserted and proved
from the apostle's own experience, notwithstanding, <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.7-Rom.7.14" parsed="|Rom|7|7|7|14" passage="Ro 7:7-14">ver. 7-14</scripRef>. III. A description of the
conflict between grace and corruption in the heart, <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.14-Rom.7.25" parsed="|Rom|7|14|7|25" passage="Ro 7:14-25">ver. 14, 15, to the end</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Rom.viii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7" parsed="|Rom|7|0|0|0" passage="Ro 7" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Rom.viii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.1-Rom.7.6" parsed="|Rom|7|1|7|6" passage="Ro 7:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Rom.7.1-Rom.7.6">
<h4 id="Rom.viii-p1.6">Observations Respecting the
Law. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Rom.viii-p1.7">a.
d.</span> 58.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Rom.viii-p2">1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them
that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as
long as he liveth?   2 For the woman which hath a husband is
bound by the law to <i>her</i> husband so long as he liveth; but if
the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of <i>her</i>
husband.   3 So then if, while <i>her</i> husband liveth, she
be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but
if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is
no adulteress, though she be married to another man.   4
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the
body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, <i>even</i>
to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth
fruit unto God.   5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions
of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring
forth fruit unto 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 <i>in</i> the oldness of the letter.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.viii-p3">Among other arguments used in the foregoing
chapter to persuade us against sin, and to holiness, this was one
(<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.6.14" parsed="|Rom|6|14|0|0" passage="Ro 6:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), that <i>we
are not under the law;</i> and this argument is here further
insisted upon and explained (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.6" parsed="|Rom|7|6|0|0" passage="Ro 7:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>): <i>We are delivered from the law.</i> What is meant
by this? And how is it an argument why sin should not reign over
us, and why we should walk in newness of life? 1. We are delivered
from the power of the law which curses and condemns us for the sin
committed by us. The sentence of the law against us is vacated and
reversed, by the death of Christ, to all true believers. The law
saith, <i>The soul that sins shall die;</i> but we are delivered
from the law. <i>The Lord has taken away thy sin, thou shalt not
die.</i> We are <i>redeemed from the curse of the law,</i>
<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.13" parsed="|Gal|3|13|0|0" passage="Ga 3:13">Gal. iii. 13</scripRef>. 2. We are
delivered from that power of the law which irritates and provokes
the sin that dwelleth in us. This the apostle seems especially to
refer to (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.5" parsed="|Rom|7|5|0|0" passage="Ro 7:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>):
<i>The motions of sins which were by the law.</i> The law, by
commanding, forbidding, threatening, corrupt and fallen man, but
offering no grace to cure and strengthen, did but stir up the
corruption, and, like the sun shining upon a dunghill, excite and
draw up the filthy steams. We being lamed by the fall, the law
comes and directs us, but provides nothing to heal and help our
lameness, and so makes us halt and stumble the more. Understand
this of the law not as a rule, but as a covenant of works. Now each
of these is an argument why we should be holy; for here is
encouragement to endeavours, though in many things we come short.
We are under grace, which promises strength to do what it commands,
and pardon upon repentance when we do amiss. This is the scope of
these verses in general, that, in point of profession and
privilege, we are under a covenant of grace, and not under a
covenant of works—under the gospel of Christ, and not under the
law of Moses. The difference between a law-state and a gospel-state
he had before illustrated by the similitude of rising to a new
life, and serving a new master; now here he speaks of is under the
similitude of being married to a new husband.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.viii-p4">I. Our first marriage was to the law,
which, according to the law of marriage, was to continue only
during the life of the law. The law of marriage is binding till the
death of one of the parties, no matter which, and no longer. The
death of either discharges both. For this he appeals to themselves,
as persons knowing the law (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.1" parsed="|Rom|7|1|0|0" passage="Ro 7:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>): <i>I speak to those that know the law.</i> It is a
great advantage to discourse with those that have knowledge, for
such can more readily understand and apprehend a truth. Many of the
Christians at Rome were such as had been Jews, and so were well
acquainted with the law. One has some hold of knowing people.
<i>The law hath power over a man as long as he liveth;</i> in
particular, the law of marriage hath power; or, in general, every
law is so limited—the laws of nations, of relations, of families,
&amp;c. 1. The obligation of laws extends no further; by death the
servant who, while he lived, was under the yoke, is <i>freed from
his master,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.3.19" parsed="|Job|3|19|0|0" passage="Job 3:19">Job iii.
19</scripRef>. 2. The condemnation of laws extends no further;
death is the finishing of the law. <i>Actio moritur cum
personâ—The action expires with the person.</i> The severest laws
could but kill the body, and after that there is no more that they
can do. Thus while we were alive to the law we were under the power
of it—while we were in our Old-Testament state, before the gospel
came into the world, and before it came with power into our hearts.
Such is the law of marriage (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.2" parsed="|Rom|7|2|0|0" passage="Ro 7:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>), the woman is bound to her husband during life, so
bound to him that she cannot marry another; if she do, she shall be
reckoned an adulteress, <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.3" parsed="|Rom|7|3|0|0" passage="Ro 7:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>. It will make her an adulteress, not only to be
defiled by, but to be married to, another man; for that is so much
the worse, upon this account, that it abuses an ordinance of God,
by making it to patronise the uncleanness. Thus were we married to
the law (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.5" parsed="|Rom|7|5|0|0" passage="Ro 7:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>):
<i>When we were in the flesh,</i> that is, in a carnal state, under
the reigning power of sin and corruption—in the flesh as in our
element—then <i>the motions of sins which were by the law did work
in our members,</i> we were carried down the stream of sin, and the
law was but as an imperfect dam, which made the stream to swell the
higher, and rage the more. Our desire was towards sin, as that of
the wife towards her husband, and sin ruled over us. We embraced
it, loved it, devoted all to it, conversed daily with it, made it
our care to please it. We were under a law of sin and death, as the
wife under the law of marriage; and the product of this marriage
was fruit brought forth unto death, that is, actual transgressions
were produced by the original corruption, such as deserve death.
Lust, having conceived by the law (which is the strength of sin,
<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.15.56" parsed="|1Cor|15|56|0|0" passage="1Co 15:56">1 Cor. xv. 56</scripRef>),
<i>bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth
death,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p4.7" osisRef="Bible:Jas.1.15" parsed="|Jas|1|15|0|0" passage="Jam 1:15">Jam. i. 15</scripRef>. This
is the posterity that springs from this marriage to sin and the
law. This comes of the motions of sin working in our members. And
this continues during life, while the law is alive to us, and we
are alive to the law.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.viii-p5">II. Our second marriage is to Christ: and
how comes this about? Why,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.viii-p6">1. We are freed, by death, from our
obligation to the law as a covenant, as the wife is from her
obligation to her husband, <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.3" parsed="|Rom|7|3|0|0" passage="Ro 7:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>. This resemblance is not very close, nor needed it to
be. <i>You are become dead to the law,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.4" parsed="|Rom|7|4|0|0" passage="Ro 7:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. He does not say, "The law is dead"
(some think because he would avoid giving offence to those who were
yet zealous for the law), but, which comes all to one, <i>You are
dead to the law.</i> As the crucifying of the world to us, and of
us to the world, amounts to one and the same thing, so doth the law
dying, and our dying to it. We are <i>delivered from the law</i>
(<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.6" parsed="|Rom|7|6|0|0" passage="Ro 7:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>),
<b><i>katergethemen</i></b>—<i>we are nulled</i> as to the law;
our obligation to it as a husband is cassated and made void. And
then he speaks of the law being dead as far as it was a law of
bondage to us: <i>That being dead wherein we were held;</i> not the
law itself, but its obligation to punishment and its provocation to
sin. It is dead, it has lost its power; and this (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.4" parsed="|Rom|7|4|0|0" passage="Ro 7:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>) <i>by the body of
Christ,</i> that is, by the sufferings of Christ in his body, by
his crucified body, which abrogated the law, answered the demands
of it, made satisfaction for our violation of it, purchased for us
a covenant of grace, in which righteousness and strength are laid
up for us, such as were not, nor could be, by the law. We are dead
to the law by our union with the mystical body of Christ. By being
incorporated into Christ in our baptism professedly, in our
believing powerfully and effectually, we are dead to the law, have
no more to do with it than the dead servant, that is free from his
master, hath to do with his master's yoke.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.viii-p7">2. We are married to Christ. The day of our
believing is the day of our espousals to the Lord Jesus. We enter
upon a life of dependence on him and duty to him: <i>Married to
another, even to him who is raised from the dead,</i> a periphrasis
of Christ and very pertinent here; for as our dying to sin and the
law is in conformity to the death of Christ, and the crucifying of
his body, so our devotedness to Christ in newness of life is in
conformity to the resurrection of Christ. We are married to the
raised exalted Jesus, a very honourable marriage. Compare <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.11.2 Bible:Eph.5.29" parsed="|2Cor|11|2|0|0;|Eph|5|29|0|0" passage="2Co 11:2,Eph 5:29">2 Cor. xi. 2; Eph. v. 29</scripRef>.
Now we are thus married to Christ, (1.) <i>That we should bring
forth fruit unto God,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.4" parsed="|Rom|7|4|0|0" passage="Ro 7:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. One end of marriage is fruitfulness: God instituted
the ordinance that he might seek a <i>godly seed,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.15" parsed="|Mal|2|15|0|0" passage="Mal 2:15">Mal. ii. 15</scripRef>. The wife is compared to
the fruitful vine, and children are called the fruit of the womb.
Now the great end of our marriage to Christ is our fruitfulness in
love, and grace, and every good work. This is fruit unto God,
pleasing to God, according to his will, aiming at his glory. As our
old marriage to sin produced fruit unto death, so our second
marriage to Christ produces fruit unto God, fruits of
righteousness. Good works are the children of the new nature, the
products of our union with Christ, as the fruitfulness of the vine
is the product of its union with the root. Whatever our professions
and pretensions may be, there is no fruit brought forth to God till
we are married to Christ; it is in Christ Jesus that we are created
unto good works, <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.10" parsed="|Eph|2|10|0|0" passage="Eph 2:10">Eph. ii.
10</scripRef>. The only fruit which turns to a good account is that
which is brought forth in Christ. This distinguishes the good works
of believers from the good works of hypocrites and self-justifiers
that they are brought forth in marriage, done in union with Christ,
in the name of the Lord Jesus, <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Col.3.17" parsed="|Col|3|17|0|0" passage="Col 3:17">Col.
iii. 17</scripRef>. This is, without controversy, one of the great
mysteries of godliness. (2.) <i>That we should serve in newness of
spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.6" parsed="|Rom|7|6|0|0" passage="Ro 7:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. Being married to a new
husband, we must change our way. Still we must serve, but it is a
service that is perfect freedom, whereas the service of sin was a
perfect drudgery: we must now serve in newness of spirit, by new
spiritual rules, from new spiritual principles, in spirit and in
truth, <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:John.4.24" parsed="|John|4|24|0|0" passage="Joh 4:24">John iv. 24</scripRef>. There
must be a renovation of our spirits wrought by the spirit of God,
and in that we must serve. <i>Not in the oldness of the letter;</i>
that is, we must not rest in mere external services, as the carnal
Jews did, who gloried in their adherence to the letter of the law,
and minded not the spiritual part of worship. The letter is said to
kill with its bondage and terror, but we are delivered from that
yoke that we may serve God without fear, in holiness and
righteousness, <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p7.8" osisRef="Bible:Luke.1.74-Luke.1.75" parsed="|Luke|1|74|1|75" passage="Lu 1:74,75">Luke i. 74,
75</scripRef>. We are under the dispensation of the Spirit, and
therefore must be spiritual, and serve in the spirit. Compare with
this <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p7.9" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.3.3 Bible:2Cor.3.6" parsed="|2Cor|3|3|0|0;|2Cor|3|6|0|0" passage="2Co 3:3,6">2 Cor. iii. 3, 6</scripRef>,
&amp;c. It becomes us to worship within the veil, and no longer in
the outward court.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Rom.viii-p7.10" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.7-Rom.7.14" parsed="|Rom|7|7|7|14" passage="Ro 7:7-14" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Rom.7.7-Rom.7.14">
<h4 id="Rom.viii-p7.11">Excellency of the Law; Usefulness of the
Law. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Rom.viii-p7.12">a.
d.</span> 58.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Rom.viii-p8">7 What shall we say then? <i>Is</i> 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.   8
But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all
manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin <i>was</i> dead.
  9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the
commandment came, sin revived, and I died.   10 And the
commandment, which <i>was ordained</i> to life, I found <i>to
be</i> unto death.   11 For sin, taking occasion by the
commandment, deceived me, and by it slew <i>me.</i>   12
Wherefore the law <i>is</i> holy, and the commandment holy, and
just, and good.   13 Was then that which is good made death
unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working
death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment
might become exceeding sinful.   14a For we know that the law
is spiritual:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.viii-p9">To what he had said in the former
paragraph, the apostle here raises an objection, which he answers
very fully: <i>What shall we say then? Is the law sin?</i> When he
had been speaking of the dominion of sin, he had said so much of
the influence of the law as a covenant upon that dominion that it
might easily be misinterpreted as a reflection upon the law, to
prevent which he shows from his own experience the great excellency
and usefulness of the law, not as a covenant, but as a guide; and
further discovers how sin took occasion by the commandment. Observe
in particular,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.viii-p10">I. The great excellency of the law in
itself. Far be it from Paul to reflect upon the law; no, he speaks
honourably of it. 1. It is <i>holy, just, and good,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.12" parsed="|Rom|7|12|0|0" passage="Ro 7:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. The law in general is
so, and every particular commandment is so. Laws are as the
law-makers are. God, the great lawgiver, is holy, just, and good,
therefore his law must needs be so. The matter of it is holy: it
commands holiness, encourages holiness; it is holy, for it is
agreeable to the holy will of God, the original of holiness. It is
just, for it is consonant to the rules of equity and right reason:
the ways of the Lord are right. It is good in the design of it; it
was given for the good of mankind, for the conservation of peace
and order in the world. It makes the observers of it good; the
intention of it was to better and reform mankind. Wherever there is
true grace there is an assent to this—that the law is holy, just,
and good. 2. <i>The law is spiritual</i> (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.14" parsed="|Rom|7|14|0|0" passage="Ro 7:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), not only in regard to the
effect of it, as it is a means of making us spiritual, but in
regard to the extent of it; it reaches our spirits, it lays a
restraint upon, and gives a direction to, the motions of the inward
man; <i>it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Heb.4.12" parsed="|Heb|4|12|0|0" passage="Heb 4:12">Heb. iv. 12</scripRef>. It
forbids spiritual wickedness, heart-murder, and heart-adultery. It
commands spiritual service, requires the heart, obliges us to
worship God in the spirit. It is a spiritual law, for it is given
by God, who is a Spirit and the Father of spirits; it is given to
man, whose principal part is spiritual; the soul is the best part,
and the leading part of the man, and therefore the law to the man
must needs be a law to the soul. Herein the law of God is above all
other laws, that it is a spiritual law. Other laws may forbid
<i>compassing and imagining,</i> &amp;c., which are treason in the
heart, but cannot take cognizance thereof, unless there be some
overt act; but the law of God takes notice of the iniquity regarded
in the heart, though it go no further. <i>Wash thy heart from
wickedness,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.4.14" parsed="|Jer|4|14|0|0" passage="Jer 4:14">Jer. iv.
14</scripRef>. <i>We know this:</i> Wherever there is true grace
there is an experimental knowledge of the spirituality of the law
of God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.viii-p11">II. The great advantage that he had found
by the law. 1. It was discovering: <i>I had not known sin but by
the law,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.7" parsed="|Rom|7|7|0|0" passage="Ro 7:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. As
that which is straight discovers that which is crooked, as the
looking-glass shows us our natural face with all its spots and
deformities, so there is no way of coming to that knowledge of sin
which is necessary to repentance, and consequently to peace and
pardon, but by comparing our hearts and lives with the law.
Particularly he came to the knowledge of the sinfulness of lust by
the law of the tenth commandment. By lust he means sin dwelling in
us, sin in its first motions and workings, the corrupt principle.
This he came to know when the law said, <i>Thou shalt not
covet.</i> The law spoke in other language than the scribes and
Pharisees made it to speak in; it spoke in the spiritual sense and
meaning of it. By this he knew that lust was sin and a very sinful
sin, that those motions and desires of the heart towards sin which
never came into act were sinful, exceedingly sinful. Paul had a
very quick and piercing judgment, all the advantages and
improvements of education, and yet never attained the right
knowledge of indwelling sin till the Spirit by the law made it
known to him. There is nothing about which the natural man is more
blind than about original corruption, concerning which the
understanding is altogether in the dark till the Spirit by the law
reveal it, and make it known. Thus <i>the law is a schoolmaster, to
bring us to Christ,</i> opens and searches the wound, and so
prepares it for healing. Thus sin by the commandment does appear
sin (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.13" parsed="|Rom|7|13|0|0" passage="Ro 7:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>); it
appears in its own colours, appears to be what it is, and you
cannot call it by a worse name than its own. Thus by the
commandment it becomes <i>exceedingly sinful;</i> that is, it
appears to be so. We never see the desperate venom or malignity
there is in sin, till we come to compare it with the law, and the
spiritual nature of the law, and then we see it to be an evil and a
bitter thing. 2. It was humbling (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.9" parsed="|Rom|7|9|0|0" passage="Ro 7:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): <i>I was alive.</i> He thought
himself in a very good condition; he was alive in his own opinion
and apprehension, very secure and confident of the goodness of his
state. Thus he was <i>once,</i> <b><i>pote</i></b>—<i>in times
past,</i> when he was a Pharisee; for it was the common temper of
that generation of men that they had a very good conceit of
themselves; and Paul was then like the rest of them, and the reason
was he was then <i>without the law.</i> Though brought up at the
feet of Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, though himself a great
student in the law, a strict observer of it, and a zealous stickler
for it, yet <i>without the law.</i> He had the letter of the law,
but he had not the spiritual meaning of it—the shell, but not the
kernel. He had the law in his hand and in his head, but he had it
not in his heart; the notion of it, but not the power of it. There
are a great many who are spiritually dead in sin, that yet are
alive in their own opinion of themselves, and it is their
strangeness to the law that is the cause of the mistake. <i>But
when the commandment came,</i> came in the power of it (not to his
eyes only, but to his heart), <i>sin revived,</i> as the dust in a
room rises (that is, appears) when the sun-shine is let into it.
Paul then saw that in sin which he had never seen before; he then
saw sin in its causes, the bitter root, the corrupt bias, the bent
to backslide,—sin in its colours, deforming, defiling, breaking a
righteous law, affronting an awful Majesty, profaning a sovereign
crown by casting it to the ground,—sin in its consequences, sin
with death at the heels of it, sin and the curse entailed upon it.
"Thus sin revived, and then I died; I lost that good opinion which
I had had of myself, and came to be of another mind. <i>Sin
revived, and I died;</i> that is, the Spirit, but the commandment,
convinced me that I was in a state of sin, and in a state of death
because of sin." Of this excellent use is the law; it is a lamp and
a light; it converts the soul, opens the eyes, prepares the way of
the Lord in the desert, rends the rocks, levels the mountains,
makes ready a people prepared for the Lord.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.viii-p12">III. The ill use that his corrupt nature
made of the law notwithstanding. 1. <i>Sin, taking occasion by the
commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence,</i>
<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.8" parsed="|Rom|7|8|0|0" passage="Ro 7:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. Observe, Paul
had in him all manner of concupiscence, though one of the best
unregenerate men that ever was; as touching the righteousness of
the law, blameless, and yet sensible of all manner of
concupiscence. And it was sin that wrought it, indwelling sin, his
corrupt nature (he speaks of a sin that did work sin), and it took
occasion by the commandment. The corrupt nature would not have
swelled and raged so much if it had not been for the restraints of
the law; as the peccant humours in the body are raised, and more
inflamed, by a purge that is not strong enough to carry them off.
It is incident to corrupt nature, <i>in vetitum niti—to lean
towards what is forbidden.</i> Ever since Adam ate forbidden fruit,
we have all been fond of forbidden paths; the diseased appetite is
carried out most strongly towards that which is hurtful and
prohibited. <i>Without the law sin was dead,</i> as a snake in
winter, which the sunbeams of the law quicken and irritate. 2. It
<i>deceived men.</i> Sin puts a cheat upon the sinner, and it is a
fatal cheat, <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.11" parsed="|Rom|7|11|0|0" passage="Ro 7:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>.
<i>By it</i> (by the commandment) <i>slew me.</i> There being in
the law no such express threatening against sinful lustings, sin,
that is, his won corrupt nature, took occasion thence to promise
him impunity, and to say, as the serpent to our first parents,
<i>You shall not surely die.</i> Thus it deceived and slew him. 3.
It <i>wrought death in me by that which is good,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.13" parsed="|Rom|7|13|0|0" passage="Ro 7:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. That which works
concupiscence works death, for sin bringeth forth death. Nothing so
good but a corrupt and vicious nature will pervert it, and make it
an occasion of sin; no flower so sweet by sin will such poison out
of it. Now in this sin appears sin. The worst thing that sin does,
and most like itself, is the perverting of the law, and taking
occasion from it to be so much the more malignant. Thus the
commandment, which was ordained to life, was intended as a guide in
the way to comfort and happiness, proved unto death, through the
corruption of nature, <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.10" parsed="|Rom|7|10|0|0" passage="Ro 7:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>. Many a precious soul splits upon the rock of
salvation; and the same word which to some is an occasion of life
unto life is to others an occasion of death unto death. The same
sun that makes the garden of flowers more fragrant makes the
dunghill more noisome; the same heat that softens wax hardens clay;
and the same child was set for the fall and rising again of many in
Israel. The way to prevent this mischief is to bow our souls to the
commanding authority of the word and law of God, not striving
against, but submitting to it.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Rom.viii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.14-Rom.7.25" parsed="|Rom|7|14|7|25" passage="Ro 7:14-25" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Rom.7.14-Rom.7.25">
<h4 id="Rom.viii-p12.6">Conflict between Grace and
Corruption. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Rom.viii-p12.7">a.
d.</span> 58.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Rom.viii-p13">14b—But I am carnal, sold under sin.  
15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I
not; but what I hate, that do I.   16 If then I do that which
I would not, I consent unto the law that <i>it is</i> good.  
17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in
me.   18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,)
dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but
<i>how</i> to perform that which is good I find not.   19 For
the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not,
that I do.   20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I
that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.   21 I find then a
law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.   22
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:   23 But
I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in
my members.   24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver
me from the body of this death?   25 I thank God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of
God; but with the flesh the law of sin.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.viii-p14">Here is a description of the conflict
between grace and corruption in the heart, between the law of God
and the law of sin. And it is applicable two ways:—1. To the
struggles that are in a convinced soul, but yet unregenerate, in
the person of whom it is supposed, by some, that Paul speaks. 2. To
the struggles that are in a renewed sanctified soul, but yet in a
state of imperfection; as other apprehend. And a great controversy
there is of which of these we are to understand the apostle here.
So far does the evil prevail here, when he speaks of one sold under
sin, doing it, not performing that which is good, that it seems
difficult to apply it to the regenerate, who are described to walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit; and yet so far does the
good prevail in hating sin, consenting to the law, delighting in
it, serving the law of God with the mind, that it is more difficult
to apply it to the unregenerate that are dead in trespasses and
sins.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.viii-p15">I. Apply it to the struggles that are felt
in a convinced soul, that is yet in a state of sin, knows his
Lord's will, but does it not, approves the things that are more
excellent, being instructed out of the law, and yet lives in the
constant breach of it, <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.2.17-Rom.2.23" parsed="|Rom|2|17|2|23" passage="Ro 2:17-23"><i>ch.</i>
ii. 17-23</scripRef>. Though he has that within him that witnesses
against the sin he commits, and it is not without a great deal of
reluctancy that he does commit it, the superior faculties striving
against it, natural conscience warning against it before it is
committed and smiting for it afterwards, yet the man continues a
slave to his reigning lusts. It is not thus with every unregenerate
man, but with those only that are convinced by the law, but not
changed by the gospel. The apostle had said (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.6.14" parsed="|Rom|6|14|0|0" passage="Ro 6:14"><i>ch.</i> vi. 14</scripRef>), <i>Sin shall not have
dominion, because you are not under the law, but under grace,</i>
for the proof of which he here shows that a man under the law, and
not under grace, may be, and is, under the dominion of sin. The law
may discover sin, and convince of sin, but it cannot conquer and
subdue sin, witness the predominancy of sin in many that are under
very strong legal convictions. It discovers the defilement, but
will not wash it off. It makes a man weary and heavy laden
(<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.11.28" parsed="|Matt|11|28|0|0" passage="Mt 11:28">Matt. xi. 28</scripRef>), burdens him
with his sin; and yet, if rested in, it yields no help towards the
shaking off of that burden; this is to be had only in Christ. The
law may make a man cry out, <i>O wretched man that I am! who shall
deliver me?</i> and yet leave him thus fettered and captivated, as
being too weak to deliver him (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.8.3" parsed="|Rom|8|3|0|0" passage="Ro 8:3"><i>ch.</i> viii. 3</scripRef>), give him a spirit of
bondage to fear, <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Rom.8.15" parsed="|Rom|8|15|0|0" passage="Ro 8:15"><i>ch.</i> viii.
15</scripRef>. Now a soul advanced thus far by the law is in a fair
way towards a state of liberty by Christ, though many rest here and
go no further. Felix trembled, but never came to Christ. It is
possible for a man to go to hell with his eyes open (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:Num.24.3-Num.24.4" parsed="|Num|24|3|24|4" passage="Nu 24:3,4">Num. xxiv. 3, 4</scripRef>), illuminated with
common convictions, and to carry about with him a self-accusing
conscience, even in the service of the devil. He may <i>consent to
the law that it is good,</i> delight to know God's ways (as they,
<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p15.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.2" parsed="|Isa|58|2|0|0" passage="Isa 58:2">Isa. lviii. 2</scripRef>), may have
that within him that witnesses against sin and for holiness; and
yet all this overpowered by the reigning love of sin. Drunkards and
unclean persons have some faint desires to leave off their sins,
and yet persist in them notwithstanding, such is the impotency and
such the insufficiency of their convictions. Of such as these there
are many that will needs have all this understood, and contend
earnestly for it: though it is very hard to imagine why, if the
apostle intended this, he should speak all along in his own person;
and not only so, but in the present tense. Of his own state under
conviction he had spoken at large, as of a thing past (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p15.8" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.7" parsed="|Rom|7|7|0|0" passage="Ro 7:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>, &amp;c.): <i>I died; the
commandment I found to be unto death;</i> and if here he speaks of
the same state as his present state, and the condition he was now
in, surely he did not intend to be so understood: and
therefore,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.viii-p16">II. It seems rather to be understood of the
struggles that are maintained between grace and corruption in
sanctified souls. That there are remainders of indwelling
corruption, even where there is a living principle of grace, is
past dispute; that this corruption is daily breaking forth in sins
of infirmity (such as are consistent with a state of grace) is no
less certain. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:1John.1.8 Bible:1John.1.10" parsed="|1John|1|8|0|0;|1John|1|10|0|0" passage="1Jo 1:8,10">1 John i. 8, 10</scripRef>. That
true grace strives against these sins and corruptions, does not
allow of them, hates them, mourns over them, groans under them as a
burden, is likewise certain (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Gal.5.17" parsed="|Gal|5|17|0|0" passage="Ga 5:17">Gal. v.
17</scripRef>): <i>The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the
spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the
other, so that you cannot do the things that you would.</i> These
are the truths which, I think, are contained in this discourse of
the apostle. And his design is further to open the nature of
sanctification, that it does not attain to a sinless perfection in
this life; and therefore to quicken us to, and encourage us in, our
conflicts with remaining corruptions. Our case is not singular,
that which we do sincerely strive against, shall not be laid to our
charge, and through grace the victory is sure at last. The struggle
here is like that between Jacob and Esau in the womb, between the
Canaanites and Israelites in the land, between the house of Saul
and the house of David; but great is the truth and will prevail.
Understanding it thus, we may observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.viii-p17">1. What he complains of—the remainder of
indwelling corruptions, which he here speaks of, to show that the
law is insufficient to justify even a regenerate man, that the best
man in the world hath enough in him to condemn him, if God should
deal with him according to the law, which is not the fault of the
law, but of our own corrupt nature, which cannot fulfil the law.
The repetition of the same things over and over again in this
discourse shows how much Paul's heart was affected with what he
wrote, and how deep his sentiments were. Observe the particulars of
this complaint. (1.) <i>I am carnal, sold under sin,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.14" parsed="|Rom|7|14|0|0" passage="Ro 7:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. He speaks of the
Corinthians as carnal, <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.3.1" parsed="|1Cor|3|1|0|0" passage="1Co 3:1">1 Cor. iii.
1</scripRef>. Even where there is spiritual life there are
remainders of carnal affections, and so far a man may be <i>sold
under sin;</i> he does not sell himself to work wickedness, as Ahab
did (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.21.25" parsed="|1Kgs|21|25|0|0" passage="1Ki 21:25">1 Kings xxi. 25</scripRef>), but
he was sold by Adam when he sinned and fell—sold, as a poor slave
that does his master's will against his own will—sold under sin,
because conceived in iniquity and born in sin. (2.) <i>What I
would, that I do not; but what I hate, that do I,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.15" parsed="|Rom|7|15|0|0" passage="Ro 7:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. And to the same purport,
<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.19 Bible:Rom.7.21" parsed="|Rom|7|19|0|0;|Rom|7|21|0|0" passage="Ro 7:19,21"><i>v.</i> 19, 21</scripRef>, <i>When
I would do good, evil is present with me.</i> Such was the strength
of corruptions, that he could not attain that perfection in
holiness which he desired and breathed after. Thus, while he was
pressing forward towards perfection, yet he acknowledges that he
had not already attained, neither was already perfect, <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p17.6" osisRef="Bible:Phil.3.12" parsed="|Phil|3|12|0|0" passage="Php 3:12">Phil. iii. 12</scripRef>. Fain he would be free
from all sin, and perfectly do the will of God, such was his
settled judgment; but his corrupt nature drew him another way: it
was like a clog, that checked and kept him down when he would have
soared upward, like the bias in a bowl, which, when it is thrown
straight, yet draws it aside. (3.) <i>In me, that is in my flesh,
dwelleth no good,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p17.7" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.18" parsed="|Rom|7|18|0|0" passage="Ro 7:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>. Here he explains himself concerning the corrupt
nature, which he calls flesh; and as far as that goes there is no
good to be expected, any more than one would expect good corn
growing upon a rock, or on the sand which is by the sea-side. As
the new nature, as far as that goes, cannot commit sin (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p17.8" osisRef="Bible:1John.3.9" parsed="|1John|3|9|0|0" passage="1Jo 3:9">1 John iii. 9</scripRef>), so the flesh, the old
nature, as far as that goes, cannot perform a good duty. How should
it? For the flesh serveth the law of sin (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p17.9" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.25" parsed="|Rom|7|25|0|0" passage="Ro 7:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>), it is under the conduct and
government of that law; and, while it is so, it is not likely to do
any good. The corrupt nature is elsewhere called flesh (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p17.10" osisRef="Bible:Gen.6.3 Bible:John.3.6" parsed="|Gen|6|3|0|0;|John|3|6|0|0" passage="Ge 6:3,Joh 3:6">Gen. vi. 3, John iii. 6</scripRef>); and,
though there may be good things dwelling in those that have this
flesh, yet, as far as the flesh goes, there is no good, the flesh
is not a subject capable of any good. (4.) <i>I see another law in
my members warring against the law of my mind,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p17.11" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.23" parsed="|Rom|7|23|0|0" passage="Ro 7:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. The corrupt and sinful
inclination is here compared to a law, because it controlled and
checked him in his good motions. It is said to be seated in his
members, because, Christ having set up his throne in his heart, it
was only the rebellious members of the body that were the
instruments of sin—in the sensitive appetite; or we may take it
more generally for all that corrupt nature which is the seat not
only of sensual but of more refined lusts. This wars against the
law of the mind, the new nature; it draws the contrary way, drives
on a contrary interest, which corrupt disposition and inclination
are as great a burden and grief to the soul as the worst drudgery
and captivity could be. <i>It brings me into captivity.</i> To the
same purport (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p17.12" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.25" parsed="|Rom|7|25|0|0" passage="Ro 7:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>),
<i>With the flesh I serve the law of sin;</i> that is, the corrupt
nature, the unregenerate part, is continually working towards sin.
(5.) His general complaint we have in <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p17.13" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.24" parsed="|Rom|7|24|0|0" passage="Ro 7:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>, <i>O wretched man that I am! who
shall deliver me from the body of this death?</i> The thing he
complains of is a body of death; either the body of flesh, which is
a mortal dying body (while we carry this body about with us, we
shall be troubled with corruption; when we are dead, we shall be
freed from sin, and not before), or the body of sin, the old man,
the corrupt nature, which tends to death, that is, to the ruin of
the soul. Or, comparing it to a dead body, the touch of which was
by the ceremonial law defiling, if actual transgressions be dead
works (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p17.14" osisRef="Bible:Heb.9.14" parsed="|Heb|9|14|0|0" passage="Heb 9:14">Heb. ix. 14</scripRef>),
original corruption is a dead body. It was as troublesome to Paul
as if he had had a dead body tied to him, which he must have
carried about with him. This made him cry out, <i>O wretched man
that I am!</i> A man that had learned in every state to be content
yet complains thus of his corrupt nature. Had I been required to
speak of Paul, I should have said, "O blessed man that thou art, an
ambassador of Christ, a favourite of heaven, a spiritual father of
thousands!" But in his own account he was a wretched man, because
of the corruption of nature, because he was not so good as he fain
would be, had not yet attained, neither was already perfect. Thus
miserably does he complain. <i>Who shall deliver me?</i> He speaks
like one that was sick of it, that would give any thing to be rid
of it, looks to the right hand and to the left for some friend that
would part between him and his corruptions. The remainders of
indwelling sin are a very grievous burden to a gracious soul.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.viii-p18">2. What he comforts himself with. The case
was sad, but there were some allays. Three things comforted
him:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.viii-p19">(1.) That his conscience witnessed for him
that he had a good principle ruling and prevailing in him,
notwithstanding. It is well when all does not go one way in the
soul. The rule of this good principle which he had was the law of
God, to which he here speaks of having a threefold regard, which is
certainly to be found in all that are sanctified, and no others.
[1.] <i>I consent unto the law that it is good,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.16" parsed="|Rom|7|16|0|0" passage="Ro 7:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>,
<b><i>symphemi</i></b>—<i>I give my vote</i> to the law; here is
the approbation of the judgment. Wherever there is grace there is
not only a dread of the severity of the law, but a consent to the
goodness of the law. "It is a good in itself, it is good for me."
This is a sign that the law is written in the heart, that the soul
is delivered into the mould of it. To consent to the law is so far
to approve of it as not to wish it otherwise constituted than it
is. The sanctified judgment not only concurs to the equity of the
law, but to the excellency of it, as convinced that a conformity to
the law is the highest perfection of human nature, and the greatest
honour and happiness we are capable of. [2.] <i>I delight in the
law of God after the inward man,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.22" parsed="|Rom|7|22|0|0" passage="Ro 7:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>. His conscience bore witness to a
complacency in the law. He delighted not only in the promises of
the word, but in the precepts and prohibitions of the word;
<b><i>synedomai</i></b> expresses a becoming <i>delight.</i> He did
herein concur in affection with all the saints. All that are
savingly regenerate or born again do truly delight in the law of
God, delight to know it, to do it—cheerfully submit to the
authority of it, and take a complacency in that submission, never
better pleased than when heart and life are in the strictest
conformity to the law and will of God. <i>After the inward man;</i>
that is, <i>First,</i> The mind or rational faculties, in
opposition to the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh. The
soul is the inward man, and that is the seat of gracious delights,
which are therefore sincere and serious, but secret; it is the
renewing of the inward man, <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.4.16" parsed="|2Cor|4|16|0|0" passage="2Co 4:16">2 Cor. iv.
16</scripRef>. <i>Secondly,</i> The new nature. The new man is
called the <i>inner man</i> (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Eph.3.16" parsed="|Eph|3|16|0|0" passage="Eph 3:16">Eph. iii.
16</scripRef>), the <i>hidden man of the heart,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.3.4" parsed="|1Pet|3|4|0|0" passage="1Pe 3:4">1 Pet. iii. 4</scripRef>. Paul, as far as he was
sanctified, had a delight in the law of God. [3.] <i>With the mind
I myself serve the law of God,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.viii-p19.6" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.25" parsed="|Rom|7|25|0|0" passage="Ro 7:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>. It is not enough to consent to
the law, and to delight in the law, but we must serve the law; our
souls must be entirely delivered up into the obedience of it. Thus
it was with Paul's mind; thus it is with every sanctified renewed
mind; this is the ordinary course and way; thitherward goes the
bent of the soul. <i>I myself</i>—<b><i>autos ego,</i></b> plainly
intimating that he speaks in his own person, and not in the person
of another.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.viii-p20">(2.) That the fault lay in that corruption
of his nature which he did really bewail and strive against: <i>It
is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.</i> This he
mentions twice (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.17 Bible:Rom.7.20" parsed="|Rom|7|17|0|0;|Rom|7|20|0|0" passage="Ro 7:17,20"><i>v.</i> 17,
20</scripRef>), not as an excuse for the guilt of his sin (it is
enough to condemn us, if we were under the law, that the sin which
does the evil dwelleth in us), but as a salvo for his evidences,
that he might not sink in despair, but take comfort from the
covenant of grace, which accepts the willingness of the spirit, and
has provided pardon for the weakness of the flesh. He likewise
herein enters a protestation against all that which this indwelling
sin produced. Having professed his consent to the law of God, he
here professes his dissent from the law of sin. "It is not I; I
disown the fact; it is against my mind that it is done." As when in
the senate the major part are bad, and carry every thing the wrong
way, it is indeed the act of the senate, but the honest party
strive against it, bewail what is done, and enter their
protestation against it; so that it is no more they that do
it.—<i>Dwelleth in me,</i> as the Canaanites among the Israelites,
though they were put under tribute: dwelleth in me, and is likely
to dwell there, while I live.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.viii-p21">(3.) His great comfort lay in Jesus Christ
(<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.25" parsed="|Rom|7|25|0|0" passage="Ro 7:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>): <i>I thank
God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.</i> In the midst of his
complaints he breaks out into praises. It is a special remedy
against fears and sorrows to be much in praise: many a poor
drooping soul hath found it so. And, in all our praises, this
should be the burden of the son, "Blessed be God for Jesus Christ."
<i>Who shall deliver me?</i> says he (<scripRef id="Rom.viii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.24" parsed="|Rom|7|24|0|0" passage="Ro 7:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>), as one at a loss for help. At
length he finds an all-sufficient friend, even Jesus Christ. When
we are under the sense of the remaining power of sin and
corruption, we shall see reason to bless God through Christ (for,
as he is the mediator of all our prayers, so he is of all our
praises)—to bless God for Christ; it is he that stands between us
and the wrath due to us for this sin. If it were not for Christ,
this iniquity that dwells in us would certainly be our ruin. He is
our advocate with the Father, and through him God pities, and
spares, and pardons, and lays not our iniquities to our charge. It
is Christ that has purchased deliverance for us in due time.
Through Christ death will put an end to all these complaints, and
waft us to an eternity which we shall spend without sin or sigh.
<i>Blessed be God that giveth us this victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ!</i></p>
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