Believers die to sin.

CHAPTER VI.

A. D. 60. Believers must not live in sin, but are under strong obligations to mortify every unholy propensity, and to live to God.

WHAT shall we say then? shall we continue 2 in sin, that grace may abound? By no means. How shall we, who have died to sin, live any 3 longer therein? Know ye not, that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were 4 baptized into his death? We were, therefore, by this baptism into his death, buried with him; that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, even 5 so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in that of his 6 resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man

CHAP. VI.

tiles.Grace hath. In innumerable instances the superabounding of grace hath been illustriously displayed ; for if sin hath reigned, so as to bring death upon all men, grace hath reigned to eternal life, through righteousness, by Jesus Christ our Lord. In the view given of this paragraph, I consider the blessings derived through Christ, as enjoyed by all to whom he is a federal head; and according to the general doctrine which he and the apostles taught, he is only so to believers. They only are the persons justified, reconciled, and at peace with God; they only feel the saving influence of truth, and become followers and servants of Christ. The sense which Macknight and other Armenian writers attribute is, that as sin and death came into the world by Adam, so righteousness and life are proposed to all, but secured to none; that the benefit derived from Christ is only bringing men into a salvable state by a new covenant. If this be the apostle's meaning, he should have used the conditional tense, and said, verse 15th, "and the gift, by grace, may abound to many," and not hath abounded. And so, 17th, instead of "shall reign in life by one," he should have stated it, may reign, &c. And again, 19th, "shall many be constituted righteous," should have been, many may be constituted righteous. But in this case the comparison of Adam with Christ, and of the effect of his offence, with the effect of the obedience and death of Christ, is destroyed; for through Adam's sin, death hath actually come upon all men; but righteousness and life have actually come upon none, but only a proposal of them in the gospel. Much stress is laid on the terms of hot, verses 15, 19, and it is contended that the many who died by Adam's sin, and the many who are constituted righteous, must denote all mankind; and the contrast, verse 18, decides this. If the many do not refer to two classes, the natural seed of Adam and the spiritual seed of Christ, then taking the proper sense of the whole paragraph, the apostle teaches the doctrine of universal salvation, as Dr. Chauncy and most Socinians contend. Without admitting the sense which I have given, we must conclude that the wicked of every description are as much justified as the most holy believers, and that they shall equally attain eternal life; a sentiment opposed to what both our Lord and his apostles have repeatedly taught.

CHAP. VI. 1. What shall we say, &e. The apostle now undertakes to vindicate the doctrine which he taught, from the consequences some drew from it. See Ch. iii. 7, 8.- -That grace may abound? Does not this doctrine justify our continuance in sin, that grace may more abound in pardoning and saving us?

2, 3. Who have died to sin, &c. Who have become dead to the love and VOL. III. PART XXII. LL

They are raised with Christ.

hath been crucified with him, that the body of sin might be so destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is set 7 free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, 8 we believe that we shall also live with him : Knowing that Christ having been raised from 9 the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he 10 died for sin once for all: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

In like manner do ye account yourselves 11 to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ. Let not sin there- 12 fore reign in your mortal body, so as to obey it: Nor yield your members to sin, as instru- 13 ments of unrighteousness; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead,

11. our Lord. Griesb 12.9 in the lusts thereof. Griesb

Know ye not,

-Into

practice of it, by our professed engagements to Christ.&c. To be baptized into Christ, is the same as the form, Acts xix. 5.– his death. Into a conformity to his death, and are under obligation to comply with the great design of it, redeeming us from all iniquity.

4. Buried with him, &c. It has been thought that this text alludes to the mode in which persons were at first baptized. But why this burying should have any such allusion, any more than our baptismal crucifixion and death, I confess I cannot see. It is evident, that it is not the sign, but the thing signified in baptism, that the apostle here calls being buried with Christ; and the expression alludes to Christ's burial, that as Christ was buried that he might rise to a new and heavenly life; so we are buried and cut off from the life of sin, that we may rise to a new life in faith and love.

5. United together in, &c. I adopt the metaphorical sense of cuμporos, as I do not perceive what planting in this connexion can mean. The literal sense is not planted together, but growing together; but growing in the likeness of his death appears to me so singular, that I cannot think the apostle could intend it. I therefore adopt the sense given, as expressing the union of believers, and their conformity to Christ.

6. That our old mon, &c. The whole system of our depravity, which, in the following part of the verse, he calls "the body of sin." This old man hath been crucified with him, as his crucifixion has atoned for sin, and shown its destructive nature, by believing which we become crucified to it. Body of sin, &c. The apostle so styles our depravity, because it chiefly consists in the lusts and passions of our animal nature, by which the mind is enslaved. But the believer experiences that this is so far destroyed, as to its power and life, that it should not, and does not, reign over him. For he that is thus crucified and dead with Christ, is set free from the tyranny of sin.

8-10. Now, if we have died, &c. Having thus died, we, as Christians, believe on the best grounds, that we shall share with Christ in the complete holiness and glory of the heavenly state.- -Died for sin. The dative must have this sense, or we may consider that there is an ellipsis of the preposition. See Bos. He died as a sacrifice for sin, and such was the perfection of it, that he has no need to die again. Heb. ix. 26. 11. Do ye account, &c. The apostle had hitherto stated principles, and reasoned upon them; but he now changes the form of address, exhorting them to a suitable improvement of their distinguished privileges.

12-14. Let not sin, &c. Since the old man has been crucified, and the body of sin so destroyed, take heed that it do not again rule over you, and ye 265

and yield your members to God, as instruments 14 of righteousness. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the 15 law, but under the covenant of grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under the covenant of grace? 16 By no means. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteous17 ness? But thanks be to God, that though ye were the servants of sin, yet ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which 18 ye were delivered. And being made free from sin, ye have become the servants of 19 righteousness. I speak after the manner of men, because of the weakness of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness, and to iniquity unto iniquity;

REFLECTIONS UPON CHAPTER VI. 1. We may learn how groundless are all charges of licentiousness against the doctrine of justification by the free grace of God, through the righteousness of Christ. Though no works of ours bear any part in our justification before God, yet they stand in a close and necessary relation with it; and nothing can be more detestable than to sin, and continue in sin, that grace may abound in pardoning us. How indeed shall we who are by profession and obligation, and if true believers, are in fact, dead to sin, live any longer therein. This would be a direct violation of our baptismal engagement, and of what was figured and intended by it; and would be absolutely inconsistent with our character, privileges, and duty, as members of the body of Christ. If we have been crucified with him, the old man, the body of sin, has been put to death; and if we have risen with him, it has been, to a new and holy life; and without this

16. Of sin unto death, &c. If ye give up yourselves to sin as your lord and master, you must know that the consequence will be death; but if to obedience, then the consequence will be the fruits of righteousness, to the honour of God, and your own peace, comfort, and happiness.

17, 18. Obeyed from the heart, &c. Willingly and joyfully ye have obeyed.. -To which ye, &c. This is the natural order of the text; and the sense is, that in the providence of God they had been delivered up to the gospel, to be formed and moulded by it; and through it, they had been made free from sin, &c.

19. I speak after the, &c. In respect to servants, accommodating the customs of men, to illustrate the subject of which I treat, because of your weakness; and to pursue the metaphor, for as ye have, &c.—Iniquity unto iniquity. Wholly and entirely to iniquity; and so "servants to righteousness unto holiness," must signify, wholly unto holiness and purity.

The free gift of God.

even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye 20 were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in 21 those things those things of which ye are now ashamed?, for the end of those things is death. But 22 now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For 23 the wages of sin are death; but the free gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

CHAPTER VII.

A. D. 60. Believers not under the law as a covenant, but are married to Christ; yet the law is holy, just, and good, which a good man acknoxledges by his grief for viololing it.

KNOW ye not, brethren, (for I speak to 1 them that know the law,) how that the law

we have no evidence of the reality of our faith or interest in him. Genuine faith is the root of holiness.

2. Let us remember that once we were all of us the servants of iniquity; and what fruit had we from the service we performed? Did we not receive much injury, and expose ourselves to misery and death? How thankful should we be for regenerating and converting grace, by which we are happily delivered from such a dangerous state; and now have the prospect of endless life and glory. And what means do we possess, to encourage us in the service of righteousness. We are not under the law, so as to expect life only by sinless obedience; but under the covenant of grace, in which righteousness and all gracious supports and influenees are promised and secured. Let us abound then in all the fruits of holiness, that we may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour, and live in the joyful and assured hope of eternal life.

20, 21. Free from righteousness. Ye did no acts of righteousness; and now having become servants of righteousness, do no acts of sin. For what solid advantage did ye ever receive from sin, to counteract its present conse quences, one of which is shame; and its future consequence, which is everlasting death.

22, 23. Made free from sin, &c. What a blessed change has been effected in your state and prospects! For as the proper wages of sin are death, and which you had deserved; so the free gift of God, &c. The proper antithesis would have been "the wages of righteousness;" but instead of that, wages and gift are opposed, to teach us that though death is the just reward of sin, eternal life is the unmerited gift of grace.

CHAP. VII. 1-4. Know ye not, &c. The apostle now addresses the Jews, who thought the law of Moses to be of perpetual obligation.It is in force. In the best Greek writers the verb has this sense. See Newcome. It would be contrary to the apostle's design to suppose the sense to be, as our translators have represented it, "as long as he liveth :" for he professedly endeavours to prove, that a man may outlive his obligations to the law. But as the marriage-law is dissolved by the death of the husband, who has no longer any power or dominion over his wife; so when men have been made dead to

Believers dead to the law.

.

hath dominion over a man as long as it is 2 in force? For the woman who hath a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband die, she is loosed from the law of her husband. 3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she will be deemed an adulteress: but if her husband die, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. 4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also have been made dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who hath been raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were under the law, wrought in our members, to bring forth fruit unto 6 death. But now we are delivered from the law, having died to that by which we were held; so that we serve with a new spirit, and not in the old letter.

the law as a covenant, by the sacrifice of Christ, on whom they have believed for life and salvation, the law, as a covenant, hath no more dominion over them. They are married to Christ, that they may bring forth the fruits of new and evangelical obedience to God.

5. In the flesh. When we were subject to the power and effects of carnal desires and actions, when we were unregenerate Jews; our sinful passions so wrought in us, that we brought forth fruit, not to God, but to death. Ch. ii. 21-24.; iii. 9—19.

6. By which we were held. Namely, to the law of Moses. I adopt the most approved reading, axopavovtes, which is agreeable to the 4th verse.—— Serve with a new, &c. In the new spirit of the gospel, and not according to the old letter of the law. (omp. 2 Cor. iii. 6.

7. The guilt of coveting, &c. I retain here this term, that the reference to the tenth commandment may be noticed. Is the law sin? Does it enjoin any thing evil? No: the law discovers sin. Ch. iii. 20.—— For I had not, &c. I had not known coveting, or the desire of things forbidden, to be sinful and punishable with death, unless the law, &c.

8. Sin taking occasion, &c. When I perceived that I had broken this command, and incurred its awful sanction of ruin and death, sin appeared through this only to irritate and excite my evil desires. While I was ignorant of the demands and sanctions of the law, being without it, as to any spiritual knowledge, sin was dead; and I apprehended no more danger from it than from a dead enemy.

9. For I was alive, &c. In my own thoughts I was safe and happy, while thus without the law; but when the commandment came, and I understood its extent, purity and sanction, sin revived, as a powerful enemy, and I died by the curse of the law.

10. To life. To give life and happiness to all who kept it, I found denounced death on me as a transgressor.

L13

Nature and force of the law.

guilt of coveting, unless the law had said, "Thou shalt not covet." But sin, taking oc- 8 casion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of evil desire. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without 9 the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the 10 commandment, which was appointed to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking 11 occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is 12 holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

Was then that which is good made death 13 unto me? By no means: But sin hath become death to me; that sin might appear, working death to me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. For we know that the 14 law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I approve not: for 15 what I would, that I do not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I 16 would not, I consent to the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, 17

12. Wherefore the law, &c. On the whole we may conclude, that the law is holy, and the commandment, which forbids us to covet, is holy, and just, and good; it is so in its own nature, tendency and sanctions; and it is only the violation of it which brings death.

13. But sin hath, &c. The direct cause of death is sin; and the law, by this sauction, makes sin appear a great and destructive evil.

14. The law is spiritual. If the ceremonial law may be called a carnal commandment, because of its bodily services; yet the moral is spiritual in its nature, extending to the thoughts, desires, and affections of the heart ——But I am carnal, &c. When I consider myself by this holy, spiritual law, notwithstanding my attainments, I am compelled to confess myself comparatively carnal, and sold under sin, by the fall of my first father, and by my own former offences.

15-21. For that which I, &c. In this whole paragraph the apostle describes his spiritual and renewed part, and his remaining depravity, as two persons. The latter he calls, "the law of sin in his members;" the flesh, "the sin that dwelt in him," the former, "the mind, the law of his mind, and the inner man." Between these the apostle experienced a constant struggle; and on many occasions could not do the good which he desired to do, nor avoid the evil which he desired to avoid. Some suppose that the apostle personates an unregenerate Jew, as they consider such language inconsistent with his state and character. I see nothing in his language to support this opinion; especially if we consider, that he is speaking, not of the general course of his life, but of some particular occasions and acts, and more of what passed in his mind than of his outward conduct. In this view, his extensive knowledge of the law as spiritual, and his high degree of holiness would naturally produce more pain on discovering any imperfection; while his hatred of sin and the tyranny of it, would lead him to cry out, O wretched man that I am! and inspire him with the most lively gratitude for the complete salva267

Sin dwelleth in us.

18 but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find 19 not. For the good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 But if I do that, which I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth 2 in me. I find therefore a law, that, when I 22 would do good, evil is present with me. For

I delight in the law of God according to the 23 inward man; But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my

REFLECTIONS UPON CHAPTER Vii. 1. We may learn the excellence of the moral law, as the rule of our obedience. In this view of it, it is unchangeable and perpetually binding, and ought to be so For it is all holy, just, and good, and reaches to the thoughts of the heart, as well as to the actions of the life. It discovers, and strictly forbids, every sin; nor can it justly be charged with being the cause of either sin and death. But such is our depravity that it takes occasion, from the purity and spirituality of the law, to rise in rebellion against it; and thus brings the soul more awfully under its sanction and curse. While we are ignorant of the nature of this holy law, we may be alive as to our own opinion and hope; but when the commandment comes to the conscience, in the light and power of the Spirit, all our vain confidence dies within us; and we find ourselves guilty, condemned, and exposed to eternal death, by its righteous sentence. Nor is it possible for us to escape by any righteousness of our own.

2. We may next learn the happiness of not being under the law as a covenant. It was ordained for life, in case of perfect obedience; but it is impossible for us to render that obedience. Still the law inakes no abatement in its demands; nor in the nature of things can it do. But they who believe in Christ are become dead to the law as a covenant, and are as much delivered from it, as a woman is from the law of her dead husband. By the constitution of the gospel-covenant, be

tion which the gospel reveals, and which every believer shall finally enjoy. Indeed, what he says cannot belong to an unregenerate man. Does such an one disapprove and hate the evil which he does? Does he consent to the law as good, or delight in it after the inner man? Does he serve it with the mind? His whole soul desiring to be subject and conformed unto it? Compare also the apostle's language, when describing a natural and unregenerate person, Ch. vi. 12.; xiii. 16, 19.; and surely that difference of language must describe a different state. Comp. Gal. v. 17.

18. In my flesh, &c. In my corrupt and degenerate self, I am well assured dwelleth no spiritual good; for though I will to do good unceasingly, yet I now find myself unable to do so.

20. It is no more I, &c. If I sometimes in fact do what my judgment disapproves, and against which my mind is habitually set, I cannot but maintain, it is not so much I that do it, as sin that dwelleth in me; and this I mention as matter for humiliation, and as what ought to excite to prayer and watchfulness.

21-23. I find therefore a law, &c. A principle which has the force and power of a law, and to which, in fact, I too often yield obedience.

mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretch- 24 ed man that I am! who will deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God that 26 through Jesus Christ our Lord there is deliverance.

CHAPTER VIII.

A. D. 60. Believers free from condemnation; their character as enjoying the spirit; support under trials; their interest in the love of God, and final triumph.

So then I myself with my mind serve the law of God; but with my flesh the law of sin: Yet truly is there now no condemnation to I

lievers are espoused and married to Christ, that they may bring forth fruit unto God. They are not indeed freed from the law of their creation, but their transgressions of that law are all mercifully forgiven; and they are delivered from the curse of it. They have become dead to the law, so as never to expeet life and happiness by it; and they look for all spiritual blessings to Jesus their husband and friend.

3. From the language of the apostle we see how great and pow erful is depravity in God's own children. They are still in some degree sinful and carnal; and when left to themselves, they do not find such a frame of mind for holy duties as they desire, but may be even overcome with sin, and bring distress upon their own souls. When their minds are inclined to do something for the cause of God and religion, how often will corrupt nature oppose and resist; so that the good they would, they do not. O how directly contrary is all this to their sense of duty, and to the bent of the new man! How distressing are these workings of sin in them. They are the greatest burden of their lives, and cost them many a sigh and groan; and at times occasion the bitterest grief, and the most poignant sorrow. How do they pray for deliverance. And how supporting and comforting is the thought, that they have now freedom from the guilt of sin, through faith in Christ; and that he will finally rescue them from all the remains of it. Blessed be God for Christ, and for the hope of a future sinless and happy state.

24. The body of this death? The body of sin, which causeth death; or he denotes his depravity, which he had to bear like a dead body, as auʼinsupportable burden, alluding to the custom of some tyrants, who tied a dead body to a captive, which he had to bear till death ended his sufferings.

25. I thank God, &c. Several good mss. some versions and fathers, read "the grace of God” through, &c.; which would be a direct answer to the question which concludes the preceding verse; but the text implies that answer, and is much better supported, and I have no doubt is the genuine reading.

CHAP. VIII. 1. So then I myself. &c. I join this clause to this chapter, as closely connected with it. With his mind, his renewed part, he served or habitually regarded the law of God; but with his flesh, his remaining depravity, the law of sin, in the manner stated in the foregoing chapter. Yet truly is there now, &c. For this sense of apa, see Schleus. I conceive the apostle means, that whatever were his infirmities and sinful defects, when he considered himself, in reference to the holy law of God, yet as a believer, as one in Christ, he together with all such, was freed from condemnation. I omit the last clause on the best authority. It seems to have crept into the text from the 4th verse.

Works of the flesh and spirit.

2 those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life by Christ Jesus hath made 3 me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God hath done, who, by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and by a sin-offering, hath condemned 4 sin in the flesh; That the righteous precept of the law might be fulfilled by us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to 5 the spirit. For they that are according to the flesh, mind the things of the flesh; but they that are according to the spirit, the things of 6 the spirit. Now the minding of the flesh is death; but the minding of the spirit is life 7 and peace. Because the minding of the flesh is enmity against God: for it is not subject to 8 the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please 9 God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, since the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ,

CHAP. VIII.

2. For the law of the spirit, &c. The gospel revealed by the Spirit, and confirmed by his gifts, and which shows the way of life to a condemned sinner.Hath made me free, &c. From the condemning and ruling power of sin, which would otherwise produce death and misery. How he and others were thus made free the apostle states in the following verses.

3, 4. For what the law, &c. The law was not weak in itself, but through the sin of man. It could neither deliver from the guilt nor power of sin.God hath done. The text is elliptical, and the words added are necessary. Jesus came in the likeness of sinful men, but was free from sin; yet he was a sinoffering, bearing, and atoning for, the sins of men, in virtue of which believers receive pardon; and sin in their flesh, or depraved nature, is condemned to die: for so they are to be conformed to Christ.-Righteous precept. See Ch. ii. 26. Who walk not, &c. Who in some good measure fulfil the righteous precepts of the law, while we walk, not according to our corrupt nature, but according to our renewed nature, as aided and directed by the Spirit of God.

5. They that are according, &c. They that are in a sinful carnal state, &c. According to the spirit, in a spiritual state. Each class will mind, relish, and pursue things agreeable to the state they are in. I consider πνεύμα spirit, here and in the next two verses, as signifying the renewed mind, which is indeed the work of God's Spirit.

6—8. The minding of the flesh, &c. This is the same as “to be in the flesh, to mind the things of the flesh, to walk according to the flesh;" it is, in fact, to regard nothing but the indulgence of animal appetites, passions, and desires. Now this shows the spiritual death of the soul, and its danger of eternal death: because this is, in fact, enmity to God, as it is not, nor can be subject to his law, but directly opposed to it; and of course, those under its influence cannot please, but must provoke God by their crimes. On the other hand, "the minding of the spirit," or "the things of the spirit," being habitually concerned for the interest and happiness of the soul, enjoy divine life and peace.

9. But ye are not in the, &c. The apostle now applies what he had said

The spirit of adoption.

he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, 10 the body is dead on account of sin: but the spirit enjoys life on account of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus 11 from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to 12 the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For 13 if ye live according to the flesh, ye shall die: but if through the Spirit ye mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as 14 are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received again the 15 spirit of bondage to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with 16 our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, 17 and joint-heirs with Christ; since we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him.

For I reckon that the sufferings of this 18

1. who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.. Griesb.

to the believers at Rome. They had been delivered from minding the flesh, and were now in a spiritual state. -Since the Spirit of God, &c. For the sense of 75g, see Hoogeven. This verse proves that Paul addressed the church at Rome as regenerate persons, though there might be some among them who were not so in reality; for many had received the gifts of the Spirit. -Now if any man, &c. But let me remind you, that if a man have not the spirit, temper, and holy disposition of Christ, he is none of his.

10, 11. If Christ be in you. This is elliptical, for "if the mind or spirit of Christ dwell in you."- The body is dead, &c. Is subject to death, on account of the Srst sin. See Ch. v. 13-19. That this is the sense of the apostle, and that he does not mean a moral death to sin, as Macknight contends, the next verse clearly proves.- -But the spirit enjoys life, &c. Is now made alive to God, rescued from condemnation, and shall receive eternal life, "on account of that righteousness," which the Saviour has wrought out, and which is accounted to all believers. See Ch. iij. 21-28.—If the Spirit of him, &c. This must denote the Spirit of God in the personal sense, and it will be by his agency that the mortal bodies of the saints will be at the last day reanimated.

12-14. We are debtors, &c. We are under obligation, not to the flesh, but to grace.For if through the Spirit, &c. Middleton understands this as signifying spiritually, in opposition to xara cagna, carnally; and in the same sense, at 9, the Spirit of God, in the next verse. With Macknight, I rather suppose the Spirit, in the personal sense, must be meant; and that there is an ellipsis of the proposition ; for it is by his agency with the word, that the deeds of the flesh are subdued, and finally put to death Are led by the Spirit, &c. As are under his sanctifying influence, and follow his guidance, are clearly heirs of life; for they are sons of God.

15-17. For ye have not received, &c. The spirit of bondage was that of the Jewish law; they were always subject to it, having perpetually to renew their offerings for sin, and their conscience not being cleansed from the guilt of it.- -But ye have received, &c. The spirit of adoption, of filial love, and confidence in God, as our father in Christ.-Yea, the Holy Spirit himseif, &c. By his gifts and graces, bears witness with our spirit to our adoption