IL

II For Sin taking Occadeceived me, and by it flew fion by the Commandment,

86
For the the Law is holy and fpiritual;
Sect. 15. Sin, and occafionally, though not intentionally,
proved productive of new Guilt and Mifery.
Rom. VIL For Sin, as I before faid, taking Occafion by the
Terror and Curfe of the violated Commandment,
and reprefenting the great Law-giver, as now be-
come my irreconcileable Enemy, deceived me in-
to a Perfuafion, that I could be no worfe than I
was, and thereby it flew me; it multiplied my
mortal Wounds, and rendered my Case still more
defperate.

12

So that you fee, upon the whole, the Law in the general [is] acknowledged to be holy, and the particular Commandment in Queftion is acknowledged to be agreeable to the holy Nature of GOD, just in Reference to the Reafon of Things, and on the whole, in its Confequences good, and fubfervient to Mens Happiness, if they continue in 13 a State of Rectitude. Was then that, which was good in itfelf, made Death to me? Shall I charge my Ruin on this holy and good Law of GOD? By no means.GOD forbid, I fhould ever utter any Thing like that. But I muft rather charge it upon Sin, which by Means of fo holy an Inftrument undid me. I fay it again, Sin was made Death to me, fo that it appeared to be Sin indeed (g), (that odious dreadful Thing, of which nothing can be faid worfe, than that it is itself,) which working Death in me, by the Occafion of that which is fo eminently good: That fo Sin might by the Commandment thus perverted, appear exceeding finful, and ftand forth in all its native and defeftable Colours; capable of turning the Law itself into a Means of producing the Guilt it fo folemnly forbad, and the Ruin it was intended to prevent.

14

me.

12 Wherefore the Law is holy; and the Commandment holy, and juft, and good.

14 For we know, that

Tis on this therefore that I lay all the Blame; for we well know, that the Law is fpiritual, and the Law is fpiritual: But as it extends to the Spirit, was intended to purify and exalt it, and to exert its Superiority over the meaner Part of our Nature. But, alas, may

the

(g) So that it appeared: wa pan.] Elfner contends that pam is an Expletive here; but I choofe not to allow any Word in Scripture to be an Expletive, that may fairly and naturally be expounded into any fignificant Senfe; as it is plain this may here be. See Elfner, Obferv. Vol. ii. pag. 37.

(b) Sold

Yet by Means of the Law Sin worketh Death;

87

I am carnal, fold under the Man, I have been defcribing and reprefenting Sect. 15.

Sin.

Rom. VII. 14.

above, be ready to fay, I am in a great Measure
carnal, and in fo many Inftances fubdued by the
remaining Infirmities of my Nature, that I am
ready paffionately to cry out, I am even fold un-
der Sin (b); which often rifes with an almoft ir-
refiftable Strength, to affume a tyrannical Domi-
nion over me, as if I were its Slave and Property.
For that which I actually do, Fallow, or approve 15.
not (i) in many Inftances; for too often, thro'
the Strength of Paffion, and Surprize of Temp-
tation, I practife not that, which in the general
Tenor of my Mind I habitually will; but the
Things which I even hate, which I think of with
the greatest Abhorrence, thofe Things in many
Refpects I am fo unhappy to do; which indeed
makes me a Burthen to myself. Now if I do 16
that, which I would not, in willing not to do it,
I do fo far, though to my own Condemnation,
confent to the Law, and bear my Teftimony to
it, that [it is] good, and do indeed defire to fulfil
it; tho' when a preffing Hour of Temptation
comes, contrary to my Refolution, I fail in ob-
ferving it. But now, in these Circumftances, 17
it is no more I myself, that can properly be faid
to do it; but rather Sin, which dwelleth in me,
and which makes, as it were, another Perfon
having Defires, and Motions, and Interefts, in-
tirely contrary to these of the renewed Part with-
For I 18
in; which I would call my better-self.
well know, that in me, that is, in my Flesh, the
corrupt and degenerate felf, nothing that is good

dwelleth

(b) Sold under Sin.] This is often urged as an Argument, that the Apostle here fpeaks in the Perfon of a wicked Man, and is reprefented as a Phrafe parallel to 1 Kings xxi. 20. 2 Kings xvii. 17. where fome of the worft of Men are defcribed, as having fold themselves to do Evil. But the Diverfity of the Expreffion is very obvious; and yet had this Perfon been reprefented, as lamenting that he had fold himself to Sin, it might have been understood as the Language of penitent Remorfe for paft Guilt, and fo very confiftent with a good Man's Character. And the many Inftances, in which very excellent Perfons, in the Distress of their Hearts for the Remainder of Imperfection in their Character, adopt this very Phrafe, plainly fhew, with what Propriety Paul might put it into the Mouth of one, whom he did not confider as an abandoned Sinner, and deftitute of every Principle of real Piety..

(i) I approve not.] Gataker (de Styl. Nov. Teftm. Cap. iv. Adverf. Mifcell. Lib. I. Cap. 6. and Raphelius in Loc.) bring oppofite Inftances of fuch a Ufe of the Word yox.

(k) The

88

18.

19

The Caufe of which is indwelling Sin.

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 that do it, but Sin that would not, it is no more I dwelleth in me.

Sect. 15. dwelleth. I find my animal Powers fadly debafed For to will is prefent with and enflaved: For to will is indeed prefent with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find Rom. VII. me, I form many good Purposes and Refolutions; not. but when the Time comes, in which I fhould bring them into Effect, I find not in my Heart a fufficient [Ability] ftrenuously to perform that, which I know is good, and which I acknowledge to be most amiable and defirable. "Tis indeed fo grievous a Reflection to me, that I cannot forbear repeating it again and again; for it is really fo, that I do not the good, that I often will, and refolve to do; but the Evil which I will not to do, which I form the strongest Purposes against, that 20 I do (k) in repeated Inftances. If therefore, as I faid before, I do that which I would not, and am, as it were, overpowered in fome Cafes and Circumstances, contrary to the fettled and prevailing Bent and Inclination of my Soul; it is no more I that do it, but Sin which, as another Perfon, dwelleth in me (1), and, like an evil Dæmon, when it has taken Poffeffion of a Man, ufes my Faculties and Powers, over which it ufurps an abhorred Dominion, to carry on it own contrary and deftructive Interefts. I find then, upon the whole, a Sort of constraining Law, which fo influences me, that when I would do Good, Evil is in Fact 22 prefent with me. For with Regard to the inner Man, that is, my Mind, the better and nobler Law of GOD, after the inPowers of my intellectual Nature, I delight in the Law of GOD (m), I most heartily approve

21

it,

21 I find then a Law, Evil is prefent with me. that when I would do good,

22 For I delight in the

ward Man.

(k) The Evil which I will not, that I do.] If the Meaning of fuch Expreffions as thefe were, that upon the whole, the Perfon using them went on in a prevailing Course of habitual Wickedness, against the Convictions and Dictates of his own Confcience, one would imagine Paul would have rebuked fuch an one with great Severity, and answered thefe vain and hypocritical Pleas; whereas he reprefents this Perfon afterwards, as with Joy embracing the Gofpel, and fo obtaining fuperior Strength upon the full Manifestation of pardoning Grace there.

(1) Sin that dwelleth, &c.] This feems indeed no more than a Repetition of Verfe 17. but it is a graceful and expreffive Repetition; and fhews, how near the Affair lay to the Heart of the Perfon thus complaining, and in what fad and frequent Succeffions the Complaint was removed. The beautiful Paffage in the 6th Book of Xenophon's Cyropædia, (pag. 312. Edit. Hutchin. 1738. 8vo.) where Arafpas complains of two Souls contending within him, (a Paffage which it is very poffible St. Paul might have read,) contains an agreeable Illuftration of this Paragraph.

(m) I delight in the Law of GOD after the inner Man.] This is fo fure a Trace of real Piety, and is reprefented in Scripture as, in this View, fo decifive; that if it be fuppofed a

I

true

The Happiness of being freed from this Law of Sin;

23 But I fee another Law

in my Members, warring against the Law of my Mind, and bringing me unto Captivity to the Law of Sin, which is in my Members.

23.

89

it, and look upon its whole Syftem with Com- Sect. 15.
placency, as what I could rejoice to be conform-
ed to in the compleateft Manner, and higheft Rom. VII.
But alas, I fee another and quite op-
Degree.
pofite Law, of vicious and irregular Inclinations,
feated in my Members, which, taking its Rife from
a lower and meaner Principle, is continually
making War against the better Law of my Mind,
and too frequently captivating me to the Law of
Sin, which is, as I faid, feated in my corporeal
Members. Wretched Man that I am! Do I 24
often cry out in fuch a Circumftance, with no
better Supports and Incitements than the Law
can give; who fhall refcue me miferable Captive
as I am, from the Body of this Death? From this
continual Burthen, which I carry about with me,
and which is cumbersome and odious, as a dead
Carcafe, tied to a living Body,
living Body, to be dragged
along with it wherever it goes (2).

Thus I bemoan myfelf, when I think only of the
Mofaick Law, the Discoveries it makes, the Mo-
tives its fuggefts, and the Circumftances in which
it leaves the Offender: But in the Midft of this
glorious Profpect, a Sight of the Gospel revives
my Heart; and I cry out, as in a Kind of Rap-
ture, as foon as I turn mine Eyes to it, I thank
GOD thro' Jefus Chrift (0), in whom he now
reveals himself to me, and by whom he deliver-
eth me from this Bondage and Mifery. So then,
whereas I myself (p), with the nobler Powers of

my

true Reprefentation of the Character, we muft furely allow it to have been that of a truly good Man; whatever lamented Imperfections might attend it.Plato ufes the Phrafe los pumos for the rational Part of our Nature.

(2) Dead Carcass, &c.] It is well known, that fome antient Writers mention this, as a Cruelty practifed by fome Tyrants on miferable Captives, who fell into their Hands; and a more forcible and expreffive Image of the fad Cafe reprefented, cannot furely enter into the Mind of Man.

(0) I thank GOD thro' fefus Chrift.] For exapsw low fome Copies read xaps the Grace of GOD, which to be fure makes a noble Senfe; but that of the received, and much more authentick Copies comes very near it, and in the Main coincides with it.

(P) Whereas I ferve, &c.-there is now no Commendation, &c.] I think, there is not in the whole New Teftament a more unhappy Divifion between two Chapters, than what has been made here, not only in the Midft of an Argument, but even of a Sentence. Apa sv, and apa wv anfwer fo evidently to each other, that I think it plain the former fhould be rendered whereas, and then the Senfe appears plain and ftrong. I muft confefs this to be an uncommon Ufe of apa, but if it be, as it often is, an Expletive, it will come to much the fame.

VOL. IV.

M

(9) To

25

I fay

of Sin.

ROMANS VIII. 1. There is therefore now no Con

demnation to them which are in Chrift Jefus, who walk not after the Flefh,

2 For the Law of the

Spirit of Life in Chrift Jefus, hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death.

Sect. 15. my Spirit ferve the Law of GOD; tho' in too felf ferve the Law of GOD; many Inftances I am fo oppreffed with the Infir- but with the Flesh, the Law Rom. VII. mity of my Flesh, that I am fubdued by the Law 25. ROMANS of Sin; [There is] now, under the Gofpel-DifVIII. I. penfation, no Condemnation to thofe in Chrift Jefus, who walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit (9); that is, to thofe, who making a Profeffion of the Christian Faith, do in the main Courfe but after the Spirit. of their Lives verify that Profeffion; governing themselves by spiritual Views and Maxims, and 2 not by carnal Appetites and Interests. it again, I thank God for this Difpenfation with all the Powers of my Soul; for tho', when confidering myself as only under the Law, I made fuch melancholy Complaints, the Law of the Spirit of Life in Chrift Jefus, that glorious Gofpel, which is attended with an abundant Effufion of the vivifying and animating Spirit, has now recovered me, mortally wounded as I feemed to have been, and fet me at Liberty from that lamented Captivity to the Law of Sin and Death (r). For GOD bath now, by a gracious and most wonderful Appearance [done] what it was impoff. ble for the Law to do, in that it was comparatively weak thro' the great Infirmity of the Flesh (s), againft which in fo corrupt a State it could not, merely by its own Principles, fufficiently pro

3

vide:

3 For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the Flefh, GOD

(9) To thofe in Chrift Jefus who walk, &c.] It is certain, that to be in Christ, though it fometimes imports a true and fanctifying Faith, 2 Cor. v. 17.) at other Times expreffes only an external Profeffion, (John xv. 2.) and as the Article los is not repeated, I think 'tis plain the latter Claufe limits the former, which juftifies our Rendering. Compare Pfal. lxxiii. 1.

(r) Hath fet me at Liberty, &c.] It is to be obferved, that the fame Perfon, who fpoke before, is here reprefented, as continuing the Difcourfe, and speaks of himself, as delivered from the Bondage fo bitterly complained of..

(s) What it was impoffible for the Law to do, &c.] It is indeed true in the general, as the pious Profeffor Zimmerman justly observes (in his excellent Comment. de Emin. Cognit. Chriffi, pag. 6, 7. and 34.)" that the Strength of the Law is not adequate to that of corrupt "Nature, and it is by Evangelical Confiderations, that we are moft effectually animated to "fubdue Sin." But that is to be confidered as a Confequence of what the Apostle here afferts concerning the Law of Mofes, rather than the Affertion itfelf. And indeed whoever confiders the awful Nature and Sanctions of that Law, muft acknowledge, that it was_calculated to be a much more efficacious Restraint from Sin, than the unaffifted Light of Natare, or than any other Difpenfation revealing God's Law, prior to the Gospel. So that the above-mentioned Confequences is very ftrong.

(+) Merely