The works of the Rev. James Fraser, of Pitcalzian, Minister of the Gospel at Alness, Ross-shire : The scripture doctrine of sanctification, with an appendix, and sacramental sermons

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THE

WORKS

REV. JAMES FRASER,

OF 1MTCALZIAN, MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL AT ALNESS, ROSS-SHIRE.

THE SCRIPTURE DOCTRINE

OF

SANCTIFICATION,

WITH AN APPENDIX;

AND

SACRAMENTAL SERMONS.

EDINBURGH :

R. OGLE, 1. ANTIGUA STREET;

M. OGLE, GLASGOW; W. CURRIE, JUN. 4 CO. DUBLIN; AND
JAMES DUNCAN, LONDON.

1831.

CONTENTS.

Life of the Author,

Introduction to the Explication of Romans VI-

Explication of

Ver. 1. "What shall we say then ? —

2. God forbid ; how shall we —

3. Know ye not, that so many of us —

4. Therefore we are buried with him —

5. For if we have been planted together —

6. Knowing this, that our old man —

7. For he that is dead, is freed from sin,

8. Now if we be dead with Christ —

9. Knowing that Christ being raised —

1 0. For in that he died —

11. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves—

12. Let not sin therefore reign —

13. Neither yield ye your members —

14. For sin shall not have dominion —

15. What then ? shall we sin —

16. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield —
1 7. But God be thanked —

18, 19. Being then made free from sin —

20. For when ye were the servants of sin —

21. What fruit had ye then in those things,

22. But now being made free from sin —

23. For the wages of sin is death —

Introduction to the Explication of Romans VII.

ication of
Ver. 1. Know ye not, brethren—

2, 3. For the woman which hath an husband—
4. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also —
What is meant by the law,
What by being dead to the law,

How by being married to the law, and being married to Christ,
How the marriage with the law is dissolved
The consequence thereof,

Explication of

Ver. 5. For when we were in the flesh —

6. But now we are delivered from the law—

7. What shall we say then ? —

8. But sin taking occasion by the commandment-

Page
v

11

37

40
45
47
51
53
62
65
67
ib.
70
73
77
80
86
87
90
92
93
94
ib.
96

98

Expl

«AJ

118
121
122
ib.
124
125
129
132

135
145
151
157

iv Contents.

Page

An Essay concerning the Penal Sanction of the Law, 164

Explication of

Ver. 9. For I was alive without the law once — . 187

An Essay concerning the Promise of Spiritual Blessings
under the Old Testament, . . 194-

Explication of

Ver. 10. And the commandment which was — . 210

11. For sin, taking occasion — . . 212

12. Wherefore the law is holy — . . 215

13. Was then that which is good — . . ib.

A Dissertation concerning the General Scope and Pur-
pose of the latter context of Chapter vii. 14* — 25. 220

Sect. I. Being an introduction to this subject and inquiry, ib.

Sect. II. Containing general considerations tending to explain the

scope and purpose of this context, . . 224

Sect. III. That nothing represented in this context is inconsistent

with a state of grace, . . . 233

Sect. IV. Showing that this context contains a great deal that is

inconsistent with an unregenerate state, . . 243

Sect. V. The same subject continued, and verse 22 explained, 255
Sect. VI. The same subject continued, and verse 25 explained, 264
Sect. VII. Containing answers to the objections brought against

the foregoing interpretation, . . . 285

Sect. VIII. Marking out some of the practical uses to be made of

this context, .... 297

Explication of Chapter VIII.

Ver. I. There is therefore now no condemnation— . 306

2. For the law of the Spirit of life — . . 314

3. For what the law could not do — . . 319

4. That the righteousness of the law — . 331

APPENDIX,

Wherein the Apostle's Doctrine, Principles, and Rea-
soning, are applied to the Purposes of Holy Prac-
tice, and of Evangelical Preaching, . 339
Sect. I. Containing a recapitulation of the apostle's doctrine and

principles in the context here before explained, . ib.

Sect. II. Showing the advantage, with regard to holiness, that

ariseth from persons being under grace, . . 342

Sect. III. Containing directions to sinners seriously concerned
about their salvation, with the solution of divers questions res-
pecting the conversion of sinners, . . 364
Sect. IV. Concerning true evangelical preaching, . 388

A SHORT

ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR

OF THE FOLLOWING WORK, AND OF

THE PERSECUTIONS SUFFERED BY HIS PARENTS.

The Rev. Mr James Fraser of Pitcalzian, Author of
the following Treatise, who died minister of Alness, in
Ross-shire, October 5, 1769, was son to the Rev. Mr
John Fraser, who died minister of the same parish, in the
year 1711.

The father, on account of his steady adherence to the
principles and constitution of the Church of Scotland,
suffered persecution, from the year 1679 or 1680, till the
happy Revolution. Having gone to London about 1680,
he lodged in the house of an Anabaptist minister, whose
godly conversation, with that of sundry members of his
meeting, he was much taken with, insofar that he had a
strong inclination to have joined that little church and
body of Christians ; and for that end communicated his
mind one day to the minister, his landlord, who heard him
patiently, and then replied: 'Mr Fraser, I love you, because
4 I think you love Christ. You love our society, because
4 you think God is amongst us, and I trust he is so in
' truth. But I must tell you, if we have our beauties,
4 we have also our blemishes ; and the congregations in
1 our way are mighty few when compared with the con-
« gregations in that church in which you have been edu-
4 cated and brought up. The Church of Scotland, whose
1 principles you have hitherto professed, is at present in
4 the furnace, but the Lord will in due time bring her
4 out of it. You are but young, and should you join
1 yourself to our society, your sphere of usefulness must
4 be very small and contracted. You know not as yet
1 what work God may have in reserve for you in your na-
1 tive land, where you may have a large circle to move in.
6 My advice therefore to you is this^ that you forbear at
1 present to join yourself to us : consider further of the
1 matter, and seek light and direction from the Lord.

A

vi A Short Account of the Author.

• When you have done so, if you continue still in the
6 same mind, then acquaint me, and I will receive you,
' and embrace you in the arms of love and affection.'
Mr Fraser took his advice, and was wont oft to say, he
saw much of God in it, especially when he came after-
wards to the work of the ministry in his own country.

Mr Fraser, during his residence in London, waited
closely upon the meetings of the Dissenters, which were
enjoyed frequently till the years 1683 and 1684, that in-
formers turned very common, being spurred on by the
twenty pounds sterling of fine that was imposed upon
every landlord in whose house a conventicle was kept, be-
sides the fines from the preacher and hearers. At one of
these meetings, where the memorable Mr Alexander
Shiells preached, was Mr Fraser taken. Most of the hear-
ers being Scotsmen, they were ordered down by sea to
Scotland ; and when landed at Leith, they were manacled
two and two, as the greatest malefactors, and brought
from thence to Edinburgh ; the Rev. Mr Alexander
Shiells having Mr Fraser for his companion.

A short time after, they were examined by the council
upon the ordinary ensnaring questions of these times; but
not giving entire satisfaction, all of them, except Mr
Shiells, were sent to Dunotter Castle, May 18, 1685.
There they underwent severe treatment, being, with many
others, cooped up in one low vault, and afterwards in an-
other, rather worse ; which was the occasion of death to
some, and great danger to the whole of them. There our
author's father, Mr John Fraser, contracted a cough,
which remained with him all his days thereafter.

Being brought back from Dunotter, the privy-council
sentenced a great number of persons, confined indifferent
prisons, to be transported to the plantations, and made a
gift of a hundred of them to the laird of Pitlochie, who
engaged to carry them to New Jersey. Our author's fa-
ther and mother were part of the number. Pitlochie, in
connexion with another gentlemen, hired a Newcastle ves-
sel, and took the prisoners on board in Leith roads, he and
his lady going along in the same ship. After the prison-
ers were all on board, they were detained fourteen days
by contrary winds : however, about the middle of Sep-

A Short Account of the Author. vii

tember 1685, they got under sail, their number now be-
ing about 800 souls.

Various were the hardships they underwent during the
voyage; for by a manuscript of Mr Fraser's, it appears,
that soon after they past the LandVEnd, the fever began
violently in the ship, especially amongst those who had been
prisoners in the great vault at Dunotter, who were sick
when they came on board. Besides, the flesh which the
captain gave to the prisoners stunk before they left Leith
roads, so that in a few days it was much for dogs to eat it.
The fever increasing in the ship, about a month after they
sailed, it became usual for three or four dead bodies to be
thrown over board at a time. The leading men of the
ship were all removed by death, excepting the captain
and boatswain. The chief freighter of it, Pitlochie, and
his lady, died also. The captain then began to tamper
with the other freighter, one Mr Johnston, to steer the
vessel for Jamaica, where he was to give Mr Johnston a
good allowance for the prisoners, and take them off his
hand ; meaning to sell them all, says Mr Fraser, for
slaves. While they were thus treating together, God in
his holy and wise providence defeated their schemes, for
the wind blew up fresh and favourable for New Jersey,
where they all arrived before they knew well that they
were nigh the place, in December 1685, after a melan-
choly passage of seventeen weeks.

Upon the whole of this voyage, Mr Fraser remarks, that
between those who voluntarily left Scotland to escape per-
secution, and the banished prisoners, about sixty at least
died during the voyage, whose blood will be found in the
enemy's skirts, as really as if they had shed it in the
Grassmarket on gibbets.

During this winter, and the spring following, they re-
mained in tovns about New Jersey. Places which had not
the gospel planted amongst them, showed them little or no
kindness, but what they purchased with their money. But
where the gospel was established, there they were freely and
kindly entertained. Such blessed effects does the gospel
produce. But the foresaid Mr Johnston (who represented
Pitlochie, whose daughter he married,) pursued the prison-
ers for their four years' service : the consequence of which

viii A Short Account of the Author.

was, that they were all imprisoned to prevent escape, and
convened before the chief court of the province ; where
the governor having called a jury to try and judge in the
affair, they brought in a verdict, finding that the prison-
ers did not go on board that ship voluntarily and of their
own accord, nor bargained with Pitlochie for money or
service, and therefore they assoilzied them at the bar. How-
ever, the prisoners, afraid of meeting with further trouble
from Mr Johnston, mostly left New Jersey, and went to
New England, where they were kindly entertained, and
employed according to their several stations and capacities.

Here Mr Fraser, having been licensed, if not ordained,
began to preach, and continued to do so with great faith-
fulness and remarkable success. In the town of Water-
bury, in the county of Hartford, and colony of Connecti-
cut, though his stay in New England was but short, yet
from a note-book which he kept at that time, it appears
his labours were not in vain in the Lord, for he has no
less than the names of twelve persons wrote down, whom
God, by means of the word preached, had translated from
darkness to light, and brought to the saving knowledge
of Jesus Christ. Here he married the author's mother,
Mrs. Jean Moffat, daughter of a worthy family in Tweed-
dale, who had suffered persecution in the same manner as
her husband did, and for whom her father had paid at
sundry times, 1000 merks of fine, on account of her ab-
senting fron the parish church, and frequenting field
meetings, prior to her transportation.

Mr Fraser and spouse continued in New-England till
they heard of King William's accession to the throne.
Then they returned to Scotland, and Mr Fraser was
settled minister at Glencorse, in the presbytery of Dal-
keith, Mr David Walker, minister of Temple, presiding
on that occasion. As there was then a scarcity of minis-
ters in the North who had the Gaelic language, the As-
sembly sent three or four at different times to preach in
these parts. Mr Fraser being generally one of that
number, the people in the parish of Alness fixed their
thoughts on him upon the death of the curate ; and Sir
John Munro of Fowles joined them in their application
before the southern judicatories: but they rejected the

A Short Account of the Author. ix

call ; and the parish of Glencorse built him a new kirk to
engage him to stay amongst them.

But next year the parish of Alness renewed their call,
and appealed to the General Assembly. The evening be-
fore the sitting down of said Assembly, the last seat in the
church of Glencorse was finished. But the wright not
being attentive to extinguish the snuff* of a candle, the
church, before ten o'clock that night, was all in flames:
upon seeing of which, Mr Fraser said to his wife, This
will not do, I must use the little remaining Earse I have,
it seems, and go and preach Christ in my native country.
Mrs Fraser viewed the call so clear, she durst not say nay,
but cheerfully acquiesced, though her father and friends
lived in Tweeddale. The call of the Alness people being
agreed to at the Assembly, Mr Fraser was admitted their
minister anno 1696. There he continued his ministry
with great fidelity and success till his death, Nov. 1711.

The Author of the following treatise being born anno
1700, was but very young when his father died. An
older brother, called John, grew up to be a very promis-
ing youth, but died the year after his father, in the full as-
surance of faith. He having observed the genius and dis-
position of his brother James, earnestly recommended to
his mother, then a widow, to take care of his education.
This was accordingly done, and having finished his aca-
demical studies in philosophy and divinity, he was soon
licensed.

About that time, Mr Daniel Mackiligan, who succeed-
ed Mr John Fraser, died ; and our author succeeded him
anno 1726, being then twenty-six years of age.

His distinguished abilities as a sacred critic appear in
the following treatise, from the strong and masterly manner
in which he has examined and refuted some of the most
eminent Socinian and Arminian commentators. The ju-
dicious reader will easily see, that the author's understand-
ing was quick, clear, and penetrating, his judgment solid,
and his learning very extensive. His public ministrations
were highly edifying, and contained rich entertainment for
the learned, as well as the unlearned.

In judicatories he discovered singular prudence and
judgment, with a steady adherence to the principles and

x A Short Account of the Author.

constitution of our church. And if at any time he swayed
any of his brethren to his sentiments, it was not by an over-
bearing temper orconduct,but by his admirable good sense,
which he always displayed with great modesty and meek-
ness. All who knew him, can bear testimony, that he was
richly endued with the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit.
He was remarkably zealous for the interest of truth and
holiness, and lamented greatly the progress of error and
immorality. He appeared to have been set in a peculiar
manner for the defence of the gospel, in opposition to the
pernicious tenets and principles that have been spread in
the land. As he applied with unwearied diligence and
activity to the duties of his ministerial office, which was
followed with remarkable success ; so in more private life
he shone in all the virtues of the Christian. Though of
very quick feeling, yet at the same time he showed the
greatest patience in trials and adversities. Singular wis-
dom and discretion, with equal goodness and integrity,
were visible in his whole conduct. His deportment was
grave and cheerful, his conversation most entertaining.
He was a kind and indulgent husband, a steady friend,
and a faithful counsellor. In^hort, his mannerly and cour-
teous behaviour as a gentleman, his piety and goodness as
a Christian, his singular knowledge and learning as a di-
vine, made him highly acceptable to all ranks. No wonder
the life of this worthy man was exceeding useful, and
greatly valued and prized. His death, October 5, 1769,
was deeply and generally lamented.

The above historical account of Mr Fraser and his parents, merits the
fullest credit, being compiled by a gentleman well acquainted with that fa-
mily, and furnished with authentic papers by a surviving branch of it. The
character of the following Work, and of the worthy Author of it, was drawn
up by the Rev. Mr Alexander Frasei of Inverness ; and if I can credit some
of the best judges, rather falls short of, than exceeds the truth. I reaped
much instruction from perusing the manuscript, even before it had received
the Author's last corrections ; for it is proper the public should be informed
that this Treatise does not labour under the common disadvantage of pos-
thumous publications, having been prepared for the press by the learned and
ingenious author. I am assured, the talents for criticism displayed in it
have been greatly admired by some gentlemen of ability, attached to a very
opposite system of divinity.

JohnErskine.
Edinburgh, April 28, 1774.

INTRODUCTION

TO THE

EXPLICATION OF ROMANS VI.

SHOWING

That this, and the preceding Chapter, are not meant, as Mr
Locke interprets, of Believers of the Gentiles separately,
and as contradistinguished to Jewish Believers.

It is of great consequence in interpretation, to discover and
observe carefully the general scope and purpose of a writer,
and of his argument. When this is justly conceived and
understood, it serves in a great measure as a key in inter-
preting particular passages, that might otherwise be ambigu-
ous or dark. But when the general scope is mistaken,
through the influence of prejudice against the truth, or of
an hypothesis and preconceived opinion possessing the mind,
this often occasions a forced and unnatural interpretation of
particular passages, and giving meanings to particular ex-
pressions, that are not agreeable to scripture use, or to the
use of speech otherwise, or to the real scope of the writer,
and of his argument.

I cannot help thinking that this hath, in some degree,
happened to the celebrated Mr Locke ; when he understood
the fifth and sixth chapters of this epistle to the Romans, as
addressed to the Gentile converts to Christianity separately,
and as contradistinguished to the Jewish converts ; to whom
he supposed the seventh chapter to be addressed, as contra-
distinguished to the Gentiles. I see little in this sixth
chapter itself, that he brings to prove it to be addressed to
the Gentile converts separately. But as he supposes it to
be addressed to the same persons as the fifth, it is from
that chapter especially that he brings the proof that the
whole discourse contained in both is directed to the Gentiles.
This notion of his appears to have brought him under great
disadvantage in interpretation ; and an ill superstructure
has been raised upon it. It is therefore needful that I give
the reasons why I cannot fall in with it, and show it not to
be well founded,

12 Introduction to the

His proofs are taken chiefly from the first eleven verses
of chap. v. The word we, in the first verse, he will have to
mean the Gentiles ; and thus he reasons : f It is in their
1 name that St Paul speaks in the three last verses of the
• foregoing chapter, and all through this section, as is evi-
f dent from the illation here, Therefore being justified by
1 faith, we — ; it being an inference drawn from his having
1 proved in the foregoing chapter, that the promise was not
' to the Jews alone, but to the Gentiles also/ Very well ;
if he proved that the promise was not to the Jews alone, but
to both Jews and Gentiles — that is, to all true believers, the
natural consequence is, that we should understand the illa-
tion, therefore, as introducing not privileges and comforts
belonging to one sort of believers separately, but to all be-
lievers in common, whether of the Jews or of the Gentiles.

As to the three last verses of chap. iv. with which the il-
lative word therefore is most immediately connected, there
is no colour of reason for supposing them to be spoken in name
of the Gentiles separately. It was not written, saith the
apostle, chap. iv. 2,3. for his [[Abraham's] sake alone, that it
[[faith] was imputed to him ; but (ver. 24.) for tts also, to
whom it shall be imputed, if we believe; — that is, it was writ-
ten for the sake of us also, who live in these latter times, if
we believe. What other sense can be given these words ?
or what is there in them of any thing special respecting the
Gentiles as contradistinguished to the Jews ? Yea, I do not
see in Mr L/s own paraphrase and notes on these three
verses, any thing that tends to restrict their meaning to the
Gentiles separately. Instead of that, here is his note on
ver. 24. — c St Paul seems to mention this here in particular,
e to show the analogy between Abraham's faith and that of
' believers under the gospel; see ver. 17«* Right; believers
under the gospel, both of the Jews and of the Gentiles. It
being so, then, what reason to think that the illative word
therefore is meant to introduce any other matters than such
as belong in common to believers of both denominations ?

However, having fixed it in his mind that the apostle
here, chap. v. & vi. means the Gentiles, as contradistinguished
to the Jews, he says in his contents of chap. v. 1 — 11.
1 In this section he comes to show what the convert Gen-
' tiles, by faith without circumcision, had to glory in.'
They had indeed these things to glory in : but had not
Jewish believers the same cause to glory ? Or, is there any
reason why all believers, Jews and Gentiles, should not be

Explication of Rom. VI. J 3

understood to be meant ? The author mentions three things :
for thus he goes on — ■ viz. the hope of glory, ver. 2.'
Surely this was common to all believers of the Jews and of
the Gentiles. But had they not, previous to this, cause to
glory in being at peace with God, (ver. 1.) and in being
brought into a state of grace and favour with God, (ver. 2) ?
But the author here, without reason, doth, in mentioning the
causes of glorying which the believer hath, confine himself to
the three instances, in which the apostle uses the word glorying.

The next thing he mentions that the Gentiles had to
glory in, was, s their sufferings for the gospel, ver. 3.'
Surely these, and the consolations of faith respecting them,
were common to believers of both denominations. The chief
tribulations of the Christians of these times were by perse-
cutions, and the chief persecutors then were the unbeliev-
ing Jews, — the weight of whose malice and wrath fell espe-
cially on the believers who were of their own nation, whom
they considered as the betrayers and enemies of their nation
and religion. But it appears not that the apostle's view was
confined to sufferings for the gospel, when he mentions tri-
bulation. As to tribulations for religion and the gospel,
Christians may lay their account with them, in one form or
other, in all times ; for the truth is, as the apostle writes,
2 Tim. iii. 12. All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall
suffer persecution. However persons religious in another
way may be respected in the world, they who will be evan-
gelically religious, (godly in Christ Jesus,) will be hated by
the world, and be pursued with the malice and contempt of
the world, in one way or other. But what is there in this
to distinguish the case of Gentiles from that of Jews ?

In the third place, our author says, ( The Gentiles had
' cause to glory in God as their God, ver. 11.' This is of
the three the point on which he labours most. He observes
how the Jew is represented, chap. ii. 17- as making his boast
of God. The word is the same that is rendered here by
glorying. In Mr L.'s note on chap. v. 2. he writes thus —
' Glory. The same word here for the Gentile converts,
i that he used before for the boasting of the Jews — plainly
' shows us here, that St Paul in this section opposes the ad-
( vantages the Gentile converts to Christianity have by
( faith, to those the Jews gloried in with so much haughti-
' ness and contempt of the Gentiles.' But, allowing that
the apostle meant an opposition of the glorying of different
sorts of people, Mr L. hath not conceived or stated the op-

a 5

14 Introduction to the

position in a just or right manner. He should have stated
it as between the glorying of the true Christian, of whatever
nation, and that of the unbelieving carnal Jew, mentioned
chap. ii. ; not between the Gentile converts and the Jews
without distinction. For (Acts xxi. 20.) there were many
thousands of the Jews who believed, and were zealous of
the law. These undoubtedly had their part in the glorying,
and cause of glorying mentioned here, chap. v. together with
Christians of the Gentiles.

To conceive the matter justly, the opposition and contrast
stands thus : Upon the one hand, the carnal unbelieving
Jew gloried on the grounds mentioned, chap. ii. 17-, he rested
in the law, and made his boast of God, of his knowing his
will, and approving the things that are most excellent, &c. on
such grounds as the apostle mentions as in his own case,
Phil. iii. 5. 6. Circumcised the eighth day, &c. The carnal
Jews their glorying in God, was the glorying of an ill found-
ed carnal confidence in men insensible of their own sinful-
ness, and of what their true case required, in order to their
having a well founded glorying in God. Upon the other
hand, as to the Christian's glorying in God here, ver. 11. if
he glorieth in God, it is through Jesus Christ, by wiiom we
have received the atonement : by virtue of which, sinners, re-
conciled to God, admitted unto his grace and favour, and
unto covenant with him, have the most sure and solid ground
of glorying in God. Here is a clear opposition between the
glorying of the carnal Jew, or hypocrite of that denomina-
tion, and that of true Christians through faith : and we may
now justly substitute in place of this, and as of the same
general kind, the opposition that still subsists between the
glorying of the true believer, and that of hypocritical pro-
fessors in the Christian church. But there is nothing here
in the glorying mentioned, Rom. v. 11. that is peculiar to
Gentiles, and that is not common to believers of whatever
nation. When the apostle says, Phil. iii. 3. We are the

circumcision, which rejoice in Christ Jesus, (the word is

the same that is rendered glorying J and have no confidence
in the flesh ; there is an opposition between the glorying of
the true Christian, and that of the unbelieving carnal Jews,
mentioned under very unfavourable character in the pre-
ceding verse ; whose grounds of confidence and glorying are
mentioned in the next following verses. But I expect none
will take it in his head to say, that this glorying in Christ
Jesu3 is peculiar to Gentiles. Mr L. himself, in a note on

Explication of Rom. VI. 15

ver. 1 1. of Rom. v. writes thus : ' And not only so, but we
' glory also in God as our God ;' (so the author paraphrases
there) — e And thus he (the apostle) shows, that the convert
e Gentiles had whereof to glory, as well as the Jews.'
Doubtless ; as well as the Jews : why then not understand
what is there of believing Jews and Gentiles ?

We are not indeed to understand Mr L. to have meant
that the three subjects of glorying mentioned by him, did
not belong to believers of the Jewish nation : that were too
absurd. These, then, afforded no reason for supposing that
the apostle in the first context of chap. v. and in chap. vi.
meant the Gentile Christians, as contradistinguished to the
Jews. Upon what, then, doth the learned writer indeed found
that notion ? This we have in the following passage. ' An-
' other evidence (saith he, note on chap. v. 8.) St. Paul
' gives them here of the love of God towards them — is the
■ death of Christ for them, whilst they were yet in their
c Gentile estate/ But did not Christ die for those of the
Jewish nation, (John xi. 51, 52.) though not for that nation
only ? He goes on — ' which (their Gentile estate) he de-
* scribes by calling them (note on ver. 6. 8.) urd-ivug, ?vith-
c out strength, a<7&us> ungodly, apx^raXo!, sinners, i%$%a
' enemies. These four epithets are given to them as Gen-
( tiles, they being used by St Paul, as the proper attributes
' of the heathen world, in contradistinction to the Jewish
' nation/ So then under these epithets he doth not include
the Jews, or any others than the Gentiles in their heathen
state. As the criticisms of this eminent writer on these
four epithets tend to establish misinterpretation of scripture,
of considerable and hurtful consequence, it is the more need-
ful that we consider them carefully.

1. arSmis, rendered here (chap. v. 6.) according to its
precise meaning without strength — e The helpless condition
e (saith Mr L.) of the Gentile world in the state of Gen-
' tilism, signified here by without strength, he terms, Col.
' ii. IS. dead in sin, a state, if any, of weakness/ I am
hereafter to consider by itself this expression, dead in sin ;
and to show that it doth not contradistinguish the Gentiles
to the Jews ; and if not, then, having been dead, as in chap,
vi. 13. the other text he adduces certainly doth not dis-
tinguish them. Mr L. himself says, in the contents pre-
fixed to his paraphrase of chap. iii. 1 — 13. whatever ad-
vantages the Jews had, that, in respect to their acceptance
with God under the gospel, they had none at all. c He

16 Introduction to the

' (the apostle) declares that both Jews and Gentiles are —
' both equally incapable of being justified by their own per-
c formances/ And in his paraphrase of ver. 20. he gives
the apostle's sense thus: ' It is evident that by his own
' performances, in obedience to a law, no man can attain to
f an exact conformity to the rule of right, so as to be right-
c eous in the sight of God/ One would think, that, ac-
cording to this general doctrine, he should have understood
the epithet, without strength, to belong to all. For if all are
equally incapable of being justified by their own perfor-
mances, this clearly implies, that all were without strength.

We have seen all that Mr L. adduces to support his in-
terpretation of this word. Let me now give my view of it,
and of that text, Rom. v. 6. There are two things in the
wretched, natural, and common condition of men. One is,
to be ungodly, guilty, destitute of righteousness with which
they can appear and stand before God. The other is want
of strength to help themselves, to do what is pleasing to
God, or to walk with God. This text directs sinful men to
look to Christ, for righteousness and strength, by virtue of
his death, and the purchase thereof. So it answers well to
the prophecy concerning him, Is. xlv. 24. Surely, shall one
say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. I am
satisfied with this view of that text, Rom. v. 6. If any
others are not, they may consider what is offered by Dr
Whitby on the place ; where he brings a good many in-
stances from the Seventy, of their translating the Hebrew
wrord that signifies to stumble or fall, by the Greek word
rendered here, without strength. His paraphrase gives it
thus: (' We being fallen, at the appointed time) Christ
c died for the ungodly, (for us who since our fall had no
e righteousness of our own.') But neither will this suit
Mr L/s purpose ; for being without strength in this sense,
is the natural condition of Jews and Gentiles ; all have
fallen.

2. The second epithet, specially denoting, according to
him, the Gentiles, is, ar&ag, ungodly, which occurs in the
same text with the former, chap v. 6. The whole of what
he adduces in his note on this text to his purpose, respect-
ing this word, he gives thus : f How he describes, etet&iaiv,
e ungodliness, mentioned, chap. i. 18. as the proper state of
fthe Gentiles, we may see, ver. 21. 23/ That the Gentiles
were chargeable with ungodliness in a very high degree,
yea, and with holding the truth in unrighteousness, is not a

Explication of Horn. VI. 1 7

matter in question. But if the apostle proves that against
the Gentiles, in what remains of that first chapter, he
thereafter proves the charge of ungodliness, and unrighteous*
ness against the Jews ; and certainly they were move charge-
able with holding the truth in unrighteousness, as mentioned
ver. 18. than the Gentiles, as they had more knowledge of
the truth, having, besides nature's light, that of revelation.
However, Mr L/s meaning is, that this and the other
epithets denote the Gentiles nationally, not single persons
of them universally. For in his note on this place, ver. 6.
and 8. he writes thus : s That there were some among the

* heathen as innocent in their lives, and as far from enmity
e to God, as some among the Jews, cannot be questioned.
' Nay, that many of them were not **•*&**, but <n£outyo',
' worshippers of the true God, if we would doubt of it, is
1 manifest out of the Acts of the Apostles.'

As to this it is agreed, that the persons so called in the
book of Acts, chap. xiii. 43. and chap. xvii. 17- were Gen-
tiles by nation and descent : that they were heathens in
religion is very wrong, as heathen, in our use of speech,
imports idolatrous religion. According to this, heathens,
worshippers of the true God, as Mr L.'s passage hath it, is
very improper speech. These mentioned in the Acts were
proselytes, and are so called expressly in the first of the
texts now mentioned : Religious (a-iZouivoi) proselytes.
They were persons who knew and received the faith of the
church of God, though they had not become members
thereof by circumcision.

But to bring what concerns this epithet to some issue, —
Mr L. proposed it as a general rule, to interpret St Paul by
St Paul himself. But in this, and in too many other in-
stances, he is not lucky in applying that rule. According
to that rule, it is reasonable to think that he means ungodly
here, chap. v. 6. in the same sense in which he uses it in
this same discourse, chap. iv. 5. In his note on the word
there, Mr L. writes thus : c By these words St Paul

* plainly points out Abraham, who was et<ri£~g, ungodly,
1 i.e. a Gentile, not a worshipper of the true God, when
1 God called him/ Here are several things not justly
conceived. 1. Ungodly cannot be a designation given to
the Gentiles of Abraham's time, in contradistinction to the
Jews, who did not then exist. All the people God had
then on earth were among the several nations of the world.
2. There appears not sufficient cause for calling Abraham

18 Introduction to the

ungodly, as not being a worshipper of the true Cod. I know
that Joshua says, chap. xxiv. 2. Your fathers dwelt on the
other side of the flood in old time, even TeraJi the father of
Abraham and the father of Nachor ; and they served other
gods. Yet it is not clear that Abraham personally served
other gods. But the expression we are considering is, that
God justifeth the ungodly ; and it is at any rate unreason-
able to think that Abraham was ungodly in Mr L.'s sense,
that is, a worshipper of other gods, when God justified
him.

But to apply Mr L.'s rule, and interpret St Paul by St
Paul himself. He says, ver. 5. that the man is justified, or
his faith imputed to him for righteousness, who believclh on
him thai justi/ieth the ungodly. The blessed apostle ex-
plains the meaning in the very next following words, ver.
6, 7« Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the
man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven. Here
it is plain, that the apostle states in opposition, justifying
the ungodly, and justification by a man's own works ; which
behoved for that purpose to be perfect and sinless. Every
transgressor is in the eye of the law ungodly ; and it is evi-
dent that the apostle means by ungodly every one who
needs to have his iniquity forgiven ; as he explains himself,
and proves his doctrine by the Psalmist's words to that ef-
fect. It was not the case of the Gentiles, but his own case,
who wras a Jew, that suggested these words to the Psalmist.
It is then very clear, by the manner in wrhich the apostle
introduces these words of David, that by ungodly he means
every one who can be charged with sin, and needs forgive-
ness. Thus we have the meaning of ungodly, chap. iv. 5.
and there is no reason to think, that in the continuation of
his discourse, chap. v. b\ he uses the word in any other
meaning. The consequence is, that ungodly, chap. v. 6. is
by no means to be understood as a special epithet of the
Gentiles, as contradistinguished to the Jews.

3. Of the third epithet Mr L. thus writes, note on chap,
v. 6. 8. ( That he (the apostle) thought the title, u^x^tojXoi,
< sinners, belonged peculiarly to the Gentiles, in contradis-
' tinction to the Jews, he puts it past doubt in these words,
' We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gen-
' tiles, Gal. ii. 15. ^ee also, chap. vi. 17 — 22. ' This last
mentioned context does indeed represent those he writes to,
to have been formerly servants of sin. But if that is the

Explication of Rom. VI. 19

case naturally of Jews, and of all men, it says nothing to
the purpose for which it is adduced here. His arguing from
Gal. ii. 15. is no better than if one should say, sinners is the
peculiar character of a particular nation, to be presently
named, who were noted for wickedness, as 1 Sam. xv. 18.
Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amale kites.

To consider the matter more closely; the truth is, the
name sinners is often used to signify persons flagitious, dis-
tinguished for impurity or iniquity. So, Luke vii. 37, 39.
Matth. xi. 19. Matth. xxvi. 45. Luke vi. 32. Luke xv. 1. 2.
John ix. 16. 24. 25. 31.; and so in many instances in the
New Testament, and likewise in the Old Testament, which
one will easily find by the help of his concordance. In
this sense might the name sinners be sometimes given to
the Gentiles. If, however, when the name sinners is
joined to the name Gentiles, it is to be understood as a cha-
racter of them, must it be so understood when the name
Gentiles is not mentioned ? I would think it so should, if
the word expresses the peculiar character of Gentiles. For
instance, Luke vii. 37- And behold, a woman in the city
which was a sinner ; doth this mean a woman which was a
Gentile ? If the apostle had said, Gal. ii. 1 5. We who are
Jews by nature, and not sinners, and not to have explained
the matter by adding of the Gentiles, there had been some
colour for the criticism : the scope of the place would say
much for understanding it there of the Gentiles. But when
he explains, and expresses as he does, it is rather contrary
to the purpose for which it is brought, and looks as if he
was sensible that the word sinners would scarce be under-
stood of the Gentiles, if he had not so added expressly.

Again : If a designation, epithet, or name, is given to the
Gentiles on some particular occasion, are we to understand
of them these names on all occasions ? The Jews called the.
Gentiles dogs, Matth. xv. 26, 27- Shall we, wherever dogs
are mentioned metaphorically, understand it of the Gentiles ?
The apostle says, Phil. iii. 2. Beware of dogs. If one
should say, that this denotes the Gentiles, as contradistin-
guished to the Jews, he certainly would mistake greatly ;
for it is plain the Jews are meant.

If we are to interpret the apostle Paul by himself, it is
needless to go so far as Gal. ii. 15. to interpret the word
sinners, Rom. v. 8. when the apostle's style and words in
this same discourse contain enough to determine the mean-

20 Introduction io the

ing of the word in the last named text. Mr L. himself ob-
serves in the contents prefixed to Rom. iii. 1 — 13. that c he
(the apostle) declares that both Jews and Gentles are sin-
ners.' In this same chapter, v. 19- By one man's disobe-
dience many were made sinners ; is this, many were made
Gentiles ? The apostle had in the first three chapters of
this epistle proved, that none can be justified by the law ;
and that by this general principle, chap. iii. 23. That all have
sinned. So all whom God justifies, they being sinners, he
justifies them freely, as in the next verse. If, then, in the
continuation of his discourse, he draws, chap. v. consolatory
inferences from this doctrine, no man, if an hypothesis or
peculiar conceit did not give a wry cast to his mind, could be
at a loss or in danger to mistake the meaning of the word
sinners, when the apostle says, ver. 8. When we were yet sin-
ners, Christ died for us. Surely Christ died for all his
people ; as the apostle had proved, chap. iii. 9. that both
Jews and Gentiles are all under sin. This epithet, then, or
character, doth by no means contradistinguish Gentiles to
the Jews.

4. The fourth epithet, said to be peculiar to the Gentiles,
and to denote them separately, is 6%$%oi, enemies. ' As for
' lyfitoi, enemies, (saith Mr L. ibid.) you have the Gentiles,
* before their conversion to Christ, so called, Col. i. 21.'
The words are, And you who were sometime alienated, and
enemies in your minds by wicked works, yet now hath he re-
conciled. But, strange ! is every thing that is said to Gentiles
peculiar to Gentiles? If so, then all that Paul says to the
Gentile churches he writes to, concerning men's natural con-
dition, or concerning the grace of the gospel, must be under-
stood to mean something peculiar to Gentiles. Some do in-
deed labour hard to turn things that way as to both, absurd-
ly enough. As to this text, Col. i. 21. — enemies in your
minds, — this enmity is in the mind, or is inward ; not in their
outward condition or state. This makes it reasonable to
understand, when he adds — by wicked works — that there is
a metonymy of the effect for the cause ; wicked works, for
wicked lusts, that are the cause of such works. The like
metonymy seems to be, Rom. viii. 13. If ye — mortify the
deeds of the body,—^boi\y meaning the same as flesh ; and
deeds for lusts, t e inward cause of deeds. Now, if the Co-
lossians are said to be enemies in their minds by wicked lusts,
there is nothing in that but what is ascribed to the carnal
mind ; Rom. viii. 7- The carnal mind is enmity against God.

Explication of Rom. VI. 21

But as it is not reasonable to restrict the enmity of the car-
nal mind to the Gentiles, neither is it reasonable to restrict
to them being enemies in their minds, Col. i. 21.

Let us consider the text itself, Rom. v. 10. the expression
of which is in question : When we were enemies, we were re-
conciled to God by the death of' his Son. Being reconciled,
doth certainly presuppose a previous enmity. The Sovereign
and Judge of the world views sinners as rebels and enemies
previously to this reconciliation. But Jews, being sinners,
needed to be, and many of them were, reconciled to God by
the death of his Son. Therefore the character of enemies,
in the sense of this place, doth not denote the Gentiles as
contradistinguished to the Jews.

Mr L. however, gives an account of this reconciliation and
peace, that tends to invalidate the account I have given of
enemies. Thus he says, (ibid.) — ( Hence St Paul, who was
1 the apostle of the Gentiles, calls his performing that office,
' the ministry of reconciliation, 2 Cor. v. 18/ As to this,
let it be observed, that Christ by his cross hath procured
reconciliation, according to Eph. ii. first of Jews and Gen-
tiles ; ver. 15. Having abolished in his Jlesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments ; so he hath reconciled Jews and
Gentiles, making them one body and church. Next, the
reconciliation of both (Jews and Gentiles) unto God in
one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. The
consequence is, ver. 17- he came to preach peace, even this
reconciliation, to them who were far off, (the Gentiles) and
to them who were nigh, that is, the Jews. It is to be ob-
served, in the next; place, that Christ's preaching this peace,
after his undergoing the cross, was not in his own person ;
but he preached by his apostles and other ministers. Par-
ticularly the preaching of it to the Gentiles was committed to
Paul : the preaching it to the Jews was committed to Peter.
But surely it was preaching the same peace : it was the
same ministry of reconciliation that was committed to both.

Let us consider the subject of this ministry and preaching.
It was, ver. 19- That God is in Christ, reconciling the world
unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. Here
the word world includes the Gentiles ; but no good reason
can be given why it should not include Jews also. For
though world is sometimes meant in contradistinction to the
people of Israel, yet sometimes it is used with respect to
the Jews especially ; as on occasion of going to attend the
solemnity of the feast of tabernacles, Christ says to his

22 Introduction to the

brethren, John vii. 7. The world cannot hate you : but me it
hateth. World in this place appears to be particularly meant
of Jews. Christ says to Nicodemus, John iii. 1& God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth on him might not perish. If world in-
cludes here the Gentiles, must it even be restricted to them ?
That were poor comfort to Nicodemus a Jew. At that rate,
we behoved to restrict to the Gentiles the next clause, That
whosoever believeth might not perish; and understand it,
Whosoever of the Gentiles ; which were very absurd. If
the reconciliation, 2 Cor. v. 18, 19- imports God's not im-
puting to men their trespasses, I hope it will be allowed,
that Jewish believers had their part in this, as the Gentiles
had.

Finally, the ground on which this reconciliation and peace
is founded, is what Jews and Gentiles were alike concerned
in ; and that hath an equal respect to both ; ver. 21. For he
hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ; that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him. Upon the
whole, though the apostle Paul was the apostle of the Gen-
tiles, and in teaching the Corinthians, as he doth, ver. 18 —
21. is representing the subject and end of his ministry, yet
there is nothing therein peculiar to the Gentiles. If, ac-
cording to Christ's words, Luke xxiv. 47- Repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in his name among all
nations, (which is indeed the ministry of reconciliation,
2 Cor. v.) our Lord adds, beginning at Jerusalem. The mi-
nistry of reconciliation was designed for all nations; but first
for the Jews. So it was very unreasonable for Mr L. to re-
strict the ministry of reconciliation to the gathering in of the
Gentiles, and to understand being enemies previously to that
reconciliation, as an epithet or character distinguishing Gen-
tiles from Jews.

Mr L.'s views we shall more fully understand, by observ-
ing what he adds in the place before mentioned, (note on
chap. v. 6. 8.) — c And here in this chapter (Rom. v. 1.) the
( privilege which they (the Gentiles) receive, he tells them
' is this, that they have peace with God, i.e. are no longer
' incorporated with his enemies, and of the party of the open
c rebels against him in the kingdom of Satan ; being return-
' ed to their natural' allegiance, in their owning the one
( true supreme God, in submitting to the kingdom he had
1 set up in his Son, and being received by him as his sub-
I jects.' As to this, it is true, that in their conversion by

Explication of Rom. VI. 23

the gospel, the Gentiles turned to God from idols, to serve
the living and true God, 1 Thess. i. 9* and God received
them as his subjects. But certainly all they, whether Jews
or Gentiles, who truly believed in Jesus Christ, and were
justified by this faith, have received the remission of their
sins, as chap. iv. 5, 6, 7- This is the principal thing in the
reconciliation ; God not imputing to them their trespasses,
but receiving them, as to the real state of their souls, unto
grace and favour. So that they are not any longer under
the curse of the law, nor have the wrath of God abiding on
them ; as is the state of many, who are not heathens, in the
party of open rebels, but are outwardly of the kingdom which
God hath set up in his Son. To neglect this, and to inter-
pret the peace with God, Rom. v. 1. of the outward common
privilege of all who are members of the church, is what I
cannot consider otherwise than as enervating and grossly
perverting the scripture.

I know that in the eleventh of Romans, the apostle teaches,
ver. 1 5. that on occasion of casting away the Jews, the world
\\he Gentiles] were reconciled, which implies that formerly
they were enemies, in a particular sense. And he represents,
ver. 28. that the Jews cast off, and no longer in a church-state,
were thus become enemies. But let the expressions be under-
stood in the sense to which the scope and argument in that
place determines them. It appears, however, that in this
place, Rom. v. 10. all men, being sinners, ungodly in the
eye of the law, and needing (as chap. iv. 7-) the forgiveness
of their sins, are in the apostle's meaning and view enemies,
whether Jews or Gentles, until they are reconciled to God by
the death of his Son, being (as ver. Q.) justified by his blood,
and chap iii. 25. through faith in his blood. So that enemies
is not a character peculiar to Gentiles.

These criticisms of Mr Locke's on the four epithets have
some appearance of being ingenious. But the ingenious
have often produced conceits, that would not bear strict ex-
amination, while they have been, however, the source or
support of very gross misinterpretation. That it hath thus
happened as to Mr L.'s criticisms and interpretations of Rom.
v. in particular, may appear in a strong enough light to such
as will peruse the writings of the late famous Dr Taylor.
Therefore I expect to be excused for looking a little farther
into these interpretations of Mr Locke's. His notions of the
four epithets come to this, That they import the national
character of the Gentiles in their state of heathenism ; and

24 Introduction to the

that the comfortable things, stated in opposition to these in
the Christian state of the Gentiles, do import national privi-
leges and advantages accruing to the Gentiles by the grace
of the gospel : and that in such way, on the one side and the
other, as to their former state of heathenism, and their latter
state luider the gospel ; that from these there could no con-
clusions be formed concerning the real spiritual condition of
particular persons before God.

To this purpose the author expresses himself thus, note
on Rom. v. 6. 8. ' If it were remembered, that St Paul
' all along, through the eleven first chapters of this epistle,
' speaks nationally of the Jews and Gentiles, as it is visible
■ he does, and not personally of single men, there wTould be
1 less difficulty, and fewer mistakes in understanding this
' epistle/ So he. Concerning these things, I say, in the
first place, if in the 9th, 10th, 11th chapters, the apostle
doth frequently speak of Jews and Gentiles nationally ; let
him be so understood whensoever his expression, or the scope
of the argument give cause for it. But to apply this notion
to the preceding eight chapters, is altogether without reason ;
yea, is contrary to the evident design and meaning.

This will be very clear, if we consider the two subjects he
insists especially and most largely upon. The first is that
of man's sinfulness : concerning which he hath this con-
clusion, chap. iii. ^9. That every mouth may be stopped, and
all the world may become guilty before God. Every mouth —
is not this to every one singly ? and that all the world may
become guilty, — is this as to general national character, while
thousands may happen not to be guilty ? Surely the apostle
means to represent the case of all men, and of every man
singly, and indiscriminately, without distinction of nations,
or of any peculiar national character. This is the more to
be observed, that it is the result of all his reasoning hitherto
in this epistle. When he adds, ver. 20. Therefore by the
deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight ; surely
this is not to be understood nationally, but of every man
singly and personally ; as it is plain he includes every one
singly, when he says, ver. 23. All have sinned, and come
short cf the glory of God.

As by these texts just mentioned it appears, that all the
apostle's reasoning in the three first chapters terminates in
conclusions that respect and include every man singly, and
that prove the sinfulness of every one ; we might from this
expect, that what he next produces for men's encouragement

Explication of Rom, VI, 2j

and comfort, should be designed for men singly — for every
man with respect to his own case in particular. So it is in-
deed ; for he immediately passes to a doctrine concerning
justification through faith, which, without distinction of
nations, concerns every one singly, who truly believeth in
Jesus Christ. So ver. 22. Even the righteousness of God,
which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them
that believe. The apostle's conclusion respecting justification
is, ver. 28. That a man is jnstifed by faith without the deeds
of the law. A man — certainly this respects men singly and
in particular. As he had said, chap. i. 16. that the gospel is
the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth,
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Upon a just view of the apostle's expression and doctrine,
it must appear extremely absurd to suppose, that with him
believing is a national character ; or that justification through
faith is a national privilege, blessing, or attainment. It is very
evident, that the faith he speaks of is true, or, as he calls it
elsewhere, unfeigned faith ; and that this is not a national,
but a personal thing. It is no less evident, that justification
through faith is a personal, not a national blessing. It ap-
pears, then, though Jews and Gentiles are national names,
that what the apostle asserts of men's sinfulness, is not to be
understood nationally, but personally of all and every one of
mankind ; and that his doctrine of justification through faith
is applicable to every true believer, whether Jew or Gentile,
singly, and to none else. All and every one having sinned,
they who are justified, are so, freely by grace, through the
redemption that is in Christ, (chap. iii. 23, 24.) In whom
(as Eph. i. 7-) we have redemption through his blood, even the
remission of sins ; he being (as Rom. iii. 25.) set forth as a
propitiation, through faith in his blood. The reality of this
faith, and of the blessedness that cometh by it, are not na-
tional, but personal, to every true believer.

Now, when the apostle proceeds, chap. v. to set forth the
blessedness and consolation arising from this faith, and
justification through faith, what should we expect from a
view of his preceding discourse, and of the evident scope
and drift of it, but a representation of blessings, consolation,
and hope, belonging to true believers singly ? not national
advantages, which are but external, and take effect for the
salvation but of a few commonly.

Let us consider the first of these privileges and blessings,
chap. v. 1. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God.

26 Introduction to the

It is easy judging from the apostle's preceding discourse,
how this peace is to be understood. He had proved that all
and every one had sinned ; that they are the ungodly, chap.
iv. 5, 7- who are justified by the forgiveness of their sins.
Previously to this, being guilty, and the wrath of God abid-
ing on them, (John iii. 36.) they are considered as enemies ;
and in this wretched state are without strength or ability to
help themselves. What then should we understand by the
blessing set in opposition to all this, even the peace which
believers have with God? but as it is expressed, ver. 10.
that they are reconciled to God, who is (2 Cor. v. 19.) recon-
ciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses unto
them : and that (as Rom. viii. 31.) God is for them, and that
they are admitted, as in the next following words of chap.
v. 2. unto a state of special grace and favour with God.

Mr Locke's account of this peace with God we have seen
already. It is, that the Gentiles were not now in the state
of open rebels, as when in heathenism and idolatry ; but
are admitted as members of the kingdom of Christ : and this
he would have understood of the Gentiles nationally. If so
as to the peace with God, ver. 1. then certainly all that fol-
lows must be so understood ; nationally rejoice in the hope of
the glory of God ; nationally glory in tribulation ; nationally
have the love of God shed abroad in our hearts, &c. &c. How
contrary this is to the apostle's view, appears from what
hath been said already.

It is fit to consider in this place one argument that re-
mains, and which he takes from the connexion of the apostle's
discourse, which cannot, he thinks, be accounted for, with-
out understanding this context, chap. v. 1 — 11. as he has
done. But as it hath been shown here, that his interpre-
tation is altogether without foundation, that gives good
cause to think, that he has mistaken the connexion, or that
it can be well accounted for without receiving his interpre-
tation.

Let us, however, observe how he manages this argument,
in the last paragraph of his note on ver. b*. 8. — c And, in-
' deed, if the four epithets be not taken to be spoken here of
' the Gentile world, in this political and truly evangelical
c sense, but, in the ordinary systematical notion, applied to
' all mankind, as belonging universally to every man person-
' ally, whether by profession Gentile, Jew, or Christian, be-
( fore he be actually regenerated by a saving faith, and an
• effectual thorough conversion, the illative particle where-

Explication of Rom. VI. 27

'fore, in the beginning of ver. 12. will hardly connect it and
1 what follows to the foregoing part of this chapter. But
' the eleven first verses must be taken for a parenthesis,
' and then the therefore, in the beginning of this fifth chap-
1 ter, which joins it to the fourth with a very clear connec-
' tion, will be wholly insignificant.'

Here he calls the sense he gives of the four epithets, the
political and truly evangelical sense. I shall add nothing
about the political sense to what hath been said already about
the national sense, as he had been calling it before ; but only
take occasion from the word to say, it had been well if Mr
Locke had written on subjectsin divinity, as well as he did on
some political subjects. Meantime, I think his sense is far
from being truly evangelical. A sense and interpretation
that enervates quite a context so full of consolation, that
deprives Christians singly and personally of the special con-
solations belonging to them as true believers, justified by
faith, and turns all to matter of external and common pri-
vilege, common to them and others, members of the church,
who are not actually regenerated by a saving faith, as he
speaks, and an effectual thorough conversion.

Whatever contemptuous notion this author and some
others, adversaries to the doctrine of the reformed churches,
have affixed to system and systematical, (though they have
their own systems and systematical notions themselves) it
is very evident that what he calls the systematical notion i9
the true notion of the four epithets in Rom. v. and that his
conceit concerning them cannot be supported by any argu-
ment or just criticism.

As to the connexion of chap. v. 1. with ihe preceding
discourse, expressed by the illative therefore, it is very clear :
nor is there need of Mr L.'s notion to make it so. He had
asserted justification by faith, and now infers, — Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God; justifica-
tion imports the forgiveness of sins, and this of itself imports
peace with God. All that follows, to ver. 11. is comfortable
inference from justification, and the apostle's doctrine con-
cerning it. So the illative therefore, ver. 1. represents a
clear connexion ; and is fraughted with inferences of the
utmost importance and consolation. There is no need of
making the intervening context to ver. 12. a parenthesis.
There is nothing in it but what the illative therefore, ver.
10. conveys clearly from the preceding discourse.

Now, as to the connexion by the wherefore, ver. 12. let us

28 Introduction to the

observe how Mr L. himself represents it. He gives it at
the end of his long note on ver. 6. 8. thus — c We Gentiles
f have by Christ received the reconciliation, which we can-
( not doubt to be intended for us, as well as for the Jews,
c since sin and death entered into the world by Adam, the
( common father of us all : and as by the disobedience of
' that one condemnation of death came upon all, so by the
1 obedience of one, justification to life came upon all/ Let
us now see whether the connexion here may not be as clearly
and justly accounted for, and as much produced by it for
the interest of the Gentiles, according to the common inter-
pretation, as Mr L.'s view of it has produced. Let us for
this take the paraphrase of ver. 12. by the judicious Dr.
Guise, (from which that of a more late very worthy writer
might receive correction in some things) the sum of which
is as follows, — ( Since therefore under the gospel state, Gen-
e tiles as well as Jews are in fact reconciled by the death
' of Christ, and have received the atonement by faith in
' him, (ver. 10, 11.); and since — persons of all nations
c were on a level — as to their guiltiness before God, and

* their need of the gospel way of justification — let us now

* — go back as far as the original apostacy, in which the
\ Jews were without doubt equally involved with the Gen-
e tiles. — Now, as this is the case of one and all in Adam,

< and shows that the Jew is as much under guilt, and has
f as much need of the gospel-salvation as the Gentile ; so,

< as we shall see anon, (ver. 18, 19.) spiritual blessings,
c opposite to all this ruin by the first man, are brought in
' by Jesus Christ, as a public head of recovery to one as well
' as another of these sorts of people, through faith in him/

By what hath been observed, it is evident, that there is
no need of Mr L/s notions concerning the scope and mean-
ing of the first context of chap. v. in order to give a satisfy-
ing account of the connexion therewith of the latter context of
that chapter. The apostle having proved that all and every
one of mankind are, in their natural condition, under condem-
nation, he next asserts the doctrine of justification through
faith, and lays open the great consolations that arise from it :
and concludes his discourse on these subjects, with giving a
view of the origin, source, and ground, both of condemnation
and of justification ; the former by the offence and disobe-
dience of Adam, and by the many offences men have added
thereto ; the latter by the obedience of Christ. He then
finishes his discourse on these subjects with the most comfort-

Explication of Rom. VI. 29

able conclusion, contained in ver. £1. which may be consider-
ed as a very brief epitome of all that precedes it in this epistle
— That as tin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace
reign through right ousness (the righteousness of one, ver. 18.
the gift of righteousness, ver. 17. or, the gifted righteousness)
unto eternal I'fe, by Jesus Christ our Lord.

There remains one argument yet, by which Mr L. endea-
vours to establish his notion of the four epithets, and by that
means to warrant his interpreting the first context of Rom.
v. concerning the Gentiles separately. It is this, that the
sense of each of them is to be found in the description the
apostle gives of the heathen state of the Gentiles, Eph. ii.
But what doth this prove ? It hath here already been made
very evident, that the four epithets mean what is, in natural
condition, common to Jews and Gentiles : if then that mean-
ing be found in a description of the state of the Gentiles, that
doth by no means weaken the evidence already brought, that
these epithets belong both to Jews and Gentiles. However,
to obviate or remove all difficulty, I shall consider what the
learned writer takes notice of as to his purpose in Eph. ii.
And I expect it will appear, that some things which he un-
derstood to be there said of the heathens, as peculiar to their
case, &~e not so, as he conceived.

The first thing is, that the epithet weak (or, without
strength,) is in the meaning of dead in trespasses and sins,
Eph. ii. 1. 5. which he understands as restricted, in the sense
of it, to the state of heathenism : and this, being dead, is,
he says, a state, if any, of weakness ; and the state of hea-
thenism being represented, as he understands, by being thus
dead, is the only argument that I see he brings to prove, that
weak, or without strength, Rom. v. is an epithet meant in a
peculiar sense of the Gentiles, as contradistinguished to the
Jews. But being dead does not import merely being weak,
but represents a state of utter incapacity, until new life is
given by Divine grace ; and if it be peculiar to heathens to
be dead in sins, as he understood, yet how can this prove,
that to be weak is not applicable both to Jews and Gentiles?

But further, if being dead in trespasses and sins is not
meant as a character peculiar to the state of heathenism ;
and if it shall appear that, according to the apostle's view,
the Jews in their natural condition were also thus dead,
there will remain no colour of argument to Mr L.'s pur-
pose. Let us then direct our inquiry to this point, and see
how the matter shall come out.

30 Introduction to the

In order to this,, it is to be observed, that upon a general
view of the chapter, Gentiles and Jews are therein spoken of
distinctly and separately. This is very clear from ver. 11.
downwards. If we consider it closely, we shall see good rea-
son to think that it is so from the beginning of the chapter.
So ver. 1. You who were dead, i. e. you Ephesians, Gentiles.
Ver. 3. Among whom also we all (that is, believers of the
Jewish nation) had our conversation. — They who will have
the Gentiles meant in this third verse, account for the pro-
noun we by saying that it means not the Jews, but the Gen-
tiles ; the apostle including himself with them, as being the
apostle of the Gentiles. But this would be as likely to have
led him to say, ver. 1. we, or us, who were dead — We
see that in those parts of the chapter, wherein it is evident
that the Gentiles separately are meant, he avoids using the
words we, or us, or our. He in these places says, ye, or
you. So ver. 1. You hath he quickened — Ver. 11. 12. Ye
being in time past Gentiles, — ye were without Christ — Ver.
13. Ye who were far off. And so again, ver. 17. to you
who were far off — Ver. 19- Ye are no more strangers — Ver.
22. In whom you also. — On the other hand, in those places
wherein it appears that he includes others besides Gentiles
under we, or our, or us, it is evident he doth not include
merely himself with the Gentiles, as being their apostle;
but means both Jews and Gentiles together. So ver. 14. He
is our peace, who hath made both one — Ver. 15. To make to
himself of twain one new man. — So the word us, in the end
of ver. 14. The middle wall of partition between us. And
ver. 18. Through him we both have an access. — This being
observable in the apostle's style through the chapter, it gives
good cause to think that we all, ver. 3. is meant of the
Jewish believers with regard to their former state. We shall
see presently something more that tends to establish this
point.

Let it then be admitted, that the first verse is meant of
the Gentiles, and these words of ver. 2. Wherein in time past
ye walked according to the course of the world, according to
the prince of the power of the air ; yet I cannot agree that
they are the Gentiles who are meant in the last clause of
that verse — the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience. I think these words are so introduced as to
indicate that another sort than Gentiles are meant. This
designation seems more likely to be designed for the charac-
ter of the Jews. The Gentiles were become remarkable for

Explication of Rom. VI. 31

the obedience of faith. The prophecy set forth, Is. xlix. 18.
22. was now a-fulfilling. When the apostle describes, Gal.
iv. the gospel-church, in opposition to the Jerusalem that
now is, (as he speaks, ver. 25.) he doth it, ver. 27. in words
cited from Is. liv. 1. which do evidently mean the Gentiles,
and the Gentile church.

The Jewish nation, with the exception of a small remnant,
were disobedient to the gospel, children of disobedience,
(uTTuS-uxg) : and if the character of disobedient, (otTretSovvris)
is given to the Jews of a particular place, Acts xiv. 2. we
find it elsewhere the character of the nation.

There seems to be good cause to think that the Jews are
the disobedient, whom the apostle Peter hath particularly in
his eye, 1 Epist. ii. 7, 8. as the two texts he there cites,
Psal. cxviii. 22. and Is. viii. 14., are certainly meant of Jews;
and if those meant by Peter, ver. 8. stumbled at the word,
(that is, the doctrine of the gospel,) being disobedient, we see
the apostle Paul using the same expression concerning
Israel, Rom. ix. ; there, speaking of Israel in general and
nationally, he says, ver. 31, 32. They attained not to the law
of righteousness, because they sought it not by faith, but as it
were by the works of the law ; for they stumbled at that
stumbling stone. — They stumbled at the word, as to that
essential article of gospel-faith.

This matter will become more clear, if we consider Rom.
xi. 30, 31, 32. The apostle observes, that the Gentiles in
times past had not believed (*%(*§*<? an, obeyed) God ; but
that now the Gentiles had obtained mercy through their un~
belief (ot7rei^eioi) ; and ver. 32. he says, God had concluded
them (n.b. — them should not, according to the Greek, be
here) all in unbelief, (&$ uir&Qei&v, disobedience) that he
might have mercy upon all. The interpreters whom I have
seen, do generally understand all here to include Gentiles
and Jews ; not at once, but in their turns, and at different
times, concluded in unbelief. The Gentiles in time past, as
ver. 30. the Jews now, as ver. 31. By this it appears, that
at the time the apostle wrote, to be disobedient, or (according
to the Hebrew idiom) children of disobedience, as Eph. ii. 2.
was the general and national character of the Jews, as con-
tradistinguished to the Gentiles, who had now obtained
mercy, and were become very remarkable for the obedience
of faith.

According to this view of matters, we see that Rom. x.
20, 21. where the apostle is clearly contradistinguishing

32 Introduction to the

Gentiles and Jews to one another, he applies to them thus
the words of Is. lxv. 1,2./ was found of them that sought
me not ; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after
me : (this of the Gentiles.) But (so the apostle goes on) to
Israel he saith, All the day long have I stretched forth my
hands unto a disobedient people. Upon the whole, it appears,
that the scripture-style in other places warrants us to under-
stand, Eph. ii. 2. Children of disobedience, as the national
character, at that time, of the Jews.

Other circumstances and expressions there used, accord
well with this sense of children of disobedience, and tend to
establish it. Particularly when it is said of the prince of the
power of the air [[Satan,] that he is the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience. Satan reigned
openly among the heathen Gentiles ; he and his inferior
demons were openly and solemnly worshipped by them.
This idolatry was the thing most obvious, remarkable, and
universal in the course of the wrorld. It was not so indeed
among the Jews. Yet the unbelieving Jews (as was now
their national character) were no less truly under his in-
fluence, and practically conformed to him. So the Lord
says to a company of them, John viii. 44. Ye are of your
father the devil ; and the lusts of your father ye will do.
Accordingly, Eph. ii. 2. though the Jews did not so openly
and directly serve Satan in idolatrous worship, since the
Babylonish captivity, as the Gentiles ; yet he was in^yuv,
working in them. The Greek word sometimes signifies
working effectually ; but most strictly signifieth, working
inwardly. Dr Whitby takes notice of this meaning of the
word in his note on the place. e This evil spirit (saith
' he) is here said tn^yut inwardly to work in the children
' of disobedience.' It wTas not so always as to the Jews
nationally, when they were the church, the only church of
God. But now he wrought inwardly in them by various
lusts and delusions, by which, becoming disobedient to the
gospel, he wrought them up to the utmost malice and fury
against it.

It is likewise to be observed, that when the apostle doth
more particularly describe the conversation and practice of
these children of disobedience, there is not any hint of out-
ward idolatrous practice. Their conversation was, he says,
in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind.

Some may readily suggest on this occasion thus : Paul

Explication of Rom. VI. 33

here ranks himself, as to his former state, with these children
of disobedience : but can it be thought, that when he was
the Pharisee, so very devout, and strictly righteous, that he
had his conversation as is here described ? For conceiving
justly of this, let us remember the distinction he makes,
2 Cor. vii. 1. between f Witness of the flesh and spirit. Both
sorts come under the general name of the flesh, as that word
is sometimes used. So here there is first the general thing ;
their conversation was in the lusts of the flesh : then he dis-
tinguishes and adds, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of
the mind. This last, the mind, is the thinking and under-
standing faculty. By the account Paul gives of himself when
under the law, yea, and when under grace, Rom. vii. he well
new the motions of sin, and of the flesh, in various forms.
Bu* what was most remarkable in his case was, that error
and delusion possessed his mind, attended with what may
be called intellectual lusts and passions. There was the
pride of self-righteousness, with an ignorant furious zeal for
the Mosaic law, and for the honour and dignity of Israel
beyond all nations ; by which he became the blasphemer,
persecutor, and injurious. So it is not without cause he
ranks himself with the children of disobedience, as to his
former condition and conversation. What was his case,
seems to have been pretty generally the case of the Jewish
nation ; to whom he ascribes, in general terms, a zeal of God,
Rom. x. 2.

The apostle's general purpose, Eph. ii. appears to be to
set forth the riches of divine grace towards Jews and Gen-
tiles, As it is his way on other occasions, he first represents
men's former and natural conditions ; and having described
the state and way of the Gentiles in the first verse, and in
the first part of ver. 2. what immediately follows makes an
answer to such a question as Rom. iii. 9- Are ?ve better
than they ? By no means. For though Israel had great ad-
vantage of outward privilege and means of salvation, yet
otherwise, as to real spiritual state, whilst Satan reigned with
more open sway among the Gentiles, he worked inwardly and
efficaciously in us Jews, by means of various delusions, pas-
sions, and lusts, and we were, ver. 3. by nature children
of wrath even as others ; even as Gentiles.

I see not that any well founded argument against the in-
terpretation given of children of disobedience arises from what
Mr L. observes in his note on Eph. v. 6. ( Children ofdis-
' obedience here, (saith he) and chap. ii. 2. and Col. iii. 6. are

34 Introduction to the

c plainly the Gentiles, who refused to come in and submit
' themselves to the gospel, as will appear to any one who
f will read these places and the context with attention/ I
have done so ; but what the learned writer says is far from
appearing to me. What appears is plainly this ; if there
were whoremongers, or unclean persons, as Eph. v. 5. or per-
sons given to fornication, uncleanness, &c. as Col. iii. 5. they
were well entitled to the designation of children of disobe-
dience as their personal character, in ver. 6. of each context,
whether they were Jews or Gentiles. But as to refusing to
come in, and submit to the gospel, what hath been here
above observed, makes sufficient reason for understanding
children of disobedience, Eph. ii. 2. as the national character,
not of the Gentiles, but of the Jews.

Having fixed the meaning of children of disobedience, Eph.
ii. 2. we may take the meaning of the three verses, as if he
had said — You Ephesians, Gentiles, in time past dead in
trespasses and sins, walked according to the course of this
world, according to Satan, whom ye openly served, and wor-
shipped; and wrho indeed doth now (since divine grace is
manifested to the Gentiles) work inwardly and effectually in
the unhappy Jews, children of disobedience : among whom
we of the Jews, who are believers in Christ, all of us had our
conversation in time past ; and by nature our spiritual con-
dition was no better than yours, being by nature children of
wrath, even as others.

One step yet farther forward. The apostle says, ver. 4,
5. But God, who is rich in mercy — even when we were dead
in sins, hath quickened us. In ver. 1. it was, you. Here it
is, when we were dead in sins. I have formerly observed,
that the apostle in the latter part of this chapter doth not use
such words as we, us, our, but where it is plain that Jews and
Gentiles together are comprehended. It appears to be so
here. Having said, you and ye, ver. 1, 2. he now, ver. 5. hath
we : and as upon the intervening part of the context it hath
been shown, that therein he means the Jews, it is plain that
when he says, ver. 5. when we were dead in sins, he means
that Jews and Gentiles, in their former and natural states,
were dead in sins.

If any shall yet hold, that children of disobedience, ver. 2.
means all who are in unbelief and disobedience to the gos-
pel, whether Jews or Gentiles, and that we all, ver. 3. means
all believers of both denominations ; this is still cross to Mr
L/s purpose, and is inconsistent with understanding dead in

Explication of Rom. VI, 3b

&in$ as the distinguishing characteristic of Gentiles, in the
state of heathenism. According to this interpretation also,
when we were dead in sins, ver. 5. must mean the former
and natural state of all believers, both of the Jews and of
the Gentiles.

I have, however, given good reason for understanding
children of disobedience, ver. 2. as the national character at
that time of the Jews. It, at any rate, tends to confirm the
sense of dead in sins, ver 5. as meaning the natural state of
Jews and Gentiles, according to both interpretations, that
the immediately following context represents comfortable
effects of divine grace common to persons of both denomina-
tions, without the hint of any thing peculiar to Gentiles,
while he uses the words we and us — Quickened together with
Christ, — raised up together ; — made to sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus, — God purposing in this way to show
the exceeding riches of his grace. On occasion of mentioning
this divine grace, he says to the Ephesians, ver. 8. By
grace ye are saved, — and ver. 9* not of works, lest any man
should boast. Though he speaks so in those two verses to
the Ephesians apart, who were Gentiles, shall we say, that
these verses contain any thing peculiar to Gentiles ? No,
surely ; for salvation by grace, not by works, is salvation,
and a way of salvation common to Jews and Gentiles. So
also is what follows, ver. 10. For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works.

The characters of weak sinners, and ungodly, Mr L.
pretended to find ascribed to heathens here, Eph. ii. 2, 3.
But who ever doubted that these heathens were weak
sinners, and ungodly ? But it hath been here proven, that
Rom. v. these three characters or epithets are meant of Jews
and Gentiles. The epithet enemies, he finds in the 11th and
12th verses of Eph. ii. though the word is not there used.
It is, however, true, that these verses represent what comes
up to the meaning of enemies, Rom. xi. 28. But it hath
been here proven, that all men are enemies, in the sense of
chap. v. until they are reconciled to God by the death of his
Son.

Upon the whole, it appears now very evidently, that there
is nothing in the import of the four epithets, from which Mr
L. argues, or in what he adduces, to support his meaning of
these from Eph. ii. that gives cause to understand that con-
text, Rom. v. 1 — 11. to respect the Gentiles as contradis-
tinguished to the Jews, or to understand it otherwise than

36 Introduction to the Explication of Rom. VI.

as it hath been hitherto generally understood by judicious
and worthy interpreters ; viz. as representing privileges,
blessings, and consolations common to all true believers, of
Jews or Gentiles, or of whatever nation ; as well as the
natural condition, expressed by the four epithets, of Jews
and Gentiles, that is, of all mankind : and Mr L.'s notion
having no good reason to support it, it can make no solid
foundation for the superstructure which Mr Taylor of Nor-
wich has raised upon it.

Thus 1 have endeavoured to clear out of our way a wrong
notion of the general scope and design of the sixth chapter.
The chief ground of this notion is, that the sixth chapter
must be meant of the same sort of men of whom the fifth is
meant; and as it is meant of the Gentiles separately, and as
contradistinguished to the Jews, that the sixth chapter should
be so understood likewise. But it now appearing that this
notion is not well founded, it cannot give us cause to inter-
pret any part of this sixth chapter of the Gentiles separate]y.
So we have gqt rid of one thing that hath led some men to a
wrong interpretation of some parts of it.

I shall not say much here concerning the scope of the sixth
chapter, and of the following context, so far as I have pro-
posed to explain. Only, in the general, that the apostle's
subject its sanctification, and the freedom from the reign and
dominion of sin that is necessary in sanctification, and in
order to the true practice of holiness. As he had asserted
and explained a doctrine of justification common to Chris-
tians of the Jews and of the Gentiles, we have cause to think,
from a general view, that his doctrines and explications con-
cerning sanctification have an equal respect to Christians of
both sorts — to all Christians.

I shall not endeavour to prepossess the mind of any reader
by a more minute account of the scope and design of the
particular parts of the context ; or by prefixing an account
of the contents : let us search for that in the context, as we
go along in the explication. When that is finished, the con-
tents and scope of every part will appear, in a more clear
and satisfying light, in such a recapitulation of the apostle's
principles, doctrine, and reasoning, as may fitly have place
in an appendix.

EXPLICATION AND PARAPHRASE

OF

ROMANS VI.

TEXT. — Ver. 1. What shall we say then ? shall -we continue in sln^ that
grace may abound 2

Explication. — 1 HE first clause, which is in form of a ques-
tion, is according to the apostle's usual style, when he is to
introduce an objection to his doctrine, or a question imply-
ing an objection. So chap. iii. 5.; vii. 7- ; ix. 14.

The objection in this place appears to take its occasion
from what the apostle had said two verses before this ; to
wit, chap. v. 20. The entering of the law, there mentioned,
is certainly meant of the solemn promulgation of it to Israel
at Sinai. As Mr L. explains the whole of that verse, and
the next after it, concerning the Jews, one would think, that
this should have led him to ascribe the objection in the
next following verse rather to the Jew than to the Gentile ;
as, indeed, the Jews were the greatest adversaries to the
apostle's doctrine, particularly to his doctrine of justification,
and the most ready to cavil at it ; and so to suppose that in
this chapter the apostle is directing his reasonings to them,
rather than to the Gentiles, as he understood it.

But as I do not think the apostle is directing his reason-
ing here to Jewish or Gentile converts separately, some
consideration of chap. v. 20. from which occasion is taken
for the objection, will tend to make the matter clear. There
it is said, The law entered, that the offence might abound.
To say, that the design of giving the law at Sinai to the
Israelites, was to increase their sin, or the aggravations of it,
cannot be easily received. For though the consequence
might be the actual abounding of sin, and of its aggrava-
tions on the part of the Israelites, through their corruption
and perverseness ; yet it cannot be admitted that this was
the design of giving them the law. Therefore another in-
terpretation of the words must be looked for.

In order to this, let it be considered, that often in Scrip-
ture things are said to be, when the meaning is, that they
appear, or are proved to be. So John xv. 8. Christ exhorts
his disciples to bring forth much fruit, by this argument,
So shall ye be my disciples ; that is, so shall ye appear or
prove yourselves to be my disciples. For the true order of
b 5

.38 Explication and Paraphrase

things is, that men must be Christ's disciples before they
can bring forth good and acceptable fruit ; not that they
first bring forth good fruit, and thereby become his disciples.
So 2 Cor. xii. 9- For my strength is made perfect in weak-
ness ; that is, the Lord's strength appears — is proved to be
perfect by the weakness of his servants, and the effectual
support he gives them. So James ii. 22. By works was
faith made perfect ; that is, by works did faith appear, and
was proved to be perfect — to be sincere ; as is in Scripture
a very common sense of the word perfect. Thus, I doubt
not, is to be interpreted, Rev. xxii. 14. Blessed are they that
do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree
of life ; that is, may appear to have right — that they are
the persons who have right, as sons and heirs, Rom. viii.
17- In this way, the sense of Rom. v. 20. comes out thus :
The law entered, that the abounding of sin might appear by
its light.

Thus did matters stand in the wrorld before the giving of
the law to the Israelites. The writing of the law in the na-
tural consciences of men was very much obliterated ; and in
the heathen world idolatry and all sorts of wickedness were
come to a great height. The ancestors of the Israelites had
indeed divine revelation but two or three generations before
this time ; but that light even among them was become
very dim and obscure. They were become very ignorant ;
and the infection of Egypt, as to idolatry and other sorts of
wickedness, had prevailed greatly among them. By the in-
crease of ignorance, and of all wickedness, the distinction
between moral good and evil was in danger to be quite for-
got, and lost in the world. In this state of things, God be-
ing to set apart a peculiar people to himself, he thought fit
to set up the light of the law among them, by a new, clear,
and very solemn promulgation. By this light might Israel
perceive how much sin abounded with themselves ; as by the
law is the knowledge of sin, chap. iii. 20. By it appeared
in what fearful degrees sin abounded in the heathen world
about them ; from which they had cause to adore the grace
that had so favourably distinguished themselves. By this
light of the law, by which the abounding of sin appeared so
clearly, might Israelites, and such of the Gentiles as came to
the knowledge of this law, discover the need they had, on
both hands, of the grace that pardoneth sin, and of that
Saviour, and gospel-way of salvation, which Moses and the
prophets were, from time to time, setting before them.

Of Romans VI. 39

When, therefore, on occasion of mentioning the abounding of
sin, which it did to a high degree among Jews and Gentiles,
the apostle takes occasion to say, that where tin abounded,
grace did much more abound, it is plain, that this hath re-
spect to both Jews and Gentiles ; sin had abounded with
both ; grace did much more abound towards both sorts.
Now, as it is from a proposition, which hath respect to both
Jews and Gentiles, that occasion is taken for the objection
here, chap. vi. 1. what cause can we have to ascribe the ob-
jection to one sort, when there is nothing said, or insinuated,
that implies it ; or to suppose that, in answering the objec-
tion, the apostle means any other than doctrine and argu-
ments, which all believers, whether Jews or Gentiles, are
alike concerned in ?

The case then plainly is, that the apostle here suggests,
in way of question, an objection which he was aware some
might make, perhaps did make, against his doctrine of men's
being justified and pardoned by the abounding of grace
through Jesus Christ ; and not by the works of men's own
righteousness : as if this doctrine was unfavourable to holi-
ness, and encouraged men to continue in sin. It is not the
apostle's way to proceed in logical or systematic method ;
but he takes proper occasion commonly to make an easy
transition from one subject to another. So here, by suggest-
ing an objection against his own doctrine of justification, as if
it were unfavourable to holiness, he takes occasion to pass
to that subject of holiness, and sanctification ; and he an-
swers, explains, and argues, in such manner as to prove,
(as we shall see ere all is done) that there can indeed be no
true sanctification of a sinner, but by means, and in conse-
quence of grace abounding in justification by faith, and not
by works.

I must here likewise observe Dr Whitby's annotation on
this verse. < Note here/ says he, ' that if the faith to
c which St Paul in this epistle doth ascribe justification, did
* not only oblige us to, but even comprehend evangelical
e and constant obedience, there could be no colour for this
( objection. That therefore must be a mistake.' It had in-
deed been so observed, and argued formerly by many ; but
it is fair of this learned writer to make such observation and
concession. As to his own notion of justification by faith, it
were easy showing it to be far from being right, if this were
a proper place for it.

The sense of this first verse may be given in the following

Paraphrase.—

40 Explication and Paraphrase

Paraphrase. — Ver. 1. How shall we judge of this doc-
trine, that justification is wholly and merely by grace ; even
by grace super-abounding where sin hath abounded ; and
that a sinner is justified by faith, without the deeds of the
law? It seems indeed to be well calculated for those who
find themselves destitute of righteousness ; for the self-con-
demned and humbled sinners, it affords great consolation on
that side. But is it not, at the sametime, very comfortable
and encouraging to the flesh, and unfavourable to holiness
and good works ? For if it is the glory of divine grace, that
where sin hath abounded it doth much more abound, is it
not a just inference, that we should continue in sin, that
grace may be thus glorified ? For, however contrary the
practice of sin may be to the Divine holiness, yet as a special
design of God, in the salvation of sinners, is to magnify his
grace, should not we contribute to advance the glory of su-
perabounding grace, by continuing in sin ; and so give oo
casion to grace to display its utmost richness and glory ?

TEXT. — 2. God forbid : how shall zve that are dead to sin, live any
longer therein ?

Explication. — The Greek words p* yivo.ro, that make the
first clause, do represent such an aversation and abhorrence
of an event or practice, as is commonly expressed in our
language by saying — God forbid, or — Far be it from us.

Here we have occasion to observe, if the apostle had
meant the faith, to which he ascribes justification, as includ-
ing evangelical obedience and good works; or, that its vir-
tue and effect in justifying did arise from its certain con-
nexion with subsequent holiness and good works ; he could
not have missed to answer, and say to this purpose — You
unhappily mistake my doctrine of justification by faith, and
the true sense of my words ; the faith I mean includes good
works, and its justifying virtue is from its connexion with
holiness and good works, which necessarily flow from it, and
which I include in my notion of faith. What absurdity,
yea, what nonsense is it, to charge such a doctrine of justi-
fication by faith with being unfavourable to holiness, or with
favouring and encouraging sin ! This answer, if such were
his notion of justifying faith, were so much in point, so full,
and withal so very obvious, that when he says nothing to that
purpose, it gives us cause to be well satisfied that his notion
of justifying faith is not such as would afford that answer.

Another thing yet with regard to this point. According

Of Romans VI. ' 41

to the sentiments of those who hold that faith justifies by
virtue of its connexion with holiness and good works ; it
could not be truly said, that a man is justified by faith.
They generally hold, that the faith of the hypocrite, which
is not attended with good works, is in itself of the same na-
ture and kind with the faith of the true Christian, who is
fruitful in good works ; and that it is good works, and per-
severance therein that makes the distinction ; not the faith
itself, which is of the same kind in both. So then the case
stands thus : VTery many who have the same true faith, as
to its own nature, that the sincere Christian hath, yet not
having good works, are not justified ; whereas whoever hath
good works, he is thereby justified. From this it is very
plain, that it is not faith that justifies, according to these
men's sentiment, but a man's good works, which he con-
nects with his faith.

But, for explaining our text, although he doth not an-
swer to the objection, as the above mentioned notion of faith
would suggest, yet he answers and suggests an argument
against the practice of sin, arising from his doctrine, that is
of the utmost force. Let us look into it.

It is of great consequence, not only for understanding the
apostle's answer and argument here, but for understanding
his whole discourse in this chapter, that we discover and fix
the true meaning of that expression — dead to sin* Mr
Taylor of Norwich's paraphrase gives it thus : ' How can
f any man imagine the gospel allows us to continue in a
( wicked life, when, by its principles and obligations, we are
' set at the greatest distance from all iniquity ; even as far
' as the dead are separated from all society with the living?'
Is this, that we are actually put at such distance from sin ?
for the apostle's expression says something positive and ac-
tual — We — are dead to sin. Surely to be actually at a dis-
tance from sin, as far as the dead are separated from all so-
ciety with the living, is the attainment only of that place
whither nothing shall enter that defileth.

Dr T. explains himself in his note on this verse : ' Ver.
' 2. How shall we that are dead to sin. He doth not mean
6 they were actually dead to sin ; for he supposes they
' might, in fact, live after the flesh, chap. viii. 13. ; he
' therefore must mean, they were by their profession obliged
f to be dead to sin, (2?4) see ver. 11, and the note upon
( it.' We shall soon see ver. 11. As to his note upon it,
there is nothing in it, but his quoting Col. iii. 3. And as I

42 Explication and Paraphrase

cannot see how it makes for his purpose, so neither doth he
say a word to show that it doth, or how it doth so. As to
the citation from Rom. viii. 13. the words do not imply that
the true believer may in fact live after the flesh, and perish ;
the apostle doth only warn Christians, by that hypothetical
proposition, of the certain connexion between fleshly liv-
ing, and perishing. But, as that text comes again in my
way, I defer till then speaking more largely concerning the
import of it. Here I only observe, that Dr T. doth not
argue agreeably to his own sentiments concerning perseve-
rance, when he says, that the apostle doth not mean that
the believers he wrote to were actually dead to sin ; nor
can be so understood, by reason of what he supposes (ac-
cording to this interpreter) in that other text, chap. viii. 13. ;
for they might actually be dead to sin at that present time,
as much as ever Christian did, or could, attain in this life ;
and the apostle might be understood to assert so in our text,
consistently (by Dr TVs sentiments) with their falling after-
wards to fleshly living, and perishing.

He therefore must mean, saith this writer, they were by
their profession obliged to be dead to sin. But in this way
there is no answer to the objection, ver. 1. That men were
obliged to be dead to sin, is what the objection itself implies ;
otherwise the alleged consequence could not be charged as
an absurdity against the apostle's doctrine. We may con-
ceive the matter thus on both sides. — Object. All men are
obliged to die to sin ; that is, to forsake it, and put them-
selves at the utmost distance from it ; yea, what man is there
who doth not profess himself to be so obliged ? Yet your
doctrine encourages men to do otherwise ; even to continue
in sin and live in it. Answ. according to Dr. T., God
forbid ! how shall we, who by our profession are obliged to
be dead to sin (which is implied in the objection itself) live
any longer in sin ? Here plainly there is no answer to the
objection, or argument against what it imports, though it is
clear that the apostle means, from the Christian's being dead
to sin, to bring an argument of special evidence and force
against what the objection imports.

But what argument doth this interpreter bring for our
understanding by being dead to sin, that we are obliged to be
so ? For this he refers to sect. 274, of his key to the apostle's
writings.

There he says, ' It should be carefully observed, that it
< is very common in the sacred writings, to speak of that

Of Romans VI. 43

* as done, which only ought to be done, and which, in fact,
' may possibly never be done/ One of the instances of
this he gives thus : Matth. v. 13. Ye are (ought to be) the
salt of the earth. The other texts he there mentions are
Mai. i. 6. Rom. ii. 4. chap. vi. 2. 11. chap. viii. 9. Col. iii. 3.
1 Pet. i. 6. 2 Cor. iii. 18. 1 Cor. v. 7. Heb. xiii. 14. 1 John
ii. 12 — 15. chap. iii. 9- chap. v. 4. 18. All these texts, how-
ever, admit of a commodious interpretation, without such
supplying of words. Translators, indeed, sometimes found
themselves obliged to supply a word or two to make a com-
plete expression of the sense ; but that should be admitted
only when the scope of the place appears to require it, and
words should be supplied only to make a sense agreeable to
the evident scope. But if words may be supplied in Dr.
T/s way, contrary to what the text expresses, without any
thing in the scope of the place that requires it, every text
may be turned to whatever a man pleases, and so the scrip-
ture become an uncertain rule, good for nothing.

In the instance we are considering, the matter stands thus
between the apostle and this interpreter. The apostle says
positively, We — are dead to sin. No, saith Dr. T. not ac-
tually dead to sin, but that we ought to be so. This is con-
tradicting, not explaining; which is a way not uncommon
with this interpreter.

Eisner, a learned writer, shows, as Dr Doddridge reports,
how frequently moral writers among the heathens speak of
wise and good men, as dead to sensualities and animal
pleasures. But Wolfius, who reports likewise these obser-
vations of Eisner's, says, that the learned writer himself adds,
whatever fine expression the heathen philosophers used on
this subject, that we are not to expect to find with them
what will come up to the apostle Paul's meaning. This is
very right.

Others take in here the profession, serious purpose, and
strict engagements of Christians against sin. The truth is,
it hath of a long time, and generally, been understood to be
the apostle's meaning, by being dead to sin, to denote matter
of duty, (as to abstain from, to resist, to mortify sin,) in
which a Christian ought to advance from one degree to an-
other. Hence hath come into use that expression, ' to die
c more and more unto sin/ This sense is in itself good and
right, and agreeable to scripture-doctrine. But 1 am not
satisfied that this manner of expressing that sense is agree-
able to scripture style. I do not see that the scripture ex-

44 Explication and Paraphrase

presses mere duty, and the Christian's progress in it, by
c dying, and dying more and more unto sin/ The scrip-
ture-expression here is, dead unto sin ; and ver. 11. Reckon
yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin ; and 1 Pet. ii. 24.
That we being dead to sin, &c. I do not see, that to be dead
can be a proper and right expression for mere matter of duty :
and if a man is actually dead, that doth not admit of degrees
or progress. If he is once truly dead, he cannot be more
and more dead.

It seems therefore more reasonable to think, that to be
dead to sin, signifies an advantage, blessedness, and privilege
of a true Christian's state, rather than mere matter of duty.
Upon this view, the meaning of the expression may, I think,
be taken from what is said of death and the grave, Job iii.
19* There — the servant is free from his master. The poor
slave (such were commonly the servants of these countries
and times) is free from the yoke of the rigorous lord, under
whose dominion he wras. As the case continued to be the
same, it needs not be wondered at, that the expression, in
somewhat the proverbial way, should continue in language
from the time of Job to the time of Paul. We shall likewise
find a great deal in Paul's discourse here that directs us so
to understand the expression.

Upon the one hand, sin is represented as reigning ; chap,
v. 21. sin hath reigned unto death ; so grace reigns, as in
that same verse. Doth then grace greatly abound, even
where sin hath abounded ? It is it that doth, by so abound-
ing, put an end to the reign of sin ; so that the abounding
of grace can give no encouragement to continuing in sin.
Thus the apostle brings a pertinent answer to the objection
from that very passage, on which it is pretended to be found-
ed. In ver. 14. and downwards, sin is mentioned as having
dominion, such as a lord or master hath over his slaves,
whom he employs according to his will, in all his service and
drudgery. So Christians are represented as having been
the servants (that is, slaves) of sin. Thus, ver. 17* ye were
the servants of sin — Ver. 20. when ye were the servants of
sin.

Upon the other hand, Christians being made free from
sin is much in the apostle's view through this discourse.
Yea, ver. 7- he seems himself to explain being dead, by be-
ing made free from sin. So also, ver. 18. Being then made
free from sin — Ver. 22. But now being made free from sin.
Yea, when the apostle comes towards the conclusion of his

Of Romans VI. 45

explications on this subject, he says, chap. viii. 2. The law
of the Spirit of life — hath made me free from the law of
sin and death. All this gives sufficient cause to think, that
the true believer's being dead to sin, is no other than the
privilege and blessedness of his state ; viz. to be made
free from the reign and dominion of sin. More particular
explications respecting this subject we may look for in the
apostle's subsequent discourse and reasoning. In the mean
time, what a pointed and pertinent answer he makes here
to the cavil, and objection in ver. 1. we may see in the fol-
lowing

Paraphrase. — 2. By no means : how shall we believers,
who are made free from the reign and dominion of sin, (dead
to it) prove, by continuing to live in sin, that we are not made
free from its dominion, but are yet its slaves ? yea, can it so
happen, as to the common, ordinary, and final course of the
believer's practice, that being made free from the dominion
of sin, he should, in practice, continue under its prevailing
influence and power ? or, whatever we might be capable of,
considering us as we are in ourselves, free agents, in whom
there is considerable remainder of corruption, can it be sup-
posed, that the grace, which, in the superabounding thereof,
hath made us free from the reign of sin, hath not provided
various and effectual means, consistent with our liberty, for
preserving us from continuing in sin, and so (see ver. 14.)
coming again under its dominion ? But though there is
such real inconsistency in the case, that it cannot reasonably
be supposed, yet if it shall be supposed but in imagination,
that a believer should be made free from the dominion of
sin, and yet, at the same time, should, by living ordinarily
in the indulged practice of it, affront the grace that hath
abounded towards him, and give dishonour to the precious
ransom by which he hath been redeemed and made free,
will not the very imagination of it give horror to every sincere
heart of a Christian, to every reasonable and ingenuous mind?

TEXT. — 3. Know ye not, that so many of us as were laptizcd into Jesus
Christ, were baptized into his death?

Explication. — As to the expression in the first clause,
baptized into Jesus Christ, there is a similar expression 1 Cor.
x. 2. Our fathers — were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud,
and in the sea. Though Moses is commonly considered as
the law-giver, vyet from the import of baptism, and the
spiritual meat and drink mentioned, ver. 3, 4. it is plain, that

46 Explication and Paraphrase

Moses is set forth there as a minister of grace : and being
baptized unto Moses, must mean chiefly, being baptized unto
the faith of the Saviour, and the salvation to which Moses
bare witness ; and receiving the typical baptism, as a sort of
seal of that grace.

But we are directed to conceive of Christ differently, as
to this matter, than of Moses. Christ sets forth himself as
a vine, John xv. 1. and his people, as being (not by nature,
surely, but by ingraftment and by grace) branches of that
vine. He is a head, which hath its body ^ and each believer
in particular is a member of that body. The apostle says,
1 Cor. xii. 13. By one Spirit are we all baptized into one
body. By one Spirit, and by the faith which under his in-
fluence we exert, we are truly united to Christ ; as by the
external ordinance we are admitted into his visible body the
church. To be by one Spirit truly united to Christ, is not
likely to be the case of every one who is externally baptized,
as all the Roman Christians probably were. This is, per-
haps, the reason of that manner of expression, As many of
us as were baptized into Jesus Christ. Though the apostle
commonly addresses the churches he writes to as true be-
lievers, yet there is frequently the hint of exceptions ; nor
can it be thought, that Simeon the sorcerer, though externally
baptized, wTas by this one Spirit truly united to Christ.

But so many as are so, and to whom this grace is sealed
by baptism, they are baptized into Christ's death. This last
clause of the verse comes next to be explained. It has been
indeed explained by many, as meant of the professions and
vows which Christians come under at baptism, to die unto
sin, and to mortify it, in conformity to the death of Christ
and the design of it. That adult persons at baptism came
under such engagements, is not to be doubted. This is
likely to be included in that answer of a good conscience to-
wards God, mentioned in view to baptism, 1 Pet. iii. 21.
Nor is it to be doubted, that baptism, and the grace thereby
exhibited, doth of its own nature ^ix such obligation upon
infants. But that cannot be the thing here intended, as
there is not the least mention or hint of baptismal vows and
engagements ; and that good reasons have been here given
why being dead to sin should be understood, not of matter
of duty and practice, which is the proper subject of vows and
engagements, but rather of the blessedness and privilege
of the state of believers. It is said, ver. 10. that Christ died
unto sin ; and therefore believers are directed, ver. 11. to

Of Romans VI. 47

reckon themselves to be dead indeed unto sin — through Jesus
Cluist. It is said of Christ, 1 Pet. ii. 24. that he bare our
sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin,
should live unto righteousness. They who consider being
dead to sin as matter of duty, do refer it to men's purposes
and to baptismal vows and engagements. But in these two
texts, we see being dead to sin referred to the death of
Christ, and immediately connected therewith. So when, in
the text under consideration, Christians are said to be
baptized into Christ's death, we have cause to understand by
it, that baptism doth apply, exhibit, and seal to them the be-
nefits of Christ's death, and that it is a solemn rite, whereby
believers are invested in a fellowship of interest in his death
and in the benefits and happy consequences of it : so that
as he died to sin, dying in their vice, so by virtue thereof
they are dead to sin ; that is, made free from its reign and
dominion. This the ordinance of baptism doth exhibit and
seal to their faith.

Baptismal vows and engagements do greatly enforce the
duty of forsaking, resisting, and mortifying sin. Baptism,
according to its own nature, as here explained, doth afford
strong argument and powerful excitement to that duty. But
to restrict the apostle's meaning here to these, hath this
great inconvenience, that it tends to hide from Christians the
great consolation and encouragement to that duty, that is pro-
perly and directly meant ; viz. that they are by the death of
Christ made free from the reign and the dominion of sin, and
that the same is ascertained and sealed to them by their baptism,

TEXT — 4. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death :
that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father y
even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Explication. — Christ being our representative and surety;
when he died for our sins, it is as if we by our own death
had expiated our sins ; and as he is said to be raised for our
justification, the case is, that the release of our Surety is vir-
tually, and in effect, our release. When he was raised, we
might be considered as having been raised from the dead.
The apostle gives this view of the matter, when he says, Eph.
ii. 4 — 6. God — hath quickened us together with Christ, and
hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heaven-
ly places in Christ Jesus. So he speaks when he is setting
forth the application of the virtue of Christ's death and re-
surrection to believers.

48 Explication and Paraphrase

Again, Phil. iii. 10. the apostle expresses his aim and
desire thus, — That I may know him, and the power of his
resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being
made conformable unto his death. As to these latter
clauses, it is true that Christians, in their sufferings in
this life, have a fellowship of suffering with Christ, and a
conformity to his death ; yet there is no good reason for
restricting these clauses here, in Philippians, where the
context hath nothing concerning sufferings, to that meaning
and view, more than there would be for restricting the power
of Christ's resurrection, in the first clause, to the supports
the apostle had under his tribulations, by virtue of the re-
surrection and life of Christ, of which he speaks, 2 Cor. iv.
10, 11. which I scarce think any would agree to. The
desire and aim of the apostle here, (Phil. iii. 10.) seems to
be this ; as he had already known and experienced the power
of Christ's resurrection, he earnestly desired and longed
for the full fruit and effect of it, as in perfect and final justi-
fication, so in the perfection of holiness, and in eternal life.
As he had already the fellowship of Christ's sufferings, and
conformity to his death, in being by means thereof dead to
sin, and made free from its reign and dominion, so he
earnestly desires to attain the full effect of his death, in
being not only free from the reign of sin, but also from all
molestation and danger by it, in the perfection of holiness,
when nothing of sin should remain in him.

In these places, (Eph. ii. and Phil, iii.) the apostle does
not appear to have baptism at all in his view. He considers
our fellowship of Christ's sufferings, and conformity to his
death, — our being quickened, and raised together with
Christ, and sitting together with him in heavenly places, as
matters of privilege, comfort, and hope, arising from our
relation to Christ, and union with him. A true believer is
united to Christ, and is dead indeed unto sin, and alive
unto God through Jesus Christ, (as here, Rom. vi. 11.)
previously to his baptism ; or if he should never have the
opportunity of being baptised. So that turning the matter
of being dead unto sin on this point of baptismal vows and
obligations, falls greatly short of the apostle's argument, and
tends to obscure instead of giving light to it.

The part of baptism in this matter is, that the privilege,
blessings, and comfort meant by the apostle, (and from
which there arise the strongest obligations and encourage-
ments to holy living,) are represented, further applied, sealed,

Of Romans VI. 49

and confirmed to the Christian's faith by it. Thus, Col. ii.
12. s Buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen
with him, through the faith of the operation of God, who hath
raised him from the dead/ Here our being buried with him
in baptism, (it is in view to the baptism of adult persons he
speaks,) and our rising therein with him, are both ascribed
to faith ; not our rising with him only. Beza's note on the
place seems to be a good one: ' Per jidem, id est, Mam fide
c a vobis apprehensam virtutem Dei, efficientcm ut Christo
6 mortuo, et a mortuis excitato, sitis conformes.' To this pur-
pose in our language : ' By faith, that is, by your laying
' hold on, (or apprehending) through faith, that divine
' power, by the efficiency of which you become conformed
' to the death and resurrection of Christ/

Let it be further observed, that in this text (Col. ii. 12.)
Christians being buried, and rising with Christ in baptism,
is not ascribed to baptismal engagements to die, or (as they
speak) to die more and more unto sin, and to live unto
righteousness ; but to their faith, by wThich the ordinance is
made effectual to its proper purpose, and by which Christians
perceive the comfortable matters which it is designed to re-
present and seal to them.

The apostle's argument in this place I do not take to be,
that Christians are by their baptismal engagements obliged
to that duty, or course of duty, which some understand by
dying to sin ; though undoubtedly baptism, and the grace it
exhibits, doth fix such obligation to duty on them. But his
argument is plainly to this purpose, that the baptism of
Christians doth, in way of figure, signify the blessings there-
by represented, and is a means whereby they are applied to
them ; and is, at the same time, a comfortable, solemn,
divine ratification of their interest in the fruits of Christ's
death and resurrection ; this particularly of being dead to
sin, made free from its reign and dominion, and so brought
unto a capacity of holy living. Christians having in their
baptism this comfort, with respect to the dominion of sin,
and a capacity of holy living, with the strongest obligations
thereto, and that by the grace which hath abounded towards
them ; how extremely absurd to suppose continuing in sin a
consequence of that grace, or that it is at all consistent with
it?

To look now more closely to the expression of this ver. 4.
the first clause is, ' Therefore we are buried wTith him by bap-
tism into death/ In the common course of things, a man's

50 Explication and Paraphrase

burial ascertains his death to beholders : they have no doubt
of his being dead, when they see him buried. Thus the
baptism of a Christian represented, in a very strong mariner,
his being dead ; for in it he appeared to be buried by his
immersion under the water ; which was anciently the most
common way, at least as to adult persons, in that hot climate.

But there remains one difficulty in the apostle's manner
of expression, Buried — into death. Now death is previous
to burial ; but by the form of the expression here,4 the bap-
tismal burial seems to be previous to the death mentioned,
and in order to it, a burial unto death. To understand this,
let it be considered, that the adult believer, while yet un-
baptised, was by faith truly united to Christ, and so saved,
according to the general meaning of that word : and yet the
apostle Peter ascribes to baptism his being saved, 1 Pet. iii.
21. ' The like figure whereunto, even baptism, doth also now
save us.' Again, though when the Christian did first truly
believe in Christ, (under the influence of the Spirit of faith)
he was, by his faith and by that Spirit, united to Christ, yet
that union with him, and his body, is ascribed to baptism ;
1 Cor. xii. 13. ' For by one Spirit are we all baptised into one
body/ So here in the text under consideration, the death
meant is ascribed to baptism, as the effect of it, according to
the form of the expression, though the thing that appears
to be really intended is, that the baptismal figurative burial
represented, and sealed to the believer, for his greater estab-
lishment and comfort, his death, his being dead to sin. The
sense may be taken briefly thus : in our baptism, as by a
figure, we are buried with Christ, to ascertain and ratify to
our faith, that by virtue of Christ's death, we are dead unto sin.

Follows the latter part of the verse, * That like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory* (that is, by the
glorious power and operation) ' of the Father.' He doth,
Col. ii. 12. mention our being risen with Christ in baptism.
Here, after mentioning Christ's being raised from the dead,
instead of adding, as there, our rising with him, he mentions
the effect of our so rising, in our practice of life, thus, ' Even
so we also should walk in newness of life.' So, to continuing
in sin, as in the objection ver. 1. which is expressive of the
practice of sin, he, with great propriety, and very emphati-
cally, opposes the practice of newness of life, as the proper
and necessary consequence of the Christian's fellowship in
the death and resurrection of Christ, represented and sealed
to him by baptism.

Of Romans VI. 51

Paraphrase. — 3. Dead, I say, unto sin. For you cannot
but know concerning that baptism, by which we are exter-
nally admitted into the church, and to the participation of
its privileges, and by which the new covenant, with all its
grace and promises, is sealed to us, — that to all those of us,
to whom it is truly and effectually the seal of our ingraft-
ment into Christ, and of our fellowship with him (xoiwvict,
1 Cor. i. 9-) it doth particularly signify and seal, to our great
comfort, that fellowship of his sufferings and death, by vir-
tue of which, as he (ver. 10.) died unto sin, so we (ver. 11.)
are dead unto sin.

Therefore, (to put this matter out of question) as Christ's
being actually buried, proved his being truly dead ; so we
have, in this divine ordinance, a baptismal figurative burial,
which ascertains, demonstrates, and seals to our faith, our
being truly dead unto sin, set free from its reign and domi-
nion, by virtue of his death ; and that in order to this further
consolation and benefit, that like as Christ was raised from
the dead by the glorious power and operation of the Father ;
even so we also being by our fellowship with him in his
resurrection, and by the power thereof, raised together with
him, which our baptism also represents and confirms to us,
(Col. ii. 12.) should be engaged, disposed, and enabled to a
new manner of life, in the inward and outward practice of
holiness and righteousness. How unreasonable then, how
calumnious and absurd, to suggest as if the grace that had
abounded towards us, with such design and effect, did in-
deed favour sin, or men's continuing in it !

TEXT. — 5. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his
death ; rce shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.

Explication. — It is generally agreed, that the apostle hath
here in his eye the true Christian's ingraftment into Christ,
as a scion into a vine, to which Christ compares himself,
John xv. 1 . I see with the learned a good deal of criticism
here, and somewhat various notions of the sense ; which
seem, for most part, to come to the same general purpose.
I conceive the scope and meaning to be in general thus : If
by our ingraftment into Christ we have a conformity to
his death, being dead to sin ; that we shall also have a con-
formity and likeness to his resurrection.

But more particularly ; the apostle had mentioned, verse
2. Christians being dead to sin ; and ver. 3. that their bap-
tism invested them in an interest in Christ's death, and in

52 Explication and Paraphrase

this special benefit thereby, to be dead to sin ; and ver. 4.
that their baptism ascertained this death to them by the bap-
tismal immersion ; which was a kind of baptismal figurative
burial. When he mentions here, ver. o. Christians being
planted together in the likeness of Christ's death, he but
resumes what he had said in the three preceding verses,
without any additional sense, though there is some variation
of metaphorical expression and ideas. But having added in
the latter part of ver. 4. ' That like as Christ was raised from
the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life ;' this is what he had said nothing of
before ; and what he says here, ver. 5. is added to explain
and confirm it ; and to assert the connexion of these things,
viz. that if by our engraftment into Christ, our union and
fellowship with him, we are dead to sin, and made free from
its reign ; so we shall certainly have the fellowship of his
resurrection in newness of life. To be made free from sin,
that is, that sin hath not dominion over us, is a negative
proposition ; it expresses nothing of itself concerning fruit-
fulness in holiness and good works. But the Christian is
not made free from the dominion of sin, in order only to be
barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ. If bv
means of his fellowship with Christ in his death, he is dead
to sin, he at the same time, by virtue of his fellowship with
Christ, is risen together with Christ; his baptism represents
to him the one as well as the other. There is, however,
this difference : When the Christian came unto union with
Christ, he from that time became free from the dominion of
sin. Though it remains, infests, and, in several respects, en-
dangers the Christian, yet it doth not reign, nor hath do-
minion. But as to conformity to the resurrection of Christ
in the actual practice of newness of life, that is but begun.
The progress in this life, and the perfection hereafter of
conformity to Christ's resurrection is future ; and that may
be the reason why, in this latter part of the verse, the apostle
uses the future tense, to-optS-ci, we shall be.

Paraphrase. — 5. For if all we believers are together in-
grafted into Christ, and united to him, and so in a likeness to
his death, and by virtue thereof, are dead unto sin, free from
its dominion ; we are not to conceive the matter merely un-
der that negative notion. By no means ; by virtue of our fel-
lowship with Christ, we are risen together with him : and, as
his resurrection gives us, through faith, the certain prospect
of a resurrection to eternal life, when we shall be brought to

Of Romans VI. 53

a perfect likeness to his resurrection, in holiness, happiness,
and glory; so on this side of that, we are, by the power of bh
resurrection, raised, and shall be more and more so, to a
new, active, and fruitful life of holiness ; by our continuance
and progress in which we are to reach a full conformity to
his resurrection, in the perfection of our resurrection state.

TEXT. — 6. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the
body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Explication. — The subject of inquiry in the first clause is,
what is meant by the old man; and what by his being crucified.

As to the first, Dr T. gives for it in his paraphrase, our
heathen state. The old man he explains by the account he
gives of the new man ; and that he founds on Eph. ii. 15. so
he says, (Original Sin, p. 426. ed. 3.) 'The new man in-
'eluded two sorts of people, viz. believing Jews and Gentiles;
1 and was created (Eph. ii. 15.) when Christ abolished in
1 his flesh the enmity, or that which separated the Jews and
' Gentiles>t/br to make or create (xt<ctj) in himself, of twain,
1 (i.e. of believing Jews and Gentiles) one new man.* So he
says, p. 430. ' The new man is either the Christian state,
' or the Christian church, body, or society/ According to
this notion, he explains what is the old man. In the page
just now cited, he says, ' The old man relates to the Gentile
' state ;' and, p. 178. ' The old man has reference to the life
' these Christians had lived while they were heathens/ And
in the text under consideration, he gives for our old man,
our heathen state, as was before observed.

But this account cannot be admitted. It is to be consider-
ed, that the gospel-church, called the one new man, Eph. ii.
had, for a considerable part, converts of the Jews ; many of
whom were truly godly, and true believers, according to the
light and promise of the old Testament, before they knew
that Jesus was the Christ, or became members of the gospel-
church. Acts ii. 5. 'There were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews,
devout men, out of every nation under heaven/ Another
very considerable part of the new gospel- church had been in
a state of proselytism before they knew the gospel. A great
many of these proselytes were men that feared God, and were
truly devout and godly. Such was Cornelius, a proselyte of
the gate, and such was the Ethiopian eunuch. Yea, it is
very likely that the greatest part of the new gospel-church
in these times, and at first, were the Jews and proselytes of
the Gentiles. The notion of the old man will not suit these :

54> Explication and Paraphrase

and the old man, as to them, cannot mean the state or prac-
tice of heathenism. Dr T., as if he were sensible of this,
although he makes the new man to include Jews and Gen-
tiles, yet he commonly interprets the old man of the heathen
state, — a state which a great, perhaps the greatest part, at
first, of the Christian church had not been in. If the new
man means the gospel state and church, the old man is of
the same extent of meaning ; for all, before becoming mem-
bers of the new man, the gospel-church, were in a previous
state; which, according to this way of interpretation, should
be called their old man. But the character of old man will
not apply to the previous state of a great part of the gospel-
church of these times, devout Jews and devout proselytes.

One would think, that the character and description given,
Eph. iv. 22. of the old man, corrupt according to the deceit-
ful lusts ; and, ver. 24. of the new man, after God created
in righteousness and true holiness, might lead a man to dif-
ferent notions of both. Surely the character of corrupt ac-
cording to deceitful lusts, will not suit the state of devout
and godly Jews and proselytes. But the Christian may be
sensible what that hath been in himself, some time prevail-
ing and dominant, (and of which too much continues in him,)
that is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. That, what-
ever other name be given it, is the old man, according to the
apostle's account ; as that in him, which after God is created
in righteousness and true holiness, is the new man. Words
and expressions bear sometimes different meanings in the
different places of scripture, which the scope of each leads a
reader to observe and understand. In one, and but in one
place, Eph. ii. the new man signifies the gospel-church, con-
sisting of Jews and Gentiles. It is unreasonable so to un-
derstand the new man in other places, where the scope, yea,
and the description and character added, require a different
meaning to be understood. It is also to be observed, that the
apostle never uses the old man to signify the Christian's pre-
vious state of heathenism. The Christian having in pro-
fession, and serious, earnest purpose, Col. iii. 9. put off the
old man, and having in like manner, under the influence
of the grace that hath renewed his heart, verse 1 0. put on
the new man ; it becomes him to advance further on both
hands ; to put off — anger, malice, &c. as ver. 8, 9. which
belong to the old man ; and to put on bowels of mercies,
&c. which belong to the new man, as ver. 12 — 15. Many
a Christian in these times hath, by a good light and thorough

Of Romans VI. 55

conversion, put off all at once, and renounced every thing
peculiar to heathenism ; and hath not needed to make this
sort of progress in putting off the old man of heathenism,
according to Dr T.'s sense of it.

But Dr T. himself doth (Orig. Sin, p. 427.) bring the
matter to this. ' In Eph. iv. 22, 24. he considers (saith
* he) the one and the other, as a Christian duty, That ye
1 put off, &c. — That ye put on, &c. The Ephesians as well
1 as Colossians had, by profession, put off the old, and put
f on the new man ; and therefore were obliged to do it ef-
' fectually, by renouncing the spirit, deeds, and conversa-
' tion of the one, by being renewed in their minds, and by
1 practising the virtues of the other/ He then refers to
1 Cor. v. 7- chap. vi. 8 — 11. 2 Cor. vi. 1. But did the author
mean renouncing the spirit, deeds, and conversation of
heathenism, restricting the apostle's view to that ? the texts
he refers to, do not serve that purpose. His subject, 1 Cor.
v. 7. is particularly enjoining the church to cast out a lewd
man for that sort of fornication which he says, ver. 1. was
not so much as named among the Gentiles. Among the many
things named, 1 Cor. vi. there is no instance but idolatry that
was peculiar to the heathens. As to this third text, 2 Cor.
vi. 1. there is nothing at all in it that can serve his particu-
lar purpose. I need say no more about it : let the reader
look to the place.

Any thing that is right in the passage just now cited
might have been reached, without Dr T.'s new conceit con-
cerning the old man's being the Christian's previous heathen
state ; which is a notion without any solid foundation.

What then are we indeed to understand by the old man ?
That certainly signifies the corruption of nature, (this is it
that Dr T. could not bear, and that put all his critical wits
to work on this occasion), the principle of sin, with all ics vari-
ous lusts, which possess and influence a man's faculties and
powers ; and that, so far as it remains in the true Christian,
who is renewed by grace, and in whom is the new man : by
virtue of, and in comparison with which in him, and in him
only, the former is the old man. In persons unregenerate,
this evil principle is not the old man, but continues young,
in full strength and vigour. It is the old man only in per-
sons regenerate — in true Christians.

The next inquiry on this first clause of the text, ver. 6. is,
what it means, that the old man is crucified ? The Greek
word might be rendered, if the use of our language would

56 Explication and Paraphrase

admit the word, by co-crucified, without expressing what or
whom the conjunctive particle in the composition of the
word hath respect to. The English doth for that, with good
reason, supply him — crucified with him, Christ.

The apostle Paul says, Gal. ii. 20. / am crucified with
Christ. But there is great difference between Paul's being
crucified with Christ, and the old man's being crucified
with him : they mean very different things. The crucifixion
of the one, the old man, tends to his death and destruction ;
the crucifixion of the other, of Paul, with Christ, imports his
interest in Christ's crucifixion, and tends to the man's con-
solation and life.

Again, it is said, Gal. v. 24. They that are Christ's have
crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts. But this
seems to express the Christian's doing his duty in mortifying
sin, with its lusts ; opposing and repressing their motions.
Whereas the old man's being crucified with Christ, seems to
mean an effect and virtue of the cross of Christ, that is pre-
vious to the Christian's practice in mortifying sin. Except
we take the matter thus : The Christian hath taken an ef-
fectual course to crucify the flesh, by his believing in Christ ;
whereby the virtue of his cross reaches the flesh, the old
man, to crucify him, with the affections and lusts ; and
whereby the Christian himself is enabled to resist it effec-
tually, and mortify it.

I think, however, that our text may be best explained by
Col. ii. 15. Having spoiled principalities and powers, he made
a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Here,
with principalities and powers, may justly be included, in
the apostle's view and meaning, sin. So Bishop Davenant
on this places : ' Principibus igilur et imperatoribus hisce
' spiritualibus proslratis, prosternitur simul qui quid illis
' militabat, contra humanam salutem, vetus Adamus, mors,
' inferi, mundus, peccata nostra. — Therefore those spiritual
c princes and commanders being overcome, there is over-
' come whatever served them against man's salvation, — the
e old Adam, death, hell, the world, and our sins.* A little
downwards, after citing divers scriptures, particularly,
1 Cor. xv. 55 — 57- he adds, c Mortem, sepulchrum, legem,
' peccatum, fuisse videtis in numero hostium a Chrislo supe-
c ratorum. — You see that death, the grave, the law, and
s sin, have been in the number of the enemies whom Christ
' hath overcome.' So this eminent person. Surely when
it is said, Gen. iii. 15. that the seed of the woman would

Of Romans VI. 57

bruise the head of the serpent, there is meant, not only
Satan, but sin likewise ; that with him it also should be de-
prived of its power and dominion, and be finally destroyed :
as it is said, 1 John iii. 8. For this purpose was the Son
of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the
devil.

Now, what is the effect of Christ's cross against princi-
palities and powers, and against sin ? The apostle says to
the Colossians, that he spoiled them ; he deprived them of
their armour wherein they trusted, as Luke xi. 22. Christ,
by his expiatory sufferings and death, redeemed his people
from the curse, brought them under grace, and procured for
them the blessing of the Spirit, who creates in them the new
man, and, dwelling in them, supports the new man against
the old man, and gives complete victory over him at last.
It is said there (Col. ii. 14.) of the hand-writing of ordi-
nances that was against us, that Christ nailed it to his cross.
So may be understood the apostle's view as to devils and
sin : Christ nailed them to his cross, and so, to the eye of
faith, made an open show of them. Himself victorious left
the cross and grave, and left principalities, and powers, and
sin, nailed fast to the cross, crucified, and hard bound, tit
order to final destruction. The virtue of his cross reaching
in due time his people in their own persons, they are jus-
tified, delivered from the curse, brought under grace ; and
they are to consider the old man in them as crucified ; in
order to his death, and total extinction.

The true meaning of the old man's being crucified with
Christ is as hath been said. At the same time, we may
consider crucifixion as representing otherwise, as by a very
just metaphor, the condition in which the old man, sin and
the lusts thereof, do remain in the believer, not, as some-
time, at full liberty, and in full force and prevalence, but,
though alive, living in pain, checked, resisted, repressed,
and mortified. His efforts, as of one in desperate condition,
may be w^ith considerable force, and too often with ill effect
to the slothful, un watchful Christian. Yet at last, like
what happened outwardly to the crucified thieves, this
malefactor, the old man, will, in the end of the day, be slain
by one blow of Almighty grace.

Before we leave this point, it is fit to observe Dr T.'s
paraphrase of this first clause of ver. 6. : ( When you con-
£ sider him [[Christ] as crucified, and put to death, you may
1 take in this sentiment, That our heathen state was, at the

58 Explication and Paraphrase

* same time, put to death/ Our slate put to death ! this
is rare style. But what may not a masterly critic venture to
say, however improper or incongruous ? The expression,
however, in this first clause, is not, that the old man is put
to death. Persons might live a considerable while, yea
some days, on the cross. Crucifixion is not a state of
death, but a state of pain and torment, tending to death.

The worthy Dr Doddridge hath, in his paraphrase of this
first clause, thus : ' The whole system of our former inclina-
f tions and dispositions — hath now, as it were, been crucified
' together with [[Christ ;] the remembrance and considera-

* tion of his cross co-operating in the most powerful man-

* ner, with all the other motives which the gospel suggests,
' to destroy the former habits of sin, and to inspire us with
c "an aversion to it/ This is in itself a just thought, and
of high importance in religion. Among the arguments and
motives that can be suggested against sin, the remembrance
and consideration of Christ's cross hath the most special
virtue and efficacy. Yet this doth not come up to the full
meaning of the old man's being crucified with Christ. For
that I refer to what hath been here above said on Col. ii.
15. The cross of Christ hath virtue against sin otherwise
than merely as a motive.

Concerning the second clause of this sixth verse, That
the body of sin might be destroyed, there come in like man-
ner to be explained, 1. What is meant by the body of sin f
2. What by its being destroyed ?

As to the body of sin, Dr W/s paraphrase hath it thus :

* [i.e. The appetites of the body, which subject us to sin/)
By the first clause, the old man, is certainly meant sin, in
all the extent of its power and influence in us ; and the body
of sin can be understood in no less extent of meaning. But
have we sin no otherwise in us to be crucified and destroyed
than by the appetites of the body ? Dr W/s paraphrase
looks that way ; and so doth that of Mr Locke, which gives
for this clause thus : ' That the prevalency of our carnal,
' sinful propensities, which are from our bodies, might be
r destroyed/ And his paraphrase of ver. 12. hath thus:
! Permit not therefore sin to reign over you by your mortal
1 bodies/ This last he gives instead of, in your mortal
bodies ; and in his note he observes that tv, in the apostle's
writings, often signifies by. Then he adds, * And he here
< — and elsewhere, placing the root of sin in the body, his
y sense seems to be, Let not sin reign over you by the lusts

Of Romans VI. 59

1 of your mortal body.' There will be occasion to consider
this again on ver. 12. Here I observe, that the learned wri-
ter makes our carnal sinful propensities to be from the body,
and places the root of sin in the body ; as Dr W. to the
same purpose, makes the body of sin to mean the appetites of
the body.

These things are very wrong. If we will speak with
strictness and propriety, all lusts, affections, passions, and
appetites, have their seat and root in the soul, in the spi-
ritual substance ; mere body is not capable of any of these,
nor of moral good or evil. But as man is composed of soul
and body, so united that the one powerfully influences the
other, he hath propensities and appetites by the influence of
the body, which receive excitement from it, and in the gra-
tification of which he hath pleasure by means of the body ;
as he hath at the same time propensities, affections, and
appetites, such as a mere spirit might have that hath no
connexion with body. In the one sort, man partakes with
the brutes ; in the other sort, with mere spirits, with angels.
In man's corrupt fallen state, he hath spiritual lusts, such as
pride, hatred, malice, envy, deceit. In view to such sort of
unholy lusts and passions, our Lord says to the Jews, John
viii. 44. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your
father ye will do : he was a murderer — and abode not in the
truth.

If the mention of body gave occasion to Dr W. to think
of appetites of the body, he might, from sin in us being call-
ed the old man, have considered, that a man hath a soul
as well as a body ; and therefore that the old man compre-
hends evils arising from the soul as well as from the body.
If the apostle does in Gal. v. 1Q, 20. ascribe all sinful lust-
ings and works to the flesh, he is far from thinking or mean-
ing, that all sin hath its root or source in the body. For
elsewhere (2 Cor. vii. 1.) he distinguishes between flthiness
of the flesh and of the spirit ; and Dr VV. had no reason to
restrict filthiness of the spirit to idolatry ; nor to restrict
idolatry, as he doth on Gal. v. 19, 20., to the notion of a sen-
sual crime : there might be idolatry without sensuality.

It is true, indeed, that in man's embodied state the in-
fluence of the body doth give a turn or bias even to these
lusts and passions that have their special root in the spirit
or soul, towards things external and earthly ; and it is ac-
cording to this view that Dr W. explains all the works of the
flesh mentioned, Gal. v. 19, 20. But if man's pride, selfish-

60 Explication and Paraphrase

ness, and ambition (for instance) are in this life turned to-
wards things earthly or bodily, pertaining to this life, yet
it were most unreasonable to say, that therefore these lusts
have their source and root in the body. Let us consider
how sin entered, as the said story is told, Gen. iii. If it be
allowed, that, in our first parents considering and desiring
the forbidden fruit as good for food, and pleasant to the
eyes, there was what some mean by appetite of the body,
yet, considering and desiring it, in order to be wise, and as
God, knowing good and evil, it is not easy to conceive how
this can be ascribed to bodily appetite.

i£ sin hath its root in the body, it seems to be a natural
consequence, that when the soul comes to be separated from
the body, it should have no sin in it. Yet I scarce think
that any will say so ; and at the same time, I see not how
they can avoid this, if it be not by saying, that the soul hav-
ing been engaged in the practice of sin, by the influence of
the body, it hath contracted habits, which it brings unto a
separate state. Indeed, some Protestants, (if they should be
so called ) have in our time said, it is so far thus with many
of the souls of the righteous, that these habits must be
wrought off in the separate state, even by means painful
and distressing to a high degree. This notion does not fall
to be considered in this place. Only, as to the present pur-
pose, if it be allowed that a mere spirit, a separate soul, may
have in itself sinful habits, propensities, and passions, though
it may be said, that these in them are owing originally to
bodily influence, yet what reason can possibly be given
why such a spirit may not have sinful habits and propensi-
ties, from another cause and source ? Can we not hold, that
fallen angels have sinful lusts and propensities, without
holding that they have bodies in which sin hath its root, as
Mr L. speaks ?

What, then, is meant by the body of sin ? Plainly, as the
expression in the preceding clause, the old man, is figurative,
so is this other, the body of sin, and doth not mean the hu-
man body, but that whole system of corrupt principles, pro-
pensities, lusts, and passions, which have, since the fall,
possessed man's nature, and is co-extended and commen-
surate to all the human powers and faculties. Let us ob-
serve how Bishop Davenant, on Col. ii. 11. explains this ex-
pression, the body of the sins of the flesh : ' Haze interna
* (circamcisio) totum corpus peccati solet abo/ere — corpus pec-
' catorum carnis, id est, massam vitionnn et pecatorum qua;

Of Romans VI. 6l

' pullulat ex came, hoc est, ex corruptione yiostra insita et
' originali ; qua came anima uniuscuj usque non minus cir-
* cumdata est quam came hac naturali.' Which is to this
purpose: This inward circumcision abolisheth the whole
body of sin, the body of the sins of the jiesh ; that is, the
mass of vitiosity and sin which springs from the flesh ; that
is, from our original corruption, with which flesh the soul of
every one is no less vested than with the natural flesh. — This
learned writer had more extensive views of sin in men than
to express it by appetites of the body. In this, as in divers
other instances, that worthy Bishop of Sarum conceived the
apostle's meaning, and the true doctrine, much more justly
than the learned chantor of Sarum. To say that the body
is the chief seat and source of sin in men, and that sin in
them hath its root in the body, as Mr L. said ; as it is an
error in divinity, it is a downright blunder in philosophy.

The remaining thing in this second clause to be explained
is, the destroying the body of sin. Jt is true, that the
Greek word signifies sometimes to be abolished or destroyed.
If we take it so here, the meaning must be, that the old man
is crucified with this design, that sin may in due time be
totally destroyed and extinguished in God's people. But at
the same time it is true, that the word often signifies, to
render ineffectual or useless ; to deprive a thing of its sub-
stance, virtue, or force ; to quite enfeeble it. For this sense
are adduced Rom. iii. 31. chap. iv. 14. ] Cor. ii. 6. chap,
xiii. 8. chap xv. 24-. Eph. ii. 15. 2 Tim. i. 10. There might
be added, Luke xiii. 7- According to this sense of the word,
the meaning is, that the present effect of the old man's being
crucified is, that the body of sin hath not now its reigning
power and force, but is enfeebled and enervated.

Dr T/s paraphrase gives this second, and the following
clause, thus : f With this view, that the whole body of sin,
' in all its various lusts and corrupt practices being destroy -
' ed, we should from henceforth, in our Christian state, be
1 quite disengaged from the servitude of sin.' He renders
here, destroyed, and, as I observed before, that rendering
may be retained with this meaning, that the end and design
is, that sin may in due time be finally and wholly destroyed.
But he does not take it so, but has it, being destroyed, as
respecting the present time. But the whole body of sin, in
all its various lusts and corrupt practices, being destroyed in
this present time, is so contrary to the Scriptures, and the

c 5

62 Explication and Paraphrase

common experience of Christians, that it is needless to offer
a more particular confutation of this interpretation.

Follows now the third clause of this sixth verse, That
henceforth we should not serve sin ; that is, might not be the
servants or slaves (J*Agv«v) of sin, now that it is enfeebled
and deprived of its reigning power and dominion ; but might
assert our liberty by resisting, repressing, and mortifying it.

Paraphrase. — 6. I have said, that the consequence of
Christ's rising from the dead is, that we, in conformity
thereto, should walk in newness of life, in which we bear
the begun likeness of his resurrection. But this is not to
be so understood, as if this newness of life were already per-
fect. Alas, no ! sin remaineth in us : we have still our old
man, and this is very nearly connected with us. It is we,
our own very selves, in an unholy and vile form. All the
sin he doth is my sin, which the holy and righteous law of
God would charge against me, though grace allows me to
distinguish, and say, It is not I, but sin that dwelleth in
me ; while I do truly distinguish myself from this old man,
this evil principle, by habitually resisting it, having sorrow
and regret for it. This evil principle, which, like another
man, is superinduced upon me, pervades all the faculties,
powers, and affections of my soul ; and so hath the dimen-
sions, form, and members of a man. But happily this man
is become old ; the new man created in us hath made this
become the old man ; and (let me here allude to Heb. viii.
13.) that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish
away, and to be quite extinguished. Yea, we know by our
faith, that this old man, by a power superior to that of the
new man in us, even by the power and virtue of the cross of
Christ, is adjudged to death, crucified, and bound fast, as to
Christ's cross ; so that as surely as the cross of Christ exists
in virtue and efficacy, so surely shall he die ; and the pre-
sent effect of this his crucifixion is, that this old man, the
body of sin, is deprived of its force and reigning power, is
enervated and enfeebled ; so that from henceforth we are
not in servitude to it, or under its dominion, though it re-
maineth in us.

TEXT 7- For he that is dead, is freed from sin.

Explication. — It is to be observed, that the word here
rendered is freed, (or made free,) should, according to its
common use and meaning, be rendered is justified ; and so
the margin of our books have it. I see that the apostle's

Of Romans VI. 63

using the word justified (the Greek word that so meansj
has given some difficulty to the learned ; and they have
accounted for it somewhat differently, though they seem to
be generally agreed, that the scope of the place directs us to
understand it of being made free from sin, as we translate it.

One way in which it has been thought that the matter
might be taken, is this : — Sin is in the context set forth in
the figurative way as a person, as hath been often observed
by the learned, and as a person that hath exercised tyranny
and dominion. Now, if we consider this person (sin) as still
claiming to reign, and to have dominion, the apostle here
asserts, that the Christian being dead with Christ, and by
virtue of his death, he is justified, that is, (as Dr Guise
expresses it) he is legally acquitted from any claim that
this tyrant could pretend to have to his obedience. I shall
not contend with any who shall thus interpret and under-
stand this text.

Yet as this seems to be a somewhat uncommon meaning
of the word justified, it were well if we could light on an in-
terpretation, that would more clearly accord with the mean-
ing in which the apostle commonly uses the word in this
epistle. With this view, let what here follows be considered
by the learned and judicious.

Let it then be observed, that the apostle having men-
tioned, ver. 2. the Christian's being dead to sin, he comes
now to speak in a more particular way, to distinguish and
explain, in order to show more clearly, how, by the death of
Christ, and the believer's fellowship and interest therein, he
becomes dead to sin, and is made free from its dominion.

As to the reign and dominion of sin, there is to be made
this distinction, which we shall find the apostle hath in his
view in the following discourse. There is, 1. The reign of
sin as to penal consequence, which hath respect to the penal
sanction of the law, and is derived from it, as it denounces
death to the transgressor. This is the reign of sin men-
tioned chap. v. 21. rill hath reigned unto death. There is,
2. The dominion of sin with regard to inherency in nature ;
its reigning prevalence in men's nature and practice, with
respect to which men are the slaves of sin : it requires and
commands their obedience to it, in all its work and service.
The reign or dominion of sin in these two respects is con-
nected. Whilst a man is under the reign of sin as to penal
consequence, obnoxious to the penal death which the law de-
nounces against transgressors, he is, at the same time, un-

64? Explication and Paraphrase

der the dominion of sin in the second respect before men-
tioned ; he is the slave of sin, detained and employed in
serving it. But when he is made free from the reign of sin
as it reigneth unto death, and from that penal consequence
of it, he is at the same time made free from the dominion of
sin in nature and practice.

Now, let us look closely into the words of the text, ver. 7«
For he that is dead — This is to be understood, as it is more
largely expressed in the next following words, ver. 8. If we
be dead with Christ — This expresses the believer's fellow-
ship and interest in the death of Christ. When his blessed
Representative and Surety underwent the death denounced
by the law, it was the same virtually as if the sinner him-
self had undergone in his own person the punishment of his
sins, and had died for them ; and so the Christian is taught
to conceive the matter by faith. The consequence is, that
by virtue of Christ's death, of the redemption that is in
Christ, and by his blood, and by faith in his blood, the be-
liever is justified; and what now is the consequence of his
being thus justified ? It is, that his sins being pardoned,
he is at peace with God, is relieved from the curse of the
law, is dead to sin ; that is, made free from its reign, as it
reigned unto death, and from all the penal consequence al-
loted to sin by the law, instead of that sad view and pros-
pect, being by the adoption of grace a son and heir, he hath
cause to rejoice in hope of the glory of God, and in the pros-
pect, by virtue of his fellowship and interest in Christ's
death, of living eternally with him. Thus, he that is dead,
as here, ver. 7« that is, dead with Christ, is justified from sin ;
so delivered from the reign of sin as to penal effect, and
hath the prospect of eternal life. This purpose and view
the apostle seems to insist in to ver. 11.

Then he brings into view what I may call the practical
dominion of sin ; and after a few words of exhortation, he
expresses his comfortable doctrine clearly, and says, ver. 14.
c Sin shall not have dominion over you ; for ye are not under
the law,^but under grace.' Now, let us consider what respect
the sinner's being justified hath to this matter. It is plain,
it is by justification he is brought from under the law and
its curse ; it is by justification he is brought under grace ;
it is by justification that he is brought unto that state in
which sin shall not have dominion over him, to hold him as
a slave in its service.

We see then how much to the apostle's main purpose is

Of Romans VI. 65

what he asserts here, ver. 7- that he who is dead, viz.
with Christ, is justified from sin. It is a principle he im-
proves to great account in the following discourse ; and the
mention of being justified is in this place exceedingly con-
gruous and fit. It was against his doctrine of justification
by grace through faith, and not by works, that the objec-
tion, ver. 1. was brought, as if it favoured men's continuing
in sin. In opposition to this, the apostle, by the principle
he lays down here, ver. 7- and by what he derives from it in
his following discourse, shows that justification through faith
doth indeed deliver a man from sin, with respect to its legal
reign and its practical dominion at once. How unreasonable
then, and absurd, to charge such a doctrine with favouring
sin !

There is this advantage likewise by the explication given
of ver. 7. that it gives to justification in that verse the pre-
cise meaning the word hath in all the apostle's preceding
discourse on the subject of justification.

As to that manner of expression, justified from sin, we
see the apostle expressing himself in a similar manner con-
cerning the remission of sin, Acts xiii. 3Q* ' By him all that
believe are justified from all things, from which ye could
not be justified by the law of Moses/

Paraphrase. — 7- For (to come now to give a more full
answer to the cavil above suggested) he wrho is dead with
Christ, who hath fellowship and interest in his death, is jus-
tified from sin by grace suberabounding in pardoning it ;
which is the point from which the cavil pretends to derive
its strength. For the truth of the matter is, that this justi-
fication by abounding grace, through faith, is that which
doth effectually destroy the interest of sin, put an end to its
reign and dominion in those who are justified, and insures
their sanctification ; as will appear clearly by the explica-
tions 1 proceed to give.

TEXT — 8. Now if we le dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also
live with him.

Explication. — The first clause, If we be dead with Christ,
has been explained already. It has been taken to signify
our being dead to sin, as the expression is, ver. 2. I take it
as meaning, more precisely, a man's fellowship and interest in
the death of Christ, the actual benefit and comfort of which
he attains through faith ; and then being justified, (ver. 7-)
the consequence is, being dead to sin, that is, made free from

66 Explication and Paraphrase

its reign and dominion. This seems to be the true order of
things.

In the mean time, the conclusion which the Christian's
faith infers is, as here, that we shall also live with Christ,
As Christ rose from the dead to life, his people, included as
it were in him, and represented by him, have (as Eph. ii. 5,
6.) been e quickened together with Christ/ and have been
'■ raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus.' The fellowship and part which
Christians have in the resurrection of Christ being so ex-
pressed in that place, it gives us cause to think, that here,
being dead with Christ hath a similar meaning, and is to be
understood, as I have said, of the Christian's fellowship and
interest in the death of Christ.

If Christ died, he also rose again to life, even to a new and
never-ending life; and by the fellowship and part his
people have in him, and in his resurrection, this insures to
them a happy resurrection to eternal life. There is in this
a great deal against the practice of sin, and to recommend
and enforce newness of life, mentioned ver. 4. The Chris-
tian hath cause to think, that perfect freedom from sin, and
the perfection of holiness is included (Phil. iii. 11, 12.) in
this his hope ; and therefore, agreeably to that hope, he
should, not having already attained, nor being already per-
fect, follow after, and reach forth unto what is before him in
this respect, pressing towards the mark, the perfect holi-
ness, as well as the happiness of the resurrection state ; and
to consider the practice of sin as quite inconsistent with that
hope. But though this argument for holy living is implied,
and by most just inference deducible from what is said in this
second clause of ver. 8. yet I take the words, shall also live
with him, to have, for their direct and most proper meaning,
the attainment and enjoyment of eternal life. This seems
to be most agreeable to the expression ; and we shall find in
the following verses what tends to establish this sense.

Paraphrase. — 8. Now if we have fellowship and interest
in the death of Christ, surely we have so also in his resur-
rection to life, (which affords arguments of the utmost force
for newness of life) ; and if we are risen together with
Christ, what a glorious prospect opens to us, and what a
sure and blessed hope ariseth thence, through faith ? even
that we shall live a happy and glorious life with him, that
shall not be cut off or interrupted by death.

Let me explain a little this most comfortable subject, by

Of Romans VI. 67

saying a few words, ver. 9, 10. concerning Christ's resur-
rection to life ; and then, ver. 11. concerning its consequence
to you and all true believers.

TEXT. — 9. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no
more ; death hath no more dominion over him.

Explication. — The import of this 9th verse is very clear,
and needs little or nothing to be said for explaining it, if it
is not what is said in the second clause concerning the do-
minion of death, which implies, that death had sometime
dominion over Christ. So indeed it had ; but its dominion
over him was not absolute. When he came in the vice of
sinners, charged with their sins, death had a right to have
him subjected to it by virtue of the law. But the law being
satisfied, death could not retain its dominion, nor hold him
in subjection. God his Father raised him up ; yea, he rose
by his own power (John ii. 19. chap. x. 18.) victorious over
death, which cannot seize him, or bring him under its do-
minion any more.

TEXT. — 10. For in that he died^ he died unto sin once : hit in that he
liveth, he liveth unto God.

Explication — The expression here of greatest diffculty
is, that Christ died unto sin. The learned appear to have
been much at a loss to account for the expression, and have
given various senses of it. Some have interpreted it by
saying, he died to procure to us power and grace to mortify
sin ; or, to give us cause, reasons, and motives to do so.
But there is nothing here of our mortifying sin ; not the
least word that imports it. It is of Christ himself it is said,
directly and expressly, that he died unto sin.

Dr. W.'s paraphrase gives it thus, (as divers interpreters
before him had given the same sense) : c For in that he
' died, he died once to sin, (or for sin, i. e. in that he died
1 to the putting away of sin, Heb. ix. 26, 28. he died thus
' once for all/) As to the expression, he died to sin, they
did not know what to make of it, it seems, in this place : so
they substituted for it, he died for sin. But however inse-
parable these things are, that Christ died for sin, and that
he died unto sin, as appears in this very place, yet as the
expressions are different, they must mean very different
things. Dying for sin, and dying to sin, are not convertible
terms, to express the same sense. If Christ died to sin,

68 Explication and Paraphrase

Christians do likewise die to sin : but Christians do not die
for sin, as he did.

For interpreting this expression, that hath appeared so
dark and puzzling, I venture to offer what follows.

Being dead to sin signifies being made free from the reign
of sin ; as hath been shown on ver. 2. 1 see no cause for un-
derstanding the expression otherwise here : Christ died unto
sin, that is, he became free from the reign of sin. This
implies, that our blessed Lord had been under the reign
of sin ; which, at first sight, may appear shocking ; but
will soon cease to be so, if the matter be duly considered.

It hath been already observed, that it is said, chap. v. 21.
that sin hath reigned unto death. So sin exercises its reign
in giving death. Now, Christ having put himself in the
vice of sinners, and bearing our sins in his own body on the
tree, he was there, and then, under the reign of sin, — that
reign which I have called the legal reign of sin, the power
of which it derives from the law. Sin finding him in the
vice, or place of sinners, and bearing their guilt, it reigned
over him unto death.

The apostle says, 1 Cor. xv. 56. The sting of death is sin;
and the strength of sin is {he law. Now, it will be acknow-
ledged by every Christian, (the Socinian hath not, I think,
a good title to that denomination) that Christ came under
the strength and power which the law gives to sin ; and that
the sting of sin was truly and fully in the death which he
underwent, in order to unsting it to his people. Now, this
amounts to as much as to say, that he was under the reign
of sin in so far, and in the sense that hath been explained ;
and that in regard to him, sin reigned unto death.

Further, this view makes the connexion clear between
this and the preceding verse, yea, that connexion seems to
make this sense necessary. He had said, ver. 9- that Christ
dieth no more ; death hath no more dominion over him. It is
plain, that the words here, ver. 10. are intended to give the
reason of this ; and, by the interpretation given, the reason
is clear and strong. Death derives its dominion, mentioned
ver. 9. from the reign of sin : and where sin hath no right
or power to reign unto death, there death can have no do-
minion. So it is then that Christ, by dying and expiating sin,
satisfied fully the law ; and so the law gives no more strength
to sin to reign over him unto death ; and death can have
no more dominion over him ; which is the thing asserted, ver.
9- that is meant to be proved by this argument, ver. 10.

Of Romans VI. 69

As by once dying he took away sin,-— even that guiltiness by
which his people, and himself, when substituted in their
stead, became obnoxious to death, — he at the same time be-
came dead to sin once for all and for ever ; that is, he be-
came free from the reign of sin, so that sin cannot, and
death by virtue of sin cannot, any more reign, or have do-
minion over him.

With respect to the explication that hath been given, there
may occur to some a difficulty, arising from the connexion
that hath appeared, in the case of mankind universally, be-
tween being under the curse of the law, or the reign of sin,
as it reigneth unto death, and being under the practical do-
minion of sin, with regard to inherency in nature, and pre-
valence in practice : so that to say, Christ was under the
reign of sin, in the one respect, would give cause to say, he
came under its dominion in the other respect also, which
were very absurd.

But if the matter be considered, this difficulty will soon
disappear. Whatever connexion hath appeared in the case
of mankind between incurring guiltiness and becoming cor-
rupt and depraved in nature and practice, yet it is certain,
that this corruption or depravation, (however it may be
justly reckoned to be, in itself, death in a moral sense) is
not included in the death threatened by the law for trans-
gression, such as was to be inflicted by the Supreme Judge.
So it is no part of the punishment of sin, which Christ was
to undergo for us ; and when he underwent that punishment
in our stead, he had the perfect purity of his own human
nature ; he had the Holy Spirit, that was given him with-
out measure, dwelling in him ; and also the continued union
of his divine with his human nature, to keep him even from
the possibility of sinning. So that however depravation
was the consequence of incurring guiltiness and the curse
of the law, in the case of mankind, yet nothing similar to
this can be inferred from Christ's coming under the reign
of sin, as it reigned unto death ; which, as to the reality of
things, imports no more than what Christians have ever
held, according to the scriptures, viz. that Christ under-
went the death that was the punishment of our sins.

There remains the second clause of this 10th verse, In
that he liveth, he liveth unto God. The meaning of this
will be more clear, by what will be largely and more fitly
suggested in explaining the latter clause of the following
verse. Here I give for it the short note of the judicious,

70 Explication and Paraphrase

Samuel Clarke. He liveth unto God — an immortal, heavenly,
glorious life, in the presence of God, and to the glorv of
God.

TEXT. — 11. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto
sin ; but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Explication. — This last clause, through Jesus Christ our
Lord, is to be considered as connected with the first, as well
as with the second clause; thus, dead unto sin through Jesus
Christ — alive unto God through Jesus Christ.

As to the first clause, it is not, ye are obliged to die, or be
dead to sin, but reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto
sin : not merely by virtue of profession, vows, and gospel-
obligations, as if matter of duty were meant ; but through
Jesus Christ, and by virtue of union and fellowship with
him ; it being the advantage and blessedness of the believer's
state, through Christ, that the apostle means. So Calvin
chooses to render it more precisely according to the Greek
(if Xgigre*) in Christ, as more expressive of our ingraftment
into Christ, and our union with him, by virtue of which we
have fellowship with him in his death, so as to be dead with
him, rather than as others render per, by, or through
Christ. But in the one way or the other, it comes to much
the same thing. He had said, ver. 10. that Christ died unto
sin ; and it is with a view to the union of Christians, and
their communion with him in his death, that now, ver. 1 1 .
he [directs Christians to infer, and reckon themselves to be
dead indeed unto sin. Christ being dead unto sin, that is,
having become free from the reign of sin he had been under,
sin cannot any more reign over him unto death. In like
manner, the believer being in Christ, in union and fellow-
ship with him, and so dead with him unto sin, it cannot
reign over him unto death. The law, which is the strength
of sin in this respect, will never give it strength or power so
to reign over the believer.

But doth not every Christian, even the best, die ? True ;
bu t there is nothing penal in their death ; whatever there
m ay be of fatherly chastisement in the circumstances of it,
th ere is nothing of the reign of sin in it. By a constitution
of divine wisdom, (happy for the general interest of this sin-
ful world,) it is appointed for all men once to die. With
r egard to them who are under the law and its curse, there
is in their death the reign of sin. Not so in the death of
those who have interest and fellowship in the death of Christ.

Of Romans VI. 71

Tribulations, afflictions, sickness, and death, came originally
by sin, and the curse of the law for sin ; for the breach of
the first covenant. But now these are adopted by the new
covenant, not for penal, but for salutary purposes. Sin did
originally reign in them. But now the reign of sin, as to
penal effect, being at an end with regard to true believers,
what succeeds to that reign is, (Rom. v. 21.) that grace now
reigneth. Tribulations, afflictions, and death, do, in their
case, belong to the reign of grace, terminating in eternal
life. There is no sting of sin in their death, nor is it by the
strength that the law gives to sin that they are chastised, or
die.

Follows the second clause, But alive unto God. The sense
of this clause, is, I think, to be taken from these words of
our Lord, in arguing with the Sadducee concerning the re-
surrection of the dead, Luke xx. 31, 38. Now that the dead
are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calU
eih the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of
the living ; for all live unto him. It is plain that our Lord
doth not mean this merely to prove that Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob lived, as to their souls, in their separate state ; which
indeed the Sadducees did also deny ; but to prove the resur-
rection of the body, against which they had on this occasion
pretended to bring their argument, which the existence and
life of their separate souls would not prove. NowT our Lord
argues from God's covenant of grace, by which he became
the God of Abraham and of all his spiritual seed ; and from
this he argues, as ver. 38. He is not a God of the dead ;
that is, they who are dead, in a state of death, dead in the
eye of God, and by his righteous destination ; God cannot
be supposed to be, nor can be called, their God. He would
be ashamed to be called their God, to have been the God
of such as perish. If he is the God of any, they must be
supposed to be living, that is, in God's eye, and by his des-
tination, and by the grace of his covenant. So it is said,
John iii. 36. He that believeth — hath everlasting life; and
John xi. 26. Whosoever liveth, and believeth in me, shall never
die.

As to the word all, in the last clause of Luke xx. 38. the
universality of its meaning is to be restricted (as in innu-
merable instances) according to the subject and argument,
and the clause to be understood thus : For all who have part
in the covenant, and to whom the Lord is their God, do live

72 Explication and Paraphrase

unto him ; they are in a state of life in his sight ; they have
passed from death to life ; they are by divine grace entitled
to life, and so shall be raised in their bodies to eternal life,
which was the point which our Lord's argument was de-
signed to prove.

Now if this be the consequence of being interested in
God's covenant of grace, and of persons having him, by spe-
cial relation and interest, to be their God, that they live to
him in the sense now given, it follows, that believers, from
the time they come unto union with Christ, and have part
in the covenant, do even in this life on earth live unto God,
in the sense in which Christ meant the expression ; that is,
are the heirs of eternal life, to the full possession and enjoy-
ment of which they shall be brought in their complete per-
sons at the resurrection. In this sense doth the apostle de-
sire the Christians to reckon themselves to be alive unto God;
that is, heirs of eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This may satisfy us concerning the true meaning of the
words concerning Christ in ver. 10. In that he liveth, he liveth
unto God. To interpret this, as some have done, merely of
his living a life acceptable to God, and to his glory, doth not
come up to the present purpose and argument. He lived
such a life before his death and resurrection as truly as after
these. Whereas it is evident, the words mean some special
thing that is the proper consequence of his death, by virtue
of which it was that he became dead unto sin, and liveth to
God ; and a consequence of his resurrection, viz. that he is
entitled to, yea possessed of, an eternal life, out of the reach
of the reign of sin, and of that dominion of death mentioned
in the immediately preceding words of ver. 9-

It is needless to perplex things here, by asking an ac-
count how a right to, and the certainty of, eternal life, should
come to be expressed by living unto God. Some account of
that may be learned from what hath been already suggested.
But without that, the use of speech is enough for determining
the meaning of words, whether the manner and view in
which they came to that use and meaning can be accounted
for or not. It is evide t our Lord used the words in the
meaning now explained, Luke xx. 38. The scribes under-
stood him so> and approved ; the Sadducees so understood,
and were put to silence ; while the multitude understood in
the same way, and were astonished, Matth. xxii. 33, 34-. ;
nor do I see that any other sense better suits the similar ex-
pression of the apostle here, ver. 10, 11.

Of Romans VI. 73

The sense of these three verses I have been last explain-
ing, may be conceived thus :

Paraphrase. — 9» Having said, (ver. 8.) that in consequence
of our fellowship in the death of Christ, being dead with
him, we shall certainly live with him, I come now to ex-
plain that matter by a few words concerning his living and
ours. So it is then, as we know with the utmost certainty,
that Christ having, in his resurrection from the dead, over-
come death, he is no more obnoxious to it. If he was once,
for a time, under its dominion, it now can no more for ever
have dominion over him.

10. For the dominion of death, which it exercised over
him for a season, being no other than the reign of sin, as it
hath reigned unto death, our blessed Lord being substituted
in the vice of sinners, and so coming under the reign of sin
in that respect, and actually undergoing death ; he did, by
that expiating death, fully satisfy the law ; and it, according
to its perfect justice, can never more give strength or power
to sin to reign over him unto death. It is the consequence
of his dying for sin, that he hath thereby died unto sin, and
become for ever free from its claim to reign over him, once
for all and for ever : and that having gloriously overcome sin
and death, in rising anew to life, he liveth a glorious eternal
life, out of the reach of all reign of sin or death.

11. In like manner, as I have said, (ver. 8.) that in con-
sequence of our fellowship with him in his death, we shall
also live with him, so accordingly, from what I have said
just now, (ver. 10.) you have cause to reckon, with assured
faith, that through Christ, and by virtue of his having died
unto sin, yourselves are indeed dead unto sin, and so are
made free from it, as it reigned unto death ; and that never
can give you death in the penal way, in which the righteous
law enabled it to subject you to it ; and at the same time
that you have through him a sure and unquestionable title
to eternal life, wherein you shall live with him, in a perfect
conformity to his life, in holiness, happiness, and glory.

TEXT. — 12. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye
should obey it in the lusts thereof.

Explication — The apostle now proceeds to exhort the
believers against sin, and to the practice of holiness ; and in-
sists to that purpose to the end of the chapter. Having re-
presented the privilege, advantage, and blessedness of the
state of the believer, of the sincere Christian ; what he had

74 Explication and Paraphrase

brought forth on that subject gave him great advantage with
regard to the exhortation he now enters on ; and suggests
the strongest arguments and motives imaginable to enforce
it The grace that hath made believers free from the reign
of sin, hath put them under the greatestobligation to avoid, re-
sist, and mortify it ; under the greatest obligation to all duty,
and to the practice of holiness. If by being made free from
the reign of sin, in the sense that hath been here explained,
they are alive unto God, and have the prospect of eternal
life, they are to consider that they are to enjoy that life in
the perfection of holiness : so it becomes them to have greatly
at heart to advance in their practice towards that perfection
of holiness that is included in their most comfortable hope.

Besides, it is to be remembered what was said before,
viz. that while one is under the reign of sin, as it by virtue
of the law reigneth unto death, he is at the same time under
the dominion of sin, as a slave in its service, and no longer.
So the apostle, having asserted that believers are made free
from sin in the former respect, his exhortation proceeds on
this view, that they are made free from it, at the same time,
in the latter respect also ; which he is to bring forth more
clearly a little hereafter, in order to be explained and es-
tablished.

It appears by this same text, that whilst Christians are
in this life, they will have sin, and the lusts thereof in them.
For the exhortation is not to resist temptations from without,
but not to obey sin, or the lusts thereof within them ; and
why should Christians be warned (as it will be allowed to be
a warning fit to be given to every Christian, in every time
of life) not to obey sin in the lusts thereof, if there would be
no such lusts in them ?

Further, when he speaks of obeying, this, I think, im-
ports something deliberate and voluntary. For it would
seem, that what a man doth with absolute reluctance, by
surprise and force, doth not deserve to be called obedience.

Further yet ; the exhortation proceeds on this view, that
the Christian made free, is in such condition to resist the
reign of sin, and to refuse obedience to it, as he was not in
formerly. Christians are now in condition to resist it effec-
tually ; and to prevent its reigning, or prevailing in their
practice. If sin shall now reign and prevail, it must be
owing to their own indolence, unwatchfulness, faulty weak-
ness, or treachery. Sin hath not now force enough to restore
and maintain its own dominion. However, as unholy lusts

Of Romans VI. 75*

are not quite eradicate, it should be the care of the Chris-
tian to resist their motions carefully and seasonably, and to
endeavour, through divine grace, that they do not take effect,
or prevail.

It is fit now to offer some explication of that expression,
your mortal body. Let it then be observed, that, according
to the Hebrew idiom, and that of some other languages, soul
is often put for person ; and his soul, or, our soul, often
mean no more than he, or, himself; we, or us. This hath
been so often observed, that it were not needful, for the sake
of any of the learned, to produce such instances. However,
here are few. Exod. xxx. 12. Then shall they give every
man a ransom for his soul ; that is, for himself. Job xxxiii.
22. His soul, (that is, he) draweth near unto the grave.
Numb. xi. 6. Our soul is (that is, we are) dried away.
Psal. xliv. 25. Our soul is (that is, we are) bowed down to
the dust. Psal. cxxiv. 4. The stream hath gone over our
soul, (that is, over us.) So, when God is said to swear by
his soul, it is rightly rendered, that he swears by himself.
Hundreds of instances may be given, wherein soul may
be rendered by person, or by the pronoun denoting the per-
son.

The word body is often used in the same manner. So
Rom. xii. 1. Present your bodies, (that is, your persons, or
yourselves) a living sacrifice. 1 Pet. ii. 24. Christ bare our
sins in his own body (in his own person, or, on himself) on-
the tree. Exod. xxi. 3., of the Hebrew servant it is said, If
he came in with his body, (so the Hebrew and the English
margin) he shall go out with his body ; justly rendered in
both clauses by himself So the Hebrew in the last clause
of ver. 4. he shall go out with his body ; which we render as
before, by himself. Thus, also Matth. vi. 22. Thy whole
body, (i.e. thy whole person) shall be full of light ; for other-
wise the body in itself is not luminous, nor hath visive
faculty. So James iii. 6. The tongue defileth the whole body ;
that is, the whole person. According to this use and mean-
ing of the expression, the apostle is to be understood thus :
Let not sin reign in your mortal persons ; or, in you, in this
your mortal state.

It appears then, that from the mention of mortal body in
this place, Mr L. had not good cause to say, that sin hath its
source and root in the body. However, Dr T. had the same
view ; for his paraphrase gives it thus : e I exhort you — not
f to suffer sin to have a governing power in your mortal.

76 Explication and Paraphrase

' bodies, by yielding obedience to it, in gratifying the ap-
f petites of a corruptible mass of flesh.' Was there indeed
no danger of sin, but by the appetites of the corruptible mass
of flesh ? One might think from these notions and expres-
sions, that these writers have had very narrow and restrict-
ed views of sin, and that a great deal of sin had escaped
their observation.

It has, I know, been observed, that the gender in the Greek
makes it necessary to connect and construct these last words,
the lusts thereof, not with sin, but with the word body.
True ; as body is mentioned, the word constructed with it
behoved to be of the same gender. But that makes no rea-
son against the interpretation of mortal body, here given.
The last clause, consistently with that interpretation, may
well be understood thus : The lusts thereof, that is, of your
mortal persons ; or the lusts which remain in you, in your
mortal state.

Yet it is not without special reason that the apostle, ex-
horting against sin, and the danger of it in this mortal state,
mentions the mortal body. For though the general proposition
is very wrong, that sin hath its source and root in the body,
yet it is certain, that much sin hath its source and root in
the body ; and that the Christian hath great cause to be
watchful against the danger from that side.

There is this further reason for the apostle's using this
expression here, that indeed death hath the chief unfavour-
able effect on the body. The soul, separately considered, is
immortal, not capable of being dissolved into corruption and
dust, as the body : and as to the soul of the believer, except
that death dissolves its natural union with the body, the ef-
fect otherwise is altogether favourable. It departs, and is
with Christ, which is far better.

Paraphrase — 12. Alive you are, I say, unto God, through
Jesus Christ ; through him, and by virtue of his resurrection,
entitled to eternal life, to a happy immortality ; when there
will be no molestation or danger from sin ; no cause of fear.
But on this side of that, in your present embodied mortal
state, there is much danger of sin. It remains in you, its law
is in your members, and its various lusts, as the particular
commandments of that law. But as you are made free from
its reign, as it reigned unto death, and at the same time
made free from its dominion by which it enslaved you, and
so are brought into a capacity to resist it, and maintain war
against it ; let me earnestly exhort you to maintain your

Of Romans VI. 77

liberty by doing so ; and to be anxiously careful that sin be
not allowed to resume its dominion in any sort or degree, in
this your mortal embodied state ; so as that you should yield
a voluntary obedience to the lusts which infest that state.
Oh, maintain your liberty against the dethroned tyrant, by
constantly refusing obedience to these his commandments,
however much they be urged upon you during this your mor-
tality, when sin hath so great advantage from the wretched
condition of your bodies, besides the deep root it hath other-
wise in your souls. If I have been thus putting you in mind
of your mortality, and your danger from sin during the
continuance of it, until your actual death ; yet be encouraged
concerning this : There is nothing of the reign of sin, by
virtue of the law and its curse, in your mortality, or in the
tribulations connected with it, or in the dissolution you are
to undergo. Now life and death, things present, and things
to come, (1 Cor. iii. 22.) all are yours, and under a powerful
influence and direction, to work for you, and not against you.
Yea, let the consideration of your mortal state, as a state
that will soon be at an end, encourage you with respect to
these lusts, the motions of which will so often perplex and
distress you. Not one of them in you will survive that state
for a moment. Therefore, as the time of your warfare and
conflict is short, acquit you against them like men, like
Christians, like Christ's freed men.

TEXT. — 13. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of un-
righteousness unto sin : but yield yourselves unto God, as those tlutt are
alive from the dead ; and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God.

Explication. — The apostle's exhortation in these two
verses implies two things. First, that the Christian, now
dead to sin, was come to a capacity of avoiding and resist-
ing sin effectually, and of declining its service. In the
next place, made free as he wras, that possibly he might,
much to his own hurt, return, in too great degree, and in
too many instances, to the service of sin. The freed man,
anciently called by the Romans liberhts, might perhaps
retain a considerable attachment to the master he had
served, and perhaps a great liking to the service he had
been used to, so as voluntarily, habitually, and commonly
to do the service, yea, the meanest and coarsest drudgery
of his former master. As to a Roman freed man, gratitude
might make a good and laudable reason for such conduct ;

D

78 Explication and Paraphrase

but sin is a master to whom, being once made free, we
owe no gratitude, nor can expect better from its service
than hurt and mischief to ourselves, with the charge of the
greatest ingratitude and undutifulness to Him whose grace
hath made us free.

In this verse there is mention of two masters ; sin the first
mentioned, and God the other. The service of the former
is termed unrighteousness ; the service of God is righteous-
ness : and a man's members are represented as employed in
the one sort of service or the other.

As to the mention of members here, it is true that sin,
and the lusts thereof, do exert themselves by the members
of the body. Yet the apostle's view and meaning here is by
no means to be restricted to these. By comparing other
texts, we shall find that under the name of members are com-
prehended the various faculties, powers, passions, and affec-
tions of the soul, as well as members of the body. Thus
James iv. 1. From whence come wars and fightings among
you ? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your
members? Pride, revenge, covetousness, &c, (that are such
common causes of outward wars and fightings,) having their
inward warring, even when there is no outward exertion of
them by the members of the body. These unholy lusts war
against judgment and conscience: and thus, mind, will, af-
fections, all that is within, have inward war before the mem-
bers of the body come to be employed. So these lusts raise
war in and among all the faculties and powers of the soul.
Again, Col. iii. 5. Mortify therefore your members which are
upon the earth ; inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and
covetousness, which is idolatry. Surely by the working of
these inwardly there is much unholiness and sin, when the
members of the body are not at all employed.

Now, as servants or soldiers should sist themselves with
their arms or tools (o7rXcc signifies both) to their sovereign
or master, to be employed in his service ; so the apostle here
exhorts Christians not to sist or present (so the word we
render yield, more properly signifies) their members as
weapons or tools for serving sin ; but first to sist or pre-
sent their whole selves to God, and then to sist or present
all their members, that is, powers of soul and body, to be
the instruments of righteousness by which he is served.

Upon the word obey, in the preceding verse, I observed,
that obedience implies being unforced and willing. This is
still more to be observed concerning the word here, which

Of Romans VI. 79

signifies to sist, or present. For a man to sist or present
himself, or his members, to sin and its service, it implies as
when one man says to another — I am at your service, that is,
quite willing and ready to serve you. This is the real dis-
position of an unregenerate man's heart — the prevailing dis-
position ; however conscience may remonstrate and check,
however conscience, aided by considerations that may be as-
cribed to prudence rather than to conscience itself, may give
restraint, especially as to the outward work. But the pre-
vailing disposition and purpose of the sincere Christian is ac-
cording to the latter part of the verse.

The argument by which this is urged, is insinuated in
these words, as those that are alive from the dead. It is the
happy state of all true Christians, as ver. 11. that they are
dead, not in sin, but to sin, and alive unto God : and the
words here, ver. 13. are so evidently used with a view to
these words, ver. 11. that if we restrict the words in ver. 13.
alive from the dead, to a particular sort of Christians, we must
also restrict the meaning of ver. 11. to them ; which it were
unreasonable, yea, absurd to do. However, the Greek, ik
vs*£&>y, Mr L. renders, from among the dead ; and in his note
interprets thus : ' The Gentile world wrere dead in sins —
1 those who were converted to the gospel were raised to life
' from among these dead/ This is according to his general
view of the chapter, as addressed to the Christians of the
Gentiles separately, and as contradistinguished to the Jews;
and is one instance of wrong interpretation that that general
view of the chapter led him to. Yea, this is one of the things
in this chapter, by which he pretends to support that notion.
But if the expression may on some occasions perhaps signify
from among the dead, yet the learned writer would not say,
it should still be so rendered. For in one verse, chap. viii.
11. Mr L. himself in his paraphrase renders it twice, from
the dead. So then, as in the introduction to this chapter, I
have proved that dead in trespasses and sins is the natural
state of all men, Jews and Gentiles, it is plain there is
nothing in the expression here, alive from the dead, to support
Mr L/s notion, that this chapter is designed peculiarly for
Gentile converts.

Paraphrase — 13. And do not present or sist the faculties,
affections, and powers of your soul, or body, to sin, that
usurper, to be the tools of unrighteousness in his service ;
but present your whole selves to God,, in a constant and will-
ing readiness for his service, who is your rightful Lord ; and

80 Explication and Paraphrase

that as becomes those who by his wonderful grace are dead
unto sin, (made free from its reign,) and are become alive
unto God : and present all your powers to God, as weapons
or tools fit and ready for the warfare and work of righteous-
ness in his service.

TEXT. — 14. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are nef
under the lazv, but under grace.

Explication. — It is of much importance to conceive aright
the meaning of this verse. What is fit to be first considered
and explained is, the dominion of sin mentioned in the first
clause. I have before observed a distinction between the
reign of sin, with regard to its penal consequence, as it hath
reigned unto death, (chap. v. 21.) and its practical dominion
in men's nature and practice; and have shown, that ver. 10,
1 1 . are to be understood to respect the former.

Divers commentators appear to think that this is the do-
minion of sin meant here, ver. 14. Mr L., indeed, in his
note on the first clause, interprets thus : ' Sin shall not be
1 your absolute master, to dispose of your members and fa-
c culties in its drudgery and service/ This is according to
the second sense of dominion above mentioned, and respects
what I have called the practical dominion of sin. In his
note, however, on the next clause, in a sort of paraphrase,
representing the obligations Christians are under not to be
the slaves of sin, but to yield themselves up to God to be
his servants, in a constant and sincere purpose and endea-
vour of obeying him in all things ; he adds, ' This if ye do,
6 sin shall not be able to procure your death, for you Gen-
' tiles are not under the law, which condemns to death for
' every the least transgression, though it be but a slip of
' infirmity/ According to this, the dominion of sin here is
its procuring death to transgressors. These two notes of the
learned writer seem to give very different views of the matter.

Dr W/s paraphrase gives the whole verse thus : ' And
6 say not, this is beyond your strength, seeing the law in
c your members leads you captive to sin ; for sin shall not
c have dominion over you, for ye are not under the pedagogy
e of the law, which gives the knowledge of sin, but not suf-
c ficient strength to mortify it ; but under that economy of
' grace which affords that spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which
' frees us from the law of sin and death/ The words, peda-
gogy and economy, should not have been here, for reasons
that will probably be suggested in another place ; otherwise

Of Romans VI. 81

this paraphrase is right. But though in his note the Doctor
calls this a pious sense, he adds, e but seems to give no
f place for the following objection. Others, therefore, pars-
• phrase the words thus/ And after giving that paraphrase,
he interprets the text concerning the power that sin hath by
the law to condemn and give death for transgression. What
the occasion is of the objection in the following verse, we
shall see when we come to it ; and that there is not for that
a sufficient reason for the Doctor's receding from what he
calls the pious sense. Mr John Alexander, in his posthumous
commentary on this context, follows Dr W.'s interpretation
in his note ; and I think Dr Doddridge's interpretation,
especially in his note, goes much the same way. The para-
phrase of this verse given by the judicious Dr Guise is too
large to be inserted in this place. It gives the sense of the
text in a clear and just manner. I much wish the learn-
ed writer had added a note to support his interpretation,
which wTould probably have been done by him with greater
advantage, than it is likely to be done here.

However, as I am convinced that the dominion of sin here,
means that power which sin hath in the nature and practice
of persons under the law, by which they are its slaves, obey
it, and do its service ; I come now to give my reasons for
understanding it so

1. I observe, then, in the first place, that the apostle ap-
pears to have much in his view, a dominion of sin by which
men are its servants, (slaves, as was in those times the com-
mon condition of servants) doing its service and obeying it.
So ver. 16. His servants ye are to whom ye obey ; whether
of sin unto death ; — ver. 1 7. Ye were the servants of sin ; — ver.
18. Being made free from sin, ye became the servants of
righteousness ; — ver. 20. When ye were the servants of sin ; —
ver. 22. Now being made free from sin, and become servants
to God. Now, as having dominion, and being slaves, are
characters and states that are correlates, that is, have mutual
relation ; as it is the scope of the exhortation that begins
ver. 12. to exhort Christians not to obey sin, but to serve
and obey God ; and as he encourages Christians with this
consideration, that having been the slaves of sin, they had
been made free from that slavery and dominion ; and with
this consideration, that sin shall not have dominion over
them ; it is exceeding clear, that the whole drift and scope
of the discourse and reasoning leads us to understand, by

82 Explication and Paraphrase

the dominion of sin here, ver. 14. that dominion by which it
holds men as its slaves, and employed in its service.

2. The same thing will appear in a clear and strong light,
rf we observe what he hath concerning this subject in the
seventh chapter. There, in the first context, (ver. 1 — 13.)
it appears the Christians behoved to be dead to the law, and
to be married to Christ, in order to bring forth fruit unto
God ; this ver. 4. and ver. 5. we see such a pervalence of
the flesh (of depravation) in those who are under the law,
that sinful motions and lusts do prevail, even by occasion, in
some sort, of the law itself, to bring forth fruit unto death.
One must (ver. 6.) be delivered from the law in order to be
capable of serving God in newness of spirit, in an acceptable
manner. Yea, such is the prevailing of sin, and of sinful
depravation, in persons under the law, that, ver. 8. it takes
occasion by the commandment itself, to work in a man all
manner of concupiscence. It takes occasion, ver. 1 1 . by the
commandment, and slays a man. Though the commandment
is holy, just, and good, yet sin discovers its most malignant
nature, and its power, by working death in a man by that
which is good.

It is true there is frequent mention in that context, chap,
vii. of sin's working death to a man; but it doth so by
working in him all manner of concupiscence, and by bring-
ing forth fruit unto death.

We see in that context, sin holding men, who are under
the law, as in strong fetters, detaining and disabling them
from serving God acceptably, or bringing forth fruit unto
God. We see in it sin putting a man under the law to its
service, in defiance of the light and authority of the law.
Surely, according to this, men under the law are the slaves
of sin, and it hath great power and absolute dominion over
them to command their service. Now, as it is generally
agreed, that in the first context of chap. vii. the apostle is
explaining what he had said here, chap. vi. 14. can any un-
biassed and thinking person doubt, after the account he gives
there of the condition of persons under the law with regard
to sin, that by the dominion of sin, connected (chap. vi. 14.)
with being under the law, he means its practical dominion
in men's nature and practice ?

This point is exceeding clear by what hath been observed;
and its evidence doth by no means depend on what I now
further suggest and submit to the judgment of learned read-
ers. I observe, then, that in the preceding context of chap.

Of Romans VI. 83

vi. when there is mention of sin reigning, the word is
flmrtXsvup, to act the king, from fixo-ttevg, a king. But the
word in our present text, ver. 14. is kv^hvhv, to act the lord
or master, as a man over his slaves. These words represent
quite different ideas.

A legal kingly government receives direction and limita-
tion from law, and is to be exercised by fixed established
law ; so if sin is said (chap. v. 21.) fixc-itevuv, to act the king —
to reign unto death, it doth so according to law, and by
authority of law. Again, under a legal and limited kingly
government, the subject enjoys liberty, more or less, and the
kingly government is supposed to be founded, in some sort,
on the consent of the people who are the subjects of the go-
vernment ; so here, (ver. 12.) the exhortation, not to let sin,
fixc-itevuv, to reign, or act the king, — is addressed to Chris-
tians by divine grace made free, in whom sin could not at-
tain considerable prevalence, or reign without their consent.

The case is very different when the ruler is %vys, as here,
ver. 14. or, hmo^s, lord or master. Then the government
is despotic ; the subjects are all slaves absolutely, and can-
not claim benefit by laws, but are governed by the mere
arbitrary will of the sovereign or lord. That is the only rule
of his government, and of their subjection, which hath no
other limitation. Thus, in our present text, ver. 14. the do-
minion of sin is expressed by kv^ivhv, to act the lord or master,
as over slaves, who are absolutely in the power of their lord ;
and must act according to his will, whatever service or
drudgery he shall put them to.

Mr John Alexander allows, that the dominion of sin here
is such dominion as one hath over his slaves ; but he makes
it to mean 'the power that sin acquires, in consequence of
f this (of obeying it in the lusts of the flesh,) to destroy his
' captives, and which he exercises with a merciless hand/
But besides that among men, from whom the similitude is
taken, such power was very rarely exercised, and was not
consistent with justice or the law of God, it hath been al-
ready shown that this dominion of sin is not that by which
it gives death to its slaves, but that by which it commands
their obedience and service; which is made very clear by
the several verses and expressions of the context above ob-
served, and adduced to that purpose.

The next inquiry is, What is meant by being under grace ?
Mr. L.'s paraphrase gives it thus : ' You are not under the
c law, in the legal stale, but are under grace, in the gospel-

84 Explication and Paraphrase

c state of the covenant of grace/ The expression here
seems to respect different dispensations or states of the
covenant of grace, the gospel-dispensation of it, and a pre-
vious dispensation, which may be justly denominated the
legal dispensation of the covenant of grace. Mr. L. indeed,
does not seem to understand the legal Mosaic state to have
been a state or dispensation of the covenant of grace. Of
this more hereafter. But as to his expression here, when he
says, the gospel-state of the covenant of grace, to what
other state or dispensation of the covenant of grace doth he
contradistinguish this gospel-state of it ? Any who shall
take pains to inquire into his sentiments will find things
inconsistent, yea, absurd enough, with the learned writer
concerning this point ; some of which may come in our way
hereafter.

Meantime, in his note he gives the sense of the last clause,
under grace, thus : f You Gentiles are not under the law,
' which condemns to death for every the least transgression
< — but by your baptism you are entered into the covenant
' of grace ; and being under grace, God will accept of your
' sincere endeavours in the place of exact obedience/

As to this, though we are far from thinking that sincere
endeavours do now come in the place of exact and perfect
obedience, in what concerns the sinner's justification, yet it
is certain, that the sincere endeavours of believers in a justi-
fied state are now acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
From the beginning of the world, all they who believed in
the promised Saviour, and in the promise concerning him,
being justified, their sincere endeavours were accepted.
Yea, faithful Israelites under the Mosaic law, being justified
through faith, as was their father Abraham, themselves and
their sincere endeavours were accepted, when they were far
from exact and perfect obedience. This, therefore, is not
peculiar to the gospel-state ; nor is there any thing in it of
privilege peculiar to Gentile converts, as contradistinguished
to the Jews, as Mr. L. would have it.

To understand being under grace, merely of being under
a dispensation or constitution of grace that accepts sincere
obedience and pardons imperfections, will make the apostle's
declaration in our text not consistent with truth. For how
many millions are under grace in that sense, who are under
the dominion of sin, and perish ? Some may endeavour to
make this right by giving it thus : If you decline obeying
sin, and endeavour to mortify it, — and if you shall yield your

Of Romans VI. 85

faculties to God, and his service sincerely, — then sin shall
not have dominion over you, being under grace. This, how-
ever, is making the declaration and promise in the text con-
ditional ; whereas it is given forth by the apostle as absolute
and certain, not suspended on the Christian's endeavours,
but insured by the grace they are under. As there is no-
thing in the apostle's speech, so neither is there any thing
else, to make a good reason for understanding otherwise.
There are many conditional promises, but this is none of
them.

If we observe the apostle's own doctrine and style, it will
direct us how to understand being under grace. In the
beginning of the preceding chapter he acquaints us, that
Christians, being justified through faith, are reconciled and
at peace with God ; and further,, that they have access,
7T£o<rxyuyw, the bringing, or introducing them unto that grace,
wherein, saitb he, we stand ; not in a fleeting and changing
condition, but as in a fixed state. It is said, John iii. 36.
He that believeth not the Son, (that doth not so, truly and
sincerely,) the wrath of God abideth on him. But the
Christian, being by his justification through faith delivered
from the wrath and the curse he had been under, — he is
now personally under the actual grace and favour of God,
and in a state of grace, as to his real spiritual state before
God.

Though it hath been observed, that grace doth commonly
signify favour, even free unmerited favour, yet in this place
grace certainly signifies more than being in favour at pre-
sent with God. Being at present in favour with God would
not secure things for the future, as in our text. Whilst
Adam continued in his innocence, he was under Divine
favour ; but this did not secure against his falling under the
dominion of sin. If the apostle meant nothing here, but
that Christians, being under grace, would be secure against
falling under the dominion of sin, upon certain conditions,
depending merely and altogether on themselves, the com-
fort would amount to little. If man in his state of perfection
fell short of the conditions prescribed to him, how likely
would fallen man be to fall short ? But the grace of the
new covenant doth, as chap. v. 21. reign unto eternal life,
and makes it sure to the seed. So chap. iv. 1 6. It is of faith,
that it might be by grace, (the consequence is,) that the pro-
mise might be sure to all the seed. The first covenant,
though it promised much good, upon most reasonable and

d 5

86 Explication and Paraphrase

equitable conditions, yet it made nothing sure. But the
grace and promise of the new covenant made all sure. It
secures to the believer eternal life, and the safety and success
of his course and way to the enjoyment of it, according to
Jer. xxxii. 40.

In what manner, and by what means grace doth contri-
bute to preserve them who are in a state of grace from falling
again under the dominion of sin, must be referred to another
place, where the important matter may be explained more
largely than would be fit here. (See Appendix, sect. 2.)

There remains this clause of ver. 14. Ye are not under
the law. But this falls to be explained at some length in
the explication of the following chapter ; and it is not fit to
anticipate here what must be there said. See on chap,
vii. 4.

Paraphrase. — 14. For animating you to refuse the ser-
vice of sin, and earnestly to resist its demands and urgency,
and to endeavour through the Spirit to mortify it, you have
this great encouragement and consolation, that, being made
free from the reign and dominion of sin, you certainly shall
never come again under its dominion : and of that you may
assure yourselves from this, that you are not now, as former-
ly, under the law, which could not subdue sin, nor enable
you to subdue it, so that you then remained the servants
(the slaves) of sin ; but that you are under that grace which
hath made you free ; and which, according to the tenor and
promises of the covenant of grace, will preserve and uphold
you in that freedom from the dominion of sin, until it per-
fectly accomplish all its purpose, to your eternal comfort and
happiness.

TEXT. 15. What then % shall we sin, because tee are not under the law,

but under grace ? God forbid.

Explication. — I do not take this to be a new objection
different from that which was suggested, ver. 1. But the
apostle having here, ver. 14. asserted, that the Christian is
not under the law, he supposes an adversary might from
this reinforce his argument and objection, putting it in anew
form, suited to the expression of ver. 14. I cannot express
my views of this verse, or explain it better than by the fol-
lowing

Paraphrase. — 15. What, then, may I suppose that a Chris-
tian, who mistakes my doctrine, or inclines to abuse it, or
that an adversary of grace, may infer or object ? Possibly,

Of Romans VI. 87

such may suggest and argue thus : You have said, that where
sin abounded, grace hath much more abounded ; viz. in
pardoning. This hath great appearance of encouraging per-
sons to continue in sin. But now you have made things
much more strong to that purpose, by saying, that the Chris-
tian is not under the law. The law strictly prohibits sin,
and denounces fearful judgment for transgression; and might
by that means greatly discourage and repress sin. But is
it indeed the state of the believer, to be under the covert
and protection of grace that superabounds in pardoning, and
at the same time to be delivered from the law, and to be no
longer under the law, that breathes forth so strongly against
sin, particularly in its awful threatening ? May not such sin
freely ? for what cause can they have to apprehend hurt or
danger to themselves by doing so ? So some may argue ;
but far be it from us so to abuse the happy privilege which
we have by grace. Surely the doctrine of grace imports no-
thing that would encourage us to do so.

TEXT. — 16. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to
obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey ; whether of sin unto death,
or of obedience unto righteousness ?

Explication. — One might readily think at first sight,
that the apostle doth not here answer so directly and clearly
to the objection and argument in the preceding verse as
might be wished. But on considering this text closely, we
shall find two things in it. First, that the apostle doth here
insist in the exhortation he had begun, ver. 12 ; and next,
that he doth so in such manner in this verse, as to make a
very sufficient answer to the argument or objection in the
preceding verse.

I say, the apostle here insists in the exhortation begun,
ver. 12, 13. One may be satisfied about this, by observing
the style of this verse so suited as it is to the style of ver. 13.
and the argument here so much suited as it is to the pur-
pose of the 13th and preceding verse. There he exhorted
Christians not to yield themselves, or their members, to the
obedience or service of sin, but to the service of God.
Here, again, is mention of yielding themselves, and of both
sorts of service. So the conformity of style is evident.

It was observed before, that the word we render by yield-
ing, properly signifies to sist, or present one's self, with his
arms or weapons, to a master or commander. So Mr L.
observes, and, long before him, Beza. I also observed, that

88 Explication and Paraphrase

one's thus sisting, or presenting himself, is something fully,
voluntary, and deliberate. In the latter context of chap. vii.
there is much represented of the motions and strength of sin.
But there is much regret, sorrow, conflict, and outcry of
misery. The case directly opposite to that is here hinted ;
the case of one deliberately and voluntarily sisting or present-
ing himself, and his faculties, to sin and its service. A
Christian may sin through mere infirmity, or by the surprise
and force of temptation ; the effect of which becomes after-
wards very bitter to him. But for a man to present or sist
(deliberately, voluntarily) himself and his faculties to the
service of sin, whether in his general course of life and prac-
tice, or in the service of a particular predominant and in-
dulged lust ; this makes a very ill case, against which Chris-
tians are here earnestly exhorted, and this enforced by a
strong argument.

The argument seems to be to this purpose. A person,
thinking that himself hath been made free from the dominion
of sin, may imagine himself to be acting with liberty in serv-
ing sin, in this and the other, and in very many instances.
But the reality of the case is, that by thus sisting himself to
sin and its service, he doth prove himself to be indeed the
servant of sin, and its slave. Now, to a Christian, who hath
been made sensible of the misery of such a slavery, and of the
valuable privilege and advantage of being made free from
that slavery, the thought of coming in any sort or degree
into it again, and showing so by his practice, should be so
frightsome and shocking, as to awaken him to earnest care-
fulness to keep himself at the utmost distance from it. This
1 take to be the import of the argument, as it respects the
subject of the exhortation in ver. 12, 13.

I said, that the apostle manages this argument, so as at
the same time to suggest a sufficient and very proper an-
swer to the objection in ver. 15. He had said, ver. 14. that
sin would not have dominion over the believers, they not
being under the law, but under grace. Ay, then, says the
supposed adversary, if so, the stroke of the law cannot reach
us, we not being under it ; and grace will protect us and
keep us safe : therefore we may, without any apprehension,
take full liberty in sinning. But by no means ; such an
abuse of grace were horrible, and the reasoning is vain. By
taking such liberty to sin, a man will prove that he is truly
its servant and slave, and so demonstrate that he is not un-
der grace, but indeed under the law, whose curse and judg-

Of Romans VI. 89

ment will yet reach him with fearful effect. Thus, ver. 16.
contains this very pointed and striking answer to what was
suggested in ver. 15.

One thing yet on the last clause — or (servants) of obe-
dience unto righteousness. The service of God is (as ver. 13.
and here) righteousness, and men fulfil and do that service
only in way of obedience, which pre-supposes divine command
and institution. Therefore superstitious practices in religion,
and will- worship, which have not the warrant of the Divine
command and institution, and do not come under the notion
of obedience, whatever show they may have of wisdom, yet
do not truly belong to the service of God, or to the practice
of righteousness.

Paraphrase. — 16. But let me not be diverted from the
exhortation I have begun ; but let me still earnestly entreat
you not to obey sin in the lusts thereof, nor to sist your fa-
culties to its service ; but to yield yourselves, with all your
faculties and powers, to God and to righteousness, in way
of obedience. For if I have said that ye are not under the
law, it was far from my meaning that you might withdraw
yourselves from the authority and obedience of the holy com-
mandment, which is the rule of righteousness ; so that no-
thing can be counted righteousness, or the service of God,
that is not obedience and conformity to that rule. Let me
then enforce my exhortation by the consideration of what
you know, — what every one knows ; viz. that to whom one
sists himself voluntarily and habitually to obey and serve
him, he thereby proves, that he whom he so serves and obeys,
is indeed his master and lord, whether it be sin, who gives
death for wages, (ver. 23.) or God, in way of obedience to
his will, commandment, and institutions, in order to com-
plete that service of righteousness, which will issue in eter-
nal life. Have you then been sensible of the great wretch*
edness of being the servants of sin, and of the great good
that grace hath done you, in making you free from that
thraldom ? be warned to keep yourselves at the greatest dis-
tance from that way of practice that would give suspicion
that you are again entangled and engaged therein.

Now, will any say, because persons are not under the law,
but under grace, that therefore they may freely and safely
go into a course of sin ? surely if any, with the high praise,
perhaps, of grace in their mouths, shall so believe, and shall
presume so to live, the reproach and real abuse of grace will
recoil, and fall with fearful weight on their heads. There is

90 Explication and Paraphrase

no fallacy in the promises of the new covenant, or in the
doctrine of grace; but there may be much fallacy and de-
ception in men's notion and opinion of their own state. They
who so argue, and so live, as I have been just saying, will
prove nothing truly dishonourable to grace ; but they will
prove, to their own confusion, that they have not been truly
under grace, but indeed under the law in the flesh, under
the dominion of sin, serving it ; for which the stroke of the
law will reach them fearfully ; especially in the great day of
the vengeance of grace, and of the wrath of the Lamb ; when
grace, which they have so much counteracted and affronted,
will not interpose to screen them from the righteous judg-
ment.

TEXT 17. But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin ; but

ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered
you.

Explication — When the apostle says here, that they had
been the servants of sin, it may give occasion for some ques-
tion concerning the ground on which he says so. If the
Roman Christians had been universally converted imme-
diately from heathenism, some might suppose he had no
other in view than their former state of heathenism. But
that was not the case. There were in that church a good
many Israelites, or Jews, as appears in chap. xvi. who were
brought up in the church of God. There might be also a
good many who were brought up from childhood in a state
of proselytism, and in the early knowledge and faith of the
holy scriptures, as was Timothy, under his pious and believ-
ing mother and grandmother. Though these Romans, who
had been converted from heathenism, had certainly been
the servants of sin, yet how comes he to say of that church
universally, and without the hint of any exception, that they
had been formerly the servants of sin ? If he addresses the
churches he writes to, under the character and designation
of believers, without giving the hint of any exceptions, there
was reason for this from their profession, and from the fa-
vourable judgment of charity. But such Jews, and persons
brought up from childhood in proselytism, as were members
of that church, had not been by profession the servants of
sin ; nor would the judgment of charity direct or permit him
to call them so, if he knew them not better, and their having
universally proved by their practice that they were so,
than it is likely the apostle did, who had at that time never

Of Romans VL Ql

been in Rome. How, then, can we account for it, that he
says of them universally, that they had been without excep-
tion, the servants (the slaves) of sin, but on this ground that
it is the common and natural condition of all men to be the
servants of sin ?

The last clause of this text, which was delivered you, is
as Castellio renders, and which Beza calls a perverse render-
ing. He would probably have spoke more softly of our
translation ; though he and the Vulgar had good reason to
render otherwise. The word rendered form, doth signify,
form, rule, or pattern. Sometimes it signifies a mould ; and
it seems to be here determined to that sense by the expres-
sions connected therewith ; which, as they run in the Greek,
are to be thus rendered, into which ye were delivered over>
or cast. Here are very different ideas. Obeying respects
the authority of the doctrine. Being delivered over, or cast
into it, respects the doctrine under the notion of a mould,
which gives its own a new form to that which is cast into
it. This verse, then, doth in the general, represent the doc-
trine of the gospel, and men's obeying it, yielding it the obe-
dience of faith, as the great means of sanctification, and of
freedom from the slavery of sin: — Ye rvere the servants of
sin ; but ye have obeyed.

For explaining the matter briefly, as here set forth : 1 .
The word of Christ is, as hath been said, the mean of puri-
fying, and of freedom from the slavery of sin. So John xv.
3. Ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto
you. So also John viii. 32. Ye shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free. 2. The truth, or doctrine of faith,
hath this effect, through men's obeying it, or yielding it the
obedience of faith, and that with great freedom of will. To
this obedience the matter is ascribed in our text. But is this
obedience merely from man's own will? By no means ; for,
3. There is in it the influence of the Holy Spirit. This is
expressed with regard to a main branch of holiness, viz.
brotherly love, 1 Pet. i. 22. — Ye have purified your souls in
obeying the truth through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love
of the brethren. Here Christians are represented, in obey-
ing and purifying their souls, as acting with the freedom that
is essential to moral agency ; yet so acting and purifying
their souls, the one and the other, by the Spirit and his
powerful influence. There seems to be some hint of this in-
tended in our text, s<$ ov 7tu^o^ati, into which ye were de-
livered, or cast. The verb here is passive ; the Christian

92 Explication and Paraphrase

hath been so delivered over and cast by another hand.
They obeyed the doctrine heartily; in this they were active :
yet they were cast into the mould of this doctrine, and
thereby received the new form of faith, obedience, and ho-
liness, from another hand and influence. So that they were
active in obeying the truth ; and at the very same time and
instant, were passive with regard to the superior influence. —
Beholding — the glory of the Lord, (2 Cor. iii. 18.) we are
changed into the same image, from glory to glory, as by the
Spirit of the Lord. No created being can absolutely, and
by immediate influence, determine the will. But cannot the
Creator do, by his instruction and influence, what no created
being can ? The Psalmist thought so, when he argued and
prayed, as Psal. cxix. 73. Thy hands have made me, and
fashioned me; give me understanding, that I may learn thy
commandments. They who hold that the superior influence
of the Creator, effectually determining and disposing the
heart to that which is good, is inconsistent with free agency,
are as destitute of foundation in sound reason as they are
grossly contrary to the scriptures.

Paraphrase. — 17. But I hope better things of you than
to sist yourselves to the service of sin, and see cause of thank-
fulness to God, the author and true cause of the great effect ;
that, whereas you had been the servants of sin, you have sin-
cerely and heartily obeyed the doctrine of the gospel ; into
which, by the power and efficiency of a superior hand, as
into a mould, ye were delivered over and cast : and so the
truth hath made you free from the dominion which sin un-
happily had sometime over you.

TEXT. — 18. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of
righteousness.

Paraphrase. — 18. Being, then, through your obeying
the truth, which conveyed the knowledge of Christ, and of
divine grace through him into your hearts, and through the
faith thereof, under the powerful influence of the Holy
Spirit, made free from the wretched thraldom of sin^ — ye
became the servants of righteousness, I mean the servants of
God, (ver. 22.) having the principles of righteousness pre-
vailing and dominant in your hearts, in place of the vile
principles of sin, unrighteousness, and impurity, which for-
merly reigned therein.

Of Romans VI. QS

TEXT — 19. / speak after the manner of men, because of the infirmity of
your flesh : for as ye have yielded your members servants to unclean-
ness, and to iniquity unto iniquity ; even so now yield your members
servants to righteousness unto holiness.

Paraphrase. — 19. You have, through the infirmity of
your present condition in the flesh, such disadvantage and
weakness of understanding, in conceiving spiritual things,
except they be set before you under the similitude of things
earthly, (John iii. 12.) that I have judged it needful to speak
of what concerns your spiritual condition, with regard to sin
and holiness, in language, and under a similitude taken from
the manner and affairs of men, respecting masters and their
bond-servants, which you Romans are well acquainted with.
Upon the same view to your infirmity — though I might,
upon comparing both sorts of service together, reasonably
require of you a zeal, fervency, and assiduity, in the bet-
ter service of righteousness, incomparably beyond what you
showed in the service of sin ; yet, as this perhaps goes be-
yond any attainment which, in your present infirmity in the
flesh, you are likely to reach — and so might, through your
weakness, occasion your forming conclusions too unfavour-
able and discouraging concerning your condition — let me
exhort you to some purity, at least, of endeavour in the bet-
ter service you are through grace engaged in ; and that as
you have heretofore yielded your members servants to impu-
rity and iniquity, to the practice and increase of iniquity ;
so now that you sist all your faculties, affections, and powers,
servants of righteousness, to the practice and advancement
of holiness.

TEXT. — 20. For "when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from
righteousness.

Paraphrase. — 20. It may be a very cogent argument to
move you to this, that when ye were the servants of sin, you
were free from the dominion of righteousness. However
you might, even from carnal motives and ends, comply with
the natural notions of men concerning virtue and decency,
at least in the appearance of these, yet ye were in no true
subjection to righteousness, or to the law of God, which is
the rule of it ; nor had the necessary principles of acceptable
righteousness any influence in your hearts. Should you not
then be excited by the consideration of this, to be very care-
ful, now that you are the servants of righteousness, (ver.

94? Explication and Paraphrase

18.) to maintain your liberty from the dominion of sin, not
to allow it to prevail with you in any sort, to yield your-
selves, or your members to its service ; but that ye should,
as I have been exhorting you, be faithful and assiduous ser-
vants to your new and better Master, ever sisting all your
powers of soul and body ready for his service, in the prac-
tice of holiness ?

TEXT. — 21. What fruit had ye then in those things, thereof ye are now
ashamed 9 for the end of those things is death.

Paraphrase. — 21. Let me further argue from the com-
parative consideration of the fruit and consequence of both
sorts of service and practice : First, as to the service of sin,
what fruit, may I ask you, had ye by yielding your members
to its service ? did not pride, envy, malice, wrath, revenge,
covetousness, and deceitfulness, that defiled your spirits,
bring present disturbance, distress, and misery upon your
souls ? did not the gratification of brutal appetites, that are
the filthiness of the flesh, waste your bodies and estates, and
bring misery upon your families ? were not these malignant
passions and foul pleasures of sin for a season, always at-
tended with pricking and painful remorse in time, and with
sad misgivings of heart with respect to future judgment and
eternity ? Indeed, now that the Lord has been gracious to
you, these practices, in which ye served sin, do, on recollec-
tion, give you that shame and confusion of face that ever
accompanies true repentance ; and that is all the fruit that
remains with you of a practice and course, which, if the
rich grace of God do not interpose, doth always terminate in
death and eternal misery. Let me next observe the matter
to you on the other side.

TEXT. — 22. But now leing made free from sin, and become servants to
God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

Explication. — The apostle having designed to give a
comparative view of the fruit and consequence of both sorts
of service — that of sin and that of God — he did so as to the
former in the preceding verse ; and now he proceeds here to
give a view of the fruit and consequence of serving God in
righteousness and holiness.

The servant of God here is the same as the servant of
righteousness, ver. 18. God is the Lord and Master; righte-
ousness is the service.

0/Roma?is VI. Q5

It hath been observed before, that the notion of servants,
according to these times, includes the notion of slavery, — by
which a servant was the property of his master, as to his
person ; and behoved to be absolutely subject, as to his ser-
vice and employment, to his master's will, to be commanded
and disposed of as he pleased. The servant of God is ab-
solutely his, as to his person, and that by the original right
of creation and sovereignty, and by the superadded right
of grace and redemption. Yea, the servant of God hath
freely and fully, by his own choice, given himself up to the
Lord, to be his, as a man's bond-servant is his, being bought
with his money, or born in his house. So the Psalmist ac-
knowledges, Psal. cxvi. 16. I am thy servant, and the son of
thy handmaid. But there is otherwise great odds, with re-
gard to the liberty of mind and spirit, the confidence, con-
solation, and hope, very opposite to a state of slavery or bon-
dage, which the Christian hath in the service of his natural
and rightful Lord ; whom he is, at the same time, to consi-
der as his Father, and himself as a son by he adoption of
grace, and an heir. On these accounts, though the Christian
is the absolute property of his Lord, and absolutely sub-
ject to his sovereignty and will, yet his state is not that of
slavery and bondage. To him the law, which expresses his
Master's will and is the rule of his service, is the perfect lam
of liberty, James i. 25.

We may now be fully satisfied concerning the distinction
suggested with regard to the reign and dominion of sin. If
Christ died unto sin, ver, 10. this can be understood in no
sense suiting the expression, but that of his becoming by his
own expiating death free from sin, as to its penal conse-
quence, as it reigned unto death. Sinners under the reign
of sin in that sense, are not so properly the servants of sin,
but rather the victims of justice, in consequence of their
having served sin. But in this exhortation which was be-
gun at ver. 12. and is insisted in downwards throughout the
chapter, till we are now at the end of it, when we have
mention of sinners as the servants of sin, sisting themselves
and their faculties to its service, and obeying it, and some
made free from that slavery, and engaged in the service of
God and righteousness ; this, on the one hand, and, on the
other sin set forth as a master, whose service is done, and
as kv^os, a lord having dominion ; it is as clear as any thing
can be, that this can be understood of no other than what I

96 Explication and Paraphrase

called a practical dominion — a dominion by which sin power-
fully holds sinners its slaves, employed in its service.

One thing yet on this first clause, and its connexion with
what next follows. — They who have at heart to be the ser-
vants of God, and have some perception of the happiness of
that state, should be very solicitous, that, in order thereto,
they may be made free from the dominion of sin. For that
is the connexion of things in our present text, Being made
free from sin, and become servants of God. There is needful
here, not merely good purposes'and some sort of change of
practice, but a change of nature and of a man's spiritual
state ; that the death of Christ, and his resurrection, with
the benefits thereof, be truly and effectually applied to them
by the Holy Spirit, and by faith ; the Holy Spirit, renewing
the heart, and being in it the Spirit of faith. Good pur-
poses and resolutions, and some sort of endeavours, without
this, may make a self-deceiving and shining hypocrite, but
will not make a genuine sincere servant of God.

Paraphrase. — 22. Let us next, then, consider the other
side of the comparison, and the advantage of being the ser-
vants of God. For now, being, by means of Christ's death
and resurrection, brought under grace, made free from the
dominion of sin, and become the servants of God, (which ye
could not be without being so made free from your former
master) ye have your fruit in that service, to the advance-
ment of holiness, — fruit at present sweet, healthful, and
comfortable, and, as to futurity, terminating in eternal life.

TEXT — 23. For the wages of sin is death ; but the gift of God is eter-
nal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Explication. — The Greek o-J/vviov, rendered wages, was
commonly meant of the pay of soldiers in provisions or mo-
ney. Dannhauerus, cited by Wolfius, gives an account of it
to this purpose and sense : It commonly signified, he says,
the wages, in particular, by which gladiators were hired to
sell their blood, to give pleasure to the populace. So, as the
gladiator, for wages and provisions afforded him, gave him-
self up to butchery and destruction, for the amusement and
diversion of the cruel and barbarous Roman rabble ; so the
sinner doth, for the present pleasure of sin, give himself up
to eternal destruction ; whereby he gratifies and satiates the
malice of devils.

Let this be further observed. The apostle had said of
men's sins, ver. 21. that the end of those things is death* So

Of Romans PI. 97

to believers in a course of holiness, ver. 22. the end is ever-
lasting life. But these ends, severally, do happen in a very
different way, as is represented here, ver. 23. Death is
the proper wages of sin, and is given according to the law,
and the true demerit of men's works. Eternal life is the gift
of God, %Gc%tG-pct, the most free gift. But though eternal life
is freely given to us of God, yet it is through Jesus Christ
our Lord ; by his mediation and merit. Yet still not the
less to us the free gift of God, who hath of grace provided,
afforded, and accepted the price of our redemption and life.
Paraphrase. — 23. For the wages which sin, by the
strength of the law, and according to the tenor of its right-
eous sanction, doth pay, is eternal death, suited, and justly
proportioned to the true demerit of the work and service.
But eternal life, in which the believer's course of holiness
terminates, is not for any merit of ours, but is to us the most
free gift of God, and that through our Lord Jesus Christ,
and through his mediation and merit.

Now, what arguments, motives, and means of suasion can
any created mind conceive more strong and powerful in
themselves ? When the prospect of eternal life, so clearly
set forth in God's word and promises, and the terrors of
eternal death, the just punishment of sin, so much inculcated
by the word of God, so agreeable to the light of reason, and
to the dictates and impressions of conscience in every man,
do not prevail with sinful men to betake them to Christ by
faith, to forsake their sins by true repentance, and to engage
them in the service of God ; what a demonstration is it of
the dominion that sin hath over them, and how absolutely it
hath subjected them, with all their faculties and powers, to
itself, and its service, in so far that no means of suasion
whatsoever are sufficient to work the good effect ?

Therefore the apostle goes to show, that the law, however
much its precept and sanction be inculcated on the minds
and consciences of men, cannot make them free ; that no
other than the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (chap,
viii. 2.) can make them free from the dominion of sin, from
that unhappy law of sin and death, by which they have been
ruled.

INTRODUCTION

TO THE

EXPLICATION OF ROMANS VII.

SHOWING

That the Apostle's doctrine and reasoning in this Chapter, do
not respect the Mosaic ceremonial law, or the abolition thereof.

It is of great consequence, in explaining the first context
(ver. 1 — 13.) of this chapter, to determine what is to be under-
stood by law ; and from what law the believers are therein
said to be delivered. This requires to be more largely treat-
ed of than were fit in explaining any particular verse.

Many have understood it of the Mosaic law. This, in the
largest sense, comprehends the whole system of laws given
to Israel in the wilderness. But more strictly, it signifies
the law that prescribed the ordinances of worship, the rites,
ceremonies, and peculiar observances of the church of Israel;
commonly called the ceremonial law. When I observe
every place in this epistle in which law is mentioned, I
do not see cause to think, that the ceremonial law is meant
in any one of them, or that the apostle's explications and
reasoning have respect to it. If in some places he hath at
all in his eye the Mosaic law, as chap. v. 15, 20. it is only
the Mosaic, or Sinaitic promulgation of the moral law he
means : his argument doth not appear to have any respect
to the ceremonial law. In proving the sinfulness of the
Gentiles, chap. i. they are only sins against the moral law
he mentions ; as indeed they could not be charged with
transgression of the ceremonial law, which had not been
given them. It is plain it is the same moral law that was
common to Jews and Gentiles, (chap. ii. 14, 15.) that he
hath in his eye, even the law of which some light and im-
pression remained in the consciences of the Gentiles, when
he says, chap. ii. 26. If the uncircumcision keep the right-
eousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted
for -circumcision ? It is plain that the ceremonial law is
excluded from all concern in the argument, for the uncir-
cumcised had not access to observe the ceremonial law.
As this concerning the uncircumcision is a part of his rea-
soning with the Jews, it shows that in his reasoning with
the Jew in the preceding context he meant no other than
the moral law.

Explication of Romans VII. 99

In that second chapter, reasoning with the Jew, who, ver.
17- rested in the law, he charges only transgressions of the
moral law, ver. 21, 22. ; and when chap. iii. 10 — 18. he cites
several texts of the Old Testament to prove sin against them,
in many instances there represented, every instance respects
the moral law, and none other.

The apostle doth indeed manage his argument, respecting
justification, in such way, that he had no occasion to men-
tion the ceremonial law ; at least, when he might take oc-
casion to mention it, it is evident that he avoids it. For
making this clear, it is to be observed, that moral and ac-
countable agents may be justified in one of two ways. 1.
Such may be justified, as personally and perfectly righteous ;
and so the angels, who kept their first state, stand justified
before God, according to the law they are under. Jt is a
point the apostle labours much, that no man, Jew or Gen-
tile, can be justified in this way, as he proves that all have
sinned. 2. The way, and the only way, for the justification
of the sinners is by grace : and he shows that this grace in
the exercise of it, is founded on expiation, or redemption,
even the redemption that is in Christ, whom God hath set forth
as a propitiation, through faith in his blood ; so he says, chap,
iii. 24, 25. Here indeed he might have taken occasion to
treat of the expiations and purifications of the Mosaic law,
and to have proved their insufficiency for taking away sin,
or removing the guilt of sinners. This indeed he does in
the epistle to the Hebrews. This was especially needful
for them, the Jews of Palestine and the east, who were so
exceedingly zealous for the Levitical service and Mosaic in-
stitutions. But the Romans were a church of Christians,
who were, for most part, of the Gentiles, whose liberty
from the ceremonial law had been declared before this time.
This liberty the Gentiles had cause to value much : and it
appears that the apostle saw no occasion for proving to them
the insufficiency of the ceremonial expiations* (which they had
nothing to do with) for the justification of sinners ; and it is
evident, that in treating of that subject in this epistle he
doth not touch that point at all.

In the sixth and seventh chapters, sanctifi cation, and de-
liverance from the dominion of sin is the subject ; and it is
clear that there, particularly in this seventh chapter, it is the
moral law he hath still in his view. As it is by it that there
is the knowledge of sin, it is by it he came to know sin ;

100 Introduction to the

giving an instance only of a transgression of the moral law :
so ver» 7-

It hath, however, been the opinion of divers interpreters,
that in the first context of this seventh chapter the apostle
asserts the abrogation of the Mosaic ceremonial law. Dr
Hammond says, on ver. 1. c The design and matter of
1 the discourse is discernibly this, to vindicate his doctrine,
e (charged on him, Acts xxi. 21. it is not certain whether
1 then truly or no, but without doubt now professedly
1 taught by him,) that the Judaical law was abolished by
1 the death of Christ, Eph ii. 15, 16. Col. ii. 14. and so
< was not now obligatory to a Jew/ This certainly the
learned author means, not of the moral, but of that called
the ceremonial law. Downwards he says, ' This abolition of
' the law to the Jews is here evidently proclaimed/ Gro-
tius and Whitby have the same view of the general scope of
this context.

Now, when Dr Hammond says, that it is uncertain
whether the preaching that the Judaical law was abolished,
and was not obligatory to the Jew, was charged on him truly
or no on that occasion, Acts xxi. 21. but that now without
doubt it was professedly taught by him in this epistle; this
clearly implies, as if the writing of this epistle was posterior
to that story related Acts xxi. But it is evident, that here
the learned man hath fallen into an inadvertency scarcely
excusable. We learn from Rom. xv. 25, 26. that the epistle
was written when he was in his way to Jerusalem, with the
contribution for the poor saints that had been made by them
of Macedonia and Achaia : it was thereafter, when he was
actually arrived at Jerusalem, with these contributions, that
the things happened, of which we have the story, Acts xxi.
Certainly, any who will consider the apostle's conduct on
this latter occasion, may be well convinced, that to interpret
any passage in this epistle, as declaring or asserting the abo-
lition of the Mosaic law, must be mistaking his meaning.
Of this more hereafter.

To proceed the more distinctly in our inquiry concerning
this matter, I observe, that there are two things on which
the apostle labours in this epistle, and in that to the Gala-
tians, which is thought to have been written before it :

1. That a sinner is not justified by the law, or by the
works of the law. This he proves by principles and argu-
ments that have no respect particularly to the Mosaic law
and institutions, or to the abolition thereof. This is the sub-

Explication of Romans VII. 101

ject of the first five chapters to the Romans; wherein he
establishes the one way of justification, common to both
Jews and Gentiles.

2. He proves, that the Gentile converts were relieved by
the gospel from the necessity of undergoing the Mosaic yoke.
This he is zealous about, and considers it as an essential
point of the gospel. The truth is, as the Mosaic or Judaical
law was originally given to the Jews, and not to the Gentiles,
there were divers institutions in it which it was morally im-
possible for the Gentiles generally to observe ; for instance,
the three great annual feasts in Jerusalem. The case was,
that the wisdom of God thought fit to have, in these times,
one nation only for his church ; and so he appointed ordi-
nances of worship, and other various institutions, suiting
that one national church. If particular persons of other
nations came to be converted, and would enjoy the privilege
of members of the church of God, they behoved to accede
to that one national church, and submit to its rules and in-
stitutions. But when, under the gospel, the church became
catholic, consisting of people of all nations, it was thought
fit by divine wisdom, that those of other nations, the Gen-
tiles, should be declared free from the obligation of Mosaic
ordinances, which were not suited to such a state of things ;
and should enjoy the privileges of the church of God, with-
out submitting to these.

As to the first of these subjects, justification not by works,
but by faith, as it is a fundamental point, and essential in
religion at all times, the apostle is full and clear upon it in
both epistles. As to the other subject, the liberty of the
Gentiles from the Mosaic yoke, he insists on it especially in
the epistle to the Galatians, whom he exhorts to stand fast
in this liberty, and wrarns them, in very strong terms, of the
danger of doing otherwise. In this epistle to the Romans,
he does, greatly to the comfort of the Gentiles, establish the
doctrine of one way of justification by faith, common to Jews
and Gentiles. But the liberty of the Gentiles from the Mo-
saic yoke does not appear to be the special and immediate
subject in this epistle to the Romans. The churches of Ga-
latia appear to have been greatly disturbed and divided by
disputes, and by the arts and importunities of false teachers,
concerning this subject. I do not see any thing in the epis-
tle to the Romans, that gives cause to think they had much
question concerning it. Therefore though the apostle still
manages his subject, particularly that of justification, in a

E

102 Introduction to the

way very comfortably favourable to the interest of the Gen-
tiles, yet I do not see that the freedom of the Gentiles from
the Mosaic law is his proper and direct subject ; so that
Mf L. certainly had not cause to consider that as the main
scope and drift of the apostle's discourse and reasoning in a
great part of this epistle, as much as he does. Viewing mat-
ters so much in that light, has given him a wrong bias in in-
terpreting many texts, and has occasioned his falling often
short of the true meaning, in a manner very detrimental to
the faith and comfort of Christians.

There are yet two things fit to be considered respecting
the case of the Gentiles during the Mosaic and Old Testa-
ment times.

1. The Gentile converts to the faith of the church of
Israel would certainly, in these times, have great advantage
in being outwardly admitted by circumcision to be actual
members of the Jewish church. Without this they would
not have the comfort of partaking of the paschal lamb, or of
other ordinances, by which the Lord represented and con-
veyed the blessings of his grace more abundantly, according
to the measure of these times, to his people. Yet,

2. This disadvantage did not amount to so much, but that
persons of the Gentiles, enlightened with the faith of the
church and word of God, and fearing God, were in these
times truly accepted of him, without being circumcised, or
coming under the Mosaic yoke. Solomon's prayer at the
dedication of the temple, 1 Kings viii. 41, 42, 43. gave rea-
son to think so long ago. But the matter is clear in the case
of Cornelius, Acts x. when the Lord said to Peter in the vi-
sion, ver. 15, what God hath cleansed, call not thou unclean ;
that is, though he be not purified or cleansed by the blood
of circumcision. The apostle thus instructed, says, ver. 34,
35. Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons ;
hut in every nation, he that feareth him, and worketh right-
eousness, is accepted with him. To say, or infer from this,
that persons who know not the true God, or the way of sal-
vation he hath revealed, may, walking honestly according to
the light of their own religion and conscience, be saved, hath
no foundation in the words of the apostle Peter. He is by
no means speaking in that latitude of meaning. He is
speaking of what God had cleansed ; of Cornelius, (whom
even Dr Whitby considered as a proselyte of the gate,) and
such as he, of whatever nation, who were enlightened with
the true faith, as the same was revealed and professed in

Explication of Romans VII. 103

the church of God, and who, by the influence and direction
of that light feared God, and wrought righteousness, though
they were not Jews, nor initiated by circumcision into the
Jewish church. But though the sentiment just now mention-
ed hath no foundation in the apostle Peter's words, yet it
may be justly inferred from what he says, that whatever
might be the advantage of being members externally of the
Jewish church, yet believing and pious Gentiles might,
without that, and without coming under the yoke of the
Mosaic institutions, be accepted of God, and be saved, even
during the Old Testament times.

This being so, the Jewish Christians had the more reason
to be reconciled to the exemption of the Gentile converts from
the Mosaic yoke ; and it appears that some were so, Acts xi.
18. who had no thought at that time that the Mosaic law was
abrogated. The Mosaic law had been given to Israel.
Though proselytes of the Gentiles were admitted by circum-
cision to the privileges of the church of Israel, yet their
being so does not appear to have been strictly required ; and
it is certain, that when the council of Jerusalem declared the
liberty of the Gentiles from the Mosaic yoke, this did not
import, nor imply, the abrogation of the Mosaic law ; nor
was it so understood by the apostles or believing Jews, who
had agreed to the exemption of the Gentiles from that law.

However, Dr Hammond says, ( That asserting the liberty
' of the Gentiles from the Mosaic yoke, and preaching the
1 gospel to them, did both together, by way of interpre-
' tation, and necessary consequence, contain under them
' this of the unobligingness of the law to a Jew ; for the law
e of the Jews commanding a strict separation from the Gen-
f tiles, all that were not their proselytes and circumcised,
' and Paul and others being Jews, their conversing with,
1 and preaching to the Gentiles, could not be allowed on any
( score, but that of the abrogation of the Jewish law, which
' accordingly was of necessity to be revealed to St Peter in
f a vision, Acts x. (and so seems to have been to St Paul,
■ Eph. iii. 3.')

There is an evident mistake here. We have seen that the
thing revealed to the apostle Peter, Acts x., was no more
than this, that the Gentiles were to be preached to, and to
be admitted members of the church, without being subjected
to the Mosaic yoke. The mystery made known by revela-
tion to the apostle Paul, Eph. iii. 3. was no other, as himself
tells expressly, ver. 6. than that the Gentiles should be fellow-

104 Introduction to the

heirs } and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in
Christ by the Gospel. There is nothing in either place of the
abrogation of the Judaical law, with regard to the Jews
themselves, to whom it was given.

But the learned writer supposes this to be implied in the
other ; for the Jews could not so much as eat with the Gen-
tiles, by reason of certain rules and prohibitions of their law,
except that were abolished. But this seems to have been
provided for in the decree of the synod of Jerusalem, which
required (not the Jews to neglect any rules of their own law,
as no longer obligatory, but) that the Gentile converts should
abstain from things strangled and from blood. It has been
pretty commonly said, that this was ordered to prevent too
great offence of the Jews. But I do not see what this could
amount to, as to the offence of those who were zealous of the
Jewish law, whose offence no concessions could prevent,
without the Gentile converts submitting to circumcision, and
the whole Mosaic yoke. But it did much to obviate this
difficulty, how Gentiles, and such Jewish converts as were
zealous of their own law, yet agreed to the liberty of the
Gentiles, might, members as both now were of the body and
church of Christ, converse and eat together, notwithstand-
ing the distinctions and prohibitions of the law of Moses re-
specting meats. 1 doubt not but the Gentiles would under-
stand, from the general reason of it, that the injunction was
meant to extend to all meats, which by the law of Moses
were prohibited. Thus Jewish and Gentile Christians might
converse and eat together freely ; which they could not do,
if it were not for this limitation, wisely put, for a season, on
the liberty of the Gentiles. So the asserting the liberty of
the Gentiles from the Mosaic law, did by no means imply
the abrogation of that law, with respect to the Jews ; as ne-
cessary in order to the believers of the Jews and Gentiles
conversing and eating together.

Having premised these things, in order to clear our way,
let us now come more close to the subject and question, con-
cerning the abolition of the Mosaic law, as alleged to be
meant by the apostle in his seventh to the Romans. That
that is not meant or asserted by him in it, is very evident
from his reasoning in it concerning the law. He does, ver. 4.
consider men's being dead to the law, or delivered from it, as
necessary in order to their having part in Christ, or, as he ex-
presses it, being married to him ; as necessary to their bring-
ing forth fruit unto God, not. in the oldness of the letter, but in

Explication of Romans VII. 105

the newness of the spirit. Yea, he intimates, chap. vi. 14.
that being under the law, gave advantage to sin to have do-
minion over them. Now, if all this is to be understood of
the Mosaic law of ordinances, rites, and ceremonies, surely
the apostles would not have preached the gospel at all to the
Jews, without intimating to them clearly and loudly, that the
abolition of the Mosaic law, their being free from it, and re-
nouncing it, was absolutely necessary for their salvation.
For 1 scarce think that any will deny the things I have
mentioned to be so, especially when the gospel was so fully
revealed. Yet. if we observe the preaching of the apostles to
the Jews, and their discourses to them on divers occasions,
as set down in the book of the Acts, we shall not find any
thing to that purpose in them all. Instead of that, the
thousands in Jerusalem and Judea, who believed, continued
zealous of the law ; and it does not appear, that the apostles
or elders, who dwelt among them, or resorted to them, did
at all disturb them with declaring the abolition of the law.
So far from it, that the apostle Peter was influenced by the
brethren, who came down from Jerusalem to Antioch, to be-
have in a manner that tended to betray the liberty of the
Gentiles, with regard to the Mosaic law, which had been
first intimated by revelation to himself; — so far were the
apostles from touching the law, as to its obligatory force with
respect to the Jews. Could this have been their conduct,
if the freedom of the Jews from that law had indeed been
necessary for purposes so essential to salvation, as are men-
tioned, chap. vii. by the apostle Paul, in his discourse con-
cerning the law ?

But there is something very clearly decisive on this sub-
ject in that story, Acts xxi. here before mentioned. Let us
now consider it. Sometime after writing this epistle to the
Romans, Paul having arrived at Jerusalem, James and all
the elders being present, they said unto him, ver. 20, 21,
22, 23, 24. ' Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews
there are which believe, and they are all zealous of the law.
And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews
which are among the Gentiles, to forsake Moses, saying, that
they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk
after the customs. What is it, therefore ? &c. What ! zeal-
ous of the law, under the law, and married to the law,
and yet believing, and so married to Christ ? Could the fi-
delity, of the apostles allow them to connive at such perni-
cious, inconsistent pretensions ? Would it not be expected,

106 Introduction to the

that, on this occasion, they would have asked the assistance
of the apostle Paul, who had been so successful among the
Gentiles, and have endeavoured to awaken his zeal to
exert himself to the utmost to recover his countrymen who
believed, from this sad mistake ? Instead of that they gave
Paul, and Paul observed, an advice of very contrary ten-
dency.

But what is it now that the Jews of Jerusalem were in-
formed of concerning Paul ? The very same thing that Dr
Hammond, and others before and after him, assert that he
did actually in this epistle to the Romans, that was written
before that time, and on other occasions ; viz. that he
taught the Jews, which were among the Gentiles, that they
ought to forsake Moses and his law ; and that this was a li-
berty that they ought to stand to, and assert, on considera-
tions of the utmost importance to their salvation.

Let us now consider the advice that is unanimously given
by James and all the elders present. It is, that he should
confute these reports, which the Jewish Christians had
heard, and which, according to Grotius, Drs Hammond and
Whitby, all three learned men, were very true reports ; and
that he should give the most effectual proof, by avowed public
practice, that these things of which they were informed con-
cerning him, were nothing, — had no foundation in truth, and
that himself walked orderly, and kept the law ; and the
apostle Paul, we see, did punctually observe this advice.

We may, on this occasion, observe the apostle Peter's con-
duct at Antioch, related by Paul, Gal. ii., and how Paul then
behaved and argued ; and what a Jewish Christian, who had
seen his epistle to the Romans, (if it is to be understood ac-
cording to the interpretation of the learned men lately men-
tioned) might very reasonably have said to him, when he
celebrated the expiration and fulfilment of his Nazarite vow.
What is this, might he say, that I have seen thee doing?
thou hast been openly teaching, that these Mosaic laws are
no longer of force, even to Jews ; and hast suggested consi-
derations of the utmost consequence, for which every Jew
ought to assert his liberty from the obligation of these ordi-
nances and observances ; yet now I have seen thee showing
serious regard to these institutions in thy own practice, and
thereby proving openly, that there was no truth in what was
reported of thy urging the Jews to forsake Moses and his
law. Surely this is not upright. You cannot have forgot
how you treated the apostle Peter at Antioch, when for such

Explication of Romans VII. 107

fear of the Jewish believers, which yourself do now show,
he withdrew from the society of the Gentile Christians. You
withstood him ; you said he was to be blamed ; that he dis-
sembled himself, so that the Christians of Antioch, and even
Barnabas himself, were carried away with his dissimulation.
So you said when you reported that story. You said, that
he walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel
You did obliquely charge him with building up the things,
he had destroyed ; as he had so great a part in declaring the
immunity of the Gentiles from the Mosaic law. Thus did
you treat that eminent apostle, who was in Christ before you,
and was so eminent among Jews and Gentiles in the service
of the gospel, when you was persecuting it. You excused
yourself in this, by the necessity of doing so, for maintaining
the truth of the gospel : but, alas ! how shall we now under-
stand your conduct ? after teaching that the Jews should no
longer observe the Mosaic law, you have gone to the temple
and to the priests, you have brought your offering (accord-
ing to the law, Numb. vi. 13, 14.) one he-lamb for a burnt
offering, one ewe-lamb for a sin offering, one ram for a peace
offering, with the proper meat offering, and drink offering.
Is this the very man who told the Jews at Rome, so very
lately, that the Mosaic law was no longer of force, and that
they should assert their liberty from it, as they wished that
sin should not have dominion over them, — that they should
be married to Christ, and bring forth fruit unto God ? Sure-
ly this is not walking uprightly, or according to the truth of
the gospel. This is building up very openly the things you
have been destroying with so great labour and zeal.

Dr Whitby, on Acts xxi., doth not take notice of the ob-
jection arising from Paul's conduct there related, against his
own interpretation of Rom. vii. But he seems to have it in
his view, and to be greatly at a loss to account for the apos-
tle's conduct on that occasion ; at least, that is likely to be
the case by the considerations he suggests to that purpose,
annot. on ver. 26, 27. they fell so very far short of the pur-
pose : as, c 1. That the vow of Nazaritism being only a
* stricter sort of separation from all pollution to the service
' of God, and to be holy, and free from all kind of defile-
' ment, seems very consistent with the spirit and design of
' Christianity.'

But if we consider the moral and spiritual design of Mo-
saic institutions, which of them is it that was not consistent
with the faith, spirit, and design of Christianity ? The pre-

1 08 Introduction to the

sent question doth not concern what was moral or spiritual
in these institutions, but respects the external administration
and observance of ceremonial ordinances. Now, what can be
named in all the system of Mosaic laws, that was more pe-
culiarly Mosaic and ceremonial than the appointments con-
cerning Nazaritism ? Were the Jewish Christians to be-
lieve and assert their liberty from all the Mosaic ceremonial
laws, (as the Doctor and others say is taught the Romans
here,) and yet might they voluntarily use these very ceremo-
nial regulations of Nazaritism,, when the Mosaic law itself,
when in its fullest force, left them free not to vow Nazaritism
at all ?

e 2. Observe/ says the Doctor, ' that the offerings of the
f temporary Nazarite, at the completion of his vow, being a
' burnt-offering, and a sin-offering, and a peace-offering,
' Numb, vi., 14. and two of them being sacrifices not ap-
' pointed for expiating sin, but offerings of thanksgiving to
c God, who had enabled them to perform their vow, and of
' acknowledgment of God's sovereign dominion — this action
c seems to have little or nothing inconsistent with the doc-
c trine of St. Paul.'

Little or nothing ? — I think, considering the person, and
the advice by which he acted, the Doctor should not have
discovered any disposition to yield, that there was even a little,
or any thing at all, in the action, inconsistent with St Paul's
doctrine. But let us consider the matter more closely. The
law concerning the sin-offering, Lev. iv. is so express to that
purpose, that none can deny (nor do I know of any that doth
deny) that it was expiatory, and designed to make atone-
ment. The two sacrifices, then, which, according to the
Doctor in this place, were not expiatory, were the burnt-
offering, and the peace-offering. It is likely to be the former
that he means, by the offering of acknowledgment of God's
sovereign dominion; and the latter, by the offering of thanks-
giving. Thus some others of the learned have spoke ;
though without good reason. .For though they were not in-
tended to be offered for expiation of particular sins and tres-
passes, there is good reason to think they were offered for
expiation of sin in general. As to the burnt-offerings not
being expiatory, that notion is of set purpose, and fully con-
futed by Dr W. himself, in his notes on Eph. v. 2. and on
Heb. ix 19. to which 1 refer. I wonder it should be denied by
any who considers Lev. i. 4. and I think it strange that any
should suppose the burnt-offering of the morning and even-

Explication of Romans VII. 109

ing sacrifice, accompanied with the burning of incense in the
holy place, not to have been expilftory, and, indeed, the most
common solemn type of the expiation to be made in due time
by our Lord Jesus Christ. These daily sacrifices signified
clearly, that God would accept of no service or worship from
men, but by means of the expiation of sin. That all bloody
sacrifices were in some sort expiatory, is, I think, very plain
from what the Lord says concerning the blood, when he pro-
hibits the common use of it, Lev. xvii. 11. : For the life of
the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the
altar, to make an atonement for your souls : for it is the blood
that maketh an atonement for the soul. It is reasonable to
think, that in this all the bloody offerings of the Old Testa-
ment did typify that one great sacrifice that hath truly ex-
piated sin.

But to what purpose doth the Doctor here mention ex-
piation at all ? Is it, that it would be ill to account for, that
the apostle should concur in offering an expiatory sacrifice,
as being inconsistent with the gospel-faith of a complete ex-
piation having been actually made by the blood of Christ ;
but that the offering of burnt-offerings and peace-offerings
(neither of which, as he, in contradiction to himself insi-
nuates, was expiatory) was not inconsistent with that faith,
or with the abolition of the Mosaic law, said to be asserted
by the apostle here, chap. vii. ? What else could he mean ?
and yet if this was his meaning, it is evidently ridiculous ;
especially as the sin-offering was expiatory at any rate.

To this second observation, he adds : e And the advice
1 here not being personally to make, or present these offerings,
' but only to purify himself/ (how purify himself, say I,
but according to the purification of the Mosaic sanctuary ?)
1 and to help the Nazarites in bearing some part of the
( charges of these offerings.' He infers as above, that there
was little or nothing inconsistent with the doctrine of St
Paul.

But these Nazarites were Jewish Christians. Did he tell
such at Rome, Rom. vii. that they were dead to the law,
(that is, as he and some others interpret) free from the obli-
gation of the Mosaic institutions ; and this liberty was need-
ful to be asserted, in order to their being married to Christ;
and bringing forth fruit unto God ? and doth he now contri-
bute to confirm such persons at Jerusalem in their conscien-
tious regard to that law, and its institutions, by officiously
contributing to the expense of their sacrifices ? These things
E 5

110 Introduction to the

are not quite consistent : besides, that this assisting merely to
the expense hath no founffction in the story.

3. The third consideration by which Dr W. endeavours
to account for the apostle's conduct on this occasion, he ex-
presses thus : c Though St Paul knew that these constitu-
1 tions were not now obligatory in themselves ; yet, seeing
c they were rites belonging to that temple, which was yet
1 standing, and God had not, by any express declaration
c made to the Jews, prohibited the continuance of them, St
' Paul might lawfully submit to this compliance with them,
( to prevent the scandal of the unbelieving Jews, which
' might divert them from that Christianity they had em-
* braced.' There must be an error of the press here, (edit.
4.) I suppose he meant to say, who had not embraced Chris-
tianity. But how comes the Doctor to say, that God had
not prohibited the continuance of these ordinances by any
express declarations made to the Jews ? Surely, according to
his interpretation of Rom. vii. which was written before that
time, the declarations there made are express enough to that
purpose. If then the apostle thought it his duty, to make
these declarations sometime before to the Jews at Rome, in
addressing them (separately, as is alleged) in that chapter,
in writing which, he was under the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost, it is likely to have been as much his duty to have
made these declarations to the Jews at Jerusalem, in-
stead of confirming them in the opposite sentiments and
way, by such thorough and remarkable compliance with
them, in a very solemn instance of practice. As to giving
offence to the Jews, by refusing such compliance, let us but
consider how great offence it would give to believing and un-
believing Jews, when they should have occasion to observe
the inconsistence between his doctrine, Rom. vii. (as that
hath been interpreted,) and his posterior practice at Jeru-
salem.

The Doctor concludes his annotation on Acts xxi. 26, 27.
with these remarkable and very instructive words : ' Whence
1 we may learn, what great condescendence in lesser matters
1 may be used for the promotion of the salvation of others.'
The condescension he means here to recommend, seems,
from the nature of the subject, not to be the condescension
of men's forbearing to impose and urge practices contrary to
the sentiments and consciences of their brethren, but the
condescension of others, in complying with the use of rites,
ceremonies, observances, and practices, which they think

Explication of Romans VII. 1 1 1

ought not to be imposed ; and which, perhaps, they think
cannot be complied with by them, as their light and views
are, without sin. Indeed, if the apostle thought, that being
free from the Mosaic law and institutions, and asserting that
liberty was needful for such reasons and ends, as are raem-
tioned Rom. vi. and vii., I cannot help thinking, that the
compliance mentioned Acts xxi. was a great deal too much,
and was an example not safe for a Christian to follow, by
any principles or rules for keeping good conscience, or con-
cerning offence, that I can learn from the writings of the
apostle himself, or from the scripture otherwise. However,
such was, according to the Doctor, the apostle's doctrine,
Rom. vii. And so did he conceal, yea, contradict, that doc-
trine, by his solemn practice, Acts xxi. in compliance with
the dangerous error of the Jews and Jewish Christians, and
that for the promotion of the salvation of others. Alas, for
these poor peevish persons of our times ! some ceremonial
institutions (little, very little ones, matters quite indifferent
in the eyes of the imposers, and so might be well wanted,)
are prescribed, not indeed by an authority altogether so ve-
nerable as that which had enjoined the Mosaic ordinances.
We see how Paul condescended and complied. But these
modern precisians will not comply with these ceremonial in-
stitutions for the promotion of themselves to livings, dig-
nities, &c. in the church, or in the state, (at the peril, as
these poor narrow souls conceive, of their salvation,) or to
save themselves from low circumstances, and much needless
expense !

Yea, the Doctor hath brought his own account of things,
respecting the apostle's conduct, under very great difficulty,
by what he hath in the immediately preceding annotation on
Acts xxi. 20. There he says, ( The zealots among the be-
' lievers were urgent for the circumcision of the Gentiles ;
t — But the whole body of the converted Jews, bishops,
' elders, as well as the laity, were zealous for the observa-
1 tion of the laws and customs by the Jews.' Then he brings
quotations from Philo and Josephus, to show how much the
Jews would suffer, rather than abandon God's ordinances.
These are very needlessly brought, since godly persons of
all nations and times have agreed, that it were better to die,
than to desert, or renounce, or counteract divine institutions
and appointments. Then he tells, that the Jewish Christ-
ians knew of no revelation made by God — that the Mosaic
institutions were to cease after the death of the Messiah.

112 Introduction to the

Downwards he hath these words : ( Yet it pleased God not
' yet to convince them of this error, by any revelation, or
' any afflatus of that Spirit which many of them had re-
' ceived.' But was there not any revelation, or afflatus, or
divine inspiration, when the apostle had some time before
written according to the Doctor's paraphrase, thus, Rom. vii.
4. c Wherefore, my brethren, as the woman is free from the
' law of her husband by his death, even so ye also are become
e dead to the law, and so free from it by the crucifixion of
1 the body of Christ, which hath dissolved your obligation to
' the law, as the death of the husband the obligation of the
c wife to him ; that ye should or may be married to another 9*
There is no removing these difficulties arising from the
apostle's conduct, Acts xxi. according to the Doctor's account
of things. But upon a just view of matters, there is no real
difficulty at all — no inconsistence between the apostle's con-
duct, Acts xxi. and any doctrine he had previously taught.
He practised, Acts xxi. according to the law of Moses, being
an Israelite. But he had not before that time, in Rom. vii.
or on any other occasion, publicly taught, that Israelites
were made free from the obligations of that law. Yea, his
practice, Acts xxi. which we have been considering, is an
unanswerable argument, that in Rom. vii. he did not so
teach ; and that he is misunderstood by those who interpret
him in that way.

To what hath been said, we may add what the apostle
offered on different occasions, for vindicating himself to the
Jews, or to others, against the accusations of the Jews. We
are told, Acts xxv. 7- that the Jews laid before Festus many
and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not
prove ; and, ver. 8. He answered for himself neither against
the law of the Jews, neither against the temple — have I of-
fended any thing at all. It could not be accounted for, that
any man of common honesty, who had in so public man-
ner, as in an epistle to the church of Rome, asserted that the
law of the Jews was abrogated, and, consequently, that the
service of the temple ought to be no longer celebrated, —
would now, before the seat of judgment, assert, that he had
not offended against the law of the Jews, nor against the
temple. Nor do I see how, in the supposed case, his inge-
nuity could be vindicated, when he said, some time after
this, at Rome, to the chief Jews of that place, (when it is not
unlikely that some of the Christians might have been pre-
sent, to whom he had sometime before addressed this epis-

Explication of Romans VII. 113

tie) I have committed nothing against the people or customs of
our fathers. Acts xxviii. 17- What ! committed nothing
against the customs of their fathers ! if, in the epistle he had
written some time ago to the Christians of that place, he
had asserted the abolition of all these customs !

For my part, after all the closest attention I was capable
of, to all that is said of the law, or of any particular matter
respecting it, in this epistle to the Romans, — I am well sa-
tisfied that there is nothing in it of the abrogation of the
Mosaic law with regard to the Jews, or their exemption
from its obligation, — that it is nowhere therein asserted, —
that it is not a principle from which the apostle argues, —
nor a conclusion he infers from any principles.

I see nothing in this epistle to the Romans, that can be
urged with any appearance of force, as importing the aboli-
tion of the Mosaic law ; if it is not what we have in the J 4th
chapter. There appears in it a considerable difference in
the practice of Christians about meats and holy days. This
matter was the occasion of judging and condemning upon one
side, and of contempt and uncharitable neglect upon the
other ; and the peace of the church was much endangered
by the difference. This we may learn from these words,
ver. 19- Let us therefore follow after the things which make
Jor peace.

It has been generally thought, that these weak persons
were Jewish believers, who did not yet understand or re-
ceive their liberty from the Mosaic yoke. If indeed they
were Jews, the apostle's calling them weak, for their adhe-
rence to the rules of that law, would imply, that the autho-
rity and obligation of that law had ceased. But it does not
appear, that the Jews generally had sufficient cause to think,
that their law was abrogated. The consequence of this is
that they generally had good reason to think it their duty to
observe that law : and that they cannot be the persons
charged on that account with weakness. Besides, in the dis-
putes with the Jews, the question commonly turned on the
necessity of men's being circumcised, and so brought under
the obligation of the whole Mosaic law. But when the ques-
tion turned on the subject of meats and holy days, I incline
to think they were others than Jewish converts whose scru-
pulosity is there represented. The many thousands of the
Jews who believed in Judea were zealous for the law. The
apostles themselves at Jerusalem joined with them in the

114 Introduction to the

temple worship and service. The apostle Paul,, a Jew, came
under the Nazarite vow, and celebrated the expiration of his
vow according to the rules of the law, as we have seen.
These things being so, there can be no reason to think, that
their brethren of the Gentiles, who probably held pious
Jewish converts in much veneration, and who might be well
content with enjoying their own liberty, would despise the
believers of the Jews for their Judaical observances ; or that
any differences would arise among them upon these accounts,
that would endanger the peace of the church. The peace of
the church was indeed much disturbed by the endeavours of
some Jews to impose the Mosaic law upon believers of the
Gentiles. But that the Gentiles would disturb or despise
believers who were of the Jews, for observing their own law,
is by no means likely.

There is nothing in this 14th chapter but may be well
accounted for, by understanding these weak persons to have
been believers of the Gentiles ; nor is it at all unreasonable
to think, that there were of them such weak persons. It is
to be considered, that a great many of the Gentiles, who
had been converted by the gospel, had been proselytes to
Judaism, and perhaps had been the children of such, brought
up from childhood in that way, as Timothy had been. Al-
though these might agree to the declaration of the liberty of
the Gentiles, as to the main of things, yet we may easily
suppose that something might stick with them. They had
received divine revelation, the word of God, and the faith,
by which they expected to be saved, from the Jews. It is
no wonder if for this they did retain a great veneration for
that people, and for their institutions. Besides, they might
think that the distinction of meats, clean and unclean, had
a more early authority, and more extensive obligation, as the
distinction of beasts clean and unclean, had been mentioned
by God in his directions to Noah. Nor need we wonder, if
they retained a regard for the Jewish holy days. We know
how tenacious Christians have been to this day, of ancient
festivals, which derive their origin, some of them from Ju-
daism, some of them from heathenism itself. Although
they knew themselves to be by the gospel happily set free
from these peculiar institutions of the church of Israel, to
which they were obliged, when, as proselytes of righteous-
ness, they were admitted by circumcision to be members of
that church; yet they might think themselves still obliged

Explication of Romans VII. 115

to these rules, which, not being members of that church, but
proselytes of the gate, they had carefully observed ; such as
the distinction of meats, and some other things comprehend-
ed under these, called the precepts of the sons of Noah. It
may also be easily conceived, that they would be likely to
retain a regard for the sanctity of these days, on which the
annual feast, and the several great festivals were solemnized.
This may be the more easily conceived of some Gentile con-
verts at Rome, if we consider that the Galatians, Gentiles
as they were for most part, were so prone to desert wholly
their valuable liberty, and to submit to the whole law of
Moses, as appears in the epistle addressed to them.

The apostle doth indeed say in this chapter, Rom. xiv. 14,
I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is
nothing unclean of itself. This may import, that there is
not in any sort of thing, otherwise fit for food, any intrinsic
uncleanness, such that the eating thereof would bring moral
defilement on a man, for any thing in its own nature. This
was clearly implied in the liberty granted to the Gentiles
from these regulations concerning beasts clean or unclean ;
so that such Gentile converts as scrupled the use of them,
did therein show weakness. But there is nothing in this
decisive against Jewish converts, or to prove them to be
weak, for observing the regulations of a law which they did
not know to be abrogated, with respect to them ; even while
they might acknowledge that there was no natural or in-
trinsic uncleanness in the prohibited meats.

But now, upon the whole, to give freely my own opinion
concerning the abolition of the Mosaic law and institutions,
and the ceasing of their obligation, 1 believe there was good
reason for it from the death of Christ. So it was said, Dan.
ix. 27. In the midst of the week (so is expressed the time of
his suffering) he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to
cease : his death was the cause of the ceasing of these ser-
vices. When the substance and body was exhibited, the
reason ceased for entertaining the church with these sha-
dows ; and a more spiritual way of worship did better be-
come the more spiritual dispensation of the gospel. This
became good reasoning, when it became the reasoning of
the Holy Ghost. Otherwise, this, or any other human rea-
soning, could not make a sufficient warrant for men to with-
draw from subjection to a law and ordinances so expressly
and solemnly instituted and promulgated by God himself.
Nothing could be sufficient for this purpose to the Jews

11 6 Introduction to the

but a public, clear, express, and well vouched divine revela-
tion.

When the gospel was first preached, we do not find in
the book of Acts, that the apostles mentioned on any oc-
casion, that the gospel was to supersede the obligation of the
Mosaic law, as to the Jews. Therefore, such Jews as re-
ceived the gospel observed the Mosaic law, and were zeal-
ous for it ; and we find that the apostles were so far from
giving disturbance or offence on that account, that they or-
dinarily joined with them in that way of worship. Grotius,
on Rom. vii. observes, that for a while after the synod of
Jerusalem, Paul contented himself with intimating where-
ever he came, their decree concerning the liberty of the
Gentiles. As to declaring the liberty of the Jews from the
law of Moses, he says, Nojidum erat tempus ; it was not yet
the proper season : and I say that this was the case when
the epistle to the Romans was written, and for some time
thereafter. Although there is no reason to doubt that the
apostles themselves did, by this time, know, (at least Paul
probably did know) that the Judaical ordinances were to be
abolished, they did riot, however, think it yet the fit season
for giving out the revelation they had of this to the Jewish
converts, nor were they directed yet to publish it ; and
that for such good reason as their blessed Lord had men-
tioned to themselves, John xvi. 12. / have yet many things
to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. They might
give instruction concerning this matter to more advanced
Christians ; and it might be a part of that wisdom which
Paul did speak among them that were perfect, (grown up
from childhood to be men in Christ) ; but being under
the direction of divine wisdom, they did not think fit to
give out openly, that it was the will of God to abolish
wholly the Mosaic system of ordinances, ceremonial service
and observances, with respect to the Jews themselves, until
the gospel-faith should be well established, and take deep
root with the Jewish Christians.

We find in the second chapter of the epistle to the Ephe-
sians, and in the second of the epistle to the Colossians,
which were churches of the Gentiles, something concerning
the abolition of the Jewish ordinances. These epistles were
written some while after writing this to the Romans, (three
years thereafter, according to Dr Whitby's chronology,)
and after Paul's conduct at Jerusalem, related Acts xxi.
which we have been considering ; Paul himself being then a

Explication of Romans VII. 117

prisoner at Rome. It was sometime thereafter (about two
years) that the divine revelation concerning this matter
was clearly and fully given forth, in the epistle to the He-
brews. A great event was to happen, that would tend much
to cause the Jewish Christians more readily to receive the
declaration of the abrogation of the Mosaic law : that was
the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, according to
the prediction of our blessed Lord ; by which it became im*
possible to celebrate the chief ordinances of that law. Ac-
cordingly, about five years before that event, was the epistle
to the Hebrews written. It might take that much time for
that epistle to be sufficiently spread among the Hebrew
Christians in the east, and for it to operate somewhat in their
minds. Then, in the seventieth year of our Lord, the re-
velation and doctrine of the epistle to the Hebrews was con-
firmed by the dreadful event of the destruction of Jerusalem
and the temple, and the awful vengeance that was executed
on the Jewish nation.

In that epistle to the Hebrews, who of all the Jews had
the warmest zeal for the Mosaic institutions, revelation
speaks clear and full of the abolition of these. There the
inspired writer shows the Mosaic sacrifices to be ineffectual
for the purpose of expiating sin. There he proves, from the
scriptures of the Old Testament, that God intended to set up
a priesthood different from the Aaronic ; and to constitute
Christ a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. From
this he argues in a manner clear and just, chap. vii. 12. The
priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change
also of the law. So with the abolition of the Levitical
priesthood, the whole system of the Levitical and Mosaic
institutions fell down, and were no longer of force.

What hath been said may satisfy us, that when the apos-
tle says here, chap. vii. 4. Ye are become dead to the law ;
and, ver. 6. We are delivered from the law ; he doth not
mean it of the Jews being made free from the obligation of
the Mosaic ceremonial law, or of its precepts and institu-
tions. None mention the judicial law of the commonwealth
of Israel on this occasion ; nor can we understand him as
meaning to derogate, in any degree, from the authority or
obligation of the commandments of the moral law. What the
apostle means by being dead to the la?v, and being delivered
from it, will be the subject of inquiry in the following sheets :
where explaining of the marriage with the law that he speaks

118 Explication and Paraphrase

of, and the dissolution of that marriage, will make it clear
in what sense he means being delivered from the law.

This might be a fit place for representing the general scope
and contents of this seventh chapter. It seems to be ac-
knowledged by learned interpreters, that the apostle designs
in it to explain what he had said, chap. vi. 14. He there
insinuated, that they who are under the law, are under the
dominion of sin. It is obvious, that his explanations in the
first part of the chapter, ver. 1 — 13. do respect that point.
Whether the latter context, ver. 14 — 25. doth represent the
condition and circumstances of those who are under grace,
with regard to sin, is to be inquired into in the proper place.
For any thing more particular, it is fit to refer to the explica-
tions here following.

EXPLICATION AND PARAPHRASE

OF

ROMANS VII.

TEXT. — 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 ?

Explication. — These writers who suppose the apostle was,
in the 5th and 6th chapters, speaking to the Gentiles sepa-
rately, and as contradistinguished to the Jewish converts, do
at the same time suppose, that, in this seventh chapter, he
speaks to the Jews separately, and as contradistinguished to
the Gentiles. There were indeed a good many Jewish con-
verts in the church at Rome. But as the apostle doth all
along consider the Romans as a church of the Gentiles, and
commonly addresses them as such; to say, that in a particu-
lar place, without distinctly intimating that view, he turns
aside to speak to the Jewish converts separately and apart,
would need to be supported by good reasons. Two things
they adduce from this verse -to that purpose. One, that he
calls them brethren, for such the Jews were to the apostle
by nation and descent. The other, that he supposes them
especially to know the law ; as indeed the Jews valued them-
selves much upon the law, and their knowledge of it.

Of Romans VII. 11 9

But these things do by no means make out the point.
The apostle does commonly call Christians of any nation,
brethren. In the beginning of chap. x. he uses the compi-
lation, brethren, to the Gentiles, when he is speaking to them
concerning the Jews. No church was more to be denomi-
nated Gentile than that of Thessalonica. For of the con-
version of the Jews in that place, it is said, Acts xvii. 4. that
some of them believed. The conversion of the Gentiles is
related in these words : Of the devout Greeks a great mul-
titude. If we suppose, as we reasonably should, that the
devout Greeks, or proselytes, were not idolaters, it would
seem that a great number were, after this good beginning,
soon converted from heathenism, as it is said, 1 Thess. i. £)•
that they turned to God from idols, to serve the living and
true God : so that few comparatively of that church were
Jews by nation. Yet in his first epistle to them, which is
a short one, compared with this to the Romans, he uses the
compellation of brethren to them in common, no less than
sixteen times.

In his supposing that they knew the law, whether he means
the law concerning marriage, of which in the next verses,
and which was common to the Jews and other nations, or
the law in general ; there is nothing in it but what will suit
the Roman Gentile Christians, as well as those who were
Jews by nation. Such of them as had been proselytes,
had been directed to study the Scriptures. Timothy was
brought up from childhood in the knowledge of them ; and
the Ethiopian eunuch returning homeward, and sitting in
his chariot, he read in the prophecy of Isaiah. Christians
brought from the darkness of heathenism, did doubtless
greatly value the rich treasure of light and knowledge they
found in the scripture, and studied it carefully. So that,
whatever knowledge the Jews had of the law7, or of any di-
vine things by revelation, was communicated to the converted
Gentiles by the scripture ; and there, as in the fountain, they
had divine truth, without that mixture of traditional and
superstitious trash, by which the Jews pretty commonly ex-
plained, darkened, and perverted the Scripture. The Gentile
converts had likewise the more easy access to the Scriptures,
to which the preachers of the gospel did so commonly remit
them, that they were then extant in a language (the Greek)
pretty commonly known in all civilized nations. So the two
things above mentioned make no reason at all for thinking

120 Explication and Paraphrase

that he speaks here to the Jews separately, — a conceit that
has greatly perplexed things in explaining this chapter.

As to the purpose the apostle now enters upon, it appears
to be this: He had said, chap. vi. 14. Sin shall not have
dominion over you : for ye are not under the law, but under
grace. This insinuates, that whilst persons are under the
law, they are under the dominion of sin. There was great
need to explain this. The law is the rule of holiness, and
strictly requires it. Sin is the transgression of the law, and
is prohibited by every precept of it, under a heavy sanction.
Whereas, on the other hand, grace aboundeth in the pardon-
ing of sin. Now, to say that sin hath dominion over men,
by occasion of being under the law, that thus prohibits it,
and denounces wrath and judgment for it ; and that men
become free from the dominion of sin, by being under grace
that pardons it, hath, at first sight, great appearance of pa-
radox, or mystery. It is indeed the mystery of the gospel*
in what concerns sanctification ; which the apostle saw it
of great consequence to explain ; as he doth in the follow-
ing context. In the first thirteen verses, he carefully vin-
dicates the law from being in any sort blameable for the
sinfulness, or actual sins of men. He at the same time
shows, that all the light and authority of the law is so far
from subduing sin in men, that it doth, as thereby awakened
and irritated, the more exert itself, and show its extreme
wickedness.

In the beginning of this chapter, he sets out with illustrat-
ing his doctrine by the similitude of marriage ; and in this
first verse, he lays down the general principle contained in
it. It appears by the next following verses, that the relation
between the law and those who are under it, he compares
to that between husband and wife.

The only thing besides that I have occasion to observe
in this Verse is, that the last clause, as long as he liveth, is
so expressed in the Greek, that it may be connected with the
law, thus ; as long as it (the law) liveth, or is in force ; or
with man thus ; as long as he (the man) liveth. Without
determining precisely in favour of the one way preferably to
the other, there seems to be occasion rather to observe a
special skill in the apostle's forming his expression in this
part, so as that the last clause may be connected at once
with both the antecedents, thus: The law hath dominion
over a man, as long as liveth the law, (which hath here
the place of the husband,) or the person that hath the place

Of Romans VII. 121

of the wife in relation to that husband. To take the ex-
pression thus, suits the nature of the subject ; as marriage
is dissolved by the death of either party ; and though in
setting forth the similitude in the two following verses, he
mentions only the dissolution of the marriage by the death
of the husband, (here representing the law) yet in the 4th
verse he asserts the deliverance of Christians (meant by the
wife in the similitude) from the law by their being dead to
it.

TEXT 2. For the woman which hath an husband, is bound by the law

to her husband so long as he liveth ; but if the husband be dead, she is
loosed from the law of her husband.
3. So then, if while her 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 sh-e be married to another
man.

Any thing here which it were of consequence to explain,
will be more fitly considered in explaining the following
verses ; wherein the matter here designed for a similitude,
and the principles concerning it, are applied to the apostle's
particular purpose. Any explication fit to be suggested
here, may be comprehended, and expressed briefly in the
following

Paraphrase — 1. I have said (chap. vi. 14.) that sin shall
not have dominion over you ; for ye are not under the law, but
under grace. I come now to explain the important subject
to you : and I begin to lead you into the understanding of
my meaning and doctrine, somewhat in the allegorical way,
and by a similitude taken from a matter of which you can-
not be ignorant. For I presume that all of you, my dear
brethren, and fellow Christians, being believers, members of
the church of God, and having his word for the rule of your
faith, and the subject of your study and meditation ; that, I
say, you know the law, and this principle concerning it, that
the law hath dominion over a man, such as a husband hath
oyer his wife, (s£ ctov %%ovov £u) for so long time as liveth
either the law, or the person who hath been under the law,
and no longer ; for the death of either party dissolves the
marriage covenant and relation, and the obligations arising
therefrom.

2. For to (exemplify this upon one side) the woman which
hath an husband, is bound by the law of marriage, and by
the marriage-covenant, to her husband as long as he liveth ;
but when the husband is dead, she is loosed from the mar-

122 Explication and Paraphrase

riage-law and covenant, by which she was bound to her hus-
band.

3. The consequence then is, if the woman during her
husband's life shall be married to another man, that she shall
be called (shall be indeed) an adulteress ; but if her husband
be dead, she is free from that law, according to which she
might be charged with crime and reproach ; so that she is no
adulteress, though she be married to another man. In like
manner, if you have been married to the law, and have had
it, by a sacred covenant, for your husband, this bond could
not be dissolved by mere will or fancy. It hath been
a covenant and relation for life ; so it is death that dis-
solves it.

TEXT. — 4. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law
by the body of Christ ; that ye should be married to another, even to
him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto
God.

Explication. — For the right understanding of this verse,
it is needful to explain, 1. What is meant by the law. 2.
What by being dead to the law. 3. How we are to understand
being married to the law, and afterwards to Christ. 4. How
the marriage with the law is dissolved, and by what means.
5. The consequence of that marriage being dissolved, and of
our being married to Christ. The explaining of these im-
portant points, which will contribute much to our conceiving
justly the scope of this whole context, as well as the sense of
this verse, is likely to come out to a considerable length.

1. What is meant by the law. — It has been proved already,
that the law here is not to be understood of the Mosaic ce-
remonial law. Mr Locke's notion will be considered by it-
self hereafter. Certainly we can understand no other here
by the law than the moral law, that universal rule of duty
that hath been given to mankind, fenced with the sanction
of death for transgression, which may be reasonably sup-
posed to imply a promise of life for obedience, and which
contained the matter of the first covenant. This law was
generally known by men, though with different degrees of
light. The heathens did, by nature's direction, the things
contained in the law, (chap. ii. 14, 15.) and showed the work
of the law written in their hearts, (not the work of sancti-
fying, for that is not the work of the law, as is here proven,
but) the marking out to men their duty, and giving the
knowledge of sin and of judgment for it, their consciences

Of Romans VI L 123

bearing witness, and their thoughts accusing or excusing,
according to the degree of light they had. In what they
thought their duty, they could have satisfaction, and an
agreeable self-approbation. By doing ill, the peace of their
mind was disturbed; their consciences accused them, and they
were self- condemned. As sin abounded in them, there was
a secret misgiving and fear. They made a shift to make life
as agreeable as they could by the amusement of speculation,
or by exercise and employment, or by temporary earthly
enjoyments ; in which pretty commonly they went to a
length, in various sorts of self-indulgence, according to their
abilities and opportunities, that was extremely criminal. By
such means they often smothered and overcame apprehen-
sions, against which they knew not the true comfort, or pro-
per remedy.

But it appears that in the heathens, this habitual latent
fear, that ever attends a state of condemnation, was easily
awakened, so as to rise to a high degree, and to be the cause
of much superstition, and of some horrible methods for ap-
peasing the wrath of heaven, and averting judgments.

The church of God anciently had a much more clear and
extensive knowledge of the law, and of judgment for trans-
gression, and that by the solemn promulgation of it at Sinai ;
and afterwards by the scripture, which contained the expli-
cation and enforcement of it from time to time by the pro-
phets. Though the apostle doth not mean here to restrict
his doctrine and argument to any law that was peculiar to
the Jews, yet in speaking of the law, he seems to have
in his eye that clearer light of the law by revelation, which
the Jews enjoyed ; as we have cause to think from his men-
tioning a commandment expressly set forth in the decalogue,
in which the sum of the law was given them, Thou shalt not
covet.

In the scriptures of the Old Testament, we find men, on
divers occasions, expressing the conviction of sin, and fearful
impression of judgment, which they conceived by the law in
their consciences. In the first time of the gospel, it was
the impression and authority of the law in their consciences,
roused and awakened by the sermon of the apostle Peter,
Acts ii., that caused his numerous hearers, pricked in their
heart, to cry out to him, and to the other apostles, ver. 37.
Men and brethren, what shall we do ? Though the jailor at
Philippi was a heathen, and so a stranger to that light of
the law that shined in the church, yet it was the con vie-

124 'Explication and Paraphrase

tion of sin, and impression of judgment, that was by the
law in his conscience, suddenly and powerfully awakened,
that made him cry out to Paul and Silas, Acts xvi. SO. What
must I do to be saved ? And the law hath still the same effect
to produce in souls that have been at ease in their sins, to
awaken them to a serious concern about their salvation. All
men are, — every man singly is, as to his real spiritual state,
either under the law, and under the curse and wrath that it
denounces for sin ; or, by being in Christ, united to him
truly by faith, under grace, in actual grace and favour with
God. They are these who are not thus under grace, but
under the curse, having the wrath of God abiding on them,
that are under the law in the sense of the apostle here ; as
we shall see in considering the several verses of this context.

As I have given my view of what the apostle means here
by the law, and by being under the law, 1 desire the reader
to observe, as we go along, if there is any thing in this con-
text that doth not suit this view ; there certainly is not.
Some learned men, who, from attachment to their particular
system, are averse from this view, and endeavour to turn
things another way, to the ceremonial law and dispensation,
or to something or other peculiar to the Jews, do an ill-office
to Christians, arid labour to shut up from them a source of
much useful instruction. Certainly, several things are here
said of the law, and of being under it, that cannot be applied
to any thing peculiar to the Jews, or to the Old- Testament
dispensation, without much absurdity. The evidence to this
purpose will come in our way, as we go along.

2. What is meant by being dead to the law. — The conse-
quences of death are various, with respect to various subjects.
Here the death mentioned hath respect to marriage ; and
evidently means the dissolution of that marriage that hath
been between persons and the law. As death dissolves
marriage, so the dissolution of this marriage is expressed by
being dead to the law. The believer is no longer married
to the law ; he is made free from that yoke ; and from all
obligation arising from that connexion and relation.

He had also mentioned, ver. 1. the law's having dominion
over a man. In so far as that dominion coincides with the
right and claim of the law as a husband, being dead to it
imports being made free from that dominion of the law.

But it is the explication of the remaining points that are
proposed to be the subject of inquiry on this verse, that will
fully explain the meaning of being dead to the law ; and that

Of Romans VII. 125

will, at the same time, show a special reason why the apostle
expresses, being made free from the law, and from its domi-
nion as a husband, by being dead to it. Without anticipat-
ing things out of their more proper place ; let us now be
satisfied with the general view of the matter that hath been
given, and proceed to the next point.

3. How is to be understood being married to the law, and
being married to Christ. — The special thing which Dr W.
supposes to be in view under the metaphor of marriage, is,
the subjection of the wife to her husband, and so the subjec-
tion of persons to the law, who were under it and married to
it. The Mosaic law he means, for he was far from think-
ing that persons are disobliged from subjection to the pre-
cepts of the moral law. His paraphrase runs thus : e ver. 2.
' The woman which hath an husband, is bound by the law to
1 be subject to her husband — But if the husband be dead, she
' is then free from the law of subjection to her husband. —
€ And ver. 3. — If her husband be dead, she is free from that
* law, which bound her to be in subjection, and yield con-
4 jugal affection to her husband only — And ver. 6. that being
€ dead wherein we were held in subjection, as the wife is to
' her living husband/ Here it appears, that the Doctor un-
derstood, as indeed several others have done, the apostle's
scope and meaning to be, to show the freedom even of Jews
and Jewish converts from the Mosaic ritual and ceremonial
law ; and from the obligation or subjection thereto. This
notion has been sufficiently disproved in the introduction to
this chapter.

In order to reach the apostle's meaning, it is fit to con-
sider the special things that do naturally arise from the
marriage covenant and relation between a woman and her
husband.

In the first place, the woman is entitled, by the marriage
covenant and relation, to support and protection from her
husband ; and that he provide for her welfare and happi-
ness ; and she hath cause to depend on, and confide in him
for this, so far as she shall show herself dutiful to him. It
is said to the woman, Gen. iii. 1(3. Thy desire shall be to thy
husband, and he shall rule over thee. There is no question
but the expression, thy desire shall be to thy husband, im-
plies her dependence, as it does when it is used concerning
Abel, chap. iv. 7- But then it implies not only dependence
of inferiority and subjection, but likewise dependence of trust
and confidence. So that applying this to the apostle's sub-

126 Explication and Paraphrase

ject and design in this place, it comes to this : That persons
married to the law have had dependence on that husband for
support and protection, and his providing for their welfare ;
and this as connected with subjection to the rule of that hus-
band, and obedience to his commands.

To establish the meaning I have given of that expression,
it is fit to observe the meaning and use of it in some other
places ; and I expect that fixing the meaning of the expres-
sion will give considerable light concerning the meaning of
these texts I am to mention.

One of them is Isa. xxvi. 8. Yea, in the way of thy judg-
ments, 0 Lord, have we waited for thee, — that is, trusted in
thee. It looks strangely, to profess trust and confidence in
God, when he is dealing in way of wrath and judgment with
men. But the church accounts for this trust and confidence,
and shows the reason and sure ground on which it is found-
ed, by adding, The desire of our soul (an Hebraism, the same
as our desire — see on chap. vi. 12.) is to thy name, and to
the remembrance of thee, — rather, to thy memorial, as the
word is rendered in the text to be presently cited. The
sense of this is to be taken from Exod. iii. 15. / am Jeho-
vah, the God of Abraham — this is my name for ever, and
this is my memorial to all generations. The God of Abraham
is the summary of the covenant of grace, as exhibited to
Abraham, and to the faithful, as his spiritual seed. So when
the church expresses her trust and confidence in God, Isa.
xxvi. 8. even when he was dealing with her in way of anger
and judgment, she gives a good reason for it, when she
says, Our desire is to thy name, and to thy memorial ; our
dependence is on what thou hast given to our fathers for thy
everlasting name and memorial ; and so we are confident,
that angry as thou justly art, yet thy covenant, O unchange-
able almighty Jehovah, shall stand firm, and take full effect
in our behalf.

Thus also, 1 Sam. ix. 20. On whom is all the desire of
Israel ? is it not on thee, and on all thy father s house ? This
is not said historically, for few of Israel at that time knew
Saul, but prophetically, as if he had said, — Thou art to be
King, — the anointed of the Lord, on whom all Israel shall
have their dependence, that under thy shadow (Lam. iv. 20.)
they shall live among the heathen.

So likewise, 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. after mentioning God's cove-
nant, everlasting, well ordered, and sure, David adds, For
his is all my salvation and all my desire. Of which last

Of Romans VII. 127

expression this is likely to be the meaning : This covenant
of God's grace is that on which I have my dependence, and
found my confidence for all my hope and my salvation.

It seems reasonable to understand in the same sense that
expression, Hag. ii. 7. The desire of all nations shall come ;
which is to be taken as said, not historically, (as was observ-
ed concerning the words of Samuel to Saul,) but propheti-
cally— He who shall be the desire of all nations, on whom
God's people of all nations shall have their dependence, and
found their confidence ; as all nations are to be blessed in
him.

The sense of the expression is now pretty clear ; and, as
the Lord said to our first mother, Thy desire shall be to thy
husband, so, according to the apostle's similitude and style,
if sinners are married to the law, the consequence is, their
desire is to that husband ; they confide in and depend on
that husband (the law) for protecting them, for securing
their standing before God, for providing and insuring hap-
piness to them, in consequence of their obedience to the
commandments of that husband. But, alas ! this wife hath
broken her covenant with her husband ; she hath gone astray
from him, and preferred the interest and gratification of
others, to his commands, honour, and pleasure ; she hath
disregarded his commands, and dealt most undutifully with
him. Whatever imaginary hopes she may still entertain of
good from him, being insensible of her own ill behaviour,
she hath indeed nothing to expect from him but just rigour
and wrath. This, viz. that the sinner cannot attain jus-
tification, or any of its comfortable consequences, by the law,
hath been the apostle's subject in the first four or five chap-
ters of this epistle. But though the explaining the apostle's
similitude of marriage led us to say so much of the matter,
and that by the way we found occasion to offer light con-
cerning some texts of scripture, yet, if we consider some-
what closely, we may be soon satisfied, that that is not the
particular matter in his view in the present context, chap,
vii. 1.13; and that it is another consequence of the marriage
covenant and relation that he hath in his eye.

In the next place, then, the wife expects to be fruitful by
means of her husband. That this is the particular point
now in the apostle's view is evident. During the former
marriage with the law, the fruit was, as ver. 5. to bring forth
fruit unto death. But, as in this 4th verse, the consequence
of the dissolution of the marriage with the law, arid of being

128 Explication and Paraphrase

married to Christ is, to bring forth fruit unto God ; and
being delivered from the law, the Christian is enabled to
serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
This evidently suits what is generally observed and acknow-
ledged to be the scope and design of this context, viz. to
explain what the apostle had said, chap. vi. 14. where in en-
forcing the exhortation to holiness, he suggests this encour-
agement, Sin shall not have dominion over you ; for ye are
not under the law, but under grace; which clearly implies, that
whilst under the law, and married to it, sin having dominion
over them, they could not bring forth fruit unto God.

These things have no special respect to the peculiar in-
stitutions of the Mosaic law. The case plainly is, that men
in all times are concerned with the law of God, particularly
the moral law ; which includes under its authority, and in
the comprehensive meaning of its precept, all positive divine
institutions, whether before the fall or after it, whether under
the Old or the New Testament dispensation. The marriage
with the law is dissolved but in one way here mentioned.
Every one is married with the law, and is under the dismal
consequence of being so, as matters stand with sinners, un-
til they be delivered from the law in the way here suggested.

To take a general view of the matter, we may say, that
this marriage with the law hath its foundation in the original
constitution of things, and in the covenant God made at
first with man. When God made man, and gave him his
law, with the threatening of death denounced against trans-
gression, and the promise therein implied, of life for obe-
dience, it was by obedience to the law that man was to live,
and by the influence of its light and authority, he was to be
fruitful in all holiness and righteousness. Although there
hath happened, by sin, a sad alteration in man's condition,
yet still the right of the law, that first husband, hath sub-
sisted. It continues to be the right of the law, that none
shall attain justification and life but by its means, and by
perfect obedience to it. It continues to be the right of the
law, that men should, by the influence of its light and au-
thority, bring forth fruit unto God. Though man by the
guiltiness and corruption he hath incurred, hath become in-
capable of justification or sanctification by the law, (which
tends to make his condition quite deplorable,) yet such doth
the right of the law, the first husband, continue to be, until
the marriage with the law is dissolved in the way pointed
out here by the apostle.

Of Romans VI L 129

Upon the other hand, if we consider the matter on man's
part, we shall find, however obnoxious man is to the law by-
transgression and guilt — and however opposite to the holi-
ness of the law in his nature and practice — that there is still
naturally in men a strong attachment to this first marriage,
and inclination to look for protection or justification, for
fruitfulness, sanctification, and final happiness, by the first
husband, the law. The light, principles, and sentiments,
which are naturally in the minds of men, mark out to them
no other way to life, but by the law, and obedience thereto.
Nor doth nature show any other way to holiness and fruit-
fulness but by the concurrence of their own powers, and
earnest endeavours with the light and authority of the law.

Besides the sentiments that are naturally in the minds of
men, there are naturally principles in the hearts of men that
favour this first marriage, and that contribute to its subsist-
ing, even when it can yield no comfort or real benefit. The
way of life and fruitfulness (however now impossible) be-
tween this first husband, and the natural human powers,
hath something in it that greatly suits the pride — that self-
exalting principle— that is naturally in the hearts of men ;
which, while it honours the lawr in appearance, doth indeed
give to men themselves the honour of all their good works,
and of their hope of eternal life.

Thus, by the original right of the law, by the sentiments
of men's own minds, and by the principles that naturally
prevail in their hearts, this marriage, with the law, subsists
until it is dissolved by the death of one or other party, or of
both, according to the apostle's figurative way of represent-
ing the matter.

From what hath been said, it is the more easy to under-
stand what it imports to be married to Christ. The less
needs be said on it in this place. Briefly, and in the general,
the believer's being united to Christ by faith, and by the
Spirit of Christ — being called of God to the fellowship of his
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, — and he and they being in the
sight of God, and according to the law of grace, held as one ;
they have the fellowship of his righteousness for their justi-
fication, and of his grace otherwise for sanctification and
fruitfulness, and for their complete salvation and happiness.
The fourth thing which this verse offers to our considera-
tion is,

4. How the marriage with the law is dissolved ; and by
what means. — The apostle, in setting forth the similitude, by

130 Explication and Paraphrase

which he illustrates his subject, had observed, that marriage
is dissolved by death ; and now here, ver. 4. he tells the be-
lievers, that they are dead to the law. The question then
comes to this : How is this death to the law, that dissolves
the marriage with it, brought about?

The law itself contributes its part to this event. So the
apostle says, Gal. ii. 1 9. / through the law am dead to the
law. The law, the first husband, is indeed dead itself,
as to the power of effecting the design of marriage. Never
was any more dead than the law is, as to the power of
giving justification, or fruitfulness in holiness, to sinners.
Yet it lives in the fearful sanction of death and the curse to
sinners : and they must all have died by its hands, in rigor-
ous and just revenge of their nndutifulness and disobe-
dience, if a way had not been found for their relief. A sinner,
whose ear hath been opened to the law, and his conscience
and heart awakened by it, finds its demands, as to a justi-
fying righteousness wholly beyond his reach ; and that there
can be nothing to him from it, but wrath and destruction,
as he is a transgressor. If it requires fruitfulness in holi-
ness, it is as a hard task- master, and doth not afford the
means and assistance necessary for the work. The sinner,
receiving a just view of this with deep impression, can no
longer have his desire to that husband, or have his depen-
dence on him, for any good to himself. Despairing of him-
self, and of the law, he must look another way for relief.

God himself, of his manifold wisdom, uncontrolable sove-
reignty, and rich grace, hath provided a way of relief. Mat-
ters having failed between mankind and this first husband
he had assigned them, he hath provided a second husband
for them, even Christ. So in our text, ver. 4. Ye also are
become dead to the law by the body of Christ ; that is, by
Christ crucified. By this most properly and effectually are
persons made dead to the law. The law itself hath its sub-
serviency, as we have seen, in separating sinners from that
its first husband.. But by the body of Christ crucified is the
happy event truly brought about. If the first husband had
a claim of justice against them for their undutiful be-
haviour, the crucifixion of the body of Christ, whereby sin
hath been expiated, and which is the consummation of
that righteousness by which he hath fulfilled the law, hath
answered the claim of the law. So the resentment of that
first husband cannot reach them. They are, as by death,
delivered from it ; as a bond servant is by death delivered

Of Romans VII. 131

from a hard master, or a wife from the yoke of a rigorous
husband. By his death Christ hath acquired his people, or
church, to be his own spouse. Thus the first marriage is
dissolved ; the law cannot claim, as a husband, that persons
should have dependence on it, as they are provided for in a
better way.

Here likewise we may observe a reason why the true be-
liever's deliverance from the law is very properly expressed
by being dead to it. It is by being dead with Christ, (chap,
vi. 8.) by their fellowship with Christ in his death, and by
their interest in his death, and in the fruits thereof, that
they are thus delivered from the law, and that an end is put
to their relation to the law as their husband ; as they are also
said to have been raised together with Christ. If they are
said to be dead to the law, (which they are by their fellowship
with Christ in his death) and yet after this their death to
be married to another, there is no incongruity in it. If
they are dead in one respect, in another respect they live,
being risen together with Christ to a new being and life, as
his spouse or wife ; as he having died to acquire them to
himself for his spouse, hath, by rising from the dead, prov-
ed himself capable to cause them to live, and to do the part
of a husband to them, in protecting, caring for them, and
securing effectually their eternal welfare. Hence the desire
of true Christians is to this their new husband, and they
have their dependence on him for all things ; until at
length he bring home his church to himself, when she
shall have the full fruition of him, in everlasting glory and
blessedness.

Now as to all this blessed fruit of Christ's death and re-
surrection, we are not to think that it did not at all take
place until he was actually crucified, died, and rose again ;
or until the subsequent more full display of gospel-light.
These things are indeed now set forth by the gospel in a
much more clear light, and are better understood than under
the former more dark dispensation. The grounds of our
confidence and our liberty are now fully exhibited to us ; and
since Christ ascended up on high, and hath received gifts for
men, the fruits of his death and resurrection are much more
abundant and plentiful to the church. But we are not to
connect the disadvantages of being under the law, here men-
tioned, with the legal pedagogy of the Old Testament ; or
to suppose that the advantages by Christ, here set forth
under the figure of being married with him, do solely belong

132 Explication and Paraphrase

to the gospel times and dispensation, and are connected
with the abrogation of the Mosaic law. They who under-
stand the apostle's scope and meaning in that way, do, in
explaining the matters contained in this context, bring them-
selves into absurdity and embarrassment, out of which there
is no disentangling them on their general view of the apostle's
argument. This may be somewhat understood by what hath
been said, and will be more and more clear as we proceed
in the consideration of this context. It is certain, that as
Christ is called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the
world, his expiatory sufferings and death have had effect
from the beginning of the world, for remission of sins to all
true believers. In like manner, his death hath had effect
for the sanctifying of his people by his Spirit, from the
beginning. As it was the Spirit of Christ who spoke by all
the ancient prophets, 1 Pet. i. 11., so did his Spirit operate
powerfully in the hearts of his people, to make them fruit-
ful in holiness. We may then confidently conclude, that the
apostle doth here, by being married to the law, by the dis-
solution of that marriage, and by being married to Christ,
set forth, as to the substance of things, and as to what is
most essential, the different conditions of men, in the state
of nature, and in the state of grace ; both under the legal
pedagogy of the Old, and under the gospel-dispensation of
the New Testament.

The last thing in this verse that I proposed to explain is,
5. The consequence of the dissolution of the marriage with
the law, and of being married to Christ. — It is, first, that the
law hath no longer a right to execute its vengeance for dis-
obedience on them who believe in Christ ; and next, that
they bring forth fruit unto God, — that is, the fruit of holi-
ness and righteousness, by which God is served in a confor-
mity to his will and holy commandment. God delighteth
in having fruit by his only begotten Son, and that he hath
by his marriage with the spouse which he hath given him ;
and she, however formerly unfruitful, is made fruitful by
the power and grace of her glorious Husband, to bring
forth fruit by which his Father is glorified, (John xv. 8.) and
by which she is (Eph. i. 6.) to the praise of the glory of his
grace. How this fruitfulness is the consequence, is a point
to be hereafter explained ; and it is needless to say more on
it here, as the explication of the verse under consideration
doth not require it.

Though the explication of this verse hath come out to such

Of Romans VII. 133

length, yet it is not fit to leave it without taking notice of
the interpretation given by Mr John Alexander, in his post-
humous commentary on this context, lately published. He
will have it, that sin is meant here as the husband. In the
account he gives of the sense of these three verses, he says,
in a sort of paraphrase of ver. 4. c You have been formerly
c under engagements to sin, to whom the law hath bound

• you as to the husband of your choice, in a connexion
' which nothing but the death of one of the parties could
f dissolve.' A few lines thereafter he says : ' When they

* (men) forsake their sins, and turn to God, they become
' dead to the law.' And in the next sentence, — ( There are
' two ways (saith he) by which a sinner becomes dead to
1 the law ; either by breaking off his sins, or by suffering
c the punishment due to them/ But our text doth not
ascribe one's being dead to the law to his breaking off his
sins, but to the body of Christ. That one should become
dead to the law by undergoing the punishment it prescribes,
is not easily understood, except he meant that that punish-
ment is annihilation ; which, indeed, by putting an end to
the sinner's existence, would withdraw him from the power
and dominion of the law. This, however, is one way of
escaping punishment, rather than undergoing it. But if a
sinner exists under punishment, he is certainly not dead to the
law, or delivered from it> as is the expression, ver. 6. but the
dominion and power of the law is exerted upon him, so long
as he is under punishment.

Leaving this, let us look again to this fourth and the two
preceding verses. There, after setting forth the similitude
of marriage, ver. 2, 3. he adds, ver. 4. Ye are hecome dead
to the law — that ye should be married to another. It is death
that dissolves the first marriage, and leaves one at liberty
to make a second marriage. The believer is dead to the
law, in order to be married to another. Can any one doubt
that the first husband here is the law ?

Mr Alexander's thought had been much more congruous
and just, if he had considered sin as the adulterer, and the
wife as incurring the guilt and infamy of an adulteress, by
complying with him, to the dishonour and injury of the hus-
band to whom God had joined her. But how came these
parties to be joined and bound together, sin and the sinner ?
We have that in the author's paraphrase above cited : ' To
' whom (viz. sin) the law hath bound you, as to the hus-
1 band of your choice.' This, truly, is telling an odd tale of
f 5

134 Explication and Paraphrase

the law. The dominion which sin hath in a sinner we know
that the law cannot break or subdue, or set him free from it.
That is what the apostle asserts and proves in this context.
But the sinner having made such a vile choice, as of sin for
a husband, that the law should bind them together, so that
nothing but death should part them, — that till then the wife
(the sinner) should be obliged to love, honour, and obey this
husband (sin), as all these are due from a wife to her hus-
band, and that in opposition to the authority, right, and
holiness of the law itself, — is a very strange way of thinking
and interpreting.

What, then, is the death that dissolves this marriage with
sin ? This he gives in these words of the paraphrase before
mentioned : ' For which reason you have been crucified with
' Christ, that the body of sin, which was the former hus-
f band, being destroyed, you might be freed from those fatal
( engagements, and be joined to him who is risen from the
c dead/ So, according to him, it is the death of the hus-
band (that is, of sin) that dissolves this first marriage. But
what occasion, then, did the apostle's subject, or argument,
give him to mention those who held the place of the wife,
being made dead to the law, in order to be married to an-
other ? I do not see that he does, or can give, an account of
this. There is enough of this interpretation, of which one
might think there needed no other confutation than to repre-
sent it. As to some errors in doctrinal sentiment, that are
more than hinted in this writer's comment on this verse, this
is not a proper place to consider them.

Paraphrase. — 4. So accordingly it hath happened to you,
my brethren, as to your condition and state. You have,
indeed, been married to the law by the first covenant, ac-
cording to which, that husband, in consequence of your duti-
ful obedience to his will, was to protect you, and to secure
your standing before God, and to make you fruitful in all
holiness, and happy for ever. At the same time, from the
sentiments that were naturally in your minds, and the prin-
ciples that naturally prevailed in your hearts, your desire
was to that husband, your dependence was on him for justi-
fication and protection, and for fruitfulness ; and this, when,
for ycur undutifulness and disobedience to him, you had the
most fearful things to expect from him, when, through the
weakness yourselves had incurred, ye were become incap-
able of fruitfulness by his instructions or authority. But now
there is a happy change in your condition. You are made

Of Romans VII. 135

free from that marriage covenant, and from your relation to
the law as a husband. The law itself (Gal. ii. 19.) hath had
its subservience in bringing this about on your part, by con-
vincing you of the sad things you had to expect from it, and
that as a husband it could not help your wretched state ; so
that you was determined to betake you to the better hope
which the gospel set before you, even Christ crucified ; and
by the crucifixion of the body of Christ it is, that the de-
mands of the law being satisfied, he hath acquired you to
himself. So that, by your fellowship with him in his death,
having died with him, you became dead to the law, so far
as concerns marriage therewith, and its consequences ; and
you having risen together with Christ, are married to him,
and through faith your desire is towards him, your depend-
ence is on him, as your most loving husband, — who, by his
resurrection from the dead, and its glorious consequences, is
capable, as to secure your favourable standing before God,
so to dispose and enable you to bring forth fruit unto holi-
ness and righteousness in the service of God, and to his glory,
and to make you eternally happy with himself. These ends
and purposes, once you became sinners, could not be attain-
ed by your marriage with the law.

TEXT. — 5. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins which were
by the Zaw, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

Explication. — We shall now have occasion to observe
and explain the effects of the law, and of sin by the law, in
those who are under the law, and married to it, in so far as
concerns the fruit they bring forth ; and shall have occasion,
at the same time, to observe and explain what are the con-
sequences of being married to Christ, so far as is mentioned
in this context.

It will tend much to clear our way as to these matters,
that we, in the first place, explain what is meant by flesh,
fleshly, or carnal, and being in the flesh, mentioned in this
ver. 5.

The use of these words is somewhat various in scripture.
When they appear to have a moral signification, they have
commonly one or other of these meanings.

1. The epithet and character of carnal or fleshly is given
to the Mosaic ordinances or institutions. The epistle to the
Hebrews calls the ceremonial law, the law of a carnal com-
mandment, Heb. vii. 16*. ; and by purifying of the flesh, or a
fleshly purifying, appears to mean an external ceremonial

136 Explication and Paraphrase

purification, Heb. ix. 13. In these ordinances there was
much external labour, and great variety of external obser-
vances ; and the Levitical institutions and worship had in
them great external ceremony, stateliness, and pomp, which
suits the disposition of the flesh, and hath been ever, and
continues to be, most agreeable to men that are carnal, whose
hearts are not sufficiently well disposed for spiritual worship.
Hence, it hath happened, that a prevailing carnal disposi-
tion, which increased as men's relish of spiritual worship de-
creased, hath introduced into the Christian church and wor-
ship much external ceremony, pageantry, and pomp. Many,
in latter times, have complained, that the reformed churches
have made divine worship too naked, simple, and unadorn-
ed. The great men of the world seem to think as if there
ought to be that stateliness in the house of God that becomes
their own courts and attendance ; and carnal men are com-
monly of the same disposition and way of thinking. But as
we think it most right and safe that the Lord should not
have occasion to say of any thing in our worship, It is what
I commanded not, neither came it into my mind, Jer. vii. 31. ;
so we reckon, that external plainness and simplicity is, in its -
own nature, most suited to the worship of God, who is a
Spirit, and desires to be worshipped in spirit and in truth ;
and most suited to the more spiritual gospel dispensation.

It is agreeable to the notion which scripture gives us, to
call the Old Testament state of the church, its state of child-
hood, or nonage : and the Lord condescended to the weak-
ness of his church in that its childhood, in appointing ordi-
nances suited to it. As in the case of the Corinthians, the
apostle doth, to the notion of their being babes, join that of
being carnal, so to the childhood of the church the Lord
accommodated carnal ordinances. But then there is a great
difference between being, in some sort and degree, carnal,
and being in the jlesh, which is the expression here, ver. 5.
The former is said of the Corinthians who were in Christ,
and saints, 1 Cor. iii. 1. 3. and who could not be said to be in
the flesh. They indeed are said to be carnal, for the carnal
lusts, passions, and divisions that prevailed among them.
But though the Old Testament ordinances are called carnal,
I do not see that even carnal or fleshly is given as the cha-
racter of the Old Testament church, or of men as members
of it. But to be in the flesh, can by no means be understood
as their character ; as will appear by explaining that expres-
sion hereafter.

Of Romans VII. 1.37

Yet some learned men, who understood the apostle as rea-
soning here concerning the Mosaic law, and the abolition of
it, endeavour to bring about this of being in the flesh, to be
the character and state of the Old Testament church and its
members ; and for this do found, in some sort, on the cha-
racter of carnal given to the Mosaic ordinances. Dr Whitby
attempts this ; but somewhat awkwardly. His paraphrase
gives the fifth verse thus : c For when we were in the flesh,
( (i.e. when we lived under the carnal ordinances, without
■ the assistance of the Spirit,) the lustings of sin/ &c. But
by what warrant, or for what reason, would he connect
these things, to be under the Old Testament ordinances,
and to be without the assistance of the Spirit ? The Doctor
himself is not satisfied with this ; and he corrects it, for a
good reason mentioned in his note. ' I judge, saithhe, that
1 when we were in the flesh here doth not only signify to
' be under the carnal ordinances of the law, for so were
c all the pious Israelites, from Moses to the gospel times/ —
If, say I, true Israelites, Israelites indeed, were pious, free
from the dominion of sin, and holy men, as there were many
such under the Mosaic ordinances, carnal as these ordinances
were, then surely the abolition of these ordinances and of the
Mosaic law, was not necessary, in order to free men from the
dominion of sin, and of carnal lusts.

The Doctor goes on : e But more especially relates to
1 them who, living under these ordinances, were themselves
' carnal, and without any assistance of the Holy Spirit —
' And if of such only we understand the apostle's following
1 discourse in this chapter, the sense will be clear/ But in
that way the sense will be far from being clear ; yea, the
apostle's argument will be quite perplexed and unintelligible.
The Doctor, and several other learned men, make the de-
sign of the apostle's argument to be the abolition of the Mo-
saic ordinances, making the church free from the obligation
of that law ; and to give reasons for it. But what subser-
vience will this ver. 5. have, according to this interpretation,
to that scope and purpose ? As there were many pious Is-
raelites, holy men, having the assistance of the Spirit, so
there were many who were carnal themselves, and had not
the assistance of the Spirit. But what doth this say for the
abolition of the Mosaic ordinances, more than it would for the
abolition of gospel-ordinances, that there are now under these
many who are carnal themselves, and have no prevailing as-
sistance of the Holy Spirit ?

138 Explication and Paraphrase

Dr Doddridge's paraphrase gives it thus : ' When we were
1 in the flesh, that is, under the comparatively carnal dis-
* pensation of Moses, a variety of sinful passions,' &c. If
the character of comparatively carnal, should be allowed to
be given to the Mosaic dispensation, yet that makes no good
reason for holding, that men for being under it were in the
flesh, or that these mean the same thing, to be in the flesh,
and to be under the comparatively carnal Mosaic dispensa-
tion ; as will fully appear in explaining a little hereafter what
it is to be in the flesh. The worthy writer certainly did not
reach the true meaning of this place.

2. The flesh is sometimes mentioned with respect to men's
false confidences before God, and the grounds thereof. So
of the true circumcision it is said, Phil. iii. 3. that they hare
no confidence in the flesh. Dr Whitby paraphrases it, ' no
' confidence in the circumcision of the flesh.' I see no reason
he could have for restricting the matter to circumcision ;
since, a little below, the apostle puts a great deal more in the
grounds of this carnal confidence, particularly his zeal; and
that touching the righteousness which is in the law, he was
blameless. As he doth, ver. 3. to confdence in the flesh,
oppose rejoicing in Christ Jesus, so, ver. 9. he represents,
as the true ground of a sinner's confidence before God, that
righteoustiess which is by the faith of Christ. So, upon the
whole, we may justly reckon, that by carnal conjidence, he
means every thing different from this righteousness by the
faith of Christ, upon which carnal self-deceiving hearts may
found their confidence, such as external privileges and ad-
vantages, and men's own righteousness, which tends to
self- exaltation, and so is agreeable to the temper and dispo-
sition of carnal hearts. As to the evangelical grounds of
confidence, these are the things of the Spirit ; and so it is
the illumination and influence of the Spirit that prevail with
our hearts, and effectually direct us to found upon them ;
according to Gal. v. 5., We, through the Spirit, wait for the
hope of righteousness by faith. Every confidence different
from this is what natural principles, and the self-exalting dis-
position of the heart, lead men to. As the flesh draws a quite
different and opposite way from the Spirit, in what concerns
purity and holiness, so it doth also in what concerns men's
confidence, and the grounds thereof.

How far fleshly, or carnal confidence, is concerned in the
subject of our context, we may see hereafter. But certainly
it is not in view in this fifth verse, where being in the flesh

Of Romans VII. 159

is mentioned in view to the motions of sin, and bringing forth
fruit unto death.

3. Most commonly the flesh (used in a moral sense) signi-
fies the corruption of nature, the evil principle of sin in men ;
or human nature as corrupted by sin. The word flesh may
have been transferred to this use and meaning, from a view
to the body, and the excitement it gives to various evil af-
fections and lusts, which are accomplished and gratified by
the body. It was in this part that the moral depravation of
nature was most obvious, striking, and sensible; which might
have occasioned the corruption of nature in general to be
called the flesh. But it would make odd work in language
and interpretation, to confine the meanings of words to what
they would import by their derivation and original mean-
ing. The sense of words is to be determined by the use of
speech, and the meaning of scripture-words is to be deter-
mined by the scripture-use especially.

If we observe the scripture-use, we shall find the flesh,
and the lust of the flesh in a more restricted sense. So
1 John ii. 16., the lust of the flesh means that sort of lust, in
particular, which receives its excitement from the body, is
accomplished by, and brings special defilement and dishonour
on, the body. But the ill moral meaning of the flesh is not to
be restricted to this. In 2 Cor. vii. 1. if there are flit hinesses
of the flesh, there are also flthinesses of the spirit ; and the
Lord doth, John viii. 44. mention to the Jews the lusts of
their father the devil. But there is in scripture mention of
the flesh in so large a sense, as to comprehend filthinesses
of the flesh and of the spirit; yea, all sinful lusts, and cor-
rupt unholy affections whatsoever. In this large sense of
the word is flesh mentioned, Gal. v. 19, 20, 21., where we
have a numerous list of these called works of the flesh, some
of which, it is plain, have place in creatures that have no
body, no connexion with flesh in their personal constitution.

But what is it to be in the flesh ? We have several simi-
lar expressions in our own language. A man is said to be
in good humour, when good humour is prevalent in him ; to
be in wrath, or in anger, when wrath or anger is prevalent
in him ; to be in drink, when the influence and effect of drink
is prevalent. This would lead us to think, that to be in the
flesh, signifies to be under the prevalent influence and power
of that corrupt principle or depravation, which, we have
seen, the scripture means by the flesh.

The apostle Paul directs us, in a very clear manner, to

140 Explication and Paraphrase

understand the expression thus : He mentions, chap. viii. 5.
being after the flesh, which is certainly the same as to be in
the flesh, ver. 8. where he says, They who are in the flesh
cannot please God. Will any say, that Israelites of old, for
being under the carnal ordinances of the Mosaic law, were
in the flesh, and so could not please God ? As none will say
this, it is plain that the apostle cannot here mean the Mosaic
law, or the state of men under it. He helps us to understand
fully what he means by being in the flesh, by what he states
in opposition to it, ver. 9- Ye are not in the flesh, but in the
Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Here it is evident, that being in the Spirit doth not sig-
nify merely having a temper and disposition conformed to
Christ, and suitable to the spirituality of the gospel. It im-
ports to have the Spirit of Christ, — the Spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwelling in a man, as ver. 10.
even that same Spirit by whom (as in that same ver. 10.)
God shall quicken the mortal bodies at the resurrection ;
which doth not dwell in any that are under the curse of the
law, or in any but those he hath brought unto union with
Christ, who are born of the Spirit, and so are renewed in the
habitual and prevailing temper and disposition of their
hearts. It is clear, in the apostle's words, that it is by that
Spirit, and by his operation and influence in men, that they
come out of their carnal state, and from being in the flesh.
Being in the Spirit, and having the Spirit of Christ, upon
the one hand, and being in the flesh, destitute of the Spirit
on the other, are the characters and states of men that are
contradistinguished. As the Spirit cometh not by the law,
they that are under the law, being without the Spirit, must
be in the flesh ; and they who, having the Spirit, are led by
him, (Gal. v. 18.) are not under the law, as is there said.
By being in the flesh, is certainly meant a character and state
commensurate to being under the law. This evidently suits
the apostle's scope, and his view of explaining these words,
chap. vi. 14. Sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye
are not under the law. But what concerns the Mosaic ritual
and ceremonial law hath in this, none of the learned, who
suppose it to be here meant, have been able to explain to
the satisfaction of any, who are not disposed to take things
from them implicitly.

Let us now look to Mr Locke's interpretation of being in
the flesh. His paraphrase gives it thus: ( When we were

I

Of Romans VI L 141

' after so fleshly a manner under the law, as not to compre-
c hend the spiritual meaning of it — our sinful lusts/ &c
But the apostle is speaking in general of being under the law,
and married to it ; not of being under it in a particular flesh-
ly manner. Indeed, in the latter times of the Old Testa-
ment, the Jews did become generally ignorant of the spirit-
ual meaning of the Mosaic law. But the true seed of Abra-
ham, the truly faithful, in all times of the Old Testament,
were not so. Yea, in that very evil time of the Jewish
church, when the Son of God came in the flesh, there were
such as Zacharias, Simeon, Anna, and many others, who
waited earnestly for the consolation of Israel, Luke ii. 25.
and those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem, ver. 38.
who certainly understood much of the spiritual meaning of
the Mosaic law and institutions. It appears, then, that being
under the Mosaic law did not of itself disable men to un-
derstand the spiritual meaning of it. So there is nothing
here, according to this interpretation, that can be connected
with the general purpose, as this writer understands it, of the
necessary abolition of the Mosaic law.

The same writer says in his note : ' The understanding
' and observance of the law in a bare literal sense, without
' looking any farther for a more spiritual intention in it, St
c Paul calls being in the flesh.' But it has been here proven,
that that is not Paul's meaning. In the latter part of that
same paragraph, he cloth, with respect to the ritual law, re-
fer to Heb. ix. 9, 10. and adds, ' Which whilst they lived
' in the observance of, they were in the flesh. That part of
c the Mosaic law was wholly about fleshly things, Col. ii. 14
' — 23, was sealed in the flesh, and proposed no other than
1 temporal fleshly rewards/ But if that part of the Mosaic
law employed men outwardly about fleshly things, were
they not, at the same time, shadows of good things to come ?
Heb. x. 1. Did not the Mosaic sacrificial service assure them
of a future real expiation of sin, — yea, foreshadow heavenly
and eternal blessedness ? The enlightened holy persons, who
understood in some good degree the spiritual meaning and
intention of the law, (as there were such in every part of the
Mosaic period) were they indeed in the flesh, according to
the meaning of the context under consideration ? This learn-
ed writer makes great show of his method of studying, and
the rules he observed in interpreting the parts of Scripture
he wrote upon ; but we may observe, on divers occasions,
that these rules were better observed by former writers^

142 Explication and Paraphrase

whom he does not mean to advance in the esteem of his
readers. If he meant to interpret Paul by Paul himself,
(which is one principal rule he frequently mentions) he had
not far to go, in this same discourse of his, to find the apostle
(chap. viii. 5, 8, 9-) interpreting very clearly what he meant
by that expression, being in the flesh, as hath been shown
here above.

As these things are so clear, I cannot but wonder that
Dr Hammond should thus paraphrase this fifth verse :
c This, (viz. to bring forth fruit unto God, ver. 4.) while
1 we lived under the pedagogy of the law, was not done by
c us — For while we were under these carnal ordinances,
' though all sinful practices were forbidden by that law —
e yet our sinful desires and affections — that law had not
c power to subdue/

Some men write, as if being under the pedagogy of the
law, and being under the law in the sense of our context, (in
that sense in which they who are under the law are under the
dominion of sin, chap. vi. 14.) were the same thing, which
is very wrong. The true church of God, the heir, (Gal. iv.
1, 3.) whilst a child, was under that dispensation and peda-
gogy. But we must not say, they were in the flesh, in the
sense the apostle here evidently means, and wholly destitute
of the Spirit ; or that there were so many holy men in these
times, without the sanctifying grace of the Spirit. Some
men do not allow the Spirit his proper work, in sanctifying
men under the New Testament dispensation. It would
sometimes seem as if they thought, that under the Old Tes-
tament, men pleased God, and became good men, without
the Spirit altogether. This needs be the less wondered at,
that they suppose that heathens may please God with their
virtue, without any revelation of the law or gospel, or of the
promise of the Spirit. But the scripture gives another view
of things. If under the gospel dispensation men are desti-
tute of the Spirit, as very many appear to be, they are
in the flesh ; and men under the Mosaic pedagogy, who
proved by their disposition and practice that they had
the Spirit of God dwelling in them, they were not in the
flesh, nor under the law, as law is meant in this context ;
but, as to the real state of their souls, under grace, and in
favour with God. Though still, as hath been said formerly,
allowance is to be made of greater abundance of the Spirit,
and of spiritual blessings, in the period that hath succeeded
the actual propitiation by the blood of the cross, and the ac-

Of Romans VII. 143

tual resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What a strange interpretation, then, is this of Dr Hammond !
Did not believers anciently, the true seed of faithful Abra-
ham, did not the heir, though a child, yet being truly a
child and heir, bring forth fruit unto God ? If the law did
not subdue sinful desires and affections then, neither is it
the law (to the authority and obligation of which men are
still subject) that doth now subdue and mortify these desires
and affections.

By what hath been said, it is evident, that to be in the
flesh, and destitute of the Spirit, is not to be connected with
being under the Mosaic legal pedagogy ; but with being
under the law, in that sense in which all men are naturally
so, until they become dead to the law by virtue of the cross
of Christ, and by being united to him by true faith.

The expression that falls next to be considered is, the mo-
tions of sins which are by the law. The Greek word
Tredhuxret, signifies more precisely passions, or affections, as
the English margin gives it ; and the affections of sins, a
Hebraism, is the same as, sinful affections, or lustings.
These are naturally in men, but they are considered here
as put in motion, or excited ; and this by occasion of the law.
Mr L/s paraphrase hath it, ( That remained in us under
1 the law ;' and he brings some instances in which Si* is so
used. Our rendering by the law, which is according to the
most common meaning of that preposition, he says in his
note, ' is a very literal translation of the words ; but leads
c the reader quite away from the apostle's sense, and is fain
' to be supported by interpreters that so understand it, by
' saying, that the law excited men to sin by forbidding it.
' A strange imputation on the law of God/ But this is said
without any good reason.

It is just to say, that the precept, prohibition, and fearful
threatening of the law, do, instead of subduing sinful affec-
tions in an unrenewed heart, but irritate them, and occasion
their excitement and more violent motion. Nor is this a
strange imputation on the law of God, which is not the pro-
per cause of these motions. These are to be ascribed to the
corruption of men's hearts, which the apostle insinuates,
when he ascribes these sinful motions by the law to men in
the flesh. The true state of the case between the flesh, or
the evil principle of sin, and the law, is, that the flesh or sin
worketh death in a man by that which is good, as is repre-
sented here, ver. 13. The matter has been often illustrated

144 Explication and Paraphrase

by the similitude of the sun, by whose light and heat roses
and flowers display their fine colours, and emit their fragrant
smell ; whereas by its heat, the dung-hill emits its un-
savoury steams and ill smell. These various and opposite
effects are from the different objects, and their different na-
tures. So the law, which to a sanctified heart is a mean of
holy practice, doth, in those who are in the flesh, occasion
the more vehement motions of sinful affections and lustings,
not from any proper casuality of the law, but from the energy
of the sinful principles that are in men's hearts and na-
ture. There was great wrath and sinful passion in Jeroboam,
by the reproof of the prophet, 1 Kings xiii. 4. This was not
to be imputed to the prophet, but to Jeroboam, a man in the
flesh. In David, a man of very different character, Nathan's
very sharp reproof had no such effect. If the apostle meant
here, ver. 5. only motions of sins under the law, this would
give him no occasion to vindicate the law, as he does, ver.
7- Is the law sin ? God forbid. Dr W., in answering Mr
L. concerning this point in his note, says, * Is this any
c more an imputation upon the law of God, than it is an im-
s putation on his providence, that it provides the corn and
' wine, which carnal men abuse to drunkenness and excess ?'
Mr John Alexander's late commentary before mentioned,
says on this verse, ' To ascribe the motions of sin directly to
• the law of God as their origin, is not more impious than it is
c nonsensical.' (It is not to the law, but to the flesh, that
interpreters ascribe sinful motions as to their origin.) He
goes on : ' And to account for this afterwards by the proneness
1 there is in man to break through the restraint of a law,
c merely because it is a law, and something commanded, is,
' to say the least, highly ridiculous.' (Not merely because
it is a law, but because it commands what the corrupt heart
is averse to, and prohibits what the corrupt heart loves.)
In his next paragraph he says, ' To ascribe the existence
' of sin to the law of God inciting and irritating it, must be
c quite out of the question — I do not say with an inspired
' writer, but with any writer of common sense.' But none
ascribe the existence of sin to any influence of the law of
God. It exists as an evil principle in the corrupt nature of
man, and exerts itself in sinful affections and lustings by oc-
casion of the command, prohibition, and threatening of the
law. I do not think there needs any more answer to this
writer than hath been already suggested. The young man's
heat put forth strong words, (impious, nonsensical, highly

Of Romans VII. 145

ridiculous, and contrary to common sense.) But when he
was so warm for the honour of the law, would he not have
been in great commotion if he had heard a man say, even of
the gospel itself, that to some (2 Cor. ii. 16.) it was the
savour of death unto death ?

For the last clause of this verse, — did work in our members
to bring forth fruit unto death, Dr Doddridge's paraphrase
hath thus — c were active in our members to produce vi-
' sible sinful actions.' So indeed they do, very commonly,
in men who are in the flesh. Yet 1 do not see that the
Greek words suggest any thing about visible external actions.
One sense, and indeed the primary sense, of the verb ivi^yuv,
is, intus efficere, to effect inwardly. According to this one
sense given by Erasmus and Vatablus (in Poole's Synopsis)
is secreto agebant ; nam occulta vis (so is added there,)
dicituTy ivz£yziu, velut in semine, et vis mentis in homine-— acted
secretly ; for a hidden power is meant by the Greek word,
such as is in the seeds of things, or in the human mind.
The interpretation our Lord gives of the seventh command-
ment, Matth. v. 28. proves that sinful lusts may be very ef-
fectual, bringing forth fruit unto death, when there is no
outward or visible action. A particular reason for my taking
notice of this here may appear hereafter.

Paraphrase. — 5. So far were we, whilst under the law,
from bringing forth fruit unto God, that, being then in the
flesh, in our corrupt and unregenerate state, under the do-
minion of sin, — our sinful affections or lusts, awakened by
the prohibition and threatening of the law, did work in all
our faculties and powers such unholy fruit as tendeth to
death ; and, if grace prevented not, would certainly termi-
nate in death ; the law, with all its strict prohibitions and
fearful denunciations, being weak, through the prevailing
power of the flesh, and not able to subdue these sinful affec-
tions and lustings in us.

TEXT. — 6. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead where-
in we were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the
oldness of the letter.

Explication. — The expression, ver. 4. was dead to the
law — here it is, delivered from the law. The sense in gene-
ral is the same. But there is some question about the right
reading of the next clause, — That or it (viz. the law)
being dead wherein we were held. If we take it not thus,
there will be this seeming inconvenience or impropriety,—*

146 Explication and Paraphrase

that, though in setting forth the similitude he had mentioned
— marriage to be dissolved by the death of the husband,
without any mention of the death of the wife, — yet there is
nothing of the death of the husband (the law) in the appli-
cation of the similitude to his subject. This seeming im-
propriety is avoided by our reading, which is supported, as
some of the learned relate, by one ancient copy, (that of
Vienna) and by the authority of Chrysostom ; and thus la-
ter writers do commonly take it. There is besides a suit-
ableness in the expression to that of ver. 2. which tends to
favour our reading. There, setting forth the similitude, he
says, If the husband be dead, she is loosed Cjcxrn^yY,rcnJ from
the law of her husband. So here, ver. 6. where, according
to our reading, there is mention of the death of the law, the
expression is (xarjj^y^^gv,) we are loosed or delivered from the
law.

The other reading, the English gives on the margin : we
being dead to that wherein or whereby we were held, — and so
the matter is expressed, ver. 4. Ye also are become dead to
the law. This is the reading of the ancient MSS. generally,
according to which several ancient translations render ; and
so the text is cited generally by the ancient writers of the
church. It is not easy to find arguments sufficient against
a reading so well supported ; though, at the same time, after
saying so much about it, it makes no odds as to the main
subject and argument.

Concerning serving in newness of spirit, and not in the old-
ness of the letter. — The last part of the verse comes now to be
considered, — That we should serve in newness of spirit and
not in the oldness of the letter. It is plain the apostle hath
in his view the difference in practice of those who we under
the law and married to it, and of those who are disengaged
from that first marriage, and married to Christ. He had re-
presented, ver. 4. the consequence of being dead to the law,
to be, to bring forth fruit unto God. Here he so varies the
expression as to give the hint of the particular sort and man-
ner of fruitfulness ; — it is to serve God in newness of spirit.
But as to these who are married to the law, shall we say, —
they had no religion at all — no design to bring forth fruit
unto God, or to serve him ? this is not to be thought, yea,
were scarce consistent with being married to the law. But
they served in the oldness of the letter. When was it, then,
that men served in the oldness of the letter ? In the general,
according to the opposition here stated, it was when they

i

Of Romans VII. 14-7

were not delivered from the law — when they were under the
law, and in the flesh — as we have seen these things conjoined.
As the flesh hath its impurity and wickedness, it hath its
religion too ; but this is not to be connected with the Old
Testament dispensation, as peculiar to it. If many were
carnal in religion under that dispensation, many are like-
wise now carnally religious under the New Testament dis-
pensation.

It will make matters the more clear respecting this sort
of religion, called here, serving in the oldness of the letter,
that first we understand what it is to serve in newness of spirit.
It is in general, to serve God sincerely from such principles,
dispositions, and views, as the Spirit of God gives to hearts
renewed by him, and under his influence. More particu-
larly, it is to serve God with faith and love ; with thankful-
ness ; with entire submission and resignation ; with su-
preme purpose to honour and please God ; submitting every
desire and interest to the chief end of the advancement of
his glory; with a sincere purpose and course of uniform,
universal, and cheerful obedience, joined with a true hatred
and fear of sin. This new way of serving God hath in it
spirituality of desire and affection, raised above the earth and
earthly views ; purity of aim and intention ; a most self-
abasing humility, and self-denial, that suppresses the carnal-
ity of self confidence, with respect to our righteousness or
strength ; and founds a solid confidence on Christ only, for
both righteousness and strength, which is the sort of confi-
dence the Holy Spirit directs to, and which he inspires into
all that are taught by him, and under his influence.

As this new way of serving hath for its principle in the
heart the prevailing love of God ; so there is joined with
that love, and flowing from it, the true love of man j by
which, besides that special brotherly kindness which Chris-
tians owe to one another, the heart is turned to a sincere,
universal, and fruitful benevolence towards all men : this love
prevailing over these malignant passions and lusts that are
contrary to it, such as selfishness, pride, malice, wrath, envy,
revenge, cruelty ; which are to be ascribed to the flesh. Such
is serving in newness of spirit, by the Spirit of God renewing
and influencing the hearts of men.

Opposite to this is, serving in the oldness of the letter.
Let us now consider what this is. Some have said, that
this is serving according to the literal expression of the law,
in outward work and service only. But this doth not define

148 Explication and Paraphrase

the subject justly. The literal expression of the law reaches
farther than to outward work and service. The law says ill
plain and literal expression, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,
and thy neighbour as thyself; and the sincerity of neither is
in serving according to the oldness of the letter.

For further understanding this subject, it is fit we have
recourse to that place, 2 Cor. iii. 6, 7. Who hath made us
able ministers of the new testament , not of the letter, but of the
spirit : for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if
the ministration of death written and engraven in stones, was
glorious, &c.

Here it strikes at first sight, that when the apostle is
speaking of the letter, the law he hath in view is not the ce-
remonial law. It is plain, that by letter he means the moral
law ; as it was it, and it only, that was written and engraven
in stones.

The word (y^ct^x,) signifies letter, as we render it, but is
often put for writing; and seems to be so meant here, where
the discourse is of the law written — in stones. He hath made
us able ministers, not of the vjriting ; that is, not of the law
written in stones. Wolfius on this place (2 Cor. iii. 6.) re-
lates, that some of the learned would have the word we ren-
der letter, rendered simply law. He adduces some instan-
ces to this purpose, and gives a particular passage of Iso-
crates, which is to this sense : That wise rulers should be
careful to have the love of justice implanted in the hearts of
their- people, rather than (ras gtoxs iiu,7ri7r\civcu y^ccu^xrui) to
have their public galleries filled with letters, or writings ;
that is, with laws published by writings on their walls. Ac-
cording to this, the apostle's words to the Corinthians, ver. 6.
may be thus understood : God hath made us able ministers
of the new testament, not of the law, which conveys nothing
to the hearts of men, to give it effect, but of the gospel,
which is the ministration of the Spirit.

Let it be next observed, that serving in the oldness of the
writing, or of the law, — that is, in the old manner, as when
under the law, is to be so understood, as to include nothing
in it that proceeds from the special grace and influence of the
Holy Spirit ; for serving God in newness of spirit, and serving
in the oldness of the letter, are the things that are here (Rom.
vii. 6.) stated in opposition.

The consequence is, as the Spirit cometh not by the law,
that serving God in the letter is; such service as the law, by
its authority, light, and terror, can procure from one under

Of Romans VII. 149

the law and in the flesh, not having the Spirit, or his sanc-
tifying grace and influence. It imports such service as the
law in the conscience, and the carnal unregenerate heart, by
natural strength, with the exertion thereof in earnest endea-
vour, can work out between them. The authority of the law
in the conscience may procure from one in the flesh and un-
regenerate, not having the Spirit, a considerable outward con-
formity, without any principle within better than a selfish,
slavish, mercenary, carnal disposition, influenced by the ter-
rors of the law, and the pride of self- righteousness ; but the
law, and the greatest efforts of one under the law, in the
flesh, cannot set the heart right with regard to the love of
God, overcome worldly lusts, or give truth and sincerity in
the inward parts.

If there is in any such persons the semblance of good af-
fection and devotion towards God, with a serious design to
do well, yet to such we cannot ascribe any thing that cometh
not but by the special sanctifying influence of the Holy
Spirit. Such indeed may sometimes bear amiable appear-
ance and character in the world, and be useful in it. Such
doubtless, was that rich virtuous young man in the gospel-
history ; which relates, that Jesus loved him ; yet being put
to trial, his insincerity soon appeared. Though Paul asserts
of himself before the Jewish council, / have lived in all good
conscience before God until this day, yet, whilst he was under
the law, he or his righteousness were not pleasing to God, nor
pleasing to himself, when he came to be better instructed. The
unbelieving Jews had a zeal of God, and followed after the law
of righteousness ; yet their religion was wholly carnal, there
was no true holiness in it. Men may have their minds well
furnished with sublime sentiments concerningthe amiableness
of virtue, and with this abound in external works of right-
eousness, and be in condition to recommend the virtuous
course, from the peace and self-approbation men may have
in that way ; and yet all the time their righteousness be es-
sentially defective, not rising above the oldness of the letter,
nor having at the root of it in the heart the necessary and
essential principles of true holiness. In the meanest soul,
united and truly married to him that rose from the dead,
there is (often with great disadvantage otherwise) a sincerity
of holiness, as to inward principles and uniform practice,
that makes his righteousness to exceed the righteousness of
the scribes.

Mr Alexander, in his note on this verse, says, ' yippee,

G

1.50 Explication and Paraphrase

' which we translate the letter, denotes the writing or con-
c tract supposed to be made between sin and sinners/ Well ;
marriages are wont to be preceded by contracts. This is
fanciful enough ; but to what hath been said on this, nothing
needs be added.

At the same time, I cannot but somewhat wonder at Dr
W/s way of expressing himself. He says, (annot. on Rom.
vii. 3.) f That Israel was married to the law, or to him
' that put them in subjection under it, and were his spouse,
* Jer. iii. 14. and so obliged to serve God in the oldness of
' the letter/ I think it very clear, that serving in the old-
ness of the letter, is of very different kind from that service
which men in every state and time have been obliged to,
even after all the allowance that is to be made of a greater
abundance of the Spirit under the gospel dispensation. But
the learned writer thought it was the Mosaic ceremonial law
that the apostle meant in this context ; a notion which hath
been shown to be quite destitute of foundation. According
to this notion, he seems to have thought, that serving in the
old manner of the letter, or law, was serving God in the ce-
remonial service of the Old Testament. But that service
certainly was not incompatible with serving inspirit, accord-
ing to the degree of these times. Whereas here these two
ways of service are set forth as opposite and incompatible ;
and it is plain, that serving in newness of spirit here, ver. 6.
is the same with bringing forth fruit unto God, ver. 5..

Let us observe how the Doctor doth in his note on this
verse explain serving in the newness of the spirit. He says,
To serve God in the spirit is, 1. To serve him with a free-
dom from the prevalency of the flesh, by virtue of the Spirit.
2. To serve God, not chiefly with bodily service, and carnal
ordinances, but in the spirit of our mind. 3. To serve him
by the assistance of the Spirit, so as to live and walk in the
Spirit. But did not the Lord require under the Old Testa-
ment, that all these three things should be in the service of
his people ? and did not holy men indeed so serve him ? I
know the Doctor would acknowledge so. According to him,
then, persons under the Mosaic law were obliged to serve
God with all that he includes in serving in newness of spirit,
and were, at the same time, obliged to serve in the oldness
of the letter ; which doth by no means consist with the apos-
tle's way of representing things here.

Paraphrase. — 6. But we believers in Christ Jesus are
now delivered from the law, by which we were held fast, to

Of Romans VII. \5\

be dealt with as to life and death absolutely according to the
conformity or nonconformity of our behaviour to its will and
command, though it could not enable us to bring forth good
fruit, or do acceptable service ; and we are so delivered by
its being dead to us, (or, our being made free, as by our
own death, from our relation to it, and from its consequen-
ces); and this in order that we, being married to Christ, might
serve God in a new manner, agreeable to the principles and
disposition of souls renewed by his Holy Spirit, and under
his influence ; not according to the old manner of a carnal
religion, produced by a fleshly heart, under the mere influ-
ence of the light, authority, and terror of the law, which can
produce or procure no true holiness or acceptable service.

TEXT 7. What shall we say, then ? Is the law sin ? God forbid.

Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law ; for I had not known lust,
except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

Explication. — The expression here in the first clause, is
such as the apostle uses on several occasions, when he intro-
duces an objection against his doctrine or explications, as
hath been observed on chap. vi. 1. The objection here seems
to be levelled against what he had said, ver. 5. The motions
of sins which were by the law. — The objection means as if
what he said implied that the law favoured sin, and was the
cause of it ; the absurdity of which were very evident. He
rejects that inference and conclusion with abhorrence ; and
brings an argument to prove that the law does not favour
sin, nor is the cause of it. He shows that the law forbids
sin, and not only prohibits it in the outward practice, but
pursues it in the innermost recesses of the soul, and directs
its strict prohibition, and awful sanction, against the first
motions of it there. It not only forbids the outward act of
unrighteousness and rapine, but speaks with all its force and
authority to the heart, saying, Thou shalt not covet. It dis-
covers by its light the secret motions of sin inwardly ; re-
proves and judges them. Therefore the cause of sinning
must be looked for elsewhere than in the law ; and indeed
he had given the hint of the proper source and cause of every
sinful motion by saying, ver. 5. When we were in the flesh
— It was the flesh (the corruption of nature thereby meant)
that was the true cause of sinful motions by occasion of the
law.

These words, Thou shall not covet, are the general expres-
sion of the tenth commandment; and the apostle may mean,

1 52 Explication and Paraphrase

that this last of the commandments served him for a key to
all the commandments, to lay open to him the spirituality of
them. Yea, we may suppose the apostle to be speaking on
a more extensive view, than to design merely the tenth com-
mandment. / had not, saith he, known epithymian, except
the law had said, ouk epithymeseis ; and ver. 8. Sin wrought
in me pasan epithymian. The English reader, seeing the
words in our common characters, has access to observe, that
what we render by three different words, lust, covet, concu-
piscence, ought strictly to be rendered by one of them, thus :
/ had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not
lust ; and, Sin wrought in me all manner of lust. Now, as
the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, there is in
it lusting in opposition to every command in particular, and
every commandment is so to be understood as prohibiting the
particular lusting or concupiscence that hath the least ten-
dency to the prohibited act. This appears by our Lord's
interpretation of the sixth and seventh commandments, in
Matth. v. ; and the expression in our context, ver. 8. seems
to favour this interpretation. The comprehensive expres-
sion, all manner of concupiscence, includes each particular
sort of concupiscence as directed against each commandment,
— not merely the concupiscence that is a transgression of
the tenth commandment, though the expression of that com-
mandment, respecting the heart only, might be the mean
leading him to the view of all the commandments I have
been representing.

The apostle doth here give an instance of something
which, by the teachers and other Jews of his time, was ge-
nerally thought not to be sin. They thought there was no
transgression or sin but in external omission or commission.
Though some Jewish writers since that time appear to have
thought more justly on this point, yet it was in former times
as hath been said. It is needless to produce quotations from
Jewish writers to this purpose, though some are produced
by the learned. When our Lord, after mentioning (Matth.
v.) the sixth and seventh commandments, adds concerning
them severally, But 1 say unto you, Whosoever is angry with-
out a cause — Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her,
ver. 22, 28. it is plain, it had been needless for him to have
expressed himself in this manner, as in opposition to others,
if there were not those who held that the outward work only
was sin, — not the inward affection or lusting.

But then it is likely that the apostle meant something more

Of Romans VI L 153

than to say, that it was the prohibition of the law that show-
ed him this to be sin in its own nature. If he meant no
more than that, he might as well have given the instance of
some outward work, as, Thou shalt not steal ; as the sinful-
ness of any work, outward or inward, consists in its contra-
riety to the law. But he seems to design not only to say,
that by the law he knew what was sin in itself, but that itwas
the law that showed him sin in himself that he had not been
sensible of. He had been a Pharisee, and with great zeal
and earnest effort serving in the oldness of the letter, as he
understood it. His mind being biassed by corrupt teaching
and sentiment, he thought himself chargeable with no sin,
until the law struck at his heart within him, as subject to
its authority and direction no less than the outward man.
Then, (as if he had said ) alas ! how much sin had continued
in power, and at rest within me, unreproved, unresisted,
under the cover of external righteousness, and screened with
the most full self-approbation ; until the law entered, and
darted its light into my heart with awful authority, and found
there what proved me a wretched sinner, as it says in the
sense of every commandment, Thou shall not hist. Until
then he thought all his works were good. Now he sees all
his works, taking into the account the evil principles, and
the concupiscence which, in various forms, was set at the
root of all his works, to be evil. Instead of keeping all the
commandments from his youth up, he then saw he had truly
fulfilled none of them.

Grotius, and after him Dr Hammond, were of opinion,
that in this context the apostle doth but personate others,
and represent their case as if it had been his own ; and in
thus thinking, they, and some osiers since, do proceed on a
very imaginary supposition, as if the apostle had used this
method to avoid the offence of the Jews, yet adhering zeal-
ously to the Mosaic law ; though it is indeed, they suppose,
the case of these Jews he means. We do not, however, see
that the apostle is so very artful, or shy of displeasing the
Jews, when he is explaining and defending the truth against
them, in matters wherein their salvation and his own fidelity
were much concerned. If any Jews were to read the ninth,
tenth, and eleventh chapters of this epistle, I dare say them-
selves would not think that he much feared their displeasure.

Possibly there was something more than they express that
pinched these learned men. Perhaps they had so good opi-
nion of Paul's religion before he knew Christ, (for he here

154 Explication and Paraphrase

speaks of that time,) that they could not think such things
as he mentions could be applicable to him, even when he was
in that condition and way. For if Paul, who, having the
advantage of revelation to direct him, laboured so hard and
with zeal of God to be righteous, even before he knew
Christ, had no true holiness, nor was acceptable to God, or in
the way of salvation, — will not this tend to bring very low,
on the one hand, our opinion of the powers of nature and free
will, and our opinion, on the other hand, of the salvation of
virtuous^ heathens and Mahomedans, who never in this life
come to the knowledge of Christ ? I leave to the living to
explain themselves on this matter when they please.

I see that Dr Doddridge falls in with the notion of the
apostle's personating others even in this first context of chap.
vii. In his note on this text, he says, e The character as-
f sumed here is that of a man first ignorant of the law, then

< under it, and sincerely desiring to please God.' Those un-
der the law, as the apostle represents, are persons in the
flesh ; and there are great exceptions to the sincerity of per-
sons in the flesh, as to desire to please God. e But finding,
e to his sorrow, (so the Doctor goes on) the weakness of the
' motives it suggested, and the discouragement under which
* it left him, and, last of all, with transport discovering the
f gospel, and gaining pardon and strength, peace and joy by
cit.' It is the Mosaic law, and the condition of persons un-
der it, that the Doctor means, as appears fully by his para-
phrase and notes on this context. Now as to that, allowing
still that there is greater degree of light, comfort, and strength
by the gospel and gospel dispensation, yet, I would ask,
did not Abraham — did not his spiritual seed, the faithful of
the Old Testament, under 4he Mosaic law, perceive, in the
promises made to him and them, (which the law did not
annul, Gal. iii. 1?.) motives very powerful to engage them
to holiness ? did they not receive pardon and strength, peace
and joy, by these promises, by which they were encouraged
and supported in a course of holiness, integrity, and fruit-
fulness, until, through faith and patience, they at last act-
ually inherited the promises ?

The Doctor concludes that paragraph and note thus : —

< But to suppose he speaks all these things of himself, as
c the confirmed Christian that he really was when he wrote
1 this epistle, is not only foreign, but contrary to the whole
c scope of this discourse, as well as to what is expressly as-
' serted, chap. viii. 2/ So he. It is plain, that these things

Of Romans VII. 155

the apostle speaks here of himself in the past tense ; he
speaks not of himself as the confirmed Christian and true
believer. But being the confirmed Christian, when he wrote
these things, he had that experience on both sides, under
the law, and under grace ; in the flesh, and in the Spirit ;
which, on different occasions he has brought forth, some-
times in the past, sometimes in the present tense, under the
direction of the Spirit of God, for the benefit and instruction
of the church to the world's end.

Before we leave this verse, there is yet one thing fit to be
observed respecting that question, What sort of concupiscence
or lusting is here meant? The Papists, and some others,
have held, that the very first motions of lusting, which spring
up spontaneously in the heart, previous to all deliberation,
and that are not entertained or consented to by the will, are
not sin. Concerning this I see in the Synopsis, on this
verse, a passage of James Capel, a French divine, which is
to this purpose and sense. He speaks here, saith this writer,
of that concupiscence which Paul would not have known but
by the law, as is here said. But Paul could not be igno-
rant of that which was known even by the heathens, viz.
that a determined purpose of committing a wicked action
is sin, or that avarice, which is also called concupiscence, is
sin. He must therefore be understood to mean, the inde-
termined will of sinning, or the very first motions of appe-
tite, by which the will is tickled and provoked ; which, be-
cause it is not in our power to prevent them, many have be-
lieved not to be sin, nor had Paul known them to be sin, if
he had not looked more closely into the meaning of the law.
For it is this sort of concupiscence that is meant by the pro-
hibition of the tenth commandment, as the former sort is in
the preceding commands. So that learned professor of Sedan.

As to these things, it may well be doubted if there is any
so spontaneous and indeliberate motion of concupiscence of
any sort, that hath not, in some degree, the consent of the
heart and will ; and there is good appearance of reason for
thinking there is something of will in the very first motions
of irregular appetite. And if the law of God enters, with
its proper light and authority, it will surely find that the
very first and spontaneous motions of irregular desire are
contrary to the purity and rectitude wThich it requires, are
to be ascribed to the pravity of the heart, and consequently
are sinful, and so are comprehended in the sin of which
Paul got the knowledge by the law. But the matter seems

156 Explication and Paraphrase

not to be restricted to this. It appears, by what our Lord
says, in interpreting the seventh commandment, (Matth. v.)
that there were those who then held, that inward lusting,
however much entertained, was not sin. There is a
further proof of this in that passage of Josephus, the
Jewish historian, mentioned by Dr W. and by others be-
fore him, wherein that historian says, that the sacrilegious
purpose of king Antiochus was not sin, as it was not brought
to execution. Some heathens may have known better than
so. But there hath been sometimes occasion to observe,
that a preconceived and darling opinion or principle hath
occasioned men's overlooking, and even denying, truths very
evident in the scripture, and known by the very heathens.
If I mistake not, we shall see notable instance of this before
we have done with the very next following verse. Paul,
having been brought up in the Pharisaical school, he might
have it to learn, by the entrance of the light and authority of
the law into his conscience, that any inward lustings, how-
ever much entertained, were sin; which some of that sect,
as Josephus in particular, did not think to be so.

Paraphrase. — 7- What shall we think then of this ac-
count of our former state, as we stood in relation to the law,
and of my mentioning motions of sins which were by the
law ? Some will say, that this great absurdity may be justly
inferred, that the righteous law of God doth indeed favour
sin, and is a cause of it : but by no means — I can relate from
my experience, that it was by the law that I received the
knowledge and conviction of sin in every instance. The
law forbids it, and that not only in the outward work, but in
the first appearance of it in the heart, in the secret workings
of irregular desire, and the very first motions of irregular
affections. It is by its prohibition that I came to know lust
inwardly, more or less consented to and entertained, to be
sin, as the tenth commandment says, Thou shall not covet,
and as every commandment implies the prohibition of every
inward lusting in opposition to the duty commanded, or that
hath the remotest tendency to the outward sinful work for-
bidden ; and it was by the law discovering sinful lustings
and affections within me, and directing its sharp reproof
and awful threatening against them, that I, who had been
very righteous in my own eyes, saw first my great sinfulness
and very dangerous condition. It being then the truth of
the matter, that the law is so adverse to sin, surely the cause

Of Romans VII. 157

of sin, and of sinful passions and lustings in the heart, is to
be looked for elsewhere than in the law.

TEXT 8. But sin taking occasion by the commandment, wrought In

me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

Explication. — In the fifth verse there is mention of the
motions of sin which were by the law. Here it is, Sin taking
occasion by the commandment. The one place explains the
other. If there are, as ver. 6. motions of sin by the law, that
is not that the law is the cause of sin, but, as here, that sin
taketh occasion by the commandment.

The word rendered occasion, Grotius renders impunity, —
sin having impunity by the precept or commandment ; and
he adduces a place of Thucydides, where he thought the
word signifies so. The dictionary mentions no such mean-
ing ; and Raphelius, cited by Wolfius, shows that Grotius
did mistake the place referred to, where the word hath no
such sense.

However, Grotius understanding it so in this text, explains
himself by saying, Because to that commandment (respect-
ing inward lusting, Thou shall not covet) there was no
punishment annexed, as to the commands forbidding adul-
tery and theft, therefore it was despised. Dr Hammond,
who very commonly follows the other learned writer, speaks
full to the same purpose.

But if the Lord, the Lawgiver of the commonwealth of Is-
rael, in prescribing to them the punishment they should inflict
on these transgressions of his laws which should come under
their cognizance, did not prescribe punishment of trans-
gressions which did not come under their cognizance,
such as inward transgressions and impurities ; shall we
therefore say, that the law of God allows impunity to inward
unholiness and impurity ? or that the Supreme Judge, who
sees men's hearts, is not to punish it? Dr W. brings for
one reason against this interpretation, that it contradicts the
words of the law, which pronounces a curse on every one
who continues not in all things that are written in the law
to do them.

But notwithstanding what Grotius and Dr Hammond
have said of the impunity of inward transgressions, yet it
must be agreed to on all hands, in the general, that the law
denounced punishment for sin. Dr Hammond makes use of
this too for explaining the present subject. Sin had, or took
occasion, or advantage, from this, according to him, that the

g 5

158 Explication and Paraphrase

law prescribed punishment without giving the hope of par-
don. So sin took occasion from impunity, and likewise
from the apprehension of punishment. Though he is wrong
as to matter of fact, (so 1 may call it) with respect to the
law, on both sides ; yet on the general and abstract view of
the matter, these things are not inconsistent. For as to them
who are in thcjiesh, which is the common character of persons
under the law, in the sense of this context, if through the
delusion of their mind there is confidence of impunity, or
if there is despair of mercy, sin dominant in such souls will
take occasion, in the one case and the other, to exert itself,
and show its great power and malignity.

By the law, it is the law of Moses that these writers mean.
Concerning it, it is needful, before we go farther, to observe
a distinction that is proper to be made. First, the law may
be understood to signify, the whole system of religion in the
Mosaic times of the Old Testament. Dr Hammond ex-
presses it thus, (annot. on Matth. v. 17-) : ' *n scripture the
' law signifies sometimes, yea often, in one general notion,
' the whole way of economy among the Jews under the
f Old Testament, (taken precisely by itself, without op-
* position to the reformation wrought by Christ, and that
' way that men were put into for their eternal weal) — the
' Old Testament course, the religion of the former age, —
c the whole body of their religion/ 2. The law may be under-
stood, in a more narrow sense, to mean the system of precepts,
or commandments, statutes, and judgments, which God gave
to Israel by Moses, to be the rule and practice. Again, as to
this last, the law may be understood of the moral law, which
hath been, and continues ever to be in force, in all times: or
it may signify the ceremonial or ritual law given by Moses,
which was peculiar to the church of Israel, and times of the
Old Testament : which last is most strictly the Mosaic law.

Now, to answer on the question about remission of sins,
according to this distinction ; the case was, that the precep-
tory moral law contained nothing about remission of sins ;
nor doth it now. The moral law is still in force, and hath
annexed to it the curse and denunciation of wrath against
transgressors ; the consequence of which it is, that he who
believeth not the Son, hath the wrath of God abiding upon him.
It cannot be inferred from this, that there is no remission of
sins now. For remission of sins, and the happy consequences
of it, come not, at this time, by the law, but by grace. Thus
as to the ancient Israel ; if remission of sins came not by the

Of Romans VII. 1 59

law, yet they had then the hope of remission, of acceptance
with God, and of blessedness, and that by grace, and by the
promise, which was manifested to Abraham for himself, and
for his spiritual seed, the faithful ; and which the law after-
wards given could not disannul, as Gal. iii. 17. Now, if in
the religion of the former age, the whole body of the Jewish
religion, as Dr Hammond speaks, that is, in the law in the
comprehensive sense, which is the first sense he gives of the
law, there was ground for the hope of the remission of sins ;
it is not just to say, that sin took occasion by the law of
Moses, as not giving the prospect of pardon ; or to mention
that at all, in interpreting what he takes to be a reasoning
concerning the abrogation of the Mosaic law ; as if that was
needful for giving men the prospect of remission ; and there-
by encouraging them to repentance and reformation. It is
undeniable, that Israel, under the Old Testament, were en-
couraged to repentance by the promise of forgiveness ; nor is
it in this that the difference consists between the Old and
New Testament. Let us, however, consider more closely
how Dr Hammond expresses himself concerning this matter.

Thus then he writes in his paraphrase of chap. vi. 14.
1 It were the vilest thing in the world for sin to have do-
' minion over you, who are no longer under the weak un-
1 efficacious pedagogy of the law, (which could only forbid
' sin, and denounce judgment, but never yield any man
( that hope of mercy, on amendment, which is necessary to
' the working reformation on him, or checking any sin that
6 men are tempted to,) but under a kingdom of grace, where
' there is pardon for sin unto repentance/

This passage must be meant of sin in outward practice ;
as the writer allowed, with Grotius, that the law allowed
impunity to the inward working of unholy lusts. But what
meant he by the pedagogy of the law ? The word is taken
from Gal. iii. 24. The law was our schoolmaster (Trxi'SxXayos,
pedagogue, J to bring us unto Christ. Now, if the children,
the heir, was under tutors or governors, (Gal. iv. 1, 2.) or
under a pedagogue during the Old Testament, surely we
are not to say, that it wras his condition by this pedagogy, not
having the remission of sin, to be only under judgment and
wrath. The apostle gives us to understand otherwise, but that
it wras to the Jewish church a pedagogue to bring them unto
Christ ; except any shall be so absurd as to say, that the
Mosaic law had this tendency and effect only when the gos-
pel was revealed, and the law came to be abolished ; but that,

160 Explication and Paraphrase

whilst it subsisted, it had no such effect to those who were
under it.

It is plain, that if in the pedagogy of the law there was
denunciation of judgment, there was also the hope of mercy
through Jesus Christ; and that the special use of the law,
as a pedagogue, was to lead men to Christ, that they might
be justified through faith. This was the way in which
Abraham was justified, and so he became the father of
all them who believe, particularly of those who, being of
the circumcision, did also walk in the steps of the faith of
their father Abraham, Rom. iv. 12. Certainly the Doctor
would not deny that there were many such under the peda-
gogy of the law; so that it was quite wild for him to say,
that the pedagogy of the law denounced judgment, but gave
not the hope of mercy.

But some men speak of the pedagogy of the law as if
they who were under it had been under a proper and strict
covenant of works, that gave no hope to transgressors. This
is very wrong. God did never make a new promulgation of
the law, by revelation, to sinful men, in order to keep them
under mere law, without setting before them, at the same
time, the promise and grace of the new covenant, by which
they might escape from the wrath which the law denounced.
The legal and evangelical dispensations have been but dif-
ferent dispensations of the same covenant of grace, and of
the blessings thereof. Though there is now greater degree
of light, consolation, and liberty, yet if Christians are now
under a kingdom of grace where there is pardon upon repent-
ance, the Lord's people under the Old Testament were (as
to the reality and substance of things) also under a kingdom
of grace.

Terrible as the appearance was at giving the law from
mount Sinai, yet when the Lord was to renew the writing
of the law on tables of stone, Exod. xxxiv. 1 — 9- be declared
his name, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merci-
ful and gracious, &c. There certainly could be no religion
or sincere worship in the Mosaic, or in any times, without
the prospect of forgiveness So David understood, Psal.
cxxx. 4. There is forgiveness with thee, that thou viayest be
feared. With what earnestness and humble confidence did
the Psalmist, as often in his other psalms, so in Psal. li.
plead for pardon, even when his prayer was for the pardon
of sins in particular, for which the Mosaic law had provided
no sacrifice, but had ordered capital punishment? Which

Of Romans VI L l6l

shows, that in the case of presumptuous sins, for which capi-
tal punishment was ordered ; yet, even in such cases, that
the penitent was not precluded from pardon.

Now, if there was under the legal Mosaic dispensation that
grace manifested, that taketh away sin and pardons it, it is
certain there was nothing in the Mosaic institutions to in-
tercept from the Lord's people the comfort of that grace.
Though there was not in the Mosaic sacrifices a true expia-
tion, but instead of that a remembrance kept up of sin, as
not yet truly expiated, yet in these Israel had the assurance
and pledge of a true expiation promised and provided. This
was according to the import of the name which Abraham gave
to the mount on which the temple was afterwards built,
Jehovah-jireh, The Lord will provide himself a lamb for
a burnt- offering, Gen. xxii. 14. Such language had all the
sacrificial service in that place, until at length He appeared,
who was to be the true burnt- offering, and the Baptist marked
him out to the people, saying, Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world, John i. 29. The
virtue of this sacrifice availed to the Lord's people from the
beginning of the world, for the remission of sin.

But did Dr Hammond indeed think that the Mosaic legal
pedagogy did not yield to men the hope of mercy, and that
it is only now under the gospel dispensation that men are
under a kingdom of grace, in which there is pardon upon
repentance ? How should I then understand what he says in
the passage quoted above, that the law, in the most compre-
hensive sense, signifies that way that men were put into for
their eternal weal — the religion of the former age ? Could men
be put into any way for their eternal wreal, without the re-
mission of sins ? These things that the learned writer hath,
concerning the Mosaic pedagogy and law, are by no means
consistent.

What hath been said, makes it evident that the advantage
which sin hath, to have dominion over men who are under
the law, and to work in them all manner of concupiscence,
is not to be understood of the Mosaic law ; and that the
apostle's reasoning intthis context, Rom. vii. 1 — 13. proceeds
on a quite different view.

What then doth it mean, that sin takes occasion by the
commandment, to work in a man all manner of concupis-
cence ? The very words as they are expressed show that
the law is in no wise the cause of this ill effect ; but sin tak-
ing occasion by it, even sin reigning in them who are under

162 Explication and Paraphrase

the law. Sin. that evil principle that spreads its influence
over all the faculties of the soul, finding the law entering
with great force into the conscience, and as it were making
great efforts there against it, doth thereupon awaken all its
powers ; and instead of submitting to the prohibition or
reproof of the law, or fleeing before the threatening, it puts
every sinful affection in motion against the commandment.
Pareus illustrates the matter by this similitude : A physi-
cian forbids his patient the use of wine, or other strong drink.
The patient, who perhaps was not thinking of strong drink,
does now eagerly long for it, and calls for it with great im-
patience. The proper cause of this is not the advice of the
physician, which is good and right, but the man's own heart
under a sickly disposition.

Concerning this Dr Doddridge says in his note : c It
* must surely be acknowledged, that all lust does not arise
c from hence, (viz. from sin taking occasion by the com-
' mandment) much being previous to all possible knowledge
c of God's law, whether revealed or natural.' This will be
readily agreed to, that all lust doth not thence arise, nor
does any say that the apostle means so. But sin, the evil
principle or corruption that is in the heart, previous to all
knowledge of God's law, (as the worthy writer says) is ever
lusting one way or other, but most remarkably when the
law presses hard upon the conscience.

Mr Alexander says, ' In the most corrupted ages of the
' world, laws have a natural tendency to lessen the number
< and prevalence of crimes.' True, as to crimes outwardly
committed. But as the apostle is speaking here of inward
concupiscence, it requires something else than the laws of
men, even than the law of God itself, to restrain and sub-
due that.

Of the last clause, without the law sin 7vas dead, there hath
a strange interpretation been given of late. Mr Locke gives
it thus in his paraphrase : ' Without the law' (he means the
law of Moses) ' sin is dead, not able to hurt me.' And in
his note he says, ' Without the law, which annexes death
f to transgression, sin is as good as dead, is not able to have
' its will of me, and bring death upon me/ But as I am,
to the explication and paraphrase of this verse, to subjoin an
essay on the penal sanction of the law, and his notion con-
cerning it, I say no more of it here.

In the mean time, what I take to be the true meaning of
this clause I give as follows. The first part of the verse

Of Romans VII. \6S

represents sin as not subdued by the law, but (on occasion
of the law entering with force into the conscience) exerting
itself vehemently against the authority of the law, in all
manner of concupiscence. This, doubtless, behoved to give
the sinner great disturbance of mind, between the authority
of the law pressing hard upon one side, and the opposite
vehement motions of sin on the other. The apostle seems to
mean by the last clause a very different and opposite case.
Whilst the law did not enter into the man's conscience with
its light, authority, and force, sin was asleep, or even as
dead, and gave no more trouble or uneasiness than a dead
ravenous beast, that he carried, would do. If it had its mo-
tions inwardly, as it certainly had, they were not violent, or
much observed. That they were little observed was in
part from the love of sin, in part from ignorance of the law,
and lastly, from the absence of the law, with regard to the
authority and force of its precept and threatening in the con-
science ; so that sin was not ruffled, nor disturbed by it. In
this condition sin was as a strong man keeping his palace,
and having his goods in peace. Yea, what increases this
deadness of sin is, that it is often coloured, or covered, and
as it were screened, under the cover of some sort of self-
righteousness, that keeps it quite out of view ; yea, perhaps,
under the cover of some fine-spun sublime speculation and
theory concerning virtue ; as there are many who seem to
have little of the force of the law in their conscience, who
have a great deal of virtue in their head. The opposition
that appears in this text, between sin, by occasion of the law,
working in a man all manner of concupiscence on the one
hand, and, on the other, sin dead without the law, gives good
reason for understanding the last clause according to this in-
terpretation.

Paraphrase. — 8. Certainly the law, which prohibits all
sinful motions and affections, is not a proper cause of thes;?
in the hearts of men. I hinted to you the true cause, when
I said, ver. 5. that the vehement prevailing motions of sins,
which are by the law, do happen in persons who are in the
flesh. Take some explication briefly thus : Sin, or the flesh,
that evil principle in corrupt nature, which is enmity against
God and his authority, and not subject to the law of God ;
but being roused and awakened by the strict prohibition and
fearful threatening of the law ; and not finding, in its com-
mands or terrors, what would subdue it, and withdraw the
heart from its dominion ; did but take occasion, from the law,

] 64 An Essay concerning

to exert itself in all manner of concupiscence, in a rebellious
and vehement opposition to its authority, and to every pre-
cept thereof in particular; as the same came to be borne home,
and to press hard upon the conscience ; for without the law
thus entering with authority and force, sin was as asleep,
without such vehement and sensible motion, and, as it were,
dead comparatively, under the cover perhaps of a shining
self-righteousness, or of refined speculation concerning
virtue, with little reality of it.

AN ESSAY

CONCERNING THE PENAL SANCTION OF THE LAW, IN VIEW TO THE
NOTION OF MR LOCKE, AND OF SOME OTHERS, CONCERNING THAT
SUBJECT.

In explaining the 8th verse of Rom. vii. we have seen
how Mr L/s paraphrase gives the last clause thus: l Without
• the law sin is dead, not able to hurt me/ A reader, who
knew that Mr L/s view of the law in this place was restricted
to the Mosaic promulgation of it, could not be surprised at
such a sentiment. Mr Locke's notion comes now to be repre-
sented and considered.

It has been the opinion of divers learned men, that the
apostle's reasoning, Rom. vii. 1 — 13., respects the Mosaic
ceremonial law. But as there appears nothing particular in
that context that can be understood to have any respect to
the rites and ceremonies of Moses* law, others of late, still
retaining the general notion that it is the Mosaic law that is
meant, have supposed that it is something peculiar to the
Mosaic promulgation of the moral law that is especially in
the apostle's eye; and having fallen in with an opinion that
hath been first broached (for aught I know ) by Mr Locke,
I shall, for the reader's more full satisfaction concerning their
views, represent his sentiments ; then these of Dr W. ; and
thereafter these of Dr Taylor of Norwich, in their own words;
and then suggest some arguments against their opinion on
the subject.

Mr Locke expresses his mind thus, in his paraphrase of
Rom. v. 13. ' There is no certain determined punishment af-
' fixed to sin, without a positive law declaring it/ And in
his note there, he writes thus : c Sins can never be taxed, or
' a rate set upon them, but by the positive declaration and
1 sanction of the Law- Maker. Mankind, without the positive
' law of God, knew by the light of nature, that they trans-
' gressed the rule of their nature, reason, which dictated to

The Penal Sanction of the Law. 165

< them what they ought to do. But without a positive de-
■ claration of God their Sovereign, they could not tell at
1 what rate God taxed their trespasses against that rule : till
' he pronounced that life should be the price of sin, that could
' not be ascertained, and consequently sin could not be
' brought to account. And therefore we see, that where there
' was no positive law affixing death to sin, men did not look
r on death as the wages or retribution for their sins : they did
' not account that they paid their lives as a debt and forfeit
1 for their transgressions.'

At first sight, one might readily suppose the author meant
no more, than that men could not know or determine what
is the punishment of sin, except that was determined by the
law itself, or by the declaration of the Lawgiver otherwise.
But it means more when he says, that sin could not be brought
to account. That he so meant, is very clear and express in
what he says in his note on Rom. v. 14. : ' In this verse
1 (saith he) St Paul proves that all men became mortal by
' Adam's eating the forbidden fruit, and by that alone, be-
1 cause no man can incur a penalty without the sanction of
1 a positive law declaring and establishing that penalty ; but
' death was affixed by no positive law to any sin, but the
' eating of the forbidden fruit : and therefore men's dying
1 before the law of Moses, was purely in consequence of
1 Adam's sin.' Here we are to observe, that positive law is
not meant in the ordinary sense ; as positive law is common-
ly meant of a law enacted for a time by the mere will of the
Lawgiver, in contradistinction to a law moral in its own na-
ture and of perpetual obligation. It is plain, the author, by
positive law here, means a law clearly revealed, and fully pro-
mulgated, expressly determining the punishment of trans-
gression. We see then in the passage last cited, that Mr L.
held that no man can incur any penalty without the sanction
of a positive law declaring and establishing that penalty ;-
and that from giving forth the command concerning the for-
bidden fruit, which alone enacted death for the transgressing
of it, death was denounced for no sin till the law given by
Moses : and we have seen, that in his paraphrase of Rom.
vii. 8. and in his note on it, he said, that without such law,
and previously to the law of Moses, sin could not hurt a man
or bring death upon him.

Thus also he writes in his note on Rom. v. IS. : ' This is
' plain, that St Paul's notion of a law was conformable to
' that given by Moses; and so he uses the word y^uos, life

166 An Essay concerning

' English, law, for a positive command of God, with a sanc-
1 tion of a penalty annexed to it; of which kind there never
c having been any one given to any people but that by
' Moses to the children of Israel, till the revelation of the
1 will of God by Jesus Christ to all mankind — no penalty/
&c. So, according to him, till Moses' time, no man could in-
cur a penalty for any sin, except that of eating the forbidden
fruit. These things are exceeding crude. However much
the celebrated name of Mr Locke, or the interest of an hy-
pothesis, may give to some a bias towards these notions, I
must for myself confess, that it gives me concern to see a
man who wrote so accurately and judiciously on divers sub-
jects, fall into such absence of thought and reason, as to be
capable of writing at this rate. However, he hath, as to this
subject, had his followers.

According to this notion of Mr L.'s, the Lord made his
chosen people Israel unhappy beyond all people, by giving
them that law, by which, for every sin, yea, as he speaks
somewhere, for the least slip of infirmity, they were obno-
xious to death, which, by his sentiments, persons of other
nations were not. But he pretends to prove, that there was
no hardship in this to the Jew, but a privilege; and what
cannot be proven by so great a master in reasoning ? In
his note on Rom. v. 20. he thus states the matter : ' All
' mankind was in an irrecoverable state of death by Adam's
c lapse. It was plainly the intention of God to remove the
c Israelites out of this state (viz. this irrecoverable state
1 of death) by the law — By the law the children of Israel
' were put into a new state — their remaining under death,
' or their recovery of life, was to be the consequence, not
c of what another had done, but of what themselves did. —
' In their former state, common to them with the rest of
1 mankind, death was unavoidable to them. But by the law
1 they had a trial for life. Accordingly, our Saviour to the
c young man answers — Keep the commandments/ Here,
one might ask, Did the law, in giving them a trial for life,
give them a chance of avoiding death wholly ? No ; they
were to die at any rate, in consequence of Adam's sin. But
the author means, a chance of continuing irrecoverably un-
der death or recovering life, according as they should behave.
But was it easy, or even possible, for an Israelite to keep the
law so perfectly, that he would not, by some deed of his
own — some one transgression, or slip of infirmity, bring death
on himself irrecoverably ? If this was neither easy nor pos-

\

The Penal Scuiction of the Law. 167

sible, the privilege in the case evanishes quite. Even Dr
T. ventures to say, that here Mr L. has a wild conceit.

The objection arising from this did not wholly escape Mr
L.'s observation. In his note on Rom. vii. 8. he writes
thus : c Laying aside the figure, (viz. sin's being set
( forth as a person) the plain meaning here of St Paul is
1 this : Though the law lays a stricter restraint upon sin
' than men have without it, yet it betters not my condition
1 thereby, (may the well meaning Jew say) because it en-
ables me not wholly to extirpate sin, and subdue concu-
1 piscence, though it hath made every transgression a mortal
( crime. So that being no more totally secured from offend-
' ing under the law than I was before, I am under the law
' exposed to certain death/ So our author supposes a Jew
to argue and object ; and this objection he supposes the
apostle means to obviate. In his note on Rom. vii. 13. he
says, f In the five foregoing verses, the apostle had proved
' that the law was not sin. In this, and the ten following
f verses, he proves the law not to be made death, but that it
f was given to show the power of sin which remained in
{ those under the law, so strong, notwithstanding the law,
1 that it could prevail on them to transgress the law, not-
' withstanding all its prohibition, with the penalty of death
' annexed to every transgression. Of what use this showing
' the power of sin by the law was, we may see, Gal. iii. 24.'
The words of that text are, Wherefore the law was our school*
master to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by
faith. Well, this is a good use and design of the law. But
if Jews did not fall in with this design of the law, were
not actually brought to Christ, or justified by faith, did not
they die irrecoverably, for their own sins, according to the
sanction of their own law, which men of other nations were not
under ? It showed the power of sin, that it prevailed on men
to transgress, notwithstanding the threatening of death. But
still it is not proven that the law did not give death to the
transgressing Jews, or that they were not, by being under
such a law, in worse condition than men of other nations, on
whom their personal sins could not bring death, as not being
under a law fenced with such a sanction. They indeed, by
wanting such a law, wanted the schoolmaster to bring them
to Christ that the Jews had. But at the same time, accord-
ing to this writer's notions, they did not so much need Christ
for a Saviour as the Jews did.

I go now to observe how Dr Whitby thought on this

168 An Essay concerning

subject. He gives this paraphrase of Rom. v. 13. ' For it
' must be indeed confessed, that until the law, sin was in
'the world ; but it must also be acknowledged, that sin is
' not generally then imputed to death, when there is no law
1 condemning men to death for it.' And in his annotation,
he says, ' I add generally, because, though all men died
( after Adam, all were not punished with death for their own
f personal sins, but only the antideluvians and the Sodom-
( ites.' We shall hereafter observe, that a great many
besides these died for their own sins before the Mosaic pro-
mulgation of the law. But if a whole generation of man-
kind, except eight persons, were destroyed by the flood for
their own personal sins, as the scripture asserts, Gen. v. it
shows, that all mankind were then, before the law of Moses
was given, under a law by which they were obnoxious to
death for their own sins ; and when was that law repealed ?
In the next paragraph Dr W. says, ( Here also note,
' that the apostle cannot be rationally conceived to assert, as
1 Mr L. suggests, that no man can incur a penalty, without
c the sanction of a positive law declaring and establishing that
* penalty.' It seems indeed to be a strange argument that
the Doctor here suggests against Mr L. : ( For, says he,
€ this assertion entirely destroys the obligation of the hea-

< thens to perform any duty, since no man can be obliged
' to do that which he may omit without fear of punishment,
' and renders the heathens, who had no positive law given
' them, incapable of incurring any penalty by any sins

< they had committed.' This were indeed absurd. Yet
doth this entirely destroy the obligation of the heathens to
do their duty ? Are men indeed under no obligation to duty,
but what arises from the consideration of punishment? How-
ever, as this writer asserts here, that no man can be obliged
to do that which he may omit without punishment, one
might readily think, that such a writer should necessarily
hold, in consequence of such a sentiment, that nothing could
be accounted a law that had not a sanction prescribing
punishment.

Let us, however, observe the Doctor's paraphrase of Rom.
vii. 9- which is precisely thus : c For I the seed of Abraham
' was alive, or indeed lived without the law once, before the
' law was given, I not being obnoxious to death for that to;
' which the law had not threatened death ; but when the

< commandment came, forbidding it under that penalty, sin
t revived, and I died, i.e. it got strength to draw me to sin,

The Penal Sanction of the Law, 169

( and to condemn me to death/ Here there is only men-
tion of the seed of Abraham, in the interval between him
and the giving of the law by Moses. But if they whose sin
was aggravated by the advantage they had of divine revela-
tion in that interval, were not obnoxious to death for their
sins, much less the heathens, wTho, as the Doctor says, had
no positive law given them, nor revelation, in that interval,
or until the times of the gospel.

I now observe the Doctor's paraphrase of Rom. v. 14.
which is thus : •' Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to
' Moses, the giver of a new law, threatening death to the
' transgressors of it, even over them who had not sinned after
1 the similitude of Adams transgression ; i.e. men were all
( the while subject to death, though they sinned not as
* Adam did against an express law, threatening death to
6 them for it, and therefore death must reign over them for
? the sin of Adam.* We have seen the Doctor contradict-
ing Mr L.'s notion ; but wherein does he differ from him,
if it is not that Mr L. says, a man could not incur punish-
ment ? Dr VV. says, a man was not obnoxious to death, until
the law was given by Moses, for his own personal transgres-
sions, as no law until then was given to mankind threaten-
ing death. However, if a man was not obnoxious to death,
unless the law he was under did denounce death for trans-
gression expressly, as Dr W. thought, certainly there is as
good reason for saying a man could not incur punishment
unless he was under a positive law denouncing punishment
expressly for sin. Upon the whole, it is evident, though these
writers contradict one another, that they were on the main
of the same opinion. Dr W. contradicts Mr L/s notion,
and brings arguments against it ; and yet adopts it when
he finds use for it to explain some texts, without hurting his
own hypothesis and opinion in a matter of doctrine.

Let us now observe the sentiments of Dr Taylor of Nor-
wich on this subject. The writings of this author are now
in the hands of many ; and with some he bears the charac-
ter of a masterly critic. We shall here have a swatch of his
skill in that way, and of the accuracy of his notions and ex-
pression. Dr T. held, that Christ did not undergo the pu-
nishment of our sins in order to redeem us from punishment
for our sins, and so to satisfy the sanction of the law, which
denounced punishment and death for transgression. Suitable
and helpful to this doctrine, (hitherto held by the Christian
church to be very heretical) is this notion, That a sanction

170 An Essay concerning

denouncing punishment and death for sin, is not essential to
the law itself; but that the law hath been for many ages
without having any such sanction or threatening annexed
to it. There is no cause then to wonder he should very
readily fall in with this notion of Mr L.'s. This is not the
only instance that gives occasion to say, that Dr T., mounted
as it were on the shoulders of Dr W. and Mr L., has pre-
tended to see farther than either of them, and to reject every
particular article, almost even the most essential, of Chris-
tian faith and gospel doctrine.

In the general, he acknowledges that every transgression of
the law doth, in its own nature, and in strict justice, deserve
death. It may seem hard to think that the other two writers
did not think and mean so too. Yet how could they say,
that a man could not incur punishment or death for his sin,
but by virtue of a positive law expressly threatening it?
which amounts to this, that however men's sins deserved
punishment and death, yet they could not incur it ; or, which
is the same thing, God could not punish, according to their
deserts, the sins of the far greatest part of mankind, to whom
such a law, as hath been mentioned, was not given.

To proceed distinctly, it is fit to represent this writer's ac-
count of the different senses of law. In his note on Rom.
v. 20. he says, c The apostle uses the word law in various
c senses ; sometimes for a rule in general ; sometimes for
€ the whole Jewish code, or the Old Testament ; some-
' times for a rule of action ; sometimes for a rule of ac-
* tion with the penalty of death annexed, as here, Rom. v.
' 20., and chap. vi. 15. ; vii. 4. &c. Such a law Adam was
c under, (In the day thou eatest thereof, dying thou shall
' die; J and such a constitution the law of Moses was sub-
' jecting those who were under it to death for every trans-
1 gression.' In like manner, {Orig. Sin, p. 390, ed. 3.) he
says, ' By law, the apostle here (Rom. v. 13, 14.) doth
c not only mean a rule of duty, but such a rule with the
c penalty of death threatened for every transgression of it.
' Such was the covenant at Sinai, or the law given by Moses
' — and such was the covenant under which Adam ori-
1 ginally was.' I wish he had proven this last assertion.
The penalty of death was indeed annexed to one special pro-
batory precept respecting the forbidden fruit. But I see
not in the history, in the first chapters of Genesis, the men-
tion or hint of such threatening annexed to the law in gene-
ral, or to any other particular precept. So, for aught that is

The Penal Sanction of the Law. 171

mentioned there, Adam might, according to this writer's no-
tions, have transgressed a thousand times, and not be ob-
noxious to death, if he had not meddled with the forbidden
fruit. I would be glad to see how one of his sentiments
would prove Adam to have been under a covenant or law,
making him obnoxious to death for every transgression, so
as not to prove that men in all times were under such a law.
Law, with the penalty of death annexed to the precept, is
what this writer calls rigour of law ; and Adam having been
under such a law, he says it was abolished upon his fall. So
he says, (Orig. Sin, p. 38Q.) ' That covenant (under which
' Adam was) was the covenant of works, the same in nature
e with the Sinai covenant. Under this covenant Adam was
* when he sinned. But it was disannulled immediately after
' that. For even before God passed sentence upon Adam
e and Eve, grace was introduced by that promise, Gen. iii.
' 15/ According to him, then, from the time that promise
was given, all mankind were under grace, until the matter
was altered, with respect to the Jews, by the law of Moses.
' From Moses to Christ (saith he, Orig. Sin, p. 394.) the
c Jews were under the law. But the rest of mankind, though
' they always had a rule of action, yet never were under the
1 law, in the sense above explained/ That is, not under a
law fenced with a threatening of death. All mankind, accord-
ing to him, have been, from the time of the first promise,
under grace.

So, then, by this writer's notion of things, the first promise,
Gen. iii. 15. disarmed the law of its penal sanction, and dis-
annulled the covenant of works. But this is a great mistake,
and is asserted without any warrant or good reason. It is
true, the law, or covenant of wTorks, by its tenor could not be
a covenant of life to sinners. Grace showed them a way to
escape the wrath denounced by the law for sin ; and we know
by gospel-light, that this wras such a way as did not abro-
gate or disannul the penal sanction of the law, but satisfied
it. Though man transgressed, and broke the covenant of
works, there is no reason to say, that that covenant was
disannulled, or the law disarmed of its penal sanction. The
case plainly is, grace being manifested, it took effect from
thenceforth, for the salvation of those who laid hold of it by
faith, and improved it for salvation. But the penal sanction
of the law continued in force, takes effect at all times, and for
ever, against the impenitent and unbelievers.

Law, and the penal sanction being, as he says, abolished,

172

An E,

ssay concerning

let us observe some of the consequences. Dr T. hath (Orig.
Sin, p. 393.) as follows: f When he says, (Rom. v. 13.) But
c sin is not imputed when there is no law, or, when law is not
' in being, he means the sins of those persons (from Adam
f to Moses) were not imputed to them, so as to subject them
( to death, because law, which subjects transgressors to
' death, was not in being. Take good notice,' (pray do,
reader, for it is a notable sentiment that now comes forth)
c according to the apostle, and the true nature of things, it

* is only law which slays the sinner. For did not the law,
' or the constitution of the Lawgiver, condemn him unto
< death, he might, notwithstanding his sin, live for ever, for

* he might from time to time be pardoned/

Here are rare things. Pardon imports remitting the pu-
nishment which the sinner is obnoxious to, and obliged to
undergo ; and must be so understood in this passage, where
pardon is mentioned as that by which the sinner might live
for ever, and be saved from dying. But what need of pardon
to save a man from death, who is not for his sins obnoxious
to it, and is not under a law condemning him to death for
his sin ? I would likewise ask, if a man was under a law con-
demning him to death for sin, might not a pardon relieve
him, and save him from it ? Old Luther and Calvin, who
were in use to call things by their proper names, would have
called the author of such a passage, nebulo. However, ac-
cording to this author, from Adam to Moses there was no law
condemning men to death for their sins ; all mankind were,
yea, are now under grace, the grace of the new covenant ;
even pagans, who never heard of grace, or of the promise, or
of Christ, through whom grace is conveyed to sinners. We
know from what source this notion is derived. But this is
not a proper place to enlarge on that subject. Let us now see
the evidence Dr T. brings, that such law, as he describes,
was introduced among the Jews ; for he is at pains to prove
it.

In his note on Rom. v. 20. he puts the question, c What
e evidence have we that the law of Moses was law in the ri-
' gorous sense, subjecting to death for every transgression ?'
I would not have troubled the author with such a question,
or have asked a proof of what every one knows, and none, I
think, denies. Let us, however, observe how he answers it,
and what proof he brings. ( The apostle (saith he) did —
' certainly so understand it, as appears by this place here ;
c where, having spoken of Adam's one tt<»^tta»^, lapse, or

The Penal Sanction of the Law 173

' offence, he tells us, that the law entered that the lapse or
4 offence might abound, or be multiplied. Now the law entered
1 only among the Jews, and it could not enter so as to mul-
' tiply the lapse or offence, which before was but one, if it
* were not of the same nature with the law given to Adam.'
By the explication I have elsewhere given of this text, it is
made very evident, that it will by no means answer this
writer's purpose. (See on Chap. vi. 1.)

Dr T. supposes, that 7ru^oi7rraff^x, rendered offence, is to be
restricted to such as subjects the guilty to death, which he
thought sins of men before the Mosaic law, since the fall of
Adam, did not ; and so, whereas Adam's sin in eating the
forbidden fruit was the only lapse before, yet now the Mosaic-
law, annexing death to sin, the lapse, or ^^ccktmucc, was mul-
tiplied to as great a number as all the sins of the millions
who were under that law. But what warrant had he to
make this distinction between lapses and other sins ! He did
not, he could not say, that otpx^rux, had any thing special in
the sense of it more than our language expresses by the word
sin. Yet every one knows, that these two words are inter-
changeably used, yea, are so in the very verse he is com-
menting on. The first clause is, The law entered, that the
offence (woi^oi^ra^ct) ?night abound. The next clause is, But
where sin abounded. — It is plain, that sin in the one clause,
and offence in the other, are words of the same meaning.
It were vain to say, that as the words are different, they
mean differently. The evident design and scope of the verse
will not allow it ; and the matter is put beyond question by
ver. 16. the last clause of which is, The free gift is of many
offences unto justification. Here the word is ttoc^cctttojux, the
same as in the first clause of ver. 20. And it is plain, that
the word, ver. 16. includes the offences of men of all nations
and times, who are justified or pardoned. It appears, then,
though the word is used in this context, concerning the
one sin of Adam, that there is no good reason for restricting
its meaning in the first clause of ver. 20. since in the last
clause of ver. 16. in the same context, the word appears
without restriction to Adam's sin, or to sins against the Mo-
saic law ; but includes sins that are neither the one or the
other of these.

To this he subjoins another argument, to prove that the
law of Moses subjected the transgressor to death for every
sin ; thus : c Besides this, (saith he) he (the apostle) give?
' a substantial and undeniable proof, taken out of the law

H

m

174 An Essay concerning

c itself, Gal. iii. 10. Cursed is every one that continueth not,
' &c. This denunciation of the law we find, Deut. xxvii.
c 26/ A few lines downwards he argues and says, e This
c curse, without doubt, rendered the transgressors obnoxious
( to death/ It certainly did so. But did he indeed think
that the law which the Gentiles were under, which was not the
law of Moses, did not assign the curse to transgressors ?
Alas ! many were the sad symptoms that proved that the
curse lay heavy upon them. He might in Gal. iii. a few
verses below that cited by him, have observed, ver. 13, 14.
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse. — The Galatians were
Gentiles who had not been under the law of Moses. The
apostle all along considers them as such, and warns them
to hold fast the privilege and liberty he had been asserting
for them as Gentiles. But how vainly had he said to them,
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being
made a curse for us, if the law they had been under, not
that of Moses, did not subject them to a curse for their
sins ? Thus far, in order to be the better acquainted with
Dr T/s way of reasoning and criticism, we have followed
him in the arguments he brings laboriously to prove what
none ever denied, viz. that the law of Moses denounced
death and the curse to transgressors, which he calls law in
the rigorous sense.

Let us now proceed to observe the consequence to the
Jews, of law in the rigorous sense being introduced among
them. The effect of it is thus expressed by Dr T. (Orig.
Sin, p. 292.) : ' When the commandment came with the
c penalty of death annexed to it, then sin, the sting of death,
1 revived ; then it acquired full life and vigour, and the Jew
f died, i.e. was a dead man in law, upon the first transgres-
c sion he committed.' Alas, for the peculiar and favourite
people ! How could a man of Israel, or the nation subsist
for a day, under such a law, which, according to our author,
no other nation were burdened with ? But the author (we
thank him) soon relieves our anxiety for the Jew, in the
next following words : e Though he had the relief of the
' gospel as well (so this author) as the rest of mankind, to
c heal the deadly wound/ I can understand that the Jew
had relief by the gospel ; for the gospel (according to Gal.
iii. 8.) was preached to Abraham ; but it is not so easily un-
derstood, how the rest of mankind (during the peculiarity
of the Jews) had the relief of the gospel. However, by this
account all is well for the Jew ; now we see the difference, as

The Penal Sanction of the Law, 175

to their spiritual state, between the Jews under rigorous law,
and the Gentiles. The Jews, obnoxious to death by the law
they were under, might attain salvation by the grace they
were under at the same time. The Gentiles, continuing im-
penitent, were to perish eternally, Rom. ii. 12. which they
could not be adjudged to, but according to the law they were
under. Is this now all that Dr T/s critical labour on this
point has produced ?

Having given a view of the sentiments of these writers,
with such remarks on the several passages as occurred, I
now come to consider more closely and distinctly the subject
itself. The truth which we hold is, — That every man, of all
nations and in every time, hath been obnoxious, for sin, to
death, in all its extent and meaning, by the law of God, and
its just sanction. The opposite notion is, — That as no man is
obnoxious to, or can incur death or punishment, but by a
positive law, expressly determining that punishment; so no
man or nation, since the fall of Adam, hath been under such
a law, adjudging them to death for their personal sins, until
the law given by Moses, under which the Jews alone were.

The case of the antediluvians and Sodomites do strongly
contradict this notion. Dr W. speaks concerning the for-
mer thus, (note on Rom. v. 13.) e To say that they who
' were swept away by the flood with an untimely death did
1 not die for their own sins, but for Adam's sin, is to con-
c tradict God himself, saying, / will destroy man from the
c earth ; for the iniquity of man is very great,' &c. Gen. v.

Something hath been said on this case before. Mr L. an-
swers, (note on Rom. v. 1 5.) and says, That some have been
led so far out of the way, as to allege, that men in the deluge
died for their own sins. Was this going far out of the way,
or was it not true ? His own very next words do so
acknowledge. ' It is true/ says he, ' they did so ; but it is
c as true, that by their own sins they were not made mortal :
' they were so before by their father Adam's eating the for-
c bidden fruit. So that what they paid for their own sins,
( was not immortality, which they had not, but a few years
1 of their own finite lives ; which having been let alone,
1 would every one of them in a short time have come to
' an end/ This answer is far from being satisfying. Men
became universally mortal by Adam's sin. But the inflic-
tion of actual death on the antediluvians for their own per-
sonal sins, as is asserted in Scripture, behoved to be by a
law they were under, which assigned death to men for their

170 An Essay concerning

personal sins ; and by that sad instance, it appears to have
been a law that would have adjudged them to death, though
they had not been in a state of mortality before. But I say
further, when the law of Moses entered, threatening death
to the men of Israel for every transgression, was it by this
law the men of Israel became mortal ? This will not be said.
It might then be said of the men of Israel, of the Mosaic
period, as Mr L. says of the men of the former period,
what they paid for their own sins was not immortality, but a
few years of their own finite lives. As to those who held
that no more was imported by the death threatened for eating
the forbidden fruit, than mere natural death, or the dissolu-
tion of their natural frame, I would ask one thing yet : Did
the Israelites under the Mosaic law undergo death more, or
in a more terrible manner, than other nations ? For if Is-
rael was brought under a law, with such a sanction, which
other nations were not under, we might reasonably think the
consequence would be — more dying, more of sudden and pre-
mature deaths, death in a more terrible manner and form,
• than in any other nation. But as to the ordinary course of
things, this distinction did not appear. Other nations were
cut off by sword, famine, and pestilence ; and death appear-
ed among them in every terrible form. If, on some occa-
sions, Israel were subjected to distinguishing judgments,
this was owing to the special aggravations of their sin,
to God's special care of them, and his special attention to
their behaviour and welfare, (Amos iii. 2.) ; yet when he
made an end of other nations, he did not so deal with them
to this day. These things give good cause to think, that
Israel were not brought under any penal sanction but that
which other nations were under.

Dr W. says, (on Rom. vii. 9.) that in the antemosaic pe-
riod, the seed of Abraham were not, by any law they were
under, obnoxious to death for their personal sins. But here
are two notable instances, even of the seed of Abraham, wTho
suffered death for their personal sins in that period, Gen.
xxxviii. 7* Er — was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the
Lord slew him ; and ver. 10, The thing that he [Onan] did
displeased the Lord, wherefore he slew him also.

In the period before giving the law at Sinai, when, ac-
cording to these writers, none of mankind were obnoxious
to death for their personal sins, Pharaoh, and a great army
of Egyptians, were put to death in the Red Sea, for their
personal sins, by the immediate hand of God. The Mosaic

The Penal Sanction of the Law. 1 77

law could not be a rule of conduct or judgment respecting
the seven nations of Canaan ; yet, when the measure of their
iniquity came to be full, they were appointed to be destroy-
ed, Deut. vii. and chap. xx. ; and the whole nation of the
Amalekites were ordered to utter excision for other sins than
that of Adam.

One argument respecting this subject from Gal. iii. 13,
14. has been urged before, and it has been proved by it, that
the Gentiles, who were not under the Mosaic law, were ne-
vertheless under the penal sanction and curse of God's law,
by the law they were under. I go now to observe what the
apostle Paul says, Rom. ii. 12. As many as have sinned with-
out law, shall also perish without law ; and as many as have
sinned in (or under) the law, shall be judged by the law. Mr
L.'s note on this observes the different words in the first and
second clause, octtoXowtoci, shall perish, and K^Yia-evrcii, shall
be judged ; and says, ' St Paul doth not use these so emi-
1 nently differing expressions for nothing.' The eminent
difference of meaning in this place I have not perceived.
What he understood himself here by perishing, he hath not
explained. It is very likely he meant the same with a wri-
ter to be presently mentioned, viz. going to non-existence,
or ceasing to be. But if this same is what the law they
were under adjudged impenitent Gentiles to, that law had a
heavy and awful sanction. However, his notion of the word
rendered perish, is fully confuted by Dr W. and Wolfius on
the place. The former, in opposition to the extravagant
opinion of Dr Dodwel, brings divers texts, wherein the
word is used with regard to persons, who, Dr Dodwel would
acknowledge, would be subjected to everlasting suffering
and misery, as the reader may see by looking to those texts
themselves wherein the word is used, without my saying
any thing particular concerning them. Rom. xiv. 15. 1 Cor.
viii. II. 2 Cor. ii. 15. 2 Thes. ii. 10. 2 Peter iii. 9. John xvii.
12. Mark i. 24. Matth. v. 29. chap, xviii. 14. Matth. x. 3g.
chap. xvi. 25. Matth. x. 28. Dr T. gives this text, Rom.
ii. 12. thus: ' They who shall be found to have transgres-
1 sed against the mere light of nature, shall not come under
' the same rule with such as have enjoyed an extraordinary
' revelation.' No, they shall not be so heavily punished as
they whose sin is more aggravated. But Dr T.'s paraphrase
is contrived to hide much of the light of this text from his
reader. The text says, they shall perish ; the true sense of
which appears by the texts just now cited. Gentiles then

178 An Essay concerning

were under a law that adjudged them to perish for sin. A»
to the latter word, rendered shall be judged, it also very
commonly means, condemned ; of which it is needless to
bring instances, as none will deny it. But to what were
Jews sinning under the law condemned, but to perish or die
eternally ?

Further, the point we are upon is very clear by what we
have besides in that chapter, Rom. ii. If we trace from
ver. 5. there it is said, that the impenitent do treasure up to
themselves wrath against the day of wrath ; when ver. 6.
God will render to every man according to his deeds ; to some,
ver. 7- eternal life ; to others, ver. 8, 9* indignation and
wrath ; tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that
doth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile. By
this it appears, that the Gentile, though not under the law
of Moses, was under a law that assigned to him for sin in-
dignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish. What we
have seen in this chapter, (Rom. ii.) on which these learned
writers have been able to say so little, to support their opi-
nion, is as good as a hundred arguments, to confute the
strange notion concerning the law that we are considering.

I here observe an odd sentiment of Dr W/s, or a senti-
ment oddly expressed, concerning the law, on Rom. vii.
8 — 11. Arguing against those injudicious commentators,
as he calls them, who thought that the advantage which sin
got by the law, was because the law assigned no penalty for
inward impurities, covetousness, for instance : ' If,' says
he, ' the law given them encouraged them to covet, be-
' cause it had no present penalty annexed to it, they must
t be more free to covet, or follow their natural or carnal in-
' clination, when there was no law at all forbidding them to
' covet.' No law at all ! when was it so? He must mean,
before the Mosaic promulgation of the law ; and those at all
times, who had not the light of that law. Yet as to the
Gentiles, against whom the transgression of that law could
not be charged, we find covetousness mentioned among the
sins which they are said, Rom. i. 32. to have known, by the
light of the law in their own consciences, to have been sins,
and worthy of death by the righteous judgment of God ;
and so, according to what did appear on Rom. ii. 12. for co-
vetousness unpardoned, they behoved to perish by the law
written in their own conscience.

Let us now consider what the apostle says of the heathen
Gentiles, Rom. i. 32. Who knowing the judgment of God,

The Penal Sanction of the Law. 179

(that they who commit such things are worthy of death) not
only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
On this Dr W. says, ( That murder, adultery, and unna-
' tural lusts deserved death, they knew, not only by the
c light of nature and of conscience, but by their own laws,
1 condemning them to death/ But in the list there given
by the apostle of sins common among the Gentiles, he men-
tions not only these three very atrocious sorts, but also co-
vetousness, maliciousness, backbiting, envy, &c. Therefore
the Doctor adds, ' That all these sins, being species of in-
' justice, condemned by the law of nature, rendered them
' obnoxious to the displeasure of God, who is the governor of
€ the world, and the avenger of all unrighteousness, and so
' obnoxious to death for violating the law he had given them/
Thus the learned writer, who said on Rom. vii. 9- that even
the seed of Abraham, whose sins before the Mosaic law
were more aggravated than those of the heathens, were not
obnoxious to death for their sins until that law was given,
— says here, that the heathens, who were never under that
law, were obnoxious to death, even for inward sinful lusts.

This text bears hard on Mr Locke's notion of the law.
Let us observe how the learned gentleman endeavours to
evade or prevent the objection by a various reading of the
text, thus : ' Who knowing the judgment of God, did not
' understand (ov* svwctm) that they who commit such things
t are worthy of death/ So he would have the text say the
quite contrary to that for which I have adduced it. How-
ever, the text, according to this same reading, says, the
heathens knew the judgment of God; and (saith Dr \V.)
what righteous judgment of God could they know to be due
to them who did these things, who knew not that they were
worthy of death ?

Mr L. says, there is another, besides the Clermont copy,
that reads so ; but tells not which. Beza mentions the Cler-
mont copy, and says, it is according to our common read-
ing in all the Greek MSS. copies besides that he saw ; and
he saw a great many. Dr Mills, according to his humour
of unfixing the reading of every text, when he could find
any the least pretence for it, prefers the Clermont reading.
Dr W. in his Examin Millii, confutes him, and does very
sufficiently support the common reading. Wolfius hath done
so more lately ; and to them I refer, to avoid prolixity.

The Clermont reading seems by no means to suit the
apostle's scope. That appears to be, not only to show men's

180 An Essay concerning

guilt, but also to show the aggravations of their guilt ; as,
that they sinned against light, and the natural notions of
God, ver. 20, 21. And so in this ver. 32. it would tend to
aggravate, that they knew that, by doing such things, they
became obnoxious to death. But to say that they under-
stood not this, tends greatly to alleviate, which is cross to
the apostle's evident purpose.

But what could be the view in saying, as this reading
hath it, that they understood not, or knew not, that they
who did such things were worthy of death ? It doth clearly
hint, or insinuate, if they had known so, that they would
not have behaved as they did. This were to make the
apostle speak contrary to the truth of experience and to the
most certain common observation, which shows, that ill
men practise in the same way, who know the penal sanction
of the divine law, by the most sure and clear revelation ;
and it were unreasonable to insinuate the contrary concern-
ing persons of whom it was said, a few verses before, that
they were given up to a reprobate mind.

After all, if we allow the reading that Mr L. prefers, the
text atFords a strong argument to the purpose for which it
hath been adduced. For,

1. According to it, though they did not know or under-
stand it, yet so indeed the case was, that they, Gentiles as
well as Jews, who commit such things, are obnoxious to
death. Why should notice be taken of their ignorance, if
it was not a point of truth which they are said not to have
known or understood ? But,

2. We are not obliged to understand the word, as mean-
ing their ignorance. I find by my lexicon (Hederici) that
the word may be understood to import, that they did not ad-
vert, think of it, or consider it. So, according to that same
reading, the text may be understood thus : Who knowing
the judgment of God, (the rule of righteousness God gave
them in the precepts of his law, and the rule of his own
righteous judging, set forth in the sanction of it,) they, being
given up to a reprobate mind, (ver. 28.) did not advert,
think of it, or consider duly, that by such practices they be-
came obnoxious to death.

Whichsoever, then, of the readings mentioned shall be
chosen, there is still a good argument from this text to
prove, that by the law the Gentiles were under, the im-
pression of which was in their consciences, (though they,
being fully possessed, and hurried on by their lusts, did

,

The Penal Sanction of the Law. 181

not advert to, or consider it,) they were obnoxious to death
for their sins.

We may now judge of the justness of the interpretation
given by Dr W. and some others, of Rom. v. 14. I much
suspect that this is one of the texts, for interpreting which,
without hurt to their own scheme and hypothesis, they are
so fond of the notion concerning the sanction of the law we
are considering. Dr W. gives it thus in his paraphrase :
* Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that
1 had not sinned after the similitude of Adams transgression :
1 i.e. men were all the while subject to death, though they
1 sinned not, as Adam did, against an express law threaten-
6 ing death to them for it.' But by the evidence that hath
been brought, it appears that this interpretation cannot
stand ; as from Adam to Moses, and at all times, the sins
of men were against a law that assigned death to them for
their sins.

If it be objected or asked, When, or how was the pro-
mulgation of the law, with penal sanction of death, made
to men universally ? — for it cannot be held to be law that is
not made known to those concerned, and promulgated — I
answer, The sanction assigning death for transgression, was
promulgated to mankind when God said to Adam concern-
ing the forbidden fruit, In the day thou eatest, thou shalt die ;
which did sufficiently intimate, that the punishment of all
and every transgression of the law of God was to be death.
Since that time, besides the divine revelation, of which the
church had ever the advantage from the beginning, the
sanction of the law appears to have been universally made
known by the light and impression of it in the minds of
men, of the Gentiles, even of the worst sorts of them, as
we have seen in Rom. i. 32. If they had their bloody sa-
crifices, there hath been observed by the learned, in their
writings, and in history, what shows that they considered
the victims as substituted in their stead, to save them from
the death and destruction they were obnoxious to for their
sins. Whatever shift they made ordinarily to keep their
minds easy, yet their apprehensions of destruction by the
wrath of heaven for their sins were easily awakened* On
such occasions they multiplied their sacrifices, and whole
hetacombs were offered. If there were greater appearance
of judgment and destruction threatened, human sacrifices,
sometimes in considerable number, were offered. There is
a very shocking instance of such human sacrifice recorded,

h 5

182 An Essay concerning

2 Kings iii. 27- when the king of Moab saw providence giv-
ing the advantage to his enemies against the greatest efforts
of him and his people ; he, to save himself and them from
destruction, and to appease the wrath of heaven, took his
eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered
him for a burnt- offering on the wall.

But the light and impression of the precept and penal
sanction of the law in the minds and consciences of men,
having become dim and weak, the wisdom of God saw
meet to make to his church a new, clear, full, and very so-
lemn promulgation of the law, and of its sanction, at Sinai,
and otherwise, by the ministry of Moses. But by what hath
been adduced from the scripture to that purpose, it appears
how vainly, and without any good reason, it hath been said,
that the Sinaitic and Mosaic promulgation added any thing,
as to penal sanction, to what was originally in the law given
to mankind, and under which, with different degrees of
light and impression, men have been every where, and in
all times of the world.

Before leaving this subject, it is fit to say something con-
cerning the death which the law hath annexed to transgres-
sion, and concerning the extent of meaning, in which the
death threatened is to be understood. Dr Taylor held,
(Orig. Sin, p. 20.) that in the threatening, and afterwards
sentence, intimated to Adam, there wras not meant * any
* other death but that dissolution which all mankind under-
' go when they cease to live in this world, whatever that
c dissolution be/ It seems it was a question with this
writer, what the dissolution is which men undergo at death ?
It has been generally agreed, that it is the dissolution of
the union between the soul and body, by which the soul
goes into a separate state, and the body is dissolved into
dust. In this there appears to be nothing but what is
clear, and easily understood. But this writer makes it
matter of question, what the dissolution is that happens at
death, and seems not to be satisfied with the common notion
of Christians concerning it. Did he think or suspect, as
some have held, that the soul itself is mortal ; and, being
material, is dissolved in the dissolution of the body, and
hath no existence or life until the resurrection, when the
body shall arise, endowed with the breath of life, and with
rational powers and faculties ? He was shy of giving his
mind clearly on this point — only gives the hint by the doubt
above mentioned. What important or fundamental truth is

The Penal Sanction of the Law. 183

it, on which this author would not, in some sort, blow his
baneful breath !

It is true, he speaks of eternal death as meant by the
threatening of the law. But let not the reader mistake him.
The passage is in his note on Rom. v. 20. There having
observed that law sometimes signifies a rule of action, with
the penalty of death annexed, he says, ' Such a law Adam
' was under, and such a constitution the law of Moses was
( subjecting those who wTere under it to death for every
* transgression, meaning by death eternal death, without
' hopes of a revival or resurrection.* The death, then, that
the law of Moses denounced, was the same death that was
threatened for eating the forbidden fruit; and we saw just
now, that that death imported no more than the dissolution
which men undergo, when they cease to live in this world.
So by eternal death, it appears that he means here as de-
nounced by the law nothing more than that, undergoing
dissolution, they should continue so for ever, without revival
or resurrection. However, he also held that Christ procured
resurrection to life for mankind universally. But if men
shall then be punished with eternal misery for their sins and
impenitence, this, according to what we have seen of his
opinion, cannot be by virtue of the law, which, by his ac-
count, did not threaten or denounce any such thing.

But if the law given to Adam, and that of Moses, were
of the same nature, and threatened the same death, there
is something in the matter that is not easily understood, or
accounted for, if this death were no other than the depriva-
tion of natural life. All mankind were, in consequence of
Adam's sin, doomed to death in that sense, and were un-
dergoing it universally, with the certainty that it would so
continue to the world's end. This being the case, and the
established constant course of things, what occasion for
threatening this death by the law of Moses ? Is it not im-
peaching the divine wisdom, to say, that God would with
such solemnity give forth the threatening of death for trans-
gression, if that death signified no more than the depriva-
tion of natural life ? Why pretend to make a new addition
to the law as given to Israel, beyond what was in the law,
which other nations were under, if there was nothing in the
additional threatening of death, but what Israel and all
other nations were in common subjected to from the begin-
ning ? Ay, but the law given at Sinai threatened death for
every transgression : not so the law given to other nations,

184 An Essay concerning

who were only suffering death, not for their own sins, but
in consequence of Adam's sin. But what alteration did this
make in the state of the Israelites ? If they underwent death,
those of other nations did so too. If the Lord cut off some
Israelites with sudden and fearful strokes, many instances of
that sort happened in other nations, who were not under the
Mosaic law. Yea, among Israel in the Mosaic period it was
observed, that the worst of men passed the course of life often
in an easy and prosperous manner, and underwent death
without any unfavourable visible symptom. So we see in
Psal. lxxiii. Shall we say, that, the law prescribing for
men's sins nothing but the dissolution of their frame by
death, in the manner common to all men, these men, after
passing life more prosperously, and death more easily, than
other men, had nothing further to fear as the consequence of
their distinguished wickedness ? As this will not be said,
shall we say that after this life punishment awaited them
beyond what the law they were under prescribed ? Certain-
ly this were absurd.

Let us then consider what, besides deprivation of natural
life, is included in the death threatened by the law. It is a
just sentiment, that as the natural life of the human person
consists in the union of the soul and body, so it is the spi-
ritual life of the person to be in union with God, enjoying
his favour. So Psal. xxx. 5. In his favour is life. But sin
separates the sinner from God, and from his favour ; which
must be accounted death by every one who comfortably en-
joyed it, by every one who thinks justly. The curse im-
ports so much, though what Dr T. says of it amounts to no
more than this, (note on Rom. vi.) ' This curse without
' doubt rendered the transgressor obnoxious to death ; as
e Saul's curse was understood to touch Jonathan's life/ As
to Saul's curse, it could indeed reach no farther than Jona^
than's life ; but the curse of God, and of his righteous law,
can and doth reach much farther. This curse certainly im-
ports, besides deprivation of natural life, to be cast out of
God's favour and fellowship, deprived thereof, and of the
light of his countenance; which they who judge that in
God's favour is life, will certainly consider as a real death.
If, according to the scripture, we consider it in that light,
what good reason can be given, why it should not be includ-
ed in the death threatened by the law for sin, which certain-
ly separates between men and God ?

But there is what the scripture calls the second death,

The Penal Sanction of the Law. 185

which imports everlasting pain and misery. As it is called
the second death, Rev. xxi. 8. so it is expressed by the name
of death, Rom. viii. 13. If ye live after the flesh, ye shall
die ; and chap. vi. 23. The wages of sin is death. Some en-
deavour to answer, or prevent the argument, by suggesting,
that in both places the apostle hath in his eye a course of
fleshly living and sinning, continued in impenitently to the
end. But though it be allowed that this is the case, as to
the two places now mentioned, yet this doth not hinder our
understanding the apostle as giving forth a general doctrine
or maxim, particularly in Rom. vi. 23. The wages of sin is
death. What determines the wages of sin is the law. Now
we know of no determination of the law on this subject, other
than that it determines the curse and death for the wages of
sin. Therefore the second eternal death, and the spiritual
death before mentioned, must be included in the death as-
signed by the law as the wage's of sin.

Dr T. himself expresses something that tends to this pur-
pose. (Orig. Sin, p. 394. ) ' And certain it is/ saith he,
' .iiat now we are not under the law, but under grace, Rom.
1 vi. 14. Nor will the law be in force, to give sin its deadly
* destructive power, till the great and terrible day of the
' Lord, when those who impenitently have lived after the
' flesh shall die, Rom. viii. 1 3.' Passing the interpretation
he hints of Rom. vi. 14. of which formerly, I now say con-
cerning this passage: 1. Dr T/s notion, as here expressed,
clearly implies, that the law, with regard to its penal sanc-
tion, hath not the authority and force of a law till it comes
to be executed, which is very absurd. The Supreme Ruler
brings men under a dispensation of grace, uses forbearance,
delays executing of judgment, and hath appointed a day
wherein he will judge the world. Is it therefore just to say,
that the sanction of the law hath not all along and still au-
thority and force, nor will be in force till the last day ? Sure-
ly it must be by virtue of the law and its sanction, that it is
said of a man in this life, of him that believeth not the Son,
(John iii. 36.) that the wrath of God abideth on him. For
(Rom. iv. 15.) it is the law that worketh wrath. 2. The Doc-
tor says, that it is the law that will give sin its deadly and
destructive power in the great day. But certainly it could
not do so, but as in its penal sanction it adjudges death and
destruction for sin. As God hath given to men his law to
be the rule of their behaviour, so when he shall come to act
as a Judge, he certainly will make that same law his rule in

186 An Essay, fyc.

judging their. It were dishonourable to God as a Judge,
to say that he would judge moral agents at last otherwise than
according to the law he had put them under when they acted
their part in life.

It appears, then, by Dr TVs sentiment, as set forth in this
passage, that the damnation and perdition of sinners at the
day of judgment will be by virtue of the sanction of the law,
which denounced death for sin ; which proves very clearly,
that this everlasting perdition, this second death, (and not
merely the deprivation of natural life) must be understood
to be included in the death threatened by the law. It proves
further, at this second death, this eternal perdition, will hap-
pen at last to every man, of every nation, and of all times,
who is not saved by grace, and in the way marked out by ii,
that, besides deprivation of natural life, the second death is
adjudged for sin by the law, which men of all nations and
times have been under. So that it is not the law given to
Adam, concerning the forbidden fruit only, or thereafter
only the law given at Sinai, that denounced death and a
curse for sin. How far these things are consistent with Dr
T.'s other speculations concerning the law, which we have
seen formerly, the reader may judge. That writer had very
crude and undigested sentiments and reasonings on this, as
on divers other subjects.

Upon the whole, it has been sufficiently proved, that the
law of God, which is the rule of duty to all men in common,
hath at all times, and with regard to men of all nations, been
fenced with a penal sanction, which adjudged death to trans-
gressors,— even death in all the extent of meaning, that hath
been here shown from the Scripture. So that we may now
be satisfied, how destitute of all foundation in scripture or
reason, is the conceit of Mr Locke, expressed in his para-
phrase, and note on Rom. vii. 8. where he says, that without
the law (of Moses) sin could not hurt a man, or bring death
upon him ; and hisnotion, that since the fall, mankind were
not under a law threatening death for transgression, until
the law given by Moses, which was given only to Israel ;
which notion appears to have been adopted by Dr Whitby,
in his paraphrase of ver. 9. which I come now to consider.
Most of readers would not, I suppose, need to have so much
said on this point. But, considering what weight the cha-
racters of these writers might give to their sentiments and
arguments in the eyes of many, it seemed fit to consider the
subject the more thoroughly and largely.

Explication of Romans VII. 187

TEXT.— Ver. 9. For I was alive -without the law once : but when the
commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

Explication. — As to the first expression here, / was
alive, some render it, / lived once, or sometime ; I lived
without the law ; as if he meant no more than to say, that
sometime, for a part of the time of his life, he had been
without the law ; supposing there is no particular emphasis,
or more special meaning of being alive. But as the expres-
sion in the end of the sentence, / died, certainly means
something else than the death that puts an end to natural
life, so the antithesis, or opposition that is evidently intend-
ed, requires that, by saying, I was alive, we understand
something else than natural life, or a part of its duration.
It is, in short, that being without the law, and so not know-
ing his great guiltiness, and the prevailing of sin in him, he
was alive, with respect to confidence and conceit of his own
good state ; confident of the favour of God and of eternal
life : which confidence was destroyed by the coming of the
commandment.

Grotius, Drs Hammond and Whitby, and also Mr Locke^
agree in holding, that the apostle means not here himself
personally, but the Jews in general ; that being without the
law, he means of the time before the law was given at Sinai ;
and by the coming of the commandment, the promulgation of
the law on that occasion, with the curse, or penalty of death
annexed. This the two last named did suppose was not
threatened, except in the single case of eating the forbidden
fruit, until that time.

But why suppose that Paul here personates others; or
that he does not represent his own former personal case ?
Considering his style and expression, there can be no cause
for understanding him otherwise, except there can be shown
some absurdity in applying to himself personally what he
says. I see not that Grotius brings any reason from the
verse itself for this notion of his ; but Dr Hammond does.
' That he was once without the law, can, he says, with no
' appearance of truth be affirmed of Paul's person, who was
' born and brought up a Jew, in the knowledge of the
c Mosaic law.' But Paul might have had great knowledge
of the Mosaic law, and, being brought up at the feet of
Gamaliel, might have been very learned in the various cases
and questions respecting the Mosaic rules of divine service,
ceremonial pollutions, and ceremonial methods of purifica-
tion, and yet have little knowledge of the moral law in its

188 Explication and Paraphrase

extent, and very little knowledge of the power and energy
of the law in his conscience and heart.

He mentions in the same context, what proves his
knowledge of the law to have been very defective. He says,
ver. 7. / had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou
shall not lust. There was a time when he did not know the
inward lustings of the heart to be sin ; when he had no con-
cern or anxiety about the disposition, aims, or affections of
his heart ; but thought all was well if he did what was ex-
ternally good. As to this, it is to be considered, that the
moral actions of rational creatures are not to be judged of
merely by what they are in the outward work, but also by
the inward principles and disposition of the heart ; so that
an action may, as to the outward part, be good material!}',
when, on the whole, as it comes to be judged of by an all-
seeing, heart- searching God, according to the holiness and
spirituality of his law, it is sin, and that, perhaps, of the
most atrocious and aggravated kind and degree. By this it
appears, that when Paul was a Pharisee, if his works were
outwardly good, or in their outward nature indifferent, yet,
not knowing that the law reaches the heart, he had not that
light and knowledge of the law which would enable him to
judge justly in what class, of good or evil, to state even those
outward works, as connected with his inward views and dis-
position : besides, that much sin inwardly, not immediately
connected with any outward action, was not known or ob-
served by him. This was to be without the law in a great
degree. However learned Paul had been in the divinity of
the Pharisaical school, yet his knowledge being so essential-
ly defective, with respect to duty and sin, certainly there
was no impropriety or exaggeration in saying, when he came
to know better, I was without the law once.

But besides, an important thing to be considered here is,
that the law did not enter into his conscience with its proper
authority, energy, and impression. Many a man there is
of very clear and extensive knowledge, into whom the law
doth not thus enter, to give the view and conviction of sin,
with the proper impression. Upon the whole, Dr Ham-
mond was far from having reason to say, that it could not be
affirmed of Paul personally, that he was without the law once.
However, the sentiment, particularly of Dr W. and Mr
L. is, that the apostle, personating others, says, / was with-
out the law once; that is, for between two and three thou-
sand years from the fall of Adam. For though they some-

Of Romans VII. 189

times speak only of the Jews, the seed of Abraham, and
seem to restrict the matter to the time between Abraham
and the giving of the law, yet their scheme and opinion al-
lows no room for this restriction. All mankind were, ac-
cording to them, without a law denouncing death for trans-
gression, from the fall until the law was given at Sinai. So
that, in interpreting this verse, by the notion of Paul's per-
sonating others, they view mankind as contracted into one
long-lived man, who was indeed very old, (more than four
thousand years old,) when he says in the text, I was alive
without the law once. It seems to have required consider-
able vivacity and force of genius to have thought of interpret-
ing the text by a figure so very bold, — rather, wild and extra-
vagant. But what is it that gives the hint of such a mean-
ing, or that makes it necessary to have recourse to so strange
an interpretation ? That which hath been more commonly
given, is simple, natural, obvious, and agreeable to the proper
import and use of the expressions of the text, embarrassed
with nothing that deserves to be called difficulty or incon-
venience. Mr L.'s opinion has indeed led him to express
himself in a strange manner, particularly in his paraphrase
of this verse. ' There was a time, (saith he) when I,
' being without the law, was in a state of life.' And this
he means not of men's own conceit, or sense of things re-
specting their state, but of a real state of life, not obnoxious
to death. So that for one instance, for many instances, for
a million of instances of transgression, sinners had not death
to fear. Dr W.'s notion to the same purpose, we have seen
in his paraphrase of this verse. I should think, with due
deference to Mr L/s and Dr W.'s characters, that represent-
ing fairly such extravagance of sentiment and expression,
were enough for confutation to any thinking or judicious
reader. I have, however, bestowed an essay on the subject,
to which I refer.

After all, the expression of the text is not, When the
threatening of death for transgression came ; nor yet, When
the law came ; which they would suppose included or implied
that threatening ; but, when the commandment came, which
is something very different from the threatening. I can
easily admit, that law and commandment may be interchang-
ed in expressing the same meaning ; and I see they are so
interchanged here, as I believe, at the same- time, that
the divine commandment is to be understood to have had,
at all times, the penal sanction of death for transgression

190 Explication and Paraphrase

annexed to it, whether expressed or not. Yet 3f it were
otherwise, and that the commandment had been for many
ages without such penal sanction, we may be confident,
when mention was to be made of introducing a law fenced
with such a new and unusual sanction, that the expression
would not be simply, When the commandment came, which,
according to the notion of these writers, implies no such
thing as the threatening of death.

This then is the second clause, But when the command-
ment came, sin revived. It did so in two respects. 1. By
the conviction he received of his own manifold guiltiness.
He had become guilty in many respects, especially by the
inward prevailing of sin, which, through his ignorance of the
law, he had no sense of. Besides, the conviction and im-
pression of sin, that he had sometime been conscious of,
came by time to disappear and be defaced. But when the
law entered into his conscience with light and force, armed
with a terrible denunciation of wrath, it showed him sin
that he had not been sensible was sin ; and what sin he had,
in some sort, been conscious of, it brought to remembrance
with a fearful sting.

2. Sin revived in these sinful affections that are by the
law (as ver. 5.) ; and the more the law, with its authority,
light, and terror, reached the heart and sin in it, sin exerted
itself the more vehemently, in all manner of concupiscence
(as ver. 8.) in opposition to the law. The consideration of
the context seems to lead us to think, that it is the reviving
of sin in this second respect, not excluding the former, that
the apostle hath chiefly in his eye. The sinner, convinced
of his guiltiness and danger by transgressing the law, doth
yet incline to hope well of himself, if he shall do well in all
future behaviour. So, being sensible by the coming of the
commandment, that it is necessary that the heart be right,
he labours upon it. But the more he doth so, the more he
perceives the wickedness of his heart. Hence awakened
sinners so commonly complain, that they find their hearts
become daily worse, instead of becoming better. They find
in it a perverse aversion to God and to his holiness, that
the carnal mind is enmity against God, and is not subject
to his law ; and if, through manifold guiltiness by past prac-
tice, they find themselves under the fearful sentence of the
righteous law, sin also reviving in the unholy workings of
an evil heart, and in those motions of sin which are by the
law, this especially destroys every false confidence.

Of Romans VII. 191

Thus the consequence of the coming of the command-
ment, with its light, authority, and terror, and of the re-
viving of sin on that occasion, is, as the Apostle expresses
it, / died, — I found myself a dead man, and nothing on my
part to encourage me to entertain any confidence or hope.

Though the word here used concerning sin is, sin revived,
that doth not oblige us to think, as if it had been altogether,
as to the conviction of sin, or as to its rebellious motions by
the law, (as the apostle speaks, ver. 5.) even before the
commandment came, in the manner here meant. The pre-
position xvx, that is in the composition of the Greek verb
here, hath not always that effect in the signification of a
word ; for sometimes a verb so compounded, hath no other
than the simple meaning of theuncompounded verb ; as in-
stances of which are mentioned, uvoifiXccrzviiv, ccvanXXuv,
xvirxcSai, for which the dictionaries may be looked into.

I represented before (in the Essay on the Penal Sanction
of the Law) Dr W.'s paraphrase of this verse, by which he
would have it mean, that before the law of Moses was given,
a man of the seed of Abraham was not obnoxious to death for
sin, as there was then no law that threathened death for it
His note on this verse is in these words : ( 7r^o t» tAcav7iu<;>
< before the law of Moses came. So Chrysostom, Oecu-
' menius, Theophylact.' It is a way not uncommon with
this writer, to give such a list of names when he hath not a
better argument to support his interpretation.

Before I leave this verse, there is one thing yet which it
is needful to consider. It may, perhaps, be objected, that,
in the history of Paul, we cannot find any period or time
when he could observe in himself that revival of sin, on
the coming of the commandment, or could have that expe-
rience of the workings of sin, on occasion of the law, in
persons in the flesh, that are represented in this context :
and if so, then he must necessarily be supposed to be per-
sonating others, not setting forth his own experience. The
argument may be conceived thus. He was, on his journey
to Damascus, a Pharisee, possessed with the delusions of
that sect, and in full confidence of his own good state ;
when the Lord having manifested himself to him, he did, at
the same time, manifest to him the consolations of grace ;
yea, said, Acts xxvi. 16. / have appeared to thee for this
purpose to make thee a minister, &c. adding words of the ut-
most encouragement and comfort. Here there was no in-
terval or time, to observe the motions of sin that are by the

192 Explication and Paraphrase

law. This was prevented by the speedy manifestation of
grace ; by which being brought under grace, he could not
have in himself the experience of a man in the flesh, and
under the law, that is represented in this context. This de-
serves to be considered.

I begin with observing what the learned and judicious
Dr Guyse suggests (note on Acts xxvi. 16.) to this pur-
pose : That it is not necessary to think that all the com-
fortable things related there, verse 16, 17- were spoken by
the Lord to Paul on the road to Damascus, at his first ap-
pearing to him. The historian Luke, or Paul himself, may
have joined together what the Lord spoke to him at diffe-
rent times. Paul himself reports, chap. xxii. 14, 15. that
Ananias spoke to him of the future revelations and minis-
terial commission that the Lord was to vouchsafe to him ;
and the Lord himself might have said more fully to him, to
the purpose expressed, chap. xxvi. 16, 17- on that other oc-
casion mentioned, chap. xxii. 17* and afterwards. If in
his first appearance to him on the road to Damascus, the
Lord said any thing to him of ministerial office, and of pro-
tection and support in it, it might be in general and dark
hints, (not so well understood or attended to by Paul, in
the condition he was then in,) to be more fully explained
afterwards. Indeed in the account given, Acts ix. 6. when
Paul, upon hearing the Lord's reproof and expostulation,
trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have
me to do ? the answer is, Arise, and go into the city, and it
shall be told thee what thou must do. This, I think, makes it
probable, that any special comfort to him was referred to the
time when Ananias in Damascus was sent to him.

If any shall happen not to be satisfied with this, yet the
matter may still be accounted for by what we find in his
history. Let it then be allowed, that on his first appearing
to him, the Lord said very comfortable things, as it is not
uncommon for him to suggest some comfortable matters for
the present support of distressed souls, when they are not
yet capable of receiving full consolation through faith. So,
whatever matter of comfort was suggested, Paul was not
yet susceptible of the comfort. The sense of his guiltiness
by the wicked course he had been in, and the apprehension
of judgment for it, even the terror of the Lord, (2 Cor. v.
10.) was uppermost, and possessed his whole soul. As he
trembled and was all astonished when he heard the Lord's
reproof and expostulation, so, being blind, he did not eat or

Of Romans VI L 193

drink for three days and nights. This represents a condition
of great distress ; nor do we find with him any symptoms of
comfort till Ananias came to him, acquainted him of the
ministry to be committed to him, and called on him to re-
ceive baptism, the seal of divine grace ; and, using it with
faith to wash away his sins, calling on the name of the Lord,
Acts xxii. 14 — 16.

In these primitive times, the law and the gospel had very
powerful and speedy effect on the souls of men, as we may
observe in divers instances. If we suppose a man blind,
and diverted by no external objects, having his heart filled
with the sense of his sinfulness, and of the great aggrava-
tions and fearful consequences thereof, with his mind turn-
ed to the most serious thought about his most important in-
terests, with the most intense application ; if with this we
consider the velocity with which things pass in the human
mind, especially in such a condition, we may be assured,
that in these three days and three nights, Paul acquired
great experience of his own heart, of the flesh, that cor-
rupt principle in him, and the law now come clear and strong
into his conscience, — these, the flesh and the law, striking
powerfully the one against the other. Paul, deeply sensible
of his own wretchedness, did doubtless labour much on this
occasion to reform his heart unto a conformity with the holi-
ness and spirituality of the law, which he now understood
better than ever before. He might at that time have all the
experience he represents in this context, of sins reviving,
and exerting itself vehemently, and of the prevailing power
of the flesh, with all its sinful affections and lustings, in op-
position to the authority and holiness of the law. Thus we
find a period in his history wherein he was likely to have
personally all the experience here set forth ; which makes a
sufficient answer to the difficulty or objection suggested.

Some have explained and accounted for the advantage
that sin hath by the law, by this : That the law did not pro-
mise, to those who were under it, spiritual blessings and
eternal life, which is necessary for purifying the heart and
subduing sin. This is of importance to be more largely con-
sidered ; and I subjoin an Essay concerning that subject,
after representing the sense of this ninth verse, according to
the interpretation I have given of it, in the following

Paraphrase. — 9. Sin being thus dead, as in the absence of
the law, a self- flattering deluded heart entertains great confi-
dence of a man's good state, until the coming of the com-

194? An Essay concerning the Promise

mandment discovers to him the delusion he hath been in.
Of this I have had sad experience. For, being sometime
without the law, I was alive, in great confidence of my good
state, of my interest in the Divine favour, and eternal life.
But when the commandment came, and entered into my
conscience in its extent and spirituality, and with its proper
authority, light, and force ; as this awakened me to a more
serious consideration of my spiritual state, sin awakened
also. Not only did the conviction of by-past guiltiness re-
vive in me, but sin, not subdued, but awakened and ruffled
by the reproof and threatening of the law, did exert itself in
all manner of concupiscence ; and gave me such proof of the
pravity of my nature and heart, as did especially contribute
to overturn all my false confidence, and to make me sensible
that I was a dead man, by virtue of the judgment of the
righteous law, my guiltiness, and the extreme wickedness
of my heart ; by which my case became quite deplorable.

AN ESSAY

CONCERNING THE PROMISE AND HOPE OF SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS,
AND OF ETERNAL LIFE, UNDER THE OLD TESTAMENT.

I am now come to consider another account, that of Gro-
tius, of sin's having advantage by the law, and by men's
being under it. He says upon Rom. vi. 14. that as the law
promised nothing beyond what is earthly, it gave not
strength enough for purifying the soul. But the gospel, by
the promise of things heavenly, gives great strength to those
who will use it. The gospel indeed gives great strength in
this way, and otherwise too than by proposing the best of
motives, and that in a way very effectual, though not quite
agreeable to this writer's notions. On chap. vii. 5. he says,
€ Most men in these times were carnal, and had no hope, or
( but small hope, of another life ; and so were addicted to the
< present life, and to the pleasures of it.'

The former account, that of Dr Hammond, (considered in
explaining ver. 8.) and this, are so far connected, that if un-
der the law there was no ground for men's hope of the re-
mission of sins, there could be no hope of eternal life. Yet,
on the other hand, if there was then no ground for the hope
of forgiveness, as there certainly was, there behoved to be
good warrant for the hope of future life and happiness. For
men might justly conclude, that God would not pardon sin,
and so bring men into favour and amity with himself, with-

Under the Old Testament. 1 95

out providing for them, as the fruit of that amity, something
better than an earthly portion, which is more commonly en-
joyed in its highest degree by those who are strangers to God,
and under the guilt of unpardoned sin.

What the words last cited say, * that most men in these
c times were carnal/ is, I apprehend, the case now, even un-
der the light and encouragement of gospel revelation. If it
was so with the ancient Israel, the cause of it was not, that
God did not encourage them, or that piety was nor encou-
raged with the hope of eternal life. Grotius says, in the
words immediately preceding those last cited, that the few
who in that state were spiritual, were not so ex sola vi legis,
merely by virtue of the law. In this I agree with him ;
and I believe the law, strictly so called, will not in any time
make men spiritual, as of old the promise that he should be
heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed through
the law. But that is nothing to the present purpose. For,
if the ancient Israel, together with the law, had the promise
of future life and happiness, to encourage their pursuit of
holiness, and of spiritual and heavenly things, then their
being under the legal pedagogy could not be a cause of men's
being under the dominion of sin, or in the flesh. When
this eminent writer doth, on Rom. vi. 14. contradistinguish
the gospel as having the promise of heavenly things, to the
law as having no such promise, he must by the law be un-
derstood to mean the whole system of the ancient Jewish
faith and religion. So that when he says, on Rom. vii. 5.
that men had then generally small hope, or none at all, of
future life, it was evidently his mind, that God gave them
not sufficient ground for such hope, by his dealing with them,
or by the revelation he gave them, however some of them
might console themselves with some weak hope of that sort.
This is a matter of such importance as deserves to be seri-
ously considered, and carefully explained.

In the first place, I say, in general, that an Israelite might,
from God's dealing with their nation, and with particular
persons in it who feared him, conclude, with the utmost cer-
tainty of rational deduction, that he had provided a future
happiness for pious persons. He exalted them to be his pe-
culiar people, and gave them very sensible proofs of his fa-
vour and regard, beyond what he had ever given to any
nation. Could any rational person allow himself to think,
that the Lord had in view no other than an earthly transi-
tory happiness for such a people ? that they who honoured

196 An Essay concerning the Promise

him most with their faith, confidence, and obedience, were,
if they prospered in this world, but as fed for the slaughter ;
when death should feed on them without any hope beyond
it ? Surely it might be rationally concluded that God would
account it dishonourable to himself to assert any special
friendly relation to them, if he made no special provision for
them beyond this life. If, serving and fearing God, they
had earthly felicity, nations had so too, in a greater degree
than they had whom God accounted and declared his ene-
mies. Israel, in all times, had occasion to see pious per-
sons in worldly and external misery, and dying with-
out any change to advantage in their condition outward-
ly. It was not only so on occasion of the distresses of
the Babylonish captivity, and the following times of their
church and nation, when Grotius allows, that hints were
given, and more hope conceived, of eternal life : but in an-
cient times pious men often underwent great misery of out-
ward condition. They were for a considerable time in great
misery and distress in Egypt. Shall we say, that the many
pious Israelites, who died in that time, had no ground or
warrant given them for the hope of better things after death ?
In the times of the Judges, yea, in all the times preceding
the reign of king David, they had great vicissitudes, and
recurring times of great and long continued distress. Many
thousands, who were pious, are likely to have died in these
calamitous times of their nation, in circumstances of much
external misery,^ without seeing what the renewed mercy of
God did for their people. Had all these no hope for them-
selves in their death ? or might they, after all the privilege
God had dignified them with, — after all their faith in him,
and their upright walking with him, amidst the backslid-
ings of their nation, that brought judgments on them, — might
they say, that they had nothing by it, but to be of all men
the most miserable ? If the Ephesians, in their state of
heathenism, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
were without hope, it certainly were very unreasonable to
say, that those of the commonwealth of Israel were so too.
Upon the general view of these things, it is certainly just to
say, that from God's dealing with that people, in such in-
stances and cases as are before mentioned, an Israelite,
thoughtful about futurity, might infer the hope of future
happiness to pious persons, with as great certainty, and ac-
quiescence of judgment and understanding, as he could in-
fer any conclusions from any principles.

Under the Old Testament. 197

It will perhaps be said, that indeed pious persons did,
from such views of things as I have been representing, form
the hope of future happiness, and that not altogether with-
out reason ; but that it is still true that God did not give
them ground for that hope by any revelation or promise he
gave them. As to this, it hath been shown, by what is
above written, that God did give them ground for that hope.
As to what his revelation or promise imported to that pur-
pose, let us now direct our inquiry to that point, and see
what God gave to Israel by his word and promise, to found
the hope of eternal life.

The Lord called himself their God, and denominated
himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Exod. iii.
6. 15. This expressed the covenant; the sum of which
was in these few words, / will be their God, and they shall
be my people. Let us consider what this imported. It is
not merely, that as he was the God they acknowledged and
worshipped, so they were the people he would acknowledge
as his, and whose services he would accept. The expres-
sions import a great deal more ; even a most special mutual
interest which God and his people should have in one an-
other, by virtue of the covenant. When the true Israel
agreed sincerely to be his people, it imported a resignation
of themselves to him, to be wholly his ; to be disposed of
for his glory, and separated to his service. Hence, as God
hath an original right to them of property and dominion, as
his creatures, so he had a special acquired right to them by
the covenant, and by their own choice and self-dedication.

In like manner, on the other hand, when God conde-
scended in the covenant to be their God, it imported, that,
of infinite grace, he engaged himself to be theirs, that, as
the Lord's portion is bis people, so the Lord should, by the
covenant, be their portion — The portion of Jacob, Jer. x.
16. / am my beloved's, saith the church, and my beloved is
mine, Cant. vi. 3. That promise, including all the grace of
the covenant, imports no less than — for all that is signified
in being God, I am thine, so far as is requisite for thy sup-
port, protection, and endless happiness. I am thine, to be
thy shield and exceeding great reward, Gen. xv. 1. There
was sufficient and very evident ground for every pious soul,
laying hold of God's covenant, to entertain the hope of eter-
nal life. Sadducees of old might overlook, modern critics
or philosophers may overlook or dispute it, when the
scheme of doctrine they have adopted requires their doing

198 An Essay concerning the Promise

so. But certainly a thinking rational soul, believing God's
word, would, at departing this life, find, in this expression
and promise of the covenant, a very sufficient foundation to
rest on comfortably, for the hope of future life and happi-
ness. If a pious Israelite comforted himself by the Lord's
saying, / am thy God, in going through all the stages and
vicissitudes of this life, often forgoing the comforts of this
life for keeping a good conscience towards God ; shall we say,
that the Lord's being his God imported nothing at all to
him in his last gloomy and solemn hour ; but that all the
consolation, arising from the Lord's being his God, was to
expire with his last breath ? If one's hope in man should
thus terminate, yet God is not man. If enemies were dis-
patching a pious person from this life with bloody hands,
how would it especially be as a sword in his bones, if he had
not in the promise, / will be thy God, what would fortify
his heart against the reproach and insult, Where is now thy
God? Such a pious person, when death was on his lips, —
when the failure of natural spirit and strength prognosticates
the speedy dissolution of his frame, — yet from this, / am thy
God, he had cause to say, When heart arid strength fail, tJwu
art the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

We have the best confirmation possible of the justness of
this reasoning from our Lord's using it to the same purpose
against the Sadducees, in Matt. xxii. 23. and Luke xx. 37,
38. No?v that the dead are raised, Moses showed at the bush,
when he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob. As it was fit to argue out of
the writings of Moses against the Sadducees, who are said to
have acknowledged no other Scripture, it is certain that no-
thing is to be found in all the Scripture more to the purpose
of proving the resurrection, than God's covenant expressed
in these wrords. The Lord's argument from them, as ex-
pressed, Luke xx. 38. comes to this ; — he is not the God of
the dead — of those who at death shall perish ; for it were
highly dishonourable to him to be reckoned to be, by special
relation of grace and covenant, their God. He is not the
God of any but of such who, by virtue of his being so, are
the heirs of eternal life, and who shall be introduced to it
by a happy resurrection. Shall now any, who shall consi-
der the matter itself, or who regards the authority and
judgment of the greatest Master of reason that ever appear-
ed in our nature, say, that an ancient Israelite, who had at
heart to lay hold of and improve the grace of the covenant,

Under the Old Testament. 1J)J)

had not in these words, / am the Lord thy God, a most sure
ground to rest on for the hope of a happy futurity, and the
most sure warrant for the hope of eternal life ? The in-
spired writer to the Hebrews thought so, when he said,
Heb. xi. \6. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their
God, for he hath prepared for them a city.

I shall now show by another Scripture, that God's cove-
nant, as it was proposed to his people anciently, did found
the hope of eternal life, and that the promise thereof was
so meant. In Isa. lv. 3. mention is made of the sure mer-
cies of David. Indeed the mention of sure mercies might,
at first sight, convince any, that other sort of mercies are
intended than such as are earthly, temporary, and transient.
Wc need be at no loss to understand who this David is.
David, king of Israel, had been dead some centuries before.
This David was to come when Isaiah wrote, as appears by
the following words: Behold I have given him for a witness
to the people, a leader and commander to the people. Behold,
thou shalt call a nation that thou know est not, and nations
that knew not thee shall come unto thee. It is plain it is the
Lord Jesus Christ, mentioned on other occasions by the
prophets under the name of David, who is here intended ;
and the expression of ' mercies being sure to him,' imports
that God would raise him from the dead to eternal life. We
may be the more confident of this interpretation, when we
observe the blessed apostle going before us in it, Acts xiii. 34.
where, proving to his hearers from the Scriptures of the Old
Testament, that God was to raise Christ from the dead, his
Scripture quotation and argument he gives thus : As con-
cerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to
return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give unto you
the sure mercies of David. We see what the sure mercies pro-
mised to Jesus Christ do mean. To bring this to the pur-
pose of our present argument, I next observe, that these
sure mercies, importing resurrection to eternal life, are by
Isaiah extended to all the faithful, as the mercies of the co-
venant. It is implied, agreeable to the common doctrine
of the Scriptures, that the covenant is, in the first place,
made with Jesus Christ the second Adam ; and hence God
is called the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore the promises and blessings of the covenant de-
scend through Christ, and, in his right, to them who believe
in him. Accordingly, these are the prophet's words, Isa. lv.
3. Hear, and your souls shall live ; and I will make an

200 ¥ An Essay concerning the Promise

everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of Da-
vid. Here it is evident, that as the resurrection to eternal
life was promised to Christ, so it is set forth as the promise
of the covenant to his people, that they should partake in
the same sure mercies, in the like resurrection and eternal
life. If the Jews, who were Paul's hearers, did not, and
could not, contradict Paul, and say, that sure mercies did
not import to Christ the raising him from the dead to eter-
nal life, as little can any say, that the promise, as it is ex-
tended by the prophet, does not mean resurrection and eter-
nal life to believers of these, and of all times.

As to the law itself, it is very true, that, considered sepa-
rately from grace, it gave no promise of eternal, nor even of
temporal life to sinners. Yet at the sametime it is to be observ-
ed, that when God gave his law to Israel from mount Sinai,
he introduced it thus : / am the Lord thy God. The reason
was this : He then gave out his law with circumstances of
the utmost terror to sinners. Yet, according to the hint
given in the preface prefixed to it, he designed it in subser-
viency to his grace. It appears to have been his declared
and special view to give his law on this occasion to them
whom he took for his peculiar people, to whom he was their
God, and who, from his being so, were to expect to have, for
the end of their conformity thereto in holiness, eternal life ;
and to have their obedience to it rewarded, according to the
grace of the covenant, with an eternal inheritance. So it
cannot be said, that, even as the law was given by Moses,
and terribly promulgated at Sinai, Israel were not encourag-
ed to obedience by the promise of eternal life, though this
was not included from the law itself, but from the grace of
the covenant, by which the Lord became their God ; for
such he could not be to sinners by virtue of the law, but of
grace, and by virtue of the covenant of grace.

In the time of Moses, Baalam says, Numb, xxiii. 10. Let
me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like
his. Grotius gives, from the Jewish Gemara, an interpreta-
tion of this, as if it was only a wish that he might not die an
immature or violent death, as the Lord promised to those
who obeyed him. Himself did well to add, that these ex-
pressions do, however, hide a more deep mystical sense ; yet
this that he calls a mystical sense appears more open and ob-
vious than that other given by the Gemara. It is plain,
that the words mean the hope that is in death possessed by
righteous persons, even if their death should be immature or

Under the Old Testament. 201

violent, (as that afterwards of Eli and Josiah, and, long be-
fore Balaam's time, that of righteous Abel) or with whatever
external circumstances it should be attended.

Solomon saith, Prov. xiii. 32. that the righteous hath hope
in his death. But it is not easy to see what should furnish
hope to a man leaving this life with all its satisfactions and
enjoyments at death, if there was not the hope of future life
and happiness.

The view that Solomon gives of the course of things in
the world makes clearly and strongly to the present purpose,
when he says, Eccl. ix. 1, 2. No man knoweth love or hatred
by all that is before them : all things come alike to all :
there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked. What
the words intimate is, that there happens not, in the course
of providence respecting men in this life, any thing that
proves God's special favour and love to one sort beyond
others. So the wise man observed, even in these times of
the Old Testament. Yet it could not be thought that God's
special favour and love to his people does not produce suit-
able effects and fruits to their advantage. Therefore the
Holy Ghost declaring, that none such are to be looked for
in this life, it amounts to an assurance, and could not but
be so understood in these times, that the special fruits of
Divine favour are certainly awaiting them in a future happy
state.

Let us likewise consider these words, Isa. iii. 10. Say ye
to the righteous, it shall be well with him, for they shall eat
the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked, it shall be
ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given
him. The former text showed that there is nothing distin-
guishing in God's providential dealings with the righteous
and wicked in this world. Yet this text asserts, that it shall
be well wTith the righteous — that he shall enjoy the fruit of
his works ; and that it shall be ill with the wicked — that he
shall receive a reward suited to his wTorks. Now, if, ac-
cording to Solomon's observation, the one or the other hap-
pens not in this world, it is certain, and might have appear-
ed so in Isaiah's time, from these scriptural declarations, that
it behoved to be after this life.

God gives warrant and commission here, in the words ot%
Isaiah, to say to the righteous, without excepting any con-
dition or time of life, that it shall be well with him. It is at
death especially, when a man is finishing his course of right-
eousness, that he may be determined to be righteous ; and

202 An Essay concerning the Promise

it is then especially that a man needs the consolations of God's
word. Let us suppose such a one in the convulsions and
throes of death, and that a pious friend says, Fear not : God
hath said, it shall be well with the righteous : you are now
to eat the fruit of your doings. Let us suppose such a one
to answer, (as persons in darkness of condition are often
very ready to argue against themselves) — How can it be well
with me, and what can my hope be ? Alas ! my course is at
an end : I shall enjoy no more time, nor any good in this
world. Surely it would, in this case, be replying justly, to
say : God's promise to such as you is absolute, and without
limitation to time, or the things of time. The power of
God can cause you to live. Imitate the faith of Abraham
concerning his son Isaac, through whom the promises were
to have their accomplishment: He accounted (Heb. xi. 19.)
that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead.
Death itself is not strong enough to disappoint the promise,
or make it of none effect. You need not apprehend, that
the power or faithfulness of God shall fail in any thing that
is comprehended in the extent of his word and promise.
It shall therefore be well with you when you depart hence :
you shall enjoy the fruit of your doings.

This text indeed doth not say eternal life ; and the de-
mand of some is, to find in the scriptures of the Old Testa-
ment a promise or declaration mentioning explicitly and ex-
pressly eternal life; not merely inferring it by reasoning
from dark texts. This, however, is very unreasonable,
and not better than if the Sadducees had replied to our
blessed Lord, — You do but argue from a dark text, in which
there is no express mention of resurrection, or of eternal life.
The force of the argument did so strike them as to disable
them to make such answer to it. It doth not become us to
contend captiously with God about words and vocables.
Certainly, no words of any promise could more clearly and
strongly ensure future life and happiness to a righteous man
when dying, than the promise of Isaiah doth. As to the
exprpssion, eternal or everlasting life, we shall even find it
in the promise presently.

We see Daniel writing expressly of the resurrection of the
dead, chap. xii. 2, 3. And many of them mho sleep in the
dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and
some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be
wise shall shine as the frmament, and they that turn many to
righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever. If Daniel had,

Under the Old Testament. 203

in the preceding context, been prophesying of the distresses
of the Jews by the oppressions of Antiochus, he doth here
promise, not merely outward deliverance from these, but sets
forth what makes the chief consolation of the church against
all temporal distresses and afflictions. It is common with
the prophets, Isaiah in particular, to comfort the church of
Israel, against the tribulations they foretel, by lofty repre-
sentations of the glories of Christ's kingdom to the end of
the world, and after it for ever. Thus doth Daniel here
comfort the church against the extreme distresses he had
foretold, by representing the resurrection of the dead, and
the glory that shall follow. If the word is many, it hath
been observed, that sometimes the word signifies the same
as all. So Rom. v. J9» By one mans disobedience many
were made sinners. It is plain that nothing less than the re-
surrection of the dead comes up to the propriety and obvious
meaning of Daniel's words ; and the promise to himself can
mean no less than his having his part comfortably in that
resurrection ; ver. 13. Bid go thou thy way till the end be ;
for thou shall rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

Let us now look into the New Testament, and to some of
the accounts which we find therein of the faith of the Old
Testament church respecting heaven and eternal life, and
the hopes which believers of these times entertained of it.
For Christians may be well assured, that the Holy Ghost
would not in the New Testament represent these to have
been otherwise than as indeed they were.

The apostle Paul put the cause between him and his per-
secutors on this, Acts xxiii. 6. that it was concerning the
hope and resurrection of the dead that he was called in ques-
tion. And he says before Agrippa, Acts xxvi. 6, 7, 8. /
stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of
God unto our fathers : unto which promise our twelve tribes,
instantly serving God day and night, hope to come ; for which
hopes sake, King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. Why
should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God
should raise the dead ?- In like manner, ver. 22, 23, he as-
serts, that he said none other things than Moses and the pro-
phets did say should come, thai Christ should suffer, and that
he should be the frst that should rise from the dead. In-
deed, this promise of rising from the dead, to Christ and his
people, is clearly enough expressed, Isa. lv. 3. as hath been
shown formerly. It may have the appearance and pretence
of advancing the honour and value of the gospel, and of the

204 An Essay concerning the Promise

Christian revelation, to assert that it was by it first, and never
before, that the promise was given, and a foundation laid
for the hope of the resurrection, and of eternal life. But I
do not understand that it can consist with the credit of the
Christian revelation to suppose, that Christ and his apostles
pretended to find in Moses and the prophets what -was not
truly in them.

We find, Heb. xi. 9, 10. that Abraham, while he receiv-
ed believingly and thankfully the promise of Canaan to his
posterity, as a pledge of something better to himself, and to
his spiritual seed, yet for his own personal and chief inte-
rest, he by faith sojourned in the land of promise, as in a
strange country, very contentedly dwelling in tabernacles
with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same pro-
mise. So he and these other patriarchs showed by their
conduct, that they looked for a city which hath foundations,
whose builder and maker is God.

Thus too the same inspired writer gives an account of the
faith and hope of these fathers, ver. 13 — 16. He says,
These all died in the faith, not having received the promises,
but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them,
and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on earth. He then says, they hereby declared
plainly, that they did seek a country ; not that from whence
they came out : they showed that they desired a better, that
is, a heavenly country. Whatever besides was in these pro-
mises, it is evidently the apostle's view, that there was that
in them that determined these fathers to account themselves,
yea, to choose to be, strangers and pilgrims on earth, and to
desire a heavenly country.

Downwards, ver. 24 — 26. he represents how Moses did
forego the prospect of high worldly advancement, took a
share in the afflictions of the people of God, and in the re-
proach of Christ: for, saith the inspired writer, he had
respect unto the recompence of reward. This was not a re-
ward on earth, or to share in the rest and happiness of Is-
rael in Canaan, which he did not attain ; but a recompence
and reward, the hope of which did not disappoint him.
Thereafter, ver. 35. he mentions some, who were tortured,
not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better re-
surrection. After all this, I cannot but wonder that some
learned men should not be able to find in the religion of the
Old Testament, or in the covenants of promise, which were
the grounds and principles of that religion, a clear and suffi-

Under the Old Testament. 205

cient warrant for the hope of future happiness, and of eternal
life. Our blessed Lord himself, John v. 39- bids the Jews
to search the Scriptures ; for in them, saith he, ye think ye have
eternal life. He gave them no hint on this occasion, that
their opinion of finding eternal life in these Old Testament
Scriptures was ill founded. Yea, if it were, it had been de-
luding them to direct them to look for it there.

It were easy to add here divers instances of holy persons
in these times, whose profession of their faith and hope of
future life appears in the Scriptures of the Old Testament,
and who profess this hope in such a manner as did sufficient-
ly warrant the same hope to others, in their own and after
times. There is less need to enlarge in that way, that even
Socinus and his followers acknowledge that several of them
did actually entertain that hope ; at the same time that they
assert, that God gave them no such promise, nor the war-
rant of such hope ; and allow that the heathens also had that
hope : so that God's Israel were without hope, as to any sure
ground of hope, as well as the heathens who were aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the
covenants of promise, Eph. ii. 12. But the great difference
between Israel and the heathens, as to the grounds of their
hope, doth very clearly appear by what we have said on the
subject. However, as to the hope actually entertained by
them, these few instances (besides what hath come in our
way before) may be observed, Gen. xlix. 18. 2 Sam. xxiii.
5. Psal. xvii. 15. Psal. xlix. 14, 15. Psal. lxxiii. 24 — 26.

If we consider attentively how matters were ordered
under the Old Testament as to Israel, we may see cause
to conceive of them thus. When the Lord chose and sepa-
rated the seed of Jacob to be his church, and brought them
into covenant with himself, he dealt with them as he never
did before, or since, with any people. A particular article
of his covenant and promise to them was, to give them a
good land, Canaan, for an inheritance. He promised them
the enjoyment of that land, and prosperity in it, on condi-
tion of maintaining his truth and worship, and the purity of
his institutions, with which he had dignified them beyond
any other people, and of universal obedience to all his com-
mandments : intimating to them, that, from a contrary be-
haviour, they should expect his judgments to come on them-
selves and their land ; to make them unhappy in it, or to
expel them from it. At the same time, he assured them of
his mercy, by which he would, upon their repentance, renew

i 5

206 An Essay concerning the Promise

the prosperity of their nation, and restore them to the pos-
session of their earthly inheritance, if they had been dis-
possessed of it.

Upon this view of things, we need not wonder that, in
giving them his law by Moses, the Lord should encourage
their nation to a due regard to his laws and ordinances, by
the promise of national and temporal prosperity, in the land
he gave them for an inheritance, and should deter them
from disobedience, by denouncing temporal judgments and
strokes to come on them and on their land, in consequence
„of it. It like manner, when their prophets did deal with
that people about the unhappy circumstances in which they
often were, as they did acquaint them that their sins were
the cause, so they commonly encouraged them to repentance
and reformation by the promise of temporal prosperity to
their nation, and the affluence of the good things of the
earth. Indeed, when the weal and prosperity, the misery
and distresses of nations are the subject, these views will
suit the case of all nations at all times. God doth not give
heaven to whole nations, but doth commonly connect na-
tional good behaviour and obedience with temporal national
prosperity. It is likewise true, that under the Old Testa-
ment, as heavenly and eternal things were more sparingly
revealed, temporal prosperity and success was more common-
ly bestowed, to encourage the integrity of single persons,
than under the gospel, when the cross is recommended to
Christians, after the example of Christ himself, as the way to
glory. These things may account for a great deal of what
is to be found with Moses and the prophets, of which an
improper use hath been made, with regard to the spiritual
state and hope of the Lord's people in ancient times.

What is expressed in the Old Testament Scripture, on
such views as 1 have been observing, is by no means to the
purpose of the doctrine of justification, nor doth it derogate
from the hope of eternal life in the times of the Old Testa-
ment. If Moses or the prophets are signifying to Israel, by
what means their nation may attain or recover the Divine fa-
vour and their national prosperity, we are not to conceive
it, as if the Holy Ghost were showing how a sinner is justi-
fied before God, with spiritual and eternal consequences. I
believe a nation may, according to the common rule and me-
thod of Divine conduct, attain the favour of Providence by
their own works and good behaviour : and the favour of
Providence may sometimes, by Divine sovereignty, be be-

Under the Old Testament. 207

stowed, as the reward of the integrity and well-doing of
single persons, as more commonly happened in the times of
the Old Testament. But it doth not by any means follow,
that a sinner is justified before God by his own works or
righteousness, or that it is by these that a sinner is intro-
duced into a state of grace and favour with God. At the
same time, if the Lord encouraged Israel to obedience, re-
pentance, and reformation, by the promises of peace, earthly
prosperity, and national happiness, they shall greatly mistake,
who shall think that he invited men to piety by no higher
views, and by no better promises.

The case, in short, hath stood thus : Godliness hath still
had the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to
come. Under the gospel, the promise of the life that it to
come is more clearly exhibited, and more inculcated. Dur-
ing the Old Testament, the promise of the life that now is,
did, in a greater degree, include temporal prosperity, and
was more inculcated than since. They who were carnal fol-
lowed after righteousness with that view ; and generally
they did not miss of their reward. But they whose hearts
were formed to spiritual things, as their views entered far-
ther into true holiness, they pursued that course with a high-
er aim of spiritual good things, and of eternal blessings, and
found sufficient ground for such aim and hope in the promises
of the covenant.

It doth not become us to prescribe rules to divine wisdom,
concerning the measure of light that ought to be afforded in
the different periods of time. It is said, 2 Tim. i. 10. that
Christ hath — brought life and immortality to light through the
gospel. Much use hath been made of this against what hath
been here advanced. But no more can be justly made of
these words, than that life and immortality is brought out of
the obscurity of the Old Testament ; and is, together with
the special grounds of the hope, set forth in a clear and full
light by the gospel. But this doth by no means import that
in the preceding state and period there was no revelation or
promise of life and immortality.

That the expression used in writing to Timothy doth not
import so, will appear by considering expressions fully as
strong, used concerning other subjects. For instance, Eph.
iii. the Apostle says, That the Gentiles should be fellow -heirs
and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ,
by the gospel, ver. 6. was a mystery made known, ver. 3. to
himself by revelation. A mystery ver. 5, which in former

208 An Essay concerning the Promise

ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it is now re-
vealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. We
must not for this say, that the mystery of the calling, and
incorporating of the Gentiles into the church, was not at all
revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures. For we find
these Scriptures, on divers occasions, quoted to that purpose ;
and particularly, Rom. xv. 9 — 12- we see the apostle ob-
serving the prediction of that event in divers places of the
Old Testament : and we shall easily find it foretold in
several places, not less, rather more, clearly than in those
mentioned by the apostle. As if he intended to assist those
he wrote to, to observe the prediction in these places where
there were but dark and brief hints of it ; leaving to them-
selves to observe these places where the matter was more
obvious, and presented in a more clear and full light. But
as he says to the Ephesians, of the calling of the Gentiles,
that it was not formerly made known, as it is now revealed
by the Spirit to the holy apostles and prophets ; so we may
justly paraphrase the words to Timothy thus : Life and
immortality were not formerly made known as they are now
revealed by the Spirit to the holy apostles and prophets, and
by them to the church through the gospel. Life and im-
mortality are now brought to light, compared with the for-
mer obscurity.

In like manner, the apostle Peter says of Christ to those
he writes to, that he was fore-ordained before the foundation
of the world ; but (so he adds) was manifested in these latter
times for you. The word man if est, here, and in 2 Tim. i.
10. brought to light, do very precisely render the words of
the Greek ; and to bring to light, and to make manifest, are
expressions evidently of the same meaning. But if Christ
is said to be made manifest in the latter times, those of the
gospel, would any infer that there was no revelation, no
promise of him under the Old Testament ? To make the
like inference concerning life and immortality, from 2 Tim.
i. 10. were no less absurd.

It cannot be understood how religion could be at all main-
tained in ancient times, or at any time sincerely, in the
church, without the promise and hope of spiritual blessings,
and of eternal life ; or how without the pursuit and hope of
these, there could be true purity of heart, or true holiness.
When the apostle Paul proceeds in the latter part of his
epistle to the Colossians, as is usual with him in all his
epistles, to exhort the Colossians to holiness, he begins,

Under the Old Testament. 209

chap. iii. 1. with exhorting them to seek the things that are
above ; to set their affections on things above, not on things
on the earthy and to mortify their members (their corrupt
lusts and affections) that are upon the earth. If we observe
the view the Scripture gives us of the matter, we shall see
there is nothing more contrary to holiness and purity of
heart, than to have the heart set on the earth, and addicted
to earthly satisfactions and enjoyments, and to the pursuit of
them. Though Grotius is wrong, when he writes so un-
favourably of the hope of eternal life during the Old Testa-
ment, yet his view is so far right in general, that, sup-
posing the Lord not to give the hope of any good beyond
what is earthly, there would not be the strength (nor, I say,
the disposition) needful for purifying the heart. To say the
trnth, how could men be found fault with for pursuing and
resting in the happiness of earthly wealth and pleasure, if
nothing better was set before them ? And however, on oc-
casion of remarkable Divine pleasure, fasting and prayer
might, at any rate, be proper, even for the recovery or
continuance of earthly enjoyments ; yet, in the common
course of things, might it not be reckoned just and prudent
to say, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die ? For
why should not men set their hearts on that good, which is
the greatest object of hope, that they find even revelation
setting before them ?

The Lord might indeed, by the regulations prescribed to
civil and ecclesiastic rulers ; by the severity of his judgments
on Israel for their sins ; and by the extraordinary interpo-
sitions of his providence, at other times, in their behalf; by
the ministry of his prophets, and the authority he conciliated
to them by extraordinary gifts and miraculous powers : he
might, I say, by all these means procure considerable regard
to his laws as to outward obedience, and deter men from
the outward practice of wickedness; and so maintain some
order in society. But I am confident, it is agreeable to the
Scriptures, and to the nature of things, to say, that all these
means could not procure true holiness and sincerity of obe-
dience, or the purifying of the heart, if the word of God
proposed, for the object of hope, nothing above what is
earthly.

It will not be enough to say, that many, in these times,
from the direction of their reason or understanding, from
the inclination of their own hearts, or from some secret in-
stinct of grace, did indeed desire and hope for spiritual bless-

210 Explication and Paraphrase

ings and eternal life, though God did not by any revelation
or promise give them any direction or ground to warrant such
desire and hope. Even the Socinians allow so much. But
that certainly must be deemed sufficient in religion, which is
agreeable to the revelation God hath given. If the revela-
tion did not warrant and found the hope of spiritual blessings
and of eternal life, we must either say, that the desire and
hope of these is not necessary in religion, or that divine re-
velation in the times of the Old Testament was essentially
defective ; which were so dishonourable to God and to re-
velation, that I scarce think it will be admitted by any per-
sons of Christian profession.

I apprehend that, of the two things I have mentioned,
those I have in my eye will choose the first ; viz. to say,
that though the desire and hope of spiritual and eternal bles-
sings are of great advantage in religion, yet they are not
absolutely necessary. Accordingly, I observe, that they who
hold that ancient Israel had little hope of eternal life, and no
ground for such hope by God's word or promise, do generally
incline to think favourably of those they call virtuous hea-
thens ; and that their wanting this hope, and good grounds
for it, and the want of its influence in their heart and prac-
tice, was not such an essential defect in the religion of the
heathens, but that without it they might attain to the
pleasing of God, and to future happiness. Whatever argu-
ments he used to guard against the consequence of these
sentiments, yet their tendency is, and their consequence
will commonly be, with those who receive them, though they
themselves have presented to them the revelation and pro-
mise of eternal life, that they will be led by such notions to
think, (what the carnality of men's hearts is otherwise prone
to) that the way to the kingdom of heaven is more easy than
it is indeed, and that with fatal effect to the souls of men.

TEXT — Ver. 10. And the commandment which was ordained to life, I
found to be unto death.

Explication. — The unfavourable consequence of the
coming of the commandment, here seems not to be merely
condemning the transgressor, and adjudging death to him,
which, according to the notion of some late writers, it never
did but in one instance, until the Mosaic promulgation,
which, they say, first added to the commandment the sanc-
tion of death for transgression. If we consider the context
from ver. 5. we may see cause to think, that the apostle hath

Of Romans VII. 211

especially in his view the effect produced by the unregener-
ate heart and the law, between them ; viz. the revival of
sin in its more vehement lustings and unholy affections.

As to the law's being ordained to life, it did originally
promise life to those who should perfectly obey it. It was
designed, and in itself calculated to lead them in the way
that would terminate in life. It represents an amiable scheme
of holiness, a perfect system of duty, by which it might
recommend itself to every rational mind, as tending in its
own nature to make man happy. By its light it marked
out to men the way to life; the Divine authority in it did
powerfully enforce it ; as did the promise of life, and threat-
ening of death annexed to it. To the rational and unde-
praved mind and heart it gave the most powerful excite-
ment to holiness. Thus the commandment was ordained to life.

But, alas ! human nature hath undergone a sad change, a
powerful depravation. Now, sin, or the flesh, that evil prin-
ciple dominant in the unregenerate soul, being urged, reprov-
ed, and condemned by the law, it doth awaken with all its
force, and exert itself in sinful affections, in all manner of
concupiscence, terminating in death. As the evident scope
of the preceding context tends to give this view of the pre-
sent text ; so we see the expression and sense of the next
following, ver. 11. suits the same view-

I do not, however, think that the death here meant is to
be understood merely of the death denounced by the law,
to which the activity of sin deservedly exposes a man. it
seems likely, that by death he especially means here the
prevalence of sin itself in his soul. He mentions, chap. vi.
6. the body of sin, and, ver. 24. of this chapter, he cries out,
Who shall deliver me from this body of death ? We have no
cause to think, that the object of his earnest wish in this
latter text is, to be freed from the body. It is rather what
he had in the former text called the body of sin, that he calls
here, the body of death. The inherent plague of sin showing,
by occasion of the law, its great power and prevalence, was
to him as death ; and why might he not justly call it death,
that disabled him from all vital activity, from activity in ho-
liness, without which he would not reckon that he had life ?

Some writers, whom I have often had occasion to men-
tion, have held that law in this context is to be understood
in a restricted sense, of a law with the sanction of death for
transgression, such as never was given forth to sinful men
until the Mosaic promulgation ; and this some of them call

212 Explication and Paraphrase

rigour of law. But how could it be said that this law was
ordained to life to sinful men ; for it was to such it was given
at Sinai ? it could not possibly bring sinners to life. If they
should say the law was ordained to life, as it was first given
to Adam in innocence, yet even thus it will not answer, ac-
cording to the strange notion of Dr T. who says, that
Adam, in his first state, could not stand under what he
calls rigour of law, (that is, law denouncing death for every
transgression,) more than any of his posterity. If so, then,
according to him, the law could not bring man in his best
state to life ; and none will say that the law could give life
to sinners. How then, according to these men's notions,
could Paul say, the law was ordained to life ?

Paraphrase. — 10. And thus the commandment, which
was originally designed to give life to all who would per-
fectly obey it, and which to undepraved and innocent man
gave the best direction, and the most powerful excitement
to the holiness and obedience that is the way to life, did, as
by accident, (as causa per accidens,) through the sad cor-
ruption of my nature, which did not yield to its authority,
nor was subdued by its power, but exerted itself the more
vehemently in all sinful affections and lustings, work a real
death in me, as it denounced eternal death to me ; and so
(ver. 90 destroyed that confidence by^which I was sometime
vainly alive in my own conceit*

TEXT. — 11. For sin taking occasion by the commandment, deceived mer
and by it slew me.

Explication. — Dr W. in his annotations on ver. 8 — 11.
and after his particular annotation on ver. 10. says, ' The
' old and common interpretation is this, that the prohibition
c of what we desire makes us to think the enjoyment of it
■ more sweet and valuable ; or at least provokes the carnal
i mind, which is not subject to the law of God, to a more
1 fervent lusting after it, dum prohibita non tarn refugit quam
1 ar dentins ex pet it, and this agrees very well with the ex-
6 pression.' The matter may be illustrated by this simili-
tude : — If a man who bears an inveterate hatred to another,
whom he reckons his enemy, ever desiring and endeavour-
ing to destroy him, should see this other man before him
and near him, this would readily awaken his passion to an
extreme degree against him, and put him upon showing his
hatred and opposition to him in a vehement manner. So sin,
finding the commandment come home upon the conscience

Of Romans VII. 213

with much force, seeking its destruction ; this awakens the
malignity of sin, and it exerts itself, and all its members, its
various lusts and psssions, in the most keen opposition to
the law.

He had said before, that sin taking occasion by the com-
mandment, wrought in him all manner of concupiscence.
Here he says, sin taking occasion by the commandment, de-
ceived him. So there is deception in the case. There is
so great evil in sin, and the consequences, as set forth by
the righteous law, are so terrible, that it were not likely the
heart of man would fall in with it, without being in some
way deceived. So the Greek here is il^TroLT^i, it deceived,
as the Seventy hath in Eve's answer, Gen. iii. 1 3. the ser-
pent YiTXTYiri beguiled me. We know that men's lusts and
passions have great influence on their mind and imagination.
Thus sin, and the various lusts thereof, awakened and irri-
tated by the contrary commandment, set the imagination to
work according to their own turn and disposition, to repre-
sent in the most alluring colours the pleasure to be attained
by their gratification and enjoyment. This further inflames
the sinful passion and lusting. These sinful passions and
desires upon the one hand, and on the other the false co-
lours in which the imagination represents the object, do mu-
tually co-operate to give advantage to sin and its deceit.

Dr Doddridge, in his paraphrase, mentions another way
of deception, (to which, however, the deceiving is by no
means to be restricted,) thus : ' Sin — taking occasion by the
' terrors and curse of the violated commandment, and repre-
' senting the great Lawgiver, as now become my irrecon-
' cilable enemy, deceived me into a persuasion that I could
< be no worse than I was.' The truth is, a persuasion that
a man cannot be in a worse state, or, in other words, a des-
pair of mercy, doth in persons under the power of their lust,
very commonly operate in this way, even for a man to run
the more vehemently in an evil course, with an affected
thoughtlessness about futurity.

At the sametime, there is another sort of deception no
less common, arising from the suggestion of impunity : thus,
Deut. xxix. 18, 19- — Lest there should be among you a root
bearing gall and wormwood, and it come to pass when he
heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his
heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagi-
nation of mine heart. A self- flattering heart, (deceitful
above all things, Jer. xvii. 9.) can readily enough suggest.

214 Explication and Paraphrase

in flat contradiction to the law, as the tempter did of old,
(Gen. iii. 4.) Ye shall not surely die. This is perhaps sup-
ported by some delusion, which the heart is very ready to
entertain concerning the goodness of God, and by extenuat-
ing thoughts of sin, and perhaps by the notion of some
works, or some particular virtue on which a man values
himself, and which he vainly thinks makes compensation for
his sin. Thus, for instance, some worthless men of our
times, who have sold themselves to their lusts in the prac-
tice of lewdness, do abound in almsgiving, from a senseless
notion of the meaning of that text, 1 Pet. iv. 8. Charity shall
cover a multitude of sins. Thus sin makes out its purpose
by one way or other of deceiving.

Dr T. doth here alter the translation, and, instead of sin
taking occasion, he renders, ' sin having received force by
' the commandment/ He says, (note on ver. 8.) that all
the commentators (and some of them understood the Greek
exceeding well) have mistaken the signification of the Greek
word here rendered occasion, when it really signifies force,
advantage. That force he understands of the force which
sin hath got by the Mosaic law to give death to the trans-
gressor. Grotius on ver. 8. renders the Greek word, impu-
nity, which implies the law's wanting force. Dr T. will
have it mean, the law's having force, and giving destructive
force to sin. Enough has been said elsewhere concerning
Grotius' rendering. I see not that Dr T. gives any autho-
rity or reason for his sense of the word ; if it is not that it
best suits his notions and doctrine, and the misinterpreta-
tion he has given of divers other texts. I see in my dic-
tionary, occasion, given for a sense of the word. But that
of Grotius, or of Dr. T. are not among the senses given of
it. If critics will, in interpreting Scripture, give senses to
words upon no better authorities, they may assert and esta-
blish what doctrines they please.

The sense of this verse may, with little variation from
the paraphrase of the worthy Dr Guyse, be given thus :

Paraphrase. — 11. For sin in me, that evil principle so
deeply rooted in my depraved nature, being impatient of
restraint by the law, took a perverse occasion from the strict-
ness of the commandments contained in it, to rise up in re-
bellion against it, as if it was too unreasonable and severe
an imposition to be laid upon human nature ; and by this
and various other means of deception, beguiling me as the
serpent did Eve, (Gen. iii. 13.) it ensnared me, and drew

Of Romans VII. 215

me to the commission of many evils, which God had forbidden ;
and by this means, brought me more and more under the
heaviest sentence of condemnation and death ; and when
afterwards it came home, in its spirituality and power, to
my conscience, it slew the high towering thoughts and con-
fidences which I before had entertained about my own suf-
ficiency to keep it, and my own righteousness to recommend
me to God.

TEXT. — 12. Wherefore the law is holy : and the commandment holy, and
just, and good.

I have no occasion to enlarge on the epithets and cha-
racters here given to the law and commandment ; the sense
of which is obvious. The purpose and sense of what this
verse contains may be conceived and expressed briefly ac-
cording to this

Paraphrase. — 12. I have shown the true cause of all sin-
ful motions ; of every sinful concupiscence. Wherefore,
although the evil principle in the hearts of men doth pro-
duce such concupiscence, and sinful motions more vehe-
mently, by occasion of the commandment ; yet the law in
itself is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good:
and so not at all favourable to sin, which it pursues into the
the heart, discovers, and reproves in the very inward mo-
tions thereof.

TEXT. — 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 exceed*
ing sinful.

Explication. — Let us begin with observing Dr TVs in-
terpretation of the first part of this verse. According to the
notion that has been entertained by him, and some others,
that this chapter is addressed to Jewish converts separately,
he makes several passages in it to be the words, question, or
objection of a Jew, with the apostle's answer annexed. So
here his paraphrase gives, in way of dialogue, thus : e Jew,
1 And yet you say, we were made subject to death by the
1 commandment. Could that which is so good (ver. J 2.)
* become deadly to us V By this the Jew, as he is repre-
sented here, considers the law's denouncing death for trans-
gression as a doctrine of the apostle's, which Jews had not
known, nor ever received ; and reasoning against it as hard,
and inconsistent with the goodness of the law, But it is

216 Explication and Paraphrase

very incongruous to put an objection against the law in the
mouth of a Jew, The Jew gloried in the law, and would
not object against it on the account here mentioned, or on
any account. When the curses were solemnly proclaimed
from mount Ebal, Deut. xxvii. all the people were directed
to say at hearing each, Amen. They did so at hearing the
last comprehensive one denounced against all and every
transgression, ver. 26. Their assent and consent to this,
on that solemn occasion, appears as a condition of the cove-
nant of that nation with God. They greatly mistake, who
think the design here is to vindicate the penal sanction of
the law against the objection of a Jew* What the vindica-
tion hath respect to, we have seen in part, and will presently
see more fully.

Let us now see the answer, as Dr T. gives it thus:
K Apos. No. ; take me right. It was not the commandment
c itself which slew us, but sin. It was sin which subjected

* us to death, by the law justly threatening sin with death.'
The truth in this matter is easily conceived. Sin merits
death : death is threatened and inflicted by the law and by
the Lawgiver. There is faultiness in sin, so meriting ; but
no faultiness on the part of the law, or Lawgiver. But to
say, it was not the law that slew sinners, or subjected them
to death, is not agreeable to truth ; nor is it consistent with
what this Doctor says elsewhere. In his note on ver. 8. he
writes thus : ' That sting (viz. of death) is sin. But death
' would have no power to thrust that sting into the sinner's
f heart, were it not for the law of God condemning him to
g death.' And a little downwards : e The law is the
' force, by which the terrible sting is plunged into the sin-
' ner's vitals. For, ver. 8. without the law, sin, the sting

* of death, is itself dead, and quite unable to slay the sin-
' ner.' Thus this acute Doctor introduces the Jew, quite
out of character, objecting against the law, and its penal
sanction ; and makes the inspired apostle give an answer
inconsistent with the Doctor's own account of things ; an an-
swer contrary to truth and common sense. How could the
man say, it was not the commandment that slew us, but
sin, when he held that sin prevailing for many ages did not
slay men, until the law was given at Sinai?

As it is quite vain to think that the apostle means here
to introduce a vindication of the law, for assigning death as
the punishment of transgressions ; so the just view of his de-
sign is easily learned from the preceding context. He had

Of Romans VII. 217

mentioned, ver. 5. the motions of sins which were by the law.
He had said, ver. 8. that sin taking occasion by the command*
ment, wrought in him all manner of concupiscence: and ver.

10. that the commandment which was ordained to life, he
found to be unto death: and ver. 11. that sin taking occasion
by the commandment, deceived him. By this it is evident,
that what is here meant is a vindication of the law from the
charge of being truly the cause of sin in a man's heart and
practice, or of these motions of sins, and of that concupis-
cence and deception that is by occasion of the law. As we
distinguish, with regard to offence, between offence given
and offence taken, which last may be when indeed there is
no offence, or cause of offence, given : so here, as to occa-
sion, the law did not give occasion ; but sin did perversely
and wickedly take occasion, such as the context represents.
The vindicating of the law with regard to this, and showing
that it is not by any means the cause of sin, is the evident
and special scope of this place.

The true cause, then, of these motions of sins, ver. 5. of
that unholy concupiscence, ver. 8. of that deception, ver.

11. is sin. So the apostle says here : Sin that it might ap-
pear sin, working death in me by that which is good. Here
two things are to be considered and inquired into. 1. What
is here meant by death ? I have said before, that the holy
apostle would certainly reckon as a very death in his soul
the prevailing of sin in its motions and activity in his heart.
Yet this not to exclude sin's working death in and to him
by virtue of the sanction of the law. Not as if this was the
effect by a peculiarity or peculiar sanction of the Mosaic
law, but by virtue of the sanction that was ever in the law,
and connected with the commandment : the consequence of
which was, that every new motion or act of sin, or concu-
piscence, subjected him to new condemnation to death, by
virtue of the threatening of the law.

2. The other thing to be here inquired into, is, what is
meant by sin in this clause, — sin that it might appear sin.
Divers commentators have observed, that sin is in this con-
text, by a figure, represented as a person ;N and some seem
to mean no more by this figurative person, than a general
notion, comprehending or including all particular sorts of sin.
But we see in this context sin distinguished from sinful act-
ing, as we have, ver. 8. sin working in a man all manner
of concupiscence. This last imports inward acts of sin, pre-
vious to which is sin working this concupiscence, and the

218 Explication and Paraphrase

efficient cause of it. So that sin thus working is not to be
considered as a thing merely ideal, an abstract idea, or no-
tion, which cannot be truly the cause of any thing. Sin here
is something real — a cause, which, by its powerful influence,
works concupiscence, every particular lusting, or unholy af-
fection, [t is the cause or principle of sinning, deeply rooted
in men's nature, in this state of depravation, what the learn-
ed have called peccatum peccans — the sinning sin — sin the
cause of all actual sins in the inward and outward practice.
The remainder of which evil principle in the regenerate he
had called (chap. vi. 6.) the old man. It is otherwise called
the jiesh ; which is itself, previous to these unholy actings,
inward or outward, called (Gal. v. 19- &c.) the works of the
flesh. How, on any other view, can be understood sin work-
ing concupiscence ? This activity, in the way of concupis-
cence, or of deceiving, doth certainly presuppose a previous
acting cause. The sum, then, of the apostle's argument is,
as hath been several times said, that the law or command-
ment is but the innocent occasion, and by no means the cause
of such sinful motions as are said (ver. 5.) to be by the law ;
but that sin, that evil principle in human nature, is the true
proper cause of all sinful motions and actions.

Nor will it make a valid objection against this, that is
somewhere suggested by Mr L., that sin cannot be the cause
of itself. True ; nothing can be the cause of itself. But
sin, in one sense and respect, may be the cause of sin in
another sense and respect. This is easily explained by
James i. 15. It will be acknowledged that the lusting there
mentioned is sin, especially when it hath inwardly conceived ;
and there it is said, When lust hath conceived, it bringeth
forth sin. Here, then, sin (lust inwardly conceiving) is the
cause of sin in the outward work and deed. Besides this, it
appears in our context that there is sin in nature, previous
even to the inward lusting, and which is the cause of it, —
sin working in a man all manner of concupiscence.

Now, as to the last clause, That sin by the commandment
might become exceeding sinful ; it has been observed before,
that sometimes things are said to be, when the meaning is,
that they appear, or are proved to be. To the instances of
this sort adduced on chap. vi. 1. may be added (chap, ill- 19.)
That all the world may become guilty before God. It is not
by the declaration or testimony of God's word that men,
properly and indeed, become guilty ; but thereby it appears
that they are guilty. So here, as in the preceding clause,

Of Romans VI L 219

it is said, Sin that it might appear sin ; to the same purpose,
with some variation of expression, it is in the last clause,
That sin by the commandment might become (that is, might
appear, or be proved to be) exceeding sinful

Paraphrase. — 13. But after all that hath been offered to
vindicate the law from the charge of being the true and pro-
per cause of sin, yet having (ver. 5.) mentioned the motions
of sin which are by the law, and (ver. 8.) all manner of con-
cupiscence arising by occasion of the law ; and (ver. 10.)
that you found the commandment to be unto death to you ;
and (ver. 11.) that sin, by occasion of the commandment,
deceived and slew you ; may it not be justly concluded, that
the law which you have commended for its goodness is, in-
deed, made death to you, not merely by adjudging death to
you for transgressing and rebelling against the commands
and authority of the Almighty, (which all the world must
acknowledge to be agreeable as to the holiness and justice,
so also to the goodness of the law) but that it is also made
death to yon by increasing the activity of sin in you, or in
me, which is so contrary to. so inconsistent with, the activity
of a better and true life in our souls ; and thus it is a true
cause of death in us of sin, as well as of death to us of pu-
nishment ? That the law should in this way be made death
to me, or to any, I cannot easily conceive to be consistent
with that holiness or goodness which you ascribe to the law.

But far be it from us to think so concerning the divine
law and holy commandment. The effect mentioned is, as 1
hinted (ver. 5.) only in them who are in the flesh, under the
dominion of sin, (chap. vi. 14.) ; and I still say, that it is sin,
or the flesh, that evil principle and plague inherent in my
depraved nature, that wrought death in me and to me ;
thereby appearing in its own colours, and to be what it truly
is, the vilest thing in the world, even to be sin, (than which
nothing worse can be said of it,) the fruitful and abounding
source of all transgression inward and outward, meriting
death ; and proving at once its wickedness and power, in
working death in me by that which is good, that so (not
only by its ordinary motions, but especially by its more
lively and powerful activity, on occasion of the command-
ment's coming home into my conscience, then exerting itself,
as in defiance and despight of its light and authority, and of
the divine authority in it), sin in me might appear by the
light of the commandment thus outrageously despised and
counteracted, to be a most aggravated evil, — evil beyond all

'V

220 A Dissertation concerning

conception — an abounding and overflowing source of trans-
gression, impurity, and iniquity, — the powerful cause of in-
creased condemnation and death, — yea, in a word, to be (as
Jer. xvii. 9-) desperately wicked.

We have seen the case of persons under the law in the
flesh, and so under the dominion of sin. Whether the latter
part of this chapter, which now follows, doth represent the
case, with respect to sin, of persons under grace, whilst they
continue in this life, is to be the next subject of inquiry.
But here I find it expedient to alter my method.

A DISSERTATION

CONCERNING THE GENERAL SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF THE LATTER
PART OF CHAP. VII. 14-25. IN ORDER TO DETERMINE WHETHER
IT REPRESENTS THE CASE OF A REGENERATE OR UNREGENER-
ATE person; THE CASE OF A PERSON UNDER THE LAW, OR OF
ONE UNDER GRACE ; WHEREIN THE PARTICULAR EXPRESSIONS
OF THAT CONTEXT ARE EXPLAINED.

Sect. 1 . — Beitig an introduction to this subject and inquiry.
It has been said, that the ancient writers of the church
did universally understand the apostle as here personating
an unregenerate person, until Augustine introduced a dif-
ferent interpretation. Wolfius, on verse 9- of this chapter,
mentions a learned writer (Calovius) who has proved, he
says, that these ancient writers before Augustine did not
universally so understand the apostle. Augustine himself,
who had at first so understood, says, that in the opinion
which, on more close consideration of the context, he fell in
with, he followed the interpretation of several writers of note,
whom he mentions. By the passages he quotes from Am-
brose of Milan, it is very evident that that eminent person,
who wrote before him, understood Paul as representing here
his own case and experience in a state of grace. This is in
Augustine's second book against Julian.

In later times, Socinus, that noted adversary, under
Christian profession of the Christian faith, said, Beware as
of the pestilence, that you understand not this context of
persons regenerate and under grace. Arminius, the first
who did, in the bosom of a reformed church, broach that
scheme of doctrine that hath its name from him, made the
first discovery of his sentiments in his lectures on this con-
text, in which his interpretation differed from that which was
generally given by the reformed divines. He afterwards
published an elaborate dissertation upon it, written with con-

The General Scope of Rom. VI L 14—25. 221

siderable learning and acuteness. On the former part of the
chapter we saw different opinions and interpretations ; but
on this part men have become more warm and keen in their
reasoning, and whilst they differ otherwise, they seem on
all hands to agree in this one thing, the importance of un-
derstanding this context aright.

Among those who think the apostle here personates an
unregenerate man, there is, however, some difference in
their manner of stating the matter. Arminius supposes we
have here the case of a man under the powerful influence of
the law in his conscience, the law doing in his conscience
all that could be done by its light and authority, convincing
of sin, condemning, and giving him great excitement to his
duty ; the case of a man in the very next step to regenera-
tion and conversion. But the writers on that side do appear
sometimes to change their ground. Some understand the
man personated to be the Jew under the law, and even of
such an one as Ahab, one of the worst of Jews, one of the
worst of men, far from regeneration. Several have recourse
to heathen fable, and introduce the story of the witch Medea,
and the words which the poet puts in her mouth, to exemplify
and illustrate their interpretation of this context ; as if we
had nothing here but what suits the character and disposition
of an Ahab, or a Medea.

Dr Whitby states the question thus : c Whether Paul
c speaketh here in his own person, or in the person of a re-
' generate man, or only in the person of a Jew conflicting
f with the motions of his lusts, only by the assistance of the
' letter of the law, without the aids and powerful assistance

• of the Holy Spirit—'

It is not easy to see with what propriety the name and
character of Jew is here introduced at all. Holy men from
Moses to 'Christ were generally Jews; and it cannot be said
that they were without the aids of the Holy Spirit, according
to Dr YV. himself on ver. 5. It seems to be especially hard
that he should thus represent a Jew, as not having the aids
of the Spirit, even when conflicting against the motions of
his lusts, considering what himself allows in favour of the
heathens, annot. on Rom. ii. 14. where he says, ' If any of
' them did arrive at such a state, as made them indeed to
c fear God, and work righteousness, they did this not merely

• by the strength of natural light ; for though some of them
c seem to say, that nature or philosophy was a sufficient
' guide to virtue, yet that they meant not this exclusively

K

222 A Dissertation concerning

' of the Divine assistance, which they saw necessary to pre-
* serve them against the infirmity of human nature, their
' own words do fully testify/ I stay not to make observa-
tions on the doctrine or interpretation contained in this pas-
sage. Only as to what concerns the present purpose, it re-
presents to us, heathens arriving, according to this writer,
at the character of fearing God, and working righteousness,
( w hich they could not do without conflicting successfully
against their lusts), and that not without Divine assistance.
Alas for the poor Jew under the law, and having the advan-
tage of Divine revelation, that to his character it should be
affixed, as a thing distinguishing him from both the Christian
and the heathen, to be conflicting with his lusts without
that assistance !

I would ask, was there anv universal sufficient grace in
these Jewish and Old Testament times ? I should think,
that the principles that would necessarily infer the doctrine
of such grace at one time, would prove it with respect to
every time. If there was, as Dr VV. held, I see not how
a Jew could be supposed to be sincerely, seriously, earnestly
( I think the author must mean so — certainly our context
represents so) in conflict with the motions of his lusts ; and
yet not have sufficient Divine aids to enable a person so dis-
posed, and so exercised, to overcome them.

After all, how comes he to suppose a Jew of the Apostle's
times to be conflicting with his lusts at all, when these
Jews were generally of opinion, that the motions of lusts in
the hearts of men were not sins or transgressions of the law,
if they did not take effect externally ? as this learned writer
proves in his annotation on Matth. v. 20, 21. to have been
the opinion of the most prevailing sect, and of their teachers,
as they were indeed comparatively but few of the Jews
who were not followers of that sect of the Pharisees. Upon
this view, it were certainly more congruous to have marked
out and distinguished the JewT, as one who, whatever guard
he kept on his outward behaviour, did not inwardly main-
tain a conflict with his lusts at all, rather than as one who,
without the aid of the Spirit, was in earnest and sad conflict
with them, crying out, as in this context, Wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me ! For my part, I cannot help con-
sidering it as very opposite to the clear doctrine of the Scrip-
ture, to suppose the Jew, or any man, to be in sincere con-
flict against the motions of his lusts and corrupt affections
within him, with the view and desire of holiness, and purity

The General Scope of Rom. VI J. 14—25. 2Sfl

of heart, without being under the present influence of the
Holy Spirit.

It seems some followers of Pelagius of old did likewise
understand this context, as if it set forth the language of a
Jew personated. But Augustine did well observe, (contra
Julianum, lib. S. cap. 26. J that these words, Wretched man
that I am, who shall deliver me? — The grace of God through
Jesus Christ our Lord, (so he read, instead of, / thank God,
as we have it,) could not be the language of a Jew, or be
used by the apostle, as personating a carnal Jew, who would
not speak thus of Jesus Christ. It is the same person, he
observes, who says, Grace will deliver me through Jesus
Christ, who said, / see another law resisting the law of my
mind. How Dr T. endeavours to hide this glaring incon-
gruity, we shall see when wre come to explain that part of
the context.

Though Dr W. in stating the question (when, if ever, he
should have spoke with some exactness) will have the apostle
to be speaking here as in the person of a Jew, yet in his
paraphrase of ver. 14. he expresses a more extensive view,
thus : ' The law is spiritual: but every natural man hath
' cause to say of himself, I am carnal.' As there is then
no colour of reason for mentioning the Jew on this occasion,
let us take the view of the writers of that side, on the general
point that the apostle here personates an unregenerate man,
that none may complain of unfairly representing their opinion
by restricting the matter to the Jew.

They who hold this interpretation, do most commonly
seem to understand by what good is here ascribed to the un-
regenerate, no more than the light of reason in the mind or
understanding, with the urgent testimony for duty, and
against sin, that is in the conscience of the unregenerate, with
different degrees of light and force. But if they can by any
arguments persuade men that it is the case of the unrege-
nerate that is here represented, I see they have further use
to make of that interpretation in the dispute concerning the
moral powers of nature. But this will come in our way more
fully hereafter, in explaining the particular parts of the con-
text that they argue from.

There is another point of doctrine which writers of that
side have at heart to support. As they labour much to ad-
vance the moral powers of nature, and of free-will in men's
natural and unregenerate state, they are no less anxious to
advance the power of free-will in a state of grace, beyond

224 A Dissertation concerning

proper bounds. This has led them, at least some of the most
eminent of them, to hold, that a sinless state, and perfection
in holiness, is within the reach of free-will in this life. But
it tends utterly to confound that notion, if this very eminent
saint and Apostle shall be understood to speak in this con-
text as in his own person, and to be representing how mat-
ters stood with himself as to sin and holiness.

So these writers have their system to take care of and
support, in interpreting this part of Scripture; — none, how-
ever, more ready to accuse their neighbours, the divines of
the reformed churches, of interpreting Scripture by their sys-
tem. Whatever may be of this upon one side or other, yet
there is no good cause for scepticism. The true and certain
meaning of scripture may be reached by humble, sincere, and
impartial inquiries after truth. Let the reader be warned to
be on his guard, that none impose the mere notions of his
system upon him for Scripture. At the same time, I may be
allowed to warn him, not to let a pre-conceived opinion shut
out the truth from his mind, or harden him against its evi-
dence and impression. Let us now go a step nearer to the
main subject.

Sect. 2. — Containing general considerations tending to ex-
plain the scope and purpose of this context.

1 . The first consideration arises from the great difference
in the style and expression between the former and this
latter context. He had been speaking of himself in the past
tense, showing how matters had been with him formerly,
when under the law ; and, in his own case, representing
how it is with persons under the law, who, as long as they
are so, are in the flesh, and under the dominion of sin. He
now, from ver. 14. speaks of himself in the present tense. It
is what naturally occurs to one's mind from this change of
the tense, that, as formerly he had been showing his own
case whilst under the law, so now he shows how things go
with him at present, in a state of grace, as he was when he
wrote. They would need to bring very cogent reasons, who
would have us understand him in a sense so very different
from what his expression naturally leads us to. He could
easily set forth in plain speech the case of persons unrege-
nerate, as he had done before in this and the preceding
chapters, without darkening matters, and making his dis-
course quite ambiguous, by altering his style. He had in
a very plain manner represented, from his own past expe-

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14 — 25. 225

rience, the case of persons under the law ; what good reason
-can possibly be given for his becoming obscure now, by
speaking in the present tense, as of himself, (a person rege-
nerate and under grace,) what must be understood of persons
unregenerate and under the law, without giving any hint
that he so means ?

It hath been said, that the apostle doth on divers occa-
sions speak in his own name, when he doth indeed person-
ate others. Several instances are adduced, some of which
cannot be justly so interpreted. But if it be allowed, that,
on some occasions, he doth in very few words express the
arguments, objections, and reproaches used by others against
himself, his doctrine, or conduct, yet in every such case the
thing evidently appears by the obvious import of the expres-
sions, and by the answers immediately subjoined, so that
there is not room left for mistaking. But it is quite unlikely
that he would continue to speak, as of himself, through so
long a passage, and yet mean it of others all the time,
without intimating by any expression or hint, that to be his
design. At any rate, his personating on some other occa-
sions, does not give us cause to think he personates here*
unless very good reasons were given for our understanding
him so; and what reasons are offered to that purpose, are to
be here considered.

One account of the matter, somewhat plausible, is given
by Dr W. (annot. on Rom. vii. 25.) thus : ' He saith not,
' as he might have done, you that are under the law are

* carnal ; but, representing what belonged to them in his
1 own person, and so taking off the harshness, and mollify-

* ing the invidiousness of the sentence, by speaking of it in
1 his own person, he saith, / am carnal, sold under sin.
f So Photius and Oecumenius.' This is far from being sa-
tisfying ; and I wish the learned writer had told us what
there is in the names Photius and Oecumenius, to make a
bad reason a good one. < He saith not, You that are under
1 the law.' Surely he could neither say nor mean this with
repect to these he writes to. For, even supposing, as some
would have it, that this chapter is addressed to the Jews se-
parately, yet it must be supposed, that it is to the Jewish
converts or believers. Now, to them he had said in this
chapter, that they were dead to the law, and delivered from
it ; nor could he, in the personating way, or otherwise, say
that they were sold under sin, in the sense in which Dr W.
and other Arminians explain that expression. If it shall be

226 A Dissertation concerning

supposed, that he means the infidel Jews, how was this
grave lecture, contained in an epistle to the Roman Chris-
tians, to be conveyed to them ? If it should be conveyed to
them, certainly the strong things he says, as of himself, they
wrould all agree to belong to himself in the worst sense ; and
if having sold themselves to sin and wickedness is said of
these revolters from the true religion, in the times of the
Maccabees, who are mentioned in the interpretation of this
context, surely the infidel Jews would readily say that, in as
strong sense as Dr W. uses the expression, ver. 14. it be-
longed to Paul himself, that noted revolter, as they judged
of him. This is all the advantage the apostle would be like-
ly to gain at the hands of the infidel Jews, by his mollify-
ing art.

But why speak of mollifying ? When the pravity of men's
nature, and the wretchedness of their condition is to be
shown, it doth not suit the fidelity of God's messengers, and
was far from the apostle's way, to take off the harshness of
truths, and to molify them, though too many do often ma-
nage in that way, when indeed the hearts of men do more
need to be roused and awakened to a sense of their extreme
wretchedness in a state of sin.

A prudent caution, a holy art, (as they represent in this
case) to avoid giving offence by plain speech to those he
writes to, is on some occasions ascribed to the apostle with-
out cause. His words, ver. 5. imply, that they who are
under the law are in the flesh. Is not this, compared with
chap. viii. 8, 9. strong and harsh ? Is it not so, when his
words, chap. vi. 14. clearly imply, that they who are under
the law are under the dominion of sin ? He had in the pre-
ceding sixth chapter told the Romans they had been the
servants (the slaves) of sin, in a shameful course, and in
the way to perdition and death eternal. Is he now afraid
to provoke the self-righteous legalist, or impenitent sinners,
so as to put on caution here, from ver. 14. to avoid offence,
and soften things, by telling very darkly their case, and
saying as concerning himself, what it would be very dange-
rous (so Dr W. says) for them to understand as true of such
a man as he then was, and that without cautioning them by
the least hint against that dangerous notion ? In fine, what-
ever be understood by law, it is plain that the apostle doth,
without mincing or mollifying, set forth in a clear and
strong light, in the preceding context of this chapter, and

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14—25. 227

chap. vi. 14. the very unhappy condition of persons under
the law.

Let us now go a little farther in observing the variation of
the apostle's style, (of which see Dr Guyse, note on ver. 14.)
and compare his expression here, ver. 14 — 25. with what
he hath in this and the preceding and following chapters,
concerning the unregenerate. These (chap. vi. 16 — 20.)
yielded (that is, sisted or presented) themselves ser-
vants to sin; they yielded, or sisted their members as ser-
vants to uncleanncss, and to iniquity ; wThich implies the full
and habitual consent of the will. But here, ver. 23. there is
a law in a man's members warring, and bringing into capti-
vity that which is against the habitual bent and inclina-
tion of the man's will.

As to the unregenerate who are after the flesh and in the
flesh, they are, chap. viii. 7« enmity agaist God, and not
subject to his law. But the man, in our context, from ver.
14. consents to the law, that it is good ; delights in the law of
God after the inner man ; and with his mind he himself serves
the law of God.

As to the man in our context, what is holy and good is
what he willeth ; sin is what he willeth not. But in the con-
text preceding ver. 14. where the case of the unregenerate
man under the law is certainly set forth, sin doth by oc-
casion of the law work in him all manner concupiscence,
deceives him, slays him, and reviving in him, destroys all
his confidences ; but it is not said of him that he hates it,
that it is the thing he would not, nor doth he cry out of
wretchedness by it, as in the latter context.

They who interpret this latter context, of a man in the
flesh, and under the law, do ascribe all the good mentioned
in it to the man's understanding, reason, and natural con-
science. But though these are in the unregenerate, who
are certainly meant in the context preceding ver. 14. yet in
no part of that context are they said to love, to hate, to de-
light, to will, to serve, as in this ; nor in the former con-
text is there any mention of the inner man, of the mind, or
of the law of the mind.

The several expressions in the latter context come again
in our way, to be more particularly explained. I here only
observe the variation of the apostle's style and expression.
Upon a general view, the great difference and variation of the
style and expression gives good cause to think, that from ver.
1 4. there is represented a person and state very different from

228 A Dissertation concerning

being under the law, in the flesh, as we have here a style and
expression never used concerning such.

2. Here we see that the apostle speaks with a special view
to the spirituality of the law of God, as it gives rule to a
man's heart and spirit within, and to all inward thoughts
and motions in the soul. It seems indeed to be clear, that
it is with this view he speaks all along, even in the preced-
ing context. The motions of sin's working in a man's mem-
bers, ver. 5. are inward : the particular instance condes-
cended on, ver. 7- Thou shalt not covet, is inward. So it is,
ver. 8. when sin works in a man all manner of concupis-
cence ; and when, ver Q. sin revives. If it were the prac-
tice of sin in outward works and behaviour that were meant
in that context, certainly what he says would not universally
suit the case of persons in the flesh, and under the law.
Many such have been outwardly, as to the righteousness
which is in the law, blameless. So the apostle himself was
when in that state, and in appearance very religious, yea,
having much at heart to be so. It had been a too partial,
restricted, and incomplete view of the general character of
persons in the flesh, and under the law, if he had consider-
ed and represented only the outward practice ; nor would it
give a just account of the character in general of persons in
the flesh ; whereas upon the view we are taking of the apos-
tle's discourse, it answers to that character and state univer-
sally. Those in the flesh, as the apostle represents, do
mean in their way to serve God, if not in the newness of
gpirit, yet according to the oldness of the letter. It is so
that the distinction is stated, ver. 6. Not that the one sort
serve God, and the other sort do not intend to serve him at
all. If those in the flesh have their unholiness, and unholy
lustings and affections, (which in many of them break forth
outwardly in much impurity and iniquity,) yet they have
also their carnal religion, and their carnal confidence founded
upon it. If the impurities and iniquity of the flesh have
fearfully prevailed in the world, a carnal religion, in one
form or other, hath no less overspread the world.

But when the apostle doth, ver. 14. where he begins to
speak of himself in the present tense, mention expressly that
the law is spiritual, it serves as a key to the following con-
text, with which that expression and assertion is more pre-
cisely connected. Now, it is not only that his nature and
heart had been, as to its inward workings, in the utmost re-
bellious and unholy opposition to the law, in his unregenerate

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14—25. 229

state, but, as if he had said, When I consider the law in
this point of view, as it is spiritual, alas, I am (yet, I am
stilly carnal, even in my present more comfortable state !
alas, what of impurity and iniquity remains inwardly with
me ! If he had considered the law as a rule only to the out-
ward actions and behaviour, he might at any rate say, that
it is holy, just, and good; but might easily, at the same
time, think himself likewise holy, just, and good. But when
he views the law as spiritual, he finds great opposition and
disconformity to its holiness to observe with sorrow, even
now in his better state under grace. When he considers
that the law requires not only the external acts of worship.,
but also requires the worshipping of God in spirit and in
truth ; that it not only requires the external acts of obe-
dience, but also demands to love God sincerely, yea, in-
tensely to the utmost of our faculties and powers, with all
our might and strength ; that it not only prohibits outward
acts of impurity and iniquity, but also prohibits ail devia-
tion of the heart from God, and from holiness, by evil lust-
ing inwardly ; that it not only requires all outward duty to
our neighbour, (including our enemies) but also that our
heart inwardly be sincerely well affected to him ; that not
only killing a man, but also to be angry at him without a
cause, is a transgression of the sixth commandment; that
not only the outward act of adultery, but also to look on a
woman to lust after her, is a transgression of the seventh; —
it is, I say, considering the law as thus spiritual, thus giv-
ing rule to his heart and spirit within him, and prohibiting
the inward motions and activity of sin, and comparing him-
self, and the inward motions and inclinations of his heart,
with the strict holiness and spirituality of it, that he repre-
sents his present feelings and observations concerning him-
self as he doth.

It hath been argued by some, that whatever may pass
inwardly in the heart, even of a true Christian, yet the ex-
pressions of this context convey more than what is merely
inward, even the doing of evil in the ordinary outward
course and practice of life, which is certainly inconsistent
with a state of grace. It has been said, that the three words
here rendered — to do, or to perforin, viz. now, n^cccc-a,
KXTi^yet^opou, can be understood of no less than external work,
action, and course.

But this is not so clear or evident. Not to enlarge more
than is needful on this point, it is enough to observe, in ge-

K5

L

230 A Dissertation concerning

neral, that in all languages commonly the actions and opera-
tions of the mind are very often expressed by words which
do primarily signify bodily action or operation in general,,
or bodily sensation. So, although the words mentioned
should be allowed to be used most commonly concerning
outward doing or work, it doth not follow that the operations
of the mind may not be, yea, are not often, meant by them
in the use of speech. The only word of the three that would
be most likely to import more is KocTi^yu^o^cct, But I observe,
in ver. 20. If I do (now) that I would not, it is no more I
that do it, {y^iTi^yx^ouoct glvto,) that this latter verb is inter-
changed with the other ; and as it is certain that the former
hath not always that force and meaning to signify full doing
or performing in the outward work, there is reason to think
that neither hath the latter, as used here. It is likewise to
be observed, that, in this same chapter (ver. 8.) the apostle
says — Sin wrought in me (Kccru^yoiG-aro) all manner of concu-
piscence ; where, it is plain, that the word respects the mo-
tions and lustings of sin inwardly ; or, as Dr W.'s paraphrase
hath it, all manner of concupiscence, or vehement desires
after that which is forbidden by the law. So there is no-
thing here to disprove the account given of the apostle's view
with regard to the spirituality of the law. Men's overlook-
ing the apostle's view and respect to the law as spiritual, and
to the disconformity of his heart, to what the law requires in
this respect, and considering all the accounts here given by
him as respecting the outward ordinary practice, has, I ap-
prehend, been a main cause of their falling in with the
notion, that though he speaks of himself in the present
tense, yet he must be understood as personating unregene-
rate persons.

3. The third general consideration I suggest is this : The
more holy a person is, and the more his heart is truly sanc-
tified, it is reasonable to suppose he shall have the more quick
sense and painful feeling of what sin may remain in him ;
and that he shall utter his complaint of it in the more strong
expressions, and with the greater bitterness of heart.

A person nasty and drabbish, who hath been commonly
employed in the dunghill, can be nasty all over, without any
uneasiness ; whereas it gives a person of more delicate breed-
ing and manners much shame and uneasiness to observe a
small spot of filth upon himself. An unregenerate person,
who is in a course of impurity and iniquity, like a sow wal-
lowing in the mire, (that is the scripture similitude) his sins

The General Scope of Rom, VII. 14—25. 281

give him little or no uneasiness, not even the unholiness of
his outward practice ; much less the unholiness of his heart.
There is a notable difference between the sense of things the
two sorts of persons entertain, and often express. Such an
unregenerate person as I have mentioned, however freely he
takes his course in ill practice, will often give favourable
accounts of himself for an honest heart, for certain praise-
worthy qualities, and good deeds ; will often represent him-
self as righteous, and say such things of himself as, accord-
ing to their true import and meaning, can suit only righteous
persons, and those truly regenerate; when persons truly
holy, however pure and fruitful they are in outward behavi-
our, yet, from what they observe of the evil of their hearts,
will be heard sometimes to speak of themselves in a style
that may seem, at first sight, to suit only the worst of men.

Thus the matter stands on both sides. A person unholy
and impenitent, fixes his attention on any good thing he can
observe with himself, whereby he can in any degree support
a favourable opinion of his own state, and be somewhat easy
in an evil course. On the other hand, a person truly sanc-
tified is ready to overlook nis own good attainments, to for-
get the things that are behind in this respect, and rather
consider how far he is behind, and defective in holiness,
and to fix his attention with much painful feeling on his re-
maining sinfulness, for matter of godly sorrow or serious
regret to him. With a just view of the majesty and holi-
ness of God, he is ready to say with Job, chap. xlii. 6. / ab-
hor myself.

All professed Christians will acknowledge, that it is very
consistent with a state of grace, to have much imperfection
in holiness, and much remaining sinfulness. Upon this
view, it is most reasonable to suppose, according to what hath
been said above, that the farther one is advanced in holiness,
and the more his heart is truly sanctified, he will have the
greater sensibility with regard to sin, and it must give him
the more pain and bitterness. If we shall suppose that an
angel should find an unholy thought, or imagination, to
spring up in his mind, surely the first view and feeling of
it would give him great apprehension and distress, and
could not miss to put such a holy being into agonies. Let
us, but for once, make the supposition, that the blessed
apostle Paul found some sin and unholy affections remain-
ing and stirring in his heart ; as he was a person advanced
to a very uncommon degree in holiness, it would be the

,

232 A Dissertation concerning

natural consequence, that he would express himself, con-
cerning the matter, in language uncommonly strong and
bitter. Followers of Arminius, at least some of them, have
held, that Christians may, in this life, attain the perfection
of holiness, yet they would acknowledge that this is not the
attainment of many. If then they should suppose a man to
be so holy as to be in the very next degree to perfection,
should they not acknowledge, even consistently with their
own notions, that such a person will have a much more
quick feeling and bitter complaint of sin than another good
man, who is yet less holy ?

There is something here of important consideration and
usefulness in dealing with souls serious and sincere. A
Christian says, I have tasted that the Lord is gracious,
and methinks I have found my heart undergo a happy
change, with a powerful determination towards God and
holiness. I have thought that I had good evidence of true
conversion, and of a heart truly regenerated by grace. But
then I know that the effect should be to grow in grace, to
advance in holiness, and that sin remaining in my heart
should become weaker and weaker. But I find otherwise ; I
find grace rather become more weak ; and, however my out-
ward deportment is regulated by a good conscience in ways
of purity and integrity, yet in my heart I feel sin very
strong, and rather growing more and more so. Evil lusts,
carnal affections, and disorderly passions are daily stirring,
often with great vehemence, and defiling my heart and
spirit. Alas ! after all I have experienced of divine good-
ness, I have cause to apprehend, that 1 may be found to
have been in a delusion, and that matters may have a fatal
issue with me at last. The unholiness of my heart, in which
grace feels so weak, and sin so strong, gives me constant re-
gret and sorrow ; and the dread of the final consequence
sometimes strikes terror through my whole soul.

To consider the case with judgment ; as it is, in the first
place, to be acknowledged that a Christian hath great cause
of serious regret, and to be greatly humbled for his remain-
ing sinfulness, yet it is one thing for sin to be growing
more and more strong indeed ; it is another and very dif-
ferent thing, for his sense of sin to be growing more and
more so. If sin was indeed growing more strong in a Chris-
tian's heart, he would feel it less, as the increasing strength
of sin is always attended with a proportional hardness of
heart and insensibility. When Hezekiah was humbled for

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14 — 25. 233

the pride of his heart, it is likely that he observed the mo-
tions of that evil lust strong in him, and as if it had grown
more and more so, compared with his former feeling and
observation. Yet it was now that that lust was truly be-
come weaker, and the real growth of grace appeared in the
quick and humbling sense he had of it. On a former oc-
casion, when he was gratifying his vanity in entertaining
the ambassadors of the king of Babylon, the pride of his
heart had much influence, yet gave him no annoyance or
uneasiness. It was then that the interest of sin was strong
and prevailing, and that of grace and holiness weak. There
are too many Christians whose sense of sin and of its mo-
tions in them is not so great as it ought to be ; and this,
alas ! comes too often to discover itself in outward instances
of unholy conversation and practice. Christians may be as-
sured, that a growing sensibility of conscience and heart
with respect to sin, outwardly and inwardly, is among the
chief evidences of the growth of grace, and of good advances
in holiness, that they are likely to have on this side of heaven.
For the more pure and holy the heart is, it will naturally
have the more quick feeling of what sin remaineth in it;
and it will be taking the just view of the context now before
us, to consider it in this light.

4. The last general consideration I suggest is, that the
expressions here are not used by another concerning a per-
son historically, but by himself in the way of bitter regret
and complaint. A man may in this way, and in the bitter-
ness of his heart, say very strong things concerning himself
and his condition, which it were unjust and absurd for an-
other to say of him, in giving his character historically.
But this will come in our way again.

Sect. 3. — That nothing represented in this context, ver. 14--25.
is inconsistent with a state of grace.

The arguments of those who will have the apostle to be
here personating others, come under this general head, that
there are divers things in this context which he could not
say or mean of himself, and which are inconsistent with a
state of grace. Let us consider the particular things that
are observed and alleged to this purpose*

1. The first thing of this sort that is adduced is in ver,
14. — / am carnal. To be carnal, or to be in the flesh, (so
it is argued) is the character of a person unregenerate, and

234 A Dissertation concerning

under the law, and not applicable to a person in a state of
grace, as the apostle was.

Answ. To be in the flesh, can indeed be said of none who
are in a state of grace, according to the scripture use of the
expression. But to be in the flesh, and to be in some respect
carnal, are not words convertible, or of the same meaning.
They may be, and are said to be carnal in particular re-
spects, and on a special view, who are in a state of grace.
Here is a clear instance. The Corinthians the apostle ad-
dresses as saints, and considers as being in Christ ; yet to
them he writes thus, 1 Cor. iii. 1 — 3. 1 could not speak unto
you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes
in Christ. — For ye are yet carnal ; for whereas there is among
you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and
walk as men ?

I know not what can be replied here, if it is not this.
The apostle severely blames the Corinthians for being car-
nal ; so that we cannot suppose that he means of himself,
when he says here, / am carnal.

Yet still his charging the Corinthians, whom he considers
as saints, and truly in Christ, with being carnal, it makes
out this general point, that persons regenerate may be car-
nal in particular respects. To be in the flesh, denotes per-
sons absolutely unregenerate and destitute of the Spirit, as
we see, Rom. viii. 9* But as to Christians being charged
with carnality, in particular respects, this admits of great
variety. The blessed apostle was by no means carnal in the
same respect or degree as the Corinthians. He charges them
with being so, because they could be fed only with milk ;
had envyings, strifes, and divisions among them ; in a word,
that they were but babes in Christ ; though grace was real
and sincere in them, it was weak : so the flesh remained
strong and little subdued in them. This was shameful to
them, and very reprovable. But it was, on comparing him-
self with a much higher standard than that of men adult
and come to full stature in Christ, even with the strict holi-
ness and spirituality of the law of God, that he here calls
himself carnal. This was matter of bitter regret to himself ;
but was far from that more blame-worthy kind and degree
that he charges the Corinihians with.

As here, speaking to the Corinthians, he states the oppo-
sition between spiritual and carnal, even as to persons, each
sort, in a state of grace, it is plain that he hath the same
opposition of characters in view as to persons in the same

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14 — 25. 23.i

state of grace : Gal. vi. 1. If a brother be overtaken in a fault,
ye which are spiritual restore such an owe. Where it is plain,
he considers the person overtaken in a fault as carnal,
though a brother. All this is enough to show, that his say-
ing / am carnal, though it imports something in its own
nature, contrary to holiness, yet doth not import the man's
being in the ficsh, unregenerate.

2. The next thing objected is in the same ver. 14. Sold
under sin. And the argument from this expression is thus
stated. Anciently, when regular cartels were not agreed on
between powers at war, the prisoners or captives became the
slaves of the victors, or, being sold by them, the slaves of
such as bought them. Sometimes men became slaves by
their having of their own will resigned their liberty, and
sold themselves: so in general this expression, sold under
sin, imports to be a slave of sin, (so it is argued) ; and this
cannot be said, in any sense or degree, of a person regenerate
and under grace. On this occasion, (as we have already
seen in a citation from Dr W.) is introduced the expression
used concerning Ahab, that surely can never be applicable
to a regenerate person; 1 Kings xxi. 25. But there was none
like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness, in
the sight of the Lord.

To this I answer, that the instance of Ahab (to begin
with that) is very improperly adduced to explain or illus-
trate the expression in our text. Jn the words quoted,
Ahab is represented as singular among, yea, above the most
wicked. The inspired historian says, There was none like
unto Ahab ; and it is to explain this that he adds, which did
sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord ; that
is, he wholly abandoned himself to all manner of wickedness,
in open defiance of the Almighty. Now, if the apostle shall
be supposed to be representing in our context the general
and common case of persons unregenerate, in the flesh, and
under the law, can the case of Ahab answer that purpose ?
can such things be said of all who are unregenerate ? Ar-
minius supposes that our context exhibits the case of a man
who is not regenerate, but is in a very promising way, as
in the next step to conversion ; but by the description
given of Ahab, he was at the utmost distance from it. Yea,
Dr W. in explaining this place by the character given of
Ahab, seems not to be quite consistent with himself. In a
passage of his, to be hereafter quoted, he labours to prove
from this context, what good an unregenerate man can, in

236 A Dissertation concerning

that state, attain and do. He can will that which is good,
hate sin, and delight in the law of God after the inner man.
Could such things be said of one, who, as Ahab, had sold
himself to work wickedness ? It is plain that the expression
used concerning Ahab, arid that of our text, / am — sold
under sin, are not of the same import or meaning. If the
latter should mean as the former, it would not express the
common case and character of persons regenerate or unre-
generate, under the law or under grace.

As to slavery, there wras a great difference, according to
the different way in which a man came into that state. If
in the course of war a man happened to be taken captive,
he was unwillingly a slave, regretted his own condition, and
truly longed for deliverance, as he might expect it from the
future successes of his proper lord. A man having such a
disposition and prospect, though captivated for a season,
might still justly reckon himself the subject and soldier of
the lord under whose banner he had fought, and solace
himself with the prospect of his working his relief. But if
a man peacefully and voluntarily sold himself, he had not
the same reason to look for relief; and would be likely to
live without the hope of it ; without being anxious about his
condition.

It must accordingly be allowed, that there is a great dif-
ference between a person, who with full determination of
heart and will, peacefully yieldeth himself a slave to sin, to
the outward and inward practice of it, and a person who,
to pure and upright inward behaviour, adds the utmost so-
licitude about inward conformity to the strict holiness and
spirituality of the law, with an ordinary conflict against
every thing within him contrary thereto. The former proves
himself to be in an unregenerate state ; the latter, with all
his bitter and tragical complaint, is not so ; yea, this can
suit none other than a person in a regenerate state.

As to the instance of Ahab, if instead of its being his*
toricalh) said of him that he sold himself, we had over-
heard him, or any other such, striking his thigh like Eph-
raim, and bemoaning himself, saying, Ah, how carnal I
am, and sold under sin ! it would surely have made a vast
difference ; we should see cause to judge such a man, like
Ephraim, to be a true penitent, under the full influence of
regenerating grace.

In interpreting the language of sorrow and complaint,
great allowance is to be made, so as not to take strong

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14—25. 237

words rigidly, in their most full ordinary meaning. They
would make absurd and foolish work of it, who would so in-
terpret it in many instances that occur in holy writ. In
this way, for instance, one might argue and say, Job was
certainly an ill, yea, a vile man, for so he testifies of him-
self, Job. xl. 4. Behold, I am vile. Job uttered this humble
expression on his having got a very affecting view of the
Divine majesty and holiness. In like manner, with an eye
to the authority and holiness of God revealed in his law, and
of the inward purity it required, as being spiritual, the
apostle cries out, / am carnal, sold under sin. If one over-
heard a serious upright Christian saying, on some occasion,
with much deep regret, (as many such have done) Ah,
what a slave am I to carnal affections, to unruly passions !
how do they carry me away, and captivate me ! would he
hastily say, that this complaint had no foundation at all in
truth ? or would he conclude, if it had, that this man was
truly and absolutely a slave of sin, and a person unregenerate r
I should think, that a person so judging, would deserve no
other than to be unfavourably regarded. If the apostle's
exclamation, sold under sin, shall be considered in this
view, as it certainly ought to be, it is so far from proving
the person who thus speaks to be truly a slave of sin, that it
evidently tends to prove the contrary.

3. To the expression we have been last considering, ver.
14. we may join that other, as near of kin to it in meaning,
ver. 23. / see another law — bringing me into captivity to the
law of sin. To be actually brought into captivity to sin, and
to be sold under sin, signify much the same thing; so that
what hath been said of the.other expression, ver. 14. maybe
applied to this.

We have no cause to think, that the apostle was, even in
his regenerate state, altogether a stranger to the sudden hurry
and surprise of passion, such as cannot be without some de-
gree of sin, however soon checked and overcome, yet not so
soon but that he might observe as much of it as would greatly
annoy his holy heart. If we consider things in view to the
third general consideration above suggested, we ought, from
a heart so sanctified as was that of the apostle Paul, to ex-
pect no less than the expression of bitter regret on such ac-
counts.

Dr W. in a descant he hath on these words of verse 23.
speaks as if they expressed the case of one yielding himself
captive to the law in his members. But certainly they do

238 A Dissertation concerning

not represent one so yielding himself captive, but one in
earnest struggle against that law, which he found warring
against his soul, and striving to bring him captive. What-
ever may, on some occasions, have happened, these expres-
sions do not truly import the law in its members to have got
the better, or to have actually overcome him. To this pur-
pose serves what hath been observed by the critics, That
words properly signifying the action and the effect together,
are sometimes so used as to mean no more than the action,
and its tendency. Here is an instance, Ezek. xxiv. 13. /
have purged thee, and thou wast not purged. If the first clause,
/ have purged thee, (which imports, in the common use of
speech, both the action and the effect) should be understood
in the proper and full sense, it would be a contradiction to
say, as in the next words, thou wast not purged. But it is
plain, that the words, / have purged thee, mean no more than
the Lord's having used means tending greatly to that effect.
This use of such words cannot be denied by any who shall
agree to Dr W.'s interpretation of John vi. 44. according to
which, the Father draweth many to Christ, who yet are not
effectually drawn, or actually brought to him. So here, I
Jind a law in my members bringing me into captivity, means
no more than working hard, and of strongly tending to cap-
tivate me, and to make me a slave of sin in this and the
other instance. So that they who infer from this expression,
that the person here represented was, in fact and in good
earnest, according to the full sense of the words, habitually
a captive and slave of sin, and that he yielded himself to be
so, do infer what the expression doth by no means import or
give any ground for.

4. A fourth thing that is said to be inconsistent with a
state of grace, is, a will to do good that hath not effect in
practice. Thus, ver. 15. What I would that I do not ; ver.
18. To will is present with me, but how to perform that which
is goody I Jind not ; and, ver. 19- The good that I would, I
do not. This, say they, cannot be the case of a person in a
state of grace ; for of such the apostle says, that God work-
eth in them to will and to do, or perform.

This is to come in our way elsewhere hereafter. But, as
to the purpose of this place, if the apostle says, How to per*
form that which is good, I Jind not, we have not reason to
think from this, that it was still, or most commonly so with
him ; nor do the words oblige us to understand him so. I
doubt if our opposites will allow, that it is always, and in

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 15—25. 239

every instance, thus even with persons unregenerate. I put
the question, Is it so, indeed, that an unregenerate man is
still, and in every instance, unable to perform that which is
good ? Is it so, that he cannot by the grace of God, that is
ever ready to assist men of every condition and state, who
sincerely will that which is good, perform it in any, yea, in
many instances ? I would be glad to know how they would
answer this upon their own principles. If they shall say,
that an unregenerate man, willing that which is good, can
perform it in some, yea, in many instances, they must at
the same time, acknowledge, that these words, How to 'per-
form that which is good, I Jind not, do not mean that this is
always the case with him who here speaks. What good
reason then can they give for thinking that the apostle could
not say so of himself, consistently with his performing his
duty in many, yea, in most instances, though in some in-
stances, to his great regret, he found himself unable to per-
form it, as he here says ? If they say, that an unregenerate
man doth indeed sometimes perform that which is good, but
not so constantly, or in so good a manner as he ought, is it
not still more reasonable, understanding the words here
of Paul himself, to say they only mean that even he doth not
perform that which is good, so constantly, and in so good a
manner as he ordinarily willeth and wisheth ?

Yea, even from the representation here given, it is certain
that the person whose case is meant, must be supposed to do
and to perform a great deal that is good. He saith several
times, that it is good that he willed to do, and that to will it
was present with him. He saith not, that he willed that
which was evil ; though it is true that he could not do evil
without his will being in it in some sort and degree. But as
he never says, that he willed that which was evil, it implies
that such will was not the habitual and prevailing will. But
when he mentions oftener than once that he willed that which
was good, and says, that to will so is present with him, he
hereby shows, that the prevailing habitual inclination and
determination of his will was towards good. Now, if it was
so, it is certain from the nature of things, and from the na-
tural course of things in rational agents, that good behoved
to prevail in his conduct and practice outward and inward,
But whatever good he attained, or whatever good he per-
formed, yet, according to what hath been formerly said,
overlooking his attainment in that way, his attention is fixed>
with great concern and regret, on what he hath not attained

240 A Dissertation concerning

or performed. Alas ! (as if he had said) in how many in-
stances doth it happen, that I do what I allow not ; that I
do not that which I would ; that when to will is present with
me, yet how to perform that which is good I find not !
Surely this is very consistent with the prevailing of grace in
the heart. The truth is, serious Christians are so much
often in this way, and thus expressing their complaint, that
if one was to form a character of them according to what
they say and represent in this style, it would often be more
unfavourable than just.

Further, we are to remember that the apostle hath in his
eye, all along, what, at first setting out in speaking of him-
self in the present tense, he had mentioned, ver. 14. even
the spirituality of the law, as a rule not only to his outward
behaviour, but also to his heart and spirit within him. If
with this in view he should say, To will even the absolute
perfection and purity which the law of God requireth, is
present with me ; but how to perform that which is good,
according to the strict holiness and spirituality of the law, I
6nd not ; alas, I find not in any instance whatsoever ! will
any say that tftis is inconsistent with a state of grace ? Let
us consider what is likely to have been the aim, the will and
wish of so holy a person. He willed that the love of God
should fill his heart, and prevail in it in the most intense
degree ; that his heart should be wholly spiritual and
heavenly, in all its thoughts and affections ; that when he
came before God in exercises of worship, his whole soul should
be animated and elevated with a heavenly flame of devotion ;
that vain thoughts, sin and sinful imperfections should never
hold him short of such perfect attainment in his duty. Will
any say it is unreasonable to suppose this to be what he
willed ? or can any good reason be given for supposing that
Paul, whilst he was in the body, found nothing that made
him fall short of so high an aim in holiness ?

Let it be added here, when the apostle says, ver. 18.
How to perform that which is good, I find not, that the word
rendered perform, is, Kur^yx^crB-xi -, which, though it may
sometimes mean no more than simply, facere, to do. as hath
been shown formerly, yet it more properly signifies, per*
ficere, peragere, to do thoroughly, or completely. The apostle,
having the strict holiness and spirituality of the law in his
eye, willed to do what is good thoroughly and completely ;
as in the outward work, so in his heart and spirit within
him. But, after all that the Christian attains, there is some-

The General Scope of Rom. VI I. 14—25. 241

thing as to doing thoroughly and completely that he doth
not reach in this life. There is not a just man that doth good,
and sinneth not. There is still imperfection ; something of
sin that cleaves to men's best doings. So that, in view to
the proper standard and rule, the best may say, (according
to Isa. lxiv. 6. that even all their righteousnesses are as filthy
rags. The common case of Christians is according to Gal.
v. 17- The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh ; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
These considerations account for the apostle's saying, How
to perform that which is good, I find not; and show that
therein there is nothing inconsistent with being regenerate
and under grace, and nothing to give cause to think that
the apostle personates the unregenerate man.

5. Some have argued from that expression, ver. 20. Sin
that dwelleth in me. Arminius labours to prove, and boasts
of having proved, that sin dwelling in a man signifies its rul-
ing, or having dominion in him. Indeed, if he had proved
this, it might have saved him all the labour he bestowed on
other arguments. This one were absolutely decisive ; and
his long dissertation on this context might have been a very
short one. But if a man, who is head of a family, dwelleth
in his own house, it is true that he ruleth there; but he
doth so as being head of the family, not merely because he
dwelleth there, for it is as properly said of the family, that
they dwell there, as of him. If the Spirit of God dwelleth
in a Christian, it is true that he ruleth in him ; and so, if
Christ dwelleth in a man's heart through faith ; but still it
is not the word dwelleth that imports so. If Arminius found
that any expression, where the word dwell occurs, did im-
port ruling, as in several texts mentioned by him, yet
that notion arises from something else than merely the word
dwelling.

If a man dwells in this city, or in that country, and it is
so said, doth indeed the expression import that he ruleth in
that city or country? The prophet says, Amos iii. 12. So
shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria,
in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch. Is it
that Israel had dominion in these places, where they are said
to dwell ; when it is plain they are represented as in distress,
and hiding themselves in these places ? So Zech. ii. 7. De-
liver thyself, 0 Zion, that dwelleth with the daughter of Baby-
lon. Surely it would be very ill to infer from this, that the
Jews in captivity at Babylon had the dominion there.

242 A Dissertation concerning

Now, if the word in its proper use doth not import rule, or
dominion, there can be no reason for making that the mean-
ing of it, when it is transferred to the figurative use. Christ
says, John vi. 5(5. He that ealeth my flesh, and drinketh my
blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. So 1 John iv. 13.
Hereby we know that we dwell in him, and he in us, because
he hath given us of his Spirit. It is just to say, that God
or Christ dwelling, or abiding in a man, do rule in him. But
it were nonsense and blasphemy to put that hi the meaning
of the word, when the Christian is said to abide or dwell in
God or in Christ. So it is plain, that the word dwell doth
not of itself import rule or dominion ; and that there is
good reason for the distinction between sin reigning in men,
as it doth in the unregenerate ; and sin merely dwelling in
them, as it doth in them who are regenerate. This argu-
ment rather gives the hint of an argument against the ex-
position of Arminius. If the apostle meant to represent here
persons unregenerate, he had a fair occasion to make the
matter clear by that one word, by saying, instead of dwelling,
Sin that ruleth, or hath dominion in me. When he doth not
so, but uses a word that hath no such meaning, this rather
gives the hint at least, or makes a likelihood in favour of the
interpretation against which Arminius argues.

6. It is like-wise argued, that there is something inconsis-
tent with a regenerate state in the expression, ver. 23. 0
wretched man that I am ! — Arminius gives it in the form of
syllogism, to this purpose : All that are regenerated and
under grace, are happy; by no means wretched : but this
man is wretched ; therefore he is not regenerate.

But this is a most wretched argument. Though a man
who is regenerate is happy on the whole, yet such a man
may be wretched in several respects, and may complain
bitterly of being so. If a good Christian, in the distressing
paroxysm of a chronical disease, of gout or gravel, should
cry out, O wretched man that I am ! or if Job, in his great
distress, had used these very words, (as he used very
strong ones), it were surely rash and foolish to conclude that
he was unregenerate, and not under grace. A sanctified
heart, conscious of the motions of sin in itself, hath certainly
no less cause to cry out of wretchedness.

Arminius concludes what he hath on this argument, by
saying, men cannot be called wretched, who have conflict by
sin, and are buffeted by a messenger of Satan; but it is
truly wretched to be overcome. Yet a man cannot be called

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14 — 25. 243

wretched, who being sometimes overcome, is more commonly
victorious against the world, sin, and Satan. This appears
to be so much the case in our context, that Arminius hath,
by these concessions, quite undone his own argument.

7. Some have argued from that expression in this same
ver. 23. Who shall deliver me ? as if it implied despair ;
which is inconsistent with a state of grace. As to this, it
will be allowed, that final absolute despair is so. But we
must not judge so of the suggestions of despair, even when
these are uttered in strong enough terms, from the force of
temptation. There are not wanting instances of this sort in
scripture, in the case of some of the saints. But the apostle's
expression here doth not amount even to so much. It ex-
presses the painful feeling he had of sin ; the great difficulty
he found in overcoming it ; and that it required the hand of
one more powerful than himself, together with his solicitude,
his most vehement desire, and longing to be delivered.
That there is no despair, appears in the words he utters, as
with the same breath, — I thank my God through Jesus Christ.

Thus I have considered all that I have observed to be ad-
duced with any colour, from the apostle's words, as incon-
sistent with a state of grace ; and I think it may by this time
be reckoned very clear, that none of these things in particu-
lar, nor the whole together, are so.

Sect. IV. — Showing that this context contains a great deal
that is inconsistent with an unregenerate state.

I come now to show, that in the case here represented,
there is much that is inconsistent with an unregenerate state,
and such as none else than a true believer under grace and
regenerated, is capable of. To this purpose, the general
appearance hath something at first sight very striking, I
mean the bitter complaint that is all along of sin dwelling in
the man, or in his flesh. I am carnal, sold under sin.
Taking this as the language of bitter and heavy complaint,
as it evidently is, what unregenerate man hath such a sense
of sin prevailing in him as would produce in sincerity such
a complaint ? or if the unregenerate man hath right senti-
ments in his head, what man in this state hath so sad an
impression of the case in his heart ? How sad the impression,
and the exclamation, ver. 24. 0 wretched man that 1 am, who
shall deliver me from this body of death !

As to this last expression, this body of death, some have
understood it of the body properly so called. But however

244 A Dissertation concerning

the apostle knew it was better for him to depart and be with
Christ, yet amidst all his distresses in the body, we never
find him wishing and crying out to be disunited from the
body, or to be by such an event withdrawn from the service
of Christ, and of his church on earth. Much less is it con-
gruous to suppose an unregenerate man, (who is said to be
here personated) crying out for death, in order to be with-
out sin. No such man was ever so weary of sin, or had such
a prospect respecting it, for futurity, as to wish and cry out
for his dissolution on such account. But, as hath been
formerly said, the body of death, in this 24th verse, is likely
to mean the same thing as the body of sin, chap. vi. 6. and
shows how bitter and sad the sense of sin is in the man who
cries out, as in this place.

I know that an unregenerate man may, in great terror of
the penal consequence of sin, loudly complain of it. But it is
not sin itself, but the penal consequence that is bitter to
such. I know also, that a person who labours to establish
his own righteousness, (which is in great opposition to God,
and to the sincerity of holiness) may have much vexation,
and much discouragement to that sort of hope, by sin. But
that sin itself, for the evil it hath in its own nature, and its
contrariety to God, to duty, to holiness, in view to the spi-
rituality of the law, should be so bitter to a man, is quite re-
mote from the disposition of such a self-righteous unregene-
rated soul.

Dr W. will have the case of a man who had sold himself to
work wickedness, as Ahab, to come under the representation
in this context: and there are few of his way of thinking, who
do not use that instance in interpreting it. Can any imagine,
that such an abandoned person would be thus affected with
regard to sin ? or would he be thus truly sick of sin ? We
read, indeed, of Ahab's once retiring to his bed, turning
away his face, and refusing to eat. Something, doubtless,
lay heavy on his mind. But it was his lust's being crossed
by Naboth's refusal of his vineyard ; not his sin. We also
read of his humbling himself, and wearing sackloth ; but it
was for the terrible denunciation against him and his family,
by a person of very established character as a prophet ; not
merely or chiefly for. his sin. Can any one conceive, that
a man is truly, and willingly, a slave of sin, yielding himself
to its service, and selling himself to wTork wickedness, and
yet finding sin so bitter, so painful to his heart ? The notion
is quite absurd. The sincere expression of pain and bitter-

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14—25. 245

ness by sin, and the sorrowful exclamation against it that is
here used, is altogether incompatible with an unregenerate
state.

To be more particular : he says, ver. 1 5. That winch I do,
I allow not. The Greek word rendered allow, is not the
same that is so rendered, chap. xiv. 22. The word here is
yuiorKu, what I know not. But as this more common mean-
ing of the word doth not suit this place, it is fit to take
another meaning that is not uncommon in Scripture use, by
which the word signifies, to love. So Psal. i. (J. The Lord
knowcth (that is, loveth) the way of the righteous. Matth.
vii. 23. I never knew {i.e. loved, or had complacence in) you ;
depart from me. Psal. xxxi. 7- Thou hast known (hast loved,
or testified thy love to) my soul in adversity. John x. 14.
/ am the good Shepherd, and know {i.e. love) my sheep ;
and am known {i.e. loved) of mine. This sense well suits
our text, Rom. vii. 15. That which . I do, I allow, or know
not, that is, love not. For what in the last clause of the verse
he opposes to this, is not mere disapprobation, but hatred :
what I hate, that I do. So he expresses here, that sin he
loved not ; he hated it. This is emphatic. Nature did
spontaneously, and with strong inclination, produce the mo-
tions of sins ; the flesh, depraved nature, produced irregular
unholy passions and lusts, which he understood by the spi-
rituality of the law to be sin ; but by the fixed, deliberate,
and prevailing disposition of his sanctified heart, he loved it
not, — he hated it.

What nature, or the flesh produceth in the manner that
hath been said, being what, by the prevailing disposition of
his heart, he would not, he infers, ver. 16. I consent unto
the law, that it is good. Assent and consent do differ, as
the former is of the understanding, respecting truth, which
is its proper object : the latter is of the heart and will, res-
pecting good, which is the special object of the will. Now,
though the Greek G-vupvipi, may sometimes be used, and
but very rarely, for the assent of the mind and judgment,
as that use of the word is observed by Grotius and by Hede-
ricus's lexicon, to occur in Sophocles and Euripides, yet that
cannot be the meaning in this place, as it is here used ex-
pressly with relation to good, that the law is good, which is
the object of the will ; and it is from the inclination of his
will, If I do that which I would not, that he makes the in-
ference, / consent unto the law, that it is good. This, how-
ever, doth not suit the disposition and prevailing principles

L

246 A Dissertation concerning

of the unregenerate. Let such argue in rational theory ever
so much,, for the goodness of the law, and assent to all that
can be said to that purpose, yet the heart and will do not
consent unto the law that it is good; and, as Dr W. hath
it, commands what is good for me to do. When it comes
from mere theory to doing, the heart and will give it against
the holy and spiritual law ; and every unholy lust, inordi-
nate affection, and irregular passion, hath the consent of the
will to the goodness of itself, and it hath its course in-
wardly, in opposition to the holiness of the law ; even when
there may be great restraint, from various causes and means,
as to outward practice.

I am aware of what may be excepted against this reason-
ing. The case described in the lines here immediately pre-
ceding, that, viz. of the unregenerate, is the very case,
may one say, described in our context. Whatever favour-
able views the man's mind may give of the law ; yet when
it comes to doing, his unholy lust and passions decide against
the holiness of the law, and he doth what he would not
For answer to this, it is certainly without reason that the
will of the unregenerate can be supposed to be, as to its pre-
vailing bent and inclination, on the side of the law and its
holiness. As to doing, the Apostle doubtless found it
with himself in too many instances, as he reports. Na-
ture, so far as unrenewed, or the flesh in him, was pro-
ducing or doing what he would not ; at least by its ac-
tivity or inward working ; which he appears to have in his
view here especially. Yet as to habitual, ordinary, delibe-
rate practice, and the common disposition and course of
life, we must suppose that this was according to what he
willed, according to the inclination of his heart consenting
to the goodness of the law. To suppose otherwise, were to
suppose what is inconsistent with the nature of things ; in-
consistent with the natural connexion of the faculties in re-
tional and moral agents. It is reasonable then to consider
it as a fixed point, that to consent to the goodness of the
law, as it is spiritual, giving rule to men's hearts and spi-
rits, which is the Apostle's special view in this place, is far
from the disposition of any unregenerated soul.

To proceed; the Apostle says, ver. 17- Now then it is
no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. What here
would strike every mind free of bias is, that this [_I~] on the
side of holiness against sin, is the most prevailing, and
what represents the true character of the man ; and that

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14—25. 247

sin, which he distinguishes from this QI] is not the pre-
vailing reigning power in the man here represented ; as it is,
however, in every unregenerate man.

Further, we see all along in this context, the man's will
is represented as on the side of duty and holiness, and
against sin. It is true, that sin could not do or effect any
thing, without having the will and affections in its interest
in some degree. Yet he never saith here, that sin or evil
is the thing that he willeth ; but still what he willeth not.
Often as he mentions willing, and sin, and doing, yet he
never mentions his willing as on the side of sin ; that is still
what he would not. How shall we account for this, if it is
not by saying, that the will to duty and holiness is prevail-
ing, and his will is habitually on that side, which cannot be
the case with a man in the flesh under the dominion of sin ?
He says, ver. 18. To will is present with me; that is, to
will what is good and holy ; and thus it is with him habitu-
ally. This can import no less than that the will to holiness,
and to the very perfection thereof, is habitually ready with him.
He says indeed, ver. 21. I find a law, that when I would do
good, evil is present with me. So it was ; the flesh remain-
ing in him, sin was its natural production, it was spontane-
ous and ready on the side of sin ; ever ready to avoid, and
resist every holy thought, motion, or action. Yet sin was
not what he willed. It was against the deliberate, fixed in-
clination and determination of his will ; and so was not the
dominant principle in him, as it is in all who are in the flesh.
Sin could not be dominant in him, without having the pre-
vailing inclination of the will favourable to it. But here
there is no hint given of this concerning the will.

Let us now observe how these expressions I have been
taking notice of are accounted for and interpreted by those
who apply them to the unregenerate.

Grotius says, that these things are spoken figuratively,
and by metonymy ; giving to the cause, that is, to reason or
conscience, a name from the effect it ought to produce.
That is, for instance, the man is said to hate sin, and to
will what is good, because conscience and its dictates ought
to have that effect. As to this, we know that metonymy
gives to the cause a name from the effect which it naturally
and commonly produces ; but to give to a thing, under the
notion of a moral cause, a name from the effect it ought to
produce, but most commonly it doth not produce, hath no
warrant in the use of speech ; yea, is quite absurd. In thi?

24-8 A Dissertation concerning

way a very wicked man might brag, and say, My heart is
pure, sincere, and holy ; my outward conversation and beha-
viour is according to the rule of purity and righteousness.
A person acquainted with his character, overhearing him,
would readily say, Strange ! a person notoriously lewd, pro-
fane, and wicked to a high degree, to talk so impudently of
his purity and virtue. But one might vindicate him by
Grotius' notion of metonymy, and say, The man speaks
rightly enough by a metonymy, which gives him, by virtue
of his conscience (for ill as he is, he hath a conscience within
him) a character from the effect it ought to produce; for it
requires all that he has been ascribing to himself. What
adds to the unreasonableness of this interpretation is, that
conscience, whatever good a man ought to do by its dictates,
is by no means a cause adequate, in sinful men, to such
effect as is here mentioned. There is not such an effect in
any soul without the influence of a superior cause and power.
To give to a thing, as a cause, the name of an effect, which
it doth not naturally or commonly produce, yea, is insuffi-
cient of itself to produce, is a sort of metonymy, which the
use of speech cannot, never did, admit. This is a criticism
which Grotius, as he was in that way, could not support.

Let us now see how Dr Whitby accounts for these things.
He has not recourse to metonymy ; but takes the expressions
in their true and proper sense, without any figure ; and hath
an important purpose to serve in doing so, — even to give a
favourable idea of the moral powers of a natural and unrege-
nerated man, such as he thinks is here personated. Some
men have not been contented with so interpreting this con-
text, that the general interest of their system shall not lose
by it : they expect to gain considerably by it for the estab-
lishing of their own sentiments. This view and interest has,
doubtless, made them the more warm and keen. Dr W. in
his book on the five points, (ed. 1710. p. 331, 332.) in an-
swering an argument taken from this context, among other
things, writes thus : ' Whereas they make their lapsed man
' to have lost the power even of willing to do good, and to
' be totally enslaved both as to his will, mind, and action,
' (perhaps affection) the man here mentioned hath a will
' to do the good he doth not, and to avoid the evil that he
' doth ; yea, the evil that he doth is hateful to him ; and he
c delighteth in the law of God in the inner man, and with
f his mind serves the law of God/ He then quotes a pas-
sage from Origen, (one of his masters in orthodoxy — not

The General Scope of Rom. I'll. 14— $5. 249

the very best) which imports, that he (the unregenerate
man) is not wholly alienated from good things, but is in his
purpose and will inclined to them, though not yet sufficient
to perform. The doctor then argues, and puts the question
thus, p. 332 : ' Now I inquire, (saith he) whether in this
1 will to do good, this delight in the law of God, this hatred
1 of sin, this man doth well or ill ? If well, (so the Doctor
' thought, and so do I,) he can, even in the state here men-
' tioned, do something that is good ;' in an unregenerate
state, as he understood.

Well, it is no small acquisition the Arminian makes here
in favour of nature and free will. But that the expressions,
delighting in the law of God, and with the mind serving it,
suited not this purpose, will appear when I come hereafter
to consider them, and ver. 22, 25. separately. But to say a
little in this place, it is certainly reasonable to think, that
he who willeth, hateth, delighteth, in the manner here said,
can not only do something that is good, but can do a great
deal in the way of holy practice and duty. But as Dr W.
and others of his sentiments, do interpret our context as re-
presenting the case of persons who, like Ahab, sold them-
selves to work wickedness, 1 Kings xxi. 20. or like these re-
volters from the true religion, 1 Mac. i. 15. surely they put
very opposite and inconsistent things in their character, — to
have abandoned themselves to wickedness, and at the same
time, to hate sin, to will that which is good, and to delight
in the law of God, even when they are under the thraldom
and dominion of sin. I cannot but wonder, that reasonable
and thinking men would not find their reason quite shocked,
at expressing sentiments and reasoning that proceed on join-
ing in the state, character, disposition, and practice of any
description of persons, things so evidently and grossly in-
consistent.

But if a natural man, destitute of the Holy Spirit, can
sincerely will, love, delight, and hate, as is here said, I
would wish to know, what is left for divine grace to do in
regeneration, according to the sentiments of these writers ?
What but external revelation, and moral suasion wrell incul-
cated, to give the proper excitement to the more languid will,
inclination, and affection towards holiness, which a man in
nature hath, from rational nature itself, that these may exert
themselves with due activity and force? This is divine grace,
and the human will consenting to this suasion, and so exert-
ing itself in practice, is, according to them, regeneration,

250 A Dissertation concerning

Moral suasion must indeed have its own place in dealing
with rational creatures. They are not dealt with as stocks
or stones under the hand of the mechanic. Conversion to God
through Jesus Christ, and to holiness, is the consequence of
proper evidence, and of proper motives. Conversion is the
effect of suasion, but not of that merely — suasion is not of
itself a cause adequate to such an effect in sinful men. In
using that suasion, and that the proper evidence and motives
should have effect on the hearts of men, there is needful the
immediate operation and influence of Divine power and grace
on the hearts of men ; not to work on them as the mechanic
doth on a stock or a stone, (as some men foolishly speak, in
arguing against the doctrine of grace) but with a much
greater efficacy of power, by which God quickeneth the
dead, gives sight to the blind, or causes the lame to walk,
which are similitudes the Scripture affords respecting this
subject.

The minds of men are spiritually so blind as to be inca-
pable of perceiving, in a just light, the evidence and excel-
lency of spiritual things ; and their hearts so possessed by
sin, that they cannot be duly affected or excited by the best
motives, until of Divine mercy they are saved from the pre-
vailing influence and effect of sin, by the washing of regene-
ration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. If it wTere not so,
how could it happen, that on so great a part of mankind, yea
of the wise and prudent, whose intellectual faculties have
been highly improved with respect to other subjects, yet the
best evidence and motives set before them by the gospel,
have no effect for their good and salvation, when these things
are happily and effectually revealed to babes ? The gospel
hath effect beyond what the law ever hath, not merely by
its better light and means of suasion, but especially as it is
the ministration of the Spirit, and that thereby is conveyed
into the souls of men the Holy Spirit, to give efficacy to its
suasion, to enlighten, convert, and sanctify. To say that
without this, men in their natural condition can have their
will truly inclined to holiness, and can delight in the holy
and spiritual law of God, is to depreciate grace, and to feed
nature with delusion.

Another query yet : If a man in nature, and in the flesh,
doth will, love, delight, and hate, as is here said, what re-
mains to distinguish between him and a person truly rege-
nerated and in a state of grace ?

The answer to this that is given by some, is taken from

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14 — 25. 251

ver. 18. To will is present with me, but how to perform
that which is good, I find not. So the defect of the natural
man is not in his will, which is inclined to what is good and
holy; but he cannot perform. Whereas (so Dr W. argues)
in the true Christian, God worketh not only to will, but to do,
Phil. ii. 13.; so he not only willeth, but can perform that
which is good.

To this I answer : There is certainly great inadvertency
in the Arminians so arguing from this text of Philippians,
which ascribes to divine grace, not only to work in the true
Christian to do, but also to will. God not only in creating
him works in him, to S-sAduos, the will, or the faculty, but
(so the Greek hath it) to S-zXuv, to will, or the exercise and
act of the faculty. So this text effectually confutes their
interpretation, who understood the willing of that which is
good and holy, in our context, Rom. vii. to be of a man un-
regenerated. To suppose that God worketh in men to will
that which is good, without enabling them at all to perform
that which is good, is not agreeable to this text, Phil. ii. 13.
which joins both together, and both as the work and effect
of divine grace ; not, the one as the production of nature,
the other as the working or effect of grace.

It is true, indeed, that a sincere Christian may occasion-
ally be so much under the influence of the flesh, as to be
thereby unable to perform what he habitually willeth and
wisheth ; yea, so as to be much ensnared in evil : and God,
who worketh in Christians to will and to do of his good
pleasure, may leave him in some instances, thus to prove his
weakness, for making him more humble, watchful, and de-
pendent. But to say that a man can sincerely and habitu-
ally have his will well affected to God and holiness, with
a true hatred of sin, and not habitually and commonly per-
form that which is good, is quite contrary to the nature of
things. The sincere Christian willing that which is good,
doth also in practice perform it in a manner that the unre-
generate man is incapable of ; and notwithstanding the im-
perfection of his doing, he is therein accepted through Jesus
Christ.

Let us now see how Dr Taylor of Norwich accounts for
these things I have been observing, as peculiar to a regene-
rate man, and which he supposes to be in the case and
character of the Jew under the law, and the unregenerate,
even the worst sort of them. Here are some instances from
his paraphrase.

252 A Dissertation concerning

The words, ver. 15. What I would, that I do not, his
paraphrase gives thus : ' What his (the sinner's) reason ap-
c proves and dictates, that he doth not/ But if a sinner's
reason approves and dictates what is right, is that the same
as to say, what is holy and right is what he willeth, o &Aa/,
as the apostle's expression is ?

The next words, — What I hate, that I do, he gives thus :
( What he (the sinner) hateth, (this he explains by what
' he adds) wThat is abhorrent from his reason, that he doth.'
But if sin is contrary to, or, if you please to give force of
sound to the expression, abhorrent from his reason, it is true
that the unregenerate hateth it ? or do these expressions
mean the same thing ? Drunkenness is contrary to, is abhor-
rent from the reason of the habitual drunkard. Were it for
this just to say, that the habitual drunkard hateth drunken-
ness ?

These words, ver. 17. It is not I thai do it, his para-
phrase gives thus : t It is not I in the best sense, it is not
' a man's reason separately considered, that produces the
wicked action.' But what sense or philosophy is here ? a
man's reason considered separately from his other faculties,
produces no action, good or bad.

The words, ver. 18. To will is present with me, he gives
thus : ' To will is present, is adjoined to a man — God hath
f endowed him with faculties, to approve and choose what is
c good.' But if a sinner's understanding and conscience ap-
prove what is good, doth it mean no more to say that to will
what is good is present with him ? This is gross dealing
with words. The apostle's wTords do not say merely, that
the faculty to distinguish between good and evil, and to ap-
prove and choose what is good, is given him. The natural
faculty in general every man hath. But the apostle's ex-
pression, as hath been formerly observed, is, to SiXuv, actual
willing and choosing what is good.

These words, ver. 19. The good that I would, he gives
thus : e What good actions his (the sinner's) reason chooses.'
And as the apostle had said, ver. 16. If then I do that which
I would not, he gives it thus : c If a carnal man doth these
1 things which are not the choice of his own reason — ' But
choosing is not an act merely of a man's understanding or
reason. A man doth not choose but by the determination of
his will to that which his understanding or reason recom-
mends to it. To say, the choice of reason, or, what reason
chooses, is but an artful impropriety, if not rather nonsense.

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14—25. 253

The words, ver. 22. i" delight in the law of God, he para-
phrases thus : ' It is granted, that the Jew in the flesh may
{ esteem the law of God — ' Do delight and esteem truly
signify the same thing ? If it were said that a lewd man de-
lighted in the practice of uncleanness, would that import
that with his mind and reason he esteemed it? I doubt if
this author himself would admit that paraphrase.

In these instances, we see that Dr T. doth all along as-
cribe to reason, willing, delighting, hating, choosing. This
is throwing aside the distinction of human faculties ; it in-
volves our thoughts in confusion, and tends to make lan-
guage useless. The understanding is the seat of reason, and
is the reasoning faculty. There is besides in the human
soul, the will, and affections. But according to Dr T. if the
understanding perceives, judges, reasons, it also wills, loves,
hates, delights, chooses. But the author may have had his
own reason for this strange and unnatural way of represent-
ing things. They who interpret this context of a person re-
generate, have observed, that in an unregenerate man, his
conscience, or (as some choose to speak) his reason, that one
faculty is on the side of duty and holiness, testifies for it,
and requires it, God having maintained in this one faculty
a testimony for his authority and holiness within man. But
in one unregenerate, sin possesses his will and affections, hath
these wholly on its side, and so hath the man under its do-
minion. That in persons regenerate, and under grace, as
by Divine grace their conscience is more enlightened and
strengthened, so their will and affections are, by habitual
and prevailing inclination, on the side of duty and holiness,
and grace hath its powerful influence and effect on all their
faculties. That this is evidently the case proposed in this
context, the mind, conscience, or reason, representing holy
practice and duty as good, lovely, and delightful, the man
doth actually will that which is good, loves it, and delights
in the law of God and its holiness. So they conclude with
good reason, as it cannot be thus in the unregenerate, that it
is certainly the case of a person truly regenerate, even of the
apostle himself, (so his expression and style import) that is
here exhibited.

Dr T. doth by a bold stretch of genius evade this argu-
ment. He forms reason into a person, and the willing of
good, hating evil, and delighting in the law of God in our
context, which are the exercise of human personal faculties,
he ascribes to that one faculty, that fictitious person, reason.

l 5

254 A Dissertation concerning

We have seen how, according to him, that person, of his
own creating, wills, chooses, hates, and delights. The
question remains, as to the person, the man speaking, or
personated in our text, how is it that he willeth ? Dr T.
gives his mind thus, in a marginal note, (Orig. Sin, p. 216.J
on these words here, ver. 14. Sold under sin : ' He means,
saith he, ' a willing slavery, as Ahab had sold himself to
' wTork evil/ Truly the apostle crying out, as of his wretch-
edness,, in these words, is far from representing a willing
slavery. However, the slavery of sin must be a willing
slavery. A man's body may be bound, and carried hither
and thither, and he may be a slave as to his bodily or out-
ward condition, much against his will. But he cannot be a
slave in a moral sense, as to his fixed ordinary character ; or
a slave to ill principles, habits, or lusts, a slave of sin, with-
out his will being on the side of these. So that Dr W/s
supposing, as we have seen with him, a man to will what is
good, to hate evil, and to delight in the law of God, whilst
he is a slave of sin, and under its dominion, is quite absurd.

A sentiment of Dr T. (note on Rom. vii. 15.) is this:
{ A man may assent to the best rule of action, and yet
' still be under the dominion of lust and sin/ 1 do not see
cause to differ from him concerning this. But it is plain,
that by his notions, and way of interpreting, he lays a good
ground for one to argue and object against the person speak-
ing in our context, thus : You say, that you will that which
is good, holy, and right, &c. but that certainly is not true of
you. You in words artfully give a favourable, but false co-
lour to every ill matter and case. You deceitfully ascribe
to yourself personally what belongs to reason, that excel-
lent person that lodges in every man's breast. But reason
and you are very different persons, whose will, inclination,
and affections go very different ways. How can you ascribe
to yourself a will to do what is good and holy, when you are
a willing slave of sin ? You say of the propensity that is in
you to evil, it is not I. But if you have any faint ineffec-
tual inclination to what is good in any instance, you might
say much more justly, It is not I, but reason that dwelleth
in me : even reason, whose suggestions within me are too
weak against the prevailing force and dominion of sin. You
might add, according to the truth of your case : 1 do indeed
by the evidence and force of reason, assent in my mind to
the best rule of action ; I rather wish I could avoid that as-
sent, for I am, myself personally, in opposition to that best

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 1 i — 25. 255

rule of action, still under the dominion of sin, and of my
lusts. Thus, while Dr T. sets forth reason as an imaginary-
person, ascribing thereto the various faculties, and qualities
of a person, he denies what the apostle asserts of himself
personally, or of the man personated by him, as to the pre-
vailing habitual inclination of his faculties, consenting, lov-
ing, hating, willing, and delighting on the side of duty and
holiness ; so that, upon the whole, his account of things is
flatly contradicting the apostle, instead of interpreting.

There remain several things to be adduced to the same
purpose from two verses, which it is fit to consider separate-
ly, and more largel}'.

Sect. V. — The subject continued, and ver. 22. explained.

Ver. 22. / delight in the law of God, after the inward
man. There hath been great labour and difference in inter-
preting this verse. The inquiry is, 1 . What is meant by the in-
ward man ? 2. What is meant by delighting in the law of God?

1. Wrhat is meant by the inward man ? We say, it means
the same as the new man, or the soul so far as renewed by
divine grace. Dr W. says, it cannot mean the new man —
which is not put on — till we have put off the old man with
his deeds. Did the learned writer truly think, that the new
man could not be in a Christian whilst any thing of the old
man (even in a crucified state, as chap. vi. 6.) remained to
be put off, or of his deeds ? There is something in this mat-
ter that he seems not to have adverted to, and that is,
when the Christian hath put off the old man, it is not so
perfectly done but that there remains occasion for the ex-
hortation, to put off the old man, and to put on the new man,
as Eph. iv. 22. 24. And though the Colossians had put off
the old man, as in the verses of Col. iii. cited by the Doc-
tor, still there remained in them members of the old man
to be mortified, as he exhorts them, ver. 5. ; and he found in
them what occasioned his saying to them, ver. 8. Now also
put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, &c. which pertained
to the old man. The Doctor goes on : ' For sure this (viz.
c that he had put off the old man) cannot be said of him
c who is still carnal, sold under sin, and captivated to the
' law of sin/ This argument hath a full answer in what
hath been said already on those expressions of our con-
text on which it is founded. These expressions convey the
sorrowful complaint of one who appears to have indeed put
off the ol I ra m ; -

256 A Dissertation concerning

of the members of the old man remaining and stirring in
him ; and who hath at heart, according to the exhortation
directed to the Ephesians and Collosians, to put off the old
man, and to mortify his members, more and more, and longs
to be delivered from the body of death.

The learned writer proceeds, and having asserted that it
only means the mind of man, the va$, as he says the apostle
explains himself, verse 25. he adduces the authority of
Origen, (none of the best divines, or interpreters of Scrip-
ture) and of three others of the ancients, who say, that the
soul, using the body as its instrument, is called, o tea «»-^&/^,
the inward man. But there needed no authority to prove,
that in the composition of the human person, the body is
the outward, the soul the inward part of man, and the prin-
ciple of life and action, which useth the other as its instru-
ment ; nor is there any absurdity, if men, in expressing
their own mind in common speech, shall call the one the
inward, the other the outward man. But we are now in-
quiring concerning the Scripture-use of the word, inward
man, and that certainly is not, to signify the soul, in contra-
distinction to the body.

This is certain from the apostle's evident scope and ar-
gument in the place we are considering. From that it is
clear, that he means by the inward man, that in him to
which nothing contrary to delighting in the law of God
could be ascribed. He had said, verse 21. I find then a law,
that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For (so
he adds, ver. 22.) / delight in the law of God, after the raw
ward man. It were making the apostle talk in an incon-
sistent manner, to give delighting in the law of God, as the
peculiar and distinguishing character of his inward man, in
opposition to that law, by which evil was present with him,
if that law was likewise to be ascribed to his inward man,
which were certainly the case, if the inward man signified
the soul, in contradistinction to the body. The body con-
sidered separately, is not the subject of moral good or evil.
In the human person the soul is especially and most pro-
perly the seat of moral good and evil. If, as Origen speaks,
it uses the body as its instrument in doing good, it also uses
it as its instrument in accomplishing and gratifying the cor-
rupt lusts and passions that are inherent in the soul. It is
plain, that the apostle means to ascribe delighting in the
law of God to a good principle in him, which he contradis-
tinguishes to another principle in his soul, by wThich, as in

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14 — 85. 257

the preceding words, evil was present with him ; and that
good principle can be no other than that called in Scripture
the new man, and here, the inward man.

If we look into the writings of our adversaries on this
point, we shall see, that though their general arguing some-
times tends to prove that the inward man signifies the soul,
in contradistinction to the body, yet themselves do not in-
deed mean so in explaining this context. By their explica-
tions they appear to mean the mind, understanding, or con-
science. So Dr W. understood the mind of man, the y»$,
to be meant ; and though in giving Origen's sense, he makes
it to be the soul, yet in the citation he gives from Origen
against Celsus, the word is vug, the mind or understanding,
which is not the same as soul, but signifies a particular fa-
culty of the soul. Now, though there might be some reason
from the nature of things, why we might, in our own use of
speech, call the soul, which is the inner part in the composi-
tion of the human person, the inward man, there is not the
same reason to distinguish the mind or understanding from
the other human faculties by that name. The will of man
and his affections are as inward and as essential to the soul
as the mind.

I see it observed, that Plato uses the phrase, o ivroq
clv3-£z>7to$, for the rational part of our nature. I would have
no quarrel with Plato for so conceiving and expressing ;
though, at the same time, I would not expect to find with
the heathen philosopher, the apostle Paul's particular notion
and view of the inward man.

That is the subject op our present inquiry, and in pro-
ceeding to consider the only two other places in which the
expression occurs, I begin with 2 Cor iv. 16. For which cause
we faint not ; but though our outward man perish, yet the in-
ward man is renewed day by day.

Dr W. says, that the outward man which perisheth, sig-
nifies only the body; the inward is only the soul and spirit
that is in man. One thing that occurs on a general view of
that interpretation, is this, that it makes the apostle's words
represent something that is not common or natural, and
which Christians ordinarily have not cause to expect. For
when the body becomes weak and fades, most commonly
and naturally weakness comes on the mind and spirit of a
man too, instead of the perishing of the outward man oc-
casioning the soul to be renewed in vigour and alacrity,
which are the words of his paraphrase. But understanding

258 A Dissertation concerning

the inward man of the new man, the matter becomes intel-
ligible and very clear. The Christian, though the gifts by
which he perhaps shined do as the flower of the grass fall
away, yet he becomes more humble and poor in spirit,
more sincere and upright, holds Christ more precious, hath
his heart more weaned from the world, doth more earnestly
desire the things that are above, and is more solaced by the
hope of the eternal inheritance. In all this there is great
improvement of the new man. While the Christian lades
and declines in his body, and likewise in his spirit, and the
natural faculties thereof, yet at the same time, as to what
belongs to the new man, and what truly constitutes the cha-
racter of the Christian, or righteous person, he flourishes
like a palm-tree, he bringeth forth fruit in old age, and is,
under all his natural fading, fat and flourishing in the best
sense. As this doth show that the Lord is upright, so, to
the praise of his faithfulness, it is no uncommon case among
those whom grace hath sanctified.

That in 2 Cor. iv. 16. the inward man, and the renewing
thereof, means the new man, or principle of grace and holi-
ness, and its improvement, is very evident by the account
the apostle himself gives of that improvement, or renewing,
in the very next words : For our light affliction, saith he,
which is but for a moment, worheth for us afar more exceed*
ing and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. —
Thus then it is that the inward man is daily renewed and
improved by tribulations, while these do more and more fit
the Christian for glory, dispose and determine him the more
to look, not to the things that are seen, but to the things
that are not seen. This cannot be said of the soul simply,
but of the principle of grace and holiness, or the new man,
which alone is capable of such improvement, or of the soul,
so far as it is renewed by Divine grace. Otherwise, how
many souls are there which, being unrenewed, receive no
such improvement by tribulations and afflictions !

Another place, in which this expression, the inward man,
occurs, is where the apostle prays for the Ephesians, chap,
iii. 16, 17- thus: That he would grant you, according to the
riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might, by his Spi-
rit in the inner man ; that Christ may dwell in your hearts
by faith ; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, &c. It
may be easy to understand the meaning of the inner man,
for any who shall observe the scope and connexion of this

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14—25. 259

passage, which are easy and obvious. He wishes Christ to
dwell in their hearts by faith, which is not merely wishing
them to have faith, for that he supposes these Ephesians to
have already ; but that they might be more steady and esta-
blished in faith, that they might be more habituated to liv-
ing practically by faith, that so Christ might be in them,
not as by transient visits, but might dwell in them, for their
most established consolation and abounding fruitfulness.
His wish is not merely that they may have love, but that
they may be rooted and grounded in love. Now, it is in or-
der to this, that he prays that they may be strengthened with
might in the inner man. Their being so he considers as
having for its natural consequence, that Christ shall dwell in
their hearts by faith, &c. He considers these things as na-
turally connected.

But there is no such connexion, if the inner man's being
strengthened shall be understood merely of the soul, with its
natural faculties, that inward part in the composition of the
human person, and its being strengthened with might, even
by the Spirit of God ; for we read of the Spirit of God com-
ing, on divers occasions, upon men, to give them vigour of
spirit, and to inspire them with zeal and fortitude for public
service, — not to strengthen their faith or love, a* these are
the principles of spiritual life and of true holiness. Yea, in
our times, if there are men who give signal proof of prowess
and of heroic fortitude, wTe have cause to consider it as a par-
ticular gift of God and of his Spirit, strengthening them
with might in their souls and spirits, while, without this,
others do show themselves weak and dastardly. Yet as to
these gallant persons, so strengthened with might and forti-
tude of soul and spirit, how commonly doth this appear, with-
out any symptom of having Christ dwelling in their hearts
by faith, or of any other thing that doth accompany salva-
tion ? Upon the whole, if the inner man shall be understood
here of men's soul and spirit in general, there appears no
connexion of these things, which yet it is evident the apostle
means to connect. But understanding the inner man of the
new man, or principle of spiritual life, the connexion is quite
clear, and easily understood. As the new man owes his be-
ing to the Holy Spirit, so it is by the influence and power of
the same Spirit that he on all occasions receives might and
vigour. Then if the new man, the principle of spiritual life
(or the inner man) is strengthened, the natural consequence
will be what the apostle mentions, that the Christian will

260 A Dissertation concerning

have great establishment in faith, unmoved by the shocks of
tribulation, or by the temptations of the enemy ; so that
Christ shall dwell in him, and he shall be rooted and ground-
ed in love.

Thus we have seen how we are to understand the inward
man in these two texts, 2 Cor. iv. 16. and Eph. iii. l6. And
by what hath been observed, it appears, that we cannot justly
conceive the apostle's argument, or enter into the views
which he appears to have in these places, without under-
standing the inner man of the new man. As to the text
especially under our consideration, Rom. vii. 22. it has been
observed before, that the inward man there must be under-
stood, not of the soul merely, but of that special principle in
the soul, by which the man delighted in the law of God ;
and that as distinguished from another principle also in the
soul, by which evil was present with him. All these things
make it appear, that by the inward man here we are to un-
derstand what the apostle calls elsewhere the new man.
What is here ascribed to the inward man is very decisive
to the same purpose. This brings us to the next thing pro-
posed, for explaining ver. 22.

2. What is meant by delighting in the law of God ?

The Greek word properly and strongly signifies delighting:
and none need to be told what delighting is. But the pre-
position, a-vv, with, being joined in composition with it,
(rvvYdopzh) it has been endeavoured to make something of
that. If indeed it was said by one man, with respect to
another, it might signify joining in delight, or pleasure,
with him. But when it is spoken with respect to the law of
God, what can be made of it but as we render, to delight ?
If we consider the law by way of prosopopoeia, as a person,
then rwrdopxt, condclector, may mean as if he had said, I de-
light in the same that the law delights in, and that is, true
and perfect, outward and inward, obedience and holiness.
This is what the law requires, and recommends to me, as
delightful ; and what, agreeably to the law, I delight in ;
what would be most delightful for me to attain ; what I aim
at, and pursue with delight, whatever bitterness and pain
I have from the law in my members, in my way to that
attainment. At any rate, delighting in the law of God, and
in the holiness thereof, doth very much distinguish a person
regenerate from the unregenerate, who are incapable of such
delight in the law, or in holiness.

However, Dr Whitby's paraphrase gives it thus : M / de-

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14—25. 26l

1 light in the law of God, my mind approving, for some
1 time, and being pleased with its good and holy precepts/
But doth the mind or judgment approving, or being pleased
with a proposition or law, as true or right, come up to the
meaning of' delighting ? Words will be useless for the ex-
pression of meanings, if they may be paraphrased or per-
verted at this rate. Besides, as to approving, or being
pleased with the law for some time, what these last words
import is taken from the Doctor's own notion, that it is the
hypocrite, or unregenerate person that is here represented,
as such may have a good disposition for sometime. But it
is plain, that the apostle means delighting in the holiness of
the law, as the quality and disposition, not for a time, but
always habitually of his inward man : there is nothing in
the expression to restrict it to some time. Finally, this ad-
dition, ' for some time/ doth not well suit Dr W/a own
notions. For though some sort of disposition, favourable to
holiness and good practice in an unregenerate man may last
but for a time, and soon go off, yet the Doctor would al-
low, that his v*s, his mind or judgment, which he sup-
poses to be meant by the inward man, (to which he ascribes
all the good things expressed in this context) would never-
theless continue to approve the law, and what it prescribes,
even though the man had sold himself to work wickedness,
like Ahab : so that by his own principles he should not have
added, c for some time/

The Doctor says in his annotation : c That this delight
6 is no evidence of a regenerate man, is evident from the
' example of the stony ground, which heard the word with
' joy, Matt. xiii. 20. ; of Herod, who heard John the Baptist,
' Tjhaq, with delight, Mark vi. 20. ; of the Jews, who rejoiced
' in his light, John v. 35. and heard our Saviour gladly,
' Mark xii. 37/

I shall begin my answer to this by observing, that the in-
stance of the hearers compared to the stony ground, must
be very improperly adduced on this occasion by an Armi-
nian divine. Those of that denomination do generally hold,
that temporary faith is the same for nature and kind with
saving faith, and falls short of being saving only by the
want of fruitfulness and perseverance ; and therefore, they
argue from instances of this sort of faith, and persons, against
the doctrine of the certain perseverance of the saints. If it
is so, then certainly they who have this sort of faith (which
the stony ground hearers are said to have) are regenerate for

262 A Dissertation concerning

the time, as I do not expect it will be said, that persons may
have true faith, who are not, for the time, regenerate. So
that this is an instance, according to their notions, of persons
regenerate brought to prove what persons unregenerate are
capable of, which is very far from just reasoning.

This is a sufficient answer upon their principles. I shall
now give an answer more suitable to my own sentiments,
and to the truth of the case. Jt is said, Matth. xiii. 20.
that the hearers there mentioned heard the word, and anon
with joy received it; and it is true, that nothing gives joy
that would not give delight. But then it is to be observed,
that our Lord is not there speaking of the law ; but of the
gospel, called in the preceding verse, the word of the kingdom.
Now there can be no question but the good things thereby
represented, such as remission of sins, deliverance from the
wrath to come, with eternal happiness and glory, may, in the
hearing, affect with some sort of delight and joy, souls that
do by no means delight in the law of God, or in the holiness
which it manifests and requires. Yea, will not all Christian
divines acknowledge, that generally this is one thing that
especially demonstrates that the delight and joy which some
have had by the gospel, real as it hath been in its kind, is
no sufficient evidence of regeneration or true conversion,
nor is it profitable or saving in its nature or effect.

Whatever freedom, or severity of reproof, was in the
preaching of John Baptist, yet, as Matth. iii. 2. he preached
that the kingdom of heaven was at hand ; which, as they un-
derstood it, might give delight and joy to the most carnal of
the Jews, his hearers; and to those of them who were
farthest from delighting in the law of God.

It is certainly not uncommon for men to hear the gospel,
(especially when it is preached with some advantage in the
manner) with present satisfaction and affection, whose hearts
were never reconciled to the holiness of the law of God.
Though Ezekiel often brought heavy messages, yet there
were unregenerate unholy men, who had some sort of pleasure
in hearing him ; concerning whom the Lord saith to him,
Ezek. xxxiii. 31, 32. They come unto thee as the people cometh,
and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words,
but they will not do them : for with their mouth they show
much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. And
lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a
pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument ; for they
hear thy words, but they do them not. Though carnal men

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14—25. 263

have some pleasure in hearing the word of God, yet they
are so far from delighting in the law of God, that the pre-
vailing of the contrary disposition is a chief cause why the
word of God is not truly, or with saving effect, received into
their hearts. Men in our times can be greatly pleased with
a sermon preached or read to them ; may admire the skilful
composition, the propriety and elegance of the expression,
with the strong reasoning in favour of goodness and virtue ;
may in the hearing be as much affected almost as with the
best composed and best acted tragedy, and bestow encomiums
on the preacher, that might shock the most vain glorious ;
when yet their disposition, conversation, and behaviour, prove
that they never truly delighted in the holiness of the law,
or in the grace of the gospel.

As to Herod, if he heard John Baptist gladly, or with de-
light, shall we say, that the tyrant, who was in the common
practice of iniquity and oppression, living openly in inces-
tuous lewdness, did indeed delight in the law of God ? This
is too absurd to be deliberately maintained. What hath been
said on these several instances, accounts likewise for Dr W.'s
last instance of the common people's hearing our Saviour
gladly, though many of them unprofitably.

Dr Taylor (Orig. Si?i, p. 218.) brings Is. lviii. 2. where it
is said of a nation that did not righteousness, They seek
me daily, and delight to know my ways. It is easy an-
swering this.

There is in mankind a lust of knowledge, of knowing
good and evil. Many Jews became learned in the law ; and
it is very likely that Paul, in his unregenerate state, brought
up at the feet of Gamaliel, became very learned in this way,
and could resolve many a question respecting the Mosaic law.
Their scribes and lawyers delighted in increasing their know-
ledge of it. The apostle says to the Jew, Rom. ii. 18, 19*
Thou knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more
excellent, and art conjident that thou thyself art a guide
to the blind ; when he doth ver. 21 — 24. charge them with
much wicked practice. The Jews in Isaiah's time did seek
God daily, and did delight in approaching to God, as he says
in the text cited, which can be understood of no other than
external worship, in which they were zealous and laborious.
Yet as it is not said or meant, that they sincerely sought
God, or approached him with their heart; so if they delighted
to know God's ways, yet it is not said or meant, that they
delighted in these ways, or in the law of God, which marks

264 A Dissertation concerning

them out to men. That is a very different thing. The
apostle's words in our context represent one delighting in
these ways, not merely in the knowledge of them ; and who
delighted in the law itself, with a view to its holiness and
spirituality, which he had asserted, ver. 14.

We see then that the instances of joy and delight, in the
case of hypocrites and persons unregenerate, that have been
adduced, do not come up to the meaning of delighting in the
law of God, in the text under consideration.

On the other hand, we find in Scripture, that delighting in
the law of God is given as a special evidence of a person rege-
nerate, holy, righteous, and blessed. The Psalmist in Psal.
cxix. hath divers expressions to this purpose concerning him-
self; particularly ver. 47. / will delight myself in thy command-
ments, which I have loved. Indeed the commandments can-
not be the delight of any man farther than they are loved by
him ; which shows the absurdity of understanding delighting
in the law of God, in our text, of an unregenerate man who
is incapable of loving the law. The Psalmist's words are very
direct and clear to the present purpose, Psal. i. 2. where he
gives it as the mark of a man who is truly blessed, that his
delight is in the law of the Lord: as he likewise gives it for
a mark of the righteous, Psal. xxxvii. 31. that the law of God
is in his heart. Now, shall we say there is any thing so
weak or silly in the inspired writings, as give for the mark
of persons blessed, righteous, and regenerate, any thing they
have in common with persons unregenerate and ungodly ? or
can it be good arguing that proceeds on such a supposition ?

We have now seen that the new man, the principle of spi-
ritual life and holiness, is the same that is meant by the in-
ward man, according to the constant use of scripture. We
have likewise seen, that to delight in the law of God, is, ac-
cording to the scripture, a most special and distinguishing
mark of a person righteous and blessed. So that in this one
proposition, ver 22. / delight in the law of God according to
the inward man, we have two arguments of great clearness
and force, proving that the case represented in our context
is that of a person regenerate and under grace.

Sect. Vl.-The same subject continued, and ver. 25. explained.

We might be well satisfied with the evidence that has
been already brought from this context, to determine the
general scope and purpose of it ; but there remains a great
deal more evidence in the concluding verse of this seventh
chapter. The first clause is, / thank God through Jesus Christ

The General Scope of Rom. VI L 14 — 25. 265

our Lord. Here we have the expression of the Apostle's
thankfulness for the advantage he had already obtained
against the flesh ; and the freedom he had by divine grace
attained from the law in his members. By no means, say
others. It is but his thankfulness for the prospect and com-
fortable expectation he had, through the grace of God in
Jesus Christ, of being delivered from the body of death ; for
which he had expressed such an earnest wish and longing in
the preceding verse. Be it so ; as indeed both his past ex-
perience, and his good prospect for futurity, may be well
together, as the matter of his thankfulness. But if we should
restrict it to the matter last mentioned, his thankfulness in
that same view implies his faith and confidence of being de-
livered from what he calls the body of death. It is easy
using words, and many have used the preceding words, O
wretched man that I am ! who never had any true sense of
wretchedness by the strength of sin in them. So it is easy
for men to express thankfulness, and to profess the faith of
total deliverance from sin, in such words as are here used,
who have not the faith they express in their hearts. But
for a man, who hath great bitterness of heart by the expe-
rience of sin in him ; who finds the working out of deliver-
ance from it exceed all his own powers, and utmost efforts,
and all created power besides ; who cries out, with a com-
plaint sincere and earnest, of his wretchedness by it; for
such a man, I say, to express, as with the same breath, his «.
joyful thankfulness for the prospect arid hope of deliverance
from the body of death, could not be without that faith sup-
porting and solacing his heart, that is a certain fruit and evi-
dence of regeneration. For it will be often found, that the
children of God have no greater trial of faith, or greater dif-
ficulty in exercising it, than in what concern eth their comfort
in reference to sin that dwelleth in them, and their hope of
deliverance from it. But to suppose that an unregenerate
man, having such a painful feeling of sin, of which he is the
absolute and willing slave, to have at the same time such
thankful confidence of deliverance from it, is to suppose what
is quite inconsistent with that character and state.

It was observed before, that it is charging the apostle
with a very gross incongruity and inconsistency, to suppose
him to be personating an infidel Jew, and yet to represent
that Jew speaking of Jesus Christ, as in the first clause of
this verse. Dr T. endeavours to hide the absurdity by the
sort of a paraphrase he gives of ver. 24, 25. thus : c Now what

266 A Dissertation concerning

( shall a sinner do in this miserable condition ? — How shall
1 such a wretched, enslaved, condemned Jew be delivered ?
e He is delivered and obtains salvation, not by any strength
' or favour the law supplieth, but by the grace of God in
' our Lord Jesus Christ, for which we are bound to be for
' ever thankful/ So indeed the Apostle himself might say
of the Jew, or any other man in the supposed condition, in a
doctrinal way ; but though the nature and rule of paraphrase
allowed him to vary somewhat and amplify the expression,
yet if the design was to personate the Jew, as this Doctor
thought, that did not give him a right to represent any
other as speaking than a Jew ; and if there was any thing
said inconsistent with that character, he should have been
convinced that the design was not to personate the Jew.
Was the man indeed sensible of this difficulty, that he avoids
it in the manner we have seen in his paraphrase ? However,
this is no other than a too artful and unfair way of hiding,
not removing the difficulty that occurred with regard to his
interpretation. Surely the Apostle was not capable of such
incongruity, rather gross absurdity, as to make an infidel
Jew to speak of Jesus Christ, in the manner here expressed.

In the remaining part of this ver. 25. we have the result
and conclusion of all the representation the Apostle had been
making from ver. 14. And here surely we may expect some-
thing that will further help us to understand and fix the
general scope and purpose of the preceding context. The
words are, So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of
God ; but with the flesh the law of sin. In the first of these
clauses we have occasion to consider these three expressions,
and the sense of them : 1. / myself. 2. The mind. 3. Serv-
ing the law of God.

I. ctvrog tym, I myself; so rendered precisely according to
the Greek. But some, without giving any good reason for
it, will have it rendered, / the same man, (of whom he had
before spoken, not I Paul writing this epistle.) So Dr
Whitby. But if that were the sense designed, we should
have had in this place, not uvrcg iya, but o ccvrog iyu, as Beza
observes, who says, he never saw it so in the text, in any
copy, and he had seen a great many. The reason with these
interpreters for attempting to make this alteration in the text,
may, I think, be learned from these words of Dr W.'s an-
notation, ' Not I Paul writing this epistle.' If the expres-
sion I myself, be retained, however, precisely according to
the Greek, they seem to be sensible, that it will strongly in-

The General Scope of Eom. VII. 14—25. 267

timate that the apostle is indeed representing his own present
case, and how it was then with himself. So indeed the words
import ; and must we agree to alter the text, to be free of
this inconvenience ? In order to have this agreed to, they
should have shown us their translation to be warranted by
the use of speech in the Greek, or else have shown us a dif-
ferent reading, to be wTaranted by ancient manuscripts of
good authority. It seems neither of these could be done.
My lexicon for the Latin, idem, the same man, gives, o xvrog,
and the words in our text, uvrcg iyu, is still rendered as here,
/ myself. So Luke xxiv. 39- That, xvrog iyu upt, it is I my-
self; Rom. ix. 3. For I could wish that, ctvrcg iyu, myself were
accursed; Rom. xv. 14. And avrog iyu, I myself also am per-
suaded ; 2 Cor. x. 1. uvrog Js lyu Uoiv^og, No?v I Paul my-
self beseech you ; chap. xii. 13. Except that, uvrog iyu, I my-
self was not burdensome to you. This is enough for vindi-
cating our translation, and to show that the different render-
ing is not warranted by the use and common meaning of
the words.

As this expression shows, that it is the case of the apostle
himself, writing this epistle, which is here represented,
there is this further in it, the expression clearly implies, that
the character of the person here represented is to be taken,
and himself to be denominated from this, as from the most
prevailing principle in him, and in his course, that with his
mind he served the law of God ; he himself did so. Surely
if this was the prevailing disposition and practice, it must
be allowed to be a strong argument and proof of regenera-
tion ; and that the Apostle is not here personating an un-
regenerate man, or a carnal Jew. Indeed, this way of ex-
pressing the matter is quite suitable to what he had said,
ver. 17. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that
dwelleth in me. And again, ver. 20. If I do that I would
not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
It is putting his conclusion in language very suitable to
such premises and declarations, to say here, ver. 25. So
then I myself with my mind serve the law of God.

However, his distinguishing thus pathetically and anxious-
ly between himself, ver. 17- 20. and sin dwelling in him,
is not to be understood as if he designed to alleviate his sin,
or to excuse himself. That were not like the disposition of
a man, who was making such sorrowful confession and com-
plaint of sin. For if he had whereby to excuse himself, or
meant so, why should he cry out, Wretched man that I am?

268 A Dissertation concerning

But though he was far from designing to excuse himself,
or sin in him, yet having such sorrowful sense of his con-
dition by sin, he much needed, as the true state of the case
gave him ground, to encourage himself by observing, that
the better principle prevailed in him, and that with his mind
he himself served the law of God.

2. The word in this clause to be next considered is, the
mind, for which the Greek word is, vug. Now, shall we
say, that an unregenerate man may justly demand that his
character be taken from his mind and conscience, and from
the office which it performs within, so that it should be said
that this is he himself, and that the apostle is so to be un-
derstood in this place ?

It would seem that Dr Whitby inclined to think so. For
on the words of ver. 17- just now quoted, he says: ' Here
e the apostle seems to speak according to the philosophy of
1 the heathens, with which the Jews began to be acquaint-
< ed, that a man was not to be denominated from his body,
( or his sensual and carnal part, but from his mind, his vug,
1 or XoyiKv dixvoia, which, in Philo's phrase, is the man
' within us — the true man, the man properly so called/
So the unregenerate man may say, in the apostle's words,
that with his vug, his mind, which is himself, (the true
man, the man properly so called) he serves the law of God.
This is what the Doctor aims at.

As to this, if human nature is to be considered in the
most general view, and man is to be described as he is to be
distinguished from the other animals on this globe, I allow
that he is to be denominated from his soul or mind, and
rational faculty and conscience, which is the better and the
distinguishing part in his frame. So when we say, that man
is a reasonable creature, endowed with a conscience, that is
denominating him from his soul or mind, which alone is
capable of rationality and conscience.

But all this is nothing to the present purpose. The apos-
tle's view doth not respect the general frame, or constitution
of man, or of human nature. His discourse respects moral
character, and the different case of a person regenerate, and
under grace, and of a person unregenerate, under the law,
with regard to moral character. Though I denominate man
in general from the reason and conscience he is endowed
with, shall I therefore give the moral character of an ill
man, of one who has abandoned himself to work wickedness
like Ahab, from reason and conscience, and say the man is

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14—25. 269

a person of reason and conscience ? What Dr \V. suggests
on this occasion from philosophy, is but an attempt to give
his interpretation a colouring, which, if duly considered,
must appear fallacious, yea extremely absurd.

The writers on that side express themselves as if they
thought that in every man all was right on the part of the
>»$, the mind or reasoning faculty, whatever pravity may
have affected the will, affections, and body, through ac-
quired ill habits, or otherwise. In interpreting this context,
they do not advert, that in this fallen state the human mind
hath come under great weakness, yea blindness, in spiritual
matters, and in the things of God. Besides what there is of
this common to all men in their natural condition, the
Scripture distinguishes some men as of corrupt minds in a
special degree. The persons spoken of, Tit. i. 15. had their
mind (0 vv$) and conscience dejiled. These in Rom. i. 28.
were given up (u$ a$oxi{uov vav) to a reprobate mind. Paul
says, Eph. ii. 3. that, in an unconverted state, we all — were
fulfilling the desires of the fiesh, and (tuv ^ixvomv) of the mind.
Chap. iv. 17. he exhorts the Christians not to walk, as other
Gentiles do, in the vanity (t* voog ccvrwv) of their mind. He
speaks of a man, Col. ii. 18. vainly puffed up by (rx voog tt,$
o-cc^kos awns) his fieshly mind. He mentions, 1 Tim. vi. 5.
perverse disputings of men ($ti$$ci£[Aiv»v rot vug) of corrupt
minds, and so likewise, 2 Tim. iii. 8. It appears then, that
in unregenerate men, even the vs$, the mind itself is not so
good a thing as some imagine, but is sadly tainted with sin ;
and is so in some to a high degree. Such men as Ahab,
who have sold themselves to work wickedness, have their
vug, their mind as corrupt as any men ; and such are sup-
posed, by the interpreters we have to do with, to be here
personated by the apostle. Can such men justly say, With
these our minds, fleshly minds, corrupt minds, reprobate
minds as they are, we, even we ourselves, serve the law of
God ? or, when such a one sins, can he say, It is not I, for
I am to be denominated, and my character taken from my
vss, mind, my Xoyix*) dixvoict, my rational understanding,
vain, corrupt, and fleshly as that is ?

Let us now consider the natural course of things in the
human soul and practice. It is certain that a man doth not
follow any sinful course farther than even his mind and un-
derstanding is on the side of sin. The mind or understand-
ing is on the side of duty in many cases in theory ; but
when it comes to the actual practice of sin, it is certain that

M

270 A Dissertation concernijig

the mind doth first represent it as good, before it can pro-
ceed to practice. The mind may in this be biassed by affec-
tions, senses, lusts, and appetites. But from whatever source
the bias comes., so it is, that the mind doth represent evil
under the notion of good, before the will can possibly be de-
termined to it. This is the fixed and unalterable order of
things in rational agents. To suppose the will to determine
itself to any sort of action or course without this, were to
make it a brutal faculty, not the faculty of a rational agent.
To say that the human will may, by a sort of sovereign
liberty, determine itself to any action or pursuit deliberately,
without the mind representing it as good, is, in order to
ascribe to man the liberty of his will, to degrade him from
the rank of a rational agent. It is certainly impossible in
nature, that such an agent can will or choose any thing,
good or evil as it may be in itself, but what the mind repre-
sents as good. Be it so, then, that the mind, understanding,
or conscience, hath a certain light and urgency on the side of
holiness, or of duty, so far as they are enlightened in an un-
regenerate man ; yet this light and urgency is faint and
weak. On the other hand, the mind, influenced by a cor-
rupt heart, represents the pleasures of sin as good, and this
it performs in a strong light, and urges powerfully ; which,
being agreeable to the corrupt disposition of the heart, pre-
vails against the weak and ineffectual suggestion of mind
and conscience, in favour of holiness and duty, and so takes
effect in the practice. Thus, even the v«$, the mind itself,
comes to be on the side of sin, in men corrupt, unsanctified,
and unregenerate.

This being the case, from which part is the unregenerate
man to be denominated ? Is it from the faint light in his
mind, and the weak ineffectual urgency of his conscience in
favour of duty ? or is it from the more prevailing bias of
his mind itself, of his will and affections on the side of sin ;
and from the free course it hath in his practice? How
much soever he is, in the several faculties of his soul de-
termined on the side of sin, in opposition to true holiness,
yet as any degree of light that remains in his mind and con-
science is the better part in him; is he, from this, even
when he goes on in sin, yea is under the dominion of it, en-
titled to denominate himself, as to moral or spiritual charac-
ter, from this better part ; and to say, of all the evil that he
practises, It is not I ? — This is absurd.

But to come still closer to the subject, let us endeavour

The General Scope of Rom. VI I. 14 — 25. 271

to explain what is here meant by the mind. We have here,
ver. 25. the mind and the flesh, instead of the law of his mind,
and the law in his members, mentioned ver. 23. It is need-
less to seek a reason from this variation in the expression.
If there had been a repetition in this ver. 25. of the word
law four times thus : I with the law of my mind serve the
law of God ; but with the law in my members the law of
sin ; therp might be some disadvantage in sound and ele-
gance. One word, striking the ear so often in one sentence,
might be unpleasing, which is avoided by substituting the
words, his mind, and the flesh.

It is likely, however, that by his mind here he means the
same thing as the law of his mind, ver. 23. Let us then in-
quire into the meaning of the Ian) of his mind. We may be
helped in this by considering what is meant by the law in
his members, which he states in opposition to it. This last
certainly is not any directing light, to be opposed in that
respect to the light of his mind and conscience. In general,
the law in his members is a powerful, energetic, operative
principle. We must then, as the opposition is stated, under-
stand the law of his mind, not merely of the light of his
mind and conscience, suggesting to a man the law and rule
of practice, but of another powerful, energetic, operative
principle. So that here we have one active principle dispos-
ing and determining the man's heart to holiness ; and it is
plain that this is here represented as the more prevailing
and ruling principle in him. There is another active prin-
ciple, the law in his members, the flesh, exerting itself in
various lusts, carnal affections, unruly and unholy passions ;
and by these warring against that other and better principle
of life and action, and so serving the law of sin.

It will tend to our better understanding this subject, and
at the same time show a reason of the expression, the law of
my mind, to observe that Scripture, Heb. viii. 10. This it
the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, saith the Lord : 1 will put my laws into their
mind, and write them in their hearts. This is not merely
what the apostle mentions, when he speaks of the natural
conscience that is in the Gentiles, Rom. ii. 15. The work
of the law, as there mentioned, is not the work that the law
prescribes, but the work which the law itself in the con-
science performs ; representing duty and sin, excusing or
accusing. But it is something very different from what was
naturally in the Gentiles, and something more excellent and

272 A Dissertation concerning

effectual, that is meant by the promise of the new covenant,
when it is said, Heb. viii. / will put my laws into their minds,
and write them in their hearts. This is something more
than natural conscience can arrive to in any man : it is a
writing by the Spirit of the living God in the fleshly tables
of the hearts. It is, that God by his Spirit puts the holiness
of the law, or puts the love of God, (which is the great com-
mandment, and the sum of holiness) in the minds and hearts
of his people ; implants in them a new and efficacious prin-
ciple of spiritual life, effectually producing in them confor-
mity to his law, and securing against the breaking of the co-
venant, as had happened with respect to the first cove-
nant, before mentioned. So that this promise is so far
parallel to that Jer. xxxii. 40. / will put my fear in their
hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

From what hath been observed, we have good reason to
think, that the law of the mind here is the principle of holi-
ness in a mind and heart enlightened and sanctified by the
Holy Spirit, which is a powerful, operative, and prevailing
principle in every regenerate person.

3. The third expression in this second clause is, serving
the law of God. This can import no less than a true con-
formity to the holiness of the law of God, with submission
and obedience to its authority, in the sincere and constant
purpose of the heart, and in habitual endeavour ; and this
is incompatible with the character and state of an unregenerate
person, under the dominion of sin. It is, however, endea-
voured to reconcile this serving the law of God, with the con-
dition of such a person. Dr Hammond hath it thus in his
paraphrase : c The carnal man — with his understanding he
' serves the law of God ; is delighted and pleased with those
c things wherewith that is delighted/ Dr T. thus : e That
' same I, the same person, in his inward man, his mind and
' rational powers, may assent to, and approve the law of God.*
Dr W.'s mind we have seen to the same purpose. Let us
consider these things a little.

These writers suppose, that this context represents the case
of a person enslaved by his lusts, habitually led captive by
them, and quite destitute of the spirit. Yea, they explain and
exemplify the case in instances of the grossest sinners. On
the other hand, they observe, that the unregenerate man hath
naturally a rational mind and conscience, but of small force
or effect in practice. The light in his rational mind so far as
it is enlightened, shows him what is duty, and what is sin.

The General Scope of Rom. V1L 14 — 25. 273

Yea, in some cases, his conscience incites him with great
urgency to do his duty ; and when he acts in the contrary
way, accuses and condemns him. But with regard to the
light in his conscience, the person under the dominion of sin
is altogether passive, reluctant, and rebellious. As to serv-
ing the law of God, the conscience doth indeed serve it, as a
witness for its authority and holiness ; and God serves him-
self of the conscience, for the interest of his justice, and for
that likewise of his grace and holiness. But shall we say,
and give it for the interpretation of this place, that an un-
regenerate person, because he has reason and conscience mark-
ing out to him duty and sin, may be said to serve the law of
God ; when, in the prevailing disposition of his heart, and
his whole course of life and practice, he is in the utmost
contrariety to it? may such justly say, I myself, or (if you
please) I the same carnal man and slave of sin, do serve the
law of God with my reason and conscience, which, with my
will and affections, I do resolvedly disobey and counteract,
in the allowed lustings of my heart, and in all my conversa-
tion and practice? Surely such an interpretation is intoler-*
able, and an insult upon common sense.

The great hurt which these writers pretend to fear from
the interpretation they oppose is, that wicked and unholy
persons are thereby encouraged, as they think, to consider
their practice as not inconsistent with being truly in Christ,
and in a state of grace. But by this time it may be pretty
clear to any impartial person, that the interpretation of the
context here given, affords no encouragement to men in un-
holy practice ; and the proper consequence and improvement
of it is to be hereafter shown. In the meantime these in-
terpreters, and they who receive their notions, would do well
to consider, if their own interpretation tendeth not greatly to
encourage men in an ill condition and course, when they
make Paul teach persons unregenerate, wTicked, and unholy,
that when they do ill, they may justly and warrantably say,
according to the style of this scripture, It is not I, but sin that
dwelleth in me ; for with the mind I do serve the law of God.
Is it possible that unholy persons can apply such language to
themselves, without conveying thereby alleviating notions of
their wickedness, and favourable notions of their condition,
into their own hearts, already wofully deluded by their lusts,
and that with the worst consequences to them ?

Dr Taylor (note on ver. 25.) says, ' Serving the law of
' God, is not a stronger expression than hating sin, ver. 15.

274 A Dissertation concerning

' and delighting in the law of God, ver. 22. But these ex-
1 pressions are applied to the Jew in the flesh, or enslaved
1 with sin ; consequently, so may serving the law of God.'

Good reason hath been here given, why we should reckon
it very absurd to apply any of these expressions to a person
enslaved to sin. But it is not only the Jew in the flesh, and
under the Mosaic law, to whom what this context represents
is applied by these interpreters : recourse is had to heathen
fable ; and Medea, whom the poets represent as a monster
of wickedness, is brought on the stage, to have her part in
this farce of interpretation. So the perfidious cruel witch
Medea (if she had been the apostle's contemporary) might say
of all her wickedness, c It is not I, bid sin that divelleth in
( me. Do not denominate me, or take my character, from this
1 wickedness, but from that best thing that is in me, my
( reason and conscience, which accuse and condemn me for it;
' for I myself, or, I the same person, who so grossly counter-
' act my reason and conscience, in all my practice ; even the
1 same person whom the apostle Paul has so notably repre-
' sented, (though, good man, he writes as in his own name
c and person, to mollify the harshness, and to avoid giving of-
1 fence to my delicate ladyship, and to such as I) even I, the
' same person do, notwithstanding all my ill practice, yet with
1 my mind and reason serve the lawof God.' It were indeed
mollifying with a witness for the apostle to write as he has
done, with such meaning and intention. Was he indeed so
shy of giving offence even to the Jews, whom he had it so
much at heart to do good to ? See Acts xxviii. 25 — 27- Rom.
xi. 8—10. 1 Thess. ii. 15, 16.

Medea is introduced in this interpretation particularly for
the words which Ovid (a man not very noted for sanctity
himself) has put in her mouth ; by which several interpre-
ters have exemplified the expressions of our context. Dr
T. brings them in thus, (note on ver. 15.) e A heathen poet
' (saith he) gives us a like description of the combat between
* reason and passion/

Sed trahit invitam nova vis, aliudque cupido
Mens aliud suadet, video meliora -pxohoque
Deteriora sequor

He gives it in English thus :

My reason this, my passion that persuades,

I see the right, and I approve it too,

Condemn the wrong ; — and yet the wrong pursue.

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14—25. 27.5

By the interpretation here given, our context represents
a conflict between a prevailing principle of holiness, under
the influence of the Spirit of grace, in a sanctified heart, with
so much of the flesh, and its lustings and passions, as remains
in it. It is true, at the same time, that, in the unregene-
rate, reason and conscience oppose sin ; and especially in its
grosser actings, according to the words of Ovid, they have
some sort of conflict with it. The distinction between these
different sorts of conflict I leave to the practical writers. But
it is fit to say something here, to account for the wTords as-
cribed by the poet to Medea.

Notwithstanding the fearful effect of the fall upon human
nature, mankind have ever retained some notion and impres-
sion of the Supreme Being, and that he ought to be wor-
shipped. There have been at all times notions of social
virtues, with considerable impression and effect in the minds
of men. Every man in particular is sensible of his own in-
terest in these, and of their importance in society. God, the
great patron of human society, hath, in great mercy to the
world, carefully maintained the impression of these in the
minds of men, even in those whose disposition and practice
are very remote from holiness. Gross acts of iniquity, that
are contrary to all social virtue, excite horror, even in those
who are guilty of them. Medea's character is that of a noted
sorceress. She betrayed her father, and her country ; she
murdered her brother, and mangled his body in a most in-
human manner ; having formed an extravagant and pas-
sionate love to Thesus, she bore him several children ; and
when she followed him to his own country, being there dis-
appointed of her expectation from him, she murdered the
children she had by him. In the end, being a witch, she
raised wind and tempest, went aloft, and made her way
through the air to a remote region. So the poets have told
the story of Medea. Such acts of perfidy, cruelty, impetu-
ous lust, and sorcery, are shocking to h umanity itself. She
is made to speak as sensible of this herself, and as if her
own heart recoiled at the thought of them. But our context
represents one wTho viewed the spirituality of the law of God,
as it prescribes a rule to the motions and temper of the
heart inwardly ; one wTho bitterly laments the motions and
activity of sin within him, without mentioning any gross
acts of sin outwardly. All that is here said, can be ac-
counted for without supposing any thing of that sort. To
interpret this context by such instances as Medea, and by

276 A Dissertation concerning

the account given of her in the lines inserted above, is utter-
ly unwarrantable.

So then, in the second clause of this ver. 25. we have these
three things : — 1. The man here represented is to be deno-
minated, and his character taken from the better, as it is the
most prevailing principle. Reason and conscience are not
the prevailing principles in an unregenerate, unholy person.
But, as in the man here, the better principle prevails, it is
he himself. 2. There is not only reason and conscience re-
quiring him to serve the law of God ; but he doth actually
serve it : so the text expressly says. 3. This he doth by a
new principle, his sanctified mind ; the law of his mind ;
even the law of God put in his mind and heart by the grace
of the new covenant, a law or principle opposing, in a pre-
vailing manner, the law in his members. Thus in the con-
clusion, in this last verse, of the representation given in this
context, we have three things very decisive concerning its
general scope, that it is the case of a regenerate person,
under grace, that is exhibited in it.

There remains the last clause of this text, But with the
fiesh the law of sin. The words, / serve, which are in the
preceding, are to be understood to be in the sense of this
clause, though not repeated in it, thus : With the flesh I
serve the law of sin. For the Apostle doth not mean to say,
that what of sin came from the flesh was not his sin, or done
by him, having said, ver. 15. What I hate, that I do, and
ver. 19- The evil which I would not, that I do. Yet it is
evident, by the way this last clause is introduced and con-
nected, that the flesh was not the dominant or reigning prin-
ciple in him. Dr T. will have it understood that it was.
For in the last paragraph of his note on this verse, he says ;
' Serving with the flesh the law of sin cannot well be ap-
* plied to a true Christian, or such an one as Paul was.' To
confirm this, he uses the words of chap. viii. 1, 2. When
we come to consider these verses, it will appear very evi-
dently, that they do not by any means suit the purpose for
which he refers to them. He adds there: € Serving and
' delighting in the law are properly enough used in the case
' of a wicked Jew. For how little soever his life was con-

< formed to the law of God, he would notwithstanding glory
6 in it, and profess a high esteem for it, chap. ii. 1 7 — 24.

< See also Is. lviii. 1, 2/ Of this last text enough hath
been said before. The wicked Jew might profess an esteem
for the law, without loving it ; and he might glory in it, as

.

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14—25.

the peculiar privilege of his nation, and in his own knowledge
of it, without delighting in it, or in the holiness it represents
and requires. Serving and delighting in the law cannot be
ascribed to a wicked Jew, or to any other wicked man, but
with the utmost impropriety, yea glaring absurdity.

That writer paraphrases the two latter clauses thus : ' To
f conclude ; the sum of what I have advanced concerning
' the power of sin in the sensual man, is this; namely, that
' the same I, the same person, in his inward man, his mind,
e and rational powers, may assent to, and approve the law
1 of God, and yet notwithstanding, by his fleshly appetites,
' may be brought under servitude to sin.' But how came
he to express serving sin by being brought under servitude
to sin ? That with the flesh he served sin may be accounted
for by single instances and acts in the full sense of the ex-
pression, but to be brought under servitude to sin denotes
a man's state, — to be under the dominion of sin, its servant
or slave. For example : if a sincere Christian shall, from
the influence of the flesh, be angry with his brother without
a cause, and through the impetuosity of his passion shall call
him Raca, or, Thou fool, he, in that instance, doth serve the
law of sin ; yet it would be unjust and absurd to say, he is
under servitude to sin. This author, however, seems to have
understood by the flesh here only sensuality and fleshly ap-
petites, as in his paraphrase. To what then shall we ascribe
causeless anger, and one's calling his brother Raca, if it come
not under the general denomination of the flesh ?

But how came he for, serving the law of sin, in the last
clause, where serving is not expressed, to give, brought un-
der servitude to sin ; and, at the same time, in the former
clause, where it is expressed, to render it by no more than
assenting to, and approving in his rational powers, the law
of God, which might be without serving it at all ? When
the Apostle says, With my mind I serve the law of God, sure-
ly there is good reason to conclude, that the man, being made
free from sin, (from its dominion) was the servant of right-
eousness, the servant of God, ( as chap. vi. 18. 22.) rather
than to say, he was under servitude to sin ; even though the
flesh in him prevailed, in too many instances, to serve the
law of sin.

Mr John Alexander, who understands this context of an
unregenerate man, yet differs from all that I know of, in the
interpretation of this verse. As to serving the law of God,
he says, it is more than to assent to the law that it is good,

m 5

278 A Dissertation concerning

— yea, it can be said of none but the true Christian and
servant of God ; of whom, according to him, it cannot be
said, that with the flesh he serves the law of sin ; which
could not, he thought, agree with what our Saviour says,-—
no man can serve two masters. ( It must/ he says, ( be pre-
* dicated of the same person at different times of his life.'
Yet it is plain, the man here speaking represents his own
case in both clauses, as it was at the present time ; nor can
he be otherwise understood, without taking a liberty in in-
terpretation that were quite intolerable. However, the writer
speaks very strongly thus : f Surely he (the Apostle) could
1 not intend to speak of a monster which never existed in
' nature, equally governed by two opposite principles, which
' are directly subversive of each other/ I shall not say that
true believers are monsters, but certainly they possess a very
peculiar character in their present state. Angels are all ho-
liness, without any sin ; devils are all sin, without any holi-
ness. Unregenerate men are wholly under the dominion of
sin, its servants or slaves, — quite free from righteousness ;
whereas the true believer is holy by his general character,
and prevailing disposition ; yet, having the flesh in him, he
thereby serves the law of sin. But the monstruosity will
evanish, and the difficulty disappear, if you throw out of
Mr Alexander's sentence the word equally, which the
apostle's language gave him no warrant to put in it. It is
very clear in the expression of this ver. 25. that he did not
say or mean that he was equally governed by two opposite
principles.

A little afterward, Mr Alexander says : c Teaching us that
1 the mind or understanding must lead and predominate
( in the servant of God, as the flesh does in the servant of
( sin, he shows us how the mind being restored to its do-
' minion over the man by the gospel, and the flesh at the
1 same time subdued or crucified, the law of God comes to
' be kept.' But did this writer think, that in the servant
of God the flesh is so subdued or crucified, that it hath no
motion or activity at all ? If so, where shall we find a ser-
vant of God in this world ? If not, then the flesh, though
crucified, yet having life and motion, exerts itself, for instance,
in a fit of sinful anger, and thereby serves the law of sin.
Doth the man, for this, cease all at once to be the servant of
God ? But there is enough of this conceit of Mr Alexander's.

We must not, however, leave this verse and chapter, with-
out observing how Dr Taylor connects this last verse of it

The General Scope of Rom. VI L 14 — 25. 279

in his paraphrase, with the preceding and following ones.
He paraphrases ver. 24. with the following one, thus : ' And
1 now, what shall a sinner do in this miserable situation ? He
1 is under the power of such passions and habits as the law
4 declares to be sinful, and which even his own reason dift-
1 approves, but is too weak to conquer ; and being a Jew
' under the law, he stands condemned to death for his
' wicked compliances with them. How shall such a wretch-
1 ed, enslaved, condemned Jew be delivered from the do-
' minion of sinful lusts, and the curse of the law, which
' subjects him to death ?' Then, after giving ver. 25. as we
have seen, he adds, ' Thus under the weak and lifeless dis-
c pensation of the law, the sinner remains in a deplorable
1 state, without help or hope, and sentenced to death. But
1 now, (chap. viii. 1.) under the gospel the most encourag-
' ing hopes smile upon us, and we have the highest assur-
' ance, that those are quite discharged from the penalty of
' the law, and disengaged from the servitude of sin, who
1 embrace the faith of the gospel ; if so be — ' &c.

By the first of these passages, the sinner is miserable by
the power of sinful passions and habits. There is some
further unhappiness in the case of the Jew ; being a Jew,
under the law, he stands condemned to death. According
to this writer, a heathen, however wicked, was not obnoxious
to death, as not being under a law that allotted death for sin,
but the Jew, and he only, was under such a law ; so he
stood condemned to death for transgression. But we have
had enough of this absurd notion before.

It appears that, according to this author, the Jews were
in a most wretched condition during the Mosaic dispensation,
being enslaved, and condemned, without help or hope from
the weak and lifeless dispensation of the law they were under.
Yet there were many thousands of pious persons in these
times; who were not under condemnation, nor enslaved to
sin. As to the dispensation they were under, it was not a
weak and lifeless dispensation of mere law. God never
brought his people under such a dispensation, since grace
was first manifested, Gen. iii. 15. nor were such a dispensa-
tion consistent with God's having a people at all. Sinners
of the Jews, who were the slaves of sin, might come out of
that state by a proper improvement of the grace that was set
before them under that dispensation, as others had done.
Dr T. could not deny this.

The Jews, who were in the worst condition, were such as

280 A Dissertation concerning

delusively turned the dispensation they were under to a dis-
pensation of mere law to themselves, by neglecting and re-
jecting grace, and founding all their confidence on the law,
and works thereof. Of these the apostle says, Gal. iii. 10.
As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse*
They at the same time persecuted outrageously the teachers
and professors of the gospel, rejecting and opposing it with
great zeal and fury. Let us observe how Dr T. gives his
thoughts concerning these in other places of his book. When
we state these thoughts of his in contrast with what he says of
them in his paraphrase and notes on the texts wTe have been
last considering, we shall see some things that are not quite
consistent. But before we observe his opinion of the infidel
Jews, let us make our way to it, by taking some notice of his
opinion concerning the heathens.

In the title and contents of chap. xiii. of his Key, are these
words concerning the heathens : ' Virtuous heathens shall
' be eternally saved/ He labours this point much. In
that chapter, sect. 289- he says : ' This noble scheme (that of
c the gospel) was not intended to exclude any part of the
c world, to whom it should not be revealed, from the present
( favour of God or future salvation.' And a little below :
' There might be some virtuous persons among them/ And
downwards: c In that solemn day (the day of judgment)
( the virtuous heathen will not be rejected because he did
e not belong to the visible kingdom of God in this world,
' but will then be readily accepted and received into the
c kingdom of glory.'

For a further discovery of this author's opinion on this
subject, let us observe how he expresses himself concerning
the necessity of revelation. In his note on chap. ii. 1 5. he
hath this proposition : c There is a law of nature which is
' of true guide, and sufficient to bring a man who has no
f other light, to eternal happiness. Objection : — But if the
c law of nature be so sufficient, what occasion for the gospel ?
' Answer. Reflect upon chap. i. 17- to the end. No law, or
' light, how sufficient soever of itself, to save mankind, when
' duly attended to, is sufficient to reform them, when they
( generally neglect and pervert it ; because that very thing
' that should reform them, is neglected and perverted.' All
this might be said concerning the gospel, and says no more
for the necessity of the revelation that hath been given than
it doth for the necessity of a new revelation besides the
gospel. He adds another objection and answer. c Object.

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14—25. 281

• But if we live according to the light of nature, we shall be
4 saved, though we pay no regard to revelation. Ans. To
1 despise or disregard any discoveries of God's will and
' goodness, to neglect any scheme he has formed to promote
' virtue and happiness, especially such a glorious and noble
t scheme, is foolish, wTicked, and a capital transgression of

• the law of nature/ So the gospel is a valuable discovery
of God's will and goodness, and is a glorious and noble scheme
for promoting virtue and happiness : but, according to this
writer, men might be virtuous, so as to reach happiness, and
the kingdom of glory, though they had never heard of it ;
yea, if such revelation had never been made, I knowT that
several, who have shown much ability in defending the ge-
neral truth of the Christian revelation, have been of the same
mind with this writer on this subject ; and I cannot help
thinking that, on this account, their writings against the in-
fidels are essentially defective. They have entertained no-
tions and principles that have disabled them from making a
thorough confutation of Deism ; and that they have too great
tendency to make the infidel easy in his mind, in rejecting
the gospel.

Let us now observe this author's notions concerning the
infidel Jews ; and certainly we may expect he would not think
their case, if they were virtuous, who had the divine law by
a clear revelation, worse than that of virtuous heatheii3.
Heathens might be, he says, virtuous and finally happy, which
they could not be, without obtaining pardon, and being made
free from the slavery and dominion of sin. Surely the Jew
under the law was not in worse condition as to this. Con-
cerning these Jews, who seem to have been in the worst case
that ever Jews were in, Dr T.'s opinion was what I come now
to show. In his fourth note on Rom. v. 20. he puts this
question : c But suppose the Jew through mere mistake should
i verily believe that he ought to continue under the law of
•' Moses, doth it follow, that he was therefore to remain un-
' der condemnation for ever ?' I would not indeed have ex-
pected that any Christian, who would be at the pains but of
a little thinking, would ever put such a question; as it is cer-
tain that many Jews, (thousands, Acts xxL 20.) who were
true believers, and holy persons, did, for some time after their
conversion by the gospel, verily believe in the manner the
question supposes. Though probably many of them died in
that persuasion, yet I scarce think that ever Christian ima-
gined they would for this continue under condemnation for

282 A Dissertation concerning

ever. But the author inclined not to disturb or shock his
reader all at once, by putting the question in the full form
that he meant. It is plain he meant Jews, who to believing
the perpetuity of the Mosaic law, joined the rejection of
Christ and the gospel ; as wre shall see presently.

He-answers the question thus : ( No, surely ; no more than
1 it follows, that any other man shall remain under con-
' demnation for any mere mistake of judgment in religious
' affairs. Such a Jew must be in the same state with any
' other honest man, who is in a simple error/ What he
means by mere mistake of judgment, and being in a simple
error, I shall not determine. But if be meant (and I see not
what else he could mean) mistakes and errors that are not
connected with any thing very ill in the disposition and prac-
tice of men ; as it is not reasonable to think that errors can
be such, that amount to a denial of the important and essen-
tial truth of faith, so it is evident that the error of the Jew
was connected with what was very ill in his disposition and
practice. He proceeds in the same place thus : ' Notwith-
€ standing, it was the apostle's duty to set him right; be-
' cause such a mistake was very prejudicial, not only as it led
■ him to place his dependance and hope upon the law, a
' weak and ineffectual principle.' — (This indeed was ex-
tremely prejudicial, if we consider the matter as the apostle
doth, Rom. ix. 31 — 33. and chap. x. 3, 4.) He goes on
thus : * Not only as it hindered him from seeing and im-
' proving the gracious provision God had made for puri-
1 fying his heart, perfecting his joy and comfort, and pre-

* paring him for happiness' — (But might not a virtuous
person, even a heathen, have his heart purified, and he be
prepared for happiness, though he had never known or heard
of the gracious provision God had made for these purposes ?
He might, according to this author; who thus proceeds,)

* But also as it engaged him to oppose the preaching and re-
1 ception of the gospel, the only scheme of life, peace, and
' salvation, and to despise the very grace which must pardon

* his mistakes and errors, if ever he was pardoned and saved.'
Concerning Paul, this writer says, (Key, sect. 302.) e Being
1 fully persuaded, that the Jewish dispensation was instituted
1 by God, never to be altered, but to abide for ever, he really
1 believed that Jesus and his followers were deceivers ; and
' that it was his duty to oppose them, and to stand up cou-
' rageously for God and his truth. Thus he honestly followed
' the dictates of his own conscience.'

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14 — 25. 283

We have now Dr TVs notions concerning the subject, for
which these passages were here transcribed pretty fully ;
and we see that according to him, 1. The salvation and fu-
ture happiness of the virtuous heathen is not to be doubted
of; and if so, why should there be any doubt of the salva-
tion of an honest and virtuous Jew ? For what virtuous
heathen was ever heard of, of whom there is a higher cha-
racter for virtue, and better supported, than that which is
given of the Jews, Rom. x. 2. that they had a zeal of God ;
and, chap. ix. 31. that they followed after the law of right-
eousness ? 2. That the Jew's error concerning the perpetuity
of the Mosaic law was a mere mistake of judgment, and a
simple error, such as would not hinder the salvation of any
honest man. Yea, 3. It is to be considered as such a sim-
ple error and mere mistake of judgment, even as connected
with the consequences above mentioned, of trusting to the
law, of rejecting and persecuting the gospel in a furious man-
ner ; as for these consequences, he says, that such a mistake
was very prejudicial. Now, if the JewT's mistake respecting
the law, and respecting Jesus Christ, really believing him
and his followers to be deceivers, wras consistent with honesty
and sincerity, it were hard to say, that acting consequen-
tially would not be consistent with honesty. Accordingly,
the author says, that Paul in opposing the gospel acted ho-
nestly, according to his conscience ; though Paul himself
says, that in doing so, he was the persecutor, blasphemer,
injurious, and the chief of sinners. But though Dr T. con-
sidered the error of the Jew as a mere mistake of judgment
and simple error, consistent with one's being an honest man,
yet Christians, who will consider the matter in the light in
which the Scripture presents it, cannot but be convinced,
that there was great and wilful blindness, hardness of heart,
perverseness, and insincerity, in the error of the Jews con-
cerning Christ and the gospel ; considering the evidence,
and powerful demonstration with which it was proposed and
supported ; and that by this, and their conduct in conse-
quence of their inexcusable error, they brought on them-
selves great guilt, and fearful wrath.

This author indeed says, as we have seen above, that the
error of the Jew was very prejudicial, as it led him, among
other things, to oppose the gospel, the only scheme of peace,
life, and salvation, and to despise the very grace which must
pardon his mistakes and errors, if ever he was pardoned.
But though the error of the Jew was in these respects very

2 84 A Dissertation concerning

prejudicial, it does not follow, that, according to the notions
of this writer, it, and the Jew's consequential honest con-
duct, did hinder the Jew's being at present accepted of God,
or hinder his future salvation and happiness. For if the
virtuous heathen was to be saved, without knowing Christ
or the gospel, why should it not be thought, that the vir-
tuous Jew, acting from a zeal of God, in opposing and des-
pising the scheme of grace, might not be saved ; as all this
on his part proceeded from a mere mistake of judgment,
that put him in no worse condition, as our author says, than
any other honest man ? This, however, is not a proper place
fbr enlarging on these subjects. We have seen that, ac-
cording to Dr T. the infidel Jew, even continuing such, was
far from being in a hopeless condition.

Upon the other hand, if we look into the same author's
paraphrase of Rom. vii. 25. there, according to him, the per-
son represented is the enslaved Jew, under the dominion of
sinful lusts, and the curse of the law; under the weak and
lifeless dispensation of the law he remains in a deplorable
condition, without help or hope, enslaved to sin, and sen-
tenced to death. — This is his account of the Jews in general
in this place. The author says there indeed, c He is de-
6 livered, and obtains salvation by the grace or favour of
1 God, in our Lord Jesus Christ/ How shall we under-
stand this, but as he explains in the paraphrase of the next
following verse, (chap. viii. 1.) ' Now under the gospel the
6 most encouraging hopes smile upon us, and we have the
1 highest assurance that those are quite discharged from the
' penalty of the law, and disengaged from the servitude of
1 sin, who embrace the faith of the gospel/ But accord-
ing to this, whatever effect the encouraging hope of the gos-
pel may have in favour of them who embrace it, it can have
no good effect for them who reject and oppose it ; and how-
ever they who truly embrace the faith of the gospel may
be thereby discharged from the penalty of the law, and the
servitude of sin, yet these expressions imply, that the Jew
who embraces it not, continues under the condemnation of
the law, and servitude of sin, still in a deplorable condition.
Any who can reconcile Dr T/s notions concerning the
unbelieving Jew, in his notes on Rom. v. 20. and in his Key
to the apostolic writings, with what we have seen in his para-
phrase of Rom. vii. 25. may do it, I cannot. But in making
the paraphrase, the writer minded carefully his general no-
tion, that the context represents especially the case of the

The General Scope of Rom. VI L 14—25. 285

Jew under the law, the slave of sin : he did not mind the
sentiments he had elsewhere expressed concerning such a
Jew.

The true meaning of this text, chap. vii. 25. has been
made sufficiently clear, and I now proceed to

Sect. VII Containing answers to the objections brought

against the foregoing interpretation.

Clear and full evidence hath been brought, proving that
in this context the apostle represents his own case and ex-
perience, in the state wherein he was when he wrote it ;
which was a state of grace.

As to those who hold that the apostle personates a man
unregenerate, the slave of sin, their strongest argument
consists chiefly in two things: 1. In this, that they under-
stand the apostle's language here of bitter complaint con-
cerning sin, in the fullest and most extended meaning of the
words; as if those were used concerning the man in the cool
historical way. 2. In this, that in interpreting, they ascribe
to the understanding, conscience, or reason, what can by no
means be ascribed to that faculty. Their unreasonableness
in both hath been shown. I go now to consider arguments
of another sort, that are used by way of objection against the
interpretation itself in general.

Dr Hammond, on Rom. vii. note (J), brings what is con-
tained ver. 8, 9. to prove, that in this chapter the apostle
doth not represent his own case in his regenerate state. But
as the question only concerns the latter context, where he
alters his style, and speaks of himself in the present tense,
from ver. 14. to the end of the chapter, the learned writer's
arguments, so far as he founds on any thing preceding that
verse, are quite wide of the purpose.

The writers on that side would have it thought, that
Augustine was the first who interpreted this context, as hath
been done here, contrary to what he sometimes thought ;
but that he was led to change his opinion by the heat of
dispute with the Pelagians. But this amounts to no more
than some sort of prejudice, and is no real argument against
our interpretation. He was not the first who did so inter-
pret, as hath been observed before ; and as to the heat of
dispute with the Pelagians, it is certain that the false doc-
trines of heretics, and their subtility in defending them,
have often given occasion to good men to consider things
more closely ; to think, and speak, and interpret Scripture

I /

'

286 A Dissertation concerning

more correctly. If Augustine saw cause to change his
opinion concerning this context, he seems to have the better
of Dr Whitby, who suggests these prejudices against him ;
and who did himself, without such good reason, change his
mind on a subject of much greater importance. After he
had, in his annotations on the New Testament, maintained
the divinity of our Saviour by many good arguments, in-
sisted on by the learned before him to good purpose, and
to which neither himself, nor any one else, could give a
good answer, he left, as his legacy to the church, his post-
humous treatise against that fundamental article of Chris-
tian faith. As to the present subject, and these prejudices
against Augustine, the reader's best method will be to di-
vest himself of prejudice, to consider arguments carefully and
coolly, and to judge as evidence shall determine his mind.

I go now to consider more particularly the objections of
Dr Whitby and Arminius. The former brings about seven
arguments, or considerations against our interpretation.
The sum of all comes to this : — The person here represented
' is carnal, sold under sin/ (so indeed the Apostle bitterly
complains) ; ' hath no power in him to do any good* — (the
apostle doth not say so, though he bemoans himself that he
could not do good in the degree and manner he willed.
Yea, how could it be thus argued by Dr W. who, in a place
formerly noticed, argues strenuously, from the language used
in this context, that the person here represented, even the
unregenerate, of whom he understands it, is not without a
power to do good ? e Living' (unfairly ; as this word im-
ports the habitual outward and inward practice of life) ' in
1 the commission of things that he hated* — (indeed the
flesh in him served the law of sin ; and in that part there
was a too ordinary activity of sin, springing up spontaneous-
ly, and sometimes impetuously. But the character of his
life was not be taken from this ; as he says of it, // is not
J, bid sin that dwelleth in me.) ' Still/ (unfairly still ; no-
thing in the apostle's expressions imports what that word
means) c doing that which he allowed not:' (the flesh in-
deed was commonly active in that way ; but the man him-
self, and his manner of life were to be denominated from a
better principle, by which he served the law of God : —
• made captive to the law of sin / (to that tended indeed
the efforts of the law of sin ; and the apostle's words import
no more. Dr W. in his second argument represents un-
fairly, as if the man confessed that he yielded himself a cap-

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14—25. 287

tive to the law of sin, whereas he appears all along in re-
sistance and conflict against it, however much in some par-
ticular instances it might prevail.)

With these and such like expressions, unfairly enough
represented, the Doctor compares, under so many different
heads, and in so many different paragraphs, a considerable
number of texts, which prove that the apostle could not,
and that a true believer cannot, be the slave of sin, &c.
Some of his readers, of no very extensive acquaintance in the
learned world, might, from his way of reasoning, conceive
very strange notions of the men whose interpretation he
pretends to confute. They might readily ask, What sort of
persons can these be, who can join in one character the true
believer, yea, an apostle, and at the same time a slave of
sin, captivated to his lusts ? Yet the interpretation here
given, is that of the generality of the divines of the reformed
churches ; of many men eminent for piety, and of as greaf
ability and learning as any Protestant church or nation hath
produced ; of the learned Bishop Davenant, and of divers
other eminent writers of the church of England. From this
consideration one might suspect, upon a little reflection, that
Dr W. in this arguing of his had not hit the point. How-
ever, he has proved, that a regenerate man cannot be a slave
to his lusts, and on this he has bestowed more than a folio
page, in which, though so much writing amounted to some
labour, yet the work otherwise was very easy. Now, let
us observe more particularly his objections and reasonings,
in his note on ver. 25.

1. Our interpretation, he says, makes the apostle con-
tradict what he says of himself to the Thessalonians, 1 Epist.
ii. 10. and to the Corinthians, 2 Epist. i. 12. ; 1 Epist. iv. 4. ;
1 Epist. ix. 27. Could he say such things as he says of
himself in these texts, who is carnal, sold under sin, &c. ?
Ansrv. He could say such things as in these texts, very
consistenly with the sorrowful and bitter complaints he hath
of sin, and of the flesh, in our context. Yea, it is the man
who shows such sensibility with regard to the motions of
sin within him, and conflict against them, who is most likely
to have all his conversation and behaviour which the cited
texts represent.

2. How often doth the apostle propose himself as a pat-
tern to the churches; requiring them to be followers of him,
as he was also of Christ*? 1 Cor. xi. 1. and again, Phil. iv.
8 ; that is, be ye carnal, sold under sin — and the God of

288 A Dissertation concerning

love and peace shall be with you — this sure (so he adds) is
an absurd, if not blasphemous exhortation ; and yet, accord-
ing .to this interpretation, it must be suitable to the mind of
the apostle. Answ. Blasphemous indeed, as he interprets
these expressions of our context ; he needed not have spared
his censure. But no such absurdity or blasphemy follows
from our interpretation. If the apostle's outward conversa-
tion, which the churches had access to observe, set before
them a good pattern, surely when he lays open his inmost
heart to them, and shows himself in a sorrowful struggle and
conflict against the flesh, and the first motions of sin within
him, that is not the part of his example least worthy to be
followed by those who have at heart to live holily and right-
eously.

3. With what indignation doth he reject the accusations
of them who looked upon him as walking after the flesh ?
yet if he were carnal, sold under sin, if with the flesh he
served the law of sin, &c., he doth here in effect confess what
there be peremptorily denies. Answ. By no means. In the
explication it hath been made very clear, that none of the
expressions in our context imports what this writer interprets.
It doth not represent him as one that walked after the flesh :
but as one who had it greatly at heart not to walk so. That
he did so walk is not said. But more of this on chap. viii. I.
In the mean time, as to serving with the flesh the law of sin,
should it not be observed, that he says, ver. 25. that with his
mind he himself served the law of God ?

But why should I tire the reader with more of this sort ?
all this Doctor's arguments derive their force from his own
interpretation of the particular expressions of the apostle's
doleful complaint of sin remaining in him, which I have
shown not to be just or well founded. There is no appearance
of force in his objections, compared with our interpretation ;
but all his seven arguments come to nothing if it stands
good, and the expressions are to be understood as we have
showed ; and for that I refer to what hath been said to esta-
blish our interpretation.

However, to make it the more easy for readers to satisfy
themselves with regard to what remains of Dr W.'s objec-
tions, I shall suggest a few considerations.

1. It is given as a certain mark of persons who are in
Christ, (2 Cor. v. 17.) that old things are passed away, and
all things are become new. Yet I do not expect any wTill say,
it is meant, that sin doth not remain in such as are in Christ.

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14 — 2/5. 289

If it doth remain, it may be justly said, that among all the
new things that, by divine grace, are in such a man, there is
nothing more new, and more different from a man's former
disposition and exercise in his natural state, than to have
his heart so affected with regard to sin, as is here expressed.
Sin had formerly the dominion, and was served by sinners,
in the day of its power, as by a willing people. Now it is
dethroned, sorrowed for, sincerely and vigorously opposed,
even in its first motions within. The man had been hard-
ened, and sin was sweet and pleasant to him. But old things
are passed away ; things are become new with him in this
respect. All the great and multiplied distresses he un-
derwent from without, never brought such a doleful cry
from his heart, as he now uttered itself, 0 wretched man
that I am !

2. There is nothing in this latter context of chap. vii. that
shows the person therein represented to be in the same case as
formerly, with regard to what is mentioned, ver. 5. where
first ra ;ntion is made of the motions of sin that were by the
law ; and next, that these did bring forth fruit unto death.
The disparity appears clearly. The man now feels the mo-
tions of sin in him : what true Christian doth not ? But it
is not said, that these motions of sin are by the law. A re-
newed soul is, by its prevailing disposition, well affected to
the law ; and hath a prevailing habitual delight in the holi-
ness thereof. There is in such a heart what dutifully en-
tertains the precept, though the flesh inclines a different way.
Such a soul is relieved from the curse of the law. The chief
effects of the law in the heart are not, as in the unregenerate,
that the holy commandment rouses the powers of sin, or
that the curse irritates the rebellious disposition of the heart.
In the precept the regenerate person perceives the beauty of
holiness ; and the curse of the law being altogether just and
right in his eyes, his deliverance from it exalts the Lord in
his eyes, endears his grace, and engages him more and more
to the Lord's yoke, disposing him to set to his seal, that now,
by divine grace and love, it is easy.

Again, it is not said, that the motions of sin have ordinarily
their course, to bring forth fruit, as in the man, ver. 5. If
he finds himself enticed by his lust, it is not said, that lust
conceiving doth ordinarily being forth fruit in the practice.
It may so happen in particular instances to true Christians ;
but there is nothing that imports that that is commonly the
case with the man in our context.

290 A Dissertation concerning

3. The regenerate man truly mortifies sin, and the lusts
thereof; and hath habitually at heart to do so. There is
nothing contrary to that in the person who here speaks.
Would to God that all Christians had the quick sense, and
painful feeling, with the conflict against sin, that is here re-
presented! We might justly say, in that case, that sin, cor-
rupt lusts, and carnal affections, were more in the way to be
thoroughly mortified, than they commonly appear to be in
most Christians.

4. In persons regenerated, sin is crucified, and Gal. v. 24.
They that are Christ's, have crucified the flesh, with the
affections and lusts — True, they have done so. Accordingly,
as to the man in our context, it is very evident, though sin
exerted great vigour, that indeed it was bound, did not
act at liberty, but was in a crucified, suffering, and dying
condition.

The great objection against our interpretation is, that,
according to it, the context presents what is of dangerous
tendency to the morals of Christians, After considering what
Dr Whitby hath offered to that general purpose, let us now
consider it as it is urged by Arminius, who has bestowed
much labour upon it in the dissertation formerly mentioned,
and has enlarged much on the ill use that may be made of
our context, as we interpret it.

I do not, however, expect that any will sustain it as a good
argument against a proposition, interpretation, or doctrine,
that men make an ill use of it. God is merciful, and gra-
cious ; and I doubt if any doctrine or proposition hath ever
been published to the world, of which men very commonly
do make a worse use, hardening themselves therefore in their
sins ; yet it is not the less true, or the less needful to be
held and proclaimed. Arminius relates, that Augustine
had observed what ill use men might make of his interpre-
tation ; and he brings, very needlessly, some large quotations
from him, to prove that he did so observe. But he might,
at the same time, have observed, that this great asserter of
the truth did not see in this a good argument against the
interpretation he had given. The truth may still be vindi-
cated against all abuse, by arguments consistent with itself,
and that do not overthrow it. It is the proper work of all
the preachers of the truth, as to show the right and proper
practical use, so to guard, in a proper manner, against the
abuse of it. For what important truth is there that may not
be abused ?

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14—25. 291

The abuse Arminius insists on is this, that a man, doing
what is evil against some reluctance of his mind, and the
witnessing of his conscience, may make himself easy, and
encourage himself in doing it, by supposing himself to be
thereby in the case of the Apostle Paul, and other true be-
lievers, according to our interpretation. But there is no en-
couragement to this abuse by it, as we shall see presently.
Persons who are bent on sinning may imagine other encou-
raging matter to themselves in that course, by wnich they
will be more likely to serve themselves, than by any thing
in this context, as we interpret. For instance : as it will
be acknowledged on all kands, that a person in a state of
grace may commit sin against the witnessing of his con-
science, and some reluctance of his mind, through the surprise
and force of temptation ; and that such a person may be
recovered by repentance, and be finally saved ; so from this
some may encourage themselves to commit sin. Is therefore
the doctrine not true, that even the chief of sinners, or a
regenerate person, after falling into heinous sins, may upon
repentance be saved ? or is it to be rejected, as calculated to
encourage men in sin ?

Arminius relates an instance that came within his own
observation, of a person's encouraging himself to sin from
this context, according to our interpretation. I apprehend
there is need of some caution in taking such stories on the
report of an adversary. There is, however, one instance so
plain, that it could not easily be mistaken ; and as he swears
to the truth of it very solemnly, (much in the words of Paul,
Rom. ix. 1.) it were not reasonable to question his veracity.
A man, he says, being warned against committing sin in a
particular instance, answered, that indeed the inclination of
his will was against it ; but he had to say with the Apostle
Paul, that he found himself not able to perform the good that
he would ; and so he went on in his way, against his consci-
ence and the warning given him. Could not such an acute
person have found in the context, as explained by his breth-
ren, a proper and sufficient answer to this ? surely he might
have argued and said, The apostle having a heart that de-
lighted in the holiness of the law, had it greatly at heart to
perform his duty, though he did not attain to perform it in
the perfect manner he willed. He struggled, and was as a
man grievously oppressed by the motions and resistance of
the flesh disabling him. The very first motions of sin within
him gave him grief. If, by the lusting of the flesh against

292 A dissertation concerning

the Spirit, he could not do or perform as the Spirit suggested,
so, by the effectual opposition of the Spirit, he could not do
what the flesh prompted him to. But you are in a case quite
contrary to that of Paul. You grasp at a pretence to make
yourself easy with regard to the inward motions of the flesh
prompting you to evil — you encourage yourself to overcome
the urgency of your conscience — and against its light you
resolutely go on, even in the outward practice, to do evil ;
and so you are, as with your eyes open, deliberately putting
yourself in the road to perdition. A man less acute than
Arminius could easily have suggested such an answer ; but
the man was then forming his scheme, and seems to have
been more disposed to have something whereof to make a
handle in dispute, than to give the proper answer to the
wicked excuse and pretence he represents.

As to another case he relates of a man, who, being reproved
for something he had actually done, contrary to the com-
mandment of God, answered, that he therein came into the
case of the apostle, who said, The evil that I would not, that
I do ; an answer could be given in like manner. The apostle
represents in our context the greatest sense of wretchedness
by the force of sin within him. This man makes himself
easy — screens and hardens himself against reproof for sin
outwardly committed by him. Upon the whole, if a man
doth, on any pretence whatsoever, previously encourage and
harden himself to commit sin ; or doth, after committing it,
harden himself against reproof, and exclude from his heart
the sorrow and contrition he ought to have for sin ; this is
so opposite to the disposition and sense of things expressed
by the apostle, as we interpret, that no such person can en-
courage himself by it, without the utmost absurdity. Cer-
tainly no sentiment or interpretation can be charged with
falsehood or faultiness, by reason of such abuse, as hardened
sinners cannot make of them, but by means of misconception,
delusion, and absurdity.

The reader will, perhaps, see cause to think I have con-
sidered these things too largely, when he observes what I
am next to set before him.

It is fit then to inform him, that the abuse concerning
which Arminius argues, respects what he calls actual good
or evil, (malum ct bonum actuate) ; that is, as I understand
it, the acting of sin in the external work and practice ; and
so is directed against their interpretation, (if there are any
such, who understand here of the apostle himself, or the re-

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14 — 25. 289

generate man,) who extend the meaning of these and such
like words, The evil that I would not, thai I do, to the out-
ward practice and conduct of life, and to the common cha-
racter and course thereof.

But concerning Augustine's interpretation, which is the
same with ours, he hath these words, ' Fateor etiim Jugustini
1 sententiam, quce de concupiscentice tantum actu et motu,
' locum inierpretatur, nihil neque gratice, neque bonis moribus
* injurice aut detrimenti inferre, ctiamsi de homine regenilo lo-
e cum cxplicet.' That is, ' I confess that the opinion of
' Augustine, who understands this place of Scripture only
( as respecting the actings and motions of concupiscence (in-
' wardly) imports nothing detrimental to grace or good mo-
1 rals; even interpreting it in that way of persons regenerate.'

One might readily think, that this acknowledgment would
put the argument, from the ill consequence to men's morals,
quite off the field. Yet he insists upon it still, though I ap-
prehend the reader will be greatly at a loss to imagine how
he can do so, after the acknowledgment we have seen. Thus,
however, he proceeds. If once the general notion be im-
pressed on the minds of men, that it is the case of a regenerate
person that is here treated of, it is not in our power to hin-
der them from understanding what remains of the context,
and is therein ascribed to the person spoken of, in the sense
in which (according to him) it ought to be understood ;
agreeably, as he asserts, to the text itself, and to the apostle's
scope ; that is, as these expressions are to be understood of a
person under sin, and under the law. Of this abuse the
story he had related, and is here lately mentioned, is, he
says, an instance.

The occasion of the abuse here mentioned, is the tacking of
his interpretation very improperly to ours. Did the author
suppose, that a man would understand the particular expres-
sions, as setting forth what denotes one a slave to sin, and to
his lusts, as Arminius understood without good reason ; and
that, at the same time, he would think the context repre-
sented the case of a person regenerated and sanctified ? This
were supposing a man to be absurd and thoughtless to a great
degree. All that the arguing of Arminius here doth prove,
is, that his interpretation of the particular expressions, (which
hath been shown to be very ill founded,) joined with our ac-
count of the general scope, as expressing the case of a re-
generate person, makes a very ill composition, dangerous to
the souls of men. Although there have been men inattentive,
not given to much thinking ; men blinded by their own lusts ;

N

294 A Dissertation concerning

perverted by wrong sentiments, which their corrupt minds
have entertained, and tenaciously held ; and those who have
wrested the writings of Paul, (2 Pet. iii. 16.) as they have
the other scriptures, to their own destruction, we are not,
for the abuse of such, to charge faultiness on the Scripture,
or any interpretation of it, that is otherwise just and well
warranted.

Upon the whole, it appears that Arminius had no cause
to retract or enervate the concession he had made ; and if he
said, that Augustine's interpretation had nothing tn it preju-
dicial to good morals, we have right to use the concession as
superseding all occasion of dispute with him on that po:nt.

Some do seem to have found difficulty respecting our in-
terpretation, as they could not allow themselves to think,
that this blessed apostle had any remainder of sin in him,
or could be charged with any disconformity to the holy com-
mandment, in these times wherein he wrote. There is cause
to wonder that any should doubt or find difficulty concern-
ing this, considering what the apostle John says, 1st epist. i.
8. and that Paul himself doth, Phil. iii. 12. deny his being
perfect. This cannot mean, that he was not perfect in the
sense in which the spirits of just men made perfect are men-
tioned, Heb. xii. 23. or that he had not attained that per-
fection of his human nature, in all respects, that belongs to
the resurrection- state. It were idle for a man to disclaim
perfection in these senses, while he was seen in an embodied
state, sharing so much in the infirmities and miseries of this
life. So we must understand it of his not being perfect in
holiness, nor altogether without sin.

What if no instance of his falling into sin or particular
transgression were recorded in sacred history ? That is but a
negative argument, such as none would sustain in proof.
His own account in our context is a sufficient proof that he
was not without sin, or without the stirrings and activity of
it within hinj. When he relates, 2 Cor. xii. 7. a thorn given
him in the flesh, lest he should be exalted above measure
through the abundance of the revelations, may we not think
that he was likely to have felt some stirrings of that evil
tendency that made him so readily understand, and be so
much reconciled to the salutary, though painful remedy that
Divine wisdom had administered to him ?

There are two places besides, in which the matter seems
to be more clear. One is, Acts xxiii. 2 — 5. the high priest
Ananias having commanded to smite him on the mouth,
Paul said to him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall. On

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14—25. 2Q5

this Dr Guyse says, • Perhaps the apostle might use this
1 opprobrious title with rather too much warmth of temper,
' under a violent effort of the law of his members against
1 the law of his mind, according to his complaint, Rom. vii.
' 23, 24. through inattention, sudden surprise, and high
' provocation/ So that judicious divine. In whatever way
this speech be taken or accounted for, it is plain it was not
according to his example, (1 Pet. ii. 23.) who when he ?vas
reviled, reviled not again, and when he suffered, he threatened
not. It has been thought, that Paul spoke under the influ-
ence of the spirit of prophecy on this occasion, and uttered
a prophecy against Ananias, which, according to history,
was afterwards accomplished. But this, if it was so, doth
not prove that there was no sinful infirmity in the case. We
find, John xi. that wicked Caiaphas the high priest uttered
something very remarkable, of which the sacred historian
says, ver. 51. This spake he not of himself ; but being high
priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that
nation. Here it is clear, that Caiaphas spoke according to
the wicked passion of his own heart. Yet, on the other hand,
he was so under the over-ruling influence of the spirit of
prophecy, (being high priest) that his words were clearly
prophetic. Paul had a heart very much sanctified ; yet there
is no inconsistency in supposing, that, by the sudden provo-
cation of an atrocious injury, he fell into a violent passion,
and uttered words expressive of that passion, which, as to
the threatening part of them, might be prophetic, by a su-
perior influence and direction.

The apostle being found fault with for so reviling God's
high priest, said, ver. 5. / wist not that he ?vas the high
priest ; for it is written, Thou shall not speak evil of the ruler
of thi) people. But though he knew him not to be high priest,
he knew himself to be standing before the sanhedrim, or su-
preme council of his nation, and that the person he spoke to
was a member of it, and then sitting in the seat of judgment.
So his words import, ver. 2. Siitest thou to judge me after
the law ? He knew then that he was one of the rulers of his
people, and so came under the meaning of the text he men-
tions. The matter being thus, may we not take this to be a
just paraphrase of the apostle's words, ver. 5. * I wist not
that he wras high priest at this time ; but being a member
of this august court, I call to mind that law, Thou shalt not
speak evil of the ruler of thy people. And therefore, how-
ever ill I have been treated, I insist not in justifying my
emotion, or all the expressions I have uttered/

29^ A Dissertation concerning

Another place we may consider on this occasion, is Acts
xv. 37 — 40. It may well be allowed, that Paul was in the
right to urge that there should be some testimony of their
disapprobation of John-Mark's conduct in the matter men-
tioned. But there is cause to suspect,, that the dispute on
this subject was not without human and sinful infirmity.
The sacred historian says, ver. 3$. that the contention rvas
so sharp between Paul and Barnabas, that they departed
asunder one from the other. Contention is rather too soft a
word for the Greek 7rcc£o%vrpios (paroxysm.) It signifies a
mutual irritation, or, (as Beza renders, exacerbatio) that
their temper and spirit became hot and imbittered. Nor is
there any hint that this heat and discomposure of temper was
greater upon the one side than the other ; it was mutual.

The matter being so, it is not unreasonable to think, that
on cool reflection, the blessed and holy apostle Paul might
reflect and say with himself to this purpose : Though I am
satisfied I was in the right in advising and urging as I did
with regard to Mark, yet, alas ! that my corrupt heart and
violent passion should have got so much the better of me in
dealing with my blessed brother Barnabas, who was in Christ
before me, who was preaching Christ when I was perse-
cuting him and his gospel, who condescended with so much
tenderness and affection to me when other disciples avoided
me, who introduced me in so kindly manner to the ac-
quaintance and confidence of the apostles, who was assign-
ed me by the Holy Ghost, as a special companion in the
service of the kingdom of Christ, who laboured with me in
that work with so much zeal and success ; even Barnabas,
that son of consolation, justly so surnamed by the apostles ;
whose conversation and preaching have often been so com-
fortable to myself and others. If I have peace of mind with
regard to the matter of duty itself about which we differed,
yet how much doth my manner of doing duty sometimes
give me disquiet of mind ! How much hath my irregular
and unholy passion hurried me away ; as it were bringing
me captive with great violence — Wretched man thai 1 am !
There is nothing unreasonable in supposing, that on occasion
of this paroxysm, or passionate debate, Paul might see oc-
casion for such reflections. Another man confident of his
being right as to the main of the difference, might thereby,
perhaps, justify all the passion he showed in defending his
own opinion. It would not be likely to be so with this holy
apostle. What the judicious, elegant, and pious Calvin

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14—25. 297

has written on this story in his commentary, deserves to
be often read.

Having answered all the objections that have any appear-
ance of force against our interpretation, let us now proceed to

Sect. VIII. — Marking out some of the practical uses to be
made of this context, according to the foregoing interpreta-
tion ; together with the paraphrase of the several verses
14—25.

Having vindicated our interpretation against the charge
of ill consequence in practice, it is fit, before we leave it, to
mark out some of the good uses that are to be made of it,
which are of great importance with regard to holiness and
the comfort of Christians.

1. From the case and example here laid before us, we
learn how careful a Christian ought to be about the inward
purity of his heart, and what constant earnest opposition
he should make to the very first motions of every unholy
passion and inordinate affection or lusting in his heart. The
heart is the proper and chief seat of holiness. Holiness in
the heart is the chief part of our conformity to the holy and
spiritual law of God ; nor is any outward work considered as
holy, if the heart within is not right before God, who sees
and tries the heart, and to whom it cannot otherwise be ac-
ceptable.

Every unruly passion and unholy lusting is, in the na-
ture of things, contrary to our own happiness. By the pre-
vailing of these in the heart, the conscience is hurt and dis-
quieted; and inordinate affections make the heart itself in-
capable of happiness. Holiness of heart is absolutely neces-
sary to bring us into a capacity of happiness, which can be
had, properly and perfectly, by no object but one, a holy God.

Yea, inward purity of heart, and conflict with the motions
of sin therein, are absolutely necessary for maintaining ex-
ternal purity of practice, integrity, and faithfulness. What
prevails in the heart, will be likely to come forth. When
sin in general, or a particular lust prevails in the heart, and
is there entertained, it will be likely some time or other to
force an eruption. The many snares of an evil world, the
devices of invisible enemies, yea, the righteous judgment of
God, will all concur in this, even to discover what is in a
man's heart. Keep thy heart with all diligence, Prov. iv. 23.

From what hath been said, the impartial reader may judge
if our interpretation hath any thing in it unfavourable to holy
and righteous practice. Arminius saith it hath not, and

298 A Dissertation co?icerning

afterwards endeavours to prove, without reason, that it hath.
Dr Whitby reckons it a dangerous interpretation ; and, as
he would have the particular expressions mean, it would be
extremely so. It is well it', when the sentiments, reasoning,
and explications of men of their way of thinking are well
examined, they be not found to fix the standard of purity
and holiness much lower than this context doth, according
to our interpretation. If they did not, I apprehend they
would have lower thoughts of the moral powers of nature,
and higher thoughts of the necessity and efficacy of divine
grace. But it is some men's way to bring up the power of
free-will to holiness, by bringing holiness down to the
power of free-will. There will not, however, be wanting
sublime speculations, and general language, strong and lofty
enough, concerning holiness and virtue.

2. We have something here that may be exceedingly useful
to support and encourage those who go heavily under the
evil of their hearts. It were not right to suggest any thing
that would tend to exclude the contrition for sin, that ought
to be in the heart of every child of God. Yet from the
light and sensibility that is in every sanctified heart with
regard to sin, the consequence might be extremely hurtful
to the comfort and stability of a Christian, if the word of
God hath not provided something encouraging respecting the
case, as there is in this context. So, if there are those who
may abuse this passage, as they do also the other scriptures,
to their own destruction, serious Christians find cause to bless
God for having provided for their comfort and for their
direction in faith and duty, by this very valuable portion of
holy writ.

I only add concerning this point the following words of
Augustine, (Serm. 45. cle tempore) : * Constituit tibi ante
' occulos pugnam suam, ne timeres tuam. Si enim hoc non
i dixisset beatus apostolus ; quando videres moveri concu-
1 piscentiam in membris tuis, cui tu non consentiris, tamen
( cum earn moveri videres, forsitan desperares de te, et di-
f ceres, Si ad Deum pertinerem, sic non moveret. Vide apos-
' tolum pugnantem, et noli te facere desperantem.' This is
the sense : ' He hath set before thee his own conflict, that
i thou mightest not fear thine. For if the blessed apostle
c had not thus spoke, When thou shouldst observe the mov-
e ing of lust in thy members, to which, however, thou didst
' not yield thy consent, yet finding it to move, thou wouldst
1 perhaps despair of thyself, and say, If I belonged to God,

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14 — 25. tff

' there would be no such motions in me. Observe the apos-
1 tie in conflict, and do not thou despair.'

3. I add an observation and inference respecting a doc-
trinal subject. We have here occasion to observe the sad
corruption which human nature hath undergone ; how deep
the root of sin hath gone in the hearts of men, and how
great its force and activity is in the best of men.

We have seen in the context preceding ver. 1 4. the case
of a person unregenerate with respect to this. He is under
the law, and when the commandment cometh, as ver. 9- with
its light, authority, and force, into the conscience, it may be
supposed to awaken him to great carefulness about curbing,
subduing, or restraining the motions of sin in his heart. It
might be thought that the authority and light of the law in
the conscience, with the impression of the terrible threaten-
ing, might give great excitement to this, and help a man
much to it ; yet we have seen how little the law could do in
this way. So far was it from subduing sin, and the motions
of it in the heart, that sin did but move the more vehemently,
and show the more its great wickedness and force.

In this latter context from ver. 14. we have the case of a
man under grace, who had, with great sense and experience
of the love of God, his heart commonly full of consolation
by the assured prospect of eternal happiness and glory ;
whose heart was greatly raised above things earthly and
temporary, in full desire and pursuit of the things that are
above ; whose soul was animated with the warmest zeal for
God, and for holiness ; and who had made great advances
in holiness, inferior to no mere man we know of. Yet what
heavy and sore complaint doth he make of sin dwelling in
him ? he did by its force what he allowed not ; and what he
seriously would, he could not perform. Though he delighted
in the law of God according to the inward man, yet he
found a law in his members warring against the law of his
mind, and working hard to bring him into captivity to the
law of sin ; so that he cries out, O wretched man that I am !

Shall we now say, that the greatest advantage and strength
which sin hath in the heart of any man, is only by deep
rooted habits, contracted merely by frequent acts, and the
continued custom of sinning, proceeding only from the un-
happy use that each man makes of his free-will ; who hath
come into the world with his nature in the same original
purity with which man was at first created ? or, (if we rise
not so high) with no more depravation than a man can get
the better of by his own efforts, and exertion of his moral

300 A Dissertation concerning

powers ? We have here before us what doth not allow us
to think so. If man's nature itself were not depraved and
corrupted to a high degree, — if human nature retained its
full liberty and moral powers, without any greater disadvan-
tage than acquired habits could have brought upon them, —
what mere habits could be so strong but they might be fully
overcome by the most serious and earnest endeavours of a
man under the sharp discipline of the law in his conscience ?
Hut if, in this state and way, a man could not do it ; might
we not suppose, that a man made free from the dominion of
sin, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the
Holy Ghost, and brought under grace, (which hath that in
it that tendeth to engage a man most effectually to holiness)
would be able, by his more sincere and powerful endeavours,
and earnest exertion of all his moral powers, with the assist-
ance of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him, to overcome any
small remaining degree of natural depravation, and every
evil habit, in the most effectual and complete manner ; so
that there should not be the least remainder of any evil habit,
or of sin at all in him !

But which of the saints is it whose experience hath tes-
tified any such thing ? There is none of them in whose
experience we might more readily expect to find it than this
eminent apostle, considering his attainment in grace, light,
and holiness. Yet how far from this is the case here repre-
sented ? In the persons most eminent for holiness, of whom
we have the history at any length in the Scripture, this
evil fountain hath discovered itself by the streams it hath
sent forth. If this blessed apostle was preserved from re-
markable lapses in outward practice, yet here, where he
lays open his heart, he shows the source of sin yet remain-
ing within him ; by which he had matter of constant ex-
ercise, of struggle, and of godly sorrow, and what, from his
own experience, afforded good reason for giving the salutary
advice to every other Christian, Thou standcst by faith : be
not high minded hit fear. The Scripture acquaints us, that
there is not a just man that doeth good, and sinneth not. We
have here what accounts for it, and shows it shall ever be
so, whilst Christians are in this life.

This is that original sin, which every one hath derived
from a corrupt original ; and which is itself the original
and source of all a man's moral deficiencies, and actual
transgressions in outward and inward practice ; and whose
root is so deep in human nature, as never to be wholly era-
dicated in this life. The power of divine grace, and of the

The General Scope of Rom. VII. 14— !2;5. 301

Holy Spirit, could doubtless soon do it perfectly, if Divine
wisdom had not thought otherwise fit, and that Christians
should labour under imperfection, and having the remainder
of sin dwelling in them to struggle with ; that with minds
well enlightened, and hearts truly sanctified, they might,
from what they constantly feel, perceive sensibly, and un-
derstand thoroughly, the wretched state from which divine
grace saves them ; might be kept from trusting in them-
selves, and might ever hold all their consolation and hope of
the rich and free grace of God in Jesus Christ, through faith.

It is matter of very serious consideration to observe, after
what high attainments eminent saints have discovered much
of sin remaining in them. Moses was at two different times
forty days and forty nights in the mount with God, and
God had often spoken to him face to face, as a man doth to
his friend ; yet it was after this that an unholy passion in
him made its eruption, in a manner very provoking to God.
David was under great influence of grace in his ordinary
course and behaviour, and was often under divine inspira-
tion ; yet thereafter it appeared, in fearful instances, that
the root of sin still remained in him, so as to give him oc-
casion to look back to his original depravation, and to say,
Psal. li. 5. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did
my mother conceive me. The sinful failures of prophets might
be here mentioned. For one instance, Jonah had received fre-
quent revelations from God, yet after this, how great proof
did he give of sinful mistrust and fear, of remaining rebel-
liousness against the government of the Almighty, (even
after being delivered out of the whale's belly,) and of tur-
bulent and violent passion, as is narrated in the short history
that bears his name.

Paul, a New Testament saint, made great advances in
light and holiness ; he laboured hard against sin within ;
he kept under his body ; he had great helps to the mortify-
ing of sin, even in the various outward trials and distresses
that he was very commonly exercised with. With all this,
he had abundance of revelations, and was even rapt up
into the third heavens some years before he wrote to the
Romans. But after being in heaven, he needed the acutely
painful thorn in the flesh, to keep the evil root that yet re-
mained in him from springing, and least he should be exalted
above measure ; even least (so he emphatically repeats it) he
should be exalted above measure. In our context, how sad
the representation he gives of sin dwelling in him ! Ah, how-
deep hath sin gone in human nature ! Christians have the

N 5

302 A Dissertation, Sfc.

use to make of the case here set before them, that Paul him-
self made of it, who not only at his first conversion, but
ever after, had it greatly at heart to be found in Christ, not
having his own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is by the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is
of God by faith. Christians will, whilst in this life, carry
about with them what may give them a sensible proof and
deep impression of the obligation they are under to the free
grace of God ; what great power of grace it requires to pre-
sent them at last a church glorious and without spot ; and
what is the exceeding riches of God's grace, in his kindness
towards us through Christ Jesus.

Enough seems to have been said to vindicate the true
sense of this context ; and some of the practical uses thereof
have been marked out. Though the learned Dr Whitby
shows no great superiority of genius, and his arguments on
this subject are sometimes extremely blunt, yet he could
give a keen enough edge to his expressions otherwise ; as
when he says of our interpretation : ' That it is as great an
' instance of the force of prejudice, and the heat of opposi-
' tion, to pervert the plainest truths, as can be haply pro-
' duced/ For my part, when I observe that the man who
speaks here is one who delighted in the law of God, and in
the holiness thereof in the inner man ; who willed, loved,
and endeavoured what was good and right ; who hated sin,
and was conflicting against it, crying out sorrowfully of his
wretchedness by it ; and who (himself) with his mind ser-
ved the law of God : I cannot help considering it as one of
the phenomena in the learned world the most difficult to ac-
count for, that any men of learning and judgment could in-
terpret these things of persons unregenerate, under the law,
destitute of the Holy Spirit ; yea, of persons who have
abandoned themselves to wickedness, as Ahab, and the re-
volters from the true religion before mentioned. Let the
reader judge for himself.

TEXT. — 14. For xve know that the laze is spiritual; but I am carnal,
sold under din.

Paraphrase. — 14*. We know that the law of God is
spiritual ; that its authority and demand reaches to a man's
spirit and heart, to prescribe rule thereto, and to every
inward motion of the soul ; and it is by its being thus
spiritual, that I heretofore received the thorough conviction
of my sinfulness. When, upon this extensive view of the
law, I do now compare myself with it, and consider the

Paraphrase of Rom. VII, 15 — 17- 303

perfect inward, as well as outward purity it requires, bow
great a disconformity to its holiness doth still remain with
me ! I do not only refer to the time, when I was in my
natural condition, in the flesh, (ver. 5.) when that evil
principle was absolutely dominant in me, being under the
law, and its curse, destitute of the Spirit, when sin had its
full course in me, iu one form or other ; but even at this
time, being under grace, thereby delivered from the law,
and made free from the dominion of sin ; even yet alas !
though now in such a comfortable state, how far from
that holiness of heart which this spiritual law requireth !
I am carnal ; the flesh, that corrupt source and principle
of evil, though deprived of its dominion, yet still remaineth
in me, with much force and activity ; and though by the
grace of God, I am not as Ahab, who, with full determi-
nation of his heart, sold (abandoned) himself to work evil,
yet the flesh, with its violent corrupt affections, and unholy
passions, having the advantage of concurring temptations,
doth often, yea too commonly, carry me away as a captive
and slave, contrary to the habitual, and habitually prevailing
inclination of my heart and will.

15. For that which I do, I allow not : for what I would, that do I not ;
but -.chat I hate, that do I.

15. I say, against the habitually prevailing inclination of
my will. For what I do, through the unhappy influence of
the flesh in the way I have mentioned, is what indeed I do
not favour or love. For what my will inclines by its habi-
tual determination, that, obstructed by the flesh, and the
weakness which remaining corruption brings upon me, I do
not ; but what I truly and sincerely hate, that, through its
influence, I too often do.

16. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that
it is good,

16. If then what my heart worketh and doth within me
by means of the evil that springeth up from the flesh and
corrupt nature, contrary to the holy and spiritual law, is in-
deed what is contrary to the fixed and habitual inclination
of my will, then I do not only by my understanding or mind
assent to it as a truth, that the law is good, but this habitual
inclination of my will shows that I heartily consent to the
goodness of the law ; that it is good in itself, as I said but
just now, (ver. 12.) and that it prescribes that which is good
for me, with respect to my duty and happiness.

17. Now then, it is no more I that do il, but sin that dwcllnth
in me.

304 Paraj)h rase of Rom. VII 1 7 — 2 1 .

17. Now then, though, strictly speaking, it is I who do all
that is done by the activity of sin in my heart, and though
I cannot justify myself before this holy and spiritual law, nor
say, I am not chargeable with it ; yet grace, under which I
am, and which hath special and tender regard to the sincerity
of the heart and will, allows me to take some comfort, with
respect to the sad case, by distinguishing, and saying, It is
not I myself who do the evil, which I sincerely hate, and is
so contrary to the habitual inclination of my will ; but my
most hateful enemy sin, which continueth its habitation,
though not its dominion, in me.

IS. For I know, that in me {that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good tiling :
for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I
find not.

18. It is grace that alloweth me thus to distinguish; yea,
the real distinction that is in me is of grace, the honour of
which is to be ascribed to its blessed Author ; for as to me
otherwise, as I am by nature, and so far as my nature is yet
unrenewed in me, that is, in my flesh, (which is what natural-
ly, and abstracting from grace, I call my own, and my-
self,) I know that no good thing dwelling. For though,
through grace, there is a readiness in me to will that which
is good, yet, through the obstruction which the flesh giveth,
I find not myself able to perform, in the constant, thorough,
and perfect manner which I will, and which the holy law
requires.

19. For the good that I would, I do not ; but the evil which I would
not, that I do.

19- For the whole good that my will is fully bent on and
inclined to, I do not; but sin ever springing up in me, through
remaining corruption, is what, on the part of the flesh, I do;
and that against the fixed determination of my will.

20. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin
that dwelleth in me.

20. Now as a man's moral character is to be taken from
the sincere habitual inclination of his heart and will ; if, by
the influence of the flesh, I do what is contrary to the spirit-
ual and holy law, and what my will is averse to, it is not
I, (let me again encourage myself somewhat with the
thought) it is not my very self that does it, but sin that dwell-
eth in me.

21. I find then a law, that when I -would do good, evil is present tt ith me.

21. I find then a law, not such as hath a true light, and
just authority, but a principle strong and effective, that when
my will is well determined to that which is good, evil, even

Paraphrase of Rom. VII. 22 — 25. S05

the unholy motions that are spontaneous in corrupt nature,
takes the start of my better will, and prevents its effect ; so
that I cannot do what I would in the inward and outward
practice of holiness.

22. For I delight in the law of God, after the inward man.

22. As I have been saying, that now when I am under
grace, my will by its habitual inclination is really on the side
of holiness ; the truth of the matter is, that I sincerely de-
light in the law of God, and in the holiness which it recom-
mends and requires, according to my inward man, that new
man in me, which after God is created in righteousness and
true holiness.

23. But I sec another Jaw in my members, warring against the law of
my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the laze of sin, which is in my
members.

23. But though by this delight in the holiness of the law,
my heart hath got an habitual and prevailing determination
to holiness, yet I find a law in my members, which hath in
some degree taken possession of all my faculties, giving false
light and prejudice to my mind and judgment ; a corrupt
bias often to my will, putting my affections and passions in
irregular and impetuous motion, and so warring against the
law of my mind, that good principle and law, which God,
according to the promise of the new covenant, ( Jer. xxxi. 33.
Heb. viii. 10. ) hath put in my mind, and written in my heart;
so warring against my soul, (1 Pet. ii. 11.) and labouring
hard, and wTith too much success in some particular instan-
ces, to captivate me to the law of sin which is in my mem-
bers.

24. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of
this death !

24. What a miserable condition this ! To be free of this,
1 would count myself happy in all such various perils as 1
have gone through, such multiplied tribulations as I have
undergone. Those have not made me miserable ; but this
worst of enemies within myself. By means of this, ah,
what a wretched man am I ! who shall deliver me from this
body of death, from which it hath hitherto exceeded all my
powers of nature or grace to rescue me !

25. I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, with the
mind I myself serve the taw of God ; but with the flesh the law of sin.

25. I thank God, who hath provided comfort for me with
respect to this my present wretchedness, through Jesus Christ
our Lord ; by virtue of whose cross the old man in me is
crucified : which gives me the sure and delightful prospect,

306 Explication and Paraphrase

that this body of sin and death shall, in due time, be absolute-
ly destroyed, and I completely and for ever delivered from it.
So then, the conclusion of the whole is : With my mind,
that good and most prevailing law which divine grace hath
put in my mind and heart, I my very self do (if imperfectly,
yet) truly and sincerely, serve the law of God ; though, alas,
with the flesh, the cause of my greatest sorrow, the law of sin.

CHAP. VIII.

TEXT — 1. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which arc
in Christ Jesus, who walk not ajter the fleshy out after the Spirit.

Explication. — This proposition is introduced in way of
inference, expressed by the word therefore. Without men-
tioning the different views that interpreters have had of this,
I take it to be an inference from the apostle's whole dis-
course and doctrine in the preceding part of this epistle. He
had treated largely of the justification of sinners by grace
through faith, in the first five chapters. A proper inference
from that is this : There is therefore now no condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus. In the sixth and seventh
chapters he had treated of what concerns sanctification. He
had represented persons under the law as being in the flesh,
under the dominion of sin, and its servants ; but persons
brought under grace by free justification, as being made free
from that servitude, — as being become the servants of God,
and having their fruit unto holiness. From his doctrine in
this part, which he insists on to the end of chap. vii. he had
proper occasion to add, as the mark of persons in Christ,
justified and free from condemnation, that they walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. It is not their so
walking that frees them from condemnation, but being by
gratuitous justification freed from condemnation, and brought
under grace, and thereby made free from the dominion of
sin, (chap. vi. 14.) they will, in their ordinary course, walk
as is here said ; and that so certainly, that if any do not so
walk, but walk after the flesh, it may be justly concluded,
that they are not truly in Christ as to their real spiritual
state. This is the view that the apostle's discourse directs
us to take of the matter. After making the complex infer-
ence (ver. 1.) from his doctrine of justification and sanctifi-
cation, the apostle doth, through this whole eighth chapter,
discourse in the mixed way, with an eye to both subjects,
and concerning the consolation, and the obligation to duty

Of Romans VIII. 1. 307

and holy living arising from both, according to the insepa-
rable connexion that is established between them in the
economy of salvation. So that, if we look through this whole
eighth chapter, it is a discourse that hath this first verse, in
both parts of it, for its text.

If, in all the seventeen or eighteen verses immediately
preceding, he had been describing the case only of persons
unregenerate — the slaves of sin, one might readily think that
the inference in our text comes in somewhat awkwardly, and
not in its proper place. But if, from the fourteenth verse
of the preceding chapter, the case of a person is represented
who walked not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, which
is the truth of the matter ; then the comfortable inference
and description in this text are very properly introduced.

Let us now look more closely to the particular expressions
of the text. Them which are in Christ Jesus, some have
rendered or interpreted thus : Them who are Christians. So
Castalio and Le Cleic, as is observed by Dr Whitby, who
adds — f But if either of them mean only Christians by pro-
1 fession, or being only members of the Christian church,
1 this will by no means agree with this place, or any other
' of the like nature; since freedom from condemnation, and
' other benefits conferred upon us through Jesus Christ, will
f not follow our being Christians in this sense, but upon a
( lively faith in Christ, our union to him by the Spirit/ &c.
Le Gere says, that being in Christ is often used by St Paul
for being a Christian. I do not observe instances of his using
the expression in that lax and large sense, but the quite con-
trary. For which see 1 Cor. i. 30. 2 Cor. v. 1~- 1 Thess.
iv. 16. ; and to these places of Paul we may add, 1 John v. 20.
Rev. xiv. 13. John xv. 5. and the words of Paul, Phil. iii. 9.
In which places it is plain, that being in Christ means not
only being Christians by profession and outward church pri-
vilege ; but being sincere believers, in real union with Christ,
and in consequence thereof, being holy in life, happy and
blessed in death.

As to the second clause, — who walk not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit — the reading in the Greek, and in our trans-
lation, is vindicated by Dr W. in his Examen miUii. This
wTay of walking, as to the ordinary course of life, is a certain
consequence of being in Christ. For (2 Cor. v. 17.) If any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature ; and (1 Cor. i. 30.)
to them who are in Christ Jesus, he is made ivisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctijication.

Some interpret and object thus : Mention is here made of

S08 Explication and Paraphrase

walking after the flesh ; which is certainly expressive of the
case represented in the context immediately preceding, in
which the man speaks so strongly of the flesh in him, and
the law in his members captivating him. So some.

But, if we consider the matter, we shall find that this is
far from being the case in the apostle's view. There is in-
deed a man represented complaining bitterly of the flesh, and
the law in his members, and of its force and too great pre-
valence. I cannot but wonder that any should take such a
sense of things, and such a complaint, as proof of a man's
walking after the flesh. A man may come under such con-
sequences of an ill life with respect to his person outwardly,
or his affairs, that may set him a complaining bitterly of his
prevailing lusts and ill practice, when it is not sin that is
truly bitter to him, but these outward ill consequences of it ;
but in the preceding context, we find a man feeling painfully,
and lamenting bitterly the motions, force, and prevalence of
sin within him, in opposition to the spiritual and holy law of
God, without mentioning any ill consequence externally. Sin,
and sinful affections, and their motions within him, are what
he would not, and what he hates, abstracting from all penal
and ill consequences. If sin remains in him, we see him in
conflict with it. This doth not suit the notion of walking
after the flesh. Walking imports a man's habitual and de-
liberate course, in which he freely proceeds, without force,
struggle, or constraint, neither violently drawn, carried, or
captivated ; but going according to the motion and inclin-
ation of his own will. If the flesh hath its law or command-
ment, it may be said of the unregenerate man, with respect
to the commandment of that law, as is said of Ephraim, with
respect to a particular instance of fleshly walking, (idolatry,
Gal. v. 20.) and the law requiring it, Hos. v. 11. that he
walked willingly after the commandment. So the unregenerate
man doth with regard to the commandment of the law of sin,
as to the habitual and prevailing inclination of his will,
whatever check conscience may give. If this is, as it cer-
tainly is, walking after the flesh, the preceding context re-
presents a man whose character, disposition, purpose, and
earnest endeavour, are very contrary to it.

I here add a passage of Dr Davenant (afterwards bishop of
Sarum) on Col. i. 7- c Renati possunt incidere in peccata, sed
' non solent ambulare, nee possunt vivere in peccato; ambulat
' enim in peccato, qui lubenter, assidue, et plena voluntate
1 peccat/ That is, ' The regenerate may fall into sin ; but
4 they are not wont to walk, nor can they live in sin. For

Of Romans Fill. 1. 309

1 he walketh in sin who sinneth by his hearty choice, in
< his constant course, and with the full consent of his will/

The mention of the Spirit here has been the occasion of
another argument, respecting the meaning of the immediately
preceding context. On occasion of speaking on the subject
of holiness, the apostle very commonly mentions and brings
into view the Spirit of God, with his powerful operation and
influence : and the mutual opposition is commonly stated
between the Spirit and the flesh. But there is no mention
of the Spirit in the case proposed in the latter part of chap,
vii. as there is here ; which, according to them, gives cause
to think, that it is here only (chap. viii. 1.) that the apostle
begins to speak of the case of true believers, truly regenerated;
and that in the preceding context, where there is no mention
of the Spirit, the case of the unregenerate, destitute of the
Spirit, is represented. So Arminius and others argue.

I would not indeed expect, (if there were not a point of
dispute in the case) that the mention of the Spirit would be
the thing of which some men, though denominated Christians,
would perceive the greatest want in the reading of any context;
as I do not see, if their scheme and sentiments are well looked
into, that they generally put any thing in religion, as to its
ordinary causes, principles, and practice, but what might be
accounted for, if there was no mention of the Holy Spirit in
the Scriptures, or in the world at all. As to the argument,

It is true, that the Spirit is not mentioned in the preced-
ing context, nor is he mentioned in all the sixth chapter,
where the case of sincere believers, with respect to sin and
holiness, is so largely treated of. They have in them the
old man and the body of sin, ver. 6. ; they are (ver. 22,) the
servants of God, and have their fruit unto holiness. Yet all
along in that chapter there is no mention of the Holy Spirit.
If it be said, that there is, however, in that chapter what
sufficiently distinguishes the case of the true Christian, and
regenerate person, as there meant, the same may be said of
the latter context of chap. vii. as hath been shown largely
and clearly in the explication of it.

At the same time it is to be considered, that the law of the
mind, and the law in the members, are expressions that are to be
found nowhere else in the Scriptures. Yet we cannot justly
infer, that what is meant by these expressions occurs no-
where else. That the opposition and conflict of the law of
the mind against the flesh, or law in the members, is not
that of natural conscience or mere reason, hath been shown,
as it hath been, that the law of the mind of the principle is

310 Explication and Paraphrase

holiness, implanted in the soul by the Holy Spirit ; or the
law of God put in the mind and heart, according to the grace
and promise of the new covenant.

There is indeed great complaint of the flesh ; yet nothing
appears in the preceding context that amounts to walking
after the flesh. But on the contrary, we have cause to con-
clude, that a heart habitually delighting in the holiness of
the law of God, and in ordinary conflict with the inward
motions of sin, as is there represented, is as great an evi-
dence of a man's not walking after the flesh, as can possibly
be imagined to be in the case of any man in whom sin re-
maineth at all.

Let us now observe how Dr Taylor interprets this text.
Here is the first part of his paraphrase of it : c But now

• under the gospel the most encouraging hopes smile upon
1 us, and we have the highest assurance, that those are

* quite discharged from the penalty of the law, and disen-
' gaged from the servitude of sin, who embrace the faith of
' the gospel ; if so be they make that faith a principle of
c obedience, and do not choose to live in wickedness, accord-
' ing to the instigation of fleshly appetite/

In this passage several things come to be observed. 1. For
— them which are in Christ Jesus, — he gives, ' Who em-
9 brace the faith of the gospel/ This falls in with the no-
tion of Castalio and Le Clerc, for confuting which enough
hath been said already. 2. The paraphrase expresses wrhat
is now under the gospel ; and what the writer states in op-
position thereto, is the Mosaic law, the weak and lifeless dis-
pensation, as he calls it, of the law, (which is an erroneous
and absurd way of representing that dispensation,) and the
condition of a wretched, enslaved, condemned Jew under it.
Yet nothing can be marked out in the paraphrase, as now
under the gospel, but what did truly (though not with the
same degree of light and comfort) take place under the Mo-
saic legal dispensation. In that time and state of things,
the most encouraging hopes did smile on men, and they had
the highest assurance of being quite discharged from the
penalty of the law, and disengaged from the servitude of sin,
who sincerely embraced the faith of the promise, by which,
even in these time-, the gospel was preached to them. In
these times there were good men, who made their faith a
principle of obedience, &c. 3. The expression of the para-
phrase implies, that persons may be in Christ in the sense of
the text, who do not make their faith a principle of obe-

Of Romans VI II. 1. 311

dience ; which is inconsistent with what hath been shown to
be the apostle's meaning.

The paraphrase proceeds thus : — c But (do choose to live)
' in faith and holiness, according to the dictates of the in-
' ward man, or the rational faculty/ That the inward man
means something more than merely the rational faculty, hath
been here proved, on chap. vii. 22.

His putting c the rational faculty/ for the Spirit, as in
the text, he endeavours to justify in his note. There he
says, ' nnvux, Spirit, certainly is not used in the same sense
' throughout this chapter. Ver. 10. 16'. it signifies the spirit
' of our mind — the supreme part of our constitution, or the
e principle of reason, by which we discern, approve, and
1 choose the truth/ These two are all the places in this
chapter that he brings as meaning by the Spirit the human
spirit, or principle of reason. But they do not answer his
purpose in interpreting this first verse. For in ver. 16. our
spirit being set in opposition to the Spirit itself, shows, that
by the former is there meant the human spirit. The ex-
pression is not so, ver. 1. but absolutely, the Spirit. If the
word spirit is in any place so connected with another word,
expression, or argument, as shows it is there to be understood
of the human spirit, this makes no reason for understand-
ing it so, when the spirit is mentioned absolutely, without
any such connexion, or particular reason for understanding
it in that way.

As to ver. 10, he there alters our translation in the column
opposite to his paraphrase, and for, The body is dead, because
of sin, he translates, with respect to sin, and so he gives
the next clause, The Spirit is life, (not because, as in our
translation, but) with respect to righteousness. And to this
translation of his own, he suits his paraphrase thus : c The
1 sinful appetites and affections of the body are slain in you,
{ — your spiritual part is alive, is in a healthy vigorous con-
r dition with respect to righteousness/

This method is far from being fair. If he would give our
translation in one column, as he pretends to do, he should
give it as it is, and if he should prove in a note that our
translation was not just, he might thereby warrant his para-
phrase. It occurs happily, however, that in his note, when
he meant to support his paraphrase, himself brings forth what
justifies our translation. Aix, with an accusative, says he,
signifies with reference to, or on account of. But could the
preposition, as himself relates, be rendered, on account of
sin, and on account of righteousness, doth this make such

I

312 Explication and Paraphrase

odds of sense from, because of sin and because of righteousness,
that our translation should be altered for it, when it could
well stand, according to what he mentions concerning the
preposition ?

But what reason can be offered for using, instead of body,
ver. 10. sinful appetites and affections of the body, and for
the Spirit, to put your spiritual part ? Dr T. has certainly
mistaken the meaning of this tenth verse. I venture to ex-
press myself concerning it as follows. As the apostle hath
in his eye the comfortable subject of the resurrection of the
dead, suggested more fully in the following verse, I think
the word body ver. 30. may be taken for person, (see on
chap. vi. 12.) ; and the Spirit is evidently meant of the
Spirit of God, mentioned in the preceding 9th verse, and
twice in the immediately following verse. So the sense of
the whole verse may be thus expressed : ' If Christ be in
you by your having his Spirit, even the Spirit of God dwell-
ing in you, (as ver. 9-) you are, as to the present bodily state
and frame of your persons, appointed indeed to die because
of sin, even the sin of the first Adam, for which all man-
kind have been adjudged to death ; but the Spirit of God,
and of Christ in you, will bring you to life at the resurrection,
because of righteousness, even the righteousness of One, the
second Adam/ as is more fully expressed in the next verse.
See Dr W. on the place.

We have Dr TVs criticism concerning the Greek preposi-
tion Aix, with an accusative, in ver. 10. ; we may next see how
he manages with it as constructed with a genitive. This is
in ver. 11. and as we have come so near it, it is not amiss
that we observe it. There for hu — 7rvsv^ar6g, he gives, Be-
cause of the Spirit. What reason could he give for this ? It
is the case that §<# in that construction very commonly sig-
nifies per, by ; and my lexicon gives that as the first sense
of the preposition in that construction, according to which
we translate. Hedericus gives no sense of the preposition
with a genitive that will answer this writer's purpose ; nor
doth Pasor, who mentions very many instances of it in that
construction. But the author seems to have been more
anxious to screen his particular hypothesis and opinion from
hurt, than to give a just and well- warranted interpretation
of this text. That heavenly Being or Agent, which is com-
monly called the Holy Ghost, (as he speaks, note on ver. 1.)
he did not believe more than he believed the'Son to be truly
and by nature God. But he was sensible that it would be
a striking proof of his being so, if quickening the dead, or

Of Romans Fill. 1. 313

raising the dead, were ascribed to him. So, instead of our
translation, which renders justly, according to the use of the
Greek language, He that raised up Christ shall also quicken
your mortal bodies by his Spirit, — he gives — because of his
Spirit ; and, according to this, he gives in his paraphrase
thus : ( He who raised Christ, will restore to a glorious im-
' mortal life, — even your bodies, because you are sanctified
1 by his Spirit/ But this cannot be supported by any just
criticism.

We have seen that the two texts, which Dr T. brings out
of this same chapter, (viz. ver. 10, 16.) do not answer his
purpose in rendering, after the Spirit, by, e according to
* the dictates of — the rational faculty.' Neither these two
verses, nor any other that he could bring, give any counte-
nance to that paraphrase. In that expression (ver. 1.) which
walk — after the Spirit, the apostle certainly speaks in rela-
tion to the Spirit of God. We have sufficient cause to think
so, from the manner in which the apostle states the opposi-
tion between the flesh and the Spirit, (mentioned here, ver. 1.)
and follows it out through the following context ; wherein,
after opposing flesh and Spirit several times, he at length ex-
plains what he means by Spirit in this opposition, when he
tells the Roman Christians, ver. 9- that they were not in the
flesh, but were in the Spirit, by having the Spirit of God
dwelling in them. It is that Spirit that is meant, ver. 10, 11.
as hath been just now observed ; and when, ver. 13, he men-
tions Christians through the Spirit mort'fying the flesh, it is the
Spirit of God, in opposition to the flesh, that is meant, even
according to Dr T. Nor can it be doubted, that walking after
the Spirit, in the first verse, means the same way of walking
and the same influence that is meant, ver. 1 4. where it is said,
As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God, They who walk after the Spirit, ver. 1. are the same
who are led by the Spirit of God, ver. 14.

Upon the whole, I conceive the matter thus : In the 7th
chapter he mentions the inward man as delighting in the law
of God, and says, ver. 25. With the mind I myself serve the
law of God. These expressions, the inward mail, the mind,
and the law of his mind, signify the soul itself as renewed, —
the new man, and principle of holiness within him. Here in
the next following verse, chap. viii. 1. he means the same way
of walking and serving God, according to the inward man,
and law of his mind, with the superadded idea of the Spirit
of God dwelling in the Christian, and continuing to influence
the inward man and law of the mind, in this way of walking.

314 Explication and Paraphrase

Having here, ver. 1 . once mentioned the Spirit, we see he
keeps him much in view, with regard to his various influence
and assistance granted to Christians, down to ver. 27.

The dictates of the rational faculty (if men understood
them) and the Spirit of God, do direct and lead to the same
way of walking. But there is a power and efficacy in the in-
fluence of the Spirit, that is not in the dictates of the rational
faculty. The apostle's meaning by the Spirit, as stated in
opposition to the flesh in this eighth chapter, is so very clear,
that it was very wrong-, and somewhat perverse, to use in
paraphrase for the Spirit, the rational faevdty.

Paraphrase. — J. As I have showed, that true Christians
are, by the faith that hath truly united them to Christ,
brought into a justified state, and have the blessedness that
God imputeth righteousness to them ; and have showed that
true believers, being dead to sin, and made free from its do-
minion, are become servants of God and of righteousness, in
ordinary, sincere, and earnest conflict against the motions of
sin within them ; it clearly follows on the one hand, that
there is now no condemnation to them who are truly united
to Christ, and on the other hand, that it is the certain cha-
racteristic of such, that their conversation and w;;ik is not
regulated or directed according to the flesh, or the lusts
thereof, (whatever temptation and sad exercise they may
have by these) but by the principle of holiness in the new
man, and by the holy Spirit of God, under whose special
influence the new man, the law of their mind, is.

TEXT — 2. For the late of the Spirit of life, in Christ Jesus, hath mad*
me free from the laiv of a in and death.

Explication. — In the preceding verse there is a doctrinal
proposition by way of inference, which, in the comprehen-
sion of the expression, includes and respects all true be-
lievers. Here the expression is of himself personally ; yet
so as to be evidently designed to explain the general doc-
trine of the preceding verse.

Some have considered this second verse, as particularly
connected with the first clause of the preceding, There is now
no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jcsas ; and as
being designed to give some explanation about being made
free from condemnation. But as in the sixth and seventh
chapters, those immediately preceding this, the subject is
sanctification, any thing concerning justification falls in but
incidentally, and as connected with sanctification, and in
subserviency to his explanations on that subject.

Of Romans Fill. 2. 315

I therefore think this second verse is to be considered as
particularly connected with the second clause of ver. 1.
who walk not after the ficsh, hut after the Spirit. It might
have been suggested thus : Men in their natural condition
are the slaves of sin, and, in that state, certainly they can-
not walk after the Spirit, being destitute of the Spirit. Men's
so walking shows them to be blessed with a happy liberty
from the slavery of the flesh and of the law of sin, which
they have been under formerly. This second verse explains
how Christians have been made free from that slavery and
dominion, as the third verse doth still further explain the
matter.

As to the particular expressions of this text, the word law
comes first to be explained, as it seems to have different
senses in this one verse. In the latter clause, the law of sin
and death hath by some been understood of the law of God,
as it assigns death to the transgressors ; and whilst men are
under it, they are under the dominion of sin. Sin is so far
from being subdued by it, that there are motions of sins by
the law, and sin taketh occasion by the commandment.
This, however, cannot be the meaning. It were not consis-
tent with the reverence due to the law of God, nor with the
truth, to call it the law of sin and death. Yea, it could not
be so called, but in plain contradiction to the vindication the
apostle hath made of it, chap. vii. 7- Is the law of sin ? God
forbid ; and ver. 13. Was that which is good made death to
me? God forbid.

We need not be at a loss for the meaning of this last clause
of the text. He had (chap vii. 25, the next verse save one
preceding this) mentioned the law of sin, which, by means
of the flesh, had held sinners in subjection and slavery ; and,
in the verse preceding that, he had mentioned the body of
death. The law, then, of sin and death, is no other than that
evil principle dominant in a man, from which the true Chris-
tian is made free. How made free ?

This the apostle ascribes to the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus. Here is another law ; and if the law in the
last clause signifies a principle within a man, this may seem
to signify also an inward principle—a better principle wrought
and implanted by the Spirit of life, even the same which
he had called (chap. vii. 23.) the law of his mind. By this
principle is a man made free from the dominion of the other
principle or law. This is not widely different from what I
take to be the more precise meaning.

It seems most likely, that the law of the Spirit of life

3l6 Explication and Paraphrase

means the gospel. So it was understood by Methodius, an
ancient writer, as mentioned by Dr \V. If the apostle men-
tion (chap. iii. 27-) the law of faith, he doth not recede any
farther from strict propriety in giving here the name of law
to the gospel, that is the means of faith. It is certain that
laiv is often in the Old Testament put for the word of God
in general, of which there are many instances in the 11 9th
Psalm. The Psalmist says (Psal. xix. 7.) The law of the Lord
is perfect, converting the soul. It is plain that he there means
the doctrine of gospel -grace, as then set forth in the word of
God ; for without this, the law, strictly so called, doth not
convert the soul. At the same time it is to be observed, that
the designation given here to the gospel is not absolutely the
law, but the law of the Spirit of life ; thus distinguishing it
from the law, by which the Spirit is not given.

The gospel brings men to the liberty here mentioned, only
as it is the law of the Spirit of life. He is called here the
Spirit of life very appositely, in opposition to that other law
of sin and death, as he now gives a spiritual life in the souls
of men ; and hereafter, when he shall quicken their bodies
at the resurrection, shall raise them to the perfection of life
in soul and body.

Now this is a very important thing, in which the gospel
is set in opposition to the law, and hath the advantage of it,
that it is (2 Cor. iii. 8.) the ministration of the Spirit which
(ver. 6.) giveth life ; and so the gospel is the law of the Spirit
of life.

In our text is added, in Christ Jesus ; which may be
understood thus : The Holy Spirit was bestowed on Christ
the Mediator without measure ; he hath been anointed with
this gladdening oii ; and it being poured on him as our great
High Priest and Head, as on the head of Aaron, (Psal.
exxxiii. 2.) it runs down on the body and members. So the
Holy Spirit is in Christ, as in a fountain, out of which every
one receives according to the measure of the gift of Christ,
Eph. iv. 7- Or the expression may be taken thus : as the
preposition gy, in, is often put for Atct, per, by, (so Matth.
v. 13, 35. and vii. 6. and in divers other places) the sense
may be taken thus : The Spirit of life by Jesus Christ, — by
him purchased and bestowed.

We now come to consider the good effect, and that is, to
be made free from the law of sin and death. This, the inter-
preters of opposite sentiments to ours, concerning the scope
and meaning of the preceding context, consider as a key to
open and determine the scope and sense of it. Here, say

Of Romans VIII. 2. 317

they, the apostle, after giving a general doctrine, (ver. 1.)
begins to speak of himself indeed. He had (chap. vii. 1 4 — 25.)
been setting forth the case of one carnal, sold under sin, a
captive and slave to the law of sin. The apostle, though
speaking as of himself, yet could not truly mean himself, as
then in a state of grace, but was certainly personating an-
other, a man under the law ; and of such an one it could not
be said, as here, that he was free from the law of sin and
death. Here, then, he is speaking of himself indeed, and
stating his own present condition in opposition to that he had
been representing : this is clear, express, strong, and decisive
on the subject, according to some. Softly ; let us consider
the matter a little.

It hath been made to appear very clearly, that the strong
expressions in the preceding context being the language of
sad complaint, there is nothing in it inconsistent with a re-
generate state. None will say, that true believers, made
free in the sense of our text, have not sin remaining in them;
yea, oftentimes too much prevailing, especially as to its in-
ward motions. Surely the bitter complaint of persons on
this account is no sign of their being under the dominion of
sin ; but the contrary. Persons under the dominion of sin
may indeed have much outcry against it, on account of its con-
sequences of misery and punishment, as hath been former-
ly observed. So a passionate man, for instance, may cry
out of his own hasty and outrageous passion, merely because
it brings him into much inconvenience, into many a fray,
and perhaps to the commission of crimes of capital conse-
quence. A lewd man may cry out against his own practice,
for the loathsome rottenness of disease it hath brought on
him, and the ruin it hath brought on his affairs. Yea, an
awakened sinner may cry out still more seriously and ear-
nestly against sin, under the sad impression, by the force of
the law in his conscience, of Divine wrath, and eternal judg-
ment. Yet in these cases the prevailing disposition of heart,
will, and affections may be still truly on the side of sin it-
self, though under considerable restraint. But to say that a
man, setting before him the holiness and spirituality of the
law, doth delight in the holiness of the law after the inward
man habitually willeth that which is good, hateth sin, crieth
out sincerely against it, and is habitually in earnest struggle
and conflict against its inward motions ; — to say that such an
one (however strongly he may express his feelings of sin) is
indeed under its dominion, and its slave, is what I cannot

o

0I8 Explication and Paraphrase

help considering as a most glaring absurdity. When a man
is inclined and affected with regard to sin and duty, and
maintains a struggle and conflict with sin, as is expressed in
the preceding context, it makes a clear and full proof that
he is not the slave of sin, but that he is indeed made free
from its dominion and tyranny. It is not easy to imagine a
stronger proof that he is so, whilst sin doth at all remain in him.

A similitude taken from human affairs may somewhat il-
lustrate the matter. Our neighbours, the Hollanders, cast off
the yoke of a cruel arbitrary tyrant, then the most powerful
monarch in Christendom, and asserted their liberty. For
this they had war a long time, between seventy and eighty
years, with some interval of truce. In the course of it they
were very successful on the whole, and became truly rich.
Yet there was great distress and danger. They were some-
times foiled in battle ; their country was plundered ; towns
sacked ; ships and rich merchandize lost ; their men taken,
and brought into captivity. Private persons in these times
might, yea, the republic might, often cry out, Ah, what
wretchedness, what misery ! Yet still in all this distress and
wretchedness they were a free people ; they suffered, they
groaned, they struggled, they fought, and were free. They
proved themselves to be so, whilst they held m their arms in
their hands, and stood out with noble resistance in the war
which their old master carried on against them, to subject
them again to his tyranny- They found themselves some-
times very weak ; but when their affairs were lowest, yet
weak and resisting, still they were free. At length the most
illustrious republic attained a state of complete liberty, and
their old tyrant ceased from having pretensions to their ser-
vice in any instance.

It is thus as to the matter before us, which is of incom-
parably greater importance to individuals, than their interest
in the worldly condition or affairs of any state or common-
wealth. True Christians are in earnest conflict and strug-
gle with sin, as represented, chap. vii. by which they have
often much distress ; so that one of that character may find
just cause to cry out, Wretched man that I am, who shall de-
liver me from this body of death ! Yet by this sense of things,
and by this conflict, however distressing, they show them-
selves to be, not the slaves of sin, but to be free from its do-
minion.

Upon the whole, Christians are made free from the do-
minion of sin, whose willing slaves they had been ; and that

Of Romans VIII. S. 319

by the power of the gospel in their hearts, as it is the law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, and by the grace of God,
which, sin remaining in them, hath, according to the first
promise, put enmity in them against it ; against the serpent,
and what of his poison remaineth in them. Continuing ill
this resistance to sin, they will at length attain a state of
most perfect liberty, when sin shall do them no more hurt,
nor ever more give them any molestation.

Paraphrase. — 2. I have represented my sad condition by
sin which dwelleth in me, and have expressed my thankful-
ness.to God through Jesus Christ, by whom I have been dis-
posed and enabled to resist and maintain conflict with it,
with good prospect of success, and final victory, and to be,
amidst all the disadvantage that sin brings upon me, serving
God and his law with earnest and sincere endeavour, walk-
ing not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. I now come to
account for it, and to explain to you how I have been brought
into a capacity thus to resist and struggle, and thus to walk,
who have been sometime the slave of sin. This hath not hap-
pened by the force of the mere dictates of reason in my mind,
nor by any resolutions or endeavours that were the mere
consequence of these. Nor did it happen by the power and
effect of the law in my conscience. I have represented, that
when I was most affected with the authority, light, and terrors
of the law, I found myself but the more fastened in the fet-
ters of sin ; and sin awakened and irritated by the law, did
then move the more vehemently in me, and show itself to be
exceeding sinful. I acknowledge, to the praise and glory of
j Divine grace, that it was the power of the gospel, that better
• law for us, as it is the ministration of the Spirit, the law of
the Spirit of life, which is in Christ Jesus as in a fountain,
and cometh by him to us, that hath made me free from the
dominion of sin, putting within me that inward principle of
holiness, which I have called the law of my mind, and which
now resists these evils and enemies that war against my
soul, and maintains warfare against the law of sin and death,
over which it will be finally and completely victorious.

I TEXT 3. — For what the law could not do in that it was weak through th
flesh, God sending his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for
sin condemned sin in the flesh.

Explication. — This is a text of great importance to be
'ightly understood ; as it contains a summary of the most es-
*~ntial doctrines of the gospel, and at the same time, com-

320 Explication and Paraphrase

pletes the apostle's explications concerning the subject of the
two preceding chapters. Yet few texts have been more
teazed with the criticisms of the learned, which do often
tend rather to darken, than to give light to it, or to the sub-
ject of it. I shall lay open very freely what I think con-
cerning the general scope of it, and concerning the sense of
the particular expressions, in the order in which they lie.

For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through
the flesh — The first inquiry is, What is it that the law could
not do ? Divers commentators, whom I much esteem, do
understand this to be the justifying of sinful men. This is
likewise Dr Whitby's view of it.

Yet I am not satisfied with this interpretation ; yea, 1 am
well satisfied that it doth not hit the apostle's view and
meaning. For, 1. Though it is true that the law cannot
justify a sinner, as the apostle had proved in the former
part of this epistle, yet that is not the present subject. It
is evident, that sanctih* cation hath been the subject from the
beginning of chap. vi. and the deliverance of persons from
the dominion of sin. The subject of the immediately pre-
ceding verse is, the making a sinner free from the law of sin
and death ; that is, from the power of natural corruption,
and the dominion of sin. This was the last thing the apos-
tle had mentioned ; and it seems very clear from the con-
nexion, and the manner in which this third verse is intro-
duced with the casual particle (y*%,forj that the great thing
thus to make free, ver. 2. is what the law, ver. 3. could not
do : it could not make free from the dominion and law of sin.

2. The reason he gives suits that subject more properly
than it doth the doctrine of justification, — In that it was
weak through the flesh. Now, that is not the reason why the
law cannot justify. Though in proving the sinfulness of
Gentiles and Jews, chap. iii. 10 — 18. the apostle's reason-
ing, and quotations from the Scripture, do abundantly prove
the dreadful universal corruption of human nature, yet the
precise point upon which his argument turns, is, ver. 23.
that all have sinned ; whereby they have incurred the curse
of the law, as he elsewhere suggests, Gal. iii. 10. Though
there were no such inherent pravity of nature, as the Scrip-
ture sets forth under the name of the flesh, yet the law
could not justify any who had sinned, who had at all incur-
red guilt.

To turn the disability of the law to justify the sinner,
upon the corruption of his nature, as this text would do, ac-

Of Romans VIII. 3. 34 I

cording to the interpretation I am considering, would imply
something by no means consistent with the apostle's clear
doctrine ; viz. that after a person had transgressed, he might
be justified, even by the law, for returning to his duty, and
for his subsequent righteousness, if the weakness and pravity
of his nature, called the flesh, did not disable him from doing
his duty ; which, how contrary it is to Scripture doctrine, I
need not stay to prove, the thing is so clear.

We have next to inquire, what law is here meant. As to
the ritual or ceremonial law of Moses, which is most strictly
the Mosaic law, and which some do so commonly bring
into view in interpreting this context, the institutions of it
were appendages to the gospel, as obscurely represented du-
ring that more dark dispensation. They were figures or sha-
dows that prefigured Christ, and divine grace through him.
So to those who used them with faith, they could not be ab-
solutely denied to have virtue and effect, with regard to
sanctification.

It remains, that the lawT here must be the moral law, which
all mankind are, and ever were concerned with ; and which
can be called Mosaic only with respect to the particular man-
ner of its promulgation at Sinai, and the subsequent expla-
nations of it by Moses. This law expressing the conditions
of the first covenant, doth by its precept require holiness and
.obedience. In its penal sanction is terrible denunciation
against sin, and its promise gave great encouragement to
obedience. By all this the law might have had great effect
with man in a state of perfection, had he duly attended
thereto. But as it could not hinder the transgression of man
in a state of perfection, much less can it recover the fallen
sinner from the slavery of sin, or set him free from its do-
minion.

The apostle had shown, chap. vii. 5. and ver. 7 — 13.
how matters stand in this respect between the law and per-
sons under it, in their natural condition, in the flesh ; and
represents them so as to prove what he had insinuated, chap,
vi. 14. viz. that persons under the law are under the do-
minion of sin. It is evident then, that what the law could
not do, was, to make a man free from this dominion of sin.
The law's being weak through the flesh comes to the same
thing as to say, that the flesh is too strong for the law, with
all its light, authority, and terrors, and could not be sub-
dued or cured, but by the Spirit of life mentioned in the pre-
ceding verse ; and this Spirit comes not by the law.

3C22 Explication and Paraphrase

— God sending his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh. —
The Son of God did not assume human nature in its beauty,
strength, and natural perfection, as sinless flesh, or as Adam's
in his creation- state ; he assumed it in its present natural
weakness, obnoxious to the miseries of this life, as sinful men
are ; designing to bear our griefs, and carry our sorrows.

We have occasion here to observe Dr Taylor's sense of
this clause, as he gives it in his paraphrase thus : f God by
' sending his Son to live as we do, in the flesh, frail, and
1 liable to sin' — That Christ's human nature had the
frailty that is now natural to man, is certainly meant by the
apostle's expression. But to extend it to moral frailty, is
extremely shocking. That Christ's human nature having
come into being by the operation of the Holy Ghost, and
subsisting in personal union with the divine nature ; that, I
say, this blessed divine Person should be said to be liable
to sin, must by Christians be accounted quite blasphemous.

But this writer differs from Christians in this essential ar-
ticle of their faith, the divinity of the Son of God. He con-
siders him as a glorious being, (on whom he fails not to be-
stow high language,) who was by God truly created before
the world ; and in the question of his catechism respecting
the incarnation of the Son of God, he says, c He became
' man by assuming a body like unto ours/ without men-
tioning a human reasonable soul. A human body animated
by this pre-existent created being, is according to him, the
person of Christ ; which, by his account, is a person neither
truly God nor truly man. That this created spirit, and hu-
man body united, should be a person liable, in a state of pro-
bation, to sin, does well enough suit his notions.

This is not a proper place for considering or confuting the
heretical doctrine of the Arians concerning the divinity of
our Saviour. They who would study that subject, if they
will not, or cannot read the writings of learned foreigners, in
the Latin tongue, in defence of the truth, will find that great
article of Christian faith sufficiently established by what hath
been written in our language above forty years ago ; where-
by the Scripture evidence of the truth hath been set forth in
a clear light, and the subtilty of the Arians hath been ex-
posed and confuted with great abilit}' and learning.

To be liable to sin (as in Dr T.'s paraphrase) doth not suit
the expression of our text. The likeness of sinful flesh must
certainly mean something that could not be said of sinless
flesh ; otherwise, why should the distinction and character

Of Romans Fill. 3. 334

of sinful be here used at all? There is a great difference
between being actually sinful, and being liable to sin. Adam,
in his creation-state, was liable to sin, yet could not, in that
state, be called sinful flesh. To be in the likeness of sinful
flesh must certainly mean something else than to be liable to
sin ; for even sinless flesh was liable to sin.

Dr T. did indeed hold, that no man is chargeable with
sin, in any respect, or is sinful, until he becomes so by his
own actual transgression. But this clause we are consider-
ing doth not look favourably on that sentiment. Our Lord
underwent the infirmities common to man, and the miseries
of life meant in this clause, in his birth and early infancy,
and therein was like unto sinful flesh. The common infir-
mities of human nature, in this lapsed state, and the miseries
of life in every period of it, without distinction, are, by thi>
clause, connected with men's sinfulness, or their being sinful
flesh. If, then, mankind are subjected to the now natural
infirmities and miseries of human life, in that early period of
infancy and childhood, — and if Christ was in the likeness of
sinful flesh in that early period, wherein men are incapable
of moral agency, or of actual transgression, it is plain that
they are sinful flesh, before they are capable of actually sin-
ning in their own persons. The sense of this clause being
clear, we proceed to the next :

And for sin. — The Greek ?rs£< upcteric&s, which is the
expression here, is very commonly the name of the sin-offer-
ing, or sacrifice for sin, of which the English margin gives
the hint, rendering thus : and by a sacrifice for sin. Dr
Whitby, on the place, mentions between thirty and forty
instances of the Septuagint translation, wherein this expres-
sion means the sin offering ; and hints that a good many
more instances might be given. In the New Testament we
see that (Heb. x. 6.) the expression occurs in that sense.
Our translators have supplied the word sacrifice, putting it
in a different character, which scarce needed to be done, as
sacrifice for sin is so common a sense of the words as they
are in the Greek.

This did not so well suit Dr T.'s notions, ami therefore
he gives for it in his paraphrase — ' And by sending him about
f the affair of sin* — This writer had unhappily adopted the
doctrine of the Socinians, in denying the substitution of
Christ in bearing the punishment of our sins ; and what im-
portant article of Christian faith hath he not laboured to
subvert ? In his note on this verse, he says the expression

324 Explication and Paraphrase

means, as DrW. mentions, when joined with a bullock, lamb,
&c. (either expressed or understood) appointed by the law
for a sin-offering; ' but/ saith he, ' offering here is not the
4 thing to which %i^i ecpetgriots hath relation, but to God's
' sending his Son.'

Mr John Alexander, who follows the sentiments of the
other writer pretty closely, observes that r^xyo^ m^i ctua^rixs
may be rendered, the goat for the sin-offering. ' But (so he
' adds) this will not prove that the words have such a signi-
1 fication in themselves, or when joined with things not usual-
ly offered in sacrifice for sin, which is the thing that ought
1 to be proved, in order to show that — (the Greek expression
' here) may properly be rendered, sending his Son an offer -
1 ingfor sin.' In the beginning of the next following page
(123) he says : ' Since, therefore, there is nothing in the con-
f text or phraseology in this place, which directs us to under-
' stand 7Ti£i upxeriaq in a sacrificial sense, we must necessarily
e take the words in their more common acceptation of for or
f concerning sin, and explain them of one of the great ends of
' Christ's mission, which was, to reform the world.

It is true, that one great end of Christ's mission was to
reform the world — to purify to himself a peculiar people ;
but the doctrine of these writers tends much to counteract
that design, by denying what the wisdom and righteousness
of God found necessary for accomplishing it, even Christ's
delivering men from the curse of the law, and from the
punishment of their sins, by his own bearing it. They allow
that the Greek expression here signifies a sacrifice for sin,
when joined with things usually offered in sacrifice. Now,
though Christ was not usually (being but once) offered in
sacrifice, yet it is plain that the Scripture very usually repre-
sents him as a sacrifice, and as offering sacrifice, and the
sacrificial style is very often used concerning him. For this
see particularly, Eph. v. 2. Heb. ix. 26, 28. Yea, Dr T.
adopts this style of scripture, and frequently uses sacrificial
language concerning him.

Mr Alexander says, (p. 123.) there is nothing in the con-
text or phraseology in this place, wrhich directs us to under-
stand 7rs£i ecftct^riets in a sacrificial sense. But he much mis-
took the matter ; for the apostle's subject and argument in
this place do direct us to understand the expression in the
sacrificial sense ; and the phraseology or expression being so
very commonly used in that sense, there is very special rea-

Of Romans VIII. 3.

son, arising from the subject and argument, for understand-
ing it in that sense here. .

To explain this, let it be observed, that, as hath been for-
merly shown, the subject here is making men free from the
dominion of sin, and sanctifying them. Let it next be ob-
served, that purifying and sanctifying is often in Scripture
connected with the sufferings, death, and sacrifice of Christ,
as the consequence thereof. For instance, John xvii. 19.
For their sake* I sanctify myself, that they also might be
sanctified through the truth. More clearly, Tit. ii. 14. Who
gave himself for us, that he might redeem lis from all iniquity,
and purify unto himself a peculiar people. More clearly still,
Eph. v. 25, 26. Christ — loved the church, and gave himself
for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing
of water by the word. So likewise 1 Pet. i. 18, 19- Foras-
much as ye know that ye were not redeemed (sAvt^Svjts) with
corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conver-
sation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the
precious blood of Christ.

Thus the general point is clear, that the Scripture con-
nects making men free from the dominion of sin, with
Christ's sufferings and sacrifice. More particularly, the
verse preceding our present text, mentions the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus, as making the Christian free from the law
of sin. But how cometh the Spirit to sinful men, the
wretched objects of the curse ? Of this we are told, Gal. iii.
IS, 14. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us ; — that we might receive the pro-
mise of the Spirit through faith, (that is, through the gos-
pel, the doctrine of faith ; compare ver. 25.) And thus the
gospel becomes the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
Having then mentioned the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus, the explaining of this in our present text evi-
dently required the apostle's representing Christ as a sa-
crifice for sin, the condemning of sin as the consequence
thereof, and his procuring the Spirit of life for freeing men
from the slavery of sin, and sanctifying them. The true
sense of the expression in question is now sufficiently cleared
and vindicted, and it appears that Dr T. and Mr Alexander
were very wrong in thinking that there is nothing in the
context or phraseology in this place, which directs us to
understand m^i uuu^rtxg in the sacrificial sense.

I had written an essay, to be inserted in this place, on
redemption, against the pernicious notions, explanations,

o 5

326 Explication and Paraphrase

and reasoning of Dr T. ; but have laid it aside, as too
large for this place, though too contracted for the import-
ant subject. Enough has been here said to prove the true
sense of the expression in our text; and whether I shall
overtake to finish what I have written and designed on the
subject, the Lord knows. If I should not, there remain
many abler friends and asserters of the ti uth.

One thing, however, it is fit not to neglect. The English
translators have, in the margin, prefixed the particle by, (and
by a sacrifice for sin.) It seems they considered the word
ecfAx^Tidy as signifying by itself a sin-offering, or sacrifice for
sin. So it doth, 2 Cor. v. 2. and the Hebrew word an-
swering to it, is very often in the Old Testament put for
sin-offering. Upon this view, then, that the substantive
noun doth of itself signify sin-offering, they for the preposi-
tion prefixed translate by. It may, however, be doubted
that the use of the Greek warrants that rendering of the pre-
position. There is no need or reason for understanding it
so here, as both the words together, the preposition and
the noun joined in the expression, make so very commonly
the name of the sin-offering. God sent his Son a sacrifice
for sin. By his being subjected to the infirmities of human
nature in this lapsed .state, and to the miseries of this life,
he, being in himself perfectly innocent and guiltless, was so
far bearing our sins all along, and was marked out from the
womb as the sacrifice for sin. He was accordingly, in due
time, completely and solemnly offered up as such. We go
on to the following expression :

Condemned sin. — In general, we must understand this as
corresponding with the subject the apostle means hereto ex-
plain, which is, as he had expressed it, ver. 2. making men
free from the law of sin, or relieving them from its dominion.
But it is necessary to give an exact explication of the words.
I observe, that xxtcck^ivuv, to condemn, (which is the word
here) andx^ivuv, to judge, are sometimes in Scripture used in
the same sense ; that is, that the latter sometimes means
the same as the former. For though the latter word strictly
and properly signifies to judge, yet sometimes it hath a
more restricted sense, and signifies judging favourably , as
Psal. xxvii. l.x^vcv^s, (so the Septuagint,) Judge me, 0 Lord ;
that is, judge in my behalf; and so in many other instances.
Sometimes it hath the restricted sense of judging unfavour-
ably, of which there are likewise divers instances. So John
xvi. 1 1. Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged;

Of Romans VI II. 3. 8*7

that is condemned. The word is to be understood in the
general meaning of judging, or in one or other, the favourable,
or unfavourable restricted meaning, according to the scope
or circumstances of the particular passage.

Now I observe, that in the last clause of John xvi. 1].
the prince of this world is judged ; it evidently bears the
unfavourable sense (as I said before) of condemning, as
KctTotK^tntv, in our text: the prince of this world is condemned.
For the meaning of this we may have recourse to John xii.
31. Now is the judgment of this world; ?w?v shall the
prince of this world be cast out. As to the first of these
clauses, Dr WVs annotation on it is : ' Now shall the men
' of this world be condemned, who believe not in me/ But
I think the favourable meaning best suits the place, thus :
Now is judgment in favour of this world, to deliver it from
Satan's delusions and thraldom. Agreeable to this, is the
consequence, ver. 32. that Christ being crucified, shall draw
all men after him; that is, not only Jews, who had of along
time been God's peculiar people, but men of all nations ;
as the expression, all men, must be here understood, and is
so explained even by Dr Whitby. The case was thus : in
consequence of Christ's death, which he had now in near
view, judgment was to be given in favour of the world, and
Satan the prince of the world to be cast out from his throne
and dominion, so that Christ by the gospel would draw men
of all nations, among whom Satan had reigned, to himself.
So then, that Satan the prince of the world is judged, John
xvi. 11. means as John xii. 31. that he is cast out from his
dominion and kingdom.

We have seen what it means, that Satan is judged or
condemned. We are, I think, to understand most reason-
ably the condemning of sin here, Rom. viii. 3. in the same
way ; as sin, with the lusts thereof, is that by which Satan
had ruled in the hearts of men, and in the world. Sin hath
had the dominion in men. It is the fruit and effect of the
death of Christ, and his being therein a sacrifice for sin, (as
in our text) that sin is condemned, and cast out from its
dominion over men, in order to its final and complete des*
truction. Thus a judgment in favour of men being passed
against sin, they are made free from the law of sin and
death, and are no longer under its thraldom. This was the
thing mentioned, ver. 2. which the apostle has explained in
this ver. 3. It is by his being thus made free, that the
Christian hath the liberty, disposition, and power to main-

328 Explication and Paraphrase

tain such conflict against sin, as is represented in the latter
context of the preceding chapter. That a person, who ex-
presses so much sorrow with regard to sin dwelling in him,
should, by the prevailing disposition -of his soul, yet be ad-
verse to sin, and in conflict with it, is well accounted for
and explained by what we have here, chap. viii. 2, 3. The
last expression of our text is this :

— In the flesh. — What jlesh is here meant ? or, in what
flesh is sin condemned ? I take flesh here in its more gene-
ral meaning, as signifying human nature. It so means in
this same verse. Christ was sent in the likeness of sinful flesh.
Here flesh signifies human nature in general. The corrupt
state of human nature is expressed by the prefixed epithet,
sinful. It was by what Christ suffered in the flesh, (in his
human nature, being a sacrifice for sin) that sin came to
be condemned, and to lose its dominion. This hath been
accomplished,

1. With respect to the flesh, or human nature of Christ
himself. The apostle, as was formerly observed, saith Rom.
v. 21. that fin hath reigned unto death. Men, by virtue of
the law, became obnoxious to death by the power and reign
of sin. Now the greatest instance, beyond all that ever
have been, or ever shall be, of this power and reign of sin,
appeared in the death of the Son of God, when he put him-
self in the place and stead of sinners. But then it is con-
demned, and by this great exertion of its reigning power
and strength on the Son of God, it hath lost its power of
thus reigning any more, with respect to him, and his hu-
man nature. So the apostle says, chap. vi. 9- — He dieth
no more ; death hath no more dominion over him. If, as Heb.
ix. 27 y 28. It is appointed for all men once to die ; so Christ
was once offered, by which the whole power of sin and death
over him was exhausted.

The consequence to his people with regard to the reign of
sin in their bodily part, and as to this effect, is, that, though
according to God's wise constitution it is appointed for them,
as for all men, to die ; yet as to them death hath not that
penalty in it which the sentence of the law imports ; the sting
of sin and the curse of the law is not in it. There is nothing
of the reign of sin in their death. There is blessing in their
death, by virtue of the grace of the new covenant.

2. Sin is condemned to lose its dominion with respect to
its inherence in the souls of God's people, and the absolute
prevalence it hath had in their hearts and practice. Though

Of Romans VIII. 3. 329

the flesh or human nature, absolutely and generally express-
ed, includes the whole human race, yet here it must be un-
derstood with such limitation, as must reasonably be admit-
ted in many places of scripture, in which divine grace, its
design and effect, is mentioned in general terms. Here is
an instance, lit. iii. 4, 5. But after that the kindness and love
of God our Saviour towards man appeared — according to his
mercy he saved us hy the washing of regeneration, and renew-
ing of the Holy Ghost. In the first clause of these the ex-
pression is general and comprehensive — The love of God to-
ward man. Yet the effect in view and expressed, the renew-
ing of the Holy Ghost, is not to all men. So in our present
text, though the expression, — condemned sin in the jiesh} in
human nature, is general, it is not meant that the happy
effect takes place in all men universally and singly.

This second point is certainly the special thing (not alto-
gether excluding the other) which must be especially in the
apostle's view here. The matter he is explaining is the
making men free from the law of sin, ver. 2. which had do-
minion over them. The condemning of sin in human na-
ture must respect the ejecting it from this dominion, and
depriving it of its power.

Interpreters do generally think there is in this verse an
ellipsis, a word or two wanting, that must be supplied, to ex-
press fully the sense ; and some supply thus : What the law
could not do, God hath done. But 1 think there is scarce
any need of supposing such an ellipsis, or of supplying it.
The sense seems to be fully expressed by the words as they
are ; and the construction seems to be clear and regular with-
out supplying. The verb to be constructed with the word
God, is expressed, God condemned sin. These words, What
the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh,
may be considered as in parenthesis ; or in interpreting by
way of paraphrase, may be transposed to the end of the sen-
tence, thus: God hath condemned sin — which the law could
not do.

The matters contained in this verse are so very important,
and it hath appeared so dark, that very learned and judicious
interpreters have differed widely about the scope and mean-
ing of it. By all this it became needful to consider it in the
most careful and exact manner ; and so the explication hath
reached to a considerable length.

Paraphrase — 3. I have represented to you in my own
name, and from my own sad experience, the case of a true

330 Explication and Paraphrase

Christian whilst in this life, groaning under sin, which
dwelleth in him ; and in ordinary conflict with it, in its in-
ward motions. Such a person, as to the general character
of his behaviour, must certainly be one who walketh not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit. A person so exer-
cised inwardly, and so wralking, is certainly not the slave
of sin, or under its dominion. He hath been made free
from its law and ruling power ; as I have told you, that
I have been by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
I come now to explain to you further, how this happy de-
liverance from sin's dominion hath been brought about, and
to show you what part a gracious God, and his ever-blessed
Son, have had in this great change ; which hath been actually
effected by the more immediate operation and influence of
the Holy Spirit. Thus then it is :

God, the blessed Author, and original cause of all our sal-
vation, hath sent his own only begotten Son in our nature ;
not vested with the dignity, beauty, and vigour of its first
and best state ; but in a humble condition, partaking in the
infirmities that are natural to us in our lapsed state, and in
the common miseries of human life, which on account of sin
we have been subjected to: so that from his birth, being
perfectly innocent himself, he bore the penal consequences
of our sin, and at length, in due time, became a proper sacri-
fice for our sin, God having made him a sin-offering for us.
On which account he hath given forth judgment, as against
Satan, so against sin ; the gracious God, by the sacrifice of
his Son, and through faith in his blood, bringing sinners into
a state of reconciliation and peace with himself; and under
grace, hath condemned sin to be dethroned, and deprived of
the dominion it hath unhappily had in them ; and so, mak-
ing them free from its thraldom, he hath put enmity between
them and it, which will end in its complete destruction, and
in their complete salvation.

Thus, by the death and sacrifice of Christ, God hath put
an end to that power of sin, by which it reigned unto death,
even over his Son, so that death can have no more dominion
over him, and so that the death of his people hath nothing
of the penal consequence or reign of sin in it ; and he hath,
by the same means, deprived sin of its dominion in them, by
which it hath held them its servants and slaves ; Christ hav-
ing, by bearing our curse, redeemed us from the curse, and
made way for our receiving the blessing of the Spirit through
(the doctrine of) faith, the gospel ; the gospel is thereby be-

Of Romans VIII. 4 331

come the law of the Spirit of life, making us free from the
law of sin and death.

This great deliverance from the dominion of sin, and mak-
ing ns free from it, the law, however contrary to sin, could
not effect ; for as it conveyed not the Spirit, the flesh, (the
total corruption of nature so called) and the power of sin in
it, was too strong for the law, with all its light, authority,
promises, and terrors.

Thus have I explained to you what I intimated, chap. vi.
14. and what might, at first sight, appear a strange paradox,
viz. that persons under the law and its curse, are under the
dominion of sin, its servants and slaves ; and that sin shall
not have dominion over them, who, by the sacrifice of the
Son of God, by the blood of his cross, and by faith in his
blood, are brought under grace.

TEXT — 4. That the righteousness of the lam 7night be fulfilled in us^
-who walk not after the fleshy but after the Spirit.

Explication. — The Greek word, iauumfim, admits, yea,
requires, to be somewhat variously understood in different
places. In the plural number )mm»^mds, sometimes means
the commands of the moral law, and so it is to be understood
in Rom. ii. 2b\ // the uncircumcision keep the righteousness
QiKxiupctru) of I he law. The word, in the singular number,
signifies the rule of right taken in general, (saith Mr L. on
the place) ; and the plural word here (chap. ii. 26.) signifies
the particular branches of it contained in the law of Moses,
that is, the moral law of the Mosaic promulgation. In Heb.
ix. 1. dixzi&pccTci Xxt^uxs means, as our translation gives it, the
ordinances of divine service.

In the singular number, as in our text, it may be rendered
righteousness, as in our translation, or right (jus,) as ren-
dered by Beza and the Dutch. It seems to make little differ-
ence in the sense wThich of the two words be taken ; though
I think the latter word suits the place best, and to render
the clause thus : That the right of the law might be fulfilled,
or take its full effect. Now, the righteousness of the law
which it requires, or the right of the law, is two-fold.

1. That sin be punished or expiated according to the
sanction of the law. This right of the law is fulfilled, or
hath taken full effect, in us, by means of Jesus Christ made
a sacrifice for sins, and by means of our union with him, he
being in us, and we in him by faith, — the righteous?iess of
God in him, 2 Cor. v. 21. This Dr VV. takes to be the sub-

332 Explication and Paraphrase

ject of the preceding ver. 3, and he does not allow it to be
in the meaning of this fourth verse, which he gives thus in
his paraphrase : ' That the righteousness of the law, (i.e. the

* inward purity and righteousness the law required) might
'be performed and fuljilled in and by us, who walk not after
6 the lusts of the jiesh, but after the motions of the Spirit.'
Toward the end of his annotation on this verse, he writes
thus : c Now, these two, viz. freedom from condemnation,

* and the vouchsafement of the Spirit, being always connected,
' the apostle goes frequently from the one to the ^ther, first
1 mentioning our freedom from condemnation, then our walk-
e ing in the Spirit, ver. 1,2; our freedom from the guilt of

* sin by the death of Christ, ver. 3 ; and then our fulfilling

* the righteousness of the law by the Spirit of Christ, ver. 4.'

I have given good reasons for not understanding ver. 3.
as this writer does ; and have shown that what the law could
not do (ver. 3.) is not justifying the sinner, but the making
him free from the law of sin and death. Though the Doc-
tor is right in interpreting, m^ up^na,?, as divers critics
have done, of Christ's being a sacrifice for sin, yet, as to the
following clause, — condemned sin, — the learned writer has
certainly come short of the meaning, when he interprets it,
in his paraphrase, of taking away sin's power to condemn us.
It hath been here proved, that, according to the scope of the
place, and the style of Scripture elsewhere, the expression is
to be understood of taking away the dominion which sin had
in us, so that we should be free from its power, and from
being its slaves. The just way, then, of conceiving the con-
nexion and sense of these two verses, is not that the apostle
passes from one subject, our freedom from condemnation,
ver. 3.) to our fulfilling the righteousness of the law by the
Spirit, ver. 4 ; but having mentioned (ver. 3.) Christ's being
a sacrifice for sin, (by which we are freed from condemna-
tion) and also the condemning of sin to be deprived of its
dominion, by which it made powerful and successful oppo-
sition to the law of God ; he proceeds to give a comprehen-
sive view of the end and design of the blessed scheme of
divine grace, (ver. 4.) viz. that the righteousness of the law
might he fulfilled, or that the right of the law might take full
effect ; and it being certainly the right of the law, that the
transgression of it should be punished, as it hath been by
Christ's bearing our sins ; surely there is good reason for
including this in the righteousness, or the right of the law,
in this first clause of ver. 4.

Of Romans VIII. 4. 333

2. It is the right of the law that the authority of its com-
mandments should be made good and maintained, and that
it should be the rule of life and practice. This is an unalter-
able and unalienable right of the law of God. The Lord
could no more dispense with the authority, holiness, and
righteousness of his law, than he could deny himself. The
grace of God manifested in the gospel is by no means to be
conceived as derogatory to this right of the law ; nor can any
atonement for transgressing the law set God's creatures free
from the authority and obligation of his holy commandments.
Divine grace, and the expiation made by Christ, are wholly
calculated for establishing the law, even in this view, and for
giving it full effect.

We have seen that Dr W. would allow this ver. 4. only
to mean that righteousness of the law which Christians per-
form by the Spirit, walking according thereto. Some other
very learned persons will have this verse to respect only that
right of the law I have first mentioned, which hath been ful-
filled in Christ's bearing our sins, and in us by the applica-
tion thereof to us ; and will not, by any means, allow that
sanctification and holy practice is included in the righteous-
ness of the law here mentioned, as to be fulfilled in us.
Thus Wolfius (a learned Lutheran divine) says on the text,
that this phrase, ev ypiv, in us, hath by no means any respect
to the obedience to the law to be performed by us, but,
to the satisfaction given by Christ as an expiatory sacrifice,
without us, and for us. He adds, if the apostle had meant
the demand of the law to be performed by us, his expression
would not have been gv >j^<v, in us, but such as behoved to
be rendered, per nos, or, a nobis, by us. This argument seems
not to amount to much. As our obedience to the law in
actual and active practice is the immediate and certain con-
sequence of making us free from the dominion of sin, and
the sanctifying of our nature and heart, which are effects
produced by divine grace in us, it is but reasonable to in-
clude in the meaning of the right, or righteousness of the
law to be fulfilled in us, our conformity to that law in holi-
ness ; as the general scope of the apostle's discourse requires
that the words be so understood.

Dr Guyse, in his note on this verse, says : c We cannot be
■ properly said to fulfil the righteousness of the law by our
' own imperfect (though sincere) obedience to its precepts ;
1 much less to give satisfaction to its threatenings, both of
1 which go into the righteousness that a broken law demands,'

334 Explication and Paraphrase

These sentiments of the judicious and worthy writer are quite
just. But the interpretation here offered doth not make the
words to mean, that the right of the law takes full effect, or
that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled by the imperfect,
though sincere, obedience of any Christian in this life. This
seems, indeed, to be Dr W.'s opinion. But, however, the
true believer being, and continuing to be, in union with
Christ, and in a justified state through faith, both himself
and his sincere (though imperfect) services are graciously
accepted, yet to say, that the righteousness of the law is
fulfilled by this imperfect obedience, is evidently absurd, and
amounts to no less than a contradiction in terms. For im-
perfect obedience is an obedience that comes short of what
the law requires ; if it did not, it would be perfect obedience.
Now, to say that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled by
an obedience that falls short of what the law requires, is
evident contradiction.

On the other hand, though it be allowed that both the ac-
tive and passive perfect obedience of Christ was necessary,
in order to the sinner's being not only freed from condemna-
tion, but also being received into a state of adoption, — an
heir of eternal life, and of the heavenly inheritance ; yet still
the right of the law subsists as to the demand of perfect obe-
dience and conformity on the part of them who are in a jus-
tified state, and under grace. If, sincerely aiming at walking
in the light, they fall short and sin, it is happy for them,
that the blood of Jesus Christ (1 John i. 7-) cleanses them
from and takes away their sin. But there would be no
need of this to persons in a state of grace, if the right of the
law to require perfect obedience did not still subsist with re-
spect to them. But it is the design of divine grace to bring
God's people to a state wherein the righteousness which the
law hath right to require, shall be fulfilled in the perfect obe-
dience and conformity of these objects of grace. The text
doth not say, that it is fulfilled in their walking, in this state
of imperfection, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. But
as, ver. 1. it was given as the mark of them who are truly in
Christ Jesus, and made free from condemnation, that they
so walk ; so here, ver. 4. as to them in whom divine grace
hath purposed that the right of the law shall take full effect,
or the righteousness of it be fulfilled, on the one hand, by
the fulfilment thereof by their blessed Surety in their stead
and behalf, and on the other, by their own personal perfect
conformity thereto at last ; it is again given as their distin-

Of Romans VIII. 4. 335

guiauig mark and characteristic, even in this life, that they
walk not after the fleshy but after the Spirit. Their so walk-
ing, though with much imperfection, is the sure mark of
them in whom the righteousness of the law will sometime
be fulfilled, in their perfect conformity thereto in holiness.
The apostle's mentioning here again this very distinguish-
ing mark, gives him occasion to pass to these doctrines and
explications concerning the flesh and the Spirit, which are
presented in the following context, which hath not fallen
within my design to explain in this work.

With respect to the explication here given of ver. 4., I
subjoin the following passage of Parseus.

1 In explicatione dubiorum in cap. 8. ad Romanos ; et in
responsione ad dubium quartum, ex versu quarto.

( Est autem jus legis duplex, 1. Condemnandi et puniendi
peccatores. 2. Post paenam, si emerserint, rursus exigendi
perfectam obedientiam. — Significatur ergo geminus mortis
Christi efFectus in nobis ; justificatio et sanctificatio. Per
illud impletur jus legis in nobis imputatione — per istam lex
impletur in nobis inchoatione — haec inchoata obedientia per-
fecta dici potest, perfectione partium — perfecte vero imple-
bitur in nobis quando id quod est ex parte cessabit/ It is
needless to translate this passage, as I have given the sense
of it largely in the explication of this ver. 4. immediately
preceding, which it appears is not new, as the same hath
been given long ago by this eminent divine.

Before we conclude our explication of this fourth verse
with the paraphrase of it, it is fit that from what we have
seen in this context, we observe what hath been the design,
and what the real consequence of the wonderful grace of God
the Father, of his Son Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit,
with regard to the holy, just, and good law of God. This
is the more to be adverted to, that the most true and just
account of the doctrine of grace hath been considered and
represented by some, as derogating from the honour and au-
thority of the law. But if the apostle has proved that the
law cannot justify any man, this reflects no dishonour on
the law, man having transgressed. In this case it became
the law, not to justify, but to assign just punishment. The
honour and authority of the law required this.

He hath also proved, that the law cannot sanctify a sin-
ner. But this is owing to the pravity and perverseness of
men's nature, in which sin, with its various lusts, hath do-
minion, not to the defect of any thing that should be in the

336 Explication and Paraphrase

law, which marks out to men perfectly their duty, with a
sanction of suitable promise and threatening.

Surely there is no honour given to the law by those proud
zealots of the law, who think by their own righteousness,
doing in some poor sort what it was at any rate and ever
their duty to do perfectly, that they can cover the defects of
their obedience to the law, and make the transgression of it
pass for nothing.

Nor do they give honour either to grace or to the law,
who suppose that the grace of the new covenant hath made
abatement of the holiness required by the law, and hath
substituted sincere, though imperfect obedience, in the place
of the perfect obedience which the law hath originally and
every required. Grace hath provided much otherwise for
the comfort and salvation of sinners, and for the honour of
the law. The righteousness of the law must at any rate be
fulfilled in us, and its right have full effect.

If they who give full scope to their lusts, in the indul-
gence and gratification of them, do offer dishonour to the
law of God, some noisy and pretending zealots of the law,
and of good works, come into the next class to those for of-
fering dishonour and disgrace to the perfectly holy and
righteous law of God.

If sinful man was to be saved, it did not fall to the part of
the law to produce the great effect. It could not possibly be
effected but by grace : and the sinner is justified by grace
through faith, not by the law or by his works. He is, at the
same time, made free from the dominion of sin in him, not
by the law properly so called, but by the gospel, as it is the
law of the Spirit of life ; and by the sanctification of the
Spirit is he made holy ; and all this of the most free and
abounding grace. But we proceed to the

Paraphrase. — 4. The divine scheme and method of
grace effects and accomplishes the salvation of God's people
in a way highly honourable to the law. Grace frees from
condemnation, and justifies them through the redemption
that is in Christ, and by his blood, and by his having be-
come a sacrifice for sin : God, as from infinite love to his
people, so from infinite regard to his righteous law, not
sparing his own Son, when he was substituted in their stead
to bear the punishment of their sin : and thus the right of
the law, with respect to the punishment of transgression,
hath taken full effect, for the redemption of the transgressors,
in a manner most honourable to the law, and to its autho-

Of Romans VIII. 4. 33T

rity, and hath taken effect in them by virtue of their union
with Christ, and their being the righteousness of God in
him.

God's people being thus brought under grace, sin cannot
have dominion in them. Being made free from the curse of
the righteous law, sin is at the same time deprived, by a
just sentence of condemnation, of its dominion ; they are
blessed with the Spirit ; by him they are made free from the
law of sin ; and being sanctified, they are advanced in holi-
ness from one degree to another, until at length they are per-
fected therein. Nor doth grace bring its blessed objects to
the perfection of bliss and happiness, but at the same time
that it brings them to the perfection of obedience to the
authority of the law, and to perfect conformity to its holi-
ness ; and thus the right of the law taketh full effect in them,
as to all its demand of punishment, or of obedience and con-
formity. Thus, if from the law there arose a necessity, for
the saving of sinners, of the most rich and abounding grace,
grace doth save them in such way as not to make void the
law, but to establish it. The holy divine law and divine
grace reflect glory ; the one upon the other reciprocally ; and
both will shine forth with joint glory eternally in heaven.
The law setting forth, in the brightest light, the beauty of
holiness, and the vileness and fearful demerit of sin, will
show the abounding grace that hath brought the children of
wrath thither, with infinite lustre and glory ; and grace will
do honour to the law, by showing in sinners, formerly very
vile and polluted, the purity and holiness of the law fully ex-
emplified in their perfect sanctification ; and Christ, the
Lamb that was slain, by whom the interests of the law and
of grace have been happily reconciled and inseparably unit-
ed, will be glorified in his saints, and admired in them who
believe.

We, in whom the righteousness of the law doth already
take place in a good degree, and in whom it shall be com-
pletely fulfilled hereafter, being such as are distinguished, in
this life, by walking, not after the flesh, (which is not sub-
ject to the law of God,) in the grosser gratification of its lusts,
or in the more refined way of a slavish, mercenary, self-ex-
alting, carnal religion ; but after the Spirit, who writes the
law, with its authority and holiness, in our hearts, enabling
us to mortify fleshly lusts, and to serve God in newness of
life, under his influence ; who is not a spirit of fear, but of
power, of love, and of a sound mind ; we having, according

338 Explication and Paraphrase of Rom. Fill. 4.

to the necessity of our state of imperfection, the blood of
Jesus to cleanse us from all sin ; even that blood, in the
shedding of which the right of the law did so remarkably
take effect, and by the daily and constant application where-
of to us, the right of the law takes effect, and its righteous-
ness is fulfilled in us.

339

APPENDIX.

WHEREIN THE APOSTLE'S DOCTRINE, PRINCIPLES, AND
REASONING, ARE APPLIED TO THE PURPOSES OF
HOLY PRACTICE, AND OF EVANGELICAL PREACHING.

Sect. I. — Containing a Recapitulation of the Apostle's Doc-
trines and Principles in the context before explained.

Having searched carefully into the scope of this context, and
the meaning of the particular parts thereof, it now appears
very clearly, that the apostle's design is, therein to set forth
and explain the gospel doctrine of sanctification. This sub-
ject he keeps all along in view, until he doth, in the first
four verses of chap. viii. give the summary of all the doc-
trines and explications contained in the two preceding chap-
ters concerning it. In the course of his reasoning, he la-
bours carefully to show the different condition of persons
under the Jaw, and of those under grace, with regard to sin
and the practice of holiness.

Divers interpreters have, by being under the law, or under
grace, understood being under the Mosaic law, or under the
grace of the gospel- dispensation ; and that the apostle's
view and purpose is, to show to believers who were of the
Gentiles, that they were free from the obligation of that law,
had no need of it, nor had any disadvantage by not being
subjected to it ; and to convince those believers who were of
the Jews, that they acted contrary to their real, and most
valuable interest, by their attachment to the Mosaic law,
now that God did set even them also free from its obligation.

Enough hath been said to disprove this interpretation;
and it hath been shown, that we have no reason to think the
apostle means by the Law in this discourse, any other law
than that which all men have been concerned with. To
say, that by being under the Mosaic law, persons were under
the dominion of sin, (mentioned chap.vi. 14.) were extreme-
ly unreasonable. True believers, the spiritual seed of Abra-
ham, were, during the Old Testament, under grace; and
the case of millions proves, that men may be under the New
Testament dispensation of grace, and not be under grace as
to the real state of their souls, nor made free from the do-

340 Recapitulation of the Apostle* s Doctrine.

minion of sin. But referring for these things to what hath
been said in the proper places, we find with the apostle in
this context, these important matters : —

1. To be under the law, and to be married or united to
Christ, are conditions of men that are incompatible. Persons
become dead to (free from) the law, chap. vii. 4. that they
may be married to another, even to him who is raised from
the dead.

2. Persons under the law, not married to Christ, are inca-
pable (while in that state) of bringing forth fruit unto God.
Persons not delivered from the law, are (ver. (>.) incapable
of serving in newness of spirit. What accounts for this is,

3. That whilst persons are under the law, they are (chap,
vii. 5.) in the flesh, under the power and prevalence of na-
tural corruption; being (chap. viii. 9-) destitute of the Spirit,
which cometh not by the law, Gal. iii. 2. So that they who
are under the law, in the flesh, cannot please God, cannot
do what is acceptable to God, Rom. viii. 8.

4. In this state, the law, with its whole force directed
against sin, yet doth not subdue sin. Instead of that, there
are in men in the flesh, under the law, motions of sins by
the law, chap. vii. 5. and ver. 8. Sin taking occasion by the
commandment, and thereby awakened, worketh in a man all
manner of concupiscence. Hence,

5. Sinners under the law, and in the flesh, are under the
dominion of sin, its servants and slaves, chap. vi. 14. 17* 20.
unable by any powers of their own to deliver themselves
from that slavery, or from under that dominion. The notion
of dominion and slavery imports no less.

6. It is Christ who maketh a sinner free from this slavery,
and from the dominion of sin. Whosoever committeth sin, is
(John viii. 34.) the servant of sin. So here, chap. vi. 16.
To whom men yield themselves servants to obey, his servants
they are to whom they obey. But (John viii. 36.) They
whom the Son shall make free, shall be free indeed. The
apostle's discourse explains this general matter by the fol-
lowing particulars.

7. Sinners owe their being made free from sin, or being
dead to sin, to the death of Christ, and to their fellowship
with him in his death, and in the benefits and fruits thereof,
which is exhibited and sealed to^Christians in their baptism,
chap. vi. 3, 4. For,

8. Christ, in his death, was a sacrifice for sin, chap. viii. 3.
And as this was not for his own sin, but for the sins of his

In the Context before explained. 341

people, the law which denounced death to sinners in its
righteous sanction, is satisfied in their behalf, by his death. So,
9- Christians are redeemed from the curse of the law,
(Gal. iii. 13.) by Christ's being made a curse for them ; and,
as here, (chap. vii. 4.) they are dead to (made free from) the
law, and the death and fearful curse it denounces, by the body
of Christ crucified. If sin, by virtue of the law which gave
it that strength, hath reigned unto death, Christ, coming in
our place and stead, did become subject to that reign of sin.
But by his death, (chap. vi. 10.) he died unto sin, and so be-
came free from that reign of sin unto death ; and therefore
it is, as ver. 9- that he dieth no more — death hath no more do-
minion over him ; in consequence of which, believers should
reckon themselves to be dead indeed unto sin, ver. 11. So
that now their death is not by the reign of sin, nor is the
sting of it in their death.

10. The consequence of Christ's becoming a sacrifice for
sin is, likewise, that God hath condemned sin to be dethroned
and deprived of the dominion it hath had in his people, chap,
viii. 3.

1 1. This judgment and condemnation is executed by the
gospel conveying the Holy Spirit into the souls of God's
people, and so becoming the law of the Spirit of life (in or
through) Jesus Christ, making them free from the law and
dominion of sin and death.

12. Thus sinners, being justified through faith in Jesus
Christ, even through faith in his blood, (Rom. iii. 24, 25.)
and sanctified by being born of the Spirit, (John iii. 5.
2 Thess. ii. 13.) they pass from death to life; from being
under wrath and the curse of the law, to be under grace,
Rom. v. 1,2. And so sin shall not have dominion over them,
according to chap. vi. 14.

13. Yet, whilst they continue in this life, sin remaining in
them will give them trouble, and they will be ever in such
danger of hurt by it, that their case will require constant fear,
watchfulness, and conflict. But whilst, by their groaning for
sin that dwelleth in them, and their conflict against it, they
prove that they are not its slaves, ncr under its dominion,
they have, at the same time, cause to thank God through
Jesus Christ, as for making them free from its dominion, so
for the sure prospect of being hereafter perfectly delivered
from it.

14. Christians having sorrow or serious regret for sin in
them, and being in earnest conflict with the law in their

p

■

342 * The Advantage, with regard to Holiness,

members, with the lusts, and irregular passions, and inordi-
nate affections of the flesh, their way of walking cannot (as
to their ordinary and habitual course) be after the flesh ; nor
can they be the slaves of sin ; but being made free from sin,
and become servants to God, (chap. vi. 22.) they walk after
the Spirit, have their fruit unto holiness, (which is the ne-
cessary and certain characteristic of the true Christian) and
the end everlasting life ; to which end and final issue holi-
ness is indispensably necessary — though, however necessary,
yet eternal life is not proper wages which men win by their
holiness, but is the gift of God through Jesus Christ.

SECT. II.— Showing the advantage, frith regard to holiness^ that ariseth
from persons leing under grace.

The advantage to sinners, with regard to holiness, is either
such as is, in some sort, extrinsic, arising from the blessed
privilege and benefits of a state of grace ; or such as ariseth
from genuine principles of holiness, and of holy practice in
the souls of those who are under grace, that cannot have place
or operate in any who are not so.

To explain the advantage, with regard to holiness and holy
practice that is in some sort extrinsic, arising from the privi-
lege of a state of grace,let the following matters be considered.

1. When men, by their guiltiness, were under the curse of
God's law, this withheld from them these blessings and fa-
vourable influences of heaven, by which their souls, being
made good soil, might become fruitful in holiness and good
works. As the earth, when the curse seized it, was to pro-
duce naturally thorns and thistles, so the hearts of persons
under the law and its curse, do produce no fruit truly good
and acceptable. Men being in the flesh, in an unjustified
state, and sin having the dominion over them, Satan hath
ruled in them, and by means of sin, and the lusts thereof,
he hath wrought effectually' in them. But it will not be so
with them who are under grace, in a state of favour with
God. These enemies may infest, but shall not have the
dominion over them. The virtue of Christ's death having
reached them in their being born of God, and in their gra-
tuitous justification, sin is condemned to lose its rule in them ;
the prince of this world is judged and cast out. If it is com-
fortable in relation to our outward enemies, it is especially
so with respect to our invisible and spiritual enemies, as
Rom. viii. 31. If God be for us, who can be against us ?
Christians being justified by faith and under grace, this,

Arising from Persons being under Graec. 343

as hath been hinted above, opens to them the treasures of
heavenly blessings. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, (now become their God and Father through him,)
blessing them (as Eph. i. 3.) with all spiritual blessings in
heavenly places in Christ. This must have much sanctify-
ing effect. Particularly and especially having been born of
the Spirit, justified, and brought into a state of grace, God
giveth them his Spirit to dwell in them, chap. viii. 9- and
they are sealed by the Spirit unto the day of redemption.
Formerly Satan wrought in them by means of the blindness
and errors of their mind, and by means of the various lusts
that prevail in their unrenewed hearts. But now the strong
man is despoiled of his armour, the curse of the law, and
sin dominant in them ; and he hath not the advantage over
them that he hath formerly had. Being renewed in the
spirits of their minds, and having the Holy Spirit dwelling
in them, he doth direct and rule their renewed faculties for
the advancement of their sanctification. His more special
reproofs and consolations, his humbling and quickening in-
fluences, he measures variously to them, with infinite wis-
dom, in the manner most proper for further subduing sin, and
promoting holiness. Dwelling in them, and being in them
as a well of water springing up unto everlasting life, he will
be in them an effectual principle of spiritual and heavenly
desires and pursuits, and a true source of holiness, — a prin-
ciple effectually directing and disposing them to wralk after
the Spirit.

2. By reason of the influence of the Spirit thus dwelling
in them who are under grace, and entitled to the comforts of
it, they will find their comfort much concerned in holy liv-
ing and practice. The comfort of Christians arises from ob-
jects which, however agreeable to right reason when revealed,
yet are above the reach of reason to discover, and are not
suitable to the principles and disposition natural to the hearts
of men ; such objects as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither hath entered into the heart of man. So the apostle
says concerning the doctrine of Christ and of grace, 1 Cor.
ii. 9' • As we need the Spirit that is of God, ver. 12. that
we may know the things that are freely given us of God ;
so to maintain usually, and with advantage, the comfort of
our heart on such grounds, requires the ordinary and favour-
able influence of the same Spirit of grace. But, as sin in-
dulged and entertained in the heart, or having course in men's
speech and behaviour, grieveth the Holy Spirit, (as the apostle

344 The Advantage } with regard to Holiness,

speaks, Eph. iv. SO.) the consequence will be, that he shall
withhold his favourable influence, and leave them to that
sense of condemnation that is natural to the hearts of the
guilty, and- to the darkness of mind and inward frame that
naturally flows from it. In this case the reasoning of their
own minds, however just, will have but very weak influence
or effect for recovering their peace, and for enabling them
to overcome the temptations which the enemy of their peace
and comfort will in such cases be ever ready to suggest.
Now, as the peace and comfort of his mind from grace is a
very important interest of every one who is under grace,
the connexion between holiness and comfort by the influence
of the Holy Spirit, which I have been representing, is a con-
stant and most cogent reason to every such person, to be
watchful against sin, and earnestly studious of holiness.

3. Holiness is greatly promoted by the advantage which
persons under grace have in worship. Divine worship, in-
ward and outward, public and private, makes of itself a con-
siderable branch of holy practice ; and when it is followed
out with good conscience, sincerity, and success, hath much
good effect in all the course of holy practice and good works.
One under grace approaches God in worship with great ad-
vantage. I observe this connexion in the apostle's words,
Heb. ix. 14. where he represents the blood of Christ as purg-
ing the conscience from dead works, to serve (xxt^svuv) the
living God. When the conscience unpurged lieth under guilt
and condemnation, one is greatly at a loss in serving and
worshipping God. But when one is justified, brought under
grace, and hath his conscience purged from guilt and con-
demnation, he may approach and worship God with confi-
dence and comfort. Godly persons under the Old Testa-
ment, however truly under grace, had not this benefit in so
great a degree as now under the New Testament, when grace
is more fully displayed, and the Spirit given in greater ordi-
nary measure. Now all believers are priests, with respect
to the privilege of near approach unto God. Yea, (which
exhibits the matter in a still stronger light,) whereas ancient-
ly the high priest only went into the most holy place, in
near approach to God's throne, the mercy- seat; now all be-
lievers have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood
of Jesus, through the vail that was rent, — that is to say,
his flesh, and to come up as to God's very throne of grace.
Believers have (according to Eph. iii. 12.) boldness, or liberty
(in opposition to bondage of spirit) and access with confidence,

Arising from Persons being under Grace. 34.r>

by the faith of him. This makes the worship of God comfort-
able. When the Spirit helpeth our infirmity in such holy
exercise, making intercession for us, according to the will of
God, and likewise in return intimates, in due time and mea-
sure, the love, mercy, and favour of God to the heart, this
further engages the heart to God, which is of itself the fur-
ther sanctifying of it, and gives great alacrity and vigour
in walking with God, and in all good works. When in
worship God gives inwardly the sense of his favour, and the
light of his countenance, or when he gives in outward pro-
vidence proofs of his faithfulness, mercy, and care, in con-
sequence of eai-nest recourse to him, and as in answer to
prayer, it powerfully disposes the heart to say, as Psal.
cxvi. 1, 2. / love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice,
and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto
me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. And
ver. 9* I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
And ver. 12. What shall I render unto the Lord ? Such is
the good consequence of comfortable and successful recourse
to God in worship. It is easy to understand what happy
effect this sort of intercourse with God must have in all holy
practice, and in walking with God. Thus they who are
under grace have the strongest engagements, and the greatest
excitements to holy living, by the advantage which they
comfortably have, in their intercourse with God in worship,
beyond what men can have who are under the law and its
condemnation.

4. The grace they are under doth especially give efficacy
to the doctrine of the word of the gospel, to every part of
the word of God, and to all divine institutions, as the
chief ordinary means of promoting holiness. The prayer of
the great Intercessor, that God might sanctify them through
his truth, will have effect upon all his true disciples. The
light of God's word doth mark out to them, in every part,
the way in which they ought to walk ; and giveth them in-
struction in righteousness. God's Spirit bringeth his holy
commandments and righteous judgments into their renewed
hearts, in such a manner as makes them sweeter to them
than honey — than the honey-comb. By God's word they re-
ceive seasonable and apposite correction and reproof, agree-
ably seasoned with the love of their best friend. If the
threatenings of it are made useful for curbing the rebellious-
ness and wickedness of the flesh, the promises and comforts
of it are especially made useful for strengthening and quick-

M,

346 The Advantage, with regard to Holifiess,

ening the principles of grace, and for making them active
in all fruits of holiness. The good hope through grace
which God's word holds forth before them, is made effectual
for raising them above the world, and making them victo-
rious over the terrifying and alluring temptations of it, and
for encouraging them to be stedfast and immovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord. The securities of God's
promises give vigour to their hearts in walking with God,
and in maintaining the Christian warfare against sin in-
wardly, and outwardly also ; even if there should be occa-
sion to resist unto blood, striving against sin. If we observe
how it happens as to them who are yet in an unconverted
state, and under the curse, whilst they are under the same
dropping of the word of God, usually with little effect ; we
have occasion to say, it is happy, with a view to the sancti-
fying effect of the truth, for one to be under grace, as to his
real state before God.

5. The grace which God's people, freely justified, are
under, will direct every thing in an effectual tendency to their
sanctification and furtherance in holiness. It will give that
direction to all providential dispensations. If these be fa-
vourable, it will be for encouraging and strengthening them
in the Lord's ways. For sometimes they are encouraged to
serve the Lord their God with joyfulness and gladness of
heart, in the abundance of all things.1 If they have the
cross to bear, that will tend to make the fruits of the cross of
Christ the more precious to them ; to take off their hearts
from the world ; to preserve them from the prevailing evils
of it ; and for that end, to co-operate with divine grace to
mortify their members that are upon the earth ; to cause the
consolations of grace have the better relish in their hearts ;
to humble them, and keep them in the greater dependence
on the Lord and on his grace.

Nor are strokes and crosses dispensed to them indiscri-
minately. The Lord corrects them in judgment, not in
mere anger.2 In measure when it shooteth forth, doth
he debate with it ; he stayeth his rough wind in the day
of his east wind.3 Judgments are not proportioned to
the demerits of those who are under grace, but are suited
to their strength, and the good purposes to be accomplished
by them. God is faithful, and will not suffer that the ob-
jects of his grace and special favour be tempted above that

1 Deut. xxviii. 47. — 2 Jen x. 24. — 3 Is. xxvii. 8.

Arising from Persons being under Grace. Ml

they are able.1 If they are chastened, it is in order to
separate them from their sins. The declared intention of
all God's chastisements is the profit of his children, that
thereby they may be made partakers of his holiness/2
If there is special danger from a particular lust of the flesh,
(for instance, from pride, or being exalted above measure, )
the Lord knoweth how to give some special trial or thorn
in the flesh, to prevent its operation and effect. If the
flesh breaks forth in evil works, he will visit their transgres-
sions with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.5
When the Lord sees that, through their weakness and the
greatness of their distress and trouble, they are in danger to
fail in their faith, or in their general integrity, he will re-
lieve them by a seasonable interposition of his providence. —
He repenteth himself for his servants, when he seeth that
their power is gone.* If, through their unwatchfulness,
the flesh and the devil prevail against them, and they fall
into grievous sins, (the leaving them to which is the most
fearful of all providential dispensations) yet divine grace,
wisdom, and omnipotence, will make even this to contribute,
as to making them more humble, so to the making them
more circumspect and holy in all their ways ; as we have
cause to think concerning David and divers other saints.
What wonder of grace this ! Such is the direction which
the grace they are under gives to every sort of providences
respecting God's people, causing all things co-operate with
grace for good to them, sanctifying all dispensations to them,
to be the means of sanctifying them. How different the
case of the men of the world, who, though under an external
dispensation of grace, yet are not under grace as to the real
state of their souls !

6. The habitual view and impression of the great day of
the Lord must give great excitement to watchfulness against
sin and temptation, to holiness and fruitfulness in good
works. But to them who are under condemnation, the
thoughts of that day bring so great terror, as tends to turn
away their mind from the view of it ; or, if they cannot do
so, to give them such alarm and confusion, as bring distress
and perplexity upon them, with so much weakness as is pre-
judicial to holiness. But a soul truly converted to God,
justified and under grace, has cause to think of that day
with great comfort ; looking for the grace that is to be

1 I Cor. x. 13 — * Heb. xii. 10 — 3 Psal. lxxxix. 32. — 4 Deut. xxxii. 36.

348 The Advantage, with regard to Holiness,

brought unto him ac the revelation of Jesus Christ/
which will bring him complete deliverance from sin, re-
demption from misery and death, with the consummation
of holiness and happiness. Fie may with confidence wait
for the Son of God from heaven, whom God raised from
the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to
come.2 Such is the advantage of being under grace,
whereby a Christian, delivered from the wrath to come,
may fix his mind on that day with peace and comfort ; ex-
cited by the hope he hath in Christ Jesus against that day,
to purify himself as he is pure ;3 while there remain to be
considered, consistently with the consolations of grace, those
awful circumstances of the coming of the Lord, that may,
though without confusion or amazement, awaken in the
Christian the utmost concern, to be found of him in peace,
without spot and blameless.4

7. As the people of God are the purchase of Christ's
blood, so when his blood is actually applied to them, and
they are justified and brought under grace, they are from
thenceforth his most special charge, committed to himself to
rule and preserve them, and complete their salvation. He
is sufficient for the charge, and faithful in the execution of
it. He doth fulfil the will of his Father, of which he saith,
John vi. 39. This is the will of him that sent me, that of all
which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again at the last day. With a view to this important
charge of its happy objects, which divine grace commits to
the Redeemer, all things are delivered to him of his Father,
who hath given him power over all flesh, that he should
give eternal life to as many as he hath given him.5 All
power is given him in heaven and in earth ;6 and it is
given him to be Head over all things to the Church.7 The
Captain of our salvation, infinitely powerful in himself, and
mighty to save, being furnished with such extensive power
in his mediatory character for bringing many sons unto glory,
the great work he hath to do upon them, upon his church,
is, that he may sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of
water by the word, that he may present it to himself a glorious
church !s It is when all his church shall be gathered in,
and fully sanctified, that he shall bring them home to God,
(his and their Father) to be perfectly happy in the immedi-
ate fruition of him— when God himself shall be to his people

1 1 Pet. i. 13 2 1 Thess. i. 10 5 1 John iii. 3 4 2 Pet. ii. 14

* John xvii. 2 6 Matth. xxviii. 18 1 Eph. i. 22 8 Eph. v. 26, 27,

Arising from Persons being under Grace. 349

eternally all in all. x Thus the sanctification of believers
is insured by their being given in charge, for that purpose,
to him who died for them, and rose again.

He is the great Shepherd of the sheep, who saith, (John
x. 28.) They shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them
out of my hand. Is this merely, that the enemy cannot pluck
them by force out of the hands of Christ or of his Father ?
Surely this is not the way in which the enemy chiefly at-
tempts to work against Omnipotence. ' But this may be
< done' (saith a learned writer, Dr W.) ' by deceit and allure-
' ments, through the negligence of men who have the free-
' dom of their wills ; for such men, who, by the allurements
1 of the world, the'flesh, and the devil, thus cease to obey
1 Christ's laws, are not snatched out of Christ's hands, but
f choose to go from him/ But if souls may, in this way, be
brought away from Christ, and from his ways, to perdition,
(as this is the way in which the enemy doth ever attempt it,
even by allurements or terrors, or some means or other of de-
ceiving, to gain their will) is not this snatching them out of
Christ's hands ? And if, through the cunning of the enemy,
and their wandering disposition, the sheep are brought aside
from their pasture and from the right way, and finally pe-
rish, alas ! what a small matter doth the care of the great
Shepherd amount to ? If one might perish by these means,
and by the choice of their own will, however influenced,
might not all ? and so this great Shepherd have no flock to
bring home to the fold in the end of the day ; and Christ,
having died for his church, that he might sanctify it, and
present it a glorious church, in the end have no church to
present ? Can we not hold what is just concerning the liber-
ty of human will, without holding concerning it what would
make it possible that the Son of God should have no work
to do at his glorious second coming, but to execute eternal
vengeance upon them all whom, when he came first, he re-
deemed with his blood ? Surely the divine council of grace,
and the death of the Son of God, have been contrived by
infinite wisdom with greater certainty of effect.

8. It appears, then, that the Lord's people have very great
advantage with regard to sanctification and the preserving
them in holiness, by their being under grace. But, further,
this is secured by a sure covenant. The grace they are un-
der is the grace of the new covenant. If we consider, that
man, in his first and perfect state, did fall from God through
1 1 Cor. xv. 28.
p5

3.;0 The Advantage, with regard to Holiness,

the temptation of the enemy, and his abuse of the freedom of
his own will — if we consider what place and strength sin
retains now in the hearts of the best whilst in this life, how
weak they are, and what innumerable snares and temptations
they are surrounded with — we may venture to say, that it
were not becoming the wisdom of God to make a new display
of his grace to such creatures, in a new covenant, without
ordering it so as would secure the effect of grace. It be-
comes us, indeed, to reason modestly concerning the wisdom
of God, and what becometh it. But with regard to the
present subject, we may thus reason the more confidently, that
his word hath declared his new and second covenant to be
everlasting, wrell ordered, and sure.

Here is the sum of it, as the Lord hath given it forth, Jer.
xxxii. 40. / will make an everlasting covenant with them, that
I will not turn away from them (Heb. from after them) to do
them good ; but I will put my fear i?i their hearts, that they
shall not depart from me. Here, besides the general decla-
ration, that the covenant will be everlasting, the Lord doth
more particularly describe how it shall become so. Upon
the one hand, he promises that he will not turn away from
after them to do them good. Thus he expresses and pro-
mises his constant care of them. As they are, whilst in this
life, but as children learning to walk, and still in danger of
stumbling, he will set them before him — he will follow after
them, to observe them, to care for them. Thus the Psalm-
ist, Psalm xli. 12. : As for me, saith he, thou upholdest me in
mine integrity, and adds for comfortable explaining this, Thou
sett est me before thy face for ever. As if he had said, I am
ever before thy face — under thine eye, to be seasonably
corrected and helped by thee ; and thus it is that thou up-
holdest me in mine integrity. Thus also, Gen. xvii. 1. The
Lord said unto Abram, I am the Almighty God ; walk before
me, and be thou perfect. Here there is a hint to him of
being careful to be perfect, or upright and sincere, as walking
before an all-seeing God. Yet God's omniscience is only
implied, not expressed. The thing expressed is God's being
almighty ; and the encouragement meant we may conceive
thus: When I have engaged thee to walk in my way, have
good courage ; consider thyself as a child walking before,
and under the eye of a kind father ; consider me as ever after
thee, to observe and care for thee, to assist, support, and pro-
tect thee. Thus the Lord promises (Jer. xxxii. 40.) that
he will not turn from after his people, to do them good.

Arising from Persons being under Grace. 361

The only thing, then, that can be imagined to deprive them
of the benefit of this divine care and grace, is, that they
should depart from the Lord, and from his ways, and so
refuse his care, resist it, and withdraw themselves from it.
But this is provided against by the promise, 1 will put my
fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from ?ne. If the
tenor of the covenant were thus : I will not cease to do them
good, on condition that they cleave to me, obey me, and not
depart from me ; if, I say, the covenant amounted to no more
than this, it would be a law-covenant, even if there should be
some abatement in the condition, in condescension to human
infirmity. Whereas the covenant of grace is a covenant of
promise, that gives security, by mere grace, on all hands,
with regard to the sanctification of God's people, and their
preservation in a state and course of holiness, to their final
salvation. The right inheritence is not by the law, or by
works. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is
made void, and the promise made of none effect. Therefore
it is of faith, that it might be by grace, to the end the pro-
mise might be sure to all the seed, Rom. iv. 14, 16.

But is it not true, if the Christian should wholly and finally
depart from God, that this would deprive him of all the be-
nefit of grace ? I answer, This hypothetic proposition is of
undoubted truth ; yea, the truth of it is implied and pre-
supposed in the promise itself, which is likewise of certain
and infallible truth, — / w ill put my fear in their hearts, that
they shall not depart from me.

But how can it be consistent with that freedom of will that
is essential to moral agency, that the sanctification and per-
severance in holiness of God's people should be thus pre-
viously secured by grace, and by the promise ?

Answ. It is acknowledged that none can be called moral
agents who do not act with freedom of will ; yet there are
moral agents who are incapable of doing what is evil, and
at the same time, do not act with the less freedom of will ;
yea, they enjoy the liberty of the will in its perfection. Thsre
are likewise moral agents who cannot do what is truly mo-
rally good, yet act with free will. This is acknowledged by
the greatest patrons of the pretensions of free will. So, the
general proposition, that the power alike to do good or evil
is essential to the freedom of the will, and is necessary to
moral agency, is deserted, I see, by the most able and learn-
ed of them. The saints in a state of glory will, by the grace
that brought them to that state, be preserved in holiness

352 The Advantage, with regard to Holiness,

eternally, and that very consistently with the freedom of
their will. Shall it be said concerning the saints on earth,
amidst their own imperfections, and the snares that abound
in the world, that it is indeed beyond the reach of infinite
wisdom and grace to preserve them in holiness, to advance
and perfect them therein, without destroying the freedom of
their will ? It certainly were very unreasonable to say so.
As it is certainly true, that men, as all other moral agents,
do act with free will, so we have seen that God's covenant
of grace and promise hath secured the sanctification and per-
severance of those who are under grace. The word of God
abounds with promises to that purpose. If any say that
God cannot accomplish with certainty these purposes of his
grace and providence, that are to be brought about by means
of moral agents endowed with free will, without destroying
the freedom of their will, they are far from being well found-
ed in philosophy or sound reason, and speak in extreme
opposition to the word of God, yea, to the common notions
of mankind, who pray to God to bring about events that
must, by the nature of things, be brought about by the free
will of rational agents, without ever thinking that he is to
destroy or suspend the liberty of their will.

We have been considering the advantage, in some sort ex-
trinsic, respecting holiness and freedom from the dominion
of sin, even that which ariseth from a state of grace, from
the believer's being under grace, the object of special divine
favour. Let us now consider the advantage of an intrinsic
sort, which the true Christian hath by being under grace, as
to the true and necessary inward principles of genuine holi-
ness, which cannot take place or have effect in any soul
that is under the law and its curse, under guilt and con-
demnation.

It is of essential consequence with regard to holiness, that
a man have right inward principles in all his actions. A
man's external actions and behaviour may be good, and yet
have nothing of true holiness, if all doth not proceed from
right inward principles. Yea, a man doing much good out-
wardly, from evil principles, and to a wrong end, his course
upon the whole may be quite diabolical and wicked. A
man's external practice when it is good, makes but one side,
the outside of practice. From rational moral agents, God,
who is a Spirit, requires the worship and service of the heart
and spirit ; and their practice is to be judged of by Him who
gearcheth the reins and heart, (Jer. xvii. 10. Rev. ii. 23.)

Arising from Persons being under Grace. 353

according to the inward disposition and principles that in-
fluence it. If one should, from ambitious views, as Absa-
lom, strive to reach by iniquity a state of life in which he
might gratify every lust, and after obtaining it, recommend
himself to men by all acts of kindness and beneficence, by
mercy and liberality to the poor, by avoiding every immo-
rality, yea, and by showing great regard to religion and de-
votion ; should this man's practice be denominated holiness ?
No, surely ; all his apparent goodness is from sinful lusts do-
minant in him. Men may, yea ought, to judge favourably
of one, when his speech and behaviour express only what is
good ; but this is still with a reserve to the judgment of the
heart-searching supreme Judge, who only can with absolute
certainty judge of a man's holiness. It is therefore of es-
sential consequence to advert to the inward principles of prac-
tice and behaviour ; and if even the good outward behaviour
of a person yet under the law and its condemnation, can-
not proceed from right and holy inward principles ; if these
can only have place and effect in the heart of one under
grace, it proves the advantage with respect to holiness, of
being under grace ; yea, that sin will have dominion, and
there cannot be true holy practice with any who is not in a
state of grace.

We learn from the word of God, that there is no good or
acceptable work without faith and love. The doctrine con-
cerning the first of these is precise and clear, Heb. xi. 6.
Without faith it is impossible to please God. The inspired
writer explains this, and gives the reason thus : For he that
cometh to God, mast believe that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. Dr Whitby says, in his annotation,
that this is the heathen's creed — (I thought there could be
no creed without revelation) ; and thereafter he says : ' God
' must either have laid upon them no obligation to please
' him, or required what he knew to be impossible, or given
r them sufficient means to know this/ — viz. that he is a
rewarder to sinful men who seek him, and are virtuous.
This is rare divinity. One thing appears in it at first sight,
viz. that the gospel revelation was not necessary to lead
men to a state of acceptance with God, and to happiness ;
natural religion, influenced by the heathen's creed, being
sufficient for that purpose. As many who write well in de-
fence of the truth of the Christian revelation, do yield this
point, I apprehend their doing so hath a greater tendency

854* The Advantage, with regard to Holi?iess,

to make many infidels easy in their mind than their ingenious
defences of revelation have to bring such over to the faith.
I observe the speculations of divers heathen philosophers
adduced by Dr W. concerning the regard the gods (as they
spoke, according to their creed) have for good men, and their
care of such. It was indeed easy for the self-flattering hearts
of men, who esteemed their own goodness and virtue, to en-
tertain such favourable notions, overlooking their own sin-
fulness, and the charge which the holy and righteous Sove-
reign of the world had against them on that account. But
certainly the learned writer could not show, from all the
heathen writers he was acquainted with, that they knew any
true and sufficient grounds on which they could believe that
God would be a rewarder to sinful men. They could, at
best, have but doubtful unfounded speculations concerning
it — could not possibly have the faith of it, according to the
description of faith there, ver. 1 .

The Scripture shows us the only true and solid ground on
which sinful men can have faith in God, 1 Pet. i. 21. Who by
him (Christ) do believe in God that raised him up from the
dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be
in God. The atonement made for men's sins by Christ's
sufferings and death, and God's testifying his acceptance
thereof by raising him from the dead, together with the tes-
timony of the word of God concerning divine grace through
Christ, makes the only proper and solid ground upon which
sinful men can have faith in God, or believe him to be to
them a rewarder. Now it is by this sincere faith in Christ,
and in God through Christ, that sinners do pass from death
to life, and, being justified, come under grace ; nor can it be
an habitual principle of practice, in any who are not so, as
to their real state before God. So, whatever appearance of
virtue or goodness they may have, they who are in the flesh,
(and so are yet under the law) cannot please God, Rom.
viii. 8. nor have for a principle of action and service that faith,
without which it is impossible to please God.

The other principle essential to true holiness, to acceptable
obedience, and good works, is love. This, according to the
apostle, Rom. xiii. 8. is the fulfilling of the lam ; and if it is
so with respect to the second table, which he hath there par-
ticularly in his view, it is so as to the first, according to
Matth. xxii. 36, 37. The great commandment in the law is,
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. This is indeed the sum
of the whole law, and a necessary principle of obedience to it

Arising from Persons being under Grace. 355

in every part. But how cloth this love enter, and reside in
the heart of man, to whom it certainly is not natural ? The
apostle accounts for this, 1 John iv. 10. Herein is love, not
that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to
be the propitiation for our sins. Faith representing, with
satisfying conviction, to the heart of an awakened, serious,
and humbled sinner, this most wonderful and endearing love
of God, testified in redeeming us from death and wrath by
the death of his Son, engages the heart to him, to love, and
to serve him. When the love of God, thus manifested in
Christ Jesus, touches the heart with comfortable effect, it
doth, as the flame of one candle touching another, kindle the
love of God in the heart. But then, if this love, that is es-
sential to holiness, enters into and arises in the heart only
by means of that faith by which one comes under grace, it
is plain it can be a principle of practice only in the hearts of
such as are under grace. It is faith that worketh by love,
Gal. v. 6.

The true inward progress and connexion of things re-
specting the principles of holy practice and obedience, we find
1 Tim. i. 5. Now the end of the commandment is charity, out
of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith un-
feigned. It is worth while to consider this verse somewhat
closely.

As to the first clause, The end of the commandment ; this,
saith Dr. W.'s annotation, some refer to the law. Himself
rather thinks it here refers to the gospel ; and to this pur-
pose observes, that the Greek word here, and the two other
words he mentions, are always, in the epistles, used of the
gospel. But as these three words have not in the use of
i language the same meaning, so as to the word in this text
(7rcc^xyyiX(u,) I see not in my lexicon any sense of it that
would favour that interpretation. As to the only two texts
he mentions, (1 Thess. iv. 2. and here, ver. 18.) the word is
justly rendered as we translate ; nor is there any tiling in
the scope that requires rendering otherwise than by com-
mandment and charge. It is plain that the apostle hath in
his eye some who, as ver 7. desired to be teachers of the law ;
against whom he reasons concerning the law in the following
verses. The law, or commandment, is the subject in this
place. As he charges these men with ignorance, ver. 7- not
understanding (so the Doctor's paraphrase) the scope or true
meaning of the law ; here he, ver. 5. goes on to speak con-
cerning the law, or commandment, by representing, in oppo-

356 The Advantage, with regard to Holiness,

sition to them, the true scope and end of the law in its hoi]
commandment. But though the rendering and sense is t<
be retained as we have it, (the end of the commandment) ye*
it is certain this end of the commandment cannot be attainec
by sinful men, as to the conformity it requires, but by mean.'
of the gospel, and the grace which it exhibits ; and th*
apostle gives such a view of the subject here as makes this
clear, as we shall see.

The end of the commandment is charity. — This word in
our language hath undergone a considerable change of mean-
ing in the use of speech. The Greek word is no other than
the common word for love ; as it hath been observed, that
love is the fulfilling of the law. The apostle shows here how
this love is connected in the heart, and mentions a series of
causes by which the true love, whereby the end of the com-
mandment is obtained in the practice of men, is produced.

1. It is love out of a pure heart. Without giving any
prolix explication of this, we may learn what a pure heart
means, from James iv. 8. Purify your hearts, ye double-
minded. The pure heart here is the same with a true heart,
Heb. x. 22. and means its sincerity. So love out of a pure
heart is the same as out of a sincere heart ; and the apos-
tle's expression means the sincerity of love.

2. This sincerity of love comes from a good conscience.
A man's conscience may be called good, in general, when
it hath in it a true light to direct a man's way and be-
haviour, with such impression of the authority of God, the
great Lawgiver, as powerfully and effectually enforces con-
formity and obedience to its dictates. In short, it is a good
conscience that doth its office in the proper manner. But
the apostle's special meaning of a good conscience here, is,
I think, to be understood as opposed to an evil conscience,
mentioned Heb. x. 22. Having your hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience. There is evidently in these words an
allusion to the ancient typical sprinkling of the blood by
which atonement was made, and persons were made free
from the charge of guiltiness and defilement, and from the
consequences of it. An evil conscience is a conscience
charging guilt, a condemning conscience, that gives the sad
impression of wrath and judgment for sin.

Now, it is (Heb. ix. 14.) the blood of Christ that purgeth
the conscience, so as that (Heb. x. 2.) there shall be no
more conscience of sins ; the conscience once purged, retain-
ing no longer a charge of guiltiness, and of judgment for it

Arising from Persons being under Grace. 357

So there are two ways of having a good conscience ; one 19,
by not having transgressed ; the other is, by having the
guilt taken away by the application of that blood which
taketh away the sin of the world.

By means of a conscience condemning, and terrifying with
the apprehension of wrath and judgment, God's enemies
may (as Psal. lxvi. 3.) submit themselves unto him, (or, ac-
cording to our margin, yield feigned obedience : Heb. lie
unto him.) But whilst the conscience retains the charge of
guilt, condemnation, and wrath, there cannot be purity, or
sincerity of heart toward God, or sincerity of the love of
God. Human nature is so formed, that it cannot love any
object that is adverse and terrible to it. There is good
sense in a passage of Simplicius, a heathen writer, as Dr
W. on Heb. xi. 6. gives it thus : ' We cannot love, honour,
' and worship the Deity, whatsoever reasons may be alleged
€ for so doing, if we conceive him hurtful, and not profit-
* able to us, because every living creature flies wThat is
1 hurtful, and the causes of it ; and affects and follows what
4 is profitable/ So that philosopher. (As to the purpose
for which Dr W. adduces this passage, on Heb. xi. 6'., upon
what good grounds could such a man assure himself that
the holy and righteous Ruler and Judge would be favour-
able to the guilty, or that such could have profit by him,
with regard to their spiritual, everlasting state ; if they had
I any firm belief of an everlasting state, which many of the
most eminent heathen philosophers had not? Here was an
: essential defect in the religion of the heathen. This by the
by. Now to our present purpose.)

It is when the conscience is relieved from the sense of
condemnation and wrath, and from the sad misgivings
which haunt them who do most labour to be easy in that
condition ; I say, when it is relieved from these impressions
and apprehensions, and that by means so wonderfully en-
dearing as the redeeming love of God and of our Lord
Jesus Christ ; it is then that the heart kindles in love, and
comes, with purity and sincerity of heart, to be wrell affected
to God, and to his service. Then God's people come to
serve him (Luke i. 74, 7^-) in holiness and righteousness,
without fear; then the Christian hath boldness and access
with confidence ; the conscience being purged from dead
works, he serves God comfortably. The fear arising from
an evil conscience hath torment, and excludes love. But
;his fear being removed by the heart's being sprinkled from

358 The Advantage, with regard to Holiness,

an evil conscience, and love entering, it (1 John iv. 18.)
casteth out fear ; for there is no fear in love. If, through
the Christian's neglect and unwatchfulness, fear shall return
with some bondage and torment, love recovering itself,
with the proper force, casts it out. The Christian, sensible
of being under Divine grace and favour, love hath free
course and prevalence in his heart, and alloweth him not to
entertain harsh, or unfavourable, or discouraging thoughts
of God. So wisdom's ways become to the Christian ways of
pleasantness ; he walks cheerfully in them, and is encouraged
to say, If God be for us, who can be against us ? — There is,

3. Unfeigned faith. This is at the top of the series in
this text ; and is in the Christian the proper source of those
other principles of holy practice here mentioned. Concern-
ing it these general things are to be considered :

1. It is unfeigned. Not merely as opposed to a false and
lying profession, when there is not within a faith of any
sort. It is a sincere, in opposition to an insincere faith :
which, however, may be real in its kind. Awttojc^tcs (if
the use of speech with us would admit it) might be render-
ed precisely, unhypocrite ; a faith of such kind as hypo-
crites never have. The apostle John says, 1 epist. v. I'.
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God.
This faith is not a mere assent of the mind to the truth of
the proposition, that Jesus is the Christ; for such faith the
devils have : it is such a faith as is an evidence that one
is born of God, as this text says. So also, John i. they
who believe in Christ (ver. 12.) are (ver. 13.) born of God.
When Philip preached Christ at Samaria, it is said, Acts
viii. 13. that Simon (the sorcerer) himself also believed. It
is not said merely, that he professed to believe, which one
might do who had inwardly no faith at all, — The Scripture
is not to be contradicted, that says expressly, he believed:
Yet the man remaining (ver. 23.) in the gall of bitterness
and in the bond of iniquity, surely he was not born of God,
nor had the faith that is the fruit and consequence of being
so. We see, 2 Thess. ii. 13. that sanctifcation of the Spirit
and belief of the truth are connected.

It is said, John ii. 23, 24, that many believed in his name,
but Jesus did not commit himself unto them. Can it be said,
that these were born of God, or had that faith that comes by
being born of God ? We are told (John vi. 80, 6l.) that
many of Christ's disciples murmured and were offended at his
doctrine ; and (ver. 64.) Christ said to them, There are some

Arising from Persons being under Grace. 359

of you that believe not; for (so the evangelist adds) Jesus
knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and
who should betray him. Here, upon the one hand, these men
were disciples, which they could not be without some sort of
faith ; yet, on the other hand, they believed not — Christ told
them so — they had not the unhypocritic, the unfeigned faith,
which they have who are born of God.

By what hath been said, we may be satisfied that the opi-
nion is far from being well founded which hath been held
by some learned men, agreeably to their scheme and system,
viz. that the faith of hypocrites and that of sincere Christians
are, in themselves, of the same nature and kind.

2. This unfeigned faith is such as hath for its natural and
proper consequence a good conscience, with love in purity
and sincerity of heart. We have here occasion to observe
the sentiments expressed by Dr Taylor in his paraphrase of
Rom. viii. 1. and which he gives as the meaning of the bless-
ed apostle in that place : c Now — we have the highest assur-
' ance that those are quite discharged from the penalty of
1 the law, and disengaged from the servitude of sin, who
c embrace the faith of the gospel, if so be they make that
c faith a principle of obedience, and do not choose to live in
f wickedness, according to the investigation of fleshly appe-
' tite, but in truth and holiness/ &c.

I had occasion to make observation on this passage for-
merly : what I now observe is, that it is therein implied,
that a man may have that faith by which he comes to be in
Christ, (which is the expression of the text, and which is the
effect of being born of God) and yet continue under the ser-
vitude of sin, and choose to live in wickedness. As to this
of choosing, it is true, that if a man live in the practice of
wickedness, or of holiness, he doth the one or the other by
his free choice ; though, in the last mentioned sort of prac-
tice, there is a superior hand, to which the right choice is
especially owing. It is also true, that a Christian should
have at heart to advance, as in faith, with regard to light
and establishment, so in holiness, obedience, and all good
works ; and that Christians do too often fall short in these,
yea, deviate too often from purity and holiness. But to say,
that a man may have true faith, by which he comes to be
indeed in Christ, and unto real union with him, as that ex-
pression imports ; and that holiness and obedience, in the
man's habitual and ordinary practice only comes by an un-
certain and merely arbitrary choice and determination of his

360 The Advantage, with regard to Hoimess,

will, which might determine him to live in wickedness, not-
withstanding his faith; is in extreme opposition to the scrip-
ture, yea, to the nature of things, if we consider the human
faculties, and the natural order of their operation.

We have seen, that (2 Thess. ii. 13.) faith is connected
with the sanctification of the Spirit. To say that a man,
having the faith that comes by the sanctification of the Spirit,
may choose to live in wickedness, is evidently absurd.

As it is said (1 John v. 1.) that he who believelh is born of
God, so it is said (1 John iii. 9-) Whosoever is born of God
doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he
cannot sin, because he is horn of God. Dr T. says (Key, sect.
274.) that it is very common in the sacred writings to speak
of that as done, which only ought to be done, and which, in
fact, may possibly never be done. To this purpose he adduces
several texts, in not one of which there is reason for that
way of interpreting; and in some of them there appears what
clearly forbids it. However, according to this observation
of his, he supplies in such texts, or substitutes in place of the
scripture words, ought to he, or some such expression. Thus,
(Matth. v. 13.) Ye are (ought to be) the salt of the earth.
Thus he makes a way for himself to contradict very express
declarations of Scripture. Among other texts, he mentions
this, (1 John iii. 9.) without quoting the words. But, ac-
cording to his rule, the first clause is to be understood thus :
Whosoever is born of God doth not (ought not to) commit sin.
But what reason to mention being born of God to that pur-
pose, when it might be said of any man, whether born of God
or not, that he ought not to commit sin? What then would
the writer say of the following clause : He cannot sin be-
cause he is horn of God ? It seems he did not extend his
view to that clause. Concerning the interpretation of the
first clause just mentioned, Dr W. says, e Vain is that sense
f which some put upon these words, viz. He that is born of
1 God, non debet peccare, ought not to sin, or that it is ab-
' surd for him to sin ; for the apostle speaks not of what he
' ought not to do, but of what he doth not/

The interpretation of Dr Hammond on the place, note c,
comes to this : ' The affirming here, of the regenerate pious
1 convert, that he cannot sin, is not the affirming that he
1 cannot cease to be what he is — but that remaining thus, a
1 pious follower, imitator, and so a child of God, he cannot
1 yield deliberately to any kind of sin/ Dr W. on the
place, says. ' False seems to be the sense which Origen, &c.

Arising from Persons being under Grace. 36 1

1 put upon the words, that he that is bom of God, sinneth not,
i quamdiu renatus est, whilst he is born of God, because he
1 ceaseth to be a child of God when he sins/ Indeed, ac-
cording to Origen's and Dr Hammond's interpretation, these
two contradictory propositions are true at once : He that is
born of God cannot sin ; and, He that is born of God, can
sin : even understanding sinning in the same sense in both
propositions.

It is true, Dr W. is not quite consistent with himself as
to this text, in different parts of his writings. His long an-
notation on this text seems to be pretty harmless, with re-
spect to the doctrine of the reformed churches concerning the
perseverance of the saints, and the argument taken from this
text to that purpose. But in his book on the five Arminian
points, (ed. 1710.) he says, p. 468. ' The interpretation
< which many of the ancient fathers give us of these words,
c are a demonstration that they believed not the doctrine of
' the saint's perseverance, for they expound the words thus :
1 He that is born of God sinneth not, neither can sin, quam-
9 diu renatus est, whilst he is born of God, because he ceas-
1 eth to be a child of God when he sins ; and this (saith the
1 Doctor) must necessarily be the import of the words, if you
1 interpret them of living in an habit or any course of sin/
So indeed they must be understood; for as to acts, even
gross acts of sin, the Doctor had with good reason, rejected
the interpreting of them by these. So the interpretation
which he called false, when he wrote his annotations, he con-
sidered as the necessary and true interpretation when he wrote
on controversy.

But the text says clearly and expressly, that he who is born
of God hath his seed remaining in him, (which is inconsist-
ent with his ceasing to be born of God) ; and he cannot sin,
because he is bom of God ; which shows clearly, that by
being born of God, and having his seed remaining in him,
he hath a sure preservative against sinning, or falling into a
course of sinning. This sufficiently proves against Dr T.
that a man having true faith, that is, the fruit and evidence
of being born of God, cannot be, or choose to be, in servitude
to sin, or to live in wickedness.

The same thing appears from its being said, Acts xv. 9.
that God put no difference between believing Jews and the
Gentiles there mentioned, purifying their hearts by faith.
But though God conveyed to them the light of faith, how
could it be said, that he purified their hearts by faith, if

362 The Advantage, with regard to Holiness,

faith had not efficacy by its proper influence in the heart to
purify it ; but that a man, notwithstanding his faith, may
still choose to live in wickedness ?

It is said, Gal. v. 6. In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision
availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worheth
by love. Here the true, unfeigned, unhypocritic faith is dis-
tinguished from the false faith of hypocrites, by this, that it
worheth by love. But how could love, and working by love,
be ascribed to faith, if faith hath in itself no efficacy or power
in the heart thus to work ? Christian love and holy walking
might be ascribed to the will of the man, who so chooses,
when he might choose to live in wickedness. But when
working by love is ascribed to faith, it certainly imports,
that true faith hath efficacy so to work, and to determine
the heart to the choice of what is right and holy. So this
shows, that there is in the nature of the true unfeigned faith
that which is not in the faith of hypocrites, whose faith
hath no such efficacy, no such fruit ; whose faith therefore is
in itself of a different nature and kind from the genuine faith
of the true Christian.

However, the notion of some has been, that a person
coming to true faith, and having faith of the same nature
and kind with that of the true Christian, doth nevertheless,
at believing, stand as {in bivio) where roads part, to choose
going to the right or left, without any thing in his faith to
determine effectually his choice, as to wicked or holy living.
How contrary this is to the views the Scripture gives of the
matter, hath been shown.

Upon the whole, as the apostle doth, Rom. viii. 1. give it
as a certain distinguishing mark of them that are in Christ,
united to him by faith, that they walk not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit, (much contrary to Dr TVs interpretation) ;
so in the text we are now especially considering, (1 Tim. i.
5.) it is plain that the love that is the end of the command-
ment, is, as to the ordinary habitual disposition and practice
of the Christian, certainly connected with unfeigned faith,
and is its native certain consequence. One thing remains
yet to be observed for explication, concerning faith as here
meant.

3. Faith, in the comprehensive view of it, doth in various
ways influence holy practice. When the inspired writer is
to show, Heb. xi. how faith enabled holy men of ancient times
to do and to suffer as they did, he sets out, ver. 1. with giv-
ing this general and comprehensive description of it : Faith is

Arising from Persons being under Grace. 36$

the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen. Faith doth, by the light and authority of the word of
God, demonstrate with powerful conviction and impression,
and realizes to the heart the being, and grace of God, ver.
6. 27. It inwardly realizes divine threatening.? and pro-
mises, ver. 7. 13, &c. It realizes Christ, and the things of
Christ, to the heart.

But, then, as 1 have said before, that a good conscience is
most fitly to be understood here, (1 Tim. i. 5.) as opposed
to an evil conscience ; so that a good conscience is a con-
science relieved from condemnation, a conscience that en-
joys and gives peace ; it seems, upon this view, that faith is
to be considered here in the special view and precise notion,
as it is connected with our justification, reconciliation, and
peace with God. The apostle's doctrine concerning that
subject he thus expresses, Rom. iii. 24, 25. Being justified
freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus
j Christ, (compare Eph. i. 7«) whom God hath set forth to be
a propitiation, through faith in his blood.

It is the blood of Christ (he having given his life a ran-
son for many) that hath made peace. It is by the appli-
cation of it to the conscience, that the sinner, thereby truly
purged, hath no more conscience of sins, Heb. x. 2. It is,
chap. ix. 14. this blood that purges the conscience. It is by it,
chap. x. 22. that our hearts are sprinkled from an evil con-
science. This is that blood of sprinkling, chap. xii. 24. that
speaketh better things than the blood of Abel.

Now faith in Christ, faith in his blood, is, under the in-
fluence of the Holy Spirit, the intellectual means, or instru-
ment, by wrhich this blood is effectually applied, as by
sprinkling, to the conscience, to free it from condemnation,
and to give it peace; to free it from fear and terror of
wrath, and so to diffuse comfort through the soul, from a
isense of reconciliation and peace with God.

Let us now take a brief view of the series of inward prin-
ciples of holiness, as contained in the text under our eye,
beginning at the first. An unfeigned faith in Christ, and in
his bloody gives peace in the conscience, and removes that
'apprehension of wrath that is so powerfula cause of the aliena-
tion of the heart from God. By this the heart comes to be
•econciled to God's sovereignty; and holiness, and love, out
Df a pure sincere heart, prevails ; and thus the end of the
commandment is truly attained, according to the Christian's
measure in this state of imperfection

364 Directions to Sinners

Though these principles of holiness are formed, and have
real effect in the heart of a Christian, yet often he is not so
sensible thereof as he hath cause, and as his comfort would
require. This is often owing to ignorance and mistake, to
the remaining darkness of his mind, to the perplexity that
sin which dwelleth in him, and the motions thereof, give
him, and to the various temptations of the enemy. Yet
these principles have place and real effect in every soul that
is, through Christ, brought under grace, however much
such souls may, for the causes just mentioned, not have
the distinct view or sense thereof, nor the proper degree of
comfort.

At the sametime, it is evident that these essential prin-
ciples of true holiness cannot exist in a soul yet under the
law and its curse, and not under grace. Such an one being
destitute of the faith that would unite him truly to Christ,
and bring him under grace, and not having his heart sprink-
led from an evil conscience, is incapable of the love of God,
that is the end of the commandment ; and so is incapable
of true holiness, whatever appearances may have.

SECT. III. — Containing several directions^ which the doctrine of the con.
text before explained affords to the souls of sinners who are seriously
concerned about their most important interests^ with the explication and
solution of divers questions respecting the conversion of sinners.

We have been observing the advantage, with regard to
sanctification and holy practice, which they have who are
under grace, by the privilege of their state, and the benefit
thence arising of having divine grace, faithfulness, care, and
power to act for them ; and by the true and genuine prin-
ciples of holy practice in their existence and operation, and
which cannot be in any such as are under the law, and its
curse, and not under grace. From the scripture light and
doctrine concerning these matters, there is important direc-
tion to those who have at heart their greatest interest. I
begin with suggesting two things that ought to be particu-
larly adverted to.

One is, that persons should not rest or found their hope
on mere external privilege. All the members of the visible
church are under a dispensation of grace, that encourages
sinners to seek God, and to return from their strayings, by
the prospect of pardon and acceptance through Jesus Christ.
But, as hath been formerly observed on chap. vi. 14. many
are thus under a dispensation of grace, who are not under

Seriously concerned about their Salvation. sGo

grace as to their true spiritual st^te before God, but remain
under the curse of the righteous law, and have the wrath of
God abiding on them. Men's trusting to external privilege
with regard to the state of their souls, is not better than the
vain confidence of Jews heretofore, who said within them-
selves, (Matth. iii. 9) that they had Abraham to their father,
and so were entitled to the privileges of the covenant. A
man may have been, by virtue of birth-right, solemnly ad-
mitted a member of the church — he may have a sort of faith
that is no effect or evidence of being born of God, and, by
virtue of his profession of it, may externally enjoy all exter-
nal church-privileges as a believer, as one in Christ, and under
grace ; but how little may all this amount to as to his pre-
sent real state ? as he may all the time be destitute of that
faith by which he would be truly united to Christ, and so be
a member of that church of the first-born (Heb. xii. 23.)
which are written in heaven.

Another thing that should be carefully adverted to is, that
persons trust not to their own works of righteousness for
their acceptance with God, or for changing their natural
state into a state of grace and favour. All have sinned, and
so incurred the curse of the righteous law. If a man should
thereafter do his duty as completely in every part as an angel,
he but doth in so far what he was bound to do ; and this
doth not make amends for transgression, nor is pleadable
against the curse of the law. This must be removed by
other means than the righteousness of a man's own works.
What makes the delusion of trusting to these, for bringing a
man into a state of grace, still the more absurd, is, that, ac-
cording to the apostle's doctrine, which we have been illus-
trating, a man is incapable of the true acceptable practice of
righteousness and holiness, until he is under grace as to his
real spiritual state, being, until then, under the real dominion
of sin.

We learn from the apostle's doctrine, that the condition of
a person under the law is truly very wretched. To be de-
livered from the law (chap. vii. 6.) is a great deliverance ;
and to be dead to the law (that is, to be set free from the thral-
dom and bondage of it, (as ver. 4.) is a happy freedom.
Without this, one is incapable of bringing forth fruit unto
God, and of serving in the newness of the Spirit. This de-
liverance and liberty hath been purchased at a costly rate—
the crucifixion of the body of Christ. For the law (chap.
.v. 15.) worketh wrath to sinners; it denounces a curse

Q

366 Directions to Sinners

against every transgressor, so that the natural condition of
every one not delivered from the law is, to be under wrath,
and under the dominion of sin.

As divine love and mercy hath, with infinite wisdom,
made a way for the relief and deliverance of sinners, which
is set before them by the gospel of the grace of God, it is of
the utmost consequence, in order to persons improving sea-
sonably, truly, and effectually, the great means of salvation
which the gospel sets before them, that they should have
the most serious consideration, and deep impression of their
most wretched spiritual condition by sin, and the curse of
the law.

Such, however, is the vanity of the mind — the self-flat-
tering disposition of the heart, with a strong inclination in
men to keep their mind at ease, and this often supported
by erroneous notions and principles, that it is a matter of the
utmost difficulty to bring persons to a fixed consideration,
just views, and serious impressions of their present spiritual
wretchedness, and of their fearful prospect of a future eter-
nal state. The strongest reasoning, and the most cogent ar-
guments, often appear to have little or no effect in this way.
They who become truly serious about their salvation, have
commonly occasion to observe a superior hand bringing them
to it ; by some sudden alarming providence, bringing their
sins to remembrance, awakening their conscience and heart
— by continued or repeated tribulation and affliction opening
their ears to discipline — or by the word of God, particularly
of the holy and righteous law, conveyed in a striking man-
ner into the conscience.

But wrhen it so happens, the love of inward ease inclines
the heart to avoid and divert these sad views and apprehen-
sions. As when Felix trembled, on hearing (Acts xxiv.
25.) Paul reasoning of righteousness, temperance, and judg-
ment to come, and said, Go thy way for this time ; when I
have a convenient season, I will call for thee ; so men often
deal with their own consciences suggesting to them fearful,
but just apprehensions; they divert them, and resolutely
endeavour to avoid them. So it is done by many sinners,
with fatal consequence to themselves.

It were well that sinners would lay their heart and con-
science open to the light of God's word and holy law ; that
they should have full views of their manifold sinfulness;
that their sins and transgressions should come particularly
to their remembrance; and that the righteous judgment of

Seriously concerned about their Salvation. 367

God, and the wrath to come, should appear in their awful
reality to their apprehension. But as nature avoids and
abhors every thing that gives dread and terror ; and as
men's hearts are disinclined to every view of things that
tends to give them low and humbling views of themselves,
there is need of the Spirit of God, whose office it is to con-
vince of sin. If the law gives the knowledge of sin, and
worketh wrath in the sense and apprehension of sinful
men, it doth not so with the proper force and effect, until
it is conveyed into the heart and conscience by the power
of the Spirit of God, and that with a degree of light, im-
pression, and energy, such as the self-conceit, the vanity,
and carnality of the heart, cannot surmount or overcome, so
as to divert or extinguish it. If awakened sinners under-
stood their true interest, they should, instead of avoiding or
resisting the Spirit of God, or the convictions of sin, and the
impressions he gives, rather pray earnestly for the Spirit to
do this his office more and more powerfully in their hearts
and consciences. If they understood the merciful design of
God, during this day of salvation, in thus awakening, search-
ing, bringing their sins to remembrance, and pleading with
them by his Spirit and law in their consciences, they might
see cause thankfully to submit themselves to this his dis-
cipline in their conscience, and be disposed to fall in with
the gracious design of it, betaking themselves by faith to
Christ, who is the end of the law for righteousness to every
one that believeth.

But matters do not commonly take this turn all at once.
If the conviction of sin, and the impression of wrath continue
to go deep in the heart, and the arrow's of the Almighty
stick fast in it, the sinner is led naturally from this to groan
and cry out, What shall I do to be saved? And whatever
encouraging and comfortable answer to the important ques-

Ition is suggested by the gospel revelation, nature doth se-
cretly insinuate its own way, and gives a different direction.
The awakened conscience, sensible of the eternal and indis-
pensable obligation to holiness, to all manner of duty and
good works, applies itself thereto, and labours in reformation
of life and practice. So far it is right in itself. Indeed, if
there is in an awakened conscience a sense of the danger of
sinning, with an impression of divine wrath for sin, and yet
the lusts of the heart so far prevail, as to have a free course,
and to exclude reformation in practice, it makes, for the pre-
sent, a condition of very unpromising appearance.

# f

368 Directions to Sinners

But although practical reformation is right in itself, the
unhappiness often in the case is, that sinners incline to trust
thereto, and to found their confidence of pardon, reconcilia-
tion, and acceptance with God, on their own righteousness
and good works. Indeed, in the first state of mankind, it
was by the law, and by works of righteousness in conformity
thereto, that men were to be justified. Man being without
sin, in the perfection of his nature and moral powers, the
law could have given life; and in that state of things, verily
righteousness should have been by the law ; but the state of
things is altered ; the Scripture (Gal. iii. 21, 22.) hath con-
cluded all under sin ; and the law, with all the righteousness
of a man in conformity thereto, cannot justify the sinner, or
bring him to a state of acceptance with God. Yet this hav-
ing been the old way, the bias of nature is still towards it.
Though the minds of men under the gospel may have or-
thodox notions, yet the ground of hope which the gospel
sets before them is contrary to the previous conceptions of
the natural mind. It is necessary that the ground of con-
fidence and hope which the gospel presents should be
realised to it by a superior light and power. Until it is so,
the natural man doth not receive the things of the Spirit,
(I Cor. ii. 14.) which are no other than the things of Christ,
(John xvi. 14.) which he* is to show to men effectually : I
say, the natural man doth not receive these things of Christ
and of the Spirit, so as to rest his soul on that sure founda-
tion which God hath laid in Zion. In that view, the heart
treats them as foolishness, and doth not trust to them for
hope and salvation. The self-exalting way of self-righte-
ousness is what the natural mind suggests, — is what the
natural heart inclines to trust to. It was not owing to any
thing peculiar to the Jews, but to principles that are natural
to mankind, that (Rom. x. 3.) going about to establish their
own righteousness, they submitted not themselves to the righte-
ousness of God.

However, an awakened serious sinner, going on in this
way of self- righteousness, hath what the apostle dignifies,
Rom. x. 2., with the character of a zeal of God. He labours
earnestly for higher and higher degrees of devotion ; he la-
bours hard in reforming his practice, and in every good work.
But they to whom the Lord doth at length give a better light,
and brings unto a better way, have occasion to observe and
acknowledge, that, whilst they were in the course I have
been now representing, they have felt a struggle between

Seriously concerned about their Salvation. Sftj

the law in their conscience and the flesh, or the power of
sin in their hearts, according to the sad experience repre-
sented in the past time by the blessed apostle, Rom. vii.
5 — ] 3., and that all their concern and labour to avoid and
subdue sin, and to be truly holy, hath been miserably un-
successful.

Being yet in the flesh, not having their nature renewed,
nor being under the sanctifying influence of the Spirit of
grace, if the law in their conscience hath strict and urgent
demands of holiness, and all manner of duty, yet the flesh,
which (Rom. viii. 7-) is not subject to the law of God, acts
rebelliously against it, and exerts itself in unholy lustings and
affections. So that with those who are in the flesh, there are
motions of sin, even by the law, though it opposes sin with
all its light and authority. If the deluded sinner formerly
thought of the law as only requiring external conformity, and
so found it easy to have a good opinion of his own purity
and righteousness, yet now the law, which is spiritual, en-
tering into the heart, saying, Thou shall not lust, prohibiting
and condemning the inward lustings and affections of the
heart that are contrary to holiness ; he now hath by the law
the knowledge of sin in good earnest, — hath amazing and con-
founding views of the extent of sin's dominion — of the deep
root and great power it hath in his nature. But though sin
is thus discovered in its extent and power, all the endeavours
of a serious soul, with all the authority of the law in the con-
science, are not able to subdue it. Instead of that, sin
taking occasion by the commandment, thereby awakened
and irritated, (chap. vii. 8.) works in the heart all manner of
concupiscence. If the conscience of the sinner is awakened
by the law coming with force into it, sin in the heart, with
its unholy lusts and affections, is thereby likewise awakened,
and exerts itself with the greater vehemence. So sin, work-
ing death to the wretched sinner by that which is good, (ver.
13.) becomes (shows itself to be) exceeding sinful, exceeding
rebellious and wicked, unconquerable by mere human power.

The consequence will be, as Paul found it, and represents,
chap. vii. 9- I was alive without the law once ; (without its
light and authority he entertained a good opinion of his own
condition) : but when the commandment came, sin revived,
saith he, and I died. Former sins revived in his conscience
with a fearful sting, and apprehension of wrath ; and the
conscience, enlightened by the holy commandment, feeling
the force of its authority, and insisting most urgently for

370 Directions to Sinners

present conformity, the issue is far otherwise than it ought.
Instead of the heart's conforming cheerfully and dutifully
with the holiness of the law, sin revives in its various lust-
ings, unholy affections, and rebellious motions; nor doth the
sinner find that the authority of the law, or the force of his
conscience, or all the endeavours of his yet carnal heart, under
the bondage of the law, and not truly sincere on the side of
holiness, can subdue these unholy motions and lustings of
his soul. His heart being searched by the holy law, his best
devotions, good works, and righteousnesses, do now, (Is. lxiv.
6.) appear to him as filthy rags. However wretched his
condition had appeared by the wrath which his guiltiness
subjected him to, yet whilst he expected, by his serious
care and earnest endeavours, to bring not only his outward
practice, but his heart inwardly, unto a conformity with the
holiness of the commandment, he still had, in his own ap-
prehension, some resource in himself, with regard to his com-
fort, and the confidence of divine mercy and acceptance.
But when, after serious endeavour, under the authority and
impression of the law, to restrain sin, and to work up his
heart to a holy temper and practice, the effect is, that sin
taking occasion by the commandment, worketh in him all
manner of concupiscence ; that sin, actively disposed to lust,
taking occasion by the commandment, deceives him, and so
slays him ; that sin, that evil principle, showing its extreme
wickedness and power, worketh death in him by that which
is good, even by that good law, by the direction and in-
fluence whereof he sometime hoped to come to a good con-
dition and state ; it is now that the sinner dieth indeed, in
his own sense and apprehension, and that his self-confidence
evanishes.

But there is hope in Israel concerning this case. God is
merciful. So he hath proclaimed his name, Exod. xxxiv. 6.
The Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious. He hath
favoured, yea, he hath purposed the salvation of sinful men,
and hath, with infinite wisdom, provided for accomplishing
of it, in a way consistent with all his perfections, tending to
establish the authority of his law, and to maintain the ho-
nour and dignity of his government. He hath provided a Sa-
viour, and laid help upon One who is mighty. He hath sent
his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and hath made him to
be a sin-offering for us, though he knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. A good ground
is laid for the reconciliation and peace of sinners with God

Seriously concerned about their Salvation. 371

by the blood of the cross. If God doth, by the instructions
and discipline of the law in the consciences of sinners, as with
a violent shower of hail, sweep away the refuge of lies, which,
through the delusion of their hearts, they have trusted to,
he doth, at the same time, acquaint them in the preceding
words, (Isa. xxviii. 16.) that he hath laid in Zionfor a foun-
dation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure
foundation : he that believeth, shall not make haste — He that
believeth on him shall not be confounded, as 1 Pet. ii. 6. A
Mediator hath, by the appointment of the Father, interpos-
ed to make reconciliation for the sins of the people, and to
maintain the peace, and all the interests of his people, by his
continued intercession, being able (Heb. vii. 25.) to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God hy him, seeing he
ever liveth to make intercession for them. He is a Captain
of salvation, appointed to bring the many sons unto glory,
and as he hath been consecrated to this office through suf-
ferings, he is able to execute it by his power.

It is, at the same time, to be considered, that, according
to the various ways in which Christ is set forth and repre-
sented to us in the word of God, there is requisite a suitable
acting of men's minds and hearts corresponding thereto. Is
he set forth as a propitiation, and his blood (his giving his
life a ransom) as that which taketh away our guiltiness and
condemnation ? This requires^/az/A in his blood, — the faith by
which the sinner shall trust in that blood for pardon and
peace, — the faith by which the heart shall be sprinkled from
an evil conscience, and so the conscience purged from dead
works, — the faith that giveth confidence, with reference to
that blood, in approaching unto God, even as unto the ho-
liest, according to Heb. x. 19« 22. Having — boldness to enter
into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, &e. j and according to
Eph. iii. 12. In whom we have boldness and access with con-
fidence through the faith of him.

Is Christ represented as the sure foundation which, not
man, but God hath laid in Zion ? then believing on him
is the soul's secure resting on that foundation, and building
thereon a good hope, which will not give disappointment
or shame to any, not to the chief of sinners. For, 1 Pet.
ii. 6. He (any sinner ; whosoever heareth the gospel) who
believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Is Christ set forth as a Saviour, and offered as such to
perishing sinners? then faith is a receiving him (John i. 12.)
with an eye to the several offices, by which he executes the

372 Directions to Sinners

great undertaking of saving sinners : to receive him not
only in the character of our great High Priest, to procure
for us reconciliation and peace, and all the blessings of grace,
but also in the character of the great Teacher and Prophet,
submitting our minds absolutely to his light and instruction,
"with regard to all the truth he reveals ; and likewise in the
character of Lord and King, subjecting ourselves to his go-
vernment in the way of cheerful universal obedience, yield-
ing ourselves to be ruled by him, and trusting in his power
for all the purposes of our salvation.

Thus, I say, faith in Jesus Christ is, in the acting there-
of, somewhat varied according to the various views in which
the word of God exhibits him to us. Yet we are not to con-
ceive as if this variation in the acting of faith in Jesus Christ
made so many different kinds of faith. For the truth is,
that true faith in every soul in which it is, hath in it all that
these different forms of it import; and that either implicitly,
or more explicitly and sensibly, according as the different
Scripture views of Christ do strike the mind, suitably to the
different views and feelings of the soul, in which the in-
fluence and power of a superior hand is to be acknowledged.

But man is a reasonable being. His trust, and his whole
conduct, will be directed naturally according to the light that
is in his mind. He cannot found his confidence or hope on
any thing, without having in his mind a true perception of
it, and a satisfying conviction of its truth and reality. Now
the Scripture represents the minds of sinful men as ignorant
and blind with regard to the matters of God, the things of
Christ and of the Spirit. These things of Christ, and of
salvation through him, are not deducible from any princi-
ples or notions that are naturally in the minds of men.
They are (1 Cor. ii. 9-) such as eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard) neither have entered into the heart of man. Now, as
it was the Spirit of God that discovers these divine counsels
of grace in the gospel-revelation, so it appears that the in-
ward instruction and illumination of the mind by the same
Spirit is needful, in order to men's knowing effectually these
spiritual and gracious truths, according to ver. 12. We have
received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of
God, that we might know the things that are freely given to
us of God : (see also 2 Cor. iv. 6. It is to be considered,
besides, that this method of salvation is not agreeable to the
disposition of the natural and carnal heart, (as hath been
formerly observed,) which powerfully inclines to seek the

Seriously concerned about their Salvation. 31$

grounds of a man's justification and acceptance in himself,
and to tract to a man's own powers and endeavours for sanc-
tification. Hence it is that men are so averse to submit
themselves unto the righteousness of God, or to despair of
their own powers and endeavours, with regard to any thing
in the practice of religion. As there is need of a divine
illumination of the mind, there is need of a powerful di-
vine influence to renew the heart, and change the disposition
of it.

Until this divine illumination and influence take effect in
the mind and heart, the awakened sinner must be in great
perplexity, being painfully sensible of the curse of the law
for transgression, that excludes all possibility of the sinner's
working out a justifying righteousness for himself; and
having a deep impression and experience of such dominion
of sin, as makes it impossible for him to subdue it, or to
sanctify himself in any true degree, or in sincerity, whilst
under the law, and in his natural state in the flesh. Under
these views and impressions, I say, the condition of a se-
rious awakened sinner will be very doleful. His condition
may be fitly represented, in the figurative way, by the case
of Hagar the bond- woman, as related, Gen. xxi. 15, 16, 19.
When her own provision was spent, she sat desponding and
weeping, until God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of
water ; which, it seems, was near, when she was most sor-
rowful and despondent, though she did not perceive it until
God opened her eyes.

In this condition the sinner is called to be assiduous and
earnest in prayer to God for his mercy, and for his Holy
Spirit, to give that illumination and influence that will en-
able him to live by faith in Jesus Christ, and to attend in
the most careful and earnest manner on the preaching of the
gospel, by which divine grace works so great effects on the
souls of men ; thus endeavouring to watch daily at Wisdom's
gates, waiting at the posts of her doors.

There is an objection that may be suggested here to this
purpose; viz — By what good reason, or to what good pur-
pose, can such sinners be urged and exhorted to do as hath
been now said, if the truth of the case is indeed, that a sin-
ner in his natural condition, in the flesh and under the law,
cannot do any thing pleasing to God, or acceptable ; and
that no assurance can be given him of any spiritual mercy
or blessing to be certainly connected with the utmost exer-
tion of his natural powers, which in that state he is capable

Q5

57 * An Objection Answered.

of, in seeking God and his mercy ? Yea, if we will deal rea-
sonably with such sinners, in advising and exhorting them
to earnestness in using the means of grace and of salvation,
should we not assure them, if they do what they can by
their natural powers, that grace will not be wanting, to con-
nect certain spiritual blessings with their earnest endea-
vours ? Are we not well warranted in giving them such assur-
ance, by what our Lord says, Luke xi. 9 — 13. Ask, and
it shall be given you — For every one that asheth} receiveth, fyc.
Concerning this, I have these several things to suggest. —

1. It does not appear, that the meaning or design is to
connect the promise in this text with any thing of duty or
means that a sinner is capable of by his natural powers,
whilst in an unregenerate state. The foregoing and follow-
ing parables show the contrary. Which of you, ver. 5. shall
have a friend — and ver. 8. Though he will not rise and give
him, because he is his friend — and ver. 13. If ye then, being
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children. It ap-
pears then, that they are these, who, by their spiritual state,
are the friends and children of God, that the Lord means by
this declaration and promise to encourage to importunity and
perseverance in prayer. It appears by the Scripture, that it
is only the prayer of faith that will be acceptable, and will
procure blessings : Ask (in faith), and it shall be given you ;
and, Every one that (thus) asketh, receiveth. So Dr WVs
paraphrase of ver. 9, 10. And the faith by which men
please God, and by which their prayers become acceptable,
cannot proceed from the heart of any sinner without special
divine influence. But, however we understand the promise
in this place, it must be acknowledged, on all hands, that a
command to seek God, and to pray to him, is directed to
persons who are in their natural unregenerate state. So also
are they commanded to turn to God with their whole heart,
to repent, and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, with the
encouraging promise of mercy and acceptance through him.
But these commands to repent and believe, with the promises
annexed, do not establish a connexion between the promised
mercy and any thing that sinful men are capable of doing,
by the utmost exertion of their mere natural powers.

2. Though sinners, yet in the flesh, and under the law,
can do no work in the manner pleasing to God, or that would
entitle such to any spiritual blessings by any divine pro-
mise, yet such are capable of conceiving, with deep impres-
sion, their extreme wretchedness by sin, and its consequences.

An Objection Answered. 375

Though their sense of sin and misery does not proceed from
the same principles and views as in the children of God, yet
they may have a deep sense of their misery by the curse of
the law, and the divine judgment, to which, by sin, they
have become obnoxious ; and by their inability to make them-
selves free from the dominion of sin in their nature and heart,
to subdue sin and the lusts thereof, or to sanctify their own
hearts. They are, even in their yet unregenerate state,
capable of such a sense of things in these respects, as will
destroy their carnal confidences, and bring them very low
in their views respecting their state, despairing of all help
from themselves or others, — sensible that there can be no
help for them but from divine sovereign grace and mercy
alone. Surely it is in this posture, and with this sense of
things, that sinners ought to lay themselves before the foot-
stool of divine mercy. If the Lord will show the riches of
his mercy, and the abounding of his grace, surely he will be
most likely to do it to those by whose views of their own
state his grace and mercy will be most exalted and most
glorified.

3. ft were most unreasonable to say, that sinners, in their
natural condition, should not be exhorted to pray, to repent,
or believe in Jesus Christ, without assuring them of a cer-
tain connexion between their own exertion of their natural
powers, and their obtaining saving mercy and blessings. The
apostle Peter did not think so, when he said to that vilest of
men, (Acts viii. 22.) Repent, and pray God, if perhaps the
thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.

4. The command to seek God, and to believe in Jesus
Christ — to believe the testimony and record of God concern-
ing him, lays obligation to these duties on every one to whom
such command is directed, as it is to every one who hears
the gospel. It therefore becomes every such sinner to be
very careful that his conscience and heart be duly affected
with the authority and encouragement of such command, and
with the obligation it lays upon him, so as to exert himself
in the duties required, and that with the most earnest en-
deavour. Will a person under the law, and feeling its force
and authority in his conscience, exert himself in other com-
manded duties, as prayer, aim- deeds, and every good work
besides ; and should he not, with a view to the authority of
the divine commandment, exert himself in earnest attempts
to obey it in such duties as have been now mentioned ; yea,
should he not be very much excited thereto, by considering.

376 An Objection Answered.

that it is a matter of very great encouragement to his dark
and comfortless soul, that such command hath been directed
to him ?

Christ is offered to the sinner — he should attempt to lay
hold of him. His hand is withered ; but be should, without
hesitation, stretch forth his withered hand at Christ's com-
mand, which is a command of grace, and often conveys the
strength needful for the obedience required. He should en-
deavour to apply to his wounded conscience and troubled
heart, the blood of sprinkling, by which there is peace. He
should, as his need requires, endeavour, on every occasion,
to feed his famished soul with the bread of life, — with the
flesh and blood of a crucified Saviour, as the gospel repre-
sents it before him. Nor should he for this require any other
internal call than that of his needy condition. Neither
should he require to have his faith warranted, by having the
secrets of the divine counsels displayed to him ; nor needs
he to entertain notions, not sufficiently warranted in the
Scripture, as that Christ gave himself alike a ransom for all
and every one of mankind. He hath most sufficient warrant
for his faith in Jesus Christ by the full and free offer and
call of the gospel, and by God's testimony and command.

The sinner, continuing in this way of serious efforts, hath
no cause to despond, being under such a dispensation of
grace. Though his natural powers and endeavours come
short, it may happen to him as to the impotent man at the
pool of Bethesda, (John v.) with respect to an outward
bodily case. Still sensible of his ill condition, he continued
to make earnest efforts. But being quite impotent, his na-
tural powers and his endeavours came short. When he had,
however, cause to despair of any good coming in that way,
divine mercy interposed seasonably, and the Saviour cured
him with a word of power. Such an issue the sinner may
look for, in continuing the serious use of means and suitable
endeavours.

What gives effectual relief to the heavy laden soul of a
sinner is, when, by the direction of divine sovereign grace,
the word of the grace of God doth seasonably impress the
mind wTith special light and power, so as to realize to it the
unseen things of Christ, and of his gospel, with full and
satisfying conviction of the truth thereof, and of the report
of the gospel concerning the abounding grace of God, the
sufficiency and efficacy of the blood of the cross, and the suf-
ficiency of Christ as a Saviour, mighty to save ; as well as

An Objection Answered. 377

of the free offer and call of the gospel, as warranting him in
particular to receive Christ, to apply the blood of sprinkling
to his conscience, and to have peace thereby. By this light,
and by the satisfying views of the love of God, as manifest-
ed in Jesus Christ, the heart is gained to God : and if a
sense of guiltiness and condemnation in the conscience, and
if the terrors of the law affecting it, do tend to put the soul
to a distance, with alienation of heart from God ; yet by the
comfortable light which the word and Spirit of God have
diffused into the mind, it conceives such satisfying views of
Christ and his redemption, as disposes and enables the sin-
ner to have that faith in his blood by which he is justified,
and comes under grace ; even unto that happy state, in which
he hath the advantages with respect to communion and inter-
course with God, and walking with him in newness of life,
that hath been formerly explained. Nor is there, with re-
spect to the particular things I have hinted, in the conver-
sion of a sinner, occasion to think of priority or posteriority
of time, or of a progressive work or exercise ; all is instan-
taneous in the soul, and in the exercise of its faculties, with
regard to these blessed objects, from which, by a divine illu-
mination, it receives peace, life, and comfort.

There are, however, some things respecting the subject,
of which it may be fit to give some further explication. We
learn from John i. 12, 13. that they who truly and sincere-
ly believe in Jesus Christ, are born of God, and their faith
is a consequence and evidence of their being so. Now, this
new birth is sometimes ascribed to the Holy Spirit, as John
iii. 5. Born of water, and of the Spirit. Sometimes it is as-
cribed to the word of God, as 1 Pet. i. 23. Being bom again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of
God. So James i. 18. Of his own will begat he us with the
word of truth. How is it to be understood, that this new
birth is ascribed to these different causes ?

But there is no difficulty in the matter. These are not
opposite or inconsistent causes ; but causes co-operating, the
one in subordination to the other. For, on the one hand,
according to Gal. iii. 14. we receive the promise of the Spirit
through faith ; that is, the doctrine or word of faith, the gos-
pel : and (as 2 Cor. iii. 8.) the gospel is the ministration of
the Spirit. So by the gospel the Spirit is conveyed into the
heart. On the other hand, the Spirit gives efficacy to the
gospel in the minds and hearts of men. He doth by a plea-
sant exertion of mighty power change the disposition of the

37 S Questions respecting Conversion Explained.

heart, forming it for God, and putting a new spiritual life
and strength into it ; while, at the same time, by the word
of the promise, or of the gospel, (the blessed means by which
he worketh,) he conveys that comfortable light, and satisfy-
ing conviction into the mind, that hath the happy effects be-
fore mentioned, of turning the heart to God, with faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ : thus working on the souls of men in
a manner suitable to their faculties and rational nature.

On this occasion some may readily suggest what they
consider as a considerable difficulty, thus : In that regenera-
tion by which men are begotten, or born of God, the prin-
ciples of holiness are infused into the soul. If then this be-
ing born of God, is previous, in order of nature, to the faith
by which the sinner is justified, it follows that the sinner's
sanctification is previous to his justification, by which he
comes under grace ; which they may readily consider as a
notion of hurtful tendency, and contrary to the statements
concerning sanctification we have given.

It will tend to elucidate this matter, that we distinguish
between the habit, or physical principle of sanctification, and
the practice of holiness. As to the first of these, it is plain
from the texts formerly cited, (John i. 12, 13. and 1 John
v. 1.) that being born of God, is previous to a man's truly
believing in Jesus Christ. Yea, we may be satisfied about
it, by considering the nature of things. If faith is not pro-
perly or merely an act of the Holy Spirit, but an act of the
human soul, it cannot be produced without a principle in the
soul that shall be an adequate cause of such an act. A gra-
cious act, as faith is, cannot be without a gracious principle
producing it.

It is, at the same time, to be observed, that when, for the
relief of a burdened and distressed soul, the word of faith
enters into the mind, with the influence of the Spirit of faith,
whose power renews the heart, the first thing that must fol-
low in such a soul, by means of the light which the Holy
Spirit introduces into it by the word of God, is that faith in
Jesus Christ, and in his blood, by which the sinner is justi-
fied, and so comes under grace.

From this it follows, that the practice of holiness and good
works cannot intervene between a man's being born of God,
and his coming under grace by his justification. It appears
also, that asserting a man's being born of God to be previ-
ous to justifying faith, is very consistent with what hath been
said in the explanations formerly given, viz. that a man can-

Questions respecting Conversion Explained. 379

not have all that is essentially requisite to the true and ac-
ceptable practice of holiness, until, being justified by faith,
he comes under grace.

As it appears by the texts formerly cited, that being born
of God is previous to one's exercising faith in Jesus Christ,
the same thing appears further from the language used in
these texts which mention the sanctification of the Spirit
previously to believing. So (2 Thess. ii. 13.) God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of
the Spirit and belief of the truth. So also (1 Pet. i. 2.) Elect
— through sanctijication of the Spirit unto obedience, (that is,
obedience to the gospel by that faith in Jesus Christ which
it especially requires) and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus
Christ. It is still to be remembered, that this sanctification
of the Spirit is the consequence and fruit of Christ's having
died — having risen again — having ascended to the right
hand of God — and his having (John xvii. 2.) received power
over all flesh, that he might give eternal life to as many as
the Father hath given him.

As the Scripture evidence respecting this point is clear, I
think none need to apprehend any ill consequence from as-
serting, that the sanctification of the Spirit, which is the same
in the stricter sense as being born of God, is, in the nature
of things, previous to the faith by which the sinner is jus-

| tified.

But with respect to holy practice — as it is a rational prac-
tice, proceeding from a right and sincere disposition of the
heart, influenced by right views, to a right end, the truth
stands that hath been here asserted, that none is capable of
such a practice and course but one who is justified and un-
der grace; and that such practice of holiness and good works

I cannot intervene betwixt the sanctification of the Spirit and

I the sinner's being, through faith, justified, and brought un-

i der grace, as hath been said before.

What hath been now observed, may serve to answer a
question which has been thought to have some difficulty ;
viz. How can it be accounted for, that in the chain of grace
represented Rom. viii. 30. a matter so important as sancti-
fication is not mentioned ? It has been endeavoured to solve
this difficulty in various ways. But as the calling is by the
sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth, I see no
good reason why sanctification may not be understood to be
included in the calling there mentioned, which is a holy call-

S80 Questiofis respecting Conversion Explained.

ing, 2 Tim. i. Q. ; and Christians are said to be called saints,
Rom. i. 7- ; 1 Cor. i. 2. that is, saints by their calling.

It will not be amiss, in this place, I think, to consider
another question respecting the conversion of a sinner, viz.
Which takes place first in such souls, repentance, or faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ ? I expect it will appear, by a due
consideration of this point, that it is not of such importance
as some have thought. But to proceed distinctly —

Sometimes repentance is mentioned in Scripture in a more
large and comprehensive meaning. So Luke xxiv. 47. That
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his
name. Acts iii. 19- Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that
your sins may be blotted out. And Acts v. 21. Him hath God
exalted — to be a Pr'uice and a Saviour, for to give repentance
to Israel, and remission of sins. Now, as justification and
remission of sins are by faith in Jesus Christ, which is not
mentioned in these texts, it is plain, that repentance, which
alone is mentioned in them, as required in order to remis-
sion of sins, includes that faith in Jesus Christ, with which
justification and remission of sins is connected. We are
therefore by repentance, in such texts, to understand all that
is comprehended in the conversion of a sinner ; and so it
seems to be for explication of repentance, according to this
larger meaning, that, being converted, is added, Acts iii.
19' Repent — and be converted.

At other times, repentance, and faith in Jesus Christ, are
distinguished, and distinctly expressed; as Acts xx. 21.
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repent-
ance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Repentance towards God. The sinner hath strayed
from God. He set up his own will, his lust, and the desire
of self- gratification, in opposition to God. He withdrew
himself from his authority and rule, and sought his happi-
ness in the creature, and not in the Creator, who is blessed
for ever. The heart, under the influence of carnal lusts,
wanders in pursuit of good and happiness in the enjoyment
of the creatures ; and being insatiable by any thing found in
them, says, (so do the many, Psal. iv. 6.) Who will show us
any good ? But the soul of the sinner, deeply convinced of
sin, and its fearful consequences, by the law, distressed with
its terrors, persuaded of the vanity of its former pursuits
after imaginary happiness ; being now renewed by the sanc-
tification of the Spirit before mentioned ; and viewing God
in the encouraging and amiable light, in which the gospel

Qiiestio?is respecting Conversion Explained. 381

represents him, doth, with shame and sorrow for his past
conduct and straying from God, return to him, to seek his
happiness in him, in his favour and enjoyment, as Psal iv.
6. Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us ;
yields himself to his government and rule, with sincere pur-
pose of dutiful obedience. Thus .we see repentance explain-
ed by turning to God, Acts xxvi. 20. — That they should re-
pent, and turn to God. See also 1 Thess. i. 9.

2. Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. The faith here
mentioned, is not the faith of God's being and perfections ;
nor the faith of the word of God, as it marks out to us the
way in which we ought to walk; nor the faith of a future life
and happiness. All these are indeed comprehended in faith,
in the large sense of it. But the faith here mentioned, with
respect to the conversion of a sinner, is faith towards the Lord
Jesus Christ. God hath in himself infinite glory, excellency,
and amiableness ; but it is the glory of God that shineth
in the face of Jesus Christ, (2 Cor. iv. 6.) that makes him
especially amiable in the eye of the sinner, and that doth
effectually attract his heart toward God. It is Christ, and
him crucified, that the sinner needs to be told of, to encou-
rage his conversion and approach to God. It is the blood of
sprinkling that alone gives confidence to the guilty soul in
returning and approaching to God. By his mediation, Christ
is the way, John xiv. 6. and no man cometh unto the Father
but by him. In the conversion of the sinner, God is the end,
and Christ is the way to that end ; and thus it is that the
conversion of the sinner imports repentance towards God,
and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, as to the question concerning the priority of repen-
tance or faith, the one to the other, it is right to understand
and hold, that the light which entereth into the mind by the
illumination of the Holy Spirit, and by the word and doc-
trine of the gospel, showing, in the most satisfying manner,
the truth, reality, and excellency of the things of God, of
Christ, and of things unseen, must be prior in the soul to
any particular acting of grace, which is necessarily directed
and influenced by this light, which is the light of faith, as it
is the evidence of things not seen.

But if we consider the question as respecting the activity
of the soul in conversion, then, as I have said, that in con-
version God is as the end in which it terminates, and Christ
the way to that end, through faith in him ; the only way in
which the sinner can come to God acceptably, and with any

382 Questions respecting Conversion Explained.

well founded confidence : then the question concerning the
priority of repentance or faith is such as this other question :
Which is first, in order of time, or of nature, my setting out
for Edinburgh, or my taking the way to it ? which were an
useless question.

It has been right and useful to consider faith in Jesus
Christ, and repentance, separately, and to give different de-
finitions of them. Yet as they are acted in the soul, they
are involved the one in the other ; and as they are acted in-
wardly, both might well be comprehended in the following
definition — c Repentance unto life, or the conversion of the
' sinner, is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, from a true
€ sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in
( Christ, turns from sin unto God, founding his confidence,
• and resting on Jesus Christ for pardon and acceptance
■ with God through his mediation, and for complete salva-
f tion/

I know that some will not bear to hear that repentance is
previous to justification, but will have it to be wholly the
consequence and effect of a sinner's being justified, and com-
ing under grace, and that repentance is, from thenceforth,
the continued exercise and practice of the Christian to the
end of his course. 1 doubt not but many such do mean what
is right in the main, though their way of conceiving things
hath this evident inconvenience, that it would direct them
to express themselves in a way contrary to the language of
Scripture, which calls on sinners to repent, in order to (and
so previously to) the remission of sins.

Jt may tend to give some further light concerning this
point, that we consider how, and in what cases, the true be-
liever is required in Scripture to repent, or is said to repent.

1. I observe, that when such have considerably declined
with respect to their love, fruitfulness, or integrity, they are
called on to repent. Thus, Rev. ii. after giving commenda-
tion to the angel of the church of Ephesus, the Lord says,
ver. 4, 5. / have somewhat against thee, because thou hast
left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art
fallen, and repent, and do the first ivories. Thus also in that
same chapter, the angel of the church of Pergamos having
much offended the Lord, by suffering those who held the
doctrine of Balaam, and those who held the doctrine of the
Nicolaitans, the Lord says to him, ver. 16. Repent. So
likewise the angel of the church of Laodicea having fallen

QuestioTis respecting Conversion Explained. 383

into a fearful condition of lukewarmness, the Lord says to
him, chap. iii. 19- Be zealous, therefore, and repent.

2. When a Christian hath come under the predominance
of any particular lust, he is called to repent and forsake it,
and the practice that hath been the consequence thereof.
Thus the apostles having, Matth. xviii. 1. shown pride and
ambition to be very predominant in them, the Lord said to
them, ver. 3. Except ye be converted, (the same in meaning
as, Except ye repent,) and become as little children, ye shall
not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Job was happy as to
his state and general character, and gave a very exemplary
proof of patience; yet in one thing he was dangerously wrong,
because (chap, xxxii. 2.) he justified himself rather than God ;
so far even as to insinuate what was reproachful to God with
regard to his dealing with him ; saying, (as Elihu represents,
chap, xxxiii. 9, 10.) 1 am clean, without transgression — Be-
hold, he findeth occasions against me. — This in Job's views and
disposition might continue to be matter of controversy be-
tween God and him. But by Elihu's pleading with him,
and more especially by the Lord's own appearance and plead-
ing, he was at length brought down from his height ; and
after so confident pleading his own righteousness, and im-
peaching divine providence, he comes to this, chap. xlii. 6.
/ abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. It was then,
and not till then, that the Lord gave forth jugment for him
against his friends, and turned the captivity of Job. It is
only in such special cases as these, that I observe sincere be-
lievers, or true Christians, called on to repent, or the word
repent used with respect to their disposition and course.

According to our conception, we may, perhaps, say, that
the whole life, exercise, and practice of a true Christian is no
other than repentance continued and extended to the end of
his course ; nor can I think that way of conceiving things
is to be found fault with. But we are inquiring here con-
cerning the Scripture meaning of the word, and as to that, I
have not observed any where in Scripture, that the ordinary
exercise and practice of the Christian is set forth under the
name of repentance. These things, which some do conceive
as a continuation of repentance, should, according to Scrip-
ture style, be accounted fruits, or works meet for repentance,
Matt. iii. 8. Acts xxvi. 20. rather than be called any of them,
or the whole together, by the name of repentance.

Let me observe, by the way, this affords what may satisfy
us about the meaning of our Lord's expression, Luke xv. 7»

384 Questions respecting Conversion Explained.

where he explains his parable of the hundred sheep, whereof
one was lost, and recovered, to the great joy of the owner ;
/ say unto you, that likewise joy shall he in heaven over one
sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just per-
sons, which need no repentance. It seems reasonable to think,
that the ninety and nine sheep are creatures of the same
species with the sheep that went astray ; that is, not angels,
but men. Who then are the ninety-nine just persons among
men, who need not repentance ? What hath been just now
observed helps us to answer — They are those sincere Chris-
tians, who walk uniformly in a pure and upright course,
free of any remarkable sins, or predominant lust, labouring
earnestly to perfect holiness in the fear of God. These, ac-
cording to the Scripture style and use of the word, need not
repentance.

Some earnestly maintain, that repentance is not previous
to, but is a consequence of justification, in order to secure
against the legal disposition, which men are so naturally
prone to, or rather, that is so deeply rivetted in men's hearts
naturally, and which is indeed of the worst tendency and
consequence to the souls of men. Upon the same view, some
have denied regeneration, or the sanctification of the Spirit,
to be previous to faith or justification. It is certain, how-
ever, where true regeneration is, and the sincerity of repen-
tance, that there is a disposition of heart the most remote
from legal. At any rate, when men would provide an anti-
dote against error upon one hand, they should be very care-
ful that they strike not against the truth, on the other hand,
or give advantage to the adversaries of the truth. To me it
appears to be the truth clearly set forth in the word of God,
that no sinner is justified but the penitent sinner ; and that
the penitent, or repenting sinner, is justified by faith alone,
by faith in Jesus Christ, and in his blood; from which blessed
object faith derives its virtue to justify the sinner, and not
from any thing in a man, previous, concomitant, or subse-
quent to his faith, however certainly connected true unfeign-
ed faith is with good dispositions and good works. To re-
present repentance distinguished from faith, as in a class of
co-ordinate conditionally with faith in the matter of justifi-
cation, or attaining an interest in the covenant of grace and
blessings thereof; I cannot consider otherwise than as a no-
tion ill founded, and of hurtful tendency.

Thus we take considerable time, and use many words, in
explaining what happens instantaneously in the human soul,

Questions respecting Conversion Explained. 385

so as not to be measured by time. A ray of divine light, by
one declaration or promise of God's word, entering the mind
and heart, with an effectual touch of divine power, may effect,
in an instant, in the soul of a serious and humbled sinner,
all that hath been here said concerning the sanctification of
the Spirit, repentance towards God, and that faith in Jesus
Christ, and in his blood, with which the justification of the
sinner is immediately connected, and that hath for its cer-
tain consequence, freedom from the dominion of sin, and holy
practice.

One or two things remain, however, which it is fit to add
in this place. Though as to the great substance of it, the
conversion of the sinner is effected as hath been represented,
yet there may be a considerable variety as to manner and
circumstances. The spiritual state of all men by nature is
the same, yet there may be a great difference as to circum-
stances. Some are in great ignorance; their course hath
been in remarkable opposition to purity, and they have per-
haps fallen into ways of gross wickedness, highly dishonour-
able and provoking to God. In such, the law giving the
knowledge of sin, and working wrath, often strikes the con-
science with greater force and terror, and alarms the whole
soul to a high degree ; so that, if divine goodness and care
did not secretly work to prevent it, the consequence might
be fearful. In such, when divine grace directs these con-
victions to a happy issue, their conversion and relief by faith
may be more evident and observable, and sensibly comfort-
able in a higher degree. The Lord may likewise design to
prepare some for more special usefulness, o»r for more special
trials, by greater experience of the terrors of the law, and of
the consolations of grace. Yea, some have greater softness,
vivacity, and sensibility in their natural spirit and temper ;
and thereby more sensible terrors and consolations than
others who have perhaps the reality of this work in greater
degree, and with greater effect in all holiness and good fruits.

Upon the other hand, some have been brought up under
the purity of the gospel, and with a greater degree of light
and knowledge, perhaps under the best examples, which
have not altogether been without effect, being preserved from
the more gross ways of the world ; and possessing, perhaps,
greater natural vigour of spirit, with greater equality and
sedateness of natural temper. Though such have expe-
rienced most serious conviction, and deep impressions of
their sinfulness, and their wretchedness by sin, yet, per-

386 Questions respecting Conversion Explained.

haps, the law of God doth not strike them with such sensi-
ble force, or alarm them so very much by its terrors. The
law may impress them more gradually, and may (if I may
with propriety use the expression) soak by degrees into their
minds and consciences. In such, their relief, peace, and
comfort, through faith, may at first be less sensible and ob-
servable ; but the word of the grace of the gospel entering
into their minds and hearts by slower degrees, their faith
grows up to greater strength, and with its proper effect in
holiness and fruitfulness in every good work.

At any rate, as to vital principles, whatever difference may
be as to manner and circumstances, yet matters will be with
every soul truly converted to God, according to the general
views given by the Scripture, which acquaints us, that they
are (Matt. ix. 12.) the sick who need the physician ; that
(1 Pet. ii. 7.) to them who believe, Christ is precious ; that
true faith will not allow the Christian to be habitually (2 Pet
i. 8.) idle and unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ. It will
be an active working principle, a faith that worketh by love%

Another thing fit to be added here is this : However need-
ful the ministry and discipline of the law in the conscience
and heart of a sinner, giving the knowledge of sin and of
wrath, is to determine him to flee for refuge, yet he is not
to consider the views and impressions that come in this way,
as qualifications that entitle him to the comforts of the gos-
pel, or to think, as if without these in a certain measure
and degree, it were unwarrantable and unfit for him to lay
hold of Christ, or of any comforts of grace. If he is truly
and seriously convinced of his need of a Saviour, it were well
for him even immediately to betake himself to him, believing
in him. If they are the sick that need the Physician, it
were vain and highly imprudent to stand off till they were
more sick. Many a life has been lost in that way. What-
ever the disorder, whatever the pain, as to the degree of it,
it were good for a man to betake himself soon and seasonably
to the Physician. Delay in such cases is often hurtful, and
extremely dangerous. It were good for a man to be often
thinking seriously concerning his spiritual condition, which
is his most important interest. When he is so, and obtains
increased views and impressions of sin and wrath, it were
good for him, having Christ and his grace set before him,
and freely offered, to endeavour, having an eye upward for
divine influence, to lay hold of Christ by faith, to apply the
blood of sprinkling to himself, for giving him peace ; and to

Questions respecting Conversion Explained. 387

apply the comforts of free and rich grace, and of the pro-
mise, suitable to his condition ; yet this still so as that the
conscience and heart shall be kept open to further views and
convictions of sin, and of judgment for it, from the law ; in
order to cause a man take the more fast hold of the hope set
before him, (which is the hope of righteousness through faith,
Gal. v. 5.) to hold Christ the more precious, to have the
greater relish of the consolations of grace, and of the promise,
and to have ever the greater fear of sin, as of the greatest of
all evils.

The special design of this section was, to point out what
direction the Scripture, particularly the context we have been
considering, gives to sinners yet in their natural, unconvert-
ed state, with respect to their most important interest, espe-
cially with regard to their justification and sanctification.
When the sinner, who hath been at ease in his sins, is first
awakened to seriousness, what especially affects his mind and
conscience is, the law as it worketh wrath ; and the great
concern is, to be freed from condemnation and judgment.
Some, when they have got some kind of peace and settle-
ment of mind with regard to this matter, take their ease, and
have no further concern. They rest in a form of religion
with no real holiness, or fruitfulness.

But they, in whom this work comes to a better issue,
through the mercy of God, are led farther into themselves,
to perceive the alarming dominion which sin hath in them,
and their inability to sanctify themselves. This becomes
matter of weighty concern with them.

The remedy with respect both to the sinner's guilt and
his depravity, is, to be made free from the law and its curse.
Whilst he is in this condition, as he is under wrath, so sin
hath dominion in him. He is at once delivered from the
divine wrath, from the dominion of sin in his heart and na-
ture, and made capable of holy practice, by being justified
through faith, and brought under grace, Rom. v. 1, 2. with
chap. vi. 14. Sinners coming into union with Jesus Christ
by faith, they (Rom. vii. 4.) become dead to the law (free
from its curse and bondage) by the body of Christ, that they
should be married to another, even to him who is raised from
the dead, that they should bring forth fruit unto God. This
is the doctrine of the Scripture, and the way which it marks
out to sinful men, in which alone they can come to a capa-
city of bringing forth fruit in a practice truly holy and ac-
ceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

38& Concernuig True Evangelical Preaching.

We should now show what direction our context affords,
as to comfort, and holy practice, to persons now truly in a
state of grace But as this will, in some form, come in our
way hereafter, I shall not lengthen this section, by saying
any thing particular concerning it in this place.

SECT. IV. — Concerning True Evangelical Preaching.
We proceed now to point out some directions that our con-
text, and the apostle's doctrine in it, afford to the preachers
of the gospel. As there are commonly persons differing as
to their spiritual condition and state in every public audience,
the discourses should exhibit things suited to such various
conditions of men. There may be such difference in the
case, even of persons in the same unconverted state, that
may require their being addressed and treated in a different
manner. Some such are quite secure and thoughtless about
their condition, whilst others of them are serious, and under
the sharp discipline of the law in their conscience. There
may also be considerable difference in the particular condition
and circumstances of persons in a state of grace ; some such
are weak, others are strong. A distinction that includes
all the members of the church is, That some are, in their
natural condition, under the law and its curse, and under the
dominion of sin ; and that others are in a state of grace. As
the apostle says of the ancient Israel, Rom. ii. 28. He is not
a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision
which is outward in the flesh; and chap. ix. 6. They are not
all Israel which are of Israel; so may be said of the New
Testament Israel, the gospel- church, all members of the
church externally are not the true circumcision described,
Phil. iii. 3.

It is, however, the way of some preachers to consider all
their audience under the general character of believers and
Christians, (as they are by profession and outward privilege,)
and to exhort them indiscriminately, without any hint of the
difference that may be, as to their real spiritual state, to the
practice of holiness ; explaining it and each particular virtue,
and enforcing these with such motives as the nature of the
subject affords ; pressing them to labour earnestly to over-
come their evil habits, and withdraw themselves from under
the power of them, and by careful attention to their heart
and practice, to acquire new habits of holiness and virtue ;
encouraging sometimes their sincere endeavours in this way,
with the prospect of the aids and assistances of the Holy

Concerning True Evangelical Preaching. 589

Spirit. As to these, the children of God do indeed need
them, with regard to all their course, work, and exercise ;
but persons in their natural state need much more than par-
ticular aids and assistances.

This way of preaching tends to keep persons in ignorance
of their natural condition, and of the sad disadvantage which
they therein labour under with respect to true holiness ; or
to cause them overlook it, and to imagine their powers amount
to more than they do. It is cercain there can be no true
holiness, no sincere serving of God, until a person is made
free from sin—- from its dominion. It is in that order that
the apostle conceives and represents things, chap. vi. 22.
Being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye
have your fruit unto holiness. It is right that a man should
strive against ill habits ; but there is a great deal more in
the dominion and slavery of sin than acquired evil habits.
The dominion of sin is too strong for any human power or
endeavour. The apostle says, chap. viii. 3. that the law
could not make a man free from the law of sin and death.
Why ? the law doth not encourage reformation (so some ex-
plain) by any promise of pardon. True ; but this is not all ;
nor is it to this that the apostle ascribes the disability of the
law ; but he says, the law could not make a man free, in that
it was weak through the flesh, the corruption of our nature,
that evil principle in men, whose tendency and influence is
ever in opposition to the direction and demand of the holy law.

The case hath required a great deal more than were requi-
site for curing and reforming any mere ill habits. It requir-
ed, as we have seen, that Christ should become a sacrifice
for sin ; as to procure pardon, and to bring sinners under
grace, so to procure that sin should be condemned to be
ejected from its throne and dominion. It becomes sinful
men to labour in every way of duty and means against sin.
But the condemning sentence against sin must be first truly
executed by a superior hand, before a man can do any thing
sincerely and successfully in the matter. So the apostle
says, chap. viii. 2. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and deaths

The first main intention, therefore, of the preacher with
respect to such sinners, should be, to bring them truly to
Christ, by the faith that would truly unite them to him,
and derive from him peace and comfort, sanctifying influence
and strength, that so, being married to him, they might
bring forth fruit unto God.

390 Concerning True Evangelical Preaching.

Subservient to this main intention is this other ; viz
to acquaint such sinners with the wretchedness of their con-
dition, by the light of the law ; to show them the evil of sin
in itself, and the fearful judgment, curse, and wrath, which
by the law is due to it ; to explain to them the holiness
which the holy and spiritual law requires ; and besides their
actual sins, to mark out to them the contrariety to this holi-
ness, which they may observe in their own nature and heart,
by comparing these with the perfect rule, and the light of
the word of God ; and to convince them by the word of God,
and what they may find in their own experience, how im-
possible it is for them, (being slaves of sin, and it having
invested all their faculties and powers,) to reform or sanctify
their own hearts, or to practise holiness in a manner truly
sincere and acceptable to God.

At the same time, with a view to sinners becoming seri-
ous and earnest in the matter of salvation, it is fit that the
preacher lay fully before them the abounding and exceeding
riches of divine grace ; the sufficiency of the Saviour ; his
love to sinners ; the complacency he hath in their betaking
themselves to him ; and the absolute freeness (without
money and without price) with which Christ, and all grace,
is offered in the gospel, even to the chief of sinners. This
should be done in such a manner as to obviate the tempta-
tions of various sorts, which arise from their own ignorance
and mistake, or from the device of the enemy ; which, by
reason of the darkness and weakness of their minds, they are
commonly too ready to entertain to their great hurt. It was
appointed anciently, that the highways to the city of refuge
should be open and clear, that nothing might impede the
course of a man thither, when he was fleeing from the aven-
ger : So should the preacher labour, by the direction of the
word of God, to obviate and remove every thing that might
discourage or hinder the motion of a serious and humbled
sinner towards Christ by faith, for refuge and salvation.

I have noticed the directions which our context affords to
sinners themselves, with regard to their wretched natural
state. As these may serve likewise for the use of the
preacher in dealing with such, I shall insist no longer on
this part of the subject.

The other class, of whom the preacher ought to have much
consideration, are sincere believers, who are truly in a state
of grace. The important intention with regard to them is,
the building them up in holiness and comfort ; — in comfort,

Concerning True Evangelical Preaching. 391

particularly in what concerns their sanctification ; as indeed
their feelings and experience do often occasion more sorrow
and discouragement with regard to this subject than with
regard to any other. Yet it is of great importance that their
comfort and joy should be maintained, as the joy of the
Lord is their strength.

We see the apostle in our context acting on this view very
remarkably. His special purpose is to exhort to the prac-
tice of holiness, to the avoiding and resisting of sin. But
he brings forth every argument, clothed, as it were, with
consolation, respecting the subject (concerning which Chris-
tians do commonly find such cause of discouragement) and
respecting the happy and certain issue. To be dead to sin,
(chap. vi. 2.) affords a strong argument why Christians
should not live in sin. But how great the comfort, to be
made free from its dominion, as that expression imports ?
Christians are obliged to be in practice conformed to Christ's
death, and to the design of it. But how great the comfort,
that they have fellowship with him in his crucifixion and
death, so that though sin remain in them, and gives them
much molestation, yet the old man is crucified by virtue of
the cross of Christ, and so being enervated and weakened,
they may take courage to decline its service ! If Christians
have fellowship with Christ in his death, whereby they are
made free from the dominion of sin, how unspeakably great
the consolation, that they shall be planted together in the
likeness of his resurrection, and, having died with him, that
they shall live with him in newness of life here, and in eter-
nal life hereafter ; and may reckon themselves to be dead
indeed unto sin, (made free from its reign and dominion)
and alive unto God through Jesus Christ ! Such consola-
tions tend greatly to sweeten and recommend to the heart
the arguments enforcing holiness and holy practice.

This particularly hath that tendency, chap. vi. 14. Sin
shall not have dominion over you ; for ye are not under
the law, but under grace. As if he had said, The law would
have left you wholly to your own free will, to stand or fall
according to its direction and determination. If a sinner
were delivered from the law, and that miserable condition
into which his sin had brought him, and put anew under
the law, he could have no security for preserving himself
from coming anew and quickly under the dominion of sin.
But the Christian being under grace, the object of special
divine favour, yea, a child of God, divine grace will take

59^ Concerning True Evangelical Preaching.

care that he fall not under that thraldom again, according
to the declaration of the last mentioned text, and according
to the promise of God's covenant of grace, Jer. xxxii. 40.
And though the means needful to be used, by way of chas-
tisement, may be so bitter and painful as may make sin
ever fearful to him, yet he will be recovered from his stray-
ing, and from his disordered frame ; his faith shall not fail,
or be quite eradicated, but his seed shall, by Divine influence
and care, abide in him. Thus the apostle goes on, com-
forting and exhorting at once, by the most encouraging
considerations, and the most cogent arguments, to ver. 22.
But now, being made free from sin, and become servants to
God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting
life ; in which words he gives a summary of what he had
said more largely in the whole chapter.

Let us go a little farther in observing how the apostle
manages this subject. As the condition of sinners under
the law is so extremely miserable, the apostle sets out on
that subject, chap. vii. 4. with stating this very comfortable
sentiment to Christians ; viz. that they were dead to the
law, and entered into marriage with a better husband, by
whom they would become fruitful in holiness. It is not un-
til after this, that he shows from his own experience, when
under the law, how great the power of sin, in opposition to
holiness, is, in the case of those who are under the law.
But as sincere Christians, acquainted with the spirituality
of the law, and with their own hearts, might find still with
themselves what was very opposite to the holiness of the
law, there was great need of providing comfort against this.
He doth so by representing his own case and experience in
his state of grace, in order (as Augustine said judiciously)
that a sincere soul might not conceive excessive dread or
discouragement from what the apostle found in his own
case ; and in the end he leads the true Christian, ver. 25. to
a joyful thanksgiving to God for what he had attained, and
for his happy prospect.

Thus the apostle's arguments against sin, and for enforc-
ing the practice of holiness, are all along dipped in consola-
tion, and this way ought the preacher of the gospel to fol-
low in exhorting Christians to holiness.

Yet often it is needful in dealing with Christians, to ad-
minister something else than mere consolation. The case
even of true Christians is commonly various. If some espe-

Concerning True Evangelical Preaching. 3Q3

cially need comfort, others need something else in the mean
time.

For this we may observe the apostle's distinction and
advice, 1 Thess. v. 14. Warn them that are unruly, or dis-
orderly. If a Christian doth in his practice, perhaps in a
remarkable degree, leave the rule of holiness, and act con-
trary thereto, it is needful, for recovering him, to warn
him with proper authority, and sharpness of rebuke, ac-
quainting him with the danger of his present course : it is
not comfort that is then most needful or fit. Comfort the
feeble-minded. — Some Christians, through the weakness of
their spirit, do not retain their comfort ; but it is easily
shaken or overturned; especially when there is the pressure
of heavy affliction and tribulation, with various temptations.
Their case needs to be carefully attended to, and all pro-
per means used to revive and strengthen them, and to
establish them in comfort and hope through faith. Support
the ?veak. — Some labour under too great degree of ignorance,
(as, for instance, of the Christian Gentiles, their full liberty
from all the Mosaic yoke, which was the weakness of some
heretofore, Rom. xiv.) and with unsteadiness of temper
otherwise; their ignorance makes them easily stumble, or
puts them in danger of going out of the right way. Such
need to be supported by those who are strong, particularly
by their teachers, with proper instruction, increase of light,
and with charitable condescension to their weakness, so as
not to give them needless offence. Though, as to matters of
necessary and strict duty, other Christians or ministers are
not to be brought into bondage to their weakness, by virtue
of any claim they can found on considerations of offence.

Thus true Christians should, according to their different
cases, be somewhat differently treated. But it is still true
in general, that Christians, from their inward and outward
condition in this evil world, do need that care should be
taken by preachers and others, to labour in advancing and
establishing their comfort, in the proper, seasonable, judi-
cious, and well warranted manner. — I should now proceed to
the other special purpose which a preacher of the gospel
should have in view, with respect to true Christians, and
that is, the advancing them in holiness. But I choose a
following place for that subject.

Before we go farther, we have full occasion to observe,
of how great importance it is, to preach the special doctrine
of the gospel, the doctrine of faith ; and that, not only in

394< Concerning True Evangelical Preaching.

order to give sinners encouragement respecting free justifi-
cation, but also with regard to sanctification. The gospel,
the doctrine of faith, is the special truth of God, and of di-
vine revelation ; this is the great means of sanctification, ac-
cording to that declaration and petition of our blessed Sa-
viour to his Father, John xvii. 17- Sanctify them through
thy truth ; thy word is truth.

It is not always the gospel that is delivered from the
pulpit. A man may preach very sensibly concerning the
divine perfections, and the authority of God's government
and laws. He may set forth the general obligations to duty
and obedience. He may inculcate the amiableness of vir-
tue in general, or of particular virtues ; and may represent
many worthy examples, for men's encouragement and ex-
citement. He may earnestly call on men to repent of their
sins, and to reform the disposition of their hearts, and their
course of life. He may inculcate this with all the advan-
tage of elocution, earnestness, and action, th?t would en-
title him to the character of the complete orator. The com-
position may be very skilful, the language elegant and
pathetical, and the preacher may be so greatly applauded,
that it may sometimes be said, He hath his reward. Not
only may the ears of the hearers be tickled, but their minds
may be very agreeably entertained with sentiments that are
in themselves just, and with many a good thought. Yet
in all this there may be nothing by which a soul may be
relieved and refreshed, that labours and is heavy laden ;
nothing by which a serious soul may be directed to the pro-
per sources of sanctification. A discourse may have in it
much truth that is consistent with the gospel, and presup-
posed by it, and yet have nothing in it of the gospel, pro-
Iperly so called. Of such a discourse, with all its advantage
of sentiment and expression, it may be said, as the apostle
says of the law, that it is weak through the flesh. The cor-
ruption of nature, in which sin hath dominion, is too strong
for philosophy, logic, and rhetoric — too strong for refined
speculation, strong argument, and the greatest oratory.

It is only the law of the Spirit of life that can make men
free from that unhappy law of sin and death, that prevails
naturally in the hearts of men ; and what arguments or ex-
hortations will prevail with the hearts of men to be truly
holy and virtuous, whilst they are under the miserable law
and dominion of sin ? It is the gospel that is the ministra-
tion of the Spirit. Men receive the Spirit through faith,

Concerning True Evangelical Preaching. 395

Gal. iii. 14. by the hearing of faith, Gal. iii. 2. It is the
gospel that exhibits God's highest glory, which he chiefly
designs to display before sinful men, even that glory of God
that shineth in the face of Christ. It is the gospel that
sets forth the glory of Christ, and by which the Holy Spirit
himself is glorified ; and it is it that will be honoured with
the concomitant influence of the Holy Spirit. It is true,
after all, that whilst the faithful preacher may be to God
(2 Cor. ii. 15, 16.) a sweet savour of Christ, he may be to
them who perish the savour of death, through their own fault;
yet the powerful influence of the Holy Spirit is not likely to
attend any other means, even any other truth, than the
truth and doctrine of faith, the gospel, which will be the
savour of life unto life to some. But, however it may hap-
pen to hearers, or however the blessings of grace may be
dispensed, it is happy for the preacher that himself should
be to God a sweet savour of Christ.

If it should now be asked, what is that special doctrine of
the gospel, and, strictly speaking, the doctrine of faith ? I
shall answer briefly —

All revealed truth ought to be greatly valued, and re-
ceived by faith ; and, if properly used, may be subservient
to the main subject and design of the gospel. But the spe-
cial subject of the gospel is Christ ; and preaching Christ,
according to the light and direction of the word of God, is
preaching the gospel. The angel preached it to the shep-
herds, Luke ii. 10, 11. saying, Fear not ; for behold, I
bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all
people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David,
a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. To preach Christ the
Saviour and the Lord, is the sum of gospel-preaching.
To exhibit him as a powerful Saviour, not merely to save us
from our ignorance or our errors, as a Prophet and Teacher
sent from God, or merely as a powerful Lord to protect us
during our course of obedience to him in our way through
this world, and at last to raise us up by his power to eter-
nal bliss ; but in the most comprehensive sense, to save us
from our sins. Under this character was he introduced into
the world, Matth. i. 21. Thou shalt call his name Jesus:
for he shall save his people from their sins. The whole ex-
tent of this salvation is comprised in these few words,
1 Cor. i. 30. He is of God made unto us wisdom, and right-
eousness, and s a notification, and redemption. Besides that
illumination of our minds, and instruction by his word, that

3Q6 Concerning True Eva??gelical Preaching.

is contained in the sense of his being made unto us ivisdom,
the two great parts of our salvation that are to be carried on
and effected in this life, are his being made unto us right"
eousness and sanctification : and how he is the Saviour to us
with respect to both these, is what the blessed apostle ex-
plains and asserts in the context I have been explaining, and
in the preceding part of the epistle.

With regard to the first of these, as he had proved, chap,
iii. 19. that all the world is guilty before God ; so he had
shown how Christ is made unto us righteousness, and how
sinners are justified, ver. 24, 25. formerly cited; to which
is to be added, Eph. i. 7« And as to the other part, our
sanctification, — as by his being a sacrifice for sin, he hath
procured the condemning of sin in the flesh, so he doth
make sinners free from its thraldom by his Spirit, and car-
ries on their sanctification by his Spirit, by his word, and
by his providence, until at length he shall present his
church a glorious church without spot. Thus is Christ a
Saviour, saving us from our sins. When we were under
the guilt and dominion of sin, thus hath he saved us by
him, Tit. iii. 5, 6, 7« ' Not by works of righteousness, which
' we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by
1 the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
c Ghost ; which he shed on us abundantly, through Jesus
' Christ our Saviour ; that being justified by his grace, we
c should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.'

We may observe how exceedingly careful the apostle
was, in preaching, to make Christ and his cross his chief
subject. To the Corinthians, those Greeks who were as
much taken up about wisdom of sentiment, refined specu-
lation, and elegance of language, as the men of most po-
liteness and fine taste in our times, he says, 1 Epist. i. 17.
Christ sent me — to preach the gospel ; not with wisdom of
words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
W hen men labour greatly about artful composition, refined
philosophical sentiment, and well turned expression, it were
well that this saying of the apostle should occur to their
minds ; and that they would beware lest the tendency of
their labour should be to make the cross of Christ of none
effect. It appears the blessed apostle wished not that the
brightness of the preacher, or his performance, should ob-
scure the glories of the cross, or should obstruct its virtue
and effect in the consciences and hearts of men. We preach

Cojicerning True Evangelical Preaching, 3D7

not, saith he, 2 Cor. iv. 5. ourselves, but Christ Jesus the
Lord.

Although the preaching of Christ crucified was to the
Greeks foolishness, yet he asserts, that Christ crucified is
(ver. 24.) to them who are called, the power of God, and the
wisdom of God. So, to these same polite, speculative, wise,
and elegant Greeks, he says again, chap. ii. 1, 2. ' And I,
' brethren, when I came to you, came not writh excellency
' of speech, or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of
* God. For I determined not to know any thing among
f you save Jesus Christ, and him crucified/ VVTe have rea-
son to think the apostle had very extensive knowledge ;
but from whatever part in the circle of knowledge he drew
his lines, they all, with him and in his preaching, centred
in Christ, or were drawn from that centre in every direction.

In all this, the preacher hath large scope for his medita-
tions and discourses. But, with propriety, purity, and gra-
vity of language, it is only the most unaffected plainness
and simplicity of style that can suit subjects so very su-
blime. To endeavour to set forth such subjects with flourish
and ornament of speech, is silly and pedantic, hath nothing
in it of true oratory, and shows that the man's own heart
is not seriously enough affected with the importance of the
subject to himself and to his hearers. Though propriety of
style, with gravity and plainness, is commonly fittest, yet
there seems to be a great deal in what was said long ago by
an eminent person: Qui pueriliter, qui trivialiter, (I would
add here, sed non fut'diter,) is utiliter. The low, but de-
cent and grave homely style, is most adapted to the profit,
commonly, of the greatest part of an audience ; and they
of better rank and education who wish to have their con-
science open to, and their hearts seriously affected by, the
word of God, may reap the most valuable advantages by
those sermons that are most profitable to persons of lower
condition.

What shall I say of that most foolish custom of reading
sermons to the congregation, which hath come from the
Southern, (I know not if it takes place in any other coun-
tries) to be in use of late with some in the Northern part
of the Island ? It is too dull for the orator, and puts such a
man in fetters; and it hath a strange appearance, that an
ambassador of Christ should deliver his message in this way.
What the Lord hath given in writing, he should read to his
people ; and if the minister should from a distance send an

r 5

398 Concerning True Evangelical Preaching.

epistle to his congregation, the clerk might read it to them
from the desk. But that the messenger of Christ should
appear personally, and address the consciences and hearts
of his people, praying them, beseeching them, 2 Cor. v. 20.
earnestly exhorting them from his papers, is extremely in-
congruous. We speak of a man's getting a discourse by
heart ; and it were right that preachers should (in a sense
somewhat different from the more common meaning of that
expression) have their sermons by heart, and preach from
the heart to the heart. At any rate, the appearance of this
is the most becoming, the most likely to be profitable, and
generally the most acceptable. Some hearers who have, or
pretend to have, better judgment and taste than their neigh-
bours, may like the reading of sermons; but it may well be
doubted if these are the sort who have the best taste of
gospel-preaching, or are most serious in religion. With us,
this way is hitherto so generally disgusting to congrega-
tions, sometimes without the exception of a single person,
that often the reader may be vindicated from the charge
of setting up for applause ; if it is not, perhaps, the self-ap-
lause, which his notion of his own superiority makes him
fond of, with the contempt of others. I would not, however,
be understood to mean, that the church should be wholly
deprived of the useful preaching of those who, through old
age, or accidental infirmity, are disabled from delivering
sermons in any other manner ; but I have known very few
instances of that kind among those who could prepare such
discourses, or could preach at all.

I have been saying, that the chief thing in preaching
should be to preach Christ, and the doctrine of the gospel
concerning him. Too many sermons come abroad into the
world that are much wanting in that respect. I venture to
give, for an instance of this, a sermon of the Reverend John
Alexander, said, in the title-page of the book in which it is
contained, to have been composed (which I much doubt of)
by the author the day preceding his death. This circum-
stance might have afforded reason not to mention it here in
this way, if, after its being published, it did not appear
needful to report such a circumstance, in order to make
some observations on it, for the sake of the living.

The text is, Eccl. ix. 10. c Whatsoever thy hand findeth
f to do, do it with thy might ; for there is no work nor
c device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither
c thou goest/

Concerning True Evangelical Preaching-. 3.99

The heads under which he enlarges on this text are two.
The first, What is implied in the advice in the text. On
this he says : 1. It teaches us diligence and assiduity in the
daily employments of life. 2. The speedy execution of
every worthy and important scheme. 3. The constant and
strenuous exertion of all our faculties in the proper business
of reasonable and moral agents ; the improvement of our
minds, and the government of our passions and affections,
&c. The second general head is, to illustrate the motive
contained in the text. As to this, there is, 1. The nature
of that state upon which we enter by death. There is nei-
ther work, &c. It is a state of perfect ignorance and inac-
tivity, in which we retain no sense of our present condition,
no memory of former transactions, nor any of the pleasing
capacities of action and enjoyment — (so it is indeed in the
full sense, if after death there remain no more of man than
what goes to the grave.) 2. This state, as it is real and
certain, so it is continually approaching — the grave to which
thou goest.

This is the sum of the sermon. He mentions the second
life, to wThich we aspire, by the favour and goodness of the
Creator ; and a little thereafter, mentions the reviving pros-
pect of immortality, and that glorious hope of a resurrection,
which is promised in the gospel. One might think, if the
writer relished that subject, that here was a fair opportunity
of mentioning Christ, who by his death and resurrection
abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light
through the gospel. A few lines from the end of the sermon
he says, * We must live to God, and lead an heavenly life,
' if we ever expect to reach those blissful abodes ; and we
' must form the habits of goodness and holiness, in order to
' be admitted there/ Wrould the Apostle Paul have des-
coursed of living to God, of living a heavenly life, of form-
ing habits of goodness and holiness, without making mention
of Christ, or of his death and resurrection ? This may be
judged of from the context we have been considering. This
author had learned from the gospel, that there is the hope of
the resurrection and future life ; but there is nothing in all
the sermon by which one would learn that ever he had heard
of Christ the Saviour, or of the Spirit of Christ, or the need
which sinful men have of the one or the other : nothing of
these subjects is insinuated or hinted in the remotest man-
ner ; only the name Christian occurs, from whatever root
that word is derived. It might be thought, that in the full

400 Concerning True Evangelical Preaching.

light that hath come by the gospel, a preacher of the gospel
could not easily preach on that same text, Eccl. ix. 10. with-
out setting Christ before his hearers.

There has an apology been provided for such a case by a
very celebrated preacher, who gave as his excuse for not
mentioning Christ in his sermon, that he was not mentioned
in his text. Nor is he mentioned in that text, Eph. ii. 8.
By grace ye are saved, through faith ; yet one might think
it wrere not easy to preach properly on it, and give the pro-
per explanations, exhortations, and directions, without men-
tioning Christ. It is however possible, that though the name
Christ is not mentioned, the sermon may be truly evangeli-
cal ; and also that Christ may be often mentioned, and the
sermon be far from being evangelical. After all, it would
seem more becoming a minister of Christ, to take all occa-
sions to set Christ and his grace before his hearers, rather
than be so ready to sustain for himself, and offer to others,
an excuse for having nothing about him at all. Such preach-
ers would do well to compare their sermons with our context,
yea, with all the epistles of Paul, where we see he could not
proceed a step without introducing that important, necessary,
and favourite subject. But since the time of that blessed
apostle, many have appeared to be far from the disposition he
expresses, Rom. 1 . 1 6, 1 7* 1 am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ : for it is the power of God unto salvation — For there-
in is the righteousness of God revealed. — There are some who
speak much about righteousness, who seem not to be fond of
that righteousness of God meant by him, and which he
counted the glory of the gospel, and a special cause why he
should not be ashamed of it. As they incline not to borrow
righteousness from Christ for justification, so neither do
they appear to see need of Christ for practical righteousness
and holiness ; if it is not for a clearer illustration of the law
that is the rule of it. Many, who wrish not to bear the cha-
racter of infidels, do, under Christian profession, appear to
have gone far in the way to a sort of philosophical heathen-
ism, borrowing from the gospel -revelation what they think
fit for adorning and recommending their new form of hea-
thenism.

But if it is fit and necessary to preach Christ, and him
crucified, and the special doctrine of the gospel concerning
him, it is also necessary to set forth and to inculcate ear-
nestly the design of his death, and of the grace manifested
in the gospel through him. If it was his gracious design to

Concerning True Evangelical Preaching. 401

bring sinners to peace, grace, and favour with God, and at
last to a state of blessedness and glory, it was no less his
design to sanctify them. So Eph. v. 25 — 2?. He gave
himself for his church, that he might sanctify it ; — and Tit. ii.
14. He gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all
iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of
good works. The demand for preaching Christ and free
grace is so far from being opposite to the end of preaching
holiness and good works, that indeed men cannot preach ho-
liness and good works to good purpose, and with good effect,
without bringing along with them all the way the doctrine
of Christ, and of free grace. It is at the same time true,
that men's preaching is essentially defective, if they preach
not Christ in a manner subservient to holiness. Some men,
when they hear a demand for evangelical preaching, and the
doctrine of grace, with complaints of legal doctrine, have
been ready to exclaim, and to say, that those who make
them cannot bear to hear of holiness and good works. This
is far from the disposition of pious souls who have a true
relish of the truth of the gospel, and a just zeal for it. Yet,
if the manner in which some preach holiness and good
works gives disgust, there is often too much cause for that
disgust. They are particularly happy who have the skill
to give free grace through Jesus Christ, and holiness, their
proper place, in a proper connexion the one with the other.
In the meantime, if faithful men are most frequently em-
ployed in preaching Christ, and the doctrine of grace, there
is special reason and need for it. The consciences of men
have naturally in them light and impressions favouring ho-
liness and good works ; whereas the peculiar doctrine of faith,
in which all the comfort and hope of sinful men are founded,
are such as nature gives no hint of. They are, according to
that text formerly cited, 1 Cor. ii. Q, 10. things which eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, and which we could not have discovered by
any light or principles naturally in our minds, nor have
come to the knowledge of them, if God had not revealed
them to us by his Spirit. Yea, as hath been also formerly
observed, there are principles and dispositions naturally in
the hearts of men, which tend to lead them to some ether
foundation of their confidence and hope, than that which the
gospel and the doctrine of grace directs them to. It is the
more necessary to labour much in explaining and establish-
ing the truth concerning Christ crucified, and all the proper

402 Concerning True Evangelical Preaching.

doctrines of faith that are connected with that fundamental
subject, and in inculcating these upon the consciences and
hearts of the hearers. When the truths of faith are effec-
tually received into the heart, they of themselves dispose it
to holiness ; and the true faith of these truths works by that
love which is the fulfilling of the law. Indeed, in sincere
Christians, love to God and men, with its fruits, in all kinds
of duty, and of holy dispositions, is to be considered as the
effect rather of the doctrine of grace itself received into the
heart, than as the consequence of the direct exhortations to
that love and duty : so that when a preacher is not employ-
ed in direct and explicit exhortations to holiness, but in set-
ting forth the love and grace of God in Christ Jesus, he is
not so remote from the purpose of advancing holiness as
some apprehend.

But still the practice of holiness and good works is of too
much consequence not to be insisted on and urged in the
most careful, direct, and earnest manner. Some who insist
only on the encouragements and consolations of grace, are
defective in this respect. 1 am not apprehensive of very
considerable danger by this to true believers, sincere Chris-
tians, for the reason I have been just now suggesting. But
as all who have the appearance, are not truly such, many
may be much hurt in this way. The doctrine of Christ
crucified, and the consolations arising from the richness and
freeness of divine grace through him, may be to many as a
very lovely song (Ezek. xxxiii. 32.) of one that hath a plea-
sant voice, and can play well on an instrument ; when these
doctrines have never been truly, and with proper effect, re-
ceived into their hearts. There is a description of sermons
that do not urge the holiness which the hearts of too many
professed Christians are not disposed to, that do not reprove
their vices and unholy passions, or the false and foul steps
in their walk, or their unfruitfulness in the knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ ; and the preachers themselves may be
greatly applauded, whilst their preaching is very defective.
Yea, as the children of God themselves have the remainders
of the flesh in them, they sometimes have much of the fruit
thereof in their disposition, temper, and behaviour, that they
do not choose should be touched or exposed in a proper light,
even to their own view. Yet the health and purity of their
souls require that these evils should not be cherished under
any disguises.

The doctrine, then, of faith, and of Christ crucified, should

Concerning True Evangelical Preaching. 403

be exhibited in its proper connexion with holiness and good
works. This connexion hath been much mistaken by some,
who represent holiness and good works as necessary to
men's having an interest in Christ and being justified, which
is very contrary to the gospel, and is extremely hurtful and
dangerous. Some, upon the other hand, who teach justifi-
cation by faith, and not by wTorks, and have just sentiments
concerning the necessity of holiness in the general, yet in
preaching are too negligent in insisting upon the certain and
necessary connexion between faith and good works — between
justification and true holiness ; the one as the fruit and con-
sequence of the other. As this may be of pernicious effect
to hypocrites in the church, it cannot be doubted but it must
be very hurtful to those who are sincere, not to have the in-
structions and excitements, with respect to holy disposition
and practice, that are proper.

It is then to be considered, that the gospel and doctrine
of grace is the doctrine that is according to godliness, 1 Tim.
vi. 3. which tendeth, in the whole and in every part of it, to
promote the practice of godliness. Let us likewise consider
what the apostle, in divers places, means by sound doctrine,
and wholesome words, particularly 1 Tim. i. 9, 10, 11. —
The law is made — -for the lawless — -for liars and perjured
persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to
sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the bless-
ed God. Here it is plain, that' sound doctrine, (yyiowaqn
dtdxG-xc&Xici, healthful, wholesome doctrine) is the doctrine of
the holy commandment, the rule of duty, as enforced by the
gospel. So chap. vi. after he had (ver. 1, 2.) enforced the
duty of Christian servants, he adds, ver. 3. If any man teach
otherwise, and consent not to wholesome rvords, (vyicuvxo-t
hoyoi$) he is proud, knowing nothing. Thus also, Tit. ii. 1. But
speak thou the things which become sound doctrine, ver. 2. that
the aged men be sober, &c. And so he goes on, speaking of
practical matters, the duties of Christians in the several rela-
tions, ranks, and conditions of life. I conclude, if any do
urge holiness and good works, without connecting these, as
the proper consequences, with the doctrine of Christ crucifi-
ed, and with faith, they certainly, according to the whole
tenor of the gospel, have not sound healthful doctrine. At
the same time, if any do separate the doctrine of faith and
of Christ crucified from that of holiness, practical righte-
ousness, and good works, surely, according to the apostle

404 Concerning True Evangelical Preaching.

Paul, in the places I have been observing, neither is their
doctrine sound, wholesome, or healthful doctrine.

It appears in the context we have been considering, how
much the apostle had at heart to excite Christians to the
practice of holiness. This is so obvious through the whole
of it, that after the close view we have been taking of it, we
need not speak more particularly on it here.

Let us then proceed to observe what arguments remain,
consistent with the doctrine of grace, by which the preacher
may excite Christians to watchfulness against sin, and to the
practice of holiness and all kinds of good works.

It is, in the first place, needful that Christians should be
deeply impressed with the authority of the laws of God, their
Creator and Supreme Lawgiver, and that preachers should
inculcate this on all classes of their hearers. Some who, I
am persuaded, did not mean any thing unfavourable to ho-
liness, or to any duty, seem to have thought as if the be-
liever's being delivered from the law included in its mean-
ing their being released from this original obligation of the
law, and their having substituted in its place to them the
law of Christ. That expression, the law of Christ, doth in-
deed occur in one place, Gal. vi. 2. where it evidently signi-
fies the law of mutual brotherly love, by which Christians
bear one another's burdens, which is the subject of exhorta-
tion there. As to the law in general, it is to be acknowledged
that the law and holy commandment coming to believers
from the great Prophet and Apostle of their profession, and
being the instrument and rule of his kingly government over
them; there is a great deal in this view, and way of con-
veyance of it to them, to sweeten and recommend it to their
hearts.

But still it is wrong to set up the law of Christ in opposi-
tion to the authority of the law of the great Creator and
Sovereign of the world, or to suppose that the doctrine of
faith gives any reason for this, or any countenance to it.
When the apostle is, Rom. vii. giving an account of things
respecting those who were strangers to Christ, being in the
flesh, and under the law, he commends the law as holy, just,
and good. This certainly is the law of God the Creator.
When, a few words thereafter, he says, ver. 14. the law is
spiritual, it is plain it is the same law he speaks of, as he
gives no indication of his using the word in a different sense,
now that he speaks with a view to the case of a believer.
A little downward he says of the same law, that he delighted

Concerning True Evangelical Preaching. 405

in it according to the inward man ; and concludes the chap-
ter with saying, that with his mind he served the law of God.
If he served it, surely he was under its authority.

Our apostle says, Rom. viii. 7- that the carnal mind is
not subject to the law of God. Shall it be said, that the spi-
ritual mind and spiritual man, under the influence of the
Spirit of grace, doth voluntarily conform to the law of God,
but is not indeed subject to it, or to its authority ? this
would seem to be too absurd. For as the unhappy distinc-
tion of the carnal mind is not to be subject, we must sup-
pose the spiritual mind to have the opposite character of be-
ing subject to the law, and its authority.

The apostle says, Rom. iii. 31. Do we make void the law
through faith? God forbid ; yea, we establish the law. It
is true, that the law was greatly established and magnified
by the satisfaction Christ gave it ; yet it is not easy to con-
ceive that a doctrine did not tend to make void the law, if
indeed it released all true Christians from its authority and
obligation.

If the matter be justly considered, the obligation which
true believers, or others, are under to regard and submit
to Christ the Mediator's kingly government, and his other
mediatory offices, is founded upon, and proceeds from the
authority of God the Sovereign Lawgiver, and of his law.
If it were possible for them to be loosed from the obligation
of the law of God the Creator and Supreme Lawgiver, they
would at the same time be set free from the government of
the Mediator. But they are subject to the kingly govern-
ment and authority of the Mediator, by virtue of their be-
ing, and continuing to be, under the authority and law of
him wTho said, Psal. ii. 6. / have set my King upon my holy
hill of Zion. They regard him as the great Prophet, by
virtue of his authority, who said from heaven, Matth. xvii.
5. Hear ye him, and, as Deut. xviii. 1.5 — 18. They con-
sider him as their great High Priest, for his being called of
God, as was Aaron, Heb. v. 4 — 6. Let not then the Chris-
tian think, that, by being free from the law in the sense
meant by the apostle, Rom. vii. he is not under the autho-
rity of the holy commandment, as it is the law of the Crea-
tor and Supreme Ruler of the world.

Another set of arguments that ought to be carefully urged
and inculcated, are these that arise from the grace of God,
and of our Lord Jesus Christ. The authority of God in his
laws is that which doth, and still ought to effect the con-

406 Concerning True Evangelical Preaching.

science. But consolatory arguments are these which do
most effectually and powerfully affect the heart. The ex-
ceeding riches of the grace of God, in his kindness to us
through Jesus Christ, should make the authority of his go-
vernment and laws venerable and amiable to us, and
every one of his commandments acceptable to us ; and
ought for this end to be much inculcated. The love of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who loved his people, and gave himself
for them, is a most powerful argument for that love, which
engages the heart to the Lord, and to the study of holiness.
Ye are not (saith the apostle, 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20.) your own ;
ye are bought with a price. This is wonderful grace, inex-
pressibly comfortable ; and how strong and engaging the
argument it affords for Christians to glorify God in their
bodies, and in their spirits, which are his ! In temptations to
sin, how powerfully may that thought, Do ye thus requite
the Lord, strike the heart that hath any sincerity in it !

A strong argument to enforce holiness, arises from the
necessity of it, in order to the actual attainment of future
happiness and eternal life ; and the certain inseparable con-
nexion between fleshly, unholy living, and eternal death.
Heb. xii. 14. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without
which no man shall see the Lord. On the other hand, Rom.
viii. 13. If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. Upon this
latter text some have unreasonably commented, and argued
thus : Therefore it is evident, say they, that true believers
and saints, (and the apostle considered the Romans he wrote
to as such,) may fall wholly off from holiness to fleshly living,
and die eternally, else why should they be thus warned ?
But there is no ground for this argument in the apostle's
proposition. The thing asserted is, according to the nature
of such hypothetical propositions, the certain connexion be-
tween one thing and another : between continued fleshly
living, and dying eternally. Let us apply this way of ar-
guing to such another hypothetical proposition, and see how
it will hold. When the mariners attempted to leave the
ship wherein Paul was, he said, Acts xxvii. 31. Except
these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. Would it be
inferred from this, that the mariners might actually leave
the ship, and that the other people aboard might all actually
perish, notwithstanding God's having absolutely promised
them by his angel and by Paul, ver. 22. 24. that there
would not be the loss of any man's life among them ? Surely
this could not be inferred. Neither from the conditional

Concerning True Evangelical Preaching. 407

proposition, Rom. viii. 13. can any thing be inferred con-
trary to the absolute promises of God's covenant, Jer. xxxii.
40. The truth declared to the Romans is, that eternal
death will be the certain consequence of living after the
flesh ; and the conviction and impression of this in the
minds and hearts of God's people, and powerfully affecting
them, is one considerable means by which the purpose and
promise of God will take effect, in their perseverance and
salvation. There is nothing in the promises of God that
derogates from this certain truth, — If men shall live after the
flesh, that they shall die ; nor any thing in this that de-
rogates from the truth and certainty of the promises of the
new covenant.

It is likewise needful and fit that Christians consider, and
that preachers inculcate upon them, that the practice of holi-
ness and good works is the sure way to attain and maintain
the fixed and habitual assurance of their good state, and of
their eternal salvation. If (as Rom. viii. 16.) the Spirit of
God shall bear witness with our spirits, that we are the chil-
dren of God, and so heirs of God, this is the evidence by
which our spirit, mind, and conscience hath its parts in this
witnessing. It is by their fruitfulness in holiness, (as 1 Pet.
i. 4 — 7-) that Christians are exhorted, ver. 10. to make
their calling and election sure. When the apostle com-
mends the Hebrews, chap. vi. 10. for their good works, he
desires them, ver. 11. to show the same diligence, to the full
assurance of hope unto the end. A Christian may have well-
founded present consolation by the direct exercise of faith
on Jesus Christ, and the promises of a new covenant; but
fixed, habitual, and well established comfort, as to their
state and hope, cannot be maintained but in the way of pu-
rity and upright walking with God ; nor will the Holy
Spirit, whose influence is needful in this case, countenance
or support the comfort and hope of the Christian in any other
course. As something hath been formerly (Sect. II.) said
on this and the next following point, the less needs to be
said on either in this place.

There occurs next the consideration of divine chastisements.
Fatherly chastisements indeed they are to believers, the chil-
dren of God, and designed to make them partakers of his
holiness ; but how fearful may these chastisements be for
what is wrong or defective in the Christian's general course,
or for particular deviations from purity and integrity! Many
instances of this sort are related in the word of God, with

408 Concerning True Evangelical Preaching.

respect to those to whom grace did abound in pardoning.
Thus, Psal. xcix. 8. Thou wast a God that forgavest them ;
though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions. What
terrible dispensations, outward and inward, may be included
in this vengeance ! A child of God, who had great assurance
that things would go well with him finally, felt as he ex-
presses, Psal. cxix. 120. My jiesh trembleth for fear of thee,
and I am afraid of thy judgments.

Further, it is in the way of holiness that the Christian
may have, not only inward peace, but that fellowship and
intercourse with God, and light of his countenance, that will
make wisdom's ways, ways of pleasantness to him. Thus,
1 John. i. 7« If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we
have fellowship one with another. By this the Lord some-
times putteth more gladness in the hearts of his people than
the world have (Psal. iv. 7-) by the increase of their corn
and their wine. The apostle John's words show us in what
way and course this may be looked for. Indeed, in any
course that the Christian can hold, whilst in this life, sin
will cleave to him and to all his best works and righteousness,
wrhich might make him very uncomfortable, if it were not
for what is added, — And the blood of Jesus Christ his Son
cleanseth us from all sin. But if the Psalmist had so much
gladness by the light of God's countenance, he experienced
also a contrary dispensation, Psal. xxx. 7* Thou didst hide
thy face, and I was troubled. Ver. 8. / cried to thee, 0 Lord.
Ver. Q. What profit is there in my blood, when I go down
to the pit ? They who have the experience of these various
dispensations, and of walking (Psal. lxxxix. 15.) in the light
of God's countenance, will feel great weight in this argument
and motive for fruitful and holy walking with God.

Finally, a very powerful argument to encourage and excite
the Christian to holiness, to advancing therein, to avoid and
strive against sin, arises from that comfortable consideration
and principle suggested, chap. vi. 14. that sin shall not have
dominion over him. This is express and clear, and the in-
conceivably valuable advantage of this is represented, not as
depending merely on the slippery free-will of man, but on
the Christian's being under grace. This grace he is under ;
and that Christ is set at the head of the kingdom of grace, a
Captain of Salvation, secures the Christian from ever falling
again under the dominion of sin. There is a great deal in
this to excite the Christian to labour in advancing in holi-
ness and good works, maintaining warfare against sin, an

Concerning True Evangelical Preaching. 409

enemy already dethroned and deprived of its power and
dominion, with a sure prospect of complete victory over it
at last. The apprehended impossibility of accomplishing
their design, doth often hinder men from beginning or pro-
ceeding with courage even in a laudable attempt or under-
taking. But to be called to a course of holiness, in warfare
against an enemy already deprived of his power, and that
with sure prospect of victory and glory, surely there is in
this very much to give incitement to every soul that can
think wisely and dutifully on the important subject.

Such are the arguments that may be suggested to Chris-
tians for enforcing holy practice, consistently with the doc-
trine of grace, and with the comforts of the grace they are
under. Yet the cry with some is, as if by this doctrine the
necessity and care of holiness were quite superseded, and
as if there remained not arguments and motives sufficient to
enforce holiness. But do there not remain sufficient reasons
and motives for holiness and good works, unless we delude
sinners, by directing them to look for their justification be-
fore God by their own righteousness and works ? which is a
way of justification incompatible with the condition of a sin-
ner. If there were no other wray of justification, certainly
sinners behoved to be under condemnation for ever. Yea,
this would exclude true holiness and works truly acceptable
to God, from among men for ever, as is clear from the apos-
tle's doctrine in the context which we have been explaining ;
in which it is evident, that the sinner must be gratuitously
justified, through the redemption that is in Christ, and by
faith in his blood, and so brought under grace, before he
is capable, being delivered from the dominion of sin, of holy
and righteous practice, or of works truly good or acceptable
to God. However, though men's good works have no place
or part in justification, yet the doctrine of grace, and the
experience of that grace, directs Christians to say, as, Eph. ii.
10. We are God's workmanship, (not our own workmanship,)
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which he hath before
ordained (7r^ortroiucc<7iv, before prepared) that we should walk
in them. And the glorious preparation which divine wisdom
and grace have made, for bringing sinners, who were at the
same time under the curse of the law, and under the domi-
nion of sin, unto a state of grace and favour, and unto a
course of holiness and good works, is what our context ex-
plains and proposes in a clear and strong light.

But can there be arguments sufficient to enforce holiness

410 Concerning True Evangelical Preaching.

and good works, if God's purpose and promise do absolutely
secure the salvation of every one of God's true people ? We
have seen in the various arguments formerly suggested, that
there are indeed such ; and if these have not effect, it proves
the person to be under such dominion of sin, as will be too
strong for all arguments and motives whatsoever.

Some seem to think it the only way to enforce holiness ef-
fectually, to acquaint men that their salvation depends ab-
solutely and merely on their own behaviour, and the deter-
mination of their own will ; and that if Christians are de-
livered by God's promise and covenant, and by their faith
therein, from the terrors of damnation and the wrath to come,
that there can remain no sufficient force in any argument or
motive to holiness. But the truth is, if Christians have no
security against the wrath to come, otherwise than from their
own behaviour and use of their free-will, they, conscious
of the deceitfulness of sin, and of their own hearts, and of all
the temptations and hazards attending their course, might
see reason always for terror and dread, in a manner and de-
gree not favourable to holiness. For, though fear hath its
use for the restraining and curbing of sin, yet the proper
principle of true holiness is love, and the faith which worketh
by love. But if the Christian hath nothing to look to for
securing him against damnation and wrath but his own use
of his free-will, with such aids and assistances as his free-
will may use or neglect, there will be cause for continual
fear and terror, even such fear as hath torment, and is in-
consistent with the love that is the principle of holiness,
according to 1 John iv. 18.

But the divine scheme of grace hath mixed and tempered
things well for the advancement of holiness. Is the sal-
vation of God's people secured upon the best and most solid
foundation ? yet there remains a great deal for the children
of God to fear, with regard to sin and its consequences —
with regard to God's threatenings against the sins of his
children, and the terrible dispensations, outward and in-
ward, that may be the actual consequences of their sins.
This, in so far that it is among the marks of God's people,
that they tremble at God's word ; and we see, Ezra ix. 4.
that the special designation and character of godly persons
is, that they tremble at the words of the God of Israel.

There is, at the same time, a sure and well founded hope,
a strong consolation, an exalted prospect, the most endearing
and attractive motives, tending to increase love to God, to

Concerning True Evangelical Preaching. 411

his sovereignty and holiness, and to strengthen the hearts
of Christians in labouring for conformity to it. Certainly it
was the best scheme for promoting holiness, that, with a pro-
per curb of fear upon the unholy lusts and unruly passions
of the heart, did and still doth contribute most to the advance-
ment of love, and strengthening the hearts of Christians in
their course. Thus then it is, while by divine grace the
Christian hath the greatest cause for the love that is the
true principle of holiness, there remains at the same time a
fear subservient to this love, and to holiness, not a torment-
ing fear, inconsistent with love, but a fear that hath its root
and spring chiefly in love.

Some who seem not to employ much thought on the
argument, express it thus in general : — If God's purpose of
grace, and his promise, hath absolutely secured the salvation
of God's people, then they may go on as they please in
unholiness and fleshly living, — their salvation being so well
secured. But for the argument to strike against the doctrine
of grace we have been asserting, it should be formed thus : —
If God's purpose and promise have secured the perseverance
of his people in faith and holiness, to the attainment of a
final and complete salvation, then they may live as they
list in unholiness and impurity. This is the only form
in which the argument can strike against the doctrine of
grace ; and the glaring absurdity it contains supersedes all
occasion of giving it any direct answer.

Concerning holiness, this is evidently the issue of our
whole discussion, viz. that the grace of the new covenant
hath provided for the advancement of holiness and good
works, and for the sanctification of God's people, in a manner
and degree much beyond what the sentiments of the adver-
saries of grace will allow them to admit.

As to the argument taken from the liberty of the will,
that impotent idol, that hath been set up against the glories
of divine grace, something hath been said before concern-
ing it, and I shall here add but a little, briefly. All moral
agents act with free will. But there is a principle in nature
of powerful influence and effect, previous to all exercise of
free will, that directs and determines the will in its actings,
and in the use of its liberty. In angels and saints in a con-
firmed state of holiness, this principle is the perfect rectitude
of their nature, that directs their free will to that only that
is holy, just, and good. In some other moral agents, the
previous principle is the corruption or pravity of their nature,

412 Concerning True Evangelical Preaching,

or the dominion of sin therein, which directs the will to that
which is evil, and makes it at present incapahle of true
holiness. In both cases the moral agent acts freely, according
to the direction of his own mind, and according to his in-
clination, without any sort of force or violence ; and so the
will may have all the liberty that is necessary to moral
agency, whilst, at the sametime, it, and all the faculties of
the soul, may be enslaved, and under the dominion of sin,
until it shall be made free according to the glorious scheme
of grace through Jesus Christ, and by him. So that when
Luther was publishing his answer to Erasmus* book on free-
will, he did very properly entitle his own excellent treatise,
Concerning the Enslaved Will, (de Servo Arbitrio.) Free it is
in its manner of acting, yet truly enslaved to sin in every
natural man, until the Son shall make him free indeed.

True believers, wThilst they are in this life, are in a sort of
middle state between the two characters before mentioned.
Their nature is renewed by grace, and they have the seed of
holiness in them, which seed shall remain in them. They
have also in them a sad remainder of the original corruption ;
and both these draw different ways, so that they cannot do
completely the things that they would, Gal. v. 17. But
though this remaining corruption considerably disables them,
and too often draws them aside from the right way, yet the
grace they are under will preserve them from ever falling
under the dominion of sin, and will rather care effectually
for their safety in the final issue, according to out context,
chap. vi. 14. Should it be thought a thing incredible that
the sincere Christian should be certainly kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation ?

But how can we conceive or comprehend, that the previous
certainty of God's prescience of future events, that are to be
brought about in concurrence with the will of man, or that
the certain accomplishment of Divine counsels and purposes
that are accomplished by means of the human will, can be
consistent with the freedom of the wTill ? Can the will be free
in its determination, and yet, at the same time, that deter-
mination of the will be fixed and certain in the Divine pre-
science and decree ? So it is, however, on both sides ; there
is such a previous certainty of events, and the human will
having its part in bringing about those events, is free. Be-
sides that the Divine prescience and decree, and the certainty
thereof, can be proved by just reasoning from the infinite
perfection of the Divine nature, so the doctrine can be satis-

Concerning True Evangelical Preaching. 413

factorily confirmed from the Scripture ; and it can be shown,
by very many particular instances recorded in the word of
God, that this previous certainty of events in the counsel
and purpose of God, is consistent with the liberty of the
will.

What if we cannot conceive or comprehend how it is so ?
We shall comprehend it when we shall be as gods. The
mischief of aspiring to know and comprehend beyond our
sphere and capacity began very early with us. But it be-
comes us to confine our understanding, as to knowledge, in-
quiries, and conceptions, within its proper limits and capa-
city. It will be a happy time and state, when the mind shall
be satiated with the best knowledge, without aspiring to
comprehend all things ; even things which no finite mind
can comprehend ; more than we shall aspire to the dignity
and glory of God in general. I do indeed suspect, that in
this matter, — viz. to comprehend the consistency of the
liberty of the will, with the previous certainty of events to
be brought about by it, there is something of this sort, — some-
thing that cannot be fully comprehended by finite beings in
any state. I therefore cannot think they have been wisely
employed, who have pretended to explain this matter, so as
to bring it within the grasp of human minds. I see that
some with great and vain pretension to be ingenious, have
produced on this subject speculations of most mischievous
tendency, — speculations adverse to all freedom of will, and
at the sametime to all moral agency ; consequently adverse
to all virtue and religion. The rule of our faith and duty is
set before us, and we should be satisfied with it. To pursue
our inquiries in divine things beyond what this light and
rule direct us, will be vain and dangerous.

But as this is not a proper place for enlarging much in the
controversial way, I shall conclude this point with giving
the sense of a passage of the great Augustine, in his book
De Spiritu et Litera, thus : 'Do we then make void free will
' by grace ? Far be it from us : we rather establish free-
' will. For as the law is not made void by faith, so neither
' is free-will by grace, but established. For the law is not
* fulfilled but by the free-will. But by the law is the know-
' ledge of sin ; by faith is grace obtained against sin ; by
c grace is the soul cured of the* disease of sin ; by this cure
' or health of the soul is the will free. By the will's being
1 made free, is delighting in righteousness ; by delighting
1 in righteousness, comes the doing of the duties of the law.
s

414 Concerning True TLvaiwelical F * reaching.

c So, as the law is not made void, but established by faith,
' as faith obtains the grace by which the law is fulfilled ; in
c like manner, free-will is not made void, but established,
' because grace so heals the will, that righteousness is freely
c delighted in. These things which I have connected as in
' a chain, can be warranted by texts of Scripture to the sense
c of each. The law saith, Thou shall not lust. Faith says
e and prays, Heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee.
c Grace says, ho, thou art made whole, sin not, lest worse
' happen to thee. The soul healed saith, Lord my God, I
c have cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. Free-will
' saith, / will offer a free-will offering to thee. Delighting
' in righteousness saith, The unrighteous have told me what
' they delighted in, but they are not according to thy law.
' How then should wretched men dare to be proud of their
c free-will before they are made free, without observing that
c the very word free-will imports the will being made free ?
c for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. If then
c persons are the slaves of sin, why should they boast of
e free-will ? for his slave one is, of whom he is overcome.
' But if they are made free, why should they boast as of
c their own work, and glory as if they had not received ?
' Are they so free, that they will not submit to have him for
' their Lord, who saith to them, Without me ye can do no-
' thing ; and, If the Son shall make you free, then shall ye be
'free indeed ?' So far the excellent Augustine.

But with all this excitement to the practice of holiness and
good works; there is one thing yet remains which Christians
should have much at heart, and in which faithful preachers
should labour to assist them. As Christians should look
anxiously to the sincerity of their hearts, to the sincerity of
grace and love in them ; so ought they to labour carefully
for the increase of that knowledge and light that is needful
to direct the good principles that are in them, in their oper-
ations ; and herein they may have great benefit by faithful
and judicious teachers.

There are two places of Scripture especially worthy to be
considered on this occasion. One is Col. i. 9, 10. where
the apostle earnestly prays for the Colossian Christians thus :
That ye might, saith he, be filed with the knowledge of
his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding : that
ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being
frtiitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge
of God. Here, after great commendation of their faith and

Concerning True Evangelical Preaching. 41/>

love, in the preceding verses, we see he reckons their being
filled with the knowledge of the will of God, so necessary in
order to their walking worthy of the Lord, and being fruit-
ful in every good work, that he makes the most earnest ad-
dresses to the throne of grace, on this account for them.

The other place is Phil. i. 9> 10, 11. ' And this I pr;
' that your love/ (some would express it in our more usual
language, ' that your grace') c may abound yet more and
( more in knowledge, and in all judgment ; that ye may ap-
1 prove things that are excellent/ The margin hath it, That
ye may try things that differ. I take the meaning to be,
that they might have that knowledge, good judgment, and
spiritual sense by which they might be able to distingi
between duty and sin, and to discover their duty in every
case, however dark, doubtful, or disputable it might appear.
He wishes their love to increase and abound, but at the
same time that their knowledge and judgment might
giving their love the proper direction, in ever ee of

conduct and behaviour. It is in this way, and not other-
wise, he expects they might be, as he adds, ' Sincere, and
1 without offence till the day of Christ; being filled \
' the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, un-
: to the glory and praise of God.' There is nothing has a
more unpleasant and painful effect, than when a Christian,
truly sincere in love, and in a zeal of God, falls into mis-
taken courses, through want of needful light, by which to
distinguish between sin and duty, and which might obviate
and counteract the influence of his own, and other men's
passions. Yet so it happens. Some abound in light and
knowledge, who are not so anxious about the sincerity of
their hearts, and the uprightness of their walk, as they
ought to be. Others, conscious and confident of their own
sincerity, are no less confident on that account, whatever
light or arguments oppose it, that their course is right; and
so they despise and reject the offer of better light, that
might show them what is wrong in their way. Therefore
it were good not to engage hastily in any new course ; for
when once Christians are so engaged, too many things
concur to exclude the light that may be unfavourable to
their course.

In this preachers should labour much to be useful to
Christians, for increasing their light and knowledge, and
improving their judgment in all cases of duty and sin.
Here they have a very large field, and great scope for show-

41 6 Concerning True Evangelical Preaching.

ing at once their ability and fidelity, in setting forth the
obligation and necessity of holiness, in explaining its gene-
ral nature and ingredients, in explaining particular virtues
and duties, and in enforcing them ; showing the fallacy
of the various colours and disguises, under which a sin-
ful work or course may be recommended to them. It is
from the word of God that Christians are to derive all their
light and knowledge concerning such subjects ; and as their
teachers have commonly more opportunities, and greater
advantage for studying and understanding the word of God,
so should they endeavour to enlarge their own stores, for
the use of Christians, out of that treasure of divine wisdom.
Let a man exert all the vivacity and vigour of his mind in
refined speculation — let him abound in quaint and striking
thought and expression — let him collect all that is most
valuable concerning virtue, in the writings of the philoso-
phers and wise men of the world, — all will come much short
of the light and instruction, concerning such subjects, that
is to be obtained from the word of God. 2 Tim. iii. 16, 1?.
c All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is pro-
e fltable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruc-
c tion in righteousness' — (is profitable for giving the know-
ledge of divine truth ; for convicting and refuting contrary
errors ; for conveying the light and reproof that tend to
correcting what may be wrong in men's course and works ;
and for instruction in all that concerns the practice of righte-
ousness)— c that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
' furnished unto all good works ;' that the Christian may
be complete in that character, and furnished for every good
work ; that the man of God, so called in a more special
sense, may be complete in the character of a minister of
God, and thoroughly furnished for every good work per-
taining to his office ; for advancing the profit and salvation
of his people ; particularly in giving them from the Scrip-
ture all the instruction needful with regard to the practice
of righteousness.

There are, however, several things respecting this matter
which it were fit for preachers to observe. 1. That they es-
pecially use the language of the word of God. This is the
style most proper for such subjects ; the style most grave,
serious, and emphatic. Human language, especially when
it is much laboured, and wrought up to elegance and oratory,
may tickle the ears and minds of hearers, and conciliate their
esteem of the preacher's talents ; but will never make such

Concerning True Evangelical Preaching. 417

impression on the hearts of persons serious in religion, or be
received with such relish, as the language of the Holy Ghost,
properly used. He was a good, and very successful preacher,
who said, 1 Cor. ii. 13. Which things also we speak, not in
the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth ; comparing spiritual things with spiritual ;
that is, as some understand the last clause, very suitably to
the matter and scope of the verse, suiting spiritual language,
such as the Holy Ghost himself useth, to spiritual things ;
which, in the next following verse, he calls the things of the
Spirit.

2. That on occasion of explaining and urging duty, or
particular instances thereof, they direct Christians to discover
and observe what may have been, in omission or commission,
contrary thereto in their practice ; and to the renewed ap-
plication by faith, of the blood of sprinkling, for renewing and
supporting their inward peace and comfort. With thee ( Psal.
cxxx. 4.) there is forgiveness, that thou mai/est be feared.
Faith's views and improvement of the blood of sprinkling,
and of pardoning grace, is essential in the religion of a sin-
ner. Whatever improper use hypocritical and insincere per-
sons may make of pardoning grace, the view and comfort
of it is exceeding needful for every serious and sincere soul,
for encouragement and support in godliness, amidst the views
such may have of their own strayings and failures.

3. That in explaining holiness, and the particular virtues
and good dispositions that are included in it, they mark out
the opposite vices and corrupt tempers that are naturally in
the hearts of men, that they show the fallacy of these ap-
pearances of virtue, that do oftentimes but colour over a very
sinful disposition and practice; that they mark out to Chris-
tians the opposite plagues, lustings, and unholy affections,
which, through remaining corruption, are yet commonly and
in too great a degree in their hearts, with the difficulty
thence arising in the practice of each virtue, and the hin-
derance this gives to their progress and advancement in holi-
ness. To represent, as in contrast, the several virtues and
holy dispositions, with the opposite evils of men's hearts,
happily suits the real case of Christians. Without this, mere
theories concerning virtues and duties, however just, and
however much the nature, amiableness, excellency, and ad-
vantage of virtue be set forth, will not be really profitable.
Some content themselves with setting forth the righteous and
good man, and the man to whom they give a designation

418 Concerning True Evangelical Preaching.

from some particular virtue, in such a way as if indeed the
man, in his real disposition and practice, did represent righte-
ousness and goodness, or the particular grace or virtue, as
completely as the preacher's definitions and illustrations do.
This is flying too much above the heads of Christians. It is
by all means fit to acquaint them fully with the operation
and influence of the opposite principles that remain in them,
in order to put them on their guard against those evils on
the part of the flesh, which, if unobserved, may have a very
ill effect with regard to their disposition and course.

It is fit, at the same time, that for their encouragement,
Christians be acquainted with the condescensions of divine
grace, which often doth grant favourable acceptance, through
Jesus Christ, of the sincerity that is attended with much
failure and imperfection, yea, hath a very considerable mix-
ture of what is evil.

But if, with proper descriptions of Christian virtues and
duties, men's hearts be searched, with a view to show the
opposite evil dispositions and corrupt biases which, on the
part of the flesh, are in them, as this will tend to make,
them the more watchful, so will they be thereby led to have
the necessary recourse to the fulness that is laid up for them
in him in whom it hath pleased the Father that all fulness
should dwell, and that for the renewed and more powerful
influences of the Spirit.

Christians are often too easily satisfied with the disposition
and frame of their own hearts. But if, with sincere and
earnest desire to advance in holiness, they looked more
closely into the law, as it is spiritual, and into their own
hearts, they would see, to their great benefit, more of these
motions of sin in them, by which they do what they would
not, and are unable to do, in manner and degree, as they
would ; as the blessed apostle represents in our context,
chap. vii. 14 — 25. Such views and feelings contribute great-
ly to the Christian's purity in heart, and in the practice of
life, and to his advancement in holiness. The things above
suggested in this section belong to the profitable and evan-
gelical way of preaching, and enforcing holy practice.

But now, to bring this work to a conclusion : it is good for
them who are the servants of sin, and under its dominion,
to become sensible of the wretchedness of that condition, and
to betake themselves to the Son, to make them free indeed;
to pray earnestly for that Spirit of life, which cometh by
Christ Jesus, to make them free ; without trusting to any

Concerning True Evangelical Preaching. 419

powers or endeavours of their own for recovering their liberty.
It becomes them, who, by being justified through faith, and
brought under grace, are made free, to acknowledge the grace
which hath made them so ; to keep ever in their eye the rule
of duty, with earnest endeavours to attain conformity to it;
knowing that the design of divine grace, in delivering them
from the law and its curse, and m making them free from
the dominion of sin, was, according to our context, that they
might be the servants of righteousness. It becomes them to
have habitual recourse to the Lord, and to the promises of
the new covenant, for renewed influences of grace, to enable
them to hold on in their course of faith and holiness, and to
encourage their hearts, and support their hope with this
comfortable consideration, that sin shall not have dominion
over them, as not being under the law, but under grace. It
becomes ministers to labour in leading persons to know
themselves and to know Christ, to mark out to them by
the light of God's word the way in which they ought to walk,
and to enforce holy practice by evangelical principles, argu-
ments, and motives, which alone will have effect.

THE END.

EDINBURGH:
PRINTED BY J. & D. COLLIE.

Concerning True Evangelical Preaching. 419

powers or endeavours of their own for recovering their liberty.
It becomes them, who, by being justified through faith, and
brought under grace, are made free, to acknowledge the grace
which hath made them so ; to keep ever in their eye the rule
of duty, with earnest endeavours to attain conformity to it ;
knowing that the design of divine grace, in delivering them
from the law and its curse, and in making them free from
the dominion of sin, was, according to our context, that they
might be the servants of righteousness. It becomes them to
have habitual recourse to the Lord, and to the promises of
the new covenant, for renewed influences of grace, to enable
them to hold on in their course of faith and holiness, and to
encourage their hearts, and support their hope with this
comfortable consideration, that sin shall not have dominion
over them, as not being under the law, but under grace. It
becomes ministers to labour in leading persons to know
themselves and to know Christ, to mark out to them by the
light of God's word the way in which they ought to walk,
and to enforce holy practice by evangelical principles, argu-
ments, and motives, which alone will have effect,

SERMONS

ON

SACRAMENTAL OCCASIONS.

The following excellent Sermons are printed from the Author's manu-
scripts. It is uncertain whether they were intended by him for the press ;
but one thing is evident, that they are as accurately written, as if that had
been the Author's original intention. The homely style in which they ap-
pear, it is hoped, will not render them the less extensively useful.

The Author possessed a singular talent for the illustration of the scrip-
tures ; and this is happily displayed by him in these Sermons : for in them
appear that solid judgment, true learning, and genuine piety, so eminently
conspicuous in his celebrated piece on Sanctiflcation.

I had the honour to be personally acquainted with the Author, and con-
sider that acquaintance as one of the happiest circumstances of my life. In
him concentered all the amiable qualities of the divine, the scholar, and
the Christian. Indeed, one may say, without exceeding the bounds of
truth, that the illustrious title marked out for gospel ministers by Paul,
when he says, c that they are the glory of Christ/ eminently belonged to
him.

Having myself been much edified with the perusal of these Sermons, I
know not how to render a more important and essential service to my Chris-
tian friends, and particularly to my younger brethren in the ministry, than
to be happily instrumental in putting them into their hands.

I have no object in view by contributing mine endeavours towards their
publication, but the advancement of the Redeemer's glory. And that this
object may be attained, through the blessing of God accompanying the at-
tentive perusal of them, is what I sincerely wish and pray for.

JOHN RUSSELL.

Kilmarnock, Aug. 16, 1785.

I read the following Sermons, in manuscript, with much satisfaction.
They are, in my opinion, judicious, scriptural, and savoury discourses.
The first, on Hebrews ix, 14. contains a very sensible illustration of some
important doctrines of the glorious gospel : the two last, on James i. 22.
enforce the practice of holiness upon the professors of Christianity, by evan-
gelical and powerful motives. I readily concur in recommending them to
the perusal of my friends and connexions ; hoping and wishing, that,
through the Divine blessing, they may be profitable for their direction and
instruction in righteousness.

JAMES ROBERTSON.

Kilmarnock, Aug. 16, 1785.

SERMONS

OS

SACRAMENTAL OCCASIONS.

SERMON I.

Heb. ix. 14.

•'• lion' much more shall the blood of Christy who, through the eternal
Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from
dead works to serve the living God ?"

The inspired penman of this epistle (whom many suppose,
not improbably, to be the apostle Paul) does, from the
beginning of this chapter, agreeably to the general design of
the epistle, make a parallel and comparison between the
Levitical tabernacle, priesthood, sacrifices, purification, on
the one hand, and the great high priest, sacrifice, and purifi-
cation of the gospel, on the other. He does, in these 13th
and 14th verses, bring the matter to something of a period
and conclusion, showing the advantage to be infinite on the
side of the gospel.

He does, in these two verses, consider the effect of both
kinds of atonement and purification. The Mosaical atone-
ment and purification did, he says, ver. 13. c sanctify to the
' purifying of the flesh. The blood of Christ/ he says,
' purges the conscience/

The first e sanctified to the purifying of the flesh.' For
opening the sense of this clause, ver. 13. I observe one or two
things, relating chiefly to the explication of the words of it.

1. As to purifying the flesh; this is not said with a view

424 Sermon I.

to the body ; for though the blood of sacrifices and the ashes
of an heifer, in the water of purification, (of which, Numb, xix.)
were sprinkled on the body ; yet was not the body thereby
cleansed, but rather outwardly defiled. Purifying of the
flesh I take to be a Hebrew idiom, which we would express
by calling it a fleshly or carnal purification. Now carnal is
an epithet of the ceremonial law. Hence do we read of
s carnal ordinances/ ver. 10. and f the law of a carnal com-
' mandment,' chap. vii. 16. And so were the institutions
of that law called, not chiefly because men's bodies were
much concerned in them, but rather and principally because
in that infancy of the church, the Lord did suit these rudi-
ments or elements to the carnality of men's minds, which
affect what is outward, showy, and pompous in worship.

2. I observe that the apostle says, not that these atone-
ments typified or prefigured — so indeed they did, — but he
says in direct and proper terms, that they sanctified ; which
would imply, that there was a proper atonement, in some
kind, by the sacrifices of the Old Testament. For explaining
this, I notice, that there was in this matter considered, on
the one hand, an uncleanness or guilt ; on the other, an
atonement. The uncleanness wras not moral, at least in this
case it was not considered as such. In many cases the
uncleanness was absolutely unavoidable; or, if otherwise,
was indispensable moral duty ; as was on many occasions
defilement for the dead. So then, it was only carnal or
ceremonial uncleanness. It had, however, thus much of a
real effect, that it suspended a man's church privilege with
respect to the service of God ; debarred him the camp and
the tabernacle; and he that neglected the purification required,
incurred a moral guiltiness, as neglecting God's institution.
As the uncleanness was only ceremonial, such was the atone-
ment ; a ceremonial, carnal atonement by the blood of goats
and of calves, and the ashes of an heifer. By this, in virtue
of God's appointment, a man was purged from his ceremonial
guiltiness, and so restored to his church privilege as an
Israelite. All this has a special respect to atonement, and
the immediate effect of it, viz. remission. But I notice,

3. That the apostle expresses it by the word sanctijieth,
which is commonly understood of another matter than justifi-
cation, or remission. For explaining this, I say sanctification
may be understood two ways : 1. There is a relative sancti-
fication. 2. An inherent sanctification. In the most general
notion, which includes both these,, that is, holy, (sanctified)

Sermon I. 425

that is, set apart for God, and is his in a special manner.
Such is the church, a society set apart from the world for
God ; therefore are the Israelites so oft called an holy people ;
and the infants of believing parents are said to be holy,
1 Cor. vii. 14. Those without the church are common; or,
in another word, unclean; for the word, ver. 13. translated
' unclean/ is in the original, ( made common.' Both words
are sometimes joined in the same sense, as by Peter, Acts x. 14.
' I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean/
While an Israelite was, for his uncleanness, debarred the
fellowship of the camp and tabernacle, he was common : but
by the legal, ceremonial atonement, taking away his cere-
monial uncleanness and guiltiness, he was sanctified; restored
to his holy privileges. This distinction of relative and
inherent sanctification obtains with respect to believers. They
obtain a relative sanctification by being justified ; by which
being taken into covenant with God, they become his peculiar
people, his portion : ' God's portion is his people, Jacob is the
' lot of his inheritance,' Deut. xxxii. 9. It belongs to their
covenant state that they should be no longer common to
Satan, to the world, to sin. This is what they should have
a dutiful consideration of. This is what the grace of God
has made good to them who have put on Christ. ' They are
' dead to sin,' Rom. vi. 2. ; by which the apostle expresses,
not their ordinary duty in the practice of holiness, but the
standing privilege of their justified state, in so far as ' sin
c shall not have dominion over them,' Rom. vi. 14. Believers
are inherently sanctified in their natures, by a work of grace
and of the Spirit of God upon their souls. This distinction
may help us to a right view of some places where sanctifying
is mentioned ; particularly, 1 Cor. vi. 11. e Ye are washed' —
How ? he expresses it in another word, f ye are sanctified'
— How sanctified? In two respects. 1. Relatively, as to
your state, f being justified in the name of the Lord Jesus.'
2. Inherently, with respect to your nature, c by the Spirit of
our God.' So sanctification is first mentioned in that place,
as comprehending the other two.

Such was the ceremonial discipline of the Old Testament.
The principal design of which was to lead to the knowledge
and faith of Christ, and of that method of purification
expressed in our text.

In the meantime, we are to notice, that the ceremonial
atonement, above mentioned, had an effect which was real in
its kind. This not only the apostle's manner of speech

430 Sermon 1.

conscience, of which he speaks ; therefore I understand
purging of the conscience to import an effectual removing of
condemnation, so as to produce peace of conscience. As we
say in common speech, when a man is like to be found guilty
in judgment, that he is not clean ; so while the conscience
lies under condemnation, it is not clean. Implanted, inherent
grace makes the soul otherwise clean ; but the taking away
of condemnation, giving peace, in view of peace with God,
is that purging which makes the conscience clean. How far
inherent holiness is the consequence of this, we shall see
hereafter.

3. When he mentions the effect of this purging to be, ' to
' serve the living God/ in opposition to those dead works, he
has a view to the effect of the ceremonial purifications, which
was, to restore men to their privilege in the worship or ser-
vice of God, from which their uncleanness debarred them ;
and what he means is, to express the privilege of them who
are justified, with respect to their access and communion with
God, and their walking with him. Now the doctrine of the
text is, in short, this —

Doct. — That the blood of Christ doth most effectually purify
the conscience, to which it is applied, from all the guilt
that lies upon it ; and so gives the sinner access to com-
munion with God, and to walk with him.
For opening up this doctrine, I propose to speak on these
four most important points.

I. To explain what is the nature and office of the conscience,
in relation, chiefly, to the guiltiness of the sinner, and
what purification it requires.

II. To show the absolute suitableness of Christ's blood, to
the purpose of purging the conscience.

III. I propose to inquire, by what means this blood is ap-
plied to the conscience.

IV. What are some of the principal effects of the applica .
tion of this blood, and purification effected by it, in re-
lation to the service of the living God.

I. To explain what is the nature and office of the con-
science, in relation, chiefly, to the guiltiness of the sinner,
and what purification it requires. — And here I find myself
greatly at a loss to put a large variety of things together, in
any method, consistent with the brevity needful. But to be
as distinct as possible, I say, 1. It will be generally granted,

Serman I. 42J

that is the life. We hold our life from God, the author of
it, and who is vested with the sovereign dominion over it.
Sin, which is a black treason against heaven, has forfeited
the life, and the life must go for it ; so, < the wages of sin is
c death/ Rom. vi. 23. Therefore, if one shall be substituted in
place of another, in order to his redemption, the life of the one
must fall for the life of the other. But then what kind of life
must this be, that shall be a ransom and redemption for the
life of man ? Under the old law, the Israelites offered the
life of brute creatures for atonement. What kind of atone-
ment this was, has been explained. But could the life of
a brute truly redeem the lost and forfeited life of a man r
By no means. There was no equality, or adequate propor-
tion betwixt them. That were eluding the justice of God
and the eternal laws of heaven. To suppose, that the justice
of God could be so satisfied, that the sentence of the law
could be so accomplished, or rather eluded or trifled away,
were some degree worse than to overlook the sovereign
dominion, justice, and faithfulness of God wholly in the
matter ; which were, however, denying God blasphemously,
with respect to some of his most essential glories and per .
fections. No, c it was not/ says the apostle, chap. x. 4
' possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take
away sins / that their life could redeem the life of the
sinner from the forfeiture it underlay by sin. Therefore,

2. It is suggested, that this blood, this life, was of a more
suitable kind ; it was a more likely ransom for our life ; for
it was e the blood of Christ, who offered himself/ And,

3. ' He offered himself without spot/ How much those
two considerations, that the offering was himself, and with
this special quality, of being spotless, make for the purposes
of atonement and purification, we shall have better leisure
and occasion to notice hereafter.

4. What is of most special consequence is, that ' he offered
k' himself through the Eternal Spirit/ Some understand this
of the Holy Ghost, the third Person of the glorious godhead.
No doubt, the grace of the Holy Ghost, wherewith he was
anointed above measure, working in his human nature inex-
pressible love, zeal, and strength, c .itributed to dispose and
qualify him eminently for his hard service : however, I choose
rather to understand it of his own Divine nature ; for which
these reasons are assigned — 1. Though the Holy Ghost be
eternal, yet he is never mentioned with that epithet. 2.
Christ's divine nature is elsewhere, several times, called

t 5

428 Sermon I.

' his spirit/ Mark ii. 8. Speaking of what the scribes reasoned
in their hearts, it is said, ' Jesus perceived it in his spirit ;'
which can be understood of no other than his omniscient
Divine nature. Again, it is called ' the spirit of holiness,'
Rom. i. 3, 4. where there is distinction made between his
flesh or human nature, (according to which he was of the
seed of David,) and the Spirit of holiness, according to which
he is the Son of God, and declared to be so by his resur-
rection from the dead ; so, 1 Pet. iii. ] 8. 3. We see, in the
two last mentioned places, and often on other occasions, the
Holy Ghost setting his human and Divine nature in an op-
posite view together; judging it needful, where there is a
view of the mean character and circumstances of the flesh,
to suggest the supereminent glory of his godhead. Now that
reason holds in this place. It contains a view of Christ in
his lowest circumstances, — his human nature offered a sacri-
fice. It was very suitable, by the mention of the Eternal Spirit,
to suggest the glory of his godhead. Besides, this sense is
most suitable to the doctrinal purpose of the place ; which is,
to show the infinite value and efficacy of his blood with re-
lation to the conscience. And this is founded upon the
dignity which his sacrifice derives from the union of the
godhead with the human nature in his person. For these
reasons, we understand the Eternal Spirit of his godhead.
Through this he offered himself. No doubt he was a priest
according to both natures ; and his human nature was, in
several respects, active with relation to the offering of itself.
Nevertheless, principally, by his Divine nature, was his
manhood offered. It at the same time was the altar on
which the sacrifice was born up and offered ; and, as the
Lord says, Matth. xxiii. 19. ' whether is better the gift, or
' the altar that sanctifies the gift ?' So was the Divine
nature of Christ the altar that sanctified the gift ; that gave
it infinite dignity and value.

5. It is observed to whom he offered himself, — to God.
How this offering was by the Father provided, and accepted
for the ends of propitiation, we shall hereafter show. In the
meantime, though Satan, as a kind of executioner with re-
spect to the curse of the law, be represented as holding the
sinner captive ; yet was not the ransom due, or to be offered
to him, but to trie public justice of Heaven, and to God the
sovereign lawgiver. In which case, though all the Persons
of the ever blessed godhead be alike the party offended, yet
in the case of receiving satisfaction, suitably to the economy

Sermon I. 433

pressions that are in the natural conscience of the heathen,
Rom. i. 32. ' Who knowing the judgment of God, that they
* who commit such things are worthy of death/

4. These things lead me to two or three cautions with
respect to this subject. And, I st, I say, we are not to measure
the demand of conscience upon the sinner by his present
light. Sin has darkened the light of his conscience, with
respect to which he is himself highly faulty. This darkness
is so great, that at present he may be said, for most part, to
be without the law, and for that reason only alive. Yet when
his conscience awakens, when the commandment comes, whe-
ther on occasion of God's word and Spirit entering upon it in
time, or on occasion of final judgment hereafter, or otherwise,
then conscience will extend its light, accusation, and demand
as far as the law, which alone it acknowledges for its rule. I do
not mean this, however, of laws merely positive, of which the
sinner hath had no revelation. These certainly can never
affect the conscience, or be laid in account to the sinner, in
judgment by it ; so the apostle declares, Rom. ii. 12. ' For as
c many as have sinned without law/ &c. 2d, Caution. We
are not to measure the demand of conscience by what is pre-
sently under the view of the soul, or urges presently upon it.
There is a narrowness in the conscience as well as in every
other faculty of the soul, so that it cannot comprehend all in
one view. Time likewise, constant divisions, and the con-
stant accession of new things, weaken and wear out former
impressions and convictions ; but conscience is like a great
book of record ; when it is open, you see the face of it but in
one page ; when that is written out, or perused, the leaf is
turned, the face of the book, in a new page only, is then
under the view, and so on. The impression of grosser guilti-
ness, or of more late or present things, fill up the page of
conscience that is under the present view ; but when a throne
of judgment is set, when the books are opened, and this great
book is opened, when all its awful contents are produced at
once, how then will those things that were asleep awaken ?
and those things that the sinner forgot and despised, as long
ago dead, revive, and slay him, and be as a dark cloud that
shall cover all the heavens from his eyes, — as a cloud dis-
charging thunder and terrible tempest upon his head ? From
those two, follows the third caution. It is this, that there is
great vanity, danger, and folly in a sinner's imposing peace
upon his conscience, in its ignorant or its sleepy and seared
condition. A little formality in good things, an atheistical

434 Sermon I.

saying, a shameless sophism, may then suffice to please it, to
fill its right hand with a lie, or at least to insult and divert
it. Many deal by their conscience as a man that owed a
great sum to an ignorant country man, or to one whom he
should overtake in a fit of drunkenness or lethargy, and
should take his advantage. He may, in such case, pay a great
sum with a few farthings, or perhaps with good words, and
procure ample discharge under a man's own hand ; but when
he recovers, he will reclaim ; thousands will not then satisfy.
Among men, if one should prove himself thus notoriously
cheated, it would reverse and annul even the amplest writs :
the judge would favour the injured, and put him in his own
place, to the shame and ruin perhaps of the other party. So
a man oft deals with his conscience in its evil condition. He
has a little righteousness, — is conscious of some good quality
by which he supposes he excels others, — has the honour of some
swelling privileges, — perhaps some great, some notable good
work. These things dazzle easily the eye of conscience in its
dimness. Or, he has some set of poor reflections concerning
preachers, or concerning the ordinary profession of godliness,
offences, and so forth, that make the conscience as it were
ashamed to insist. So it allows a man to judge of himself to
his mind ; or, if it insist with more urgency, a man runs some
heats in a course of duties and good works, and the form must
be kept up when there is no more fervour to maintain it.
Thus will conscience be easily satisfied or diverted ; but it
will recover, reduce the false and wrongous claim, and dis-
possess a man of his unrighteous peace. The Judge of all
the earth will favour it, and put it in its own place ; and, if
this is when the day of a man's visitation is over, will arm it
with an eternal vengeance against him. It is then of ever-
lasting concern and importance for a man to look for peace
in such manner as will do full justice to his conscience,
which can happen in no way under heaven, but that which
the Spirit of God lays open in our text.

5. What has been said leads me to observe a twofold de-
fect ordinarily in the consciences of men. 1. A defect of
light. Upon this I shall add none to what has been formerly
said or hinted at. 2. There is a defect of vigour and strength.
The conscience, in most of people, is like a bow off bend, or
but very little bent. It shoots ; but alas, how faintly ! Its
arrows strike the skin, but cause not the sinner to make a
stand, or much alter his course. But when conscience is in
its vigour, like a bow fully bent, how will it shoot ? how will

Sermon I. 431

I hope, that every man, naturally and originally, has a con-
science. When sin deprived man of his original rectitude
and conformity to the law, only conscience remained, after
the general ruin, greatly depraved, and some vestiges of the
law itself, the greater lines thereof in it. Hence, the
apostle says of the heathen, Rom. ii. 15. that ( they show the
' work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience
* also bearing witness/ Infinite wisdom ordered it thus.
The Lord maintained conscience, at least in being, amidst
the general ruin ; because he would, by means thereof, keep
some restraint on the boundless wickedness of men, while the
world is to subsist under his providential government ; be-
cause he would not leave himself without a witness, by which
( he might be justified when he speaks, and be clear when he
' is judged/ Psal. Ii. 4. And, further, with respect to the
effect, he would maintain conscience in being, that therein
they might sometime receive the influence of the blood of
Christ ; and so it might be to them the instrument and mean
of their everlasting consolation, through him, as it had been
formerly the instrument of their most awful condemnation.

2. As to the nature of it ; conscience is that faculty in
man, by which he judgeth of himself, his actions, nature and
state, with relation to God, and his supreme judgment. The
understanding in man is otherwise employed about an endless
variety of objects, that it is not concerned with ; but as to
conscience, it is employed about what is of most immediate
everlasting concern. A man's actual sins lie openest to the
observation of the conscience. From these it judgeth con-
cerning a man's nature ; and, by further reflection and in-
ference, makes a conclusion concerning his state. In con-
science there is a witnessing and a judgment. Sin bears wit-
ness there. Sin, as to the action of it, is transient ; it passes,
and ceases to have an existence, once committed ; but it re-
mains, and has a continued being in the conscience. There
it testifies. ' Though our iniquities testify against us/ Jer.
xiv. 7- It is said of Abel, with respect to his faith, ' by it,
' he being dead yet speaketh/ Heb. xi. 4. ; so, as to sin, when
it is passed by conscience, it yet speaketh, — speaketh, as Abel's
blood did, when it cried to the Lord from the ground for
vengeance. And, as the Lord said to Cain, c Thou art
( cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to re-
( ceive thy brother's blood/ Gen. iv. 10, 11. ; so sinner, thou
art cursed from thy own conscience, which thou hast wounded,
polluted, and laid waste by thy sin. Again, by his conscience

432 Sermon 1.

a man beareth witness against himself, and judgeth, con-
demning himself for sin. Further yet, by the conscience God
bears witness and judges the sinner. Conscience is a window,
by which the sinner perceives the all-seeing eye of God,
looking in into the darkest recesses of his heart. Nor have
sinners a greater demonstration of the being and presence of
God than what they have by their conscience in this respect ;
for by the conscience does the Lord give a present experi-
mental proof to the sinner, that he tries the heart and
searches the reins. See 1 Cor. xiv. 24, 25. ; Heb. iv. 12, 13.
3. As there is in the conscience a witness and a judgment,
this must be by a rule. And the rule is not any set of
principles a man does voluntarily form to himself. It is the
law of God, Rom. ii. 15. ' which shows the work of the law
1 written in their hearts/ This law hath two parts that the
conscience is principally concerned in ; the precept, which
shows the duty required ; and the sanction, which imports the
punishment of sin. J . The precept, requiring duty, which
consequently discovers sin ; for by the law is the knowledge
of sin. The original writing of this precept of the moral law
upon the heart is sadly defaced by sin. Nothing but the
more rough lines are visible ; the greater letters only are
legible. However, when the light of the word of God, re-
vealing anew the holiness, spirituality, and breadth of the
law, enters, then the law in the heart, which was darkened,
and as it were folded up in a small compass in the conscience,
opens and extends itself all that length, so as to receive and
comprehend all the revealed explication of the law. Yea, as
the reason of all obedience is fundamentally in the moral
law, that is, in the natural conscience ; so the revealed positive
commands of God are ingrafted upon it, and become the
ground of accusation and conviction, even in the natural con-
science. As when a sinner accuses himself for neglecting the
instituted means of grace, which a natural conscience however
could not, of itself, ever have directed him particularly to.
2. The next part of the law is the sanction, which declares
the punishment of sin. This is likewise in the conscience.
It is true, an ignorant sinner cannot, perhaps, express in
words, what is the precise wages of sin ; but the sense of it
produces a horror, and secret looking for of vengeance. This
terror, this secret apprehension of vengeance, hath something
boundless in it ; and this boundless vengeance, which the
conscience suggests, can amount to no less than death, which
is the king of terrors. So the apostle constructs of the im-

Sermon I. 435

its arrows pierce the soul ? By such arrows were the multi-
tude (Acts ii.) pricked in their hearts till they cried, at their
wits end, ' Men and brethren, what shall we do?' The
poison of such arrows drinks up a man's spirits. Such ar-
rows stuck fast in the Psalmist, till his bones waxed old
through his roaring all the day long, till his moisture was
turned to the drought of summer. How terrible was such
arrow to the jailor? He would run a sword into his own
bowels. And if that was the cure, what must the disease
have been ? Now its vigour the conscience recovers by se-
veral means, and on several occasions. As, when terrible
judgments are perceived, then the conscience awakens with
a sudden start. We have heard of a heathen commonwealth
that, when judgments threatened hard, offered two hundred
of their noblest youth in sacrifice, to appease Heaven. There
was no dissimulation in this, nor could religious custom have
had such force. It could be from no less than a sense of
' the wrath of God, revealed from heaven, against all ungod-
liness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in
unrighteousness/ Rom. i. 18. But such fright of conscience
very commonly goes off as soon as the impending cloud seems
to disappear. Again, conscience recovers its vigour when the
word and Spirit of God enter, to convince of sin. By what
means and in what manner the Spirit of God works on the
conscience antecedently to conversion, and with what differ-
ent symptoms, I shall not now insist on. I am but pursuing
the same subject in a somewhat different view. In end, it
recovers its vigour at the final solemn judgment, when it is
raised eternally to its full light, vigour, and strength.

6. As there is in conscience, not only a witness, but a
judgment, in the unconverted, condemning for sin, the sixth
thing I notice is, a certain power it hath with respect to
some present execution of this judgment ; which leads us to
consider some of the effects of a condemning unpurified con-
science, such as shame, fear, terror, which make a bondage
upon the soul. These have a deep root in human nature.
But besides the ordinary common symptoms of these, the
Scripture speaks of a spirit of bondage attending an awaken-
ed conscience, and belonging to their state who are under the
law, Rom. viii. 15. Gal. iv. 24. and 2 Tim. i. 7- On these
things I am not to enlarge. But there is this further effect
that an awakened conscience has upon an unrenewed heart,
that it produces special symptoms of enmity against God.
Hence, many that smother sharp and continued convictions

436 Sermon I.

of sin, going on in a course of sin, discover special enmity
against the power of inward and real religion. The wicked-
ness of the devil cannot be represented in stronger features
than it is by such. There is with this, again, a distance and
flying from God, that follows self-condemnation in the con-
science. It may be said, perhaps, that this does not appear,
for hypocrites have great boldness in drawing near to God ;
and when a man's conscience is awakened, it ofttimes puts
him to pray oft, and to do may things. To this I answer, ].
That the formalities of hypocrisy, yea the painful labours of
self-righteousness, do not contain a real approach of the soul
to God. 2. The seeming boldness of many proceeds from a
sleepiness or searedness of conscience ; for we find it given
as one part of the character of some who speak lies in hypo-
crisy, that e they have their conscience seared as with a hot
iron/ ] Tim. iv. 2. ; so that, from cases of that nature, we
cannot judge concerning the native effects of a condemning
conscience. In so far as it is awake and vigorous, doing its
duty in condemning the impenitent sinner, it will no less
really have the effect in every sinner of making him avoid
God, than it had in Adam when he fled from God to hide
himself; or in Cain, when he went out from the presence of
the Lord, from the place of light and religion where he lived
near his parents. There may perhaps be a forced painfulness
in duties of outward religion, but the heart in its bondage
will fly from God. Besides what I have said of the case of
the unconverted, when the conscience is under the kindly,
gracious influence of the Spirit of God in his people, its dis-
coveries and reproofs will have such effects as are mentioned,
2 Cor. vii. 11.

7. Now, to bring this long deduction of things to the
point, the last thing on this head I am to speak of, is, the
purification of the conscience. The defilement of sin, or its
uncleanness, so far as it affects the conscience, is the condem-
nation it produces there. Its purification is, when the sin-
ner is, on good grounds, satisfied concerning his peace with
God, or the removal of his guiltiness and condemnation, that
' sin shall not be imputed/ Psal. xxxii. 2. Now, it appears
that these two questions — What will satisfy the conscience
as to its peace ; or will purge it ? and, What will satisfy the
law, and the justice of God expressed in it ? — come to one
and the same purpose. Nothing will serve the purpose of
the former, but what is required to the latter. However
conscience may, in its evil condition, (darkness and weakness,)

Sermon I. 437

be imposed on, yet it will* as you heard, sometime certainly
reclaim. No atonement then will be a suitable purification
of the conscience, but what is fully adequate to the sanction
and curse of the law, and answers all the ends of atonement,
in the acceptation and judgment of God ; to which conscience
will have its appeal from the delusions of a heart deceitful
above all things. This leads us full upon the second general
head of discourse proposed.

II. To show the absolute suitableness of Christ's sacrifice
and blood, to satisfy and purify the conscience, and to give it
peace. This absolute suitableness appears by, and is found-
ed on, these several things : —

1. The nature of the sacrifice, — ' He offered himself.'
Now, by-the-bye, herein it is that the great law of Christ to
his people appeared. Job lost a family of children, and an
immense wealth, and bore it patiently. Ay, but, says Satan,
( skin for skin ; 'all that a man hath will he give for his
' life/ Job ii. 4. Had Christ given all that was precious in
heaven and earth for the redemption of his people, it were no
proof of his love like this, that ' he gave himself/ not to be
happy with the church his spouse, but to suffer death and
a curse for her. How great would this love be accounted in
another, whose love would be infinitely less valuable ? The
apostle, in his love to Israel, could wish himself to be ac-
cursed from Christ for them ; even the apostle, who had
such inexpressible sense of the comfort of communion with
Christ, that he sustains the loss of all things, and i accounts
' them but dung that he may win Christ/ Phil. iii. 8. ; yet to
be accursed from him ! The apostle's zeal in this has been a won-
der and a mystery to the world ever since. Many choose rather
not to understand his words, than believe them in their pro-
per meaning. Christ was incomparably more sensible of the
blessedness of his Father's countenance and fellowship ; yet
not in a wish, but actually, he undergoes to be separated and
accursed from him. ' O the breadth !' &c. Eph. iii. 18, 19.
But to the present purpose, — the purpose of the conscience.
Christ offered himself. It was a human sacrifice ! What
was a brute creature, such as were before offered in sacrifice,
that it should be substituted in the room of a rational crea-
ture ? e It was not possible that the blood of bulls and of
1 goats should take away sins.' The justice of heaven would
not, nor would conscience accept of such a substitution.
The law behoved to have its course, if not upon the person,
yet certainly upon the nature that sinned. When the hea-

438 Sermon I.

thens knew, by tradition from the Church, the necessity and
institution of sacrifice for expiating sin, even nature's light
seems to have led them from all confidence, on many occa-
sions, in brute sacrifices. Hence came these many barbarous
and terrible human sacrifices among them, of which there are
so many instances in profane history. Even a natural con-
science then showed them the insufficiency of their ordinary
sacrifices, and would not be satisfied with them, though it
could not direct them aright. Yea, there are reasons suit-
able to infinite wisdom and justice, why he who was to expi-
ate sin, since elect children did partake of flesh and blood,
should partake of the same, and be made like to them in all
things, sin only excepted. And this exception of sin is that
quality and character of the nature of our propitiatory sacri-
fice, that conscience would indispensably require. Conscience,
that is so sensible of the terribleness of sin, must, if applied
to, consider the matter ; be further sensible, that if our sa-
crifice were not free from the guilt and impurity of sin, his
own guiltiness would exhaust his suffering capacity to eter-
nity ; so that there could be no superplus or supererogation
that could do it service. Conscience, enlightened and awaken-
ed, that is so sensible, from its own experience, that no ser-
vice truly acceptable could proceed from a heart affected
with the defilement of sin, could have no comfort by a sacri-
fice, with respect to which it could have such suspicion. All
these considerations receive confirmation as to their truth
and importance, from the care the Spirit of God has taken to
satisfy the conscience as to this particular with respect to
Christ. Hence does He so carefully, under the Old Testa-
ment, in these sacrifices that prefigured Christ, require that
they should be of a clean kind, — clean, perfect, without spot.
Hence does the apostle Peter notice with particular emphasis,
that c he was as a lamb without spot ;** and this apostle, in
our text, that 'he offered himself without spot to God.'
For the same reason is it so carefully observed, that fhe
' was holy, harmless, undefiled ;*+ that though ' made to be
' sin/ i.e. a sin-offering, ' yet he knew no sin ;% that ( he
1 did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth ;'|| that
6 he suffered, the just for the unjust. '§ All the race of
Adam were fallen, not into an ordinary mire, but were
drowning in an ocean of uncleanness. Of all the race, only
the Man Christ has kept this foot on dry ground. He escapes,

• I Pet. i. 19. X 2 Cor. v. 21. § 1. Pet. iii. 18.

t Heb. vii. 26. || 1 Pet. ii. 22.

Sermon I. 439

to save his perishing brethren ; to stretch a hand to perishing
souls. When conscience sees sin sweeping away all its con-
fidences besides, what comfort must it have when it views
with faith Christ, of the seed of the woman, its great High-
priest, holy, harmless, undefiled, by the alone sacrifice of
himself, procuring judgment against the serpent, the prince
of this world, at the sametime that he is capable by power
to execute it, by bruising his head ?

2. The absolute suitableness of Christ's sacrifice and blood
for the purposes of the law and of the conscience, appears by
the kinds of suffering he underwent. The sentence and judg-
ment of the law denounced to the sinner sorrow ; so to the
man, Gen. iii. 17- ' In sorrow shalt thou eat;' and to the
woman, ver. 16. ' I will greatly multiply thy sorrow/ Now
Christ was, in the superlative degree, a man of sorrows. Read
Isaiah liii. 2, 3, 4. How strong and moving were the out-
ward symptoms of his sorrow ! Isa. Iii. 14. What constant
abundant matter of deep sorrow had he ! such as the prospect
of the misery — the manifold misery, sin had brought upon
the world. The world ! a stage of misery and wretchedness !
affording a dismal, melancholy scene every way he could look !
There were then the temptations of Satan that he suffered
himself ; the disadvantage and trial of his outward mean cir-
cumstances in the world ; the hatred, enmity, reproach,
snares, persecution of the world, even of those who on many
accounts are called his own, for c he came unto his own, and
( his own received him not/ There was further, the hypo-
crisy and treachery of professors, the weakness, instability,
various provocations of his most genuine followers. In his
human nature he was not of adamant ; to our great comfort,
he had a soul most tenderly sensible of trial by all these
things ; otherwise they could have been no temptations to
him. But the apostle says, Heb. iv. 15. e He was in all
' points tempted, like as we are/ Those temptations, it is
true, could not produce sin in him, as they do in us ; but
they produced sorrow. So as to his life in the flesh, it was
the character of it, that he was, in the highest degree that
human nature was capable of, ' a man of sorrows/ But then
the period of life is death. The law had denounced against
the sinner death, — that was the wages of sin ; death tem-
poral, the separation of soul and body, — that he underwent ;
death spiritual, the separation of the soul from God, — that
he underwent ; death eternal, inconceivable torment and
anguish — that, likewise, in kind, he underwent. To consi-

440 Sermon I.

der it more closely with respect to what was outward and ex-
posed to view, as well as what was inward, there was in his
death, all the trial, to the uttermost, of treachery, enmity,
shame, cruel mocking, buffetting, reproach, torture, and
pain. The prince of this worlds with full permission, did,
on this occasion, exert his whole strength, not only by him-
self immediately (for ' he had departed from him/ Luke iv.
13. ' but for a season/) but by blowing up his instruments to
their whole extent of wickedness and cruelty. Consider how
Christ expresses his case, Psal. lxix. 2, 4, 7, 8, 12, 19, 20,
21., for this had he spoken, as verses 1 and 2. See likewise
Psal. xxii. 7, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18. But what was most
terrible, the very quintessence of the law's curse, was the fill
of wrath his soul received, and the hiding of his Father's
countenance at the same time. This was the ingredient in
his cup, that made his soul shrink, that made him e exceed-
( mg sorrowful, even unto death/ with the prospect of which
he was amazed, — that made him ( sweat great drops falling
' to the ground like blood/ — that made him cry, c My God,
c my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?' — that made him need
an angel to comfort him. And how much would our bowels
be moved for a great king, if we saw him in such circum-
stances of distress, deserted by all, that the assistance of a
poor beggar would comfort him ? And how low is Christ, the
King of glory, when he needs comfort from an angel, — a poor
creature that, to speak so, had ever subsisted by his own
alms and bounty ? None of his own disciples were capable to
give him any encouragement or assistance on this occasion.
If the encouragements, — at least the concern and sympathy
of some of them, — could have been of use to him in his secret
agonies, yet could he not obtain this ; even that three dis-
tinguished disciples should watch with him to be witnesses
of his trial, to pray for themselves, or the success of his un-
dertaking,— e Couldst thou not watch with me one hour?'
When he came to a more public trial, the boldness of one
of them, the only instance of boldness or courage given by
any of them, had like (as it often happens, to the increasing
of the grief and trial of innocent and dutiful sufferers,) had
like, I say, to have done more harm than good, when he cut
off the servant's ear, Matt. xxvi. 51.; ' suddenly thereafter,
6 all the disciples forsook him and fled/ Matt. xxvi. 56.
When one of the most forward and zealous ventures farther
and nearer than the rest, it was only to add to his trial, by
denying him thrice, Matt. -xxvi. 75. Little comfort had he

Sermoti /. 441

then, in his distress, from his disciples; for whose comfort, some
hours before, he had laboured and provided so carefully; parti-
cularly , by instituting his supper, and by these wonderful dis-
courses extant, John xiv. xv. and xvi. chapters. The faith
of God's people has done wonderful and astonishing things on
very trying occasions ; but never was the faith of disciples
cast into a more universal deliquium or swoon than on this
occasion. This is of very humbling consideration. However,
it was a very wise providence that ordered it so, that, ' when
1 the Shepherd was stricken, the sheep should be scattered/
Zech. xiii. 7- ; that, c when he was to tread the wine-press
( of the people, there should be none with him/ Isa. lxiii. 3. ;
that, c when Christ was under a cloud, there should be dark-
' ness over all the earth/ Luke xxiii. 44. ; that, when dark-
ness covered the Sun of righteousness, the lesser planets
should undergo an eclipse ; that, when the wrath of Heaven
was poured upon the Surety, the principals, with respect to
the guilt and obligation, should be struck with the most
gloomy damp into an awful attention to the matter itself, and
to the event. This however, in another view, was a part of
his suffering, and at least an aggravating circumstance of his
distress. But, to return to our chief purpose : —

The sting of death. The most awful sting of it was this
wrath of God which Christ underwent, with the concomitant
circumstances above mentioned. I will not, however, say that
Christ actually expired with this wrath on his soul and with
the sense of it ; all that he suffered was as the wages of sin ;
yet are we to distinguish betwixt this wrath he underwent,
and what he suffered otherwise. This wrath was not an
ingredient in every part of his suffering. It was, as it wrere,
served in a cup by itself. I think there is reason to say,
that this cup he fully drank out while he lived upon the cross ;
and that, in great part, it might be with respect to this, he
said, ' It is finished / and that it was with the comfort of this
he said, ' Unto thy hand, Father, I commend my spirit/
Yet so precisely must the letter of the law be fulfilled, that
he must actually die, and his human nature undergo its
dissolution ; yea, as by the judgment of the law the sinner
must return unto the dust, though Christ's body saw no cor-
ruption, yet so precisely must the letter of the law be fulfilled
in this too, that his body must go to the bowels of the earth.
In all this, indeed, there was no despair or eternal duration ;
but these are only consequential to the circumstances of the
finite, mere creature under wrath, who, because he cannot

442 Sermon /.

drink it fully out, is in hell eternally hopeless. But this is
not essential to what the law requires. It is further true,
that the inherent prevalency and power of sin and the power
of Satan belong to the curse of the law upon the sinner ; yet
it is only a consequence of the curse upon the sinner himself,
and so could not affect our Surety, as not being any kind or
part of what the law and justice of Heaven required for
expiation and atonement, but absolutely contrary to, and
inconsistent therewith. It appears that there is no kind of
expiatory suffering the law requires more than he underwent,
or that the most awakened conscience can justly require.
The most awakened conscience may be fully satisfied, that
the Supreme Judge, to whom the vengeance belonged, and
who knew how to measure it out, hath not fallen short of the
needful measure and kind ; but that Christ hath undergone
it all. But besides the suitableness of Christ's suffering,
with respect to degree and kind, to the purposes of divine
justice and of the conscience, 3. There is, after all, remaining
a most relevent and competent demandthat the conscience hath
to make, and it is this : There is an infiniteness of evil and
demerit in every sin. What proportion of value does Christ's
propitiatory sacrifice bear to this infinite demerit of every
one of the infinite sins of the whole elect multitude, of every
tongue, language, and kindred, that, as John says, Rev. vii.
9. ( cannot be numbered ?' This is a demand unexception-
ably competent, that can be answered no way but by con-
sidering and believing the eternal Godhead of Christ. This
is so necessary, and evidently required, that they who deny
his Godhead, do exert all their strength to disprove, if possi-
ble, the truth of his proper satisfaction for sin, at the same
time. Hence then is the dignity and infinite value of Christ's
blood, that he is God, that, through the Eternal Spirit he
offered himself. The Godhead acted not in this case, as on
other occasions, by foreign instruments, means, and second
causes, in the ordinary course of things. The Godhead is
united in the same person with the human nature ; and it is
so united with the Godhead, that it has a right to be called
himself — c He offered himself ;• therefore has the Spirit of
God been so careful in this likewise to satisfy the conscience,
by laying before it so oft the evidence and glory of Christ's
Godhead ; especially on these occasions when his humiliation,
blood, sufferings, and death are mentioned. Hence is this
represented as the fundamental mystery of godliness, ' God
"made manifest in the flesh/ 1 Tim. iii. 16. To this purpose

Sermon 1. 443

h his name, Isa. ix. 6. the first epithet, the first letter
whereof, is, ' The Wonderful ;' what follows shows in what
respect. Though he be e a Son given, a Child born unto us,'
yet is he ' the mighty God, the everlasting Father/ Again,
as, Acts xx. 28. the church of God is said to be purchased
with his own blood, so, 1 John iii. 16. c hereby perceive we
' the love of God, because he laid down his life for us/ In
like manner, Phil. ii. 8. ( He who became obedient to death,
' even the death of the cross/ is the same, ver. 6. ' who,
' being in the form of God, thought it no robbery to be equal
with God/ Infinite justice refuses every thing else that could
be thought on. Heb. x. 5. ' Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst
' not, but a body hast thou prepared me/ No body besides,
made as glorious as creating power could make it ; but e a
' body prepared me ;' a body, says the Son of God, in which
I may suffer, and become a sacrifice. Now the question is
concerning the proportion of value betwixt the sins, or the
forfeited lives of an elect world, and this price of their redemp-
tion. But the ransom exceeds all proportion, as God is beyond
all proportion. There is no such thing as proportion betwixt
Him and all his creatures. But if we will speak of propor-
tion, see what it amounts to, Isa. xl. 15. ' The nations are as
f the drop in the bucket, and are counted as the small dust
c of the balance before him/ Now let an accusing conscience
bring forth its strong reasons, and Satan his rhetoric. Let
things be laid in the balance. If all nations, compared with
him, are but as the small dust that does not at all affect the
balance, then, must not the sins of the elect, who are but a
small part of all nations, be sufficiently expiated, and their
life be effectually redeemed, when the ransom is the life, the
blood of God ? The temptations then of a troubled soul con-
cerning this subject are a great dishonour to the eternal
godhead of Christ ; and it appears, that unbelief is, because
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ does not, with
respect to this great subject, shine into the heart.

4. The fourth thing upon which the suitableness of Christ's
blood for purging the conscience is founded, is, the accept-
ableness of it to God the Father for that end, and for all the
purposes of Divine justice, and the evidence the conscience
has from the word of God thereof. With respect to the
things already insisted on, and with respect to the substitu-
tion of Christ in the room of sinners, after all that has been
said, conscience must have this question; will God the
Father, will the supreme Governor of heaven and earth,

u

444 Sermon I.

accept of this ransom, or of such substitution ? It is there-
fore a very competent and suitable part of the man's question
in 3Iicah vi. 7- ' Will the Lord be pleased ?" As if he had
said, To me thousands of rams, ten thousands of rivers of
oil, seem to be of immense value ; but ' will the Lord be
' pleased with all this ?' The conscience has the same
question. I therefore think it may be of good use to insist,
somewhat largely and particularly, on these various proofs
that God the Father has given, both in word and in deed,
of the acceptableness of Christ's blood to him as the price of
our redemption and salvation.

I say, then, if the soul were in a believing frame, which
is of great consequence in this matter, it might observe, at a
distance, what might satisfy it about this point : for how has
the world stood, and the everlasting gospel been sent to all
the parts of it, and the report of it, and ordinances thereto
belonging, been kept up till now, in a wonderful manner ?
How can even this be accounted for, if it be not that the
Father, being fully satisfied with his Son's blood, as a pro-
pitiation for sin, will give it full course for the salvation of
the elect seed ?

But to look nearer into the matter, and into the evidence
the word of God gives more clearly concerning it, I say the
Father's full acquiescence in his Son's blood and death, for
the ends of atonement and reconciliation, may appear by, and
be most satisfyingly inferred from, these considerations :

1. It has been offered by virtue of the contrivance and
appointment of his own infinite wisdom, council, and will.
When the Lord chides with the Israelites, Jer. xxxii. 35.
about causing their sons and their daughters pass through
the fire to Molech, he says not, how insufficient must this
be of itself for purification of the conscience ? That he does
not insist on ; but says, ( W^hich I commanded them not,
- neither came it into my mind.' It cannot be so said in this
case, that tha service and suffering Christ underwent came
not into his mind. It was the eternal device of his own
infinite wisdom, — it was a sacrifice he provided for himself.
For this he allows his church to be designed, ' Jehovah Jireh,
• the Lord will provide/ Gen. xxii. 14. Christ acted and
suffered all e according to the will of God and the Father,'
Gal. i. 4. This was his delight in his suffering, Psalm xl.
8. < To do thy will I take delight.' Why did he take the
frightful cup into his hand, all amazed, when his human
nature shrinked at it ! when his human nature of itself

SermoJi I. 445

would have drawn back ! but upon this reason, ( Not my will,

1 but thy will be done/ Matt. xxvi. 39.

2. There deserves here to be mentioned by itself, the
solemn audible testimony given from heaven, first at his
baptism, next on the holy mount. The circumstances at-
tending it, on both occasions, show of what consequence it is;
and the blessed apostle lays great stress upon it. The man
in Micah says, ' Will the Lord be pleased?' The conscience
sticks, and after all says, ■ Will the Lord be pleased V Con-
sider then the honour and glory he received from the Father,
when there came such a voice to him from the excellent
glory, ( This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,'

2 Pet i. 17.

3. Consider in testimony of the Father's well-pleasedness,
the support the Father gave him in all the hardest parts of
his work and suffering. Was it without commission, that an
angel, a faithful ministering Spirit, ' appeared to him/ Luke
xxii. 43. ' from heaven ; strengthening him ?' ' Behold/ says
the Lord, Isa. xlii. 1. cMy servant whom I uphold/ and
verse 6. ' I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and
' will hold thine hand and keep thee/

4. There is the most real demonstration of the Father's
satisfaction by his Son's blood and death as the price of our
redemption, in his raising him up from the dead, Acts ii.
24. ( Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of
' death.' Had death any more to require ? Would justice
have received him out of its hands ? Would it have concurred
with him in an unjust breaking of prison, without full and
acceptable payment of the debt ?

5. There is his ascension and reception into heaven.
' Whom the heavens must receive/ Acts iii. 21. Would he
have been received into heaven, in the quality of our fore-
runner, as a free man, to speak so, if his satisfaction had
not been complete and fully acceptable for the purchase of
such a privilege to us and to himself as our representative ?
This is that proof by which the Spirit convinceth of righte-
ousness ; of the completeness of Christ's righteousness, John
xvi. 10. ' of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and
' ye see me no more.'

6. There is the blessing of the Holy Ghost dispensed to
the church. This is, as from Christ, so from the Father to
him, and to the church on his account. There was at the
beginning a wonderful effusion of the Holy Ghost in an
extraordinary manner. The Spirit is still dispensed in the

446 Sermo?i I.

church in an ordinary way. Have you ever felt, accompany-
ing the word of God, any breath of the Holy Ghost, but of
an awakening, quickening, or comforting tendency ? Or,
believe you that there is any such thing ? Now, whence
could there be any, the least breathing of the Spirit in the
church ? Do such things come in the way of devils, who are
kept in chains ? Have you ever, by seeing or hearing, been
sensible of special gifts of the Holy Ghost, shining in the
particular members or officers of the Church ? How are these
things to be accounted for ? Thus, Acts ii. 33. ( Therefore
e being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received
' of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed
* forth that which ye now see and hear/ Now, could he
have received from the Father, in accomplishment, this pro-
mise ; this great part of what the Father engaged for in the
covenant of redemption, if he (the Son) had not performed
his part, fully and acceptably, with respect to that blood and
sacrifice by which he was to purchase it ? Could this blessing
of Abraham, as it is called, Gal. iii. 14. and which pre-sup-
posed the removal of the curse, have taken place, unless by
Christ's becoming a curse for them, his people were effectually
redeemed from the curse ? Has he thus ' received gifts for
' men, for the rebellious ? This sure is in consequence of
' His leading captivity captive ;' so that neither sin, nor the
law, has any right to keep the believer or his conscience in
captivity or bondage.

7. All the covenants, and all the exceeding great and pre-
cious promises of it, held forth to the people of God, as they
lie throng in the scriptures, hold forth the same thing ; the
sure foundation that is laid in the blood of Christ. It is in
Christ that the promises of God are all yea and amen. It
is in him that the covenant is confirmed. It is his blood
that is the blood of the covenant. Yea, in another view, the
covenant and all the promises are Christ's own testament to
his church, and receive force and validity only by the death
of the testator. So far, then, as diffidence takes place, with
respect to the absolute suitableness of Christ's blood to purge
the conscience, so far is the covenant and all the promises
called in question, the wisdom of God, in proposing them,
made vain, and his faithfulness made of no account. This,
then, is the foundation of all that Christ's blood, with respect
to atonement, acceptableness, and purchase, extends as far
as the covenant built on it ; whereof this is the fundamental
promise, (intended for the benefit of the conscience,) ' I will

Sermon I. 447

i forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no
' more/ Jer. xxxi. 34.

8. There is the ministry of reconciliation, which imports,
2 Cor. v. 19. that e God is in Christ reconciling the world to
' himself ; has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation ;'
and ' has sent to preach peace to them that were far off, and
1 to them that are nigh.' This certainly is sufficient proof,
that, in the account of God the Father, the blood of Christ
answers all the purposes of justice and of the conscience ; and
that he sees good reason for it to be reconciled to sinners ;
and therefore, against all the powers of hell has maintained
the ministry of reconciliation in the world till this day.

9. Consider the ancient saints who have gone to Heaven
from the beginning of the world till now ; ' the elders, who
' through faith have obtained a good report/ Heb xi. 2. Now
upon what title did they obtain heaven for an eternal in-
heritance, but this, in the verse after the text, c that by
' means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions,
f they which are called might receive the promise of eternal
' inheritance ?' Now has God not only received Christ our
forerunner into heaven, his holy place, with his own blood,
but likewise received the thousands of his ransomed ones
thither on the same account ? and, is he not most fully satis-
fied with that blood, as the price of redemption ? and, should
not the conscience be so too ? What then would unbelief
raging in a troubled conscience be at ? Would you not only
damn yourself, but damn all the saints of God, by distrust-
ing the foundation of their salvation ; by distrusting the suf-
ficiency of that ladder, by which they, through faith, reach-
ed up to heaven ?

To add a little yet to those particulars, I say there is most
evident reason, why the Father should acquiesce in the obe-
dience and satisfaction of his Son Christ. For though our
reason of itself be a faculty the conscience has little cause to
trust to, and though any evidence it would of itself produce
could have but little force in a matter of this kind, yet the
reasons I add have likewise their foundation in the word of
God.

1. Then, it was the obedience and the blood of his only
Son. A man has more intense pleasure in the good service
of an only son, than in the same or greater service of a
stranger. The eternal and infinite love which God bore to
his own Son must produce an infinite complacency in his
obedience.

448 Sermon L

2. Such obedience, among men, was most singular ; there-
fore the more valuable. If a great king had one province,
ever and without exception mutinous, disaffected, and re-
bellious, how would he value the firm, zealous, and steady ad-
herence of a faithful subject to his interests, among such a
crew ? Mankind make one great province of God's dominion,
ever in rebellion ; not one faithful subject naturally since
the fall of Adam. But among this race, the God-man
Christ ; how firm, steady, zealous for God, for his interest,
dominion, and holiness, amidst and against the powers of hell
and of the world ! ' To do thy will I take delight/ Psal. xl.
8. ; *' The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up/ Psal. lxix. 9.
Such an instance among men ! What may not heaven yield
to the behoof of his vile countrymen, kinsmen, and brethren,
for the sake of so loyal a friend and subject ! This to be
found among men ! The obedience of angels was nothing to
this ! It is said e there is more joy in heaven for one sinner
c recovered, than for ninety-nine just persons that went not
' astray/ Luke xv. 7« In like manner, there is more pleasure
to heaven by the obedience of Christ among men, than by the
obedience of all the angels in heaven.

3. The law could be glorified in no way so much as by
Christ. That the Son of God should be made under the law,
was greatly to the glory of the law. A man of ordinary rank
would account it a huge honour, that a prince should hold of
him, was it but a small part of his estate ; that he should
have a prince so far bound to any acts of vassalage or obe-
dience to him : so is it great honour to the law to have the
Son of God, with respect to his human nature, bound to its
obedience. But further, as to its sanction, the law might
avenge itself eternally on sinners for disobedience, but could
never be magnified and made honourable by a complete, ac-
complished, and finished obedience and satisfaction, any other-
wise than by Christ. There is therefore good reason on all
accounts to believe that the Father and his infinite justice is
therewith fully satisfied ; that his honour is repaired ; that
there is sufficient foundation laid for reconciliation and peace.
There is through Christ good reason for both parts of the
angels' song, Luke ii. 14. ' Glory to God in the highest ; and
1 on earth, peace, good will towards men/

Now what would the conscience require ? It hath indeed
a loud cry of vengeance ; but the vengeance is the Lord's.
' Vengeance/ says he, ' is mine/ Rom. xii. 19. Hath it then
any scruple that it cannot win through ; any difficulty of

Sermon I. 441)

which it cannot extricate itself, concerning the nature and
quality of the sacrifice, the due manner of offering, the ade-
quateness of the ransom, or its acceptableness to the justice
of heaven ? This may answer every scruple, solve every
difficulty at once ; the evidence the conscience hath, by word
and deed, that God is fully satisfied, well-pleased in his Son.
This completes and closes the evidence on this whole point,
viz. the absolute suitableness of Christ's sacrifice and blood
for the purposes of divine justice, and for purification of the
conscience ; so that there was reason for insisting the longer
upon it.

III. The third thing to be considered relating to the gene-
ral subject, is, the application of Christ's blood to the con-
science, and by what means it is applied. The apostle's doc-
trine implies this application : for, how can it purge away
uncleanness from the conscience, without being applied to it ?
In all the sacrifices and purifications of old, such application
was represented, Heb. ix. 19. cWhen Moses had spoken
1 every precept to all the people according to the law, he
' took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scar-
1 let wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all
{ the people/ The ashes of the heifer in the water of puri-
fication behoved to be applied, by sprinkling the unclean,
verse 13. By-the-bye, how shall we judge of their doctrine
who hold, that men who never heard of Christ, by living up
to the rules of their several religions, may be saved even
through Christ ? This is diminishing the special mercy of
God to us, to whom Christ is preached ; to lead those who
hear of him to think that themselves have a wide gate to enter
at, when Christ says it is narrow; it is to open, by the
sovereignty of our charity, the gate to those on whom God
hath shut it ; it is giving the lie to the Spirit of God, who
saith concerning all by whom the gospel is not both heard
and received, that ' they are without God, without hope in
c the world,' Eph. ii. 12. Is the character and state of those
who have not heard of Christ now better than what is repre-
sented, Eph. iv. 17, 18. ? Our fond imagination may con-
trive charitable schemes of doctrine, in favours of them who
are in ignorance of God's law, and of the way of salvation ;
but the Spirit of God has no other doctrine concerning them
than this, Rom. ii. 12. e As many as have sinned without law,
' shall also perish without law ;' and does he not prove that
( all have sinned,' chap. iii. 9, 23. ? And from our text, we
say, how can the consciences of such be purged by the blood

450 Sermon I.

of Christ, to whose conscience he hath not subjectively, nor
so much as objectively, been revealed ? or, does God leave his
own witness in their souls in such a case, as to be capable of
doing no other warrantably than condemning of them whom
yet himself would be supposed to justify ? It is true, Rom.
ii. 15. it is said, their conscience, as it accuses, so it excuses ;
but it is one thing for the conscience to excuse (with respect
to particular instances of sin or duty,) another thing to re-
port to a man the remission of his sins. Now, upon what
ground can the conscience of them who know not Christ re-
port or suggest-the remission of sin ? If it does so upon this
ground, that a man has lived up sincerely to the rules of that
religion he holds, and that he knows infinite mercy to be an
attribute of God, (and it can pretend no other ground,) then,
of necessity, either that man's conscience suggests a lie and
is deluded, or the death of Christ was needless and vain.
But further, we may from this judge of the vain peace and
hope of many hardened and impenitent sinners within the
church. They hope to be saved ; but, upon what ground ?
By the mercy of God ; for God is infinitely merciful. But
this makes not a sufficient ground of hope. God would be
infinitely merciful ; and yet, in consistency with that mercy,
have adjudged you and all the fallen race of Adam to eternal
damnation^ as he hath done the devils. But such a man pre-
tends to have hope in Christ ; Christ died and shed his blood
for sinners of mankind. Such things a man has heard and
his tongue reports ; but does your conscience suggest so to
you ? — your conscience which the blood of Christ never
reached, which never felt its influence, to which it never
was applied ?

Now the blood of Christ is applied to the sinner: 1. Judi-
cially, by God imputing it to the believer's account, with re-
spect to his person and state, in order to his justification.
2. There is an immediate and internal application of it to the
conscience. The question concerning this is, By what means
is it so applied ? Here there are three things to be consider-
ed: J. The word of God; 2. Faith; 3. The immediate
operation of the Holy Ghost.

1. The word of God, ' the word of the everlasting gos-
' pel, of the ministry of reconciliation/ 2. Cor. v. 19. which
he hath sent, Eph. ii. 17. ' to preach peace to them which
c were far off, and to them that were nigh : the word of
' faith/ Rom. x. 8. This is it that carries the report of
Christ's blood to the ear and to the conscience ; it is ' the

Sermon I. 453

means careful that we do not contrive schemes concerning it,
lay foundations, or offer warrants for it, that will be otherwise
contrary to the analogy of faith, or form of sound words. In
the meantime, I say,

3. That there is in the word of God and in the gospel a
foundation and^ warrant for strong faith. To describe faith
in such a maner as will only suit the weakest and smallest de-
grees of it, and to suppose that the manner of faith can be
only by a progress from weak to strong faith, is, we suppose,
not so just. However we may be at a loss in explaining
some things that concern the warrants of faith, as we must
likewise be at a loss in explaining many things concerning the
production and acting of faith, Eccl. xi. 5. yet I think it
should be acknowledged, that there is in the word of God
and in the gospel a foundation and warrant for strong faith,
in the most immediate and primary actings of it. Having
premised these things, I shall be the more brief in the ac-
count to be given of the nature of faith.

I say then, that as faith, in the general, hath for its found-
ation the word of God, ' the faithful saying/ the report of it
concerning Christ, and the offer of the gospel, and as the
views and discoveries of it are beyond the reach of the
natural understanding, and by another light than the natural
understanding ever hath ; so particularly, —

1. This faith contains in it a perception, a satisfying per-
ception, of the glorious and absolute sufficiency of Christ's
obedience, sacrifice, blood and death, for our ransom, our re-
demption ; for procuring the remission of sin, and reconcilia-
tion ; for our peace ; for the purchase of all grace and salva-
tion. This includes, 1. A satisfying view of the glorious
method of divine wisdom and grace, with respect to the me-
diation of Christ, and the substitution of him for sinners.
2. Some just view of the glory of the person of Christ, whose
name is, ' The wonderful ; who is Immanuel, God with us ;
* who is God manifest in the flesh, who through the Eternal
' Spirit offered himself/ Such view of this as does, with
much wonder and astonishment, satisfyingly convince the
soul of the singular and infinite dignity and preciousness of
his oblation and blood. 3. A view of the holiness and justice
of God (with which the conscience is principally concerned,)
as being fully glorified in Christ, and by having full repara-
tion from him. That faith contains such perception and
views of such knowledge, is evident from those Scriptures
that show the immediate effect of the gospel to be, Acts. xxvi.

454 Sermon I.

18. ' opening men's eyes, and turning them from darkness
c to light f that show unbelief to be, 2. Cor. iv. 4. by ' the
c blinding of men's eyes, lest the light of the glorious gospel
c of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them ;'
that show this unbelief and rejection of the gospel to be over-
come, verse 6. ' by receiving the light of the glory of God in
f the face of Christ f that declare, as John xvii. 3. ' This is
' life eternal, to know thee the only true God, and Jesus
( Christ whom thou hast sent.'

2. Faith contains a satisfying conviction and view of the
most free and full offer of Christ in the gospel, and the par-
ticular direction of that offer to the sinner himself. By
means of which, the sinner, distressed with a sense of condem-
nation and wrath, perceives Christ to be a city of refuge, the
way to which is prepared and plain, not long or distant,
Deut. xix. 3, 6. ; perceives his blood to be (as Zech. xiii. 1.)
' a fountain opened for him to wash in, for sin and for un-
' cleanness/

3. Faith imports a confident acceptation of Christ, with
the benefit and comfort of his blood. Here are two things to
be considered. 1. Acceptation; 2. Confidence therein. 1.
Acceptation. That faith imports this, appears, first, from 1
Tim. i. 15. where the apostle, recommending, as is evident,
Christ to the faith of sinners, says, c This is a saying worthy
1 of all acceptation f and from John i. J 2. where faith is ex-
pressed by receiving ; ' to them that received him, even to
' them that believe on his name/ 2. From these places that
show the unbelief of sinners and express it, as Matth. xxiii.
37. ' how often would I have gathered your children, and
f ye would not ?' and John v. 40. ' and ye will not come to
' me that ye might have life/ And this is such a full and
hearty acceptation as may be supposed to flow from a tho-
rough sense of a desperate condition, from such views of re-
demption by Christ as are mentioned ; and from the agree-
able, sweet, and overpouring influence of the Spirit of Christ.
But further, there is confidence ; for I called it a confident
acceptation. That such a confidence suits the nature of faith,
is evident from the nature of the thing ; for how shall a dis-
tressed and humbled sinner, surprised with a discovery of the
suitableness and sufficiency of Christ, of the free and parti-
cular offer of him, and satisfyingly convinced of all this, be
supposed to receive Christ but with confident acceptation ? If
it be said, that it is the soul's reflection upon its own acting,
in way of acceptation and faith, that produces this confi-

Sermon 1. 451

' entry of this word' into the conscience, overclouded with
the dark apprehension of wrath, ' that gives light/ Psal.
cxix. 130. ' Remember the word unto thy servant, upon
' which thou hast caused me to hope/ Psal. cxix. 49.

Now, in the experience of souls, the word of God may con-
vey this benefit of Christ's blood to the conscience in a differ-
ent manner and with different circumstances. Sometimes
the word may enter, in these parts of it which do more di-
rectly express the virtue of Christ's blood and its use for our
redemption, and so procure a more explicit consent and faith
in relation to the blood of Christ, with a more sensible effect
upon the conscience. At another time a promise of God's
word may come in the soul, that expresses some particular be-
nefit and comfort of the covenant, suited to that which the
soul is most particularly exercised about : however, it being
in Christ only that the promises of God are yea and amen,
the particular comfort is so conveyed into the soul, that the
conscience, at the same time, though in a more implicit way,
is fully satisfied about the ground thereof in Christ, and in
his blood ; which, as was hinted, by the removal of the curse,
alone doth entitle to the blessings of Abraham, or of the co-
venant.

2. There is faith. By faith it is that Christ is received,
John i. 12. : by it the soul feeds on the flesh and blood of
the Son of man, John vi. 47, 48, 51. ; the mouth it is of the
soul, by which this blood entering, doth, as it were, fall down
upon the conscience. In a word, e God hath set forth Christ
"to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood/ Rom.
iii. 25.

It may be proper, upon this occasion, to give some account,
1. Of the nature of this faith ; 2. Of its office with respect
to the blood of Christ, and the conscience. 1 . Of the nature
of faith. Upon this, to be the better understood, I premise
these three things :

1. That the object of faith is various and extensive. Faith
acts variously, suitably to the variety presented to it in the
word of God ; to all the length and breadth of which, with
respect to every various and different matter, our faith ought
to extend itself. Now the benefit of faith, with respect to
our justifications and purging of the conscience, being from its
object, and there being many objects presented to it from the
word, which have not a proper immediate relation to our jus-
tification or the purging of the conscience, (for instance, Heb.
vi. 3.) it follows, that there are many actings of true faith

u5

452 Sermon 7.

that do not belong to our present subject and consideration ;
and that it is justly that justifying faith, or the justifying act
of faith, is distinguished from the other actings of true faith.
If we decline this distinction, and say that faith, in relation
to our justification, is to be considered in its most compre-
hensive view, I do not see but it must follow, that faith must
justify by means of its own proper conditionality in the new
covenant. To say, on this supposition, that its influence as
to our justification is from its object, cannot be understood in
this case, when many of the objects of its particular actings
have no relation to our justification. When we propose, then,
to consider the nature of faith as relating to our justification,
or purging our conscience, it is plain we must mean those
actings of it that relate to the priestly office of Christ, as he,
Rom. iv. 25. c was delivered for our offences, and raised again
1 for our justification ;' and as he is in that view exhibited
f and offered in the gospel/ Rom. iii. 25.

2. That as the faith of the Lord's people does often, perhaps
for most part, fall short of the large foundation afforded it in
the gospel, our present inquiry is not, in what lowest degrees
faith may subsist. We will perhaps find considerable incon-
venience in such inquiry, both with respect to the use of it,
and our want of light concerning it. When, in natural
things, we view those seeds that are great and large, it is oft-
times easy for us to say, such and such part being crushed or
broken off will do no great harm ; but if such another part is
damaged, or broken off, it will destroy the seed, and hinder its
vegetation : but, when we consider the very small and mi-
nute food of other plants, it is not so easy for us to tell which
part being broken off does no harm, or which part being
damaged will effectually destroy the vegetative power of the
seed. In like manner, if we consider faith under the view
and notion of a very small and weak seed, it is the more dif-
ficult for us to judge about it. The more small we suppose
it, the more it is below our observation, and out of the reach
of being measured by many of the rules we would lay down
concerning it. In this case, however, it were fit for us not to
be rash in determining ; to be tender of absolutely discourag-
ing such as may have this seed in the smallest degree ; on the
other hand, not to encourage those to sit down with an appre-
hension of some small and dubious attainments in faith, who
ought to be provoked to believe in such a manner as would be
most for their comfort, strength, and success in spiritual life
and holiness. And, in exhorting to great faith, to be by all

Sermon J. 4o7

enabled in his conscience to absolve himself, and to have
abundant consolation and good hope through grace.

So much concerning the nature of faith, and its office with
respect to the conscience in the application of Christ's blood
to it. With respect to which, the third thing chiefly con-
siderable is,

3. The special operation of the Holy Ghost. That the
conscience does, in order to its peace, necessarily require the
immediate operation of God's Spirit, appears by these reasons :
1 . That the satisfying efficacy of Christ's blood in the con-
science depends upon views that the natural man is not
capable of, these things being hid to him ; for, 1 Cor. ii. 14.
( the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of
' God, neither can he know them.' 2 Cor. iv. 4. f The god
' of this world hath blinded his mind.' I mean chiefly a
supernatural believing view, such as has been spoken about
already, of the glory and eternal Godhead of Christ, by which
he offered himself ; without this the blood of Christ will be
but like common blood. There may be good notions of his
glory in the head and imagination, that will serve to cover or
colour over a delusion ; but this will have no real effect upon
the conscience. To that it is needful that i God who com-
( manded light to shine out of darkness should shine into the
( heart,' 2 Cor. iv. 6. 2. The immediate instruction and
powerful operation of the Spirit is further needful with
respect to the conscience, because the method of grace is so
far out of the road of the natural conscience and of the old
covenant, the impressions whereof remain in it, directing
strongly to a self-righteousness, that it cannot of itself, by
any moral suasion, fall in with the method of grace by the
imputed righteousness of another ; therefore must it be
effectually instructed and led right by the Spirit, who hath
received of the things of Christ, to show them unto us, John
xvi. 14.; by whom only, and not by the spirit of the world,
we can know the things that are freely given us of God,
1 Cor. ii. 14. 3. The operation of the Spirit is needful by
reason of the disease that is in the conscience. The demands
of an awakened conscience are unexceptionably reasonable ;
but then, with this, through sin, it labours under a disease.
What satisfies does not pacify. A physician may administer
most suitable potions, and apply good medicines ; but it is
the immediate creating power of God that must heal the
sick ; so, Psal. cvii. speaking of people in distress by sickness
of body, he says, verse 20. ' He sent forth his word/ the

458 Sermon I.

creating word of his power, ' and healed them :' so in this
case, conscience is so far satisfied that it cannot reclaim ; yet
it is the power of the Spirit of God that must cure its sick-
ness, remove its disturbance, lay the wind and the waves
that rise there ; that must create its peace, Isa. lvii. 19.
' I create the fruit of the lips :' it is the fruit of the lips,
the fruit of the word and gospel preached ; yet, e I create
c the fruit of the lips ; peace, peace/ What great occasion
have we then, after all the comfortable doctrine we have
been offering to the conscience, to cry to God for this effectual
instruction and powerful influence of his holy Spirit !

So much concerning the application of Christ's blood to
the conscience, which was the third general head of discourse
we proposed to speak upon.

IV. What are the effects of the application of Christ's
blood to the conscience ?

1. Peace. As the effect of the imputation of Christ's
blood and righteousness to us in our justification is real peace
with God ; so the effect of this application of it to the con-
science is sensible peace there. Then does the sinner un-
derstand that character of him, that ' He is our peace,' Eph.
ii. 14. ■ the Prince of peace/ Isa. ix. 6, 7- * of the increase of
g whose government and peace there shall be no end.' Christ
is a priest of a special order, that of Melchizedec, whose
name, Heb. vii. 2. by interpretation is, first, f king of righte-

* ousness ;* and after that, also f king of Salem, that is king
c of peace.' When the conscience receives the benefit of a
Mediator's righteousness, then to it e the work of righteousness

* is peace ; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and

I assurance for ever/ Isa. xxxii. 17- When this sacrifice was
offered to God, it was to him, Eph. v. ii. ( an offering and
' sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour.' He was well pleased,
as it is said of Noah's sacrifice, that ' the Lord smelled of it
a sweet savour,' or a savour of rest, Gen. viii. 21. c and said,

I I will no more curse the ground :' so when this blood is
applied to the conscience, it smells of it a savour of rest ;
the fiery sulphureous steams of the curse are dissipated, the
thunders of the law cease: Cant. ii. 11, 12. ' For, lo, the
' winter is past ; the flowers appear on the earth, the time
' of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle
' is heard in our land.' Now this is not man's peace, as many
say, Deut. xxix. 19. s I shall have peace, though I walk in
' the imagination of my heart / Phil. iv. 7- it is * the peace

Sermon I. 45f>

dence, I acknowledge, that such reflection, under the direc-
tion of God's Spirit, is a mean of comfort and establishment ;
but I add, that without reflection, Christ and the offer of him
is sufficient, as before explained, to produce hearty and confi-
dent acceptation of the report concerning him ; so that the
sinner, convinced of His excellency, and his own need of the
free, particular, and sincere offer, shall receive him confidently,
joyfully, &c. Such a confidence appears further to be suit-
able to faith in its full and distinct acting, likewise from the
style of the Scripture, expressing it by trusting, assurance,
resting, glorying in the Lord ; and from many other argu-
ments that need not be insisted on.

I have considered faith chiefly as it acts upon those views
of Christ that concern the conscience. In the meantime, we
are to notice that faith, in its actual exercise, is not so re-
stricted, but comprehends a full view of Christ, as of God
made to us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and re-
demption ; and is a glorying in him upon all this large and
extensive ground.

2. After this much concerning the nature of faith, the next
thing to be considered on this subject, is the use and office of
faith with respect to the blood of Christ and the conscience.
I shall speak a little, before I go farther, concerning our jus-
tification.

* Justification is God's pardoning of all our sins, and ac-
e cepting us as righteous in his sight ; only for the righteous-
' ness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone/

As to our justification, faith is said to have the office of an
instrument, and so to justify in virtue of its object, Christ
our righteousness, apprehended, laid hold of, and pleaded by
faith, as the instrument of the soul. In the meantime, I add,
that faith hath not in itself any virtue, by which it can reach
such an instrumentality with respect to our union with Christ
or justification by him ; we must therefore further take in,
in this matter, the consideration of God's institution, and his
acting suitably to this institution, in being the justifier of
him that believeth in Jesus. And this consideration may
serve, in some respect, to account for the manner of expres-
sion frequent with many divines, unexceptionably sound and
orthodox, when they speak of faith as a condition. Others
indeed mean the conditionality of faith, thus — That Christ
having, by his death for all men, so far reconciled God as to
make way for his entering into a new covenant, the condition
of this covenant is faith, (by which some mean faith itself

456 Sermon I.

precisely, others include all that subjection to Christ's yoke,
or that obedience which faith engages to ;) which faith, ac-
cording to the tenor of the covenant, is that which of itself
does immediately entitle the sinner to remission of sins, &c.
The former, though they give faith the name of a condition,
yet still hold that the immediate reason of justification is the
imputation of Christ's righteousness ; with respect to which,
faith hath the office of an instrument, laying hold of it. The
latter, though they hold the death of Christ and his blood to
be the foundation of the new covenant, yet hold that the im-
mediate reason of justification is, our faith itself being ac-
counted to us, or imputed for righteousness. So they explain
the word, Rom. iv. 3. Gen. xv. 6. And this (whether the
word condition is used or not used concerning faith,) I take
to be the precise and proper state of this controversy ; the
importance of which I shall afterwards take notice of.

Now if we speak of the conscience, and say that faith is
the condition of its peace, the word condition in this
case must be inconsistent either with truth or with all
propriety of speech. I see not what can be understood
by it but this, that the sinner, finding himself to have be-
lieved, hath thereby peace, having performed the condition
required. But this is no other than the Arminian doctrine
above described, and is a sad misleading of the conscience.
I acknowledge that the believer having attained to the know-
ledge of his own faith, it helps his understanding to form
very solid rational conclusions concerning his state ; but then
I say, that the precise, the only and immediate cause of
peace to the conscience is, its perception of Christ's blood
and the expiation of sin by it. If we acknowledge this to be
the benefit of faith to the conscience, and yet still call it a
condition with respect to the peace of the conscience, it is
just as we said, that the hand is the condition of handling or
taking hold, that the eye is the condition of seeing, the ear
of hearing, the understanding the condition of perceiving ;
in fine, the conscience the condition of self-condemnation.
Now were not all this jargon, not to instruct, but to confound ?
This is surely what propriety of speech would require to
say, that the eye is the organ by which we see, the under-
standing the faculty by which we perceive and judge, the
conscience the faculty by which the sinner condemneth him-
self. In like manner, I say, faith is that instrument, or that
faculty of the soul, created by the power of God, whereby
the sinner perceives the virtue of Christ's blood, and so is

Sermo?i I. 459

' of God, which passeth all understanding/ c I will extend
peace to her like a river/ Isa. lxv. 12.

2. Liberty. You have heard of the bondage that belongs
to an evil conscience. A bondage that affects a man's state,
so he is a lawful captive, affects his future prospect and hope ;
so it produces fear ; affects him with respect to every duty,
work, and suffering he is called to, and in all these makes
him slavish. But by the blood of Christ upon the conscience,
there is a turning back the soul's captivity ; there is accom-
plished what the Lord Jesus received in charge, Isa. xlii. 7-
' to bring out the prisoners from the prison/ The soul is
set at large, that was, as it were, crushed and breathless in
a narrow room ; Psal. cxviii. 5. ' I called on the Lord in
' distress ; the Lord answered, and set me in a large place/

3. Sensible access to God, and confidence therein. Sin has
separated between God and the sinner. A sense of sin and
guiltiness in the conscience drives the sinner from God.
When Adam sinned, he fled from God to hide himself. He
was driven from paradise. An angel with a flaming sword
guarded it against him. The unclean in Israel were debarred
the camp and tabernacle. The people at Sinai were com-
manded distance. Even at the temple there was the court of
the people ; they had not access to the temple itself. By so
many different emblems did the Lord signify how sin had ob-
structed our access to God. The blood of Christ has again
opened this access ; and that blood, being applied to the con-
science, procures the soul's sensible access and confidence
therein. Heb. x. 19. ' Having therefore, brethren, access
c with boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus/
and, Eph. iii. 12. 'in whom we have boldness and access
* with confidence through the faith of him/ If access belong-
ed to any, it was in special manner to priests; if boldness be-
longs to any, it is in special manner to kings. Now7 believers
are a royal priesthood. You find in Heb. x. 19. that ' be-
( lievers have access unto the holiest / this represents the
most near and intimate access they have. When Uzziah, of
old, though a king, ventured to enter but into the holy place
to burn incense, the wrath of God came speedily against him;
but now a believer, without distinction of condition, has
privilege to enter through the new and living way, unto the
holiest, whither, of old, only the high priest entered, and
that but once a-year. But then if believers are priests, where
is their temple ? No doubt it is a temple wherever his ordi-
nances are dispensed. It is, no doubt, a temple wherever a

460 Sermon I.

believer has special congress with God, meets with him. So
Jacob says (though there was no outward temple, or place of
worship,) ' this is none other than the house of God, and this
' is the gate of heaven ; and he called the name of that place
' Bethel/ Gen. xxviii. 17* In the meantime, the temple,
wherein believers, this royal priesthood, have especially access
to God, is themselves, their own souls, 1 Cor. iii. 16. ; 2 Cor.
vi. 16. ; Heb. iii. 6. In this house, this temple, God dwells,
which is the distinguishing privilege of a temple. In this
temple his priests draw near him, and offer incense and sacri-
fice ; their spices, like incense flowing out, Song iii. 6. and
iv. 16. and as Psal. cxli. 2. In this temple, God, as sitting
on a mercy-seat, between the cherubim, as of old, in the
holiest, answers his people by testimonies of his presence, and
communications of his grace and love. In this temple have
believers confidence (as the high-priest of old with the blood
of others, so they with the blood of another, of Christ) to
enter into his nearest presence. 4. From a conscience purg-
ed by the blood of Christ, ariseth love to God. The Psalmist
says, Psal. cxvi. 1. * I love the Lord/ What gives him occa-
sion to begin with such warm and pathetic expressions of
love ? It was the sense of his former dismal case, and the
wonderful deliverance he obtained. His former case he ex-
presses in such language as will well suit the condition of an
awakened conscience, verse 3. c The sorrows of death com-

* passed me, and the pains of hell got hold upon me : I found

* trouble and sorrow.' But the mercy of God wrought his
deliverance ; therefore, with a warm sense of this he begins
the psalm, ' I love the Lord ;' and throughout the psalm,
what large and impetuous streams of praise and thanksgiving
flow from the springs of this love ! The blood of Christ upon
the conscience hath an inexpressible savour and report of
Christ's love. With what strong impression of this hath
John that doxology, Rev. i. 5, 6. ' Unto him that loved us,
' and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath
' made us kings and priests unto God and his Father ; to him
' be glory and dominion for ever and ever, amen ?' This
proof of Christ's love, that the conscience, once purged, hath
to report, has a sweet and unavoidable constraint, 2 Cor. v.
14. It determines the soul effectually and practically, with
a return of love, to judge, as verse 15. ' that they which live,'
who owe their life to his marvellous love, ' should not hence-
1 forth live to themselves, but unto him that died for them.'
It appears, then, that it is by means of the fruit of free grace

Sermon I. 461

to the conscience, that the law or commandment, which was
weak of itself, Rom. viii. 3. doth reach its end ; for 1 Tim. i.
5. ' the end of the commandment/ or the design and scope of
it ' is charity/ or love, c out of a pure heart, and of a good
' conscience, and of faith unfeigned/

5. When the conscience is purged by the blood of Christ,
that same faith that receives the conviction of righteousness
for the benefit of the conscience, has room to extend itself
upon the same ground ; and, by immediate and just conse-
quence, to take a view of the soul's advantage against Satan :
consequently against sin and the world, the instruments of
his government. The same spirit and the same faith convince
of judgment ; because 'the prince of this world is judged/
John xvi. 11. The dominion of Satan and of sin are founded
upon the curse of the law. While the soul, by an evil con-
science, finds itself under the curse of this law, it finds itself,
at the same time, the prey of the mighty, Isa. xlix. 24. the
lawful captive of that spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, Eph. ii. 2. : therefore, while the sinner is
under the law, sin hath all manner of advantage, Rom. vii. 5. ;
c for when we were in the flesh, the motions of sin, which
' were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth
' fruit unto death.' But the conscience being relieved from
the curse, of consequence, hath this comfortable doctrine,
Rom. vi. 14. ' Sin shall not have dominion over you ; for ye
' are not under the law, but under grace.' This is faith, the
victory of the soul, in what concerns its sanctification, 1 John
v. 4. ' This is the victory that overcometh the world / com-
pare, chap. ii. 16. c even our faith.' What is it that gives
this special virtue to faith ? It is, verse 5. that it is c a be-
f lieving that Jesus is the Son of God.' But what does faith
perceive in this glorious object to the purpose of overcoming
and of holiness ? It is this, verse 6. that ' he came by water
1 and blood :' and it is added, for caution, very suitably to
our purpose, and to the concern of the conscience for its ad-
vantage with respect to sanctification, ' not by water only,
1 but by water and blood.'

6. An effect of the conscience being purged by Christ's
blood is hope. One of the effects of our peace with God,
Rom. v. 1. that the apostle mentions, is this, verse 2. that
1 we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.' That redemption
of transgression, by means of Christ's death, which giveth
peace to the conscience, has been contrived and executed for
no lower purpose than this, Heb. ix. 15. that ( they which

462 Sermon I.

' are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance/
We have observed from Rom. iv. 25. the respect that Christ's
resurrection hath to our justification. In this is there a sure
foundation of hope ; insomuch, that the soul cannot be sup-
posed to perceive the fruit of Christ's resurrection for justifi-
cation and peace of conscience without lively hope. Hence,
1 Pet. i. 3. c which hath begotten us again unto a lively hope,
' by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.' What
follows, shows, 1. The object of this hope, verse 4. ' an in-
i heritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not
' away ;' 2. The security of this inheritance to the believer,
with respect to the certain reservation of it for him, and the
certain preservation of him, through grace, for it, verses 4, 5.
' reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of
' God, through faith, unto salvation/ We observed already,
that the conscience, in receiving the influence of Christ's
blood, hath inconceivable proof of God's love. Now, a sense
of God's love does naturally produce a certainty of hope ; by
the apostle's reasoning, Rom. v. 5. e And hope maketh not
( ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our
' hearts/

7. All these great effects of the conscience being purified
require the Spirit. A good conscience cannot produce liberty,
confidence, love, &c. but by the Spirit. Not that the purity
of the conscience doth produce the grace of the Spirit ; but
that the giving of the Holy Ghost is inseparably connected
with the purging of the conscience, and is the privilege of it ;
as c Christ came by water and blood,' 1 John v. 6. In order
to be the better understood, I say these two things : 1. The
faith that is instrumental in purging the conscience doth
presuppose the Holy Ghost and his operation in the soul ; for
faith is a fruit and evidence that a man is born of God,
1 John v. 1. ; so, John i. 12, 13. f they which believe are
' they which were born, not of blood, but of God ;' that is, as
chap. iii. 5. f born of the Spirit.' I have likewise showed be-
fore, that the conscience is under a subjective incapacity of
being purged by Christ's blood any otherwise than through
the operation of God's Spirit upon it ; so it appears, that
both faith and the purification of the conscience do presup-
pose the Holy Ghost operating in the soul. Nevertheless,
2. I say, that in another respect the Holy Ghost is a gift and
privilege consequential to faith and to the purging of the con-
science. What relation the purging of the conscience, and
this attainment of the Spirit, hath to one another, we may

Sermon I. 463

collect from Gal. iv. 5, 6. ; and what place faith hath in this
matter is expressed, Gal. iii. 13, 14. ' Christ hath redeemed
€ us from the curse of the law, that we might receive the
e promise of the Spirit through faith ;' and, Eph. i. 13. ' In
' whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that
' Holy Spirit of promise.' To understand this dispensation
of the Spirit only of that extraordinary and miraculous dis-
pensation that took place in the primitive church, were
certainly a great error : for, 1. All believers in that time did
not partake in that extraordinary dispensation ; whereas the
apostle still speaks of the Spirit, in the view we have now
under consideration, as belonging to all believers ; and intro-
duces it on every occasion as a doctrine all believers were
alike concerned in, and as a privilege they had a right to in
common, without ever adding the least hint of caution or dis-
tinction that would serve the purpose of such an interpreta-
tion. 2. In Gal. iii. 14. the promise of the Spirit is mention-
ed as a great and most special part of the blessing of Abra-
ham. Now the blessing of Abraham is no other than that
with respect to which it was said to him, Gen. iii. 3. ' In thee
1 shall all the families of the earth be blessed ;' and the ex-
tending of this blessing to the Gentiles, Gal. iii. 13. is no
other than the extending the blessings of the covenant of
grace to them ; and especially this blessing of the Spirit, to
which all believers should have a right, in common with
Abraham, who is, Rom. iv. 11. ' the father of all them that
' believe/ 3. The Holy Ghost, as received by faith, is said,
Eph. i. 14. to be ' the earnest of our inheritance, until the
1 redemption of the purchased possession ;' and, Eph. iv. 30.
to be that wherewith believers c are sealed unto the day of
• redemption ; which is there used as a motive to enforce an
exhortation, addressed to believers universally, to purity and
holiness. Now the redemption of the purchased possession
being the term or period mentioned, shows the blessing to
belong to every intermediate time. All believers are alike
concerned in the inheritance ; in the redemption of the pur-
chased possession. Now, is it only the first believers that
were to receive an earnest of the inheritance, or that needed
to be distinguished and secured for it by God's seal ? It is
certain the extraordinary dispensation of the Holy Ghost was
principally intended in subserviency to another purpose, viz.
that of propagating the gospel, and setting up Christ's king-
dom at that time. In the meantime, what the whole import
of the sealing above mentioned is, I shall not now inquire :

464 Sermon I.

but I say, a heart purged from an evil conscience, does (and
that for measures, I suppose, in proportion to the degree of
faith) receive the Spirit of God as the spirit of adoption ; for
this, see Gal. iv. 5, 6. ; Rom. viii. 15. ; 2 Tim. i. 7« This Spirit
dwells in believers as in his temples ; instructs them, shows
them the things of Christ, glorifies him in them, directs
their way, helps their infirmities, sanctifies and preserves
them.

Such, then, are the effects of the purification of the con-
science by the blood of Christ. I doubt not but some of the
Lord's people may say, that such effects are so insensible and
imperceptible with themselves, that the mention of them does
effectually darken and disprove all the conclusions they have
ever formed concerning their state. I would not wish such
improvement to be carried too far. In the meantime, these
things may, at least, suggest to us, what are these effects, by
the purification of our conscience, that we should all have in
view to attain to, in the best degree. And that therefore we
should have at heart, above all things, to have our conscience
purged in the most distinct and sensible manner, by means
of the strong actings of faith, and the gracious influence of
God's Spirit. Since the greater our faith in the bl^ood of
Christ is, and the more sensible the purification of our con-
science, the more sensibly and plentifully will the blessings
mentioned flow upon our souls, for their comfort, establish-
ment, sanctification, and for their safety and security against
the evils that surround them in the world.

All the above blessings and privileges, I suppose, the
apostle includes in one word in our text, c to serve the living
' God/ From what has been said, it may be perceived how
natively every thing that pertains to the serving of him, to
communion with him, and holiness, flows from the conscience
being purged by the blood of Christ. As justification is the
ground of all the saving privileges of a believer's state, so it
appears that a purified conscience is a fruitful spring of actual
sanctification. Such is the view that Zacharias expresses in
his triumphant song, Luke i. especially verses 74, 75. \ That
( he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the
e hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holi-
( ness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.'

Having now gone through the explications I intended, I
am come to the improvement of this subject ; and the field is
so wide, that I have been much at a loss what things to men-
tion or insist most upon.

Sermon I. 465

1. It appears that the whole subject and doctrine of the
gospel has been contrived and adapted for the most full and
comfortable purification of the conscience, and the glory of
Christ, and of free grace thereby. What immediately affects
this subject is most fundamental with respect to the gospel,
and the very life of religion ; by which it appears that the
doctrine of our text affords us a general key with respect to
the various schemes of doctrine. From this I infer, on the
one hand, that we are bound to have most charitable judg-
ment concerning those men, societies of men, or churches
(whatever unhappiness there may be with respect to terms
of communion,) that do retain sound doctrine in what per-
tains to the purifying of the conscience ; on the other hand,
that such doctrine as tends to mislead the conscience from its
proper remedy, to obscure the glory of it, or to weaken the
force and efficacy of it upon the conscience, is of the utmost
bad consequence, and ought not to be considered as mere
matter of opinion, but as most pernicious to the souls of
men. Therefore hath this been justly called the article
upon which the standing or falling of the church depends.

2. I infer next, that there must be a preparation of the
conscience, for perceiving the influence of Christ's blood.
There hath been much question concerning these called the
preparatory works of God's Spirit ; how far necessary or not ?
I acknowledge that the Spirit works sovereignly, and in
different degree and manner. I say further, if the question
shall be concerning preparations of the heart for Christ by
good dispositions, frames, and duties, from which we should
take our encouragement to lay hold on Christ, and apply his
comforts to ourselves, Rom. iv. 5. that such questions lead
to delusion. But I think it follows, from what I have said
concerning the office of the conscience, and the purging of it,
that the conscience must, by the thorough conviction of sin,
of condemnation and a desperate state, be prepared for per-
ceiving, by the instruction of the word and Spirit of God,
the sufficiency, efficacy, and comfort of Christ's blood.

Upon this a question will be suggested concerning the
needful degree and measure of such conviction of sin. To
which I answer, — 1. Such conviction of sin is needful, and
with such force, as will fix the sinner, and cause him make
a stand. When men hunt a wild beast, and that an arrow or
ball wounds him, yet so as not to affect the seat of life or
organs of motion, he will but run the more furiously off; but if
the arrow reaches the seat of life or the organs of motion, he

466 Sermon I.

falls, and is caught. The Lord does, Jer. ii. 24. compare the
sinner to the wild ass ; cMen will not weary themselves with
c a vain pursuit of her ; but in her month, when she is heavy,
' she will be overtaken/ So, that measure of conviction of sin
is needful that will make the sinner heavy ; that will dis-
able him from following out his course ; that will fix him to
the consideration of his conscience and state, and to the care
of salvation above every concern. 2. I say, that measure of
conviction of sin is needful, that will, in some respect, raise
the conscience above the reach of delusions, with respect to
our peace with God and our hope. A small wound is easily
cured or skinned over, or at least easily borne, a deeper
wound will hurry a man to his ordinary physicians ; but if
the wound is felt to be mortal (and every wound of the con-
science is in itself so,) physicians will be given over, and the
remedy that will then be of use, must have something above
nature in it. 3. Such conviction of sin is needful as will
determine the soul, under the instruction of God's word and
Spirit, to hold Christ precious and worthy of all acceptation,
for the benefit of his blood towards our reconciliation, and
for all his grace ; and if the soul doth truly so esteem Christ,
or have received evident proofs of his love and grace, surely
those are not to be called in question, upon account of a
greater or lesser degree of former awakening and conviction.

3. We have, from the doctrine of the text, great occasion
offered us of adoring the inconceivable love, the infinite
wisdom, the free and rich grace of God, who hath laid such
a foundation for reconciling of souls to himself; who hath
provided such a purification for the conscience ; who exhibits
himself to it under its guiltiness, by the character of c him
( that justifies the ungodly/ Rom. iv. 5. This is a subject upon
which the thoughts and praises of ransomed ones will be
extended eternally ; and I choose rather to leave it to the
meditation of them whom God hath wrought to the faith of
it, than to multiply words that will rather darken than set
it in a due light.

4. I have, in the meantime, the most weighty matter of
exhortation, which I would especially address to them who
are fully convinced of their need of this purification, and are
careful about it.

The exhortation is this ; that they open their condemning
polluted conscience, and expose it to the influence of the
blood of sprinkling, which alone can make it speak better
things ; for ' it speaketh better things than the blood of

Sermon I. 467

( Abel ;' that they allow not unbelief to withdraw their ear
from the joyful sound ; that they would bathe, as it were,
and drench their conscience in this healthful blood, ( this
' fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness ;' that they
would betake themselves thereto, and confidently plead it with
God ; that they would fly for refuge to take hold of the hope
set before them ; in line, that they would receive and give
faith to our report.

For motives to enforce such exhortation, there would cer-
tainly be none other needful, did God set the things we have
insisted on, in due light, before us ; did we hear and learn
these things of the Father, there would be no demur about
coming to Christ, John vi. 45. Instead, therefore, of offering
any other motives, I shall apply myself to consider a consider-
able objection that is used against the believing acceptation
of the gospel offer. And it is this —

Object. — I would most willingly embrace Christ, and the
offer of him and salvation through him, if I saw any cause to
think that he was intended for me ; but I most certainly
know, that in the unchangeable council of God, this salvation
is provided for some and not for others ; and Christ's death
intended for the redemption of some and not of others. How,
then, can I have warrant for my faith ? or what certain
benefit can I have by any attempt to lay hold on the peace
and salvation offered, while I have no evidence that the death
of Christ, which is the foundation of that offer, is intended
for me ? I answer, —

1st, The council of God, concerning the extent of Christ's
death, hath no relation at all to our warrant for laying hold
of Christ by faith. They that will seek a foundation for the
general offers of the gospel and for faith, in these councils of
God, are in the way to unavoidable error and temptation.
These are secrets which belong unto the Lord our God ;
and they are only the things that are revealed that belong to
us, Deut. xxix. 29.

2d, Any man would reckon such objection and such conduct
most absurd in any other matter. Suppose you stood before
a piece of ordnance that were to be immediately discharged,
and were desired to step aside, would you refuse, and stand
till you were satisfied what were determined concerning your
safety and escape in the council of God, which hath deter-
mined every thing concerning you, yea, concerning the
sparrows ? By no means, if in your right wits. Now, are
not both cases exactly paraDel in this respect ? The artillery

468 Sermon 7.

of heaven, the wrath of God, is ready to be discharged upon
you : there is a refuge set before you ; yet you will not fly
to lay hold of it, till you may be satisfied what the purpose
of God concerning you imports.

3d, God hath declared, in innumerable places of his word, to
this purpose, that ' he that believeth shall be saved ;' and
that e to them that receive Christ, he giveth power to become
( the sons of God/ Now, do you believe the decrees of his
eternal council to be unchangeable, and do you not likewise
believe the faithfulness of his word to be unchangeable ? You
need not be apprehensive that infinite wisdom hath left these
things in danger of interfering. I say, heaven and earth may
sooner pass away ; yea, I say, all the eternal decrees and pur-
poses of heaven may perish, change, or come to nothing, as
soon as this declaration and rule of grace, c he that believeth
' shall be saved, and he that cometh unto me, will I in nowise
' cast off/ fail, or come short in truth and accomplishment.

4th, Say, does the command to believe in Christ concern
you ? Surely it does. Now, does he require you to believe ?
Does he encourage you to it with the promises of salvation ?
Does he threaten the rejection of his offers with an aggravated
damnation ? Does he declare that they who believe do
greatly honour him ? and have you then no warrant to be-
lieve ? Though you could not conceive it, are you not safe
to trust God, that such believing is well warranted when he
requires it ? You have perhaps believed a lie implicitly,
upon the credit of a false teacher, or other deceiver ; you
have perhaps done a wicked thing against God and your con-
science, in obedience to some man having power over you ;
but you will not rest and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
for salvation, upon the authority of God, on the credit of his
report and record concerning him !

5th, Consider the ministry of reconciliation committed to
us : how we are ambassadors employed by God and by the
Mediator, with full powers from his Father, for this very af-
fair, to treat of and procure reconciliation. Now, say, have
we warrant to offer Christ to all, and so to you ? Surely if
there is a fault through want of due war ant to you to receive
the offer, that fault will lie first at our door for making it ;
yet I suppose you will not be rash to say so. The blessed
apostle knew full well that the purpose of God concerning
Christ was restricted and particular : he knew full well that
none other would actually embrace his invitation and believe,
but such as were ordained to life, Acts xiii. 48. ; yet does he

Sermon 1. 469

(and you may suppose upon good warrant) by no means re-
strict his invitation or offer, but calls all he writes to, and
all to whom these should come, f in the name of God and of
1 Christ, to be reconciled to God/ 2 Cor. v. 20. There you
have God and Christ and his ambassador all at once giving
a general call to believe, to be reconciled to God ; and that
upon no more special or particular ground than that we still
lay before you, verse 21, ' that he had made him to be sin
' for us, though he knew no sin/

6th, You have the same foundation and warrant to believe
and lay hold of Christ, that believers have generally had be-
fore you. It is true, we have read of some who were called
and set apart by immediate and special revelation ; but the
whole cloud of saints generally had no other warrants for
faith than are offered to you. Now, are all the Lord's
people fools ? Have all who have died in the faith upon
these warrants, died as fools ? Surely you may, with the
utmost safety, trust to so sure, so well proven and tried a
foundation.

I conclude, that the objection against your warrant to be-
lieve is vain ; therefore, that there can be no reason for your
coming short of the benefit offered you through Christ's blood
but this, that obstinately you put it from you, and judge
yourself unworthy of everlasting life, Acts xiii. 46.

5. I infer, that the sure way, the way of lasting benefit,
in laying hold of the promises and benefits of the word of
God, is to lay hold of them as they are through Christ, — as
the purchase of his blood. This is a direction commonly
given. Our present subject shows the importance of it. For
this is it that engages the conscience on the side of our com-
forts. Many times the heart seems inclined to lay hold of
the promise ; yea, seems to have much present comfort by
it ; but the conscience is not right ; its peace is not distinct ;
not being adverted to and provided for in way of believing :
therefore it is not satisfied with these comforts, or the soul's
interest in them. Hence arises much temptation, many ex-
ceptions, and innumerable scruples, that disturb the soul in
the possession of the most valuable comforts. The conscience
not being presently, distinctly satisfied with views of the
blood of Christ, makes a great weakness in the foundation,
that gives advantage to Satan, the accuser of the brethren,
to batter down all the comforts we build upon the promise.
Every thing in the promise and covenant has relation to the
blood of Christ, which is the blood of the covenant ; therefore

470 Sermon I.

all the promises of the covenant are in him yea and amen.
The Lord has laid a sure foundation in the blood of his Son.
Upon this ground hath he engaged his word and oath, Heb.
vi. 18. ' for strong consolation to them who have fled for re-
' fuge to take hold of the hope set before them/ Thus hath
lie fully provided for peace to the conscience, and comfort to
the hearts of his people at once. And when both these are
joined by a faith extending itself suitably to the large
foundation, then will the soul have an established and solid
comfort, that will not be exposed to that unresolvedness and
doubting, that secretly hath its root in an evil conscience.

6. From the doctrine of the text, and what I have made
evident in the explication of it, I further infer, that in order
to his well-being, a believer stands in need of two things :
1. To have always a conscience awake ; 2. To have an ordi-
nary gracious presence of the Spirit of God.

1. To have always a conscience awake ; and that not only
to direct his walk, and to maintain by it that watchfulness
and holy fear of sin, which Solomon says it is still his happi-
ness to have, but particularly for the sake of his comfort by
Christ. This awakenedness of conscience in a believer is not
to be measured by what he may have formerly felt by the
law. He may himself, perhaps, through mistake, measure
too oft by this rule, and God may, in great displeasure, on
some occasions punish him in this way ; but, ordinarily, I
reckon there is something that pertains to the privilege of a
believer's state that makes an odds in this respect. In a child
of God, whose heart is fully reconciled to his law, ' which a
k carnal mind is not subject to, neither indeed can be/ recon-
ciled to Christ's yoke, and whose sharpest and most humbling
convictions are under the direction of a spirit of adoption,
there must be a great difference betwixt the state of his
conscience, and that of the unconverted under the law. But
still I say, that the blood of Christ is a remedy provided for
the sicknesses, wounds, and pollutions of the conscience ;
and therefore, in order to the believer's having the ordinary
sensible benefit of this remedy, it is needful for him to have
always a conscience awake, heedful, tender, and lively. I
say he needs,

2. An ordinary gracious presence of the Spirit of God. I
shall not repeat what I have said to this purpose, speaking of
the first application of Christ's blood to the conscience ; only
I add, that this gracious influence of the Spirit is not only

Sermon I. 471

then needful, but ever after ; and that without it the believer
will, of himself, be at a loss about the believing improvement
of Christ's blood as much as ever.

I shall carry this matter a little farther, and for a founda-
tion to what I add, I lay down this principle — That a child
of God, who would wish to have the ordinary and uninter-
rupted benefit of a good conscience by the blood of Christ,
must not only have at heart to be led right with respect to
the peace of his conscience objectively, but likewise has it for
him to see the subjective soundness and health of the con-
science itself.

From this I infer, — That it is not enough for a Christian,
in relation to his peace, that he endeavour to maintain clear
views and just impressions in his soul of free grace, justify-
ing through Christ ; but that he be likewise most tenderly
careful of his conscience with respect to holiness of heart and
life ; for this concerns the subjective soundness and health of
the conscience itself; without which, it will be incapacitated
and indisposed to perform a comfortable office.

If a man will, by any unwatchful, fearless, and stumbling
walk, by indulging the lust of his heart, and by the practice
of sin in his life, hurt, wound, and sicken his conscience, it
is vain for him to think that his conscience will or can be a
vessel for his soul to retain the comforts of Christ's blood for
him : it hath received these comforts for other purposes, and
when sickness is brought upon it, will heave them up.

I take this occasion further to observe the noxious ten-
dency of two very opposite schemes of doctrine to the con-
science, with respect to what concerns it objectively and
subjectively — I mean Arminianism, with respect to our justi-
fication and peace, and Antinomianism, with respect to our
sanctification. Both do, upon very opposite extremes, offer
what is detrimental to the believer's enjoyment of full and
solid comfort by the blood of Christ.

1. Arminianism. This imports, so far as concerns our
present subject, that according to the new covenant, it is the
faith and sincere obedience of the Christian to the precepts
of the gospel that is the condition, the performance of which
doth, by the tenor of that covenant, immediately entitle him
to the peace and favour of God and to life. These, it is true,
do hold that it is the blood of Christ which alone hath ex-
piated sin, — that it alone is the foundation upon which God
hath entered into a new covenant, upon terms suited to our

472 Sermon I.

present state, — that to this blood we owe it, that God, who
hath still right to insist on perfect obedience, yet doth accept
of our faith and sincere obedience to the gospel, and imputeth
it to us for righteousness and justification, — that to this blood
we owe the grace that assisteth our free will, much hurt by
sin, in performing that faith and obedience. Upon the whole,
they declare, that in general we are indebted to the free grace
of God through Christ for our salvation.

All this amounts to the Pharisee's ' God, I thank thee,'
Luke xviii. 11. If there is any use of the true remedy offer-
ed to the conscience, it is but like applying the leather side
of the plaister to the wound ; if it can have any influence, it
must be very remote, weak, and dubious.

In the meantime, the soul doth immediately feed upon
its own faith and obedience for its life, and not upon the
flesh and blood of the Son of man, who hath said, John vi.
57. e He that eateth me, even he shall live by me.' Yea,
faith is, in this case, represented to feed upon itself; while
the just is, by his faith, to live upon Christ.

The word of reconciliation committed to us to preach is
this, 2 Cor. v. 19. ' That God is in Christ reconciling the
' world unto himself, not imputing to them their trespasses.'
Now the declaration here is not, that God is, upon the terms
of a new and easier covenant, reconciling the world ; but
that he is so immediately and directly in Christ, e whom he
■ made,' verse 21. e to be sin for us, that we might be made
• the righteousness of God,' not in ourselves, but .' in him.'
Upon this immediate ground, and that condition only, doth
he call sinners believingly to fall m with the treaty of recon-
ciliation, and to accept of his peace.

Further, Christ himself is said to be our peace, Eph. ii. 14.
Isa. ix. 6. Now, in what respect is he our peace, any other-
wise than the peace of Mahometans and heathens, for whom
he is supposed to have shed his peace-speaking blood as much
as for any others ? Only they through misimproving the
sufficient grace, the natural revelation afforded them (which
is all the new covenant Christ's blood has obtained for them,)
do fall short of God's further condescension : whereas we
improve things to better account, and by coming up to the
terms of our covenant, procure right to the blessings of it :
one of which is the remission of our sins and peace with God.
Thus Christ, for being called our peace and the Prince of
Peace, has done for us only what he has done for the repro-

Sermon I. 473

bate ; and the immediate objective ground of our peace is in
ourselves.

I conclude, that this doctrine is contrived for robbing
Christ of his glory, in the matter of reconciliation, impro-
priated to him ; and for misleading the consciences of wretch-
ed sinners from their peace in him.

2. There are, on the other hand, Antinomians. These do
offer prejudice to the comforts of believers by the blood of
Christ, while they hold things that tend to hurt the con-
science, with respect to its own subjective soundness and
well-being. This they do when they hold things detrimental
to the principles and interests of holiness.

Against this it is said in defence, that there is no design
against the interests of holiness, but only to forward it by
such principles as are supposed to be most effectual.

For answer : The question is not concerning the intention,
which may have been good in general, as to many. As to
practice, as it is possible that true faith in the heart may,
though with great disadvantage, operate savingly, notwith-
standing of some wrong principles in the head concerning
justification ; so we question not but the grace of God in the
heart may operate effectually towards sanctification, not-
withstanding of some principles in men's heads detrimental
to it.

I do likewise acknowledge, that the principles naturally
in the conscience, cannot of themselves produce holiness of
heart, in any part. Surely, in this respect, ' the law is weak
' through the flesh/ Rom. viii. 3. It is only the principles
and doctrine of free grace taking root and place in the heart,
that will make the principles of the conscience of effectual
use to holiness. In the meantime, we are to conceive and
inculcate the principles of grace in such a manner as shall
not tend to obscure, hurt, or eradicate the principles which
the sovereign Lawgiver himself hath implanted in the con-
science ; without which its health and soundness cannot sub-
sist : such are the impressions of the authority of God, and
of the unchangeable and eternal obligation of his law. There
may be motives, from the love and grace of God, offered to
allure the heart to duty ; and for certain it must be effectually
allured and excited by such motives ; but if the principles
above mentioned are overlooked, or operate not, the conscience
is deprived of its most special interest and office, in relation
to duty and sanctification. What will follow is, that the
conscience being put out of order and sickened, betwixt its

474 Sermon I.

own native principles, and principles destructive of them,
will come under a subjective indisposition for the offices of
peace and comfort through Christ.

It will be objected, that a fearful apprehension of the
wrath of God, and acting from that principle, is natural to
the conscience ; whereas it is contrary to the filial disposition
and obedience of a child of God.

For answer : It is true that sin hath produced several
things in the conscience, that do not originally belong to it,
that grace must cure or remove. In the meantime, as to an
apprehension of the wrath of God, as the just and proper
wages of sin, that is a principle necessarily belonging to
the conscience ; and though the influence of it in a slavish
way of obedience be not warrantable nor suitable to a child-
like disposition, yet the consideration of it, in a right man-
ner, hath its own place as a motive of duty, very consistently
with the sweetest and most alluring motives of grace. With
respect to the believer's peace and comfort, this principle and
impression in the conscience imposes no greater hardship upon
him than what the Lord imposed upon the man-slayer, when
he should have fled to the city of refuge ; viz. that he should
abide and remain in it, and not come without the borders of
the city of his refuge, Num. xxxv. 25, &c. If he did other-
wise, a kind Providence might overrule matters so, that the
avenger of blood should not meet with him ; yet while he
wandered carelessly or contemptuously from the city of his
refuge, he had good reason for most awful apprehensions.
So, I say, whatever unhappy fits of sin and unbelief may
seize a child of God, a well ordered and sure covenant has
secured that the avenger shall not actually meet with him ;
yet while through unbelief he wandereth from his refuge,
the principle above mentioned in his conscience hath, with
great consistency, very awful things to suggest to him : nor
should we for fear of this endeavour to knock it absolutely
out of the soul : the existence of it in the soul is of use to
drive the soul back to its refuge ; and the only inference is,
that e the just shall live by his faith/ In this way of living,
the principles of his conscience have nothing contrary to the
greatest establishment of his peace and comfort. The man-
slayer, confining himself within the city of his refuge, had
as uninterrupted peace and liberty in doing his work and
affairs as the most innocent inhabitant. This was no pre-
judice to the law that confined him there.

Upon the whole, the soundness and health of the conscience

Sermon I. 47-r>

itself being needful, in order to the believer's enjoying peace
in it through Christ's blood, the principles that do originally
belong to the conscience ought to be maintained : it is by
these, under the saving instruction of God's Spirit, that the
soul will always be disposed to hold Christ precious for his
blood taking away its guiltiness, for the power of his grace
against corruption, and for fitting and establishing in every
good word and work : in fine, that the believer, with respect
to conformity and benefit, will be brought up to that of the
blessed apostle, 1 John i. 7- ' If we walk in the light, as he
1 is in the light, we have fellowship one with another ; and
' the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.'
7- To conclude all that we intended to offer concerning
the improvement of this most important subject — the most
great and awful view of the Lord's-supper — is, that it imports
a solemn and near approach to God, i to our God, who is a
4 consuming fire/ Heb. xii. 29. The great duty in every
duty, is to approach to God : it is so particularly as to this
ordinance. We have endeavoured to lay open the sure founda-
tion of confidence in every such approach. We have need to
look upwards for the Spirit of faith. The exhortation I give
in the words of the apostle, Heb. x. 19 — 21. ' Having
' therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by
1 the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath
' consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his
1 flesh ; and having an High-Priest over the house of God/
(what follows, verse 22. I would not have the Lord's people
to take as the matter of a discouraging charge, but rather as
importing the most evangelical comfort, and inexpressible
encouragement,) e let us draw near with a true heart, in full
• assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
' conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.'

i5

476

SERMON II.

James i. 22.

' But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your
ownselves.y

There is naturally in the minds of men a source of endless
error and delusion. The strong general bias of men thereto
appears in this, that no sooner does the force of the light and
the evidence of the truth drive men from one error, than they
run to the opposite error ; so difficult a thing it is to cause
men settle upon that sure and solid truth that lies in the
midst, between the extremes of delusion.

The general purpose and occasion of this epistle, brings
into our view a very remarkable instance of this kind. It
prevailed much among men, that a man is to be justified in
the sight of God by his own righteousness, and to be entitled
to his favour by his own good works. There is no error
more deep in human nature. Indeed, this was the first cove-
nant of life, and men's reason suggests no other ; though a
little attention to reason, or rather to the light which the
word of God suggests to men's reason, might easily convince
men, that this is a way for justification and acceptance that
is absolutely and eternally out of the reach of the sinner.
The blessed apostle Paul labours greatly against this innate
delusion. He asserts, Rom. iii. 25, 26. that f God hath set
c forth his Son Jesus Christ to be a propitiation, through
• faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness, that he
' might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in
i Jesus/ His doctrine is, that c to him that worketh not,
' but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith
' is counted for righteousness/ Rom. iv. 5.

Indeed, the necessity of holiness, and the effectual influence
of Divine grace towards sanctification, shines brightly in all
the epistles of Paul. However, men were no sooner put
from that delusion of trusting to their own works and righte-
ousness, than they run to the opposite and no less dangerous
extreme of thinking, since they expected to be justified
otherwise than by their works, that there was no necessity
whatsoever of good works; no danger by ungodly living and
unholy practice. It would seem that with many this did

Sermon II. 477

not remain in mere speculation, but that these sentiments
had too free course in practice. The sharpness of this apostle's
reproofs, and the awfulness of his denunciations, give some
reason to think so.

It is then the chief design of this epistle of the apostle
James, to show the wickedness and danger of unholy practice,
and to assert the necessity of good works. The necessity of
them is especially asserted in the second chapter ; but in
this first chapter, he makes his way to that subject by sug-
gesting divers things that make much to that general
purpose.

I shall look no farther back in this context than the 18th
verse ; there the apostle acquaints us with a great effect of
Divine grace by means of the word of God: ' Of his own will

* begat he us with the word of truth/ From this he exhorts,
as verse 19. c Wherefore, let every man be swift to hear,
' slow to speak, slow to wrath/ Some loved to set out their
knowledge in the talkative way ; and wrathful contentions
and disputations abounded. The exhortation imports, as if
he had said, since so great good hath been done us by means
of the word of the gospel, as that God hath thereby begotten
us ; since so great and so important good to our souls is to be
further had by it, through the influence of Divine grace, let
us be diligent and careful in attending to the word, with a
view to the good it may do our souls, and to the blessings
which Divine grace may communicate to us thereby. Let
it not be our way, as it is with too many, to be for ever
taking occasion, from what we hear, to amuse others with
our own speculations, or to disturb and hurt them by our
wrathful disputings. Instead of dealing with others con-
cerning what we hear, in that manner, let us be anxious to
get good to our own souls.

One might say against this — Why, shall we have no concern
about others, no zeal for God's interests, or for seducing our
brethren from the errors of their sentiments or practice?
The apostle says nothing against that. In the meantime,
wrath is not the proper mean. It is but a carnal weapon,
and none of those that wrill be mighty through God, 2 Cor.
x. 4. to glorify God, or do good to men. The wrath of man
may suit a man's own spirit and interests; but, says the
apostle, verse 20. e the wrath of man worketh not therighte-

• ousness of God/

How, then, shall we hear the word of God, and be conver-
sant about the gospel ? An answer to this question we have,

i

478 Sermon II.

verse 21. c Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness, and superfluity
' of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the ingrafted
1 word, which is able to save your souls/ Here the word,
in order to do us good, must be ingrafted. Our business
with it is not merely to lay up in our heads the stores of a
talkative profession, or of angry disputes ; it must be in-
grafted in our hearts, although its being so should require
the piercing or cutting of them.

That it may be thus ingrafted, the word must be received
with meekness. With that meekness that subjects the whole
soul to the authority of God speaking by it ; with that meek-
ness that is opposite to the evil disposition and temper towards
men which he had mentioned.

In order that this gracious temper may have place in the
heart, there is certain vile trash to be thrown out, viz. * all
' lilthiness and superfluity of naughtiness/ What are we
especially to understand by these expressions ? I here
observe, that the apostle Peter appears evidently to have a
discourse and exhortation to the same purpose and scope with
that of my context ; 1 Pet. i. he observes that the Christians
he writes to, * were born again by the word of God/ verse
23. ; even as he says, verse 25. ( by the word of the gospel
1 which was preached unto them/ In order to their further
profiting thereby, he adds, as immediately follows, chap. ii.
1, 2. ' Wherefore, laying aside all malice, and all guile, as
' new born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that
4 ye may grow thereby/ This discourse of Peter's is so pre-
cisely to the same purpose in every part with that of the
context under our consideration, that we may reasonably ex-
plain the one by the other ; and so suppose that the apostle
James does, by filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness,
especially mean what Peter expresses more distinctly and
particularly, viz. malice, guile, hypocrisies, envies, evil
speakings, and such like unholy passions and practices.

When, laying apart these, Christians do with meekness
receive the ingrafted word, the apostle says, it is able to save
their souls. As it was the mean by which Divine grace did
beget them, by which God did begin a good work in them ;
so shall it be the mean by which he will advance that good
work, until he perform and finish it against the day of Christ,
Phil. i. 6.

On this occasion, a serious Christian might say, I endea-
vour to have my heart free from every disposition and
passion that would obstruct my profiting by the word, or

Sermon II. 479

that would grieve the Holy Spirit of God, who is the proper
Author of my profiting ; there is nothing I have so much in
view as the real good of my own soul in hearing ; I wish, by
the blessing of God on the word I hear, to increase my light,
to advance in my knowledge of the glorious mystery of the
new covenant, and of the love and grace of God through
Jesus Christ, to reach a spirtual and holy frame of heart ;
to attain to an establishment of comfort and hope, and to a
victory over my own unbelief, and the temptations which
Satan suggests against my peace.

To such, I say, all this is well. The sincerity of such
views and dispositions is certainly from above, and will not
be altogether without suitable influences from above, an-
swering to such views ; yet there is one thing further to be
adverted to, that must necessarily be brought along ; that is,
doing of the word. The apostle has a c but,' a mark of cau-
tion to that purpose, 'but be ye doers of the word, not
' hearers only, deceiving your ownselves/

We come now, after so long an introduction concerning
the right manner of hearing the word, to what concerns the
practising thereof; the enjoining of which is the scope of
my text. In it I observe three things —

I. A general obnoxiousness of men to self- deceiving, — ( de-
' ceiving your ownselves/

II. The particular matter of self-deceiving here cautioned
against ; and that is, men's satisfying themselves with
being hearers only of the word.

III. The character and conduct required and recommended
in opposition to this ; that is, to be doers of the word.

I. The general obnoxiousness of men to self-deceiving. —
For any man to be a deceiver of others, is one of the vilest
of characters, and one of the strongest, most special resem-
blances that any can bear of the old serpent, that grand de-
ceiver. But that any should deceive himself, is very strange ;
it is for a man to be the devil against himself. Shall we say
that any man could deceive himself? or is it possible for any
man to design it ? But, however the case be as to designing,
there is certainly an inclination and tendency in human na-
ture to self-deceiving, that works as effectually as the most
resolved and most explicit intention.

It is true, it is but a particular case of self-deceiving that
the text mentions, which may not to some appear sufficient

480 Sermon II.

to found any general observation ; but let us consider it a
little. For a man to please himself with being a hearer only,
and not a doer of the word, can any thing in the world be
more absurd, or more evidently so ? Can any thing be ima-
gined more contrary to the clearest light of the word itself ;
any thing that is in greater contradiction to the light that is
in every man's own conscience, or to the professed sentiments
of all the world? Can any conduct be of more acknow-
ledged, dangerous, and fearful consequence ? Surely, if a
man can deceive himself in so very clear a case, he may be
supposed capable of deceiving himself in any thing else.
That a man should be capable to deceive himself in so very
clear and important a case, does clearly imply and demon-
strate a general obnoxiousness and tendency, in the hearts of
men, to self-deceiving. — Upon this head, I shall,

1. Inquire into the causes of this obnoxiousness to self-
deceiving.

2. Offer some directions against it.

1 . I am to inquire into the causes of this obnoxiousness to
self-deceiving.

1st, The first I name is, men's blindness and ignorance of
God. There is nothing more certain and acknowledged by
the conscience than the glorious sovereignty and power of
God ; yet the heart doth not effectually perceive it. There
is something in the carnal mind, which is not subject to the
law of God, that suggests, f Who is the Lord that I should
4 obey his voice ?' Exod. v. 2. ; and, ( What is the Al-

• mighty that we should serve him ?' There is nothing that
will be less contradicted by men's profession, than God's om-
niscience ; yet their hearts perceive it not, nor receive the
impression of it. They say, c God hath forgotten ; he hideth
1 his face, he will never see it/ Psal. x. 11. ; and, ' the Lord

• shall not see, neither the God of Jacob regard it,' Psal. xciv.
7. Yea, holy and righteous as God is, yet the wicked is
charged with thinking thus — ' Thou thoughtest that I was alto-
' gether such an one as thyself/ Psal. 1. 21. Yea, what has
l>een men's ignorance of God, who would represent him by

• an image made like unto corruptible man, and to birds, and

• four footed beasts ?' Rom. i. 23. Men's ignorance of God
makes them capable of any delusions concerning him ; and
men's delusions concerning God make them capable of every
delusion and self-deceiving besides. God is an all-seeing, in-

Sermon II. 481

finitely holy, righteous, and powerful being. Did men, in
coming to God, truly believe that he {i.e. a being of these at-
tributes, and not an idol of their own heart) exists, that faith
would certainly produce other sort of temper and works than
what men commonly please themselves in. If God's omni-
science, holiness, and righteousness did appear to men's hearts
in a true light and with suitable impressions, they could not
possibly deceive themselves as they do.

2d, A second cause of it is, our ignorance of ourselves.
We are, if I may speak so, very near ourselves. What have
Ave better access to know than ourselves ? Yet there are
many folds in our heart. There is a depth in it. The in-
ward thought, (if I may allude to that expression of the
Psalmist) and the heart is deep, Psal. lxiv. 6. ' The heart
' is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked ; who
k can know it?' Under the direction of a complication of
wicked lusts, men can fight against Christ himself, the Lord
of glory ; as he said, f Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ?'
They can kill the saints and servants of the Most High.
Here is desperate wickednesss ; who would not perceive it r
Yet c the heart is deceitful above all things ;' and so it is,
as John xvi. 2. Jehu was keen in shedding the blood of
Jezreel, (which was afterwards avenged on his house, Hos. i.
4.) yet the word was, ( Come with me, and see my zeal for
* Jehovah/ 2 Kings x. 16. ; and perhaps in the present fit,
the thing appeared under that colour to himself, though the
acquisition of a kingdom was at bottom. Saul rebelled
against God in the case of the Amalekites, yet his story is,
' the people spared of the best to sacrifice unto the Lord thy
c God,' 1 Sam. xv. 15. The heart, in all its various forms
of wickedness, gives itself such colourings as keep men very
commonly in an entire ignorance of themselves, of their true
disposition, and of the real springs of their actions ; and so
keeps them in the way of perpetual self-deceiving.

3d, Every particular lust in the heart partakes of the
general nature of the heart, as to deceitfulness ; and so every
particular lust becomes, in so far as it prevails, a strong
principle of self- deceiving. We have, Eph. iv. 22. this
character of them all, c the deceitful lusts.' When we hear
of the deceitfulness of sin, the deceitfulness is in the inward
lust. When we hear of the deceitfulness of riches, that
deceitfulness is not in the object, riches ; the matter of
riches is the good creatures of God : it is the lust of riches
hat is deceitful. Every lust paints its object to its own

482 Sermon II.

mind, and so deceive us. Excess of strong drink speaks very
ingeniously, and of itself promises nothing but sorrow, con-
tention, babblings, wounds without cause, redness of eyes,
sickness, vomiting, disgrace, and ruin of affairs; uncleanness
promises no other than wasting of person and substance, and
the various effects of divine judgments that occur to common
observation : yet many wanton songs show in what an
amiable light these sorts of wickedness do appear to self-
deceiving hearts. That is one instruction to be learned from
many lewd performances of wit. This ofttimes sets out
wicked revenges as a brave sort of heroism. Lust promises
pleasure, — those pleasures of sin that are for a season ; and
men, under the power of their lusts, are lovers of these
pleasures more than lovers of God. Sin deceived me, said
one who knew well the deceiving influence of sin, though he
was first and last restrained from the practice of it beyond
the generality of men. But what is this deceiving of sin ?
It is no other than men, under the influence of their lusts,
deceiving their ownselves.

The children of God are secured against the final, fatal
effects of delusion suggested from without or from within :
the Lord has represented that as impossible, Matt. xxiv. 24.
Yet as they have in them a remainder of sin, and of the lusts
thereof, in so far there remain in them the principles of self-
deceiving. They are represented as e having escaped the
( pollution that is in the world through lust/ 2 Pet. i. 4. ; as
disengaged from the grossly unholy practice of the world ; yet
they are not to consider themselves as altogether above the
danger of self-deceiving even in respect to these practices.
They need the guard of watchfulness and fear, and of divine
grace on that side.

But, besides, they are to remember that there are filthinesses
of the spirit, as well as of the flesh, which are no less dan-
gerous ; and as there are filthinesses of the spirit, they are
capable of more spiritual colourings, and so of being the
more effectual means of self-deceiving. After all, they
belong to the general root and principle of the flesh ; and are
put together in that one class of the works of the flesh, GaL
v. 19 — 21. ' adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lascivious-
\ ness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations,
1 wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunken-
1 ness, revellings ;' and all of them come under that one
general sentence, that ' they which do such things shall not
' inherit the kingdom of God/ One might wonder, at first

Sermon II. 483

sight, what might be the occasion of this discourse of the
apostle to the Galatians concerning the works of the flesh,
and living after the flesh. Were such things as adulteries,
fornications, drunkenness, become the remarkable special
stain of that people ? I do not observe any thing that imports
that special charge against them. The charge against them
respected dangerous doctrines and religious contentions. By-
looking to the discourse preceding the 16th verse of this 5th
chapter, it will appear, that it is on occasion of these matters
that he introduces his discourse concerning the works of the
flesh ; among which he reckons seditions, heresies ; and it is
likely that it was concerning these matters that their hatred,
emulations, wrath, strifes, were employed; and he classes
them all, as works of the flesh, with adultery, fornication, &c.
Certainly the Galatians did, in the light of their own lusts,
see these things in a quite different view. They apprehended,
that in these things they were doing for God. Thus, as
Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, lusts trans-
form themselves into graces, vile passions set themselves out
for fruits of the Spirit, and wickedness for holiness ; and
men become confident of being very acceptable to God in
serving the devil. Such subtle self-deceiving are men
capable of through their lusts.

So far I have considered the lusts of men's hearts, as being
universally and singly the principles and causes of self-
deceiving. All men's lusts are of that nature ; and every
lust singly works deceit in its own province and sphere.
But,

4th, There are some lusts that are of a more general and
extensive influence in the matter of self-deceiving. Here I
name together, men's pride, their inordinate carnal self-love
and sloth. There is a carnal, unwise self-love that does,
with great force, and upon any the most delusive grounds,
maintain a favourable opinion in what concerns our state and
hope. Our pride inclines us, however contrary to light and
truth, to maintain a good esteem of ourselves, our dispositions,
abilities, condition, and course. Men's pride shuts out the
conviction of what is vile and sinful in their heart and way ;
resists every view and impression that tends to humble them.
Their self-love shuts out every thing that would give them
apprehensions or dread concerning their state and prospect ;
and their sloth resists every impression that would tend to
excite them to activity and fervency in the concerns of their
souls and in matters of religion. All these, combining in

484 Sermon II.

their influence on a carnal and hard heart, do make a strong
interest in favours of every thing by which men, otherwise
under the power of their lusts, may deceive their ownselves.

5th, Errors in matters of opinion and doctrinal principles of
religion, such as abound in the world, have no small part in
this matter, and do not a little forward this mischief of self-
deceiving. I need not specify these very particularly. God
hath given the light of his word to obviate and overcome all
these delusions which have prevailed among the blind and
dark world ; but the interest of delusion hath put some upon
setting up human reason in a place of authority, above that
of God speaking in his word. On this ground, these mysteries
of faith have been rejected, which God, in his great grace,
hath revealed and proposed for the solid ground of his people's
consolation ; and men have declined to believe the report of
a faithful God, any further than their poor understandings
can comprehend how these things can be so. The word of
God sets out, in a strong light, men's great guiltiness, spiritual
importance, the depth and desperateness of their misery and
lost condition, that they may be made to prize, and excited to
lay hold of, his rich and free grace through Jesus Christ.
But some have laboured to lessen men's opinion and impres-
sions of their miseries and plagues ; to exalt the good qualities,
dispositions, and abilities of human nature, in order to bring
it within their reach to be justified by their works, and sanc-
tified by their own strength and the determination of their
own hearts. And, if they cannot bring themselves up to the
just and original condition of works, many bring down works,
by an imaginary abatement of that sort of condition of life,
to their own rate. And if they cannot bring up their abili-
ties to true holiness, they give notions of holiness that tend
to bring it down to the measure of their abilities ; and will
make both meet, by means of certain external assistances (so
they may be called) of grace, that leave room to men to glory in
themselves and have confidence in the flesh. Many, that
cannot be reconciled to true holiness, do readily vent or en-
tertain high opinions concerning the rites of superstition that
tend to substitute them in the place of it. Many, who will
not part with their lusts in this world and in this life, are
fond of the notion of purgations after this life, by however
painful means, that they may enjoy their lusts here, with the
prospect of reaching heaven some time or other.

I need not go farther in this way. These hints and
instances may suffice for examples. Such doctrinal errors are

Sermon II. 485

maintained and supported in the world with great zeal, with
much human learning and eloquence, and with great strength
of party. The natural self-deceiving principles of men's hearts
are the original source of them. They have not arisen from
mere mistake or weakness of the understanding. They have
had deeper sources in the hearts of men. And when, with
all the advantages mentioned, they are advanced and propa-
gated in the world, these productions of self-deceiving hearts
do further strengthen self-deceiving in every heart into which
they make their way. When they are, with artful mixture
and cunning adulteration, insinuated together with some uni-
versally received principles of the gospel, and under the com-
mon language of the gospel, they are, like gilded pills, agree-
ably received, and enable men the more resolvedly and ad-
visedly, as it were, to be deceiving their ownselves.

6th, In the last place, men are, in a special manner, obnox-
ious to deceiving, yea, to self-deceiving, by the cunning and
influence of Satan. We need not take up or amuse ourselves
with philosophical accounts of his operation and influence.
What the scripture represents may satisfy us. By it we
learn, that from the time we first listened to his deceitful
suggestion, and, by that means, fell into the hands of our
enemies, Satan doth, as the god of this world, rule over men
in their natural state. ' He worketh (worketh effectually)
' in the children of disobedience/ As he worketh effectually,
he worketh in the deceiving way ; and he hath abundant
means to work by, as we learn from that place, Eph. ii. 2, 3.
such as, outwardly, the course of this world ; inwardly, the
lusts and desires of the flesh and of the mind there mention-
ed. The word of God marks out to us most fearful instances,
more general and more particular, of his deceiving ; as in-
deed his hand is in all the deceivings that are in the world.
Of the kind last mentioned, we see what a miserable bargain
Judas was influenced to make, for thirty pieces, when Satan
had entered into him ; and what a miserable cheat Ananias
and Sapphira put upon themselves, for an interest of the
same kind. There are seasons when he is, in a special sense,
loosed, to go out and deceive the nations, Rev. xx. 7> 8. ;
otherwise, he goeth about, at all times, seeking whom he may
devour in this way. Paul was not ignorant of his devices in
the church and among Christians. We see how anxious he
was for the Corinthians, 2 Cor. xi. 3. 'lest, as the serpent
' had beguiled Eve, their minds should be corrupted from the
' simplicity that is in Christ/ Deceiving in matters of faith.

486 Sermon II.

and consequently of practice, is his constant aim and endea-
vour for the ruin of souls. But he works insensibly and im-
perceptibly ; and men, influenced by this grand deceiver, yet
acting by principles that are in their own hearts, do, in the
meantime, deceive their ownselves.

I go now to the next thing I proposed on this subject, and
that was, —

II. To offer some directions against self-deceiving. If we
would wish to escape it and be saved from it, it is needful
and useful,

1st, That we should be upon our guard against it, by just
views and a suitable impression of our danger by it. Other
evils and dangers may perhaps attack us in a more open
manner ; and although their aspect and appearance may be
more sensibly terrible, yet the hazard by them is not so really
great ; but deceiving, whether we consider it as coming from
others, or as having its source in ourselves, the more sensibly
it operates, it is the more really dangerous and often fatal in
its consequences. Delusion and self-deceiving works in a
hidden manner. It undermines our souls, and at length does,
all at once, blow them up with an unforeseen, sudden, and
most terrible ruin. Satan takes incomparably more fortresses
in this way than by open assault and storming. The case
requires all along the utmost skill and good instruction to
discover these mines, and to prevent their effect. But, in
the first place, it is especially needful that we should be ap-
prised of our hazard. It requires all proper means, and
generally something beyond the power of all means, to
awaken us sufficiently to the attention and care that is need-
ful for us against self-deceiving.

For this end, let us consider the danger we are in by the
consequences of self-deceiving ; the danger we are in to be
self-deceived ; and the great difficulty there is in being dis-
engaged and delivered from the power of delusion, when
once it has prevailed.

The consequence of self-deceiving, the natural consequence
of it in religion, is, to forego the great salvation, to incur in-
expressible and everlasting misery and ruin. Men who are
not extremely addicted to worldly things, are nevertheless
sensible that to cheat themselves, through the inattention or
delusion of their minds, unto loss in small matters, is ex-
tremely vexatious ; but how will it add to the tortures of
hell, to think that after all the counsel God has offered, men

Sermon II. 487

have plunged themselves into unquenchahle flames by de-
ceiving their ownselves !

Yet how liable are we to self-deceiving ! Our ignorance of
God and of ourselves has made a woful darkness within us, in
which it is easy for us to stray ; the various errors that are
in the world make false lights to mislead us ; the various
lusts of our hearts do importunately pretend to the guiding
of us, and will never guide us right ; and Satan has the ut-
most artifice and diligence to improve these occasions and in-
struments of self-deceiving against us. When we consider
the concurrence of such powerful causes, might we not readily
cry out, Who then can be saved from delusion and self-
deceiving ?

Further, let us consider the power of delusion when it
prevails, and how difficult it is to be delivered from it. Look
to that place, Isa. xliv. 20. ' A deceived heart hath turned
f him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there
1 not a lie in my right hand ?' He is speaking of the idola-
ter, whose sentiments and practice are absurd to the last de-
gree,— to worship an image, and a stock or a stone, as a gcd !
it is something far beyond brutality. Could not a little com-
mon sense and reflection deliver him from it ? could he not
readily suggest to himself and say, as in the preceding verse,
i I have burnt part of it in the lire ? shall I make the residue
' thereof an abomination ?' — a god ? e Shall I fall down to
' the stock of a tree ?' — is not such a god a mere vanity and
a lie ? ' But a deceitful heart hath turned him aside/ His
delusive and self-deceiving heart hath so powerfully perverted
him, that, clear as the case appears, yet he cannot deliver
Hmself from this most absurd delusion, or say, Is there not a
lie in my right hand ?

The light of the gospel did once banish this gross idolatry
out of the Christian world. It was then exposed in so strong
a light, that one might think it would never return again.
But let us look to Popery and Papists, who seem to go be-
yond all the world for ail the various forms of gross idol-
atry. Let us consider their greatest solemnity. The
priest, the maker of his god, as their bold and stupid blas-
phemy expresses it ; he mumbles some words in a strange
language, with certain gestures and actions of legerdemain,
and forthwith wine becomes real blood ; and a wafer, remain-
ing to all appearance as it was, becomes (so they believe) the
very real body of Christ that hung on the cross ; and is there-
upon worshipped with the highest adoration. Have these

488 Sermon II.

men no knowledge, no reason at all., no common sense ?
None exceeds many of them in these. Could not then a little
reflection or common sense deliver them from such gross de-
ceiving ?

Could not a man say with himself, — When I apply to this
object all my senses which God hath given me, as the proper
means of judging concerning all material objects that come
within their reach, as the natural means of evidence concern-
ing them, I am obliged to judge, and cannot but judge, that
this is bread, and not the crucified body of Christ. Has God,
the Author of my nature, given means and organs of percep-
tion of material objects that cannot in such case but deceive
all the world by their testimony ?

Might it not easily occur to a man, Why, at the first insti-
tution of this ordinance, Christ himself was in his body sound,
entire, and living at the head of the table. Is it possible that
the broken pieces of bread, which he gave out of his hands to
his disciples, were at the same time that very body in which
he was presently speaking to them ? It is said of Christ,
Acts iii. 21. c that the heavens must receive him until the
' times of the restitution of all things/ Might not one easily
suggest to himself, — Is it not surely impossible that his body,
now glorified, should be going corporally into the mouths of
thousands upon earth; yea, should, in the form of a wafer,
be subject to all these indignities that may accidently happen
to it ?

These absurdities may to us appear so evident and palpable,
that many will be ready to think, that surely these things
are indeed believed by none. But they who think so, know
not, or advert not to, the power of delusion, how great it is.
Men may be wise and rational in every thing else, and may
be foolish and brutal in religion. They are things that are
in fact very consistent, for men, exceeding acute and in-
genious in other matters, to fall under delusion and deceive
their ownselves in the things of God, to the highest degree.

We may perhaps be ready to trust to the strength of our
own understandings, and the means of light we enjoy, as
sufficient to secure us against such great delusions, as we
hear to prevail abroad in the world ; but we had need to
look to ourselves, lest as great delusions prevail among us,
for all the means of light we enjoy, as among others. Here
is one instance. For a secure, Christlcss, graceless, and un-
holy soul to be confident of the favour of God now and here-
after, is certainly as great, and absurd, and ruining a delu-

Ser?non II. 489

sion as any thing in paganism or popery. To worship God
under the form of an image, is indeed extremely opposite to
the spirituality and immensity of his nature ; but a man who
lives in his sins, and is confident of the present favour of
God, and of eternal life hereafter, makes to himself a repre-
sentation of God as contrary to what he is, and as truly dis-
honourable to him, as he who represents him by a stock, or a
stone, or a wafer. And yet, alas ! after all the light that
shines about us, how many are there among us who do in
this way deceive their ownselves ! If then we are so ob-
noxious to self- deceiving, — if the difficulty is so great of ex-
tricating ourselves from it, and if the final consequence of it
be so dismal, — we have abundant reason to be awakened, to
fear it, and guard against it. This is the first direction.

2d, For securing us against self-deceiving and all delusion,
let us carefully improve the word of God. This is the light
with which God hath blessed us, in order to guide us safe
amidst the delusions that abound. It is that more sure word
of prophecy, to which we shall do well to take heed, as to a
light that shineth in a dark place.

If we wish to know God, i No man hath seen God at any
e time j the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the
1 Father, he hath declared him/ John i. 18. It is only
Christ, speaking by his Spirit in his prophets and apostles,
who gives true instruction concerning God, the perfections
and mysteries of his nature. The councils of God are these
deep things of him which our understanding and reason could
never penetrate unto : ■ What man knoweth the things of a
' man, save the spirit of a man which is in him ? Even so the
1 things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God,'
1 Cor. ii. 11. It is he who in the word hath revealed them.
It is good counsel here, not to lean to our own understandings.
We should come to the word of God to learn these deep
things of God, with an impression of the weakness of our
minds, of their obnoxiousness to delusion ; and our impression
of this should be heightened with the view of the miserable
delusions in the matters of God, which the vain imaginations
of men, even of men c professing themselves to be wise/ Rom.
i. £2. have filled the world with. If we have good judgment
and critical learning, there is use enough for them, in dis-
covering what the Holy Ghost doth truly express in his word,
although we should not subject the truth of what he says to
be tried by the rule of our preconceived notions, or reject
these deep things of God, because they exceed our compre-

490 Sermon IT.

hension : for, What is there in God, or even in the works of
his hands, that doth not so ? In matters in which God hath
condescended to give us revelation, it would become us to
yield, that the authority of it should cast down imaginations
and every high thing in us which exalteth itself against the
knowledge of God, and bring unto captivity every thought to
the obedience of Christ. We should pray to God for his
grace to bring us to this dutiful disposition, so becoming
them who would learn from God ; and to bring down that
pride of understanding in us that doth so readily betray us
unto self- deceiving in the matters of God.

Again, if we wish to know our duty, and the way wherein
we ought to walk, ( it is the word of God that will be a lamp
e unto our feet and a light unto our path/ Psal. cxix. 105 :
it is by means of its instructions that f we may be filled with
' the knowledge of the will of God, in all wisdom and spirit-
( ual understanding ; that we may walk worthy of the Lord
i unto all pleasing/ Col. i. 9, 10. But if we want to be di-
rected by this light in our duty, we should not come with the
previous biases and determinations of our own hearts con-
cerning our way, as if we wanted rather to employ our art in
making the word of God speak to our mind, than, in simpli-
city and humility, to receive our direction from it. This is
the way of too many, who are therefore, in the righteous
judgment of God, given up to deceive their ownselves ; and
to return with responses, as from these divine oracles, ac-
cording to the idols of their own hearts. Simplicity and god-
ly sincerity are the proper characters of them who wish to be
taught of God.

We should not only search the scriptures for direction in
the more remarkable cases of duty, but we ought to have
such extensive knowledge of the word, as that we should have
of it a store laid up in our hearts, for all the occasions of duty
and temptation. W7e should have the word of Christ dwell-
ing in us richly. Alas ! in how small measure doth it dwell
even in many sincere Christians ? But it should dwell in us
richly, in all wisdom ; not as some who have it to produce in
plenty, but in all folly : or, as many others, who have it
plentifully, with much perverseness and wickedness.

One thing further we ought especially to advert to, and
that is, that we let our consciences and hearts lie open to the
word of God for the conviction and reproof of the errors of
our sentiments, dispositions, and practice, otherwise our own
self-deceiving will prevail. We should be in dread of screen-

Sermon II. 491

ing it from the conviction and reproof of the all-seeing God
speaking by his word, thereby finding us out, and for that
end bringing it as a candle through our hearts. c Faithful
( are the wounds of a friend ; but the kisses of an enemy are
' deceitful/ Prov. xxvii. 6. One who hath the health and
safety of his soul at heart will be sensible that he who re-
buketh him doth him greater friendship than he that flatter-
eth with the tongue, Prov. xxviii. 23. If we decline the re-
proofs of God and his word, it is but just that he should give
us up to the self- flattery by which wre shall deceive our own-
selves.

Thus ought we to improve the light of God's word, to save
us from deceiving our ownselves, either in faith or practice.

III. It is a direction of the utmost importance to us
against the danger of self-deceiving, that we be doers of the
word. To exhort us to be so, is the chief design of my text.
I have it to consider more directly and fully hereafter. Here
I consider it in this particular view, as it is an useful and ef-
fectual antidote against the plague of delusion and self-de-
ceiving. The text gives one instance (a very comprehensive
one indeed) of self-deceiving ; and requires, in opposition to
it, to be doers of the word. But, if we consider it, it is a
needful mean, and of universal use against all self-deceiving.
Let us consider the matter on both sides, as not doing of the
word exposes men to the danger of delusion ; and as to be
doers of the word tends to men's safety against all delusion.

I say, that to be not doers of the word, exposes men to the
danger of delusion and of deceiving their ownselves. This is
set out in a strong light, and by tremendous examples in the
word of God. ' My people would not hearken to my voice ;
' and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their
' own heart's lust ; and they walked in their own counsels.
1 O that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had
1 walked in my ways !' Psal. lxxxi. 11 — 13. Here, because
Israel hearkened not to the Lord's voice, because they walked
not in his way, he gave them up to their hearts' lusts, ' the
' deceitful lusts,' to walk in their own counsels. Surely these
were deluding counsels, by which they deceived their own-
selves. This is an instance from the Old Testament church
and dispensation.

Here is an instance in the New Testament church : c Be-
1 cause they received not the love of the truth, that they
' might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them
1 strong delusion, that they should believe a lie ; that they

Y

492 Sermon II.

c all might be damned, who believed not the truth, but had
' pleasure in unrighteousness/ 2 Thess. ii. 10 — 12. Here we
see, in the character of the people here represented, that they
believed not the truth. It might have been thought, at first
sight of the words, ver. 10. that, though they had not re-
ceived the love of the truth, they had received the truth
itself; that there was no failure in that part; that though
they had not love, they had faith, — a naked faith, without
works and without its proper fruits. But their case was in-
deed, that ' they believed not the truth/ So it may always
be justly concluded concerning them who have not the proper
fruit of the truth. There is no such thing as a naked true
faith without good fruits.

Faith always worketh by love. The one and the other
they had not ; particularly, for this is first mentioned, ' they
' received not the love of the truth.' That love, which is the
fulfilling of the law, which is the end of the commandment ;
that love, these works and fruits, which the truth requires,
' they received it not ;' it did not relish with them ; their
hearts refused to submit to it. The truth itself they pro-
fessed to receive, and were satisfied with being hearers of the
word only ; but ' the love of the truth/ the love which it
doth dictate and require, this they could not digest, and did
not receive ; but, in opposition to it, ' they had pleasure in
' unrighteousness/ ver. 12.

Now the judgment of God against them for this is, ' that
e God sent them strong delusion, that they should believe a
( lie/ This context gives us, in awful terms, a prophecy
concerning the apostacy of Christians unto Popery. They
must, belike, have considerable prejudice in its favours, that
can satisfy themselves with any other interpretation of it.
Popery is called, ver. 7- ' the mystery of iniquity/ There
is a great deal of that sort of mystery in it. But there is
one thing concerning it that might be a great mystery, and
that is, considering that vein of glaring absurdity that runs
through it all, and its clear and universal contradiction to the
word of God, how Christians, enjoying so bright a light of
divine revelation, having the scriptures of truth in their
hands, professing the gospel with so great zeal and with so
great fruit, for a season, in the primitive times, — how they
could at length have fallen into such horrible delusion, and
have submitted to be rid upon with such dismal usurpation
over their persons and consciences.

But this mystery is, in this most remarkable prophecy,

Serynon II. 493

laid open and accounted for ; churches soon fell from their
first love and first works, Rev. ii. 4, 5. ; and at length, ' not
1 receiving the love of the truth, but having pleasure in un-
1 righteousness, God did/ in most righteous and fearful
judgment, * send them strong delusions, that they might be-
' lieve a lie/ We may readily think that we in this land
have so much light, and so full a view of that same delusion
of Popery, that it has been so much generally cried out
against, and that mens conviction is generally so strong
against it, that we should be in no great danger of its pre-
vailing much, or gaining ground among us, even though it
should have that authority and power on its side which it
lately aspired to : but men can easily deceive their ownselves
with an imaginary security against delusion, even when thev
have these things in their heart and way that give the great-
est advantage to delusion. If men's ' not receiving the love
• of the truth, but having pleasure in unrighteousness/ paves
the way for delusion, surely a great many are prepared for
being a ready prey to the deceitful arts of Popery, who think
themselves very remote from it. A considerable party have
already fallen in with some of its special principles, rules,
and usages, although they have not prevailed to bring their
idol to the place in this island they wished for him, (the
Lord be thanked !) yet his attraction hath prevailed to bring
them a considerable part of the way to Rome where he is ; and
if the object were fixed nearer them, it is but too likely that this
sort of attraction would operate with full power and efficacy.

Thus we have seen, in the apostle's prophecy, the special
liableness of those to delusion who are not doers of the word.
It had not been just to have named the righteous judgment
of God as one of the proper causes cf delusion ; but we have
shown various powerful causes in men themselves, that will
certainly operate with great force when they have, by not.
obeying his word, provoked God to give them up to their full
and unrestrained influence.

Let us now consider the matter on the other side, and see
what prospect the word of God gives to them, who are the
doers of it, of their being kept safe from delusion and self-
deceiving.

As to this, we are not to imagine that they are still free of
all error. The most upright men, while they are in this
world, will have their degree of ignorance, and their mistakes
and misconceptions concerning some truths of the word of
God. And we would judge much amiss, if we took every

494 Sermon II.

error in sentiment as a proof that men are not doers of the
word ; although people's temper hath often too great a tend-
ency to this way of judging their brother. The Lord permits
it, that the most sincere of his people (as to these general
characters) should have their different and wrong apprehen-
sions in diverse matters of opinion and behaviour, and these
sometimes of no small importance. He hath thus permitted,
that men may have to humble them and make them wary and
diligent in their searches after truth and duty. Here we
know but imperfectly and in part. Upright Christians,
doers of the word, will be preserved from all fatal delusions ;
but they shall be perfectly free of all errors and mistakes,
only where they shall be perfect doers. Perfect light and
perfect holiness are the privileges of one and the same place.
Here, as there shall still be imperfection of light, and mis-
takes, so there shall still be need of forbearance. They wIig
will not use forbearance towards other Christians, and even
churches, are not fit for the society of the church upon
earth (which commonly they do not sufficiently value ;) and
had need to try themselves well, lest their zeal, which doth
so much outrun the course and way of a holy, gracious, and
forbearing God, have not something in its company and at its
root that will exclude them from the society of the church
above. This it is more fit for them to inquire and examine
themselves, than for others to judge about.

But mistakes the doers of the word may have ; only, I say,
they shall be kept safe from pernicious and fatal self-deceiv-
ing and delusion. This is clear from our Lord's words,
Matth. xxiv. 24. for I suppose it will be agreed, that the
elect there mentioned are the doers of the word. And the
Lord, speaking of the greatest means and occasions imagin-
able of delusion, says, ' Insomuch that (if it were possible)
' they shall deceive the very elect ;' clearly intimating that
this cannot happen.

It is the wise man's maxim, Prov. xi. 3. ' The integrity of
' the upright shall guide them ;' and, verse 5. ( the righte-
' ousness of the perfect shall direct his way/ We heard
before of some whom a deceived heart hath so turned aside,
that they cannot deliver themselves from the absurd de-
lusions there represented. They are, perhaps, otherwise
wiser in their generation than many of the children of the
light ; but if such should not have great skill of their own to
deliver them, yet ' the righteousness of the perfect shall de-
liver them.' No doubt but an upright, sincere aim and in-

Sermon II. 495

tention is, in itself, of great use against delusion ; but we
must not ascribe it altogether to that, but especially to
the good guiding of a gracious God, ' whose countenance
' doth/ favourably, ' behold the upright/ Psal. xi. 7- ' The
*' meek/ as Psal. xxv. 9. ' will he guide in judgment, and
f the meek will he teach his way.' Many a time it hath
happened that a serious humble Christian hath come 'under
strong impressions of the arguments and spirit of those who
went in deceiving dangerous courses, and hath sustained a
great shock thereby ; and yet hath escaped the snare, to
his great comfort afterwards ; which he hath found cause to
ascribe, not so much to the clearness of his own light or
acuteness of judgment, as to the gracious guidance of God,
' who bringeth the blind by a way that they knew not ; who
' maketh darkness light before them, and crooked things
' straight/ Isa. xlii. 16. They who have it at heart, by being
doers of the word, not to stray from the Lord's way, are most
likely to be under that influence of his mercy that will pre-
serve them from the self-deceivings and delusions that would
bring them aside from it.

Agreeably to this is what our Lord says, John vii. 17-
' If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine,
1 whether it be of God, or wThether I speak of myself/ The
Jews had said, verse 15. ' How knoweth this man letters,
( having never learned?' They had not prejudice in his
favours ; so they suspected there was something more than
human in it, even that Satan instructed and sent him out on
the business of deceiving. Christ answers, verse 16. ' My
c doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.' There was in-
deed something more than human in it. He had never
learned in their schools. He had received his doctrine and
instructions (he speaks of his Father's messenger and prophet)
from him that sent him, from God. Well pretended to,
might some have said ; but how shall we know if your doc-
trine is from him, or that you are an impostor ? How shall
we escape the danger of deceiving ourselves on this important
point, and of being deceived by you ? His answer is as if
he had said, True, the danger of deceiving 'is what men
cannot be too much on their guard against ; the wise, and
prudent, and learned may be deceived : and though I have
many arguments, testimonies, and proofs, to show of my
being sent of God, and that my doctrine is from him, yet I
would not have you altogether to trust to your own capacity of
judging of such proofs; but look sincerely to God to direct your

496 Sermon II.

minds and hearts to judge aright of my doctrine, and the
proofs of its being from God. And in respect to this, take
it for a direction of the utmost importance — e If any man do
' his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God/

Of such great consequence is it against the danger of de-
ceiving our ownselves of imposture and delusion of every
kind, that we should be doers of the will and word of God.

IV. Against the danger of deceiving ourselves, or being
deceived, it is especially of consequence to us to pray earnest-
ly to God for the instruction and guidance of his Holy Spirit.
There is the spirit of truth and the spirit of error, 1 John iv.
6. The apostle John shows us the effectual benefit of hav-
ing this spirit of truth against delusions, 1 John ii. 26. he
says, ' These things have I written to you concerning them
' that seduce you/ His encouragement concerning them he
writes to against these seductions, is this, verse 27- ' But the
( anointing ye have received of him abideth in you/ And,
chap. iv. speaking of the delusions and deceivers that were
abroad in the world, and infesting the church, he says, verse
."). e They are of the world ; therefore speak they of the world,
( and the world heareth them/ What had secured true
Christians against these deceivers ? This he had told,
verse 4. c Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome
i them ; because greater is he that is in you than he that is
c in the world/ All our care and prudence, with the best
directions that can be suggested to us, cannot enable us to
overcome the deceivers that are in the world, or the principles
of deceiving that are in ourselves, without this ; therefore, to
all our care, watchfulness, and endeavours, let us add, to pray
for the promised Spirit of truth to lead us unto all truth ;
which promise, not only apostles had right to, but also all the
Lord's people, who shall be all taught of God.

I come now to the point which I proposed to discourse of
from this text, and that is,

II. The particular matter of self-deceiving, against which
the apostle doth here warn Christians ; and that is, satisfying
themselves with being hearers of the word only.

A particular matter I have called it, though, indeed, if we
consider it justly, it is exceeding general and comprehensive.
For there is no essential matter in faith or in religion, about
which men come into delusion and deceive their ownselves,
but it affects the weighty affair of doing the word ; and
throws men out of the class of doers into that of hearers only,
according to the apostle's comprehensive view in this division

Sermon II. 497

of characters of professed Christians. And so, if being hear-
ers only, and not doers, doth include and imply, according to
its practical tendency, all the self-deceivings which professed
Christians are commonly liable to, we have had the more full
and just occasion to speak so largely concerning self-deceiv-
ing in the general, as a proper subject of my text.

But now, as to this second point, I observe in the general
from that part of the words, that it is the common duty of
all Christians to be hearers of the word of God. The apostle
Paul says, that ' faith cometh by hearing/ Rom. x. 17-, even
by hearing of a preacher ; as he says there, c How shall they
' hear without a preacher ?' Some are fond of the designa-
tions of priests and priesthood ; and of these many are
pleased to follow the hint, and must needs, as priests, have
somewhat to offer, as priests were heretofore ordained to offer
gifts and sacrifices. Hence we hear with some now-a-days,
(good Protestants, no doubt) of the oblation of bread and
wine, yea, of the proper propitiatory sacrifice to be offered by
these priests for the quick and the dead. The Lord hath in-
deed, in the blessed ordinance we have been celebrating, ap-
pointed his people to show the Lord's death till he come.
But popitiatory oblation and sacrifice, commemorative or
otherwise, he hath not required ; neither did it come into his
mind ; ' for by one offering he hath perfected for ever them
1 that are sanctified/ He hath, in this blessed ordinance,
offered to his people the food which their souls should feed
on ; but he is far from requiring them to offer propitiatory
sacrifice of any kind, as altar entertainment to him. The
Lord preserve us from delusions so strongly contradicting the
gospel and the doctrine of our salvation ! Such may, in dis-
paragement of their mission and ministerial character, give
others the designations of teachers or of preachers ; but they
have no cause to decline these names. Priests we hear of
none in the scriptures to be in the gospel church, besides the
people of God in common, who are all a holy priesthood,
under the great High Priest of our profession ; nor sacrifices,
but those spiritual sacrifices which they all offer in common.
But teachers and preachers are proper and scriptural names
of the ministers of the gospel, Eph. iv. 11. Christ hath given
some to his church in the quality of pastors and teachers ;
and the character and work of those that are sent, Rom. x.
15. is to be preachers. They will do well to satisfy them-
selves and others concerning their mission and the warrants
thereof from the word of God, One thing I am sure of, that

498 Sermon It.

the New Testament warrants the mission of teachers and
preachers, but doth nowhere warrant priests, or priestly
service, under the gospel, besides what is common, as I said
before, to all the Lord's people.

A great and chief part then of the work of ministers of the
gospel is to preach the word of God ; that word of the king-
dom, as it is called, by which chiefly the kingdom of our
Redeemer is advanced here upon earth ; to sow that seed,
from which all the crop is to arise which the Lord expects
from his field in this world.

Under the Old Testament, anciently, the faith of God's
people was entertained, in great part, with the dumb show
of solemn ceremonial services; though it is true that he
provided, in every period., for the instruction of his people,
in some measure, out of his word, and by his servants ordinary
and extraordinary. As light increased under the Old Testa-
ment, at length the reading of the word, with some explica-
tion and exhortation, became the stated exercise of the Lord's
people in their synagogues through the land ; but now that
the Lord hath removed all ceremonies from the ordinary
worship of his people (except the few very simple ones we
have in the sacraments,) that evangelical light hath come to
its height in the church below ; those types and shadows are
evanished, and Christ, the body and substance of them all,
clearly and directly exhibited ; the preaching of Christ and
his word hath a chief place among God's ordinances in the
common solemnities of his people.

Since, then, the Lord hath prescribed it, as a chief work
to his servants, to be preachers, it follows, that it is one
chief part of his people's duty to be hearers. This the
expression of my text implied; for when it cautions men
not to be hearers only, it clearly implies that they are to be
hearers ; therefore doth the apostle so anxiously, in the con-
text, give direction about hearing ; desiring Christians to be
4 swift to hear, and to receive with meekness the ingrafted
' word ;' even that word by which ( God hath of his own
' will begotten us,' by which t we are born again ;' even the
word (as the apostle Peter speaks) which, ' by the gospel, is
< preached unto us.'

Without doubt, there is great profit to be had by reading
the word of God, and those good compositions that are calcu-
lated to assist in the understanding and improving of it ;
but still the hearing of the word preached is to be regarded,
not only as a mean, in its own nature, adapted to our profit,,

Sermon II. 409

but as an ordinance of God, as a part of our obedience to the
gospel, and as a mean of grace, having its part in all these
promises of God that do encourage the faith of his people
with respect to all his institutions.

But to come closer to the matter now before us, what are
we to understand by hearers of the word only? Many enter-
tain a good opinion of themselves, as if all were well with
them, as if they did every thing well, and were free of the
bad marks and characters in the word of God which do truly
belong to them, merely because they unreasonably narrow
and restrict the expressions of the scripture, and thereby
only enable themselves to judge favourably of their case and
way, so deceiving their ownselves. If therefore we would
wish not to deceive ourselves in being truly hearers of the
word only, one thing we should carefully advert to is, that
we do not deceive ourselves in our notions concerning the
meaning of this character of hearers of the word only. To
give it therefore its true extent of meaning, according to the
apostle's view, we have reason to think that he means to
divide all those who hear the preaching of the gospel (as all
who have a full profession of Christianity do) unto these two
classes, as comprehending all of them upon the one side or
the other ; viz. doers of the word, and them who are hearers
only. Men may, besides simple hearing, have various good-
like dispositions, inward feelings and attainments in know-
ledge and practice, and yet not to be entitled to the general
good character of being doers of the word. These all fall
into the other class, as the Holy Ghost doth not here give
us any other class in which to place them. In this view of
the matter, we shall find many in the class of hearers only,
who commonly think of themselves that they have a great
deal more ; yet as they have not what would give them right
to be placed among the true and proper doers, they do but
deceive themselves in their favourable opinion of themselves.
I shall name several sorts of them, according to their different
degrees.

1. Some come to be bodily present where the word is
preached, without giving it so much as common attention.
They are present for one reason or other, or perhaps with
little consideration of any reason at all, but that some way
or other they have been introduced to the custom of it.
Their hardened hearts are entirely indifferent about the
subject. Their own carnal minds, their eyes, and vain imagi-
nations, find entertainment for them ; or they sleep out the

y5

f>00 Sermon 11.

sermon. They have those dreams, when awake, that keep
them easy in an absolute neglect of their souls and of religion.
And being wholly at ease concerning these subjects, they
choose to abandon themselves to sleep and proper dreaming,
rather than give any attention to the message and instruc-
tions which God directs to them. I own it is with some
impropriety that these can be called hearers of the word at
all ; but that they are so called, and pretend to be so, and
that they are a sort not to be quite overlooked on this
occasion, since, alas ! there are so many of whom we have
little reason to have a better opinion.

But, will God be mocked ? Doth God's call directed to
you import no more than, as in some letters of common style,
the favour or the honour of your presence ? Do you want
nothing for your own concern and interest ? Or think you
only that it avails to God that you should externally give
him your countenance, and honour his service with your
presence ? He will some time give you bitter conviction of
the contrary.

Yet such miserable souls will be ready to say, they are
waiting at the pool of ordinances, (with an ignorant and
senseless allusion to the man at the pool of Bethesda,)
waiting until the angel come down and stir these waters.
But they will have other sort of feeling of their misery and
plagues, and concern about their cure ; or else, what they
call their waiting, will issue in the stirring of unquenchable
names for them.

2. There are somewhat more rational hearers. They have
some sort of conviction that it is the word of God, and find
themselves obliged to hear with some regard and decency, as
under the inspection of their own consciences, besides the
observation of others ; yet their hearts have no effectual sense
of duty with respect to the word, nor concern about their
interest in the subject of it. However, they give exact
attention to the word in the hearing ; they are inclined to
take that opportunity of increasing their knowledge of the
matters of the word and the doctrines of the gospel ; they
are content to observe how the man handles his subject, and
to be in condition to give some judicious opinion concerning
him and it ; and are more employed commonly in doing so,
than in forming a just opinion of themselves, their condition,
and way. These have, however, somewhat more rational in
their way than the former sort. The former sort might be
called a brutal kind of hearers, who have the bodily organs

Sermon II. 501

-of hearing, but employ their understanding in no way about
it. This sort of hearers do hear in some degree like men ;
yet they are far from hearing as Christians. And if the word
in the hearing make any degree of impression, yet doth it
not truly enter into the hardness of their hearts. It is but
like the seeds which fall by the way-side ; the fowls come
and devour them up : the wicked one cometh, and catcheth
away that which was sown in the heart.

3. Some, in hearing the word, have considerable concern
about the condition of their souls ; an awakened conscience
sets their sins in order before them ; and perhaps the terror
of the righteous judgment of God deprives them of all peace ;
it may be that diverse distressing and awakening providences
strike home the impression with still greater force. These
are not unconcerned hearers. The interest of their inward
peace makes them serious and attentive to the means by
which any peace or comfort may be had. To these the news
in the word, of a Saviour delivering us from the wrath to
come, may be of good relish ; they may hear the word, and
anon with joy receive it ; they may have some taste of the
good word of God, with some elevated devotional frame ;
and from the good tidings they hear, and the goodlike dis-
positions they feel, they may have peace and good opinion of
their state. Having escaped the gross pollutions of the world,
and being adorned with the gifts perhaps of knowledge and
utterance, their profession of religion may have a promising
appearance ; and their own good opinion of themselves may
be easily confirmed by the good opinion of others.

All these things may be, and yet they fall short of the
character of doers of the word. Trials because of the word,
or the duty it requir js, (and what times are so good but in-
tegrity will be tried?) will wither all: or, because these
things have no true root, they may in time fade of themselves,
or, at best, settle in a barren unfruitful formality. But
however it happen as to external appearance and character,
yet persons may have the feelings, dispositions, and gifts I
have mentioned, and yet have had no true sense of the evil
of sin ; have never had Christ for the object of their faith,
as he is made unto us sanctification : consequently, they
have never known the life of faith in true kind, or, in its
proper extent. Their plagues have been hid from them by
their spiritual attainments, not cured by the power of grace
Their hearts have never been separated from their lusts, or
thoroughly engaged in the way of true holiness. These are

502 Sermon II

not doers, but hearers only of the word, deceiving their own
selves.

4. Some hearers, with less spiritual attainment perhaps
than the former, but with some conviction and relish of the
truth and goodness of the word of God, and with considerable
force of conscience, do seem to set out in religion, in a manner
more solid, and that promises more lasting fruitfulness, and
make considerable progress in that way ; but worldly lusts,
rather covered than subdued, rather pruned and dressed than
eradicated, do in reality retain the rule in their hearts and
way. These do secretly obstruct their integrity, and at
length their influence prevails over all their conversation,
and chokes the good seed, in its most promising appearance
of fruitfulness (like thorns growing, as from a strong root in
ground) in hearts still under the curse of original corruption,
unrenewed. By this it appears that their natures were never
truly sanctified ; that they never became thoroughly and
properly doers of the word. I shall not mention more par-
ticulars on this head. I observed before, that all who come
short of the character of doers of the word, do fall into this
class of hearers only, taking it in its full extent. When
therefore we come to the next general head, the explication
of the character of doers of the word will exclude several
who pretend to it ; and so will serve for further explication
of the character of hearers only.

From what has been said, we may observe, how great a
number of the hearers of the gospel are likely to be taken up
by the several classes of hearers only. Such have need to
reflect and consider, — What have they by the gospel, and by
being hearers thereof? Some of them come to some sort of
considerable attainment by means of it, and do many things
in conformity to it ; but as their minds and hearts have not
been made thoroughly subject to the word, they will, in the
last day, be found among them who obey not the gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ. All their promising attainments and
gift* will not answer the charge of the word against them.
Though they should say to their Judge, ' Have we not pro-
' phesied in thy name ? and in thy name have cast out devils ?
• and in thy name done many wonderful works ?' yet, as they
have not been really doers of good works, they shall have
judgment awarded to them as they that work iniquity, Matth.
vii. 12, 13. All their light, gifts, and seeming attainments,
will but concur with their more real unbelief, hypocrisy, and
unholiness, in more plentifully treasuring up to them wrath

Sermon II. 50.' J

against the day of wrath ; so that it shall come out in the
issue, that it had been better for them not to have known the
way to righteousness at all.

Of how unspeakably great consequence, then, is it to us
that we should attain to that by the word, and by the grace
of God conveyed with it to our hearts, that would bring us
up to the true character of doers of the word ! — That is to be
the subject of the next discourse.

504

SERMON III.

James i. 22.

4 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your
ownselvesS

Having spoken at good length concerning men's general ob-
noxiousness to self-deceiving, and concerning the comprehen-
sive matter in which all the delusions and self-deceivings of
professed Christians terminate, viz. their satisfying them-
selves with being hearers of the word only, I come now to
the main subject of the text —

III. The character and conduct required and recommended
in opposition to this self-deceiving ; viz. to be doers of the
word. Upon this I shall,

I. Offer some general observations, tending to open up
and explain the subject, founded chiefly upon the ex-
pression of the text.

II. I shall suggest some arguments and motives to enforce
this exhortation.

III. Propose some proper directions and cautions ; and,

IV. Some marks by which we may be satisfied if we are
truly doers of the word.

I. I shall offer some general observations that tend to ex-
plain and open up the subject, founded chiefly upon the ex-
pression of the text. As,

1. The doing required is, doing of the word of God. The
apostle knew of no other doing, required or accepted in reli-
gion, but doing of the word. How few are indeed doers of
the word ! The doing of the word is too large and extensive
a compass of doing for the aim and intention of many in re-
ligion ; yet, as if it were too narrow, men will not be confined
within that compass. These parts of their religion, which
themselves oft-times practise with greatest heat of zeal, and
which they obtrude on others with the greatest urgency, to
the oppressing of them, and many a time to the shedding of
their blood, are these parts of it that are beyond the line and

Sermon HI. 506

compass of the word. The religion warranted and prescribed
by the word is God's religion. The other is their own religion,
and they are the fonder of it. They ofttimes act as if they
meant to leave it to God to avenge the neglect of his religion,
as he will certainly do (for people can generally live easy
enough with that sort of men in neglecting of it,) but as if
they thought that it fell especially to men's share to avenge
the neglect of human religion.

But what is the aim of all practice in religion, if it is not
to please God, and be accepted of him in it? and what
imaginable ground can be shown us for expecting acceptance
with him, in doing a service which he hath not required, and
which is not doing of his word ? When the Lord is, Jer. xix.
5. reproving men for burning their sons with fire for burnt-
offerings unto Baal, his pleading is thus, — ' Which I com-
' manded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind.'
-Might not the Lord have offered other strong and affecting
arguments, taken from the nature of the thing itself, against
the offering of their sons for burnt-offerings ? It is easy to
see he might. But, then, if men should be obliged always to
state the argument on the nature of things, the reasonableness
or unreasonableness, the decency or indecency of things, in
their own nature, conscientious and godly persons might often
be put to a bay by their more ingenious adversaries, especially
in cases not so clearly unreasonable in their own nature as
was that horrible practice. But, then, as that is not the
proper state of the argument upon the main, so the Lord
suggests and insists only on an argument clear, easy, sufficient,
and withal within the reach of every one of his people. Here
they stand secure and upon the proper ground, with respect
to every religious practice ; not to be moved or affected with
all the plausible things that human rhetoric can produce to
set out human device, until it can be shown them that it is
a thing that came into the Lord's mind, which he spake,
which he commanded. The consciences of the Lord's people
are not obliged to any doing but the doing of his word.

It is well known how the public worship of God hath been
burdened and defaced with other doing than the doing of the
word. The church hath long and often groaned under it.
But this is a mischief that hath spread farther in men's prac-
tice. When men are satisfied about a good end, purpose, and
interest, respecting religion, which they are to pursue or
support, and are perhaps confident about the sincerity of their
own end and aim in so doing, it too often happens that

506 Sermon III.

they are not duly careful about the temper, method, and
means they use ; that these should likewise be agreeable to
the word, and that in these they should be doers of the word.
As the word directs us to the ends and interests we should
intend, so ought we to take our directions from it as to all
proper methods and means. But men often act as if they
thought that the particular good interest they had at heart
did sanctify and warrant all means whatsoever, by which
they think it may be advanced. Men's unbelief will not
trust to God in the use of such means as he hath prescribed,
and of the conduct to which he hath confined them ; and
their passions will not be subject to his authority, or restricted
by it. The abominable absurdity of supererogation in religion
hath been exploded by the word of God wherever its light
hath reached ; yet men would, in some kinds of practice, be
still at supererogating, and act as if they meant to be holier
than God. But when men do thus outrun the word of God,
if they were wrell tried, they would be found to have too many
and considerable defects and exceptions in their characters
as doers of the word. Let this then be a fixed point with
us, that I have made my first general observation on this
head, that no doing is required or accepted in religion, but
doing of the word.

2. Every part of the word, in some respect or other,
requires doing, otherwise it might have been answered to
the apostle, Why require doing, in such absolute terms, of the
word, when there is so much of the word that does not
require any doing ? Is it not enough with respect to such
parts of it that we be hearers only? What else do they
require ? But he speaks absolutely ; and there is no part of
the word but his exhortation hath a respect to. There is no
part of the word but by some relation, connexion, or conse-
quence, in some way or other, requires doing.
. The manifestations therein made of the divine nature and
councils, the declarations therein made of the mercy and
grace of God by his promises, or by the doctrine of his word
otherwise, to which may be added the histories of the word
that tend to confirm these, all require a certain activity of
mind and heart, in way of faith and the fear of God.

The threatenings of the word with all the doctrines and
declarations of it that are of that import, and these histories
that tend to illustrate or confirm God's threatenings, do by
no means admit of indolent hearing. It is a mark by which
the Lord himself distinguishes his people, that they tremble

Sermon III. 507

at his word. His works may make the most stout-hearted
sinner to tremble ; but his people tremble at his word. We
should, like the prudent man using these parts of the word
as a prospective glass, foresee the evil and go to hide our-
selves.

As the commandments of the word do more directly respect
doing, so those of them that are conceived in negative form
have nevertheless their positive side, and mark out somewhat
to be done. So, there is no part of the word of which we
are to be hearers only, or that is calculated for mere infor-
mation or speculation only ; every part of it, in some view or
other, requires doing.

3. To be doers of the word imports and requires to be
doers of the whole word. As the whole word, and every
part thereof, requires doing, (so I just now observed) ; so
there is no degree of doing, nor no consideration whatsoever,
for which we can dispense with ourselves, as to any part of
the word, that we should not be the doers thereof. The ex-
pression of the Holy Ghost in my text is strictly general,
universal, and comprehensive, to be doers of the word.

Is there any part of the word of which we have it not at
heart to be the doers, and do deliberately and habitually
indulge ourselves therein ? Why, with respect to that part,
we are hearers of the word only. This may appear to us of
small account, because we are, in every other respect, doers
of the word ; so we may easily flatter ourselves : but our
willing failure in that part will give us our denomination,
and fix our character, c hearers of the word only.' He whose
proper character is a doer of the word, is a hearer only of no
part of it. He who heareth all the prohibitions and denuncia-
tions of the word against drunkenness, and continueth a
drunkard, is, in point of character, a hearer of the word only,
not a doer, if he had a thousand practices of devotion and
good works to show for him ; so, he that hears the prohibi-
tions and denunciations of the word against adultery, yet in
practice is an adulterer, his character is a hearer only, not a
doer, if he had a thousand good works otherwise to boast of.
Some of these sorts of men whom I did before class among
hearers only, when explaining that subject, are men who may
have many good works of diverse kinds ; yet for the reason I
am now insisting on, could be classed only among hearers
only, not doers.

It is said of Herod, that when he heard John Baptist, he
did many things, not a few good works j yet he was by n©

508 Sermon III.

means a doer of the word, but a hearer only ; as the word
itself admits of no middle class. Let us go ever so far in the
practice of righteousness ; yet if we make deliberate, habi-
tual exceptions in the matters of the word, we shall be but
of Herod's class, — that we did many things which exhaust
and comprehend our whole character : it will not be absolutely
that of doers of the word.

This same apostle James says, chap. ii. 10. ( Whosoever
' shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is
' guilty of all.' This is a large supposition, of keeping the
whole law, ' yet if he offend in one point/ that is, as I take
the principal intention of it, if there is one point of the law
and holy commandment of God, which he stumbles at, of
which he will not submit to be the doer, he is guilty of all.
Just as if one should pretend to exercise a dispensing power
with respect to one or two parts of the law, although he
should not actually extend it to more instances, yet he would
be reckoned to overturn the constitution and destroy the
authority of the whole law. So our nation sometime ago judged
in the case of a monarch noted in our history, and acted
happily on that view. He who absolutely stumbleth at any
one point of the law, and doth not practically submit thereto,
is to be classed with them the apostlejPeter mentions, 1 Eph.
ii. 8. ' even them which stumble at the word, being dis-
' obedient;' not with them who are the doers of the word.

It is true that, through ignorance, inadvertence, sloth, un-
belief, strong lusts and passions, and weak graces, the Lord's
people do come in fact greatly short, both as to the matter
and manner of their duty. They will all join in saying with
this apostle, chap. iii. 2. ( In many things we offend all.'
Yet true doers of the word have no fixed exception in the
matters of the word. Grace and a good conscience do de-
termine them to have respect to all the commandments
thereof. Their fixed aim is to be doers of the whole word.
The scripture often expresses sincerity by being perfect, and
the sincere is the perfect man ; and accordingly, imperfect as
they are in every thing, their sincerity and integrity, as doers
of the word, hath this of perfection in it, that it truly aims at
the whole word, and truly presses forward to that mark.

4. To be doers of the word is to be inwardly so, as well
as outwardly. This is a consequence of the former observa-
tion about being doers of the whole word. Nor shall I be
more particular as to the matter or manner of our doing in
this place.

Sermon III. 509

The word, of which the text calls us to be the doers, is
not the word of man. The word and authority of men doth
not reach farther than the outward man. But this is the
word of God, who trieth the heart, and hath pleasure in up-
rightness. It is he who knoweth our hearts who only can
judge of our uprightness ; and as it is his peculiar province
to know and judge of our uprightness, so by the uprightness
of his people he hath peculiar pleasure.

As our heart and inward man is exposed to his observation ;
so doth the light, authority, and command of his word reach
the inward man. The word is indeed the mean by which
the Lord doth commonly give men the strongest and most
sensible proof and impression of his omniscience ; according
to 1 Cor. xiv. 24, 25. ' If one who believeth not, or one un-
( learned/ come in to hear the word, ' he is convinced of all,
6 he is judged of all : and thus are the secrets of his heart
c made manifest ; and so, falling down on his face, he will
' worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.'
So the word is, in a sort, an omniscient heart-searching thing,
and God is in it of a truth. Therefore doth the apostle speak
of the word in expressions, which, strictly speaking, do suit
God only, Heb. iv. 12. e The word of God is quick and power-
' ful, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
( heart/

The Lord says, Jer. xvii. 10. c I the Lord search the heart,
' I try the reins, even to give every man according to his
' ways, according to the fruit of his doings/' Without search-
ing the heart, he could not judge men according to their ways
and doings. Of every work of man, we may say that only
the half is outward, and that perhaps the half of least account
in God's sight ; as indeed it is of no account at all, without
the inward part of it be joined to make up its integrity :
besides, that the word requires much inward doing that hath
no immediate connexion with present outward works. To
explain particularly that inward doing, and the inward prin-
ciples and manner of all doing according to the word, does
not suit the general view and design of these observations :
only, let us consider the word as joining this demand, c My
' son, give me thy heart/ to every matter in which we would
attempt to be doers of the word.

5. To be a doer of the word imports to be so to the end.
' He that endureth to the end shall be saved. Be thou faith -
' ful unto the death, and I will give thee a crown of life/
The text speaks of doers of the word absolutely, not doers for

510 Sermon III.

a season. It is the property of bad ground, Luke viii. 14. to
bring no fruit to perfection. This imports the same sense as
the expression, Matt. xiii. 22. c he becometh unfruitful/ It
is the good ground which alone represents the doers of the
word, that brings forth fruit with patience, or perseverance,
Luke viii. 15. with that patience which hath its perfect work.
It only is accounted fruitful. The other ground, which brought
fruit the greatest length of any bad ground, is accounted un-
fruitful, that is, such are hearers only, not doers of the word.

Should we suppose a man to live long in the practice of
righteousness, and in end to turn away from the holy com-
mandment, from which period of life shall he be denominated
a doer or not doer ? From the longest or the last ? The Lord
himself determines this, Ezek. xxxiii. 13. ' If he trust to his
' own righteousness and commit iniquity, all his righteousness
' shall not be remembered ; but for his iniquity that he hath
' committed, he shall die for it." He is not a doer of the
word. The precious consolation of the new covenant re-
specting this matter is not my present subject. I consider
matters in the light of duty, and what brings a man properly
under the character of a doer of the word. Let this there-
fore be an argument by which grace shall work on the heart
of every doer of the word, that c he only who endureth to the
c end shall be saved/ 2 John 8. ' Look to yourselves that we
6 lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we
' receive a full reward/ Gal. vi. 9. e And let us not be weary
c in well-doing ; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint
c not/ I come now to the second thing on this subject.

II. To suggest some arguments and motives to enforce this
exhortation to be doers of the word.

The word which requires this regard is, the word of God :
It is he who speaketh to us in it. And so, doing the word is
our obedience to him, doing his will, and doing things pleasing
to him. For which it becometh every one of his people to
regard the following considerations.

1. Consider his various relations to you, the obligations
these bring you under, and the right he thereby hath to your
obedience. Consider his absolute sovereignty, which is
founded in his own infinite excellency, and in that goodness
and power by which he hath given us our being, and upholds
it ; which is a relation which nothing could put an end to but
what would put an end to our existence.

How much should it recommend the word of this great
Sovereign of the Universe to us, that he speaketh it to us by

Sermon III. 511

his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things; that
we have the law to receive from his mouth ; for he is, in the
most eminent degree, the messenger of the Lord of hosts ;
that it is committed to him to exercise the more immediate
government and rule over his people, according to the holy
laws of his eternal Father ; while, at the sametime that he
ruleth his people as his Father's great Vicegerent, { he is our
1 great high priest, to do for us in all things pertaining to
c God ; so that, if any man sin, we have an advocate with the
c Father/ Without this it might be said, ye cannot serve
the Lord, for he is an holy God. Thus while Christ, the
king of Zion, maketh the laws and word of God his Father
effectual with his people, he, at the sametime, maketh their
acceptance effectual and sure with God.

Consider the comfortable relations of grace unto which God
hath brought his people. From being rebels, the objects of
his wrath, he hath brought them to be his people, servants,
and children ; he hath become their Lord, their master, and
father, through Jesus Christ : all the present privilege of these
relations, all the hope of this calling, is of his infinite love and
grace ; and what astonishing works of love have appeared in
the method of bringing all this about ! It came not of us, as
Christ said, John xv. 16. f ye have not chosen me, but I have
f chosen you ;' so, Psal. c. 3. ' It is he that hath made us, and
' not we ourselves ; we are his people and the sheep of his
' pasture ;' and, Deut. xxxii. 6. ' Is not he thy father that
' hath bought thee? hath he not made thee and established thee?'

Should they refuse the most absolute and unlimited sub-
jection to his sovereignty, who owe so great things to the
riches and sovereignty of his grace ? Can you hear this in-
finitely exalted sovereign, this infinitely condescending Master
and Father speak, and that by his own Son, whom he hath
sent ' to redeem you by his blood ;' and can you, with respect
to any thing he speaketh, be hearers only? May it not then
be said, as Deut. xxxii. 6. ' Do ye thus requite the Lord, O
foolish people and unwise !'

2. Consider the hazard of being hearers only, and not doing
his word ; how fearfully the consequence may come out be-
tween God and you. The most common case is not of a man's
rejecting directly the whole word of God, or declining avow-
edly all regard to his authority : the defect in doing the
word is more commonly in some particular matter, in which
perhaps a right eye or a right hand, &c. cause th him to offend
and stumble at the word. But even with respect to a parti-

512 Sermon III.

cular work or instance of duty, that may be the subject of the
deliberation of your mind and conscience, and about which
deceitful lusts may suggest, as Lot said of Zoar, ' Is it not a
little one ?' How great things may it amount to between
God and you? I shall give an awful instance from 1 Sam.
xv. 2, 3. ' Thus saith the Lord of hosts' to Saul, e Now go
f and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have,
' and spare them not ; but slay both man and woman, infant
( and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass/ This was a
judgment which the righteous Judge of all the earth had de-
clared his intention about long ago. Now, after so long re-
prieve, he will have it executed. Accordingly, ver. 4. ' Saul
' gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim,
' two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of
e Judah/ Here was great preparation for being a doer of
the word of God. Verses 7, 8. ' And Saul smote the Ama-
1 lekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over
' against Egypt. And he took Agag, the king of the Ama-
• lekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the
1 edge of the sword.' Here is a great deal actually done.
But, ver. 9. ' Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best
e of the sheep and of the oxen/ &c. Who would think but
so much doing might cover this much defect in doing ? But
the arrogance of thus far dispensing with the word and com-
mand of God marred all his doing ; and the consequence to
Saul we see, ver. 23. ' Because thou hast rejected the word
' of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.'
Had Saul imagined that the thing had amounted to this in
the consequence, would he have spared Agag and a few cattle
at so great a risk ? It would become us to consider every
trying case of doing the word (and we should judge every
case that is the subject, as I said, of the deliberation of our
mind and conscience to be such) in this view and light. If
we venture to decline or limit our obedience in this instance,
may not perhaps utter rejection be the consequence, as in the
case of Saul ?

Be it so, that the Lord hath by grace secured the state and
hope of his people ; that his mercy to them, (as he says to
David, 2 Sam. vii. 15.) is not as his mercy to Saul, from
whom he took his mercy, and whom he put away before him ;
but, that he hath made with them an everlasting covenant,
as David comforts himself, 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. 'that he hath
c made with them all an everlasting covenant, even the sure
' mercies of David/ as Isa. lv. 3. Yet still these sure mer-

Sermon III. 513

cies, and that grace of the everlasting covenant take effect as
by other means, so by this, of making all true doers of the
word consider the fate of hypocrites, as a beacon to warn
them not to split upon the same rock.

Yea, in great consistency with the security of that grace
wherein the Lord's people do stand, (Rom. v. 2.) if some of
them would understand and report the case as it has happen-
ed to them, it would appear that sometimes a particular in-
stance, wherein they have failed in their integrity, in their
purity, in their doing of the word, has brought a reverse
upon their circumstances, both outward and inward, that they
have never got the better of in this life. How great terror is
there (though no doubt the consolation prevails) in that
word, Psal. xcix. 8. e Thou wast a God that forgavest them,
' though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.' Thus
will he make his people to know and see ' that it is an evil
' thing and bitter to forsake the Lord their God, and that his
' fear should not be in them/ Jer. ii. 19.

We see, then, upon the whole, that not to be doers of the
word may have fearful consequence between God and us,
even in respect to particular instances of not doing the word.

3. Let all who are indebted to the saving grace of God
consider, that the holiness, righteousness, and practice of
good works, which is the doing of the word, and whereof the
word is the rule while they are upon this earth, is the design
and end of all the grace which God hath shown them.

Have the Lord's people been elected, or predestinated ' ac-
' cording to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
c the counsel of his own will ?' Eph. i. 11. The Holy Ghost
explains the end of this great grace, Eph. i. 4. e He hath
: chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that
c we should be holy, and without blame before him in love/

This text acquaints us, that fwe are chosen in Christ
c Jesus/ The inheritance to which we are chosen or predes-
tinated, ver. 11. could be reached only by his means. Heb.
ix. 15. It is ( by means of his death, for the redemption of
' transgressions, that they which are called, according to his
' purpose,' Rom. viii. 28. ' do receive the promise of eternal
1 inheritance/ Thus the purchase of Christ's death, for our
benefit, is an eternal inheritance. At the same time, a great
design of his death, for his glory and service, is represented,
Titus ii. 14. c who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
( us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar
' people, zealous of good works/

514 Sermon III.

Agreeably to this view, a little before he underwent death
for us, by which he was to merit all grace for his people, he
prays to his Father thus, — f Sanctify them through thy truth.
' And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might
' be sanctified through the truth/ John xvii. 17- 19. The Son
of God did sanctify, or devote himself to be a sacrifice, to
bear our curse, that we might be sanctified. In like manner,
it is said, Eph. v. 25, 26. that c Christ gave himself for his
* church, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the
( washing of water by the word/ He died that his people
might be sanctified and cleansed by the word, through the
effectual operation of the Holy Spirit (which is represented
by the water in baptism) attending it. In short, for this end
he died, and purchased the grace of the Holy Spirit for his
people, that they might thereby be made doers of the word.

Further, c whom God hath predestinated, them he also call-
ed/ Now, what is the nature and end of this calling of
grace ? It is holy in respect to both its nature and end ;
e who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling,'
2 Tim. i. 9. ' God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but
unto holiness/ 1 Thess. iv. 7- Accordingly, the believers at
Rome are said to be ' called (to be) saints/ that is, they were
saints, or holy, by means of this holy calling ; so that the
calling of grace, by which Christians are called unto the fel-
lowship of Jesus Christ our Lord, and to the fellowship of all
the grace and glory which he hath purchased by his blood,
that effectual calling which is given them by the word and
grace of God, is in its nature a holy calling, and hath for its
end to make them saints, or holy, that is, to make them doers
of the word.

( Whom he called, them he also justified/ In this justifi-
cation, sinners are reconciled to God ; and, as the prophet
Amos says, chap. iii. 3. * Can two walk together except they
' be agreed ?' so when God and sinners are agreed, one end
hereof is, that they should walk together ; that sinners, for-
merly alienated in their minds by wicked works, should walk
with God, according to his word. By justification sinners
are brought under the protection, government, and banner of
grace ; and we see how the apostle argues from that, Rom.
vi. 14. ' Sin shall not have dominion over you : for ye are
' not under the law, but under grace/

If the Lord doth, in his great grace, give his Spirit to his
people to dwell in them, what is one great end of that grace ?
Surely it is, that they may walk after the Spirit. By this doth

Sermon III. 51.">

the apostle characterize believers, and upon this doth he sus-
pend their comfort of a justified state. Rom. viii. 1. ' There is
' therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ
' Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.'
And thus doth he exhort the Galatians, whose carnal temper
and walking was so offensive ; Gal. v. 25. c If we live in the
' Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit ;' as if he had said, — If
we, being regenerated by him, have much peace and comfort
(so I take this meaning) and joy in the Holy Ghost, and
abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost, which
is for sinners, who were lately ' dead in trespasses and sins,
* children of wrath, and heirs of damnation/ to live indeed.
If we thus do live in the Spirit, by the renovation and conso-
lation he hath given us, let us agree and submit to his direct-
ing of our walk also. Now, by what rule doth he direct our
walk ? Surely it is not by mere inward impulse ; for we
should not ordinarily distinguish between the impulse of the
Spirit and of the flesh, if there was no other rule but impulse.
But the whole word is given by inspiraton of the Holy
Ghost : every impulse or direction from within us, that is
not agreeable to the word, is from the flesh and from a prin-
ciple of self-deceiving ; for to walk after the Spirit, and to
walk after, or according to the word, is, as to the way itself
and the matter of our walking, precisely the same thing.
For this then, as for one great end, doth God give his Spirit,
that we may be doers of the word. The hope of eternal
blessedness, wherein all the grace of God to his people doth
terminate, doth require the same thing. But this I am to
consider separately hereafter.

This then is one great and special end for which God hath
elected, redeemed, called, justified his people, and given
them his Spirit to dwell in them ; even that they should be
holy, blameless, zealous of good Avorks, doers of his word, — the
only rule to us of all holiness and good works. If therefore
there be any consolatiou or joy by electing and redeeming
love, or by calling, justifying, sanctifying grace, can we ex-
pect to hold or enjoy it, and not be doers of the word ? This
introduceth another argument.

4. It is by being doers of the word that we shall prove
to the world, and especially to ourselves, the truth of our
grace and of our state of grace. This is an important point
to be demonstrated to satisfaction. Our natural state is, to
be in the flesh, under the law, that is, under the curse, and in
a perishing condition. How important is it then to give

516 Sermon III.

proof of a state of grace ? and how can it be proven but by
this, that grace appears to have that effect upon a man which
I have been showing to be the end and design of grace in all
the steps of it ? Where that holiness and practice of good
works, by which a man is a doer of the word, is wanting,
shall we say electing, redeeming, justifying grace, have
wholly come short of their end ? that is the same as to say.
that the counsel of God is frustrated, and that Christ hath
died in vain : or is it not easier to say, and the only thing
that it is just to say in this case, that the man is an entire
stranger to all this grace, and hath no part in it ? and how
sad a thing is it when a man's conduct allows of no other
conclusion concerning him ? The apostle Peter doth thus ex-
hort, 2 Pet. i. 10. c Wherefore the rather, brethren^ give
' diligence to make your calling and election sure : for, if ye
c do these things, ye shall never fall.' Now, concerning this,
it is clear that it is the calling of grace, by which God doth
actually elect us out of the world, and separate us for himself,
(c according to his purpose/ Rom. viii. 28.) that doth bring
us into a state of grace. How shall we, according to him,
prove and make sure this calling and state of grace ? That is
clear from his words, • For if ye do these things, ye shall never
6 fall ;* your state is that sure state of grace, from which ye
shall never fall. Now, what does he mean by these things in
this 10th verse? The same that he meant by the same ex-
pression, verse 9. ' He that lacketh these things ;' and there
it means the same as verse 8. ■ for, if these things be in you ;'
and in the words immediately preceding verse 8, we see
very particularly what these things are : thus, verses 5, 6,
7. ' And, besides this, giving all diligence, add to your
c faith, virtue ; and to virtue, knowledge ; and to knowledge,
c temperance ; and to temperance, patience ; and to patience,
*Jgodliness ; and to godliness, brotherly kindness ; and to
6 brotherly kindness, charity.' All these things are included
in this one expression, to be doers of the word. And it ap-
pears that it is by these things, even by being thus a doer of
the word, that a Christian will make sure and prove that
calling and state of grace from which he shall not fall.

It is true that the Holy Spirit doth testify our good state ;
but then it is certain he never will do it in the absence of
that evidence and proof that will warrant the concurring tes-
timony thereto of our spirit and conscience ; that candle of
the Lord that [searched all the inward parts of the belly,
Prov. xx. 27. Now the word of God, by which the con-

Sermon III. 517

science must be directed, doth warrant that testimony in
favours of none but the doers of the word.

But of how great consequence is it to a Christian to prove
and make sure that calling and state of grace ? It opens a
scene of comfort to him for eternity ; as he is called thereby
to inherit a blessing, and as God hath thereby called him
unto his kingdom and glory. It openeth a scene, as it were,
of great comfort to him, respecting his condition and way in
this world, and respecting his dangers and temptations
therein. And that as this calling of grace hath the faithful-
ness of God engaged thereto in many precious promises, in
view to which the apostle doth so often encourage believers,
thus is the Christian required to ( hold fast the profession of
' his faith without wavering/ as Heb. x. 23. It is a comfort-
able addition to the exhortation, ( For he is faithful that
' promised/ Should he, as 1 Thess. v. 23. be careful that
c his whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless
* unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ/ it is a happy
encouragement that is added, verse 24. e Faithful is he that
' calleth you, who also will do it.' Is he required to be
steady and firm unto the end, here is encouragement to that
purpose, 1 Cor. i. 8, 9. ' Who also shall confirm you to the
' end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus
' Christ. God is faithful by whom ye are called.'

Thus, to be doers of the word proves our state and calling.
The evidence of our calling brings unto view the most com-
fortable encouragements in doing of the word. These things
have a happy reciprocal influence upon one another. If bv
being doers of the word, we prove that the call of the word
hath become effectual in our hearts, this again will become a
mean by which, in our doing, the Lord will strengthen us
with strength in our soul, as Psal. cxxxviii. 3. and upon this
ground we may sing and pray, confidently at once, as in the
conclusion of the psalm, — ' The Lord will perfect that which
- concerneth me ; thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever :
' forsake not the works of thine own hands.' So doing will
give us the comfort of our calling ; and the comfort of our
calling, with all these promises of God that are connected
therewith, will strengthen us in doing. How cogent an
argument should this be with Christians to be doers of the
word !

5. A Christian having evidence, in the manner just now
explained, of his calling and state of grace, as that is a state
of favour with God, he may comfortably look for the effects

518 Sermon III.

of that divine favour in what concerns his condition and way
in this world, if there is not something to obstruct the course
of these effects of favour towards him. So it is, his sins may
obstruct their course, and his unholy walking. How strong
are these expressions of divine favour, love, and sympathy,
Isa. lxiii. 9. * In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the
' angel of his presence saved them : in his love and in his
' pity he redeemed them, and he bare them, and carried
c them all the days of old !' The next words show the effect
of sin and provocation, verse 10. e But they rebelled, and
' vexed his Spirit ; therefore he was turned to be their
' enemy, and he fought against them/

It is only in the way of holiness, obedience, and doing his
word, that we can expect the fruits of divine favour to
abound sensibly and comfortably to us. We will in this way
be likely to find his favour and countenance to have comfort-
able effect to us in what concerns our condition in the world ;
to make it prosperous or comfortable to us. Or if there is
need be, as the apostle Peter speaks, for our having trials and
afflictions in the world, we will find, by the divine favour
towards us, as doers of the word, a peace of God, which
passeth understanding, to keep and fortify our hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus, as well as a happy issue of our
afflictions and difficulties. The good effect of being doers of
the word, in what concerns our condition and the course and
issue of our affairs on the earth, has been so clear, from ob-
servation and experience, that even the world has adopted
that maxim of the Holy Ghost, ' He who walketh uprightly
( walketh surely/ I need to insist the less on this part.

They who by God's calling are in a state of grace, have
precious fruits to expect from God's fellowship, favour, and
the light of his countenance, inwardly, as to the increase of
their consolation, joy, and strength, which are not to be
looked for otherwise than as they are the doers of his word.

For this I adduce the testimony of the word itself, in these
following passages : 1 John i. 6, 7- ' If we say that we have
<■ fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do

< not the truth ; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the

< light, we have fellowship one with another/ John. xiv. 21.

< He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it
( is that loveth me ; and he that loveth me shall be loved of

< my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself

< to him/ Verse 23. ( If a man love me, he will keep my

Sermon III. 519

* words ; and my Father will love him, and we will come
1 unto him, and make our abode with him/

Much of our intercourse with God, while we are in this
world, is by our prayer to him, and his favourable regard
thereto. Now, as to this, the Psalmist's doctrine was this,
Psal. lxvi. 18. e If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord
c will not hear me/ And this is the doctrine of the apostle
John, 1 John iii. 22. ' And whatsoever we ask, we receive
' of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those
' things that are pleasing in his sight/ By prayer we ask
that the Lord would assist us, do us good, and, if I may so
speak, that he would please us ; and, shall we expect that he
should please us, while we have it not at heart to please
him, by being doers of his word ? ' If our hearts condemn
us not' as to this, e then have we confidence towards God,'
1 John iii. 21. In this did the blessed apostle Paul labour,
even in instructing people how they ought to walk, (1 Thess.
iv. 1.) and to please God.

If there be any who have the Psalmist's sense of things,
Psal. iv. 6, 7- ' Lord, lift thou up the light of thy counte-
c nance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more
' than in the time that their corn and their wine increased'
— surely, to such, what I have been just now representing,
must make a very forcible argument for their being doers of
the word.

6. It is by being doers of the word that Christians can
glorify God. This is the supreme end of all the works and
counsels of God, and ought to have the same supreme place
with his creatures. Christians are under special obligation
as to this. God hath ordained for them salvation with
eternal glory ; c even an exceeding and eternal weight of
( glory/ They can add no glory to him ; but to show forth
his glory, is a care and work becoming the objects of his so
great grace. The glorifying of all the attributes of God, is
the duty of all his creatures ; but grace is an attribute of
God displayed, in all its glory and excellency, to his people ;
and which therefore they are under particular obligation to
glorify. Shall the enemies of God have occasion to say or
think in their hearts, that divine grace hath undergone great
dishonour by being so much exerted in favour of such objects,
as it hath produced no suitable or worthy effect or fruit in
them ? This would reflect dishonour indeed upon God and
upon his grace ; but we might say of it to Christians, as the

520 Sermon HI.

apostle doth in another particular case, ' This is unprofitable
c for you/

The Lord's people are, by his grace, c a chosen generation,
c a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people/ 1 Pet.
ii. 9. for this end, 'that they might show forth the praises
' (or virtues) of him who hath called them out of darkness
c into his marvellous light/ And his praises they do show
forth most effectually by their good works, and by being
doers of the word. Matt. v. 1 6. c Let your light so shine
! before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify
■ your Father which is in heaven.'

7- Let us, in the last place, consider the doing of the word,
with respect to the possession of enjoyment of the eternal
inheritance and blessedness of which the word gives the sure
hope through Jesus Christ.

As it hath pleased God that the promised inheritance
should be at some distance, there must needs be a way in
which the heirs thereof shall walk and make their way to it.
This cannot be the broad way in which the many jwalk ; it
leadeth to destruction. There is a way, a narrow way, which
leadeth to life.

When the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they
were not left to choose their own way. The Lord did lead
them ; he went before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and
in a pillar of fire by night. The Lord continueth to lead his
people still ; and the light by which he leadeth them is the
light of his word ; and to be the doers of his word is their
way through this wilderness to the possession of the promised
inheritance.

They have the truth of God's promises in the new covenant
for their souls to rest on, in the hope of heaven. This is like-
wise the truth of God, proposed to believers to enforce an
exhortation to holy practice. Rom. viii. 13. ' If ye live after
'the flesh, ye shall die;' and that, Heb. xii. 14. 'Follow
' peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man
' shall see the Lord/

There are in the word certain promises expressed in con-
ditional form, with a respect to certain gracious qualifications
with which the Lord doth connect particular blessings : such
as Matt. v. 6, 7- ' Blessed are they which hunger and thirst
e after righteousness ; for they shall be filled. Blessed are
* the merciful ; for they shall obtain mercy/ Shall they who
are unmerciful expect that God shall deal mercifully with
them? Shall they expect to be filled, who never hungered

Sermon III. 52J

after righteousness ; to be comforted, who never mourned ?
and shall they look for heaven, which comprehends all
blessings and the fulfilment of all promises, who are destitute
of these gracious qualifications by which the heirs of heaven
are marked out in the word ? Surely this were not suitable
to the doctrine of the word.

The right of God's people to heaven is originally by the
gift of God, Rom. vi. 23. c The gift of God is eternal life
' through Jesus Christ our Lord.' The particular method of
grace in respect to this gift, is to entitle them thereto by a
free and gracious adoption through Jesus Christ. They
become c the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus/ Gal.
iii. 26. e And if children, then heirs ; heirs of God and joint
' heirs with Christ,' Rom. viii. 17- By being the children of
God, they have, by the privilege of their state, a right to the
inheritance of his children.

At the sametime, the promise of the inheritance, and of
the blessedness to be awarded at the second coming of Christ,
is represented in the word as containing the reward (alto-
gether by grace) of their works. For this, see Matth. xvi.
27. Col. iii. 24. Heb. xi. 26. Upon this ground doth the
apostle Paul encourage the good works of the Corinthians, 1
Cor. xv. 58. c Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast,
c unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
v forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the

* Lord/ And how not in vain ? By reason of the reward at
the resurrection, of which he had been speaking. It is
upon the same view that he directs the Hebrews to continue
their diligence in good works, as the proper means to esta-
blish and assure their hope of this reward, Heb. vi. 10, 11.
' For God is not unrighteous, to forget your work and labour
f of love, which ye have showed towards his name, in that ye

* have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we
c desire that every one of you do show the same diligence, to
' the full assurance of hope unto the end/ What is this
same diligence, which he recommends for the assuring of their
hope ? It is very clear it is the same diligence he had com-
mended them for in the work and labour of love, which is
that same particular sort of work that shall be commended
in the great day, when the King shall say, c Come, ye blessed
*' of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
£ the foundation of the world : for I was an hungered and ye
c gave me meat/ Here, all their glory flows originally to
them from their being blessed of the Father, 'who hath

f>22 Sermon III.

• blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in
' Christ/ Eph. i. 3. : and the kingdom is prepared for them
from the foundation of the world, by the sovereign good
pleasure of the Father, as it is said, Luke xii. 32. ' Fear not

• little flock ; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give
1 you the kingdom/ So the apostle says, Eph. i. II. £ In
' whom/ viz. Jesus Christ, ( also we have obtained an inheri-
' tance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
' who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will/
Yet at awarding this inheritance, in the great day, works
shall have their praise and their reward : ' Inherit the king-
' dom ; for I was an hungered and ye gave me meat/

How doth it relieve the doers of the word of a burden
greater than they could bear ? and with how great peace
and comfort may the believers in Christ Jesus labour in good
works, that they have not their heaven to purchase thereby ?
At the same time, what an inconceivable encouragement is it
to them, in their good works, that heaven will reward all
their works, without omitting the least in making the account,
even a cup of cold water rightly bestowed. Upon good
grounds did the Lord say, Matt. xi. 30. ' My yoke is easy/
In the view of what I have observed (besides a great deal
more) his people will say, as 1 John v. 3. ' his command-
ments are not grievous/

There is one scripture yet of strong expression to this
purpose, Rev. xxii. 14. ' Blessed are they that do his com-
' mandments, that they may have right to the tree of life,
' and may enter in through the gates into the city. That
' they may have right/ some understand it, that they may
appear to have right (and no doubt such kind of expressions
in scripture are often to be so understood) ; yet still it is
clear, that men's right to the tree of life, and to enter in by
the gates into the city, must be made evident by their doing
God's commandments, by their being doers of his word.

To these particular arguments I shall add the general
commendation given by our blessed Lord to the doers of the
word, Matth. xii. 50. ' For whosoever shall do the will of my
f Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and

• sister, and mother/ Shall any then pretend that he hath
special relation to Christ, who is not a doer of the word ?
Again, John xiii. 17- ' If ye know these things, happy are ye
c if ye do them/ Not happy by knowing or hearing only ;
both" are needful ; but the word is, f happy are ye if ye do
' them/

Sermon III. .r)i2/>

e our Saviour towards men appeared/ But what reason on
our part moved God to this kindness ? or was there any
such ? The words, verse 5, imply there was not ; c Not by
' works of righteousness which we have done/ This might
be easily believed from the account he had given, verse 3.
Works of righteousness, acceptable to God, were not likely
productions of hearts, foolish, disobedient. How then hap-
pened it ? The apostle tells : ' But according to his mercy he
( saved us ; viz. from that miserable condition of heart and
nature he had described. He did so according to his sove-
reign mercy, by which ' he will have mercy on whom he will
' have mercy ; and whom he will he hardneth/ — leaveth to
the natural course of their hearts.

But by what means did he save us from that most miser-
able condition of our natures ? It was not merely by the
force of such light as he set before us, or by means of mere
persuasion ; nor is there any mention here of the word, the
great mean of light and persuasion.

But ' he saved us by the washing of regeneration and re-

* newing of the Holy Ghost/ Some, by the washing of
regeneration, incline to understand the sacrament of baptism,
which receives efficacy by the renewing grace of the Holy
Ghost. It matters not much as to my present purpose, yet
there seems to be this good reason for not understanding it
so. This discourse is particularly adapted to the case of Paul
and Titus, as well as other believers. Now they were thus
actually saved by regeneration itself, before they came to
that eternal laver. No adult persons, such as they were,
were admitted to baptism, but upon profession of faith in
Jesus Christ ; which, in Paul and Titus, was certainly sin-
cere. Now, none have that faith but they who are actually
regenerated, or born again; as we see by John i. 12, 13.

* Even to them who believe on his name ; which were born,
4 not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
( man, but of God ; even of him who of his own will begat
4 us/ James i. 18. ; so that it seems the apostle doth, as is
very common in language, just mean the very same thing by
two sorts of expression, the one more figurative, the other
more proper, when he says, ( He saved us by the washing of
4 regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost/ It was the
great and first lesson of religion which the Lord taught that
ruler of the Jews, John iii. 3. ' Except a man be born again,
' he cannot see the kingdom of God/ — * born/ as he says after-
wards, f of water and of the Spirit/ And his next words,

526 Sermon 111.

verse 6. give the reason of the necessity of this new birth,
' that which is born of the flesh is flesh :' and surely, by the
scripture notion of the flesh, it cannot enable a man to be a
doer of the word of God. He adds, verse 8. ' The wind blow-
1 eth where it listeth, and thou nearest the sound thereof,
' but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth ;

• so is every one that is born of the Spirit/ These words do
express a mystery to be in the case, and something that ex-
ceeds the reach of our understanding to account particularly
for. This cannot be the case with respect to the word and
Providence, and all concurring external means, or with re-
spect to their natural or moral effect upon men's understand-
ings or passions. There is no mystery in that ; but the
immediate operation of the Spirit upon men's hearts is myste-
rious. The effects thereof, indeed, are evident and sensible
upon these whom it maketh the doers of the word, other-
wise the operation of the Spirit in itself cannot be particu-
larly explained. And as the wind bloweth where it listeth,
without any cause within the reach of our knowledge to
determine its motion, so it is without any cause on our part
that the grace of the Holy Spirit falleth upon one beyond
another, by his sovereign mercy, ' who will have mercy upon

• whom he will have mercy : and who of his own will

• begat us,' as in the connexion of my text.

But besides these general authorities and reasons to prove
the necessity of regeneration, in order to our being doers of
the word, the same thing will appear by more particular con-
siderations.

It is the scripture doctrine, that true faith must be the
principle of that doing of the word that will be acceptable to
God. But to be capable of true faith, in particular, requires
to be born of God, John i. 12, 13. ; 1 John v. 1. The natural,
unrenewed soul cannot have true faith. The character of such
a soul is, Eph. iv. 18. to have ' the understanding darkened ;
' to be alienated from the life of God/ A darkened under-
standing is contrary to the light of faith, and that light in the
mind which true faith imparts. A heart alienated from the
life of God is contrary to cheerful, fixed, habitual trusting
in God, which faith imports. To recommend trusting in
God is the evident scope of that context, Psalm xxxvii.
3 — 7. ,* one form in which it is required is, verse 4. ' de-
-' light thyself in God/ It is certain that God will not be the
object of a sinner's fixed, habitual, cheerful, and comfortable
rrust, any further than he and his blessed attributes are de-

Sermon III. S23

How strong are these arguments, taken together or singly,
to enforce men's doing of the word? I am very confident
they are all consistent with that doctrine of grace, respecting
our justification and sanctifi cation, and our whole salvation,
upon which the true and solid comfort of God's people is
founded. And the case being so, I may justly conclude,
that the doctrine of grace is exceeding consistent with good
works ; as it is indeed the doctrine of grace alone that fur-
nisheth the best arguments for them, and such as the proper
doers of the word will be most affected with, and by which
they will be most effectually excited and encouraged in that
way. I proceed,

III. To propose some directions and cautions, proper to be
considered by them who wish to be successful doers of the
word.

1. Before we can be doers of the word, the word, or rather,
God by his word, hath a work to do upon us. This our con-
text represents, verse 18. ' Of his own will begat he us with
c the word of truth/ It was, no doubt, of his own will that
he sent to some the word of truth, and not to others ; but all
who had the word of truth, were not thereby begotten. But
it was of the sovereign will and purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will, who hath mercy
on whom he will have mercy, that they were begotten of the
word of truth, and not others.

The condition of men's nature, and the effect of grace upon
their natures we see, Col. iii. 13. ' And you, being dead in
• your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he
c quickened together with him, having forgiven you all tres-
k passes.' This ' being dead,' cannot be restricted to the
sentence of the law against transgressors, as we say a criminal
is dead in law. Men are dead naturally in the uncircumci-
sion of their flesh.

This respects the condition of men's nature, not their state
merely in the eye of the law, as might be easily shown by
the several places of scripture where circumcision and un-
circumcision occur in the figurative use and in the spiritual
meaning. Now, to be dead implies an incapacity of all sen-
sation, enjoyment, and action ; and, as it is to be here under-
stood in the spiritual sense, it must import that men, in their
natural condition, are incapable of spiritual sense and under-
standing, and of all spiritual enjoyment, and of doing that
which is spiritually good and acceptable to God. Men are
thus, as dead, incapable of what is spiritual, by means of the

z5

T>24 Sermon III.

power of the opposite carnal principle of sin and the lusts
thereof. That to be dead in the uncircumcision of the flesh
is to be thus understood of the power of sin in men's natures,
making a spiritual incapacity, is particularly clear from verse
11. ' In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision
6 made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of
< the flesh."

Their recovery from this spiritual death, he expresses in
these words, verse 13. c You, being dead, hath he quickened
" together with him* (Christ.) This is Christians being-
planted in the likeness of his resurrection, Rom. vi. 5. which
certainly respects newness of life ; as there, verse 13. ' So
' God hath quickened his people together with Christ, having
c forgiven them all trespasses/ By this forgiveness, being
delivered from the curse, they are made capable of the bless-
ing of grace, for the quickening of their heart and nature
spiritually ; and in both these are they made to know the
power of Christ's resurrection with respect to their state and
nature.

There is also a strong description of the natural corruption
of men's heart and the efficacy of regenerating grace, Tit. iii.
3, 4, 5. ' We ourselves were sometimes foolish, disobedient,
* deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in ma-
' lice and envy, hateful and hating one another/ &c. This
is a description, not of persons only who were quite profligate
and abandoned in the eyes of the world, for we see the
apostle Paul classes himself under that description, whose
outward deportment never was profligate or wicked, — yea,
we see how he gives it as a reason wrhy Christians should be
gentle, verse 2. f showing all meekness unto all men.' Why ?
' for we ourselves also were,' as above described from verse
3. ; as if he had said, ' we shoulds how meekness to all,' even
the most wicked, for whatever additions there may have
been as to external appearance, yet, as to the true condition
of our natures, dispositions of our hearts, and true principles
of acting, we ourselves were sometime foolish. Shall we say
that persons, whose hearts are under the power of such prin-
ciples and dispositions, are truly capable of being doers of the
word ? Surely not.

But by what means were they cured of these plagues of
their natures ? was it by their own reason, understanding,
or experience ? or did they owe it to other men ? By no
means. He ascribes it wholly to the kindness and love of
God, verse 4. ' But after that the kindness and love of God

Sermon III. 529

the word will find acceptance with him. This is the first
and main thing whereby a sinner glorifies God. It is said of
Abraham, Rom. iv. 20. that c he was strong in faith, giving
glory to God/ And in this respect, particularly, it is the
will of God, as John v. 23. e that all men should honour the
' Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth
' not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.'
Accordingly, Christ says, John xiv. 1. ' Ye believe in God,
believe also in me.' As this is the matter of God's command
to sinners, it is the first and chief thing wherein he wants
his authority to be regarded. As it is the matter of his re-
port in his word, it is the great matter in which he wants
his faithfulness to be regarded, 1 John v. 10. ' He that be-
' Jieveth not God, hath made him a liar, because he believeth
( not the record that God gave of his Son/ This of true faith
in Jesus Christ, is the first and main point as to our pleasing
of God, and the main point upon which all our salvation
turns ; for, as Acts iv. 12. ' there is not salvation in any other :

* for there is none other name under heaven given among men
' whereby we must be saved/ But I introduced this sub-
ject in way of direction to us as doers of the word, and with
a view to the influence and importance of faith in Christ,
with respect to all our doing and works besides.

To consider the matter in that light, the great view in all
our doing of the word is, therein to please God. But surely
no sinner can safely venture to sound his hope of pleasing
God upon his own doing, or his own works. The voice from
heaven said, Matt. iii. 17- ' This is my beloved Son, in whom
c I am well pleased/ It is the subject of the gospel message
and report, that c God is in Christ reconciling the world to
' himself/ Our interest in this view is to be looked to, pre-
viously to our being successful and acceptable doers of the
word. We do not become acceptable to God for our works ;
but in order to the acceptance of our works, we must our-
selves be accepted in the beloved, Eph. i. 6. The true order
of these things is as in the case of Abel, Gen. iv. 4. i and the
' Lord had respect to Abel* first, i and to his offering' next.
It is needful that we be, as the expression is, 2 Cor. v. 21.

• the righteousness of God in him/ (in Christ Jesus) before
our practice of righteousness be accepted with God. If they
deceive their ownselves who are hearers of the word only,
they will, in the end, be found in the way of miserable self-
deceiving who pretend to be doers of the word, with any other
view of acceptance

530 Sermon III.

Our acceptance with God in the course of doing his word,
and in every good work, must be by faith in Christ Jesus.
All our good doings are our spiritual sacrifices, and these the
apostle Peter represents, 1 John ii. 5. as acceptable to God
only by Jesus Christ. No works are more likely to be ac-
ceptable to God than the prayers of the saints ; yet it is
Christ's intercession alone that procures acceptance to these.
He is represented, Rev. viii. 3. as having much incense, ' that
' he should offer it with the prayers of all saints/ Incense
is used against unpleasant smells. These prayers would be
ef unpleasant, unacceptable savour with a holy God, if it was
not for the mediation of Jesus Christ. And if it be so as to
mens prayers, yea, the prayers of saints, even of all saints,
the most eminent and most holy, shall men look for accept-
ance to any work besides, otherwise than by faith in Christ
Jesus, that one Mediator between God and man ?

Again, the necessary principle of all acceptable doing is
love. This is the sum of the whole law ; and the apostle
Paul calls it, Rom. xiii. 10. c the fulfilling of the law.' It is
so with respect to both tables of it. Our most eminent good
works, without charity or love, will profit us nothing, as
1 Cor. xiii. 3.

Now, it is faith that worketh by love. The flesh, or
natural principles may set us a- working, and a-doing of the
word, without love : it is only faith that worketh by love.
The apostle Paul acquaints us that the end of all the word of
God is not hearing only, but doing ; 1 Tim. i. 5. His word for
it is charity, or love, that great sum and principle of all doing,
as I observed just now ; and he says, £ The end of the com-
1 mandment is charity, out of a pure heart, and of a good
1 conscience, and of faith unfeigned/ So we see he repre-
sents love, as having unfeigned faith for its source in the
soul. It is that faith, by which we apprehend the love of
God in Christ Jesus, that alone introduces love into the heart
of a sinner.

I add, to this purpose, another scripture quoted before, I
John iii. 23. After speaking of our keeping the commandments
of God, he says there, ' And this is his commandment, that
c we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and
• love one another, as he gave us commandment/ He seems
here to have in view both the tables of the law, respecting
the love of God and the love of man. And the sum of the
second table he gives in much the same form as Moses
dnth, ' that we love one another/ But, instead of mention-

Sermon III. T>27

lighted in a carnal soul that is enmity against God, an enemy
in his mind through wicked works, as it is incapable of de-
lighting in God, is incapable of true faith ; and for the same
reason, and by the same cause, is incapable of the true love
of God; and there is no doing of the word acceptable to God,
which proceedeth not from both these principles.

It has been an old objection, that a man cannot be obliged
to do any work or duty for which he hath not sufficient
strength or ability. This objection comes ill from sinners
who have the revelation and oifer of a Saviour made to them ;
and at any rate comes ill from any sinner.

Let us suppose a sinner to argue the case with God upon
this argument, his pleading must import to this purpose.
Lord, thy condition, which is holy, just, and good, and must
be acknowledged to be so, doth require me to set about doing
what it was originally my duty to do, in obedience to thee :
but now I plead to be excused from all such doing, because
I am become unable to do any thing in the manner accept-
able to thee. And to acknowledge frankly the truth of the
case, my inability to do what is truly good is by the wicked-
ness of my nature. I not only do what is evil, but I am in
my very heart and nature wicked, an enemy to thee, and
to thy sovereignty and holiness ; to such degree, as, like the
devil who hath infused his poison into me, to be incapable of
every thing that is truly good and holy ; therefore, excuse me
for declining to do thy will, and charge not guiltiness against
me on that account.

How horribly would be the sound of such arguing ? and yet
there is nothing in it but what the objection above-mentioned
imports. Surely it would be liker the pleading of one to be
accounted a vessel of wrath, fitted to destruction, than any
thing else. But it becometh us, in other manner, to humble
ourselves before God. If his word hath affected our con-
sciences, if our hearts are awakened to a concern about beini:
doers of the word, let us, from the doctrine of the word, and
our experience in any serious attempts to be doers of it, learn
the great wretchedness and plague of our nature, and cry
earnestly to the God of all grace concerning the case, look-
ing to Jesus Christ, who became a sacrifice for sin, for the
condemning of sin in the flesh ; and who rose from the dead
to be the author of new life to sinners. Let us attend serious-
ly and earnestly on the means of grace, particularly the word
which, by the gospel, is preached unto us ; by which, as of
incorruptible seed, sinners are born again, through the bless-

528 Sermon III.

ing of God. Let us attend indeed, seriously and carefully,
at that pool, waiting for the moving of the water, or for the
Lord's looking upon us in his great compassion, and saying,
Wilt thou be healed ? and his sending forth his great power
to cure us of our spiritual lameness, as when he said to the
lame man, ' Rise and walk/

I have insisted the longer in this direction, as the renova-
tion of our natures by divine grace is of such fundamental
and essential consequence to our being doers of the word.
It is great pity that some who seem to wish not to deceive
themselves by neglecting to be doers of the word, do yet de-
ceive themselves by their pretensions to be doers of it ; while
they are insensible what an operation and influence of grace
they need, to put God's law into their mind, and write them
in their hearts, in order to make them capable of being truly
(and not in the self- deceiving way) doers of the word.

2. In doing of the word, let us especially believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let us not pretend to be doers of the
word, and neglect this. There is indeed a self-deceiving
principle in men's hearts that inclines them to be confident of
their own good condition at any rate, and to entertain good
hope ; and there is no doubt but the same principle will in-
cline men to flatter themselves with the opinion of an interest
in every thing that is comfortable in Christ, and with pre-
tensions to have faith in him. But they are the fewest, who,
from a true and just sense of their own condition, do, by faith,
truly betake themselves to Christ, as he is of God made unto
us wisdom, righteousness, sanctifi cation, and redemption ; or
who have due concern about it.

It is not to be accounted for (in the light of spiritual wis-
dom and duty) that men should set out with pretensions to
good works, and neglect this chief work. When the Jews
asked Christ, John vi. 28. ' What shall we do that we might
4 work the works of God ?' his answer is, verse 29. e This is
* the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath
1 sent/ The apostle John does, Jst epist. iii. 22, 23. speak of
our keeping his commandments, and doing those things that
are pleasing in his sight ; then adds, ' And this is his com-
1 mandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son
4 Jesus Christ/ This is the first and great commandment of
the word, as it is directed to sinners. If it was not for what
it implies, God would have directed no other part of his word
to sinners. And if the report of the word concerning Christ
ftnd not due acceptation with us, no part of our obedience to

Sermon III. 531

ing the love of God for the sum of the first table, he has, that
we should ' believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ/
He seems to design to give out the commandment in a manner
adapted to sinners. To say, ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy
' God with all thy heart/ might be successfully, for the prac-
tice of it, addressed to creatures in a state of perfection and
innocence ; but the case of sinners is different. God cannot
become the object of their love otherwise, first, than as his
glory shineth in the face of Christ, and is beheld by faith ;
therefore to procure the love of sinners to God, he directs
them to the view of Christ. The first and great command-
ment to sinners is, ( to believe on the name of the Son of God,
' Jesus Christ/ This will bring along the love of God.

Further, faith in Christ Jesus is necessary for us as doers
of the word, as he is the source of all our strength and fruit-
fulness. Our doing of the word is our fruitfulness. Now
Christ is the true vine, and we can bring forth no good fruit
otherwise than as branches in that vine. He expresses it
strongly, John xv. 5. ' For without me ye can do nothing ;'
but a branch abideth in him bringing forth much fruit : so he
says there. And the apostle Paul says, in no less strong ex-
pression, Phil. iv. J3. eI can do all things through Christ
' which strengthened me/ He had in view a particular
mattter about which he said in the preceding words, e Every
' where and in all things I am instructed both to be full
' and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need/ It
was a great matter, and of extreme difficulty, to bear and be-
have rightly with wealth or want. Few are so well instruct-
ed as his word is. He might justly conclude that the
strength that would suffice for both these conditions might
bear him out in any thing ; so that the general conclusion
comes seasonably, c I can do all things through Christ/

Upon the whole, if by Christ alone we have the acceptance
of all our works, if in him we find the chief and most special
reason to love God, if he is the source of all our strength and
fruitfulness, faith in him must necessarily go as a line
through all our works, as doers of the word. The blessed
apostle said, Gal. ii. 20. ' The life which I now live in the
' flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me,
1 and gave himself for me/ Was it not a life of holiness and
righteousness ? Indeed it was so, very eminently, as to the
practice of life ; but as to the cause and means of his spiritual
life, and to consider the matter in that view, his whole life,
not only with respect to his peace with God and hope, but as

532 Sermon III.

a doer of the word, was by the faith of the Son of God ; and
they will miserably deceive their ownselves, who will pretend
to the life of doers of the word from any other principle and
source.

3. If we wish to be doers of the word, let us live and walk
needfully. If men will walk in the negligent and careless
way, their general practice cannot be pleasing to God ; they
must fall unawares into snares, and fail of their duty in the
most important cases that occur. The Psalmist puts a ques-
tion, Psal. cxix. 9. c Wherewith shall a young man cleanse
' his way V and answers it thus, ' By taking head thereto ac-
' cording to thy word/ Here are two objects of needfulness.
He is to take heed to his way, or to the matter of his walk-
ing and conversation. He is, at the sametime, to take heed
to the rule of his conversation, the word of God, ' according
' to thy word/

It is particularly needful that he take heed to the word,
as the light and rule by which he is to direct his way : other-
wise he may take heed to his way according to the views of
human prudence and worldly wisdom ; but, in order to please
God, he must take heed thereto according to the word ; as,
to be a doer of the word is the subject of the exhortation in
my text.

It is for this end needful that we labour for an extensive
knowledge and understanding of the word, and besides the
use of all common means, that we pray earnestly to God for
his instruction and the assistance of his grace in the matter.
This is the Psalmist's view in that prayer, Psal. cxix. 19.
'lama stranger in the earth ; hide not thy commandments
' from me/ This prayer was exceedingly proper for a
stranger, who is in such hazard to lose his way. How an-
xious is he to receive in his heart, as in store, this mean of
safe walking? verse 11. * Thy word have I hid in mine
* heart, that I might not sin against thee/

The apostle does, 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. recommend the in-
spired scripture as profitable c for instruction in righteous-
' ness, that the man of God/ particularly so denominated,
and consequently, every Christian, ' may be perfect, tho-
c roughly furnished unto all good works/ There he hath all
the light needful to direct his way ; all the encouragements
and consolations needful to strengthen his heart in it ; and
every consideration proper to deter him from sin. Having
•<aid so much concerning the scripture, in way of direction

Sermofi III. 533

against the danger of self-deceiving, I will say no more about
that point here.

But by the Psalmist's advice, a man is also to take heed
to his way ; to the matter of his actions and walk ; to the
principles by which, and the manner in which he acts ; to
the seasons of duty ; to all the circumstances of these sea-
sons ; to the circumstances and various relations of his
actions ; to all the temptations, hinderances, and discourage-
ments that may be unfavourable to his duty ; to all the oc-
casions and temptations by which he may be in danger of sin.
Here is abundant matter for needfulness and watchfulness,
and no small matter of godly fear.

This expression, f take heed,' is common in scripture ex-
hortations. I observe that it is commonly used in important
cases, in which we are in special hazard through negligence
and carelessness. I shall mention some particular instances.
by which we may learn some of the general cases in which it
is especially proper for us to take heed to our way.

Deut. iv. 15, 16. ' Take ye therefore good heed unto your-
c selves, lest ye corrupt yourselves and make you a graven
4 image/ And, chap. xii. 30. ' Take heed to thyself, that
' thou be not snared by following them,' the nations whom
they succeeded, ' and that thou inquire not after their gods/
All the nations of the world were now and had been of long
time idolaters. The Israelites were prone to idolatry like-
wise, from the same principles of delusion that prevailed in
the practice of the world.

The general matter of heedfulness that this suggests to us
is, that we take heed to ourselves, lest the common, yea uni-
versal practice of the world, of numerous powerful parties of
vain-glorious denominations, influenced by the natural prin-
ciples of men's hearts, and supported with human learning
and wisdom, and pretensions to antiquity, do not prevail on
us to lead us aside from God's way. If we walk with God,
we must be separate from the world ; and if we mean to be
doers of the word, that must be our supreme rule. We can-
not act by different contrary rules, more than we can serve
two masters.

Isa. vii. 4. Isaiah is ordered to say to Ahaz, and to God's
people with him, ( Take heed and be quiet ; fear not, neither
c be faint-hearted for the two tails of these smoking flre-
1 brands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the
' son of Ramaliah.' The general lesson of heedfulness that
this instance suggests, is, that we take heed lest circum-

.534 Sermon III.

stances of special distress and danger do surprise us into a
diffidence of God, of his promises and power. It requires
great needfulness, in such an appearance of things, to main-
tain quietness and composure of spirit in waiting upon God.

The Psalmist says, Psal. xxxix. 1. * I will take heed to my
' ways, that I sin not with my tongue/ The general lesson
is, that in watching over our own ways, our tongue and
speech afford no small business for needfulness and keeping
good guard. * That I sin not' said he, ' with my tongue.'
How few are duly heedful against sinning with their tongue !
It is a great matter not to offend in word. ' If any man of-
' fend not in word, the same is a perfect man/ said the apostle
James, chap. iii. 2. Words oft times go heedlessly from
us, as the levity of our minds or the passions of our hearts
throw them out. But it may be often said, as there, verse
.5. ' Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth !'

The Lord says, Matth. vi. 1. ' Take heed that ye do not
' your alms before men, to be seen of them.' The general
lesson here is against ostentation in good works ; and that we
do them from good conscience towards God. Indeed our
light should shine before men ; but how easily doth the lust
of ostentation steal in upon men's hearts, to mar their sin-
cerity ? We have great occasion for needfulness against this.
The Lord says, Matth. xvi. 6. ' Take heed, and beware of
' the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees/ These last
were boldly prophane, and lived much in contempt of reli-
gion : the Pharisees perverted and disgraced it with a vain-
glorious and malicious zeal, chiefly about the lesser matters
of the law ; and, in great part, about things that were not
warranted by the word of God at all. The opposite plagues
of profaneness and hypocrisy prevail much ; and this sug-
gests an important and necessary lesson of needfulness to the
true doers of the word, lest the bold profaneness of the
enemies of religion, on one hand, or the silly foppery of a
venomous zealotism, pretending high on the side of religion,
upon the other hand, do infect our sentiments or conversa-
tion. In some times and occasions especially, it is not easy
to be heedful enough against these extremes.

2 Chron. xix. 6, 7- King Jehoshaphat delivered a very
solemn charge to the judges thus — ' Take heed what ye do ;
' for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you
1 in the judgment. Wherefore now let the fear of God be
' upon you ; take heed and do it : for there is no iniquity

Sermon III. 535

f with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking
' of gifts.'

They are, comparatively, but a small number of Christians
who are directly concerned in this charge ; but Christi;m*>
generally have an interest in the subject of it. When frail
men are placed, as the deputies of the Almighty, the Judge
of all the earth, in the throne of judgment, how great occa-
sion have they to take heed, lest, through inattention, sloth-
fulness in thinking and study, or through weakness of under-
standing, or through biasses arising from interests of public
faction or of private concern, or by means of their passions
otherwise, they conceive and give out wrong judgment ?
Conscientious doers of the word, placed in the seat of judg-
ment, will be very sensible that this matter requires a very
constant and anxious heedfulness. And if they, who are
called to the seat of judgment, have occasion for this heedful-
ness, all others of us should take good heed that we commit
not two evils at once, to usurp God's throne of judgment,
and then pass iniquitous judgment upon others, the servants
of another master. Many are not so heedful in this as they
ought to be.

The apostle says, 1 Cor. viii. 9. c But take heed, lest by
' any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling-block
c to them that are weak.' It were good that this were more
heeded among the doers of the word. It is true that many,
in their weakness, seem to usurp a sort of rule over the con-
sciences and liberty of others in right of this principle, that
offence should not be given them. The rights of conscience
and of liberty ought to be, in tender and heedful manner, as-
serted against this sort of important usurpation. It is also
true that some do mistake the meaning of offences and
stumbling-blocks, as if these words signified only to cross
their sentiments or passions ; whereas it were ofttimes giv-
ing them occasion of offence and proper stumbling, not to
cross both, in doing steadily every thing that imports doing
of the word. But still, in every thing that is properly
within the line of our liberty, there is great occasion of heed-
fulness, that we use not our liberty in the manner that would
disturb the comfort, or endanger the consciences of others.
There is, to this purpose, a weighty lesson of heedfulness
which our Lord Jesus Christ gives, in the discourse concern-
ing offences, that begins at Matth. xviii. 6. : he says, verse 10.
( Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones/ viz,
as to the offending of them.

536 Sermon HI.

The Lord saith, Luke xi. 35. ' Take heed, therefore, that
' the light that is in thee be not darkness/ He had, verse 34.
commended the single eye ; that is, as I understand it, an
eye not squinting, as when a man seems to look one way,
truly looks another way. The thing may be more easily
understood from Matt. vi. 22. where he speaks in the same
manner concerning the single eye, and that which is evil :
after recommending to his hearers not to lay up treasures
upon earth, but to lay up treasure in heaven, and just before
telling, verse 24. that ■ no man can serve two masters, God
f and mammon ;' so that the evil eye, filling the body with
darkness, seems to import, as it were, a squinting eye, seem-
ing to look towards heaven, truly looking towards the earth ;
seeming to serve God, truly serving mammon. Here is a
most important lesson to us of heedfulness against the
doubleness and corruption of our hearts, that will make us
all darkness, when we seem to be children of the light.
Great reason we have to take heed with respect to this
squinting of our heart and mind, lest, when we seem to be
spiritual, we be truly carnal ; lest, when we seem to be look-
ing towards heaven, our hearts be truly on the earth ; lest,
when we seem and profess to be serving God, we be truly
serving our lusts. What great need have we of heedfulness
to our hearts, that they be single and sincere ; and that
through this deceitful squinting, the light that is in us be
not darkness !

The apostle says, 1 Cor. x. 12, ( Let him that thinketh he

• standeth take heed lest he fall/ Here heedfulness is
recommended to such indeed as very commonly are most un-
heedful, % him that thinketh he standeth/ When a man is
truly in a comfortable and prosperous condition in religion,
he is in danger of falling ; but when he becomes conceited of
his good condition, thinketh he standeth, then the danger of
falling is near. If this is a condition in which we are likely
to be most unheedful, it is the more truly dangerous ; and we
have it for us the more to be on our guard to take heed to
ourselves.

One instance yet of this sort of warning, to take heed :
the Lord says, Luke xxi. 34. ' and take heed to yourselves,
' lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting

• and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day
- come upon you unawares/ Here is an important lesson of
heedfulness, that the day of the Lord's coming, that death
and judgment do not surprise us, and find us oiF our guard.

Sermon III. 537

We should be especially heedful against these things, by
which we shall be In greatest danger of this, even against
our own lusts, and the consequences of them in different
circumstances. We should be heedful, lest in opulent cir-
cumstances, our lusts glut, and surfeit, and intoxicate ih
with the good things of the earth ; lest, in disadvantageous
circumstances, they distract our hearts by the cares of this
life ; lest, by the one or the other we be put or kept in a
condition unsafe for us against that day of the Lord, which
we should be always looking for with the utmost heedfulness.

Here are so many instances of solemn warning in this
form, viz. to take heed, that do suggest general cases in
which heedfulness is especially necessary for all who would
be doers of the word. Indeed, constant fear, watchfulness,
and heedfulness are necessary. Without these, how great
advantage will Satan be likely to have against us from our
own lusts ; from the infection of others ; from seasons and
circumstances unfavourable to duty ; from occasions and cir-
cumstances favourable to sin ; from the various arts of his
cunning and temptations, to bring us aside from doing of the
word and to ensnare us unto sin ? What time of our life,
what part of our way shall we be safe in, as to our purity and
integrity, except we use the utmost heedfulness, according
to the Psalmist's advice, f taking heed to our way according
'to the word ?■

4. It is a proper caution and direction to the doers of the
word, that they carefully regard God's positive institutions
therein enjoined to us. Some, who pretend greatly to doing
well, proceed wholly upon the directions of their natural
lights, and these notices of moral good and evil, which their
natural consciences give them. As the precious faith, revealed
in the word, hath truly no place in their hearts, they regard
little the clearer and better light which the word gives con-
cerning true morality and holiness, and have great contempt
of God's positive institutions and ordinances. As they have
not consciences regardful of God's authority in these, their
hearts do not duly regard or value the spiritual blessings
which they convey to the souls of God's people.

But the profession of Christians is to be doers of the word.
Others may be doing with the dictates of natural religion,
with the improvement of some borrowed lights from God's
word, and with the issue it shall bring their matters to. We
have cause to bless God for his word, that more sure word of
prophecy. There we have divers positive institutions for

f>38 Sermon III.

the tests of our obedience, and the means of our profiting.
If we will be doers of the word, let us be doers of it in that
part.

The matter of other precepts and conditions may have
much in the common light of reason and conscience to recom-
mend them. These institutions are founded merely on the
authority of God in his word ; therefore doers of the word
should have special regard to them ; as we find that the
Lord is especially jealous of his authority with respect to that
sort of precepts and rules, and doth punish the disregard of
them with special strictness and severity. We see what a
fearful general ruin came upon this lower world for the
transgression of a positive institution and ordinance ; we see
the danger even Moses was in of his life for the neglect of
such an ordinance. The effect of God's anger was very
terrible against Korah and his company for opposition to
God's positive institution concerning the priesthood ; as it
was even against Nadab and Abihu, priests, for deviating
from the rule of the institution. Uzzah lost his life suddenly
for touching the ark, even in his zeal for its safety ; as this
was not agreeable to the rule of the institution for him, who
was but a Levite, not a priest, to do; and by this the Lord,
at the sametime, signified his displeasure against the whole
congregation, for having the ark carried in a cart, though a
new one, contrary to the institution. And we know what
judgment and disgrace came upon LTzziah, a king, for
encroaching upon the rule of God's positive institutions.
These things should serve us for examples. ■

I did not design to mention particular matters of doing ;
but that there were the particular reasons, already hinted at,
for giving particular caution for matters of this sort. Besides
the regard due to these institutions and ordinances for the
special concern of the authority of God in them, his people
have this further special reason for carefully regarding of
them, that, upon the view of being doers of the word, they
learn by its light so much concerning themselves, and the
work which they have to do, as convinces them that they
greatly need all the light, comfort, grace, and strength which
the Lord conveys to his people by these institutions. If we
will therefore be doers of the word, as we would regard the
Lord's commandments otherwise, let us likewise, in the most
conscientious manner, regard these his ordinances ; as it
makes the complete practical character of these two eminent
doers of the word, Zacharias and Elisabeth, Luke i. 6. that

Sermon III. 539

' they were both righteous before God, walking in all the
1 commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.'

5. It is a direction of great consequence, in order to our
being successful doers of the word, that we should be
ordinarily and earnestly employed in mortifying the lusts and
passions of our hearts. These do commonly so much oppose
our duty, that in any weighty cases in which they give us no
occasion of conflict, we have reason either to suspect the
matter itself which we take for our duty, and for which per-
haps our passions are greatly engaged, or to suspect our own
hearts ; lest, by their unperceived influence there, they may
be undermining our sincerity, as to our manner and ends in
doing what it is our duty to do.

The psalmist was anxiously apprehensive of secret faults,
by means of hidden deceitful principles of evil in him ; so he
prays, Psal. xix. 12. ' Cleanse thou me from secret faults.'

We should always have a watchful eye of reflection turned
inwards; and we should earnestly pray to the Searcher of
hearts to help us to know ourselves. The most comfortable
way for Omniscience to search us, in order to find out our
secret evils, is when prevailing and self-denying sincerity
doth earnestly apply thereto for that end. If secret lusts are
hid, through our negligence or treacherous bias in their
favours, the Lord will find them out ; and expose them and
us in a strong light, and with bitter and humbling conse-
quence, Rev. ii. 23. It is best that, from a sense of the
hazard, we give divine mercy the searching work to do ; so
David did, Psal. cxxxix. 23, 24. ' Search me, O Lord, and
' know my heart ; try me, and know my thoughts, and see if
c there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way
c everlasting/ He was sensible there might be in him,
unperceived, some wicked way, not only in outward walk,
but also in his heart and thoughts, that might have hurtful
influence upon him, with respect to what he calls the way
everlasting, and with respect to his course as a doer of the
word ; and that his heart was so dark a place that he needed
Omniscience to bring his candle into it, to show him all its
recesses.

Indeed, to see the evils and strong deceitful principles of
our hearts in a proper light, is a great mean to save us from
their influence ; yet the case requires more. If we find what
is to us like a right eye or a right hand that offends us, i.e.
causeth us to stumble at any part of our duty, or to stumble
at the word in any part, the word is, ' pluck it out, cut it off.'

a a

540 Sermon I1L

The case requires self-denial ; but it is a self-denial without
which we cannot be disciples and followers of Christ : and it
will be needful for us, in such case, to apply to our hearts,
towards awakening of them to a due sense of the matter, the
awful words, Matth. xviii. 9. e It is better for thee to enter
e into life with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into
< hell fire/

The apostle Paul says, Rom. viii. 13. ' If ye, through the
6 Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live/ He
speaks of the Spirit, as at command with us in this weighty
part of duty. It is the encouragement of believers that, if
they have the mortifying of their corrupt lusts and affections
at heart, they shall not want the assistance of the Holy Spirit,
which, he says in that context, verse 9. dwelleth in them-
Indeed the Spirit in true Christians doth, of himself, still
direct his force against that corrupt principle in them ; and
will continue to do it with great power and success, if they
do not grieve him, and treacherously and wilfully oppose his
operation and influence : for if the flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, the Spirit doth so against the flesh, as Gal. v. 17.

Upon the whole, ' the carnal mind is enmity against God ;'
so is every thing of the carnal mind that remaineth in a
Christian ; ' it is not subject to the law of God, neither in-
' deed can be ; therefore, the discovery and mortifying of
every carnal thing in him must be a great part of the ordi-
nary Christian exercise of every one who hath at heart to be
a doer of the word.

6. In order to be successful in the practice of religion*, it
will be most useful that our hearts be acquainted with the
comforts of religion ; or, in other words, that our hearts feel
the consolations of the word through faith, is most useful for
us, in view to our being doers of the word. It is by this
means especially, that wisdom's ways will be to us ways of
pleasantness; and it is not likely that our hearts will be
thoroughly engaged in them any farther than they are so.

There is an inconceivable consolation by the sense of the
love of God through Jesus Christ. The blessed apostle found
the powerful influence of it, (constraining, he calls it,) 2
Cor. v. 14, 15. without respect to practical life, to cause men
to live, not unto themselves, but unto him who died for
them, and rose again.

There is indeed a peace, and a joyful peace, which a doer of
the word may have, by the testimony of his own conscience,
Qf his godly sincerity. The apostle represents it, 2 Cor. i.

Sermon III. f>41

12. ' for our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience/
But there is something more attainable and useful to a doer
of the word, even the comfort of the promises and hope of
the gospel, which doth not arise merely from the testimony of
the conscience, but comes by faith and the influence of Divine
grace. The same apostle speaks, Rom. xv. 13. of the God of
hope (this respects the influence of grace) filling Christians
with all joy and peace in believing, (here is the faith of the
word of God,) that they may abound in hope through the
power of the Holy Ghost. Elsewhere he speaks in divers
places of joy in the Holy Ghost, recommends rejoicing in the
Lord and in hope of the glory of God.

There needs little pains to demonstrate the influence of
these consolations of the word on men, as doers of the word.
The apostle gives a description of religion thus, Rom. xiv.
1 7- * For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but
c righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost ;' that
is, as I understand the meaning, true religion doth not con-
sist in such ceremonial or superstitious observances as he
mentions, but in the practice of righteousness, in the peace
arising from it, and in that joy of spiritual blessings and
hope which the Holy Ghost giveth : and he giveth it through
the faith of the word of God. We see how he expresses a
Christian's perseverance, Heb. iii. 6. to be c holding fast the
' confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.'

A renewed heart hath the love of holiness itself; yet we
may reasonably think that it is chiefly for these comforts of
the word that the psalmist says, Psalm cxix. 103. e How
1 sweet are thy words unto my taste ! Yea, sweeter than
' honey to my mouth.' And, in that same psalm, wherein
he appears in so strong a light a doer of the word, we need
not doubt but he hath in great part in his view the influence
of these consolations, when he speaks so often of quickening
him ; particularly verse 88. c Quicken me after thy loving
' kindness ; so shall I keep the testimonies of thy mouth.'

Indeed, while the way is plain and easy, men make a shift
to uphold themselves in it, and to walk in it, under the com-
mon influence of their consciences ; but, when trying cases
occur, they are the special comforts of the word of God that
are needful for their strength and maintaining their integrity.
And trying cases and matters in the course of doing the word
are more ordinary and common than perhaps people advert
to. What from without doth most try and endanger the

542 Sermon III.

doers of the word are the good and the evil things of the
world.

The good things of the world are all vanity ; yet, if the
lust, enjoyment, and care of them do not altogether choke
the good seed of the word, to make it unfruitful, how do
they deaden and make men heavy in their way ? The sense
of this made the psalmist pray, Psal. cxix. 37- c Turn away
4 mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me in
f thy way/ In cases in which worldly interests have a par-
ticular interference with duty, it often appears what a fatal
influence they have upon men's integrity in walking with
God. And when this is not remarkably the case, as to the
particular instances of duty, yet the affections of the heart
towards the good things of the world, how do they deaden
men in the life of godliness ? It is the setting of our affec-
tions on the things that are above, that will effectually with-
draw them from things on the earth, and that will effectualy
controul the hurtful influence which earthly affections have on
men, in respect to doing the word. It is the force of such
affections towards things above, and the comfort of that hope.
Col. iii. 4. that ' when Christ who is our life shall appear,
c then shall we also appear with him in glory/ that will have
the greatest force against earthly affections ; therefore it is
in a very proper place, after setting before them the comfort
of that hope, that the apostle, verse 5. enjoins the Colos-
sians, ' Mortify therefore your members which are upon the
' earth/ The young man of whom the story is from Matth.
xix. 16. seemed even to have eternal life at heart, and went
a considerable length in external doing of the word, when he
could report of himself concerning the commandments men-
tioned to him, c All these things have I kept from my youth
' up ;' but, when his perfectness or integrity came to be
further tried, he chose to part with Christ rather than
with his estate. But the faith and consolation of unseen
things caused Moses esteem the reproach of Christ greater
riches than the treasures in Egypt.

Then as to the evil things of this world, these the Lord's
people who are the doers of the word may lay their account
with, partly from the world for the sake of their duty, part-
ly from the immediate hand of God for chastisement or trial.
But how weak shall they be in their course as doers of the
word, if the faith and consolation of unseen things do not
give strength to their hearts? The hearers compared to
stony ground, did, when the sun became hot, wither away,

Sermon 11 L 5 13

and there was an end of their fruitfulness. Demas forsook
the gospel, and so do thousands in particular trying cases of
duty, for the love of the present world. But though the cross of
Christ seems a heavy burden upon the doers of the word,
yet the comforts of the word will make, as Christ says, his
burden light: so the apostle Paul testifies, 2 Cor. iv. 17- ;
* Our light affliction, which is but for a moment/ he calls it.
Trials by present tribulation are very shaking and weakening
things ; but it appears by the apostle's discourse, 1 Cor. xv.
at the end, that they are the comforts of religion that can
make a doer of the word e stedfast, immoveable, always
( abounding in the work of the Lord :' therefore will it be
good for them, towards making them more vigorous and
fruitful doers of the word, to have ' the eyes of their under-
4 standing enlightened (more and more,) that they may
' know what is the hope of God's calling, and what is the
' riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints/

7- It will be exceeding useful that we improve spiritual
intimacy with them who are the doers of the word, in order
to our own having comfort and success in that course.

We may know how hurtful and infectious the fellowship
is of them who are worldly and profane. The psalmist un-
derstood so. He does, Psalm xxvi. 3. profess thus, ' I have
' walked in thy truth ;' as if he had said, I have been a doer
of thy word. With this he connects verses 4, 5. e I have
1 not sat with vain persons ; neither will I go in with dis-
' semblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers ;
' and will not sit with the wicked/ If he had sat with vain
persons, &c. he had not been so likely to have walked in God's
truth, as he said before ; or, as he says next downwards, e to
' wash his hands in innocency/ Persons may, from the
society a man follows, ofttimes guess at a man's present dis-
position, and what is likely to be his fate, as to his future
walk and works.

The society and spiritual intimacy of them that fear God
will have the contrary tendency and effect from what I have
been just now observing. ' As iron sharpeneth iron, so a man
' sharpeneth the countenance of his friend/ Prov. xxvii. 17-
so will doers of the word to one another in that course of
life.

It is a native consequence of the doers of the word their

being influenced by the same views and principles, that they

should relish and regard one another's society. This appears

in the psalmist, Psal. cxix. 79. 'Let those that fear thee

Aa 3

f)44 Sermon II L

' turn unto me, and those that have known thy testimonies/
So he had said, verse 63. fhma companion of all them that
( fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts/ I was say-
ing before, that the consolations of religion are exceeding
useful to men as doers of the word ; but when the comforts
of a man's own heart are low, how much may he be helped
by those of another, who may say, as Psalm lxvi. 16. ' Come
' and hear, all ye that fear God, I will declare what he hath
( done for my soul/

The observations and reproofs of a friend may be of the
utmost usefulness ; and all true doers of the word know what
is the benefit of mutual excitement. When the apostle saw,
in the circumstance of the Hebrews, what gave him particular
occasion to exhort thus, Heb. x. 23. ' Let us hold fast the
4 profession of our faith without wavering ; the first useful
mean to that end that he next exhorts them to, is, verse 24.
* And let us consider one another, to provoke unto love and
' to good words/ And it is in view to the usefulness they
might be of to one another, as steady professors and doers of
the word, that he says, chap iii. 12. ( Take heed, brethren,
c lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in de-
' parting from the living God :' and, verse 13. ' But exhort
1 one another daily, while it is called to-day, lest any of you
' be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin/

8. The last direction I offer is, to be given to prayer.
They who have at heart to be doers of the word will find
that in themselves and in their work that will make them
sensible what occasion they have for this : and that, if they
take the rule of their work from God and from his word,
they do no less need his assistance in their work. The pro-
phet says, Jer. x. 23. ( O Lord, I know that the way of man
6 is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct
c his steps/ It is a proper consequence of this to advise, as
Prov. iii. 5, 6. c Trust in the Lord with all thine heart ; and
c lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways
' acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths/

It is an important advertisement that is given, Rom. xi.
20. < Thou standest by faith ; be not high-minded, but fear/
To be high-minded for our own understanding, or integrity,
or strength, is a dangerous prognostic to the doers of the
word. And if we have cause of fear on our own part, we
have no security for our standing but in God and in his grace ;
and this the apostle signifies by saying, ' thou standest by
' faith/ Now, a chief way in which faith exerts itself is

Sermon III. 545

prayer. So we find the psalm^t, that great doer of the word,
practising, on innumerable occasions, particularly Psal. cxliii.
8. * Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk ; for I
f lift up my soul unto thee.' And, verse 10. ' Teach me to
' do thy will, for thou art my God : thy Spirit is good, lead
' me into the land of uprightness/

We need understanding and light concerning our duty ;
for although the word be a most perfect light in itself, we
are subject to much imperfection, weakness of understanding,
and dangerous bias in our search m after light ; therefore the
psalmist prayed, Psal. cxix. 33, i54. l Teach me, O Lord, the

* way of thy statutes : give me understanding, and I will
c keep thy law/

There may be various difficulties and obstructions in the
way itself and work of doing the word, and that from Satan;
from the world, and the sovereign dispensation of Providence
concerning us, that will make our way very rough, which
may give us occasion to betake us to God, as Psal. v. 8.
' Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness, because of mine ene-
' mies ; make thy way straight before my face/ And as
Psal. xxvii. 11. * Teach me thy way, and lead me in a plain
' path, because of mine enemies/

As we need assistance and influence of grace at all times,
so there are special times of need; as the times of prosperity,
the times of adversity and affliction, when we are called to
special work, or when special temptations occur. The sincere
doers of the word will not find themselves equal to the adoes
and difficulties of such times. There will be occasion to be-
take them, as Heb. iv. 16. e to the throne of grace, that they
( may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need/
There was an answer to such prayer given, once for all, for
the encouragement of all true doers of the word, in all the
greatest difficulties of their way, 2 Cor. xii. 9. c And he said

* unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee ; for my strength is

* made perfect in weakness/ As prayer, then, is so needful,
not only as a part of the work itself, that is meant by doing
of the word, but likewise as a mean of great benefit with re-
spect to all our doing of the word besides, there is one most
necessary caution ; and that is, when we profess to depend on
divine grace and pray for it, that we be careful not to resist
that grace, by following in our practice, wilfully, the dictates
of our own hearts ; and when we profess to depend on God
for guidance, that our hearts do not predetermine us, accord-
ing to their own bias. In that story which is recorded, Jer.

546 Sermon III.

xlii. 3. the people seemed to be very well disposed to ask and
take counsel from the Lord by the prophet ; but after the
Lord had condescended to give them counsel by his servant,
they took their own way, and that to their ruin. It is a
caution to be heeded in all cases, but especially when we be-
take us to the throne of grace, for guidance and strength,
that we have, Psal. lxvi. 18. ' If I regard iniquity in my
' heart, the Lord will not hear me :' and if by this means our
application to the throne of grace be unsuccessful, we will be
in danger to come from it with hearts filled with their own
delusion. Some other directions may be learned from what
shall be suggested in the next and last head of discourse on
this subject. We come, then,

III. To give some distinguishing marks of the true doers
of the word.

This may to some appear, at first sight, not so reasonable
an inquiry. If we inquired concerning marks of true faith
and the sincerity of grace in our hearts, this were to be pro-
ven by men's works, and by their being doers of the word :
but as to our being doers of the word, it might be thought
that this proves itself; and that to inquire for further marks
of that again were to make self-examination endless.

But, upon considering the matter a little more closely, we
shall see cause to judge otherwise. Had not that young man,
of whom we have the story, Matt. xix. 6. great pretensions
as a doer of the word ? yet it appeared, that his character was
not a doer of the word ; for when the Lord, who tries the
heart, did take trial of his perfection or integrity by a special
command, he came out to be a hearer only, and resolutely,
though sorrowfully, went away such.

Paul, before his conversion, was, touching the external
righteousness which is in the law, blameless ; but what had
become of him if he had not afterwards obtained mercy ? Can
we doubt but that many pharisaical, self-righteous souls, es-
teemed greatly by themselves and others as doers of the
word, shall in the end have this fearful sentence — ' I never
f knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity lJ Surely,
then, they were not true doers of the word.

It is of the last consequence that we do not deceive our
ownselves by being hearers only. And it is of no less conse-
quence that we do not, still more miserably, deceive ourselves
with the opinion of being doers of the word, when truly we
are not so.

It is clear, then, that the distinguishing marks of the true

Sermon III. 54/

doers of the word make the subject of a most important and
necessary inquiry.

Divers things, useful to give light in this inquiry, may be
gathered from the arguments and directions I have suggest-
ed, so that I may leave them for that use, to the judgment
and reflection of every one for himself, without mentioning
them again. Yet some of them I must mention vet, but
shall be the more brief on these, as I shall be upon the whole
of this part.

1. First, then, the true doers of the word are of spiritual
mind and affection. The word is the Spirit's rule ; and if
the doers of the word do take the rule of their life and work
from the Spirit, the same Spirit doth certainly rule their
mind and affections, to make them mind, relish, and desire
the things of the Spirit, even these things which the natural
man doth not receive, and cannot know, but accounts them
foolishness.

To explain the matter a little, the things of the Spirit are
no other than the things of Christ ; the proper things of the
gospel, respecting the Christian's ground of confidence, the
matters of present enjoyment through faith, and of his hope.
They are called the things of the Spirit, because ' God hath
* revealed them to us by his Spirit/ 1 Cor. ii. 10, 12; be-
cause the knowledge of them is effectually taught, and the
reality of them imparted by the Holy Spirit of God, as John
xvi. 14. c He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine,
c and shall show it unto you/

The true doer, whose doing is according to the rule of the
Spirit and the word, is led by the Spirit, and taught in what
concerns the ground of his confidence before God ; he hath
the faith and good relish of the doctrine of the free and effi-
cacious grace of God through Jesus Christ ; ' the true cir-
' cumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, they do re-
c joice in Jesus Christ, and have no confidence in the flesh/
as Phil. iii. 3.

They are spiritual in what concerns present spiritual en-
joyment, as Psal. iv. 6. c There be many that say, Who will
' show us any good ? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy
( countenance upon us/

They are spiritual in what concerns their hope, c hoping
' for the grace that is to be brought unto them at the revela-
' tion of Jesus Christ/ 1 Pet. i. 13. Their present groaning.
(Rom. viii. 23.) under outward and inward spiritual miseries,
do prove that their desires and hopes do truly terminate in

548

Sermon III.

the glorious adoption that shall appear at the redemption of
the body.

Shall we think that men can be doers of the word, and
walk according to the rule of the word truly, which is the
same as to the matter of the work as to walk after the Spirit,
and not be taught, led, and influenced by the Spirit, to the
knowledge, faith, and affection of the things of the Spirit,
as above represented ? Certainly it is by these spiritual views
and affections that they are engaged so fully and thoroughly
to be doers of the word, and to the practice of righteousness,
that their righteousness doth greatly exceed that of the
Scribes and Pharisees. Others who, having only the spirit
of the world, do not know the things of the free grace of
God, are carnal in their confidence, having confidence in the
flesh ; they truly and habitually mind earthly things, and
are carnal, hypocritical, and partial in their doing, not ge-
nuine doers of the word. The great day of the Lord will
class them among those that work iniquity.

2. The true doers of the word have habitually a quick and
bitter sense of their sins, and of their continual sinfulness.
Others who pretend to good doing have perhaps heretofore
had their troubles of mind by the charge of their consciences
for sin ; but if, somehow or other, they have come to peace,
their wound is healed, the bitterness of death is past, and
their sorrow for sin is past with it. If they have sometime
beheld the natural face of their souls (I allude to the simili-
tude following my text) in the glass of God's word, or if that
glass hath, whether they would or not, been presented to their
consciences, to show them their guiltiness, yet how soon
they have got any inward peace, they go their way and forget
what manner of men they were. And their present good
doings please them too well for their hearts to conceive any
great uneasiness or concern for the present sinfulness which
they are somewhat sensible of. Yea, it is good if, like the
festival entertainment of that woman's peace-offerings men-
tioned Prov. vii. their comforts concerning their good state
and good condition, be not improved for deliberate and ha-
bitual criminal indulgences.

It will not be thus with a true doer of the word. If he
have attained to inward peace by the abounding grace of him
who saith, Isa. xliii. 25. ' I, even I, am he that blotteth out
' thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remem-
' ber thy sins ;' yet his sins are not forgotten with himself.
Even such an one's sense of the peace of God will have the

Sermon III. 54(*

effect mentioned Ezek. xvi. 63. e That thou mayest remem-
' berand be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more
1 because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee, for
w all that thou hast done, saith the Lord/ David's peniten-
tial psalms, which he appears to have composed when he had
notable views of pardoning grace, afford great examples to
us of this.

When the apostle Paul was a Pharisee, and a great good
doer in his way, his sinfulness does not seem to have given
him great uneasiness. He was then, in great part, ' without
' the law/ Rom. vii. 9. but afterwards, when the law was
writ in his heart, and he became a genuine doer of the word,
how bitter is his complaint of his present remaining sinful-
ness, as expressed downwards ! c I am/ says he, ' carnal, sold
c under sin ; I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwell-
' eth no good thing/ And at last, ' O wretched man that
( I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death V
The true doers of the word, even when they have the testi-
mony of their consciences with respect to their sincerity,
when they can, to their bitterest regret of their sinfulness,
like the apostle's e O wretched man/ join thanksgiving, as
he doth there, Rom. vii. 25. ' I thank God through Jesus
' Christ our Lord / when they have much comfort through
faith in Jesus Christ ; yet their sense of their sinfulness and
of the plagues of their hearts causes them eat the most
delicious food of their souls as with bitter herbs.

It is but reasonable, from the nature of things, that the case
should be as I have been representing it. Others take but
a superficial view of the rule of their duty, and are the more
easily satisfied about their own conformity to it ; but the
true doers of the word do look into the perfect law of liberty,
as verse 25. downwards from my text. The word is the
same which, 1 Pet. i. 12. is used concerning the mysteries of
the gospel, and the angels' attentive looking in to them ; it
properly signifies to pry into ; as when men stoop down to prv,
or look into a thing in the most attentive manner. Looking
thus attentively into the great rule of duty, a doer of the
word, perceiving its spiritual nature and strict holiness, hath
other views and impression of sinfulness in practice and
nature than others have. And this law being writ in his
heart, his escapes in practice do wound him ; the remaining
corruption of nature is his burden ; and what he finds of it
cleaving to his best doings, makes him join in that confession

550 Sermon III.

which the church hath, Isa. lxiv. 6. c We are all as an unclean
6 thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags/

The most refined and adorned hypocrite, who pretends to
the character of a doer of the word, hath never been truly
sanctified by grace. A true doer of the word is one whose
nature hath been truly sanctified and renewed ; God hath put
his laws in his mind, and hath writ them in his heart. By
natural and necessary consequence, this latter must have a
tender and quick sense of sin that the other hath not. In the
former, a faint and low sense of sin, with a considerable
opinion of his own goodness, is a consequence of his want of
true grace and genuine holiness ; in the latter a bitter sense of
sinfulness, that prevails so far as to swallow up, in a manner,
all the symptoms of grace he could discover in himself, is the
consequence of the truth and power of grace in him. And
so, these very things that bring him very properly under the
character of a doer of the word, do make him quite ashamed
to lay any claim to it. He apprehends he grows worse, and
is going farther and farther backwards from his aim in doing ;
but, while a sharp observation and tender feeling of sinful-
ness grows with him, it truly demonstrates that the principles
of holiness grow with him, and that he is making a propor-
tional progress as a doer of the word.

3. The true doer of the word is distinguished by his
humble and self-denying disposition in doing. This is a con-
sequence of what I have been just now suggesting concern-
ing his sense of his sinfulness. Indeed, as humility is a
native fruit of grace, so it is necessary, in order to a man's
being a doer of the word at all, Psal. x. 4. ' The wicked,
' through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after
' God ;' nor will his pride allow him to submit his neck en-
tirely to God's yoke. When Jeremiah brought the Jews
counsel from God, Jer. xliii. 2. ' then spake Azariah and
c Johanan, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah,
c Thou speakest falsely.' When Hezekiah's messengers
called the people of the ten tribes to observe the solemnity of
the passover at Jerusalem, there were many such proud men
who laughed them to scorn, and mocked them, and despised
God's ordinances : ' nevertheless divers of Asher humbled
' themselves,' to do their duty, 2 Chron. xxx. 11. When
men are called to duties that are in disuse in the world, and
cross to their own common sentiments and lusts, it is the
powerful work of grace to humble them in such case to be
doers of the word.

Sermon 111 . 551

The humility and self-denial of a doer of the word appears
especially in what concerns the end of his working, and the
strength by which he worketh. As to the end of men's
working, some do work and sweat at it, in order to establish
their own righteousness, and many there are who do stumble
at that stumbling-stone, Rom. ix. 32. But the views of a
true doer of the word are very remote from that ; he doth
good works, because that is the way that God hath ordained
for him, Eph. ii. 10. (for we are his workmanship, created
< in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
c ordained that we should walk in them/ He is justified,
not by works, but by grace ; and what he doth in good works,
is from the disposition and view expressed by the psalmist,
Psal. cxvi. 12. ( What shall I render unto the Lord for all

* his benefits towards me ?'

As to the strength by which men work, the hypocrite
being, like Ishmael, born after the flesh, his good doings are
the productions of the flesh and of nature ; but true doers
of the word are, like Isaac, the children of the promise.
By ( the exceeding great and precious promises,' and the
grace thereby conveyed, c they have been made partakers of
a divine nature/ 2 Pet. i. 4. c God having of his own will be-
c gotten them with the word of truth/ Accordingly, after-
wards, as they have the wisdom to count the cost of every
good work, if the works appear great, their strength small,
and the temptations frightful, they do all by the faith of
God's promises and of the grace of his covenant : the strength
by which they can do all things is by Christ strengthening
them ; and if there is any comfortable success in good works,
their souls breathe, like the psalmist, Psal. cxv. 1. c Not unto
c us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for

* thy mercy and for thy truth's sake/

4. The true doers of the word do especially prize and relish
that grace of God that justifieth freely, through the redemp-
tion that is in Jesus Christ. Others attempt to be doers of
the law and word of God, in view to be justified by their
works. These know not the law, nor the work it requires,
nor themselves. The doers truly of the word, being such as
have looked well into it, they dare not deal with the law in
that way ; but the law, which is holy, just, and good, being
truly writ in their hearts, there is nothing for which they
prize the grace of God more than for enabling them to be
doers of it. But when a man, who truly knows and loves the
holiness of the law and word of God, doth truly apply it to

Bb

552 Sermon III.

his heart, carefully studying and endeavouring conformity
to it, what a disconformity doth he see ! what unholiness !
what sin ! and that cleaving to his best doing. If ever for-
merly, when God was translating him from darkness to light,
he valued free justifying grace, surely now he values it more :
and after going far in his course as a doer of the word, he
would not for the world venture his standing before God on
his own doing. Never did any find more need and occasion
to believe on him that justifieth the ungodly than the true
doers of the word.

The apostle John requires and recommends walking in
the light thus, 1 John i. 7- ' If we walk in the light, as he
' is in the light, we have fellowship one with another ; and
c the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin/
Without this we needed not think of walking in the light, or
of having fellowship with God in that way. None are so sen-
sible of this as the doers of the word, or do so much prize the
sprinkling of the blood of Christ for cleansing them from all
sin. Of all the good fellowship they are come to, as repre-
sented Heb. xii. there is nothing which their sense of things
makes them value more than this, verse 24. that they are
come ' to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the
' blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than the
' blood of Abel.'

When Paul was the Pharisee, a wondrous doer in his own
esteem, he was not sensible how much he needed a Redeemer's
righteousness. When he came to understand his condition,
and to see himself a chief of sinners, he tells us, Phil. iii. 7-
e But what things were gain to me, these I counted loss for
' Christ ;' so he speaks in the past tense ; but how would he
speak in the present tense, now that he is a doer of the word,
a saint, an apostle, who laboured more abundantly than they
all? His present sense of things, when he bore all these
characters, and his present value for Christ, as he is the Lord
our righteousness, he expresses in the present tense thus,
verses 8, 9. c Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss
c for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my
' Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and
c do count them but dung that I may win Christ, and be
' found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is
* of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
f the righteousness which is of God by faith/ Such doers as
have a different sense of matters, have never entered far into
the business of doing:, and are not true doers of the word.

Sermon III. 553

5. The true doers of the word, from the nature of the
genuine principle of holiness that is in them, do make pro-
gress in well-doing, and advance to greater and greater de-
gree of holiness aud fruitfulness. There are others who
would have inward disquiet in certain degree of wickedness,
and find a certain degree of righteous practice needful, in
order to be tolerably easy : when they have reached this, they
sit down ; their lusts and their sloth allow of no more pro-
gress ; nor have they a true principle of holiness in them that
would drive them farther forward. As for what remains,
their righteousness and their lusts dwell easily together.

It is not so with the true doers of the word. Every step
they make in holiness opens a new prospect before them ; and
the principle of new life that is in them urges them forward ;
t being justified by faith, they have peace with God through
c our Lord Jesus Christ ;' but this peace gives commence-
ment to a perpetual war against what of the serpent is in
them ; and the principle of grace that is in them will never
have peace with remaining corruption. If corruption dwells
with their grace, — the old man with the new in them ; yet is
not the old man at peace, but is crucified, and will be so, un-
til the body of sin be destroyed. Whatever progress such
have made, they rest not, but, ' forgetting those things that
' are behind, they reach forth unto those things that are
' before/ Phil. iii. 13. Although there remains of sin in them
what causes them think meanly of their attainment in holi-
ness, yet their conflict with it proves that they have no less
at heart than to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

It is needless in this inquiry to multiply marks. If you
have these marks, notwithstanding you find yourself much
short of the holiness of the law, I may be confident to say,
God hath writ his law in your heart ; and blessed is the man
whose strength is in the Lord ; in whose heart are the ways
of them who go from strength to strength ; every one of them
in Zion appeareth before God ; you are a doer of the work,
and shall be blessed in your doing.

Now, the God of peace make you perfect in every good
work, &c.

THE END.

EDINBURGH l
PRINTED BY J. AND D. COLLIE.

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