mh_parser/vol_split/45 - Romans/Chapter 5.xml

<div2 id="Rom.vi" n="vi" next="Rom.vii" prev="Rom.v" progress="33.55%" title="Chapter V">
<h2 id="Rom.vi-p0.1">R O M A N S.</h2>
<h3 id="Rom.vi-p0.2">CHAP. V.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Rom.vi-p1">The apostle, having made good his point, and fully
proved justification by faith, in this chapter proceeds in the
explication, illustration, and application of that truth. I. He
shows the fruits of justification, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.1-Rom.5.5" parsed="|Rom|5|1|5|5" passage="Ro 5:1-5">ver. 1-5</scripRef>. II. He shows the fountain and
foundation of justification in the death of Jesus Christ, which he
discourses of at large in the <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.6-Rom.5.23" parsed="|Rom|5|6|5|23" passage="Ro 5:6-23">rest of
the chapter</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Rom.vi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5" parsed="|Rom|5|0|0|0" passage="Ro 5" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Rom.vi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.1-Rom.5.5" parsed="|Rom|5|1|5|5" passage="Ro 5:1-5" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Rom.5.1-Rom.5.5">
<h4 id="Rom.vi-p1.5">Justification and Its
Effects. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Rom.vi-p1.6">a.
d.</span> 58.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Rom.vi-p2">1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:   2 By whom also
we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God.   3 And not only
<i>so,</i> but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that
tribulation worketh patience;   4 And patience, experience;
and experience, hope:   5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because
the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
which is given unto us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p3">The precious benefits and privileges which
flow from justification are such as should quicken us all to give
diligence to make it sure to ourselves that we are justified, and
then to take the comfort it renders to us, and to do the duty it
calls for from us. The fruits of this tree of life are exceedingly
precious.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p4">I. <i>We have peace with God,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.1" parsed="|Rom|5|1|0|0" passage="Ro 5:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. It is sin that breeds the
quarrel between us and God, creates not only a strangeness, but an
enmity; the holy righteous God cannot in honour be at peace with a
sinner while he continues under the guilt of sin. Justification
takes away the guilt, and so makes way for peace. And such are the
benignity and good-will of God to man that, immediately upon the
removing of that obstacle, the peace is made. By faith we lay hold
of God's arm and of his strength, and so are at peace, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.27.4-Isa.27.5" parsed="|Isa|27|4|27|5" passage="Isa 27:4,5">Isa. xxvii. 4, 5</scripRef>. There is more in
this peace than barely a cessation of enmity, there is friendship
and loving-kindness, for God is either the worst enemy or the best
friend. Abraham, being justified by faith, was called <i>the friend
of God</i> (<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Jas.2.23" parsed="|Jas|2|23|0|0" passage="Jam 2:23">Jam. ii. 23</scripRef>),
which was his honour, but not his peculiar honour: Christ has
called his disciples <i>friends,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:John.15.13-John.15.15" parsed="|John|15|13|15|15" passage="Joh 15:13-15">John xv. 13-15</scripRef>. And surely a man needs no
more to make him happy than to have God his friend! But this is
<i>through our Lord Jesus Christ</i>—through him as the great
peace-maker, <i>the Mediator between God and man,</i> that blessed
Day's-man that has laid his hand upon us both. Adam, in innocency,
had peace with God immediately; there needed no such mediator. But
to guilty sinful man it is a very dreadful thing to think of God
out of Christ; <i>for he is our peace,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.14" parsed="|Eph|2|14|0|0" passage="Eph 2:14">Eph. ii. 14</scripRef>, not only the maker, but the
matter and maintainer, of our peace, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Col.1.20" parsed="|Col|1|20|0|0" passage="Col 1:20">Col. i. 20</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p5">II. <i>We have access by faith into this
grace wherein we stand,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.2" parsed="|Rom|5|2|0|0" passage="Ro 5:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>. This is a further privilege, not only peace, but
grace, that is, this favour. Observe, 1. The saints' happy state.
It is a state of grace, God's loving-kindness to us and our
conformity to God; he that hath God's love and God's likeness is in
a state of grace. Now into this grace we have access
<b><i>prosagogen</i></b>—<i>an introduction,</i> which implies
that we were not born in this state; we are <i>by nature children
of wrath,</i> and <i>the carnal mind is enmity against God;</i> but
we are brought into it. We could not have got into it of ourselves,
nor have conquered the difficulties in the way, but we have a
manuduction, a leading by the hand,—are led into it as blind, or
lame, or weak people are led,—are introduced as pardoned
offenders,—are introduced by some favourite at court to kiss the
king's hand, as strangers, that are to have audience, are
conducted. <b><i>Prosagogen eschekamen</i></b>—<i>We have had
access.</i> He speaks of those that have been already brought out
of a state of nature into a state of grace. Paul, in his
conversion, had this access; then he was made nigh. Barnabas
introduced him <i>to the apostles</i> (<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.9.27" parsed="|Acts|9|27|0|0" passage="Ac 9:27">Acts ix. 27</scripRef>), and there were others <i>that
led him by the hand to Damascus</i> (<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.8" parsed="|Rom|5|8|0|0" passage="Ro 5:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), but it was Christ that introduced
and led him by the hand into this grace. <i>By whom we have access
by faith.</i> By Christ as the author and principal agent, by faith
as the means of this access. Not by Christ in consideration of any
merit or desert of ours, but in consideration of our believing
dependence upon him and resignation of ourselves to him. 2. Their
happy standing in this state: <i>wherein we stand.</i> Not only
wherein we are, but wherein we stand, a posture that denotes our
discharge from guilt; <i>we stand in the judgment</i> (<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.5" parsed="|Ps|1|5|0|0" passage="Ps 1:5">Ps. i. 5</scripRef>), not cast, as convicted
criminals, but our dignity and honour secured, not thrown to the
ground, as abjects. The phrase denotes also our progress; while we
stand, we are going. We must not lie down, as if we had already
attained, but stand as those that are pressing forward, stand as
servants attending on Christ our master. The phrase denotes,
further, our perseverance: we stand firmly and safely, upheld by
the power of God; stand as soldiers stand, that keep their ground,
not borne down by the power of the enemy. It denotes not only our
admission to, but our confirmation in, the favour of God. It is not
in the court of heaven as in earthly courts, where high places are
slippery places: but we stand in a humble confidence of this very
thing <i>that he who has begun the good work will perform it,</i>
<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Phil.1.6" parsed="|Phil|1|6|0|0" passage="Php 1:6">Phil. i. 6</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p6">III. <i>We rejoice in hope of the glory of
God.</i> Besides the happiness in hand, there is a happiness in
hope, <i>the glory of God,</i> the glory which God will put upon
the saints in heaven, glory which will consist in the vision and
fruition of God. 1. Those, and those only, that have access by
faith into the grace of God now may hope for the glory of God
hereafter. There is no good hope of glory but what is founded in
grace; grace is glory begun, the earnest and assurance of glory.
<i>He will give grace and glory,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.84.11" parsed="|Ps|84|11|0|0" passage="Ps 84:11">Ps. lxxxiv. 11</scripRef>. 2. Those who hope for the
glory of God hereafter have enough to rejoice in now. It is the
duty of those that hope for heaven to rejoice in that hope.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p7">IV. <i>We glory in tribulations also;</i>
not only notwithstanding our tribulations (these do not hinder our
rejoicing in hope of the glory of God), but even in our
tribulations, as they are working for us the weight of glory,
<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.4.17" parsed="|2Cor|4|17|0|0" passage="2Co 4:17">2 Cor. iv. 17</scripRef>. Observe,
What a growing increasing happiness the happiness of the saints is:
<i>Not only so.</i> One would think such peace, such grace, such
glory, and such a joy in hope of it, were more than such poor
undeserving creatures as we are could pretend to; and yet it is
<i>not only so:</i> there are more instances of our
happiness—<i>we glory in tribulations also,</i> especially
tribulations for righteousness' sake, which seemed the greatest
objection against the saints' happiness, whereas really their
happiness did not only consist with, but take rise from, those
tribulations. <i>They rejoiced that they were counted worthy to
suffer,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.5.41" parsed="|Acts|5|41|0|0" passage="Ac 5:41">Acts v. 41</scripRef>. This
being the hardest point, he sets himself to show the grounds and
reasons of it. How come we to glory in tribulations? Why, because
tribulations, by a chain of causes, greatly befriend hope, which he
shows in the method of its influence. 1. <i>Tribulation worketh
patience,</i> not in and of itself, but the powerful grace of God
working in and with the tribulation. It proves, and by proving
improves, patience, as parts and gifts increase by exercise. It is
not the efficient cause, but yields the occasion, as steel is
hardened by the fire. See how God brings meat out of the eater, and
sweetness out of the strong. That which worketh patience is matter
of joy; for patience does us more good than tribulations can do us
hurt. Tribulation in itself worketh impatience; but, as it is
sanctified to the saints, it worketh patience. 2. <i>Patience
experience,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.4" parsed="|Rom|5|4|0|0" passage="Ro 5:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>.
It works an experience of God, and the songs he gives in the night;
the patient sufferers have the greatest experience of the divine
consolations, which abound as afflictions abound. It works an
experience of ourselves. It is by tribulation that we make an
experiment of our own sincerity, and therefore such tribulations
are called trials. It works, <b><i>dokimen</i></b>—<i>an
approbation,</i> as he is approved that has passed the test. Thus
Job's tribulation wrought patience, and that patience produced an
approbation, that still he <i>holds fast his integrity,</i>
<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.2.3" parsed="|Job|2|3|0|0" passage="Job 2:3">Job ii. 3</scripRef>. 3. <i>Experience
hope.</i> He who, being thus tried, comes forth as gold, will
thereby be encouraged to hope. This experiment, or approbation, is
not so much the ground, as the evidence, of our hope, and a special
friend to it. Experience of God is a prop to our hope; he that hath
delivered doth and will. Experience of ourselves helps to evidence
our sincerity. 4. This <i>hope maketh not ashamed;</i> that is, it
is a hope that will not deceive us. Nothing confounds more than
disappointment. Everlasting shame and confusion will be caused by
the perishing of the expectation of the wicked, <i>but the hope of
the righteous shall be gladness,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.10.28" parsed="|Prov|10|28|0|0" passage="Pr 10:28">Prov. x. 28</scripRef>. See <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.22.5 Bible:Ps.71.1" parsed="|Ps|22|5|0|0;|Ps|71|1|0|0" passage="Ps 22:5,71:1">Ps. xxii. 5; lxxi. 1</scripRef>. Or, It maketh not
ashamed of our sufferings. Though <i>we are counted as the
offscouring of all things, and trodden under foot as the mire in
the streets,</i> yet, having hopes of glory, we are not ashamed of
these sufferings. It is in a good cause, for a good Master, and in
good hope; and therefore we are not ashamed. We will never think
ourselves disparaged by sufferings that are likely to end so well.
<i>Because the love of God is shed abroad.</i> This hope will not
disappoint us, because it is sealed with the Holy Spirit as a
Spirit of love. It is the gracious work of the blessed Spirit to
shed abroad the love of God in the hearts of all the saints. <i>The
love of God,</i> that is, the sense of God's love to us, drawing
out love in us to him again. Or, The great effects of his love:
(1.) Special grace; and, (2.) The pleasant gust or sense of it.
<i>It is shed abroad,</i> as sweet ointment, perfuming the soul, as
rain watering it and making it fruitful. The ground of all our
comfort and holiness, and perseverance in both, is laid in the
<i>shedding abroad of the love of God in our hearts;</i> it is this
which constrains us, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.5.14" parsed="|2Cor|5|14|0|0" passage="2Co 5:14">2 Cor. v.
14</scripRef>. Thus are we drawn and held by the bonds of love.
Sense of God's love to us will make us not ashamed, either of our
hope in him or our sufferings for him.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Rom.vi-p7.8" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.6-Rom.5.21" parsed="|Rom|5|6|5|21" passage="Ro 5:6-21" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Rom.5.6-Rom.5.21">
<h4 id="Rom.vi-p7.9">The First and the Second Adam; The Influence
of Grace. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Rom.vi-p7.10">a.
d.</span> 58.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Rom.vi-p8">6 For when we were yet without strength, in due
time Christ died for the ungodly.   7 For scarcely for a
righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some
would even dare to die.   8 But God commendeth his love toward
us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be
saved from wrath through him.   10 For if, when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much
more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.   11
And not only <i>so,</i> but we also joy in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.   12
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by
sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
  13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not
imputed when there is no law.   14 Nevertheless death reigned
from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the
similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that
was to come.   15 But not as the offence, so also <i>is</i>
the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much
more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, <i>which is</i> by
one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.   16 And not
as <i>it was</i> by one that sinned, <i>so is</i> the gift: for the
judgment <i>was</i> by one to condemnation, but the free gift
<i>is</i> of many offences unto justification.   17 For if by
one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which
receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall
reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)   18 Therefore as by the
offence of one <i>judgment came</i> upon all men to condemnation;
even so by the righteousness of one <i>the free gift came</i> upon
all men unto justification of life.   19 For as by one man's
disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one
shall many be made righteous.   20 Moreover the law entered,
that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound:   21 That as sin hath reigned unto death,
even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p9">The apostle here describes the fountain and
foundation of justification, laid in the death of the Lord Jesus.
The streams are very sweet, but, if you run them up to the
spring-head, you will find it to be Christ's dying for us; it is in
the precious stream of Christ's blood that all these privileges
come flowing to us: and therefore he enlarges upon this instance of
the love of God which is shed abroad. Three things he takes notice
of for the explication and illustration of this doctrine:—1. The
persons he died for, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.6-Rom.5.8" parsed="|Rom|5|6|5|8" passage="Ro 5:6-8"><i>v.</i>
6-8</scripRef>. 2. The precious fruits of his death, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.9-Rom.5.11" parsed="|Rom|5|9|5|11" passage="Ro 5:9-11"><i>v.</i> 9-11</scripRef>. 3. The parallel he
runs between the communication of sin and death by the first Adam
and of righteousness and life by the second Adam, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.12-Rom.5.21" parsed="|Rom|5|12|5|21" passage="Ro 5:12-21"><i>v.</i> 12, to the end</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p10">I. The character we were under when Christ
died for us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p11">1. <i>We were without strength</i>
(<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.6" parsed="|Rom|5|6|0|0" passage="Ro 5:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), in a sad
condition; and, which is worse, altogether unable to help ourselves
out of that condition—lost, and no visible way open for our
recovery—our condition deplorable, and in a manner desperate; and,
therefore our salvation is here said to come <i>in due time.</i>
God's time to help and save is when those that are to be saved are
without strength, that his own power and grace may be the more
magnified, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.36" parsed="|Deut|32|36|0|0" passage="De 32:36">Deut. xxxii. 36</scripRef>.
It is the manner of God to help at a dead lift,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p12">2. <i>He died for the ungodly;</i> not only
helpless creatures, and therefore likely to perish, but guilty
sinful creatures, and therefore deserving to perish; not only mean
and worthless, but vile and obnoxious, unworthy of such favour with
the holy God. Being ungodly, they had need of one to die for them,
to satisfy for guilt, and to bring in a righteousness. This he
illustrates (<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.7-Rom.5.8" parsed="|Rom|5|7|5|8" passage="Ro 5:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7,
8</scripRef>) as an unparalleled instance of love; herein God's
thoughts and ways were above ours. Compare <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:John.15.13-John.15.14" parsed="|John|15|13|15|14" passage="Joh 15:13,14">John xv. 13, 14</scripRef>, <i>Greater love has no
man.</i> (1.) One would hardly <i>die for a righteous man,</i> that
is, an innocent man, one that is unjustly condemned; every body
will pity such a one, but few will put such a value upon his life
as either to hazard, or much less to deposit, their own in his
stead. (2.) It may be, one might perhaps be persuaded <i>to die for
a good man,</i> that is, a useful man, who is more than barely a
righteous man. Many that are good themselves yet do but little good
to others; but those that are useful commonly get themselves well
beloved, and meet with some that in a case of necessity would
venture to be their <b><i>antipsychoi</i></b>—<i>would engage life
for life,</i> would be their bail, body for body. Paul was, in this
sense, a very good man, one that was very useful, and he met with
some that for his life laid down their own necks, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.16.4" parsed="|Rom|16|4|0|0" passage="Ro 16:4"><i>ch.</i> xvi. 4</scripRef>. And yet observe how
he qualifies this: it is but some that would do so, and it is a
daring act if they do it, it must be some bold venturing soul; and,
after all, it is but a <i>peradventure.</i> (3.) <i>But Christ died
for sinners</i> (<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.8" parsed="|Rom|5|8|0|0" passage="Ro 5:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>), neither righteous nor good; not only such as were
useless, but such as were guilty and obnoxious; not only such as
there would be no loss of should they perish, but such whose
destruction would greatly redound to the glory of God's justice,
being malefactors and criminals that ought to die. Some think he
alludes to a common distinction the Jews had of their people into
<b><i>ndyqym</i></b>—<i>righteous,</i>
<b><i>hsdym</i></b>—<i>merciful</i> (compare <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.17.1" parsed="|Isa|17|1|0|0" passage="Isa 17:1">Isa. xvii. 1</scripRef>), and
<b><i>rssym</i></b>—<i>wicked.</i> Now herein <i>God commended his
love,</i> not only proved or evidenced his love (he might have done
that at a cheaper rate), but magnified it and made it illustrious.
This circumstance did greatly magnify and advance his love, not
only put it past dispute, but rendered it the object of the
greatest wonder and admiration: "Now my creatures shall see that I
love them, I will give them such an instance of it as shall be
without parallel." <i>Commendeth his love,</i> as merchants commend
their goods when they would put them off. This commending of his
love was in order to the shedding abroad of his love in our hearts
by the Holy Ghost. He evinces his love in the most winning,
affecting, endearing way imaginable. <i>While we were yet
sinners,</i> implying that we were not to be always sinners, there
should be a change wrought; for he died to save us, not in our
sins, but from our sins; but we were yet sinners when he died for
us. (4.) Nay, which is more, <i>we were enemies</i> (<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.10" parsed="|Rom|5|10|0|0" passage="Ro 5:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>), not only malefactors,
but traitors and rebels, in arms against the government; the worst
kind of malefactors and of all malefactors the most obnoxious. The
carnal mind is not only an enemy to God, but enmity itself,
<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p12.7" osisRef="Bible:Rom.8.7 Bible:Col.1.21" parsed="|Rom|8|7|0|0;|Col|1|21|0|0" passage="Ro 8:7,Col 1:21"><i>ch.</i> viii. 7; Col. i.
21</scripRef>. This enmity is a mutual enmity, God loathing the
sinner, and the sinner loathing God, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p12.8" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.8" parsed="|Zech|11|8|0|0" passage="Zec 11:8">Zech. xi. 8</scripRef>. And that for such as these
Christ should die is such a mystery, such a paradox, such an
unprecedented instance of love, that it may well be our business to
eternity to adore and wonder at it. This is a commendation of love
indeed. Justly might he who had thus loved us make it one of the
laws of his kingdom that we should love our enemies.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p13">II. The precious fruits of his death.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p14">1. Justification and reconciliation are the
first and primary fruit of the death of Christ: <i>We are justified
by his blood</i> (<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.9" parsed="|Rom|5|9|0|0" passage="Ro 5:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>), <i>reconciled by his death,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.10" parsed="|Rom|5|10|0|0" passage="Ro 5:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. Sin is pardoned, the sinner
accepted as righteous, the quarrel taken up, the enmity slain, an
end made of iniquity, and an everlasting righteousness brought in.
This is done, that is, Christ has done all that was requisite on
his part to be done in order hereunto, and, immediately upon our
believing, we are actually put into a state of justification and
reconciliation. <i>Justified by his blood.</i> Our justification is
ascribed to the blood of Christ because <i>without blood there is
no remission</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Heb.9.22" parsed="|Heb|9|22|0|0" passage="Heb 9:22">Heb. ix.
22</scripRef>. <i>The blood is the life,</i> and that must go to
make atonement. In all the propitiatory sacrifices, the sprinkling
of the blood was of the essence of the sacrifice. It was <i>the
blood that made an atonement for the soul,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Lev.17.11" parsed="|Lev|17|11|0|0" passage="Le 17:11">Lev. xvii. 11</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p15">2. Hence results salvation from wrath:
<i>Saved from wrath</i> (<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.9" parsed="|Rom|5|9|0|0" passage="Ro 5:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>), <i>saved by his life,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.10" parsed="|Rom|5|10|0|0" passage="Ro 5:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. When that which hinders our
salvation is taken away, the salvation must needs follow. Nay, the
argument holds very strongly; if God justified and reconciled us
when we were enemies, and put himself to so much charge to do it,
much more will he save us when we are justified and reconciled. He
that has done the greater, which is of enemies to make us friends,
will certainly the less, which is when we are friends to use us
friendly and to be kind to us. And therefore the apostle, once and
again, speaks of it with a <i>much more.</i> He that hath digged so
deep to lay the foundation will no doubt build upon that
foundation.—<i>We shall be saved from wrath,</i> from hell and
damnation. It is the wrath of God that is the fire of hell; <i>the
wrath to come,</i> so it is called, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:1Thess.1.10" parsed="|1Thess|1|10|0|0" passage="1Th 1:10">1
Thess. i. 10</scripRef>. The final justification and absolution of
believers at the great day, together with the fitting and preparing
of them for it, are the salvation from wrath here spoken of; it is
the perfecting of the work of grace.—<i>Reconciled by his death,
saved by his life.</i> His life here spoken of is not to be
understood of his life in the flesh, but his life in heaven, that
life which ensued after his death. Compare <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.14.9" parsed="|Rom|14|9|0|0" passage="Ro 14:9"><i>ch.</i> xiv. 9</scripRef>. <i>He was dead, and is
alive,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Rev.1.18" parsed="|Rev|1|18|0|0" passage="Re 1:18">Rev. i. 18</scripRef>. We
are reconciled by Christ humbled, we are saved by Christ exalted.
The dying Jesus laid the foundation, in satisfying for sin, and
slaying the enmity, and so making us salvable; thus is the
partition-wall broken down, atonement made, and the attainder
reversed; but it is the living Jesus that perfects the work: <i>he
lives to make intercession,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:Heb.7.25" parsed="|Heb|7|25|0|0" passage="Heb 7:25">Heb.
vii. 25</scripRef>. It is Christ, in his exaltation, that by his
word and Spirit effectually calls, and changes, and reconciles us
to God, is our Advocate with the Father, and so completes and
consummates our salvation. Compare <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p15.7" osisRef="Bible:Rom.4.25 Bible:Rom.8.34" parsed="|Rom|4|25|0|0;|Rom|8|34|0|0" passage="Ro 4:25,8:34"><i>ch.</i> iv. 25 and viii. 34</scripRef>. Christ
dying was the testator, who bequeathed us the legacy; but Christ
living is the executor, who pays it. Now the arguing is very
strong. He that puts himself to the charge of purchasing our
salvation will not decline the trouble of applying it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p16">3. All this produces, as a further
privilege, our <i>joy in God,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.11" parsed="|Rom|5|11|0|0" passage="Ro 5:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. God is now so far from being a
terror to us that he is our <i>joy, and our hope in the day of
evil,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.17.17" parsed="|Jer|17|17|0|0" passage="Jer 17:17">Jer. xvii. 17</scripRef>.
<i>We are reconciled and saved from wrath.</i> Iniquity, blessed be
God, <i>shall not be our ruin. And not only so,</i> there is more
in it yet, a constant stream of favours; we not only go to heaven,
but go to heaven triumphantly; not only get into the harbour, but
come in with full sail: <i>We joy in God,</i> not only saved from
his wrath, but solacing ourselves in his love, and this through
Jesus Christ, who is the Alpha and the Omega, the foundation-stone
and the top-stone of all our comforts and hopes—not only <i>our
salvation, but our strength and our song;</i> and all this (which
he repeats as a string he loved to be harping upon) by virtue of
the atonement, for by him we Christians, we believers, have now,
now in gospel times, or now in this life, <i>received the
atonement,</i> which was typified by the sacrifices under the law,
and is an earnest of our happiness in heaven. True believers do by
Jesus Christ receive the atonement. Receiving the atonement is our
actual reconciliation to God in justification, grounded upon
Christ's satisfaction. To <i>receive the atonement</i> is, (1.) To
give our consent to the atonement, approving of, and agreeing to,
those methods which Infinite Wisdom has taken of saving a guilty
world by the blood of a crucified Jesus, being willing and glad to
be saved in a gospel way and upon gospel terms. (2.) To take the
comfort of the atonement, which is the fountain and the foundation
of our joy in God. Now <i>we joy in God,</i> now we do indeed
<i>receive the atonement,</i>
<b><i>kauchomenoi</i></b>—<i>glorying</i> in it. God hath received
the atonement (<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.3.17 Bible:Matt.17.5 Bible:Matt.28.2" parsed="|Matt|3|17|0|0;|Matt|17|5|0|0;|Matt|28|2|0|0" passage="Mt 3:17,17:5.28:2">Matt. iii. 17;
xvii. 5; xxviii. 2</scripRef>): if we but receive it, the work is
done.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p17">III. The parallel that the apostle runs
between the communication of sin and death by the first Adam and of
righteousness and life by the second Adam ( <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.12-Rom.5.21" parsed="|Rom|5|12|5|21" passage="Ro 5:12-21"><i>v.</i> 12, to the end</scripRef>), which not only
illustrates the truth he is discoursing of, but tends very much to
the commending of the love of God and the comforting of the hearts
of true believers, in showing a correspondence between our fall and
our recovery, and not only a like, but a much greater power in the
second Adam to make us happy, than there was in the first to make
us miserable. Now, for the opening of this, observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p18">1. A general truth laid down as the
foundation of his discourse—that Adam was a type of Christ
(<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.14" parsed="|Rom|5|14|0|0" passage="Ro 5:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): <i>Who is
the figure of him that was to come.</i> Christ is therefore called
the <i>last Adam,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.15.45" parsed="|1Cor|15|45|0|0" passage="1Co 15:45">1 Cor. xv.
45</scripRef>. Compare <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.22" parsed="|Rom|5|22|0|0" passage="Ro 5:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>. In this Adam was a type of Christ, that in the
covenant-transactions that were between God and him, and in the
consequent events of those transactions, Adam was a public person.
God dealt with Adam and Adam acted as such a one, as a common
father and factor, root and representative, of and for all his
posterity; so that what he did in that station, as agent for us, we
may be said to have done in him, and what was done to him may be
said to have been done to us in him. Thus Jesus Christ, the
Mediator, acted as a public person, the head of all the elect,
dealt with God for them, as their father, factor, root, and
representative—died for them, rose for them, entered within the
veil for them, did all for them. When Adam failed, we failed with
him; when Christ performed, he performed for us. Thus was Adam
<b><i>typos tou mellontos</i></b>—<i>the figure of him that was to
come,</i> to come to repair that breach which Adam had made.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p19">2. A more particular explication of the
parallel, in which observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p20">(1.) How Adam, as a public person,
communicated sin and death to all his posterity (<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.12" parsed="|Rom|5|12|0|0" passage="Ro 5:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>By one man sin entered.</i>
We see the world under a deluge of sin and death, full of
iniquities and full of calamities. Now, it is worth while to
enquire what is the spring that feeds it, and you will find it to
be the general corruption of nature; and at what gap it entered,
and you will find it to have been Adam's first sin. It was <i>by
one man,</i> and he the first man (for if any had been before him
they would have been free), that one man from whom, as from the
root, we all spring. [1.] By him <i>sin entered.</i> When God
pronounced all very good (<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.31" parsed="|Gen|1|31|0|0" passage="Ge 1:31">Gen. i.
31</scripRef>) there was no sin in the world; it was when Adam ate
forbidden fruit that sin made its entry. Sin had before entered
into the world of angels, when many of them revolted from their
allegiance and left their first estate; but it never entered into
the world of mankind till Adam sinned. Then it entered as an enemy,
to kill and destroy, as a thief, to rob and despoil; and a dismal
entry it was. Then entered the guilt of Adam's sin imputed to
posterity, and a general corruption and depravedness of nature.
<b><i>Eph ho</i></b>—<i>for that</i> (so we read it), rather <i>in
whom, all have sinned.</i> Sin entered into the world by Adam, for
in him we all sinned. As, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.15.22" parsed="|1Cor|15|22|0|0" passage="1Co 15:22">1 Cor. xv.
22</scripRef>, <i>in Adam all die;</i> so here, <i>in him all have
sinned;</i> for it is agreeable to the law of all nations that the
acts of a public person be accounted theirs whom they represent;
and what a whole body does every member of the same body may be
said to do. Now Adam acted thus as a public person, by the
sovereign ordination and appointment of God, and yet that founded
upon a natural necessity; for God, as the author of nature, had
made this the law of nature, that man should beget in his own
likeness, and so the other creatures. In Adam therefore, as in a
common receptacle, the whole nature of man was reposited, from him
to flow down in a channel to his posterity; for all mankind are
made <i>of one blood</i> (<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.17.26" parsed="|Acts|17|26|0|0" passage="Ac 17:26">Acts xvii.
26</scripRef>), so that according as this nature proves through his
standing or falling, before he puts it out of his hands,
accordingly it is propagated from him. Adam therefore sinning and
falling, the nature became guilty and corrupt, and is so derived.
Thus in him all have sinned. [2.] <i>Death by sin,</i> for death is
the wages of sin. Sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.
When sin came, of course death came with it. Death is here put for
all that misery which is the due desert of sin, temporal,
spiritual, eternal death. If Adam had not sinned, he had not died;
the threatening was, <i>In the day thou eatest thou shall surely
die,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.2.17" parsed="|Gen|2|17|0|0" passage="Ge 2:17">Gen. ii. 17</scripRef>. [3.]
<i>So death passed,</i> that is, a sentence of death was passed, as
upon a criminal, <b><i>dielthen</i></b>—<i>passed through</i> all
men, as an infectious disease passes through a town, so that none
escape it. It is the universal fate, without exception: death
passes upon all. There are common calamities incident to human life
which do abundantly prove this. <i>Death reigned,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p20.6" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.14" parsed="|Rom|5|14|0|0" passage="Ro 5:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. He speaks of death as a
mighty prince, and his monarchy the most absolute, universal, and
lasting monarchy. None are exempted from its sceptre; it is a
monarchy that will survive all other earthly rule, authority, and
power, for it is the last enemy, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p20.7" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.15.26" parsed="|1Cor|15|26|0|0" passage="1Co 15:26">1
Cor. xv. 26</scripRef>. Those sons of Belial that will be subject
to no other rule cannot avoid being subject to this. Now all this
we may thank Adam for; from him sin and death descend. Well may we
say, as that good man, observing the change that a fit of sickness
had made in his countenance, <i>O Adam!</i> what hast thou
done?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p21">Further, to clear this, he shows that sin
did not commence with the law of Moses, but was <i>in the world
until,</i> or <i>before,</i> that law; therefore that law of Moses
is not the only rule of life, for there was a rule, and that rule
was transgressed, before the law was given. It likewise intimates
that we cannot be justified by our obedience to the law of Moses,
any more than we were condemned by and for our disobedience to it.
Sin was in the world before the law; witness Cain's murder, the
apostasy of the old world, the wickedness of Sodom. His inference
hence is, Therefore there was a law; for <i>sin is not imputed
where there is no law.</i> Original sin is a want of conformity to,
and actual sin is a transgression of, the law of God: therefore all
were under some law. His proof of it is, <i>Death reigned from Adam
to Moses,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.14" parsed="|Rom|5|14|0|0" passage="Ro 5:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>.
It is certain that death could not have reigned if sin had not set
up the throne for him. This proves that sin was in the world before
the law, and original sin, for death reigned over those that had
not sinned any actual sin, that <i>had not sinned after the
similitude of Adam's transgression,</i> never sinned in their own
persons as Adam did—which is to be understood of infants, that
were never guilty of actual sin, and yet died, because Adam's sin
was imputed to them. This reign of death seems especially to refer
to those violent and extraordinary judgments which were long before
Moses, as the deluge and the destruction of Sodom, which involved
infants. It is a great proof of original sin that little children,
who were never guilty of any actual transgression, are yet liable
to very terrible diseases, casualties, and deaths, which could by
no means be reconciled with the justice and righteousness of God if
they were not chargeable with guilt.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p22">(2.) How, in correspondence to this,
Christ, as a public person, communicates righteousness and life to
all true believers, who are his spiritual seed. And in this he
shows not only wherein the resemblance holds, but, <i>ex
abundanti,</i> wherein the communication of grace and love by
Christ <i>goes beyond</i> the communication of guilt and wrath by
Adam. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p23">[1.] Wherein the resemblance holds. This is
laid down most fully, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.18-Rom.5.19" parsed="|Rom|5|18|5|19" passage="Ro 5:18,19"><i>v.</i> 18,
19</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p24"><i>First, By the offence and disobedience
of one many were made sinners, and judgment came upon all men to
condemnation.</i> Here observe, 1. That Adam's sin was
disobedience, disobedience to a plain and express command: and it
was a command of trial. The thing he did was therefore evil because
it was forbidden, and not otherwise; but this opened the door to
other sins, though itself seemingly small. 2. That the malignity
and poison of sin are very strong and spreading, else the guilt of
Adam's sin would not have reached so far, nor have been so deep and
long a stream. Who would think there should be so much evil in sin?
3. That by Adam's sin many are made sinners: <i>many,</i> that is,
all his posterity; said to be many, in opposition to the one that
offended, <i>Made sinners,</i> <b><i>katestathesan.</i></b> It
denotes the making of us such by a judicial act: we were cast as
sinners by due course of law. 4. That judgment is come to
condemnation upon all those that by Adam's disobedience were made
sinners. Being convicted, we are condemned. All the race of mankind
lie under a sentence, like an attainder upon a family. There is
judgment given and recorded against us in the court of heaven; and,
if the judgment be not reversed, we are likely to sink under it to
eternity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p25"><i>Secondly,</i> In like manner, <i>by the
righteousness and obedience of one</i> (and that one is Jesus
Christ, the second Adam), <i>are many made righteous,</i> and so
the <i>free gift comes upon all.</i> It is observable how the
apostle inculcates this truth, and repeats it again and again, as a
truth of very great consequence. Here observe, 1. The nature of
Christ's righteousness, how it is brought in; it is by his
obedience. The disobedience of the first Adam ruined us, the
obedience of the second Adam saves us,—his obedience to the law of
mediation, which was that he should fulfil all righteousness, and
then make his soul an offering for sin. By his obedience to this
law he wrought out a righteousness for us, satisfied God's justice,
and so made way for us into his favour. 2. The fruit of it. (1.)
There is a <i>free gift come upon all men,</i> that is, it is made
and offered promiscuously to all. The salvation wrought is a
<i>common salvation;</i> the proposals are general, the tender
free; whoever will may come, and take of these waters of life. This
free gift is to all believers, upon their believing, <i>unto
justification of life.</i> It is not only a justification that
frees from death, but that entitles to life. (2.) <i>Many shall be
made righteous</i>—many compared with one, or as many as belong to
the election of grace, which, though but a few as they are
scattered up and down in the world, yet will be a great many when
they come all together. <b><i>Katastathesontai</i></b>—<i>they
shall be constituted</i> righteous, as by letters patent. Now the
antithesis between these two, our ruin by Adam and our recovery by
Christ, is obvious enough.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p26">[2.] Wherein the communication of grace and
love by Christ goes beyond the communication of guilt and wrath by
Adam; and this he shows, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.15-Rom.5.17" parsed="|Rom|5|15|5|17" passage="Ro 5:15-17"><i>v.</i>
15-17</scripRef>. It is designed for the magnifying of the riches
of Christ's love, and for the comfort and encouragement of
believers, who, considering what a wound Adam's sin has made, might
begin to despair of a proportionable remedy. His expressions are a
little intricate, but this he seems to intend:—<i>First,</i> If
guilt and wrath be communicated, much more shall grace and love;
for it is agreeable to the idea we have of the divine goodness to
suppose that he should be more ready to save upon an imputed
righteousness than to condemn upon an imputed guilt: <i>Much more
the grace of God, and the gift by grace.</i> God's goodness is, of
all his attributes, in a special manner his glory, and it is that
grace that is the root (his favour to us in Christ), and the gift
is by grace. We know that God is rather inclined to show mercy;
punishing is his strange work. <i>Secondly,</i> If there was so
much power and efficacy, as it seems there was, in the sin of a
man, who was of the earth, earthy, to condemn us, much more are
there power and efficacy in the righteousness and grace of Christ,
who is the Lord from heaven, to justify and save us. The <i>one
man</i> that saves us is Jesus Christ. Surely Adam could not
propagate so strong a poison but Jesus Christ could propagate as
strong an antidote, and much stronger. 3. It is but the guilt of
one single offence of Adam's that is laid to our charge: <i>The
judgment was</i> <b><i>ex henos eis katakrima,</i></b> <i>by
one,</i> that is, by one offence, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.16-Rom.5.17" parsed="|Rom|5|16|5|17" passage="Ro 5:16,17"><i>v.</i> 16, 17</scripRef>, <i>Margin.</i> But from
Jesus Christ we receive and derive an <i>abundance of grace, and of
the gift of righteousness.</i> The stream of grace and
righteousness is deeper and broader than the stream of guilt; for
this righteousness does not only take away the guilt of that one
offence, but of many other offences, even of all. God in Christ
forgives all trespasses, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Col.2.13" parsed="|Col|2|13|0|0" passage="Col 2:13">Col. ii.
13</scripRef>. 4. By Adam's sin <i>death reigned;</i> but by
Christ's righteousness there is not only a period put to the reign
of death, but believers are preferred to <i>reign of life,</i>
<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p26.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.17" parsed="|Rom|5|17|0|0" passage="Ro 5:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. In and by the
righteousness of Christ we have not only a charter of pardon, but a
patent of honour, are not only freed from our chains, but, like
Joseph, advanced to the second chariot, and made unto our God kings
and priests—not only pardoned, but preferred. See this observed,
<scripRef id="Rom.vi-p26.5" osisRef="Bible:Rev.1.5-Rev.1.6 Bible:Rev.5.9-Rev.5.10" parsed="|Rev|1|5|1|6;|Rev|5|9|5|10" passage="Re 1:5,6,5:9,10">Rev. i. 5, 6; v. 9,
10</scripRef>. We are by Christ and his righteousness entitled to,
and instated in, more and greater privileges than we lost by the
offence of Adam. The plaster is wider than the wound, and more
healing than the wound is killing.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.vi-p27">IV. In the <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.20-Rom.5.21" parsed="|Rom|5|20|5|21" passage="Ro 5:20,21">last two verses</scripRef> the apostle seems to
anticipate an objection which is expressed, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.19" parsed="|Gal|3|19|0|0" passage="Ga 3:19">Gal. iii. 19</scripRef>, <i>Wherefore then serveth the
law?</i> Answer, 1. <i>The law entered that the offence might
abound.</i> Not to make sin to abound the more in itself, otherwise
than as sin takes occasion by the commandment, but to discover the
abounding sinfulness of it. The glass discovers the spots, but does
not cause them. When the commandment came into the world sin
revived, as the letting of a clearer light into a room discovers
the dust and filth which were there before, but were not seen. It
was like the searching of a wound, which is necessary to the cure.
<i>The offence,</i> <b><i>to paraptoma</i></b>—<i>that
offence,</i> the sin of Adam, the extending of the guilt of it to
us, and the effect of the corruption in us, are the abounding of
that offence which appeared upon the entry of the law. 2. <i>That
grace might much more abound</i>—that the terrors of the law might
make gospel-comforts so much the sweeter. Sin abounded among the
Jews; and, to those of them that were converted to the faith of
Christ, did not grace much more abound in the remitting of so much
guilt and the subduing of so much corruption? The greater the
strength of the enemy, the greater the honour of the conqueror.
This abounding of grace he illustrates, <scripRef id="Rom.vi-p27.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.21" parsed="|Rom|5|21|0|0" passage="Ro 5:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. As the reign of a tyrant and
oppressor is a foil to set off the succeeding reign of a just and
gentle prince and to make it the more illustrious, so doth the
reign of sin set off the reign of grace. <i>Sin reigned unto
death;</i> it was a cruel bloody reign. But <i>grace reigns</i> to
life, <i>eternal life,</i> and this <i>through righteousness,</i>
righteousness imputed to us for justification, implanted in us for
sanctification; and both by <i>Jesus Christ our Lord,</i> through
the power and efficacy of Christ, the great prophet, priest, and
king, of his church.</p>
</div></div2>