But we are fet at Liberty from the Law,

hath an Husband, is bound

by the Law to her Hufband fo long as he liveth: But if the Husband be dead, fhe is loofed from the Law of her

Husband.

2 So then, if while her Husband liveth, the be marfhall be called an Adulterefs: But if her Husband be dead, he is free from that Law; so that she is no Adulterefs, though the be married to another Man.

ried to another Man, fhe

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2 For the Woman which as if it had never been. Juft as it is, accord- Sect. 14. ing to the Law itself, with Respect to the Power of an Hufband over his Wife, which Death Rom. VII. 2. intirely diffolves: For the married Woman is indeed bound and confined by the Law to [ber] Hufband, while he is alive; but if [her] Hufband be dead, he is fet at Liberty from any farther Subjection to the Law of [ber] Hufband, that is, from that Law, which had given him a peculiar Property in her, and Authority over her. There- 3 fore if he become the Property of another Man (b), whilft her Husband liveth, she carries the infamous Name of an Adultrefs; but if her Husband be dead, he is fet at Liberty from the Obligation of the Law that bound her to him, fo as to be no more fubject to the Shame and Punishment of an Adultrefs; tho' he became the Property of another Man For Death having interpofed between them, hath diffolved the former Relation; he is dead to her, and the to him. Thus ye alfo, my 4 dear Brethren, are in Effect dead to the Mofaick Law by the Body of Chrift (c); his Death and Sufferings having now accomplished its Defign, and abrogated its Authority: And this, with a gracious Intent, that ye might be, as it were, married to another, [that is] to him who was in fo glorious and triumphant a Manner raised from the Dead, no more to die; that, in Confequence of this new Marriage, we might bring forth Fruit unto GOD in all the Ways of holy Obedience.

4 Wherefore, my Brethren, ye alfo are become dead to the Law by the Body of Chrift; that ye fhould be married to another, even to him who is raised from bring forth Fruit unto GOD.

the Dead, that we should

5 For when we were in the Flefh, the Motions of

Sins

And ye should do it with the greatest Zeal; for when we were in the Flesh, that is, under the comparatively carnal Difpenfation of Mofes, a Variety of finful Paffions, accidentally occafio

ned

(b) If he become the Property of another, (eav yerlar avops slepw,) while her Hufband liveth, &c.] The Apofile here fpeaks in the general, not entering exactly into every excepted Cafe, that might be imagined; to infer therefore, contrary to our Lord's exprefs Decifion elsewhere, that Adultery is not a fufficient Foundation for Divorce, seems very unreasonable; tho' Bifhop Burnet affures us that great Stress was once laid on the Argument. Burn. Hift. of the Reformation, Vol. i. pag. 57.

(c) By the Body of Chrift.] He is to be confidered here, as teftifying by the Authority of a Christian Apostle, that this was the Defign of Chrift's Death; fo that all he does in this Argument here is to fhew, that allowing it to have been thus, (as Jewish Believers all did) their Freedom from the Mofaick Law followed on the very Principles of that Law itself.

VOL. IV.

L

(d) Newness

5

82

6 on.

That we may be married,

Sins which were by the Law, did work in our Members to bring forth Fruit untà Death.

vered from the Law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should ferve in Newnefs of Spirit, and not in the Oldness of the

6 But now we are deli

to Chrift. Sect. 14. ned and irritated by the Law, were active in our Rom Members, fa as to produce vifible finful Actions, Rom. VII. 5. and in them to bring forth a very different Fruit from that which I have just been mentioning; even as I obferved before, (Chap. vi. 21, 23.) fuch Fruit as would expofe you to eternal Death, if GOD were to be ftrict to mark your Offences, and if his Mercy did not interpofe to break the fatal Connection: A Circumstance which it is of the utmost Importance ferioufly to reflect upBut now we are fet at Liberty from our Obligation to the Law, that Obligation in which we were held, being in Effect dead, or abrogated, as I told you above, (Ver. 1,-4.) fa as that now you are, in a more liberal Manner, and from nobler Principles, to ferve GOD as your Mafter and Father in Chrift, in the Newness of the Spirit, and not [in] the Cldness of the Letter (d): That is, you are to live as thofe, that are renewed by the Holy Spirit of God, in a rich Abundance poured out upon you under this new and better Difpenfation, whereby you are brought to obferve the fpiritual Meaning and Defign of the Law being no longer bound by these literal and ceremonial Precepts, which were indeed obligatory long fince, but now begin to be antiquated, and out of Date. (Heb. viii. 13.

Ver. 4.

Ver. 5.

Go

Letter.

IMPROVEMENT.

OD hath conferred upon all Chriftians this fingular Honour, that the whole Body of them fhould be reprefented as efpoufed to Chrift Let us always remember, how we are engaged by that Sacred Relation, to bring forth Fruit unto GOD. And may the Remembrance of the Refurrection of Chrift put continual Vigour into our Obedience, while we regard him as the everliving Lord, to whom our Obligations are indiffoluble and everlasting.

Too much have finful Paffions reigned in our Flefh, during our unconverted State. In too many Inftances have they wrought effectually to bring forth Fruit unto Death. And we owe it to to the wonderful Mercy and Forbearance

(d) Newness of the Spirit, not [in] the Oldness of the Letter.] This is the literal Verfion; but new Spirit, and old Letter, are tantamount Expreffions, and are more agreeable to the Turn of our Language..

83

Reflections on Freedom from the Law and Union to Chrst. Forbearance of GOD that Death, eternal Death, hath not long fince Sect. 14. been the Confequence.

Being freed from the Yoke of the ceremonial Law, being freed alfo Ver. 6. from the condemning Sentence of that moral Law, under the Obligations of which by the Constitution of our intelligent and rational Nature we are all born; let us thankfully acknowledge the Favour, and charge it upon our grateful Hearts, that we ferve GOD in Newness of Spirit and of Life. To engage us to this, may we experience more abundantly the Renewings of the Holy Ghoft; and the Actions of our Lives will be eafily and delightfully reduced to the Obedience of thefe Precepts, which his omnipotent and gracious Hand hath infcribed on our Hearts!

To wean the believing Jews from their undue Attachment to the Law of Mofes, the Apoftle reprefents at large, how comparatively ineffectual its Motives were, to produce that Holinefs, which, by a lively Faith in the Gospel, we may fo happily obtain. Rom. VII. 7, to the End. VIII. I---4.

THAT fhall we fay then? Is the Law Sin? GOD forbid. Nay, I

I

ROMANS VII. 7.

HAVE been obferving above, to thofe of Sect. 15.
my Christian Brethren, who were educated

had in the Jewish Religion, that irregular Paffions, Rom. VII. 7.
while we were under the Law of Mofes, and
were acquainted with no fuperior Difpenfation,
did in fome Instances, by Means of the Law, ope-
rate fo as to bring forth Fruit unto Death. And
is is neceffary, that I fhould not only farther il-
luftrate that important Remark, but exprefsly
caution against any Miftake with Relation to it.
What fhall we fay then, or what do we intend by
that Affertion? [that] the Law itfelf [is] Sin, that
there is any moral Evil in it, or that it is intended
by GoD, or adapted in its own Nature, to lead Men
into Sin? GOD forbid! We revere the high Au-
thority by which it was given, too humbly, to in-
finuate any Thing of that Kind. And indeed
there are many Particulars, in which I should not
L 2
have

་

84

had not known Sin, but by known Luft, except the Law had faid, Thou shalt not covet.

the Law For I had not

8 But Sin taking Occafion by the Commandment,

By the Law of Mofes is the Knowledge of Sin. Sect. 15. bave known Sin, but by the Law (a). I fhould not, in a mere State of Nature, have apprehen Rom.VII. 7. ded the Evil of them; which I now learn from finding them fo expressly prohibited. I had not for Inftance known the Sinfulness of Luft, or irregular Defires, unless the Law had faid, "thou shalt not covet (b)"; from whence it was eafy to infer, that this Law takes Cognizance of 8 the Heart, as well as of external Actions. But as foon as I had Understanding enough to perceive, that the Law forbad the Indulgence of irregular Defires, I found that I had in Fact broken it; and thereby incurred the Penalty without any Hope of Help and Deliverance from the Law. And this, while I looked no farther, naturally tended to throw my Mind into a State of Dejection and Defpair. So that I So that I may fay, that Sin taking Occafion from the awful Sanction of the Commandment (c), the Wrath and Ruin which it denounced, brought me into fo fad a Situation of Mind, and left me so little Strength and

Spirit

(a) I should not have known Sin, &c.] The Apostle here, by a very dexterous Turn, changes the Perfon, and speaks as of himself. This he elfewhere does, (Rom. iii. 6. 1 Cor. x. 30. Chap. iv. 6.) when he is only perfonating another Character. And the Character affumed here is that of a Man, firft ignorant of the Law, then under it, and fincerely defiring to please GOD, but finding to his Sorrow, the Weakness of the Motives it fuggefted, and the fad Difcouragement under which it left him; and laft of all, with Tranf port difcovering the Gospel, and gaining Pardon, and Strength, Peace and Joy by it. But to fuppofe he speaks all these Things of himself, as the confirmed Chriftian that he really was, when he wrote this Epistle, is not only foreign, but contrary to the whole Scope of his Difcourfe, as well as to what is exprefsly afferted, Chap. viii. 2.

(b) Thou shalt not covet.] This by the Way proves, that Paul thought the Covetousness, forbidden in the Tenth Commandment, related to the Heart, and not merely, as fome have reprefented it, to any overt Act, to an Attempt to take away what belongs to another. And this might be a Hint to all thinking Men, that the fecret Powers of their Souls were under a Divine Inspection, and that much Guilt might be contracted, which did not appear to any human Eye.

(c) Sin taking Occafion from the Commandment.] Moft Commentators have explained this, as fignifying, that Sin was quickened by the Prohibition; the Inclination of human Nature in general being like that of a froward Child, who will do a Thing, because it is forbidden, and perhaps is, as it were, reminded of an Evil; on hearing it mentioned in a Prohibition. But,. not to examine how far this is a univerfal Cafe, it must furely be acknowledged, that all Luft does not arife from hence, much being previous to any poffible Knowledge of GOD's Law, whether revealed or natural. I therefore incline to the Interpretation which Mr. Dunlope has given, in his excellent Sermon on this Paffage, the Tenor of whofe Thoughts I have followed in the Whole of my Paraphrafe upon it, begging leave to refer my Reader to his Difcourfe, for the Reasons that have determined me to it. Compare Jerem. ii. 25. See Dunl, Serm. Vol. ii. pag. 46, 47.

(d) Wrought

ment wrought in me all For without the Law Sin

was dead.

9. For I was alive without the Law once: But when the Commandment came, Sin revived, and I

died.

Sect.

85

15.

The Commandment found to be unto Death:
Spirit to refift future Temptation, when I feemed
already undone; that it might in a Manner be
faid to have wrought powerfully in me all Manner Rom. VII. 8.
of Concupifcence (d): Such Advantage, did Sin
gain against me. And I mention this, as the
Effect of my becoming acquainted with the
Law, becaufe while I was ignorant of the
Sentence, and confidered myfelf as without the
Law of GoD, Sin [was] dead. I was no more
aware of any Danger from it, or any Power it
had to hurt me, than if it had been a dead Ene-
my..
For I once was, as it were, alive without
the Law (e), confidering myself as a Man unac-
quainted with it, I may fay I was comparatively
chearful and happy; but when the Commandment
came, and I became acquainted with it in its wide
Extent, unfpotted Purity, and awful Sanctions,
then Sin immediately came to Life again; it
fprung up against me as a living Enemy, armed
with Inftruments of Deftruction; and I, as inca-
pable of refifting it, fell down, and died; find-
ing myself unable to refift my miferable Doom.
And thus the Commandment which [was] in its origi- 10
nal Conftitution [intended] for Life (f), and calcu-
lated fo to regulate Mens Temper and Conduct,
as if perfectly obeyed, to give them a legal Claim
to Life and Happiness, was quite changed in this
Refpect. For I having thus broken it, and by
fuch Breach brought its condemning Sentence
upon me, really found it [to be] unto Death. I
found it attended with deadly Confequences, both
as it configned me over to Deftruction for paft
Sin,

to And the Commandment which was ordained to

Life, I found to be unto
Death.

(d) Wrought in me.] The Word nalegyaguas in many Places fignifies to operate in a powerful and efficacious Manner; (Compare 2 Cor. iv. 17. Chap. v. 5. Chap. vii. 11. Chap. xii. 12.) and may well here fignify a ftrong Irritation of what might, without it, have been in fome Degree natural.

(e) I was once alive without the Law.] The Apoftle cannot, as Mr. Locke fuppofes here, fpeak in the Perfon of the whole Jewish People, and in this Claufe, refer to the Time between Abraham and Mofes; for, not to examine how far this Description would fuit themthen, we muft on that Principle of Interpretation fuppofe, they are all reprefented in the Clofe of the Chapter, as believing in Chrift; which alas! we know to have been very far from being their Cafe.

(f) Intended for Life.] The Law may be faid to have been intended for Life, though by Sin made the Occafion of Death; as Medicines, which not being rightly applied prove fatal, may nevertheless be faid to have been intended for Cure.

(g) Sa