14. THE apostle immediately subjoins a proof, in the 15th verse, not so much of the fact that a man under the law is carnal, as that he is the slave of sin. But the proof is taken from the peculiar adjunct or effect of a purchased servant, in these words :

For that which I do I allow not." For a servant does not do that which seems good to himself, but that which his master is pleased to prescribe to him: Because thus is the word [agnosco]

I allow" used in this passage, for "I approve." But if any one thinks that it is here used in its proper signification, the argument will be the same, and equal its validity: "For," as Christ has told us, "the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth;" (John xv, 15;) neither is his Lord bound, nor is he accustomed, to make known to his servant all his will, except so far as it seems proper to himself to employ the services of his menial through the knowledge of that will.

15. BUT the first signification of the word is better accommodated to this passage, and seems to be required by those things which follow; for a more ample explanation of this argument is produced in the following words: "For what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I;" which is an evident token of a will that is subjugated, and subject to the will of another; that is, to the will of sin. Therefore he is the servant and the slave of sin.

16. THE apostle now deduces two consectaries from this; by the First of which he excuses the law, and by the Second he throws on sin all the blame respecting this matter, as he had also done in a previous part of the chapter. The First Consectary is, "If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good." (16.) That is, " If I unwillingly do that which "sin prescribes to me, now indeed I consent unto the law that it " is good, as being that against which sin is committed: I assent "to the law that commands, though, while placed under the ❝ dominion of sin, I am unable to perform what it prescribes." The Second Consectary is, " Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." (17.) That is, "Therefore, "because I reluctantly do what I do, not at my own option but "at that of another, that is, of my master, who is sin; it follows "from this, that it is not I who do it, but sin which dwells in me, has the dominion over me, and impels me to do it."

17. HAVING treated upon these subjects in the manner now stated, the apostle returns to the same rendering of the cause and the proof of it. The 18th verse contains the rendering of the

cause, in these words: "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing:" Wherefore it is not surprising that the law, though it be spiritual, is not able to break the power of sin in a man who is under the law; for that which is good does not dwell, that is, has not the dominion, in a carnal man who is under the law. The Proof of this is subjoined in the same verse: "For to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." Or, "I do not find how I can perform any thing good."

18. THE more ample explanation of it is given in the 19th verse, "For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil that I would not, that I do:" Which is an evident token, that no good thing dwelleth in my flesh. For if any good thing dwelt in my flesh, I should then be actually capable of performing that to which my mind and will are inclined. He then deduces once more the Second Consectary, in the 20th verse, "Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."

19. BUT from all these arguments, in the 21st verse he concludes the thing intended: "I find then a law, [which is imposed in this way,] that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.” That is, In reality, therefore, I find from the circumstance of " to will being present with me," but of not being capable of performing what is good, that evil or sin is present with me, and not only has it a place in me but it likewise prevails. This Conclusion does not differ in meaning from the rendering of the cause which is comprised in the 14th verse, in this expression, "But I am carnal, sold under sin." But in the two subsequent verses, the 22nd and 23rd, the apostle proves the conclusion which immediately preceded; and, in proving it, he more clearly explains whence and how it happens, that a man who is under the law cannot have dominion over sin, and that, whether willing or unwilling, such a person is compelled to fulfil the lusts of sin; and he says, "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members."

20. AT THE close, from a consideration of the miserable state of those men who are under the law, a votive exclamation is raised for their deliverance from this tyranny and servitude of sin, in the following terms: "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver (or snatch) me from the body of this death?" That is,

not from this mortal body, but from the dominion of sin, which he here calls the body of death, as he calls it also in other passages the body of sin.

21. TO THIS exclamation he subjoins a reply, "The grace of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, will deliver thee:" Or a thanksgiving, in which the apostle [significat] intimates in his own person whence deliverance must be sought and expected. In the last place, a Conclusion is annexed to the whole investigation, in the latter part of the 25th verse, in which is briefly defined the entire condition of a man under the law, that had been previously and at great length described: "So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh, the law of sin." And in this manner is concluded the Seventh chapter.

22. BUT in order that these arguments, after having been reduced to a small compass, may be perceived at a single glance, let us briefly recapitulate this second part likewise, in the following manner:

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"We have already declared, that sin has dominion over those 66 men who are under the law: But the cause of this is, that, though the law itself is spiritual, and though the men who are "under it consent unto it that it is good, and though they will "what is good and delight in the law of God after the inward

man; yet these very men who are under the law are carnal, "sold under sin, have no good thing dwelling in their flesh, but "have sin dwelling in them, and evil is present with them; they "have likewise a law in their members which not only wars against the law of their mind, but which also renders them

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captives to the law of sin which is in their members. Of this "matter it is a certain and evident token, that the good which. "such men would, they do not; but the evil which they hate, "that they do; and that when they will to do good, they do not "obtain [posse] the ability. Hence it is undoubtedly evident, "that they are not themselves the masters of their own acts, but "sin which dwelleth in them; to which is also chiefly to be "ascribed the culpability of the evil which is committed by these 66 men who are like the reluctant perpetrators of it. But [hinc] "on this account, these persons, from the shewing of the law, having become acquainted with their misery, are compelled to cry out, and to implore the grace of Jesus Christ."

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VERSE THE FOURTEENTH.

1.—A CLOSER Investigation of this Question; and a Demonstration taken from the text itself, that the Apostle is here treating about a man placed under the Law, and not under Grace.-2. The manner in which CARNAL and SPIRITUAL are opposed to each other in the Scriptures.-3. An Objection taken from 1 Cor. iii, 1, 2; and a Reply to it.-4. The meaning of the phrase, Sold under SIN.-The views of Calvin and Beza on this verse.

1. HAVING in the preceding manner considered the disposition and economy of the whole chapter, let us now somewhat more strictly investigate the question proposed by us; which is this, "Are those things which are recorded, from the 14th verse to the end of the Seventh chapter, to be understood concerning a man who is under the law, or concerning one who is under grace ?"

FIRST of all, let some attention be bestowed on the connexion of the 14th verse with those which preceded it: For the rational particle yap, "for," indicates its connexion with the preceding. This connexion shows, that the same subject is discussed in this verse, as in those before it; and the pronoun yw, I, must be understood as relating to the same man, as had been signified in the previous verses by the same pronoun. But the investigation in the former part of the chapter was respecting a man who is under the law, and the pronoun "I" had previously denoted the man who was under the law: Therefore, in this 14th verse also, in which a cause is given of that which had been before explained, a man under the law is still the subject. If it be otherwise, the whole of it is nothing less than loose reasoning; nor, in this case, have we ever been able to perceive even any probable connexion, according to which these consequences that follow can be in coherence with the matters preceding, and which has been adduced by those who suppose, that, in the first thirteen verses of this Seventh chapter, the discourse refers to a man under the law, but that in the 14th verse and those which follow, the subject of the discourse is a man under grace. If any one denies this, let him attempt to make out the connexion [between the two portions of the chapter which have just been specified]. Some of those who have entertained that opinion, perceiving the difficulty of such an an undertaking, interpret this 14th verse as well as those which preceded it, as relating to a man under the law; but the 15th and

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following verses as applicable to a man under grace. This also we shall hereafter perceive.

SECONDLY. In the same 14th verse, that man about whom the apostle treats under his own person, is said to be carnal: But a man who is regenerate and placed under grace, is not carnal, but spiritual: Therefore it is a matter of the greatest certainty, that the subject of the apostle in this verse is not a man placed under grace. But a man who is under the law is carnal: Therefore it is plain, that the subject of discourse in this verse is a man under the law. I prove that a regenerate man, one who is placed under grace, is neither carnal, nor so designated in the Scriptures.-In Romans viii, 9, it is said, " But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit." And, in the verse preceding, it is said, "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God:" But a regenerate man, he one who is placed under grace, pleases God.-In Romans viii, 5, it is said, "They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh;" but [as it is expressed in the same verse] a man under grace "minds the things of the Spirit."-In Gal. v, 24, it is said, "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts:" And they that "have crucified the flesh," are not carnal: But men who are regenerate and placed under grace "are Christ's, and have crucified the flesh :" Therefore, such men as answer this description are not carnal.-In Romans viii, 14, it is said, "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God:" But regenerate men are "the sons of God:" Therefore they are "led by the Spirit of God:" But such persons are spiritual.

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2. BUT it is here objected, "The same man may, in a different "respect, be called carnal and spiritual;—' spiritual,' so far as "he is regenerate through the Spirit;- carnal,' so far as he is "unregenerate: For as long as man is in this mortal body, he is "not fully regenerate. From this arises a two-fold signification "of the word carnal:' ONE denotes a man purely carnal, in "whom sin has the dominion: THE OTHER denotes a man partly "carnal and partly spiritual."

ANSWER. I grant, according to the Scriptures, that man is not fully and perfectly regenerate so long as he is in the present life: But this admission must be correctly apprehended, that is, that such perfection be understood as relating not to the essence and essential parts of regeneration itself, but to the degree and measure of the quantity. For the business of regeneration [non ita habet] is not carried on in such a manner, that a man is regenerate or renewed with regard to some of his faculties, but remains with VOL. II.

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