n Luke 6 33. Col. 1.13, 14.-0 John 3. 16. & 13. 13. 1 Peter 3.18. 1 John 3.16. & 4. 9, 10-p Chap. 3. 25. Eph. 2. 13. Hebrews 9. 14. 1 John 1. 7.- Chapter 1. 18. Thess.1.10. state neither able to resist sin, nor do any good; utterly devoid of power to extricate themselves from the misery of their situation. II. They were aceßeɩs, ungodly: without either the worship or knowledge of the true God; they had not God in them; and, consequently, were not partakers of the Divine nature: Satan lived in, ruled, and enslaved their hearts. III. They were apaprot, sinners, ver. 8. aiming at hap. piness, but constantly missing the mark, which is the ideal meaning of the Hebrew N chata; and the Greek apapravo. See this explained Gen. xiii. 13. And in missing the mark, they deviated from the right way; walked in the wrong way; trespassed, in thus deviating; and by breaking the commandments of God, not only missed the mark of felicity, but expo sed themselves to everlasting misery. in the gift of Christ. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled t God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11 And not only so, but we also" joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atone ment, r Chap 8.22.- 2 Cor. 5. 18, 19. Eph. 2.16. Col. 1., 21 John 5 25. & 14. 19. 2 Cor. 4.10, 11-u Chap. 2. & 3. 29, 30. Gal.4.9.- Or, reconciliation, Verse 19. 2 Cor. 5. 18, 19. way the preposition, vrep, is used by the best Greek writers. 7. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die] The Jews divide men, as to their moral character, into four classes. First, those who say, "What is mine is my own; and what is thine, is thy own." These may be considered the just, who render to every man his due; or rather, they who neither give nor take. The second class is made up of those who say, "What is mine is thine; and what is thine, is mine." These are they who accommodate each other; who borrow and lead. The third class is composed of those who say, "What is mine, is thine; and what is thine, let it be thine." These are the pious, or good, who give up all for the benefit of their neigh bour. The fourth class are those who say, "What is thine, is mine; and what is thine shall be mine." These are the impious, who take all, and give nothing. Now, for one of the first class, who would die? There is nothing amiable in his life or conduct that would so endear him to any man, as to induce him to risk his life to save such a person. 8. But God commendeth his love, &c.] Envisni, God hath set this act of infinite mercy in the most conspicuous light, sơ as to recommend it to the notice and admiration of all. While we were yet sinners] We were neither righteous nor good but impious and wicked. See the preceding verse, and see the note on verse 6. IV. They were exopoi, enemies, ver. 10. from ex0os, hatred, enmity, persons who hated God and holiness; and acted in continual hostility to both. What a gradation is here! 1. In our fall from God, our first apparent state is, that we are with- Peradventure for a good man some would even dare todie] out strength; have lost our principle of spiritual power, by ha- That is, for one of the third class, who gives all he has for the ving lost the image of God, righteousness and true holiness, good of others. This is the truly benevolent man, whose life in which we were created. 2. We are ungodly, having lost is devoted to the public good: for such a person, peradvenour strength to do good; we have also lost all power to wor-ture, some who have had their lives perhaps preserved by his ship God aright. The mind which was made for God, is no bounty, would even dare to die: but such cases may be con longer his residence. 3. We are sinners; feeling we have sidered merely as possible: they exist, it is true, in romance. lost our centre of rest, and our happiness, we go about seek- and we find a few rare instances of friends exposing them. ing rest, but find none: what we have lost in losing God, we selves to death for their friends. See the case of Jonathan and seek in earthly things; and thus are continually missing the David; Damon and Pythias, Val. Max. lib. 4. c. 7. And ou mark, and multiplying transgressions against our Maker. 4. Lord says, John x. 11, 12. Greater love hath no man than this, We are enemies: sin, indulged, increases in strength; evil that a man lay down his life for his friend. This is the ut acts engender fixed and rooted habits; the mind, every where most we can expect among men. poisoned with sin, increases in averseness from good; and mere aversion produces enmity; and enmity, acts of hostility, fell cruelty, &c. So that the enemy of God hates his Maker and his service, is cruel to his fellow-creatures; "a foe to God, was ne'er true friend to man ;" and even torments his own soul! Though every man brings into the world the seeds of all these evils; yet, it is only by growing up in him, that they acquire their perfection. Nemo repentè fuit turpissimus, no man becomes a profligate at once; he arrives at it by slow degrees: and the speed he makes is proportioned to his circumstances; means of gratifying sinful passions, evil education, bad company, &c. &c. These make a great diversity in the moral states of men: all have the same seeds of evil, nemo sine vitiis nascitur, all come defiled into the world; but all have not the same opportunities of cultivating these seeds. Besides, as God's Spirit is continually convincing the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; and the ministers of God are seconding its influence with their pious exhortations: as the Bible is in almost every house; and is less or more heard or read by almost every person, these evil seeds are receiving continual blasts and checks, so that, in many cases, they have not a vigorous growth. These causes make the principal moral differences that we find among men; though, in evil propensities, they are all radically the same. That all the preceding characters are applied by some learn ed inen to the Gentiles, exclusively as such, I am well aware; and that they may be all applied to them in a national point of view, there can be little doubt. But there are too many correspondences between the state of the modern Gentiles and that of the ancient Gentiles, to justify the propriety of applying the whole as fully to the former as to the latter. In deed the four particulars already explained, point out the natural and practical state of every human being, previously to his regeneration by the grace and Spirit of God. 9. Much more then, being now justified] If Jesus Christ, in his endless compassion towards us, gave his life for ours, while we were yet enemies; being now justified by his blood, by his death on the cross; and thus reconciled to God, we shall be saved from wrath, from punishment for past transgres sions, through him, by what he has thus suffered for us. 10. For if, when we were enemies] See under ver. 6. We were reconciled] The enmity existing before, rendered the reconciliation necessary. In every human heart there is a measure of enmity to holiness; and, consequently, to the Author of it. Men seldom suspect this: for one property of sin is, to blind the understanding, so that men do not know their own state. We shall be saved by his life.] For, as he died for our sins, so he rose again for our justification: and his resurrection to life, is the grand proof that he has accomplished whatever he had purposed in reference to the salvation of man. 2. This may be also understood of his life of intercession for it is written, He ever LIVETH to make INTERCESSION for us, Heb. vii. 25. Through this life of intercession at the right hand of God, we are spared and blessed. 3. And it will not be amiss to consider that, as our salvation implies the renovation of our nature, and our being restored to the image of God, so owongoμeda ev Tn won avrov, may be rendered we shall be saved in his life; for, I suppose, it is pretty generally agreed that the life of God, in the soul of man, is essential to its salva tion. 4. The example also of the life of Christ, is a means of salvation. He hath left us an example that we should follow his steps; and he that followeth him, shall not walk in dark In due time Christ died for the ungodly] This due or proper time, will appear in the following particulars: 1. Christness, but shall have the light of LIFE, John viii. 12. was manifested in the flesh when the world needed him most2. When the powers of the human mind had been cultivated to the utmost, both in Greece and Rome; and had made every possible effort, but all in vain, to find out some efficient scheme of happiness-3. When the Jews were in the lowest state of corruption, and had the greatest need of the promised Deliverer-4. When the fulness of the time came, foretold by the prophets-5. When both Jews and Gentiles, the one from their jealousy, the other from their learning, were best qualified to detect imposture and to ascertain fact-6. In a word, Christ came when his advent was most likely to promote its great object, glory to God in the highest; and peace and good will among men. And the success that attended the preaching of Christ and his apostles, together with the wide and rapid spread of the Gospel, all prove that it was the due time, kura Kaipov, the proper season: and that Divine wisdom was justified in fixing upon that time in preference to all others. 11. We also joy (xavxwpsvoi, we exult, or glory) in Ged, &c } We now feel that God is reconciled to us, and we are recon ciled to him; the enmity is removed from our souls; and He, for Christ's sake, through whom we have received the atone ment, Karadλayny, the reconciliation, has remitted the wrath, the punishment which we deserved; and now, through this reconciliation, we expect an eternal glory. Died for the ungodly-Yrip aσeßov arcoave, He died, INSTEAD of the ungodly, see also ver. 8. so Luke xxii. 19. The body of Christ, гo vЯεp vμwv didopevov, which was given FOR you; i. e. the life that was laid down in your STEAD. In this It was certainly improper to translate karaλλayn here, by atonement, instead of reconciliation; as Karaλλaco, signi fies to reconcile, and is so rendered by our translators in all the places where it occurs. It does not mean the atonement here, as we generally understand that word, viz. the sacrif cial death of Christ; but rather the effect of that atonement, the removal of the enmity, and by this, the change of our condition and state; from Kara, intensive, and aλacow, to change; the thorough change of our state from enmity to friendship. God is reconciled to us, and we are reconciled to him by the death of his Son; and thus there is a glorious change from enmity to friendship; and we can exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have received this reconciliation. Though boasting is forbidden to a Jew, Sin and death entered into the CHAPTER V. 12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13 (For until the law, sin was in the world: but * sin is not imputed when there is no law. w Gen 36 1 Cor 15,21.-1 Gen.2.17. Ch.6.23. 1 Cor. 15. 21-y Or, in whom.Ch. 4.15. 1 John 3.4. because his is a false contidence; yet boasting is enjoined to a Christian; to one reconciled to God: for, his boasting is only in that reconciliation, and the endless mercy by which it was procured. So, he that glorieth, boasteth, must glory in the Lord. 12. Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world] From this verse to the conclusion of the chapter, the apostle produces a strong argument to prove, that as all mankind stood in need of the grace of God in Christ, to redeem them from their sins; so this grace has been afforded equally to all, both Jews and Gentiles. Dr. Taylor has given the following analysis of the apostle's mode of argumentation. The argument stands thus :-"The consequences of Christ's obedience extend as far as the consequence of Adam's disobedience. The consequences of Adam's disobedience extend to all mankind; and therefore, so do the consequences of Christ's obedience. Now, if the Jews will not allow the Gentiles any interest in Abraham, as not being naturally descended from him; yet they must own that the Gentiles are the descendants of Adam, as well as them selves: and being all equally involved in the consequences of his sin, from which," (as far as the death of the body is concerned,) "they shall all equally be released at the resurrec tion, through the free gift of God, therefore they could not deny the Gentiles a share in all the other blessings included in the same gift.” This argument, besides proving the main point, goes to show-1. That the grace of God in the Gospel abounds be. yond, or very far exceeds, the mere reversing of the sufferings brought upon mankind by Adam's one offence; as it bestows a vast surplusage of blessings which have no relation to that offence, but to the many offences which mankind have committed; and to the exuberance of the Divine grace. 2. To show how justly the Divine grace is founded on the obedience of Christ; in correspondence to the dispensation Adam was under, and to the consequences of his disobedience: if this disobedience involved all mankind in death, it is proper that the obedience of Christ should be the cause not only of rever. sing that death to all mankind, but also of other blessings which God should see fit, (through him,) to bestow on the world. 3. It serves to explain, and set in a clear view, the difference between the law and grace. It was the law, which, for Adam's one transgression, subjected him and his posterity, as included in him when he transgressed, to death, without hopes of a revival. It is grace which restores all men to life at the resurrection; and over and above that, has provided a gracious dispensation for the pardon of their sins; for reducing them to obedience; for guarding them against temptations; supplying them with strength and comfort; and for ad vancing them to eternal life. This would give the attentive Jew a just notion of the law, which himself was under; and under which he was desirous of bringing the Gentiles. world by Adam's transgression. 14 Nevertheless death :eigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift: For, if through the offence of one, many be dead; much & more the a Ch.4.15. Hoa 6.7. Wind. 1.14.-b 1 Cor. 15.21, 22, 45. Col.2. 17.- Isa. 53.11. Dan. 12.2. John 1.16.-d Ch.5.29. John 3. 16. far beyond both Adam's transgression, and the transgressions under the law of Moses, ver. 20, 21. and see the note on the first of these verses. Upon this argument the learned doctor makes the following general remarks: "I. As to the order of time; the apostle carries his argu ments backwards from the time when Christ came into the world, (chap. i. 17. to chap. iv.) to the time when the covenant was made with Abraham, (chap. iv.) to the time when the judgment to condemnation, pronounced upon Adam, came upon all men, chap. v. 12. to the end. And thus he gives us a view of the principal dispensations from the beginning of the world. "II. In this last case, as well as in the two former, he uses law, or forensic terms; judgment to condemnation, justification, justify, made sinners, made righteous. And therefore as he considers both Jews and Gentiles at the coming of Christ, and Abraham, when the covenant was made with him; so he considers Adam, and all men, as standing in the court before the tribunal of God. And this was the clearest and concisest way of representing his arguments."-Notes, p. 283. Sin entered into the world] There was neither sin nor death before the offence of Adam: after that there were both. Adam's transgression was therefore the cause of both. And death by sin) Natural evil is evidently the effect of moral evil: if man had never sinned, he had never suffered. Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return, was never spoken till after Adam had eaten the forbidden fruit. Death passed upon all men] Hence we see, that all human beings partook in the consequences of Adam's sin. He propagated his like; and, with the rudiments of his own nature, propagated those of his moral likeness. For that all have sinned] All are born with a sinful nature; and the seeds of this evil soon vegetate, and bring forth corresponding fruits. There has never been one instance of an immaculate human soul since the fall of Adam. Every man sins, and sins too after the similitude of Adam's transgression. Adam endeavoured to be independent of God: all his offspring act in the same way; hence prayer is little used, because prayer is the language of dependance; and this is inconsist ent with every emotion of original sin. When these degene rate children of degenerate parents are detected in their sins, they act just as their parents did; each excuses himself, and lays the blame on another. What hast thou done?—The woman whom THоv gavest me, to be with me, SHE gave me, and I did eat. What hast THоu done?-The SERPENT beguiled me, and I did eat. Thus, it is extremely difficult to find a person who ingenuously acknowledges his own transgression. See the notes on Gen. iii. C, &c. where the doctrine of original sin is particularly considered. 13. For until the law, sin was in the world] As death reigned from Adam to Moses, so also did sin. Now, as there was no written law from Adam till that given to Moses, the death that prevailed could not be the consequence of the breach of that law; for sin, so as to be punished with temporal death, is not imputed when there is no law, which shows the penalty of sin to be death. Therefore, men are not subjected to death for their own personal transgressions, but for the sin of Adain; as through his transgression, all come into the world with the seeds of death and corruption in their own nature, superadded to their moral depravity, All are sinful—all are mortal-and all must die. The order in which the apostle handles this argument is this: 1. He affirms that death passed upon all men, by Adam's one transgression, verse 12. 2. He proves this, ver. 13, 14. 3. He affirms there is a correspondence between Adam and Christ; or between the raparpa, offence; and the xapiopa, free gift, ver. 14. 4. This correspondence, so far as the two opposite parts answer to each other, is justly expressed, ver. 18 and 19. and there we have the main or fundamental position of the apostle's argument, in relation to the point which he has been arguing from the beginning of the epistle: namely, the extensiveness of the grace of the Gospel, that it actually reaches to ALL MEN, and is not confined to the Jews. 5. But before he laid down this position, it was necessary that he should show that the correspondence between Adam and Christ, or between the offence and the gift, is not to be confined strictly to the bounds specified in the position, as if the gift reached no farther than the consequences of the offence; when in reality it extends vastly beyond them, ver. 15, 16, 17. 6. Having settled these points, as previously necessary to clear his fundamental position, and fit to his argument, he then lays down that position in a diversified manner of speech, ver. 18, 19. just as in 1 Cor. xv. 20, 21. and leaves us to conclude, from the premises laid down, ver. 15, 16, 17. that the gift and the grace, in its utmost extent, is as free to all mankind, who are willing to accept of it, as this particular instance, the resur rection from the dead. They shall all be raised from the dead hereafter they may all be quickened by the Spirit here. 7. Having thus shown the extensiveness of the Divine grace, in opposition to the dire effects of the law under which Adam Who is the figure of him that was to come] Adam was the was; that the Jews might not overlook what he intended they figure, rvros, the type, pattern, or resemblance of him who should particularly observe, he puts them in mind that the law was to come: i. e. of the Messiah. The correspondence begiven to Adam, transgress and die, was introduced into the tween them appears in the following particulars:-1. Through Jewish constitution by the ministry of Moses; and for this him, as its spring and fountain, sin became diffused through end, that the offence, with the penalty of death annexed to it, the world, so that every man comes into the world with sinful might abound, ver. 20. But, to illustrate the Divine grace, by propensities: for, by one man, sin entered into the world; setting it in contrast to the law, he immediately adds, where and death by sin; and so judgment passed upon all men, sin, subjecting to death, hath abounded, grace hath much more ver. 12. Through Christ, as its spring and fountain, righteous. abounded; that is, in blessings bestowed; it has stretchedness becomes diffused through the earth; so that every man 14. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses] This supposes, as Dr. Taylor very properly observes, 1. That sin was in the world from Adam to Moses. 2. That law was not in the world from Adam to Moses, during the space of about 2500 years: for after Adam's transgression, that law was abrogated; and from that time, inen were either under the general covenant of grace, given to Adam or Noah; or under that which was specially made with Abraham. 3. That therefore the sins committed were not imputed unto them to death; for they did not sin after the similitude of Adam's transgres sion; that is, they did not, like him, transgress a law, or rule of action, to which death, as the penalty, was annexed. And yet, 4. Death reigned over mankind, during the period between Adam and Moses. Therefore men did not die for their own transgressions, but in consequence of Adam's one transgression. See the note on this passage at the end of the Preface. p. 18. grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation; but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. Ian.53.11. Matt. 20. 28. & 26. 25.-f Or, by one offence. is made partaker of a principle of grace and truth; for he is the true light that lighteneth every man that cometh into the world. John i. 9. 2. As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Cor. xv. 22. For, since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead, ver. 21. 3. As in, or through Adam, guilt came upon all men, so through Christ, the free gift comes upon all men unto justification of life, ver. 18. These alone seem to be the instances, in which a similitude exists between Adam and Christ. 15. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift] The same learned writer quoted above, continues to observe," It is evident that the apostle, in this and the two following verses, is running a parallel, or making a comparison between the of fence of Adam and its consequence; and the opposite gift of God, and its consequences. And in these three verses he shows that the comparison will not hold good in all respects; because the free gift, xapiopa, bestows blessings far beyond the consequences of the offence; and which, therefore, have no relation to it. And this was necessary, not only to prevent mistakes concerning the consequence of Adam's offence, and the extent of Gospel grace; but it was also necessary to the apostle's main design; which was not only to prove that the grace of the Gospel extends to all men, so far as it takes off the consequence of Adam's offence, (i. e. death, without the promise or probability of a resurrection,) but that it likewise extends to all men, with respect to the surplusage of blessings; in which it stretches far beyond the consequences of Adam's offence. For, the grace that takes off the consequence of Adam's offence, and the grace which abounds beyond it, are both included in the same xapioua, or free gift, which should be well observed; for in this, I conceive, lie the connexion and sinews of the argument: the free gift, which stands op: posed to Adam's offence, and which, I think, was bestowed immediately after the offence, Gen. iii. 15. The seed of the toman shall bruise the serpent's head: this gift, I say, includes both the grace which exactly answers to the offence; and also that part of the grace which stretches far beyond it. And, if the one part of the gift be freely bestowed on all mankind, as the Jews allow, why not the other? especially, considering that the whole gift stands upon a reason and foundation in excellence and worth, vastly surpassing the malignity and demerit of the offence; and consequently capable of producing benefits vastly beyond the sufferings occasioned by the offence. This is the force of the apostle's argument: and, therefore, supposing that in the 18th and 19th verses, literally under stood, he compares the consequence of Adam's offence, and Christ's obedience, only so far as the one is commensurate to the other; yet his reasoning, ver. 15, 16, 17. plainly shows, that it is his meaning and intention that we should take into his conclusion the whole of the gift, so far as it can reach, to all mankind." its effects, than the offence. 17 For, iff by one man's offence death reigned by one; mach receiving, bụt retaining and improving the grace which they 16. And not as it was by one that sinned] That is, the judi cial act that followed Adam's sin, (the sentence of death pronounced upon him, and his expulsion from Paradise,) tock its rise from his one offence alone, and terminated in condemnation; but the free gift of God in Christ takes its rise also from the many offences which men, in a long course of life, have personally committed; and the object of this grace is to justify them freely, and bring them to eternal life. 17. Death reigned by one] Death is here personified, and is represented as reigning over the human race; and death, of course, reigns unto death; he is known as reigning, by the destruction of his subjects. Shall reign in life] Those who receive, retain, and improve the abundant grace offered by Jesus Christ, shall be redeemed from the empire of death, and exalted to the throne of God, to live and reign with him ever, world without end. See Rev. i. 5, 6. ii. 7, 10, 11. iii. 21. If we carefully compare ver. 15. with ver. 17. we shall find that there is a correspondence between colorcias, the abounding, ver. 17. and procvoc, hath abounded, ver. 15. between rns dwpeas τns dikaivovvns, the gift of righteousness, i. e jus tification, ver. 17. and n dwoca ev xaoiri, the gift by grete, ver. 15. Therefore, if we understand the abounding of grace, and the gift of justification, ver. 17. we shall understand the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which hath abounded unto the many, ver. 15. But the abounding of grace, and the gift of justification, ver. 17. is that grace and gift which is RECEIVED by those who shall reign in eternal life. Reigning in life, is the consequence of receiving the grace and gift Therefore, receiving the grace, is a necessary qualification on our part, for reigning in life; and this necessarily implies our believing in Christ Jesus, as having died for our offences, receiving the grace so freely offered us; using the means in order to get more grace, and bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit. Receive, must here have the same sense as in Matt. xiii. 20. He heareth the word, and with joy RECEIVETH !!. John i. 12. But as many as RECEIVED him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. John iii. 11. Ye RECEIVE not our witness.-See also ver. 32, 33. John v. 43. I am come in my Father's name, and ye RECEIVE me not. John xii. 48. He that RECEIVETH not my words. John xiii. 20. He that receiveth whomsoever I send, RECEIVETH me. John xiv. 17. The Spirit of truth whom the world cannot RECEIVE John xvii. 8. I have given them the words which thou gavest me; and they have RECEIVED them. In all these passages it is evident that receiving and not receiving, imply improving or not improving. For, if through the offence of one, many be dead] That the bi Too, the many, of the apostle, here means all mankind, 18. Therefore, as by the offence of one, &c.] The Greek needs no proof to any but that person who finds himself quali- text of this verse is as follows. Apa ovv, we dɩ kvos mapattu fed to deny that all inen are mortal. And if the many, that is, ματος, εις πάντας ανθρώπούσε εις κατακριμα· ούτω και δι' ένας all mankind, have died through the offence of one, certainly δικαιώματος, εις παντάς ανθρώπους, εις δικαιωσιν ζωής; which, the gift by grace, which abounds unto rovs rodovs, the many, literally rendered, stands thus-Therefore, as by one offence by Christ Jesus, must have reference to every human being unto all men, unto condemnation; so likewise, by one rightIf the consequences of Christ's incarnation and death extend cousness unto all men, to justification of life. This is evi only to a few, or a select number of mankind, which, though dently an elliptical sentence, and its full meaning can be ga they may be considered many in themselves, are feto in com-thered only from the context. He who had no particular pur parison of the whole human race; then the consequences of pose to serve, would, most probably understand it, from the Adam's sin have extended only to a few, or to the same select context thus-Therefore, as by one sin, all men came into con number: and if only many, and not all, have fallen, only that demnation; so also, by one righteous act, all men came unt many had need of a Redeemer. For, it is most evident, that justification of life; which is more fully expressed in the fol the same persons are referred to in both clauses of the verse. lowing verse. Now, leaving all particular creeds out of the If the apostle had believed that the benefits of the death of question; and taking in the scope of the apostle's reasoning Christ had extended only to a select number of mankind, he in this, and the preceding chapter; is not the sense evidently never could have used the language he has done here, though, this? Through the disobedience of Adam, a sentence of conin the first clause he might have said, without any qualifica demnation to death, without any promise or hope of a resur tion of the term, through the offence of one, MANY are dead: rection, passed upon all men; so by the obedience of Christ in the second clause, to be consistent with the doctrine of par- unto death, this one grand righteous act, the sentence was so ticular redemption, he must have said, The grace of God, and far reversed, that death shall not finally triumph; for all shall the gift by grace, hath abounded unto SOME. As by the offence again be restored to life; justice must have its due ; and thereof one, judgment came upon ALL men to condemnation; so, fore all must die. The mercy of God in Christ Jesus, shall by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon SOME to have its due also; and therefore all shall be put into a salvo justification, ver. 18. As, by one man's disobedience, MANY ble state here, and the whole human race shall be raised to life were made sinners; so, by the obedience of one, shall sOME be at the great day. Thus, both justice and mercy are magnified: made righteous, ver. 19. As in Adam, ALL die; so, in Christ and neither is exalted at the expense of the other. shall SOME be made alive, 1 Cor. xv. 22. But neither the doctrine nor the thing ever entered the soul of this divinely inspired man. Hath abounded unto many] That is, Christ Jesus died for every man; salvation is free for all; saving grace is tendered to every soul; and a measure of the Divine light is actually communicated to every heart, John i 9. And, as the grace is offered, so it may be received; and hence the apostle says, ver. 17. they which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by Christ Jesus; and, by receiving, is undoubtedly meant not only the act of The apostle uses three remarkable words in these three verses: 1. Aikawa, justification, ver. 16. 2. Δικαιοσυνή which we render righteousness, verse 17. but is best rendered justification, as expressing that pardon and salvation offered to us in the Gospel: see the note, chap. i. 16. 3. Aikalisois, which is also rendered justification, verse 18. The first word, dikatua, is found is the following places, Luke f. 6. Rom. i. 32. ii. 26. v. 16, 18. viii. 4. Heb. ix. 1, 19. Rev. xv. 4. and xix. 8. to which the reader may refer. Aca uu, signifles among the Greek writers, the sentence of a judge acquitting the innocent, condemning, and punishing is one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For, as by one man's disobedience, many were made sin ners; so, by the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous. 20 Moreover, the law entered, that the offence might abound. Jn 12 22. Heb 2.9.-k1 Kings 1.21. 1.53.4,5,6,10. 2 Cor. 5.21.-1 Jn 15.22 Ch.3.20. guilty; but in the New Testament it signifies whatever God has appointed, or sanctioned as a law; and appears to answer to the Hebrew me mishpat Yehovah, the statute, or judgment of the Lord. It has evidently this sense in Luke i. 6. walking in all the commandments and ORDINANCES, dixat paci, of the Lord blameless; and it has the like meaning in the principal places referred to above; but in the verse in question, it most evidently means absolution, or liberation from punishment, as it is opposed to Karakpua, condemnation, verse 18.-See note on ch. i. 16. and see Schleusner in voce. The second word, dikatoavvn, I have explained at large in ch. i. 16. already referred to. the obedience of Christ. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so "might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord. & 4. 15. & 7.8, Cal.3.19,23.— L.k.7.17. 1 Tim. 1.14.-n 2 Cor. 15.56,57. Ch.6. 16,21,23. and all its inhabitants; the whole soul, and all its powers and faculties, unto death, temporal of the body, spiritual of the soul, and eternal of both; even so, as extensively, deeply, and universally, might grace reign, filling the whole earth, and pervading, purifying, and refining the whole soul; through righteousness, through this doctrine of free salvation, by the blood of the Lamb, and by the principle of holiness transfu sed through the soul by the Holy Ghost: unto eternal life, the proper object of an immortal spirit's hope, the only sphere where the human intellect can rest, and be happy in the place and state where God is; where he is seen AS HE 18; and where he can be enjoyed without interruption in an eternal The third word, dikatwats, is used by the Greek writers, al- progression of knowledge and beatitude: by Jesus Christ our most universally, to denote the punishment inflicted on a Lord, as the cause of our salvation, the means by which it is criminal, or the condemnatory sentence itself; but in the communicated, and the source whence it springs. Thus we New Testament, where it occurs only twice, (Rom. iv. 25. he find, that the salvation from sin here, is as extensive and com. was raised for our justification, dixatwory, and chap. v. 18. plete as the guilt and contamination of sin; death is conunto justification of life, dikatov (wns,) it evidently signifies quered, hell disappointed, the devil confounded, and sin tothe pardon and remission of sins; and seems to be nearly sy-tally destroyed. Here is glorying, to Him that loved us and nonymous with diatopa. Dr. Taylor thinks that "dikatos washed us from our sins in his own blood, and has made us Turn, is Gospel pardon and salvation; and has reference to | kings und priests to God and his Father, be glory and doGod's mercy. Aikatopa, is our being set quite clear and minion for ever and ever, Amen! Hallelujah! The Lord. right or our being restored to sanctity, delivered from eter- God omnipotent reigneth! Amen, and Amen. nal death, and being brought to eternal life; and has refer- What highly interesting and momentous truths does the ence to the power and guilt of sin. And drainois, he thinks preceding chapter bring to our view! No less than the doc. may mean no more than our being restored to life at the re- trine of the full of man from original righteousness; and the surrection." Taking these in their order: there is, first, par- redemption of the world by the incarnation and death of don of sin. Secondly, purification of heart, and preparation Christ. On the subject of the FALL, though I have spoken for glory. Thirdly, the resurrection of the body, and its be- much in the notes on Genesis, chap. iii. yet it may be neces ing made like to his glorious body, so as to become a fit taber- sary to make a few farther observations. nacle for the soul in a glorified state for ever and ever. The same writer observes, that when the apostle speaks of forgiveness of sins, simply, he insists on faith as the condition; but here, where he speaks of justification of life, he mentions no condition; and therefore he supposes justification of life, the phrase being understood in a forensic sense, to mean no more than the decree or judgment that determines the re. surrection from the dead. This is a favourite point with the Doctor, and he argues largely for it: see his Notes. 1. That all mankind have fallen under the empire of death, through this original transgression, the apostle most positively asserts; and few men who profess to believe the Bible, pre tend to dispute. This point is indeed ably stated, argued, and proved, by Dr. Taylor, from whose observations the preceding notes are considerably enriched. But there is one point, which I think not less evident: which he has not only not included in his argument, but as far as it came in his way, has argued against it, viz. the degeneracy and moral corruption of the into the world, but on the ground of this primitive transgression: so none can account for the moral evil that is in the world on any other ground. It is a fact, that every human be. ing brings into the world with him the seeds of dissolution and mortality. Into this state we are fallen, according to divine revelation, through the one offence of Adam. This fact is proved by the mortality of all men. It is not less a fact, that every man that is born into the world brings with him the seeds of moral evil; these he could not have derived from his Maker; for the most pure and holy God can make nothing impure, imperfect, or unholy. Into this state we are reduced, according to the Scripture, by the transgression of Adam; for by this one man, sin entered into the world, as well as death. 2. The fact, that all come into the world with sinful propensities, is proved by another fact, that every man sins; that sin is his first work, and that no exception to this has ever been noticed, except in the human nature of Jesus Christ; and that exempt case is sufficiently accounted for from this circum. stance, that it did not come in the common way of natural ge. neration. 19. For, as by one man's disobedience, &c.] The explana-human soul. As no man can account for the death brought tion of this verse has been anticipated in the foregoing. 20. The law entered that the offence might abound After considering various opinions concerning the true meaning of this verse, (see under verse 12.) I am induced to prefer my own, as being the most simple. By law I understand the Mosaic law. By entering in, wapsione, or rather coming in privily, see Gal. i. 4. (the only place where it occurs besides,) 1 understand the temporary or limited use of that law, which was, as far as its rites and ceremonies are considered, confined to the Jewish people; and to them only till the Messiah should come: but, considered as the moral law, or rule of conscience and life, it has in its spirit and power been slipt in, introduced into every conscience, that sin might abound, that the true nature, deformity, and extent of sin, might ap pear; for by the law is the knowledge of sin: for how can the finer deviations from a straight line be ascertained, without the application of a known straight edge? Without this rule of right, sin can only be known in a sort of general way; the innumerable deviations from positive rectitude can only be known by the application of the righteous statutes of which the law is composed. And it was necessary that this law should be given, that the true nature of sin might be seen, and that men might be the better prepared to receive the Gospel; finding that this law worketh only wrath, i. e. denounces punish ment, forasmuch as all have sinned. Now, it is wisely ordered of God, that wherever the Gospel goes, there the law goes also; entering every where, that sin may be seen to abound, and that men may be led to despair of salvation in any other way, or on any terms, but those proposed in the Gospel of Christ. Thus the sinner becomes a true penitent, and is glad, seeing the curse of the law hanging over his soul, to flee for refuge to the hope set before him in the Gospel. 3. As like produces its like, if Adam became mortal and sin. ful, he could not communicate properties which he did not possess; and he must transmit those which constituted his natural and moral likeness. Therefore all his posterity must resemble himself. Nothing less than a constant miraculous energy presiding over the formation and development of every human body and soul, could prevent the seeds of natural and moral evil from being propagated. That these seeds are not produced in men by their own personal transgressions, is most positively asserted by the apostle in the preceding chapter; and that they exist before the human being is capable of actual transgression, or of the exercise of will and judg But where sin abounded] Whether in the world, or in the ment, so as to prefer and determine, is evident to the most su heart of the individual, being discovered by this most pure and perficial observer; 1st, from the most marked evil propensi righteous law; grace did much more abound: not only pardon ties of children long before reason can have any influence or for all that is past, is offered by the Gospel, so that all the trans-control over passion; and 2dly, it is demonstrated by the death gressions for which the soul is condemned to death by the law, are freely and fully forgiven; but also the Holy Spirit, in the abundance of his gifts and graces, is communicated, so as to prepare the receiver for an exceeding great and eternal weight of glory. Thus the grace of the Gospel not only redeems from death, and restores to life; but brings the soul into such a relationship with God, and into such a participation of eternal glory, as we have no authority to believe ever would have been the portion even of Adam himself, had he even eternally retained his innocence. Thus, where sin abounded; grace doth much more abound. 21. That as sin hath reigned unto death] As extensively, as deeply, as universally, as sin, whether implying the act of transgression, or the impure principle from which the act proceeds, or both:-hath reigned, subjected the whole earth of millions in a state of infancy. It could not, therefore, be personal transgression that produced the evil propensities in the one case; nor death in the other. 4. While misery, death, and sin, are in the world, we shall have incontrovertible proofs of the fall of man. Men may dispute against the doctrine of original sin; but such facts as the above, will be a standing irrefragable argument against every thing that can be advanced against the doctrine itself. 5. The justice of permitting this general infection to become diffused, has been strongly oppugned. "Why should the innocent suffer for the guilty ?" As God made man to propagate his like on the earth, his transmitting the same kind of nature with which he was formed, must be a necessary consequence of that propagation. He might, it is true, have cut off for ever, the offending pair; but this, most evidently, did not compor They who believe in Christ ROMANS. must not continue in sin | But, first, there is no evidence in the whole book of God, that any child dies eternally for Adam's sin. Nothing of this kind is intimated in the Bible; and as Jesus took upon him human nature, and condescended to be born of a woman in a state of perfect helpless infuncy, he has, consequently, sanctified this state, and has said, without limitation or exception, Suffer lit is the kingdom of God. We may justly infer, and all the jus tice as well as the mercy of the Godhead supports the infer ence, that all human beings, dying in an infant state, are regenerated by that grace of God which bringeth salvation to all men, Tit. ii. 11. and go infallibly to the kingdom of heaven. As to the Gentiles, their case is exceedingly clear. The apos tle has determined this; see chap. ii. 14. and 15. and the notes there. Ile, who in the course of his providence, has withheld from them the letter of his word, has not denied them the light and influence of his SPIRIT; and will judge them in the great day, only according to the grace and means of moral improve ment with which they have been favoured. No man will be finally damned, because he was a Gentile, but because he has not made a proper use of the grace and advantages which God had given him. Thus we see that the Judge of all the earth has done right; and we may rest assured that he will eternally act in the same way. with his creative designs. "But he might have rendered Adam incapable of sin." This does not appear. If he had been in capable of sinning, he would have been incapable of holiness; that is, he could not have been a free agent; or, in other words, he could not have been an intelligent or intellectual being; he must have been a mass of inert and unconscious matter. But God might have cut them off, and created a new race." Hetle children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such certainly might; and what would have been gained by this Why, just nothing. The second creation, if of intelligent beings at all, must have been precisely similar to the first; and the circumstances in which these last were to be placed, must be exactly such as infinite wisdom saw to be the most proper for their predecessors; and consequently the most proper for them. They also must have been in a state of probation; they also must have been placed under a law; this law must be guarded by penal sanctions; the possibility of transgression must be the same in the second case as in the first; and the lapse as probable, because as possible to this second race of human beings, as it was to their predecessors. It was better, therefore, to let the same pair continue, to fulfil the great end of their creation, by propagating their like upon the earth; and to introduce an antidote to the poison, and by a dispensation as strongly expressive of wisdom as of goodness, to make the ills of life, which were the consequences of their transgres. sion, the means of correcting the evil, and through the wondrous economy of grace, sanctifying even these to the eternal good of the soul. 6. Had not God provided a Redeemer, he, no doubt, would have terminated the whole mortal story, by cutting off the original transgressors; for it would have been unjust to permit then to propagate their like in such circumstances, that their offspring must be unavoidably and eternally wretched. God has therefore provided such a Saviour, the merit of whose passion and death should apply to every human being, and should infinitely transcend the demerit of the original transgression, and put every soul that received that grace, (and ALL may,) into a state of greater excellence and glory than that was, or could have been, from which Adam, by transgressing, fell. 7. The state of infants, dying before they are capable of hearing the Gospel; and the state of heathens who have no opportunity of knowing how to escape from their corruption and misery; have been urged as cases of peculiar hardship. 8. The term FALL we use metaphorically, to signify degrada tion: literally, it signifies stumbling, so as to lose the centre of gravity, or the proper poise of our bodies, in consequence of which we are precipitated to the ground. The term seen to have been borrowed from the aparropa of the apostle, chap. v. 15-18, which we translate offence, and which is more literally FALL, from mapa, intensive, and #rw, I fall, a grie vous, dangerous, and ruinous fall, and is properly applied to transgression and sin in general; as every act is a degradation of the soul, accompanied with hurt, and tending to destruction. The term, in this sense, is still in common use; the degradation of a man in power, we term his fall: the im poverishment of a rich man we express in the same way and when a man of piety and probity is overcome by any act of sin, we say he is fallen; he has descended from his spiritual eminence, is degraded from his spiritual excellence, is impure in his soul, and becomes again exposed to the displea sure of his God. CHAPTER VI. We must not abuse the boundless goodness of God by continuing in sin, under the wicked persuasion that the more we sin, the more the grace of God will abound, 1. For, haring been baptized into Christ, we have professed thereby to be dead to sin, 2-4. And to be planted in the likeness of his resurrection, 5. For we profess to be crucified with him, to die and rise again from the dead, 6-11. We should not, therefore, let sin reign in our bodies, but live to the glory of God, 12-14. The Gospel makes no provision for living in sin, any more than the law did; and those who commit sin, are the slaves of sin, 15-19. The degrading and afflictive service of sin, and its wages, eternal death; the blessed effects of the grace of God in the heart; of which eternal life is the fruit, 20–23. [A. M. cir. 4062. A. D. cir. 58. An. Olymp. cir. ÚCIX. 2. A. U. C. cir. 811.] 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as d were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore, we are f buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory 1 Cor. 16.29-f Col 2.12-g Chap. 8.11. 1 Cor.6.14. 2 Cor. 13.4-h John 211 & 11.40. Christ had kept it for them; that his keeping it was imputed to them; and that God, who had exacted it from Him, who was their Surety and representative, would not exact it from them; forasmuch as it would be injustice to require to pay flourished in this land, and whose race is not yet utterly extinct. 2. God forbid !] Mp yevoiro, let it not be, by no means; far from it: let not such a thing be mentioned-Any of these is the meaning of the Greek phrase, which is a strong expres sion of surprise and disapprobation and is not properly ren dered by our God forbid, which, though it may express the same thing, yet it is not proper to make the sacred NAME 80 familiar on such occasions. NOTES.-The apostle having proved that salvation both to Jew and Gentile must come through the Messiah, and be received by faith only, proceeds in this chapter to show the ob ligations under which both were laid to live a holy life; and the means and advantages they enjoyed for that purpose.ments for one debt." These are the Antinomians who once This he does, not only as a thing highly and indispensably necessary in itself, for without holiness none can see the Lord; but to confute a calumny which appears to have been gain ing considerable ground even at that time; viz. that the doctrine of justification by faith alone, through the grace of Christ Jesus, rendered obedience to the moral law useless; and that the more evil a man did, the more the grace of God would abound to him, in his redemption from that evil. That this calumny was then propagated, we learn from chap. iii. 8. and the apostle defends himself against it in the 31st verse of the same, by asserting that his doctrine, far from making void the law, served to establish it. But in this, and the two following chapters, he takes up the subject in a regular, formal manner; and shows both Jews and Gentiles, that the princi. ples of the Christian religion absolutely required a holy heart and a holy life, and made the amplest provision for both. Verse 1. Shall we continue in sin] It is very likely that these are the words of a believing Gentile; who, having as yet received but little instruction, for he is but just brought out of his heathen state to believe in Christ Jesus, might imagine, from the manner in which God had magnified his mercy in blotting out his sin, on his simply believing on Christ; that, suppose he even gave way to the evil propensities of his own heart, his transgressions could do him no hurt, now that he was in the favour of God. And we need not wonder that a Gentile, just energing from the deepest darkness, might entertain such thoughts as these; when we find that eighteen centuries after this, persons have appeared in the most Christian countries of Europe, not merely asking such a question, but defending the doctrine with all their might; and asserting in the most unqualified manner, "that believers were under no obligation to keep the moral law of God; that How shall we, that are dead to sin] The phraseology of this verse is common among Hebrews, Greeks, and Latins To DIE to a thing, or person, is to have nothing to do with il or him; to be totally separated from them: and to live to a thing or person, is to be wholly given up to them; to have the most intimate connexion with them. So Plantus Clitel. ii 1, 16, Nihil mecum tibi, Mortuus TIBI SUM. I have nothing to do with thee; I am DEAD to thee. Persa. i. 1. 20, Mihi qui dem tu jam MORTUUS ERAS, quia te non visitavi. Thou wert DEAD to me, because I have not visited thee. So Elian, Var. Hist. iii. 13. Or pλoivoTaTov εOvos To Tv Tampor, 70000τον, ως ζήν αυτούς εν οινώ και το πλείςον του βίον εν τη roos abros Xu karavauxer To The Tapyrians are such lovers of wine, that they LIVE in wine; and the principle part of their LIFE is DEVOTED to it." They live to wine; they are insatiable drunkards. See more examples in Wetstein and Rosenmüller. 3. Know ye not] Every man who believes the Christian religion, and receives baptism as the proof that he believes it and has taken up the profession of it, is bound thereby to a life of righteousness. To be baptized into Christ, is to re ceive the doctrine of Christ crucified, and to receive baptism as a proof of the genuineness of that faith, and the obligation to live according to its precepts. |